Author: Rahul (Page 14)

KARTIGAI DEEPAM

On the full moon day of the month of kartigai (November-december) which falls on the ascension of the kartigai star, the hindus celebrate the kartigai deepam. Is is on this day that the huge beacon is lit on the holy hill arunachala, in south india. Once lord shiva assumed the form of a hill at tiruvannamalai in south india. He quelled the pride of brahma and Vishnu who were quarelling as to their relative greatness. One day, when lord shiva was in meditation, parvati left him and went to the hill of arunachala. There she performed penance. She was the guest of the sage Gautama. It was during her penance here that mahishasura was killed by durga hidden by parvati. Parvati saw shiva as arunachalesvara. She was taken back by the lord to his side, and made his ardhangini once more, i.e., she occupied half of the body of the lord.

Arunachalesvara is tejo lingam, arunachala or the tiruvannamalai hill is the place that represents the five element.(the five elements are represented by five holy places in india.)

When the light on the top of tiruvannamalai hill is unveiled on the kartigai deepam day, people see the big light and worship it. They recite again and again in a loud voice” harohara”. The esoteric meaning is that he who sees the light of lights that is burning eternally in the chambers of his heart yhrough constant meditation attains immortality. The light on the arunachala brings the message to you that the self or lord shiva is self –effulgent, he is the ligt of lights.

On the kartigai deepam day in south india, people make bonfires in front of temples in the evening. It is said that lord shiva burnt the chariots of several demons who were torturing sages and celestials. This bonfire symbolises this legend.

People place rows of earthen lamps in front of their house on the evening of kartigai deepam and worship the lord. They also light a variety of fireworks.

Annihilate the three impurities, namely, egoism, selfish action and delusion. Burn the mind, senses and the desires in the fire of knowledge of the self or shiva-jnanam. Attain full illumination and behold the light of lights, which illumines the mind, intellect,sun, moon, stars, lightning, and the fire. This is real kartigai deepam. May the light of lights illumine you all! May lord shiva bless you with more light! May you merge in this supreme light and attain the etrernal abode of bliss and immortality!

IDOL WORSHIP DEVELOPS DEVOTION

Idol worship makes concentration for man simple and easy. You can bring before your mnd’s eye the great pastimes of the lord in his particular incarnation in which you view him. This is one of the easiest modes of self-realisation. It is one that suits the majority of people today.

Just as the picture of a famous warrior evokes heroism in your heart, so also a look at the picture of god will elevate your mind to divine heights, just as the child develops the maternal feeling by caressing, nursing and protecting its doll made of rags, and sucks it in an imaginary manner, so also the devotee develops the feeling of devotion by worshipping the idol and concentrating on it.

A SYMBOL OF GOD

The idol is a substitute or symbol. The image in a temple, through it be made of stone, wood or metal, is precious for a devotee as it bears the mark of his lord, as it represents something which he holds holy and eternal. A flag is only a small piece of painted cloth, but to a soldier it stands for something that he holds very dear.he is prepared to give up his life in defending his flag. Similarly, the image is very dear to devotee. It speaks to him in its own language of devotion. Just as the flag arouses martial valour in the soldier, so also the image arouses devotion in the devotee. The lord is superimposed on the image and the image generates divine thoughts in the worshipper.

When you worship an image , you do not say: “this image has come from jaipur. It was bought by prabhu singh. Its weight is 50 ibs. It is made of white marbles. It has cost me rs,500.” NO! You superimpose all the attributes of the lord on the image and pray:”O inner ruler! You are all-prevading. You are omnipotent, omniscient and all –merciful. You are the source of everything. You are eternal, unchanging. You are the life of my life, the soul of my soul!give me light and knowledge!let me dwell in thee for ever!”

When your devotion and meditation become intense and deep, you do not see the stone image. You behold the lord who is pure consciousness. Image worship is very necessary for beginners.

GAYATRI JAPA DAY

The gayatri japa day is one such very holy and glorious day intended to remind all of the greatest and most glorious of all mantras, the sacred gayatri mantra. The gayatri is the life and support of every true hindu. It is the impregnable spiritual armour, the veritable fortress, that guards and protects its votary. In fact, that is the very meaning of The word- gayatri-“that which protects one who signs it”.

The gaytri is the divine power that transforms the human into the divine and blesses man with the brilliant light of the highest spiritual illumination. Whoever may be one’s favourite deity, the regular repetition of a few malas(rosary of a hundred and eight beads) of gayatri japa every day will shower upon one incalculable benefits and blessings. It is universally applicable, being purely an earnest prayer for light addressed to the almighty supreme spirit. The para brahma gayatri mantra is the most important of all mantras. For every Brahmin of any creed or order of life this has been prescribed as being as the sole transcendental guiding light. The brahmachari or celibate, the grihastha or householder, and the vanaprastha or one who is retired, must repeat this mantra every day, the sannyasin or renunciate is asked to repeat om intead of this mantra.

Each word each letter of the gaytri bears on its head the highest vedantic concept of the absolute, supreme truth. Do japa of the gaytri- it will give you the most excellent fruit, the fruit of immortality!

The mantra is as follows:

“Om bhur bhuvash svah

Tat savitur varenyam

Bhargo devasya dheemahi

Dhiyo yo nah prachodayat. “

Om: symbol of para Brahman.

Bhuh: bhu loka or the physical plane.

Bhuvah: the astral palne.

Svah: the celestial plane.

Tat: that , the transcendental paramatma, god.

Savituh: the creator.

Varenyam: fit to be worshipped.

Bhargash: remover of sins and ignorance, glory , effulgence.

Devasya: resplendent, shining.

Dheemahi: we meditate.

MEDITATION ON LORD SUBRAMANYA

“Shadaananam kumkumaraktavarnam

Mahaa matim divya mayoora vaahanam;

Rudrasya soonum sura sainyanaatham

Guham sadaaham sharanam prapadye.”

MEANING:

I always take refuge in lord guha (lord subramanya) of six faces, who is of deep red colour and infinite knowledge , who has the divine peacock to ride on, the son of lord shiva and the leader of the army of the devas.

WHAT IS THE TILAK- CHANDLO? WHY DO IT ON THE FOREHEAD, ARMS AND CHEST?

In Indian culture, when a woman marries , in joy of getting a ggod husband –a guardian, she imprints a chandlo on her forehead. In the bhakti movements of Hinduism, god is the swami (guardian) of the bhakta.on being fortunate to have a guardian, the jubilant bhakta also imprints a chandlo on his forehead. The red chandlo is the auspicious (saubhagya) fortune sign of god.

The head is the pride of an individual.an individual’s personality lies in his thoughts and intellect. To show respect to other’s a man bows his head. To those whom he deeply reveres, he bows his head right down to their feet. The bhakta, surrenders his head- himself at the lotus feet of god.

So, a bhakta with loving feelings of sacrifice and surrender, symbolically imprints the “feet “(charan) of the swami on:

I.His forehead– so that god resides in his intellect for inspiring auspicious thoughts. The centre point of all nerves is the place between the two eyebrows on the forehead. The rishis have therefore ordained for tilak to be done on his central area of the head to protect it.

II.His upper arms, symbols of strength – that god resides in them to inspire the bhakta to perform righteous acts.

III.His chest-site of the heart – symbolic of life,so that god resides is in to inspire noble feelings.

In this way , for thoughts, feelings and karma to become auspicious, the tilak is imprinted on these four parts of the body. The tilak is also imprinted in these four positions in smruti-rememberance of the four vyuha forms of god, namely vasudev, sankarshan, aniruddha and pradyumna.(arthadeepika- tika bhashya).

This is the tilak of the bhakti sampradayas. Each has its own way of doing tilak. The material used is also varied. Some make use of ash, use red clay whilst many use sandalwood paste.in the swaminarayan sampradaya, the latter is used. The chandlo powder used to be made from lemon juice and turmeric powder. Today it is made from chemicals. But the natural form is also available in the market.

TILAK-CHANDLO IS THE FORTUNE SIGN OF HAVING MET GOD AND OF SURRENDERANCE TO HIM.