HINDUISM

Murugan Festival at Kathirkaamam

Chelvatambi Maniccavasagar

The Sylvan deity in deep South-Kataragama is known as Skanda or Subramaniyam or better still Murugan. The annual festival at Kataragama (Kathirkaamam) commenced last Monday and will conclude on July 25, 2010. The shrine is highly venerated by both Hindus and Buddhists.

During the festival people from all parts of the country go on pilgrimage to receive divine blessings of Lord Murugan.

Devotees from North, East and even from South walk up the distance (Padayatra) reciting devotional songs on their way.

The origin of Murugan and the story of his veneration are of very ancient interest. The Puranas extol his legendary origin. The Devas when they proceeded to mount Kailas to complain to Lord Siva of their persecution by the Asuras, found him in deep meditation. On being awakened, a Divine Spark emanated from his frontal third eye. This was received in Lakesaravana Poikai. There, it was nurtured by the constellation Pleiades (Karthikai) and became six infants. They became one when they were fondly embraced by Divine Mother Goddess Parvathi. Therefore he is also known as Karthikeya. This miraculous origin is treasured in the Puranas with much cherished verse:- “That which was formless, became a form, a column of light, the Brahmam, the one, the many, the endless, became one body: Six faces abundant with grace, twelve mighty arms, one Thirumurukan arose and arrived for the world to be saved.”

Murukan as a Valorous youth is said to have performed several brave deeds including the imprisonment of Brahma and imparting the meaning of the Sacred word Aum to Lord Siva.

In due course, he was sent accompanied by a large force with Virapahu as the head to overcome the Asuras and release the Devas. In the battle Asura’s head Suraparaman was ultimately defeated but was not slain but accepted as his steed in the form of a Peacock and also given a place in his Banner as a Rooster cock. Indeed, the Devas were released and they celebrated their victory.

Further, the king of the Devas and Indrani, his queen rewarded Murukan by giving him their daughter Deivanai in marriage.

Murukan’s second consort is Valli. She grew up as a Devotee of Murukan and eventually Murukan got married to her.

The Vel in his hand is a symbol of power, a power to punish Evil. In due course it became a symbol of spiritual victory. In the philosophical interpretation, the two consorts are considered to represent “Kiriya Sakthi” and “Ichcha Sakthi”, the Vel in Muruka’s hand is Jnana Sakthi. Infact, Thiruperumkunram about 5 miles South West of Madurai in South India where the wedding ceremony with Deivanai is believed to have taken place.

Thiruchendur on the South East Coast of India even now commemorate the overpowering the Asuras. It is very often said that Kataragama peak in Sri Lanka is the sacred place of Murukan and as such on this glorious Kataragama annual festival we will pray to God Murukan for everlasting peace, communal harmony and eternal prosperity.

Is Yoga such easy to perform?

K S Sivakumaran

The word Yoga has a fascination for many people. For the uninitiated the main attractions are the psychic powers associated with the word Yoga.

They think that the practice of Yoga would give them the miraculous power with which they could satisfy their desires. At least they hope they could prolong their lives on this earth.

At the very outset it should be clearly understood that Pathanjali who designed it had no such end in view.

His sole object was to make use of the mind and probe into the heart of things, as he was not satisfied with the information brought in by the senses or with the knowledge furnished by the mind.

The defect in such knowledge is due to the fact (a) that the senses are limited, (b) the intellect is finite and (c) the mind is influenced by bias, prejudices, belief, theory, pre-supposition and principles.

If one wants to know the real essence of things then one has to pierce through the outer form Rupa and expose the kernel (Swaya Rupa).

‘For this purpose Pathanjali’s Yoga is known as the Ashta Anga Yoga consisting of eight (8) parts.

The first four are preparatory in character. Every Hindu is expected to practise them in daily life. : cleanliness, contentment, truthfulness, non-violence, non-possessiveness, non-acquiescesness, sitting in a comfortable position in an undisturbed place and breathing according to set rules. There is noting mystical about these mental and physical exercises. Anyone can practise them for general well being. In fact many non-Hindus actually do this.

Pathanjali, however had one purpose: that was to eliminate distraction coming from desires and emotions of the mind and discomfort arising from the physical body while probing into things to discover their real nature.

If one practises these for years one would get a mental and physical pose which would be remarkable. The Yoga proper begins when one is able to cut off the senses from the mind. This is possible only for a Yogi.

Aspects of Lord Siva:

Siva The Supreme God

Jayaram V

Saiva tradition identifies Lord Siva or Shiva as a formless eternal and mysterious being with many aspects and dimensions. He is both transcendental and immanent, who cannot be quantified and qualified objectively with our limited awareness. He is beyond our mind and senses, but within the reach of our experience and awakening. Various schools of Saivisma or Shaivism and the scriptures that form their basis allude to some important aspects of Siva, as experienced by the awakened jivas in their transcendental states, which are mentioned below.

* Siva as nirguna Brahman

* Siva as saguna Brahman

* Siva as lord of a functional universe

*Siva as dynamic power

* Siva as a deluded soul

*Siva as an enlightened and self-aware soul

* Siva as a Vedic deity

Siva as Nirguna Brahman

At the highest level, lord Siva is Sadasiva, Parameswara, or Paramasiva. In his formless (nirguna) aspect, he is the transcendental formless reality, the highest and the most unknown, who is Brahman Himself without qualities and attributes, the supreme lord, the eternal truth, the absolute, infinite, timeless, indivisible, entirely subjective Truth, which is beyond the senses and mind, without time. He is the end of all spiritual practice, the experience of pure consciousness and bliss in the state of samadhi or union. by experiencing which everything is known and realized. He is the eternal mystery mentioned in the Kena Upanishad, whom Uma Haimavathi refers as the “Spirit Supreme”, by knowing whom Indra excelled all other devas and became the ruler of the heavens. According to Siva purana even Brahma and Vishnu attained the level of Trinity because of their past devotion to Nirguna Siva.

Siva as Saguna Brahman

As the awakened supreme self, Siva is Maheswara or Mahasiva, the Lord of the manifest universe. As the awakened supreme self, he is saguna Brahman, the cosmic lord, who combines within himself the roles of creation, maintenance, destruction, concealment and liberation. He performs these five functions through his five supreme energies: pure consciousness (chit-shakti, bliss (ananda-shakti), will power (iccha-shakti), pure knowledge (jnana-shakti) and dynamic power (kriya-shakti).

As manifest Brahman, he projects the material and objective universe through his dynamic power (shakti) and projects into himself, like a reflection in a mirror, all that he creates. The creation is but his conscious dream, an alternate reality that cannot be entirely categorized as false or illusory. He is the Purusha of the Vedas, the cosmic male, who creates Prakriti 1 the cosmic female and then establishes himself in it in order to manifest the objective reality in which he conceals himself from himself exists as deluded jivas. As Tirumantram states succintly, “Himself creates, Himself poreserves, Himself destroys, Himself obscures and then grants himself mukti, Himself the all pervading lord.” He is also the source of all knowledge, the Agamas and the Tantras come from him.

Siva as the Lord of a Functional Universe

At the next lower level he is Iswara or Siva or Rudra, representing a functional aspect of Mahasiva, performing the role of a destroyer. In this role, he is responsible for the regeneration and renewal of the material and objective universe and its various components through destruction and degeneration. In this functional aspect he facilitates the illusory movement of kala (time) from one phase (yuga) to another.

He is Hara and Samkara, the lord with a thousand names, who is seated on the mountains of Kailash, with Parvathi and his whole entourage of devas, gods, siddhas, siva ganas, myriad yogis and devotees enjoying his darshan (vision). In this role he facilitates the spiritual progress of humanity.

He evolves the subtle beings into gross and then the gross beings into subtle. Through his grace (anugraha), he destroys our karma, impurities and bonds and facilitate our spiritual evolution. He makes possible the flow of divine consciousness into our earth consciousness using himself as the conduit and brings forth all the tantras and agamas.

Siva as Jiva, the Embodied and Deluded Soul

The jivas are the deluded aspect of Siva. According to some schools of Saivism, they are not created by any one and exist just like Siva eternally. Their number also remain constant which means they retain their individuality even after attaining liberation from the bonds of objectivity.

According to other schools, jivas and Siva represent the same reality. There is actually no difference between the two or at the most the relationship is that of difference and non-difference (bheda-abheda).

The deluded being are subject to the impurities of anava (finiteness), delusion (maya) and egoistic actions (karma) but are the same as Siva in terms of essence and pure consciousness. When the cloud of ignorance is removed through the intervention of Siva’s grace (anugraha), a jiva becomes liberated and reunites with Siva. Thereafter there will not be any difference between the two.

Siva as an Enlightened and Self-aware Entity

These are the various incarnations, emanations, divinities and deities and objectified energies that constitute the Siva pantheon. They come into being as a projection of cosmic will during the various phases of creation. Some are manifested in the very beginning and some in the middle and some at the end.

They perform many roles and implement the supreme will of Siva. Hanuman, Dakshinamurthy, Tandavamurthy, Bhairava, Virabhadra, Chandakesvara, Mahakaleswar, Ardhanariswara, Bhikshtanamurthy, Tandavamurthy are some of his well known minor aspects or incarnations.

Some schools of Saivism do not accept the concept of incarnations. According to them since is a Siva perfect being and creation is a manifestation of his dynamic will, there is no place for imperfection or disorder in his manifestation and so the questions of reincarnation to restore order does not arise. What we consider as his incarnations are but the embodiment of highly evolved jivas who come to the earth plane to help others on the path of liberation or perform specific tasks as willed by Siva.

Siva as a Vedic deity

For those who do not practice pure Saivism or any of the Saiva schools, Siva is a very popular god of Hindu or Vedic pantheon and they worship him as such either as a personal god or in the company of other gods.

An ancient god with prehistoric roots and far deeper antiquity than we can fathom, we find references to a god by the name Rudra in the Vedas. Rudra is the god of rain and thunder.

In all probability when the vedic priests integrated different native traditions of India with the vedic traditions, they probably identified, Siva, already a popular God of India, with the Rudra of the Vedas. Devout Hindus who practice mainstream Hinduism, indulge in devotional, ritualistic, ascetic, festive, yogic, musical and meditative practices to please Lord Siva and attain his grace.

As a personal god, Siva has the qualities of a graceful and lovable god, who is easier to please and approach with love and devotion. As the lord of Kailas, he is an epitome of knowledge, humility and unconditional love. As a devoted husband, father and master, he bestows boons and unconditional love upon his beloved devotees.

Whether they belong to the mainstream Saivism or not, Hindus are very emotional and ecstatic about Lord Siva which can be seen and felt in many sacred places and temples of Siva all over the country.

It is important to know that Lord Siva is Brahman himself, who descends into lower planes to manifest himself in different aspects, which he does for his own ananda (pure joy).

As deluded souls, it is important for us to know that we are Siva himself in human form and that we can by effort rediscover our own infinity. Siva does not ask us to worship him, rather know ourselves as him only and live with that faith and conviction the rest of our lives.

Courtesy: Internet

Maha Kumbabhishekam

Chelvatamby Maniccavasagar

The Maha Kumbabhishekam of Sri Swarnampiha Sametha Srimath Arunasaleswara Devasthanam, Mutwal, Colombo 15 is being held form Friday July 16, 2010 commencing from 9.00 a.m. to 10.20.

This Arunaleswara Sivam Temple was built by the great patriot Sri Ponnambalam Arunachalam and the temple is spaciously laid out. The Moolasthana Sivalingam was brought from Kasi, Benaris and was installed here presiding as Arunachaleswara Murthi. The Divine consort is Parvatha Varthani Ambal.

On either side of the sanctum are the entrance where Vinayaka and Subramaniya Shrines are built. The imposing Nadaraja Murthy is housed in a separate shrine with an entrance facing the ocean. Another separate shrine is Kali Kovil, housing Kali Amman and Durga Devi Vigrahams.

In keeping with the Founder’s vast knowledge of Hindu Agamic traditions, the poojas and festivals in the temple are observed meticulously and the descendants of Sir Ponnambalam Arunachalam family successfully mange the temple’s affairs.

The temple’s trustees are Balakumaran Mahadeva, Sega Nagendra and M Swaminathan.