Hinduism

Sri Krishna Jayanthi, birth of Lord Krishna

G Arulananthan

Hindus all over the world celebrate Sri Krishna Jayanthi as a religious festival on Friday. Jayanthi is a term for the constellation of stars that took place during the appearance of Lord Krishna in this world.

Sri Krishna was born in a prison cell in the city of Madurai, on the banks of the river Yamuna, approximately 3000 years before the birth of Jesus Christ. It was predicted that his birth would spell the death of his wicked uncle Kamsa.

This prompted the cruel Kamsa to put in prison his sister Devaki and her husband Vasudeva. Krishna’s Divine appearance is described in the third chapter of Srimad Bhagavatam “thus:” - At the auspicious time for the appearance of the Lord, the entire universe was surcharged with all qualities of goodness, beauty and peace.

The constellate in “Rohini” appeared, as did stars like Aswini. The sun, the moon, and the other stars and planets were very peaceful. All directions appeared extremely pleasing and the beautiful stars twinkled in the cloudless sky. Decorated with towns, villages, mines and grounds, the earth seemed all auspicious.

The rivers flowed with clear water and the lakes and vast reservoirs full of Lillies and Lotuses, were extra-ordinarily beautiful.

Thus when the birthless Lord Vishnu, the Supreme personality of Godhead, was about to appear, the Saints and Brahmanas who had always been disturbed by demons like Kamsa and his man felt peace within the core of their hearts and Kettledrums simultaneously vibrated from the upper planetary systems.

The Kinnaras and Gandharvas (extra territorial beings) began to sing auspicious songs, the Siddhas and Charanas (spiritually advanced persons) offered auspicious prayers.

The demigods and great saintly persons showered flowers in a joyous mood and the clouds gathered in the sky and very mildly thundered making sounds like those of the ocean waves.

Then the supreme personality of Godhead, ”Vishnu”, who is situated in the core of everyone’s heart, appeared from the heart of Devaki in the dense darkness of night, like the full moon rising on the Eastern horizon because Devaki was the same category as Sri Krishna.

When Vasudeva saw his extraordinary son, he was struck with wonder. Bowing down with folded hands, he began to offer prayers. Devaki who was very much afraid of Kamsa and unusually astonished at super-natural symptoms of the child, began to offer prayers soon after the child’s birth. Vasudeva was directed to take the child to Gokulam and entrust him to Yasoda.

He grew up in Gokulam, performing many miraculous deeds that testified to the higher purpose of being God incarnate on earth, because as the Lord says in Bhagavad Gita as “Whenever there is decay of righteousness, O Bharata and there is exaltation of unrighteousness, at that time I descend myself, for the protection of the God, for the destruction of Evil Doers, for the sake of firmly establishing righteousness, I am born from age to age.

Indeed, Lord Krishna is the eighth of the ten Avatar (incarnation) and is called the complete incarnation (Purna Avatara of Vishnu), that is the full manifestation of the Lord Supreme.

The other incarnation were only political revelations of the God head. In Krishna Avatar His Godliness was clearly manifested through the revelation of His cosmic form.

In fact, Lord Krishna as charioteer to Arjuna in the Kurushetra battle ground delivered the eternal message of the Bhagavad Gita. Indeed, the Bhagavad Gita which forms part of Mahabharatha is the most popular religious poem of Sanskrit literature.

The Krishna Jayanti will be celebrated in all the Vishnu temples in Sri Lanka and as such, let us pray to Lord Vishnu and receive His Divine blessings.

An ancient religious work

K S Sivakumaran

In Saiva or Hindu Literature in Tamil there are several that come under the genre of Puranas (ancient legends). Such literature was written even in our country. Lankan Thamil Literature is as rich or in some respects, in at least few areas, as good as that were produced in neighbouring Thamilnadu. One such work is called Thirukkrasaip Puraanam.

The Hindu Religious / Cultural Department under the Ministry of Cultural Affairs has cared to publish this work for present day readers. We must congratulate the Senior Lecturer in Tamil at the South Eastern University for editing this work in verse and writing an explanatory note. We come to know about this writing only through this publication.

What this book is about is well explained by the Director of the Department, Shanthi Naavukkarasan and the academic K Raghuparan.

Excerpts:

“There are many ancient Sivan Temples in the Thiru Koana Malai (Trincomalee) District. One such temple is Thiru Karaiym Pathi. It was also known as Thiru Mangala Sivan Kovil and Agasthya Sthapanam.

This is believed to have been written by a disciple of Umapathy Sivachaariyaar. But his name is not known. The work has literary merits and religious sanctity” says the Director. Raghuparan writes further a critical note. I give below only one or two points of his foreword in my own words.

This work is an eulogy of a temple at a place called Kangu Veli in Thiru Koana Malai near the Mahaveli Ganga.

The book speaks about the temple and the deities enshrined there.In ancient Lanka it was only after the establishment of the establishment of the Yaalpaanam kingdom that there was a continuous production of Lankan Thamil Literature.

Some of these writings evolved in the Thiru Koana Malai district. Dhakshina Kailasa Puranam, Konesar Kalvettu, Thiri Koana Malai Puranam were important works. Several works from this district were destroyed earlier, only a few exist now.

The origin of the work reviewed was in Sanskrit, but the author in his own admission has stated that he had transcreated the original work written by Sootha Munivar.Kumaraswamy Pulavar from Yaalpaanam has written a commentary on the work concerned and that is included in the book under review.

Students offering Hindu Civilization in the GCE A/Level and in the Universities can benefit from this book.

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Lord Ganesha: God of Success, Knowledge and Wisdom

Ganesha - the elephant-deity riding a mouse - has become one of the commonest mnemonics for anything associated with Hinduism. This not only suggests the importance of Ganesha, but also shows how popular and pervasive this deity is in the minds of the masses.

The Lord of Success

The son of Shiva and Parvati, Ganesha has an elephantine countenance with a curved trunk and big ears, and a huge pot-bellied body of a human being. He is the Lord of success and destroyer of evils and obstacles. He is also worshipped as the god of education, knowledge, wisdom and wealth. In fact, Ganesha is one of the five prime Hindu deities (Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva and Durga being the other four) whose idolatry is glorified as the panchayatana puja.

Significance of the Ganesha form

Ganesha’s head symbolizes the Atman or the soul, which is the ultimate supreme reality of human existence, and his human body signifies Maya or the earthly existence of human beings.

The elephant head denotes wisdom and its trunk represents Om, the sound symbol of cosmic reality. In his upper right hand Ganesha holds a goad, which helps him propel mankind forward on the eternal path and remove obstacles from the way. The noose in Ganesha’s left hand is a gentle implement to capture all difficulties.

The broken tusk that Ganesha holds like a pen in his lower right hand is a symbol of sacrifice, which he broke for writing the Mahabharata. The rosary in his other hand suggests that the pursuit of knowledge should be continuous.

The laddoo (sweet) he holds in his trunk indicates that one must discover the sweetness of the Atman. His fan-like ears convey that he is all ears to our petition. The snake that runs round his waist represents energy in all forms. And he is humble enough to ride the lowest of creatures, a mouse.

How Ganesha got his head

The story of the birth of this zoomorphic deity, as depicted in the Shiva Purana, goes like this: Once goddess Parvati, while bathing, created a boy out of the dirt of her body and assigned him the task of guarding the entrance to her bathroom. When Shiva, her husband returned, he was surprised to find a stranger denying him access, and struck off the boy’s head in rage.

Parvati broke down in utter grief and to soothe her, Shiva sent out his squad (gana) to fetch the head of any sleeping being who was facing the north. The company found a sleeping elephant and brought back its severed head, which was then attached to the body of the boy. Shiva restored its life and made him the leader (pati) of his troops. Hence his name ‘Ganapati’. Shiva also bestowed a boon that people would worship him and invoke his name before undertaking any venture.

However, there’s another less popular story of his origin, found in the Brahma Vaivarta Purana: Shiva asked Parvati to observe the punyaka vrata for a year to appease Vishnu in order to have a son.

When a son was born to her, all the gods and goddesses assembled to rejoice on its birth. Lord Shani, the son of Surya (Sun-God), was also present but he refused to look at the infant. Perturbed at this behaviour, Parvati asked him the reason, and Shani replied that his looking at baby would harm the newborn. However, on Parvati’s insistence when Shani eyed the baby, the child’s head was severed instantly. All the gods started to bemoan, whereupon Vishnu hurried to the bank of river Pushpabhadra and brought back the head of a young elephant, and joined it to the baby’s body, thus reviving it.

Ganesha, the Destroyer of Pride

Ganesha is also the destroyer of vanity, selfishness and pride. He is the personification of material universe in all its various magnificent manifestations. “All Hindus worship Ganesha regardless of their sectarian belief,” says D N Singh in A Study of Hinduism. “He is both the beginning of the religion and the meeting ground for all Hindus.”

Ganesh Chaturthi

The devotees of Ganesha are known as ‘Ganapatyas’, and the festival to celebrate and glorify him is called Ganesh Chaturthi.

-About.hinduism.com

Hindu rites and rituals

A detailed series of life-cycle rituals (samskara, or refinements) mark major

transitions in the life of the individual. Especially orthodox Hindu families

may invite Brahman priests to their homes to officiate at these rituals, complete with sacred fire and recitations of mantras.

Most of these rituals, however, do not occur in the presence of such priests, and among many groups who do not revere the Vedas or respect Brahmans, there may be other officiants or variations in the rites.

Pregnancy, Birth, Infancy

Ceremonies may be performed during pregnancy to ensure the health of the mother and growing child. The father may part the hair of the mother three times upward from the front to the back, to assure the ripening of the embryo. Charms may serve to ward off the evil eye and witches or demons. At birth, before the umbilical cord is severed, the father may touch the baby’s lips with a gold spoon or ring dipped in honey, curds, and ghee. The word vak (speech) is whispered three times into the right ear, and mantras are chanted to ensure a long life.

A number of rituals for the infant include the first visit outside to a temple, the first feeding with solid food (usually cooked rice), an ear-piercing ceremony, and the first haircut (shaving the head) that often occurs at a temple or during a festival when the hair is offered to a deity.

Upanayana: The Thread Ceremony

A crucial event in the life of the orthodox, upper-caste Hindu male is an initiation (upanayana) ceremony, which takes place for some young males between the ages of six and twelve to mark the transition to awareness and adult religious responsibilities. At the ceremony itself, the family priest invests the boy with a sacred thread to be worn always over the left shoulder, and the parents instruct him in pronouncing the Gayatri Mantra. The initiation ceremony is seen as a new birth; those groups entitled to wear the sacred thread are called the twice-born.

In the ancient categorization of society associated with the Vedas, only the three highest groups - Brahman, warrior (Kshatriya), and commoner or merchant (Vaishya) - were allowed to wear the thread, to make them distinct from the fourth group of servants (Shudra).

Many individuals and groups who are only hazily associated with the old “twice-born” elites perform the upanayana ceremony and claim the higher status it bestows. For young Hindu women in South India, a different ritual and celebration occurs at the first menses.

-About.hinduism.com