Hindu Gods-Symbology

The deeper meaning of Hindu gods

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Moderation and Meditation, Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 6

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The power of meditation.

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Hidden Science in Kailashanatha Temple

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Hidden Science in Kailashanatha Temple

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Manmatha – The god of love

Manamatha means the one who churns the heart. He is also known by many other names – Kamadeva (the god of desire), ananga (formless), panchabana (one who wields five arrows) to name a few. He rides a parrot. His bow is made of sugarcane and his bow string is made of bees. He carries five types of arrows. His wife Rati is the goddess of passion and seasons. His companion is the cuckoo and the spring. He is dark complexioned.

Although he is popularly known as the god of love, he is actually the god of desire. He represents all forms of desires, like the desire for success, wealth, happiness, fame, knowledge and even liberation. In our tradition desire is given an exalted position because it drives our free will and differentiates us from instinct driven animals. It is the power which can transform human beings and elevate them to great heights. It is considered one of the three fundamental powers of goddess Parvathi, called echa shakthi (the power of desire).

According to Vedas, before all things came desire. It is considered one of the prime movers of the world and no great accomplishment is possible without it. Kama or desire is given the status of a powerful god in Hinduism. Great gods like Brahma and Shiva have succumbed to his assault.

This god is depicted as dark and handsome with mischievous eyes. Dark complexion represents incomprehensibility. No one understands desire but everyone succumbs to it. The bow made of sugarcane actually represents the mind. It is through the mind that we experience all joy. Hence it is described as made of sugarcane. It is represented as a bow because it is the mind which shoots the sense organs towards the sense objects. The five arrows of Manmadha, represents the five sense organs (eyes, ears, nose, taste and touch) which get shot towards the object of desire. The bow string is made of bees. Just as bees seek nectar, the mind seeks the nectar of worldly delight.

Manmatha rides a parrot. In our tradition it is the symbol of love and desire. It’s beak is red which represents  possibilities and it’s body is green which represents fulfilment of these possibilities. It is desire which connects the possibilities to fruition. For example if you have the potential to be a great writer, you can accomplish this potential only if you desire to be one. So it is essentially desire which brings possibility to it’s fulfillment. Without desire nothing can exist.

Another name of Manmatha is Manasija meaning born in the mind because that’s where desires are born. He is also called ananga, meaning formless. There is story associated with this name. Once, Mamatha shot his arrows at Shiva when he was deep in meditation. Shiva opened his third eye and reduced him to ashes. His wife, Rathi was distraught. She cried to Shiva saying “The whole world moves because of desire. You have killed Mamatha, everything will cease to exist”. Parvathi then restored Manmatha to life and told Rathi that he will have no body, but only she will be able to see him.

This story has deep significance. Shiva’s third eye represents gyanam (knowledge). As long as we are ignorant, we will see duality with our two eyes. We will seek fulfillment through our desires. Once we open the third eye of knowledge, all duality disappears and our desires are destroyed in the fire of enlightenment.

There is another very nice meaning given to Mamatha being bought back to a formless existence. The only love that can withstand great assaults is that which transcends the physical realm.

In philosophy, love is used as a metaphor for the eternal quest of the soul seeking union with infinite Brahman. This is brilliantly bought out in the great Tamil poem, Thirupaavai, where Andal seeks marriage with Vishnu. It comprises of 30 verses, one for each day of the month, which bring out the greatness of Vishnu and the love of Andal. It is only love that can proclaim “ Kuraiondrum ellada govinda undanoodu, uravel namakingu olikka oliyadu” – “O flawless Govinda, nothing can destroy the bond between you and me”

So, it does appear that love is everywhere. Happy Valentine’s day.

[archanaraghuram]

Matrix and Vedanta - Oracle

For a long long time I could not figure out the Oracle. It left me with a lingering sense of non-closure. How can you claim to understand a movie if you don’t understand a key character in it? Then I watched Matrix Reloaded again. When I listened to this dialogue between Oracle and Neo, the solution finally dawned on me.

Neo : “You are not human, you are a program, aren’t you.”

Oracle: “It is hard to get more obvious than that.”

Neo: “Then you are also part of the system, you could be just another control like the rest. Why should I trust you?”

Oracle: “Bingo. The bad news is, there is no way of knowing. You will have to decide whether to accept or reject what I say.”

The dialogue continues after this, but only these lines are relevant to us. Many people suggested that Oracle is also anGuru, like Morpheus. I could not agree with that because she exhibited no characteristics of a Guru. She was not free from the Matrix, she could never escape it. If you had to contact her, you had to enter the matrix. Then who is she?

The solution lies in the fact that she is just another program. She is not human so she need not and cannot escape the Matrix. Like Neo says, she is part of the system.

Now, let me ask you these questions

1)    What is that which is as important as a Guru in obtaining liberation?

2)    What is that which even liberated souls, like Morpheus trust implicitly, because it led them to liberation and they could not have got it otherwise. Throughout the movie, Morpheus’s trust in Oracle is unshakable.

3)    What is that which we have to accept primarily on faith, until we obtain liberation?

I will give you a clue. There is this classic debate in Vedanta. “If you claim the world is Maya, an illusion, then what is Gnyanam, the knowledge which leads us to liberation. Isn’t it also part of this world. Isn’t it also an illusion?” It you can answer this question you can claim membership to an exclusive Vedantic Mensa club headed by Shankaracharya.

I let you mull over these questions. I will post my answer tomorrow.

Updated: Answer to the Oracle

The Oracle is the Vedas. It is considered the ultimate source of knowledge. It is believed that Vedas have no human authorship and are revealed by god himself. No one is considered greater than the Vedas, not even the guru and if any teaching of the Guru contradicts the Vedas it is not valid.

So, guru and Vedas are equally important in the pursuit of liberation. No proper guru ever claims that his teachings are his own inventions. He only passes on the knowledge from the Vedas. Until you get liberation there is no way we can validate vedantic statements like “I am brahman” or “You are god”. We only have to trust.

Thus, I think, Oracle symbolizes the Vedas.

Vedas are also part of Maya, because they belong to this world. All objects in your dream are unreal. But you can be stunned into waking by the certain happenings in your dream. There is a nice story to illustrate this. A guru sends his student to bring the cows from the shed. When the student reaches the shed, he tries to make them move. He is not able to make them move, they behave as though they are bound by a rope. The student goes back to the teacher and tells him that he is just not able to make them move. Guru says you go back and act as though you are untying them. He goes back and does as his guru instructed. Immediately, the cows start moving as though they have been freed. That is what the Vedas and the Guru do, set you free from an imaginary bondage. Since the bondage itself is an illusion so is the process of liberation.

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Matrix and Vedanta - Agents

The agents are one of the most popular aspects of the movie and also one of those perfectly coherent metaphors making it the easiest puzzle to crack. There are clues about the agents throughout the movie. The agents represent all the worldly things that distract us from spiritual progress. Sometimes the distractions take the form of bad things like disaster, setback, failure etc. They can also be good things like success, fame, children, wealth etc. They pull you deeper into the Matrix and prevent you from ever escaping it. It is the nature of Maya. If you try to break free from her, she will send her agents and try her best to stop you.

 In the movie, Morpheus tells Neo that agents are programs which are used to eliminate threat to the Matrix and anyone who is not unplugged is potentially an agent. In life, anything from our new car to bad roads can serve as agents. All the people associated with us can serve as agents. They keep us entrenched in the matrix. In the movie too you can see agents enter anyone at will to fight the rebels. Morpheus also says that agents power is limited by the physical rules of the Matrix, hence once Neo realizes he is “The One”, the agents have no power over him. Just as, once a man attains liberation he cannot be shaken by anything life throws at him. This concept is bought out in the final scenes of the movie. Neo is chased by the agents and he is even shot. He turns around and suddenly he sees them only as the green characters in the computer screen. He no longer sees them as the powerful agents but as programs within the matrix. This indicates that he is liberated, he has finally broken free from the hold Matrix has on his mind. Matrix is no longer able to manipulate him by projecting illusions.  In this state of realization, the agents are powerless against Neo. He is able to fight and defeat them without even trying. Do watch the climatic scenes of the first Matrix movie. These are pivotal scenes which shows how a liberated soul is unaffected by this world of maya and how he can fight its potent weapons effortlessly. Once he reaches this state of mind, the agents lose their potency. Neither success nor defeat can touch him. He reaches the state which Baghavad Geetha describes as “Nainam chindanti sashtrani…” he cannot be cut by weapons, nor burnt by fire. This verse from the Geetha is dramatized verbatim in the scene where Neo is shot point blank by the agents and he is unaffected.

 However another member of the crew tells Neo that if he sees an agent his only chance of survival is to run. I think this addresses a classic debate in Hinduism. There is one view which claims that the only way to liberation is running away from all distractions. Since possessions and attachments are powerful agents of maya, stay away from them. Give up all your possessions and relationships. This is called Sanyasa, which is was considered the only route to liberation. Vedanta used to be taught only to Sanyasis (ascetics). To become a Sanyasi, you not only have to shave your hair and wear saffron robes. You will have to do your own Tharpanam (ceremony done for dead people). It is like you are taking another birth and giving up all the things and people you were associated with in this life. That is why even the name of Sanyasi is changed and they are not allowed to stay in one place for more than one night to avoid forming new attachments. All these reflect the extent of fear of agents and to what lengths they were willing to run

 My next post is on the Oracle, which was the most difficult character to decipher. I had given up on her, until someone recommended that I should watch the second movie again and look for clues there. Only after that did I manage to crack the oracle. What is your take on her.

[archanaraghuram]

Matrix and Vedanta - Trinity

Trinity was a challenge to me. She is too important a character to have been bought in just for story value. At the same time her characterization did not conform to any one concept in Vedanta. Here is my take on her.

Trinity represents god/goddess. Since there are three main hindu gods, Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva whom we refer to as Trinity, she has been given that name. I concluded this both because of her name and also because of the fact that she leads Neo to Morpheus. There is a very frequently asked question, how is prayer relevant in the pursuit of liberation. Moksha is realizing the fact that you are brahman, that you are god. How can we reconcile this with the concept of a god who is separate from us, more powerful than us and who can bestow boons on us? If the universe is an illusion, isn’t god also an illusion? So, can we conclude that there is no role for bhakthi or prayer when you are a seeker of liberation.

The answer is “no”. As long as you are in the Matrix, you are bound by the rules of the matrix. Similarly, as long as you are part of this world of Maya, you are bound by its rules. That is why even if you are a liberated soul like Morpheus, you cannot break all rules.

And god, as is normally understood, is also a reality in this world. You can think of god as the programmer of the matrix. He has the ability to manipulate the matrix to give you what you want. When you are a seeker of liberation there are many ways in which god and prayer helps you.

God helps the seeker find the right guru who will lead him to liberation. In the movie, it is Trinity who leads Neo to Morpheus.

God can help you prepare your mind for Moksha. However well you understand Vedanta, it is not possible to be liberated unless your mind is prepared to handle the knowledge and internalize it. Vedanta says a mind which is sharp, free from anger, hatred, jealousy, attachments and dishonesty can only truly be liberated. Prayer and meditation can help us achieve this state of mind. In the movie you can see that it is Trinity whom Neo encounters first. She prepares him before taking him to Morpheus. She fights the agents along with him. Within the matrix she is very powerful and Neo could not have survived without her help. So, any seeker of liberation first needs to build a relationship with god. Only he can help the seeker fight all weapons that maya uses on him, only he can prepare his mind and lead him to a guru.

Lastly, the distinction of god being a separate and powerful entity exists only within Maya. God is also an illusion. Whereas, a liberated person has freed himself from Maya and hence he is superior to god. That is why, both Morpheus and Neo are projected as superior to Trinity.

Next, I will write about the agents. They are really fascinating. Do share your thoughts on them.

[archanaraghuram]

Matrix and Vedanta – Morpheus

 One of the the most obvious symbols to decipher in the movie is Morpheus. He represents a guru who enlightens the seeker on the nature of reality. There are so many scenes in the movie which indicate this.

There is a recurring question in our philosophy. How do you find a right Guru? If you have to evaluate a person you will have to have more knowledge than the person, which is not possible if you are looking for answers yourself. So, it is not possible for a seeker to evaluate a guru and decide whether he is qualified. What our religion says is that, when a seeker is ready, the Guru will find him, just like Morpheus finds Neo. In the beginning of the movie when Neo meets Trinity, she tells him “I know why you are here Neo, why you hardly sleep. Why night after night you sit at your computer. You are looking for him. Actually, you are looking for an answer. It is the question that drives us. You want to know what is a Matrix. The answer is out there Neo. It is looking for you. It will find you if you want it to”. Take the case of Krishna and Arjuna. Although they have known each other all their lives, Krishna becomes Arjuna’s guru as soon as he asks the right questions. When Arjuna seeks answers and surrenders to Krishna.

Another important quality of a Guru is seen in Morpheus. A guru is a realized soul. He understands the Matrix is maya and he has no personal motives to enter it. The only reason he enters the Matrix is because he wants to free others. 

Another thing we learn from Neo & Moprheus interaction is the role of faith. Vedanta constantly reiterates that liberation is only possible through knowledge. All of us know, knowledge is opposite to faith. While knowledge requires understanding, faith requires us to believe and accept even if we don’t understanding. What role does faith play in Vedanta? We discussed in my previous post, that liberation is the knowledge of the ‘real you’. Since we know Matrix is everywhere we cannot physically escape it. So as long as we are in the Matrix, liberation is only a firm intellectual and emotional conviction about the unreality of the universe. Just as we strongly and instinctively believe that we are this body, mind and intellect we should believe that we are not these with the same conviction. This cannot be achieved with faith, because knowledge can only be got through clear understanding and proper analysis. Faith comes into play during the initial phase of spiritual growth when you have to deal with this radical subject matter. How is it possible to accept that the world that we experience tangibly, every moment is an illusion? So Vedanta says, have faith till you get a proper understanding. It is not possible to proceed to understanding without faith. In one of the early scenes, Morpheus asks Neo to jump from a tall building. Neo refuses to do it and gets caught by the agents. Our whole spiritual journey is like jumping off a building, because it means giving up all that we held dear, right from our possessions to our fundamental beliefs.

 I will end this post with a question “Who is Trinity”. This is a tough one!

Clue : She leads him to Morpheus

[archanaraghuram]

Matrix and Vedanta – Neo

We saw in my previous post, that Matrix symbolizes “Maya”, the power of illusion that makes us believe that the world is real. Morpheus gives a brilliant definition of Maya “A world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth”.

What does the character of the hero, Neo signify. He represents a seeker of truth. A person like Arjuna, who is bewildered by the world and questions it’s working. In the movie he is a hacker. It signifies a deeper understanding of the workings of the world than a regular person. A person who does not take the world at its face value. When Morphes meets Neo for the first time he tells Neo “Let me tell you why you are here. You are here because you know there is something wrong with the world. It is that feeling which has brought you here” This dialog brought to mind a famous verse from Mundakopanishid, the very first Upanishad I learnt.

 “ peareeksha lokaan karma chitan brahmano, nirveda maya nasyakrutha kruthena, thad vignayanartham sa gurumevabhi gacheth, sameethpaneem srothriyam brahmanishnam”

 It describes the various steps in spiritual journey of a seeker. It begins by the seeker examining the world and wondering what is wrong with it? Whatever we seek desperately, even if we attain it, it does not satisfy us. If we look back at all the things we have worked hard for, have we ever been completely happy after attaining it! It has only led to more desires. When a seeker realizes this, he is disillusioned with worldly things. He wants to seek that thing, which when attained will give him permanent happiness and contentment. He seeks a Guru who leads him to this goal. He learns from the guru and discovers that the world is only an illusion.

How does it help if he discovers that the world in an illusion? Let us expand the dream example further. Let us assume you are having a bad dream. You are hungry, frightened and depressed. Someone comes to you and says “Don’t worry about all these things. It is only a dream. You are actually comfortably sleeping in your AC room after a hearty dinner”. Even while you are dreaming you become aware of the fact that you are in a dream. How will this change the state of your mind? You will suddenly be freed from the confines of your dream. The scientific term for this state is Lucid dream. “A lucid dream is a dream during which the dreamer is aware of dreaming. During lucid dreaming, the dreamer may be able to exert some degree of control over the dream characters, narrative, and environment”. You can smile at all the things that frightened you, not only because they are un-real, also because they are your creations. You can treat with equanimity whatever happens in your dream. Although you will be part of all action in your dream it will have no impact on your peace of mind and happiness. This is what is described as Moksha or liberation in Vedanta. It is the discovery of the real you and thus attaining undisturbed bliss (This state is called ‘Poornathavam’ in Sanskrit, what you call ‘Niraivu’ in Tamil).

My next post is on Morpheas. There are many obvious clues in this post as to his identity. 

[archanaraghuram]

The Matrix and Vedanta

What I find fascinating about Hindu symbols is how they have used images and stories as metaphors to explain complex concepts of our philosophy. The fundamental premise of Vedanta is that the world is just an illusion. The same truth is conveyed by the image of the sleeping Rangantha and a dancing Nataraja. The goal of human life is to discover the real you by overcoming this illusion. The entire spiritual journey is process of breaking free from this illusion.

This philosophy is conveyed brilliantly using a modern metaphor in the movie Matrix. As I was watching the movie I could recall the actual verses from the Geetha and Upanishads during many scenes. I consider it a masterpiece for its creativity and brilliant storytelling. If you do not know Vedanta, you can enjoy it for its wonderful storytelling and special effects. If you know Vedanta you can appreciate it at whole new level; for its nuance and the seamless way in which they have integrated the message of Vedanta with the story.

I am planning to do several posts on the Matrix and Vedanta. I strongly recommend you watch the first movie in the trilogy before reading.

What is the Matrix. It represents Maya Shakthi, the power of illusion which deludes us into thinking the world in real. In the movie in is shown as a field of human beings in an induced sleep who are all dreaming that they are living in a world. A powerful computer program called the matrix tricks the brain into thinking they are living in a real world. Notice the similarity between this metaphor and the sleeping Ranganatha dreaming up the whole world. Morpheas tells Neo “The Matrix is everywhere. You see it when you look out of your window, turn on the TV or go to work. It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth. The truth that you are born a slave, you are born into a prison, a prison for your mind” Wow, I love this definition of Maya, “A world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth”. The goal of all human beings is to break free from the Matrix and wake up to their real self.

Vedanta says that world is nothing but a dream. “Due to the deluding power of Maya I see this world as if it is outside of me. Like when I sleep my whole dream is within me, created by me, but I see it as though it is outside of me. Only when I wake up I see the reality”

The rest of the characters in the movie, Neo, Morpheas, Trinity, The Agents, Sentinals, oracle, each of them are symbols for different aspects of Vedanta. I will write about each of them in separate posts.

My next post is on Neo. Any guesses as to what he symbolizes?

[archanaraghuram]

Vishwaroopam

In the 11th chapter of Bhagavad Geetha Lord Krishna give Vishwaroopa Darshanam to Arjuna. He shows himself as the whole universe. Oppenheimer, the inventor of atom bomb, quoted a verse from this chapter when the atom bomb was first tested, “I become the death and the destroyer of everything”.

In Hinduism, you are allowed to pray to anything (there are 330 Million gods and you are free to add more), the reason being there is nothing in this world that is not god. Looking at everything in the world as god, is the state of mind all of us should strive for but it is very hard to achieve. We can think of an idol of Ganapathi as god, but can we think of a person whom we hate, as one.

So, we have to progress to this state of mind, in stages. First, you begin with thinking of god as a single idol. Choosing this idol is also not a random act. When you pray to god as Saraswathi, the goddess of learning, you inculcate the love for knowledge, the respect for knowledge, the value for knowledge; when you pray to him as Ganapathy you inculcate all leadership qualities. This is stage one.

In stage two, you recognize all greatness/goodness you see anywhere as belonging to god. This topic is discussed in the 10th chapter of Bhagavad Geetha, it is called Vibhuthi Yoga. Krishna says “among the months I am  Margali, among the sages I am Vyasa, among the men I am Arjuna, among the Vedas I am Samaveda…. All the greatness you see anywhere in the world are born out of me.” This state of mind helps develop humility and also helps us admire and respect the greatness even in people we dislike. It broadens the mind.

The stage three of Bhakthi, is described in the 11th chapter. In this stage, you don’t look at just the good and great, but even the bad and ugly as god. All the things that you feared and hated are also part of god. The same concept is bought out in another vedic hymn called Purushasuktham, where the whole universe is described as different parts of the cosmic being. This is also the premise of Vedanta which states that whole universe is god and that god is you.

How does Krishna show this Vishwaroopa to  Arjuna? He is supposed to have given him special eyes to see it. According to our philosophy, the sense of separation we feel from the rest of the world is because of our ego (The thought that “I am different and the world is a different and a separate entity”). Krishna  temporarily removes this ego and Arjuna feels one with the universe. Vishwaroopa Darshanam is nothing but Arjuna recognizing the fact that that there are no divisions in the universe, it is a single entity and that is what we call god.

Arjuna is so frightened by this scene. He sees death, destruction, disease, all his enemies, as part of Krishna. He tells Krishna, “I cannot bear to see you like this. You have been my friend, you have shown me so much love and kindness, how can so much cruelty be part of you!”  This is the problem with Viswaroopam, it is so hard to come to terms with it.

 I would like to end this post on Vishwaroopa with a quote from Einstein on the universe

“A human being is a part of a whole, called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest...  a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us.  Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty."

[archanaraghuram]

Ranganatha - A symbol of self realization

In the previous post we discussed the Narayana, who is dreaming up the whole universe. In this post we will see the Narayana “who has made the hearts of human beings his abode” and “who is the final goal of all human beings”

As per this interpretation, Vishnu represents the soul (Athman) within us. The picture of Vishnu lying on the serpent bed, floating on the milky ocean indicates the means of recognizing the Athman with in us. The ocean is the mind with it’s infinite thoughts. Milky Ocean stands for a pure mind, free from all negative tendencies. A man can recognize his godhood only in such a state of mind.

The serpent represents his ego with its many desires. An extroverted ego loses sight of its inner divinity. When the mind is pure the ego is turned inwards.. When the same ego is focused inwards it recognizes the self. The thousand heads of the serpent turning inwards indicate that all thoughts are directed upon the soul. In such a state of meditation, a man discovers Narayana, the immortal soul that resides within him.

Yoga is derived from the word yuj, to unite and Nidra means sleep. Yoganidra indicates that once a person is united with his real self he is blind (asleep) to the external world, reveling in the infinite bliss of self realization. The wealth of the whole world is a slave to such a man which is indicated by Lakshmi pressing his feet. Thus Narayana (real happiness) rests right within us while we are busy looking for him in many different things.

Well, I still love my dad’s version of Ranganatha, resting peacefully as he directs the drama of life.

[archanaraghuram]

Ranganatha sleeping on his snake bed

My first memories of the sleeping Narayana are from the Triplicane Parthasarathy temple. I used to sometimes accompany my dad on his weekly visits to this temple. (It’s a generations old family tradition which my generation can take the credit for breaking). He used to point to the statue and tell me the story which his dad used to tell him. “This Ranganatha swamy is the original deity of the temple. Ranganatha means the master of the stage. The whole world is just a play and he is the one who is directing it. Although he has to direct such a huge undertaking he is calm and resting peacefully in his bed”. This must have seemed like a miracle to my dad who never learnt the art of staying calm! As a child, I honestly believed that it was godly quality, beyond the capacity of mere mortals.

The sleeping Narayana in Ananthashyanam on the thousand headed snake has been interpreted in so many different ways. In the next two posts I tell you two common interpretations of this symbol.  

The term Narayana has many meaning.

The one who has made the causal waters his abode 

The one who has made the hearts of human beings his abode

The one who is the final goal of all human beings

The first definition has given raise to the above picture of Narayana.

He is asleep on a bed of serpent called Sesha or Ananatha, which is floating on an ocean of milk. One of his legs is resting on the lap of Lakshmi who is gently pressing his feet. As he dreams up the next creation, a lotus with Brahma seated on it, springs from his navel.

The milky ocean represents Prakrithi or nature in it’s undifferentiated state. The whiteness indicates its purity. His bed of snake is called Sesha meaning “that which is left over at the end”, “the remainder”. It is believed that all the accumulated Karmas of all human beings are the cause of the next creation. They remain even after the universe is resolved and act as the seeds for the next creation. The continuous cycle of creation is sustained by our Karmas and thus the world is depicted as being supported by Sesha. The thousand heads indicate the vastness of Karmas. The snake is also called Anantha meaning endless or infinite, which indicates that there is no end to this cycle of Karma. The emerging lotus from Vishnu’s navel indicates the emergence of space, from which the whole universe is created and sustained. The blooming lotus represents the unfolding space and the brahma represents the consciousness from the which the entire universe comprising of inert and conscious entities arise.

 Lastly and most importantly, why is Vishnu, sleeping? It is to indicate the whole world is an illusion. That is why he is shown in Yoganidra (divine slumber) dreaming up the entire universe.

There is another equally interesting interpretation of this symbol based on the second definition of Narayana – “The one who has made the hearts of human beings his abode”. In my next post.

[archanaraghuram]

Remembering Shiva for Karthigai Deepam

It is Karthigai Deepam today, a special day for Shiva.

Shiva is the god of destruction and his names means auspiciousness. You may think it is ironical, but Shiva is the ultimate purifier. He takes all the refuse of the universe and regenerates it for the new creation. The Ganga adorning his head, gets her powers of purification from Shiva.

The crescent moon on his head stands for time. In the lunar calendar, we measure days based on the waxing and waning of the moon. By wearing it as a diadem he is indicating that even the all-powerful time is only an ornament for him. He wears poisonous snakes around his neck. In our tradition, Snakes are a symbol of regeneration, because they can shed their old skin and grow a new one.

Shiva is snow white in colour, which is also the colour of his abode, the Himalayas. White stands for purity. When the whole world is resolved what remains is pure consciousness that is why the Shiva is white in colour. The three eyes represent the past, present and future. In some iconography texts they are said to represent the sun, moon and fire which are the source of light, life and heat.

The third eye is also the eye of knowledge and wisdom. When Shiva opens his third eye, every thing in front of him is reduced to ashes. Knowledge destroys maya (illusion). The whole universe is only an illusion which is destroyed in the fire of knowledge.

Shiva’s matted locks represent space which is mysterious and hard to unravel. He is called Vyomakesha meaning the one who has got the space as his hair,  as I explained in my  Nataraja post.

Shiva sits on a tiger skin. Tiger represents desires because it mercilessly devours its victims and its hunger is never satiated. Shiva has killed the tiger and sits on it, indicating his complete mastery over desires.

Shiva resides in the burial ground and smears his body with ashes, indicating he does not fear death. That is why he is called Mrutyunjaya, the one who has conquered death.

Different forms of Shiva are shown with different weapons. Let me tell you some of the common ones.

Trishul (Trident) stands for the three Gunas of Maya which he wields both for creation and destruction. Damaru (drum) stands for creation. As discussed in my Nataraja post, sound is the first created entity and by holding the drum he indicates that the creation is in his hands. He has an Parashu(axe) indicating he has the power to chop-off the bonds of maya and free us from Samsara. He has the Abhaya and Varada mudras in his hand granting fearlessness and boons to his devotees. He sometimes holds a mirror, indicating that the whole universe is nothing but a reflection of his cosmic form. He sometimes has a deer in his hands, which represents the mind because it never stays in a place and keeps leaping from one place to another. By holding it in his hand he is indicating his absolute mastery over his mind.

Shiva is also known as Rudhra. Rudh means “to cry”, Ra means “ to Separate”. Rudhra means the one who separates us from our sorrows. So, as we light the deepam today, let us remember Shiva, and pray that he fills our lives with auspiciousness and frees us from our sorrows and ultimately from all the illusions that bind us to this world.

Om Nama Shivaya

[archanaraghuram]

Chin Mudra – The Symbol that got me hooked to Symbology

I never realizes that Hindu gods and symbols had deeper meaning until I learnt the significance of Chin Mudara. It simply blew my mind. It completely changed the way I experienced temples and religious art.

Chin Mudra is also called Gnayana Mudra and represents the ultimate knowledge that leads to liberation. Moksha or liberation is Hinduism is freedom from suffering and the never ending cycle of life and death.

In order to understand this symbol we need to understand the hindu philosophy of Advaitham.

According to Vedanta we are all Brahman (infinite, blissful, unsullied consciousness). We experience ourselves as limited entities because we identify ourselves with the body, mind and intellect. Mind being our emotional component and intellect being our thinking reasoning component. The entire spiritual journey is removing this wrong notion of ‘I’ and discovering our real self. Once you identify with the real ‘you’, you attain a state called ‘Poornathwam’ meaning completeness. This is a state of absolute contentment and uninterrupted bliss. This realization is often referred to as union with god, though it is only the removal of an imagined separation 

Now, let us see how this concept is represented in using Chin Mudra. The thumb represents god or Brahman because without the thumb the hand cannot function. The middle, ring and the small finger represents the body, mind and intellect respectively. The mind being the emotional component and intellect being the thinking component. Index finger represents the ego because it keeps pointing at others for all its miseries.

When you hold your hand normally the index finger is attached to the other three fingers and is far away from the thumb. This implies, we normally think of ourselves as the body, mind and intellect and separate from god. As long as we have this notion, we will have a beginning and an end. When the finger is erect it is straight line with a clearly defined beginning and ending representing birth and death. When ego separates itself from the body/mind/ intellect and unites with the thumb (representing god) it forms a circle, it becomes complete . Just like a circle has no beginning and ending you reach a state of birthlessness and deathlessness. This is Chin Mudra for you.

Since the job of the guru is to impart this knowledge and lead you to liberation, all the forms of god as teacher (Guru) will have Chin Mudra in one of the hands. If you have observed the idols of Dakshinamurthi and Hayagriva, which are the forms of Shiva and Vishnu as Gurus you will find this Mudra in the bottom right hand.

I love its economy of form and the depth of meaning. Isn’t it a masterpiece of Minimalism. Try representing the theory of relativity using your fingers, you will understand why this is such an amazing work of art.

[archanaraghuram]

Temple – The house of god

“Dehodevalaya proktha jeevo deva sanathanaha. Thyajeth ajnyana nirmalyam soham bhavena poojayath”

My body is a temple and my soul is the immortal god. I pray to him to remove the dirt of ignorance (That prevents me from seeing him)

I have been visiting so many temples lately, so I thought it was the right time to discuss the symbology of temple. Although, here are several different schools of philosophy in Hinduism, they all reiterate that god is with you. The Tamil word kadavul is often translated to mean, “the one who is outside you and within you”. The structure and the ritual of the temple reflects this philosophy.

A temple represents a human being. The different sections of the temple represent different parts of the human body. The gurbhagriha  or Sanctum Sanctorum, represents the heart. In traditional temples, the Gurbhagriha is very dark. After the pooja, the priest lights a lamp which helps us see the god. This ritual signifies that god resides in our heart. We are not able to see the god in us because of ignorance, which is represented by the darkness of Gurbhagriha. The temple priest represents the guru or teacher. The lamp that he lights represents knowledge. When the guru lights the lamp of knowledge in your heart the darkness of ignorance is dispelled and you discover the god within you.

After the pooja the priest gives you Prasadam. Prasadam is derived from a Sanskrit word, seedathi, meaning tranquility. Just as we accept everything we receive as prasadam with respect and devotion, we have to accept all ups and downs of life as prasadam from god. This attitude towards life is called, Prasada budhi, which Krishna talks about in the Geetha. If we practice this, our mind will reach the state of tranquility that enables us to see the god within us, just like a calm and clean pool of water enables us to see the bottom. Prasada budhi frees the mind from the agitations that prevent us from seeing god within us.

Thus, the entire experience of temple tells us that god is within us and teaches what we should do to be able to see him.

Here are some of my favorite slokas which talk about discovering the god within you.

 “Aaradhayami mani sannibha anthma lingam, mayapuri hridayapankaja sannivishtakm, shradha nadhi vimala chitta jalabhishekai, nithyam Samadhi kusumair apunarbhavaya” –

 I pray to my soul which is the Shiva lingam residing in the lotus of my heart. From the river of faith, I take all good thoughts as water and do abhishekam to this lingam. I decorate it with flowers of meditation so that I may never be born again.

 Athamtvam girijamathi sahachara praana shariram graham, pooja the vishayopabogha rachana, nidra samadhishithi, sancharapadyo pradakshina vidhi, stotrani sarva giro, yadyatkarma karomi thathad akhilam shabo tavaradhanam –

Shiva, you are my soul and my mind is your wife (Girija). This body is your temple. All my experiences are my prayers to you.  My sleep is meditation (Samadhi). Every step I take is the pradakshina I do to you and all the words I utter is your stotram. My every action is nothing but a prayer to you, Shiva.