Sunday, June 30, 2013

Pralaya in Kedarnath – some musings (part -2) (Dhari Devi connection)


Previous article:- Part -1  On the loss of Samadhi of Adi Shankara

In the previous article I raised a question whether the pralaya in Kedarnath signified the end of an epoch. This was prompted by the current trend of lack of interest in the preaching and commentaries of illustrious Gurus starting from Adi Shankara  and intrusion by Mleccha religionists and  researchers in belittling the wisdom imparted by these Gurus and Sruti texts. The current trend the world over is to see and dissect everything through some branch of science. This trend believes only in seeing and not in realising which is what devotion is about. In such a back drop, does the Pralaya indicate the coming of an Age of establishing even Faith through science?


I can see some leads in this direction. For example, the pralaya in Kedarnath brought into focus the nature of the terrain and the physical features in the vicinity of the temple of lord Kedarnath.  The oldest photographs taken in the year 1882 by the Geological Survey of India have surfaced now and have given important clues.  It shows that the temple stood on a raised or rocky structure in a kind of surrounding where water had flown. Take a look at that photo.


Scientists think that the shrine was originally located on a lake bed ((Read here). This is a valuable noting because this exactly fits with the etymological meaning of the word "Kedara" (केदार) which means "land under water"!


The pre-flood look of the temple confirms the opinion that the temple structure stood up in a shallow surrounding. Take a look at the temple as it looked before the pralaya.


The shops can be seen at a lower level. The buildings in the vicinity are also at a lower level. The 1882 photo shows that the temple was not a raised structure but was built on a naturally raised rocky formation. The etymological meaning of Kedarnath fits with this location. The mythological story behind the name Kedar is that a demon called Kedar was killed by Lord Shiva. This also fits with etymology as it could have meant a land that was pushed down.


This kind of interpretation of the meaning of names is one of the methods used by the sages to convey an idea.  We find a similar methodology in a narration in Mahabharata ((MB 13-93) where Yathudhani, a demoness was asked to find out the etymological meaning of the names of Sapta rishis and others connected with them. While the narration says that she fails to understand the meaning, we, the readers are able to understand the meanings and the collective implication of them in the light of current scientific revelations on human migration with change in climate. (Read here)   Therefore the etymological meaning of Kedara as a land under water needs to be given a serious thought.


Generally people think that Kedarnath came up or worship of Shiva as Kedarnath started with Bheema finding the hump of the Bull (Shiva) at the this place. That story on Bheema also says that the other body parts of the bull had fallen in other places which have hence become sacred worshiping places. Recently an-until- now – unidentified place of another body part of Shiva as Bull was found in Nepal. For a person of the current Times, this story (of the body parts of the Bull becoming the most sacred shrines of Shiva) would sound absurd. But one must know that the sages had not intended to spoon feed us on many a secrets of Divinity and salvation but wanted us to think, probe and seek the meanings. With this intention they formed strange stories so that they can be debated and hence remembered. The Mahabharata story on Yathudhani of finding the etymological meaning of the names of sapta rishis gives us a clue on the need to know the etymological meanings and link them up with events which are now established by science or other means.


In the case of Kedarnath, there is an olden  mythological story  of Shiva's obsession  with Uma which resulted in him forgetting his duties, as a result of which there was wide-spread anarchy in this world. 'He decided to undertake a severe penance to obtain his radiance. Living on air for 900 years, his penance had reached an unfathomable dimension. He decided to stop breathing and enter the ultimate state of samadhi - 'Bliss through Nothingness'. To prevent his inhalation, he placed a small wooden block in his mouth. This resulted in a tremendous generation of energy that escaped by blasting through his skull and fell on the himalayan mountains with such a mighty force that it flattened numerous himalayan peaks to the ground. This very spot is Kedarnath.'


This implies that the present location of Kedarnath had sunk – perhaps due to some geological activity. The Himalayas are folded mountains and there is continuous geological activity happening in them. The temple location could perhaps be a peak by itself which got sunk at some time in the distance past. What Bheema found was a self manifest Shiv linga of that peak.


The explanation of geological activity has another mythological dimension too. The famous marriage of Shiva with Parvathy – who was Meenakshi of Pandyan kingdom in Tamil lore – had taken place here in this region of the Himalayas. This story says that the Himalayas lowered due to the weight of many gaNas and sages who assembled to witness the marriage. In order or balance this, Shiva ordained sage Agasthya to go to the South. This again reiterates that this region or the peak in this region sank lower at some time in the past.


Having told the connection to the geological changes in the form of mythological stories on Kedarnath, let me now show some unique features of this region.


If Shiva was the bridegroom whose marriage was conducted here, where was Parvathy? She was in Kalimath and Dhari Devi, a little distance away. Dhari Devi also is consecrated on a natural formation of rock or part of a hill. (Picture below)


The unique feature of this Devi is that her head is here in this temple while her torso is worshiped in a place called Kalimath.  There is no image of the deity in Kalimath but only a Sri Yantra is consecrated! This is one among the Shakthi peeths and is unique with the presence of the other two Devis, namely Saraswati and Lakshmi.  There is a speciality about this feature which I will write in the next article. In the present context I want to show something else.


One can see that the manifestation of this deity too looks similar to the manifestation of Shiva as body parts of a bull. In the case of this Devi, the head lies in Dhari devi and the torso as Yoni / Sri Yantra lies at Kalimath. A thought provoking article says that these two temples lie in South west – North east direction in such a way that Shiva at Kedarnath is found located exactly to the North of the Kalimath Yoni.


http://srath.com/jyoti%E1%B9%A3a/mundane/vastu/kalis-anger/

This fits with the mythological story of Shiva's intimacy with Parvathy with the continuous beating of his drum. In this alignment a human intervention happened by way of removal of Dhari Devi (the head) on the day before the cloudburst happened at Kedar Dome. Agitations have happened to stop this removal / relocation of this Devi with people avowing to go into jal samadhi if the Devi was removed and temple allowed to drown in the proposed dam. The fact was that within a day after the Devi was removed, many people had attained jal Samadhi!  A similar act of removal or dislocation of Dhari Devi in 1882 also was said to have resulted in an enormous flood at Kedarnath.


One may dismiss this as coincidence or irrational belief or superstition. But let me show some other combinations in this location which indicate that there is something more than what can be dismissed as superstition.


This location has been famed as the location of Shiva – Parvathy marriage. The marriage has been solemnised by Vishnu, the brother of Parvathy. In the above picture, if we extend the Dhari Devi- Kalimath axis, it connects two important locations. Take a look at the picture below to see what they are.


The arrow mark shows the location of kalimath which is close to Ukhimath (Usha Ki Math). That axis passes through Rishikesh on one side and Badrinath on the other. This is Hari- Hara axis that is empowered by the three forms of Shakthi at Kalimath. The presence of Brahma – another of the Trimurthy – is understood to be present in Kalimath as that shrine is located on River Saraswati, the consort of Brahma. The disturbance to the nodal points of energy in this axis is bound to disturb the harmony in the energy flow. That is what happened when Dhari Devi was removed from this exis.


Now looking at another important location, it is Triyugi Narayan temple  where the marriage of Shiva- Parvathy took place.  There is a continuously burning Homa Kunda in this temple which once again indicates a continuous geological activity – something told as non- stop copulation of the Divine couple.


We can see that Kedarnath, Kalimath and Triyugi Narayan temple form an isosceles triangle. This can be extended to Badrinath on the other side of Kedarnath – Kalimath axis. This is how it looks:


This is only a rough illustration and a detailed analysis can be made. Similar links can be made for the centres of divinity where the body parts of the Bull were supposed to have landed. The same can be done for the all the 108 Shakthi Peethas too. The reference to body parts must have some etymological meaning and interpretation. My purpose in showing these connections is that there does exist some unique centres of energy flow in these and between these regions which are worshiped as sacred places. The Sri Yantra at Kalimath is indicative of some energy flow in that spot.


So far Sri Yantra has been cited only once in crop circle patterns. But then it appeared not on fields, but  on a dry lake bed in the state of Oregon in the US.


People in the West think that is the handiwork of aliens! The supposedly scientific minded people don't consider it to be a superstition to believe in the existence of aliens. But our Sanatana system sees this as a manifestation of Shakthi  or the Supreme Energy who is the driving force behind all the three acts of creation, sustenance and destruction. The shape of manifestation of this energy is apparent in Oregon but in Sanatanic system its presence has been perceived by sages and Gurus without the aid of external vision.  One such location of the presence of this Shakthi is Kalimath which is well intertwined with other supreme forms of Energy (Badrinath, Kedarnath, Rishikesh and Triyugi) that reverberates divinity.


The identification of these sources did not happen recently, not did it happen in Bheema's time or Adi Shankara's time. The fact that the mythological narration of this exists in puranas in the form of the story of Kedar and as Shiva's penance- energy falling in Kedarnath shows that these have been identified in a remote past and remembered in story form which was transferred from generation to generation. How to capture the essence of it was taught in various ways in Upanishads and Epics which was simplified by Adi Shankara for common people.  But the present world had slipped very much down from a level of how to grasp such simplified knowledge. The present world understands only in seeing as believing. Perhaps a scientific or rather a geological understanding of these regions  might wake up the people to the truth behind mythology and the connection to Divinity. Perhaps the pralaya in Kedarnath indicates the emergence of a New world order with reference to understanding sanatanic traditions in the light of modern science.


The narration so far must also put at rest the question whether the pralaya would shake the Faith of the people. With more revelations coming from these regions as Energy sources, people would realise that it is more than just bartering Bhakthi for a gain in return, it is to do with realising the Supreme Energy and taking refuge in That.


In the next part I would narrate some revelations on Shakthi from some inscriptions and its relevance to the belief that removal of Dhari Devi caused the destruction and loss of life – as though she considered the people as Raktabija and devoured them.


(continued)

17 comments:

Skandan said...

Respected Madam,

wonderful article. Challenge for people like you (sanatana Dharmist) is on how to spread this awareness in this huge hypocrite world. is there a way to simplify the explanation make it understandable for the common man today. Adi sankara's commentary itself is a simplified version of Upanishad, but it is tough for todays mankind to even understand that...

if a new world order could emerge, do you see another form of adi sankara (siva incarnation) appearing again... if that happens, then that will take care of driving this world in dharmic ways for at least next 1000 years...

eagerly waiting for the part III

pranams
Skandan

Jayasree Saranathan said...

Dear Mr Skandan,

I know the article is complex and difficult to understand. Other ideas that I have, are also complex and it is difficult to write them in a rational sequence. Let me try my best to write them in a simple way. May be for the current article, I can give a nutshell here.

What I am coming to say is that there are regions that have divine energy trapped or manifest in them (Swayambu). Whole of India has many such places which have been made into temples of worship. (I will be writing that in a subsequent article). The Himalayas have such regions having such spots which have a kind of a network within them. The Char dham and the Shiv -parvathy related regions that I have shown in the articles have a network among them.

In that context I have shown Oregon Sri Yantra which was a naturally formed one (Swayambu). Such kind of naturally manifest energy sources are there in our world. In our country such energy sources have been recognised by sages and enlightened ones and further fixated by consecration and are worshiped as divinity. The natural occurrence comes along with some physical or geological or some energy networks is what I have tried to show in this article.

This idea is necessary to show that Mukthi-sthal of Adi Shankara - though washed away by water would continue to exist, because the spot where he merged with the Brahman must possess some unique energy combination which can not be washed away by water, nor burned by fire and nor even broken by any landslide. This is same as what Gita says for the nature of Atman.

Having said this, I would like to further say that with a pralaya like this, a new order of the same old thing would emerge, because that is how pralayas have worked and the world had re-emerged every time after a pralaya. Though Shankra's teachings are going to be with us, the new world order would be able to understand divinity in ways different from what Shankara revealed. This is one conjecture I am saying. Since the present world can believe something only by seeing, the Dhari devi connection like episodes are necessary to re-establish Faith.

I will take up further from this in my next article. Hope this helps.

G Kumar said...

Well written, Sister ji !

G Kumar

Jayasree Saranathan said...

Thank you Kumarji.

Aishu said...

This article needs a re-reading as there are lot of things to assimilate. Dhari devi was removed in 1882 and same thing happened then also. The people could have learnt something with the earlier experience.

I wonder if Government succeeds in destroying Rama setu down south, similar natural calamities would hit people there also.

Jayasree Saranathan said...

Yes Ms Aishu, if Ram Setu is destroyed, unimaginable havoc would happen. But I doubt whether it could be destroyed at all. There is volcanism there. Just browse the reader comment. Recently a reader brought to our notice a record of a volcanic activity in Bay of Bengal. The possible location of that is close to or underneath Ram Setu.

Jayasree Saranathan said...


From: D.K.Hari - Bharath Gyan
Date: Mon, Jul 1, 2013 at 6:09 PM
Subject: Re: Non-random-Thoughts:Pralaya in Kedarnath – some musings (part -2) (Dhari Devi connection)
To: jayasree

Smt.Jayasree

It was very interesting to read your post. Await the next one. Nice to see the focus on the meaning of Kedar.
Sharing with you what we have posted on this issue where we too had gone to the root of this name.

http://bharathgyanblog.wordpress.com/2013/07/01/himalayan-tsunami-waiting-to-happen-happened-why/

warm regards
D.K.Hari


Raghu said...

Madam,
I think this would be of interest to you and othe readers. The following links, without diluting the significance of Sri Yantra, reveal the real story behind the Oregon figure:
(1) http://changingpower.net/mystery-in-the-alvord-desert/ (2)
http://www.sriyantraresearch.com/Article/Effects/Sri_Yantra_Effects.html.
Regards,
Raghu

Jayasree Saranathan said...

Thanks Mr Raghu.

I wont buy the argument of 'rationalists' that Sri yantra or many of the 100s of crops circles that have appeared the world over were man made. I have gone into that subject considerably when I wrote on Druids in my Tamil blog. One part of it has been posted in English in this blog which you can read here:-

http://jayasreesaranathan.blogspot.in/2012/10/kali-yantra-in-crop-circles-of-europe_29.html

The cymtics I had written in this article can be recalled in the phenomenon reported in Retas Kund in the vicinity of Kedarnath temple. When people shout Har Har Mahadev, bubbles appear in the water of the Kund.

http://www.speakingtree.in/spiritual-slideshow/seekers/god-and-i/kedarnath-temple-in-1882-1883-and-now-in-2013/16662

******

There is a discussion in the comment section of that article where I have written about Oregon Sri Yantra. I will repost them here for quick reading.

Before that I want to bring to the notice of readers the counter to man-made theory of Oregon Sri Yantra. Read

http://cropcircleconnector.com/ilyes/ilyes9.html

This link has many articles on crop circles:-

http://www.greatdreams.com/crpcirc.htm

This article gives a nutshell of crop circle as not being man-made:

http://web.archive.org/web/20030604042722/http://www.paradigmshift.com/pecs.html

Let me now post my comment from the article on Kali Yantra in europe, on Oregon Sri Yantra

(continued)

Jayasree Saranathan said...

Before commenting on Sri chakra in Oregon, let me say that there is a relation between the shape of the land where the crop circle is manifest and the deity.

For example Kali or Syama Kali is always associated with pentagram. Kali stands for destruction and further analysis of Kali from Indian texts and how India itself stands as the land of Kali due to its triangular shape will be discussed in a future article. The growth of a spiritual society in India was possible because of this shape. That society was not materialistic in mind and considered spirituality as the goal of human life.

As long as that was the collective motto of the society, there was no poverty and decay in India. But when that was altered by Muslim invasions for the first time, India started experiencing the negative impact of Kali which continues even today. By this I am giving a warning to the Indians (in a future article with more connection to triangular shape within India) that if they shun that spiritual path of Hinduism and go after alien religions, they are doomed to suffer.

Now coming to Oregon Sri chakra, the shape of the place decides the kind of energy that is manifest. Lakshmi is associated with Lotus. The Sri suktha Homa kunda has the shape of lotus. If Sri chakra is to appear as crop circle, the surrounding land must have lotus shape. When I searched the web for this crop circle. I came across the following site showing the shape of the place like a lotus petal where Sri chakra design appeared

http://www.iccra.org/bystate/Oregon/images/Oregon%20Sri-Yantra%208-10-1990%20news%20article%202sm.jpg

The lake bed looks like a single petal of the lotus in the middle of which the design had appeared.
See the Google map:-

http://www.iccra.org/bystate/Oregon/images/Sri-Yantra-Google-sm.jpg

Like this the shapes of places can be identified with yantras of specific deities.

The temples for specific deities and the pedestals for specific deities are constructed on specific geometric shapes related to specific deities. In this connection the shapes of the Homa kunda (fire altar) for different deities and their yantras as consecrated in their temples can be applied to crop circles of specific yantra shapes to test the veracity of my claim.

The reason to establish (consecrate) the energy form of the specific deity in the temple and pedestal in specific geometric shapes is to help mankind to extract the benefit from that energy through manta, japa and worship.

The same rationale applies to idols which are made with specific dimensions laid out by rishis. The shape of the idol has some relation with the geometric mandala where that God is trapped as an energy, It must be noted that in Hinduism idol worship is considered to be the 5th form among the 5 forms in which God appears - of which first 2 are cosmic forms, one is within in every living being (antaryami)and the other was born as avatars such as Rama and Krishna.

(contd)

Jayasree Saranathan said...

The same rationale (energy trapped in geometric shapes)is the basis of Vastu sastra. According to it any square or rectangular formation that can be divided into 8 x 8 parts (Chathus-sashti as told in this article) or 9 x 9 parts (Eka sheeti) are ideal for human dwellings. The reason is 32 Gods (energy forms present in Nature) will be automatically manifest within that shape with Sun (energy of Brhma ) at the centre. Depending on the nature of the energy of each of them, you build a bed room or a kitchen or the bath room in relevant areas within that square.

In my opinion the US has a more or less good rectangular shape making it highly Vastu complaint. The material progress of the US can not be disputed (despite the current economic crisis). It is because of the trapping of energies within the rectangle.

The earth itself is a square shaped Vastu mandala inscribed within a circle. The 8 primary energies are identified as 8 directions or ashta dik gajas - 8 elephants. Skilful use of the earth within this mandala was known to ancient Hindus.

They categorized this into 4 broad heads. (1) land related (bhumi)Town planning, village planning,digging water ways (ponds, tanks including.
(2)Dwellings (Prasada)- for people and Gods (temples)
(3)Conveyance (Yaana) - vehicles. Most of these are lost but are known from ancient texts.
(4) Furniture (Sayana). Even the dimensions of a sofa or chair has some connection to retention of energy forms so that they last long.

Jayasree Saranathan said...

Another thought on the shapes of the crop circles:-

There are many shapes that do not coincide with yantra forms of Hindu deities. For example, the shape shown in the following link and the other shapes shown in that site:-

http://www.iccra.org/bystate/Oregon/ICCRA%20-%20OR%20-%20West%20Union,%20Washington%20County%20%28July%2020,%201994%29.html

In some cases power cables were there overhead making us think whether any release of unseen electrical energy (in some ionic form) had caused those shapes. I have an opinion that energy has a shape which we are seeing in these shapes. Sensing such energies, our ancients formed the alphabets based on their shape.

To explain this, let me mention the Om symbol. It is written as a single letter.

https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTIvFI9G_AjA2IjmaWLVps7EgEjZ6ID212x1OkNTEWGOGdYRcNB

This resembles the magnetic currents around the earth that look like loops on either side of the globe (in two dimension). This magnetic loop offers protection to the earth from harmful radiation, solar flares and cosmic radiation.

Such a shape was made (as Om) on which meditation is done. Such a shape perhaps traps the energy that offers protection. If you notice, the sound O is made with a loop (circular) shape of the lips. The letters O in Tamil also possess the loop. (English O also has the loop)

Taking this rationale further, I am of the opinion that the letters were given shapes based on some energy created while uttering that letter. The connection of some numbers to letters (katapayadhi)shows that formation of letters of Sanskrit was very scientific and olden. Energy forms coupled with some math has given rise to formation of letters. That is why the mere utterance of a letter caused some effects. This is the idea behind the potency of Vedic chant.

I consider both sanskrit and Tamil as being formed in this way and any other formation or formation of other languages of the world were derived from these or were remnants of this system that was forgotten or lost in due course.

Jayasree Saranathan said...

The various shapes of Vedic altars, the Kolam (rangoli) that we make in the puja room have a significance in that such shapes trap the energy peculiar to that energy. We extract the benefits from that energy by mantras and puja.

The Vedic rishis have had knowledge of these shapes and energies and named them as Gods. That is why we have numerous Gods in Hinduism.

Taking this logic further, I would say that the first man did not come from Apes as a matter of Darwinian evolution. The Hindu texts identify the 'manasa puthra' - beings formed from mind of Brahma as the progenitors of human race. Like how some energy is manifested in a shape in crop circles, so was the first man manifested from some kind of energy.

Jayasree Saranathan said...

The above comment on Manasa putra - birth of man as swayambu - or from the mind of Brahma - has a support from a recent research on decoding of the DNA of a 700,000 years old fossil of a horse. This gives the possibility that this horse can be brought into existence.

After every kalpa of day of Brahman, cosmic pralaya happens that extends for another kalpa which is regarded as the night of Brahman when no visible life will be present and when the subtle matter of the universe is said to get fixated in Narayana floating on the bed of Adi sesha in the Milky ocean. After that night is over, the day begins when creation is initiated. From where Man comes in this new system of Day Kalpa?

Assume the present Kalpa comes to an end and man becomes extinct in physical form. Will there be a chance that some minute part of a dead man exists with its DNA code somewhere in the ice cold of the night Kalpa. Then would it not be possible to have this resurrected into real man in a new Kalpa once other factors become conducive? Is that why, our scriptures say that man is created as Manasa Putra?

Going back in time to the beginningless beginning when creation started, whose DNA could have been available then? Only God's! That means we (man) are a replication of God. The Y chromosome theories etal give some insight into this. But then how did the female came into being? Scriptures say that she is half of / part of God, that is, the It (Brahaman) created woman from Its own other half. In today's science, cloning makes it possible to create a being from one's own body cell. What is created will be devoid of Y chromosome and therefore will be a woman.

Brihandaranyaka and Aithareya upanishads give lot of ideas on creation theories of man.

Jayasree Saranathan said...


From: David Frawley
Date: Wed, Jul 3, 2013 at 2:41 AM
Subject: Re: Pralaya in Kedarnath – some musings (part -2) (Dhari Devi connection)
To: jayasree


Namaste Jayaree!

Thanks for sending us your articles.
They are very interesting and helpful.

Vamadeva



Jayasree Saranathan said...


From: Arun Upadhyay
Date: Wed, Jul 3, 2013 at 7:38 AM
Subject: Re: Non-random-Thoughts:Pralaya in Kedarnath – some musings (part -2) (Dhari Devi connection)
To: jayasree

Site selection was done at very appropriate place by King Janamejaya who made a land grant for Kedarnatha and Ram temple near Sringeri on 27-11-3014 BC when there was a solar eclipse at Puri. This was as a repentance of large scale killing in Sarpa-yajna. Sarpa yajna was retaliation against killing of Parikshita in 3042 BC by Naga king Takshaka (or king of Takshashila). Guru Govinda Singh ji had built a Rama-temple at the location where Naga army was first defeated by Janamejaya. Two of Naga towns turned into mass graves and were named as such-Moin-jo-daro (= place of dead), and Harappa (= heap of bones). Inscriptions of King Janamejaya are attached

-Arun



Jayasree Saranathan said...


From: Guru Sanjay Rath
Date: Wed, Jul 3, 2013 at 2:57 PM
Subject: RE: Non-random-Thoughts:Pralaya in Kedarnath – some musings (part -2) (Dhari Devi connection)
To: jayasree


om gurave namaḥ
Dear Jayasree
Well done…brilliant writing.
I am asking Sarbani to include this in the next JD.

With Kind Regards

Sanjay Rath