DEIVATHIN KURAL # 136 (Vol # 6) Dated 04 Mar 2013

DEIVATHIN KURAL # 136 (Vol # 6) Dated 04 Mar 2013

(These e-mails are translations of talks given by PeriyavaaL of Kanchi Kaamakoti Peetam, over a period of some 60 years while he was the pontiff in the earlier part of the last century. These have been published by Vanadi Padippagam, Chennai, in seven volumes of a thousand pages each as Deivathin Kural. Today we are going ahead from the middle of page No 930 of Volume 6 of the Tamil original. The readers may note that herein ‘man/he’ includes ‘woman/she’ too mostly. These e-mails are all available at   http://Advaitham.blogspot.com updated constantly)

544.  I was talking about how the same honey has different effects on an active man and a lazy man.  Similarly these mantras' effects vary according to the attitudes and real needs of the devotees.  For example, there is this sloka No.63 (starting with the words, 'smita jyotsnã jãlam' – 'स्मित ज्योत्स्ना जालं'), that says that the sweetness of AmbãL's smile is such that in comparison the moon-light is like stale porridge!  This sloka is considered as a 'one way ticket' for Jiva-Brhma Aikyam.  The sloka can also be made use of for gaining personal attractiveness and allure.  Similarly there is this sloka No.73, which says that having been breast fed by you, both GaNesha and SubrahmaNya have remained celibate as Nitya Brhmacharis!  This sloka is chanted to maintain strict celibacy and attain to Brhma Gnãna Siddhi, if that is your aim.  But the same sloka can also be used for increasing productivity of milk in the breast in women who have a problem in doing so after child birth!

545.  PeriyavãL was wearing a garland made of a number of lemon fruits.  Pointing to it, he said, "See here, this lemon fruit has a few uses.  As it is capable of attracting divine powers we make a garland of it and decorate idols of AmbãL.  When we do Vyãsa Puja taking the names of each Guru we evoke the presence of each Guru on a number of lemon fruits each.  So this fruit has the powers to convey good thoughts and intentions, remove negative influences of jealousy and hatred, and carry one's best wishes.  So when meeting respectable senior citizens and elders it is the tradition to first hand over, if nothing else, at least a lemon.   As it has a pleasant sour taste and fragrance we make pickles and Rasam and lemon-rice!  It has the effect of countering biliousness and nausea.  Then finally we make use of it in cleaning of copper and silver wares.  Between attracting divine forces and cleaning of copper and silver wares, you will agree that there is a vast difference as between a mountain and a valley!  That is the way the divine sound effect of the Mantras and their worldly applications based on word-meanings differ.

546.  "I am not asking for this and that on my own.  You decide as to what you wish to give this devotee of yours.  It is OK, whatever you give or even if you do not grant me anything!  Even this chanting of the slokas I am doing just for the pleasure of chanting.  What you grant me or what you want to do with me is your look-out and not mine."  That would be the right attitude sans any assertion of one's will.  But still, even if you ask for something, she does grant.  Like that there are many slokas of varying beneficial effects. Some are meant for relief from diseases mainly, as given in the table below: -

Disease	Sloka Number
All varieties of Diseases.	36, 44, 58 & 89.
Related to Eye.	52.
Wounds.	95 & 96.
Ulcers in Stomach	41.
Nervous Diseases.	95.
Diabetes.	34.
Rheumatism.	34.
Sexually transmitted diseases.	54.
Dumbness.	60 & 98.

547.  Further there are slokas which cure more than one disease.  For example in Sloka No. 52, there is description of how AmbãL's eyes are extending up to her ears – 'gate karNãbhyãm …ime netre' – 'गते कर्णाभ्यां....इमे नेत्रे'.  Just thinking about AmbãL's eyes and ears, our own bodily ailments affecting the eyes and ears are likely to be cured!  That is the power of the sound in that sloka.  There is another sloka (No.58.) the poet is talking about the area between the eyes and ears, known as 'Pãli' which looks like the bow of Manmata.  The meaning of the words of the sloka is that 'It is your side-long glance that is mounted as the arrow by Manmata who aims and shoots it at Parameswara and wins over him.  From the words one may construe that this sloka too will be useful as a palliative for diseases of eyes and ears.  But the effect of the Mantra is that it is an ameliorative for all sorts of diseases – 'sarva roga nivãraNi' – 'सर्व रोग निवाराणि', as listed in the second line of the table above. If you ask me as to what is the connection, all that I can say is that, "It happens to be the effect of the Sound Value of the Mantra Akshara-s forming the sloka!"  I was talking to you about the sloka that can be used as an anti-dote for poison and as a cure for fever.

548.  AmbãL should be meditated as emitting the essence of Amrita from all her body parts – 'किरन्तीं अङ्गेभ्य: किरण निकुरुंबामृतरसं'.  At that moment she should be thought of as almost transparent like that of 'हिमकर शिला मूर्तिमिव' – made of the colourless Sphatika /Crystal stone, that is shedding the effulgence of nectarine rays of Amrita from every pore of her body! Being of a hue of the stone that starts oozing in response to the cool rays of the moon, AmbãL is emitting rays of cool light from all parts of her body – the very thought is so soothing and pleasant!  The person meditating like that will imbibe such qualities of being Amrita that is an exact opposite of poison.  If one is a snake with poison the counter to that is the Garuda the King of Eagles.

பாம்பு: இருவித உருவகம்

Snake: Two Types of Allegory

549.  Garuda the king of eagles and Mayil aka Peacock are considered as snake's mortal enemy.  Maha VishNu has the Garuda as his carrier and SubrahmaNya Swami has the Peacock as his carrier.  The funny thing is that the same Maha VishNu is having the Snake Sesha as his bed and SubrahmaNya Swami is also known as the Naga Raja, the King of Snakes!  In many temples he is depicted in the form of a Snake!  If you wonder at these apparent contradictions, the answer is that the same snake is in two different forms. When it is the Moola Adhãra KuNdalini in sleeping mode, human beings are more prone to be sexually oriented.  As their limited PrãNa Shakti is also frittered away in ventures related to desires and Kãma, it is depicted as the snake with poison.  It is that poison that is countered by Garuda and Peacock.  Once the poisonous tendencies are eradicated, the scattering effect is gone and when the KuNdalini snake moves up to the Sahasrãra, it pours out Amrita!  We know how desire energises us, making us capable of going to any amount of trouble in achieving our goals.  Then when we say that the same power by Yoga becomes Amrita, we are not ready to accept this without practical experience!

550.  In the world of procreation it is well known as to how this 'Veeryam/वीर्यं', that is, 'virility' due to desire; is virtually responsible for the phenomena of population explosion!  But whomsoever you call Yogis or Siddha Purusha, none of them are known to have lived for ever!  Whether it is Bhogar or Paambatti Siddhar; sometime or other, they have all dropped their mortal coil.  So the question remains as to how are we to believe this claim about the ambrosial flow of Amrita from Sahasrãra?    The answer lies in the problem of understanding words like Nectar, Amrita etc.  Deva Amrita gives longevity by protecting and saving the physical body from biological degradation for considerably long periods, than what we know of the human life span.  This has nothing to do with spiritual ennoblement of a person and his comprehension of the reality of existence.  What is called the Deva Amrita is like any other medicine that gives you a long life span.  It can neither protect nor do anything to the inner Ãtma in you.  Did the Devas who consumed the Amrita all become Gnãni-s?  No, isn't it?  They have all opted for more and more of enjoyment, pleasures and titillations, often going astray from the path of moral righteousness.  At least human mortals are better off in one respect that being affected by diseases, old age and death; they have been forced to think about the ephemerality of existence and motivated to find the answers to their questions, from the time of Sri Rama to Buddha to Ramana Maharishi and the process goes on.

551.  Physical weaknesses, greying of hair, diseases and the unavoidability of death motivates at least some of us to get fed up with this life and automatically makes us develop dispassion and Vairãgyam!  The Devas and other celestial beings have no such chance of developing dispassion!  If through KuNdalini Shakti the aim was only to extend ones period and opportunities for bodily pleasures only, no true Yogi would have bothered about it or gone anywhere near it!   Just immediately prior to total understanding and comprehension of Adwaita Siddhi, the supreme pleasure of realization, the bliss is the Amrita from the Sahasrãra.  Though it has the power to protect and keep the body hale and hearty, more than that, it is the flood of divine bliss that is of supreme value!  As a Yogi totally discredits the world as Maya, a Sãkta Yogi will not totally discard the world and the body as good for nothing.  He will look at all these things only as AmbãL's Leela and the manifestation of her power only!  So he may continue in the body for much longer than other mortals.  But somewhere along the line his love for oneness of Adwaita may overtake his priorities and at such times the body will drop of by itself!

552.  I spoke about the 'நல்ல பாம்பு' – 'good snake' and 'விஷப் பாம்பு' – 'the poisonous snake'.  It is the latter that SubrahmaNya's Peacock and Maha VishNu's Garuda destroy.  Lord SubrahmaNya himself is the 'good snake' Nagaraja.  It is that snake known as Adi Sesha that is the bed for Maha VishNu.  The same one is entwining the 'Kunchita Pãdam' of Nataraja; and manifested as Patanjali to write the Yoga Sutras.   Though he did not specifically mention about the KuNdalini Yoga, the KuNdalini raised by Yoga from the Moola Ãdhãra to Sahasrãra is also in the form of a snake!

553.  Like the Garuda and Peacock, another mortal enemy of the snake is the 'கீரிப்பிள்ளை' aka the Mongoose and known in Sanskrit as 'Nakula'.  AmbãL has a form as Nakuleswari.   For the Queen Empress AmbãL she is the minister aka MantriNi, Mãtangi, and or Nakuleswari.  The queen hands over all her powers often saying that, "I shall keep the Bhakta Anugraha portfolio in my hands and you be the Home Minister for all the three worlds".  So one of her names in Lalitha SahasraNãma is 'मन्त्रिणी न्यस्त राज्यधू:', meaning, 'she who has handed over all responsibility for running the government to her minister MantriNi.  That minister is known as Rãja Mãtangi.  It is a bit funny and interesting to note that she has handed over to that 'கீரிப்பிள்ளை அம்பாள்' aka Nakuleswari all responsibilities of governance, while she is sleeping as the coiled snake as KuNdalini in Moola Ãdhãra! 

(To be continued.)

Sambhomahadeva