Miscellaneous philosophical topics

Re: Purpose of Religion and Life

Subbu sir,

Good one again.

Thanks for bringing it here for us.

 

Re: Purpose of Religion and Life

Thank you dear sriniketan and shanvy for the feedbacks and kind visits to my topic.

Look forward your views more on the subject.

Subbu

 

Taraka Mantra - Passage To Heaven

Taraka Mantra - Passage to heaven

It was a mournful morning, as Srinivasan watched a family cremating their loved one at the Harishchandra Ghat. The Ganges flowed by in all her zest, the waters reflecting the sunlight as tiny droplets of fire on her watery veil, dotting her various ripples with glowing lights while the fire on the banks raged on consuming another man as his soul departed.

Srinivasan looked around, observing the sad faces of people who could not think or perceive life beyond the burning dead man who lay in front, reminding everyone that if they got lucky, they would get a chance to be cremated here too. Then Srinivasan turned and stared into the Ganges, through the clouded air wondering whether he could ever have set eyes on the silent presence of Lord Shiva whispering the Taraka Mantra into the ears of the dead, leading them to heaven and washing their karmas of this janma away into the pure chilling waters of the Ganges.

He stood and watched this world, distant to their emotions of sorrow, but aware completely of the reality of death that knocks at every door when the time comes. He heard the echo in the background.

Rama Nama Satya Hai Rama Nama Satya Hai

Low voices of men reverberated to the rhythm of the Ganges as the rising pyre ate into the dead. Srinivasan was at peace with himself, quite emotionless to the morose event taking place in front of him. Did these people even know why they were uttering those sacred words?

Srinivasan watched on as the words Ra Ma Na Ma began to echo in his mind. Rama Nama is the mantra that is called the Taraka Mantra. Taraka denotes 'tari' or the boat that takes the soul and crosses over the waters of samsara. Samsara, which means "flowing together" denotes the cycle of birth, death and rebirth, a constant cycle in time.

The Taraka Mantra is the name of Lord Rama himself. As the great Tamil poet Thyagaraja sings, 'Ra' is a syllable taken from the Ashtaksharam of Lord Vishnu - Om Na Mo Na Ra Ya Na Ya, and 'Ma' is taken from the Panchaksharam of Lord Shiva - Na Ma Shi Va Ya. The result is 'Rama', the beeja mantra of Lord Rama as named by Sage Vashishta.

The essence of the mantra is such. Sage Vishwamitra had done constant upasana and attained Sakshatkara over all the devatas of all the mantras. He gifted the outcome of these mantras to Rama be initiating him into it. With the utterance of this mantra Lord Rama attained Sakshatkara of all the devatas much sooner than the time sage Vishwamitra had taken. As the devatas appeared in front of Lord Rama while he did his upasana, Lord Rama did "avahanam", imbibing them into his being, and absorbed them into his heart. In this way, Lord Rama imbibed all the devas into himself. The Taraka mantra is the Rama mantra which is equivalent to worshiping all the devatas within him.

Ra in Rama is found in the ashtakshari (8 syllables) mantra of Om Namo Narayanaya. Ra is also the beeja mantra for Agni or fire, and could also be pronounced as Rum, Rm. Ra and Ma are jeeva-aksharas, or life giving syllables.

Interestingly, in Buddhist cosmology, Ma Ra (Mara) signifies ignorance and evil. Siddhartha conquered Mara and the world of illusions and seduction into materialism (samsara) to be finally enlightened as Gautama Buddha. Srinivasan thought on furiously, Ma Ra was the opposite of Ra Ma.

Srinivasan woke out of the echoing thoughts in his mind as the sun glowed through the engulfing flames at the Ghat. The air was cloudy and he almost imagined Lord Shiva whispering the sacred words through the flames of Agni, releasing the soul embarked with the Taraka mantra, in His divine voice, beyond all human awareness, and helping the boat sail into the other world.



Srinivasan got up to leave, watching the landscape as he walked back up the Ghats. Up ahead near the Ghat, glowing in bright sunlight and draped with flowers, the coppery hue of Lord Shiva glistened in the day light promising enlightenment to all who consciously seek the Taraka mantra upasana.

 

Re: Taraka Mantra - Passage To Heaven

Thanks Sunkan for bringing this information to notice.
Wondering what 'Taraka Rama' meant.
Now clarified!

Lord Shiva conveys Taraka Nama through Agni to the departed soul, shows us that how the Lord shows mercy on us and even guide us to the other world.

sriniketan

 

Re: Taraka Mantra - Passage To Heaven

Hi Sunkan,
Thanks for the wonderful post. clap
The syallables in RA MA are the combination of
Om Namo Narayana and Namashivaya. It is nice to know
the secret of RAMA namam.
The very meaning of the word RAMA is who enlightens.
I recollect the Thyagaraja`s song `Raminchuvarevarura`
Thanks for posting.

 

Re: Taraka Mantra - Passage To Heaven

even i am getting enlightened srini,
i am also involved in a question answer space which drives me to many sites to get information of vedam and upanishads true this is the best way to get it as u search, medical too, i enjoy answering them a lot, keeps my mind ticking a lot tooo...sunkan

 

Re: Taraka Mantra - Passage To Heaven

thanku vidhya,
happy u liked what i post here, did u read the rudram which i have posted by one mr ramachandran with meanings and the stotram is in english..sunkan

 

Re: Taraka Mantra - Passage To Heaven

Dear Sundari Madam,

I've only recently started 'grazing' this site and am amazed at all your informative and extremely useful postings. Every one of your contributions makes us stop for a moment -- and well & truly THINK ! :hatsoff:hatsoff:hatsoff Thanks for taking the time to post all your findings for us , on this site. Just begun --- so still lots more of your contributions are there ,for me to read and enjoy.

You always share with us something which we never knew or even heard about before !!

God Bless you with all that you desire.

Love,
Grace.

 

Re: Taraka Mantra - Passage To Heaven

thanku grace for noticing and appreciating this is the greatest boost for my postings...sunkan

 

Paarvathi Kalyanam

May Goddess Balambika bless you for the beautiful question!

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The reference to our Sweetest Mother comes from Homa-kundam is from the Lalitha-Mahathmyam in Brahmaanda Puraanam.(Lalitha and Rajarajeshwari are one and the same. Just the yogic posture differs and tatwa a bit).

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Lord Siva was seated in yogic meditation. Kama came along to disturb his meditation, but was destroyed by Siva. Siva, the destroyer, was in meditation for sometime, which resulted in the increase in the population of earth and a heavy burden on Mother Earth. The gods sent Kama (god of love, cupid, Amos, Eros) to shoot flowery Harshana (one of the five erotic arrows) on Siva and disturb his penance at the precise moment he woke up to receive his Divine Consort Parvati. He (Kama) by his magical power created an ambience of spring in the air, earth, and trees, conducive to love.

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Siva woke up from meditation, took one look at Parvati, and could not stop enjoying and articulating his appreciation of beautiful features of Parvati, who, in the privacy of Siva's presence, lay bare gracefully, sporting sidelong glances. Siva felt like two persons, one imbibing the beauty of Parvati and another, Yogi of all yogis bent on control of the senses. He felt that if seeing is great pleasure, embracing must give even greater pleasure.
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Suddenly it dawned on him that he was stung by Kama's arrows and bitten by love. How could that happen to a Yogi of yogis, who has complete control over senses? Paramayogi Siva addressed Parvati in a loving manner and wondered aloud to her, how he became a victim to Kama and how that downfall is harmful to his excellent reputation as the Lord of Vairagya (detachment, desirelessness) .

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He advised Parvati, in a spirit of platonic detachment, not to sit by his side on the couch, and looked around for he felt uncomfortable in being aroused. He felt that the Vairagin and Yogi (in him) were associating with a wife of someone else; such was the depth of his Vairagya. Kama continued to shoot arrows at Siva with no effects. Siva's anger was bubbling to surface. A fire rising from the third eye of Siva incinerated Kama into ashes. That incident happened in Korukkai. One of Siva's Ganas (attendant of Siva) gathered the ashes of Kama and shaped it in the form of man. The Gana begged Siva to teach him a mantra and confer half the power of Kama to the ash-made man.

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Since the Ash-man was dead Kama and the result of Siva's fury, the Ash-man became a demon (Bhanda), who with his newfound strength and power defeated the gods who sought the help of Tripurasundari, who defeated the demon and restored the gods to their former status. (Bhasman or Sacred Ash is euphemious for Semen Virile of Siva. Incineration brings all substances to their pristine primal state.) Rati, Kama's wife, came to Siva and begged him to give her husband back to her. Siva restored Kama not to the physical state but to a mental image, a representation of true love and affection; since then, he is also known by the epithet, Ananga (one without body parts).

The Ash-man asked and obtained Mantra from Siva who congratulates him with epithet Bhand, Bhand (good, good); so the name Bhanda stuck with the Ash-man. Since Bhanda is the product of Siva's anger and later ash and much later with the power of mantra he built a city rivaling the City of gods ruled by Indra, Siva's Gana becomes a demon. ​

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It appears that Bhanda is the fusion-product of Siva's Gana and the ash of Kama. Bhanda ruled his kingdom for sixty thousand years. He also attacked the city of gods, Indra and his army; immediately on the advice of Narada Muni, Indra goes to Tripura Sundari for help. The gods offer their own flesh and blood as sacrificial present to TPS. The gods also perform a marriage of Siva with Tripura-sundari, as an act of propitiation. ​

Lalitamahatmya says the following about Bandha. The gods were so afraid of him they hid in the netherworlds, deep in the ocean, in the bushes, and in the mountains. They ran away leaving their wives and children and roamed the earth in disguise. The great fighters such as Yakshas, great serpents, Siddhas, and Sadhyas were no better than blades of grass for Bhanda. ​

Everybody joined in and performed a sacrifice and from the fire rose a goddess in the form of Lalita Rajarajeshwari Para Devata (Supreme Deity). She held Pasa (noose), Ankusa (goad), Dhanus (bow), and the highest Sakti. She was none other than Brahman.​

Since Bandha came from the fire of anger of Siva-Rudra, he remained powerful. The Daityas(Asuras) including Bhrgu, Sukra, gravitated towards him. Bandha summoned Maya the Architect of Daityas and ordered him to rebuild the City of Sonitapura to its former glory. The Daityas, headed by Sukra the son of Bhrgu Muni, installed Bandha as the king of the rebuilt city. The crown was none other than the one worn by Hiranyakasipu and other Daitya kings, given to Hiranyakasipu by Lord Brahma. Bandha received Camaras (Chowries or whisks) as protection against illness and miseries; umbrella which protected against missiles (Now you know the origin of the term, nuclear Umbrella!); a bow Vijaya; a conch; ornaments; a throne; eight muscle men as body guards; four beautiful wives; thousands of chariots, horses, elephants, and soldiers; noble people for his court... Sixty-thousand years whizzed by, as Bandha ruled his kingdom. ​

The gods headed by Indra were in a bad shape; Bandha and Daityas were powerful by their discipline, Tapas, and penance. Vishnu, the consort of Kamala and the God of gods, wanted to bring an end to the evil forces and thus created Maya, the feminine form of His potency or Sakti. Vishnu ordered Maya to delude all beings and Bandha. Now you know how gods used the lure of sex as a destructive force. Vishnu willingly gave Maya assistants (think of Charley's Angels) to accomplish her goal. ​

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One of Ladies of Lure was the chief enchantress Visvaci who made a bee-line to Manasa lake, where Bandha was in a state of blissful congress with a bevy of nubile young women drawn from his kingdom. When he was not in congress, he was in the the lake in balneal relaxation. Visvaci with fawn eyes put her tent up under the cool shade of Campaka tree and began voicing luscious notes of divine music. No one could resist that golden voice and bubbly musical notes of the lute. Soon Bandha with his band of ministers came to the Lady of Lure, drawn by the lute. Just imagine champagne bubbles make music as you imbibe it. Who could resist it? Bandha being a Lout was more attracted by her lightning-like limbs than by the notes of the lute. The ministers were equally taken by the charm of the Ladies of Leasure and felt the tender bites of love in their hearts. Bandha and the ministers went on a love-offensive and invited Maya and her iridescent lovelies for marathon congress to which they readily agreed. Ten thousand years passed in such voluptuosity that it appeared as if it were a mere Muhurta (48 minutes). The Chief lady of Lure was also known as Mohini. There was a widespread abrogation of moral laws; even the priests succumbed to the lure ---Verse 12. 33. The gods were very happy to see the Daityas degenerate as manure in their moral values. ​

Narada, the tattletale benign Muni of all ages, came to the court of Devendra (the chief of gods) and gave him his advice as follows. "Bandha and his ministers are under the influence and clutch of Vishnu's Maya and her lovelies. He is so strong that you cannot defeat him in a zillion years. O Ignoramus, propitiate the Great Goddess, Parasakti with whose help you can defeat Bandha. Thus started the worship and penance to please the Great Goddess. The news reached the high priest of the Asuras, the son of Bhrgu, Sukracharya, who went to Bandha and advised him as follows. " O BhandAsura, you, your ministers and your subjects go anywhere in the three worlds without fear. Hari (Vishnu) loves to kill you and the Danavas. Maya-Mohini was created by Vishnu for the express purpose of weakening and defeating you. This allure of yours to Maya is the weakness, Indra the chief of gods has been looking for; he is performing penance to win over you. Abandon the Lady of Lure Maya, go to the mountains and ruin their penance so that the gods will not gain any strength. Bandha briefed the ministers on the happening of the day. ​

Srutvarma, the most intelligent among them advised Bandha as follows:" Siva allotted you sixty thousand years to rule the three worlds. It is now more than 60 thousand years that you ruled. There is no solution to this problem except to pray to Siva. Victory or defeat will come at the appropriate time."​

Bhimakarma came up with contrarian view and said as follows:" The enemy should be dealt with according to the threat. Siva granted you the magical power (Vidya) that saps the strength of your enemy; this is the time to use that power."​

Bandha took the latter's advice and camped out at the base of the mountain, Himavan. The Mother of the universe, the Goddess raised an insurmountable wall in front of them. Bandha launched missiles after missiles shattering the wall, as Goddess rebuilt the wall as soon it was destroyed. ​

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The Suras (gods) became very nervous wanted to flee. Flee where; they had no where else to go. on the advice of Sakra, they dug a sacrificial pit, and offered human flesh to the Goddess in the fire. (Here consider this as our soldiers die in battlefield; offering human flesh is dying in battle as a sacrifice to the Goddess to obtain victory over the enemy.) Soon thereof, Mahadevi rose from the fulminating fire of the sacrificial pit. She was the Goddess of the entire universe and the embodiment of Brahma, Vishnu and Siva. She was the pinnacle of beauty and ambrosial bliss; wore clothes of the color of pomegranate flower; shone with jewels; radiated mercy and love; parleyed cool glance of moonlight and sported a sugarcane bow with five arrows, goad and noose. The glorious Goddess appeared before them to the delight of the Suras. She cast a glance on all of them thus, making them strong and vibrant. The gods all joined together and praised the goddess Ambika, the fulfiller of all wants. ​

The story goes on and on including the vadha of Bhandaasura but then, I hope this narrative answer your question.​

Incidentally, my Gurunathar Sri Rajagopala Swamy performed a Mahachandi-Yaga long time ago and at the end of the Homam in his home in Thayyappa Mudali street,Chennai, he found a few gems shining in the sacrificial pits and the biggest stone amongst them became Sri Rajarajeshwari Devi idol miraculously. This idol too has been placed next to the emerald streaked stone vigraha of Amba in the temple.​

Also, in Lalitha Sahasranama in the very first verse we have the nama "Chidagni Kunda Sambhutha".This also indicates an esoteric meaning as in: ​

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Chidagnikunda cidagnikunda (Sanskrit) [from chit thought, consciousness, spirit + agni fire + kunda receptacle for fire, hearth, a place in which fire may burn] The interior fire of the spirit or the mystical site in the human constitution in which the fire of spiritual thought burns. The Srividya-Sadhaka is said to completely transmute his ahamkara (merely ego-consciousness) and elevate it to spiritual egoic universality in chidagnikunda, from this then emnates Paradevatha who becomes Empress of all the internal universes of the sadhaka. Some also argue that, it refers ultimately to the Kundalini-Maha- shakthi who emnates out from the Mooladhara due to arduous and sharddha-poorvaka cultivation of the Srividya Path.
There is also one more thing about Kundika-devi but too much detail will be digression on the higher side.
"All things the body. The body is the sacrificial ladle. Knowledge is the food." -- Shiva Sutras II, 9-10.

brought to you by sunkan
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