The enchanting form of Lord Ganesha

Lord Ganesha represents the Adi Deva or the first manifested divine principle. His worship is so popular, especially in the South, that there is hardly any village which has no temple for Him. His very name implies that He is the lord of all Celestial beings. The Celestial beings or the Devas or Ganas are the symbolic representations of the various forms of energy that manifest out of the Supreme Consciousness, Lord Shiva. They all function under certain inviolable laws, laid down by the Supreme. Ganesha is also known as Vinayaka, the great leader of all devas.The form in which Ganesha is depicted has a great significance. It is a strange but enchanting and most lovable form with its head as that of an elephant and the body as that of a human being. The huge body with its large abdomen gave Him the name ‘Mahakaya’, signifying the vast expanse of the Universe. The origin of this form has a mythological story behind it, which, since most people are familiar with, need not be repeated here.
Those who are not happy with the mythological story would like to give a simple explanation. The primitive man who lived in the jungles was often confronted with frightening natural calamities. Since his mind and intelligence were still under-developed, and could not find an explanation for these happenings, he conceived of the existence of a superior power, which caused them. He called it ‘God’ or by some other name in his primitive language. When He wanted to propitiate that power, to pacify it, he wanted to give it a form so that he could worship it. That form had to be stronger than himself, and yet he could conceive of it basically like his own but it had to be different and more powerful than himself. So he decided to provide the form with the head of the strongest animal known to him, the elephant, and with four hands. However much this explanation may sound rational, it cannot be accepted. We do not know when the concept of lord Ganesha originated, but seeing the structural details, and their implcation, certainly it cound not have been as early as the times of the primitive man. As we proceed to understand the significance of this form, we cannot but appreciate the very high philosophical import behind it, one that obviously could not have been conceived by the primitive man.
The elephant head, so characteristic of the idol, leaving alone the mythological story behind it, represents the Cosmic mind, which could be introduced only by the Supreme Consciouness, Shiva, though the body was created by Energy represented by Parvathi. Speaking from the evolutionary angle, mind or the faculty of cognition was first introduced simultaneously with the introduction of the life force in matter. All matter resulted from energy, or shakti a manifestation of Consciousness, which is synonymous with Lord Shiva. In Indian tradition, Consciousness is conceived as masculine and energy and matter as feminine, Parvathi or Uma being two of the names assigned to it. When Consciousness enters matter, Its own manifestation, life force is introduced into it, and the first faculty to appear as the product of this union is that of cognition or the mind. That is how Ganesha came to be called the first son of Shiva and Parvathi! Most scientists accept the presence of a Cosmic mind, a minute share of which is gifted to man. Why should the mind be represented as the head of an elephant? If we watch the elephant, we see that it is not only very powerful but is also always active and is the wisest of all the animals.. It constantly keeps moving its trunk and its ears and keeps a constant vigil over its surroundings.With the powerful mind also goes high wisdom. The white tusks not only represent the strength but also the pure wisdom, through which He can achieve anything in the Universe.The piece broken off from His right tusk (Vakratunda) represents a bit of the Cosmic mind and intelligence bestowed upon man. Sage Vyasa, who was supposedly assisted by Lord Ganesha to write the Mahabharata, represents the human. The broken bit of the tusk which Ganesha used to write the scripture for Vyasa signifies the wisdom gifted to mankind. The loop of rope on the upper right hand depicts His determination and ability to control the universe and pull it back to Himelf. The weapon, called the ‘ankusa’ held in His left upper hand, is one that is used by a mahout to control the elephant. Here it can be taken as to represent buddhi, a faculty that is superior to the mind and can be used to control the latter.The lower right hand holds in it a bunch of palm leaves, representing knowledge. An idol of Ganesha with His trunk reaching out to this hand is very rare, implying that only a rare human mind goes after true knowledge.An idol with the trunk reaching out to the left lower hand is more common. This hand holds in it a ball like sweet dish called the ‘modhaka’ (Modhakahastha), one that is specially prepared and offered to Him, during the annual festival of Ganesh Chaturti. This sweet represents the earth, a part of the creation, very dear to the Lord, to which He pays special attention. The way this sweet is designed is significant. The outer coveing of it is made of salted rice flour, which has hardly any taste. Inside it is enclosed a very sweet filling made of cooked green gram dhal or channa dhal or coconut gratings, with jaggery. This sweet represents man’s view of earthly life. Most of humanity, especially of past middle age, having so far tasted only the outer covering, thinks that worldly life is generally miserable and tasteless, without realizing that behind that apparent tastelessnes lies a very sweet divine reality. Our scriptures say that only by being born as a human on the earth, one can reach the Supreme Being. Thus Ganesha is represented with four hands and an additional fifth hand, the trunk. Hence He is named ‘Aingarathan’, one with five hands.
Passing on to the large abdomen of Ganesha, it would be appropriate to consider it as representing the vast Universe, with all its manifold contents. Just as the common man does not know all the happenings inside his body, the Universe holds many secrets not known to the ordinary man of the world. The sacred thread worn by Him signifies His vow or determination to maintain and protect His creation. Often a cobra, with its hood open, is tied round His belly. It represents the ego, which afflicts all humans on the earth, but can be desroyed with His grace.
Lord Ganesha’s vehicle, according to many is the mole, while some depict it as the mouse. The mole is a rodent that often inhabits the drains in houses. Though comparatively a harmless animal, it is very timid and when confronted, it will stand still and stare at you. It thus signifies ignorance and stupidity, thamoguna. The mouse though small can be very elusive and active, rajoguna and when it gets into a book shelf, it simply shreds paper and books without any purpose, irrespective of the knowledge contained in them. Thus both these animals depict ignorance and lord Ganesha subdues them by ‘riding’ on them. Another plausible and equally valid interpretation is that God, the Consciousness inhabits all forms in creation, including small animals. Most of the divine forms depicted in the Hindu tradition are shown as riding some animal or bird, the significance being the same as mentiond above.
Unlike many of the deities in the Hindu pantheon, Ganesha is commonly depicted as a bachelor. But in some temples and pictures He may be shown as having two consorts, named Siddhi and Budddhi. These signify the power of achievement and intelligence, both being forms of energy and hence represented as feminine. These are already depicted in the form described in detail above, as the loop of rope and the ankusa held in His two upper hands.
Thus the figure of Ganesha can be considered as representing the whole Universe and beyond, that is the Supreme Consciousness Itself, with its two important maifestations, the Cosmic Mind and Universal Wisdom. Man being an integral part of the Universe and a manifestation of the Consciousness Itself, the Universe and the Consciousness are ‘obliged to’ protect him and look after his needs! That is the reason why Hindus worship Ganesha as the first Deity and believe that He will grant all their prayers without fail! He is also credited with the power to remove all obstacles that may confront us in all our undertakings. That is why He is called Vigneswara, and Vignavinasaka, the lord who removes obstacles. Only by a concerted action using the whole mind and intelligence together, can one succeed in one’s endeavours.
A few words about the festival called Ganesh Chaturti, widely celebrated in India during August-Septembar every year, on the fourth day after the new moon. Traditionally, people make His idol out of clay (of clay only and not of plaster of paris or any other material as practised by many these days), and worship Him as the Supreme God, offering Him special preparations like the modhaka mentioned above. In the Hindu tradition Ganesha is always worshiped as the first among deities and the worshipper mainly prays that all his worldly efforts during the coming year should proceed without hindrance and achieve the expected results. Usually on the third day after the worship, the clay idol is taken out and immersed in any water source, where during the next few hours the idol disintegrates and the clay is returned to the earth, from which it came. This ritual known as ‘visarjan’ has great spiritual significance, which is not appreciated by those who mould His idol with materials other than clay, materials which do not disintegrate in water after immersion. A careful analysis of the worship will show that man, himself a created object, creates an idol out of the mud from the earth, one of the created elements, and worships it as the Creator Himself.. After worship he destroys the idol, returning it to its source. This does not mean that he is no longer interested in Lord Ganesha. Now he has consciously discarded the form and henceforth he worships the formless aspect of the Lord. Incidently it also reminds him of the basic truth that all forms, including his own, are nothing but energy condensed into matter, and have to disappear some day and return to the elements from which they were created, only to be reused to create new bodies or objects.
The method of household worship of Lord Ganesha has certain important implications. While a temporary idol of the above description is made only during the annual festival dedicated to him, in every religious ceremony He is invoked first and an elliptical figure is made out of cow dung, or out of a paste of turmeric or sandalwood, and He is invited to inhabit it, a process known as ‘avahanam’. The inner meaning is that God manifests in every kind of matter, and nothing in His creation is good or bad, superior or inferior.Then the ‘Pooja’ is offered to this form. Interestingly the devotees use besides other flowers, especially the flowers of Calatropis (erukkam poo) and a type of grass (aruham pul) both considereed as favourites of Vinayaka. Neither of these two is particularly attractive or pleasantly scented. The significance is that the Supreme is pleased with the offering of any simple thing and that everything in His creation is important and valuable.

some reflections on karma

SOME REFLECTIONS ON KARMA

That the Supreme Consciousness is the source of all creation is well known to the enlightened spiritual seeker as well as to most of the modern scientists. As the objects in the Universe are fashioned in the all-pervading Consciousness, the same gets included in the objects, as the Atman, the individualized Consciousness. The purpose of this, as many would accept, is that the Consciousness, which was alone in the beginning and did not know Its own presence, wanted an instrument to reveal Its presence. The instrument had to be developed by evolution to make it capable of this task. As soon as the minimum chemical structure was evolved, as in the case of the microbes, life force was introduced into it to make it functionally viable. Into it was also instilled the power of cognition, initially to know its surroundings, both to find food for its sustenance and to protect itself from harmful enivronment. This living and functioning structure is now known as the Jivatma, which literally means a living body evolved and activated by the Atman. By cotinuing the process of evolution, further improvements were effected to evolve a perfect or near perfect body and mind that can serve the intended function. The human being appears to be, at least for the present, the adequate required product. If the human being had straight away served the intended purpose, the story would have ended there. But, it would appear that the Consciousness wanted to play a game of ‘hide and seek’, by blindfolding the created instrument, so that in can make efforts to find its own creator! This blindfolding took the direction of misleading the mind (?intententionally) to go after and catch hold of objects which are not the real thing! May be, the Reality is enjoying this game!
The mind, like the life force, is to be understood as a type of energy, present in the Cosmos, having taken its origin from the very same source, from which also emerged the other types of energy. Some of that energy condensed into solid forms. The human body like all the other beings was gifted with a small fraction of these two cosmic forces, for the purpose mentioned above. When an individual sheds his physical body, the above two forces should return to their source in the Cosmos. While the life force does, the mind is said to remain separate because it is no longer the pure mental force originally introduced into the being. How did it become impure? Now this mind which was endowed with certain amount of freedom, developed a wrong notion that it is independent, and that the body it is occupyinig is its own, and different from other bodies. This exclusive identification of the mind with a single body gave rise to an imaginary individual, which is referred to as the Ego or Ahankar (aham+akar). This entity now wrongly assumes individuality and considers itself as the one who is performing actions and enjoying the fruits of those actions (the karta and the bhokta). When the fruits are enjoyabe this ‘individual’ is happy and becomes dejected when the same are unpalatable. Like the blind folded person catches hold of a tree or some object other than the hiding person soon realizes his mistake, every human being has to learn lessons from every action of his and the results accruing therefrom. If he does not learn the lesson the same experience will repeat itself in the same birth or in the subsequent births of the individual. This will go on till he finds the real hiding person! Once that happens the ‘hide and seek’ game ends!
Now let us see what impuritiess the mind, personified in this imaginary individual, acquires during the life time of the concerned human being. Since its existence is anchored in a particular body, all those persons and objects related to it are considered its own and thus an attachment to them ensues. Though these attachmnts have to disappear at the time of death of the body, the imaginary individual, the mind, keeps hold on them, even after the diappearence of the physical frame on which the very existence of the ego was based. The very sense of identification of the mind with one particular body leads on to endless number of desires to acquire not only more and more of the objects of enjoyment, but also power and fame for itself. The individual may succeed in fulfilling some or many of these desires , but the body may come to its destined end before all of them are achieved. Thus many of the unfulfilled desires may cling on to the mind even after the death of the body. Every action of the individual has to fructify, favourably or unfavourably, and produce results, to be enjoyed or suffered by the concerned individual. If the physical body meets its end before all these actions have fructified, necessarily the unfructified ones have to cling to the mind, waiting to be fulfilled. These three, namely the bodily related attachments, the unfulfilled desires, and the unfructified actions, cling to the mind even after the death of the physical frame and form the basis for the ego taking another birth.These are three main constituents of what is referred to as past Karma. Besides these three impurities some others also adhere to the mind, many of them related to these major impurities, being part or cause of them. These manifest as gross emotions, passions, lust, anger, greed, jealousy, hatred, pride, evil thoughts, prejudices, misconceptions, doubts, superstitions, cares, worries, influence of polar opposites and above all dvaitic attitude.All actions produce impressions on the mind, referred to as Vasanas and these may be of different grades and types.They may be good or evil, high or low, right or wrong. These influence the actions of the individual and form the source of likes and dislikes, and may bring joy or misery and bondage or freedom. These vasanas may be present at two levels one at the ego or the individualized consciousness level, and the other at the subconscious level. While both these influence the individual’s behavior in the current life, the former is carried totally or partly with the mind or the ego to the next birth.
In every new birth, the quantity of carried over Karma may not be, in view of the uncertainty of the duration of life, totally exhausted and part may still remain like a bank balance.This accumulated karma is called Sanchita karma, while that which is brought down to the immediate next birth for exhaustion is called Prarabdha karma. But unfortunately the reincarnated ego as the new jiva, while in the process of exhausting the Prarabdha karma, accumulates some more fresh karma, which is referred to as Agamya karma, which again adds to the bulk of the Sanchita karma.
The Jiva who comes back carrying the Prarabdha karma, brings with it two properties, Bhoktrtvam, and Kartrtvam. The first is inevitable and represents experiencing the fruits or consequences of his actions in his previous birth, resulting in pain and pleasures in the new life. The second, Kartrtvam, sows the seeds of karma for future. This phase of doership of actions is impelled by the Vasanas carried over from the previous birth. The Vasnas are of two types, the Subha-asubha vasanas and Sad vasana. The former, meaning good and bad vasanas, is not only controlled by the karma, but also limits the freedom of the reincarnated individual. Impelled by it, the Jiva performs good or bad actions, which in turn create Agamya karma, adding on to the Sanchita. This process goes on from birth to birth, in a never-ending vicious circle.
When a Jiva is reborn, is the place of his birth predetermined and his environment and parents selected by some unknown power before hand, so that they are suitable for expending his karma? Has the karma of the parents any role to play in the selection of a to-be-born new Jiva, with its own quota of karma to be expended? While we know that the structure of the body of the new Jiva is genetically regulated, is the development of his mind along particular directions related to his past karma? What is the role played by the society and environment in the shaping of the agamya karma of the reborn Jiva? Certain other questions may complicate the issue. For instance as the world population fast increasing, how can we say that all the new Jivas are reborn according to their past karma? Is it possible that many new Jivas, without a past karmic background are being created by Consciousness? Are some of the new Jivas cases of evolved animal Jivas without a previous karmic background? These are all difficult questions to answer, and probably will remain a mystery for ever, or at least for now! With so many crucial questions unanswered, is there such a thing called karma at all? Is it necessary for man to bother about it? It may be prudent to accept the existence of karma for the present till science reveals more about the origin and nature and the capabilities of the human mind and Consciousness.
Does the above mean that there is no redumption at all, for the human being? No. This is where the Sadvasana, he is born with, can come to his help. What is this Sadvasana? Unlike the Subhasubha vasanas this vasana manifests with full divine freedom or Brahmaswatantaram, unrelated to karma. Every human being, even the worst criminal, at some point of life, occasionally or even repeatedly, may get a feeling of the presence of a higher power, and the futility of the type of life he is leading. As Bhagavan Baba says, every human being came from the Atman and has to go back to the Atman, his source.This truth manifests in eveyone, without exception, as a feeling of home-sickness. This is Sadvasana, the impression about Sat, the Reality, which comes to everyone as a fleeting thought but is quickly forgotten in the hurried and mundane activities of life. If one can pursue this vasana diligently, it can lead the person to become aware of the presence of the Atman inside oneself and the extrovert mind can be slowly and progressively induced to focus its attention on the Self. Soon the mind loses its individuality and waywardness, and becomes one with the Atman, attaining a state called Atma Chidrupam. Then all the vasanas are destroyed, what is called vasanakshaya. All his on-going actions are no longer influenced by the vasanas, but are directed by the Atman. This will inevitably lead him to his natural state, the state of Being and not doing, only his body performing the Atman directed duties, if any. He remains in Atmic bliss, having reached the state of Atmasakshatkaram. Once he starts this exercise, Swami, as the exclusive manifestation of the Atman, will aid him in his efforts, and lead him to the goal.
Now what has happened to this enlightened man’s karma? From the deatiles presented above it will be clear that the three main causes of karma are based on the mind originated ego. The impurity-laden ego-mind being unable to merge with the Cosmic mind after the death of the body, carries its load to the next birth, like a vessel filled with impure water. If this container can be broken, the contents will inevitably be spilt, and nothing will be left to be carried over. The goal of all spiritual sadhana, including the three pathways prescribed in our scriptures is the total destruction of the ego. Hence if one can destroy the ego in this birth, all karma will be destroyed and there will be no need for a rebirth. As the ego, which causes the sense of separation of the individual from the rest of the creation, is destroyed the individual feels one with the rest of the Creation, one with the whole Universe. He moves from the dvaitic feeling to the advaitic experience, the final stage of his spiritual sadhana, leading to liberation or Mukti.

The three forms of Lord Shiva

The Supreme Consciousness that fills the entire Universe and beyond can be said to exist in three modes namely Brahman, the unmanifested Suddha Brahman, beyond and pervading the Universe, Vishnu, the manifested energy mode in the Universe, and Shiva, as the Atman, the indweller of all the created beings.Though the Hindu religious sects may differentiate between the three and grade them as superior or inferior to their own conceptual form, all the three are basically one and the same entity. The first mode, Brahman is the unmanifested mode and when a small fraction of It is poised for creation it is often referred to as Brahma, the Hiranyagarbha, but again there is no basic difference between the two except that the latter is a minute fraction of, and enclosed within, the former. Each one of these three modes have been described in various ways in Hindu mythology.They also roughly correspond to the Holy Trinity of Christianity. H+ere we shall refer only to the third aspect, Shiva, who is described in Hindu scriptures in three forms, or idols, namely the Lingam, the celestial dancer Nataraja and the traditional form. All the three represent the Atman, the same Consciousness referred to above as existing in the three modes. The Atman, which is basically Consciousness, is as such formless and one of its assumed forms is that of man. First, let us see in detail this third conceptualized form of Shiva, as described in Hindu scriptures.
The garments worn by Shiva are of three types of skins, those of the elephant, the tiger, and the deer. The thick elephant skin represents thamoguna, the skin of the ferocious tiger represents the rajoguna and that of the timid deer, the satvaguna. All the three gunas are manifested in man. The many snakes worn by Shiva represent the many bad qualities present in man. However one of the snakes shown around the neck of Shiva, a cobra, is always found to have its hood open and ready to strike. It signifies the ego of man, the worst of all bad qualities in him. The hair on Shiva’s head is shown as matted and knotted, representing man’s view of worldly life, that it is full of twists and troubles. But this is not a correct view of life. That is why we sing in one of the Sai bhajans, ‘joot jada mein gangadhari’ implying that the matting of the hair in Shiva’s head is false. The crescent moon on His head represents man’s mind, which is prone to waxing and waning, jubilance and depression. The mind of man, gifted to him by the Consciousness, is a minute part of the cosmic mind, and hence is immortal.The moon has no light of its own. Its light is borrowed from the Sun, which is represented by Shiva’s third eye, which also represents the fire of wisdom. The Ganga on Shiva’s head signifies the life force in man. No life can thrive on the earth without water. The sacred river, according to mythology came down to earth as a result of the penance of Bhageeratha, who prayed to Lord Shiva, to bring back to life his retinue which had died. It is said that when the water of Ganga which came down, flowed over the dead, they were all restored to life.Ganga is a perennial river and signifies the immortal life force in the Cosmos. The three pronged spear on Shiva’s hand represents the three divisions of time - the past, present and future - which is applicable only to the solar planets like the earth, and actually is a construct of man’s mind. In contrast to this, the ever rotating wheel in the hand of Lord Vishnu - the energy mode of Consciousness in the universe – represents time without divisions. In the first mode, the suddha Brahman there is no manifest time or space and hence at that stage God is referred to as ‘Kalatheethan’- beyond time.While Shiva is equated with the Atman residing in all Jivatmas, the physical body of man represents the energy, of which the body is only a condensed form.
Often we see the left side of Lord Shiva’s body pictured as a female, the ‘Ardhanareeswara’. Modern science has shown that the left cerebral hemisphere of human brain functions in a mind-oriented logical mode, and considered as of masculine nature.The right side is more intuitive, consciousness-oriented, and hence considered as feminine in nature. As bundles of nerve fibres arising from the right side of the brain, go down the mid brain, they cross over to the left side and thus control the left side of the body, while those from the left cross over to the right and control the right side of the body. Hence the left side of the human body is more of a female nature, a fact so beautifully represented in the Ardhanareeswara form of Lord Shiva! In this form it is always the left side that is depicted as the female aspect, Parvathi, and the right side as the male aspect. So He is none other than the formless Atman residing inside us while the physical body of ours represents His manifested energy aspect
Nandhi, the bull, on which Shiva rides represents the body of all living beings, which are collectively referred to as Pasu. Hence, Shiva who, as the Atman rides on or resides in the Pasu, is referred to as Pasupathi, the Lord of the beings. As all energy is derived from the Consciousness, which is divine, the condensed forms of the former, the bodies, are also equally divine. That is why the Nandhi is also worshipped in the Shiva temples, usually once in a month. Yes, the body, His residence, also has to be given attention to, though not as much as to the Lord Himself! As we enter the temple we find Nandhi, lying and always facing the lord and as we go in beyond it, we are expected to leave our body consciousness behind. We also find a flat topped stone at the entrance itself, what is referred to as the balipeetam or the sacrificial stone, on which we are expected to sacrifice our ego before we go in! As we proceed inside, usually in most of the ancient temples one has to go through progressively narrowing doorsteps or arches along a passage which is like a cave darker than the outside. One has to walk through carefully to avoid tripping over steps and falling! This represents the arduous and concerted steps one has to take to go into oneself to find the Atman residing there in the cave of the heart! As you walk through this passage your attention is focussed on the idol of the Lord inside, illuminated by a burning lamp. In most of the temples this lamp, which is kept burning continuously, is referred to as “thoonda vilakku”. It represents the eternal light which burns inside us, namely that of the Atman. Suddenly you end up with the sanctum sanctorum where we are faced with the other form representing Lord Shiva, namely the Lingam. This careful attentive approach to the sanctum sanctorum is a symbolic representation of meditation which man has to undertake to achieve Atmic Consciousness.
Though the idol is shaped like a short cylindrical pillar, the real shape is said to be that of an egg, which represents the source of origin and the end of all the creation. The oval or elliptical shape besides signifying the ‘Brahmanda’ or the Cosmic egg, also resembles the zero, nothingness, by which term the Supreme Consciousness is often referred to in our scriptures, since it is ‘no thing’, meaning that it is not an object of perception.
The word lingam consists of two syllables, ‘Lin’ and ‘gam’. Bhagavan Sai says that this means linyate (-going) and gamyate (-coming) that is the creation that comes and goes endlessly from this source, that is the Atman or the Consciousness. The Lingam is said to consist of three parts: the lowest called Brahma peeta, the middle as Vishnu peeta and the uppermost as Shiva peeta, again to show that all the three modes are from the same Consciousness. The lingam representing Consciousness, rests on an anvil like stone which represents the material aspect of creation, which in turn is a gross manifestation of the energy aspect of Consciousness. In our tradition Consciousness is referred to as the male aspect and the energy mode as the female aspect of creation. That is how the three female deities, Saraswathi, Lakshmi and Parvathi were designated as the consorts, the functioning aspects of the the three modes of existence of Conscousness namely Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, respectively. The Westerners and the worldly oriented people who did not understand the significance of this symbolism wrongly interpreted the worship of the Lingam as phallus worship!
The lingam is adorned with three horizontal linear applications of Vibhuti or sacred ash. Ash is a final product of combustion and cannot undergo any further change, it is changeless. Hence it represents the Atman which is not subject to any change. The three lines represent the three modes of existence of Consciousness or Atman, namely Param the beyond, Iham the Universe, and Aham the created objects. When man wears the three lines of Vibhuti on his forehead, everytime he is expected to remind himself of the Atman, which is his true Self. Often he wears in the centre of the three lines a red dot of vermillion. This represents the fire of Wisdom, in which he is to burn his ignorance and aspire to achieve Atmic consciousness.
In many Shiva temples, a vessel with multiple holes at the bottom, is hung over the Lingam and this vessel is periodically filled with water, so that there is a constant flow of water on the Lingam. Hence Lord Siva is often referred to as ‘Abhishekapriya’ We had seen earlier that water represents the life force and is depicted as the Ganga on the head of Shiva. So this constant flow of water on the Lingam signifies the close association of the Atman with life in the beings. The traditional article used for the worship of Shiva is the Bhilva leaf which has three segments, representing the three gunas which the worshipper is to get rid of, by offering them to the Lord, before he can hope to be the recipient of Grace. Shiva or the Atman has no attributes of Gunas. Hence He, known as “Gunatheetha’, one beyond gunas, can be realized by man only after he sheds his own Gunas.
Now we shall consider the third figure representing Lord Shiva, the dancing form, named Nataraja, the King of Dance. We do not know when this form was conceived but it has such a bearing on modern subatomic physics, one often wonders how our ancients could have done it! It could have been only through intuitive knowledge derived from the Cosmic mind and intelligence, which they could contact by their spiritual sadhana. Everyone is familiar with this form: The face is very serene and shows the third eye on the forehead, the same representing Cosmic Wisdom. On either side of the head we see waves like lines flowing out, which can be taken as representing water, the life force, alluded to earlier. The right upper hand holds a drum called the ‘Damaru’ which depicts sound energy, which is conidered as related to creation and also represents space. The left upper hand shows fire, which denotes the power of destruction, an inevitable end of all created objects. At the level of the hip we can see the long strands of clothing floating in the wind The right leg is planted on a demon called ‘Muyalagan’, said to denote thamoguna, which He has mastered. It can be visualized as prithvi, solid matter in creation, and all solid matter has inertia.The left leg is raised in a characteristic dance pose and the left lower hand is gracefully pointed towards this foot, inviting us to surrender to Him. The right lower hand is shown in another typical dance posture called the ‘Abhaya Hastham’, the hand offering protection. The whole dance is occuring in ‘empty space’, which our anients knew, was not really empty but is filled with Consciousness or ‘Chit’. That is why the space or stage in/on which He is dancing is referred to as ‘Chitambalam’ (Chit + ambalam). Since the Consciousness is not only the stage on which He dances, but also fills the space all around the form, like a covering, it is also referred to as ‘Chidambaram’ (Chit+ ambaram). Our ancient texts say that the process of creation consists of five elements, and stages. The first was Akasa, followed by Wind, Fire, Water, and Prithvi or solid matter, appearing one after another in that order. If we do not understand the meaning of these names of elements correctly, inevitable questions will arise: How can water arise from fire and solid matter from water? While Akasa refers to space, Wind must be taken as refering to gases, Fire to intense heat, Water to liquid, and Prithvi to solid matter.Thus it wil be seen that the dancing figure not only represents the ever dancing energy pattern but also the five elements originating from the Consciousness.That this view of creation fits in with our present scientific knowledge will become clear as we proceed further with the discussion.
Incidentally, the original source of creation, the Supreme Consciousness was considered to be divine. Anything which is worthy of our adoration and worship is divine, and nothing can qualify more for this definition than the source of all creation. And our ancients rightly held that all the five elements (Pancha Bhutas) which originated from It are equally divine and worshipped them also in the form of lingams or images (Pancha Bhuta lingams) at five different places These five are: as Nataraja (Akasha) at Chidambaram in Tamil Nadu, as Kalahasteeswar (Wind) at Kalahasti in Andhra, as Arunachaleswar (Fire) at Thiruvannamalai, as Jambhukeswar (Water) at Thiruvanaikaval, and as Ekambareswar (Prithvi) at Kanchipuram, the last three also in Tamil Nadu.
Now let us see how all this can be correlated with what modern science, specifically sub-atomic physics, has revealed to us on this subject of creation. Now most of the scientists agree that Consciousness is the primordial source of creation. The same existed in the beginning as a mass of intensely compresed energy, referred to as ‘Atheetha Shakti’ by Bhagavan Baba, which at a point of time exploded (the Big Bang), with great sound and heat releasing all the energy contained therein. The scientists have now concluded that space is also a created entity and it continues to be created. They have also shown that this space is by no means empty but is filled with subatomic particles of energy, which suddenly appear in bundles from ‘no where’, dance for a minute fraction of a second and then disappear into ‘no where’! Now they agree that Consciousness must be the source as well as the end of these particles of energy. This is a continuous process which goes on endlessly, and it is this ‘dance’ of the particles of energy that has been conceived as Nataraja, the Cosmic Dancer, the dancing form of Shiva who is equated with Consciousness. The energy particles released at the time of the explosion vibrated at great frequencies and gaseous form of matter, mainly Hydrogen was formed. This in turn set up nuclear fusion reactions, releasing intense heat and light, and forming new gases and gaseous materials.These, as the temperature went down, condensed into liquid or molten substances, which in course of time solidified into gross matter. It will be obvious that these stages of formation of the Universe correspond to the five elements described above. This Cosmic Dance is not a one-time affair and it is a continuous process still going on in the Universe. Most of the stars we see in the sky are still, like our Sun, in gaseous state with nuclear reactions going on in them. Many may be having liquid centres and many of the planets orbiting these stars, like our earth may have hot liquid centres and cooled solid surfaces. The conjecture of the scientists is that even now new stars are being formed and many stars,along with their planets, if any, are dying or getting destroyed. Thus creation and destruction is a continuous process. Hence the view that God created the Universe in six days and on the seventh day He took rest is not acceptable. He is not sitting somewhere high in the sky and running the Universe but is very much residing in it as a part of it and activating and controlling it.