abhayAmbikAShTakam - rUpa dhyAnam 2

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rUpa dhyAnam

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gavAM sarvAN^gajakshIraM stravet stanamukhAt yathA .

tathAsarvagato devIH pratimAdiShu rAjate ..

AbhirUpyAccha bimbasya pUjAyAMca visheShataH .

sAdhakasya cha vishvasAd devatA saMnidhirbhavet ..

 

How milk produced by the entire body of the cow flows through the udder,

likewise the all-pervasive devi is seen in an archA rUpA (pratimA). When a

devotee worships her in such a form, she reveals herself and feeds him the

milk of bliss. Having intoxicated they flow with beautiful panegyrics. One

such is dikshItar's todi dhyAnam. The rUpa dhyAna nAmAvaLI-s in this krithi

are,

 

dAkshAyaNi abhayAmbike namaste

varadAbhaya haste namaste

dInAvana hasta sArase namaste

 

rUpam refers to a form or the nature of an object. Meditating upon the

physical form of devi is ‘rUpa dhyAnam’. Before engaging in further

explanations, let’s take up a simple question,

 

Why does the all-pervading almighty (his true form) that is pure bliss or

Ananda (his true nature) deflates her supreme position and assumes a form

that follows some rule of anatomy? What reason can be attributed for this

step down ?

 

Is it for ‘duShTa nigraham & siShTa paripAlanam’?, not really. Ishvara

assuming a guNa can accomplish his determination through his will alone. He

created this universe this way, ‘so kAmayata’ 'he just thought, let it be

like this, and things came in to existence'. So physical visibility can not

be justified for destruction of the evil as he can do it just with his

saN^kalpa.

 

Then why does she assume a form and fight with mahiShAsurA for days

together? when she could have destroyed him by just her will that he should

be destroyed. (In fact after several days of that furious war she smashed

him just with a ‘hum kAra’).

 

When she is inseparably embedded in the left half of shiva, what is the need

for her to be born as the daughter of the mountains or that of dakSha,

penance for days together and unite with shivA again as though she is

separate?

 

The only convincing answer we can think of is, she thought of giving her

devotees the fortune to conceive that their limited (indriyA-s) organs can

conceive. To provide the fortune of taking care of her needs as though she

had some needs to mataN^ga, bR^igu, kAtyAyana & himavAn. It is for this

reason to provide her devotee with the affluence of service that she

manifests in a form. But the shR^iti statement

na sa.ndR^ishe tishhThati rUpamasya na chakshuShA pashyatikashchanainam.h .

hR^idA manIshA manasAbhiklR^ipto ya ena.n viduramR^itAstebhavanti .. ,

should always be remembered.

 

This willingness to come down is what enchants saints and devotees.

‘yanna tavam seidanai yaShOdA yangum nirai parabrahman ammA enru azaika’

‘O! yaShoda, What penance you took!, for the all pervading para brahman to

come and call you 'ammA'’

 

Dikshitar recalls one such incarnation of devi, as the daughter of daksha

and begins his laud with the verse

‘dAkshAyaNI abhayAmbike namaste’.

‘Salutations to thee the daughter of daksha, salutations O! abhayAmbhA’

 

 

devi incarnated as the daughter of dakSha and hence she is dAkshAyaNI.

daksha yagJNa is an important episode seen in both Shiva and viShNu

purANA-s. The version in Sri madbhAgavatam a predominantly viShNu purANA has

the best version of this episode.

 

dakSha prajApAti, the mAnasIka putra of brahma married prasUti the daughter

of manu. daksha lacked IshvarArpaNam in his actions, as a result gained

arrogance and pride. Parents of this universe planed a play to revert him to

righteousness. Devi incarnated as the daughter of dakshA along with fifteen

others. dakSha gave his fifteen daughters in marriage to chandra (to dharma

in some versions). satI (dAkshAyaNI) was always in Ishvara dhyAnam. Finally

with the advice of brahma and others daksha agreed to give satI in marriage

to parameshvara.

 

Once daksha arranged for a huge sacrifice. Every one was seated in the main

hall witnessing the amazing proceedings. Conches blew and daksha entered the

main hall. The entire assembly rose in respect. His head went up and his

chest expanded in pride seeing the honor that was shown. His eyes caught

sight of two persons who had not stood up, brahma, his father and

parameshvara, his son-in-law. daksha prostrated before Brahma and sought his

blessings. He then looked at shiva who continued to sit quietly. daksha

could not bear this. He trembled in anger and abused parameshvara in front

of all. Then he poured a little water into his palm and sipped it up saying,

" Henceforth shiva will not get the share of any sacrifice" . The entire

assembly was horrified as he pronounced this curse.

 

All through this parameshvara remained calm and composed, never uttering a

single word in anger or protest. But nandikeshvara was unable to bear this

insult, he too sipped a little water and in turn cursed daksha. bR^igu, the

leader of the assembly, uttered a counter curse on nandi and the followers

of Shiva. There was utter chaos all round. People had never heard such

terrible curses before. Quietly, shiva got up and left the hall.

 

Sometime later, Brahma made daksha the head of the PrajapatI-s. Daksha's

pride knew no bounds. He decided to perform ‘bR^ihaspati yagna’. All the

inhabitants of the three worlds were invited except shiva.

 

When devi heard of the elaborate preparations that were going on in her

father's house, she also wanted to witness it. shiva pointed out that they

had not been invited. She convinced him by saying, "Surely a daughter needs

no invitation to visit her father's house. In the intense preparation of the

yagna he must have forgotten to invite us." So at last shiva allowed her to

go.

 

dAkshAyaNi arrived at the sacrifice hall. No one came forward to receive her

except her mother and sisters. Her father even refused to look at her. devi

felt uneasy at his strange behavior and noticed that no yagna offering had

been kept for shiva. Unable to bear the insult she said ‘I am indeed ashamed

of this body which has come from you O daksha”. She sat in a yogic posture

facing north and united with parameshvara leaving her sharIra.

 

shiva rose in terrible fury and created vIrabhadra from his jata. He ordered

him to destroy the sacrifice. vIrabhadra cut off daksha’s head in one

impulse. Later brahma pleaded on behalf of deva-s to shiva. shiva pardoned

daksha and gave him the head of a goat. The yagna was completed.Devi

manifested as the daughter of himavAn later and married parameshvara again.

 

dIkshitar remembers this incident and hails devi as ‘dAkshAyaNI’. Though a

number of tatvArtam-s are stated for the above incident, Shri lalitA

sahasranAma gives a simple and convincing explanation.

‘dAkshAyaNI daitya hantrI dakShayaJNA vinAshinI’

The purpose of destroying the yagna was to indicate that with out ‘Ishvara

dhyAnam’ all karmA-s are of little use. satvIka karmA accompanied with

Ishvara dhyAnam provides chitta shudhi and prepares one for Atma vichAra.

The daitya portion of dakSha was demoted by devi in her lIlA kelanam and

hence the nAmA ‘daitya hantri’ is embedded between ‘dakShyANI’ and

‘dakshayagJNa vinAShiNI’.

 

 

 

Cont ...

Aravind