abayAmbikAShTakam - dhyAnam -4 *

[Guest guest]

gurusvarUpa dhyAnam

------------------------------

prabala guruguhOdaye namaste

dIkshA santuShTa mAnase namaste

 

After visualizing the deity in the form she preferred to have in mAUram,

dIxitar visualizes her identity with his guru.

 

... prabala guruguhOdaye namaste ..

'Salutations to thee, in the form of my guru, guha'

 

The adjective 'prabala' denotes the valorous and mighty quality of the

teacher. He has crossed the samsAra and he is also capable of lifting

others. Devi has manifested in the form of such a guru to uncover the

concealed truth to the seeker. guha svAmi manifested in tirutaNi in front

of dIxitar and uncovered his dilution, hence guha is his guru. dIxitar

claims that abhayAmbA and guruguha are one and the same and salutes this

guru svarUpam as 'pabala guruguhOdaye namaste'.

 

Technically a guru is one who performs the purification ceremony and

instructs the seeker to the knowledge of highest order. So the next

salutation deals with the consecration or dIxA.

 

... dIkshA santuShTa mAnase namaste ..

'Salutations to thee, satiated by consecration'

 

The feeling of saturation that an elevated soul gets in uplifting another is

indicated by the word 'santuShTa mAnase'.

 

The absolute level and highest order of knowledge that has been endowed upon

is also seen as identical with the deity.

 

vedasvarUpa dhyAnam

 

kAmatantra vidAyini namaste

bharata mata.ngAdi nute namaste

 

... kAmatantra vidAyini namaste ..

'Salutations to thee, who revealed the ultimate identity'

 

For knowledge to work experience is needed. Tantra refers to the principle

doctrine through which the identity of the individual and universal is

recognized. KamakalA tantra is a samayAchAra doctrine that emphasizes the

unity of consciousness and its power (shiva and shakti). As seen in the

sUtra of kAmakalA vilAsa,

 

'eko rudraH sarva bhUteShu gUDhAH, mAyA rudro sakalo niShkaLashcha,

saeve devi na cha tatvibhinnA, hyiti GYAtvA hi amr^itatvam vrajanti'

 

'One rudra is latent in every created thing. mAyA (shakti) and rudra are his

manifested and unmanifested aspects. He is she. They are not separate.

Knowing this (they) attain immortality'.

 

As devi herself has revealed this ultimate truth, she is saluted as 'kAma

tantra vidAyinI namaste'.

 

 

... bharata mata.ngAdi nute namaste ..

'Salutations to thee, exalted by bharata and mataN^ga'

 

 

Out of the four vedAs bhagavan says, I am in the form of sAma veda. Held in

such high esteems this veda has a upaveda 'gAndarva veda' popularly known as

'sangItam' or music.

The perspective of art for an easterner and a westerner are totally

different. In west art is for art sake, but in east it is constructed as a

spiritual technology. Music is a phenomenon that elevates an individual from

the state of what is to be known, to the state of what he wants to be.

Popularly known as nAdopasana this shift of consciousness through melody

arises from sAma veda. Though sAma veda is so preliminary in the variation

aspect of melody, the meditative mood of sAma gAna is of high quality due to

its over tones.

 

Bharata and mataN^ga are the two main riShI-s who are considered as the

fathers of music. First ever known book on music was by bharata named 'nATya

shastra'. He is said to have had 100 sons to propagate this nATya shastra.

This treatise runs to around 6000 couplets. Devi manifested as the daughter

of bharata, 'bhAratI' and thought him the nuances of melody.

 

Another legendary figure was mataN^ga, seen in ramayaNa as the guru of

shabhari. Though the work 'bR^ihasdeshi' has the author name as mataN^ga,

historians have a view that this work could be by some one later and not by

the mataN^ga muni. Devi manifested as the daughter of mataN^ga, 'mAtaN^gI'

and revealed the subtle essence of music to mataN^ga. dIxitar remembers

these two mahAtmA-s before presenting his musical treatise.

 

Cont ...

 

Aravind

____

Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com