Guest guest Posted February 25, 2004 Report Share Posted February 25, 2004 Respected Atreyaji, Thank you for this wonderful mail and I learn lot from your mails posted both to the group and in person. On this mail may I offer my some observations and correct me if you tend to think differently. First of all the " Vahanas " or noble vehicles cannot be equated to an animal which is not having the sixth sense but only behaves due to its programmed instinct or an anology drawn to a human mind or intellect. Animals have a place in creation for balancing the environment, food chain etc. While your analysis of the instict of each animal is right, motivating and inspiring with full of meaning, I think that this is more of an " Intellectual Sathvic gymnastic " Convincing but stretching the imagination far off. If you ask me " Why " -- the explanation is : Vahanas though they take the form of an animal , are not animals " perse " and cannot be compared to animals in terms of behaviour. The Vahanas could be some human beings liberated or realised but not wanting to merge with the Parabrahman chose to take an animal form to serve as a vehicle to the Saghuna Brahman. We know the great Alwar -- Kulaseshkara Alwar-- rejecting the Parama padam or Moksha Chose to be a stepping stone to the main gate ( Garbha graham ) of Maha Vishnu temple. He preferred a dust of devotee of Narayana superior to Moksha. Adi Shankara in the 31st shloka of " Subramanya Bhujangam Offers his salutations to the " Peacock, Cockor the fowl , and the Goat. As per the puranas the asura Sura Padhman after being slained prayed to Muruga and choses to be as a Cock or fowl adorning his banner , ever with Lord Subhramanya. If this peacock was a mere Icon or symbol representing mind or intellect , adi Shankara would not have composed this shloka. Vahanas are beyond any logic or explanation as playing with my intellect i can compare the mouse of Maha Ganapathy positively as -- the mouse that steals , can represent divine love that steals the human heart. the mouse which is curious enough to know every nook and corner can stand for the incisive intellect of human. Similarly the peacock which has been portrayed negatively in the mail can be described positively also -- The lord chose this vehicle appropriate to his creation --like its supremely beautiful and symmetrical plumage, to the Wonderful creation of God in all its glory. If we go on and on , it still remains a convincing explanation only. In case of Lord NANDIKESHWAR , I would not like to compare him with a bull because you have the Nandi Gaythri ( thath Purushaye vidmahe Chakra thundaya deemahi thanno Nandi Prachodayth ). Shiva's vehicle is enough to remove your ignornce. again we have heard -- that Adi Sankara was prevented by Nandi from bringing all the hundred verses of Soundarya Lahari from kailas. Nadikeshwar plays the mrudangam to the dance of Lord Nataraja and while conducting Ekadhasha rudra Abhisheka ashtotram to Nandikeshwar is also done. therefore Nandi is real and not a bull or icon or symbolic having a significance. Pl refer to the Sixth Chapter of Devi Mahatmeeyam -- From Shloka 401 " Atha Kruddham mahay synyam asuranam thambikam vavrsha sayakys theekshanai thatha shakthi parasvadhai ......................................................... to verse 407 " Bhalncha Kshyaetham kruthsnam Devi Kesarina thathha ---- of thsi great Chapter describes the role of the noble Vehicle of the Godess Chandika . The approximate meaning of the relevant verses are : The great army of asuras enraged showered on the Divine Mother sharp arrows, lances and Hatchets. The the " LION" the mount of the godess, shook its mane in anger, made a terrible noise and fell on the army of asuras. Some asuras with a blow of its paw, others with its mouth and others through its stampede of its hind legs, it Slaughtered. The lion tore with its claws the bellies of the asuras and striking some asuras with the power of its paw severed their heads and drank the blood from their bellies. In a moment, " THE ENTIRE ARMY (of Dhumralochana ) WAS DESTROYED " by the eneaged lion, the noble Vehicle of the Godess. Verse --- 407 Being a devotee of Chandi , I conclude from this great Markandeya purana which is a great manthra sastra that " this Lion is not just a symbol or icon or to do with mind or intellect but " Devi herself as a lion". Also the vaishnavites consider '" Garuda " as a Nithya suri -- a liberated person taking a form of Maha Vishnu -- the GARUDA. Again there are several Vahanas like the Purusha mirugam, Yaali etc for which an expalation would be difficult because we do not see such living forms. Therfore i conclude the vahanas have no significance to animal instincts of human's mind. Jai Chandika ganapathy Srinath Ram <srinath_atreya wrote: GoddessDurga, "Srinath Ram" <srinath_atreya> wrote: mantra_tantra, "Srinath Ram" <srinath_atreya> wrote: || Jai Sadguru Dutta || In my knowledge, the animals that are depicted as vehicles of Hindu dieties represent the different aspects of human mind and intellect. Normally, we associate worldly desires [worldliness - "BhavarOgam"] and nonvirtuous behaviour ["anArya"] of humans to animals and call it as "animal instinct". The diety riding/sitting over a particular animal signifies the control of senses and mind and shunning the low instincts that the particular animal stands for. For example, 1. Lord MahaagaNapathy's vehicle "mooShika" (mouse) stands for undeveloped/narrow mind/intellect. Hence by worshipping Ganesh, one's intellect would be sharpened. 2. Lord Shiva's vehicle "nandi" (bull) signifies the wavering mind and thoughts. Hence by worshipping Shiva, the devotee becomes a yogi who has a balanced mind. 3. Mother Durga's vehicle "vyAGhra" (tiger) and "sinha" (lion) signifies "karma" ["karma PhalEShu juStAm" --- durgaa sooktham] and anger/arrogance. Hence by worshipping the Mother, we would be able to burn our karma and remain polite and humble. 4. Goddess MahaalakShmi's vehicle "gaja" (elephant) stands for greed and dissatisfaction. Hence by worshipping Mother Lakshmi, one can overcome greed, sorrow and dissatisfaction. 5. Lord SubrahmaNya's vehicle "chiki" (peacock) stands for egoism and proudness. Hence by worshipping Subrahmanya, the devotee can shed his ego and "hail-the-soul" attitude and thus becomes elgible to secure "brahma jnaana". 6. Vedamatha Gaayathri's vehicle "hansa" (swan) signifies the ability to make the distinction between the good and the bad and knowledge and ignorance. Hence the worship of Mother Gaayathri reveals to us the secret knowledge of the Vedas. Often, the Goddesses are depicted as sitting in a lotus. Here the lotus signifies the "heart lotus" which stands for "Bhakthi" - devotion and "vairaagya" - detachment. This conveys to us that by worshipping the goddesses, we gain devotion and detachment. I'am sure, the other learned members of the group can provide still better explanation. regards. mantra_tantra, "spiritual68" <spiritual68> wrote: > DEar Friends > > i would like to know what is the significance of animals that god & > goddess use? > > spirit --- End forwarded message --- On Sat, 21 Feb 2004 17:53:07 -0000, Srinath Ram <srinath_atreya> wrote: > > || Jai Sadguru Dutta || > > > Garuda is the son of sage couple Kashyapa and Vinutha. Kashyapa had > a second wife by name Kadru who was always jealous of Vinutha's > virtuousness and wanted to spoil her reputation. Since Garuda and his > brothers were son of Vinutha, they are called as "vainatheya"s and > the sons of Kadru are the snake gods. To cut the story short, once, > Garuda besiezed the Moon God and relented to spare him upon request > from the gods. He defeated all gods but himself got defeated by Lord > Mahavishnu. When Garuda unconditionally surrendered and begged the > Lord for mercy, Vishnu forgave him and also gave him the honour of > carrying Him. This is how Garuda became the "vahan" of Vishnu. > > The symbolism/message here is that one has to surrender to the God, > however strong he is. No one is above God. Whenever we act in > arrogance, without any regard to the Lord's wish, we are sure to > fail. Still, the Lord's compassion knows no bounds. When we surrender > at His holy feet, he will for sure, forgive us and lead us from > darkness to enlightenment. > > Later, Garuda was given the task of carrying the pot of "amrth" > (ambrosia). He is responsible for the "kumbh mel". Since then, he is > associated with immortality. A devout Hindoo should chant the > following shloka while going to bed so that he doesn't get bad dreams: > > "raamam skandam hanoomantham vainatheyam vrkodaram | > shayanena smarennithyam duswapnam thasya nashyathi ||" > > [ I contemplate upon the great divine personalities like Lord Ram, > Skanda, Hanuman, Vainatheya (Garuda) and Vrkodara (Bheemasen) so that > bad dreams don't bother me ] > > There is bitter enmity between the Garudas and the Naagas. Always the > Garudas have an upper hand over the Naagas and the nagas get killed > by the Garudas. But when the Lord is sitting over Garuda, there is no > trace of enmity in him. Vishnu is the very epitome of compassion and > calmness - "shaanthaakaaram....". This means, if we shed our attitude > of enmity towards one and all, we become nearer and dearer to the > Lord. > > Garuda is a "pakshi" - bird. The word has two words "pa" > and "kshi". "pa" is paramaathma - Supreme Being and "kshi" is the > Athman. Hence Garuda is the noble symbolism of unification of the > soul with the Supreme Being through the medium of "Bhakthi" > and "sharanaagathi". > > || vishNOh padhE parama maDhwa uThsauv... || > > > mantra_tantra, Shivaram <conte@i...> wrote: >> Namaste, Srinath. >> >> Thank you for this illuminating contribution to our list. >> >> I am quite intrigued by this information and am also wondering what > is the >> significance of Garuda, vehicle of mighty Lord Vishnu the Preserver. >> >> Thank you. >> >> Shivaram -- Om! Sthapakaya Ca Dharmasya Sarva-Dharma-Svarupine Avatara-Varishthaya Ramakrishnaya Te Namaha! --- End forwarded message --- -- pradiipajvaalaabhirdivasakaraniiraajanavidhiH sudhaasuuteshcandropalajalalavairarghyaracanaa . svakiiyairambhobhiH salilanidhisauhityakaraNaM tvadiiyaabhirvaagbhistava janani vaacaaM stutiriyam.h www : http://www.ambaa.org/ Contact: help / Ganapathy --- Vijaya " Jai Bhavani " - - - - " Jai Sri Lalitha Maha Maha Tripura Sundari " " Sarvam Shakti Mayam Jagath " Mail SpamGuard - Read only the mail you want. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 25, 2004 Report Share Posted February 25, 2004 There are other ways to interpret vaahana-s also. For instance, please see how trishatii bhaashhya brilliantly describes the name haMsa-vaahaana. Ravi <previous messages> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 25, 2004 Report Share Posted February 25, 2004 The usage of animals might be seen as promoting certain feelings within us. It is discussed to an extend in a Tamil essay which i wrote. The URL: http://singaporevani.tripod.com/amman It is just some humble thoughts. Get better spam protection with Mail Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 26, 2004 Report Share Posted February 26, 2004 Dear Srinathji: http://www.escribe.com/religion/advaita/m4784.html This is brief, but you can expand on this idea to great extent -- starting from Sun, breath, etc. I will try to post the original text by this weekend. With best regards, Ravi > > Srinath Ram [srinath_atreya] > Wednesday, February 25, 2004 10:07 PM > > Fwd: Re: significance of animals > > > Raviji, > > kindly elaborate on this. > > regards > > > , "M. S. Ravisankar" <ravi@a...> wrote: > > There are other ways to interpret vaahana-s also. For instance, > please see > > how trishatii bhaashhya brilliantly describes the name haMsa- > vaahaana. > > > > Ravi > > > > <previous messages> > > > > > -- > pradiipajvaalaabhirdivasakaraniiraajanavidhiH > sudhaasuuteshcandropalajalalavairarghyaracanaa . > svakiiyairambhobhiH salilanidhisauhityakaraNaM > tvadiiyaabhirvaagbhistava janani vaacaaM stutiriyam.h > > www : http://www.ambaa.org/ > Contact: help > Links > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 2, 2004 Report Share Posted March 2, 2004 > > Can you please help me understand the derivation of "haMsa" > from "ha.nti"? > The bhaashhya uses the phrase "hanti gachchhatiiti hamsaH" in two names: a) hamsavaahana and b) hamsagatiH. One of the meanings of the dhaatu "han.h" is "to go". There is another way to look at haMsa (han.h + sak.h + ach.h -- vide Anand Hudli's post in Advaita-l on rudram). Aarathi, can you add more on this topic? In fact, Sankara elobarates on the meanings of Sun, breath etc. in the context of hamsagatiH (which you can bring into hamsavaahana) in detail, this runs more than half a page in the book I have. Ravi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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