Murugan

[Guest guest]

Dear Sri Ramadas: The material assembled by the

Encyclpopedia Brittanica is unfortunately Incorrect

in many areas . I compiled a series of articles few

years ago as a part of my study of the Six ways of

approaching Godhead (ShaN Mathas developed by Adi

Sankara).I was also interested in

understanding the 40 Sanskritic compositions of a great

Musical composer by the name of Mutthuswami Dikshithar of

South India.His Guru Ashtakam or octet of songs on his

Personal God/Teacher Murugan

are gems of Musical Compositions in Karnatic Music.

He was a great Sri Vidya Worshipper (Upaasaka).

Sri Vidya is the Mother of Murughan or Subrahmanyan.

There are Vedic References to Subrahmanya in the Vedic

rituals.He is one of the officiators in Yagas and Yajnaas.

(Rtviks).

 

 

I will be happy to summarize the highlights

of Muruga Worship in India, Ceylon, Singapore,

Malaysia and refer to source literature

most of which is in Tamil . Arunagiri Nathar, the descendant

of a Bengali Family settled in the 15th century in Tamilnadu

has composed very many moving Poems in tribute to Murugan.

Those poems are set in exquisite and rare Taalas or

rhythmic patterns of time.

 

The Six Famous temples for Murugan in the South (ThiruttaNi,

Thirupparankunram near Mathurai, Swamimalai, Pazhani,

Thirucchendur and Pazhamudir Solai ) are great pilgrim centers

for Muruga Bhakthas. Arunagiri Nathar has composed hundreds

of Poems on these six $and has assembled them all in

a beautiful Tamil work known

as Thiruppughazh or the Auspicious Praise of Muruga.

It is wonderful to listen to these songs sung by

experts on Thiruppugazh as they ascend the steps

of the hill in Thirutthani to reach

the temple. They sing one Poem at each of the steps

of this smaal hill. Muruga temples are often

found on the top of hills.

In earlier centuries,

Muruga worship protocols moved onto Sri Lanka.

The famous Kadirgamam

temple there is having just a Source of light, which is

worshipped as Murugha . During the Pandyan kings reign,

the temples for Siva and the Icons in the sanctum had

the Somaaskanda figure, which included the young

Skanda or Muruga seated between the Parents , Siva and

Parvati. I will send offline additional particular information

of interest to you and your daughter on source literature of

special interet to you. The lore about Murugha as a Tamil

God is steeped deep in time and legend and is vast.The whole

of Skanda Puranam is about Murughan or Skanda. It is a huge

puraanam.

 

I think the Hawaiian Hindu Temple focusses on the worship

of Subrahmanya.There is a tremendous amount of literature

in English coming out of there under the leadership of the

founder of that temple.You can access it thru internet.

That may be a simpler solution to access of literature on Murughan

in English.Other knowledgable members of the group following the

Hawaii Temple can provide the exact Internet address. I have it

in my other office and can not access it until January 2.

Regards,

Sadagopan

[Guest guest]

On Sun, 24 Dec 95 10:36:31 UT you said:

>

>

 

[.. deleted ..]

 

>I would greatly appreciate any, and all, information you can send me. Murugan

>was a name I had heard only a couple of times, and then only in a vague way,

>then I read a post that he is worshipped by Srivaishnavas so I became

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

>interested

>

 

 

To my knowledge practicing Sri Vaishnavas _do not_

worship Murugan.

 

 

-- Dileepan

[Guest guest]

Dear Sadagopan:

 

I really enjoy reading your well researched articles. During discussions here

with my friends in different study-groups, I am unable to clearly place the

reason why Sriman Narayana's form alone is considered in our system to

represent the Supreme Being. Is there any basis other than the Puranas. For

example: from the principal upanishads. This question of mine was rather

triggered by your reference to Shanmatha sthapana of Sri Sankaracharya (w.r.t.

Murugan). While I understand Shankara himself was a Narayana worshipper,

nevertheless he gave equal importance to all forms. Thank you.

 

 

Vijay

[Guest guest]

entharo mahAnu bhAvulu, anthariki maa vanthanamulu....

 

Sri Vijay writes:

 

I am unable to clearly place the reason why Sriman Narayana's form

alone is considered in our system to represent the Supreme Being. Is

there any basis other than the Puranas. For example: from the

principal upanishads.....

 

 

As far as I know about this subject, Rig Veda has hymns on various

gods (in fact, on the Shanmatha gods), Vishnu being one of the

principal ones. Indra and Siva are examples of other. But Lord Vishnu

is not elevated to the supreme position in Rig Veda. Here, he is

acknowledged and worshipped as Yajamaanaha, the Lord of Yajnas. But in

Krishna Yajur Veda (My ignorance of Shukla Yajur Veda prevents me from

confidently quoting it!), Lord Vishnu gains prominence as Lord

Naaraayanaa and Lord Vaasudevaa (Gaayathri - Naaraayanaaya Vidhmahe

Vaasudevaaya dheemahi, thanno Vishnuh Prachodhayath). According to

what I understand, the vedic basis of our Sampradhaayam are the Sri,

Purusha, Naaraayana, Vishnu, Bhoo and NeeLa Sookthams. The

Vaishnavaite version of Sri, Purusha and Naaraayana Sookthams differ

from the smaartha version, in that certain verses are not recited or

have undergone modification to be in sync with the tradition of

worshipping Sriman Naaraayana as the supreme Lord. Other tributes like

'thath thvam asi', 'Ekam sadhvipraah bahudhaa vadhanthi (Rig VEda)',

'Sa EkO na ramyathE' (roughly translates to He did not enjoy it all

alone) have been open to interpretation, but are also quoted by our

Sampradaaya pravarthakaas as referring to Sriman Naaraayanaa only.

There are other tributes that I don't remember off-hand.

 

Another thing: Brihadhaaranyaka Upanishad is as much revered in our

sampradaayam like Thaittriyam. Supposedly has some more pramaanams

regarding Sriman Naaraayanaa's supremacy. There are also hymns in

praise of Him in the Saama vEda. Again, I am incompetent in this

subject to add any more useful information.

 

As you have rightly said, Sri Sadagopan's well-researched article on

this will shed greater (and definitely better!) light on this subject.

I am looking forward to his article as much as you and everybody else.

 

asathya Evam dur vaacham Kshandavyam ithi.

 

Dilipan.

[Guest guest]

In the Vedarthasangraha, Sri Ramanuja explains how

Sriyah Pati (Sriman Narayanan) alone is the Supreme

Being described in the Vedas and Vedanta. The Vedas

declare the nature of the Supreme Truth in many ways.

Sometimes them call It Brahman (the great and glorious

essence); other times they call It Sat (Being); still

other times they call It Purusha, other times Vishnu,

Rudra, Atma, Paramaatma, etc. How are we to reconcile

all these various names?

 

Surely they all refer to one Supreme, as the Vedas

declare that there is only one Supreme Cause -- ekam

eva advitIyam. Fortunately, the Vedas themselves

offer a reconciliation of all these names, contained

in the various Upanishads and even in the text of the

Veda proper.

 

In the Purusha Sukta, found in all four Vedas, the

Supreme Brahman is described as the Being who exists

everywhere. At the end of this glorious Sukta, the

Purusha is described:

 

hrISca te lakshmISca patnyau

 

He who has Hri (Bhudevi) and Lakshmi as His eternal

consorts or attributes.

 

Similarly, in the Chhandogya Upanishad, we have the

description of the Supreme Person as ``tasya yatha

kapyaasam pundarikam eva akshini'' -- His eyes have

the beauty of the petals of a lotus, just unfolding

under the rays of the sun and crowning a rich stalk.

In all religious literature, only Vishnu is addressed

as the ``lotus-eyed one''.

 

There are even more direct Veda vaakyas. For example,

in the Rig Veda, we see

 

tad viSNOh paramam padam, sadaa paSyanti sUrayah

 

-- the enlightened seers always perceive the supreme abode

of Vishnu, a reference to the nitya suris. A similar

reference is found in the Katha Upanishad.

 

The Taittiriya Aranyaka explicitly reconciles all

the various names of the Supreme found in the Vedas

and encompasses them all under the term ``Narayana''

in the Narayana Sukta. Taking note of the terms

Sat, Brahman, Atma, Akshara, all found in the Upanishads,

the Sukta goes on to declare

 

viSvam naaraayaNam devam

 

All is Narayana.

 

and

sa brahmA sa SivaH sendraH sO 'ksharaH paramaH svaraaT

 

Narayana is Brahma, Siva, Indra, the Imperishable,

the Supreme Independent.

 

These two vaakyas clearly enunciate the principle that

the concept of Narayana encompasses all other deities.

 

Even otherwise, the etymological meaning of

the word Narayana has perhaps the deepest philosophical

significance of any name of God, over and above even the

terms Vishnu Siva, Brahma, Indra, etc. The latter

terms respectively mean ``pure'', ``great'', and ``king'',

and are applicable to any number of things, including

the individual self. However, Narayana means ``That in

which all creatures rest'', which by implication can only

refer to the Supreme.

 

It is true that the Vedas themselves often praise other

gods. However, usually these are in the context of

the Vedic sacrifice, which is not the highest essence

of Vedic teaching. When it comes to the purely

philosophical portions, it is quite clear that the

personality to which the vaakyas refer is only

Narayana.

 

Of course, we should not ignore the Bhagavad Gita,

considered by all Vedic acharyas as the essence of the Vedas.

 

With this immense Vedic tradition behind them,

it is a wonder that some people call Sri Vaishnavas

closed-minded for choosing to worship only Narayanan!

 

Mani

 

P.S.

This is not to say that the other forms of

worship, be it Saivism, worship of Devi, Christianity,

etc., are devoid of significance! Rather, we can

only say that they are not as firmly rooted in Vedic

tradition as is the concept of Narayana. Naturally,

Truth can be found outside the text of the Vedas, lending

authority to the various different creeds that exist.

The only point being made here is that the Vedas and

Divya Prabandham describe the Ultimate Truth as Narayana and

sanction worship of God conceived in those terms.

 

P.P.S.

As someone else has noted, even Sankaracharya considered

usd the name Narayana when referring to God. Many stotras

are ascribed to him when he may or may not have authored.

However, in his undisputed authentic works, such as his

commentaries on the Upanishads, Gita, and Brahma-sutras,

he invariably refers to Narayana as the Supreme Essence.

His immediate disciples do the same.

[Guest guest]

Sri Ramesh Srinivasaraghavan writes:

 

"avaravar ...."

 

I think it is one of the stanzas in the "mudal patthu" of

tiruvaimozhi. I also remember that these ten verses were quite a

tongue-twister. I am sure the learned scholars who write in this group

will clarify this point better.

 

I have also heard from learned scholars that worship of other Gods

involve such rajasic (and even tamasic) rituals that, it would be

shocking to most of us today.....

----

 

1. True, that stanza is from Thiruvaaimozhi. It goes:

 

'avaravar thamathama tharivari vagaivagai,

avaravar irayavar ena adi adaivargaL,

avaravar irayavar kuraivilar irayavar,

avaravar vidhivazhi adaya ninranarE'

 

Simply put, Sri Nammaazhvaar shows his parama kaarunyam (tolerance)

towards other forms of worship (not resorting to bigotry or passing

derogatory comments), while still maintaining the greatness of Sri

Vaishnavam. He says that people realize in their own ways and attain

their own gods they worship, their gods not being in any way inferior,

they attain salvation according to their destinies.

 

2. If the remark is regarding Lord Muruga's worship, I would like to

place before you the actual thatthva behind the 'commonly known as

warlord's creation by Lord Shiva.

 

Shiva, whose chief characteristic is his constant meditation on Sriman

Naaraayanaa (the supreme source of power - Adi paraa shakti), as a

tapasvi, creates Murugan (also called Shanmukhan - six-faced) with the

sole purpose of saving devaas from the troublesome asura brothers -

Soorapadhman and Singhamukhan.

 

The six faces of Lord Murugan are the 5 faces of Lord Shiva -

Roudhram, agOram etc. plus the shakti of Lord Naaraayanaa without

which the universe cannot function. This power of Lord Vishnu is

always needed by Lord Shiva whenever he needs to rescue devaas from

such a crisis.

 

Since the very purpose of creation of this anti-demonical force is for

waging a war against that force, it has become a general belief that

Murugan represents Raajasic qualities and so do his worshippers.

 

Absolutely untrue. Murugan's qualities are as saathvic as his uncle

(relationship arrived at from the age old definition that shakti as

Vishnu's sister is married off to Shiva) Vishnu's. Murugan became a

popular god with the common folk because of:

a) folk-lore in His praise becoming popular

b) the belief that He showers his blessings to even the least-devoted

and is the cause of prosperity of the land (skanda puraanam depicts

that he converted the vanquished Soora into sEval (cock) flag and His

vehicle - peacock).

 

The story of Lord Ayyappan (Hari-Hara putran)'s creation is quite

similar except for the myth that Lord Vishnu takes the feminine form

Mohini to combine his powers with Lord Shiva's.

 

This is as much as I know about Lord Murugan.

 

I entirely agree with the fact that Sri Vaishnavaites need not even

have to know these myths, let alone to them or include Lord

Murugan in their worship. Divya Dampathis are everything to Sri

Vaishnavaas.

 

Sarvam Sri KrishnaarpaNamasthu.

 

Dilipan