Five Elements .....................

[Guest guest]

Our respected Satyen-ji writes :

 

(If the mind indulges too heavily in researching the 108 elemental

empirical model, does the mind have room to ponder on the Self?

Hence, the mind is drawn away from such indulgences by the Sruti which

reduces the Jagat to just five elements.)

 

Lord shiva is worshipped as a manifestation of these five elements in

the five famous Shiva temples in South India and i had the fortune of

visiting three of them in my last trip!

 

These five temples are

 

1) The Sri Kalahastiswarar temple at Sri Kalahasti near Tirupati –

Vayu Stalam (Wind)

 

2) The Jambukeswarar temple at Tiruvanaikka near Tiruchirappalli –

Apustalam (Water)

 

3)The Annamalaiyaar (Arunachaleswarar) temple at Tiruvannamalai –

Agni Stalam (Fire)

 

4)The Ekambranathar Temple at Kanchipuram – Prithvi Stalam (Earth)

 

5) The Natarajar Temple at Chidambaram – Akasa Stalam (Space )

 

 

The Jambukeshwarar temple at Tiruvanaikka

--------

As per Legend, Lord Shiva is appeared to have under the Jambu trees

as a Shiva-lingam - these Jambu tress were near the Chandrateertha

tank (filled with the water of the Kaveri).

 

Two devotees of Lord Shiva were cursed and worshipped the Shiva-

lingam here in the form of a Sider and an elephant .

 

The elephant worshipped Shiva with flowers and water brought in its

trunk (hence the name Tiru Aanaikka).

 

The spider worshipped the Lingam by spinning a web on top, to protect

it from falling leaves. The elephants worship would destroy the

spiders web, and the spiders web amounted to desecration in the eyes

of the elephant leading to animosity between the two, of such

proportion that a fight between them resulted in the death of both.

 

Here Lord Shiva's consort is none other than Akhilandeswari

(Parvati), an Ugra devathai of great fury! Adi Shankara Bhagvadapada

is said to have converted the fiery energy of Sri Akilandeshweri into

a manifestation of peace! Adi shankara adorned Sri AKILANDESHWERI

WITH EAR-RINGS bearing the symbol of sri chakram!

 

There is a shrine to Adi Sankara in this temple.

 

Muthuswamy Dikshitir has composed a beautiful Kriti on Sri

Jambukeshwera where he prays thus

 

'jambUpatE mAm pAhi nijAnandAmrta bOdham dEhi'

 

Protect me O Jambupati! Teach me the nectar of self realisation!

 

Yes! i was so fortunate to visit this temple and the Sri Rangam

temple and the Rockfort Temples all in the course of one day !!

 

**********************************************************************

 

Sri Ekambereshwerar Temple In Kanchi

----

 

In this temple. Lord Shiva is worshipped in the form of Prithvi

Lingam ( earth Linga)

 

There are many legends surrounding this Prithvi Linga ! But i liked

this one !

 

Lord Siva was deeply immersed in the task of creating, protecting and

destroying the Universe, Parvati, his consort, in a jocular mood,

closed his eyes. This resulted in staying the process of creation and

destruction as well as obstruction to the natural law of things. It

was a serious matter and Siva became angry and cursed Parvati to go

to the Earth and expiate her misdeed.

 

Accordingly Parvati came to the banks of the river Kampa under a

single mango tree at Kanchi and made a Shivalinga out of sand and

worshipped it. To test her sincerity Siva placed various obstacles

and hindrances in the way of Parvati's penance. But with the help of

Vishnu she could tide over all the difficulties. At last Siva hurled

a deluge by taking out the Ganges from his matted hair, to wash away

the Linga worshipped by Parvati. She clasped it with all veneration

to her breasts and this pleased Siva who took her again as his

consort.

 

As Parvati regained lord Siva under the mango tree the name of

Ekamranatha (Ekaone, amra - mango, and natha-Lord) was given to Lord

Siva. It later became Ekambareswara. This mango HAS four branches

representing the four Vedas. Each branch bears fruit with a different

taste and the leaves are also different in appearance.

 

while i was in Kanchi, i was able to visit the Sri Kamakshi Amman

temple as well as the Sri Varadaraja perumaal kovil also !

 

**********************************************************************

The Annamalaiyaar (Arunachaleswarar) temple at Tiruvannamalai – Agni

Stalam (Fire)

 

During my pilgrimage to South Indian temples, my last stop was Sri

Arunchaleshwerar temple at Tiruvannamalai ! Did i say last ? No, my

experience there was the most 'lasting' one ! Wow, not only was i

able to pay my respects to Sri Ramana's guru , i was also able to

spend some quality time in the Ramanashram . contemplating on the

truth' What is the use of Bhakti if it does not result in Jnana-

knowledge of the self' ?

 

I was also able to do 'Giri valam' - going around the Mountain! (

Annamalaiyaar )

 

There is the legend surrounding this!

 

When A DISPUTE AROSE between Lord Vishnu and Lord Brhamma that who is

superior, Lord Shiva DEVELOPED as a COLUMN of big fire between them

and ask them to find the top and bottom of the fire. Both of them

failed and worshiped Lord shiva and asked him to cool down. Then lord

shiva became to the form of 'Mountain'. In the legend of Arunachala,

Vishnu represents the ego or individuality and Brahma the mentality,

while Shiva is Atma, the Spirit. Shiva accordingly took the form of

the Arunachala Hill, declaring: "As the moon derives its light from

the sun, so other holy places will derive their sanctity from

Arunachala. This is the only place where I have taken this form for

the benefit of those who wish to worship me and obtain illumination.

Arunachala is OM itself. I will appear on the summit of this hill

every year at Kartikai in the form of a peace giving beacon."

 

 

**********************************************************************

i need to visit Kalahasti as well as the chidambaram temples ON MY

NEXT TRIP!

 

HERE IS A CONVERSATION I WISH TO SHARE between Sri Ramana and a

disciple :

 

What is the end of devotion (bhakti) and the path of Siddhanta

(i.e., Saiva Siddhanta)?

 

A: It is to learn the truth that all one's actions performed with

unselfish

devotion, with the aid of the three purified instruments (body, speech

and mind), in the capacity of the servant of the Lord, become the

Lord's actions, and to stand forth free from the sense of 'I'

and 'mine'.

This is also the truth of what the Saiva-Siddhantins call para-bhakti

(supreme devotion) or living in the service of God (irai-pani-

nittral).

 

Q: What is the end of the path of knowledge (jnana) or Vedanta?

 

A: It is to know the truth that the 'I' is not different from the

Lord (Isvara)

and to be free from the feeling of being the doer (kartrtva,

ahamkara).

 

Q: How can it be said that the end of both these paths is the same?

 

A: Whatever the means, the destruction of the sense 'I' and 'mine'

is the goal, and as these are interdependent, the destruction of

either of them causes the destruction of the other; therefore in

order to achieve that state of Silence which is beyond thought and

word, either the path of knowledge which removes the sense of 'I' or

the path of devotion which removes the sense of 'mine', will suffice.

So there is no doubt that the end of the paths of devotion and

knowledge is one and the same.

 

Aum Namaha Shivaya!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

> One model doesn't contradict/invalidate the other. The five

elemental

> model doesn't help to fly airplanes in the empirical world. The 108

> (and still counting) elemental model doesn't help in gaining Self

> Knowledge.

>

>

> warm regards,

> --Satyan

>