THE LOTUS AS AN ANCIENT UNIVERSAL SYMBOL OF RADHA-PADME HARI / HERI / ELI / HELI

[Guest guest]

HARE KRISHNA ! SRI RADHA-LAKSMI-PADME KI JAYA !

 

DEAR FRIENDS, BELOW IS A DEVOTEE'S QUESTION ABOUT SOME OF THE MOST

IMPORTANT RADHA-KRISHNA AND SHAKTI-VISHNU SYMBOLS.

 

QUESTION

 

The dieties are often seen holding various

items; conch, lotus, chakra, club. I understand that the chakra is

Krishnas divine weapon but what are the others for?

 

Thankyou for your time,

Hari Bol

 

ANSWER

 

DURING MY MASTER'S DEGREE WORK (IN THE EARLY 1980S), I SPENT SOME

TIME DOCUMENTING MY FINDINGS ON THESE ALL-IMPORTANT KRISHNA , HARI,

VISHNU, VASUDEVA, AND NARAYANA SYMBOLS.

 

IN INDIA THERE ARE MANY DIFFERENT THEOLOGICAL INTERPRETATIONS OF

THEM, EVEN AMONG VAISHNAVAS IN THE SAME LINEAGE. IN ADDITION TO THEIR

THEOLOGICAL IMPORT, THESE SYMBOLS (WHICH ARE ALL ACTUALLY FORMS OF

LORD BALADEVA....WHO IS KRISHNA'S ASTRAS AND OTHER PARAPHENALIA),

HAVE PROFOUND HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE CONNECTING THE WESTERLY

VAISHNAVA PROTO CATHOLIC MEDITERRANEAN ASYLA FEDERATIONS TO EASTERN

VAISHNAVISM, AND VAISHNAVA-RELATED TRADITIONS, LIKE SATTVIC THEISTIC

SHAIVISM, SHAKTI WORSHIP AND PURE LAND BUDDHISM. BELOW WANT TO

INTRODUCE SOME OF THE IMPORTANT HISTORICAL CONNECTIONS.

 

SYMBOLIC ASSOCIATIONS IN MEDITERRANEAN REGIONAL VAISHNAVISM

 

'DISCUS' CYCLE / KYKLOS / CHAKRA / CIRCLE = HARI ... THE CIRCLE GLYPH

IS ACTUALLY THE HIEROGLYPH FOR THE SO-CALLED 'SOLAR' NAME HARI

(EGYPTIAN HERI, JEWISH ELI, GREEK HELI, LATIN SOLE, SURA ETC. ), IN

THE ANCIENT MEDITERRANEAN REGION AND ELSEWHERE.

 

CLUB = BALU or YAHU.... ONE OF BALA DEVA or VASU DEVA'S PRINCIPLE

ASTRAS IS SO COMMONLY FOUND ON VERY ANCIENT SEMITIC ARTIFACTS, THAT

IT IS USED TO IDENTIFY THE DEITY BALU (YAHU) HIMSELF. THE JEWISH

DEITY YAHU WAS PREVIOUSLY COMMONLY CALLED BALU OR BAAL. BALU WAS

CONSIDERED AN ALTER-FORM OF THE SUPREME SEMITIC DEITY EL OR ELI.

 

CONCH = MARITIME WORSHIP OF THE GREAT SEA FORMS OF NARAYANA AND

ASHAYANA....THESE WERE ASSOCIATED WITH NEPTUNE OR TRITONUS / OCEANUS

AND RELATED 'SEA' FORMS OF MARIMUS / NEREUS AND NARAYANA. THE

GARBODHAK, MILK OCEAN AND MAHAMAYA (HEBREW MAYIM PRIMAL WATERS OF

CHAOS) FORMS OF VISHNU WERE ALL ASSOCIATED WITH THE CONCH. THE

SHANKU / CONCH ALSO HAD 'TRANSCENDENTAL SOUND' VIBRATION

ASSOCIATIONS.

 

LOTUS = PADMA AND PADMAPATI OR NYMPHIA AND NYMPHOS. THE SACRED RHODE

ISLE OF RHODA AND KOUROS HERI-ASU / HELIOS / ELI-YAHU IN THE NORTH

EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN SEA WAS ALSO CALLED NYMPIA 'LOTUS'. RHODA-

KOUROS / RADHA-KRISHNA WERE NYMPHIA-NYMPHOS THE SUPREME 'LOTUS' PAIR,

WHOSE LOTUS SO-CALLED 'SOLAR SYMBOL' WAS FOUND THROUGHOUT THE ANCIENT

WORLD...SIGNIFICANTLY ON HELIOPOLITAN GREEK, ON EGYPTIAN AND ON

JEWISH ROYAL ARTIFACTS !

 

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE LOTUS OR ROSE AS A UNIVERSAL SYMBOL OF GOD AND

GOD-ESS

 

NOW I WILL TRY TO TELL YOU A LITTLE ABOUT THE AMAZING OCCURANCE OF

SRI SRI KRISHNA-VISHNU'S LOTUS OR RHODON IN THE WORLD'S 'GREAT

RELIGIONS'. VOLUMES COULD BE WRITTEN ON THIS SUBJECT, BUT I WILL JUST

WRITE AN INTRODUCTION TO THE PROTO CATHOLIC MEDITERRANEAN REGIONAL

ASSOCIATIONS WITH THE LOTUS SYMBOL.

 

AT THE DAWN OF HISTORY IN THE MEDITERRANEAN, HELIOS KOUROS (KRISHNA)

AND RHODA (RADHA) WERE WORSHIPED AS THE SUPREME CAUSE AND ORIGIN OF

ALL OF THE GODS AND GODDESSES ON THEIR LITTLE SACRED ISLE OF RHODES.

THEY HAD BEEN WORSHIPED THERE, ACCORDING TO VARIOUS LEGENDS, FROM THE

DAWN OF CREATION, OR THE END OF THE GREAT FLOOD. IN LEGENDARY

(ORAL PRE-HISTORIC [PRE-WRITING]TIMES), AFRICANS, EUROPEANS AND

SEMITIES ALL LIVED TOGETHER IN HARMONY ON RHODES, WHICH WAS AN INTER

RACIAL SANCTUARY, AND ASYLA FOR MAN AND BEAST. AT THE DAWN OF THE

HISTORIC PERIOD, RHODES WAS THE HELIOPOLITAN RELIGIOUS CENTER OF THE

GREAT MINOAN MARITIME TRADING CIVILIZATION THAT EXTENDED FROM EUROPE

AROUND THE MEDITERRANEAN INTO THE NEAR EAST AND AFRICA ALONG THE NILE

VALLEY.

 

THE NHR / NHL / NARA CULTURE OF NARAYANA AND NARAYANI

 

IN THE NEAR EAST, THE NAHR RIVER CULTURE WAS DEVOTED TO THE SAME

HELIOPOLITAN DEITY. NHL (HTE 'NILE' DEITY) IN EGYPT (MIZRYM) WAS

NHR IN THE LEVANT AND MESOPOTAMIA. THUS THE LEVANT AND THE CULTURE OF

THE JORDAN RIVER BASIN WAS THE LAND OF NHRYN AND THE LAND OF THE TWO

RIVERS, THE TIGRIS AND EUPHRATES, WAS ALSO NHRYN (TODAY USUALLY

TRANSLITERATED FROM HEBREW AS NAHARAIM). IN ROME, JUPITER ,

ASSOCIATED WITH THE PRIMORDIAL WATERS OF LIFE AND THE TIBER RIVER,

WAS CALLED MARIMUS. ALL OF THESE NAMES / WORDS ARE RELATED TO NARA

AND NARAYANA.

 

SANSKRIT NARA, NARAYANA

 

MESOPOTAMIAN NAHR, NHRYN

 

JORDANIAN NAHR, NHRYN

 

EGYPTIAN MZR, MZRYM

 

EGYPTIAN NHL, NILUS / NHLYN

 

GREEK AND ROMAN NER, MAR AND NEREUS OR MARIMUS (SEE 'FATHER TIBER' AS

NILUS)

 

THE MOST IMPORTANT 'FRESH WATER' SYMBOL OF NARAYANA AND NARAYANI

(JUPITER MARIMUS AND JUNO MARINA ETC.), OR HELIOS KOUROS (ALSO CALLED

RHODOS) AND RHODA ON RHODES WAS THE LOTUS OR WATER LILLY. THE LOTUS

OR LILLY WAS ASSOCIATED WITH BOTH THEIR GREAT RIVER-BASIN

CIVILIZATIONS AND THE ISLE OF RHODES ITSELF. IN FACT RHODA AND

RHODOS WERE BY-NAMED NYMPHIA AND NYMPHOS, WHICH (IN THE FEMININE AND

MASCULINE) MEAN 'LOTUS' ! ! ! THUS THROUGHOUT THE ANCIENT WORLD,

WHENEVER THE RHODON (ROSE) OR LOTUS WAS SEEN AS A RELIGIOUS SYMBOL,

IT IMMEDIATELY INVOKED RADHA-KRISHNA AS THE SUPREME NYMPHIA AND

NYMPHOS, OR DIVINE LOTUS-PAIR OF RHODES AND THE RIVER POLIS (POLIEUS

AND TYCHE)CIVILIZATIONS!

 

OF COURSE PADME / PADMA 'LOTUS' IS A NAME OF SRI LAKSHMI OR NARAYANI,

AND THROUGHOUT THE EAST, IN ALL 'HINDU' RELATED ICONOGRAPY (

INCLUDING PURE-LAND BUDDHIST ICONOGRAPHY), THE MASCULINE FORM OF THE

LORD IS ALWAYS DEPICTED ON OR IN THE LOTUS OF HIS SHAKTI. "AUM MANI

PADME HUM" IS THE INVOCATION OF SRI KRISHNA IN THE BRAHMA-SAMHITA

RELATED 'JEWEL IN THE LOTUS' PURE LAND BUDDHIST PRAYER. EVEN TODAY

ON VISHNU ALTARS THE FORM OF GOD STANDS OR SITS ON A LOTUS

PEDESTAL. ON ANCIENT MAPS, THE COLUSSUS OF RHODES WOULD HAVE BEEN

DRAWN AS STANDING ON A ROSE OR LOTUS, THE SYMBOL OF HIS SACRED ROSE

OR LOTUS ISLAND. RHODIAN COINS AND SEALS HAD THE FACE OF HELIOS

KOUROS, OR THE ROSE OR LOTUS ON THEM. FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS IN THE

REGION, THE ROSE OR LOTUS WAS SYNONYMOUS WITH KOUROS HELIOS AND

RHODA AND THEIR ROSE OR LOTUS ISLAND.

 

IN WESTERN ART HISTORY AND THE STUDY OF RELIGIOUS SYMBOLS, THE LOTUS

IS ALWAYS CONSIDERED A 'SOLAR' SYMBOL AND IS ASSOCIATED WITH THE

WORSHIP OF HELIOS ON RHODES, HORUS IN EGYPT AND THE SEMITIC 'SOLAR'

SUPREME DEITY ELI IN THE NEAR EAST. IN THE FAR EAST, HIS LOTUS IS

ASSOCIATED WITH THE SUPREME 'SOLAR' DEITY HRIH (AMITABHA) OF PURE

LAND BUDDHISM. UNFORTUNATELY BECAUSE OF HIS SOLAR-GAYATRI RELATED

FORM OF HARI AS SURYA-NARAYANA, SRI KRISHNA HAS BEEN GENERALLY

MISUNDERSTOOD AS MERELY THE SUPREME GOD OF SO-CALLED 'SOLAR

MONOTHEISM'. VAISHNAVAS KNOW THAT SRI KRISHNA IS LIMITLESS BY

REVELATION / DEFINITION, SO HIS LOCAL 'SOLAR' ASPECT IN OUR PLANETARY

SYSTEM IS JUST ONE TINY ASPECT OF HIS INFINITE MANIFESTATION. IN

FACT, THIS IS MADE CLEAR BY THE 'SOLAR' CHAKRA IN SRI KRISHNA'S OR

SRI VISHNU'S HAND. ELSEWHERE THE SUN IS DESCRIBED AS ONE EYE OF THE

VISHVA RUPA / PURUSHA JAGGANATHA ( MACRO-COSMIC FORM OF THE

LORD). SO WE CAN SEE THAT THE COSMIC SOLAR POWER WHICH LIGHTS AND

GIVES LIFE TO A WHOLE UNIVERSE, IS JUST ONE OF SRI KRISHNA'S

ASTRAS ,WEAPONS , POWERS OR ATTRIBUTES ! THE TRANSCENDENT BRAHMAN

ITSELF IS THE CORONA / KARINA-MALIN OR 'GARLAND OF RAYS' OF HIS

PERSONAL BODILY EFFULGENCE !

 

KRISHNA OR HELIOS KOUROS / HORUS / ELI-JAHU MISUNDERSTOOD AS THE

SUPREME 'SOLAR' DEITY

 

GREEK HELI

 

ROMAN SOLE

 

AFRO-EGYPTIAN (NILO-SAHARAN) HERI, HERU, HOR

 

AFRO-NIGERIAN OLU

 

WEST SEMITIC ELI or ALI (ROOT OF ALLAH)

 

EAST SEMITIC AND SUMERIAN IL (BABYLON MEANS 'GATE' [bAB] OF GOD'

[iL])

 

HURRIAN HURRI

 

AVESTAN HVARE (ZERVANISM, ZOROASTRIANISM, MITHRAISM AND PARSEEISM )

 

VAISHVAVA SANSKRIT HARI

 

SHAIVITE SANSKRIT HARA

 

PURE LAND BUDDHIST HRIH

 

 

HELIOPOLITAN HIGH CIVILIZATION DEVOTED TO RHODA AND KOUROS

 

IN EGYPTIAN TRADITION, THE ENTIRE HELIOPOLITAN CIVILIZATION WAS

FOUNDED (ACCORDING TO LEGEND) BY A SON OF RHODA AND KOUROS

NAMED 'ACTIS', FROM THEIR PRIMORDIAL PARADISE ISLAND OF RHODES. SO

WHEN THE SACRED LOTUS IS SEEN IN EGYPTIAN ICONOGRAPHY, IT HAS TWO

HELIOPOLITAN ASSOCIATIONS. ONE IS WITH HELIOS KOUROS AND RHODA ON

RHODA'S SACRED ISLE. THE OTHER ASSOCIATION IS WITH THE WORSHIP OF

RHODA AND KOUROS AS THE SACRED RIVER LOTUS CIVILIZATION-RELATED

NARAYANA (MIZRYM) AND NARAYANI.

 

GODDESSES FROM RHODA- SHAKTI / SHEKINAH

 

IN THEIR SACRED CITIES NHRYNA AND NHRYNI WERE OFTEN CALLED POLIEUS

AND TYCHE BY THE GREEKS. HOWEVER THE ROMANS CALLED TYCHE 'FORTUNA'

(FORTUNE), AND ASSOCIATED HER WITH JUNO'S FORM MONETA (MONEY,

LUCRE), BECAUSE COINS WERE FIRST MENTED AT HER TEMPLES. EVEN TODAY

COINS ARE SACRED TO LAKSHMI IN INDIA ! JUNO-MONETA HAD VERY STRONG

ASSOCIATIONS WITH MARY, AS DID THE OTHER PRIMARY FORMS OF RHODA'S

EXPANSIONS IN THE PROTO CATHOLIC MEDITERRANEAN TRADITION. AS

FORTUNE, SHE WAS LADY 'LUCK' THE CONSORT OF GOD AS PROVIDENCE. SHE

DISPENCED GOD'S UNFATHOMABLE JUDGEMENT (KRIMA) , GRACING / GIFTING

SOME AND DEPRIVING OTHERS ACCORDING TO HIS INSCRUTIBLE WILL (KRIMA

IN GREEK IS KARMA IN SANSKRIT). THUS WE CAN CLEARLY SEE EASTERN-

RELATED CONNECTIONS BETWEEN RADHA, PADMA, SRI LAKSHMI, AND NARAYANI

IN THE ANCIENT PROTO CATHOLIC HELIOPOLITAN TRADITION. IN THE PROTO

CATHOLIC TRADITION, RADHA IS RHODA 'THE MYSTICAL ROSE' (MARY ROSA

MYSTICA), HARE IS KORE, HARINI IS KORONIS, PADMA / SRI IS NYMPHIA,

NARAYANI IS MARIAM / MARINA, SHAKTI IS SHEKINAH, LAKSHMI IS FORTUNA

AND MONETA, ETC.

 

 

 

WHAT IS THE JEWISH CONNECTION ?

 

PROOF OF THE JEWISH CONNECTION IS ASTOUNDING IN THAT ALL RHODONS AND

LOTUSES IN THE REGION WERE ASSOCIATED WITH RHODOS-RHODA AND NYMPHOS-

NYMPHIA WORSHIP, AND APPEARED ON RHODON COINS, IN RELIGIOUS

ICONOGRAPHY AND WRITING, ON TEMPLE DECORATIONS AND ON OFFICIAL ROYAL

STATE SEALS AND TEMPLE FOUNDATION DEPOSITS. SINCE THESE RHODONS AND

LOTUSES APPEARED ON JEWISH RELIGIOUS AND ROYAL ARTIFACTS, IT IS CLEAR

THAT THE JEWS ALSO BELONGED TO THE ANCIENT INTER RACIAL RHODA AND

KOUROS WORSHIPING HELIOPOLITAN RELIGIOUS ALLIANCES (HELIOPOLITAN

ASYLA FEDERATIONS).

 

IN FACT, IF 'HINDU' ARYANIST ADVERSARIES TO THE SO-CALLED 'SEMITIC'

RELIGIONS WANT TO CLAIM THAT THE WORSHIP OF RHODOS AND RHODA WAS AN

ABBERATION IN JUDAISM, THEN THEY MUST EXPLAIN WHY IT IS AT THE HEART

OF JEWISH BRIDAL MYSTICISM IN THE 'SONG OF SONGS' TRADITION. IN

THE SONG ITSELF, THE 'DODA' ROOT WORDS FOR THE DIVINE LOVER, BELOVED

AND LOVE ARE ASSOCIATED WITH THE RHODIAN CONJUGAL MYSTICISM OF RHODA

AND RHODOS. WE CAN UNDERSTAND THAT THE VARIOUS FORMS OF THE HEBREW

WORD DODA IN THE 'SONG' ARE RELATED TO THE GREEK 'RHODA' BECAUSE THE

RHODANIM / RHODIANS WERE ALSO BIBLICALLY CALLED THE 'DODANIM'. IF

ONE COMPARES THE HEBREW CHARACTERS FOR THE LETTERS DALETH AND ROSH (D

AND R) THESE ARE ALMOST IDENTICAL, AND CAN BE VERY EASILY MISTAKEN

FOR EACH OTHER. SO, THE QUESTION ARISES AS TO WHETHER THERE WAS, IN

FACT, A SOUND-SHIFT BETWEEN DODA AND RHODA, OR IF INSTEAD THE

DIFFERENCE IS MERELY A LATER ONE DUE TO TEXTUAL ERRORS.

 

ADVERSARIES TO MY DISCOVERIES WOULD ALSO HAVE TO EXPLAIN WHY THE

ZEALOUS JEWISH REFORMER, KING JOSIAH, CHOSE THE HELIOPOLITAN RHODIAN

RHODON / ROSETTE FOR THE SYMBOL OF HIS REIGN ! AS THE FAMILIAR

REGIONAL SYMBOL FOR THE WORSHIP OF RHODOS AND RHODA ON RHODES, IT IS

UNTHINKABLE THAT HE SHOULD DO THIS, UNLESS BY DOING SO HE WAS

PURPOSEFULLY IDENTIFYING HIS STRICT JEWISH KINGDOM AS A REVIVER OF

THE ANCIENT RELIGION OF RHODES. PREVIOUS USE OF THE LOTUS AND

ROSETTE IN JEWISH AND SEMITIC LANDS WAS DEFINITELY CONNECTED TO GRECO-

EGYPTIAN HELIOPOLITAN MONOTHEISM.

 

IN THE LANDMARK ACADEMIC WORK ON ANCIENT JEWISH MINIATURE

ARTIFACTS, "GODS, GODDESSES, AND IMAGES OF GOD IN ANCIENT ISREAL"

(KEEL AND UEHLINGER, ENGLISH TRANSLATION BY T.H. TRAPP, 1998

COPYRIGHT AUGSBURG FORTRESS ), THE USE OF BOTH THE LOTUS AND ROSETTE

AS JEWISH SYMBOLS IS MENTIONED, AND DRAWINGS OF EXAMPLES ARE SHOWN

FROM THE WORLD'S MOST COMPREHENSIVE UNIVERSITY COLLECTION OF THESE

ARTIFACTS. I HAD PERMISSION FROM THE COPYRIGHT OWNERS OF THIS TEXT

TO USE THESE SYMBOLS AND ASSOCIATED PASSAGES OF TEXT IN MY

2000 "PHAROAHS OF THE SUN" RELATED LECTURE TOUR ON THIS SUBJECT.

 

IN CONCLUSION, THE LOTUS (AND RELATED ROSE OR RHODON) AS A UNIVERSAL

SYMBOL OF SRI KRISHNA, HARI OR NARAYANA AND THEIR SHAKTIS, RADHA,

HARE (HARINI) OR SRI (PADMA) NARAYANI, IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT TO THE

HISTORY AND THE FUTURE OF HUMAN UNITY. IN ANY CASE, FOR MORE THAN

50 YEARS, JEWISH SCHOLARS HAVE SPECULATED ABOUT THE POSSIBLE

RELATIONSHIP OF THE BRIDAL MYSTICISM OF THEIR 'SONG' TO SOME GRECO-

EGYPTIAN MYSTERY SCHOOL IN THE MEDITERRANEAN. NOW I HAVE POSITIVELY

IDENTIFIED THAT SCHOOL AS THE WORSHIP OF KOUROS HELIOS (HORUS, ELI-

JAHU) AND RHODA ON THE SACRED ROSE OR LOTUS ISLE OF RHODES.

UNFORTUNATELY 'HINDU' PREJUDICE AGAINST THE JUDEO-CHRISTIAN TRADITION

HAS IMPEDED MY COMMUNICATION OF THIS DISCOVERY, SINCE I FIRST BEGAN

TRYING TO TELL THE AMERICAN VAISHNAVA COMMUNITY ABOUT THIS IN THE

EARLY 1970S.

 

THUS I REMAIN PROFOUNDLY GRATEFUL TO THE EDITORS AND OWNERS OF "HARE

KRISHNA WORLD" FOR GIVING ME THE OPPORTUNITY TO ANSWER GOOD QUESTIONS

LIKE YOURS ABOUT THESE IMPORTANT SUBJECTS.

 

ALL GLORIES TO SRI SRI RADHA-KRISHNA , THE ORIGINAL PADMA AND

PADMAPATI, THE LOTUS-LIKE BEAUTIFUL PAIR, ORIGIN OF ALL THE GODS AND

GODDESSES IN EVERY WORLD !

 

WISHING ALL HUMANITY THEIR PAX AND PREMA !

 

YOUR ASPIRING SERVANT, BHAKTI ANANDA GOSWAMI