To Parvati about To Linda on MM mantra and Shiva

[Guest guest]

Parvati wrote (to Linda):

 

Here is what Swamiji has to say:

 

Maha means Great; Mrityun means Death; Jaya means Victory: the mantra which

confers victory over the great death.

 

We have learned that the soul never dies. Also, energy is never destroyed,

only

transformed. Then the great death is forgetting our spiritual nature, losing

ourselves to worldly concerns. This mantra reminds us who we are and from

where we have come.

The Mantra extols the Father of the Three Worlds, Lord Shiva, who pervades

everything like the fragrant scent of excellent flowers, and reminds us that

just as a cucumber or any fruit is plucked from the stem, so also shall we

leave our attachments to dwell in excellent immortality...

Dear Parvati ~ thank you so much for passing along to me Swamiji's words. I

am still in first grade. : ) I didn't realize that the Father of the

Three Worlds was Shiva, hence, I didn't understand the relationship to Shiva. Now

it is perfectly clear.

 

As I have also been reciting the Shiva Chalisa, there are other names, and I

am not sure if they are names of Shiva, or the name of another Diety or

Historic Personage. Perhaps you can help me with these names also. There are only

a couple.

 

Purari (and, in another context ... I don't remember now ... I have also

heard the name

Purari Murari)

Shankara, associated with Peace (this one did confuse me because I am aware

of the

Historic Personage, Shankaracharya, and that there has been

more than one with

this name

Shamabu (I have heard Shambo used in relation to Shiva, but this is a new

one ... perhaps

they are linquistically related terms and mean approximately

the same thihng)

 

Anyhow, I will be so grateful for any light that can be shed on these names.

 

Shiva Ki Jai! ~ Linda