Need your advice

[zephyr16]

Hello Everybody,

 

I need your valuable veiws in understanding a strange predicament I am facing. Recently I bought a 4 armed Nataraj statue- made of bronze. I wanted to worship the shiva image as its Shravan month. Shiva is my ishta deva and I chant the rudram and offer my humble prayers to him. Since this idol has been installed on my pedestal- I have had strange incedences in my personal life. There was a turmoil in my mind..a strange restlessness.. this affected my communication and personal skills. I had verbal altercations with my closest friends for some inane reasons ..and then i had misunderstandings happening in my work place...my solutions were interpreted incorrectly and people thought that i wasnt keen in working on the project and in due time I was laid off from the project.

 

My parents in india consulted an astrologer who said that its because of the idol - these problems started occuring and suggested that i no longer worship or do any sort of puja to the idol.

 

could anyone of you bhakta's solve or help me understand this situation?

 

Should I chant the rudram at all ? if yes..then please tell me the correct way so that i chant without offending the lord.

 

or should I just give up all my chantings and japa of gayatri?

 

Please advise. I humbly beseech you to advice me...any words any suggestions/ critiques comments are welcome..I am at my wits end and shocked as to why such a thing would happen

 

As Ever in service

Zeph

[Murali_Mohan_das]

Why do you worship Sri Nataraj?

 

Is it in hopes he'll remove all of your material desires?

 

 

Hello Everybody,

 

I need your valuable veiws in understanding a strange predicament I am facing. Recently I bought a 4 armed Nataraj statue- made of bronze. I wanted to worship the shiva image as its Shravan month. Shiva is my ishta deva and I chant the rudram and offer my humble prayers to him. Since this idol has been installed on my pedestal- I have had strange incedences in my personal life. There was a turmoil in my mind..a strange restlessness.. this affected my communication and personal skills. I had verbal altercations with my closest friends for some inane reasons ..and then i had misunderstandings happening in my work place...my solutions were interpreted incorrectly and people thought that i wasnt keen in working on the project and in due time I was laid off from the project.

 

My parents in india consulted an astrologer who said that its because of the idol - these problems started occuring and suggested that i no longer worship or do any sort of puja to the idol.

 

could anyone of you bhakta's solve or help me understand this situation?

 

Should I chant the rudram at all ? if yes..then please tell me the correct way so that i chant without offending the lord.

 

or should I just give up all my chantings and japa of gayatri?

 

Please advise. I humbly beseech you to advice me...any words any suggestions/ critiques comments are welcome..I am at my wits end and shocked as to why such a thing would happen

 

As Ever in service

Zeph

[zephyr16]

I did not have any idols of sort whilst i was worshipping...I used to light up a candle and just start my sandhyavandan and chanting..Its out of sheer serendipity that i came across this idol and the moment i saw it..i had this certain feeling that this is the one i should be praying to..hence got the idol....no other specific reason

[Somesh Kumar]

Hare Krishna Zephji!

 

With our tiny understanding sometimes it is very difficult to understand how Krishna acts and constantly helps us to reach Him.

 

So my humble advice will be to take to the chanting of the Hare Krishna Mahamantra:

 

Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare

Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare

 

And everything will become crystal clear as the time progresses.....

 

Hope this helps. Wish you All the Best!

[Kulapavana]

 

My parents in india consulted an astrologer who said that its because of the idol - these problems started occuring and suggested that i no longer worship or do any sort of puja to the idol.

 

maybe you can test that idea by temporarily suspending your worship to this object? but there is no need for suspending your sadhana.

[matarisvan]

 

Hello Everybody,

 

I need your valuable veiws in understanding a strange predicament I am facing. Recently I bought a 4 armed Nataraj statue- made of bronze. I wanted to worship the shiva image as its Shravan month. Shiva is my ishta deva and I chant the rudram and offer my humble prayers to him. Since this idol has been installed on my pedestal- I have had strange incedences in my personal life. There was a turmoil in my mind..a strange restlessness.. this affected my communication and personal skills. I had verbal altercations with my closest friends for some inane reasons ..and then i had misunderstandings happening in my work place...my solutions were interpreted incorrectly and people thought that i wasnt keen in working on the project and in due time I was laid off from the project.

 

My parents in india consulted an astrologer who said that its because of the idol - these problems started occuring and suggested that i no longer worship or do any sort of puja to the idol.

 

could anyone of you bhakta's solve or help me understand this situation?

 

Should I chant the rudram at all ? if yes..then please tell me the correct way so that i chant without offending the lord.

 

or should I just give up all my chantings and japa of gayatri?

 

Please advise. I humbly beseech you to advice me...any words any suggestions/ critiques comments are welcome..I am at my wits end and shocked as to why such a thing would happen

 

As Ever in service

Zeph

 

Dear Zeph,

 

For proper effect, mantras should not be chanted without initation. Were you properly initiated into the Rudram? If you have not received formal initiation into the Gayathri and the Rudram my advise is to discontinue chanting until you are properly initiated.

 

You can continue to worship Rudra and pray to him.

[kiranasa]

 

 

The significance of the Nataraj (Nataraja) sculpture is said to be that Shiva is shown as the source of all movement within the cosmos, represented by the arch of flames. The purpose of the dance is to release men from illusion of the idea of the "self" and of the physical world. The cosmic dance was performed in Chidambaram in South India, called the center of the universe by some Hindus. The gestures of the dance represent Shiva's five activities, creation (symbolized by the drum), protection (by the "fear not" hand gesture), destruction (by the fire), embodiment (by the foot planted on the ground), and release (by the foot held aloft).

As Nataraj (Sanskrit: Lord of Dance) Shiva represents apocalypse and creation as he dances away the illusory world of Maya transforming it into power and enlightenment.

The symbolism of Siva Nataraj is religion, art and science merged as one. In God's endless dance of creation, preservation, destruction and paired graces is hidden a deep understanding of our universe. Aum Namah Sivaya. Bhashya Nataraj, the King of Dance, has four arms. The upper right hand holds the drum from which creation issues forth. The lower right hand is raised in blessing, betokening preservation. The upper left hand holds a flame, which is destruction, the dissolution of form. The right leg, representing obscuring grace, stands upon Apasmarapurusha, a soul temporarily earth-bound by its own sloth, confusion and forgetfulness. The uplifted left leg is revealing grace, which releases the mature soul from bondage. The lower left hand gestures toward that holy foot in assurance that Siva's grace is the refuge for everyone, the way to liberation. The circle of fire represents the cosmos and especially consciousness. The all-devouring form looming above is Mahakala, "Great Time." The cobra around Nataraj's waist is kundalini shakti, the soul-impelling cosmic power resident within all. Nataraj's dance is not just a symbol. It is taking place within each of us, at the atomic level, this very moment. The Agamas proclaim, "The birth of the world, its maintenance, its destruction, the soul's obscuration and liberation are the five acts of His dance."

The Nataraj dances within the universe of illusion. The locks of his hair stand out in many strands as he whirls around in his dancing frenzy. His locks are decked with a crescent moon, a skull, and are interspersed with the sacred river Ganges.

Shiva's unkempt hair, a symbol of a rejection of society, shows him to be an ascetic. This contrasts with his role as a grhastha, or householder, with his wife and family.

The fiery ring surrounding Shiva, prahabhamandala, represents the universe with all its illusion, suffering and pain. The outer edge is fire the inner edge the waters of the oceans. Many Nataraj statues have multiple levels of fire and water.

The goddess of the Ganges is here shown nesting in Shiva's dreadlocks. The river Ganges that flows in Nataraj's hair originally flowed in heaven. When the heavenly Ganges was needed on earth, she was unwilling to fall to earth because she realized that her fall from heaven would be too much for the earth to withstand. Shiva as Nataraj agreed to break the violent power of the sacred Ganga's fall by catching her in his tangled hair, breaking the fall with his hair on its way to the Himalayas and Northern India.

The crescent moon in his matted hair keeps Kama, the god of nightly love, alive. Through the waxing and the waning of the moon Shiva creates different seasons and rejuvenates life.

Nataraj wears a snake coiled around his upper arms and neck symbolizing the power he has over the most deadly of creatures. Snakes are also used to symbolize the Hindu dogma of reincarnation. Their natural process of molting or shedding their skin is symbolic of the human souls transmigration of bodies from one life to another.

In the back right hand Shiva often holds an hour glass shaped drum or damaru. The drum represents the rhythmic sound to which Nataraj dances and ceaselessly recreates the universe. The front right hand is in the abhaya-mudra (the "fear not" gesture, made by holding the palm outward with fingers pointing up).

The back left hand carries agni (fire) in a vessel or in his hand. The flames represent the destructive energy with which Nataraj dances at the end of each cosmic age, cleansing sins and removing illusion.

The front left hand is across the chest in the gahahasta (elephant trunk) pose, with the wrist limp and the fingers pointed downward toward the uplifted foot.

His uplifted left foot, grants eternal bliss to those who approach him. The other foot treads firmly upon the dwarf of ignorance, allowing the birth of knowledge.

Nataraj dances above the body of the demon, Apasmara, whom he has killed; in this role he is called Natesa. Apasmara, the dwarf demon, represents the ignorance of teaching that all opposites (for example good and evil) are false.

 

To see pictures: http://www.lotussculpture.com/nataraj1.htm