Aparna & Suparna

March 31, 2008

Dear Annaya/ Brothers,

I was in watching TV, when Devas praise mighty Garuda Swami as Suparna... Suddenly name Aparna came to my mind....

May be learned ones can tell our group the meaning of Aparna, also Suparna. whether the common parna in both names has "Naana Ardalu" as we learnt in High School Telugu/ Sanskrit.

Thanks & Regards

- Sainath J.O.

Forgot the famous last words? Access your message archive online.

March 31, 2008

21st verse of Vishnu Sahasranama has the name `suparna' in it.

Technically, the 194th nama in the Bheeshma-proktha Vishnusahasranama is "SuparNAaya namah:"

a) (literally) One possessed of charming feathers .b) One who can lead men to the other shore across the ocean of samsAra.

In SrImad-bhAgavatam we have - siddheSvarANAm kapilah suparNo'ham patatriNAm - Among the siddha-s, I am Kapila, and among birds I am GaruDa (11.16.15). In Bhagavad-gItA, we have mRgANAm ca mRgendro'ham vainateyaSca pakshiNAM - Among beasts, I am the lion, their king, and among birds, I am GaruDa, the son of VinatA (10.29). Thus, suparNa is interpreted as referring to His being the Best of the best in all that exist.

parNa means wings. Sobhana parNatvAt suparNah - suparNa means One with auspicious and beautiful wings. He is suparNa because He carries His devotees to the other shore of the ocean of samsAra.

In the upanishads, we have reference to two beautiful birds sitting on the same tree - signifying the jIvAtmA and the ParamAtmA dwelling in the same body. One (jIvAtmA) eats the fruits of actions, and the other (ParamAtMA) just gazes on (sAkshI). VishNu is this all-experiencing Principle of Consciouness.

"dvA suparNA sayujA sakhAyA samAnam vRksham parishvajAte tayoranyah pippalam svAdvanti, anaSnan anyo abhicAkaSIti (mundakopanishad - 3.1) -

A pair of white-winged birds extremely friendly to each other sit on one and the same tree; one eats the fruits, the other eats not and gazes on". One as the great enjoyer (pErinbam), and the other as the Great Knower (pEraRivu). The nAma can also relate back to the previous nAma – The hamsa incarnation with beautiful wings.

Now coming to Aparna: The name is one of the numerous names of Goddess Parvati, wife of Lord Shiva. Her husband Shiva was insulted by her own father Daksha. In a fit of rage, she sacrificed herself and became a sati. Lord Shiva, in agony of losing his wife, threw himself away from all worldly desires into deep meditation in the caves of Himalayas.

Reborn again to the mountain king Himavanth as Uma, Parvati always wanted to have Lord Shiva as her husband. She used to go to the icy caves where he lived and meditated and brought him food and served him. But Shiva was so preoccupied in himself that he never noticed her at all. Parvati did not know how to win his heart so she called upon the God of Love, Manmatha and his consort Rati. They transformed his cave into a pleasure garden and the God of Lust fired his arrows of desire into Shiva's heart.

Shiva was furious after the initial chalana(which produced Karthikeya, that's another big story which you must be aware)than lovesick and in his anger opened his third eye and burned Manmatha to ashes. Rati seeing her husband die in that manner, pleaded Parvati to bring him back. Parvati assured her that when she would marry Shiva, Manmatha would come alive(There is also another story how Manmatha does Srividya upasana and meets Kanchi-kamakshi and regains His body back). She now knew that it was more important than ever to become Shiva's wife because, without the God of Love, there would be no creation, no man no women and the world would cease to exist.

Parvati now sorted for more arduous way to win Shiva's heart. She thought doing severe penance to prove that her love for him was true might melt his ice-cold heart and then he might marry her. Very determined, she went to the forest and did rigorous Tapas. She put her mind to Shiva and chanted his name. She wore nothing to protect her tender body and she never moved. Insects and creatures crawled over her skin thinking her to be a rock. She did severe fasting, eating nothing, not even a single leaf, hence the name. "A" - without and "Parna" - leaf. Aparna the leafless one.

Impressed by her determination, Lord Shiva accepted her and they both were united in one. God of Love Manmatha became alive and there was harmony in the world. Thus, Aparna brings back the balance to the world. Lord Shiva and Godess Parvati are perfect for each other because she assuages him down and he attains the balance of Yoga and Bhoga with her

Also,the meaning of APARNA depends on how you pronunce it.If we pronounce it with an abrupt ending of a which sounds like "ao~" then it means - without a leaf but when we pronounce it with an extended "A" sounds like aa, like say in "corona" then it means without a feather or without a plume.

Tobacco plant.Yet another meaning of aparna is the soft wood of tobacco plants when it sounds like a Nn.A~ with abrupt ending in sound of A and when it ends with sound aa as we pronounce, it means,as thin and as soft as tobacco wood. This is sometimes used to praise unmarried woman referring to her physical stance as intoxicating as tobacco. So, onomastically speaking Parvati looked like as thin and yet intoxicating like tobacco wood when Narada saw her during her meditation and mentioned her thus first in front of Lord Vishnu, of course with no sense of vulgarity toward Divine Mother.

Thus, Sanskrit is considered a Devabhasha not just onomastically or cymatically speaking but also with respect to such beautiful dual meaning(a far cry from the current "double meaning" vulgar dialougues in vogue on the silver screen).

Nagalinga Poovu(Nagalinga flower which is used for Shivaarchana which has asmall linga inside each flower)

Namonamasthe' Shiva-Shakambhary!

Yours yogically,

Shreeram Balijepalli.

Rajarajeshwari_Kalpataru , "Sreenu J.O." <srisainath78 wrote:>> Dear Annaya/ Brothers,> > I was in watching TV, when Devas praise mighty Garuda Swami as Suparna... Suddenly name Aparna came to my mind....> > May be learned ones can tell our group the meaning of Aparna, also Suparna. whether the common parna in both names has "Naana Ardalu" as we learnt in High School Telugu/ Sanskrit.> > Thanks & Regards> - Sainath J.O.> > > Forgot the famous last words? Access your message archive online at http://in.messenger./webmessengerpromo.php>