Guest guest Posted September 4, 2008 Report Share Posted September 4, 2008 with regards dilip Selvaratnam Selvakumar <selvauk OM Namah Sivaya Om Namah Sivaya In the first century AD, there lived a man called Bhagavan. Appropriate to the name, he led a life of devotion and faith. Though a brahmin by birth, he married an outcaste named Adi. It was unheard of in those days. In devotion, caste, religion, creed, race or gender do not matter. What matters is only devotion. Shortly after Adi became pregnant, Bhagavan left her and became a sanyas. Adi, unable to bear the taunts of the villagers, took a vow before Lord Ganesha that she would abandon her child and follow in her husband's footsteps. Adi, in the course of time, gave birth to a beautiful girl. When she saw the newborn, she could not think of leaving her and satisfying the vow. She was in a dilemma, should she took after her child or satisfy the vow. She was such a person that she did not care about herself but only about her child and the vow. When dharmic people are in trouble, there is always God to help. The child spoke in her dream, 'My dear mother, who brought me forth in this world ? Can He ever forsake me ? The Lord has brought me forth and He will take care of me. Don't think you are the doer. Go, mother, go, and be without fear. The Lord protects us all.' Man is bitten by the snake of ignorance and thinks himself as limited, ignorant, and suffers from the notion of 'I am the doer.' By surrendering the notion of an individuality due to wise words by sages, he concludes that all happenings are due to the Divine Will and he is a mere actor in the script written by the Divine. After Adi left, a poet saw the baby lying on the roadside. The poet was a great bhakta of Lord Ganesha and being childless, had frequently prayed to Lord Ganesha for a child. A poet discovers a child who is destined to become the poet among poets. No home in Tamilnadu (India) forgets the child, Auvaiyar. Every child in Tamilnadu is the poem of alphabet, aattichuDi, written by her, as their first lesson. We do not know what name the poet gave her. At the age of four, while frolicking with other children, she heard a poet tell her father that he was looking for two more lines in his song. Though a child, she sat down and saw the poets discuss various options. The first two lines were 'If you do a good deed, when will it give the result ?' but the poets, try as they may, could not come up with appropriate two more lines. After a lot of struggle, they decided to give up. Then the child spoke, 'Uncle, it is very simple.' Angered the poets mockingly said 'What does a four year old know ?' We should not disrespect persons because of their age or any other criteria. Every one knows a little and every idea is an insight. All inventions in this world has arose from a single thought in someone's mind. We are all capable of greatness. The child quickly said, 'Don't doubt whether it will give result. It is bound to result like the water that you offer at the foot of a cocunut tree gives you the result through the head.' The poets gathered around were astonished. No, not just because the verse is beautiful and rhymed, but because the verse had several deep inner spiritual meanings. The verse elucidates the law of karma. What you sow, so shall you reap. When you offer water at the foot of a cocunut tree, it takes some time, but eventually, at the head of the tree, you will get the coconut. If you do a good deed, you will enjoy the consequences, whether it sooner or later. Similarly, one has to suffer for all bad deeds. Even from a young age of three, she used to meditate on the mantra 'AUM vinaayaka siddhi vinaakaya.' Since her father was a big poet, she aspired to become a great poet too. Daily, early in the morning, she used to worship Lord Ganesha with four things: milk, honey, rice pudding (pasayam) and nuts. She used to pray 'I give you four things, please give me three (poetry, music and drama).' Devotion always starts on a bargaining system. I will give you this, if you give me that. Thus we bargain with the God. This is like a child saying to the mother, I will eat the vegetables, if you will allow me to play with MY toy. Actually, the mother knows she owns the toy, not the child but to please the child, she agrees. Such is the case of people. Everything is owned by God. Man possesses nothing, yet he bargains. Total surrender always starts from the simple bargaining. Any true devotee will eventually say, 'It is all divine will.' Until then, duality will persist and misery will follow. Auvaiyar grew up to be a beautiful woman. Due to her devotion, she was extremely intelligent too. Naturally, lot of suitors asked her father for her hand in marriage. But auvaiyar had already surrendered her body and mind to the Lotus feet of vinayaka. How can lustful thoughts even enter her mind ? But, it is difficult to stand up to one's parents and say this. Auvaiyar figured that her youth was the criteria which attracted people to her. Therefore, daily she used to sit before Ganesha and pray that she become an old woman. But her prayers were not answered. One day, in frustration, she decided to run away from home and kill herself. She prayed fervently and suddendly, there was a shower of flowers and she became an old woman with wrinkled skin and fading features. In the age which youth is given so much importance and the beauty of the body is considered of prime importance, here was a woman who threw all that away. One can ask why God did not answer her prayers instantly. When one prays and when there is pure devotion, the willingness to be with God should be great. A man who is held under water for a long times thinks of only air and gasps for it. One should gasp and long for God as much as the person under water. After this incident, her foster father understood that she was no ordinary child. Thus, the young woman who looked old became to called auvaiyar. She began wandering the temples of South India and met several saints including the King Cheraman and the famous nayanmar Sundaramurthi (Please see the section on periya puranam below for information on nayanmars). One a king asked her where was she from and who her parents are. She replied, 'I have wandered so many places, and my legs are paining. But where I am from ? I am from God and no one else.' Someone gave a special gooseberry fruit to king atiyaman so that he can live long by eating it. But the king gave it to his dear friend 'Auvaiyar' so that she could live long and thereby serve the Lord. There are many such incidents in her life. However, her many poems touch on the simple people she met in small houses, on the streets. During her visit to a Siva temple, she lay down due to tiredness. In her haste, she did not see that her legs were pointing to the Siva Linga. The priest saw this and became angry. He asked Auvaiyar to remove her legs. Avviyar replied, 'Please show me a direction in which Siva does not exist and I will point my legs in that direction.' By foolishness, man fails to look within and discover divinity. He thinks God resides only in churches, temples, and mosques. All he needs is to dive within his heart and rediscover the spirit he has forgotten. Then, he will not only see God in himself but in every atom that exists in this universe. Nothing, not even a blade of grass, moves without the will of the Divine. A few years passed, the reputation of Auvaiyar grew. She was known all over for her songs, her wisdom and her devotion. A person should avoid fame at all costs, and if there is fame, one should recognize that all this is God-given and not take credit for it. But it is difficult not to be involved in the ego-game. Auvaiyar became proud of her accomplishments. That had to be corrected. So, the birthless one who took care of her from the day she was born enacted a lila. While travelling through an orchard, she noticed a jambu fruit tree. As everyone knows, Ganapati's favorite fruit is jambu. Thinking of this, Auvaiyar had an inkling to eat the fruit. She noticed a young boy perched on the tree. She asked him to give her some fruits. The young boy asked 'Do you want hot jambu fruits or cold jambu fruits ?' Auvaiyar was stuck, she did not that there were two kinds of jambu fruits. She prayed to Lord Ganesha for help, but the all intelligent one, the one who clears all obstacles refused to answer. When one does not know the answer, one should say so and not pretend that we know the answer. But, auvaiyar did not want to admit defeat to a young boy. So, she pretended to know the answer and said, asked for "Cold fruit" and when the boy shook off some fruits she picked up one ripe fruit and began to blow air over it to shake off the sand; it was then, the boy confronted her : " You asked for cold fruit . Why are you taking hot fruit and blowing air over it to make it cool?( By 'Cold fruit 'ripe fruit and by 'Hot fruit' unripe fruit). There are no hot or cold jambu fruits. There are only ripe and unripe jambu fruits. Auvaiyar immediately recognized that this was no ordinary boy who had come to teach her a lesson in humility. When she sang a song in the honor of the boy, the boy revealed himself to be kartikeya. Kartikeya, in his sweet voice, said 'Grandmother, I was just pulling your leg. I wanted to hear your voice and wisdom. I have four questions for you. Please answer them for the benefit of the world. What is hard ? What is sweet ? What is big ? What is rare ?' Auvaiyar replies to each of this in a long song. In short: What is hard ? 'Poverty is hard, harder still is poverty in young age, harder is a faithless spouse, and the hardest is to take food from a person who does not love you.' What is sweet ? 'Solitude is sweet, sweeter is worship of Lord, sweeter than that is the company of the Guru and still more sweet is the abiding in the Self day and night.' What is big ? 'Oh, the Lord with vEl (Divine weapon of Lord Skanda), if you ask what is big, world is big. But the world was created by BrahmA. Brahma was born in the navel of Vishnu. Vishnu sleeps in the ocean. The ocean was drunk by Agasthya. Agasthya was born from a pot. Pot is a small grain (in size) in this earth. But this earth is hold by the serpent in just one head. But that serpent is a small ring in UmA's finger. UmA is there in one part of Siva, Siva is in the heart of the devotee. So the greatness of the devotee is great to explain.' What is rare ? 'Rare is the human birth, rarer still is the human birth interested in wisdom, still rarer is one who is interested in wisdom and possessed of charity and penance.' One day she saw her dear friends, the king Cheraman Nayanar and the great Sundaramurthi Nayanar ascending to Kailasha. Auvaiyar was performing puja on Ganesha and started reciting mantras hurriedly. Ganesha appeared before Her and asked her why she was performing the puja hurriedly. She said that her friends were ascending to Kailasha and she wanted to be with them. Ganesha smiled and said 'Don't worry, do your puja slowly, and I promise you will reach Kailasha faster than they do.' So, she sang the vinaayaka ahaval, a beautiful poem and her last song in the mortal frame. It ends with 'Make me experience in my heart the innermost meaning of the five letters (Na Ma Si Va Ya).Restore me to my real state and rule this unreality now, O Master of Wisdom.Vinaayaka : Your feet alone, your feet alone are my sole refuge.' After she finished the song, Lord Ganesha lifted her up and kept in Kailasha and She reached it faster than Sundaramurthi Nayanar and Cheraman Nayanar. But this incident also has an inner significance. Auvaiyar, Sundaramurthi Nayanar, Cheraman Nayanar never left South India. How did they go to Kailasha ? Vinakya is the Lord of the Muladhara Chakra. Since our consciousness usually is in the muladhara Chakra, Ganesha is invoked before any puja or any event. Only if the Kundalini in that Chakra is awakened, then Kundalini can "travel" to the other Chakras. When one meditates on Him with pure devotion, he will raise you to Kailasha (on the Sahasra Chakra) in no time. There is no need to hurry. All we need is the earnestness and devotion. If we surrender our body, mind, ego to the Divine feet and do our darma with dedication, devotion and discrimination, there is no chance of rebirth. Sivaya Namah Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 4, 2008 Report Share Posted September 4, 2008 with regards dilip Selvaratnam Selvakumar <selvauk OM Namah Sivaya Om Namah Sivaya In the first century AD, there lived a man called Bhagavan. Appropriate to the name, he led a life of devotion and faith. Though a brahmin by birth, he married an outcaste named Adi. It was unheard of in those days. In devotion, caste, religion, creed, race or gender do not matter. What matters is only devotion. Shortly after Adi became pregnant, Bhagavan left her and became a sanyas. Adi, unable to bear the taunts of the villagers, took a vow before Lord Ganesha that she would abandon her child and follow in her husband's footsteps. Adi, in the course of time, gave birth to a beautiful girl. When she saw the newborn, she could not think of leaving her and satisfying the vow. She was in a dilemma, should she took after her child or satisfy the vow. She was such a person that she did not care about herself but only about her child and the vow. When dharmic people are in trouble, there is always God to help. The child spoke in her dream, 'My dear mother, who brought me forth in this world ? Can He ever forsake me ? The Lord has brought me forth and He will take care of me. Don't think you are the doer. Go, mother, go, and be without fear. The Lord protects us all.' Man is bitten by the snake of ignorance and thinks himself as limited, ignorant, and suffers from the notion of 'I am the doer.' By surrendering the notion of an individuality due to wise words by sages, he concludes that all happenings are due to the Divine Will and he is a mere actor in the script written by the Divine. After Adi left, a poet saw the baby lying on the roadside. The poet was a great bhakta of Lord Ganesha and being childless, had frequently prayed to Lord Ganesha for a child. A poet discovers a child who is destined to become the poet among poets. No home in Tamilnadu (India) forgets the child, Auvaiyar. Every child in Tamilnadu is the poem of alphabet, aattichuDi, written by her, as their first lesson. We do not know what name the poet gave her. At the age of four, while frolicking with other children, she heard a poet tell her father that he was looking for two more lines in his song. Though a child, she sat down and saw the poets discuss various options. The first two lines were 'If you do a good deed, when will it give the result ?' but the poets, try as they may, could not come up with appropriate two more lines. After a lot of struggle, they decided to give up. Then the child spoke, 'Uncle, it is very simple.' Angered the poets mockingly said 'What does a four year old know ?' We should not disrespect persons because of their age or any other criteria. Every one knows a little and every idea is an insight. All inventions in this world has arose from a single thought in someone's mind. We are all capable of greatness. The child quickly said, 'Don't doubt whether it will give result. It is bound to result like the water that you offer at the foot of a cocunut tree gives you the result through the head.' The poets gathered around were astonished. No, not just because the verse is beautiful and rhymed, but because the verse had several deep inner spiritual meanings. The verse elucidates the law of karma. What you sow, so shall you reap. When you offer water at the foot of a cocunut tree, it takes some time, but eventually, at the head of the tree, you will get the coconut. If you do a good deed, you will enjoy the consequences, whether it sooner or later. Similarly, one has to suffer for all bad deeds. Even from a young age of three, she used to meditate on the mantra 'AUM vinaayaka siddhi vinaakaya.' Since her father was a big poet, she aspired to become a great poet too. Daily, early in the morning, she used to worship Lord Ganesha with four things: milk, honey, rice pudding (pasayam) and nuts. She used to pray 'I give you four things, please give me three (poetry, music and drama).' Devotion always starts on a bargaining system. I will give you this, if you give me that. Thus we bargain with the God. This is like a child saying to the mother, I will eat the vegetables, if you will allow me to play with MY toy. Actually, the mother knows she owns the toy, not the child but to please the child, she agrees. Such is the case of people. Everything is owned by God. Man possesses nothing, yet he bargains. Total surrender always starts from the simple bargaining. Any true devotee will eventually say, 'It is all divine will.' Until then, duality will persist and misery will follow. Auvaiyar grew up to be a beautiful woman. Due to her devotion, she was extremely intelligent too. Naturally, lot of suitors asked her father for her hand in marriage. But auvaiyar had already surrendered her body and mind to the Lotus feet of vinayaka. How can lustful thoughts even enter her mind ? But, it is difficult to stand up to one's parents and say this. Auvaiyar figured that her youth was the criteria which attracted people to her. Therefore, daily she used to sit before Ganesha and pray that she become an old woman. But her prayers were not answered. One day, in frustration, she decided to run away from home and kill herself. She prayed fervently and suddendly, there was a shower of flowers and she became an old woman with wrinkled skin and fading features. In the age which youth is given so much importance and the beauty of the body is considered of prime importance, here was a woman who threw all that away. One can ask why God did not answer her prayers instantly. When one prays and when there is pure devotion, the willingness to be with God should be great. A man who is held under water for a long times thinks of only air and gasps for it. One should gasp and long for God as much as the person under water. After this incident, her foster father understood that she was no ordinary child. Thus, the young woman who looked old became to called auvaiyar. She began wandering the temples of South India and met several saints including the King Cheraman and the famous nayanmar Sundaramurthi (Please see the section on periya puranam below for information on nayanmars). One a king asked her where was she from and who her parents are. She replied, 'I have wandered so many places, and my legs are paining. But where I am from ? I am from God and no one else.' Someone gave a special gooseberry fruit to king atiyaman so that he can live long by eating it. But the king gave it to his dear friend 'Auvaiyar' so that she could live long and thereby serve the Lord. There are many such incidents in her life. However, her many poems touch on the simple people she met in small houses, on the streets. During her visit to a Siva temple, she lay down due to tiredness. In her haste, she did not see that her legs were pointing to the Siva Linga. The priest saw this and became angry. He asked Auvaiyar to remove her legs. Avviyar replied, 'Please show me a direction in which Siva does not exist and I will point my legs in that direction.' By foolishness, man fails to look within and discover divinity. He thinks God resides only in churches, temples, and mosques. All he needs is to dive within his heart and rediscover the spirit he has forgotten. Then, he will not only see God in himself but in every atom that exists in this universe. Nothing, not even a blade of grass, moves without the will of the Divine. A few years passed, the reputation of Auvaiyar grew. She was known all over for her songs, her wisdom and her devotion. A person should avoid fame at all costs, and if there is fame, one should recognize that all this is God-given and not take credit for it. But it is difficult not to be involved in the ego-game. Auvaiyar became proud of her accomplishments. That had to be corrected. So, the birthless one who took care of her from the day she was born enacted a lila. While travelling through an orchard, she noticed a jambu fruit tree. As everyone knows, Ganapati's favorite fruit is jambu. Thinking of this, Auvaiyar had an inkling to eat the fruit. She noticed a young boy perched on the tree. She asked him to give her some fruits. The young boy asked 'Do you want hot jambu fruits or cold jambu fruits ?' Auvaiyar was stuck, she did not that there were two kinds of jambu fruits. She prayed to Lord Ganesha for help, but the all intelligent one, the one who clears all obstacles refused to answer. When one does not know the answer, one should say so and not pretend that we know the answer. But, auvaiyar did not want to admit defeat to a young boy. So, she pretended to know the answer and said, asked for "Cold fruit" and when the boy shook off some fruits she picked up one ripe fruit and began to blow air over it to shake off the sand; it was then, the boy confronted her : " You asked for cold fruit . Why are you taking hot fruit and blowing air over it to make it cool?( By 'Cold fruit 'ripe fruit and by 'Hot fruit' unripe fruit). There are no hot or cold jambu fruits. There are only ripe and unripe jambu fruits. Auvaiyar immediately recognized that this was no ordinary boy who had come to teach her a lesson in humility. When she sang a song in the honor of the boy, the boy revealed himself to be kartikeya. Kartikeya, in his sweet voice, said 'Grandmother, I was just pulling your leg. I wanted to hear your voice and wisdom. I have four questions for you. Please answer them for the benefit of the world. What is hard ? What is sweet ? What is big ? What is rare ?' Auvaiyar replies to each of this in a long song. In short: What is hard ? 'Poverty is hard, harder still is poverty in young age, harder is a faithless spouse, and the hardest is to take food from a person who does not love you.' What is sweet ? 'Solitude is sweet, sweeter is worship of Lord, sweeter than that is the company of the Guru and still more sweet is the abiding in the Self day and night.' What is big ? 'Oh, the Lord with vEl (Divine weapon of Lord Skanda), if you ask what is big, world is big. But the world was created by BrahmA. Brahma was born in the navel of Vishnu. Vishnu sleeps in the ocean. The ocean was drunk by Agasthya. Agasthya was born from a pot. Pot is a small grain (in size) in this earth. But this earth is hold by the serpent in just one head. But that serpent is a small ring in UmA's finger. UmA is there in one part of Siva, Siva is in the heart of the devotee. So the greatness of the devotee is great to explain.' What is rare ? 'Rare is the human birth, rarer still is the human birth interested in wisdom, still rarer is one who is interested in wisdom and possessed of charity and penance.' One day she saw her dear friends, the king Cheraman Nayanar and the great Sundaramurthi Nayanar ascending to Kailasha. Auvaiyar was performing puja on Ganesha and started reciting mantras hurriedly. Ganesha appeared before Her and asked her why she was performing the puja hurriedly. She said that her friends were ascending to Kailasha and she wanted to be with them. Ganesha smiled and said 'Don't worry, do your puja slowly, and I promise you will reach Kailasha faster than they do.' So, she sang the vinaayaka ahaval, a beautiful poem and her last song in the mortal frame. It ends with 'Make me experience in my heart the innermost meaning of the five letters (Na Ma Si Va Ya).Restore me to my real state and rule this unreality now, O Master of Wisdom.Vinaayaka : Your feet alone, your feet alone are my sole refuge.' After she finished the song, Lord Ganesha lifted her up and kept in Kailasha and She reached it faster than Sundaramurthi Nayanar and Cheraman Nayanar. But this incident also has an inner significance. Auvaiyar, Sundaramurthi Nayanar, Cheraman Nayanar never left South India. How did they go to Kailasha ? Vinakya is the Lord of the Muladhara Chakra. Since our consciousness usually is in the muladhara Chakra, Ganesha is invoked before any puja or any event. Only if the Kundalini in that Chakra is awakened, then Kundalini can "travel" to the other Chakras. When one meditates on Him with pure devotion, he will raise you to Kailasha (on the Sahasra Chakra) in no time. There is no need to hurry. All we need is the earnestness and devotion. If we surrender our body, mind, ego to the Divine feet and do our darma with dedication, devotion and discrimination, there is no chance of rebirth. Sivaya Namah Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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