Weekly Definition - sAkShin or Witness-The Metaphor of Warp and Woof!

[Guest guest]

Thank you Ananda-ji for thes delightful weekly definition

on 'sakshin' - i particularly enjoyed reading the reference to the

the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad quote on the dialogue between Sage

Yajnyavalkya and the vedic Woman scholar Gargi! Would you not agree

when it is claimed that BUT for Gargi's relentless questioning ,

Sage Yanyavalkya would have never come up with the definition

of 'Brahman' which is beyond words ? More power to VEDIC WOMEN like

Gargi , Maitreyi and Lopamudra etc etc ...

 

ON ANOTHER NOTE, the wap and woof imagery that Anandaji has quoted

is very appealing. In the Atharva Veda, THe warp symbolized

darkness, and the woof symbolized light.

 

Sufi Poet Kabir Daasji , the weaver, uses the metaphor

of the warp and the woof to explain the devotional worship of sri

Rama beautifully with the help of this metaphor 'warp and woof' in

the follwing poem ..

 

O weaver! (Soul) Weave the name of God on whom the God's, men and

sages meditate;

 

To secure the warp there is a post, and the four Vedas are the

spinning wheels;

 

Ram and Narayan serve as pegs, and they fulfill all desires;

 

God made the worldly ocean as a wooden vessel in which he placed the

starch (Maya);

 

In the starch of the body he placed the starch (Maya), and there is

hardly anyone who understands this starch (Maya);

 

He made the right and left nostrils as two pillars and in the centre

he placed the light (sushumna);

 

Whoever meditates on God, the name of Sham ensures perfection;

 

When this devotion becomes perfect, he wraps this thread of

meditation on the spindle of Ram (God);

 

And attaining the love of God he attained the three worlds; no one

was left out;

 

God made the three worlds into a loom, and he spread the light of

knowledge in all directions;

 

The eternal Lord sits on the weaver's seat and Kabir merged into His

Light.

 

 

 

Commentary:

 

Using metaphorical language, Guru Kabir has expressed deep mystical

meaning in this shabda. He speaks of the weaver as the soul, which

is the human being, who needs to meditate on God. The various gods,

demi-gods, men and sages also meditate on God. Guru Kabir is using

the warp and weft of the weaving machine to express some of these

mystical ideas. The post, which has secured the warp, is

meditation, and the warp consisting of all the threads are the

thought waves, which must be controlled in meditation. The four

Vedas are instructions following which people can attain the

spiritual life of meditation. Ram and Narayan are names of God, and

God's name is the peg which anchors the various threads. Meditation

on God will fulfill one's noble desires.

 

 

 

Guru Kabir is speaking about this world as the worldly ocean likened

to a wooden bowl in which there is a thickened starch. The starch

is actually Maya the elusive power which emanated from God. The

word starch is also used to represent the body, thus he states that

in this body there is the starch of Maya, but hardly does anyone

understand the play of this Maya in life. The yogis speak of the

Ida and Pingala as the moon and sun, or right and left nostrils

which, when in balance, leads to a central channel called Sushumna.

Guru Kabir is stating that when you reach this stage of single-

minded meditation, then you are in Sushumna, and you then attain

immersion in God consciousness. Whoever meditates thus, using the

Sushumna as the light of spiritual enlightenment, then Sham, also a

name of God, will see that the meditation reaches perfection. One

then becomes bound to God in consciousness. All who thus meditate

and their hearts become filled with the love of God, they will all

reach enlightenment.

 

 

 

Guru Kabir likens the three worlds to the loom for weaving the

cloth. Just so God spread the warp and weft everywhere, and His

Light manifests in all. Guru Kabir states that God himself is the

weaver sitting on the weaver's seat and that he, Kabir, merged into

that Light of God.

 

 

 

Essentially, Guru Kabir is saying that we are a soul and that Maya

is with us deluding us. But if we meditate with great devotion in

our heart, then God will see to it that we reach perfection and

merge into his Light.

 

http://members.shaw.ca/kabirweb/kabirvoice/kabirvoice_June1999.htm

 

From saguna worship of Sri Ram , we proceed to Nirguna Brahman!

 

Sri Rama Rama Rameti

Rame Raame Manorame

Sahasra Nama Tat Tulyam

Rama Nama Varanane

 

Lord Shiva told this shloka to Parvati I meditate upon Sri Ram as

Sri Rama Rama Rama, the thrice recital of Rama's name is equal to

Recitation of the thousand names of Lord Vishnu (Vishnu Sahasranama)

 

Happy sri Ramanavami!

 

ps - my long break after two weeks of baby sitting the new Mom and

her new born baby ...