Tantra vis-a-vis the Vedas and Vedic astrology---the nirayana myth!-I

[Guest guest]

Dear friends,

Namaskar!

There is an interesting discussion

going on these days in this (hc) forum regarding Tantra vis-à-vis the Vedas and

even “Vedic astrology” i.e. the so called nirayana astrology!

 

It is said that Tantra has three

branches viz. (i) Vaishnava (Pancharatra and Vikhanasa); (ii) Shaiva and (iii)

Shakta.  Even the latter two are said to have several branches.

 

In Kashmir,

which is supposed to be a pillar of Shaiva Agama, we followed a healthy mixture

of all the three main branches!  There are quite a few Shakti-peethas in Kashmir, the main ones being Ksheera Bhavani---that form

of consort of Shiva which likes milk the most--- (also known as Tula-moola, as

it is located in the roots of a mulberry tree) and Sharika, also known as Hari

Parvat. It is said that goddess Sharika took the form of a bird “sarika”

known as mayna and started to reside at the peak of a hillock.  That is why it

is known as haari (mayna) parvat (hillock).

Ksheera Bhavani is my Ishta Devi.

There are other Shakti peethas also

like Jwala in Khryuv, and Sharda peetha which is these days in POK.  The

festivals of all the various forms of Shakti like Jyeshtha Ashtami (Kshera

Bhavani Yatra), Navreh (Hari Parvat) etc. are celebrated with equal respect to

all the forms of Shakti.

Maha Shivaratri, the most sacred

festival to Shiva, is celebrated with a zest and zeal that matches only a

marriage ceremony in an orthodox family!  Full preparations start right from Phalguna

(Magha as per mukhya-mana) Krishna pratipat

and last almost for a whole month, in one or the other form, the main festival

being on Krishna Chaturdashi. 

Due to its ignorance, the Vijayeshwar

Jantri/Panchanga, the only Panchanga that was used in Kashmir

till a few decades back, made KPs celebrate Maha-Shivaratri festival on Krishna

Trayodashi, instead of Chaturdashi!  Actually the problem arose because Maha

Shivaratri is to be celebrated when Chaturdashi tithi prevails at nisheetha i.e

midnight, and often it is trayodashi at the time of sunrise in such cases. I.e.

why Vijayeshwar started calling it as Heratha truvah i.e. Shiva-trayodashi,

which does not have any sanction from any shastra.

 

Similarly, all the festivals of

Vishnu and/or His Avataras like Ramanavmi or Janmashtami or Vaikuntha

Chaturdashi or Vamana Dwadashi etc. also are celebrated with a similar zeal.

 

I remember fully well that while

circumambulating Hari-Parvata (Sharika-peeth) in the wee hours everyday with my

maternal uncle we would visit Ganesha

Temple attached to that

Parvat, first of all.   But on our way to Ganesha, he would keep on reciting “stotras”

by Acharya Abhnavagupta, the world famous author of Tantraloka---a magnum opus

of eight volumes on Shaiva agama---“Goram hara mama naraka ripoh, Keshava

kalmasha baram, maam anukampaya deenam anatham, kuru bhava sagara param”

i.e. “O Keshava, the enemy of Naraka (hell), do remove the burden of sins

from my soul. Do take pity on this poor soul and make me cross over the ocean

of samsara”.  Then he would recite a stotra of Ganesha “Eka danta

vakra tunda…” which appears to be an improvisation by some Kashmiri

poet.

After that, my uncle would recite Shiva

stotra by the same Acharya Abhinavagupta reading as “vyapta charachara

bhava vishesham, chinmayam ekam anantam anadim, bhairava natham, anatha sharanyam,

tvan maya chita

taya hridi vande” –I will explain the meaning of this stotra later.

While at Chakreshwar---the peak of

Sharika-peetha (Hari-Parvat) there would be an “aarti” with the

shlokas of Gauri-stuti, “leelarabdha sthapita loka akhila lokan,

lokateetair yogibir antar hridi mrigyam, baalaaditya shreni samana dyuti punjam,

gaureem ambam amuburuhaksheem aham eede”—i.e. “I bow in/from

my heart to Gauri, the consort of Shiva, who started the creation of myriad

universes as a leela (play).  (I bow to the one) who is contemplated by yogis

who have already transcended the worlds of three gunas, the one who is

resplendent like hundreds of rising suns shining together.  I bow to that

Mother Gauri, the lotus eyed one”.

There would also be recitation of

panchastavi---a compilation of five “stavas”.  It is said to have

been composed by Aadi Shankara. 

There is an anecdote about it but

I do not know how authentic that information is.  It is said that in the

initial stages, Aadi Shankara had faith in Shiva to the exclusion of Shakti. 

Shankara is said to have fallen ill during his sojourn in Kashmir

and become too weak to be able to make any movement because of his sickness. 

In other words, he did not have any “Shakti” and when a young lady

carrying a pitcher of water approached him, Shankara realized that he was

visualizing Goddess Parvati.  Since he had no power to recite anything himself,

the different items  like the pitcher, the knuckles of the door etc recited

those stotras.  Thus the titles/headings of each stotra are quite meaningful.

While reciting these stotras my

maternal uncle would go in a sort of trance, such was the force of his devotion.

I would continuously go on

thinking as to why did he, actually all the Kashmir Pandits, worship so many

Gods and Godesses!  Why not be content with just one form?

For example, the famous shloka

about Vishnu says, “yam brahma varunendr rudra marutah stunvanti divyai

stavai…” i.e. “I bow to such Vishnu who is worshipped/praised

through divine stotras by Brahma, Varuna, Indra, Rudra, Marutas, the One whose

praise is sung by all the four Vedas, besides their limbs like Upanishadas and the

singers of Samaveda; the One who is visualized in a trance by yogis, the One

whose beginning or end is known to nobody including all the gods and

goddesses”.

Then Shiva Mahimna stotra says,

“haris te sahasram kamala balim aadaya vapusho…” i.e.

“O Shiva, when Vishnu was worshipping you with one thousand lotus

flowers, and when He found it less by one lotus (that you had actually kept

hidden in order to test Vishnu’s faith), He at once sacrificed his one

lotus-eye (Vishnu’s eyes are said to be  actually as beautiful as lotus

flowers—in fact His feet are also said to be like lotus!), by removing it

and offering it to you.  That is how Vishnu got Sudarshana Chakra (disc), which

(chakra) is revolving around His finger always for the safety of the three

worlds”.  Thus it means that Shiva is superior to Vishnu, in fact all the

gods and goddesses as per this stotra.

Now coming to Shakti—we find

that She is more powerful than any other God or Goddess!

In Kashmir, quite a few people

read aloud Bhavani Sahasranama--- i.e one thousand names of Bhavani, the

Consort of Bhava i.e. Shiva!  It forms a part of Rudrayamala Tantra.   

 

The story goes like this, “Nandi

the famous ‘Vahana’ of Shiva asked Shiva at Kailasha Parvata thus,

‘O Lord of Lords, I have a great doubt.  As you are the Master of

Masters, even then whose stotra do you keep on reciting day and night?  What is

there that is beyond You and superior to You”?

Shiva replied, “O Nandi, I

will reveal to you a top secret that has not been revealed to anyone including

my own son Skanda by me till now!  Actually, after the dissolution of the last

Kalpa,   I was born out of Moola-prakriti (the root seed-form---matrix) ensconced/engulfed

by three gunas (sattvah, rajah and tamah!). I acquired Manah (mind) which was

the main cause of my thinking process…and so on….. Then there

appeared a Divine Mother who was the Mother of all the Vedas, and who is also

known as Saraswati, Brahmi, Vaishnavi and Shiva(ni).  She is the one who

creates all the universes, sustains them and then dissolves them….It was

through Her grace that I worshipped her through a stotra that is known as

Bhavani Sahsranama.  It is because I keep on reciting that Stotra that I have

attained the power of creating this Universe with all its myriad forms

etc….”.

 

It means thus that Shiva is

worshipping Vishnu, and Vishnu is wroshipping Shiva!  It also means that Shiva

worships Shakti and Shakti worships Shiva!  It also means that Vishnu worships

Shakti and Shakti worships Vishnu!

 

Looks like the famous saying,

“you scratch my back and I will scratch yours”.

 

But is that really so?

 

No absolutely not.  This I will

clarify in the next part of this article.