Tag: devI

On the glorification of hari and hara,arthavAda and their nAma and mantras

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This thing came to my mind after reading a commentary on the nArAyaNIyam of bhaTTathiri.

The statements such as these(that shiva is superior to hari or vice versa,or statements like hari is subordinate/stories verses claiming that vaiShNava nAmas/mantras,etc are the sole means to liberation in this yuga should be seen as arthavAda). And what is this purpose of the arthavAda?To stimulate single minded upAsanA of that deity(similar are the functions of paurANika kathAs that glorify a deity at the cost of other deities/by putting down other deities)

Now there are three types of arthavAda that are known in shAstra. They are:

  1. bhutArthavAda:Wherin the existing/real attributes are stated in an exaggerated manner. E.g:Statements like ‘this medicine’s efficacy can revive even a dead man’ are only meant to drive home the point that this medicine is really,very good.
  2. guNavAda:Narrating attributes that are not/may not be really present,but might be feasible E.g:Statements like ‘Have a salt restricted diet for prevention of heart disease‘
  3. viruddhavAda:To narrate imaginary attributes that are neither present by nature,and are contradictory to valid pramANas,and are illogical.Therefore statements in purANas like ‘goptA viShNu tamomUrtiH vyApAreNa tu sAttvikaH’,’tadadhIno harI sAkShAt’,(viShNu is saturated with tamoguna but sAttvika by action),(viShNu is the servant of hari),then similar statements regarding bhagavatI have been made only to evoke greater interest in devotion to shiva or bhagavatI amongst their respective literature. Or iconography showing shiva as a corpse ridden by tArA or dakShinakAlikA could also fall in that same category:As a feature of mantrashAstra meant to increase the focus on devI primarily and to emphasize her primacy in their scheme of things.

A similar analogy from mimAMsashAstra can be made regarding the statements on when to perform agnihotra:’udite juhoti’ and ‘anudite juhoti’. In the discussion on the importance of the pre-sunrise period,the post-sunrise period has been censured,and similarly during the discussion on the post-sunrise period,the pre-sunrise period has been condemned. One on the basis of this should not stop performing the ritual or perform it only once a day or vice versa,as it would result in the dosha of contrariness,let alone the dosha of not performing nityakarma. Hence,the conclusion of the shAstraj~nas has been that both have to be performed(as per the instructions received in the perceptorial line of ritualists),and it is not that one performs the sacrifice only once a day and condemns the ones who do it at other times too as inferior. Similarly by this logic the putting up of a deity(sometimes even at the cost of others) does not really mean denigration of other devatAs.

On Shakta Agama

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I am excluding the Durgotsava-s here,since they are purANAntargata from here,and are temporary. But amongst shAkta AgAmas,I really am not able to think of any one that is specifically meant for parArthArchanA. I know there are many shrines embodying shrIvidyA,old and new,but the AgAma as such presupposes worship at home. Even AgAmas devoted to parArthArchanA like pA~ncharAtra,vaikhAnasa and siddhAnta are evolutes of systems that presupposed home worship. Even early shaiva siddhAnta did not really have much of parArtha-archanA,but a few texts do know of temples for exclusively a sAdhaka’s purposes,so initiates would want to make sure that no one else knows the shrine/not allow non-initiates in the shrine.

(Note:I am not questioning the legitimacy of those devI temples).

A note on a line in the harivaMsha after the greats of trika

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http://mahabharata-resources.org/harivamsa/vishnuparva/hv_2_003.html

tvayA vyAptamidaM sarvaM jagatsthAvaraja~Ngamam |
[The entire world of non-moving and moving entities is pervaded by you.]
With my praNAms to the greats in the lineages of abhinavagupta,Lakshman Joo,etc(and begging forgiveness for my mistakes and impertinence) I will make a note:This can be explained by the sequence of 13 kAlI-s sRRiShTI-kAlI–>raktA-kAlI–>sthiti-kAlI–>yama-kAlI–>saMhAra-kAlI–>mRRityu-kAlI–>rudra-kAlI–>mArtaNDa-kAlI–>paramArka-kAlI–>kAlAgnirudra-kAlI–>mahAkAlI–>mahAbhairavachaNDaghoraghorakAlI–>sukAlI(the sequence in the devIpa~ncashatikA cited by rAjAnaka jayaratha)
One may ask as to what basis that I am equating ekAnAMshA with kAlI. It is on the basis on the kAlikA purANA ,where in the 5th chapter,brahmA is shown invoking devI as viShNumAyA,hence she is the same continuous deity.
As sRRiShTI-kAlI,She is the First impulse of creation. As raktA-kAlI,She is direct perception. As sthiti-kAlI,She is the appeased state where the curiosity of perception has ended. As yama-kAlI,She winds up the state of thinking and perceiving and again resides in her own nature.As saMhAra-kAlI,impressions of the objective world appear as faint clouds in a clear blue sky.As mRRityu-kAlI,these clouds disappear and one begins to feels oneness. As rudra-kAlI,She destroys all remaining doubts and suspicions that hold one back.As mArtaNDa-kAlI,She absorbs the energies of cognition into Herself. At the level of paramArka-kAlI,ahaMkAra dissolves. At the level of kAlAgnirudra-kAlI, just time alone exists.  As mahAbhairavachaNDaghoraghorakAlI,effulgent light of supreme consciousness, responsible for manifesting the subjective, objective and cognitive worlds is held in a state of oneness. sukAlI or kAlasaMkarshiNi is is the thread of ‘supreme awareness’ that runs through the twelve beads of perception, or states of consciousness which span from the grossest to the subtlest level of creation.
This is how She pervades the entire creation.