7.22.2009

108 Karnas, the Art of Bharatanatya

The tiny drop of water fall from the heavens as the grey clouds cover the land. The lush green trees shimmer as the smell of wet earth awakens the soil. The rain comes down in a rhythmic pattern such that the sound adds to the rhythm in my being. I step out into the courtyard of this now silent temple to discover new emotion, new love, new bhakti in the form of the Lord who resides deep within the sanctum.

There is silence except for the beating raindrops on the wet rocky and the ghunguru on my feet. I face him, decorated in flowers and silks, seated on his throne surrounded by fiery lamp lights. I look up to Nandi, who within my imagination picks up the mridangam and starts to play. I slowly move, swirl and express my feeling, my devotion to the Lord within.

It is a conversation, delightful and profound, as I emote through my eyes and melt in my heart offering every known emotion up to him in abhinaya. There is sound that surrounds me, there is water that bathes me, there is wind that envelops me, there is earth that holds me steady, there is fire that enlightens me and there is space that gives me the freedom to move around it. The body arches, the fingers emote and my internal self wakes up to the divine sounds of deep meditation and complete bhakti that has been expressed by Patanjali for whom the great Lord Nataraja has performed.

In this emotional water fall, my heart beats hard, asking the Lord to come and dance with me. Such graceful moves, as we rest our hands on our hips, move around and raise it to the sky. Express the deep emotion that lingers within, in controlled meditation as it surfaces to the front and blossoms into an expressive art form that is divine dance, that is divine movement, divine experience as my body awakens to divine breath that fills my soul and bathes me in these pure waters from heaven.

The music echoes in my soul, the beat brings my self to drift away into this magical world where I am a form, a divine form made up of the most profound elements and I am the fortress in matter that houses the various devas within me at my energy centers. Its at this moment of heightened experience of bliss that the my perceptive world changes and the temples appears like an imaginary land in paradise.

Time has stopped, there is no world, there is no noise, there is no people, there is no chaos. There is the sun that lights up this floor and shimmers in the water drops making the whole ambiance appear rich and jeweled. There is the rain that gently tickles my being as the water drops slowly roll down my fingers. There is the wet earth that now lies cool and soft, as I stand on it and stamp it at regular intervals. There is the tiny lamps that light the fire in my heart, melting my being to just collapse in his arms in eternal bliss of divine love and overwhelming awe. And there are the divine gandharvas who play the mystical sounds of heaven, so profound and sweet, so pure and unique that it makes my heart jump with childish excitement over this overwhelming experience. And there is he, in his brilliance with his matted hair swirling around him, as he constantly gets bathed by the ever flowing Ganges who resides in his locks. There is he who has sharp and clear eyes, yet warm and loving and full of divine enlightenment that i can barely move away from. And there is he, with the jeweled snake move around him in grace. There is he, fragrant and all empowering enveloping the whole universe around him as he dances ash clad wrapped in tiger skin with divinely handsome charm that could dissolve a woman's being into itself. There is he, who makes all time stop and takes me into that void where my senses fail, my being fades, my body lets go and my consciousness witnesses is all powerful self, so gentle and yet so kind, so compassionate and yet so energetic.

To all the forms of his, to all the directions that he protects, to the elements that sustain me, to the great devas who reside within me, to the enigmatic yet charming world of the celestials, to the divine and mystical world of the sages, to this pantheon of invisible yet enchanting beings of superior intellect and charm, I bow in misery of being just a human.

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Based on the divine Natya of Bharata, which expounds on the various postures, gestures and expression of dance, this is a feeble attempt to meditate upon oneself as one performs the 108 Karnas that have been meticulously carved and documented on the temple walls of Chidambaram, Thiruvannamalai and Tanjavur for our understanding. This is an attempt to deeply understand the movement of the body, the state of the self emotionally and in discipline as one performs this art form in an imaginary world, which I cant perceive and yet I believe truly exists and has been documented in our scriptures. I have attempted to present to you within the limitations of language and yet with creative imagination, the feeling of supreme bliss that we can attain if we try hard enough with every breath.

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Photo Courtesy:
Arjun Kumar - Facebook

20 comments:

Dr.Anil Joshi said...

Kavitha
The blog reminds me of this Shloka...
“Angikam bhuvanam yasya
Vachikam sarva vangmayam
Aharyam chandra taradi
Tam vande satvikam sivam.”

JC said...

Hi Dr Anil! Glad to see you after a long time!

Santhana krishnan said...

kavitha

108 has been a sacred number in the Indian Iconography for a very long time. Following are some of the research analysis matching to 108.

1. 108 Upanishads
2. The 108 temples on which 12 Azhvars have sung in their divine work called Divya prabandham,are called as divya desams.
3. 108 names of lord ganesha
4. 108 names of lord krishna
5. 108 names of durga
6. The 108 Defilements of Buddhism
7. 108 kinds of emotional distress
8. 108 kinds of diseases
9. The Significance of the number 108 - ttp://www.hknet.org.nz/108meaning.html
10.Math: 108 = 1 + 0 + 8 = 9 (navagraha, Navapashanam etc…….)

JC said...

Hi Shri Sanathana Krishnan, Thanks for the information!

Although 'I' have said it many times, 'I' might once again say that 360 degrees of space and 3 aspects of nature, of the three-in-one God believed in each degree, results in 1080. And till the early fifties 'my father' used to be addressed by his relatives, in our home town, in their letters as 'Shri Shri Shri 108 Shri Hari Krishna' that used to amuse us children brought up in teh cosmopolitan city of New Delhi...

For general information, The wise ancients indicated 1000 cycles repeated (perhaps rounding off 1080) as the numbers of cycles of Mahayuga (each of duration 4.32 million years) within one day of Brahma, which also results in around 4.6 billion years as Brahma's one day! And, that also happens today to be the estimated age of our solar ystem as per 'present day astronomers'!

Also, man is indicated as a model of the universe (utillising essences of nine selected members, or navgrahas', of our solar system also as a bigger model of the universe/ Mahashiva), and the 'sadhus' or devotees of Shiva traditionally use 108 beads of 'rudraksha' in their rosary...

JC said...

No questins and no doubts! Maybe 'I' could add, with three sides of a coin in mind including the blank side which in fact makes it possible for any coin to acquire the physical form, GOD = 108! For, in the alphanumeric symhols, letter 'O', as in 'Om', represents the Nadbindu Vishnu (on Anant/ Sheshanag), or number '0' that is related with time and space '0' or Formless neutral Being who believably created the perfect unending physical universe/ our galaxy/ our solar system/ Earth and the variety of life forms upon it in no time...Numeral '1' (the Generator or Creator) represents our Sun (Brahma to Hindus) that is mainly composed of Hydrogen the number one gas that has only one Proton in its nucleus and one electron in its shell orbiting it...and numeral '8' represents 'Krishna' the sudershan-chakra dhari (like Vishnu) the lucky eighth child of Devki-Vasudev, where numeral '8' written horizontally represents infinity and is used symbolically even by the modern mathematicians! And, interestingly, 'Krishna' starting from Vishnu the dot believably evolved to Shiva the immortal (D for Destroyer, or Mrityulok that is earth where eventual death of all life forms is inevitable in cyclic order, or all souls grozen when it is the end of Brahma's Day, to repeat again during the next Day from the last frozen state)...

Santhana krishnan said...

Namaskaram JC, Thanks for the Info..

I also had a thought in my mind, which i like to share...

For me the Numeral '0' doesn't make up a meaning until it is preceded by value...., i think '0' represents all humans who are in darkness searching for a right path.

By preceding '0' with '1' we get a meaning, for me i feel '1' is like a GURU who is always there to guide us to reach the world of brightness.....

JC said...

Yes Shri Sanathana Krishnan, The Hindu Philosophy/ Belief, indicates Shiv-Parvati as members of the binary system, 0 & 1, in which Shiva is neutral earth and Parvati, the mother of both Ganesha and Kartikeya, is indicated as the overall Guru of both devtas and 'rakshashas' who are related with 'raksha' ie 'defence'. Thus Kartikeya is indicated as Her right hand or 'skandh', or the head of the army or General, and Ganesha the trouble shooter ('Vighna-harta;) as Her left hand...As one of the members of our solar system, Parvati is indicated to be represented by Moon, whose 'essence' is believed to be housed in the brain ('sahasrara chakra' to ancient 'Hindus' - the word obviously derived from 'Indu' the Moon, named thus perhaps because they used lunar cycle for reckoning time, besides sun's cycle too incorporated in their calculation).

Thus highest pedestal has been provided to Moon. Whereas the essence of our Sun (the unique source of light and energy for life on earth and other planets) is indicated at the solar plexus level, ie, in the middle of the body.

Also, ring-planet Jupiter (Brihaspati) is indicated as the Guru of devtas, as different from the Guru of rakshashas (that is Shukracharya, or Venus to modern man, and its essence believed housed in human throat). Jupiter's essence is indicated at the navel level in human form (Swadhisthan Bandh/ Chakra), ie, just below the solar plexus...

And our mythological stories also, in an interesting way, indicate 'Suryavanshi kings', (expert archers whose arrows flew in all dirctions like sunrays!), to have had two Gurus, such as, Guru Vashishtha, and king-turned rishi, Guru Vishwamitra, in Tretayuga and similarly in Dwaperyuga, Gurus Vidur and Dronacharya, that also indicated hierarchy among Gurus also as it is apparent in 'Nature'...while the modern astrophysicists indicate Ultraviolet and Infrared rays (Rahu & Ketu to ancient Hindus) associated with white sunrays...

Thus because of the apparent hierarchy in 'Nature' there is a chain of Gurus (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9) realised by ancient Hindus, and they said, "Guru Vishnu/ Guru Brahma/ Guru devo Mahesh/ Guru sakshat Param Brahma/ Tasmai shri Guruve namah" and thus man is always learning from all, irrespective of age as we reckon it, for souls are believed to have enterd the 'kalchakra' since time immemorial and all animals keep changing forms many many times during one day itself eternally...

And, so on...Hari anant/ Hari kartha ananta...words cannot express a realisation...

JC said...

Shri Sanathana Krishnan, you have perhaps rightly indicated, "...i think '0' represents all humans who are in darkness searching for a right path."

Perhaps, therefore, the most mystical part indicated in the 'Hindu Philosophy' is inability in the 'present' to comprehend the significance of the said 'maya', ie, illusion, by the majority of the innumerable souls in the universe/ world (that is indicated as illusory, or 'mithya')...

It is now well known through the 'present day western scientists' also that dreams naturally appear even in inferior animals...

The phenomenon can thus be easily visualissed similar to projection of man-made films on 'silver screens' by the 'make-believe world' of cinema, which virtually teleports the viewer to another time and location, at least for a few hours - like the imaginary Time Machine of HG Wells...and can perhaps help understand the significance of believable existence of the one and only Supreme Soul, Bhootnath Shiva, who is believably reviewing His own stories, History, through innumerable eyes as they existed in the past...

JC said...

While in the northeast region for almost a decade in connection with the job, in the early Eighties at Gauhati, literally 'Cow's Market' (now called Guwahati, literally 'Betelnut's Market' which is more popular in Assam), 'I' happened to come across a snake venom seller (cum 'tantric') - primarily in connection with my wife's rhumatoid arthritis. As soon as he saw 'me', to 'my' surprise he said someone in 'my' family was suffering from high blood pressure! At that time 'I' said none of 'my family members' (wife and three daughters) appeared to be heading for headache, except that 'I' was diagnosed hypertensive since long...

However, 'I' was surprised to learn from a telegram from our home-town - sent by 'my elder brother' within a fortnight of that prediction - that our father had had a heart attack!

He fortunately recovered within three months...and inexpicably, 'we' had recently visited Kamakhya Temple for the first time during our five-month stay in Gauhati by then. And, the 'prasad', a few black grams coated with sugar, were sent by me, and the concerned letter related to the visit was apparently received by 'my father' just after he had the heart-attack. He announced to our relatives present near his bed that since he had received Ma's prasad he wouldn't die!

Life is mystical! 'We' generally remain immersed in our selfish interests 24x7 and, therefore, apparently do not find time for in-depth analysis, which also perhaps is 'natura;' or part of a grand design, for 'moksha' or 'liberation' is apparently attained by rare personalities, the chosen ones, at long intervals of apparent time (for real time believably is zero!)...

JC said...

'I' read somewhere how the Theosophical Society's experiement failed when it tried to use Jiddu Krishnamurty as a medium to receive Buddha's soul that was believed to have moved over to South Korea and hadn't taken re-birth since then, waiting for an ideal body...

The above perhaps conforms to the 'Hindu concept' of repetitive cycles of birth, death and rebirth of different animal forms of each soul as a component of the supreme soul itself eternally till, at a certain stage, one fulfills the desired purpose of realisation of the Formless Creator and also His physical forms - that is believably possible only when a 'highly elevated soul' (such as 'Krishna') is in human form...

It is generally believed that one performs three types of actions, that are termed as 'Rajasic' (with a long term purpose of attaining a 'material' goal); 'Sattvic' (related with 'spiritual', and not 'material' goal in mind); and 'Tamasic' (related with animal-like consumption of matter, say with the purpose of fulfilling purely carnal desires)...

Once 'I' found someone suggest it in the form of an equilateral triangle with sides named R, S & T, representing 8 hours each in a day, and a point within which could reflect the expected predominant behaviour of any soul depending on its location closer to either of the side R, S, or T... The ideal location being equidistant from all the three. And in the Gita, 'Krishna' (or 'ancient wise Hindu') also says, to the effect, that once a soul has entered the 'kalchakra' ie 'Time Cycle' there is no escape from all the three types of actions, however, the 'wise' knows that one should remain detached while performing any one type of action...

The 'vedantis' however convey life as an unending drama performed by the one and only Supreme Soul and His innumerable components/ His Own images that reflect hierarchy (perhaps for reaching at His Own origin or 'Mother' in physical form, who may not be the 'natural mother' during some particular life span as it is reflected through the character of Yashoda the surrogate mother of Krishna in Dwaperyuga )...

JC said...

Besides the magical number '5', seen as in the Hindu belief of 'panchtatva/ panchbhootas' that believably go in the formation of all physical forms in the universe, 'we' have also already seen how numeral '3' - as reflected in categorisation of human actions by ancients too and belief in three-in-one God, Treyambakeshwar (Brahma-Vishnu-Mahesh ie Shiva)- is also called a 'magical number' that reflects the basic characteristic property of the physical world, such as the classification of three types of dust: silt, sand and clay; rocks as sedimentary, metamorphic; and igneous, and existence of water in its three states/ phases: solid (ice), liquid (normal water on land/ seas), and steam (clouds), and so on...and also the human society also similarly seen to get divided into three categories even on the smallest of small issues in day-to-day life: for, against and indifferent, or neutral...

JC said...

One cannot appreciate fully the significance of most of the 'Hindu Beliefs/ Philosophy' if one is not conversant with the basics of Astronomy. Although, 'Indians' generally know that their ancients were much advanced in the field of astronomy and had, in fact, apparently developped correlation between members of the solar system and humans through astrology and palmistry etc that are practiced even today, although maybe ritually only and, therefore, generate a sense of uncertainty about these being considered as 'science'. And, in fact, gives opportunity to the 'westerners' and 'also 'present day Hindus', who have followed the 'west' - having remained slaves to 'local kings' and 'foreigners' for thousands of years - to reject these as as being a part of 'religion'called 'Hinduism'...
while they themselves look the other way, like the proverbial ostrich putting its head in a hole, if asked to explain how body clocks came to be provided even in bees and birds, and also how dreams get projected, not only in all humans, but even in 'inferior animal's eyes' in sleep (called 'ardhmrit awastha' or half-dead state by ancient Hindus)...

'Yogiraja Krishna', believably born in Dwaperyuga (human efficiency range believed between 25 and 50%) in Mathura on the bank of River Yamuna, and graduated from Rishi/ Guru Sandipani's hermitage on the bank of River Shipra, a tributary of River Narmada in the Vindhyachal Range (related with Shiva, river Narmada depicted as having appeared as 'Shiva's sweat'!), also said thousands of year ago, in the Gita, that all 'wrong acts' result from lack of knowledge...and if one surrendered in him he would take one to the Supreme Knowledge!

The ancient Hindus however used code language and therefore one needs to read between lines or decode the stories. For example in an innacuous appearing statement, Mother Yasoda is deicted as having seen the universe within child Krishna's mouth! One could easily come to know the hidden meaning when in Gita one finds 'Krishna' say that the entire universe is within Him, and it is only because of 'maya'.,that is illusion, one sees Him within herself too! (Man is indicated as a model of the universe)...and modern man knows that a model helps in visualisation of the prototype of which it's a model...Thus, obviously, every animal form, from microbes to man, reflect some aspect of evolution from sound energy to apparently different physical forms in the entire universe reflecting also the aspect of apparent time, the real time for the Formless Creator being zero...

Aswin Kini said...

Read the post, wonderful job again! Particularly love these lines,
"Time has stopped, there is no world, there is no noise, there is no people, there is no chaos. There is the sun that lights up this floor and shimmers in the water drops making the whole ambiance appear rich and jeweled."

I donno how many people know about this song, "Pattum Naane, Bhavamum Naane" from the tamil movie Thiruvilaiyadal. But Kavitha's lines seemed to quote a very similar meaning.

This particular song beautifully captures the essence of Shiva. The lines go on like this,
"Paatum Naane, Bhavamum Naane,(Literally means I am the dance and the dance movements)
Paadum Unai Naan Aada Vaithene(Oh poet, I made you Dance), Kelada Manitha (Hear this you mortal human being), Un Aaanavam Peridha(Do you think your pride is greater than me)".

This film song is sung by Shivaji, who plays the role of lord Shiva in disguise. The lines explain how lord Shiva is everything, he is omnipresent, ever-pervading, and always present to help his devotees in times of need.
This is the best line in that song, "Naan Asaithal, Asaiyum Agilamellame (Once I move, this whole universe moves along)".
Sorry to deviate from the topic, can't help it.

JC said...

Hi Aswin Kini, Nice words! Words are however unnecessary for a believer (a Muni, the word derived from 'maun' that is 'silence'), you need those only for the non believers and any numbers might prove insufficient!

In one of the Purana's 'I' read, it was indicated that in the beginning man had perfect organs for physical senses. One was satisfied by vision only, however, this agency was spoilt by the demon (rakshasha) and thus man wasn't satisfied by vision...thus it is described how one by one all the five senses got spoilt by demon, and man, therefore, remained always dissatisfied...

JC said...

The yogis apparently realised man as model of the universe, a perfect design utilising nine essences of members of our solar system ('navgraha') that is however apparently used by the 'Creator' to indicate cross section of Apparent Time and related status of evolution at any given point in time in the 'past' (in zero time though) superposed on the perfect earth/ solar system in the background that was believably attained at the end of Satyuga...and therefore the concept of 'relativity' got reflected through the character of 'Einstein' in the 'present' that in reality was Kaliyuga the 'Dark Age' that appears to be rapidly moving towards its end, or/ rather the beginning of 'churning', just as reflected by a ball thrown upwards originally when it returns back to earth again before it strikes the ground, perhaps to rebound again, or maybe pierce the ground and get lost, till dug out again!...

JC said...

The yogis apparently realised man as model of the universe, a perfect design utilising nine essences of members of our solar system ('navgraha') that is however apparently used by the 'Creator' to indicate cross section of Apparent Time and related status of evolution at any given point in time in the 'past' (created in zero time though) superposed on the perfect earth/ solar system in the background that was believably attained at the end of Satyuga...and therefore the concept of 'relativity' got reflected through the character of 'Einstein' in the 'present' that in reality is projection of Kaliyuga the 'Dark Age' that appears to be rapidly moving towards its end, or/ rather the beginning of 'churning', just as reflected by a ball thrown upwards originally when it returns back to earth again before it strikes the ground, perhaps to rebounce again, or maybe pierce the ground and get lost!

Meteorites and 'near earth asteroids' are examples of the phenomena, one such asteroids 65 million years ago is believed to have caused 'darkness at noon' on earth and thus became the cause of obsolescence of dinosaurs!

JC said...

Shri Aswin Kini, You wrote, **This is the best line in that song, "Naan Asaithal, Asaiyum Agilamellame (Once I move, this whole universe moves along)".**

The above said can perhaps be imagined to have been addressed to a layman at a certain period of time when, like in the recent past also a few centuries ago in the Dark Age, one woudn't have come to know that earth rotates along its own axis and also revolves around our Sun. And, therefore, it is obvious that at some stage every layman would have believed the stars in the milky way ('Akashganga', literally River Ganga in the 'sky', one of the 'panchbhootas' or 'panchtatva' the five elements) to revolve around our planet earth, (Gangadghar Shiva, the holder of Holy River Ganga on the surface of earth, besides 'Patal Ganga', the underground water, together with the large water body called the ocean (due to gravitational pull and centrifugal forces generated due to rotation), ie, 'Sindhu' to a 'Hindu', a name also given to River Indus, popular for the advanced civilisation in the past, before 6th century B.C.), just as our Sun appears to rise in the east and set in the west everyday, while earth appears stationary to the common man, but it moves too!

The Hindu astronomers believed centre of earth to be the centre of the universe that is responsible for the animation apparent in the entire universe...

Interestingly Shiva is also called Triloknath, the Lord of the three worlds, surface of earth, 'sky', and also underground/ under the seas...From it one could also realise the significance of 'Shiva's Third Eye' that when opened turned to ashes devtas ('sur' or selfless people) as well as rakshashas ('Asur', or sefish people), namely Kamdev & Bhasmasur. For today one is aware about the openings, or holes, noticed in the Ozone layer around the earth's atmosphere over Antarctica, which if closed properly protects us, the terretrials, from the harmful effects of Ultraviolet rays (Head of Rahu to Hindus), which generally also gets in partially through sunlight received on earth from our Sun along with infrared rays (Ketu, the lower body of Rahu to Hindus)...Where Rahu's head is depicted, in a code lnguage, to have been cut by Lord Vishnu at the final stage of 'churning of the milky ocean' when immortality was granted to devtas, ie, the solar system members, 'amrit' being distributed in 'Mohini' or 'attractive form' by Vishnu, thus alluding to our Moon whose light (Somrus) is believed allowed only to devtas, particulary Shiva (earth)!

JC said...

The concept of evolution is reflected in Moon in Dwaperyuga being reflected in human form by Draupadi the common wife of the five Pandava brothers, although her hand in marriage was won by Arjuna the expert archer (a typical model of our Sun). The characteristic property of moon reflecting sunlight is indicated in the story by saying that Arjuna penetrated the eye of the fish moving inside a bowl (as the moon appears from earth just after a new moon) by viewing from earth only its reflection!

However, in Tretayuga, Sita (meaning cold as well a furrow on the ground made by a plow, and she is depicted being found - while plowing the ground - within an earthen vessel by Janak, also meaning father) is indirectly indicated as a typically evolved moon as it reflects the entire sunlight, with Rama the expert archer and a prince belonging to the 'suryavanshi' clan as the typical model of our Sun depicted as the one who won her hand in competition ('swayamvar', ie, herself choosing the best of the lot, and Rama was also called the best or 'Purushottam' in Treta, whereas Krishna, the friend of Arjun, is indicated as the best in Dwaperyuga, where Krishna is indicated as the model of the centre of our galaxy, who was a fast friend of Arjuna since ages)...

Of course, in the most evolved form, moon is indicated in human form by Parvati the consort of Shiva (earth) and mother of both Kartikeya (Venus, responsible for riches) and Ganesha (Mars responsible for trouble shooting, as 'Vighna-harta' and awarded control of earth with the grace of his mother!)...

JC said...

From a nephew devotee of 'Krishna' through ISKCON, 'I' received the following message:

According to legend Narad is regarded as the Manasaputra referring to his birth 'from the transcendental body of the Lord" the (Srimad Bhagvatam 1.6.30).
Narad Muni has a specifically important place among the Vaishnava traditions. In the Puranic scriptures, he is listed as one of the twelve mahajanas, or 'great devotees'. As he was a gandharva in his previous birth before becoming a rishi he is in the category of a devarishi.

The Srimad Bhagvatam (Canto 1, Chapter 5) describes the story of Narad's spiritual enlightenment. After an eventful life in a material body Lord Krsna blessed him with the spiritual form of "Narad" as he eventually became known. In many Hindu scriptures Narad is considered a saktyavesa-avatara or partial-manifestation (avatar) of Lord Krsna.

In reply thereto, 'I' have sent the following which might interest the younger generation, if any interested (in parts due to space limitation):

Thanks for reviving the legendary Narad in Hindu Mythological stories that were written by sages in the long lost past in 'India' on the bank of Indus, where Indu means Moon...

It is evident that to appreciate fully the stories, one would need to 'enter the head' of the 'wise ancients', who obviously were highly advanced astronomers (as reflected in the art cum sciece of astrology and palmistry etc., and not only astronomy but all other fields of human activities, for they weren't 'experts' in one subject as in Kaliyuga the Dark Age of ignorance, but they were 'siddhas' ie all rounders (in Satyuga), Krishna believably being their King, ie, Yogiraja who represented Vishnu (Nadbindu) to start with as well as Shiv (both referred as Yogeshwar, and also therefore the statement, "Shiv is Vishnu/ And Vishnu is Shiiv", Shiv being understood as the immortal Bhootnath the Supreme Soul, being reflected as opposite of Vish the deadly poison 'halahal' or 'kalkoot' which reflects in the word Vishnu that is literally 'atom of poison', which thus conveys all poison compressed at a point in the beginning before 'Krishna' the 'Black' of mysterious unseen being started 'churning of the milky-ocean' with the physical agency of Jupiter (Brihaspati). It needs to be regarded with reference to the Hindu belief' that it is only the 'truth' that remains unaffected with the passage of time. And thus one can perhaps see that even today our galaxy is called the 'Milky Way Galaxy'...

JC said...

With the abovesaid in mind and also of Treyambakeswar the three-in-one God (Brahma-Vishnu-Mahesh), let us now come to the story of 'Brahma being seen seated on a lotus flower', the plant having evolved from the navel of Vishnu, (which may be seen as representing our Sun), and growing panicky when Brahma saw two demons also grow from Vishnu's ears such that it generated fear of being consumed by those demons! He prayed to Vishnu, but He, being in Yognidra, in the middle of the kshirsagar on the bed made of Sheshnag didn't appear to come out of His Yogmaya or 'Sadhna'! However, at the proper time to Brahma's relief Vishnu grabbed the demons in His hands (say like an Octopus under the sea, or eight-legged spider on land catching moths in its unseen web, or asht-bhuja dhari Durga of the popular stories)...

The story thus describes what is known as the solar system, the sun and the planetary system (altogether referred as 'grahas' or 'navgrhas', the word 'graha' also, interestingly, means 'crocodile' the magarmachha the first avatar of Vishnu (referred also in the popular story of Gaj & Graha, and the stories also refer to elephant headed Ganesha as the 'vighnahart' ie 'trouble shooter')!

The 'wise Hindus' or Yogis, like their King Krishna, were natkhat or mischievous and therefore believed in conveying to the common man even the story of evolution through interesting stories (Krishna says anyone can reach Him!) as reflected in the story of 'Panchtantra' that everyone knows discuss 'political administration' or 'Niti shastra'.

Thus one must read between lines all those stories if one desires to appreciate better and derive happiness when one realises their truth!

Now come to Brahma, as an independent entity although only one of the aspects of the Creator as the true image of the Formless Parmbrahnma, and his consort Saraswati the Goddess of Knowledge (and Krishna says all wrong acts result from lack of knowledge), depicted symbolically in white sari (white sunlight as the source of energy ie Shakti that is Sati the original consort of Shiv!), with a musical string-instrument Veena in hand...and Narad is also shown to travel with Veena in his hands (sun appears to move from east to west daily)...Now, the 'modern day western scientist' also has found the sound emanating from our Sun to resemble the sound of the string-instrument Harp (their ancients show in the hands of Angels!) and thus a 'born Hindu' today, ruled by the 'west', can easily realise what wise HIndus had in mind when they connected Krishna & Vishnu/ Shiva the immortals and also Arjun (in Dwaperyuga) as Krishna's friend who wasn't aware of his past whereas Krishna knew him right from the beginning (of the Day of Brahma)...Hari anant/ Hari katha ananta, said the 'wise' and tehy indicated Brahma to have four faces (like a pyramid that has 'fire within' or some mysterious energy generated just because of its shape and orientation and Hindus faced Sun in the morning, ie East advised as the correct direction for praying?!)...