Pancharatra Agama Shastra

  Very little is known about the source of Agama Shastras. the Agama Shastra consist of the Shaiva, Shakta and the Vaishnava, however, the Vaishnava Agamas and the Pancharatra Agamas are mainly of the Viasshnavas with a branch of Vaikhasana Sutras. Swami Sri Harshananda who left us recently was the President of Sri Ramakrishna Math, Bengaluru, has given an account of this from the publication of Prabuddha Bharata. Incidentally, Prabuddha Bharata, the prestigious publication of Sri Ramakrishna Mission, Belur Math, Kolkata, is celebrating its 150th year.

  Like the Bhagavad-Gita where Bhagavan Sri Krishna instructs Arjuna, here in the Pancharatra, Keshava, i.e. Vishnu or Narayana, taught the esoteric science (secrets knowledge) to Ananta, Govinda, Vishvaksena, Brahma, and Rudra over five nights! The term 'Ratra' is also said to be 'Knowledge' here! Five kinds of knowledge such as: 1. Fundamental Principles of Cosmology (brahmanda tattva), 2. Higher Spiritual Knowledge of Salvation (Mukti-prada para-vidya), 3. Devotion (bhakti that brings salvation), 4. yoga, ands 5. Worldly Desires (Vishayasakti). Another view is that the Pancharatra teaches about the five aspects of Purushottama such as: 1. para, 2. vyuha, 3. vobhava, 4. antaryamin, and 5. archa (Worship) are taught here.  

   Hence, we have this Pancharatra, very ancient scripture, that  give us a detailed account of this universe and our existence. It all starts with a ritual of fire sacrifice by a group of sages who wanted to have darshan of Sri Hari Narayana. the manasa putra Sanaka, skandha, Sanatkumara, Narada an others were there. After five days and nights, when the sacrifice ritual was complete there was no sign of the supreme Lord to accept the 'havis'. So they were disappointed. Devarshi Narada laughed and said, 'Narayana will not give darshan so easily. I have been praying for his darshan uttering his name constantly. In fact, nobody has ever seen Him. But, they also say that He resides in 'go lok' and those people may have seen Him. Then, they all decided to go to 'go lok'. Those who were in 'go lok' also had not seen Him and believed that the Lord is beyond the Universe! So they all went to the end of the universe and heard a voice that said, "Fools, why did you come all the way here in search of Me, who resides within your own hearts'! Look within instead outside of you"! This, indeed, is the sum and substance of all the 200 Samhitas of Agama Shastra. The Samhitas contain details of Fire Sacrifice rituals, worship of God, construction of temples, sculpturing idols, mysteries of creation, mantra, yantra, tantra and other details. We have scientific explanation regarding all the secrets- starting from Absolute Silence (mahattanta shanta), to the vibration, waves (taranga), sound (shabda), syllables, alphabet (akshara)s, word(pada)s, and the associated meaning (artha), culminating in the material objective phenomenal world (padartha prapancha)! Can there be any other better source from anywhere else in the world that give us such a clear explanation for the nature of this world and our existence? However, it is so sad, rather tragic, that very few are interested in exploring these sources and publishing all the available manuscripts. Almost 200 Samhitas are there and hardly a few have seen the light of the day, in print. Some of these published works are in Hindi (with translation or commentaries) with Samskruta shlokas, published from Varanasi and Delhi.

  It is very interesting to note that some Western scholars like Schraeder have taken keen interest in these Agama Shastra and published English commentaries. of these, the most important published ones are the Ahirbudhnya Samhita (Adyar Library, Chennai), Lakshmi Tantra (Sanjukta Gupta, MLBD) and Sadakhya, Jayakhya (SN Das Gupta, in his "A History of Indian Philosophy, MLBD).

  As regards the contents of these published Samhitas, the Ahirbudhnya Samhita gives the details of Creation (in four Vyuhas (manifestation or emanations of the Lord!). It is a good source of mantra and yantra, as also, rituals to cure diseases. The other Samhita available to us are: Aniruddha, Hayshirsha, Ishvara, Jayakhya, Kashyapa, Maha-Sanatkumara, Padma, Parama, Parameshvara, Parshara, Poushkara, Sudarshana, Vihagendra, Vishnu and Vishnu-tattva Samhita. The Jayakhya Samhita gives the detailed philosophy of these Pancharatra. and the central idea of all these is mukti, moksha, or emancipation only. Methods of attainment to moksha, such as, yajnya, svadhyaya, yoga, and jnyana are explained here. The paratattva or God is Brahmaan of the Veda and is of the nature of pure Consciousness, and Bliss. All the attributes such as, ananta, acyuta, sarvashakta, paripurna, all-pervasive Vishnu, etc are the praise of the great Sages to Him. The supreme Lord, the Creator is both immanent and Transcendent. He, the Lord, is too subtle. sukshmati-sukshma, to be perceived by us, the humans! However, it is possible to experience the presence of this supreme power,  of course, in a limited manner. The most beautiful aspect of this 'tantra shastra' is that though every jiva is identified with the supreme Lord, the Creator, the subtler difference of individuality of  limited nature of the jiva is maintained and this has given rise to 'dvaitavada' and/or 'Bheda-bheda' philosophy amongst the Viashnavas. (to be continued)

"Faith' and 'Belief System'

  As humans, we are ignorant. It is said in almost all the scriptures that, "Man takes birth in ignorance and dies unconsciously, in ignorance'. The cause of ignorance of the jiva is 'ignorance'! Here, the term 'ignorance' is not lack of proper knowledge, but it it is 'knowledge covered by attachment'. It is like the bright sun covered by a chunk of cloud that causes darkness. Thus, ignorance is the inherent aspect of the jiva that comes with desire, attachment, likes and dislikes, anger, etc. It is the quality, guna, svabhava of the jiva  Much of it is attributed to the food that sustains the body. The very first instinct of the jiva is self-protection and this itself is the cause of ignorance! The jiva tries all the means of survival and, in this process it acquires the knowledge of self-preservation. This in effect strengthens its faith and belief systems, such as religion and rituals. 

  We find almost a thousand crores of humans all over the world.  These human communities are separate time and distance. Each and every community has tried ways and means of survival and has adopted different methods. In fact, it is desire and fear that govern these! During the early times, people were afraid of death and feared that the dead would harm them! Hence, they tried to bury the dead within their residence and sleep on the place where they have buried. Later on, they started burning the dead. Some communities developed tricks to ward of fear and adopted magical sounds, fire, worship of st ones, etc. Gradually, the more learned ones studied scriptures and built temples, worship idols, andall that! Some believed in Messengers and some in their elderly trusted leaders and teachers. Thus, we have innumerable castes and creeds, ways of worship and other systems. But the basis of all these is just 'fear' and 'desire'! Why not we live without all these blind beliefs? The answer is simple. Certainly anybody can live without following any of the age-old systems, but for the fear!

  'Desire' is the cause of birth. No desire, there is no cause of birth. Once born, 'fear' follows. Fear comes from desire to possess and loss of what is possessed. These are the inherent qualities of the jiva. survival depends on these two principles. If one has no desire, there is no fear, too! Fear is the product of Mind. A weak mind supports fear and a  strong mind resists it. Hence, a strong will power is needed to overcome the fear and a strong determination is needed to quit the age-old systems. The more the jiva is refined, experienced, the more its power of resistance to blind beliefs.

   Since the process of human civilization is a continuous one, the jiva has to run its course to acquire sufficient knowledge and power to overcome the present systems,

'Sankranti'

  March 14th is a day on which the position of the earth in relation to the Sun marks a shift from the Southern Tropic of Capricorn, Uttrayana (Karkataka vrutta) to the Northern Tropic of Cancer. This is the day of celebration for farmers to offer puja to their farmlands with great fervour. It's also a harvest celebration! The significance of the shift in the earth's position is that the last direct sunrays can reach any one of the Tropic of Capricorn (Dakshinayana) or the Tropic of Cancer and the rays become inclined further North or South, respectively untll finally, only the Arctic or the Antarctic Circle gets the last rays of the Sun! Thus, the angle at which the sunrays reach the earth's surface is important for us.

 The Sun sines overhead at noon on the Tropic of Cancer from March 14th onwards for six months until September 22. Then the position of the direct rays of the Sun shifts to Southern Tropic. These two points are the beginning of summer for Northern and the Southern regions, respectively. The direct rays of the sun gives more heat. Thus, these days assume great importance.

  'Sankranti' or sankramana is called an auspicious time (punya kala)a). The terms 'ayana' is path and 'uttara' is Northern, meaning, (a shift to) the Northern path of the Sun. It is an important day when the earth gets the Sunrays directly (at 90 Deg.) on the Tropic of Cancer (makara sankranti vrutta).The Bhagavad-Gita states that these six months are the months of Light and darkness for the devi devata who have six month days and six month night. These are also called dark (dhoomra) and the bright days that decide when the departed souls pass through to reach the heavens!  The soul can easily find way in Uttrayana when it is the day of Devata! The soul cannot find way and return during the Dakshinayana when it is dark and night for the Devata! However, a jnyani, a sage will not be bothered because of the Light, jnyan, he has attained within!

The Bhagavad-Gita in Different Perspectives.

 We are fortunate in having the scriptures that are attributed to great sages and Saints! In fact there is no other scripture like The Bhagavad-Gita that is attributed to Sakshat Paramatman! ordinarily, One may be inclined to ask Who this Paramatman is and how does He speak or write a thing like this? All these are clearly explained in the very scriptures that are attributed to divine souls like Sri Krishna Dvaipayana who came to be known as Sage Veda Vyasa. Also, one may wonder how the deity Lord Vighneshvara sits with Sage Veda Vyasa to take down what is dictated! Even the Western scholars have been wondering about all these and have slowly realized and accepted these scripture are of divine origin. Hence, it is our earnest desire that we must understand and realize the secret behind all these spiritual scripture, adhyatma grantha, that bring immense joy, peace, plenty and happiness! It is more urgent now that our younger generation should try to spare some time for at least an hour  from their busy schedule for this purpose. 

 the firs and foremost thing about the Bhagavad-Gita is that it cane be understood at different intellectual levels! It can be used for daily prayer (parayana). It can be used as techniques of management in our daily life. Some Western scholars use it a too for business management, personnel and administration skill development! Apart from this, every verse is important for a spiritual seeker! Bhagavan Shree Krishna has instructed well as to how one can use this scripture for a joyful life! There are countless commentaries on the Gita, each commentator giving his/her opinion according to the level of understanding and ability, but none with experience and realization of the Lord's words!

  Adhibhoutika, adhi daivika and adhyatmika versions of the Gita are the most important approaches to the study of the Gita. This is like the Text book for the beginners at Pre-degree level and reference work for the Post-Graduate and Research scholars. There is need for upgrading one's skill and ability to understand the secrets involved and interpret them! However, there  is no need to explain these to others. it is just enough if we can make use of it for our life!

 The most important perspective of a spiritual seeker is to attain to 'brahmn' ! This is not for all!

 The second important perspective is to develop selfless service (nishkama karma) of the Gita!

The third perspective is develop total surrender in devotion, bhakti bhava, and live a tension-free life.

Develop nirasakti yoga and keep the mind free, develop full potential is another perspective.

Jnyan is the more difficult aspect of the Gita and very few are blessed in this regard! It's the ultimate! nahin jnyanena sadrusham.

sanyasa yoga is the ultimate! This level is attained only after jnyan, viveka and vairagya when the adept will practice yajnya (sacrifice), dana, and tapas!

 \Thus, the Bhagavad-Gita is a treasure house that offers whatever one wants! You ask, He gives! Ultimately, Trust in Himand Go ahead!  samshayatma vinashyati. 

      

The Origin of Letters

   Humans are the only animals who are blessed with power to speak and, that too, it starts with feeble meaningless incoherent sounds, signs, symbols, letters (called akshara malini) and words. Even now there remains much to organize words in a coherent, meaningful way and speak properly to express what is cognized or felt! Only a few blessed ones can excel in beautiful expressions! It is the divine grace of the Mother that gives us good expression in words and deeds!

  The origin of letters, syllables, 'akshara' is beautifully explained by Devi Lakshmi, the Creative power and Glory of Vishnu, the All-pervading Consciousness'. Let's us know this from Her own pronouncements here, (Lakshmi Tantra, MLBD. p 106-108).  

  "I am the primary, total 'I-hood' ('ahanta'), of Hari. characterized by the creative urge (Shirshika). Being the supreme shakti manifest as creation, i become creatively active." She the Devi, goes on to narrate how She manifests as all the Creation that exists and comes to our limited power of cognition; the more will be Her grace on us, the more we can get to know of it!. She says, "I have fifteen dasha, the powerful syllables that create! These are vowels (svara) 'a' to 'au' (Samsk.). The eternal essence of myself (as) vac (speech) is 'a-kara' which is primary and self-revealed in consciousness and the root of the entire domain of speech." This expression of the self-revealed 'a-kara' (first syllable) brings joy, ananda, Thus the second syllable 'A' , dheerga svara of the alpa svara 'a' is created! Lakshmi is vac-devi, the divine grace of 'vac' (speech)!

  "The third vowel appears as ichha, 'i' and the fourth is 'Ishana'. and the fifth is 'u' - unmesha and the sixth is said to be 'U' (oo)- Urja. Four middle vowels- ru, Ru La, Lu are modification of ichha. Combination of 'a' (the first vowel-full of creative power) with ichha produces 'e'-kara (ye), when combined with Ananda ('A) produces 'ai'- jagadyoni! Similarly, 'a' combined with 'u' (unmesha) becomes 'au' -sound as sadyojata! Thus all the powerful syllables supported by a )brahmn) are created! Incidentally, Om is the beginning and end!  The syllables 'am' and 'ah' are the most powerful bijaksharas that contain the powers that be!

  Here, the question is what is ichha and whose ichha is it to create? The answer is simple. It is the ichha of the Lord to manifest Himself as the Creative [power, Shakti into modifications of all that we see, hear, feel, experience, cognize and express as the subtlest, subtler-most, to the grossest of the gross material world ! Whatever is cognized by the senses and the mind is expressed in multiple ways!:

  Some of the modifications of other syllables and their meaning are: b + h + bh+a=bha meaning maya due to ichha of 'brhmn'. similarly, b p, ph+a=buddhya, manas, 'aham'. The syllable 'I' -kriya shakti of vishnu, anala, chit or agni. It becomes a powerful mantra when supported by 'm' becomes 'Im' or 'yem' or aim as Lakshmi! The syllable 'I' is by itself a powerful protective sacred letter 'tarika mantra' 'Im' is pancha bindu (m- bindu is yogini, trailokyasundari or tripurasundari, parameshvari) has power of srushti, sthiti, laya, tirodhana and anugraha. 'ksha' consisting of k sh s h a as panchabrahma, parabrahmasvarupini. The syllables ya ra la va are dharana (powerful wheels of creation- tarika sukshma and sthula. the syllable m is vyomesha and 'ma' is cognizant power. prajnya sthiti. Devi is represented by 'na' and Na- in subtle and gross forms, respectively. 'h' is srushtikrut, anupashree are 500 powerful mantra. vibhava are the source, origin of bhuta shakti. 'ha' is prana, life force. 'ra' is fire anala (fire).'aa' is gopana,  ai is airavana,

tarika or protective mantra is: Om bija- hrAm, hrIm, hrum, hrom, hraum- represent the five anga- jnyana,  aishvarya, shakti, bala and tejas.equivalent are located in hridaya, shiras, shikha, kavacha and netra. The mantar is: Om aishvaryaya shirase savaha | Om hruh viryaya astraya phaT | (astra mantra). These mantra protect our feet, stomach, arms, high, etc. The number of mantra are innumerable, asankhya! Of what use is the mantra if one does not know the bijakshara, the associated deities and the power inherent in the syllables that constitute it?