Showing posts with label Purusha Suktam. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Purusha Suktam. Show all posts

Wednesday, February 7, 2018

The Structure of the Universe (Vedic) - Viswaroopa - K. Sivananda Murty Preface 2

https://www.facebook.com/vallury.sarma/posts/616984388338978


The Puranas speak of individuals going up and down between these proximate higher worlds and the Earth is often mentioned. The individuals from these proximate higher worlds came down to the Earth either by curse or by invocation and prayers. Yudhishtira was an aspect of the Dharma Devata , Arjuna was an aspect of Indra, Bhima was an aspect of the God Vayu and Nakula and Sahadeva are an aspect of the twin Gods Ashwins. These Pandavas came down in human form by invocation and prayer. Hence the Pandavas represented the nobler and righteous aspect of the Gods. The birth of Bhishma was a result of curse on a God Vasu for misconduct. His conduct as a man on the Earth was a sad association with the evil and ending up in no noble achievements of any kind. Karna was the result of an indiscreet invocation of the Sun-God, by an immature mind of a girl. When born he was unwelcome and deserted. This caused an evil association in his life, an evil conduct and a nature that consisted of hatred and jealousy against the noble Pandavas with no provocation. Bhishma however was a highly knowledgeable being and he enlightened Yudhishtira about Dharma.
Circumstances of descent on the Earth of these superior beings made all the difference. Fundamentally, however, the beings in the superior worlds are noble. It is therefore very clear that these superior beings are closely related to the men on the Earth. The Mahabharata tells us that evil persons like Duryodhana entered the regions of Yama to suffer from their sins on earth. Another version tells us that Duryodhana ‘s soul merged into the Kalipurusha. The five sons of Pandavas are Gandharvas. Even Dhritarashtra belonged to the Gandharvaloka who was born on the Earth by Vedavyasa. Abhimanyu was an aspect of the moon God. Then the others like Drupada, Virata and others were aspects of Yaksha, Gandharva, Guhyaka etc. They left the Earth by fighting on the side of righteousness and reached their happy abodes. Draupadi was born as an aspect of Mahalakshmi from out of Yajna- fire by invocation but not from the womb of a woman-(Ayonija). She left the Earth to merge into the universal mother the Mahalakshmi. Many others like Uttara, Salya joined the Vishwedevas. Drishtadhyumna joined the God of fire Agni. The great Yadavas like Satyaki, Kritavarma etc joined the Siddha, Sadhya and the Vishwedevas. Such a detailed description of the Mahabharata shows the existence of nearby superior worlds in the northern regions of our outer space and their inter-relationship with beings on Earth. In this context there is no mention of Swargaloka, with reference to these great departed souls of the Earth. Swarga is one of the 14 major worlds of Brahmanda, long distance away.
Vedic Cosmology also describes the different worlds of Brahmanda. The texts like Purushasukta, Taittiriya Brahmana, and Satapatha Brahmana indicate the creation of the superior worlds. Prajapati is the origin personality of the creation and he is none else than the Brahma himself as a physical creative aspect. Brahma is mere thought-conceiver of the creation.

Structure of the Universe (Vedic) - Viswaroopa

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Dr K. Sivananda Murty
About the Book
The Universe is perceived as the totality of existence including planets, stars, galaxies, intergalactic space, and all life, matter and energy. The part of the universe that can be studied by humans may be called the observable universe. The words ‘Cosmos’ and the ‘World(s)’ are used in a similar sense. The story of the universe and its beginning or creation has fascinated the human mind from ancient times. The observable universe is the part of the universe that can be observed from the Earth. This is possible because light from those objects had time to reach the Earth since the beginning event of the cosmological expansion, which is the assumed to be the Big-Bang. Assuming the universe is isotropic; we may infer that the observable universe is a spherical volume centred on the observer, regardless of the whole.
The Vedic civilization has a fascinating account of the structure of the universe and the theories of creation. This knowledge is distributed across the Vedas, the Upanishads, the Vedangas and the Puranas. Viswa, Brahmanda, Jagati and the Lokas are Sanskrit terms describing the universe. It is interesting to note that the Vedic concept of creation visualizes an ellipsoidal entity called the Brahmanda (literally the Cosmic Egg). The Puranas tell us that this Brahmanda consists of 14 lokas (worlds or realms), 7 higher and 7 lower with the Earth at the centre. Creation consists of the transformation (vivarta) of Brahman into Paramatma and Jivas simultaneously. The various worlds are then populated with Jivas having appropriate bodies (sariras). Viswa stands for the vastness and pervasiveness of the Universe and Jagati denotes the space for the sojourn of the soul (gati) in the universe. Modern cosmology is essentially physical cosmology dealing with the material aspect of the universe. Vedic cosmology concentrates on the evolution of jivas and their travel through the various lokas of the Brahmanda and their ultimate merger into Paramatma.
The author, Dr Sivananda Murty, describes the Vedic conception of Brahmanda with the background of the Milky Way galaxy and presents a unified picture of the structure of the universe in a manner appealing to the modern scientific mind. Material found in several scriptures is presented at one place together with a rare insight resulting from his Yogic background. This book provides a backdrop for his exposition of the Kathopanishad in his classic work Katha-Yoga. Several lokas are talked about, which do not find a place in the list of fourteen worlds, from Satyaloka to Patala. They are the Yamaloka, Narakas, Pitruloka, and Pretaloka, Gandharvaloka, Apsaraloka, Vasuloka, Yakshaloka, the places of Rudras and Adityas, and many such realms. The picture given by the author for these lokas nearer to earth is not found in Puranic literature. For most of the souls caught in the cycle of births and deaths, the nearby realms are the obvious destination. The discussion and the insight provided on these lokas is the main contribution of the monograph. The fact that the information comes through yogic insight and meditation makes it very authenti

Puranic Version of Universe

https://twitter.com/mighty_krishna/status/949499321723965440
As per Puranas, the universe is classified into 3 planetary regions of 14 planetary systems.
The 3 planetary regions are
(1) Svar or Swargga or Heaven (6 upper regions)
(2)  Prithvi or Earth ( 1 middle region)
(3) Pathala or Hell ( 7 lower regions)

Tuesday, January 23, 2018

Purusha Suktam

https://www.facebook.com/vallury.sarma/posts/547309521973132

It is nice to read the translation of the Vedic description of creation as described in Purusha Suktam
PART I :
LORD'S UNLIMITED MANIFESTATIONS (a-na-ntam)
The Lord's Manifestation of the Universe - The pu-ru-SHa with countless number of heads, eyes, and feet pervades the Earth in entirety and extends far beyond.
Whatever has been and whatever is to be is all pu-ru-SHa. He is the ruler of immortality and He appears to grow immensely through food.
All that is (seen) is His glory, (actually) He surpasses all this. One quarter of Him comprise all the creations (living and the non-living), while three quarters of Him are eternally in the heaven. MANIFEST and the UN MANIFEST (vya-kta a-vya-ktam)
Variety came forth from Him and thus from within he became vi-rAt pu-ru-SHa. He grew immensely and became the cosmos (bra-hmA-nDam).
Part II: The Sacrifice of the Lord
POST CREATION
The Gods performed a YajN~a using pu-ru-SHa as the offering, in which Spring was the ghee, Summer the sa-mit and Autumn the oblation (Thanks Giving).
Gods as performers of the sacrifice assigned seven enclosing sticks, and 21 fuel sticks for the sacrifice and also bound pu-ru-SHa as the sacrificial beast (ya-jN~a pa-shu).
[Note: The seven enclosing sticks refer to the 5 elements (earth, water, fire, wind, and sky), plus day and night. Twenty-one fuel sticks refer to the 5 sense organs (eye, nose, mouth, ear and skin), plus 5 vital breaths (prANa, a-pA-na, vyA-na, u-dA-na, and sa-mA-na), plus 5 organs of work (hands, legs, genitals, two excretory organs), plus 4 feelings of the mind (a-ntaH-ka-ra-Nam), plus dha-rma and a-dha-rma. Interestingly, these are the very same 7 outer and 21 inner limits within which we lead our own life-ya-jN~a. Perhaps the seed of vi-shi-SHTa a-dvai-ta bhA-va appears here in this creation Hymn].
The primordial pu-ru-SHa (as Sacrificial beast) was sanctified by sA-dhyAs, gods and other Re-SHIs by placing Him on da-rbha grass and Sprinkling water over Him.
ONE THAT BECAME ONE and ALL (aE-kA-naE-ka)
Emerging from that sacred rite (Ya-jN~a) when everything was consumed came butter, curds, animals of sky, forest and village.
When everything was consumed, then arose Re-gvaE-da, sA-ma-vaE-da, Ya-ju-rvaE-da and the poetic meters from that sacred rite (Ya-jN~a).
And from that ya-jN~a were born horses, cows, goats, sheep and other animals with two rows of teeth.
Part III: The Meditation of the Gods
FOUR FOLD CLASSIFICATION (cA-tu-rva-rNyam)
[Now a bunch of questions] How many ways did the gods envision to dismember (divide) pu-ru-SHa? What came of his face (mouth)? What did the arms become? What became of his thighs and feet?
The Brahmins came from His mouth, and from His arms came the kings. The merchants sprang forth from His thighs, and from His feet, the workers were born.
The moon proceeded from (His) mind, and from (His) eyes the Sun arose. Indra and fire came forth from (His) mouth. The wind emanated from (His) vital breath.
Out from (His) navel the space emerged, from (His) head the heavens arose, the Earth was fashioned from (His) feet, and directions from (His) ears. Thus all the realms were fathomed.
Part IV: The Sage's Vision
SECRET BEHIND NAMES and FORMS (nA-ma-rU-pa ra-ha-sya da-rsha-nam)
I have realized the supreme pu-ru-SHa, brilliant as the Solar hue and beyond the veil of darkness (mA-ya). All the forms are formulated, categorized and permeated by that wise and glorious being
Realizing the pu-ru-SHa thus, whom bra-hma (the creator) and i-ndra (who is well versed in all matters) have (also) glorified earlier, one will be liberated in this very life. There is no other way (for liberation) indeed.
ROOT of DHARMA (dha-rmasya mU-lam)
Gods performed ya-jN~a offering ya-jN~a to ya-jN~a itself. Those were the first acts of Dha-rma. By doing so, they attained the glory of heaven just as the sA-dhyAs and gods in the past.
[Note1: This is like offering the water from a river back to a river and feel blessed. Any act of charity we perform in reality is this. We can not claim that we made something from scratch. If we have to do that we will first have to create this universe!]
[Note 2: The ya-jN~a mentioned here is the ya-jN~a of creation of this world from the body of the pu-ru-SHa, the one source of all. pu-ru-SHa literally means "the one who fulfills or encompasses everything". pu-ru-SHa is used commonly to refer to man. pu-ra refers to a big place which has many attributes. This is also probably derived from pu-ru-SHa]
[Note3: sA-dhyAs, is perhaps, the root word for: sA-dhya, possible; si-ddhi-attainment; sA-dha-na, means; sA-dha-ka, seeker; sA-dhu, the right thing to do]
pu-ru-SHa sU-ktam (u-tta-ra NA-rA-ya-Na)
MASTER BUILDER (vi-shva-ka-rmi)
vi-rAt pu-ru-SHa through (the interaction with) water, Earth and other elements became the master of all creations (vishva-ka-rma). As master carpenter, He assumed numerous forms and is more than all this. I have realized the primordial great deeds of that pu-ru-SHa.
SPIRITUAL REALIZATION (ta-tva sA-xA-tkA-ram)
I have realized the supreme pu-ru-SHa, brilliant as the Solar hue and beyond the veil of darkness (mA-ya). Knowing him thus, one will be liberated in this very life. There is no other way (for liberation) indeed.
The Lord abides in every womb. Unborn, yet giving birth to all. The aspirers of the exhalted state of ancient seers and creators, realize Him as The SOURCE.
This essence of bra-hman, the gods realized early on and said: Whoever realizes the bra-hman, they will have mastery over gods.
Wealth (Sree) and dignity (Hree) are Your consorts, night and Day are Your two sides, stars Your beauty spots (body), Sky and Earth are the upper and lower jaws of Your wide open mouth. Grant my desires, grant me happiness, fulfill all there is (the purpose of life). Bestow peace in all three spheres of existence.
We seek that assemblage. May the ya-jN~a (spirit of sacrifice) flourish May the performer of ya-jN~a (one with spirit of sacrifice) flourish The divine grace be upon us. The divine grace be upon mankind May plants flourish (grow up wards)
Auspiciousness be to the two footed (animals) Auspiciousness be to the four footed (animals)
(May) three fold peace (prevail)
sa-rvam shrI kRe-SHNA-rpa-Na-ma-stu
Purusha suktam - Simple English Meaning (word by word)
By Sri Kotikanyadanam Sreekrishna Tatachar in
srivaishnavam.com

The Structure of the Universe (Vedic) - Viswaroopa - K. Sivananda Murty Preface 2

https://www.facebook.com/vallury.sarma/posts/616984388338978 The Puranas speak of individuals going up and down between these proximate...