Discourse on Sivananda Lahari
Day 22, August 23
Jaya Guru Datta
Sri Ganesaya Namaha
Sri Saraswatyai Namaha
Sripada Vallabha
Narasimha Saraswati
Sri Guru Dattatreyaya Namaha
Sri Ganapati Sachchidananda Sadgurubhyo Namaha
asato ma sadgamaya
tamaso ma jyotirgamaya
mrityor ma amrtam gamaya
Om Santissantissantihi
Please lead me from untruth to Truth, from darkness to light, from death to immortality. May there be peace.
Bhajan: Gam gam Ganapati
Verse 42:
Gāmbeeryam parikhā padam ghanadruthih prākāra uddhad guna
Sthomaschāptha balam ghanedriya chayo dwārāṇi deha stithah
Vidhya vasthu samruddhi rithyakila sāmagri samete sadā
Durgāti priya deva māmaka mano durge nivāsam kuru
While you are there for me, O Lord Siva, I have no fear, and I have nothing lacking, Sri Bhagavatpada declared in yesterday’s verse. He then prayed for blessing that all his sense organs should be engaged in the Lord’s service only, to their complete satisfaction. He prays that their prayer to serve Siva should be answered.
Durga means something that is not easily accessible or is impenetrable. Durga is a fort. All around the fort a thick jungle is grown, or a moat is built. You can see that at the fort in Srirangapatnam at Tippu Sultan’s fort. They place crocodiles inside the moat.
In today’s verse he begins his prayer that in His fortress/heart, Siva should make His abode to reside along with Mother Durga. This fortress called Mind is fully equipped to receive God. In just one verse the devotion and love towards Mother Goddess is also expressed by addressing Her as Durge. He is inviting both of them in one combined invitation.
The mind-fort’s description is given. The mind is more spacious than the sky itself. We are able to say Brahmanda/cosmos because we are able to accommodate it in our mind. Consciousness is unlimited in its scope. The moat’s depth is immeasurable. There is a huge compound wall around the mind-fort for its protection. There is great strength of mind here. There are military security posts in the form of virtues that I have acquired from you. My virtues are my trusted soldiers. The doorways are built inside a fort in concealed places. They have hidden exits and entrances in the form of my sense organs. My devotion and my knowledge of you take the form of the treasury located inside the fort. It is ready for your use. You are the most beloved of Mother Durga. She is much beloved by you. May my Jala Durga/fortress secured by a moat become your residence. It is very safe and secure for your comfortable occupation.
Unless knowledge of God is there, all else is worthless. I have that treasury with me. I am ever in readiness to welcome you. Sri Bhagavatpada is teaching us how to prepare our mind to invite God to make it His home.
Bhajan: Jyotirlingakara (Mallikarjuna)
Namassivaya Namassivaya Namassivaya Namassivaya
Verse 43:
Maa gachas twam itasthito Giriśa bho mayyeva vāsam kuru
Swamin ādhikirata māma kamanah kāntara seemantare
Vartante bahuśo mrugā mada jusho mātsarya mohādaya
Sthan hathvā mrugaya vinoda ruchitā lābham ca samprāpsyasi
Having come, O Lord Siva, do not have any intention of leaving again. You have to stay here permanently. Do not have any ideas of leaving. Do not consider any other place as a future residence. You live on the mountains. You roam about there, and you sleep in the mountain ranges. You please stay here forever. O Lord Siva, you are our ruler, the hunter, our protector in our past, present and future.
Adi Kiraatha is a title for Siva. He is the first and foremost hunter in Creation.
Once upon a time, by Brahma’s intention, a girl emerged from Brahma’s heart by the name of Saraswati (not Mother Goddess Saraswati). Brahma was infatuated by her. She turned into a deer to escape from him, and Brahma also turned into a deer and chases after her. Siva got angry at seeing this inappropriate behavior by Brahma and aimed to shoot down Brahma who was in the form of a deer. Brahma at once realized his mistake and begged forgiveness from Siva.
That other deer is the star Mrigasira. The Mrigasira star teaches us the concept of sacrifice. Here is a story.
Once, a deer was shot by a hunter. He wished to take it home for his food. To his surprise, the deer spoke: My wife is pregnant. I will seek leave from her and return to you to be your meal. The surprised hunter said okay. The deer left. After a few minutes, the pregnant female came. It said: After the baby is born I will come back and you may then eat me. The hunter said okay. The female deer left. Then the baby came and said: Please spare the lives of my parents. You may eat me. When all the three deer were offering their lives to him selflessly and earnestly, the hunter’s mind became transformed and he dropped his weapons. Siva assumed the form of a hunter to test their level of sacrifice.
In Trissur in Kerala state, Siva is seen as a hunter in the temple. He gives darshan in the Adi Kiratha roopa.
In this form as a hunter, Siva granted the weapon Pasupata to Arjuna on Indrakeela Mountain.
You fought with Arjuna to test his devotion, says Sri Bhagavatpada.
My mind is now a jungle. As a hunter, you may freely roam about here. That will provide you with a good occupation. In this mind-jungle you will find all kinds of animals to hunt. Cruel animals that torment people deserve to be killed. Intoxicated arrogant elephants, cruel tigers, and several envious, deluded animals are occupants of this forest. You will have a great treat here hunting. Please kill them all gleefully. Enjoy your sport of hunting in my mind-jungle. You will be well rewarded. This mind is now a Vana Durga/fortress surrounded by a jungle.
Swamiji is invited for a house visit. You are not satisfied if Swamiji simply puts one foot in the door and leaves. No. The devotee prays: You must take a seat on the sofa, receive our hospitality, eat here, drink here, bathe here, sleep here, visit our Puja room, and just stay here permanently. Why do you want to leave and wander here and there, visiting other homes?
O Lord Siva, your occupation is to hunt. A hunter has rules to follow. You must not separate a pair, you must not kill innocent harmless animals, and you must not kill a lone deer.
In the Ramayana, Sage Valmiki cursed a hunter who broke the hunter’s ethics by killing one bird out of a pair.
In Kiratarjuneeyam, an episode in the Mahabharata, after the fight with Arjuna on Indrakeeladri near Vijayawada, Siva blessed Arjuna with the Pasupata astram/missile.
The mind of the devotee is described in several different ways by Sri Bhagavatpada. Siva is invited to come deep into the center of the forest. Siva is assured that as a hunter he will find plenty of food there in the forms of egotistical, cruel, and terrible animals like greed, lust, envy, sloth, arrogance, delusion, and anger. Please enjoy your hunting here in my mind’s forest. I offer you a feast for your sport.
Whatever is imagined to be God’s occupation, the devotee must provide facilities for His pleasure.
If my mind is a lotus, you are the Sun. If my mind is a fortress, you are the king. If my mind is a jungle, you are the hunter. If my mind is a fort surrounded by water, you are the water sportsman.
Bhajan: Siva bhava pada
Siva Siva Siva Siva Siva Siva Siva Siva Siva Siva
Verse 44:
Kara Lagna mrugah kareendra bhango
Gana Shardūlām vikkhandanostha Jantuh
Giriso viśadakruthischa chethah
Kuhare Panchamukhosti me kutho bhih
Now the poetic meter is changed to the wonderful Chandas: Vasantamalika/Garland of Spring.
In the cave called my mind, when the huge lion/Siva is seated, why would I have any fear? Siva is addressed as Panchamukha, since He has five faces, facing the four directions as well as one face facing above. You see that depiction in Nepal at the Pasupatinatha Temple.
Lord Siva holds a deer in his hand. He is looking glorious with his five faces. A lion uses its paw and its sharp claws to capture firmly a deer, where the deer has no chance for escape.
If an elephant sees a lion in its dream, it gets terribly frightened, wildly shakes it limbs and dies. An elephant tamer can detect what dreams the elephant experiences. The lion leaps at the elephant’s head and kills it.
Krittivasaha – is a name for Siva. A demon takes a form as an elephant to fight against Siva. Siva kills the elephant and wears the bleeding skin of the elephant as his clothing. The demon had prayed that he would be worn as a garment by Siva.
Siva has killed a demon in the form of a tiger called Vyaghrasura. This demon also prayed that its skin should be worn by Siva. All animals merge in Siva at the time of the Pralaya/Annihilation. They all set into Him the way the sun sets.
Siva as a hunter wears a tiger skin at the waist and an elephant’s skin dripping blood as an upper cloth. He wields terrible weapons. What a wonderful appearance you bless us with, O Lord Siva.
Is this a lion’s call, someone asked in a jungle that we once visited. A lion’s roar is heard for two miles and no one will remain anywhere near it, if it is heard, we were told by the guide. This is just a call of a deer.
Siva is all-pervasive. There is no need to search for Him. His form is the Universe itself. This white lion (Siva is supposed to be fair skinned, Vishnu is blue and Brahma is red) in the cave is dripping with blood and has flesh sticking to its teeth. Sadasiva now is described in that frightening form, as the occupant of the mind-cave as its caretaker and protector. When a lion is protecting me (when the conqueror of death Mrityunjaya is protecting me) why would I have any fear?
A stray dog is running. A pet dog gets frightened of it. The moment its owner comes along, the pet dog which was meek until then, will begin to attack the street dog. The owner’s presence gives it the courage to do so. Like that, Sri Bhagavatpada says: When my lord here, I remain fearless.
Panchanana also means lion. It always has its mouth open and the tongue is out. We always fear tigers and lions in a jungle.
But when a lion itself is protecting me, how can I have any fear?
The deer in Siva’s hand symbolizes the human mind that is ever wandering but is now brought under control by Siva.
This big lion that resides in the cave of my heart is the same lion whose form Siva assumed to kill Gajasura, the terrible elephant-demon.
The demon said: I offer my skin as a leather garment for you to wear, to keep you warm in the Himalayas. While the elephant was still alive, Siva tore off its skin and wore it. That gesture gave salvation to the elephant-demon.
Today is an auspicious day – Shravana/month Sanivara/Saturday and Sani Trayodasi. Please have darsan of Lord Sri Datta Venkateswara.
Tomorrow Aslesha Bali will be taking place. Aslesha star is much favored by Lord Datta Venkateswara. Those with Sarpadosha/curse by serpent god will benefit by participating in this ritual. Programs will take place at SDVT.
Bhajan: Baro Srinivasa baro Venkatesha
Datta Venkataramana Govinda Govinda.
Sri Guru Datta