50 / 822
Eternal India
encyclopedia
PERCEPTIONS
SYMBOLS OF SHIVA
To Lord Shiva
I am your plaything.
You can breathe into me
the fire of eternal life,
and make me immortal;
or You can scatter my atoms
to the far corners of the universe
so that I disappear for ever.
You can fill me with light and power
so that I shine like a meteor
against the darkness of the midnight sky;
or You can extinguish my spirit
so that I sink for ever
into the deep and fathomless ocean of time.
You can set me among the eternal stars
resplendent with your divine fire;
or You can hurl me
into the abyss of darkness,
so that I can never again be visible
to mortal eyes.
You can come to me
with the glory of a thousand cupids;
or You can turn from me
and leave me stranded
in a grey and ghastly desert of despair.
You can smile at me
with the radiance that kindles the universe;
or You can open your eye of fury
and reduce me to a heap of ashes
I am your plaything;
the choice is yours.
- Dr. Karan Singh
RUDRAAKSHA
A person is regarded as Shiva if he wears a thousand
rudraaksha
beads all through his upper body.
Found primarily in Nepal and the East Indies, it is created from
Shiva's tears of joy.
The root of the bead is Brahma, the centre Vishnu and the top
Rudra.
According to
Skandapurana,
he who wears
rudraaksha
on his
body destroys all his sins.
Worship of
rudraaksha
is regarded as comparable to the wor-
ship of the
Shivalinga.
Any person who bathes draping the
rudraaksha
on his head is
regarded as one who has bathed in the holy Ganga.
The devotee who performs the
japa
with
rudraaksha
beads is
rewarded with innumerable bliss and happiness.
Medicinal value - in Ayurveda it is believed to be a remedy for
blood pressure and heart ailments.