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PERCEPTIONS
Eternal India
encyclopedia
GOD
“GOD
in His absolute state is beyond the
ken of mind and speech. He is indefinable.
But when He is immanent in the universe,
He is denoted as
Sat-Chit-Aanandam
—
Existence-Knowledge-Bliss. There is no
other connotation which is as appropriate
as this.”
— Swami Chidbhavananda
Grace Of Divinity
GOD is Gravitation Of Divinity,
Operating through invisible hand of infinity,
GOD is Giver Of Divine energy,
Providing help to achieve synergy,
GOD is the Garden Of Dreams.
That is full with spiritual streams,
GOD is Generation, Operation and Destruction.
Revealed through cycles of creations.
GOD is Grace Of Divinity within,
Erasing the effects of our sin.
Darshan
: A Mystic Experience
To all devotees a mere darshan of the
Lord is a matter of deep spiritual reflection.
The more one thinks about
Darshan,
the
more indefinable does it become. The
Ma-
habharatha
says, "Bathing in sacred wa-
ters, or visiting temples with idols of clay
and stone, may purify one after a lifetime,
but the saints purify one by mere
Darshan."
It is neither given, nor received.
Darshan
simply occurs, one experiences
Darshan.
Darshan
is a mystic experience. It has
no exact definition. We, with centuries of
tradition behind us, take it for granted. It is
ingrained in the consciousness of our
people, through our culture or by some
power of instinct, which ever and again
finds a new source, without the slightest
fear or hesitation.
Darshan
can be viewed as a form of
happiness induced by being in the presence
of some great manifestation of collective
consciousness. It may be a person, place or
thing, and represent past, present or future
so long as it sets up the definite recognis-
able glow Of superpersonal happiness;
Darshan
has therefore to be experienced
subjectively. Having tasted the bliss of it,
one returns to it again and again.
Any
Darshan
of God leaves one com-
pletely transformed and with an indefinable
elation of the spirit.
GRACE OF DIVINITY
TEMPLE AND
TEERTHAS
The temple is so built and so adorned
that a devotee feels an air of sanctity as
soon as he enters the temple. The
garbha-
griha
or main shrine is generally semi-dark
and is bare of other sculptures, except the
figure of the Lord. This is to ensure medita-
tion and
'ekaagratha'
in the devotee. Ac-
cording to one tradition, the gateway of the
temple is intended to stand for the universe,
and the
vigraha
of the Lord inside for the
supreme spirit. There is always a curtain
before the Lord, which according to the
Vaishnavite texts should be of three col-
ours, white, red and black, representing the
three gunas,
Sattwa, Rajas
and
Tamas.
When the veil of the gunas is lifted, the re-
splendent Lord is seen. Every part of the
temple is conceived of as the body of the
Lord and so should be treated as sacred.
Life as a pilgrimage from birth to death
has many stations. In India death is but
another station and in itself does not bring
final release (
moksha
). Final release from
all conditions of existence, from all limita-
tions, is gained through knowledge (
Brah-
mavidya);
and knowledge, the realisation of
Supreme identity, is the means and the end
itself; it gives and is release. Some attain it
while alive
(Jeevanmukthi
), others at death.
To the great mass of people who are without
the faculties and training to make them fit
for the realisation of the Supreme Principle
by knowledge other roads lie open which
also lead to the centre. Pilgrimage is one; it
brings joy (
bhukti
) and release (
moksha)
to
those who have achieved control of their
minds and of the actions of their senses;
who have discretion (
vidya
), and who have
practised austerities.
Teertha
is the name of a place of pil-
grimage on the bank of a river, the sea-
shore or a lake. The meaning of the word is a
passage. Water, the purifying, fertilising
element being present, its current which is
the river of life can be forded in inner reali-
sation, and the pilgrim can cross over to the
other shore. The place of pilgrimage is the
end of the journey to the centre; but it is not
itself the goal and only the means for cross-
ing over to the centre.
Temples were also educational institu-
tions where devotional songs and scriptures
were sung. Moreover all the twelve months
of the year were interspersed with various
festivals like the '
rathotsavd
. The temple is
the very hub round which the life of the com-
munity is built, and thus the entire life of
India is religion based. Here one can meet a
variety of life as nowhere else; the yogi
seeking the kundalini; the
Jeevanmukthi
contemplating the divine, the dancer and the
musician surrendering their art as an offer-
ing to the Lord; the devotee lost in ecstatic
contemplation of the divine; the poet pouring
his heart out in divine hymns of liquid
beauty; the householder submitting his
grievances to the Lord for redress; the dis-
eased praying for health; the healthy pray-
ing for wealth; the wealthy praying for
power; the powerful praying for peace. The
temple is thus a literal storehouse of the life
of the community and without a knowledge
of it, a knowledge of life itself is incomplete.
Ceremony of tonsure
The idea of ceremony of tonsure seems
to have its origin in the belief that what-
ever sin a man commits it becomes
centred in the hair.
Pilgrims to Tirumala and other holy
centres usually offer the hair on their head
to the Lord as a devotional offering. Per-
sons in need of the assistance of the Lord
usually take a vow and when they visit the
temple offer their hair. A bath in the holy
river/tank follows the tonsure ceremony;
the pilgrims then enter the temple and
worship the Lord. Hair is attributed with
magical power in early civilizations and
ancient culture.
Hair-offering has an important place in
worship of the Mother goddess. The sev-
enth century reliefs of Mahabalipuram
near Madras seem to depict hair offering
to the Devi by a male devotee.
Tonsure is also prescribed in ancient
dharmashaastras
while going on pilgrim-
ages.
_____________ _________________ ______ _________:
_____________
— Dr. N. Ramesan
-
"The Thirumala Temple"