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Tag: Shankaracharya

  • Six Systems Of Vedic Worship Sankaracharya

    Hinduism is like a Doctor, prescribes , but it leaves it to the individual to choose. as Hinduism is highly individualistic.

    There are thoughts from the Vedic Times which include Atheism of Charvaka,Materialism.

    Shanmatha
    Shanatha Of Sankaracharya

    One is left to choose what suits him the best.

    Even the Vedas have Karma Kanda(Details of Duties),Gnana Kanda(Path Of Knowledge)

    There is no recommendation of Idol Worship in The Vedas.

    This was a later development.

    All this had such an effect that people were following innumerable Gods and Goddesses,Minor Deities.

    There were no system of worship.

    To add to this muddle was the influence of Mimaamsa Philosophy which spoke of only Karma Kanda , with no reference to God.

    Then there was Buddhism and Jainism advocating Godlessness, Nireswaravada.

    Sankaracharya  came and reorganized the systems of worship.

    As indicated in my earlier post, they are six in number,

    Ganapathyam, The Worship of Loed Ganapathy,Ganesh.

    Ganapathy is referred to in the Vedas and we have Ganoponishad

    This has been given priority by Sankaracharya.

    Next is Soumaaram, Worship of Lord Suryanarayan, the Sun God.

    Surya is called’ ‘Prathyaksha Brahma’ ‘The Visible God’

    One tidbit on this.

    The concluding portion of Sandhyavandan , which is performed daily, was not found in the original text.

    ‘Nama Savitre Jagadeka Chakshushe…Kesavam Prathi gachchathi”

    This was included by Lord Krishna, when he performed the Grahana Tharpan, when it was not due and was taught to Yudhishtir>

    Kaumaaram, Worship of Lord Subramanya,

    Lord Subramanya is not mentioned in the Vedas.

    But Skanda is mentioned, this later became Subramanya.

    The meaning of the word Subramanya is The Best Brahmin , Brahmin being the one who realized The Reality,Brahman, for it was Lord Subramanya who explained Pranava , Om,to Lord Siva.

    Saivam,Woship of Lord Siva.

    Lord Siva is not mentioned directly n the Vedas, but Rudra is.

    In the Rudra Prasna the moola Mantra of Lord Siva is kept secretly in the Namakam in the middle of the eleven Anuvaakas, that too in the middle of the sloka

    ‘Nama Sivaya Ca, Sivadhrayaca,’

    Saktam, Worship of Goddess Uma ‘Parvati’

    Shakti is worship is mentioned elaborately in the Vedas by referring in the Durga Suktham,Sri Suktam,Neela Suktham.

    One important reason that Sakthi worship is considered superior is the fact that the word UMA contains all the letters of the Pranava, OM

    ‘Akaaram, Ukaaram and Makaaram”

    Vaishnavism, Worship of Lord Vishnu.

    Lord Vishnu is mentioned in the Vedas.

    The term Vishnu means ‘ one who supports’, from the word ‘Jishnu’, supporting.

    Vishnu is considered to be an Amsa  a part of Naranayana,

    Narayana means one sets example for Men as to How to Live ‘Nara Ayana’for Men How to Live(path)

    Another meaning is ‘ one who Lies in Water”

    The we have Purusha Suktham, which many people take it to refer Lord Vishnu.

    It is not.

    Purusha Suktham refers to and explains Universal Evolution and Cosmic Principles.

    Thus we have Purusha Suktam,Narayan Suktham and Vishnu Suktham, each denoting a different, yet One Entity.

    Thus the Six Systems of Hindu Worship was organised by Shankaracharya.

    However there are  more Deities and they fall under the Category of Minor Deities,  Town”Village Deities .

    I shall post about this later.

    Related articles

    http://ramanisblog.in/2013/06/16/six-gods-to-worship-sankaracharya/

  • The World Is Us Sankya, Nirvana Satakam

    We have seen that Adi Shankaracharya explaining the various elements in us for understanding Objects  and how we perceive them, the ‘Observer‘

    न च प्राणसंज्ञो न वै पञ्चवायुः
    न वा सप्तधातुः न वा पञ्चकोशः ।
    न वाक्पाणिपादं न चोपस्थपायु
    चिदानन्दरूपः शिवोऽहम् शिवोऽहम् ॥२॥
    Na Ca Praanna-Samjnyo Na Vai Pan.ca-Vaayuh
    Na Vaa Sapta-Dhaatuh Na Vaa Pan.ca-Koshah |
    Na Vaak-Paanni-Paadam Na Copastha-Paayu
    Cid-Aananda-Ruupah Shivo[a-A]ham Shivo[a-A]ham ||2||

    Meaning:
    2.1: Neither am I the Vital Breath, nor the Five Vital Air,
    2.2: Neither am I the Seven Ingredients (of the Body), nor the Five Sheaths (of the Body),
    2.3: Neither am I the organ of Speech, nor the organs for Holding ( Hand ), Movement ( Feet ) or Excretion,
    2.4: I am the Ever Pure Blissful Consciousness; I am Shiva, I am Shiva,
    The Ever Pure Blissful Consciousness.

    The outside world, to be made known to us has,
    Katopanishad
    Katopanishad

    The Prakriti,(The Potential Energy to be known,),of  three constituent  Dispositions of the Prakriti) called the Gunas.

    Purusha, Kinetic Energy that Flows,

    Mahat, The Intellect, to translate these,

    Ahankara,The Feeling of ‘I, Mine” to be conscious,

    Mind,(For the Observer)

    Five sensory organs,(For the Observer)

    Five Motor organs,(For the Observer)

    Five Subtle Elements(For The Observed, The World)

    Five Gross Elements(For the Observed)

    Total 25.

    Let us look at each in brief.

    What is to be known, has ‘To Be’

    That implies presence.

    That presence has to be immanent and be inert, to be activated when to it is to be known or aware of.

    This presence is Prakriti or the Principle that is permanent, immanent and inert, awaiting to be known.

    This is provided by Purusha, the Kinetic principle that interacts with the Prakriti to generate Intellect,(at the macro level)

    Now Prakriti is constituted by the Three Gunas or Dispositions(for details see post Gunas under Indian Philosophy)

    This Intellect at the Macro level is Mahat.

    Once the Intellect is formed, it is ready to be known, both at the Macro-level and at the individual level.

    To be  understood, at the Macro-level, the external World has the Following.

    Five elements,Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Ether.

    These five elements have five  subtle elements called Tanmatras.

    The Five elements of the external world are gross in nature.

    Their qualities are a part of them ,  like Heat and Light are the qualities of Fire.

    We can not experience them as they are.

    The qualities embedded in them make us aware of them, like the heat is known by our bodies, light by our eyes.

    To sum up, the external world, the’Observed’ has elements that complement the internal organs of the Individual(Observer).

    When these connect Awareness or Knowledge dawns.

    Put it in another way , the Observed becomes Observer when connected, when the Individual Ego is identified with it.

    Therefore to know the Observer(self), is identical with knowing the Observed(External world), for the elements that constitute both are the same.

    The Observed becomes known when the elements of both the Observer and the Observed become  One, when the ‘Ahankara’ or  the ‘I, Mine ‘ is eradicated.

    This , in essence, is Advaita of Shankaracharya.

    It would be interesting to note that the principles elaborated above are from the Sankhya system of Indian Philosophy , which is called a Nastika, Heterodox, as it does not believe in the authority of The Vedas and for Shankaracharya , the Vedas are his source.

    Truth has many facets.

    Paths are many, destination is One.

    For readers,

    I have tried to simplify the concept.

    I find a lot of readers keenly following the post on Yoga Sutra, Isa Upanishad and Nirvana Shatakam.

    For any doubts, please post your comments as a discussion would benefit everyone.

    Also please do not hesitate to point out inaccuracies.

    Here I may mention that while I write objectively, where a topic on Advaita or Shankaracharya is concerned I tend to  become an Advaitin in interpretation for I am an Advaitin by Faith(which includes Reason)

    Those who have different stand points,may have their view and interpret the way it suits their disposition.

    But the meaning of the Sanskrit words are completely neutral as also the translation honest; I might differ in interpretation.

    This applies only to Nirvana Sathakam and not any thing else where I will be posting objectively.

    Explanation of the sloka in the next post.

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