Removal of Evil eye, Protection from forces that hinder Spiritual development. Protection from Black magic,Animals. Increases self confidence and self assurance. Clarity of thought.. Above all,Mukthi and Gnana are facilitated.
Date of Rig veda in Ramanisblog According to Ramanisblog, the date of the Rig Veda is subject to considerable debate, with modern scholarly estimates generally ranging between 2000 BCE to 1000 BCE[1]. However, Ramanisblog highlights that Hindu tradition considers the Vedas to be timeless and without a specific beginning[1]. Perspectives on Rig Veda Dating Ramanisblog…
Following in the Ai Generated transcript of the Navavarana Pooja Mantras . Recorded and sent to my Shishyas. This is being made public so that this secret knowledge is not lost to posterity. Those who want to be initiated may contact me through mail at ramanan50@gmail.com. Also they can contact through the comment column. If…
I posted an article,Photo Essay on the nine sleeping poses of Vishnu.
Lord Vishnu does not sleep.
His sleep is called Yoga Nidra (Sleeping posture i Yoga) or Ari Thuyil(Tamil–sleeping while aware of everything)
The Snake Adisehsa is the coiled Cosmic energy in the Solar Plexus(Mooladhaara).
The Ksheera Saagara is a representation of the Milky way Galaxy.
Please read my Post Vishnu’s’ Conch and Discus in galaxies, filed under Hinduism/Astrophysics.
This Yoga Nidra of Lord Vishnu is of Nine types.
1.Vadabadra Sayanam, Srivilliputtur.Moolavar Image not available.
I had written on the sleeping, floating Visnu in Budhanikantha Nepal.
I have been under the impression that the Anathasyana form of Vishnu found in Srivilliputhur, Sri Rangam and Thiruvanathapuram are the largest, in that order
I am wrong.
There is a Rock Cut Anantha Sayana Vishnu in the Village Sarangi in Odisha.
Anantashayi Vishnu, also known as Anantashayana Vishnu (both literally “sleeping on the serpent Shesha”), is a large open air rock-cut image of the Hindu god Vishnu, carved during the early 9th Century in the Saranga village, under the Parjang police station, in Dhenkanal district of Orissa, India. It is located on the left bank of the Brahmani River. It is the largest such exposed rock cut structure in the horizontal position measuring 15.4 metres (51 ft) in length, in the whole of India, while the largest standing image is of Gomateshwara in Southern India. It is a protected monument maintained by the Archaeological Survey of India, BhubaneswarCircle. Worship is still offered to the four armed reclining Vishnu.
The Vishnu image, under the open sky, occupies an area measuring 15.4 metres (51 ft) in length and 7 metres (23 ft) in width with a thickness of 0.7 metres (2 ft 4 in). The image is of the Hindu god Vishnu in a reclining position (Anantashayana in Sanskrit, literally sleeping on the serpent Ananta). The image is carved out of natural rock of sandstone formation. He has four arms, holding a Chakra in the upper right hand, a Shankha in his upper left hand, a Gada and a symbolic lotus on its lower left hand. The hoods of the serpent Shesha (Ananta) covering the head of Vishnu.The Vishnu image has a sharp chin, distinctive nose and wears a crown on its head, called kiritamukuta (a tall conical crown, typically worn by Vishnu). A lotus design shown sprouting from his navel has the creator god Brahma, sitting in meditation. Another image in the same district also carved in sandstone in a reclining posture is in Khamkanaga Subdivision, in Angul district of 41.5 feet (12.6 m) length (as against the length of 15.4 metres (51 ft) image in Saranga village.The sculptor has imagined the river bank conceptually to represent the Kshirasagara (cosmic ocean) from which Brahma created the world. The shrine is regularly worshipped by local people. The Archaeological Survey of India is renovating this sculpture regularly and has kept it in a good condition. Floods in Brahmani River are the only threat to the image as this is built by sandstone in the river bed, which could erode.
Location.
The Vishnu image, located on the left bank of the river bed of the Brahmani River, is at an elevation of 200 feet (61 m). It is accessible by road over a distance of 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) from Saranga Village in Parajanga Tehsil of Dhenkanal district, 67 kilometres (42 mi) from Dhenkanal, 23 km from Angul and 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) from Talcher.[1][4] It is also approached from theNational Highway 42 from Cuttack to Sambalpur, on branch road over distance of 3 km. The second natural rock-cut image in parent rock is at Bhimakand in Talcher subdivision of the Dhankal district.
Rene Descartes ,the Rationalist Philosopher’s observation on Sleep and Wakefulness is interesting.
He developed the system of doubt to arrive at certainty.
Narayana In Anantha sayanam,Sriranagam
He starts disbelieving everything, the senses, the external world,scriptures,opinions and everything one can conceive of.
I recommend reading his Books for explaining his thoughts, though interesting, will not come under the topic we are discussing.
One sleeps and wakes up.
Padmanabha in ananthasayanam,Thiruvanathapuram temple
Descartes asks as to what determines the state of sleep and wakefulness.
In sleep one dreams and on waking up finds that it is not true.
What if what one perceives to be Sleep is wakefulness and what wakefulness is really a sleeping state?
In sleep we find everything to be true at the time of dreaming and only on waking up we say we have dreamt.
What if this is the other way round?
Sometimes I dream that I write and on waking up I find it is untrue and that I have been dreaming.
Now I am writing this post.
How can I be certain now that this activity is not being done while asleep?
This action of writing now may be a dream and I may wake up.
This is a problem not solved by Philosophy.
Hinduism describes four states of Being.
Jagrat, the waking state.
Swapna, the dreaming state,
Sushupti, the deep dreamless state and
Turiya, Pure Consciousness.
In the last state everything is Pure consciousness and the dreamer or The Experiencer, one who experiences and The Experienced are One.
One becomes the other.
And Consciousness is not limited by Space and Time.
Only when Space and Time are present, is the Consciousness becomes limited.
The Universal Consciousness one of the Attributes of Reality in unbounded.
Only when it is bound by Space and time, does it manifest as the world of names and Forms.
In essence the world and the beings, both animate and inanimate are One.
The differentiation occurs because of Space and Time.
This is called by Henri Bergson as Elan Vital.
Our Indian Philosophers call it Chit, one of the attributes of Brahman,Reality, the others being Sat(Being) and Ananda(Bliss)
Purusha Sukta describes the evolution of the Cosmos.
It describes the Universe in its evolution.
It talks about movement and stillness.
Motion and immobility are two things that are relative to each other.
Purusha is the Universal primordial Principle while Narayana is the specific applied principle in action.
He evolves into the world.
NaarayanamMahaegyam viswaathmaanam Prayaanam..
Naarayna paro Jyotiraathma naarayana para’
He is the mover but He is Immobile.
He evolves into the Universe , remains Himself.
He evolves Consciousness into beings, making them aware, not what they are but what Narayana wants them to be, by His Maya, Illusion.
In this sense he makes things ,people though Conscious yet not Really Conscious.
He poses to be asleep, but not really sleeping.
Narayana does not sleep.
His sleep is Yoga Nidra, a state of Yoga when one is awake yet asleep.
In our limited capacity all of us would have experienced this at some point of time.
And this sleep wakefulness is not bound by either Space or Time as Pure Consciousness can not be bound by Time or Space for Brahman;it is Its attribute.
Brahman, as Narayana represents this principle in His Ananthasayanam(Cosmic hibernation)
One may note that we call Anantha Narayana and not Anantha Vishnu for Narayana and Vishnu are different aspects of Reality Brahman.
Carved from a single block of black basalt stone of unknown origin, the Budhanilkantha statue is 5 meters in length and it lies in a reclining position inside a recessed tank of water (representing the cosmic sea) that is 13 meters in length.
Called the Sleeping Vishnu, or Jalakshayan Narayan, the statue depicts the deity reclining on the twisting coils of the cosmic serpent Shesha (Shesha is the eternal, multi-headed king of the serpent deities known as Nagas, and also is the servant of Vishnu).
Vishnu’s legs are crossed and the eleven heads of Shesha cradle his head.
Vishnu’s four hands hold objects that are symbols of his divine qualities: a chakra or disc (representing the mind), a conch-shell (the four elements), a lotus flower (the moving universe) and the club (primeval knowledge).
“Budhanilkatha’s name has been a source of endless confusion.
It has nothing to do with the Buddha (budha means “old”, though that doesn’t stop Buddhist Newars – a particular sect of Nepalese Buddhists – from worshipping the image). The real puzzler is why Budhanilkantha (literally “Old Blue Throat”), a title which unquestionably refers to Shiva, has been attached here to Vishnu.
The myth of Shiva’s blue throat, a favorite in Nepal, relates how the gods churned the ocean of existence and inadvertently unleashed a poison that threatened to destroy the world.
They begged Shiva to save them from their blunder and he obliged by drinking the poison. His throat burning, the great god flew up to the range north of Kathmandu, struck the mountainside with his trident to create a lake, Gosainkund, and quenched his thirst – suffering no lasting ill effect except for a blue patch on his throat.
The water in the Sleeping Vishnu’s tank is popularly believed to originate in Gosainkund, and Shaivas claim a reclining image of Shiva can be seen under the waters of the lake during the annual Shiva festival there in August, which perhaps explains the association.
Local legend maintains that a mirror-like statue of Shiva lies on the statue’s underside.”
The eleventh day of the movement of the Moon is called Ekadasi.
The Eleventh day from New Moon is Shukla Paksha Ekadasi and the during the waning of the Moon Krishna Paksha.
Shukla means white, Krishna, Black.
Hinduism recommends fasting and the chanting of Vishnu’s name during this period.
Aashada Ekadasi Pandharpur Festival
Though there are many Ekadasis some are special, Vaikunta Ekadasi for instance.
Equally sacred is the Shayani Ekadasi or Aashada Ekadasi.
On this day, it is believed that Lord Vishnu goes to sleep.
This description is not technically correct.
Sayana means lying down .
śayana — sleeping; SB 1.10.11-12
śayana — lying down; SB 1.11.16-17
śava-śayana — dead bodies; SB 4.7.33
śayana — lying down; SB 5.8.11
śayana — lying down; SB 7.5.38
śayana — beds; SB 10.48.2
śayana — putting to bed; SB 10.59.45
śayana — arranging His bed; SB 10.61.6
śayana — in taking rest; SB 11.5.47
śayana — in the activities of lying down; SB 11.5.48
śayana — rest; SB 12.3.39-40
karena śayana — lies down; CC Adi 5.55
śayana — on the bed; CC Adi 5.99
Hindu Gods do not sleep
Only when these Gods manifest, to follow Human Norms they perform activities of Man.
What this means is that Vishnu enters His Yoga Nidra.
Looks asleep yet completely with Pure Consciousness.
Lord Vishnu the Para Brahma Swarpa, how can He sleep?
Many translate this Yoga Nidra as ari thuyil, using the soft ‘R’ Itayinam.
It should be the vallinam , R aRi thuyil.
The former means Vishnu’s Sleep, while the later, which is correct, means , Sleeping with Awareness.
”
Vaishnava Devshayani Ekadashi = 09/07/2014
Next Day Parana Time for Vaishnava Ekadashi = 06:03 to 08:35
On Parana Day Dwadashi would be over before Sunrise
Ekadashi Tithi Begins = 05:56 on 8/Jul/2014
Ekadashi Tithi Ends = 04:39 on 9/Jul/2014
Shayani Ekadashi (lit. “sleeping eleventh”) or Maha-ekadashi (lit. “The great eleventh”) or Prathama-ekadashi (lit. “The first eleventh”)
or Padma Ekadashi or Devshayani Ekadashi or Devpodhi Ekadashi is the eleventh lunar day (Ekadashi) of the bright fortnight (Shukla paksha)
Thus it is also known as Ashadhi Ekadashi or Ashadhi.
This holy day is of special significance to Vaishnavas, followers of Hindu preserver god Vishnu.
On this day images of Vishnu and Lakshmiare worshipped, the entire night is spent singing prayers, and devotees keep fast and take vows on this day, to be observed during the entire chaturmas, the holy four month period of rainy season.
These may include, giving up a food item or fasting on every Ekadashi day.
It is believed that Vishnu falls asleep in Ksheersagar – cosmic ocean of milk – on Sheshanāga, the cosmic serpent.
Thus the day is also called Dev-Shayani Ekadashi (lit. “god-sleeping eleventh”) or Hari-shayani Ekadashi (lit. “Vishnu-sleeping eleventh“) or Shayana Ekadashi. Vishnu finally awakens from his slumber four months later on Prabodhini Ekadashi – eleventh day of bright fortnight in the Hindu month Kartik (October–November).
This period is known as Chaturmas (lit. “four months”) and coincides with the rainy season.
Thus, Shayani Ekadashi is the beginning of Chaturmas. Devotees start observing the Chaturmas vrata (vow) to please Vishnu on this day.
A fast is observed on Shayani Ekadashi. The fast demands abstainance from all grains, beans, cereals, certain vegetables like onions .
The recommended diet.
Shaka[vegetables], dadhi[curd], kshira[milk] and dvidala [di-cotyledons and multiseeded
products] are the four vratas observed in these four months. Each vrata is commenced
with a sankalpa, and at the end of chaturmasya it is concluded with homa and Brahmana
puja. During this time, Sanyasi-s stay in one place and follow special procedures as a
worship to Lord. Snana, japa, and dana done during these four months get immense
phala.
The first month is shAka vrata, where all vegetables are given up to please Lord Sri
Shridhara, the niyamaka for this month.
Dadhi vrata is the second one and all items of curd are given up to get special blessings
from Sri Hrishikesha, the niyamaka.
During Kshira vrata, all milk items are given up to get the prasada of Sri Padmanabha.
The last vrata is Dvidala and bahubhija where all di-cots and multi seeded items are given
up to get the grace of Sri Damodhara.
Celebrations.
This is celebrated on a grand scale in Maharashtra and Goa.
This day, a huge yatra or religious procession of pilgrims known as Pandharpur Ashadi Ekadasi Waari Yatra culminates at Pandharpur, in Solapur district in south Maharashtra, situated on the banks of the ChandraBhaga River.
Pandharpur is main center of worship of the deityVithoba, a local form of Vishnu. lacs of pilgrims come to Pandharpur on this day from different parts of Maharashtra.
These pilgrims are referred to as Warkaris. They sing Abhangas (chanting hymns) of Saint Tukaram and Saint Dnyaneshwar, dedicated to Vithoba.
Yogini Ekadasi.
Yudhisthira Maharaj said, “Oh Supreme Lord, I have heard the glories of the Nirjala Ekadasi, which occurs during the light fortnight of the month of Jyeshtha (May – June).
Now I wish to hear from You about the suddha Ekadasi that occurs during the dark fortnight of the month of Ashadha (June – July).
Kindly describe to me all about it in detail, Oh killer of the Madhu demon (Madhusudana).”
The Supreme Lord, Sri Krishna, then replied, “Oh king, I shall indeed tell you about the best of all fasting days, the Ekadasi that comes during the dark part of the month of Ashadha. Famous as Yogini Ekadasi, it removes all kinds of sinful reactions and awards supreme liberation.
“Oh best of kings, this Ekadasi delivers people who are drowning in the vast ocean of material existence and transports them to the shore of the spiritual world.
In all the three worlds, it is the chief of all sacred fasting days.
I shall now reveal this truth to you by narrating a history recounted in the Puranas.
“The king of Alakapuri – Kuvera, the treasurer of the devas (demigods) – was a steadfast devotee of lord Shiva.
He employed a servant named Hemamali as his personal gardener.
Hemamali, a Yaksha like Kuvera, was very lustfully attracted to his gorgeous wife, Swarupavatii, who had large, enchanting eyes.
“Hemamali’s daily duty was to visit Manasarovara Lake and bring back flowers for his master, Kuvera, with which he would use them in the puja offerings to lord Shiva.
One day, after picking the flowers, Hemamali went to his wife instead of returning directly to his master and fulfilling his duty by bringing the flowers for the puja.
Absorbed in loving affairs of a bodily nature with his wife, he forgot to return to the abode of Kuvera.
“Oh king, while Hemamali was enjoying with his wife, Kuvera had begun the worship of lord Shiva as normal in his palace and soon discovered that there were no flowers ready to be offered in the midday puja.
The lack of such an important item (upachara) angered the great Koshad-yaksha (treasurer of the devas) even more, and he asked a Yaksha messenger, ‘Why has dirty-hearted Hemamali not come with the daily offering of flowers?
Go find out the exact reason and report back to me in person with your findings.’
The Yaksha returned and told Kuvera, ‘Oh dear lord, Hemamali has become lost in freely enjoying coitus with his wife.’
“Kuvera became extremely angry when he heard this and at once summoned lowly Hemamali before him.
Knowing that he had been remiss and dawdling in his duty and exposed as meditating on his wife’s body, Hemamali approached his master in great fear.
The gardener first paid his obeisances and then stood before his lord, whose eyes had become red with anger and whose lips trembled in rage.
So enraged, Kuvera cried out to Hemamali, ‘Oh you sinful rascal! Oh destroyer of religious principles! You are a walking offense to the devas!
I therefore curse you to suffer from white leprosy and to become separated from your beloved wife! Only great suffering is deservedly yours!
Oh lowborn fool, leave this place immediately and betake yourself to the lower planets to suffer!’
“And so Hemamali fell at once from grace in Alakapuri and became ill with the terrible affliction of white leprosy.
He awoke in a dense and fearful forest, where there was nothing to eat or drink.
Thus he passed his days in misery, unable to sleep at night due to pain.
He suffered in both winter and summer season, but because he continued to worship lord Shiva himself with faith, his consciousness remained purely fixed and steady.
Although implicated by great sin and its attendant reactions, he remembered his past life because of his piety.
“After wandering for some time here and there, over mountains and across plains, Hemamali eventually came upon the vast expanse of the Himalayan mountain ranges.
There he had the wonderful good fortune to come in contact with the great saintly soul Markandeya Rishi, the best of ascetics, whose duration of life it is said, extends to seven of the days of Brahma.
“Markandeya Rishi was seated peacefully at his Ashrama, looking as effulgent as a second Brahma.
Hemamali, feeling very sinful, stood at a distance from the magnificent sage and offered his humble obeisances and choice prayers.
Always interested in the welfare of others, Markandeya Rishi saw the leper and called him near, “Oh you, what sort of sinful deeds have you done to earn this dreadful affliction?’
“Hearing this, Hemamali painfully and ashamed replied, ‘Dear sir, I am a Yaksha servant of lord Kuvera, and my name is Hemamali.
It was my daily service to pick the flowers from the Manasarovara lake for my master’s worship of lord Shiva, but one day I was negligent and was late in returning with the offering because I had become overwhelmed with lusty passion for enjoying bodily pleasures with my wife.
When my master discovered why I was late, he cursed me in great anger to be as I am before you.
Thus I am now bereft of my home, my wife, and my service.
But fortunately I have come upon you, and now I hope to receive from you an auspicious benediction, for I know that devotees such as you are as merciful as the Supreme Lord (Bhakta Vatsala) and always carry the interest of others uppermost in their hearts.
That is their – your nature. Oh best of sages, please help me!’
“Softhearted Markandeya Rishi replied, ‘Because you have told me the truth, I shall tell you about a fast day that will benefit you greatly.
If you fast on the Ekadasi that comes during the dark fortnight of the month of Ashadha, you will surely be freed of this terrible curse.’
Hemamali fell to the ground in complete gratitude and offered him his humble obeisances again and again.
But Markandeya Rishi stood there and lifted poor Hemamali to his feet, filling him with inexpressible happiness.
“Thus, as the sage had instructed him, Hemamali dutifully observed the Ekadasi fast, and by its influence he again became a handsome Yaksha.
Then he returned home, where he lived very happily with his wife.”
Lord Sri Krishna concluded, “So, you can readily see, Oh Yudhishthira that fasting on Yogini Ekadasi is very powerful and auspicious.
Whatever merit one obtains by feeding eighty-eight thousand brahmins is also obtained simply by observing a strict fast on Yogini Ekadasi.
For one who fasts on this sacred Ekadasi, she (Ekadasi Devi), destroys heaps of past sinful reactions and makes him most pious.
Oh King, thus I have explained to you the purity of Yogini Ekadasi.”
Thus ends the narration of the glories of Ashadha-krishna Ekadasii, or Yogini Ekadasi, from the Brahma-vaivarta Purana.
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