शुक्लाम्बरधरम् विष्णुम् शशिवर्णम् चतुर्भुजम्|
प्रसन्नवदनम् ध्यायेत् सर्व विघ्नोपशान्तये||
श्रीगुरुभ्योनमः
कामाक्षि!! सन्ततमसौ हरिनीलरत्न
स्तंभॆ कटाक्षरुचि पुञ्जमयॆ भवत्याः।
बाद्धॊऽपि भक्ति निगलैर्मम चित्तहस्ती
स्तंभम् च बन्धमपि मुञ्चति हन्त चित्रम्॥ (कटाक्षशतकम्-41)
Oh!! Mother Kamakshi!! What a wonder!! My mind-elephant in spite of being tied with ropes of devotion to the gems pillar of your glances, it feels unbraid.
Sarva-akarshini mudra:
ज्यॆष्ठावामासमत्वॆन सृष्टॆः प्राधान्यमाश्रिता। (61)
आकर्षिणी तु मुद्रॆयम् सर्वसंक्षॊभिणी स्मृता॥
The balance of Vama and Jyeshta is symbolic of creation. The energy/sakti emerging at the Sarva-Samkshobhini chakra instigates the balance of this two saktis.
Let us see the Yogic interpretation of this. The Kundalini sakti sleeping at the Muladhara reaches Sahasrara when activated and subsequently gets back to its home, the Muladhara. So, the sadhakas should constantly practice consciously, for attaining higher states of sadhana. It has been said in Yoga Kundalini and Yoga Chudamani Upanishads that Manipura chakra is an important point for activating Kundalini.
ऎक ऎव वायुः शरीरगतः स्थानभॆदात्कार्यभॆदाच्च प्राणादिनामाभिर्भिद्यतॆ
हृदिप्राणॊ गुदॊऽपानः समानॊ नाभि संस्थितः।
उदानः कंठदॆशस्थॊ व्यानः सर्वशरीरगः॥
उच्छ्वास निः श्वासौ प्राणव्यापारः
भुक्तस्यान्नरसस्य शरीरॆ साम्यॆन नयनम् समानव्यापारः॥
उद्गारादिरुदानव्यापारः। कृत्स्नानु शरीरनाडीषु व्याप्य प्राणापानवृत्तॊः संधिकालॆ शरीरस्य बलप्रदानम् व्यान व्यापारः॥ (तैत्तिरीयसंहित – शयनभाष्यम्- 1.6.3)
प्राक् ऊर्ध्वमुखः अनिति चॆष्टत इति प्राणः । अप अनिति अवाङ्मुखश्चॆष्टत इत्यपानः ॥ (अथर्ववॆदसंहित शयनभाष्यम् – 2.16.1)
In our body, Prana vayu is the wind that travels upwards and apana downwards. These two winds travelling in the opposite directions, usually do not meet. However, with the help of yoga-asanas and bandhas, it is possible to reverse their directions. This way, they could be made to meet at a point and it is the experience of the yogis that they meet at the Manipura chakra. This chakra situated at the navel is the place of fire element (tattva) in our body and also of samaana vayu.
With the help of Mulabandha, it is possible to make the downward traveling apana vayu reverse its direction and meet the prana vayu at the Manipura chakra. This bandha will intensify the fire at the Manipura chakra. Due to this surplus heat produced at the Manipura chakra, the Kundalini sleeping at the Muladhara gets activated and starts traveling upwards through the Sushumna (Hatha Yoga Pradipika-3.65-70, Yoga Kundalini Upanishad 1.42-46). As it has been mentioned in the first mudra description, the creation mentioned in the Sarva-akarshini mudra sloka (61) is symbolic of the Kundalini sakti activation.
यथा रसातलच्चॊर्वी जलॆमग्नॊद्धता पुरा तथा महावराह त्वाम् माम् दुःखसागरताम् (नारदपुराणम् – उत्तरभागम् – 53.18-19)
This mudra balances the two winds prana, apana and produces more heat at the Manipuraka chakra (fire element), which in turn excites the Kundalini sakti sleeping at the muladhara chakra (earth element). Due to this, Sarva-akarshini mudra is associated with the Varaha avatara, since it is during this avatara, The Varaha lifted the earth drowned in the primal celestial waters.
Sarva-avesakari/Sarva-vasamkari mudra
व्यॊमद्वयांतराळस्थ बिंदुरूपा महॆश्वरी ॥62||
शिवशक्त्याख्य संश्लॆषाद् दिव्यावॆशकरी स्मृता
चतुर्दशारचक्रस्था संविदानंदविग्रहा ||63||
The energy activated in the practitioners of this mudra, is said to be of bindu form between two vyomas (celestial skies). This samvit-ananda sakti is manifested in Chatur-dasara chakra/Anahata chakra of the Meru danda/Spinal cord.
उदरॆ पश्चिमम् तानम् नाभॆरूर्ध्वम् च कारयॆत्।
उड्डियानॊ ह्यसौ बन्धॊ मृत्युमातङ्गकॆसरी॥(हठयॊगप्रदीपिक 3.54)
बद्धॊयॆन सुषुम्नायाम् प्राणः उड्डीयतॆ यतः।
तस्मादुड्डीयानाख्यम् अयम् यॊगिभि स्समुदाहृतः ॥ (ibid 3.56)
Uddiyana bandha is practiced by pressing the abdomen against the spinal cord. This makes the prana fly along Sushumna nadi, while activating the Anahata chakra. This bandha is compared to a lion that kills the elephant (mrutyu matanga kesari). This means it liberates the aspirant, since the elephant is symbolic of our affinity with the earth tattva of Muladhara chakra. This avesakari mudra brings out the important connection between a lion and the Anahata chakra/spinal cord. Let us try to understand this connection.
This mudra is associated with the Narasimha (Man-Lion) avatara, where the Lord emerged from a pillar to prove His devotee’s statement that the Lord is Omnipresent.
यथास्वप्नॆ धराध्वाद्रिपृष्ठ व्यवहृतिर्नभः
तथा ह्यहं व त्वम् सा च तदिदम् च तथा नभः ॥
(यॊगवाशिष्ठम्-निर्वाणप्रकरणम्-उत्तरार्धम्- 62.29)
The way the entire dream world is of Chidakasa, we all are too.
भूरिति वा अयम् लॊकः । भुव इत्यंतरिक्षम् । सुवरित्यसौ लॊकः । मह इत्यादित्यः । आदित्यॆन वाव सर्वॆ लॊका महीयंतॆ । (तैत्तिरीयौपनिषद्-1.5.1,2)
(भवन्ति अस्यम् भूतानि) Earth (Bhumi) is Bhuloka, The space around earth is the Bhuvarloka and the celestial sky surrounding Bhuvarloka is the Swarloka. Swarloka is also known as Dyurloka.
Some puranas, enumerate these lokas differently and list fourteen lokas altogether. So, one has to be wary of the number and corresponding interpretation.
यॊ अक्षॆणॆव चक्रिया शचीभिः विष्वक्स्तंभ पृथिवीमुतद्याम् । (ऋग्वॆदम् – 10.89.04)
According to this Rig Vedic mantra, Meru is the axle (skambha) connecting the Bhuloka and the Swarloka.
The Swarloka is said to have emerged from the face of the Cosmic being (Virat purusha), while the Bhuvarloka and Bhuloka, from the navel and feet respectively (ऋग्वॆदम् – 10.90.14). Due to the parlance between the microcosm and macrocosm, the spinal cord (Meru danda) connecting the feet and face of human beings is the axle. Thus, the two spaces (Vyoma Dvaya) mentioned in the Yogini Hridaya for the Sarva-Vasamkari mudra seem to indicate Bhu and Swarlokas.
सभास्तंभात्तदा विष्णुरभूदाविर्दृतम्मुनॆ। संध्यायाम् क्रॊधमापन्नॊ नृसिंहवपुषा ततः ॥
(शिवमहापुराणम् – शतरुद्रसंहित- 10.17)
Lord Narasimha is said to have appeared out of a pillar but not from any other object or space. This brings into light the association of the Narasimha tattva with the energy manifested in the Meru danda, the mid-portion of the human body.
The Lakshmi Narasimha Saligrama shown below has a pillar kind of structure with a mid opening/empty space, pointing to Lord Narasimha’s connection with the pillar.
Thus, Sarva-Vasamkari mudra appears to activate the middle chakra namely the Anahata chakra belonging to the middle portion of the spinal cord.
The chief characteristic of the Narasimha-avatara/tattva is its association with the “mid-part”. Hiranyakasyapa obtained a boon that he could only be killed by neither animal nor human at a time that is neither day nor night, with a weapon that is neither dry nor wet. Nara-simha is neither animal nor human. The part of the time that is neither day nor night is the twilight. The weapon with which Lord Narasimha killed Hiranyakasyapa is His nails, since nails are neither dry nor wet.
ततः स बाहुयुद्धॆन दैत्यॆंद्रं तम् महाबलम् । नखैर्बिभॆदम् संकृद्धॊ नार्द्राः शुष्का नखा इति ।
(ब्रह्मांडपुराणम्- मध्यभागम् – 5.29)
Lord Narasimha emerged from the pillar at twilight time and killed Hiranyakasyapa with His nails.
Thus, the lion is associated with the spinal cord/axle. This is the reason behind using a lion statuette for the mid-portion of a structure, mainly pillars in temples. It is a common practice to relate the top portion with the horse (symbolic of knowledge), the middle portion with lion, and the lower portion with an elephant. All three can be seen in the following ingenious Chennakesava temple mandapa.
Since Lord Subrahmanya is also symbolic of the Kundalini sakthi passing through the Sushumna nadi (the subtle nadi in the central spinal cord), Subrahmnya and Narasimha are said to be of the same tattva. The Aru-Padai-Veedu, the six hill centers of Lord Subrahmanya in Tamilnadu are symbolic of the six chakras along the spinal cord. Adi Sankara Bhagavatpada too expressed this parallelism in the Subrahmanya Bhujanga Stora, भजॆहं कुमारम् भवानी कुमारम् where he refers to Lord Subrahmanya as an incarnation of Lord Narasimha.
Combination of man and animal:
प्राणि तु चॆतनॊ जन्मी जन्तु जन्यु शरीरिणः (अमरकॊशम्)
Sankara Bhagavatpada says in Vivekachudamani that, it is extremely difficult to get human birth among all the species of animals. The three avataras that we have seen so far, belong to the category of animals moving in the water and on earth. The Nara-simha avatara synonymous with “mid-part”, thus is a combination of the best animal and human combination.
Praying to Simhavahini Durga,
श्रीमात्रेनमः
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