Courtesy:Sri.K.Muralidharan Iyengar
Dear All,
Greetings and Namaste. As Sri Mahashivaratri falls on 14-Feb-2018 (Tuesday), I am very delighted to share a very rare and beautiful prayer on Lord Shiva by Sage Bhrigu taken from Matsya Puranam, Narmada Mahatmyam and Chapter 193. This hymn is titled "Karunabhyudaya Stotram". Though the Phalashruti is brief it says it all - that Lord Shiva gets pleased with the one who recites this hymn as he was pleased with Sage Bhrigu.
As the hymn is slightly difficult in terms of lexicon, I have endeavored to give a brief summary of the meaning. Sage Bhrigu prays to Lord Shiva as the creator/protector/destroyer of the universe and requests Him to emancipate Him from worldly pursuits and pulls such that he may get the immutable wealth.
We have seen in the last several years that Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva are NOT different Gods (who eternally quarrel among themselves to ensure their superiority over the other two) - but just names attached to the one and only Almighty while performing different divine duties. It is plain idiocy to think/act otherwise and we have seen innumerable quotes from our scriptures.
In Kurma Puranam, Chapter 94, Lord Brahma mentions to Daksha (on his confusion that Vishnu is a superior God to Shiva) that Vishnu and Shiva are one and the same through the following text:
yastavaiSha mahAyogI raxako viShNur avyayaH | sa devadevo bhagavAn mahAdevo na saMshayaH || 86 ||
manyante ye jagad yoniM vibhinnaM viShNuM IshvarAt | mohAd aveda-niShThadvAt te yAnti narakaM narAH || 87 ||
vedAnuvartino rudraM devaM nArAyaNaM tathA | ekI bhAvena pashyanti mukti-bhAjo bhavanti te || 88 ||
yo viShNuH sa svyaM rudro yo rudraH sa janArdanaH | iti matvA yajed devaM sa yAti paramAM gatim || 89 ||
sRRijat etaj jagat sarvaM viShNus tat pashyatIshvaraH | itthaM jagat sarvaM idaM rudra-nArAyaNodbhavam || 90 ||
tasmAt tyaktvA harer nindAM viShNAvapi samAhitaH | samAshrayen mahAdevaM sharaNyaM brahma-vAdinAm || 91 ||
Meaning : Mahayogi Lord Vishnu, one who protects, is also Lord Mahadeva, who is the Lord of all Devas and let there be no doubt. Due to ignorance and irreverence to Vedas, people see these two as different and they shall go to hell without any doubt. One who walk the path of Vedas see both Lord Narayana and Lord Shiva as one and the same and only they get emancipation and Mukti. He who is Vishnu is indeed is Rudra and Rudra indeed is Janardana and one who performs Puja in this way attains the highest abodes of the Lord. Lord Vishnu creates this universe and Lord Shankara oversees and protects the universe. Therefore stop casting aspersions on Lord Rudra and fix your focus on Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva who is the refuge of all Brahmavadins.
It is high time the Hindus left the imaginary fight of superiority to Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva themselves. And even if we fight here in this terrestrial abode it will be of no use in their abodes - and it does not require enormous brain to understand this simple truth.
On a different but related note, the Hindus need to comprehend that there is an existential crisis for the Sanatana Dharma as it is besieged on multiple fronts by pseudo-seculars, pseudo-atheists (who are anti-Hindus but OK with other faiths), pseudo-experts (like Wendy Dorniger, Ramchandra Guha, Pankaj Mishra who misrepresent Hindu faith and philosophy), missionaries of conversion, Dravidan parties, etc. etc. If Sanatana Dharma has to survive, then Hindus need to unite and speak in one voice to protect and pass Sanatana Dharma to future generations. There is absolutely no space for petty and irrelevant quarrels such as Who is greater God? Vishnu or Shiva or Brahma. It is plain lunacy and illiteracy.
After a long long time, Hindus learnt this in a very hard way during the ugly episode in Tamil Nadu last month where the Tamil cinema lyricist Vairamuthu blasphemously painted Andal, the consort of Lord Vishnu, as a Dasi by quoting a reference which does not claim what he said. Hindus learnt in a hard way that unity is the urgent need of the hour and the other idiotic and childish rivalries need to be shown the door.
I personally do not think this rare unity would have been possible without divine ordainment because far more heinous insults were heaped on Hindus in the 70 years of Dravidian rule in Tamil Nadu - including the garlanding of Lord Rama with chappals by EVR. It is reasonable to assume that these forces expected similar mild response and they could go on with blasphemy unfettered. But Lord's plan was perhaps different. The rare show of unity of Hindus took every one by surpise - including the usually apathetic Hindus. This resulted in recalibration of the political parties to court Hindus in different ways - though such moves are nothing but cold political moves to ensure that there is no Hindu consolidation resulting in shifting voting patterns in Tamil Nadu and therefore see the demise of Dravidian philosophy (which anyway is in its death bed).
The rare unity must continue with the blessing of the Lord and the unfeigned effort of one and all as the evil forces will do all in their might to ensure that the unity is broken. History will tell whether we rose up to the occasion as adults and chose to remain as unwise kids!
May We Pray To Lord Rudra, who is also Lord Dakshinamurthy, to bestow us the right knowledge and resolve!
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