courtesy: Sri.K.Muralidhran Iyengar
Dear All,
Greetings and Namaste. As the year 2017 (CE) draws to a close and 2018 CE opens with lot of hope and promise in a few hours from now, may I seize this opportunity to wish you all a very happy and prosperous New Year! May The New Year shower you with eternal bliss in every dimension of your life through the blessings of Lord!
Incidentally, the New Year is also an important occasion from the Sanatana Dharma tradition- it marks the annual Ardra Darshanam of Lord Nataraja. This occasion is an important festival in Chidambaram in Tamil Nadu, though Abhishekam is performed to Lord Nataraja in all Shiva temples. Chidambaram is a temple that is sacred from both Shaivite and Vaishnavite traditions as the temple has shrines for both Lord Nataraja and Lord Govindaraja and is counted as one of the 108 Tirupatis in the Vaishnavite tradition.
In this connection, I am delighted to share a rare 10-stanza hymn by the great Sri. Appayya Dikshitar, who was a great exponent of Advaita philosophy who never saw any difference between Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu, titled as Momaramana Dasha Shloki (otherwise known as Hariharabheda Stuti). This hymn was apparently sung by him when Lord Govindaraja shrine was reopened by Vijaya Nagar king Rama Raya in Chidambaram temple. It is a beautiful prayer on both Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu and the construction of the hymn with fantastic choice of words is fabulous.
The beautiful prayer, emphasizing the non-duality of Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu, is perhaps the most important armor for as well as message to ponder by every follower of Sanatana Dharma in the new year and beyond. In 2017 and the recent past, the Sanatana Dharma has seen vicious onslaughts from every conceivable angle from other faiths and liberals. It is much more serious situation that one might imagine.
But the silver lining is that reality is slowly dawning on the followers that the very existence of Sanatana Dharma is squarely dependent on each and every one of us - how we perceive the reality and react in a positive manner without giving in to the habitual insipid and jejune intra-faith rivalries within Sanatana Dharma, pettiness, ego trips and one-upmanship. It does not require any sophisticated Large Data Analysis or Artificial Intelligence to deduce that, we ourselves are the root cause of the piquant situation we are in and not the bogeys of exploitation by other faiths. Our internecine feuds basing on sub-faiths, caste, creed, class, etc. have only provided fertile ground for exploitation - it is a cop-out to blame the exploitation, which is natural and to be expected.
The intra-faith rivalries within Sanatana Dharma, especially in the south, are the most laughable and most dangerous at the same time. It is high time we asked ourselves which part of our scriptures prescribe this insanity (and if they did, are they really part of our scriptures). When will we be mentally ready to graduate from being a wilful child to an adult at least as a baby step (leave alone the eternal knowledge that we must get as prescribed by our scriptures - that is far beyond our reach as we are mired in petty skirmishes).
May the Lord Brahman bestow us the divine knowledge and power to tide over inadequacies in our spiritual pursuits in the new year!
stoShye mahendraM ripu-darpahaM shivaM nArAyaNaM brahmavidAM variShTham |
Aditya candrAshviyugasthaM AdyaM purAtanaM daityaharaM hariM || (Varaha Purana, Chapter 15, Verse 9)
Meaning : I extol Lord Hari who is Mahendra, Shiva (the dispeller of haughtiness of enemies), Narayana (the best among they knowers of spiritual wisdom), the ancient being who permeates the sun, moon, Ashvins, and destroys demons.
ahaM tvAM tu vijAnAmi vijAnAmi mAM tvaM jAnAsi mAdhava |
Avayor antaraM ko.api na pashyati janarddana || (Varaha Puranam, Chapter 136, Verse 30)
Meaning : (Lord Shiva tells Lord Vishnu) O Madhava, I know you and you know me. None finds any difference between us. Brahma too is not known as different from us).
May the year 2018 bring a fresh perspective on our perspectives and a resolve to save Sanatana Dharma for future generations!
No comments:
Post a Comment