Ganesha
September 30, 2007
“The God with the elephantine visage I shall never forget - Shankara’s son, with massive belly and the thodu in His ear, the Lord who gave his grace to Indra, and of whom mantra is his very form.”
-Natchintanai
There is an interesting insight in this quotation. Ganesha is equated with mantra to the extent that mantra is his form. Mantras are used to remove obstacles; obstacles to knowledge, to success, to..anything! So as Vigneshwara, the Lord of Obstacles, mantras are by their very definition a manifestation of Ganesha.
Murugan
September 29, 2007
“The moon, sun and fire are in unison radiating their resplendent effulgence. Radiating the luminous sparks is Murugan, who lights up the world by his peerless light”
-Kathirgama Purana
Murugan is the name of Subramanyam, the second son of Shiva who is revered as the Divine General who slays all sorts of demons. He is the active principle of the divine and is comparable to Mars in a planetary sense.
Milk
September 28, 2007
“The atman pervades all like butter hidden in milk. He is the source of Self-knowledge and ascetic fervor. This is the Brahman teaching, the highest goal! This indeed is the Brahman teaching, the highest goal of all!”
-Yajur Veda
The goldsmith
September 27, 2007
“A goldsmith fashions several ornaments out of gold. So God, the great goldsmith, makes many ornaments - different souls - out of the one Universal Spirit.”
-Natchintanai
He who dwells in the light
September 26, 2007
“He who dwells in the light, yet is other than the light, whom the light does not know, whose body is the light, who controls the light from within - He is the atman within you.”
-Yajur Veda
Animate and Inanimate
September 25, 2007
“The universe, animate and inanimate, is His body.
The universe, animate and inanimate, is His play.
The universe, animate and inanimate, is He.
The universe, animate and inanimate, is a wonder!”
-Natchintanai
The grace of pure vision
September 24, 2007
“May god - who, the in the mystery of His ision and power, transforms His white radience into His many-colored creation, from whom all things come and into whom they all return - grant us the grace of pure vision.”
-Yajur Veda
Joy and sorrow
September 23, 2007
“Joy and sorrow - both are maya. The atman, never from love divided, is the very form of knowledge. Therefore, these two will not touch you. Can a mirage wash away the earth?
-Natchintanai
The sweetness of the senses
September 22, 2007
“When he knows the atman - the Self, the inner life, who enjoys like a bee the sweetness of the flowers of the senses, the Lord of what was and of what will be - thenhe goes beyond fear. This, in truth, is That.”
-Yajur Veda
Duty
September 21, 2007
“He who understands his duty to society truly lives.”
-Tirukural