A child of four starts her Bharatanatyam training. The first prayer she learns to dance goes as follows:
"aangikam bhuvanam yasya....
vaachikam sarva vaangmayam....
aahaaryam chandra taaraadi.....
tam vande....saatvikam shivam"
"I bow to that Shiva.....who exists as the very cosmos. The world is His limbs; words spoken anywhere, in any language are His words; the stars and the moon are His ornaments. Unto that cosmic Shiva, my prostration!"
It is unlikely that this grand vision will fuel the mind of the child at that tender age. But the seeds have been sown. The dancer will surely reflect on these words someday. These words will become meaningful.
Poets see this world....and see in it something more than meets the eye. There is a special value-add, a rosier hue with which they view the world. The nature poems of Wordsworth, Tagore's Geetanjali and Bhaarati's verses are but some examples. When Bhaarati writes..."kaakkai chiraginiley nandalaalaa"- he sees a crow differently. It is not that he compares the black of the crow's feathers to Krishna's complexion. No! He sees the black-feathers of the crow as Nandalaalaa!
Indian thought is steeped in this concept, that the Lord exists..... in and as the creation. The Upanishads, the Geeta and religious literature develop this theme systematically. Some examples are presented below:
"Saptaanga" - The Lord seen in a seven-fold form:
In the Mandukya Upanishad, there is a reference to the cosmic form in a seven-fold way. It is called "sapta-anga". As per this, heavens are his head, the sun is his eye, the air is his breath, fire is his speech, the all-pervading space is his body, the ocean is his bladder and the earth is his feet!
The Upanishad cannot paint the Lord's features on a small canvas. For the Upanishad, the canvas has to be stretched to infinity!
"Ashta-murti" - The Lord seen in an eight-fold form:
Krishna, in the Geeta (chapter 7), divides Himself in an 8-fold way (ashtadhaa): as space, as air, as fire, as water, as earth, as the total mind (manah), as the total intellect (buddhi), as the total ego (ahankaara). Every aspect of creation- animate and inanimate is made up of these 8 building blocks, which are non-separate from Him. With this foundation laid, Krishna reels out a series of verses- "I am the taste in water, I am the light in the sun, I am the sound in space, I am the strength in the strong, the intelligence in the intelligent etc."
Yes, Krishna follows it up by allowing Arjuna appreciate this total form as Vishvarupa in Chapter 11.
In some places, the 8-fold form is presented with a little variation. We see it in Ramana Maharishi's work Upadesha Saaram (ashta murti bhrit) and in Adi Shankara's Dakshinamurti stotra. As per this, the 8-fold form is as follows: as space, air, fire, water, earth, sun, moon and surprisingly as each of us (pumaan)!
Though the presentation is slightly different in terms of enumeration, the concept remains the same.....He exists as this world, as everything in it...including each one of us!
"nava-atma" - The Lord seen in a nine-fold form:
Curiously, Shankara in the Soundaryalahari increases the count by one more! Now, what is this nine-fold form (nava-atmaanam anagham)? It is similar to other enumerations- Shankara says, "O devi! Manas tvam, vyomas tvam....You are the mind, you are space, you are the wind, you are fire and water and earth. The sun and the moon are your breasts". But he does not explicitly mention the 9th. Other commentators fill in and mention that "time" (kaala) has to be taken are the 9th. When there are only 8, "time" is folded up with the moon (because time is measured in moon's phases (tithis). If the moon is absent in the 8-fold enumeration, "time" is included along with "space" since time and space go together.
How to acquire this cosmic vision:
All this is fine! How do we acquire this cosmic vision? We read that Arjuna got a special boon (divya chakshu) from Krishna in the Geeta. How do we get our special goggles?
In the Geeta, we get some hints. When Arjuna asks Krishna to show his cosmic vision, Krishna immediately replies, "pashya mey paartha rupaani.." "Behold! See! pashya!"
It's as if the form is always present; it's not as if Krishna had to expand himself into a special, infinite form for Arjuna. All that was required.....was a change in Arjuna's mind, to appreciate a vishvarupa which is always present. A relaxed mind, a pure mind, a straight mind, a non-complaining mind, a non-self centered mind, a mind that accepts itself to be within the totality, that is the "divya-chakshu". For some time, Krishna let Arjuna's mind enjoy that mental freedom. And whatever Arjuna saw.......was the vishvarupa!
As Wordsworth says....
To see a World in a grain of sand,
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
And eternity in an hour!
"aangikam bhuvanam yasya....
vaachikam sarva vaangmayam....
aahaaryam chandra taaraadi.....
tam vande....saatvikam shivam"
"I bow to that Shiva.....who exists as the very cosmos. The world is His limbs; words spoken anywhere, in any language are His words; the stars and the moon are His ornaments. Unto that cosmic Shiva, my prostration!"
It is unlikely that this grand vision will fuel the mind of the child at that tender age. But the seeds have been sown. The dancer will surely reflect on these words someday. These words will become meaningful.
Poets see this world....and see in it something more than meets the eye. There is a special value-add, a rosier hue with which they view the world. The nature poems of Wordsworth, Tagore's Geetanjali and Bhaarati's verses are but some examples. When Bhaarati writes..."kaakkai chiraginiley nandalaalaa"- he sees a crow differently. It is not that he compares the black of the crow's feathers to Krishna's complexion. No! He sees the black-feathers of the crow as Nandalaalaa!
Indian thought is steeped in this concept, that the Lord exists..... in and as the creation. The Upanishads, the Geeta and religious literature develop this theme systematically. Some examples are presented below:
"Saptaanga" - The Lord seen in a seven-fold form:
In the Mandukya Upanishad, there is a reference to the cosmic form in a seven-fold way. It is called "sapta-anga". As per this, heavens are his head, the sun is his eye, the air is his breath, fire is his speech, the all-pervading space is his body, the ocean is his bladder and the earth is his feet!
The Upanishad cannot paint the Lord's features on a small canvas. For the Upanishad, the canvas has to be stretched to infinity!
"Ashta-murti" - The Lord seen in an eight-fold form:
Krishna, in the Geeta (chapter 7), divides Himself in an 8-fold way (ashtadhaa): as space, as air, as fire, as water, as earth, as the total mind (manah), as the total intellect (buddhi), as the total ego (ahankaara). Every aspect of creation- animate and inanimate is made up of these 8 building blocks, which are non-separate from Him. With this foundation laid, Krishna reels out a series of verses- "I am the taste in water, I am the light in the sun, I am the sound in space, I am the strength in the strong, the intelligence in the intelligent etc."
Yes, Krishna follows it up by allowing Arjuna appreciate this total form as Vishvarupa in Chapter 11.
In some places, the 8-fold form is presented with a little variation. We see it in Ramana Maharishi's work Upadesha Saaram (ashta murti bhrit) and in Adi Shankara's Dakshinamurti stotra. As per this, the 8-fold form is as follows: as space, air, fire, water, earth, sun, moon and surprisingly as each of us (pumaan)!
Though the presentation is slightly different in terms of enumeration, the concept remains the same.....He exists as this world, as everything in it...including each one of us!
"nava-atma" - The Lord seen in a nine-fold form:
Curiously, Shankara in the Soundaryalahari increases the count by one more! Now, what is this nine-fold form (nava-atmaanam anagham)? It is similar to other enumerations- Shankara says, "O devi! Manas tvam, vyomas tvam....You are the mind, you are space, you are the wind, you are fire and water and earth. The sun and the moon are your breasts". But he does not explicitly mention the 9th. Other commentators fill in and mention that "time" (kaala) has to be taken are the 9th. When there are only 8, "time" is folded up with the moon (because time is measured in moon's phases (tithis). If the moon is absent in the 8-fold enumeration, "time" is included along with "space" since time and space go together.
How to acquire this cosmic vision:
All this is fine! How do we acquire this cosmic vision? We read that Arjuna got a special boon (divya chakshu) from Krishna in the Geeta. How do we get our special goggles?
In the Geeta, we get some hints. When Arjuna asks Krishna to show his cosmic vision, Krishna immediately replies, "pashya mey paartha rupaani.." "Behold! See! pashya!"
It's as if the form is always present; it's not as if Krishna had to expand himself into a special, infinite form for Arjuna. All that was required.....was a change in Arjuna's mind, to appreciate a vishvarupa which is always present. A relaxed mind, a pure mind, a straight mind, a non-complaining mind, a non-self centered mind, a mind that accepts itself to be within the totality, that is the "divya-chakshu". For some time, Krishna let Arjuna's mind enjoy that mental freedom. And whatever Arjuna saw.......was the vishvarupa!
As Wordsworth says....
To see a World in a grain of sand,
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
And eternity in an hour!
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