sanskrit

Phonemes of Sanskrit Shiv Sutrani

astrologerbydefault26 Comments

A phoneme is the the smallest unit of sound which makes sense in a language. The Shiv sutrani शिव सूत्राणि also called the Maheshwar Sutrani महेश्वर सूत्राणि (सूत्राणि is the plural of सूत्र) are the phonemes of the Devbhasha Samskrutam. The highly intense building blocks of the perfect language of this creation, the perfectly arranged definition of Illumination. All common languages spoken in this world today are degraded versions Apabhraunsh अपभ्रंश of Sanskrit. 

In my several posts on the Kundalini, Chakra system, beej akshar etc I have written on the Consciousness that Sound really is. We worship sound as Shabda Brahma, the Eternal Divine. Then the indestructible sounds, the Akshar of Sanskrit are the sounds that the pran makes as it moves in the energy channels/ Nadi inside the Pranmaikosh of the five sheathed body. As you speak Sanskrit, normally in conversation or as a mantra during your pujas you are actually enhancing the power of your own Pran and Nadi system. This is why I reiterate that everyone must be able to speak simple conversational Sanskrit, read one Sanskrit article/ day and recite one Sanskrit mantra for a life time. Sound is Awareness and Sanskrit is the accurately precise mathematically perfect raw power that you directly derive from Sound as Self.

www.psychologicallyastrology.com

Maharishi Panini arranged the grammar of the Devbhasha Samskrutam in his book Ashtadhyayi. He did not ‘write’ the grammar, this language is the Devbhasha, ie the perfect description of the Illumination, it is in-built. He merely ‘saw’ the grammar in the Akash and wrote it down. In this following shlok he gives the origin of the Shiv sutrani.

नृत्त अवसाने नटराज राज: ननाद ढक्कां नवपञ्चवारम्। उद्धर्त्तु कामः सनकादि सिद्धान् एतद् विमर्शे शिवसूत्रजालम्॥

For the students of Pravrutti, this shlok can be understood as,

  • At the site of the act of Dissolution, the supreme actor of the drama, Nataraj, made loud sound using the large drum, Damru, fourteen times. The intention was to elevate the Maharishis Sanak and the other Siddhas Seers. This mesh of the Shiv Sutra, the auspicious phonemes of the  Devbhasha, is truly inside the real Knowledge of the Divine.
  • ie Bhagwan Nataraj danced the Tandav, ie caused the dissolution of creation. At the end of the Tandav, ie at the end of dissolution ie at start of new creation, he played his Damru fourteen times and created the first sound seeds of this present creation. These are 14 lines of the Shiv Sutrani. The realised Seers, the Maharishis Sanak, Sananda, Sanatan and Sanat and other Siddha Rishis etc witnessed this evolution of the Nada. ie the Conscious energy of sound vibration further differentiated into phonemes. As the language of light, Devbhasha took birth, it acted as a catalyst for further creation and subsequent evolution.

For the students of the Nivrutti, the same shlok can be understood as,

  • At the location where movement was occurring. (This is the perceived Creation itself, the site of movement, ie duality.) The ruler of the best of the actors made a large sound, to the disappearance of the newly spread out multitude (All individual souls are the actors. The Paramatma is the sovereign of all these individual jivatmas. The Nada is the source of Om itself. Here the Eternal is has made Om itself disappear). The intention is to draw out the most ancient eternal by subduing the plural. This is verily the the illusion of the web which has the Intelligence of the auspicious thread inside it.

Sanskrit is a palimpsest. The same words will give different meanings depending on the intelligence, awareness and intention of the writer/ reader. This is the true beauty of the Devbhasha, it speaks to the individual soul and always describes splendour of the Eternal Soul.

The phonemes of Sanskrit, the Shiv Sutrani are,

  1. अ इ उ ण् |
  2. ऋ ऌ क् |
  3. ए ओ ङ् |
  4. ऐ औ च् |
  5. ह य व र ट् |
  6. ल ण् |
  7. ञ म ङ ण न म् |
  8. झ भ ञ् |
  9. घ ढ ध ष् |
  10. ज ब ग ड द श् |
  11. ख फ छ ठ थ च ट त व् |
  12. क प य् |
  13. श ष स र् |
  14. ह ल् |

This is me reciting them in one breath in the first audio, because I could not find anything suitable online. The effect is clearer when they are recited at one stretch. I have recited them slowly in the second audio. I am not a professional singer so do bear with me on these recitations. (For some strange reason, the Shiv Sutrani  are the first mantra I have put up in my own voice on my blog.

Even though the mantra is in my voice, it is always and ever the Shiv Sutra by Nataraj Raja. One can read, recite and hear the mantra only if the Bhagwan desires/allows it. So do be grateful to the Parmeshwar as you recite/ read/ listen to them. It is by his Krupa.

Ideally the recitation should be in one exhalation, this will come with practice. And remember to start and end your mantra jaap with Om. Recitation of the Shiv Sutrani is called the akshar samamnaya अक्षर समाम्नाय and this is a mantra.

Try to get the pronunciation of these ऋ ऌ ङ् ञ ङ ञ् ष right. Very very few people can pronounce these correctly. The remaining vowels and consonants in the Sutrani are the usual ones we use in our daily life.

  • ऋ – is Rrhhu, the tongue touches the upper teeth on both sides and the tip flicks the palate and you say ‘Rrhhu’, in a short burst (People in Uttar Bharat pronounce ऋ  as ‘Ri’ which is incorrect)
  • ऌ – is Llrrhu, the tongue first touches the sides and tip to the palate. and then flicks out and the sides of the tongue come down to touch the upper teeth. You say ‘Llrrhu’ in a short burst.
  • ङ- ङ् + अ = ङ For the proper pronunciation of this ङ, first recite – Ka, kha, ga, gha, क ख ग घ and keeping your throat and tongue in the same position, elevate the middle part of the tongue towards the upper palate, but do not touch it. This is the nasal ङ of the ka-varga क-वर्ग. I cannot find a suitable english letter combination for this sound, it is something like a breathy ‘nng’. If you follow the rhythm of the Ka, kha, ga, gha, the last nasal ङ will also flow in the same style. Do not overthink. Once you get its pronunciation you can say it stand alone. Like this,
  • ङ् – Here the pronunciation is a bit typical. ङ – अ = ङ् This is the same as the above but only the pure consonant ङ् is to be pronounced, ie do not pronounce the अ. This will come with practice.
  • ञ – This is the last nasal consonant of the च-वर्ग. It will be easier to learn to pronounce with the rest of the Cha-varga. cha, chha, ja, jha, च छ ज झ . And keeping the same throat and tongue position, try to elevate the middle part of your tongue towards the upper palate but not touching it. Again I cannot find an english letter combination for this sound, something like ‘ynn’. As you follow the rhythm of the Cha Chha Ja Jhha, the last nasal ञ will also flow in the same style. Like this,
  • ञ् – This is the pure consonant energy. ञ  – अ = ञ् You will pronounce it in the same way as above but avoid the last vowel अ, speak only the pure ञ्  consonant. Again this will come with practice.
  • ष – This is Shha. In this you will fold your tongue backwards and say ‘shhha’. (This is different from श, here your tongue lightly touches the upper teeth on the sides and you say ‘sha’.)

iu

The Damaru that the Nataraj plays is not a drum, it is so much more.

  • It produces binaural beats and the ‘soundless’ vibration of the Nada is embedded in it. Binaural beats are formed when two slightly dissimilar tones are played together. They subtract from each other and leave an undefinable ‘soundlessness’ which is very beautiful and intense. In fact, do this as an experiment. Buy a properly made Damaru and play it yourself for 2-3 minutes. See for yourself what it makes you feel. You should experience a mental state equivalent to what you get after your 108 Dhyan mantra repeats. 
  • Playing the Damaru with specifically varying hand movements can create a series of two or more sounds. This is exactly what the Bhagwan did. He played it 14 times and created 14 sequences of sounds. He created the Devbhasha from the primordial conscious non-dual sound.
  • Finally the Damaru is a representation of the continually evolving consciousness. Its shape represents expanding and contracting energies which follow each other ad infinitum.
  • This shape is a representation of Dissolution and Creation perfectly balanced around the central Bindu. Cyclic Shrushti and Pralaya. The Eternal Nataraj plays the Damaru as he dances the Tandav, ie dissolution. And he also plays it to initiate a new cycle of creation. 
  • Playing the Damru while reciting the Shiv Sutrani is an energy high.

www.psychologicallyastrology.com

You are saying aloud the smallest elements of the Devbhasha, the building blocks of the perfection of Illumination. When you recite them faster and continue, it sounds just like the Damru playing, the same energy. Channelising the power of creation and dissolution within your self with the power of these vibrations. Trying to find that central Bindu, to stabilise yourself at this point. To become the Observer, the Pivot around which creation and dissolution are perfectly balanced. And the speciality of the Damru, the binaural beats, so in your jap a state will come when the Sutrani literally vanish in a burst of indescribable light/ sound/ energy. This is the state of Samadhi. And it happens.

In families who follow Sanatan Dharma, this sequence is taught to the boy child at the time of the Yajnopavit Sanskar and he is required to recite it during his Gayatri puja sequence regularly. For girls, wearing the Yajnopavit sutra is not compulsory, but all girls should be taught the Gayatri mantra and also these Sutrani on their 6th birthday.

So if you can, do add the Maheshwar Sutrani to your daily routine. Also teach your child and other family members, it takes less than 15 seconds to recite it once. On the very mundane levels, they are healing in nature and regular recitation will ensure that your physical and mental health remains balanced.

This will improve your pronunciation of the Akshar. Today people are unable to pronounce certain sounds, either they purposely spoil the sound or possibly they cannot say these. Spoiling the pronunciation of the Akshar affects your own energy, so always try to be as clear in your pronunciation. स्पष्ट उच्चारण is an asset. Do not unnecessarily fake accents or twist the sound, it will spoil your pronunciation for ever.

(Some people where I live pronounce र Ra as ड Da. eg Hindi Parso as Padso, Mirchi as Midchi, Kar lo as Kad lo. Then Ya as Ja, like Yug is pronounced as Jug! Some add an extra ‘A’ sound, स्त्री stri as istri इस्त्री  though funny is actually common. But the heights was when an astrologer was pronouncing स्पष्ट spasht as अस्पष्ट aspasht, which was actually sad.)

Pronouncing the Akshar correctly means that your tongue is touching the correct parts of your mouth. This is what grants you the complete energy of the Akshar. (For Sadhaks, control over the tongue is critical. Ever wondered why it is attached only from one end?) As you improve your pronunciations, you will be able recite your mantra, stotra etc perfectly, this is invaluable. First is verbal jap, the tongue and the mouth, then as you perfect this, the jap moves inwards, manasik jap at the 3rd eye. And then you see what you are meant to see. Illumination.

www.psychologicallyastrology.com

Our Bharatvarsha the Aryavarta

astrologerbydefault53 Comments

Our nation, our Bharat भारत is one, we are the residents of Bharatvarsha भारतवर्ष , we are all Bharatiya. We are the oldest civilisation, the mother of all civilisation. We are older than history itself. Never forget that. We are the Arya आर्य , residents of Aryavrat आर्यावर्त, we are the last remnants of Sanskruti संस्कृति .

We have lost information, we have forgotten our own history to the extent of forgetting our own language but still we are on the right path. Several of us have forgotten themselves completely, but still there is a significant percentage of us who feel the beat of Dharma in our individual souls and are willing to walk on the Sanatan path. Hold this thought in your heart and be proud of what you are, a Bharatiya भारतीय, above all.

The Vishnu Puran gives the definition of our Bharat and us its children, the Bharati. The first shlok is this,

उत्तरं यत्समुद्रस्य हिमाद्रेश्चैव दक्षिणम्। वर्षं तद्भारतं नाम भारती यत्र सन्ततिः।।

The land at the North of the Ocean and at the South of the snow clad Mountains, this is called Bharat and the children of this land are called the Bharati भारती . 

www.psychologicallyastrology.com

Go through the Vishnu Puran to read what this our land, our Bharat भारत, is really all about. The several  dynasties, the numerous kings who ruled this Aryavarta from the time of Manu मनु are all recorded in detail here. This, in the Vishnu puran, is the history of us humans on Earth.

I will emphasise two essential points from the Vishnu Puran’s description of our Bharat, the rest you can read from the Puran itself.

  • The name of our nation, Bharat, comes from Chakravarti Samrat Bharat चक्रवर्ति सम्राट भरत, the eldest son of Chakravarti Samrat Vrushabh चक्रवर्ति सम्राट वृषभ and his wife Merudevi मेरुदेवी. This is way back in history, it is beyond ancient, tens of thousands years possibly. His capital was at Ujjain the city of Bhagwan Mahakaleshwar, this is the oldest capital city in the world. (I hope some Bharatiya government does deep archeological digs in this area soon)
    • Our nation is not named after Raja Bharat who was the son of Raja Dushyant and Shakuntala as is popularly propagated. This Raja Bharat was comparatively very recent in history, just a few thousand years ago.
  • Bharatvarsha is the only land on this earth where you can attain Svarg or even Moksh, the entire land pulsates with power. No other land has this inherent quality. This is the only karma-bhoomi in this world. So if you act with positive intention in this land you can achieve the exclusive Svarga/ dimension of highly auspicious energy. Or even the Eternal Advaita, your own Self. Also if you perform inauspicious actions in this Bharat, you will as easily achieve the lok/ dimensions of the lower energy levels.
    • If you are born, live and physically die here, it is because of some auspicious karma of very many lives. Use this time well, it is only a limited breaths long.

Our Bharatvarsha is the original Aryavarta, the land of the wise, the elevated and the Seers. 

bharat-mata

In the current times, the land north of the Devi Narmada is called Uttar Bharat and the land south of this river is called Dakshin Bharat. And this has led to such complications that Adi Shankaracharya himself had to come up with several energy solutions to bridge these two superficially divided mindsets. Most important is this one energy exchange, 

  • Anyone worshipping at Shri Kshetra Kashi Vishveshvar Jyotirlingam has to take some water from the Ganga river here and take it to the Shri Kshetra Setu Bandha Rameshwaram Jyotirlingam and do Abhishek over it there.
  • Anyone who worships at the Shri Kshetra Setu Bandha Rameshwaram Jyotirlingam has to take some sand from the Setu Bandha and immerse it at the Ganga in front of the Shri Kshetra Kashi Vishveshvar Jyotirlingam. 

Ideally every Bharatiya has to perform this once in his/her life.

Today I was reading a random article by a Jyotishi and Vedic scholar. (I had found an interesting Jyotish article and was looking up more work by the author.) To my utter shock this person is claiming that the Jyotirlingam at Rameshwaram (Dakshin) is more powerful that the Jyotirlingam at Kashi (Uttar). A Vedic scholar or even a Jyotishi must understand that it is all the same Bhagwan. One Lingam cannot be more or less than the other, it is the same. The same Lingam, the same Jyotih is reverberating throughout creation. Whether one goes to Kashi or Somnath or Kedarnath or Rameshwaram or Ujjain or Dwarka or Puri or Badrinath or Ksheer Bhavani or Purnagiri or Hinglaj or Jwaladevi or Kamakhya or Himalay or Sagar or Ganga or Narmada or Sarasvati or Yamuna it is the same Bhagwan of the singular Bharatvarsha.

There is only one Bharatvarsha. And we are all the same, Bharatiya.

www.psychologicallyastrology.com

The Lila of the Devi is utterly mystifying. Our own history, philosophy and intelligence is right in front of us, in own our mother tongue Devbhasha Samskrutam, and we cannot read it!  

We all have to revive our language, the Devbhasha, in our homes, in our lives, in our hearts. This is the only way out of this morass in which we find ourselves today. We have lost our identity and our language Sanskrit is the only way we can find ourselves again. Let’s give our children the gift of being able to read our own books, the beauty of the Devbhasha. The easiest way is to subscribe to the Sudharma Sanskrit daily newspaper, its just Rs 600/per yr. Reading this one page daily news will help you learn simple daily Sanskrit.

We have to reclaim our language, thus our books, our history, our identity and thus our essential Non-Duality.

Ved Vedanta and Om

astrologerbydefault35 Comments

There was a question “Is that the reason why the Veda samhitas have absence of some key devas and deities like Ganesh , Kali , mahavidyas , avatars of Vishnu. They have been lost or is it by design that rishis want us to explore them via indra?” and the answer became too long so posted it as a post. 

A simple question and here is a longish answer.

www.psychologicallyastrology.com

First a bit about Sanskrit, the language in which all these texts, Ved, Vednant, Puran etc are written. One thing you have to remember is that Sanskrit, Devbhasha Samskrutam has no proper nouns. Am sure this sounds odd to you. So, a brief explanation,

Eg This sentence, ‘I am Samantha’. In this sentence ‘Samantha’ is a proper noun. It is a girl’s name and by this sentence you understand that I am a girl named ‘Samantha’. The word Samantha has no meaning in itself. Thus it is a proper noun. That is the end of it, no more meanings here.

Eg This sentence ‘I am Manish’. Here Manish is a Sanskrit word. It has a meaning in itself. Every word in Sanskrit has a meaning. Every word can be used as an adjective to describe something. If you think of ‘Manish’ as a noun, then you will understand that I am boy named ‘Manish’. But if you think of ‘Manish’ as an adjective then you will think that I am ‘someone who can be described as Manish’. There is a very big difference in these two levels of understanding. The Sanskrit word ‘Manish’ is a samas/ compound word, it is expanded to ‘Mansaya Isha iti Manish’. The simplest translation of this compound word would be ‘the Highest God of the Mind is Manish’. So our sentence ‘I am Manish’ completely changes its meaning depending on ‘Manish’ being understood as a proper noun or adjective.

Sanskrit is a highly esoteric language, it has layers of meanings. Understanding it depends on the capacity of the person who is reading it. Enlightened Rishi-s wrote these texts so there are secrets within secrets. That is why I always say never read Sanskrit books which have been translated into other languages. Or if you read them never believe that the translator has got the correct meaning of what the Rishi actually wrote. Best is to learn Sanskrit yourself.

Now if I write this same sentence in Sanskrit. ‘Aham Manishh asmi’, then here is what you get. ‘I, self-radiant, truth, certainly, surely, indeed, verily am the wisdom, reflection, intelligence, idea, desire, conception, power, master, strength, the Lord of the Mind.’ This is the power of Devbhasha Samskrutam. Now tell me can you ever trust ‘translations’ of Sanskrit texts?

So, if you can, think of our deities names as adjectives. Shankar means happiness. Shiva is the auspicious one. Ganapati means the energy which enters the individual souls and causes change. Nandi is intelligence. Laxmi is the one who has a recognisable sign. Sarasvati means the one who flows. Ganga is the one who moves very fast. Krishna means the unknowable blackness which pulls. Ram is happiness. Dev is radiance. Bhagwan is the one who has all auspicious qualities. Each of these Sanskrit words has several meanings in addition so every deity of Sanatan Dharma is more like a collection of attributes. The deities are not humans, even though we have got used to seeing them as humans. Deities in Hinduism are pure consciousness defined by some attributes. Their names are not proper nouns but are adjectives. Think of them in this way and you will get more insight into their real natures. (I wrote on meaning of the Navavarna mantra post here) 

72b24bf92e7bc9c8aa0d41db475c6766

Now what is Sanatan Dharma/ Hinduism? To understand Dharma you have to understand the Shatdarshan shastra. I have written a post here on these 6 darshan shastra-s. It is not the work of one lifetime, but you carry on whatever you have learnt into your next lives.

Our ‘God’ is the highest conscious intelligence, non-dual, Paramatma, Parabrahma, Paramtattva, Nirvishesh Brahma, Advaita etc. This is the key deity of Sanatan Dharma, the only ‘deity’. You yourself are this Parabrahma. So essentially you worship your Self.

The Ved (Ved, Brahmana, Aranyaka, Upanishad),are the final authority for everything in our Dharma. The crowning glory of the Ved are the Vedanta, which deal with the Advaita in great clarity. The 10 major Upanishads with the Mandukya Upanishad occupy the highest place. The beautiful Mandukya has only 12 lines about the Om and the Paramtattva. 

So now about Om. Om is also not the actual Paramtattva. Om is the nearest thing to it. Something like a ‘Moorti’ of the Advaita. A Moorti that you see in temples is made from stone, metal etc. But here you are required to visualise a Moorti made of conscious energy. Om is a Moorti of the Paramatma. You have to visualise Om with this intention and understanding. This is difficult for beginners on the spiritual path.

The course work has to suit to the student. You cannot teach a 1st std child, the syllabus of a PhD. Ved and the Vedanta is PhD course work.

In Sanatan Dharma the main texts are the Ved (Ved, Brahmana, Aranyaka, Upanishad), these have the highest validity, they are the source of everything. Then are the Itihas, histories, eg Ramayan, Mahabharat, the actual incidents are given in detail. They also have philosophy ie attaining Moksh and practical stuff like how to manage a kingdom (ever read the original Mahabharat or Ramayan, it is much much more than a simple story). These Itihas conform to the Vedic principles. Then we have the Puran-s. In these additional historical incidents are given, more philosophy, more practical stuff etc. And anything written here has to conform to the Vedic concepts and the broad outline of the Itihas. The 18 Puran-s written by Ved-Vyas are given more prominence in this category. And there are the several commentaries, Bhashya, treatises, practical work, more philosophy etc written on these texts by enlightened Guru-s like Adi Shankaracharya and others. This broadly is the corpus of texts available in Sanatan Dharma. Regular Hindus never read these texts, unfortunately.

All Shastra, all pujas, all yajnyas, all mantras are secretly hidden in the Ved. It is a huge huge repository of knowledge. eg the entire Shri Vidya which deals with the worship of the Devi Lalitatripursundari, the Maha-vidya-s etc is from the Ved. It is one of the many Vidya-s mentioned here. Another Vidya is the Chakshushi, I have written about it briefly in this post. All these Vidya-s will take you to the Parabrahma if used in the correct manner. Jyotish is also a Vidya.

These different texts describe the same Reality in different perspectives in different words which are suited to people of different mindsets. eg If you read the texts on Devi Lalita, it is given that the Devi just looked at her toe-nails and the 10 Vishnu-avatar-s manifested from here, did their work and again got reabsorbed in her. This is obviously different from what we popularly know about the Vishnu-avatar-s. In the Shiv Puran, there is a Shiv Gita which Bhagwan Shiv narrated to Shri Ram at Rameshwar before his war with Ravan. eg Bhagwat Gita, most people believe that this is the only Gita, the highest teaching. But if you open the Ishwar Gita, it is very similar to Bhagwat Gita. If you read the Shiv Gita, this is also similar and also has a Vishwaroop darshan. Then you read the Anu-gita which Krishna taught to Arjun after the war, and this is very different from the Bhagwat Gita which he taught first. There is a vast ocean of philosophy, spiritual practices, teachings, discourses in Sanatan Dharma. If you randomly read from here and there, you will get extremely confused. 

079db4f8cc24a92dc93bd936e164a21f

In the past and even now, Dharma is facing a lot of challenges. The Dev-Asur Sangram, ie the constant war between radiant and dull energies is always on at different levels. It is still going on now and will always occur. Sometimes the Dev will have the upper hand and sometimes then Asur might seem to be winning.

There are numerous examples where our temples, libraries, universities and their custodian Brahmins were very viciously destroyed. The horror in Kashmir where specifically Tantra and its genuine practitioners were systematically wiped out over the last 500yrs or so. The oldest physical book of Valmiki Ramayan was burnt when the Britishers burnt the libraries in Kolkata about 200yrs ago. Tipu burnt ancient libraries, manuscripts and their custodian Brahmins in South India about 300yrs ago. More insidious was that the invaders injected nonsense in our books and are still doing it. People who do not follow Sanatan Dharma are writing translations of these texts with the express purpose of altering their meanings.

It is difficult to find authentic texts and more difficult to find a real Guru. Also we have forgotten our mother-tongue Sanskrit, thus are a highly confused directionless lot.

www.psychologicallyastrology.com

Back to Om. Vedanta clearly states the Om to be the Paramtattva. Focus on the Om and you will gain that realization. The Ved describe Om and how it has manifested the universe from itself. Om is the first vibration, the first movement. The main deities described are the 33 koti devata ie the 8 Vasu, 11 Rudra, 12 Aditya, Prajapati and Indra. They further create the universe and everything else in it. These are the backbone of the creation and they actually exist in our backbones, in the Sushumna nadi. 

You create your own universe. This concept is also rather difficult for beginners to comprehend. I have put posts on using energy consciously, try doing some of these exercises to actually experience how you can create. Once you succeed at an ‘energy experiment’, your perception changes forever. 

Indra as well as all the other Vedic deities are pure energy. They are not human figures. Now for the students who could not comprehend the highly esoteric Ved-s, more human looking deities was introduced in the Puran-s. All the energies were given human forms. Prakruti was given a Moorthi of the beautiful Devi Lalitatripursundari. The tri-Gun, Satva, Raja, Tama were given human forms so we have the Tri-dev etc. All these Puranic deities are also conscious energies, but described in more human terms so that we can relate to them more easily.

But every shloka, every stotra, every sukta in this vast ocean of Sanatan Dharma describes only the Advaita. This might be difficult for beginners to believe but eg. every one of the 1000 names in the Vishnu sahastranama are ultimately dedicated to the Parameshwar, from the first ‘Vishnu’ to the last ‘Sarvapraharanayudh’ all are linked to this Parabrahma. The Dasha-Mahavidyas are the energies of the 10 directions, the intelligence of space, their essential nature is also the Paramtattva (post here). Now open the Devi Atharvasheersha, She says ‘Aham Brahma swaroopini’ in the first line. If you open the Ganapati athavasheersha, it says that Ganapati is the ‘pratekshya tat tvam asi’ in the first line itself. ‘Tat tvam asi’ is a Mahvakya of the Ved. So all deities are essentially Parabrahma.

There is only one thing that is worthy of being known. That is Parabrahma and we do it through his Moorthi, Om. You are Om, I am Om, we worship Om and whatever we do or see is all Om. Eg In all stories/ allegories, you see that the Tri-dev are generally in Dhyan or in deep contemplation. Who are they doing Dhyan of? Who is the essential consciousness within them? In the Puran-s, it is mentioned that the Tri-dev did intense Sadhana to get to this position that they enjoy. Whose sadhana did they do? To become aware as ‘Indra’, 100 ashva-medh yajnyas are necessary, who are they dedicated to? So just think, to become aware as ‘Om’, what level of intensity will be necessary?

In our pantheon of deities and the humungous mass of stories/allegories, if you get into who was whose husband, whose wife, who was the father, who was the son, who came first and who came later, you will get very confused. The Ved say this same thing, the serious aspirant must focus on the ultimate reality, not on anything else. 

You should not think of yourself as Indra or Vishnu or Shankar etc or any of the Vedic or Puranic deities. Think of yourself as Om, the Parabrahma. Try to explore and locate that Supreme consciousness within.

0db352c17804d767279d23caafd82f99

And finally to sum up this discussion.

Do what your Sat-Guru teaches you to do. Practice under the guidance of a Guru. Follow what he tells you. This is why the Sat-Guru in Sanatan Dharma is so essential. Without the blessings of the Guru you cannot do anything and cannot realise anything. 

Eg if your Guru teaches you from the Bhagwat Gita of the Mahabharat. You will think of Shri Krishna as your adored deity. First as a Vishnu-avtar, then as you go deeper into him you will realise that the Gita talks about the Advaita. The real Krishna, who ‘pulls’ you inwards is the Advaita. The ‘unknowable blackness’ is again a negation of this created universe. Your Guru will help you experience this essential attribute of ‘Krishna’. 

Eg if your Guru teaches you to worship Devi Lalitatripursundari. You will worship the Shri Chakra/Meru with mantras. Initially you might think that you are worshipping a beautiful Devi wearing red sari, jewellery, 4 hands etc. You might call her Mother, Maai, Aai, Mataji, Maiiyaa, etc but later you realise that her name Maa is most apt. I have written this post on this word ‘Maa’, it is a negation, essentially means ’No’. Her subtlest nature is a resounding negation of the creation you see around you. She is Advaita. This realisation will come at the highest levels of your sadhana.

Eg if your Guru teaches you Gayatri puja. You might think that you are worshipping a beautiful Devi with 5-faces etc with her Gayatri mantra. But later as the mantra pulls you inwards you realise that the ‘Savitra’ in the Gayatri mantra refers to the internal illumination. Your are worshipping your own Luminous Self. And this is the Advaita.

Eg if the Guru starts off with the pure Vedanta. This is a rare Guru and an equally rare student. You will then go directly to the Upanishad. He will teach you ‘na iti, na iti’, not this not this. Again the negation of the Maya of creation and the single pointed focus on the pure Om. Read about the Om, practice Om, experience Om and thus the Paramtattva whose Moorti Om is.

A Guru teaches what he has achieved, ie he can teach only what he has the ‘adhikar’ to teach. ie, a History teacher will teach History not Math and a 1st std teacher will not teach PhD students. If a Guru has practiced the Gayatri mantra he will guide you with the Gayatri mantra. If he visualises the Gayatri as a Devi in a red sari then he will teach you this same visualisation. If he has visualised the Gayatri as the Advaita then he will be able to guide you till this final destination. When you get blessings of a Sat-guru, the Atma-jnyani Mahapurush, the Jivan-mukt, ie the Parabrahma only then will you attain Moksh.

So choose your Guru very carefully. Guru is a force which pulls you towards your Self. And there are several pretenders who claim to have got enlightenment or claim to converse with the deities etc. Evaluate carefully before accepting someone as your Guru. If you do not have anyone around, try to follow some daily routine (post here on daily pujas). Get your own intention moving, desire to know your own reality. If you desire it, it will happen. When the student is ready the Guru will manifest. 

So Dear Reader, this is a rather rambling answer to your question, see if it helps you in some way.

www

 

Layers of Sanskrit

astrologerbydefault24 Comments

Devbhasha Samskrutam aka Sanskrit is the original language of this universe. It derives from OM, the seed of this universe we exist in. Rishi Panini ‘saw’ its grammar from Akash and wrote it. Sanskrit is linked to your DNA and is the perfectly arranged language of Light. It cannot be translated as there is nothing you can translate it to. And just because someone has learnt to read/ write it, does not mean that he has understood the texts of Sanatan Dharma or its texts, Sanskrit has layers and layers.

A simple example. There is this very common Sanskrit shlok in the praise of Shri Ganapati,

ॐ अगजानन पद्मार्कं गजाननं अहर्निशम् । अनेकदंतं भक्तानां एकदन्तं उपास्महे ॥ ॐ

OM Agajanana padmarkam, Gajananam aharnisham, anek dantam bhaktanam, ek dantam upasmahe OM

It is generally translated as ‘Ganapati is the beloved son of Devi Parvati. Her face lights up with love for him and thus that radiance falls on him. Similarly the blessings of Ganapati fall on his many devotees who worship him with devotion.’

The pictures I have put in this post are of the soft-grey colored Shri Dhoomraketu Ganapati. This is his form in the current Kaliyug. He destroys the Ahamkara, self-ego, sense of individual ego and thus grants Moksh.

www.psychologicallyastrology.com

And this shlok also means this,

Om – is the seed of this universe, the pranav-mantra.

Agajaa would mean ‘the child of the mountain’, ie the Kundalini rests on the highest energy point of the Mooladhar chakra which is linked to the Pruthvi tattva. Kundalini or Devi Shakti is also called Parvati, the daughter of the mountain/ Parvat Himalaya.

Anan means face, access, door, entrance and its also indicates non-movement, non-animation etc. The Kundalini at rest is the Agajaa-annan. She rests/ sleeps with her ‘face’ blocking the entrance of the Sushumna. 

Padma as I have mentioned in an earlier post, is the conscious energy of time-space and the rest of the dimensions. It also means lotus, chakras, a serpent, sinous movement, an elephant with its massiveness and can also indicate a complete merging.

Arka is the light of the internal sun of self-awareness experienced at the end of the twelve chakras, at the Dwadashanat. The ‘Light of the Self’.

Gaj-anan is the opening of the Sushumna located at the Mooladhar chakra. I have mentioned somewhere that Gajanan/ Ganapati is the deity whose permission is necessary for gaining access to the Sushumna. (Deity means conscious intelligence, there is no classical ‘god’ in Sanantan Dharma)

Gaja is earth tattva, the foundation from which the Kundalini will make her move. Or also the solidity, steadiness of your spiritual practice.

Aharnisham means continuously, constantly, steadily, day/ night. But it also means the illusion of the individual soul/ Jivatma being separate from the Parabrahma.

Anek-dantam-bhaktanam is ‘a separated point’. The best way I can describe this is something like the school physics experiment of interference of light waves. A single point is viewed as being divided into multiple points. The same point is ‘divided’ into many. How can a point be divided? Ask your physics teacher if he can explain. Or ask a quantum scientist and be amazed when he speaks of Sanatan Dharma.

Ek-danta means one single point or focussed concentration or the Ultimate realisation. Or the original point which is perceived as ‘a separated point’. The non-dual Advaita which is perceived as multiplicity.

Upasmahe is the verb, the past perfect tense of Upasna. This word has several meanings, but the most interesting meaning is to throw off, or to remove firmly. So this will mean the action of removing the illusion of the multiple points from the one single point. It is in the past perfect tense of the verb. So this action has already been completed. A paradox. 

So this simple seeming shlok/ verse has completely different hidden depths. A real genuine Guru would be able to add more meanings and perhaps also grant the experience of this Shloka. See what you make of it?

www.psychologicallyastrology.com

So to address the question that someone asked me.

How genuine are the translated Sanskrit works? The answer is that someone understands something as per his level of understanding. And understanding depends on the level of experience. And experiencing Devbhasha Sanskrutam requires contemplation. You have to do continuous Dhyan over it to experience it. eg When you are doing your Dhyan with the ‘Soham’ mantra you are experiencing, understanding it. More you meditate on Sanskrit more deeply will you experience/understand it. Sanskrit is a palimpsest, layers and layers of meanings. So if you choose to read a translated book, choose after evaluating the translator well. And at least read the original Sanskrit shlokas/text if you can.

 

Ramal Shastra Tantra is the source of Geomancy and IChing

astrologerbydefault3 Comments

Ramal is a Sanskrit word which means ‘telling fortune using dice’ and Vidya is essential knowledge. And already I knew that there is a Ramal Tantra too. Tantra starts where your Pranayam and Yog stop.

(Modern scholars who study the fundamentals of the Sanatan Dharma, try to classify the deities, the shlokas, mantra, yantra etc into Vedic and Tantric. This is an exercise in futility. It is like giving a 1st standard kid the books required for a Ph.D and applauding him when he sorts them into piles by the colors on their front pages. There is nothing called Vedic or Tantric or Yogic or whatever. It is all Sanatan Dharm.)

So I looked up geomancy books available, these were all referring to Arabic and Latin influenced versions of Ramal, didn’t buy them. Also found a 2 day workshop for Rs 12000, where the teacher was going to teach ‘Basics of Ramal’, didn’t buy this either. Finally I found a Sanskrit book Ramal rahasya, the secrets of Ramal and Ramal sara Tantra the Essence of Ramal Tantra.

The ‘author’ of Ramal Jyotish is Bhagwan Shiv Himself. It is a Vidya taught by Him to Devi Parvati and it has an associated Tantra, quite formidable.

magic_book_by_boordaf-d8rws8n-min

Ramal rahasya starts off with a dialogue between Shiv and his wife Parvati (they are the intelligent conscious Tamogun, its potential and kinetic aspects respectively). He has clearly states several times that this cannot be learnt or perfected without a Guru. Guru means a spiritual Teacher. A Teacher who unveils to you the conscious intelligence operating in this created universe. So Ramal is something quite serious.

Ramal-Shastra is not Arabic, neither is it European nor Chinese. It is from the Sanatan Dharma/ Hinduism, it is a Vidya and a Tantra and it is in Sanskrit. In Jyotish, Ramal is used as a type of Prashna. It is used to find answers of one single question uppermost in your mind. Ramal Shakal/ Roop have been used by Aleister Crowley in his Thoth Tarot deck illustrations.

  • Modern ‘geomancy’ is nothing but Ramal Shastra albeit in a degraded form. Ramal Shastra travelled from Bharat/ India to Arabia and thence to Europe. It has been distorted from the original Sanskrit eg the names used are in Arabic/ Latin, but the concepts of divination are almost the same.
  • Ramal shastra also travelled to the east and gave birth to the IChing and got converted to its 8 root trigrams. Again the concepts and the names used are almost similar. I have written about IChing in an earlier post, I use it sometimes for quick answers. (Do use IChing especially if you have questions related to business, politics, strategy and manuvering. It gives very useful insights and solutions)

But the thing is IChing or Geomancy, the Arabic/ Latin/ Chinese versions have lost the connection to the Tantra of Ramal. Tantra is knowing how to put the energy to work. These two are now divinatory methods of lowered consciousness. Of the two, IChing is more powerful than ‘Geomancy’, the ‘Tao’ of IChing is a very aware intelligence.

Tantra tells you the problems and fixes the things too. Tantra also leads to Self-realization. Jyotish too is a Vidya, it leads to self-illumination and Ramal Shastra is very much a part of this. Every Yog or Vidya or Shastra has an associated Tantra or it is not of much use. You have the machine/ yantra, the knowledge/ mantra by you need to know the process/ tantra in order to achieve your goal.

But Ramal is Ramal, nothing can compare with this. You can do much much more with the original Ramal Shastra/ Tantra. Just the act of casting the reading sets the solution in motion.

(I wanted to write a book on the original Ramal Shastra and Tantra but my fingers are unable to type it. I have a typing speed of over 60 words/min. But when I think of writing the secrets of Ramal, pran actually stops moving in my fingers. It is not my karma to write this book. So if you read from some english book on ‘geomancy’, do try to channelise the conscious intelligence behind it, so that your readings become more powerful. )

Sasa yog, Saturn in 2020-2025, spiritual aspects

So here is an introduction to the original Ramal. You already know astrology, the basics at least? Ramal then will be very easy for you to learn.

For learning Ramal you will need to know,

  1. The descriptions of the 12 houses of the horoscope. You already know the brief keywords.
  2. The descriptions of the 9 graha of Jyotish, Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Rahu and Ketu. This also is quite easy. You have read about them, you know how they behave. If not, I have written posts on them which you can read. Even if you remember a few keywords to begin with, it is good start. (Use the index page to locate the posts you wish to read)
  3. The detailed descriptions of the 16 images/ Shakal शकल used in Ramal. For this you will have to consult some ‘geomancy’ or modern Ramal book.
    • I use the original Sanskrit names as they have actual meanings. These 16 Shakal, are 16 types of figures drawn with single dot/ Bindu and a single line/ Rekha (In modern geomancy, the line is drawn as 2 dots, thus their tantric power is lost).
    • Shakal शकल is a Sanskrit word which means fragment or bit or small piece. (Sakal सकल is ‘entirety’.) Shakal are also called Roop रूप which means the ‘clue to the form’.

These 16 images, the Shakal शकल , made me want to learn Ramal Shastra. These are the 16 forms of the Moon/ Chandra. Each form of the Moon is called a Chandra-kala, this lasts for one day and this day is called a Tithi. So each Shakal is in fact the conscious intelligence of the Tithi or the Kala. These Kala कला are a part of Shri Vidya, the knowledge of your own internal energy geometry. These 16 images give Ramal its tantric identity. Ramal Shastra is Tantra.

The 7 regular graha-s rule 2 Shakal शकल each and the shadow planets, Rahu and Ketu rule one Shakal each. The names of the Shakal are the names of the planets. The figures you will need to practice a bit so that you can remember them. Don’t stress yourself by trying to by-heart things, as you do your practice readings you will understand them. Keep all your reference books near you. Divination is best when you have your mind relaxed.

0f1a98cc80566649c98a2c73b48f869f

Sixteen, is ‘Shodash’ in Sanskrit. There are several sixteen things in Sanatan Dharm and linked to your energy self. Sixteen is one of the esoteric numbers of the Shri yantra, the geometry of the manifested universe.

There are the sixteen vowels of the Sanskrit varnamala. These are the energies of the Shakti. You already know that the vowels are connected to the Ida nadi or the ‘feminine’ energy or the Moon, ie these 16 vowels are linked to the Devi Prakruti, ie they are the 16 emanations of the Devi Lalita Mahatripursundari.

The Moon/ Chandra has sixteen phases. The no-moon Amavasya, the full-moon Pournima and the fourteen phases as he waxes or wanes, it is a total sixteen. These are the sixteen Chandra kala. Into Shri-vidya again, these 16 Chandra-kala are the Sixteen Matrika Devi-s.

And there is also an entire book in Jyotish called the Chandra-kala Nadi used for predictions. Jyotish is very much a part of Sanatan Dharm, it is a Ved-ang and it is a route for self-realisation.

  • चन्द्र – Chandra is the – moon, golden-reddish-silvery, brilliant, glimmering light, shining, fluid motion, graceful, pleasing, excellence etc.
  • कला – Kala is a – part, sound vibration, elements of the material world, fineness, embryo, skill, division of time, 16, intelligence also ignorance, the sapta-dhatu of the body, etc.

These 16 chandrakala are then the 16 beams of light radiated by MahaShodashi. The word ‘Maha-Shodashi Devi’, in Sanskrit, literally means the great 16 beams of internal light. She is the Prakruti, she is all manifested creation and everything in it.

There is a very powerful Shodashi mantra composed only of 16 beej akshar-s. It is hidden in one of the shlokas of the Devi Atharvasheersham in the Devi Mahatmya. It is obviously available on the internet, but it is dangerous, fast acting and one should not use it without guidance from a realised Guru.

The Vishuddhi chakra, described as a ‘lotus’ is the lower chakra of the Chandra-mandal has 16 ‘petals’. The chakras are called ‘lotus’ and is not just a poetic gesture. Lotus flower is called ‘padma’ in Sanskrit. But ‘padma’ has several other deeper meanings also. ‘Padma’ also means a phase, a step, the dimensions and ultimately means ‘Great-Time’ the Maha-Kaal. So the Vishuddhi chakra can be more correctly understood as a knot in the Brahma-nadi within the Sushumna. This is a place where the brahma-nadi curves and recurves around itself perfectly creating these 16 loops. These loops exist in time, in space and the other dimensions. The space-time curve of science-fiction actually exists inside your own self. Vishuddhi chakra is an important milestone in your spiritual progress. It is only when the kundalini crosses this point that you are called ‘Nara’ नर , otherwise you are still a ‘Pashu’ पशु .

The chandra-mandal is the highest part of the Shri-chakra composed of the Vishuddhi and Ajnya chakras. The human body is a yantra, basically a machine, it is a means to an end but is also a barrier if you do not know how to use it. It is a means  of control and can imply a bondage or a chain too. You have to use the force that this body (all its 5 layers) contains only then can you achieve Moksh, there is no other way. The yantra are put to work by application of the appropriate mantra and how to actually do this is the tantra.

And on an astrological note, I always assert that Venus is the real Moksh-karak, the agent of realization. His other name is षोडशांशु Shodash-anshu, he is a ray, thread, end-point of the 16. Recognise his real nature and follow him back to the Maha-Shodashi Devi and then go inwards into yourself.

ramal dice

So back to the topic, the 16 Shakals of Ramal are linked to all these 16 powerful energies as above. The शकल are raw power in themselves, they are not just figures. If you intend to use Ramal in any way, try to use the correct Sanskrit names of the Shakals. This will add to your divination and you will get precise results. Here is a brief description of the 16 Shakals, their real names in Sanskrit (Devbhasha Samskrutam).

1. vagmi Vagmi वाग्मि – represents Pratipada Tithi, the first day after the no moon or full moon. Its ruler is Jupiter. Vagmi means excellent, philosophical, teacher.

2.  lohitah Lohitah लोहित: – Dwitiya tithi. Ruler Mars. Lohitah means red, copper, metal. 

3.  ushnaguh Ushnaguh उष्णगु: – Trutiya tithi. Ruler Sun. Ushnaguh means the one with very hot rays.

4.  vidhuh Vidhuh विधु: – Chaturthi tithi. Ruler Moon. Vidhuh means solitary or of rhythmic movement

5. patah Patah पात: Panchami tithi. Ruler Rahu. Patah means downfall, illusory appearance, misfortune.

6.  bodhanBodhanah बोधन: Shashti tithi. Ruler Mercury. Bodhanah means instructor, clever, exciting.

7.   ketuh Ketuh केतु: Saptami tithi. Ruler Ketu. Ketuh means a banner, unusual.

8. saurih Saurih सौरि: Ashtami tithi. Ruler Saturn. Saurih means the Son of Sun. Saturn Shani is the son of the Sun Surya

9. mandahMandagah मन्दग: Navami tithi. Ruler Saturn. Mandagah means slow moving.

10. Teekshnanshuh Teekshnanshuh तीक्ष्णांशु: Dashami tithi. Ruler Sun. Teekshnanshuh means sharp fiery rays.

11. daityarchithDaityarchitah दैत्यार्चित: Ekadashi tithi. Ruler Venus. Daityarchitah means the one teacher respected by the sons of Diti.

12. soorihSoorih सूरि: Dvadashi tithi. Ruler Jupiter. Soorih is a learned thinker, scholar.

13. aarahAarah आर: Trayodashi tithi. Ruler Mars. Aarah means iron, several enemies, or a sting.

14.  kavih Kavih कवि: Chaturthi tithi. Ruler Venus. Kavih means enlightened, in-control, a sage.

15.  sheetanshu Sheetanshu शीतांशु: Amavasya tithi. Ruler Moon. Sheetanshu means cold rays.

16.  saumyahSaumyah सौम्य: Pournima tithi. Ruler Mercury. Saumyah means Son of the Moon, likeable, bland. Mercury Budha is the son of Moon Chandra.

Eclipses in the horoscope, birth and transit analysis

Now if you intend to use Ramal as a divinatory tool you will need the typical Ramal dice. I saw some Ramal dice on sale on etsy. But if you don’t want to buy them, you can always use cards. You will need one set of these 16 images above, you can draw them on cards with a marker. Write the Sanskrit names on the cards, so that at least some part of the real power of the Ramal gets channelised into your reading. Try with the cards first, if you get inspired then buy the dice. (The dice are very convenient as with one single roll you get the entire group of mother images 1 to 4.)

So you have your Ramal cards and your question. Now you have to pull out 4 cards from the set and create the Ramal Khet or Shield. The actual Khet has 16 computations like this below. This is a completed khet, your reading. There are 16 positions and each position is occupied by a Shakal. Each position can be interpreted to get insights into your question.

Screenshot 2020-07-01 at 2.37.45 PM copy

  • The 4 cards you pull out are the 4 मातृ Matru ‘mother images’. (these are filled in the right side top 1 to 4 slots). Note them as per the sequence you pull them out as you will be using the 1st mother image again to calculate the 16th image. 
  • You derive the ‘daughter images’ from the mother images. These daughters are filled in the 5 to 8 slots on the top left of the Khet.
  • Then you calculate the four ‘niece images’ at number 9 to 12 in the second line. These are derived using the images of the daughters.
  • The niece images at 9 and 10 are combined to make the first witness at 13. It is filled in the third row right side.
  • And the nieces at 11 and 12 are combined to make the second witness at 14. This image is at the third row left side.
  • The two witnesses at 13 and 14 are combined to get one Judge image at 15. This is at the lowest row, left side.
  • And the Judge image and the 1st mother image are ‘combined’ to get the 16th image called the Reconciler.

Learning how to compute the Khet using the 4 cards, the ‘mother images’ you draw is very easy, it is given in every geomancy book. But I suggest that you get an app which gives you the computed shield directly. I use ‘Brian’s Geomancy’ app by developer ‘AoA’, it is a free app for iPhone. It computes till the 15th image. So you will need to compute the 16th image manually.

But ‘geomancy’ as it is taught today generally uses 15 images like this below. The 16th figure is not calculated. The Bindu/Dot and Rekha/Line of the original Ramal Shastra have tantric significance and inherent power. In geomancy, these have been changed, Dot is continued as a Dot but the Line has been converted to a Double Dot.

IMG_6619347F0E12-1

So this is how you cast your Ramal Khet.

  • Sit in a neat and clean place, face north or east.
  • Deep breathe a few times, relax your mind, focus on your question.
  • Shuffle your Ramal cards and pull out the 1st one. This is the 1st ‘mother image’ so input it in your app.
  • Similarly input the 2nd 3rd and 4th cards ‘mother images’ in the app and touch ‘done’. 
  • The app will compute the complete shield and give you the final figure of the 15 images.
  • This is how you calculate the 16th Shakal, the Reconciler. in the example below, figure one will be the 1st mother image and figure two will be the 15th Judge image. You combine them together using this formula to get the 16th Reconciler image.

Ramal Shastra Tantra is the source of Geomancy and IChing

So if you are learning ‘geomancy’ or ‘ramal’ from any arabic/ english book do remember to cast the 16th Reconciler Image too. This is the gist of the entire reading and offers unique insights into the corrective actions which you will be taking up to address your problem.

And as Ramal Shastra and Tantra is authored by Bhagwan Shiv and the first ‘student’ of this Vidya is Devi Shakti, it would be best to think of them with gratitude before doing the divination. This will make your Geomancy/Ramal or IChing readings more powerful.

Chakra, Graha and the Rashi

(I had got a question on Ramal Jyotish some time ago but was putting off writing this post as I did not know how much I would be allowed by karma to write on this topic. So this post is a bit disjointed.)