QUESTION ANSWER DIVINE 11 Q1 Everybody knows theidiom Bhageeratha Prayatnam and the story of Ganges descending to earth. Whetherearth was ready to take her? What did Siva do to solve the crisis?
A1 The river Ganges isvery sacred to the Hindus. Those who take a dip in the river are said to beridden of all their sins and attain immortality. It is believed that the river used to flow in the heavenstill the sage, Bhageerath, made severe penances and directed its flow towardsthe earth to save his 60000 ancestors who were lying in the nether world(patala) in a heap of ashes due to a curse delivered by sage Kapila. Since earth was notyet prepared to withstand the impact of its downward descent, Lord Siva cameforward to allow it to fall on His head first and then flow down towards theearth. He also made the Ganges His permanent companion. Three ofthem flowed west and three east. The remaining seventh stream followed Bhageerath to the nether worldsand helped all his ancestors from damnation Q2 Just LIKE Nandi many ofus might have heard of Brinji. Who is Brinji? A2 Another important member of Siva pariwar is Bhringi, thezealous devotee who was not inclined to worship anyone other than Siva andrefused to worship even Parvathi,till he was made to realize his mistake. Andhakasura-vadha-murthy: The form in which he defeatedAndhakasura, who subsequently joined his forces as his commander and becamepopular as Bhringi. Q3 How many parts arethere in a Sivalinga? A3 In this aspect it has three parts. The lower part represents Brahma.The middle part, which is octagonal in shape, represents Vishnu. The upperpart, which is cylindrical in shape, represents Rudra and is also calledPujabhaga. Q4 Is Siva worshippedother than linga form? A4 Yes is the answer. In almost all the Siva temples, worshipis generally made to Sivalingas only. In the North part of India, we come across his images inthe sanctum sanctorum of many Siva temples. Q5 What are all thedetails about the Sivalingam? A5 A Sivalingam is usually a round or cylindrical andprotruding object. The cylindrical part is held firmly by a circular base. Physically a Sivalingam is a phallic symbol, representing themale and female sexual organs in a state of conjugal bliss. Q6 Everybody knows most ofthe Sivalingams are made of stone. Which stones are best forSivalaingam?Whether it can be worshipped in home? A6 The Sivalingas are normally found installed in the temples. But many devotees of Siva keep them in their houses and offer regularworship. People are however cautioned not to keepSivalingas in their houses without offering worship, since they are believed tobe powerful sources of divine energy. The round and smooth stones found in theriver beds of the Narmada or the Godavariare considered to be the most ideal for worship WhenSivalingas are found fortuitously in the river beds and desolate places, it isconsidered to be a great omen. They are housed in temples or houses and offeredregular worship. Q7 Everybody knowsDakshinamoorthy is the form of Siva as Guru. Which are the other differentforms of Siva? A7 The different forms are the following:- Panchanana Siva: Insome temples Siva is shown with five faces. Each of the faces has a name andrepresents a specific aspect. These five faces are Isana, Tatpurusa, Aghora, Vamadeva and Sadyojata. Isana faces south east and represents Iswara aspect of Siva knownas Sadasiva, or the Eternal Siva. Tatpurusha faces the east. He is Siva in his aspect as a deludedpurusha or ego. Aghora faces the south and represents the destructive andregenerative aspect of Siva that, like fire, first devours life and thenprepares the ground for its renewal. Vamadeva faces north.He is healer and preserver. Sadyojata faces west and represents the creative power of Siva. Anugrahamurthy: This is the milder or peaceful aspect of Lord Shiva when heis in the company of his beloved devotees or his family members. Ugramurthy: Also known as Rudra , Bhairava, Kankala or Samharamurthy, this is theferocious or angry form of Siva, generally associated with the events duringwhich Siva assumed his terrible form to slay the demons or the wicked. Kankala-bhairava: The form which he assumed after cutting off the fifthhead of Brahma. Tripurantakmurthi: The form he assumed while destroying the three cities of gold,silver and iron built by the three sons of Andhakasura. Sarabhesa-murthy: The form in which he allegedly fought and sanctified,Narasimha, the incarnation of Vishnu. Kalari-murthy: the form in which he fought and defeated Yama to save hisdevotee Markandeya. Kamantaka-murthy: The form in which he destroyed Manmadha, the god of lust,for disturbing him while doing penance. Andhakasura-vadha-murthy: The form in which he defeated Andhakasura, who subsequentlyjoined his forces as his commander and became popular as Bhringi. Q8 What is the story ofchandrasekhar? A8 Everybody knows the story of Moon’sspecial favour to Rohini. So allthe other wives complained it to the father Dakasha that their husband moon isnot treating them fairly Daksha got angry and cursed the moon to lose itsluminance (kala) day by day. Everyday the moon started loosing one luminancepart (kala) out of his 16 parts. Afraid and ashamed moon disappeared into the ocean. There aremany herbs that require the light of the moon to grow. Without moon, they wereharmed. Consequently there was suffering in the world. To end the problem the celestials advised moon to take refugein the Great Divine, Lord shiva. Left with only one kalA, he took refuge inLord Shiva. Being the gracefulAlmighty, He wore the moon crescent on His head, making him grow for 15 daysand decay for 15 days periodically. Thus chan^drashEkharar is considered a giver of refuge. Q9 Who is Kalyansundar?What is kayana-sundaravratham,? A9 The enchanting Lord in the wedding robe got married to the Daughter ofthe mountains and this form of God is called kalyANa sundharar kalyANa vratam is oneof the eight auspicious vratas.When the Sun is shining in the Pisces sign(mIna rAsi) that is in the month ofpaN^guni (mid of March to mid of April) on the uththara naxaththiram on theMoons growing face (shukla paxam), this vratam is observed. This is the dayShakthi married Lord Shiva It is also observed as the auspicious day when LordMuruga married devaseenaa. This vratam is explained in the skandha purANam. MahA vishNu got weddedto laxmi sincerely observing this vratam.Brahma wedded Saraswati, Indra wedded indrANi, moon wedded the 27 stars, sage Agastiyawedded Lobhamudra observing this vratam The two daughters ofvishhNu namely amR^itavalli, saundaryavalli were married to the six faced Lordas devasEna and vaLLI. Thedaughter of vedAN^ga R^ishhi called sukesi got married to nandi devar. Thetwo daughters of sage satyapUrNar pUrNa, pushhkaLai were wedded to mahA sAsthA. kAma got rathi, sIta got rAma, jAmbhavati got kR^ishhNa, Theman who observes this vratam will get the girl he likes and the woman getsbeautiful man as her husband. The couple who observe this will get good offspring. Pleasedwith her austerity, Lord shiva granted her the boon of being part of His form.So the Lord now appeared male on the right side and female on the left side andhence becamearchanArIshvara. Q10 People knowing aboutBharatanatyam are familiar to sagePatangali. Who is sage Vyagraphada? What are their specialties? A10 There were twoardent sages vyAgrapAda and patanjali who were worshipping God to see Itsblissful dance that energizes the worlds. vyAgrapAda out of hisdevotion asked for the eyes and legs of the tiger, so that he could go very early in the dawn, even before the bees wake up, topluck the flowers very fresh - not even touched by the bees to offer to God !That is why he was called vyAgrapAda. Q11 Everybody knows Sivawon Durga by a dance at Chidambaram. Question- What is the name of the Danceform? How many places Siva performed it? A11 Siva won the play by acting the Urdva tANDava, raisingHis Feet to His Head Lord Shiva danced in the five ambalams during variousoccasions. Out of them chithambaramis very much renowned. Lord danced here to fulfil the worship of patanjali andvyAghra pAda mahaR^ishis. Q12 Everybody knowsMarkandeya story- Now the question: Name the sage father of Markandeya.Name thetemple asscociated with this story. A12 The sage mR^ikaNDu did not have an offspring for quite a long time. Heperformed tapas to get the blessings of Lord Siva His wife gave birth to achild mArkaNDEya, out of a boon from Lord Siva, by which mArkaNDEya would be veryintelligent but would live just for 16 years. As kAla still tried to take away mArkaNDEya's life, the Lordappeared furious from the Siva liN^gam and kicked kAla to death!! He blessedthe sincere devotion of the young boy and made mArkaNDEya to be in 16 always - deathless ! All the gods pleaded to Lord to show mercy on kAla. On theirrequest, God gave kAla life back and ordered him not to disturb His devotees. Thiruk kadavUr is thetemple associated with this valorous deedof Lord Siva. Q13 Everybody knowsdakshiNA mUrtiis the Guru form of Siva. Question- what do this indicate? A13 DakshiNA mUrti:south faced Lord (yOga mUrti)-The story is as follows. The four sons, of brahmA, sanaka, sanandana, sanAtana, sanatkumAra did austere tapas and analysis, but they were unclear of the SupremeTruth. They finally decided to come to Lord Siva to get the knowledge of theTruth. The Lord satunder the banyan tree, and the four sages also sat down around Him. Lordstayed in the yOga posture without saying a single word. The four sages got all theirdoubts cleared just by that posture. The form in which God appeared as aSupreme Guide is the form of wisdom dakshiNAmUrti.This explains that the Truthcannot be explained Q14 What are all the specialties of Cowdungin Ayurveda and jewellary ? A14A little-known shloka says that every Deity dwells in a different part of thecow, making her as holy as the Deities themselves. According tothe Mahabharata, Lakshmi, Goddess of Wealth and Prosperity, dwells in the cow’sdung, giving it spiritual value in Hinduism. Through the centuries,many practical uses for cow dung, as well as urine, have been discovered. Cowdung is also used to prepare vibhuti (holy ash) and plays a role in a varietyof religious rituals, such as Lakshmi Puja .Jewelersemploy cow urine to purify gold and silver ornaments, and ayurvedic doctorsprescribe it in the treatment of skin disease, obesity. Cow dung can leech poison from the body, including from snake and scorpion bites,and when made into a solution and sprayed on municipal waste, its antisepticqualities kill foul odors. Q15 Everybody knows death mean soul departed fromphysical body. What happen to soul ondeath? A15 At thetime of death, the body dies but the soul never dies. The soul passes from onebody to another after the death, like a body changes clothes, the soul goes ontaking endless number of bodies; until it pays off all the karmas attached tothe soul. The path the soul takes is decided by the past actions, popularlyknown as “Karmas”. After death the soul seeks an ideal bodyto be born again. So if one is born richor poor - it is because of his actions in previous life. Thus a man continues the journey of life and death with karmas attached to it fromone life to another by undergoing pain or pleasure. These areinformation posted by members compiled asQA by me in 1998’s-2000’s and stored in my computer. At this date I have noinformation of the members posted. Posted on 02-10-21 by R Gopalakrishnan -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Thatha_Patty" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/thatha_patty/595997634.977100.1633162740079%40mail.yahoo.com.
