QUES ANSW DIVINE 04-2022-19 Dear friends,
These are information compiled as QA by me in 1998’s-2014’sand stored in my computer. They are posted by very learnt members. BEING COMPILATION THERE MAY BE ERRORS. Sincerely, R. Gopalakrishnan, 78, dated 19-04-2022 Q1 Do we have legends of Physicaltransformation of bodies told in the Vedas? A1 YES. One is of Apala told in the Rig Veda. Apala's story comes in the form of a verse composed atleast 4,000 years ago by the most conservative estimates. The story goes that Apala was not avery pretty woman. She had been rejected by her husband. She had coarse andugly skin, a skin disease perhaps. One day, while walking in the woods, shepicked up a plant and chewed on it, not realising it was the magical Somaplant. Theaccidental extraction of its juice between her teeth caught the attention ofIndra, king of the gods, who loves Soma juice. He appeared before her and offered her a boon. "Makeme beautiful," she said. And so, Indra pulled her through the holeof his chariot wheel three times causing her coarse skin to slough and she emergedradiant and beautiful, with soft skin. Her sloughed skin turned into ahedgehog, an alligator and a chameleon, which is why they have coarse skin. Similar stories of physical transformationoccur in Puranic myths that were written almost 3,000 years after the Rig Veda. Inanother story, Shiva laughs at Shaktibecause she is dark or Kali. Sothe goddess bathes in the river Yamuna and emerges radiant, and comes to beknown as Gauri, the fair one. The river acquires the dark complexionof the goddess and so comes to be known as Kalindi. Inthe Bhagavata Purana, the ugly bent woman Trivikra is touched by Krishna whostraightens her back and makes her beautiful. While the transformation of ugliness intobeauty brings about erotic and household bliss, the transformation of beautyinto ugliness is seen as critical for spiritual bliss. Another is the story of Karaikal Ammaiyar, a Tamil saint, who makes herself uglyso that she doesnot have to contend with the lustful desires of her husband and other men andshe can focus on her devotion to Shiva. In the Puranas, Shiva is described as ahandsome god, who smears his body with ash so that people realise that morevaluable than the body is the soul within the body. There is a clear shift in attitude towardsbody from Rig Vedic times to the Puranic period. In the Rig Veda, the body and its beautyand fertility are celebrated. In later times, this celebration was balanced bya reminder of the mortality of flesh and the limitations of desire. Q2 Who is Kala Bhairava? A2 Kala Bhairava is the deity who is known to manage timeon all the planets. According to the Siddhas, there is whatis known as the Kala Bhairava universe. A divine being called Kala Bhairavarules the universe. In astral travel the Siddhas made visits tothe Kala Bhairava universe and they have given a description of what the God(Kala Bhairava) looked like. Kala Bhairava is dark in complexion,fierce looking, and has a dog as his vehicle. Kala Bhairava has a significantplace in all the main temples devotes to Shiva. He is one of the most-feareddeities, but actually, he is one of the most rewarding ones. Lord Kala Bhairavais that manisfestation of Lor Shiva who manage time (Kala). Q3 What is the unique feature of UdupiKrishna temple? A3 The unique feature of Shree Krishna Mutt temple atUdupi is that the Lord isworshipped only through a window with nine holes called the Navagraha Kitiki. The window is exquisitely carved and silver -plated. It has been a tradition in this temple to worship the Lord only throughthis window. Here there is a holy temple of SriKrishna and this is the birthplace ofSri Madhwacharya, founder of DwaitaPhilosophy and one of the three great Acharyas, he is reputed to have discovered the idol of Shri Krishna from a ship, which he saved miraculously fromthe clutches of fatal storm breeding onthe sea at Malpe Q4 Do we have any sastha temple near Vedaranyamwhere he is a grihastha? A4 Yes. It is at Kadanthethi temple - oneof the famous temples of Sastha. Sastha is seen in this temple withPoorna & Pushkala. The temple is located @ Vedharanyam, almost tip ofthe Tamil Nadu. My note- During sastha preethi we worshipPoornaPushkala sametha Lord Dharmasastha. At Achhankovil, the idol in the sanctumis Lord Dharmasastha with Poorna and Pushkala on either side Q5 Where do we have the Parvatha malai andwhat are its attributes? A5 Parvathamalai is located near toThenmathimangalam village, which is 30 kms from Thiruvannamalai (Arunachala).The hill(Parvatamalai) is4500 feet(Approx) high from the sea level. On the top of the hill, LordMallikarjunaswamy(Sivan) temple is located, which is believed to be 2000 yearsold. This hill is full ofherbal(mooligai) plants. It is believed that Celestial beings come down toParvatha Malai during the brahma muhurtham to offer prayers to lord shiva here.Theclimb to this mountain is quite difficult with some parts of the climb beingnearly 90 degrees. Once one reaches the top, there is a nicefragrance that makes the person sleep and once the person wakes up, he seesthat pooja has been performed for the lord. It is believed that human beingsshould not see the prayers offered by Celestial beings and hence they go tosleep during those hours. Sri. ChandrasekaraSaraswathi Swamigal had in his bashyam about this hills said that lord shivaand a lot of siddha purushals live in the hill range in and aroundtiruvannamalaiand it is sacrilegious even to set one's foot on these ranges. Q6 What is the procedure to take bath? A6 Waters are also known by the nameNaraas and the Lord of Lords Mahavishnu assumed the name of Narayana becausehe is sleeping over his aadisesha bed over the waters. There for the benevolent God Narayana should be remembered withreverence by the wise people while they are engaged in bath. When a Brahmin starts towards a source ofwater for bath, the gods and pithrus who are thirsty also follow him in the air. If the Brahmin just dries up his body with a clothwithout offering the waters to the pithrus and devas, they turn away from himin disappointment.(It has to be emembered that one should not take bath without at least minimumclothes, and one should not enter a source of water with naked body and heshould ot urinate in water during bath) . The water from the head of the Brahmin ispartaken by the devaas, the water flowing from the body of the Brahmin s drunkby the devas and the departed elders (pitrus) quench their thirst from the waters flowing from the clothes of theBrahmin. (Remember inpitrukaaryaas, we offer vaasodakam ) Q7 What is Sree chakra? A7 Lord Shiva gave 64 Chakras and theirMantras to the world, to attain variousspiritual and material benefits. For his consort Devi he gave the Shreechakra and the highly coveted and themost powerful Shodashakshari mantra, which is the equivalent of all the other64 put together. Sri Chakra the mystical construction ofthe Cosmos. The secrets of Cosmic unity heldby the inter-penetration of nine triangles. Triangles - the productof three phases of cosmic process - creation, preservation, dissolution. Andthe triad of time. Past present and future. Into which the whole of theactivities of the universe could be summed up. -- 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/469172924.787614.1650351894051%40mail.yahoo.com.
