Wednesday, December 10, 2008

The quest of Brahma and Vishnu - mantra 88

Sri gurubhyo namaha.

In the eighty eighth mantra of the Tirumandiram, the sage sings of the unfathomable glory of the supreme Siva by reminding us of an incident mentioned in the puranas. This 'incident' is one involving the trinity - Brahma,Vishnu and Siva. And is an oft repeated story in India. Though I refrain from going into the entire story in this post, I have tried to give as best an account of it as possible for the benefit of those who have not heard of this legend before.

அடிமுடி காண்பார் அயன்மால் இருவர்
படிகண் டிலர்மீண்டும் பார்மிசைக் கூடி
அடிகண் டிலேன் என்று அச்சுதன் சொல்ல
முடிகண்டேன் என்று அயன் பொய்மொழிந் தானே. 16.5.88.

Baffling Quest Of Brahma And Vishnu
Ayan and Mal, His Head and Foot toiling sought,
Baffled in their quest, again on earth they met;
"I saw not the Foot," Achuth plained,
"The Head I saw," Ayan falsely claimed. 16.5.88.

ComAyan and Mal, His Head and Foot toiling sought The two Gods, namely, Vishnu and Brahma, decided amongst themselves to set out in search of the head and foot of Siva (and thus they sought for years on end), Baffled in their quest, again on earth they met; and after a long and hard quest they had to return to the Earth in vain, without having seen the head or foot (the limits) of Shiva. "I saw not the Foot," Achuth plained, (and, when back on the Earth) Vishnu spoke plainly and truthfully and revealed that he had not seen the foot even after his long and thorough search. "The Head I saw," Ayan falsely claimed. But Brahma made a false claim of having seen the head of Shiva.

* Through the above mantra (and the story that it brings to mind) the sage reveals to us the glory of the Supreme Shiva who is unfathomable by even the gods like Brahma and Vishnu.
The above story is mentioned in the Shiva Puranam (the purana dealing with and extolling the virtues and glory of Shiva) and for those of you unfamiliar with the legend, I will make a brief attempt to portray it here. It is worthy of note that like many many other mythological/religious legends, many versions of the same theme exist in India and a lot depends on 'who' tells the story!

Once the creator Brahma and the preserver Vishnu were caught up in a war of words, each of them was of the view that he was superior to the other. Brahma felt that being the creator he had the more important brief and was thus more powerful to Vishnu. Vishnu on the other hand felt that being the preserver was a more difficult job and thus made him more powerful than the creator. Their battle of words soon turned into a full blown war and before long they were at each other’s neck fighting with a vigour and rage that only those blinded by their own arrogance and ego possess. Soon, all the other gods noticed this and knew that it will not be good for the world if this fight between the two gods continued any further. So (as always) they went to Shiva and sought his help in settling this dispute.

Shiva then assumed the form of a great pillar of fire (light linga) and appeared between the two fighting gods. Seeing this immense shaft of light stunned Brahma and Vishnu and they were quiet for a moment, wondering what such an unknown and mighty force might be. They then heard an asariri ( a disembodied voice) from the sky commanding them to listen. The voice then continued to say that the dispute of which of the two gods were superior to the other, would be settled if one of them was able to ‘see’ the top or the bottom of the pillar of light before them.

At once, it was decided that Brahma would go up (towards the sky) and try to find the head of this pillar of Light (Shiva) and Vishnu would go down (under the earth) to find the foot of Shiva. It was agreed that whoever was able to find the limit (the head or the foot) would be superior to the other. Brahma then assumed the form of a swan and began his journey into the sky. Vishnu on the other hand, assumed the form of Varaha (wild boar) and bored through the earth to descend into the very depths of the world. The two of them went thus on their quest for thousands of years and even still could find no end to the pillar of light (as light has no limit). After proceeding in their quest for so long, the two of them began to tire and realise that the supreme Shiva was indeed greater than either of them. This realisation began to humble their ego and their arrogance.




Anonymous said...

Lovely story Bhagavan. What happened to the sandhyavandana series? The lalitha group is deadly silent.
- K

mooligai sidhan said...

sri gurubhyo namaha.

@ k
Ya. One of my favourite stories now this one - the one with the origin of the fiery lingam. Infact its a lovely coincidence that this mantra and the story therein comes in the time of the mahAkArthigai deepam!! The deepam @ the sacred Thiruvannamalai is celebrated in memory of this occurence of the fiery linga. The agni swarupa of siva is seen when the top of the giri radiates with the mighty fire/flame.That is today actually (11th dec)!

The SV series? Well I was wondering if all that was music falling on deaf ears?! I am still waiting for responses after the first part so we can proceed with the second.The group is very silent all right - so please begin the activity!

Kothai said...

We are a lazy bunch. I kept the SV series mails aside to pour over later but never got around to reading them. Would love to hear your explanations over an e-satsang. Maybe that'll inspire us.

- K

mooligai sidhan said...

sri gurubhyo namaha.
Well, you'll have to make some time and have a read of the first part! An e-satsang! Well I'll do that and any other thing that will encourage more people to take their nitya karma anushtana seriously. If one or two of you take up trikala sandhyavandana, then my job is somewhat done!
BTW, none of the details or explanations are mine - I just parrot what the scriptures and other learned people say.

Ignorant wanderer said...

It is a very nice story.
one point that i think is god is infinite and he can never be quantified or can be never be given shapes. i think this mantra says it will be in vain to see god and further the intentions of creating this world in the way it is, if any one says he had then it is a lie. and seek way to unify the infinite divine.
it makes another question why we had separated from the divine god or are we different entity from god
well a so difficult question for people like me to answer.
will continue more as soon as possible

Ignorant wanderer