Acting Without Eliciting Karma - Tayumanavar

One of the most fascinating aspects of the Saiva theory of Action is vastly different from that available in Bagavath Gita and many other Indian texts, is that there are ways in which an embodied soul can act but without eliciting any evi karmic traces that bring about many problems in lufe.

This theory is briefly outlined in this fascinating verse.

First he notes that there are two different ways in which he understands actions. The first is that because of metaphysical maturity seeing every action in fact as the action of BEING and thus taking no personal responsibility for them. The actions are seen as the Play of BEING  and thus always good even if the outcomes are very painful.  Such a view frees the soul also from guilt and such other psychological consequences that are quite normal but which can lead mental breakdowns if to the excess.

Now the other view is that with the soul polluted by Siddha Maayai, the Malam pervading in the deepest part of the mental modules, the Siddham, there comes to prevail Ego along with ignorance of the Metaphysical realms. The soul becomes ego-self and with an inability to see the metaphysical realms and hence the Play of BEING, ends up attributing to itself the AGENCY of the actions done.

Now Tayumanavar notes that when this way of thinking and understanding goes unchecked, there come to prevail more and more of the Malam in the mind  destroying the normal mental functioning itself. The person can become insane and fail to be conscious of actions as such, his own and that of others. He loses self-consciousness and with that becomes abnormal with no control and regulation over his own actions.

Now the question arises: How to avoid falling to this state of mental insanity and remain normal?

The solution lies in seeking the blessings of BEING whereby the soul is prevented from becoming excessively egoistic and returns to the view that actions can be that of BEING and that once one suppresses or destroys one’s own Ego, then all actions dome will be in fact that of BEING the universal praxis but now available in the behavior of an individual.  Such actions will never elicit the evil karmic deposits at all but aruL and hence will not result in the destruction of the mind and self consciousness.

All actions will become ToNdu, selfless service to mankind and such actions are in fact that of BEING when the soul becomes one with BEING. When one destroys the normal alienation that leads to seeing oneself as an Ego-self,  intentionality as distinct from that BEING ceases to be there and with that the absence of eliciting Karmic consequences good or bad.

8.
en ceyalinRi yaavu nin ceyalenRu
        eNNuveen ovvoru kaalam
puncey Maayai mayaGki en ceyalaip
        poruntuvee aQtoru  kaalam
pin ceyal yaatu ninaivinRik kidappeen
        pottaneen nannilai peRa nin
tan ceyaalka mudittidal veeNdum
        caccitaananta caR kuruvee!

Meaning:
O my Lord! There were times when I saw every action of mine as that of Yours, but when my mind became polluted by Maayai, the deluding Malam, then I began to see myself as the agent of all my actions. Then as  I became more and more egoistic like this, the Malam destroyed my self-consciousness whereby I became incapable of normal behavior becoming quite insane.  Now O My Lord! To help me to enjoy continuously the good state I with self-awareness, please transform all my actions into that of Yours and which You can do as You are the real Guru with absolutely clear consciousness that  comes along with supreme bliss.

The Imaging of Metaphysical Insights - Nammalvar

Central to Agamism or Tantrism that centers on Temple worship and right from the Prevedic Sumerian times where might temples were built, we have various metaphysical insights encrypted into various images or icons that become concrete shapes carved out of stones or cast into metallic images. Then we have Icon Thinking  that seeks to recover these metaphysical insights, bring into words and with that enjoy deep visions that are metaphysically illuminating and spiritually elevating.

This is the cultural dynamics of Agamism that is very strongly embedded in the culture of the Tamils.

In this verse of Namazvar we see a clear instance of this imaging  process that sustains deep metaphysical insights.

First it is noted that the BODY of BEING is vaan cudar and which is actually vaal cudar, brilliant and Pure Light.  Now as is the case with almost all mystics throughout the world and right from ancient times, BEING who remains a total mystery with respect to form, shows Himself at the highest reaches of metaphysical excursions as such a light that also coms along with Deep Silence as the language of communication.

But at some lower level comes the figural images like Tirumaal and so forth with head eyes arms legs and so forth. Here we note that the eyes hands (and the feet) are of the Red Lotus to indicate that the SEEING of BEING and the various ACTIONS, the Divine Praxis are out of Deep Love which is symbolized by this Red Lotus. The actions of BEING are not like that of human beings where there is an intention to gain something. BEING acts purely out of love expecting nothing at all in return except the happiness of the souls.

Now Tiru, the Woman or Sakti is held in the chest to show  that BEING holds the Power or Energy  as an integral part of Himself. In Saivism this same notion is imaged as the Androgynous form where Sakti is understood as His equal and the left part of the body.

Then come the generative and destructive processes, the central Divine Praxis that are the Panca Kritiyas when elaborated. Here they are attributed to Brahman who is said to issue from the Navel of Tirumaal, the location of the WOMB in the females.  For the destructive there is no special part of the body BEING becomes Rudra to effect the destruction and elimination of all. Here it is noted that BEING, by virtue of the fact that He in the shape of Rudra destroys all, He himself remains indestructible and hence always there.

We should note here that this metaphysical insights of Namazvar is the same as that in Saiva Siddhanta despite differences in the imaging .
              

2.
tiru udambu  vaan cudar centaamarai kaN kai kamalam
tiru idamee maarvam ayan idamee koppuuz
oruvu idamum entail perumaaRku aranee oo
oruvu idamum onRu inRi ennuL kalantaanukkee

Meaning:
The most authentic shape of BEING, the Fther of all is Pure and Brilliant Light. When He ***umes a shape in the form of a body, His eyes hands (and feet) are in the shape of Red Lotus. The place for Sakti the Tiru is His chest while His navel is the place from which emerge Brahma. When He has to destroy and annihilate anything in the cosmos including the cosmos itself He becomes the Rudra. This means He remains indestructible with no Power above Him to destroy Him. This is the essence of BEING who has become one with my soul.

Loga

In LOVE I am in Service to Siva

One of the most endearing accomplishments of the Tamils during the historical period that covers about 2500 years at least is the understanding and articulation that BEING is LOVE and that the truly spiritually developed are not the pompous and power-greedy Brahmins and such other upper castes but rather the Adyar, those who are always in service to God. A truly religious person become attached to BEING wholly by LOVE and nothing else. This remarkable understanding of genuine religiosity that was elaborated in some magnificent verses by Tirumular, finds a very early expression in this beautiful verse of Punitavati.

What in essence it says is that anyone, irrespective of difference in birth or sex, as long as he/she persists in doing actions that are good and noble, the ethically right, actions that gain the aruL of BEING, and thus always mindful of TRUTH, will eventually develop their senses so that they serve to disclose the metaphysical realms as well.

Here we have the distinction between the ordinary senses transformed to becoming the Siva KaraNam from being the mere Pacu KaraNam. Under normal circumstances the senses remain those which process only the physical information. But as one develops spiritually the senses reveal also the metaphysical realms and the ways BEING as Siva PLAYS the many games to manage the world. The Third Eye gets opened up and with that what were merely physical events subject to the physical laws of cause and effect now become the various games Siva plays and all to illuminate the souls and take them in the direction of Moksa. What remained only inferential and conjectural now become directly seen and witnessed.

Here emerges the spiritual pedagogy where BEING discloses Himself in various kinds of archetypal or iconic forms that develop not only Bakti but also metaphysical thinking of a profound kind that is called Icon Thinking. Such deep and profound metaphysical thinking finally lead to the vision of BEING as Pure Radiance and at which point all the figural icons are concealed from vision. This concealment is put here in terms of the metaphor of covering up the three main deities and hence all with the skin of the Black and huge beast, the elephant.

Such an action by BEING also frees the soul from the narrow kind of Bakti, the kind that enjoys emotional attachment to Siva, VishNu and so forth. When such figural apprehension of BEING dissolves there emerges the highest kind of spiritual development - seeing BEING wholly as LOVE and becoming an Adyar, the One who is humble and who is always in service to God and no one else.

This philosophy, the essence of Saiva Siddhanta is almost dead now having been killed by the VarNa promoting Brahmanism

16.
piNNiyaGkaL ceytanavu,
poynneRikad saaraamee
eNNiyoor aintum
iyaintanaal tiNNiya
kaimaavin iir urivai
muuvuruvum poortukanta
ammaanuku aadpadda anbu

Meaning:
Without falling into the ways of falsities and evils, I kept on doing the right kind of good actions and because of which all my five senses withdrew from the realms of the physical and immersed in the metaphysical realms. Seeing this BEING also concealed the figures of Rudra Tirumaal and Brahma and all such icons from my visions that allowed me to free myself from religious fanaticism and develop LOVE unto all. Because of this LOVE I am in service to Siva.

We can be Free of Karma - Punitavati

As against the predominantly negative world view of Buddhists and Jains who saw no way out from the Karma (except perhaps to torture the body and die) and the possibility of living a life without karma and so forth, here comes a bold and a most significant assertion from Punitavati that strikes a very positive note and which became continuously repeated since then. We can win over death bringing forces, the agents of miseries of all kinds and the karma that throws into a continuous and inescapable cycle of births and deaths and learn to live FREE of all these and in that gain a life full of joys. This life is also the heavenly and NOT that of hell.

All this is possible provided we let go all the egoistic self-defenses that we built around ourselves and all because of metaphysical Ignorance where out of confusions and bewilderments we deny the presence of BEING and with that DISALLOW the divine forces enter our depths and cleanse off all the karmic deposits there that’s source of all thse miseries and so forth.

The life Bakti is a POSITIVE life where fully confident of becoming FREE of all the karmas and so forth, the soul aspires towards the most excellent life, the heavenly while still on earth. It is NOT deterred by man built mental castles such as VarNasra Dharma that fixates what a person in entitled to in social and religious life to birth, or interpretations of Karma that see them as iron chains that bind one forever to their punitive influences.

No --all these can be overcome provided we allow Rudra to enter our inner depths and allow Him to throw the fires of metaphysical illuminations, burn them off to ashes and with that makes us absolutely PURE.

81.
kaalanaiyum veNRoom kadunarakaG kaikazanRoom
meelai iruvinaiyum veeraRuttoom - koola
araNaar avizntaziya ventiiyam peytaan
caraaNaara vintanGkaL caarntu

Meaning:
We have the emerged victorious over the God of Death and gained the aruL of BEING to live longer. We have freed from our hands the hell life of pains and tortures and acquired the grace to live a life in great joy. We have also rooted out the Karma that pushes us into an endless cycle of births and deaths and with that freed ourselves from this historicity. And all these because we surrendered ourselves completely to the Divine Lotus Feet of BEING who as Rudra singes to ash the Lord of Three Castles of bewitching magical play by throwing the Fire of Divine Illuminations.

Comments:

The theme outlined here and perhaps for the first time became the central notions of the whole of Bakti movement both the Saiva and VaishNava. For here we have the themes of conquering death, purifying self of karmic deposits that is the root cause of existential repetition as well as moral anguish that makes existence itself hellish. Here we have Depth Psychology merging with religion very smoothly for it is noted that it is only though submitting oneself without any ego defenses that one can earn the AruL of BEING-as-Rudra who would flood the soul with the Fire of Metaphysical Illuminations which alone would provide the medicine for all such ailments.

The problems of life and which makes it infinitely painful, arise because the mental confusions and absence of clarities and all because of the Mummalam, the aaNavam Kanmam and Maayai and which are seen here metaphorically the Three Castles that imprison the mind and cause the human beings to suffer with moral anguish, mental depressions and even suicidal tendencies. Nothing will solve these problems except becoming PURE and attaining with that the Metaphysical Illuminations regarding TRUTHS. The anma must destroy the various self defenses it has built around itself and with Love must submit itself to BEING who would then burn off all the evil karmic deposits and so forth and with that enable the souls to enjoy a life full of joy.

The archeological records show that temples were built in Sumeria even around 4000 B.C. and surprisingly enough with many donations coming from the women folk. And interestingly enough the most notable verses on Temples were sung by the immensely philosophic lady En Hudu Anna (2200 B.C.) who has also analysed the important psychological and sociological functions of the temple. The Temple was a MEDIA for the formation of the mind and channeling it in the RIGHT direction. We see such ideas below: (taken from Kes Temple Hymns)

32. e* zi-da-gal an-ne us-sa
(Great, true temple, reaching the sky)
33. e* men-gal an-ne us-sa
(Temple , great crown, reaching the sky)
34. e* tir-an-na an-ne us-sa
(Temple, rainbow, reaching the sky)
35. e* mus-bi an-sa-ga la--a
(Temple, whose platform is suspended from heaven's midst)
36. te-me -bi abzu-a si-ga
(Whose foundation fills the Abzu)
37. gizzu-bi kur-kur-ra du-la

Here we have lines describing what is now called the Vimanam or gopuram, the Tower that meets ones eye even from a distance. This has a psychlogical function of lifting up the consciousness by FREEING the mind from the earthly concerns so that a person becomes FORGETFUL of the earthly concerns at least during those moments he wanders into the temple. Here the Temple serves as a MEDIA that transmutes thinking of a person and USHERS him into ANOTHER WORLD, the heavenly world, the world of the Gods. Not only that, the FINITE mind, preoccupied with narrow personal concerns is lifted up to see the VASTNESS of the universe and through that realise how feeble and miniscule he and his thinking is. The temple through the massive tower HUMILIATES and WOUNDS the human EGO by the disclosure of the VASTNESS of the UNIVERSE.

This very ancient idea gets repeated in the following verses of Thirumular.

1712.
ilinga mataavatu yaarum aRiyaar
ilingka maavatu eNdisai ellaam
ilingka maavatu eNeN kalaiyum
ilingkama taaka edutatatu ulakee.

People do not seem to know what is meant by Civalingkam. This vast manifest universe is actually Civalingkam. And all the sciences and arts that drive away ignorance is also Civalingkam. In fact this whole world serves as the Civalingkam i.e. the symbolic media that INFORMS of the presence of BEING.

1718.
tuuya vimaanam tuulama taakumaal
aaya cataacivamaakum naR suukkumam
aaya palipiidam pattira lingkamaam
aaya aranilai aayntukoL vaarkakkee.

The Vimanam or Kopuram is the Gross presentation of BEING who as Cataciva remains as its Suukkumam, i.e, the Hidden reality, the concealed presence. The palipiidam, the spot for sacrifice is the Pattira lingkam, i.e that which is spread out for the individuals to SACRIFICE their ego. Understand by proper investigations that this is how the temple is structured as media for understanding Aran Nilai, i.e the Way of BEING.

So we can see that the Temple is peculiar media which shapes and channels thinking in such a way that a person who allows his understanding to be formed by it is LED to understand BEING-IN-ITSELF and BEING-as-PHENOMENAL-PRESENCE i.e. BEING as Civa and Cataaciva.

The Vimanam or TOWER is for attracting the worldly mind unto the metaphysical depths . The Tower is also ANdalingkam, the Symbolic presentation of this vast universe in its entirety. But this is only the first step, the first kind of mental reorientation it effects. And as the person enters the temple and moves around noting everything inside it including the arcanas the recitation of mantras and so forth, his eyes are OPENED towards the DEEP STRUCTURE that gives SENSE or Meaning for the whole temple as media. It INFORMS but what doe it inform or communicate? It communicates the PRESENCE of BEING , BEING-as- Phenomenal- Presence, BEING-as-THERE for his comprehension -- BEING as Cataciva.

But this happens only when a person witnesses the Deity in the KaruvaRai, the dark chamber when the priest lights it up with camphor. But one should see standing near the spot for Sacrifice which is seen as the Pattira lingakam. The word "Pattiram" means leaves and hence something like a receiver on which we have to place i.e sacrifice something. What we have to sacrifice at this spot is our EGO, our self-conceited ARROGANCE and along with it our METAPHYSICAL IGNORANCE. Only when we sacrifice our EGO that narrows and delimits our horizon of thinking that we can WITNESS the Hidden or concealed presence of BEING.

There are a lot more such notions even in Sumerian literature. Such fine analysis of the metaphysical siginificance underlying temple worship are also elsewhere in Thirumantiram as well as in numerous Siddha texts.

The Pedagogic Functions

The most important function of temples as media is that not only they FREE the mind from the earthly concerns but also PULL it into the DEPTHS and through that make a person SACRIFICE the elements that narrows his vision and hence his understanding. It is a media that transmutes the EXPERIENCE itself so that a person who undergoes it gets PURIFIED by a vision of the Depths. There is TEACHING but in a silent manner, using only GRAPHICS and SOUND so that the mind gets TUNED to its own hidden potentials, and of course to different degrees depending upon the cognitive maturity and sensitivity of the individuals.

The PULLING into the Depths is simultaneously effecting personal growth, the person gets tranformed into a better person. And once a person becomes better certainly his THINKING will NOT be same as before, it will be on a HIGHER level. Now if the thiking becomes PURER and Higher so would be the behaviour.

So we see the immense Sophistication with which Agamism DEVELOPS the mind and because of which it sees the scriptural texts only as adjuncts to such experiences.

Loga
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This is what makes Hindus or Agamists, different from the abrahamic faiths. They are book centered, while Hindus are temple centered, somethign that can be dispensed with. They rely on quotes and authorities, we rely on personal temple experiences for pedagogy.

For Hindus shastras and books are 'fringe adjuncts only' as you concur too. It is for this reason most Hindu homes hardly have any veda or shastra except for little booklets containing bakti hymns. No need for books or shastra as all memorise hymns from young, each hymn equivalent to an entire veda. But all Hindu homes have a little shrine or altar, which is a miniature temple, and all Hindus are pujaris, as they conduct temple like pujas in their home shrines in various degrees of elaborations. This is Agamism. The temple and shastra is built into each other. The temple IS the shastra.

The dharma-viewed perspective of Hinduism (or hindutva) is book centered, making it essentially 'an abrahamic-type of religion'. We need to get the Hindus away from the books to back to the temples.

Regards.

Pathma

The Technology of Liberation

In the heat of many controversies, the common theme of all religions, that of liberation remains forgoten. This study of Punita is just another expression of this universal theme of all religions.

There is an important distinction between seeking immortality and moksa, a difference that goes back to the Sumerian Gilgames and Jiusudra. While Jiusudra, the hero of the FLOOD, escaped death and rebirth and hence after the flood was given existence among the gods, Gilgames failed in this and was to led to immortality, a historical existence in perpetuity by virtue of magnificent achievements. While Jiusudra become wholly celestial in the end, Gilgames remained two-thirds divine and one-third human. The human part never left him and he could not shake it off.

This verse below may answer this riddle in metaphysics, the difference between Immortality and Moksa. Seeking freedom from DEATH is immortality but seeking liberation from the very of death and rebirth is Moksa and this is what Punitavati describes as possible for ALL irrespective whatever difference.

For what it requires is the transmutation of SEXUALITY itself into LOVE and LOVE unto BEING. It is only worship and prayers with unconditional LOVE unto BEING and seeking NJANAM as that what one desires that will grant us this Moksa and as a blessing of BEING. It is this absolute illumination that destroys the inner darkness totally and immediately and which will also cleanse the soul of the eRivinai, the Karma scripts that throw the anma back into the historical world.

Anyone can aspire for this and all who raise themselves to this state of metaphysical existence stand to be blessed by BEING.

87.
naamaalai cuudiyum namiican ponnadikkee
puumaalai koNdu punaintu anpaay - naamoor
aRivinaiyeep paRrinaal aRRee kedumee
aRivinaiyee ennum iruL

Meaning:
The metaphysical ignorance that promotes the presence of Karma that throws one into existential repetition can be destroyed then and there only if the Njanam shines bright within and which is blessed only by BEING. (But how to get to be blessed thus?) One must sing His greatness in beautiful hymns and collecting together fresh blossoms create a garland and submit to the Feet of His Iconic presence with LOVE and seek only this Njanam and nothing else.

Comments:
Anyone can be blessed with Civanjanam, which only can destroy the karmic scripts that throw the anma into endless existential repetition. In addition to composing and singing hymns that disclose the understanding of BEING, we must also offer garlands of fresh blossoms to His Divine Feet in total LOVE unto Him. On top of that we should not be forgetful that what we really seek is Civanjanam for it is only this that will destroy the metaphysical DARKNESS that perpetuates worldly existence by bonding the anma with karmic scripts that throw the anma into endless existential repetition.
But who would seek this Civanjanam as that which one desires and nothing else?

Only those who have transmuted the sexual libido into Universal Love. Only such individuals will garland the BEING with fresh blossoms as indicative of LOVE unto Him and a wish to tie self with BEING and not the wolrd.

Since anyone can raise himself or herself to this state, there is no barrier whatsoever for enjoying Moksa.

Based on the Ajita MahaTantra as translated by N.R. Bhatt, Jean Filliozat and Pierre S. Filliozat

The purpose of revisiting the agamas is to 'bring it to the fore' in the Hindu's consciousness of his shastras, evoke his interest to the centrality of his religion, the temple and mystic worship practices, and away from puranic myths and fantastic stories which are peripheral to the religion, and away from the superceded vedas and upanishads which is 'redundant' and is a cause of confusion. For the entirety of Hinduism (saivism) may be recreated today just on the basis of the Ajita only and nothing more, with the philosophy built into the rites and rituals and not as a speculative introspection. The objective is a mental reordering and refocussing on vitals - the 'baktiful' worship, the core of the religion, where there is only the worshipper and the worshipped, in supernatural communion, and no shastra nor jaati.

Each of the major branches of Hinduism; Saivism, Vaishnavism and Shaktism, each with its own set of agamas, are not a separate component of a tripartite religion. Each is a full and complete system, one of three forms of a total religion. It compares very much to a family of languages, the family having a seemingly endless variations of languages and dialects, and each language has its own structure. Yet all fulfill its most basic objective of communication.

Saivism is a religion of a one God, the supreme Siva. Numerous entities are around Him. They are his creations and consequently his subjects with definate functions. They are *not* other deities, as the nature of the eternal Isvara or 'Supreme Lord' cannot be shared. They participate of his own essence at different degrees. The major ones are told to be engendered by him, or to be an outward manifestation of himself. The other entities or deities are an existence separated from the essence but without altering the unity of the essence. Whatever cause there may be for the coming of an entity to a separate existence, and whatever form it may take, the reason given for these hypostases of the supreme god is the necessity of communication through worship, for the supreme unmanifest god is inaccessible to the senses and the mind. That would render worship impossible. Therefore the supreme god makes himself accessible through these substate entities. The presence of a deity is a prerequisite for worship. This is established at the time of installation by elaborate rites, and reestablished at other times through various rites.

The performance of a dance, play or drama is known for its effect of communion with an audience and the resultant aesthetic experience of pleasure. The performance of temple pujas and rituals involves similar human efforts and ends in creating a sublimated form of communion with God, an unburdening of concerns, and an experience of mystic contentment and happiness.

"Worship' derived from the words puja pujayam and archa pujayam means 'to honour'. In temples there is always a main unique Deity in the mulastanam, the target of a long elaborate sequence of rites and rituals, culminating in the presenting of the final showing of flames or aarathi. Part of the rituals includes the worship of an entourage of divine and semi-divine deities, placed concentrically surrounding the main deity.

Icon, Water & Fire Worship
The mantra-body of Siva is first created by the worshipper in his heart by concentrating on the diety and chanting the bija mantras; it is then transferred from the top of the head of the worshipper to the Linga with offering of flowers and mudra. The linga becomes the body of Siva. The invitation to take residence (avahana) brings the presence of god to the fore. It becomes a full manifestation, accessible to the senses. This brings the presence of Siva in a general manner, for all devotees. Invitation has its counterpart at the conclusion of worship, the rite of giving leave or visarjana.

"The desired coming and going of Siva occur through a body of mantras, like the coming and going of a soul through bodies" (Kamika Agama 1.4.356).

In the installed linga the deity is invited and installed permanently in a ceremony called pratistha, done to create, 'placing' (nyaasa) and let stay, and the latent presence to be reawakened or re-enlivened each day. 'Looking at a spot', niriksana, ritually transfers the consciousness of the deity in the worshipper's mind to the spot or icon looked upon. The mental creation of the mantra body of the god is 'placed' on the spot or icon. This is the essence of Hindu worship. By concentrating on the deity within our minds, as the soul of our soul, then looking at an icon ritually makes the inert icon 'alive'. Worship can then begin.

In the case of movable icons and water pots (kumbha), the rite is for creating and suspending the presence, the contents of the pots being the object of elaborate worship, which is later transferred to the main installed deity by ablution of the 'charged waters' on it, executed with great pomp as the highlight of the ceremony, thereby transferring the divine presence to the linga. In the case of the fire-homa, the effects of the ritual is first transferred to the water pots by touching the pots with a darbha grass, from there later transferred again to the linga by ablutions.

Worship for Oneself and Worship for Others
20.2-4a
Worship is traditionally known to be of two kinds, for oneself, and for others. The worship (performed by) one who has been initiated by a guru, and has received a linga, a movable one, given by him, on that (linga), or on another temporary object, or on a sthandila (a ritually marked spot), or on (a pot of) water, or on an icon, or on a diagram, or on a painting or on canvas, or in one's own heart, will be the (worship) for oneself.

20.4b-7
When on a self born Sivalinga, or on a linga installed by Bana, by a lord of celestial hots, by a god, a sage or man, on all mukhalingas, and manifested ones (murthis), O Janardana, on all numerous lingas installed everywhere, in temples, etc., the worship is done, having one's means of subsistence procured by a king or persons similar to a king, or common people, that is called (worship) for others, because the fruit is given to others.

Notes:
1. The recognition that all can worship, and with or without icons, or with any icon, emphasises the acceptance of the universality of worship practices by all, and in any way.
2. It is on this basis that most Hindus maintain a home shrine where they conduct their daily worship for themselves in a way that they know best. When one conducts a puja in the home shrine he/she is the archaka, no matter what the jaati or sex is.
3. It is clearly mentioned that only archakas can perform congregational worship (parartha pujas), whereas all other four classes and those who do not belong to the four classes, the anuloma classes, savarna, etc. may only perform worship for oneself (atmartha puja).
4. To be sure, as mentioned previously, there is mention of the varna names in the agamas but there is no varna system of the smirthis as shown below!

Three Types of Worship
20.19-21
Here the worship is told to be of three kinds; pure, mixed and mingled. The pure worship ends with the meal. The mixed one ends with the daily festival (nityotsava puja). The mingled one ends with the pure dance. Among these worships, one should perform specifically the mixed one, or the mingled one, as the worship done everyday, in the morning, noon and in the evening.

Notes:
1. Pure worship is that performed in the garbha and ends there with meal offerings.
2. Mixed worship is pure worship followed by the utsava procession around the garbha, and ends there.
3. Mingled is pure and mixed worship followed by singing of hymns, dance and other artistic performances.
4. Mingled worship is mandated three times a day. It is not mandated for other time juncture (yamas) worships.

Worship of the Entourage Deities
The Linga with its representatives, twenty of which are mentioned, is clearly distinguished from figurative forms called murthis. The linga represents sadasiva, while the murthis are emanations of sadasiva who are actors of feats in saiva mythology, and represented as entourage deities in ancilliary shrines surrounding the main. Therefore saiva worship is precisely sadasiva worship and not Siva worship as that is impossible!

20.215-225
After the worship of the Linga, there should be worship of the lord of bulls (Nandi), Nandin (Rishi Nandikesvara), Mahakala at the door, and then the entourage deities who are placed in circles around in the main garbha in concentric courtyards:

1. First Circle of Entourage Dieties: Anantesa, Suksma, Sivottama, Ekanetra, Ekarudra, Trimurti, Srikantha, and Sikhandin.
2. Second Circle of Entourage Dieties:Uma, Chandesa, Nandin, Mahakala, Bull, Vighnesa, Mahasena and Bhrngisa.
3. Third Circle of Entourage Dieties: Indra, Agni, Yama, Nirrti, Varuna, Vayu, Soma, Isana, Ananta and Kamalasana.
4. Fourth Circle of Entourage Dieties: thunderbolt, spear, staff, sword, noose, goad, club, trident, lotus and disc.

Rite of Entering the Siva temple
20.33-34
The worshipper (archaka) should get up early in the morning, complete his daily rites, bath, etc., perform a circumnambulation before entering the temple of Siva. He should clean his feet, sip water and, standing inside the temple or near the door, throw a flower for Brahman.

Notes:
1.This rite applies to the archaka (priest) but all worshippers may execute it, as the primary meaning of archaka is 'worshipper', therefore this rite is applicable to worshippers. The entire Ajita Agama are instructions to the archaka, or worshipper. The secondary meaning is the professional priest of the temple, the sivacharya gurukkal who has received the various dikshas which empower him to perform parartha pujas meant for the benefit of all devotees. No room for societal varna here. Today archaka means gurukkal or desika of a temple, and the primary meaning seems to have been missed.
2. Brahman here means vaastvadhipati, lord of the temple, here meaning the main diety installed, or the linga.
3. This rite of offering a flower is accompanied by the uttering of the mantra, 'aum haam vaastvadhipataye brahmane namah'.
4. Most Hindu devotees today do abide at least some of these injuctions like (1) a bath before a temple visit, (2)circumnambulating once outside the temple walls, (3) washing the feet before entering the temple, (4) the worship act (mudra) of palms together above the head upon entering the temple at the gate, and (5) the simultaneous uttering of a simple mantra like 'siva, siva' when the mudra is performed.
5. These five individual rites, when sequenced and stringed together constitutes a worshipful ritual, a complete worship by itself, even without attending the puja-aarathi, and this is a ritual of the archaka. Thus they (all devotees) can be considered 'archaka' too in the broader meaning.
6. But the details and training required of an archaka of a temple necessitates that only a trained professional can do the job. This has to necessarily remain.

The Worship of Siva in the Linga and in the Fire
The vedas deal with fire worship, whereas the agamas deals with worship of god through murthis, water and fire.

21.2-3
Siva standing in the Linga receives the worship; standing in fire he takes the offering. Siva is absolutely unique. Therefore in both Siva is the same.

Notes:
1. Worship of the linga or worship by homa fire offering is the same as the recipient in either is the same.
2.We recall the first hymn in the Rigveda: 1.1.1
agnim iiLe purohitaM yajnasya devam Rtvijam hotaaraM ratnadhaatamam
I glorify Agni, the high priest of the sacrifice, the divine, the ministrant, who presents the oblation (to the gods), and possesses great wealth (which he presents to the worshipper).
This hymn by Vishvamitra address Agni both as a God (deva), and as a fire - a medium through which oblations are presented to Him and the gods, and a medium, a gateway, through which He and the other gods presents benedictions to the worshipper. Agni is the recipient and ministrant of the oblations - He summons the gods to the sacrificial ceremony to receive the oblations and bestow benedictions on the worshipper. Here, Agni is the archakar.

Dikshas for All
77.11
The diksha of samayin and putra will be 'without seed'; the diksha of sadhaka and acharya will be 'with seed'.
77.12
Now the diksha 'without seed' is taught as being of two kinds; one gives liberation immediately, the other after death.
77.13
The diksha without seed, devoid of the practice of rules, should be for young (people), simple minded, old people, women, those addicted to pleasures, sick persons.

1. The 'seed' is the dependence on execution of rules, etc, which are the means to realise the fruits produced by diksha. Diksha with seed requires much observances, and is meant for priests.

2. The diksha without seed, without much rules or observances is for the masses, and for all. No one is excluded, not even the addict, the prostitute nor the autistic, and liberation is assured while still living (jivanmukta), or on death (mukti on death), depending on the type of diksha and the empowerment of the gurukkal.

The various diksha mentioned in other agamas are the samaya and vishesha for householders, the nirvana, abisheka and archaryabisheka for the priests and assistants as well as monks. In the archaryabisheka diksha, the archaka receives an ablution with the water from five kumbhas (pots) in which have been 'placed' the five mantras of the five faces of Siva, so that the archaka is identifiable with Siva. This is followed by the gifting of the main instruments of the priestly function and regal insignia, referring to the authority bestowed upon him to be an invoker of the gods, on behalf of, and for the benefit of the people.

Agamic Mantras
Mantras are the primary tools of worship, and for an inner religious experience of god, uttered along with a rite and often a mudra. It is a name of an entity, a soul in the top of a hierarchy in spiritual entities and conveys a meaning. The uttering of a name is the contemplation of the named entity, the mental creation of the named entity, keeping it stable in the mind without break or interference, then transfers this mental creation in the mind through the top of the head to the icon.

A bija mantra is used in all agamic rituals. Each deity has a bija and it is only used for that deity. The bija consonant for Siva is H, and each of his different hypostases are distinguished by the vowels that follows next; a e i o u, for the five faces of Siva, indicating that each of the forms of the deity emanates from the root Siva without being different from him. There is no mantra H itself as it makes no sense, as the unmanifest Siva cannot be represented by any icon or mantra. Namasivaya refers to the sat-asat formless form sadasiva.

All the mantras used in the Ajita are agamic mantras. There are no vedic mantras used at all. The Ajita is completely free of vedic mantras. Here are some mantras chanted for atonement of faults, purification, concentration, etc. These mantras are footnoted as it is assumed that the desika is already familiar with it, an indication that there was a parallel running oral tradition of the agamas too.

20.56-68, 87.98-101
Aum hah sivaastraaya phat,
Aum slim pam sum hum paasupatraastraaya phat namah,
Aum brahmaastraaya phat,
Aum sim chim ksurikaastraaya phat,
Aum hum aghoraastraaya hum phat svaha,
Aum aam iim uum vyomavyaapine aum namah,
Aum hum haam ham haam hrdayaaya atmane namah,
Aum hlaam hlaam hlaam hlaam hlaam hrdayaaya hum phat,
Aum saam somaaya namah.

Cooking the Naivedyam (or havis) and bali
There are several offerings to the deity in the course of worship including water, flowers, sandal paste, betel leaf, etc. but the most important of all is cooked food, called naivedyam or havis, or bali which are small rice balls or a small portion of naivedyam.

22.124.128
He (the desika) should do the cleaning (of the pot) with recitation of astra mantra. He should pour the water (into the pot) with recitation of sadyojata mantra in a quantity equal to the rice. Afterwards he should lift up (the vessel) with recitation of vamadeva mantra. After placing it over the fire-place with the recitation of aghora mantra, he should place the fuel with recitation of the astra mantra. After kindling the fire with recitation of aghora mantra, after cooking, after removing (the vessel) with recitation of the tatpurusha mantra, he should wipe all (the cooked items) with a wet hand (a gesture of wiping without touching the food) with recitation of astra mantra.

Notes:
We may be seeing here a source of the garbha and kitchen divides, for only a person who has received the required dikshas are able to perform this simple rite of cooking.

Priests & Patrons
The entire Ajita address only the priest (archaka) and the sculptor (silpin). It addresses the devotee as the yajamana or kartar, the patron who orders the ritual and provides for it and presides over it but himself has very little part to play in the rituals. A client-professional relationship exists here, and again no indication of a discriminatory varna society, as the priest exists and depends on the worshipper. It indicates an interdependent society.

General Info
The pedestal that holds the linga in place is called the pitha, pindika or even vedika, and not 'yoni' with its connotations as erroneously thought. The clothing and attire used to drape the linga and murthis are prepared by a class of weavers, devangas, who have received the samaya diksha. Today, the devanga is a class of weavers in Karnataka.

The Ajita agama does use varna terms like brahmin, kshatriya, vaishya and sudra. But the translators N.R. Bhatt, Jean Filliozat and Pierre S. Filliozat suspect most of those are later additions as most of these varna terms are found in the last few verses of the chapters concerned and not in sync with the main thrust of the Ajita. Nevertheless the translators did not exclude those verses but left it as it is and noted their concerns in the introduction and in footnotes.

A case for a varna society must show:
1. four broad endogamous groups enjoying vocational monopoly,
2. in a top down degrading hierarchy,
3. where there is no access to some groups to study sanskrit and shastras,
4. where moksha giving dikshas are denied to some groups, who have to be born again,
5. and where there is no access to temples by certain groups,

I clearly see the first. I do not see the next four. I have to conclude, as we all must, that there was no varna society, only a jaati society, which itself is quite degrading.

Regards.

Pathma

In the light of the discovery of some very important lines in Mutariibiyam (Sulgi Hymn B) I want to attend to this dimension of Agamism, viz. the importance it attaches to general pedagogy which has also been emphasized by all leading Tamil thinkers throughout the ages. TiruvaLLuvar emphasizes the need to "kasadaRa KaRRal" -- learning to destroy the dirt of ignorance within. Thirumular mentions "KaRpana kaRRu kalai mannum mey yookam"-- learning all that needs to be learned and practising the arts and sciences that afford uniting with Truth -- as very important in metaphysical studies. But long before all these and probably a few centuries before B.C. we have Neduncheziyan who overran the armies of the Aryas (paaNdiyan aariyappadai kadanta Nedunjseziyan) outlining the enormous importance of learning in these words:

uRRuzi utaviyum uRuporuL koduttum
piRRainilai muniyaatu kaRRal nanRee
piRappoor anna udan vayiRuLLum
siRRappin paalaal thaay manam tiriym
oru kudi piRanta palloor uLLum
muutton varuka ennaatu avaruL
aRivudaiyoon aracunj cellum
veeRRumai terinta naaRpaal uLLum
kiizppaal oruvan kaRpin
meeRpaal oruvan avan kaN padumee

It is good to learn without worrying about the future benefits, helping out the teachers and giving them whatever is necessary. Even the mother prefers among her own siblings he who excels in learning. Even in the community members it is not age that matters but rather the quality of understanding that gains leadership. And even among the main social divisions of people , if a person from the lower echelons manages to LEARN and acquit himself, it is he who makes others follow him.

Pedagogy Everywhere

This brief account shows that the Sumerians did not neglect any section of the community including the children, from benefiting from education, something we learn also from numerous other texts. What is however of absorbing interest is that religious life was NOT divorced from learning and that the Temples Palaces and all other important social institutions catered for the learning of the people and fostered pedagogy at all levels and with an UNDERSTANDING of its importance.

This study, no matter how untidy and brief it may be , points out a direction for reform of Hindu Culture and Tamil Culture in particular : re-instituting LEARNING even in religion as the most important ingredient of social culture.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/akandabaratam/message/31113

History of the Tamils from the earliest times to 600 A.D.

P.T. Srinivasa Iyengar

http://books.google.com/bo oks?id=ERq-OCn2cloC&pg=PA112&lpg=PA112&dq=agamas+origin&source=web&ots=Fp6rmuPmvT&sig=9yS2LlaYtukSwqJbVrVo9-dsD58#PPA46,M1

Chapter 8

Nearly thirty years ago, I pointed out in my Outlines of Indian philosophy that the religion that is practised today by the Hindus is almost entirely based on the Agamas and has little or nothing to do with the Vedas. The vaidika cult began to decay after the war of the Mahabharata and has today almost died out. The greater part of the Srauta karma is entirely gone; only a few elementary rites such as Agni adhana, a much simplified Vajapeya, Garuda cayana and Somayaga are sporadically performed by a handful of people. The Smartha karma is also fast dying out, so that judged by the rule that the family of a brahmana whose members have neglected to tend the holy fire for three generations loses its brahmana status, extremely few families can be regarded as true brahmana ones.

..the Agama is technically the name and the Vedas was well understood in ancient days, when the Agamika cults were the rivals of the Vaidika cults; but as the two have now become amalgamated for several centuries, the distinction between them is not realised by the moderns, all the more so as the theory is now prevalent that the Agamas are ultimately derived from the Vedas and do but contain amplifications of the vedic teachings or rather adaptations of them to suit the modern age.

The Agamika methods of worship being entirely fire-less and not being accompanied by the recitation of Vedic mantras must have been developed from the Dasyu rites. The Dasyu rites certainly prevailed throughout India, in the south and in the north, before the rise of Vedic rites.

Now with regard to the rites. the Vaidika rites are fire rites. For each rite a fire has to be lighted and intensified into a flame and on the flame the oblations have to be poured. The Agamika rites are fire-less; the oblations have to be merely exhibited to the object of worship (icon) and then taken away. In the former the oblations is consumed by the gods, because it is thrown into the fire; in the latter the worshipper loses nothing of his offerings because the god can take up only the subtle and unseen parts, so the worshipper consumes it himself and distributes it to his relations and friends.

But the main part of of the Agamika rites consist in the repitition of the numerous names of the gods worshipped with the phrase 'namah' (I bow) added. the essence of the Vaidika rites is the pouring of oblations, but that of the Agamika is upacara, washing, decking and feeding the god, in fact showing him all the attentions due to a human guest or human king.

Hence in the Vaidika rite no physical representation or representative of the deity worshipped was necessary, visible fire representing all the gods; in the Agamika rites the only deity worshipped had to be represented by some visible emblem being a fetish, a tool, such as a sword or club, a living or dead tree, a stone, a running stream, a linga, a salagrama or above all, a picture, or a statue of the deity in brick and mortar, a stone or metal, made in the shape assigned to him by his worshippers.

The culmination ..of the Vaidika..is Jnana.. 'it is by knowing him that (one) becomes immortal here, there is no other path for going (to him)'. The culmination of the Agama way is Bakti. The worship of the gods is but a copy of the methods of the worship of men - chiefly gurus and kings.

"That's why the ardent upholders of all these faiths treat one another so
wonderfully, and live so nobly, making the gods so much happier than they were
before creating Man and his religions."

Hindu and Non-Hindu

Every religion has its glories and blemishes.
Ardent adherents see the glories all too clearly, all too often the blemishes
seem blurred or opaque to their vision.

It is important to realize that in one important respect Hinduism stands tall
above all other religions: Aside from the rich art, magnificent architecture,
glorious music and inspiring poetry that it has given rise to, Hinduism not only
recognizes diversity in religious pursuits, but also multiple paths to spiritual
fulfillment among members of its own fold. Perhaps the most profound insight in
all the Vedas is the one whose essence is that Truth is one, but is called
variously by different people.

After millennia of prophets and preachers, sects and soul-saviors, acharyas and
ayatollahs, the world is beginning to wake up, however slowly, to this most
precious wisdom which alone can save our world from petty sectarian squabbles
and growing global inter-religious acrimony.
Hindu affiliation to groups and subgroups are generally inclusive and not
exclusive. One may follow this religious teacher or that, be it Ramana
Maharishi, Satya Sai Baba, Sri Ramakrishna, Dayananda, Puri Shankaracharya, or
whoever or nobody, and yet be a full Hindu. Many Hindus take this for granted
without seriously reflecting on the fact that this is the greatest religious
boon one can receive.

Thanks to the historical evolution of the religion, Hinduism has escaped the
establishment of any institutional body to dictate how the religion is to be
practiced. Local customs have usually determined this.
Because of this happy circumstance, by and large, Hindu history has been spared
the sectarian persecutions, witch-hunting, inquisition, stoning the apostate,
burning at the stake, and such other abominations that have marred the history
of other great religions.

And yet, because in our own times Hindu culture and religion are threatened in a
hundred ways, there is the strong temptation for some Hindus to adopt
persecuting attitudes towards fellow-Hindus. These super-patriots regard
themselves as guardians of their religion. It was similar-thinking people who
initiated all the horrible things in other religious traditions.

It is therefore extremely important for Hindus who fully appreciate what is
truly great and unique in our tradition and to proclaim loud and clear that
Hindus or Hindu groups who dare to define who is a Hindu and who is not, and
characterize their co-religionists as Non-Hindus because of their beliefs,
ideas, practices, worship-modes, or for whatever reason have neither the moral
right nor the legal authority to challenge the Hindu-ness of a fellow Hindu. If
anything, by doing this, they will be relinquishing their own right to be Hindus
because they alone go against the core of the Hindu religious worldview, however
they well-intentioned they are . I would propose that the prayachitta for such
an offense should be a sincere apology.

Agamism of Sacred Tamil literature and perhaps of the whole of India is built upon the enjoyment of Transductive Perceptions (TP) called variously in Tamil as Vinjnaanak kaadci, ARituyil and so forth. The mystics who developed the Sacred Tamil literature, whether Saivite Sakta or VaishNavite all equally enjoyed this TP, the visions of the Third Eye and hence full of metaphysical insights quite unique. For this reason Agamism remains deadly opposed to VarNas for it is well known that the enjoyment of TP’s has nothing to do with birth or caste but only with the spiritual maturity of the soul.

In this verse VaLLalaar reveals that he was blessed as well by these metaphysical visions in which he was taught great truths. First he notes that in these visions he sees BEING assuming various iconic forms- the Devas Asuras and so forth where He also wears a wide variety of ornaments(and weapons?) each disclosing a truth of its own. The gods and goddesses wearing different guises constitute a kind pf Dream Language cracking the codes of which one enjoys profound metaphysical truths to be had no where else and by no other means.

This is the Dance of Siva Sakti, the creation of countless number of divine forms using the Natam and Bindu and configuring various dramas by way of explaining how exactly certain events in life are fabricated.

VaLLalaar observes that BEING is already in a corner of his soul and He dances along with Uma the various dances that are seen by him as metaphysical dreams. Amazed he really marvels at the immense kindness of BEING in favoring him thus forgetting all the evils he has done and continues to do. He sheds tears of immense joy thinking of this kindness of BEING in blessing him with such visions.

He also notes that because of this he also loses his freedom and become virtually a slave of Siva-Sakti, the Father-Mother. He losses his freedom, a will of his own for all his actions become conditioned by the visions BEING configures his actions by regulating his visions. But this is something to be rejoiced for in living as such one AVOIDS doing the erroneous and the evil as BEING will never prompt the evil but only the good and noble.

9.

puuNaata puuNkaLellaam puuNda param poruLee
poyyadiyeen pizai muzutum poRuttaruLi enRum
kaaNaata kaadciyellaam kaaddi enakkuLLee
karuNai nadam purikinRa karuNai en pukalveen
maaNaata kuRaik kodiyeen itai ninaikkun tooRum
manamuruki irukaNNiir vadikkinReen kaNdaay
eeNaatan eninum ammaiyin nin adiyeen
ena aRinteen aRintapinnai itayam malarnteenee

Meaning:
My lord the absolutely transcendent! You appear in so many different guises wearing ornaments not worn normally in the metaphysical dreams. You configure staying in a corner in my soul forgetting all the evils I commit. You also allow me to see visions that I had not seen before and with that enjoy metaphysical meanings that are indeed rare. It is impossible for me to describe the kindness. You show towards me with this Dance in my soul despite the fact in my soul there are things that are not at all noble and great. Each time I reflect upon Your kindness here I shed tears of joy at the love You show unto me. It make me realize that You are Father and Mother unto me and that I am already a slave unto You. But strangely enough after understanding this, my heart swells with joy as it means I shall not do anything evil anymore.

Pongal/Makar Sankranti is a season based festival, marking the end of
winter and the ushering in of spring. We celebrate that! Seasons change
and moves over the centuries but someone fixed the dates to the stars a
millenium ago. So it has cumulatively drifted by 23 days. The
Hindus naively followed without questioning. (why is this a surprise!)

Its simple really. There is NO makara rasi (capricorn) in the vedas or
vedanga jyotisha. There are no rasis in Hinduism. There is NO astrology,
no determinism, no fatalism. There is only uttarayana which is to be
celebrated on the winter solstice! We celebrate that and call it Pongal.

Most people in the west are no longer christian, yet they celebrate the
christmas/new year period, not because they want to honor the birth of christ or
their identity as a christian but simply because its the holiday season and want
to take advantage of it, a time of giving gifts, merry making as well as end of
year celebrations. So these non christians celebrate Xmas, and not Christmas.
'X' can mean any festival for any group, including gays and athiests. So
everyone can celebrate Xmas.

Now I understand Hindus in the west coast of america are beginning to celebrate
PanchaGanapati from 21st Dec to 25th Dec, to coincide with christmas.
PanchaGanapati would be their Xmas! It is a time of gift giving, placing gifts
under a makeshift Ganapati shrine with sugarcane in the living room, all lighted
up just like a christmas tree! On the first day they reach out to immediate
family members, on the second day to relatives, on the third day to friends, on
the fourth day to business associates and culminating on the fifth day, reaching
out to the world at large.

Strictly speaking it is the agamas and the vedas that are the ONLY shastras for
the Hindu. All the rest are commentaries, elaborations and secular works,
persuasive documents perhaps, but which nonetheless are not binding on us, and
can be summarily discarded. It is NO authority. So astrology, or jyotisha, is to
be discarded!

Everyone please keep in mind that we have no concepts of predestination or fate.
What we have is the concept of karma, which cannot ever be known. There is no
way our karma can be charted out and our future predicted based on a horoscope
or palmistry or some mumbo jumbo. There is no mumbo jumbo in the agamas or
vedas.

Everyone keep in mind that we worship the Gods, and not the planets, meteors,
comets, space debris, constellations, nodes of the moon, sun, galaxies or
whatever. Gods are all prevading bodies of light, neither physical nor even
mental, and not restricted to the physical world around us, rather immanent and
transcending it. And certainly not the planets! Gods pervade the entire cosmos
in much the same way our soul-spirit pervades our entire body. They cannot be
constricted or confined to a planet!

That the astrologers came to link the planets to Hindu gods is a devastating
development of the late siddhanta period. It paralysed the Hindus, made them
superstitious, fearful and fatalistic. It provided an argument and justification
for caste, and all the ills of Hindu society and the failings of an individual
or curse of a community! It made Hindus beggers; they go and beg the gods and
planets for favours, worldly favours that is, wealth to be specific, when on the
contrary the entire reason for taking a birth is to resolve karmas, relinquish
all, and attain moksha. That cannot happen when one is still begging for wealth,
fame, spouses, etc, and almost always, sure enough, will be disappointed,
leading to a loss of faith and confidence in the Gods.

This is what we need to delink now; delink the Gods from the planets, delink
predeterminism from karma, delink prayers for wealth from worship for communion
with the Gods and moksha.

Appeals to the Gods for their benign intervention is the basis of worship, for
the Gods alone can intervene. There would be no reason to worship if there is
such a thing as predestination. As the future cannot be known, there are no
prophecies in HIndu shastras unlike the abrahamic faiths. If the future could be
known our shastras would have been overflowing with prophecies.

Where there is worship, that makes it a religion and not just a dharma. It has
become fashionable to describe Hinduism as a way of life and not a religion,
perhaps trying to distinguish and distance themselves from the abrahamic faiths
and establish a distinction. Well thats not true.

Christians and muslims pray, whereas Hindus worship. Its not the same thing.
Worship means 'to honor'. To pray is 'to beg'. Hindus don't beg, but honor the
gods, with agamic tools and technology, seek supernatural communion, seek an
ending to the separation of the soul and God, the aspiration of the worshipper
being to suppress the separation of himself from the object of worship,
amalgamating his self with the supreme self, ultimately the stage in worship is
the identification of the worshipper with the Diety, and in that process seek
moksha - liberation from the physical, mental and emotional. All Hindu worship
is geared towards this, whether we are conscious of it or not. And not for
begging for wealth and fame (which may be ancilliary and not worthy of mention
in the presence of the God). Therein lies the disappointment! For the objective
was grossly wrong, a total misunderstanding!

The Gods respond to the worship, not by providing wealth, spouse, etc., as
repeatedly and endlessly requested by the woefully lost soul, but by unfolding a
scenario in our lives that makes the separation of soul and God less and less
distant over the years. The provision or non provision of wealth, spouse, fame,
children, etc., is merely a means to THAT end!

The gist is the
question of not just calendar dates, but as to whether there is predeterminism
(or fate) in Hinduism. Without which there are no arguments and rationale for
jaati and fatalism. With which there is no basis for worship! This goes at the
roots then.

Instead of working for shastric reform directly, which we all know is not going
to happen, why not pull the carpet from under the feet? With calendar reform!
Let us show how grossly and glaringly wrong Hindus have been on calendars, on
shastras, on determinism, and on caste.

Like the stag caught on headlights beam, the glare is blinding! It always has
been. Let us unblind the dazzled slaves, from the captivity of fatalism! Sorry,
I meant the Hindus. Here's the keys. Now unlock the cages!

Regards.

Pathma

.

Here is my latest exchange with Koenraad Elst.

> In this calendar debate, we have the same distinction.
> Traditionalists swear by what happens to have come down to us, such
> as Makar Sankranti on 14 January. Fundamentalists return to the
> sources, allegedly deviated from by later tradition, i.c. Makar
> Sankranti on 21 December. In this, I'm on the side of the
> fundamentalists, not because to me personally the Vedas are all that
> important or because the tradition has done me any wrong, but because
> in this case the Vedic approach inscribes itself in a rational and
> universal approach. The fundamentalists are more rational, because
> winter solstice is a significant point in the year cycle with a
> unique meaning and a relevance to the life cycles on earth, whereas
> the entry into a constellation (disregarding for now that the
> constellation have no clear borders) happens 12 times a year and has
> no particular relation to earthly events. Historically, it can be
> shown that the shift of Makar Sankranti, and more fundamentally the
> change from tropical to sidereal, is a mistake. No divine Vedic
> revelation with sanatana validity, but a mistake.

KE

This sums up the calendar reform debate. I'm all for it too. We have a finality!
Now its up to the 'pundits' to propose a season based calendar that is in
conformity with modern astronomical calculations, and one that self adjusts for
errors. Please put it up for discussion, followed by attestation by Hindus and
scholars.

Non Hindus, meaning astrologers, need not concern themselves beyond this point!
We make a clean break between Hindu astronomy for ritual and festive purposes,
with astrology.

Those who wish to believe in astrology, horoscopes, compatibility, etc., along
with worship of the navagrahas and its attendant dosha negating prayer-rituals
and talismans may continue to do so, and may claim the siddhanta jyotisha texts
from Varahamira onwards as their own. Hindus would appreciate it if all these
are delinked from Hinduism and Hindu shastras.

> >So astrology, or jyotisha, is to be discarded!<
>
> In Lagadha's Vedanga Jyotisha, the word Jyotisha means astronomy,
> which is not to be discarded, and not astrology. From the fact that
> the Vedas don't do "Vedic astrology", it doesn't necessarily follow
> that "astrology is to be discarded"; they don't mention computers and
> yet you're not discarding computers, are you? All we can say on this
> is that "Vedic astrology" is not based on the Vedas, eventhough
> already the Rg-Veda has notions that were to become cornerstones of
> astrology: bandhu (systems of correspondence), the division of the
> ecliptic in 12 and in 360, 12 season-based months.

By jyotisha I meant predictive astrology, not the astronomy of Lagadha's.

One can find anything in the vedas if one is 'looking for it'. If one looks for
varna, one can find it there too. But its not there if one is not 'looking for
it'.

.
> Isn't the whole idea of yajna, of imploring or somehow effectuating
> beneficial events a case of mumbo-jumbo?

.
This needs to be explained at length. But in short, only a practisioner, one who
has done his daily puja worship sadhanas, and perhaps some meditation, over a
considerable time, say 6 or 7 years, would be able to determine if there is
indeed any benefits, any divine interventions, any insights. To all others, the
doors to this inner experience and knowledge are closed, seemingly non existent.
They merely perform it perfunctorily based on faith or patriotism, or out of a
sense of hopelessness where there are no other options.

I am a long time practitioner and I am able to testify as to its validity. But I
cannot prove it to another. Those who have experienced transductive perceptions,
or are meditators, would have had some inner experience, perhaps a burst of
light, or ecstasy, or hearing inner sounds, or inspirational knowledge. Two
meditators may be able to cross check and verify each others experience. To all
others, this realm is closed, seemingly non existent.

.
>All things considered,
> isn't it more rational to assume that the planets affect our lives
> than that an a ritual act at place A and time X effects an outcome at
> place B and time Y?

.
As explained above. But I agree that the planets do affect our lives. But the
effect is physical, seasonal and environmental changes that in turn affects us
emotionally and mentally. These effects cannot be charted out nor negated in
anyway. But there is no planetary effect to the individual's karma!

The rituals is 'to communicate with the gods', a protocol, an established
tradition well understood by the inner world beings, in much the same way a
dancer or mime artist communicates with and moves the audience by unfolding a
story. Its effect is metaphysical, which unfolds over a long time. People expect
immediate results, and demand all requests be granted, setting the stage for
disappointment and skepticism. It doesn't work like that!

The gods cannot act for individuals and their prayers, unless summoned!
Therefore the rituals. They have their own code of ethics of non interference
with the lives of humans and their karmic evolution unless specifically summoned
and requested by the individual soul and that the requested favour is not in
conflict with that persons karma. That, and the gods and their duties, is
governed by the Great Transcendent Being (shiva).

In the temples they do intervene for the benefit of the devotees, for mere entry
into a temple is a consent for intervention, whether formally verbalised by the
devotee or not. While their metaphysical intervention is immediate, the effects
may be gradual, rather glacial, therefore it cannot be easily measured, B at Y
cannot be linked to the act A at X. The level of divine intervention during each
temple visit or ritual may be described as 'surgical and modest', hence
regularity and consistency in temple visitations is prescribed.

Again it cannot be proved. Self validation comes with practice.

.
> > Everyone keep in mind that we worship the Gods, and not the
> planets, meteors, comets, space debris, constellations, nodes of the
> moon, sun, galaxies or whatever.<
>
> Aren't Surya, Mitra, Vishnu, Savitar personifications of the sun?
> Isn't Varuna a sky-god, Shiva a moon-god etc.? In Sumerian, a glyph
> showing a star meant "god". But I get your point:

.
The established meditator would indeed see Surya in his inner third eye visions,
but it is not an anthropomorphic Being as many imagine and portrayed in the
shastras, rather it appears like an amorphic light 'just like our physical sun'.
Nevertheless this being can take any anthropomorphic shape and communicate with
this daily 'visitor' to the realms of the gods. Same with the other Gods. Rishis
of the past experienced these many amorphic and anthropomorphic shapes, each
with a name (and character), its etymology being self explanatory.

You can verify this with any other established meditator of any tradition! Ask
him to explain it in his own words and see if it corroborates what is said here.

.
> > Appeals to the Gods for their benign intervention is the basis of
> worship, for the Gods alone can intervene.<
>
> See, that's what a skeptic would call "mumbo-jumbo". All
> religionists are skeptics and rationalists when it comes to
> criticizing rival schools eventhough the latter's practices are of
> the same type or based on the same assumptions as their own.

.
As explained above. Yes this exists in the non experiential intellect plane
where all rival practices are mumbo jumbo except their own.

Pathma

The Hindoos are confused, disorientated and their thinking muddled, mangled and fangled. Clarity is hard to come by. Common sense is not there. They are lost, uncertain, hesitant and would rather wait and see what the other guy does first. The pull of superstition is strong.

Sure many Hindus are well read, can quote from the vedas and upanisheds, have read many post modern works, can quote big names like Dawkins, Kripal, etc. and expouse deep concepts, BUT they do not know Hinduism! In the ten years I've been surfing the web, I know most know nothing about the gods. They have read but they do not know.

Believe it or not most of them are not practitioners; readers and scholars yes, but not practitioners. For, they do not talk the language of a believing worshipful practitioner, but they talk the language of a scholar. So its two people talking a different language to each other.

Being mostly western english educated in mostly missionary schools they have been led by the nose to find knowledge, understanding and 'salvation' in books and western conceptualisations, and not in the traditional worships and religious practices. They do not understand that a vastly much more intuitive knowledge comes from actual worship. Ten times more! A hundred times more than what one could possibly have read in a lifetime. The library within, the repository of knowledge and understanding, is the biggest in the world! The purpose of worship is to unfold the knowledge from within.

Secondly, generally most Indians are currently in the hot pursuit of wealth and affluency and this overrides other 'stabilising factors', like beliefs, rationality and common sense, reducing any religious practice to mere perfunctory rituals, and obsession with clutching at straws.

If there is fatalism and astrology in the vedas, then I'm sure our vedic rishis would have written down in the upanishads their prophecies for each of the years; prophecies for 2007, prophecies for 2008, 2009, etc., and that would be nadi leaves for all 6 billion people and more to come. It does not strike the Hindus that there is not a single prophecy in the vedas nor the agamas. It does not strike them that whatever the seasons are for them in the northern hemispehere, its the opposite in the southern hemisphere!

The prayers to the elements and plants in the vedas is a recognition and celebration of our interconnectedness to the universe, our universality, and our wholesome well-wishing and the togetherness of mankind and the world!

If there is no fatalism there is no astrology. If there is worship there is no fatalism!

We have only the concept of karma, and that too just to explain the environment and situation we are in. No more that that. There is no fatalism. We have no control in the short term over the immediate environment that we are facing. We have to accept that, the environment we are in and the conditions we are facing. But we have free will to guide our lives, within the parameters of that environment. But over the medium term even the environment too changes, and new avenues open and old doors close.

A tectonic shift is taking place in India, where 60 million are lifted out of poverty and where 100 million enter the middle class each year! Thats an karmic environmental change for 160 million people, and people are exercising their free will to further their lives. A dragon has been karmically unleashed. Nothing to do with the stars or astrology. Everything to do with collective karma from its distant past that kept it bonded all this while.

Now people have to let go of fatalism to be further unleashed.

Below is a pondering of why astrology is intriguing. It is not intriguing. It is just clutching at straws! Bonded people do that. Simple.

"That astrology lives still in the popular imagination, in both West and East (albeit in very different forms), leaves us with the task of trying to understand why this is so. At that point, we can rightly say whether we agree with the premises of astrology or not -- as Beck does in this book -- and seek to debunk the system if we so wish.

But even a modern social scientist must find it intriguing that in this post-Enlightenment period, people still find room in their heads for a system as fatalistic as astrology."

http://www.classics.und.ac.za/reviews/07-45bec.htm

Its best that you take the initiative and offer a Proposed NewHinduCalendar, where it incorporates a mechanism for adjusting one day every 71 years, and the yearly seasonal festivals.

Makara Sankranti, Uttarayana & Pongal (Jan 14-15, 2008)
Subhamoy Das

The day on which the sun begins to move northwards (uttarayana) is called 'Makar Shankranti' (Sanskrit: Shankramana = to begin to move). Among the Tamils in southern India this festival is called the Pongal. To many people, Makar Shankranti ushers in the New Year. Newly-harvested grains are cooked for the first time on that day. Joyous festivities mark the celebration in every home. The poor are fed and clothed. On the next day, the cow is worshipped, and birds and animals are fed. In Gujarat in western India, the occasion is called ‘Uttarayan,’ which is famous for its kite flying festival.

Seventy per cent of India's population lives in villages, and a vast majority of people solely depend on agriculture. As a result, we find that most Hindu festivals are directly or indirectly linked to agriculture and related activities.
Pongal is one such big festival, celebrated every year in mid January - mostly in the south of India and especially in Tamil Nadu - to mark the harvest of crops and a special thanksgiving to God, the sun, the earth and the cattle.

What's Pongal??'Pongal' comes from the word 'ponga' which literally means 'boil' and so 'pongal' connotes 'spillover' or that which is 'overflowing'. It's also the name of the special sweet dish cooked on the Pongal day. Pongal continues through the first four days of the 'Thai' month that starts on January 14 every year.

Seasonal Festivity?Pongal is directly associated with the annual cycle of seasons. It not only marks the reaping of the harvest, but also the withdrawal of the southeast monsoons in southern India. As the cycle of season rings out the old and ushers in the new, so is the advent of Pongal connected with cleaning up the old, burning down rubbish, and welcoming in new crops.

Cultural & Regional Variations?Pongal in the state of Tamil Nadu is celebrated during the same time as 'Bhogali Bihu' in the North Eastern State of Assam, 'Lohri' in Punjab, 'Bhogi' in Andhra Pradesh and 'Makar Sankranti' in the rest of the country, including Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Bengal.
Assam's 'Bihu' involves the early morning worship of Agni, the god of fire followed by a nightlong feast with family and friends. Bengal's 'Makar Sankranti' entails the preparation of traditional rice-sweets called 'Pittha' and the holy fair - Ganga Sagar Mela at the Ganga Sagar beach. In Punjab, it's 'Lohri' - gathering around the sacred bonfire, feasting with family and friends, and exchanging greetings and pleasantries. And in Andhra Pradesh it is celebrated as 'Bhogi', when each household puts on display its collection of dolls.

Pongal follows the winter solstice and marks the favorable course of the sun. On the first day, the sun is worshipped, signifying its movement from Cancer to Capricorn. This is also why, in other parts of India, this harvest festival and thanksgiving is called 'Makar Sankranti'. [Sanskrit Makar = Capricorn]

Each day of the four-day festival has its own name and distinct fashion of celebration.

Day 1: Bhogi Pongal?Bhogi Pongal is a day for the family, for domestic activities and of being together with the members of the household. This day is celebrated in honor of Lord Indra, "the Ruler of Clouds and Giver of Rains".

On the first day of Pongal a huge bonfire is lit at dawn in front of the house and all old and useless items are set ablaze, symbolic of beginning a fresh new year. The bonfire burns through the night as young people beat little drums and dance around it. Homes are cleaned and decorated with "Kolam" - floor designs drawn in the white paste of newly harvested rice with outlines of red mud. Often pumpkin flowers are set into cow-dung balls and placed among the patterns. Fresh harvest of rice, turmeric and sugarcane is brought in from the field as preparation for the following day.

Day 2: Surya Pongal?The second day is dedicated to Lord Surya, the Sun God, who is offered boiled milk and jaggery. A plank is placed on the ground, a large image of the Sun God is sketched on it and Kolam designs are drawn around it. This icon of the Sun God is worshipped for divine benediction as the new month of 'Thai' begins.

Day 3: Mattu Pongal?This third day is meant for the cattle ('mattu') - the giver of milk and puller of the plough. The farmer's 'dumb friends' are given a good bath, their horns are polished, painted and covered with metal caps, and garlands are put around their necks. The pongal that has been offered to the gods is then given to the cattle to eat. They are then taken out to the racing tracks for cattle race and bullfight - an event full of festivity, fun, frolic and revelry.

Day 4: Kanya Pongal ?The fourth and final day marks the Kanya Pongal, when birds are worshipped. Girls prepare colored balls of cooked rice and keep them in the open for birds and fowls to eat. On this day sisters also pray for their brothers' happiness.

Like all Hindu festivals, Pongal too has some interesting legends attached to it. But surprisingly, this festival has little or no mention in the Puranas, which are usually bristled with tales and legends related with festivals. This is perhaps because Pongal is preeminently a Dravidian harvest festival and has somehow managed to keep itself away from the preponderance of Indo-Aryan influences.

The Mt. Govardhan Tale?The most popular Pongal legend is the one associated with the first day of the celebrations when Lord Indra is worshipped. The story behind it is, on this day Indra being honored by all, became proud and arrogant. To teach him a lesson, Lord Krishna asked his cowherd friends to worship Mount Govardhan instead of Indra on the Bhogi Pongal day.

Awfully infuriated, Indra sent forth the clouds to generate thunder, lightning and heavy rains and flood the land. But, as the tale goes, Lord Krishna lifted up the Govardhan Mountain on his little finger and sheltered the farmers, cowherd and their cattle. Indra then begged Shri Krishna's forgiveness and the latter re-permitted Bhogi celebrations in honor of Indra.

The Nandi Bull Story?According to another legend associated with Mattu Pongal, the third day of celebrations, Lord Shiva once asked his Nandi bull to go to earth and deliver a special message to his disciples: "Have an oil bath everyday, and food once a month."

God is closer to you than your jugular vein, the kingdom of god is within you, seek (the kingdom of god within), knock (the kingdom of god within) and it shall open, and then you too, like millions before you, shall declare, I and my father are one!

If one is searching for god anywhere outside oneself, in the mosques, churches, in the book, in saints, in gospels, in piety, in mind constructs, in prophecies, in saviours, then one is lost in the dungeons of hell. Because anywhere outside one's self, outside the kingdom of god, IS hell!

The kingdom of god is within all of us at this very moment. No need to go here and there to find it. This makes any convert the utterest stupid person, an openly self-declaring idiot, who hadn't a clue! Idiots of the world, go within!

Pathma

brhac ca tad divyam acintya-rûpam sûkshamâc ca tat sûkshma-taram vibhâti

Vast, divine, of unthinkable form, subtler than the subtle, it shines forth.- Mundaka Upanishad

Even the theoretical void of classical physics is not the last word on
empty reality. For now we have discovered that vacuum is not total spatial
material nudity, stark and still. Twentieth century physics has unveiled a
staggering aspect of what we call vacuum. Calculations and conceptual
penetration into the nature of the empty substratum point to a most astounding
dynamism at the core of nothingness. Pure vacuum is teeming with countless
concentrations of energy that come and go incessantly. Be it in the narrowest
margins between the thickly packed constituents of gross matter or in the dark
expanses of intergalactic void, an underlying palpitation seems to be going on
interminably: subtle entities come into existence and vanish, like flashes of
fireflies in a dark night, but inconceivably smaller in size and infinitely more
quickly.

Physics has revealed that there can be no matter such as we experience
without the incessant appearance and disappearance of unimaginably these minute
entities at the core of emptiness. These sub-natural virtual particles are
responsible for a good many features of the perceived world. They have been
working subtly and invisibly since the dawn of creation until a handful of
probing physicists unraveled their fleeting existence these many eons after the
world came to be. This is the veritable breath of the universe, the cosmic
heart-beat as it were, for should these vacuum fluctuations cease, it would be
the end of the universe of matter and energy such as we perceive it.

The wonder is that it implies that these countless multitudes are being
generated out of nothing and gobbled up interminably, like borrowing and
returning money on a piece of paper. This is in blatant defiance of common sense
and of Lucretius who wrote famously that nothing can be made out of nothing.
Vacuum seems to be, in the phrase of the New Testament as having nothing, and
yet possessing all things.

One may draw an analogy with the conscious mind and the subconscious.
Perceived reality may be compared to the conscious state, and vacuum to the
unperceived facet where the mind is without conscious thought. Underneath all
the noise and action that constitute everyday life, are secret turbulences that
govern our behavior. The dynamism implicit in the vacuum-state is somewhat like
the not-directly experienced turmoil of the subconscious.

This is the picture that emerges from what is called quantum field theory
which has opened our mind's eye to the dynamic aspect of vacuum. The so-called
vacuum energy, which is one of the many revelations of our probes into the
microcosm, is a well-defined and calculable entity, its actual value depending
on a number of factors, including what is called the cosmological constant. The
notion of the vacuum-state in quantum field theory requires the powerful
flashlight of mathematics. There can be no meaningful understanding of atoms or
nuclei or quantum vacuum without sophisticated mathematics.

Thinkers in ancient world also reflected on emptiness. In Buddhist
metaphysics, sûnya or void is ultimate reality: not static nothingness, but a
dynamic substratum. Some have drawn parallels with the notions of nirguna and
saguna brahman. The vacuum of today's physics is of course a horse of a very
different color. And yet, no matter how we approach it, there is something
intriguing, even mysterious, about a mind-bogglingly vast void where so much is
present, an apparent silence where there is incessant activity, and an
all-pervading coldness which contains stellar furnaces of immense heat and
energy.

There is only some mention of kala-s and yama-s for temple pujas, muhurthas, nakstratras, solstices, equinoxes and months in the Ajita, Paramesvara, Makuta, and Candrajnana Agamas. There is no mention of rasis.

Ajita Agama

The Process of the Great Festival (utsava) - the stars and lunar days fit for the immersion in sacred waters

27.1-2
Now, I will tell the process of the festival which brings welfare to all the world. Sava is that which is called 'auspicious' and brings happiness to all creatures. That from which sava is born (ud) is called 'utsava'.

27.8-11
In Caitra the star of Tvastr (Citra) is taught, in Vaisakha Surpa (Visakha) is told, in Jyestha (the star) Mula, in Asadha the star of Visvadevas (Uttara Asadha) is taught, in Sravana it should be Sravistha, in Proshapada (Bhadrapada) Ajaikapad (Purvabhadrapada), in the month of Asvayuj (Asvina) Asvini, in the month of Karttika Krittika, in the month of Margasirsa the star of Rudra (Ardra) is told, in Pushya it should be the star of Brihaspati (Pusya), in Magha the star of Pitr-s (Magha), in the month of Phalguna the star of Aryaman (Uttaraphalguni) should be the star of the immersion (festival).

27.12
(The aforementioned) are stars in conjunct with the full moon (are fit time for the festival of immersion in water).

27.14-15
(Or) in all the months, Caitra, etc., the star fit for the immersion would be the star of Rudra (Ardra). In Magha or Jyestha months the sixth and eight lunar days of the black fortnight (respectively) are taught as being for the immersion; they give all desired fruits.

27.15-16
(Or) the excellent knower of the rituals (desika) should fix the parvan (full moon and new moon) and the fourteenth lunar day of both forthnights, in all the months, for the immersion.

The Process of the Sraddha festival

69.5-7
One should perform the ablution (abishegam) ceremony on a day under the following stars, starting from the month of Ardra, Ardra (Margasiras), Pushya, Maagha, Uttara (Phalguni), Citra, Visakha, Mula, (Uttar)asadha, Sravana, Purvabhadra, Asvini, and the star of Agni (Krittika), in coincidence with the full moon or new moon day of the forthnight or not.

69.9
The wise should perform the festival up to the end of Ardra, every month, on equinoxes, after an eclipse, or after other auspicious days (such as Ganesha Chaturthi, Sarasvati puja, etc.)

Regards.

Only in Hinduism 'Time' has become a part of its Philosophy and Religion. I shall give a few examples.

Kaala has been treated as a God and named Yama. He is credited with upholding Dharma strictly and is therefore called Dharmaraaja.
Bhagavadgita says - kaalah kalayathaam asmi - I am kaala of the reckoners.

The Hindu God Shiva is said to be Kaala of Kaala. So he becomes Kaalakaala. A destroyer of time.

Time also plays a part on the concept of Mahavishnu. Vishnu means all pervading but lies on a bed of time. This bed is conceived as a coiled snake called 'anatha' meaning without end (bothways). He is also called aadi-shesha meaning that he was in the beginning and he will be in the end also. Otherwise with no beginning and no end.

PKR

.

Kaali, the female counter part of Kaala is also symbolic of "Time", as energy.
The names Kaala and Kaali comes from the Sanskrit root word Kal which means
time. There is nothing that escapes the all-consuming march of time, which
always ends in destruction, which can also mean death.
The dance of Kaali, the dynamism of time, is often portrayed as a gruesome
female dancing over the still form of Shiva. If Kaali represents shakti or force
or movement, then Shiva, symbolically, is the passive partner of the two-some,
i.e shiva and shakti. Shiva without shakti is shava. Matter without energy is
without movement.

I think this is what the ancient Hindus were trying to convey. How they came
to these conclusions of matter, space and time is rather intriguing!

The opening lines of the famed Ananda Lahari by Adi Sankara, points to this
theme with these lines:

"Shiva shaktya