margabandhustotram by appaya dixita - sanskrit documents

माग बोऽम अदीितः िवरिचतम mArgabandhustotram by Appaya Dixita

sanskritdocumentsorg

August 20 2017

mArgabandhustotram by Appaya Dixita

माग बोऽम अदीितः िवरिचतम

Sanskrit Document Information

Text title maargabandhu stotra

File name maargabandhuitx

Category shiva

Location doc_shiva

Language Sanskrit

Subject philosophyhinduismreligion

Translated by NBalasubramanian bbalusatyamnetin

Latest update May 8 2004

Send corrections to Sanskritcheerfulcom

Site access httpsanskritdocumentsorg

This text is prepared by volunteers and is to be used for personal study andresearch The file is not to be copied or reposted without permission forpromotion of any website or individuals or for commercial purpose

Please help to maintain respect for volunteer spirit

August 20 2017




by N Balasubramanian bbalusatyamnetinA short life sketch of Shri Appayya DikShita (1520-1593 AD)

Shrimad Appayya DikShita was born at Adayapalam village very nearArni North Arcot District Tamil Nadu in the year1520 AD His father Shri Rangarajadhari was the son of Shri AcharyaDikShita - also known as VakShasthalacharya who was inthe court of Shri Krishnadevaraya ldquoAppayyardquo was anendearing form of his real name Vinayaka SubramaniamldquoThe 16th century AD in South India was an age of confusionwhen begotry and vigorous proselytism were rampant Persecution of one sectby another with the help of the ruling dynastieswas quite common In such an age the need was felt for arare scholar with comprehensive vision and imagination whose missionin life would be the reconciliation of the various creedscults and philosophies Shri Appayya DikShita filled this essentialneed He was a peace maker who pleade for harmony tolera nce and mutualgoodwill and understanding at a time when people werequarrelling among themselves as to who was superior Vishnu or Shiva (Dr NRamesan IAS Shri Appayya DikShita Page 3)ldquoDikShitarrsquos culture was at once profound libeal and wide Hischaracteristic impartiality never failed him even in his out andout militant worksrdquo (A V Gopalachariar Introduction toVaradarajastava 1927 P vI) DikShitarrsquos learning says Y MahalingaShastri was in the truest sense of the word encyclopaedic

अदीिता-नशषिवागनह व यितबोधाबोधौ िवदिविभाजकोपाधी (भोजीदीितः)Shri DikShita is the author of not less than 104 works and had enjoyedthe patronage of King Chinna Bomma of Vellore He

maargabandhupdf 1


was offered ldquokanakAbhiShekardquo by this king in 1582AD He waspatronised by Chinna Thimma and Venkatapati also Helived upto the ripe age of 73 years and spent his last days inChidambaram

Some of his most famous works are Shivarka maNidIpikA NyAyarakShAmaNI siddhAnta lesha sangraha parimala chAturmatasArasangraha yAdavabhyudaya vyAkhyA varadarAjastava andkuvalayAnanda His stotras are simple popular and effectivefor example mArgabandhu stotram durgAchandrakalA stutiApitakuchambA stava hariharabheda stuti

Margabandhu stotram This small hymn is about Lord Marga sahaya orMargabandhu of Virinchipuram near VelloreNA Dt the family deity of DikShita It is very effective whenrecited before and during journy to ward off accidents andensure success(The above life sketch is taken from the book Shrimad AppayyaDikShita published by Shrimad Appayya DikShitendrarGrantha Prakasana Samiti Hyderabad)

The following abbreviations are used in the commentary(1) VS Shri Vishnu Sahasranama stotram with Shri Shankararsquos bashyam (2)SS Shiva Sahasranama stotram (called Vedasarasahasram) from Padmapuranam with the commentary (published by TanjoreSaraswati Mahal Library) of HH Shri Paramasivendra Saraswati - 57thpontiff of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam and the guru of the well knownsaint composer Shri Sadasiva Brahmendra Saraswati (3) BG BhagavatGita (4) BH Shrimad Bhagavatam (5) KU Kathopanishad (6) MUmundakopanishad (7)SVU Svetasvatara upanishad (8)TUTaittriyopanishad (9) SA Shri Shivanama Ashtottara shata stotram fromSkandam with the commentary (called Shivatattva Rahasyam) of ShriNeelakanta DikShita (grandson of Shri Appayya DikShitarsquos younger

2 sanskritdocumentsorg


brother) a great scholar and poet in his own right

माग ः = a way road path बः = relative or any oneassociated well wisher So the word माग बः means one whocomes along with you giving company and protectionोऽम Stotramis a hymn praising the Lord गणसकीत नाकोऽम (VS681) It talks about His qualitiesStotram At this point it is relevant to say a few words about stotram Ourscriptures are explicit in saying that the Supreme Being is oneIt is without name form and any other attributes It is calledbrahman in our scriptures This is not its name but one of its manyattributes बहमात That which is big is brahman Sincethe adjective lsquobigrsquo is used simply without a noun to be qualified itimplies that the bigness is unlimited It is infinite and beyondtime space etc unlike the objects and beings we see in theuniverse The scriptures also aver that it is beyond our senses Thefamous mantra from the Taittiriyopanishad (Anu IV) saysthat the brahman is beyond the reach of our mind and words यतोवाचो िनवत अा मनसा सह If so how does a seekerthink of it or pray to it This is where our scriptures come to ourhelp They also describe the same God (who indeed is without a formor name) as having many forms and names This helps a seeker toworship Him through prayers pujapilgrimages to holy places etc So we have gods like Rama ShivaDurga etc The worship of the Lord with form and name is called(सगण उपासना ) saguna (sa = with guna = attributesupAsanA = worship) The names and forms conceal the esoteric truthsmentionedin the upanishads Thus they like a map give us some idea ofsomething which is very vast and cannot be grasped by our senses TheLord graciously accepts the worship offered to Him in any form one

maargabandhupdf 3


may chooseKrishna saysयो यो या या तन भः ौयाऽिच तिमित त ताचला ौा तामव िवदधाहम BG7-21He says that in whatever form a devotee seeks to worship Him withfaith He upholds that faith and makes it steady स तया ौया यः ताराधनमीहत लभत च ततः कामान मयव िविहताितान BG7-22 He adds that the devotee engages himself with faith in the worship(as said above) and from that he obtains hisdesires which are really conferred by Me alone These statements ofthe Lord lend validity and sanctity to the worship of God with nameand form who indeed is without any name form or attributes Later onthe Lord saysतषा सततयाना भजता ीितपव कम ददािम बिसयोग यन मामपयाि त BG10-10 He assures that to such devotees who worship Him with love He willgive the clear wisdom by which they will reach Him Inthis manner the saguna upAsana acts as a stepping stone to nirgunaupAsana and through that the realisation of God

Prahlada the gem among the devotees mentions nine kinds ofdevotion (BH 7-5-23) The first two amongst these (viz)ौवणम listening to the Lordrsquos names and stories which bringout His glories and कीत नम chanting them are the simplest andeasiest to practise These can be done by anyone irrespective of agecaste or gender They are suitable for theyoung and energetic as well as the old and decrepit a pundit andalso the ignoramus Thus they are suitable for all It is possible that their verysimplicity deceives one to imagine that they areless potent than the other kinds of devotion This is not soOur scriptures repeatedly assert that they can confer the highest



benefits on the devotee The vedas contain stotras like theRudram Shri suktam etc Our puranas contain many In adddition ouracharyas like Shri Shankara and other saints have composed soul-stirringcompositions in many languages All these areideally suited for recitation

One remarkable common feature to be found in these stotras is thateach one may be in praise of a differently named god likeRama or Shiva It will praise the attributes of that deity (in sagunaform) It will also refer to incidents to be found in the puranasThe Bhagvat Gita says that the Lord incarnates Himself from time totime to subdue the evil and protect the righteous peopleThe puranas contain details of the incarnations and the deedsperformed by Him to fulfill His mission Behind all the glorification they willrefer to His nirguna (without attributes) aspect alsoThe composition may be in praise of Shri Rama or Devi but itwill also talk of the God as the Supreme Being This clearly showsthat the composer of the stotra was in fact praising theformless reality using the form of Shri Rama or Devi as a front Wecan see this being done in this stotram also

There is one more point to note regarding stotras Poets have sungpraises of nobles and kings for pecuniary gains But these men andkings howsoever great or rich they may be are only human Theyhave their limitations and weaknesses In view of this apoem in praise of a person has necessarily to overlook the subjectrsquosfoibles exaggerate whatever virtues are to be found and if necessaryinnovate virtues Exactly opposite is the case with God He is pureand without limitations As said earlier He isbeyond the reach of the mind and words So those who have composedstotrams in praise of the Lord have invariably feltseverely handicapped because of their own limitations We find such

maargabandhupdf 5


verses confessing the feelings of inadequacy even in the compositionsof great acharyas like Shri Shankara and Shri Vedanta Desika

Now let us go to the Margabhandhu Stotram proper शभो महादव दव िशवशभो महादव दवीश शभो -शभो महादव दव

The stotram begins with the recitation of the holy names of the LordThe recitation of the Lordrsquos names purifies the mindmakes it calm and fit for any serious undertaking So they arenormally repeated before commencing any work like poojareligious discourse etc Here one may recall the familiar versesrecited at the time of commencing puja or any religious ceremony

अपिवऽः पिवऽो वा सवा वा गतोऽिप वा यः रत पडरीका सः बाारः शिचः मानस वािचक पाप कम णा समपािज तम ौीरामरणनव पोहित न सशयः ौी राम राम राम These verses say ldquoAnyone - may be impure or pure or whatevermay be his condition - if just thinks of th lotus -eyed Lord iscertainly pure inside and out Sins commited by mind speech oraction go away by thinking of Shri Rama This iscertainrdquo Thus the chanting of the Lordrsquos names flushes out theimpurities in the mind and invigorates it The author canthen look to the successful completion of the work taken on hand - inthis case the composing of the hymn Happily thesenames may be taken to apply to both to Shiva and Vishnu They may beseen in the sahasranamams of both Shiva and Vishnu

SHAMBHU शः श सख़ भावयतीित शभः (SS-74VS-38) He blesses his devotees with happiness and prosperity श= happiness prosperity All being go through the repeated cycle of



birth and death They experience varities of sufferings during eachlife During the dissolution of the universe He withdraws all beingswithin Himself - out of mercy - and after some time He releases themagain at the beginning of the next kalpa so that they get relief andrespite

यतः सवा िण भतािन भवािदयगागम यिलय याि पनरव यगय VS-11ldquoFrom whom all beings come at the beginning of the kalpa andinto whom they again merge at the end of the kalpardquo Thisimplies that they are also sustained by Him during the period inbetween This is mentioned in the TU (3-1)

यतो वा इमािन भतािन जाय यन जातािन जीवि यत यिभसिवशिldquoFrom whom all these beings emanate by whom they stay alive andinto whom they merge after deathrdquo

MAHADEVA महादवः - महाासौ दव महादवः महच सकलपाा िवभन माणतो महाा He isworshipped by everyone Also He is great because He pervades everything(SS22) सवा न भावन पिरआानयोगय महितमहीयत तात महादवः (VS492)He is called Mahadevabecause of His superior knowledge and His greatness as the gretest ofthe yogis Shivarahasya says that the sound ldquoMahadevaMaha-devardquo is a divine medicine for those bitten by the serpentcalled samsara महादव महादव महादवय िनःससारसप -दाना िदौषधमनममDEVA दवः -ािमपया यो दवशः नरदव इितवतअकिचतािम च िशवव The word deva indicateslordship His lordship is unrestricted िदतदवः (SA93)He is effulgent Krishna says rdquo I am the splendour of those whopossess splendourrdquo तजजिनामहम BG(10-36)

maargabandhupdf 7


Accordingly तमव भामनभाित सव त भासासव िमद िवभाित KU(2-2-15) All these (the sun the moon thestars the lightning and fire) shine only after Him It is with theinfinitesimal part of His luminosity that all these shine

तजोमित ः SS413 and अिमततजाः SS34 are His names In thecourse of teaching of Gita at KurukShetra Arjuna requests Krishna toshow him His cosmic form as Iswara The graciousLord obliges and reveals His universal form Arjuna is overwhelmed bythe splendour of the form he sees He feels as thougha thousand suns had risen at once in the sky िदिवसय सहॐ भवगपिता यिद भाः सशी सााास महानः (BG 9-12) Here as is usual withthe scriptures thousand is only indicative and stands for many orinfinite This is a popular verse and is said to have been quoted bythe scientist Oppenheimer to describe the explosion of the first atombomb which he witnessed

Effulgence does not stand only for light It also means wisdom Shivastands for infinite knowledge यः सवः सव िवत MU(1-9)One who is omniscient and knower of all ितधरः ितानलणा दीि धारयतीित ितधरः VS(275)He bearsthe shine of knowledge दीमित ः दीा ानमयीमित य ित दीमित ः VS(719) He is of the form of shiningknowledge काशाा काशप आा य सःकाशाा VS(276) His form is effulgent knowledge

SIVA िशवः - िशवः मलपः िनम िनिखलःखानषपरमानप इथ ः Shiva is the personification of auspiciousnessHe is completely free from sorrowsthat characterise all created beings including plantsanimals birds humans and devas like Indra and even Brahama the



creator He is the embodiment of supreme bliss (SS18)Also िनगणतया शात िशवः (VS27)He is devoid ofthe three qualities ie sattva(serenity) rajas(activity) andtamas(inertia) These qualities constitute ignorance (of Brahman orreality) and characterise all creation So Shiva being freefrom these is pure Patanjali sums up all this in his Yogadarsana(1-23) as शकमिवपाकाशयरपरामःपषिवशषः ईरः शाः अिवा अिता रागष अिभिनवशा कम धमा धम िवपाकाःकम फलािन - जायभगाःआशयो ानािद- वाशनाःएतः कालऽयऽपरामः पषिवशषः ईरः इथ ः ितमाऽण पावयन िशवः He removes the sins of those whojust think of His name DakShayani says this to her fatherDakSha यर नाम िगरिरत नणा सकत सगादघमाश हि The celebrated two syllables SIVAuttered with the tongue even once and that too casually immediatelywipes off the sins of those (who utter them)(BH 4413)Shivarahasya says this about the sanctity of Lord Shivarsquos names

सवा िण िशवनामािन मोदाव सवदा तम नाम िशवित सितम All thenames of Shiva give mokSha no doubt But amongst them the nameShiva is the best and denominates brahman Thename Shiva is considered as the best among the Lordrsquos names

िवास ौिता िकादशनी ौतौ तऽ पारी ता िशव इरयमOf all the knowledge the vedas are superior Among the vedas ShriRudram that consists of sixteen sections is superior In thatthe PanchakShari is superior In that also the two letters SIVA arethe best The glory of the Lordrsquos names is dealt with in greatdetail in Puranas and hymns of the saints

maargabandhupdf 9


DEVESHA दवशः - ाधान दवानामीशः दवशः He isthe foremost among the gods like Indra Agni etc VS(492) सरशः- सराणा दवानामीशः सरशः He is the lord of thedevas VS(85) He rules with a firm hand None can dare to transgressHis commandments without facing serious consequences

भीषाात वातः पवत भीषोदित सय ः भीषाादि मउधा वित पमःTU(VII-1) It is for fear of Him that the wind blows the sun risesthe fire and Indra perform their duties It is for fear of Himthat death the fifth runs about doing his work with diligence Thesame is said by none other than Yama the lord of death

भयादािपित भयात तपित सय ः भयािद वाय मधा वित पमः KU(3-3)Now let us go to the stotram proper It consists of five verses and asixth one - called फलौितः that gives the benefit ofreciting the hymn In this hymn Lord Margabandhu is described as theGod with form as Shiva bearing weapons as theconsort of Parvati It refers to various incidents to be found inpuranas that reveal His unrivalled power and glory He is alsopraised in His aspect as the supreme reality the attributelessbrahman whose nature is existence wisdom and bliss

१ फालावनिरीट फालनऽािच षा दधपषकीटम शलाहताराितकट शमधचड भज माग बमशभो

फालः - forehead अवन - descended or come downिकरीट - crown indicates that Lord Shiva wears a crown on thehead िकरीटी - िकरीटमाीित िकरीटी (SS782) The crown impliesthat Shiva wears other ornaments also िहरयः (SS273) andिहरयबाः (SS387) सवण वण ः -सवण व वणऽित



सवण वण ः VS(737) One who is golden-hued and हमाः -हमवा वपरसित हमाः VS(738) One with body like goldare also His names Shri Rudram salutes Him saying नमोिहरयबाहवपादावनिरीट is another reading found in somebooks पादः = foot implies that when gods like Indra bow downto salute Him their crowns touch His feet The crown indicateslordship Please see the comments on DEVESHA above He demandsrespect and in fact He is the only one to be respected पः पजायोयः पः सव व इथ ः SS(70) He deserves tobe worshipped by all There is none equal to or greater than Him saysShri Suka while saluting Him before he begins to narrate Bhagavatam toKing ParikShit िनरसााितशयन राधसा धामिनिण रत नमः BH(2-4-14)अतलः - तलोपमानमन िवत इित अतलः He has none equal to Him VS(355)अनमः - अिवमान उमो यात सः अनमः There isnone greater than Him VS (80) Furtherthere is none superior to Him VS(626) अनीशः - निवतऽश इित अनीशःAll other devas including Brahma the creator are limited by time andare subject to sorrows थमः - दवाना धानभत आोवा थमः He is the first and foremost among the devasSS(111) Shri Rudram says He is the foremost and is the inner self ofthe devas थमो दः Such is His gloryफालनऽािच षा दधपषकीट - नऽ = eyeअिच स = fire दध = burnt इषः = arrow कीटः = aworm insect पषः is the name Manmatha the god oflove because he has five arrows they are अरिव अशोकचत नवमिका and नीलोलम(lotus ashoka mangojasmine and blue lotus) The five arrows are also said to be

maargabandhupdf 11


समोहनः उादनः शोषणः तापनः andनः They are fascination intoxication or extravagance oflove emaciation suffering pain and benumbing or stupifyingrespectively Kalidasa vividly narrates the story connected with Shivadestroying the god of love in his mastepiece KumarasambhavamManmatha shot his arrow समोहन at Shiva who was deep inmeditation He wanted to seduce Shivarsquos mind and make Him fall in lovewith Parvati who was attending on Him but failed in his attemptShiva could sense that something was amiss and looked about He sawManmatha cowering at a distnce He just knit his brows in annoyanceIn that moment fire shot out of His third eye andreduced the wretched Manmatha into a handful of ashes Manmatha iscontemptuously termed a worm or insect as hewas foolish enough to try his tricks on none other than the greatShiva So Shiva is known as कामािरः - काम मथ अिरःकामािरः SA(25)Leaving the story apart the implication is that there is no placefor carnal desires in the prescence of the Lord just like there isno place for darkness in the prescence of the sun By the samelogicthere will be no place for evil tendencies in the heart of adevotee who establishes the Lord therein

Shivarsquos third eye is situated in His forehead So Shiva is known asफालनऽः SS(159) and ललाटाः SA(28) It is to benoted that the third eye is unique None of the human beings and godsincluding Indra and the creator Brahma possess suchan eye So Shiva is also known as िवपः िवपािणिवपािण लोकिविऽिविशािन अीिण य सःिवपाः SS(129) He has an abnormal third eye The thirdeye situated in a high position (viz) forehead and stands for supremeknowledge उतानवित लोचनशािलकीत नन



िवोरानशािल सिचतम SA(28) With such an eye Hecould easily look into the inmost recesses of anyonersquos heart and seethe thoughts lurking there So He could detect by a mere glance thatthe god of love has come to His prescence with an evil thought andmeted out severe punishment

The Shiva-Mahimna stotram (15) says that for his foolishness Manmathapaid a heavy price with his life and became anobject of memoryरः ताा न िह विशष पःपिरभवः र Smara is another name of Manmatha His arrowshave not failed anywher in the world of gods demons and men So hebecame conceited Smara became (ताा) an object ofmemory The moral of the story says the poem is that an insult tothe great willproduce serious consequences विनऽः - विनऽ ललाटय सः विनऽः (SS131) is also one of Shivarsquos namesBhartrihari in his Vairagya Satakam refers to this incident thusलीलादध-िवलकाम शलभः (ie) who effortlessly burntup the flippant god of love as a moth A big fire instantly reducesa moth into ashes

शलः = the Trident of Shivaआहत = struck अराितः = enemyकट = mass heap Shiva has destroyed His enemies withHis Trident But Shiva has no enemies समोऽह सव भतष न मोऽि न ियः (BG9-29) ldquoI am the same to all beingsThere is none hateful or dear to merdquo says the Lord in Gita Sowe have to take ldquoenemiesrdquo to mean the enemies of Hisdevotees We find that during the Mahabharata war Lord involvedHimself to help His devotee Arjuna During the KurukShetra war Arjunawas struk with wonder to see a figure radiant like the sun goingahead of him The figure destroyedhis enemies very easily with His trident Arjuna tells this to sage

maargabandhupdf 13


Vyasa and asks who that radiant figure was He adds thatpeople think he has killed his enemies so valiantly though all thework was done by that figure Vyasa says ldquoYou have seenLord Shivardquo ईशानमीर दव वानिसशरम Krishna confirms this and says ldquoYour enemies havealready been killed by Me Be a mere instrumentrdquo BG(11-33)मयवत िनिहताः पव मव िनिममाऽ भवससािचन

The more dangerous ldquoenemiesrdquo a devotee has to face areinternal such as desire anger etc In reply to Arjunarsquos question astowhat impels a person to commit sins even though he may be unwillingKrishna says काम एष बोध एष रजोगणसमवः महाशनोमहापाा िवनिमह विरणम BG(3-37) ldquoIt is desireIt is anger They are born out of rajo guna It has huge appetiteand makes one to commit sins Recognise it as your enemyrdquo Andlater on BG(16-21)He describes these as open gateways to hell that will destroy theself He cautions Arjuna to be careful and avoid them So a devotee in orderto avoid these internal enemies installs Him in his heartand feels safe Krishna tells Uddhava that once Heis established in the heart evil tendencies like desires getdestroyed कामा दा नयि सव मिय िद ितBH(11-21-26)They cannot live together like light and darkness Heis called कामहा - कामान हि ममणा भानािहसकाना चित कामहा He destroys the desires of Hisdevoteees who seek liberation and theintentions of those who trouble them VS(294) Also कामनाशः ममणा काम नाशयतीित कामनाशः SS(126) LordShiva is theआिद गः the earliest or the first guru He teachesby demonstration He shows He has destroyed His desires and wants His



devotee to do likewise He is only too willing to help him provided hemakes his heart His temple In view of this Bhartruhari describes asadhu whose heart is pure as having devotion to Shiva with tridentभिः शिलिनUnfortunately a devotee has to contend with one moreldquoenemyrdquo - more pernicious than the enemies mentioned in theprecedingpara It is attachment Desire is a longing to possess somethingwhich we do not have and we feel that thing can give us satis faction or pleasureor security We try to get that thing and whensomeone or something thwarts the desire the desire turns into angerThus desire precedes anger or anger is the result of frustrateddesire Once the object of desire is got and is in our possession wetend to hold on to it This inclination to bind ourselves to objectsor people around us is known as attachmentWe look to those objects or people to give us pleasure or securityVedanta warns us to avoid getting attached to things orpeople because firstly the objects of attachment are perishable asanything in the world is If we develop strong attachment tosomething then parting with it can be a very painful experience andwe may sink under the load of the resultant grief That was the casewith Dasaratha who was excessively attached to his son Rama He couldnot bear the pangs of separation from Ramawho had to leave for the forest for fourteen years He died in agony

Secondly it is wrong to look to such objects or people for securityas they are perishable and so are themselves insecureHence they cannot confer security on us We will be left in thelurch Attachment is called (ईषणा ) IshanA Three types ofattachments are mentioned in our scriptures They are attachment to(1) the money (2) wifehusband and (3) children Further

maargabandhupdf 15


it is said that attachment once developed to something is verydifficult to get rid of It is like a blob of coaltar that has some how got stuck toour body It will take a long time and repeatedwashing to get rid of it So we are warned to be wary ofdeveloping attachment to anything or any person This does notprevent us from showing love to others

Prahlada gives a description of these attachments (BH 7-6) in hisadvice to his friends Talking about the attachment to moneyhe says को थ ता िवसजत ाणोऽिप य ईितः य बीणासिभः रः सवको विणक (BH97-8-10) He says that money is valued higher than life itself and sowho can give up attachment to it The thief the soldier and themerchant trade their dear life for money In view of this he warnsall to stay away from the objects of attachment and seek the LordThe boy Nachiketa said न िवन तप णीयो मनः He saidman can never get satiated with the wealth when Yama offered himimmense wealth in exchange for the teaching about self

Kunti the mother of Pandavas in her prayer to Krishna before Heleaves for Dwaraka says हपाशिमम िछि ढपाडष विष She prays to the Lord to cut her attachmentto her relatives so that her mind can think of Him withoutdistractions BH(1-8-41)

The foregoing introduction is to explain the other implication ofshula or the trident of Shiva The three sharp points of the tridentcan destroy the three kinds of attachment that can assail a devoteeand hinder his progress

The devotee shakes off his attachments to the worldly objects firstThis was what Vibhishana did before surrendering toRama As the brother of Ravana and his minister he was verypowerful He was immensely rich He had palaces loving wives



and children But he gave up every thing and rushed to Rama withouteven taking leave of his wife and children He saidापऽा दारा राघव शरण गतः Renouncingmy wives and children I have surrendered to Raghava and againपिरा मया ला िमऽािण च धनािन च Lankafriends and all wealth had been left behind by me(Ramayana-Yuddhakanda-17-16 and 19-6)Then he transfers his attachment to the Lord and enshrines Him inhis heart Then the devotee ties His feet firmly with the cordof love and so He becomes immobilised णयरशनयाधथािपः BH(11-2-55) Thus firmly stationed in thedevoteersquos heart He destroys the evil tendencies thereinो भिािण िवधनोित सताम BH(1-2-17)शलहः - शल ह य सः (SS114) िजतशऽः -िजताः शऽवः यन सः िजतशऽः (SS211) and िरपः -सरिरपन हीित िरपः (SS370) are Shivarsquos namesFurther it is said ऽगय शलमत - एव भतशल करोा िऽगणािकाया मायायााधीनम भवित SA(11) The trident represents thethree gunas (traits) Shiva holding it in His hand shows He is incontol of maya of which they are the constituents

श = कालऽयऽिप परमाथ तः मायाऽिवािदसबरिहतः शः शमपापिव इितौितः (SS310) Forever He is free from maya (the illusion by whichone considers the unreal universe as really existent and as distinctfrom the Supreme Spirit) and spiritual ignorance This is madeexplicit by what is said about the moon next

अधचड - अध = half इः = the moon चड = crestShiva has partial moon on the crest सोमिवभषः -िविशा भषा िवभषा सोमः िवभषा भषण य सः

maargabandhupdf 17


सोमिवभषः चधरः (SS32) and also शिशमौिलः =शशी चः मौलौ य सः शिशमौिलः (SS929)The moonappears as a special ornament to Shiva शिशशखरः - अयचः परमर ानप इित िशवागमदिश तमयतो ldquo ानचकलाचडrdquo SA(5)The moon represents His infinite wisdom Please see notes under Devaabove It is to be noted that the crown that Shiva wears does notcover the moon This implies that Shivarsquos lordshipover the universe - His omnipotence - does not veil His wisdom Theshining moon announces to the world that one whoyearns for knowledge should come to Him Shankaracharya says in hisPrasnottara ratnamalika को िह जगः शभःान कतः िशवादवWho is the universal teacher ShambuFrom where can one get wisdom From Shiva only So we have the sayingानिमत महरात rdquo One should pray to Maheswarafor wisdomrdquo

भज= worship माग ब = the Lord MargabanduI worship Lord Margabandu who wears a crown who destroyed the insectlike god of love with the fire from His eye in Hisforehead who destroyed the enemies (of gods) with His Trident whois pure(ie) beyond maya and ignorance and whowears the moon on His head as an onament

२ अ िवराजजअगातरािभरामोमाओकारवाटीकर िसससिवतािभज माग बम शभो

अ िवराजज -अग = limb may mean hand or leg िवराजत = shining orappearing prominently भजगः = serpent snakeLord Shiva is decked with snakes सप भषः - सपा ः भजगाः



भषाः भषणािन य सः सप भषः (SS43) His other namesare सप हारः सपा ः नागाः त हाराः य सः (SS494)and नागचडः - नागो वासिकः कोटीरबनाथ चडायाय सः नागचडः (SS736) Shiva wears a garland of snakes andhas tied Vasuki -the king of snakes - around His head to keep Hislocks of hair in place

Snakes-We fear snakes because we identify them with death And everyone isafraid of death कािमह मरणात saysSankaracharya in his Prasnottara ratnamalika The symbolism is usedin our scriptures frequently For example मकालािहनाऽऽान कोऽातमधीरः BH(11841)meaning ldquowho else other than the Lord can save one seized bythe serpent of Time When Gajendra the lord of the elephants wasseized by a crocodile and found that he couldnot extricate himself from its grip he called the Lord sayingयः कनशो बिलनोऽकोरगात चडवगादिभधावतो भशम भीत प पिरपाित ययाः धावरण तमीमिह BH(8233)He says ldquoWhosoever be the almighty God who protects one who hassurrendered to Him being very much afraid of thepowerful snake in the form of Death - that is very fast and is afterhim - and from fear of whom Death himself runs hither andthither let us seek Him as our refugerdquo

Kala means the Supreme principle which devours everything and Yamathe god of death who is also known by the namesAntaka and Mrutyu So at level one He is Yama मःसव हराहम Krishna says ldquoI am Death who seizes allliferdquo BG(1034) He is Antaka अकः - अ करोितभतानािमित अकः VS(520) He causes the end of all lifeAt the higher level He is the kala or Supreme principle which

maargabandhupdf 19


destroys everything including Yama the god of death at the time ofdissolution Lord Kapila gives a description of Kala to His motherDevahuti BH(329 36-45) He says it is none other thanVishnu who draws everything into Himself कालः - कलयितसविमित कालः - कालः कलयतामहम - गीता १०३० इितभगवचनात VS(418) and SS(33) The Lord is not limited bytime or space or by any material अनाा दशतः कालतोवतापिरिात अनाा VS(518) He is notsubject to destruction or anything that causes destructionअमः मिव नाशः ततवा न िवत इितअमः VS(198) In fact it is He - the seer and all knowing who had createdthe gods (including Yama) and assigned to them theirduties says Isavasyopanishadकिवम नीषी पिरभः यभःयथाततोऽथा दधाातीः समाःSo the snakes representing kala or death cannot harm Him but Hewears them implying He uses Death for His servicesYama himself says मय ोपसचनम Death to Him is likepickles or achAr - a thing He uses in the process of consumig thecreation KU(1325) Remember that one uses a small quantity of pickleonly to push in a large amount of food- the main dish Similarly the Lord uses the services of Yama in asmall measure for His main workकालहा काल मोहा SS(83) and कालकालः कालः यमः तािप कालः SA(29) are His names Hedestroyed even Yama the god of death to protect His devoteeMarkandeya The name also indicates that He is the supreme Lord whowithdraws everything the entire creation including the god ofdeath into Himself at the time of dissolutonand releases them again at the beginning of the next cycle ofcreation His other names are म जयः - मः मरण



भाना म जयितोपासनािदना पिरहरित इितम जयः SS(123) SA(71) He removes or avoids the death ofHis devotees The sage Markandeya confidently singsचशखरमाौय मम िक किरित व यमः ldquoItake refuge in Lord Shiva What harm can Yama do to merdquo This isalso said symbolically in the story of Dhruva Towards the end ofthe story it is said that a chariot came to take him to the placereserved for him in the skies The Lord had told him that it was aspecial place because there will be no return to this world againmeaning he had crossed death and will not be reborn At that timeYama - the god of death - approached him and bowed down Dhruvastepped on Yamarsquos head and climbed into the vehicle तदोानपादः पऽो ददशा िकमागतम मो-म ि पद दा आरोहात गहम BH(41230)At this point let us take a small detour and see what our scriptureshave to say on the subject of life and kala or death Thismay sound a bit morbid but since it is literally a matter of lifeand death we should know some details

One who is born has to die and one who dies is reborn जात िहीवो मः व ज मत च BG(227)From this it appears that this is a never ending process One canview it in either of the two ways as follows1 - One does not believe in the existence of the other world Thereis no inclination to think about or enquire into the processSuch people are known as Nastikas2 - This one - known as Astika - believes in the shastras and theexistence of the other world He tries to find a way out of it

The shastras say that the people coming under the first category areto be pitied The human birth is superior to other forms of birthsOnly humans are endowed with free will and ability to discriminate

maargabandhupdf 21


between the right and the wrong the good and thebad Only they have the ability to work for their own and otherrsquosuplift The animals do not have free will Their life is governedby instincts Because of this they do not incur any sin for theiractions One obtains a human birth after going through theinferior births and as a result of some good deeds and blessings ofthe Lord It is therefore incumbent on us to use thisprivileged position to our advantage and seek higher goals includingliberation from death But if one fails to seize the rareopportunity that has come his way but fritters his life on pettysense pleasures and garnering pelf he falls from his status andis considered an ignoramus BH(11774)यः ा मानष लोक मिारमपावतम

गहष खगवमाढत िवः The question of escaping death has been discussed again and again inour scriptures We will structure the discussion asanswers to the following questions1 - What leads to rebirth2 - What is wrong with rebirth or why rebirth is to be avoided3 - What is the process called death and4 - Can death be avoided and if so how to avoid death

1 - What leads to rebirthEveryone has to work at least to keep the wolf from the door Inaddditon people work to improve their standard of living toprovide for the rainy day old age etc All these activities - calledkarma - can be classified as good or bad The good ones arethose that are enjoined by our scriptures and those that can becalled virtuous selfless and such The bad ones are those thatare prohibited by our scriptures and those that are motivated bygreed anger selfishness etc Both acts produce results which



are to be ldquoenjoyedrdquo by the doer कमणोऽनप िह फल भित जवः शभन कम णा भितःख ाातकन त Skanda PuranamThe good deeds produce happiness prosperity etc and lead to higherbirths - life of better quality and happiness inthis world or higher worlds The bad deeds produce unhappinessmisery etc By neglecting to do the duties expected of himand also doing acts that are prohibited he falls and is thrown intoinferior birthsिविहताननानात िनित च सवनातअिनमहाियाणा नरः पतनमित (YagnavalkyaSmrithi) Then he climbs up the ladder slowly and gets the human birthagain after a long time says Lord as Kapila to His mother Devahutiअधारलोक यावतीया तनादयः बमशःसमनब पनरऽाोजिचः BH(33134)Yama - the god of death - tells the same to Nachiketa ldquoOne whois infatuated with wealth not having a thought for the otherworld such an ignorant person believing there is no such thing ashell or heaven comes within my clutches again and againrdquoन सारायः ितभाित बाल मा िवमोहन मढम अय लोको नाि पर इित मानी पनः पनव शमापत म KU(126)So the doer of the deeds has to be prepared to enjoy or suffer thefruits If the fruits cannot be exhausted in one lifetime onehas to take another birth and try to exhaust themThe problem according to our shastras is that everyone of us hadtaken countless number of births done karmas in thesebirths and accumulated vast amounts of the karmas This accumulatedstore waiting to bear fruitis called सिचत कमा sanchitam karmaIn addition we continue to do karma in this life

maargabandhupdf 23


also and add to the stock of sanchitam karma thus necessi tating more andmore births Out of this vast stock a chunk begins toyield the results This chunk is called ारम prarabdhamThere is no escape from the results of the prarabdham It determinesthe duration of life the wealth educationand the mode of death even as one is bornआयः कम च िवच िवा िनधनमव च पतािन िविव जायमानदिहनः We have to infer the impressions of the past deeds onlywhen we are confronted with the results Kalidasa says this inRaghuvamsa (120) फलानमयाः ारभाः साराःाना इव2 - What is wrong with rebirth or why rebirth is to be avoidedIf one asks what is wrong with being born saints like Shri Shankarawant us to think and find out if anything is right with itिकससार सार बशोिप िविचमानिमदमव(Prasnottararatnamalika) If one were to think that Shankara was a sanyasi and sohad such a dark view of life so did Bhartruhari and Kulasheakhara whowere kings and had access to all kinds of pleasures नससारो चिरतमनपयािम कशल (Bhartruhari Vairagya Shatakam)

The problems start right from the beginning Sage Kapila points outthat nothing can equal the pain one suffers while in thewomb गभ वाससम ःख न भत न भिवित BH(3319)Then look at the troubles one goes through as hegrows up As one runs around earning and looking after his family oneis assailed by worries and sickness He is all the time growing oldimperceptiblyायीव ितित जरा पिरतज यी रोगा शऽवइव हरि दहम says Bartruhari in his Vairagya shatakam He says that old ageis crouching there like a tigressfrightening us and diseases attack our bodies like enemies



Then there is the fear of the inevitable death In view of all theseKrishna describes rebirth as the seat of pain and impermanentपनज ःखालयमशातम BG(715) Later on He againsays this world is impermanent and joyless अिनमसखलोकिमम BG(933) We clearly see that everything in this worldis impermanent This includes our bodies our relations friends andpossessions The question then is how can one feel happy when throwninto such a situation Time is constantly gnawing at our lifequietly Bhartruhari says life is oozing away like water leaking froma pot with a crackआयः पिरॐवित िभघटािदवाभःDeath is imminent and can strike anyone at any time This being thecase Krishna asks ldquohow can one find pleasure in wealth orenjoyment It cannot please him who like an animal is being draggedto be slaughteredrdquoBH(1110 20)कोत ः सखयन कामो वा मरिकआघात नीयमान वसव न तिदः Next Krishna said this world is joyless This is because thepleasures are transitory They have a beginning and an end and soare fleeting by nature Their departure may leave a void and a trailof sorrow Or they may make one to hanker for more of itand leave him restless and unhappy So He says that one endowed withdiscrimination will not enjoy them य िह सशजा भोगाःःखयोनय एव त आवः कौय नतष रमत बधः BG(922) Such sensorypleasures are trivial and cannot be termed aspleasures in the true sense

In view of what is stated here rebirth is not desireable and oneshould if possible avoid it

3 - What is the process called deathThis is mentioned briefly in clinical fashion in the

maargabandhupdf 25


Brihadaranyopanishad It says that as the end approaches theindividualrsquosbreathing becomes hard and he starts gasping His pranas along withthe sense organs withdraw from their respective foci andgather around jivatma - the individual soul As he (jiva) departsthe pranas and the sense organs follow him He gets a body asin a dream and enters another body The impressions of his karma andthe knowledge about brahman that he had acquired inthat birth also follow him He gets a body suitable to his karma inthis world or some other world एवमवाानमकाल सव णाः अिभसमायाियऽतासी भवित (4338)तमाम ाणोऽनामित ाणमनामसव ाणा अनामि सिवानो भवितसिवा मवावबामित त िवाकमा िण समारभत पव ा च (442)अयमाद शरीर िनहािवागमियावतर काणतर प कत(444)Krishna says that the knowledge he had aquired in the earlier birthcarries him forward in his next birth and he progresses inthe spiritual path He does not have to start ab initioपवा ासन तनव ियत वसोऽिप सः BG(644)Some puranas describe it in detail making it sound a bit scary SageKapila gives a description in His talk to His mother Thisis on the same lines as stated above in the upanishad He says thatthe individual soul living in the gross body has in addition a subtlebody called Linga Shariram or SukShma Sariram which is invisible Itis made up of seventeen components (viz) the five sense organs ofperception (called gnanendriyas) the five sense organs of action(called karmendriyas) the five pranas themind and the intellect It requires the gross physical body forfunctioning It does not perish when the gross body perishes in



the process called death which takes place at the end of prarabdhamkarma The Jiva just migrates to another body (calledbirth) with the Linga Shariram according to the nature of past karmasand generates new karmas which add on to the sanchitam karma and becomesthe seed for future births

4 - Can death be avoided and if so how to avoid deathLuckily there is a way to escape death and the birth that followsKrishna says ldquoon reaching Me there is no rebirthrdquoमामप त कौय पनज न िवतBG(816) The questionnow is rdquo where is He and how to reach Himrdquo The answer tothese questions form the main topic of discussions in our scriptureslike Gita Upanishads and puranas like Shri Bhagavatam and isbeyond the scope of this essay and so is not attempted One has tolearn it from a qualified teacher

अगगातरगािभरामोमा -अ = sky गगा = the river Ganges So the wordअगगा means the heavenly river Ganges तरगः = waveअिभरामः = pleasing charming उम = best Theword उमाग indicates the best limb in the body viz thehead This says that Shiva looks charming with the waves of the divineriver Ganges on His head गगाधरः - धरतीित धरः गायाः धरः इित गाधरः (SS146) and SA(27) Alsoधज िटः - धः गा जटास य सः धज िटः नमःकपिदन इित ौितः (SS286)जटािः - जटस कपदनािमकास गायमाि य सः (SS797)The river Ganges was according to our scriptures originally flowingin the heavens The story of Lord Vishnursquos incarnationand His seeking three feet of land from the king Bali is familiar toall When He lifted up His foot to measure the heavensBrahma the creator seized the rare opportunity and washed the holy

maargabandhupdf 27


foot of the Lord that has come his way with water fromhis water pot The waters became the holy river Gangaधातः कमडजल तबम पादावनजन-पिवऽतया नर ध भभिस सा पतती िनमाि लोकऽय भगवतोिवशदव कीित ः BH(8214)The story of the descent of Ganga to earth is also familiar It ismentioned briefly in Bhagavata in skanda 4 - chapter 17 andskanda 9 - chapter 9 It is given in detail in the Balakanda ofRamayana Sage Viswamitra narrated it to Rama and LakShmana ashe was taking them to Mithila after he had successfully completed hissacrifice with protection offered by the brothers King Bhagirata - ascion of the ikShvAku dynasty to which Rama belonged - wasinstrumental in bringing the river to earth by performing severe penance Athis request Shiva received the mighty flowof Ganga falling from the heavens and released it as astream on the earth A large gathering comprising the residents ofthe higher worlds and great seers came to witness the wonderful event Theyalong with the people of this world praised thewaters of the river Ganga as pure because of its contactwith Lord Shiva भवा पितत तोय पिवऽिमितपशः (14328)Hence the saying काया त मरणािः (ie) death inKasi now known as Varanasi brings about salvationKing ParikShit decided to spend the last seven days of his life atthe banks of the river because of this reason का न सवतमिरमाणः BH(1196) It asks ldquowhich dying man will notresort to such a holy riverrdquo

Ganga-Now let us get behind the story of Ganga and see what it meansBrahma to whom Bhagirata prays blesses his efforts But He cautionsthe king that he should pray to Lord Shiva and involve Him in this



matter because the earth cannot withstand the fallof Ganga from the heavens He adds that no one other than Lord Shivais capable of receiving the torrent from the heaven Thisis because Brahma knows that Shiva is firm and unshakeableाणः िरात (VS 28) Also SA(72)ाणः वःताात ाणः व इव ो िदिवितकनद पण - पषण सव म

The ग in the name Ganga stands for Gayatri which represents theeternal supreme Brahman In Gangashtakam she is addressed as thevery embodiment of Brahman पण प She is eternaland formed by the fusion of the powers extracted from the three -Brahma Vishnu and Shiva So Gayatri is worshipped in their formsduring the three times it is recited(viz) morning noon and the evening In view of this Shiva has placedher on the head - in the chakra called BrahmarandramThe scriptures define six chakras or seats of power in onersquos bodyThe chakra on the head is above all these and isthe seat of Brahman This is also the seat where one visualises onersquosguru in the form of Brahman and meditates on himbecause onersquos guru is not different from Brahmanगाार The fact that she is formed from thepowers of Brahma Vishnu and Shiva is stated symbolically in the storyof Gangaआदावािदिपतामह िनयमापारपाऽ जलपात पऽगशाियनो भगवतः पादोदक पावनम भयः शभ जटा िवभषणमिणज ोम हषिरयका कषनािशनी भगवती भागीरथी भतलThis says that ldquoyou Ganga started as water in the water pot ofBrahma then came into contact with the foot of Vishnu andagain became the crown jewel on the locks of Shiva etcrdquo

maargabandhupdf 29


Placed on the head of Shiva who is Himself the embodiment of knowledgethe stream of Ganga is symbolic of knowledge So Shankaracharya refersto it in his Kasi Panchakam as ानवाहो िवमलािद गाThe stream of right knowledge is the pure original Ganga Again laterhe says िऽभवनजननी ािपनी ानगा(ie) theGanga of knowledge is the mother of the three worldsThis Ganga who is Gayatri and Brahman and is kept in the chakra inthe head by Shiva is same as Uma or Parvati can bededuced from the following references These are taken from the wellknown Lalitasahasranamam (LS)1 - She is of the form of the three gods Brahma Vishnu and Rudraसिकऽ पा LS(265) गोीगोिविपणी LS(267) सहािरणी िपा LS(269)2 - She is Gayatri गायऽी LS(420)3 - She is Bhavani भवानी LS(112) Durga गा LS(190) Parvati पाव ती LS(246) Uma उमा LS(633)4 - She is seated on the head in the Brahmarandhramिशरिता LS(591)So Ganga is Brahman is Gayatri and is Uma or Parvati Sheproclaims the Ardhanari (the inseparable combination of themale and female principles) concept (अध नारी पम ) ofShiva which is not explicitly seen in His representations (where Umais shown as a separate figure) Thus one who knows Ganga knows Shivaand vice versaKrishna says ॐोतसामि जावी Of the rivers I am theGanges So it is not an ordinary river that the Lord had placedon His head No wonder then that the very utterance of the nameGanga washes away onersquos sins even when one is milesaway from the river This is said in this popular verse that isnormally recited before taking bathग गित यो यात योजनाना शतरिप मत



सवपापो िवलोक स गितThe avadhuta saint Sadasiva Brahmam has composed a song in praise ofGanga (jaya tungatarange gange जय ततर ग )wherein he salutes Ganga as one who purifies the worlds and cutsasunder the manifold bonds of mankind(कमलभवाडकमडपिवऽ बिवधबदलिवऽलिवऽ = sickle instrument for mowing)Shri Gangashtakam says that if one dies on the banks of Ganga he goesto higher lokas compared to which even the world ofIndra looks very inferior ग पतित यिद कायनभतातदा मातः शातबतव-पदाभोऽितलघःWe can make one observation on the story of Bhagirata bringingdown Ganga The Lord - being the father - always givesmuch more than what one seeks from Him though this fact is notappreciated He is कामदः भः कामान कषणददातीित कामदः VS(298) He knows what the devotee asks andwhy he asks for it The Lord not only gives what is asked for butgoes further and fulfills his mission though unasked In the case ofBhagiratha he could have asked Shivafor salvation for himself and his forefathers and got it Instead hejust asked Him to bear the Ganga as she came down fromthe heaven But Lord Shiva helped the king not only in bringing downthe river but also gave salvation to his forefathers thenand there itself Please carefully look at what Shiva told the kingwhen He appeared before him He said ldquoI am pleased withyou I will do what is dear to yourdquo Ramayana (1433 and 4)उमापितः पशपितः राजानिमदमवीत ीतऽह

नरौ किरािम तव ियमWe all know what was dear to the king and what was it that had been

maargabandhupdf 31


haunting his mind for years and made him do severepenance once to Brahma (for thousand years eating once a month andso on) and again to Lord Shiva The kingrsquos idea was tothen lead the river to the place where the ashes of his forefatherswere lying for ages and perform their final rites so that theywill attain release But this was what he got as bonus In additionhe got salvation for himself also though he did not ask for itGanga represents Brahman and Shiva is DakShinamurthi - the giver ofknowledge about the Brahman Thus the story of theking getting the Ganga with Shivarsquos help implies he got the knowledgeof Brahman directly from the Lord which knowledgeresults in salvation

This was what happened in the case of Arjuna also He met Krisna atDwaraka and asked His help during the KurukShetrawar Krishna agreed to help but He said He will not take up arms Buteven at the time when Arjuna made his requestKrishna knew what was the mission for which he was seeking His helpAnd He fulfilled it then and there Later on whenteaching Gita before the war had even started He told ArjunaldquoThese enemies of yours had been killed by me already Youjust be the instrument and enjoy all the gloryrdquoतामि यशो लभ िजा शऽन भ रा समम ममवत िनिहताः पव मव िनिममात भव ससािचन BG(1133)At the time Arjuna was unaware of the greatness of Krishna whom ashe admits later on he considered as his friend only He labouredhard and ldquofought the warrdquo but it was over even before itstarted He ldquowonrdquo it and got all the gloryIn the same way King Bhagirata took the trouble to drive ahead ofGanga all the way to the seas and then to the nether worldwhere he saw the ashes of his forefathers performed the last riteswith the holy waters from Ganga and ldquogot them salvationrdquo



which was already an accomplished factThe Ganga was named after him as Bhagirathi Thiswas the case with Dhruva who wanted to be a king but he got that andalso a permanent place in the heavens

ओकारवाटीकर -ओकार = the holy syllable OM वाटी = garden parkकरगः = deer Shiva is likened to a deer in the garden of theholy syllable - meaning He is represented by OM also known as pranavaओकारपः -ओकारः प प य सःतथा(SS138) Shri Krishna says in His Gita (10-25) ldquoI am OMamong the wordsrdquo िगरामकमरम Manu the famouslaw giver says that the letter OM by itself represents the ultimatereality - the Brahman एकार पर He adds thatthe creator Brahma extracted the three letters from the three vedasand so the syllable Om is the essence of the vedasअकार चाकार च मकार च जापितः वदऽयािरहद भभ वः िरतीित चA similar reference is seen in Chandogyopanishad (2233)तातपोऽिभत ॐकारः स ाॐवथाShri Bhagavatam says that sound OM was acquired spontaneously byBrahma - the first born when he was in deep meditation BH(12644 and 39) It says that the origin of the soundconsisting of three parts is unmanifest It flashes by itself and itreveals the nature of the almighty and supreme spiritसमािहतानो न णः परमिनः ाकाशादभादो विरोधाद िवभात ततोऽभत िऽवदकारो योऽभवः राट यत ति भगवतो णः परमानः Manu says further that a student (during his gurukula days when helearns the vedas) should utter OM both when beginning

maargabandhupdf 33


and ending his studies The reason he says is that without utteringOM in the beginning the learning perishes and if OM is notsaid in the end what is learnt will not be retainedाणः णव कया दादाव च सवदाॐवनोत पव परा िवशीय ितIn view of this Kalidasa compares Manu -the first of kings in thesolar dynasty to OM in a grand simileआसीहीितामाःणवसािमवPranava -We can see discussions about pranava in Mandukya Shiva AtharvasikhaPrasna and Nrisimha Uttaratapini upanishads This isalso mentioned in Vicharasagaram Here we will see it in briefणवः - णवो नाम परमानो वाचक ओारः तदभदोपचारणाय णवः (VS-957)He is in the form of pranava represented by OM He is not differentfrom the creation So pranava represents both brahmanand the universe Sage Patanjali also has said this in his Yoga Sutra(126)त वाचकः णवः कषण नयत अननितणवः God is greatly praised by this Earlier we saw that astotram mentions the attributes or the qualities of the subject ofthe stotram Thus pranavam indicates the auspicious qualities of theLord and obtains His blessings to one whochants it Patanjali adds (127) तपदथ भावनमThe chanting of pranava with understanding and faith is meditationon the IswaraPranava is made of the three letters AU and M These three lettersrepresent the consciousness presiding over the three states -waking dream and deep sleep states which one passes through everyday The consciousnes is same but it functions diff erently in these states TheMandukya upanishad views pranava as



being composed of two parts one having sound and theother without sound The OM as specified above made up of the threeletters is pronounced and constitutes the ldquosoundrdquo partThe upanishad says that the brief interlude that preceeds andsucceeds this ldquosoundrdquo part forms the ldquosilentrdquo component - the fourth letterअमाऽतथ ऽवहाय ः पोपशमः िशवो ऽतएवमकार आव सिवशाान य एव वद यएव वद(Mandukya 12)They represent the two aspects of God (viz) with form and withoutform respectively The ldquosoundrdquo part signifies the sagunaIswara and the ldquosilentrdquo part the nirguna Iswara Thus onecan worship OM as God with form This is like invoking our favou rite deityin an idol or saligrama stone Here we invoke the Godabout whom we do not have firsthand knowledge but learntfrom scriptures or from some other source in the idol or some otherform of representation and worship The representa tion is known as pratikamतीकम Meditating on the fourth orthe silent part as ldquoI the Selfrdquo is known asAhamgrahadhyanam अहमहानम One who meditates likethis is called a muni मननात मिनत In this type ofmeditation there is no difference between the meditator and Iswara orthe object of meditation As a result of this meditation the muni isblessed with the knowledge of the Self and crosses over the samsaraThus is explained Shivarsquos nameओारपः ओार पप य सः तथा ओारप चतदिभधानाा ततीकाा तदिभधानओिमरिमािदना िसम ओार तीक त यःपनरत िऽमाऽणािदना ोपिनषदादौ िसमपर चापर च यदोार इित ौितः VS(138)The question now is if He is Himself omkara or the pranava whythen say He is the deer in the park called OM The answer

maargabandhupdf 35


is that He is OM the park as Paramatma as well as the deer theindividual JIvatma They are one and the same but look diff erent to theuninitiated The deer unaware of its status roamsaround in the park feeding and enjoying itself This is an echoof the famous Mundakopanishad mantraा सपणा सयजा सखाया समान वपिरषजात तयोरः िपल ाननोअिभचाकशीितMU (311)This mantra talks of two friendly birds sitting side by side on atree One is eating and relishing the fruits and the other one isquietly watching it Here one of the birds represents the JivatmaEating the fruits is enjoying the results of the past karma andthe other bird which looks on is the Paramatma as He is not attachedto the fruits of action Similarly Devi is described asओकारपरशकी a female parrot in the cage called OM inthe Devi Navaratnamala The saint composer Thiagaraja of Tiruvaiyaruaddresses Rama asओकारपरकीर a parrot in the cagecalled OM in his famous song beginning Jagadanandakaraka Similarlythe saint composer SadasivaBrahmam talks of Krishna asणवपयोहगभ कपाली one who is hidden inside the lotus of pranava (in his songkridathivanamali बीडित वनमाली )िसससिवताि -िसः = a superhuman being of great purity and holinesspossessing eight supernatural powers called siddhis Can also betaken to mean a great sage ससिवत = worshipped अिय = footHe is worshipped by great sages and other semidivine beingsendowed with supernatural powers महिष वितः - महिष िभःवामदवािदिभः हरभािदिभ ानात वितः उपलणमतत ोऽ-जप-पजा-तप आदीनाम(SS536) सिःसिजतः सिः सािकदवा िदिभः सिजतः



भिौािदना गपािदिभःदिणनमारािदिभ पिजतः सिजतः SS(777)The word siddha िस means accomplished or perfected Linkingwith the earlier word the muni meditates on the pranavaॐकार िबसय िन ायि योिगनः Once heunderstands that he the meditator and the Iswara theobject of meditation represented by pranava are not different thenhe achieves his goal and becomes a siddha purusha The MandukyaUpanishad sentence quoted earlier says this only (viz) that one whorealises the true meaning of the Omkara - thatit stands for the non-dual indescribable Shiva obtains his goal whichis his own Self Shri Shuka mentions this in his prayer beforehe begins to narrate Bhagavatam to King ParikShitयदिभानसमािधधौतया िधयानपयि िहतमानः BH(2421)Such a realised sage abides in his Self So it is saidतिोः परम पद सदा पयि सरयः Hanuman issuch a siddha who has immersed himself in the sacred Ganga and drankdeep its water of knowledge So he is known as बिमताविरः = best among the knowledgeable people He sees his LordRama within himself all the time Whenever His name is mentioned theGanga within him wells up and flows out as tears of joy and his handsgo up over hishead in salute यऽ यऽ रघनात कीत न तऽ तऽकतमकािल बावािरपिरपिरतण माित नमतरासाकम says a popular verse about Hanuman So his beingshown as seated at the feet of Rama bringsout the idea that siddhas worship the feet of the LordTruly speaking a siddha has nothing to worship as he has no second tohim Whatever he does becomes an act of worshipSankaracharya says this in his Shiva mAnasa puja

maargabandhupdf 37


आा िगिरजा मितः सहचराः ाणाः शरीर गहपजा त िवषयोपभोगरचना िनिा समािधिःतितः सारः पदयोः दिणिविधः ोऽािण सवा िगरःयम करोिम तदिकल शभो तवाराधनमSince the siddha has identified with Ishwara he is detached from hisbody He knows that he got his body because of prarabdham and it willcontinue to hang on as appendage as long as the thevestige of prarabdham remains He is aware that prarab dam will take care ofit So he is not concerned about it just asdrunkard does not overly bother about his dress Krishna saysthis to Uddhavaदह च नरमवितमित वा िसो न पयितयतोऽगमपम दवादपतमत दववशापत वासो यथा पिरकतमिदरामदाः BH(111336)Once his prarabdham is exhausted the body drops off There is notdeath in the usual sense His soul does not go anywhere asin the case of death of ordinary people but just merges in the allpervading brahman This is like a pot getting broken Thespace within the pot is not disturbed but just becomes one withsurrounding space This is said clearly in Brihadaranyakopanishad (443)योऽकामो िनाम आकाम आकामो न ताणा उामि हव सन ाितThis was what is said to have happened in Bhishmarsquos case आाानमाव सोऽास उपारमत BH(1943)भज= I worship माग बम the Lord Margabandhu

I worship Lord Margabandhuon whose limbs snakes appear prominentlywhose head looks charming with the waves of thecelestial river Ganga who is like a deer in the garden of Omkara andwhose feet are served by siddhas (great seers)



३ िनम िचदानपिनताशषलोकशविरतापकात रागचाप किवासभज िदसाग बम शभो

This verse is the third among the five verses that make up thestotram Thus it forms the centre-piece and is loaded with preciousvedantic truths It was said earlier that a stotram will describe theLord with form and will also refer to His formless aspect We see theformless aspect of the Shiva being emphasised hereिन िचदानप - िन = eternal ever lastingimperishable िचत = pure intelligenceआन =supremebliss प = form

These words are the repetition of the famousupanishadic mantra स ानमन TU(212) that saysBrahman is satyam jnanam and anantam This is one of Shivarsquosnames सिदानपः सदन कालऽयाबापमत िचदनकाशारिनरपतया काशमानम आनपदनिनरितशयमादतया सखप एतिितयाकप य सःसिदानपः SS(653) Ramarsquos form is existenceknowledge and bliss सानानशरीरी says the saintSadasiva Brahmendra in the song खलित मम दय (kelati mamahrudaye) So is Shri Lalitarsquos form सिदानिपणी सिचमान पमत एविवारषपसहाय मा इित सिदानिपणी LS(699)िन - Nityam implies eternal existence - that is - it never ceasesto be It is not limited by time Terms like the past present and futureare not applicable with reference to it Lalita is known as Nitya

maargabandhupdf 39


िना कालऽयऽबाा अिवनाशी वा अरऽयमा ितौतः LS(136)शातः and सम are two other names that have the samemeaning as Nityamशातः सवष कालष एकपतया भवतीितशातः शातोयपराणः इित ौितः SS(398)(ie) He exists in all times in the same form orwithout any change शत सवष कालष भवतीित शातःशात िशवमतम इितौतः VS(56)satyam सम कालऽयाबासम SS(432)अिवतथपात परमाा सः सानमन इितौतः VS(106) In the invocatoryverse to Shri Bhagavatam Shri Vyasa salutes the Lord saying स परधीमिह(ie) we meditate on the supreme Reality that is not affectedby the three time periods - the past present and the future BH(111) He also winds up with the same words स पर धीमिहBH(121319) implying what is discussed in between the beginning andthe end or the subject matter of the purana is none other than Brahmanwhich is Satyam

Shri Lalita is known as सानानपा स ान आन प याः स ानमन िवानमान ित ौतः LS(790)Bhartrihari in the invocatory verse to his Satakatrayam salutes theLord saying िदालानविाअनिचाऽमत य He says that God is of the form of eternal consciousness unlimited byspatial direction time etc िदशः



ाािदिददशाःकाला भतभिवत मानपाआिदशसगहीतािनविन तथा च िदाला आदयो यषा तािन िदालािनतरनविापिरा िवभािादकादशतः कालतोवतापिरिथ ः अतएव अनापिरिमता िशिवधपिरदशादखडदडायमान- थः िचत - chit means pure intelligence and indicates brahman Sothe Lord gets the following names िचदाा िचत -चत आप य सः िचदाा SS(456) Alsoिचयः िचयििपः SS(829) Devi is described asिचयी िचदभदाियी LS(251)Now let us go back to the reference from Bartruhari(ie) अनिचाऽमत य िचाऽा ानघनाच िचदकरसित यावत ताशी मित य त एतिपायथ ः No doubt brahman is without any limitationsmentioned above But it is not void or empty like space which also seemsunlimited It is not inert but shines in the form of consciousness Thisis clarified here

From where did He get His wisdom In reply the invocatory verse inShri Bhagavatam referred to earlier says अिभः राट नवराजत यम तः िसानिमथ ः He is omniscient Hisknowledge is inherent and not obtained from anyone else or any othersource It is knowledge itself without a trace of ignorance

maargabandhupdf 41


आन Ananda Brahamn is of the form of pure blissआनोित जानात TU(361) The Taittiriyopanishad has a sectionexclusively devoted to the ananda aspect of brahman This section is henceknown as Brahmanandavalli or Anandavalli This section is unique in thatit talks of several grades of ananda experienced by different beings Itstarts with the maximum happiness that is possible to be experienced bya human being as the unit of measure The next higher grade of anandais hundred times this unit Thus several grades are mentioned (includingthat of Indra and Brihaspathi) and the top most one mentioned is that ofBrahma the creator But a wise person who has studied the shastras andgot discrimination knows that even Brahmarsquos happiness is fragile andlimited The Brihadaranyopanishad says that any ananda experienced byany being is just a droplet derived from the bliss that is Brahmanएतवान अािन भतािन माऽामपजीवि(4332)Incidentally this is one of the names of Shri Lalita (LS365)ाानलवीभत ाानसतितः The commentatorBhaskararaya explains this name referring to these quotationsonly He saysा आपो यआन लवीभता इाानिबपया लोचनया सागरायमाणनालवाअिप दानसागर लवाः सपमानाः ादीनासिकत ािदधम िविशाना िविाणामानानासततयः सयमहा याः सा एतवानाािनभतािनमाऽामपजीवी ित ौतः तिरीय मानषानमारउरोरािधनवय मानानामानाना म पिरगिणतानाजापाानानानामिप पिरिनपषाअथ ायोयनापिरिान िनग ण िसापषाथ साधनानोपबमािद ताय िनण यक माणिवरोधाय तदिनध म कालकमव यिमताशयः One may wonder why should the upanishad take the troubleto describe the



many grades of ananda starting from the bliss that can be enjoyed by ahuman being The answer is that the detailed description is a carrot theupanishad is dangling before us It wants to reveal the fact that eventhe highest degree of happiness that one could enjoy is just a particleof that limitless ocean of bliss It wants us to get excited at thisrevelation It wants to prod us to strive hard and reach the pinnacleof bliss that is brahmananda and not be content with merely scratchingits surface The following are the Lordrsquos names in this context

नी परमानिवमहो नी िवानमान ितौितः SS(189) and VS(618)आनी सखपात आनी VS(560) Also ानः पआनो ानः आन मााा न िबभित कतन ितपा आनणो िवािन ित ौितः SS(560) and सदानः कालऽयाऽबािधतिनरितशयसखपः सदानः िवानमान ित ौितः SS(673)

िनताशषलोकशविरतापम - िनत = eliminatedअशष = without remainder लोकशः = lord of the universe -here it refers to Indra विरन = enemy तापः =dignityglory valour

Shiva is the destroyer of the valour and pride of Ravana who was the enemyof Indra Once Ravana tried to lift Kailasa as he felt he was strongenough to carry even the abode of the Lord He was inebriated with powerbecause he could conquer even Indra and other gods He forgot that allhis might and glory were only due to the blessings of the Lord He evensaid that Shiva has not known that a danger has come to Him This incidentis mentioned in Ramayana (Uttara Kanda - canto 16) िवात नजानीत भयानमपितम(Uttara kanda - 16-24) Shiva wanted

maargabandhupdf 43


to teach him a lesson and curb his pride So He playfully pressed Histoe The pressure applied by Him crushed Ravana under the mountainततो राम महादवो दवाना वरो हरः पादानत शल पीडयामास लीलया पीिडता ततशलोपमा भजाः (UK 16-2728)Ravana struggled hard but was not able to extricate himselffrom the tight spot Finally he prayed to the Lord and gothimself released So Shiva gets the name अिशरसालानाथदप हरः अिशरसा पादाामणलानाथ रावण दप गव हरतीित हरः इदच रामायणादौ िसम िशवरह - अमवासमिधगतसार भजवनबलालासऽिप दिधवसतौ िवबमयतः अलापातालऽलसचिलतािशरिसिता ासीवमपिचतो मित खल इित नमः सहमानाय िनािधन इित ौितः SS(623)Ravana was the grandson of the great sage Pulastya and the sonof an equally great sage Vivasva He was born as an asura due to acurse Krishna gives a description of asuric nature in the 16th chapterof Gita entitled दवासर सिभागयोगः and also in the 18thchapter He says that people with asuric nature are given to ostentationarrogance lust anger and insolence They will nurture innumerablehopes These tendencies will pave the way for their downfall We see thatRavanarsquos character fits this description exatly These qualities leadto his ruin Ravana was vastly learned (as is indicated by ten heads)but was foolish enough to think he could shake the Lord who is िनःall pervading firm and unshakeable सवगतः ाणः अचलः BG(2-24) In fact if He shakes the universe will shake and without



His will one can not move even a blade of grass This is graphicallydescribed in a story in Kenopanishad Thus Ravana committed a greatmistake but Shiva curbed his pride and let him offकात रागचापम - कात रम = gold अगः = mountainइः = lord and in this context means best चापः = bowThis refers to Shiva using Meru - the famed mountain of gold -as a bow in His fight against the three asuras The three demons namedKamalakShan DarukakShan and Vidyunmali were very powerful because ofthe boons they obtained They lived in three cities built by Maya thedivine architect They troubled the devas to no end The devas entreatedShiva to save them from these asuras When Shiva started to fight them thedevas wanted to take part in the fight The earth became the chariotthe sun and the moon became the wheels Meru the bow the snake Seshanthe bow string Vishnu the quiver and so on But Shiva felt that all theseelaborate paraphernalia was superfluous for the task So He discardedthem and destroyed the three cities just with a smile When the asurasrepented Shiva forgave them and took them into His service This deed ofShiva is often referred to in hymns ोणी य रथो रथायगळचाक -िबयकोदडः कनकाचलो हिररभत बाणोिविधः सारिथः तणीरो जलिध-हयाः ौितचयो मौवभजािधपःतिन म दय सखन रमता शाभ परिणSo He gets the following names पररः सरशऽणा पराणादारणाररः िऽपरहा स ितॐः परोिभ ितौितः SS(45) and VS(335) One who shattered the cities of theenemies of the gods परऽयिवघाती परऽय िवहीित

maargabandhupdf 45


परऽयिवघाती आिदपराण िसिततमााय-अथ ि दविनिम तो िवकमणा सवलोकमयोिदो रथो यन सादरम इित सवलोकभतदववदमयसय मयचबयािदिविशरथिनमा णाररथाढ परमर मरौ चाप िवादौबाणप णािरत अनर दवानाअनािदिसतया िवमानमव पशपणिवनोदनिढीकत तदन दविव नायक पिजत अनरइािदिभ पिरवउत तदन परऽयकऽसमागमन ऋािदिभ सोषपरःसर जयशकत णा जय इ अथ दवो महादवःसाव तदत पऽय िवपाणाभवकतम इािद िसमउ च िशवरह- रथः ोणीया शतधितरगो धनरथोरथाचाक रथचरणपािणः शर इित िदधो कोऽय िऽपरतणमाडबरिविध-िव धयः बीडो न ख परताः भिधयः इितइदमिप रहारम -साािमकण वपषािवराजमान िरऽयतणाशनमहासम दािधमचलरचापपािणायरािरममरौघरथािधढम



इित ौिततषामसराणा ितॐ इार स ितॐः परो िभवमा इित SS(104) andपरयः - पर िऽपर जयतीितपरयः तषामसराणािम ित ौितः SS(939) One whoconquered the three cities andिगिरधा - िगिरः मः धनय ित वा ध यित वािगिरधा इद चअथ तः ौितिस नाम िाय िरधन िगरः इित ोगाना दवोत च नमः िरायिरधन इित One whose bowis mount Meru SA(65) Incidentally this episode shows that the Lordis capable of using anything as a weapon As Rama He used just a pieceof straw to chase Kakasura who misbehaved with Sita In the case ofTipura He chose to use a mountain as His bow He can do without anyweapon also He discarded the bow and burnt down the three cities with asmile He subdued Ravana with a little pressure from His toeHe destroyedManmatha with a mere look

The Tripura episode conceals the essence of vedanta as do the storiesin our puranas Krishna mentions this fact to Uddhava in His finaladvice परोवादा ऋषयः rdquo The words of the sages are indirectin their importrdquo BH(11-21-35) The reason is that these great truthsare meant only for those who have faith in the words of the shastrasand the teachers who expound them are sincere and are ready to put inthe needed effort to learn them They cannot be laid bare to those whoare not qualified to receive them In fact such people run the riskof misunderstanding the teachings and being mislead by them Thatis why Krishna after concluding the teaching of Gita warns Arjuna

maargabandhupdf 47


that the valuable lessons taught to him should not be imparted toone who is not devoted etc as said above इद त नातपायनाभाय कदाचन न चाश षव वा न चमायोऽसयित BG(18-67) Great truths like precious diamonds arenot meant to be hawked in the streets like cheap vegetables A diamondmerchant keeps the diamonds carefully locked in an iron safe in hisshop Only a handful of people out of several millIons in the citywill be fit to enter the shop and enquire about them The merchantwill welcome the customer engage him in small talk and enquire abouthis requirements By then he would have assessed the customerrsquos worthand seriousness to do business Then only will he unlock the safebring out his wares and show them to the customer Similarly vedantictruths are invaluable and are to be guarded carefully and given only tothe deserving Brief explanation of the Tripura episode follows

It was said that our body is viewed as being made of three layers -the gross body the subtle body and the causal body These threebodies are the three puras or cities The paramatma who is of theform of chaitanyam or consciousness is omnipresent and is present inthe body also and enlivens it The body itself being mere bundle ofmatter is inert Krishna says this इदशरीर कौयऽिमिभधीयत and in the next verse ऽ च मािवि सव ऽष भारत BG(13- 1 and 2) The consciousnesspresent in the body is known as atma or jiva or jivatma But it is not apart or product of the body that is liable to decay and destruction Suchmodifications of the body do not affect the jivatma Even on deathit is the subtle body which travels to take another body (as statedearlier) The atma being all pervading does not travel anywhere Itis like a pot being made We may call the space confined in the pot aspot-space (to distinguish it from the total space though really there is



no such division) but it was not created when the pot was made When thepot is broken it is pot that is destroyed and not the ldquopot spacerdquo Ithas nowhere to go The confines of the pot having gone it just mergeswith the total space that is out side the pot also Thus the atma hasnothing to do with the body This is said in Tattvabodha clearly asआा कःWhat is the Selfल-स-कारण-शरीराद ितिरः पकोशातीतः सन अवाऽयसाीसिदानपः सन यिित स आा Self is otherthan the gross subtle and causal bodies It is beyond the five sheathsand the witness to the three states of consciousness It is of the natureof existence consciousness and bliss

Thus there is no birth or modifications or death for the jivatma asis the case with the body Krishna says this न जायत ियतवा कदािच-ाय भा भिवता वा न भयः अजो िनःशातोऽय पराणो न हत हमान शरीर BG(2-20)The pot because of which the infinite space (that has nothing to do withthe pot) gets the apparent limitation as ldquopot spacerdquo is called upadhi Inthe same way the body mind complex is upadhi for the paramatma and it getsthe name jivatma (though both are one and the same) Its glorious stategets covered by the veiling power of maya (called avidya or ignorance)and it gets bound This leads the jiva to identify itself with thelimitations of the three bodies It imagines it is a finite creaturehelpless and subject to sorrows like sickness old age death etc Thisis known as samsara Truly speaking the jivatma being none other thanthe paramatma and of the form of pure wisdom does not act or undergoany change Since it does not act it does not also reap the fruits ofaction called कमफलम (ie) joy or sorrow That is it is not

maargabandhupdf 49


a कता or भोा (ie) doer or enjoyer or in other wordsatma is said to be akarta and abhokta (अकता and अभोा )One who has shed his identity with the body and clearly establishedhis oneness with the Self is therefore not bound by the results ofactions The mistaken identification with the body and imgining he orshe is an individual who has to act etc is called ego or ahamkara andis the cause of all the problems कतः कयमाणािनगणः कमा िण सवशः अहारिवमढाा कता हिमित मत BG(3-27)An example will illustrate this peculiar situation A person goes tosleep in his cosy house after a sumptuous meal After some time heenters the dream world In his dream he travels to a distant land andis stranded He has lost his belongings and is famished But he has nomoney to buy anything The person is not used to such a privation andso is feeling miserable This goes on for some (dream) daysUltimatelythe intensity of the suffering becomes too much to bear and he wakes upwith a start To his utter delight he realises all that had happened wasonly a dream and he has not left his comfortable bed He feels sheepishto think of the suffering he had gone through

In the case narrated above all the suffering and misery was unreal Butit appeared real because the person identified himself with the dreambody that was not his The dream body was merely a projection of hismind and so had no substance When the dreamer woke up he gave up theidentification and was free from sorrow In the same way vedanta saysthat the individualrsquos bondage and ensuing samsara are imaginary and dueto wrong identification with the body-mind complex This mistake is theresult of ajnanam or ignorance It will go when the individual shedshis ignorance and realises that he is not the body-mind complex butthe atma whose nature is िन िचदानपम as said in thefirst line of this verse Krishna says this to his friend Uddhava



दहोऽिप न दहो िवााथोितः अदहोऽिपदहः कमितः यथा BH(11-11-8) A wise man thoughhe appears to be in the body has no identification with the body likethe one who had woken up from a dream But a man without discriminationis like one having a dream He has chosen to (dis-identify with his truebody and) identify with his (dream) body (and suffers the consequences)The dream body is only thought in the mind but the thought is so powerfulthat it makes him identify himself with the dream body undergo thevicarious suffering and forget his real body that is ensconced in the bed

Thus there has to be a second waking up as it were from our so-calledwaking stage to the real awakened stage with the advent of knowledge orjnanam Till then one is in the clutches of agnanam or ignorance whichforces us into karma or action that brings in the fruits of actionwhich in turn results in rebirth etc The grace of the Lord confers thiswisdom and takes one beyond the three bodies that envelop the jiva Thisis said in the DakShinamurthy Stotram asयः साात-कत बोधसमयाान-मवायतौीगमत य नम इद ौीदिणामत य When the dreamer wakes up from the nightmare the dreamer merges with thewaker (if we may so call the one who has woken up) and not ldquobecomerdquo thewaker He alone remains He does not see the waker but claims himselfto be the waker This claiming is साात कत So also in thecase of self-knowledge one does not experience or ldquobecomerdquo the atmabutाानअयमव साात owns up his truenature as atma

Shivarsquos names relating to Tripura are िऽपराकः ऽीिण परािणिऽपरािण िऽपराणाअकः िऽपराकः ऽीिण परािण

maargabandhupdf 51


शरीरािण परस शरीरऽियनारोषो हिरःइित िवपराणवचनाततािन च ल-स-कारणाकािन-ल भौितकमव स िलशरीर कारणिवापिमितएषा िऽपराणा अकः िऽपराकःिशवान चिवदहकवहत मोपिनषिदौतम इद च ौितिस नामकायिऽपराकाय िऽकािकालाय कालाििाय नमःइित SA(38)पराराितः पराणा शरीराणाल-स-कारणाना अराितः शऽिरितपराराितः तदराित च िशव ानिवदहकवहतात तमोपिनषिद िसम SA(68) Krishna tells Uddhava that He is Himself Shiva who destroyedthe three cities िऽपरो धनताम BH(11-11-20)Meru mountain The Meru mountain is mentioned in our puranasMahabharata and Ramayana etc It is said to be rich in gold andother precious jewels and is said to be in the center of theearth The Himalayas are in the southern part of the Jambudwipain whose center is the Meru The Bharathavarsha (India) is in thesouth of the Himalayas One of the mountains surrounding the Meruis the Mandhara which was used by the gods to churn the ocean ofmilk Shri Suka mentions this when he gives a description of thecreation एष म इलावत नामारवषय नाामवितः सवतः सौवण ः कलिगिरराजोमपायामसमाहः किण काभतः कवलयकमलमध िनािऽशहॐयोजनिवततो मल षोडसहॐ



तावताभ ािवः BH(5-16-6) The abodes of thegods like Brahma are situated on the peaks of the mountain Lalitais said to reside on one of the peaks of Meru and so gets the nameसममा समरोहमिम िततीितता शोभन मम इित वा LS(55) The sunand the moon are said to go round the mountain Our poets mention thisfact often Kalidasa refers to the sun going round Meru in his Raghuvamsa(7-24) He says that Aja and Indumati going round the sacred fire duringtheir wedding was like the day and the night revolving round Meruदिणबमणाशानोदिच षिथन चकास मरोपािव वत मान अोससमहियाममKrishna says that He is Meru among the mountains मःिशखिरणामह BG (10-23) andिधानामह मः BH(11-11-21) All these show that meruis considered a very holy mountain

किवास- किः = bark of a tree skin hideवासः = dress Shiva is reputed to be dressed in the bark oftrees and skins of tiger and elephant Once some rishis of Darukaforest performed a sacrifice It seems they were very proud oftheir spiritual accomplishments Shiva wanted to test their mind-setand teach them a lesson So He passed by in the form of a shabbilydressed mendicant The sages were furious to see the mendicant Fromthe sacrificial fire they created a ferocious elephant and a tigerand set them to attack the mendicant But Shiva killed the animalsand wrapped Himself in their skins The sages were humbled Theyrealised their mistake and surrendered to Shiva So He getsthe following names ायचमा रः ायचमअर य सः तथा िपनाकहः

maargabandhupdf 53


किवासाइित ौितः SS(108) गजचमा रः गजासरचम किरर वासो य सःगजचमा रः ौिता SS(158) किवासः किदाकावन-मिनकतऽऽिभचारोाय चमवासो य स तथा अथवा काया िशवभिजघासयागतगजासरकिरऽ िवविता ाणरः किवासाःिपनाकीौितः SS(909)किवासः किःदाकावनमिनकतािभचारोाय चमवासः व य स तथा यथो ा ततो ायोमहाआजगाम नखायधः तषामषीणामम ः कोपोऽय िनग तो यथात चादायच िभा तदा चमाबरोऽभवत शशभ चम णातननानावण यतन च इित अथवा कायािशवभिजघासयागत गजासर किरऽिवविता यथो ा एव- वाराणापरायातो गजपो महासरः तापसािवभािनह कोपदीिपतः इपब हा तकर भीममध िदगजरिपपादहयत चम िवशाि तन



वावाानमाशःयमानोऽिखलः सरः इित SA(67)वा सः िन री वासो गजिसहायचमा िदप यसः तथा SS(566) Kalidasa wonders at Shiva dressing Himselfin the bark and skins of animals though He is the supreme lord andprofusely showers blessings on His devotees एकय ितऽिपणतबफल यः य किवासाः Malavikagnimitra (11)

These incidents show that the Lord is capable of vanquishing his enemieswith ease They are meant to warn one like Ravana who takes Him lightlythat they will have to face dire consequences But His nature is tosubdue pride wherever it shows up - be it in an asura like Ravana or godlike Manmatha or even great rishis who should have known better Thisis because pride is an obstacle to the spiritual progress Once theyrealise their mistake and give up their pride Shiva blesses them

Now a few words about Shiva wearing the bark or skins of animals Firstthis kind of dress His matted locks etc proclaim that Shiva is beyondall varnas or grades of society - like brahmin kShatriya etc - andashramas or stages of life - like student householder etc In otherwords He is an अितवणा ौमी Such a one is not bound by any rulesor regulations applicable to any varna or ashrama He only gave out thescriptures to enable us to become mature spiritually and realise HimSoHe is known as bhandhu or well wisher बः बकिहतािहतोपदस ौितितलण कतवािनित स नोबज िनत ित ौितः SS(581) So these very same rules cannotbind Him The description of Shri Suka in Shri Bhagavatammatches the abovedescription of a paramahamsa It says तऽाभवद भगवान ासपऽोयया गामटमानोऽनपः अलिलो िनजलाभतःवतबालरवधतवषः BH(1-19-25)Secondly the bark of the tree and the skins that Shiva wears represent the

maargabandhupdf 55


cessation of birth Birth and rebirth have been discussed earlier We sawearlier while discussing the implications of Tripura that onersquos mistakenidentity with the body is the cause of all problems starting with karmaresulting in fruits of karma and then birth(s) to ldquoenjoyrdquo the resultsof karma The dawn of wisdom will dispel the ignorance about thereality and reveal onersquos true status This will end the cycle of birthand death Lordrsquos grace can give us the wisdom So Shiva is called Haraहरः िवषय ाननािवादहरणारः SS(392)The late Paramacharya of Kanchipuram had explained the incident ofShiva burning the three cities with a smile thus ldquoThe All-pervasiveAll-knowing Supreme alone can liberate us from the cycle of birth anddeath by vouchsafing us the jnana to throw off the fetters of thisrestricting human body and to find bliss supreme in the merger of thejivatma with the paramatma Shri Parameswara destroyed Tripura by thesmile that appeared on His face on a contemplation of the humour of thesituation In relation to ourselves the Tripura is the physical body inthe three states of sthoola sookShma and karana The consciousness ofthese three states of our body can be overcome only when we realise thesupreme bliss that radiates from Iswarardquo (Acharyarsquos Call-Part1- P251)

The body is the result of prarabdam and another one is just waitingaround the corner when this drops So one should not get attached toit but be ready to leave it without regret when the prescribed hourcomes Instead one should use onersquos lifetime to gain discriminationand not chase the shadows The avadhuta sage tells this to king Yaduला सलभिमद बसा मानमथ दमिनमपीहधीरः तण यतत न पतदनम याविःौयसायिवषयः ख सवतः ात BH(11-9-290) The human body isinvaluable as it is got after innumerable births No doubt it is frailand impermanent But it is with this human body alone one can work to



attain the lifersquos goal Plants and animals come lower in the rung ofevolution They face many limitations So our shastras say that if onefails to properly use the rare human birth but lives to eat and leads ahedonistic life-style without a thought about the hereafter he is mostunwise and incurs incalculable loss In fact they say that such a oneis no better than a brute or a tree Harsh words indeed but they areborn out of anguish and meant to rub in the point तरवः िक नजीवि भाः िक न सत न खादि न महि िकमामपशवोऽपरिवराहोखरः सतःपषः पशः न यणपथोपतो जात नाम गदामजः BH(2-3-18 and 19) ldquoDo not trees live Do not bellows breathe Anddo not the domestic animals (other than the human beast) take theirfood and indulge in sex The human beast who has never heard of thestory of the Lord has been declared to be as good as a dog swinea camel and a donkeyrdquo But the Lord who is an ocean of mercy is readyto save such a person also if he wants to turn a new leaf and worshipsHim with single minded devotion Krishna says he will be considereda righteous person BG(IX-3031)अिप चराचारो भजतमामनभाक साधरव स मः सविसतोिह सः ि भवित धमा ा शाि िनगित कौयितजानीिह न मभः णयित The bark andanimal skins that Shiva wears proclaim this fact symbolically Theyconvey the above assurance that those who turn to Him with devotionwill be saved from repeated births irrespective of the kind of lifethey might have lived So Shiva has the following names भषजम-ससाररोगौषध भषजम VS(578)भवहितः- भवः

maargabandhupdf 57


ससारः त हितरायध ससाराभवह जगता पतय इित ौितः SS(272)तारकः तारयित ससारािदित तारकः SA(07)तारणः ससारसागराारयतीित तारणः VS(337)तारः गभ जजरामलणाद भयाारयतीित तारः VS(338)तारः गभ जजरामरणससारमहाभयाारयतीिततारः नमारायनमः शभव च ित ौितः SS(76)भज िदसाग बम िद = divine साग बम = acompanion to one who treads the righteous path भज= Iworship means I worship the lord who is a companion to one who takesto the righteous path This line provides more than one interpretationसाग ः सासौ मग साग ः means the virtuouspath the path trodden by the saints and noble people and that isin keeping with the shastric injunctions महाजनो यन गतः सपाः says Mahabharata It being very difficult to understand andinterpret the scriptures it is safe to follow the path trodden by thegreat men as they have followed the path and realised the results Theguru in Vivekachudamani tells the disciple who had approached himfor instruction that he will show the path which ascetics took forcrossing samsara ससारिसोरणऽपायः यनव याताःयतयोऽ पार तमव मागतव िनिदशािमKrishna says that if one chooses to neglect the path laid out by thescriptures it will lead to his downfall So He urges Arjuna to followthem यः शािविधम वत त कामकारतः न सिसिमवाोित न सख न परा गितम ताा माण त काया काय वितौ ाा



शािवधानो कम कत िमहाहिस BG(16-2324) Forthose who follow the virtuous path He becomes a friend and guide Butfor those like Ravana who out of vanity or arrogance choose theprohibited path He is not a friend but metes out severe punishmentby casting them into inferior birthsतानह िषतः बरासारष नराधमान िपाजॐमशभानासरीव योिनष BG(1619)Sankaracharya explains ldquoinferior birthsrdquo as cruel beings such as tigerslions and the like अजॐ सत अशभान अशभकम कािरणःआसरीव बरकम ायास ायिसहािदष योिनष िपािम Kalidasa prays in the invocatory verse in Malavikagnimitraसागा लोकनायपनयत स वामस विमीशः He prays to lord to remove the ignorance born out of lethargy to enable usto perceive the right path or the virtuous path सत Sat also meansthat which really exists or existence and means brahman अिवतथपर सत सदव सोदम (छाउ ६१४) इितौतः VS(478) Thus Margabandhu is brahman only सासौमाग ब साग बः Being brahman He is the bestguide and companion one can get on the way to liberation The path ofself knowledge says Yama is very difficult to tread upon It is justlike walking over the sharp edge of a razor र धार िनिशतारया ग पथवयो वदि KU(3-14)The knowledgeabout the Lord is most profound The means to get it is difficult for theunprepared mind When one gets struck on the path He (being with usall the time and very much within us) like a sign post points the way tothe next stage He is a guide and companion as long as a seeker looks forHim Like the rain bearing clouds He showers His grace on His devoteeswithout expecting anything in return Mundane bandhus (relatives)are the cause of bondage and ensuing misery In fact they are called

maargabandhupdf 59


bandhus only because they bind themselves with us बाित मनःहािदना इित But lord Margabandhu is a unique bandhu who causesall bondage to drop off (as He is Sat) स िनम says Shri Sankara in Bhajagovindam So every one prays to Him for gettingfree from bondageक यजामह सगि पिवध नम उवा किमव बनाोम ीयमामतात Ignoranceis like a thick layer of scum covering our wisdom When the scum isremoved the underlying wisdom shines Wisdom shows the seeker that he ishimself Margabandhu The seeker realises there is no where to go and theseeking ends So He is known as माग ः ममव माग यिइित माग ः परमानो यन ात स माग इित वाVS(365) He is sought by people who want liberation He is the paththrough which one can get infinite bliss Only by knowing Him liberationis attained य िविदाअमताय क योिगनो ममवःस एव पाः माग ः नाः पािवतऽयनायइित ौतः VS(397) The poet says िद साग बम Why say िद divya The scriptures talk of the paths the jivacan take after the fall of the physical body They are the dark path(क गितः )and the bright path (शगितः ) The former path is available tothose who perform duties and sacrifices prescribed in the vedas Karmasmay be performed with desires also (known as sakama karma) One mayfor example perform a sacrifice for achieving wealth or property oreven swarga loka The karmas done properly produce results withoutfail One who does the prescribed karmas go to world of manes orpitruloka िपतलोकः after death through the dark pathOne can also do the karmas without any desire (known as



nishkamakarma) They are done as offering to the Lord and the resultsare accepted as gifts from Him Such karmas naturally do not havea binding effect but result in (िचशिः) purity of themind So now one with a purified mind can add meditation or upAsana(उपासना ) on the Lord in any chosen form that is saguna Iswaralike Krishna Rama Shiva etc This becomes a powerful combination andand gives better results(ie) they go to devaloka through the brightpath These are said to be superior worlds as the pleasures enjoyedare superior एतष यरत ाजमानष यथाकालचातयो ाददायन त नयताः सय रमयो यऽदवाना पितरकोिधवासः MU(1-2-5) We saw earlier that eventhe worlds of gods are finite and so one who attains such a place hasto come down and be reborn after his merits are exhausted So it is notconsidered wise to keep on doing karmas Those who take to a combinationof karma and upasana can practise austerities and develop mental maturityand detachmant They go to Brahmaloka through the bright pathतपःौ य पवसरय शाा िवासो भचयाचरः सय ारण त िवरजाः याि यऽामतः स पषोयााMU(1-2-11) Note the use of the word िवासः that is they are not yet jnAnis but on the way to become a jnAni Ajnani is liberated while alive in this world itself He is known as ajivanmukta (जीवः ) But those who go to the Brahmaloka studyvedanta at the feet of Brahma They get realisation At the time ofpralaya they along with Brahma merge with brahman They do not return tothis world This is what is known as gradual emancipation or kramamukti(बममिः ) The lord is a companion and guide to those who taketo the bright path that leads to Him

Meaning of the verse I worship Lord Margabandhu who is eternal ofthe form of consciousness and bliss who curbed the pride of Ravana

maargabandhupdf 61


who used Meru the golden mountain as a bow who wears the bark of atree and skins and who is a companion to those who choose to tread thespiritual path leading to liberation

४ कप दप मीशकालकठ महश महाोमकशकाभद सरश कोिटसय काशभज माग बम शभो कप दप म -

कदप ः = Manmatha the god of love दप ः = arrogancepride vanity = used at the end of a word means destroyingremoving or curing So दप means one who removed or curedthe pride Shiva cured or removed the pride of Manmatha the god oflove

This statement lends itself for more than one interpretation1 - Though formless and without attributes Lord assumes various formssuch as Shiva Krishna Rama Uma LakShmi etc to gladden the heartsof His devotees Words can not adequately describe the beauty ofthese forms Manmatha is said to be the paragon of beauty But evenhis famed beauty appears drab and insignificant when one thinks ofthe lordrsquos bewitching form Shri Suka describes Krishna as साात मथमथः जगोहन कामािप मनतः कामःसााािप मोहक इथ ः BH(10-32-2) that is His beautywill cast a spell on Manmatha himself So where is the question ofhis feeling proud in the Lordrsquos prescence In view of this He isknown asसरः ािऽशणोपतः सरः कामायकामिपण इित ौितः SS(416) Also सरः िवाितशाियसौभायशािलात सरः VS(791) One who is morebeautiful than anyone else

सदहः शोभनो दहो य स सदहः मलायतन



दव यवानमितसरम ायतरोम ल सखासीन सहोमयाrdquo इित िशवाित ौितः SS(249)शभाः - सरा तन धारयन शभाः VS(586) Alsoशभाः - शोभनरयात शभाः VS(782)Saints and devotees have lost themselves in singing about the beautyof the lord Let us savour some samplesThis description of Shiva is from Navaratnamala by the saint ShriSadasivabrahmendra कदप कोिटशतगणसरिदाकितिशव व Shivarsquos divine form is millions of times morebeautiful than that of ManmathaLikewise the saint Shri Narayana Tirta in his Krishna Leelataranginirepeatedly calls Krishna as कामकोिटसममनिसजशतकोिटमलवष मीनाकोिटमोहनकोिटमदनसर जगोहन that is Krishna is millions oftimes more beautiful than Manmatha Such being the case his beauty iscompletely eclipsed in the prescence of the Lord just like thefeeble light of the stars is lost in the blazing light of the sunLet us look at another example This one is from ShriKrishnakarnamrutam by Lilasukha He is amazed at the sweet form ofKrishna and could only exclaim ldquoOh He is sweetsweet the veryembodiment of sweetnessrdquoमधर मधर वपर िवभो-मधर मधर वदनमधरममधगि मित-मतदहो मधर मधर मधरमधरमShri Vedanta Desika should have had the same sentiment as Shri DikShitaand addresses the lord at Tirupathy as कप दप हर सरिदमत ldquothe One whose beautiful form destroys thepride of Manmathardquo (in Venkatesa suprabatam)The use of the word कप ः for Manmatha is significant Thename means that he was proud right from birth Even the pride of such

maargabandhupdf 63


a being vanishes in the prescence of the Lord2 - We are in the habit of describing things that have no definedform or have no form as beautiful if they please our senses Thus wesay the weather is beautiful or a smell is beautiful when it is ispleasing to our senses Similarly we describe the nature for examplethe sun rise as beautiful because it is colourful and it is alsocool at that time We do not call the scene beautiful after a coupleof hours when the sun is sizzling In the same way we describe theformless Lord as beautiful as He confers bliss on us Further weatheretc can give happiness in a very limited manner that is for alimited time or in a limited quantity only Soon they tend to pall orthey will turn sour So we may not call them really pleasingConsidering this Krishna saysय िह सस जा भोगा ःखयोनय एव त आवः कौय न तष रमत बधः BG(5-22) In sharp contrast the Lord is of the form of unlimited bliss and soinfinitely beautiful And it never gets stale One never gets satedwith looking at the form Lilasukha is charmed by Krishnarsquos form anddescribes it in his Shri Krishnakarnamrutam thusितपदलिलताा ह नतनााितमरिधकााम It appears beautiful every time one looks atit It seems ever fresh and more lovely than it appeared last timewhen one saw itSo He is known as सचाः - सतरा दश नीयाःिनरितशय-परमानपात िवानमानित ौितः SS(818) and रः -सखपािः यो व भमा तखिमितौितः SS(924)Devi Lalita is known as सवा सरी - सवा िण च तािनअािन च अवयवाः िशरःपायादयःतनानितिरभाववात यथासामििका-लण तन



सवा सरी अथवा सवषामष शरीरष पतया अमिवषयनसरपदाथ वदिवनाभाववाािवषयात तथा (Lalitatrishati No 130 Shankararsquos commentary)3 - At a different level we may say that Manmatha was not destroyedreally as it is said He came on a mission but failed miserably ButShiva was in total control of Himself and so could not be shaken Hehas many names that attest this fact Some of them are

शाः - िवषयसखसतया शाः िनलिनिय शाम ( उ६१९) इित ौतः VS(582)and SS(9)िवरागः - िवरतो रागो य िवरागः कथमननशन िनिनोतीित ौितः SS(89)िवरतः - िवगत रतम िवषयसवायािमित िवरतः VS(396)दमः - दमोऽाीित दमः िनगहीतियमामइथ ः आारामात न िह ाारामिवषयमगता मयित इित िशवरहनीलकठ शािम ित ौितः SS(578) ThusManmatha was no match to Shiva He totally lost himself in theprescence of Shiva This is said to be the destruction of ManmathaShivarsquos anger was a flash and disappeared soon after as is wont withnoble souls सधना िणको कोपः The punishment was a tokenShiva yielded to Ratirsquos pleadings and brought Manmatha back to life ashe has a role to play in the creationईश - The lord or master one who is in complete controlRelating to the preceding episode of Manmatha this epithet fits Shivaperfectly as He conquered him who was famed to be invincible in allthe three worlds He made Manmatha feel small and acknowledge Shivarsquosoverwhelming superiorityकालकठम - काल = black or dark-blue colour कठः = throatThis means one whose throat has a dark colour It refers to

maargabandhupdf 65


Shiva whose throat has a bluish hue This is said to have happenedafter he swallowed the poison that was given out by the serpentVasuki when the ocean was churned by the devas and asuras LikeManmatha in the episode narrated above the poison also lost itsvirulence and became impotent in Shivarsquos prescence So Shiva has thefollowing namesनीलखठः - नीलः कठ य सः नीलकठः िशव कठनिवािद-सकलायाित कर-हलाहल-िवषधारणयमmdash नीलठशािमित ौितः SS(5) The name नीलमीवः forShiva appears in several places in Shri Rudram Alsoौीकठः - ौीः कालकटजिनता शोभा ताठो य सः तथा कालकट-जिनत-मािलमिप शोभव परमरिवकारोऽिप ाो भवन-भयभ-सिननइित ायात अथवा ौीः िवषमव ौीवषरचना शोभासरलशािखषवाणीलीलवष िवष िबऽपीितनानात रमाला ताठो यित SS(118) and SA(16) Thissays that even the dark patch generated by the poison added to thebeauty of Shivarsquos throat This is said in the following verse in theShivamahimna Stotram alsoअकाडाडयचिकतदवासरकपा-िवधयाऽऽसीद यिनयन िवष सतवतः स काषः कठ तव न कत न िौयमहोिवकारोऽिप ाो भवनभयभसिननः १४The following names of Shiva are based on this incidentकालकटिवषादी - हालाहल- िवषपानकता कालकटिवषादी ा सनमारसिहताया कािशकावनमाहा िवािदनासमिमथन तदान वासिकमखाालिवषोादन तनलािनः तदन तिव षिनमहात िशव ित ाथ नातदन िशवरीतनmdashनाा हन िवषमा च



िशवह जबफलवमप ण तदन- गहीाभवाभः कठ नीलोऽभवदातदाभित तान हालाशनिमित तमिशवोऽभालभाा कालठाकोऽभविद ितSS(203)The story of churning of the ocean is mentioned in the puranas Itappears in 8th book of Shrimad Bhagavatam Some verses from this aregiven for referenceिनम मानादधरभद िवष महोणहालाहलाममतः स ामीनोकरािहकपात ितिमिपमाहितिमिलाकलाततममवग िदिश िदयपय धो िवसप प दसमितभीताः जा िवर सरा अरमाणाः शरणसदािशवमldquoSeeing that effervescent unbearable and irresistible poisonpossessing tremendous force and spreading in all quarters as well asabove and below and finding no protection (anywhere) living beingsalong with their leaders got much frightened and flew for protectionto Lord Sadasiva (the ever-auspicious one)rdquo They prayed to Shivato protect them They saidदव दव महादव भतान भतभावन ऽािह नःशरणापालोदहनात िवषातldquoO god of gods O supreme deity the protector nay the veryself of all created beings save us who have sought refuge in Youfrom this poison that is burning all the three worldsrdquoShiva saw their plightतद वी सन तासा कपया भशपीिडतः सवभतसद दव इदमाह सत ियाम Shiva who was theembodiment of mercy was very much affected by their plight and toldHis consort Sati thisअहो बत भवातत जाना पय वशसम ीरोदमथनोतात

maargabandhupdf 67


कालकटापितमldquoHow distressing it is O Bhavani this calamity that has comeup on these people from the poison Kalakuta that had appeared duringthe churning of the ocean of milkrdquoआसा ाणपरीना िवधयमभय िह म एतावान िहभोरथ यद दीनपिरपालनमldquoProtection must be given by me to these people who areconcerned about their lives To protect the afflicted is the mainconcern of the great (who is endowed with power)rdquo Saying thisShiva swallowed the poison He had gathered in His handिनश कम तभोः दवदव मीढषः जा दायणीा वकठ शशिसरObserving the benevolent act of Lord Shiva those who approached HimSati Brahma and Lord Vishnu praised it

Refering to this episode of Shiva swallowing the poison and thewearing Ganga on His head the author Shri DikShita says that the Lordperformed these acts not because the poison was tasty or Ganga haspurifying power but only to save the world and because of extremecompassion And these two acts could not have been performed byanyone elseगा धता न भवता िशव पावनीित नाािदतो मधर इिपकालकटः सरणाय जगता कणाितरका-मयकिलत-मतद-नसाम (Brahmatarkastavam)महशम - महा is a substitute for महत meaning big orgreat ईशः is synonymous with ईरः and means lord ormaster महशः is the name of Shiva महाासावीशमहशः यः परः स महरः इितौितः SS(26)महरः -गा िदयििचदीिशतयोगादीर िहइादीनमि यदादाय षिशाण उातशाि



करण इयमािदष ईराय ाहा इित मःवः िशव महरः तषामपीरात यः सवय सपः सवरःशभराकाशम इित ौतः सािदष चदवष त य मत इित भारतवचनाएतदिभायमव चमहर भताना महतामीर सः इितभारतवचनम महतः िणन इादीिप यदिशतवत त इदमव एतदीयिशत महिमित Indra andother gods like Yama may be lords of their respective quarters andhave powers but the Shiva is their Lord also Their lordships andpowers were given by Him only And it is to Him only they all rushfor protection when they see a danger to all as happened in thestory just narratedLater on it is said अतः इतरदवतासाकाय वत कतयासव ऽाितहतात महदीिशतमित महर इितउतः इित इद च ौितिस नाम माियन त महरम तमीराणा परममहरम यः परः स महरः इािदौतः SA(2)महाोमकशम - महत = great or big ोमन = skyatmosphereोमकशः is an epithet of Shivaोमकशः गाधारणसमय ोमविशालजटावलयपःकशः अित ोमकशः SS(96) and SA(75)While receiving the Ganga when she was coming down from the heavensShiva spread out His hair which appeared to cover the sky Hence thename It is also one of Lalitarsquos nameोमकशी - ोमवकशा या िवरापतयाः ोमकश िशव ी वाोमवा सोमकम अाथ कयः तशी ततोऽिपािपका वा LS(941) Her (universal form) is larger than the sky

maargabandhupdf 69


This is an additional meaning given for the name and is applicable toShiva also Because the sky was first created and came from Him onlyThen other things were created from the skyThus Ganga came from thesame source from which the entire creation started and so the riveroccupies a lofty position in our esteem Besides it has an uniquesacredness attached to it that is not attached to any other river oreven to the rain water that falls from the sky In fact the rainwater is considered to be ordinary It stays for a short time and islost but Gangarsquos flow is perennial and is symbolic of His graceGanga came from the heaven Her waters came in a big torrent Becausethe water fell from a great height the stream got scattered into finespray and came down as an immense cloud Shiva spread out His hair tocover the sky so that the cloud of spray got in and was trappedGanga lost her way and could not come out This was done to curb herpride She was released again when Bagiratha prayed to ShivaThe use of the adjective महा in the word महाोमकशम meaning great or big is significant महाोम meaning ldquothebig or the great skyrdquo is said to distinguish it from theldquosmall skyrdquo that is mentioned in the Upanishadsअथ यिदद-मिन पर दहर पदरीक व मदहरोऽिराकाश-िन यद-द तविविजञािसतिमित Chandogyopanishad(8-1-1) What is mentionedhere is known as Dahara Vidya Ordinarily people may may find it tovisualise brahman that is described to be without a form name or anyother attributes It may appear to be something like a vacUm It isthe intention of Dahara Vidya to provide them something gross onwhich they can meditate uponDaharam means small (दहर अ ) and पर isour body Briefly stated this says that there is a small space withinthe heart in the body in which one can visualise brahman and get allhis desires fulfilled The upanishad says that this is because the



space that is inside the heart encompasses all that is there outsideकाभदम - कदम = jasmine flowerआभः = likenessresemblance दः tooth Shivarsquos teeth are white andhave the luster or the soft glow like the jasmine flower They areuniform and packed closely like the petals of a jasmine flower Theyare specifically mentioned as they are in the mouth of the Lord thatis the birthplace of all sounds grammar and the vedas It is saidthat the vedas are the very breath of the Lord Shiva has severalnames based on this fact Some are given hereवािवशः - वाचो वायो िवशा ऋवदादयो य सःवािवशः अ महतो भतिनिसतमतवदोयजवद इािद ौितः उ च सऽकारण- शायोिनािदित िववत चभाकारण महतः ऋवदादः शा योिनःकारणिमित SS(318)कतागमः - कता रिचता मखपकाििनग ता आगमाःणवािदमहामाः ऋगािद सववदाः ोीतािदअािवशितसाका आगमा य सः कतागमः अ महतो भत िनःिसतमतवदः इािदौितः SS(444)वदिनिसतः - वदा ऋवदादयः िनिसतिमव यथायनपषिनःासो भवित एव य स वदिनःिसतः अ महतो भत िनःिसतमवतवद इािदौितः SS(733)वदकारः - िवत धम णी एिभिरित वदाः आायाः तान करोितिनःिसतपतया उारयित इित वदकारः अ महतोभता िद ौितः SS(887)Thus the sacred vedas in the form of His breath are always wafting inHis mouth and are in constant touch with His teeth making them verypure and endowing them with unique sacredness For these reasons the

maargabandhupdf 71


comparison of the teeth with the jasmine flower is to be found oftenin the compositions of the saints and devotees Some examples aregiven here Shri Narayana Theertha addresses Krishna asकरदन and कसररदन in his Krishna LeelaTarangini (रदः = tooth) This description of Devirsquos teeth isin Shyamala Dandakamकपितिधदावलीिनम लालोलकोलसमलनरशोणाधरसरश - सरः = god or deity Shiva is the lord of gods likeIndra Brahma He could ward off Yama also Thus all the gods couldnot assess and understand His greatness and glory That is why theywere naive enough to plan and send Manmatha on that infamous missionHe was also worshipped by asuras like Ravana who subjugated thedevas He could crush Ravana and make him realise his helplessnessand finally surrender to HimThere is none equal to Him or greaterthan Him So Shri Suka salutes Him saying thisिनरसााितशयन राधसा धामिन िण रतनमः BH(2-4-14)िनर सायमितशय य यदपयाअ सामितशय नाि तन राधसा ऐयणधामिन प िण रममाणाय (Shridhararsquoscommentary) Shri Sadasiva Brahmendra bows to Him saying(in Navaratnamala- 12) िनलमिहमानमानतोऽि िशवमतलन = comparison So he says ldquoI salute Shiva ofincomparable gloryrdquoकोिटसय काशम - कोिट = 10 millions काश brilliantbright shining The Lord shines like a million (infinite) sunsThere are so many suns and stars in the universe The Lord gives themtheir brightness and He also shines because of His own glory withoutdepending on anyone else So He has these namesसय कोिटतीकाशः - सय कोटीन काश इव काशो य सःतथा इय च अभतोपमा अिधकदीिमािनथ ः नमोदीाय दीििपण इित ौितः SS(502)



सदीः - सव काशकन माण िवना सव दा दी इितसदीः दीाय दीिपण इित ौितः SS(633)महाितः - महती ितबा ारा च अित महाितःयोितः (ब-उ-४-३-९) ोितषाोितः (ब- उ- ४-४-१६) इािद ौतः VS (176)मरीिचः - तजिनामिप तजात मरीिचःतजजिनामहम (गीता १०-३६) इितभगवचनात VS(189)ोितः ndashत एव ोतयत इित ोितः नरयणपरोोितरा (ना-उ-१३-१) इित मवणा त VS(877)Thus the Lord who is brighter than a million suns who is eternal andnever failing is the most dependable one to light our way Let uspray to Him and seek His grace So भज= I worshipमग बम = the Lord MargabandhuI worship Lord Margabandhu who removed Manmatharsquos pride who has keptpoison in His neck the great Lord who is more extensive than thespace whose teeth have the sheen of the jasmine flower who is theLord of the gods and who shines like millions of suns

५ मारभतदार मरागसार महागौय रिसररचार िसरजाितधीर भज माग बम शभो

This is the fifth and the last verse in the stotram to be followed bytheफलौितः a verse that states the benefit of reciting thestotramThe preceding verses referred to some incidents to befound in the puranas These incidents were used to highlight somequalities of Shiva They also mentioned some aspects of His form likethe moon and Ganga on His head Of course the references are to His

maargabandhupdf 73


सगण aspect or aspect with name and form as Shiva In Hisिनग ण aspect He is without name form and qualities Thesereferences brought out the greatness of the Lord like His compassionreadiness to come to the help of the distressed etc Thus Hedestroyed Manmatha because he commited a serious offence But whenentreated by Rati (Manmatharsquos wife) He readily granted his life backThis shows His infinite compassionWhatever be the name or form by which we choose to address Him be itShiva or Rama or Hari we find that His qualities are endearing anddraw one to Him Shri Kulasekara states this in this popular verse inhis Mukundamala (No18) as followsवाा-दभयदानसमया-दाता ित -िनवा पणात औदाया -दघशोषणा-दगिणत-ौयःपदापणात सः ौीपितरक एव सतत सऽ षट सािणःाद िवभीषण किरराट पााहा ीवः मारभतदार -मारः = It is the name of one of the five trees in Indirarsquosparadise It is said to be capable of granting onersquos desires like thefamed Kalpa tree also of the paradise भितः = grandeurdignity riches उदारम = generous liberal So the wordमारभतदार means that Lord Shiva is more generous ingranting onersquos wishes than the Mandara tree So He is known asकामदः - भः कामान कषण ददातीित कामदः VS(298) He gives all that His devotees may need in abundance ShriVedanta Desika cites the case of Kuchela as an example and saysधानामिमच कचलमनय द च िवशताम meaningthat He made His devotee Kuchela rich as Kubera in return for ahandful of pounded rice he offered HimHe is also known as वरदः - अिभमतान वरान ददातीित वरदः VS(330) He grants boons desired from Him Also वरदःभानािमदः वरद दवमी िमित



ौितः SS(107) And उदारः - भाऽभीदःसवउदारः आतममतम िमित ौितः SS(315)Saint Sadasiva Brahmendra calls Him as नतमार -ldquothewishing tree of heavenrdquo in his song भज र गोपालम - Bhajare Gopalam Again he calls Him as सवकजनमिरमार -ldquothe Mandara tree planted in the residential quarters of Hisdevoteesrdquo in the song मानस सचर र - Manasa sancharareWe find the mantra नमो वो हिरकशः in the eighthanuvaka of Shri Rudram The explanation states that Rudra who cantake any form has assumed the form of trees to help the world Hestands in the form of Palasa Bilwa Peepal and other holy treeswhich can be used in sacrifices for gaining heaven and the form ofheavenly trees like Kalpaka Mandara Parijata etc which grant allwishes So He gets the following namesपािरजातः - पारमाीित पािर समिः ताातः पािरजातःदववः तिपावोऽिप पािरजातः भजनदइत ः SS(264) and वाणा पितः - वाअादयःतषा पितः ामी वाणा पतय नम इित ौितः SS(692)The tree is one of the creations May be it is in the heaven and sohas some special features unlike those found here in this world Butplaces like the heaven are only finite Gods like Indra who rulethere are also finite though they may be known as अमराः Thetree Mandara also has a limited life Since it has only a limitedlife whatever it can give will also have limited life and perisheventually giving cause for unhappiness or sorrow In view of this

maargabandhupdf 75


Krishna names those who seek petty favours (which are finite only)from Mandara and even gods like Indra Brahma etc as men of smallintellect He saysअव फल तषा तवमधसाम BG(7-23)Sankaracharya in his commentary points out that एव समान अिपआयास मामव न ितप अनफलाय अहो ख कतरवत त इनबोश दश यित भगवान ldquothough thereisthe same amount of exertion (in the two kinds of worship) people donot resort to Me so that they may attain infinite results Alas itis very miserablerdquo -thus the Lord expresses His anguish This isthe reason for calling them as ldquomen of small intellectrdquoBut unlike the tree the Lord is िनः eternal as said in verseNo 3 He is not subject to decay etc as the tree So He is capableof granting finite material benefits like good health wealth etc

besides liberation or mokSha (ie) that is ever lasting orinfinite In fact He is willing to give Himself to His devoteeरतः पादकमल-माानमिप यित BH(10-80-11) Thisidea is repeated by Shri Kulasekara in his Mukundamala (31)स पद दातिर सर नारायण ितित The infinite thingobviously includes the finite things The true devotees know this andso do not seek benefits that are finite from Him The Lordis very dear to them and they are very dear to Him ियो िहािननोऽथ मह स च मम ियः BG(7-17) So Henaturally takes care of them Has not He said तषािनािभयाना योगम वहाहम ldquoTo them who areever devout I secure them gain and safetyrdquo BG(9-22) Hereयोगः and मः ldquogain and safetyrdquo is explained byShri Sankara as योगः अा ापण मः तिणतभय ापयािम अहम (ie) Gain implies securing what isnot already possessed and safety means preservation of what is



alreday possessed Shri Sankara adds that while the lesser devoteeswork themselves for their gain and safety the true devotees do notThe Lord alone is their refuge Wherefore the Lord Himself secures tothem gain and safety कवल एव भगवरणाः त अतभगवान एव तषा योगम वहतीित Thus the true devoteesdo not lack anything If their be any lack it is taken care of bythe Lord The safety of their possessions is also taken care of bythe Lord What more can one desire They are carefree and thereforerelaxed The Tamil saint Manikkavachakar said that the Lord was moreconcerned about him than the mother of her new born child He saidthat He anticipated his needs and fulfilled them The brahmin Kuchelawas another such devotee Outwardly he appeared to be very poor butinwardly he was very rich he was totally contented and never feltany want योपपन वत मानो गहाौमी BH(10-80-7)मरागसारम -मरः = is the name of a mythical mountain अगः = mountainइः = the first or the best (of any class of objects) So theword मराग means Mandara the best among the mountainsसार = strengthMandara was used by the gods and demons to churn the ocean to getthe nectar It is said to be situated adjacent to the mountain Meruमरो ममरः सपा ः कमद इित अयतयोजन िवारोाहामरोतिदशमव िगरय उपाः Of the foursidesof Mount Meru stand the Mandara Merumandara Suparswa and Kumudamountains forming its buttresses (as it were) and having a length andheight of 10000 yojanas BH(5-16-10) Shiva is said to be as strongas Mandara the best among the mountains He is unmovable like amountain सवगतः ाणः अचलः - सवगतात ाणः इविरः इतत िरात अचलः अय आा Because He is

maargabandhupdf 77


allpervading He is stable like a pillar Because He is stable He isfirmBG(2-24) The proof is that the mighty Ravana tried to lift Hisabode Kailasa and was crushed But His unlimited strength is notdemoniac but it is mellowed with kindness so when Ravana realisedhis mistake and pleaded He pardoned him and let him go So He isknown as महाबलः- बिलनामिप बलवात महाबलः He isstronger than those who are said to possess great strengthVS(172)महाबलपरः- महल शारीर साम सप वायषा त महाबलाः इोपभतयः तषा परःौः परमरः तमीराणा परममहर िमित ौितः SS(604) In fact He is known asअििः- अििवदकः पररचल इित यावत तशामचल िमित ौितः याौीशलाणाचलािदपव तपादििः ौीशलिशखरा पनज न िवत इित काया त मरणािःरणादणाचलिमित च रणात वनािनशभिग रय शभ िरित ा सव षि इित ौितः SS(856)

महीधरः- मह िगिरपण धरतीित महीधरः वनािनिविग रयो िदश (िव-२-१२-३८) इितपराशरोः VS(369) He held up Mandara during the churning ofthe ocean and lifted the Govardana mountain as Krishna So He getsthe name महाििधक- महामिि िगिर मरगोवद न च अमतमथन गोरण च धतवािनितमहाििधक VS(180)The fact that He is mightier than the mightiest and has compassionmakes Him the ideal protector Shri Vedanta Desika has expressed thisidea beautifully in his worksअभीित हतोरनवत नीय नाथ द न िवभावयािम



भय कतः ात िय सानकप रा कतः ात िय जातरोष (Ashtabhujashtakam - 5)िय रित रकः िकमः िय चारित रकः िकमः इित िनित धीः ौयािम िन नहर वगवती तटाौय ाम (Shri Kamasikashtakam - 8)He asks ldquoWhen one is protected by You what use is there ofother protectors Againwhen You are angry and decide to punish someone what use is there ofother protectorsrdquo This reminds us of the famous incident ofKakasura in RamayanaThe asura misbehaved with Sita when she was in the forest with RamaRama was furious at his conduct and sent an arrow that chased himwherever he went He ran to Indra Brahma etc for protectionBut they hurriedly turned him away when theylearnt that he had incurred Ramarsquos wrath and is being hunted byRamarsquos arrow Finally feeling helpless he surrendered to RamaHimself who forgave him readily This incident was mentioned by Sitato Hanuman She saidऽीन लोकान सपिरब तमव शरण गतः स त िनपितत भमौ शरयः शरणागतम वधाहमिप काकः कपयापय पालयत (Ramayana Sundara Kanda 38-323)Great asuras like Ravana obtained wonderful boons from Brahma andother gods With those powers they could subdue the three worldsThey were very proud of their powers and were convinced they wereinvincible and safe But in the end they found themselves helplesswhen their time was up Ravana bemoans this fact when he sees hisarmy being decimated in the fight with Ramaअहो सबलवान रामो महदबल च व य िवबममासा रासा िनधन गताः त म राघव वीर नारायणमनामयम (Yuddha kanda

maargabandhupdf 79


72-1011)In contrast young devotees like Prahlada were under His protectionThey faced trials and tribulations with the assurance that the Lordwill protect them So no harm could befall themWe also referred to the episode of Markandeya being saved by Shivafrom the jaws of death and mentioned that one of His names isमयः SS(123) and SA(71) Shri Ramana Maharshi explainshow the Lord Mrityunjaya saves His devotees from death He puts it ina unique way in his work Sat-darsanam He saysमय मिभयािौताना-महमितम मपित पव म अथ भावादमतष तष कथ पनम िधयोऽवकाशः The Maharshi says that when a devotee seeks the protection of theLord from fear of death He protects him by destroying the individualThis sounds alarming and confusing But what the Maharshi means isthat normally one identifies himself with the body-mind complex andnot the Self that is onersquos true nature Thus the individual feelsseparate from the Self which is immortal and not subject todestruction This separative idea is formed in the individualrsquos mindAs long as one cherishes this mistaken notion one is in the grip ofthe viscious samsara He is subject to repeated birth and death Thiswrong notion that makes one to identify himself with the body isknown as ahamkara or ego When one surrenders himself to LordMrityunjaya who is very much in everyones heart the ahamkara losesitself It is only a chimera that thrives as long as onersquos ignoranceof his true nature persists The Lordrsquos grace confers the wisdom thatdestroys the ignorance Consequently the ego gets stripped of all itscoverings and ceases to be the ego Rid of the ego the Self shines inits pristine glory The individual finds his original nature and thushe goes beyond birth and death He becomes immortal



महागौय रम- महा = great गौरी = is the name ofParvati महागौरी means great or glorious Gauri अरम = closeby not far away र = distant or far offGauri or Parvati is the consort of Shiva and is said to take up halfof His body In view of this it is said here that She is not far offfrom Him So Shiva is known as अध नारीरः- नाया अधअध नारी अध नारीिमिलत ईरः अध नारीरः नायशोऽध मीराशाध िमत ः तमाचायः-वालवाहभाशोभमधमिणौीमहयाममध म गणतमक वपःशवमःरािम रापिसिहतः इित पषकिपलिमित ौितः SS(437)दहाध काः- दह अध वामभागः कााकः य सःदहाध काः भिवोरपराण-अध वालिचर हिरनीलमधनागािजनारमतो वरवमध म कााऽळकाध मथ दीजटामधिद महः सततम तवाौयऽहम इित दिरिीललोहोत इित ौितः SS(568)Krishna has said िपताऽहम जगतो माता धाता िपतामहः BG(9-17)ldquoI am tha father of this world the mother the dispenser of thefruits of action and the grandsirerdquo That He is both the fatherand the mother is symbolised by the Ardhanari form Kalidasa saysthis in the invocatory verse to his great poem Raghuvamsamवागथा िवव सपौ वागथ ितपय जगतः िपतरौ व पाव तीपरमरौ ldquoI salute Parvati and Parameswara who are the parents of the

maargabandhupdf 81


universe and who are inseparably united like the speech and thesense for obtaining the correct knowledge of the words and theirmeaningrdquoThus Krishna says that He is both the intelligent cause and thematerial cause of the creation He isकऽा - िबयत इित कम जग कता यो व बालाकएतषा पषाण कता य व तत कम स विदतः rdquoकौ-उ-४-१४ इित ौतः VS(316)करण - जगौ साधक करणम VS(378)कारण - उपादान िनिम च कारणम VS(379)िवकता - िविवध भवन िबयत इित िवकता स एव भगवान िवः VS(381)The material cause is also known as prakriti which Krishna called asHis inferior aspect in BG Chapter 7 Prakriti is also called mayathat deluding power of Iswaraमाया त कित िवााियन त महरम SVU(4-10)Prakriti is maya and the Lord Maheswara is in control of itKrishna says that His maya is very powerful and very hard toovercome दवी षा गणमयी मम माया रया BG(7-14)ldquoThis divine illusion of Mine made up of gunas is hard tosurmountrdquo So He is known as महामायः - मायािवनामिपमायाकािरात महामायः मम माया रया इितभगवचनात VS(170)Krishna says that in fact He is both the intelligent cause and thematerial cause called prakriti Thus मलकितः is one of Hisnames मलभता कितः मलकितः जगदािदकारणतििमोपादानक त ः तदत बाजायित इित ौितः ऐतित ईणकत ाििमकारण बािमितबभवनहतापादानम SS(411) Also कितः -



जगपादानभतः परमरः कितः अयमत ः सऽकारणिनितः कित ितााानपरोधािदािदसऽपकन िववत चदभाकारण सशयपव पदशनपव कम SS(570)मायाबीजः - मायाया बीज कारणमिधानिमित यावत एव चमायाया अन वावताऽभावात शिनाताभावा जगत ईरबीजमपपत दवाशि गणिन गढािम ितौितः SS(557)The prakriti mentioned as the mother is symbolised as the Lordrsquosconsort and is variously called as Parvati Ambika Gauri BhavaniLakShmi etc कित िवपी नारायणसमािौता arenames of LakShmi to be seen in LakShmi Ashtottarashatanama stotramThusthe Lord as brahman is one but as Iswara and Devi appears as twoThis is stated beautifully in the उमामहरोऽम (Umamaheswara stotram) as followsनमः िशवाा नवयौवनाा पररािवपध रााम I salute the two Shivas who are eternally young and whose bodies areentwined with each otherKrishna also adds that we the created beings are in the clutches ofprakriti and go through the cycle of birth and death till wisdomdawns on us but He is beyond it and maya however powerful it may behas no influence on Him So He is known asमायातीतः - मायाया अतीतः - मायया वा अतीतः सािद-गण-सामाप-कितिवविज त इत ः अतमममायिम ित ौितः SS(41) and

िनमा यः - मायाया िनग तः िनमा यः यिप माया त कित िवााियन त महर इित मायासबःौितष यत तथािप मायायाः कितनवावसबाभावात कितसबपरय ौितः अत

maargabandhupdf 83


एवाषः परः अरारतरः अिवाकाय हीनः अतमायिमित ौितः SS(693)Bartruhari states the fact that the Lord is not in the clutches ofmaya in his own way in his Vairagyasatakam(17)एको रािगष राजत ियतमादहाध हारी हरोनीरागष जनो िवमललनासो न यात परः He says that among sensual persons Shiva is unique sharing half Hisbody with His beloved It appears from this that as though He cannotbear separation from her even for a second But he adds that againamong the dispassionate there is none superior to Him unattached tothe company of womenThe prakriti is subservient to Him This is depicted in our puranasby showing Parvati and LakShmi as serving the Lord with greatdedication For example Devahuti the daughter of Manu is said tohave served her husband sage Kardama with the same delight asGoddess Parvati looks after Her consort Lord Shiva िनपय चरत ीा भवानीव भव भम BH(2-23-1)The following names are thus derived from the facts stated aboveपाव तीपितः - पव तः िहमवान त पऽी पाव ती ताः पितः त सतसिहताय- सा िशवा कणामित ज गाता ऽयीमयी िशवािभापराना शरािप शरीया िहमऽी भजनवला ताः पितः ियःपरमरः अिकापतय उमापतय नमो नमः इितौितः SS(24) andअिकापितः - पाव ाः ियः अिकापितः िहरयपतयऽिकपतय इित ौितः SS(429)Also SA(15)गौरीशः - गौरीशोऽिकापितः SS(121)ौीपितः - अमतमथन सवा न सरासरादीन िवहाय ौीरन



पितन वरयामासित ौीपितः ौीः पर शिः ताःपितिरित वा परा शििव िवधव ौयत (-उ-८) इित ौितः VS(603)ौीशः - िौय ईशः ौीशः VS(606)जगिता - जगिमा ता- इद सव मसजत ितौितः SS(36)िवमाता - िव माता ापी ाता वा SS(85)जगाता - जगता धाता कता SS(86)मातामहः - मातः िपता मातामहः चतिव धभतमामपािथ व मात पिथवी ताः िपता मातामहः सभिममसजत ित ौितः पिथा मात इयव मात ित ौितः SS(615)Devi Gauri is called महा or great or glorious because of HergreatnessBut one has to remember that She is dependant on Him for Hergreatness Shivarsquos greatness is revealed by the fact that He marriedHer though She was only the daughter of the mountain Himavan Thismarriage conferred greatness on Parvati and Himavan also Similarlyas Vishnu He married LakShmi the daughter of the ocean andconferred honour on LakShmi and the ocean also This is statedsymbolically in our puranasFor example DakShayani wanted to attend and participate in thesacrifice organised by Her father DakSha Shiva told Her not to goand warned that if She disregarded His advice and went to thefunction She will meet with humiliation But She went to the functionoverriding His advice only to be met with a barrage of insults inthe assembly Unable to bear the insult She sacrificed Her body andwas reborn as Parvati She had to perform severe penance to pleaseShiva and married Him againA similar incidence is narrated in Ramayana also Sita spent happydays with Rama in the forest till She saw the the golden deer and

maargabandhupdf 85


became infatuated with it She sent Him away from Her to capture itThis invited trouble for Her The moment Rama turned His back on HerRavana appeared on the scene and carried Her away to Lanka She wasincarcerated for a long time and suffered greatlyिसररचारम - िसरम = red lead र = distantfar off चारम = going away That is Shivarsquos complexion isvery red and it outshines the colour of the red leadShri Rudram says असौ याो अण उत बः समलः Thissays that Rudra is ताः = copper coloured अणः = rosyबः = golden yellow समलः = highly auspicious andbeneficient Only a few can understand and worship the avyakta orimpersonal God A larger number can contemplate Rudra as residing onKailasa For the benefit of the others who form the majority ofmankind He stands in the form of the sun The sandhya vandana mantrasays सय आा जगतः तष = the sun is the self ofthe world movable and immovable The sun is the most acclaimed andworshipped power of nature It is said that असौ याो इननआिदमपितत The votary should praise and worship the sunbymeans of the rik असौ याो in the Rudram So ताः -अ-राः नमााय च ित ौितः SS(572) is one of His namesAlso He is compassionate The quality is represented by the redcolour So His form is suffused with that colour He is known asदयाळः - दयाशीलो दयाळः अनन परमर या शाा तनसव ादिपणी सा दिस ता या त ि िशवा तनिरित ौितः SS(155)िसराजाितधीर- िसः = the sea ocean राजन = a kingor chief It is used to qualify something very great or glorious For



example Kalidasa describes the Himalaya as नगािधराजः in hisKumarasambhava अित = a prefix used to mean very tooexceedingly etc धीर = strong minded wise resoluteिसराज meaning the chief of the oceans indicates a mightyocean The Lord is very resolute wise and strong minded like amighty oceanKalidasa defines धीरः as one who is endowed with a mind thatdoes not waver even when assailed by deleterious forces that arecapable of perverting it िवकारहतौ सित िविबय यषा नचतास त एव धीराः (Kumarasambhava-1-59) Gita and theupanishads use the word to mean a person of wisdom or discrimination

दिहनोऽिता दह कौमार यौवन जरा तथा दहारािधरऽ न मित BG(2-13)Just as in this body the Self passes into childhood and youth and oldage sodoes He pass into another body The wise man has no delusions in thisregard and so is not troubled in the mind Arjuna had delusion inthis regard He admitted in the end that his delusion had beendestroyed as a result of Krishnarsquos teaching He saidनो मोहः ितला सादायाऽत BG(18-73)Againय िह न तयत पष पषष भ समःखसख धीर सोऽमताय कत BG(2-15)Here Krishna says a wise man who is not afflicted by pleasure andpain isfit for immortality Such a man of wisdom is called asधीरः and also as ितः ितधीः etcThe upanishads use the word धीरः to indicate a man of wisdomand realisation This example is from Kathopanishad

maargabandhupdf 87


एको वशी सव भतारा एक प बधा यः करोित तमा यऽनपयि धीराः तषा सख शातनतरषाम KU(2-2-12)ldquoThe indwelling Lord of all beings who is one without thesecond and has everybody under His control transforms His one andsingle entity into multifarious those wise persons who alwaysobserve (meditate upon) that Lord abiding in self (it is they who)enjoy that eternal bliss not the othersrdquoOne other interpretation of the word is धीरः - िधयईरयित िधय रयित ईर = to urge elevate bring tolife Thus the word धीरः means the Lord who is behind theintellect and gives life to it We worship Him through the Gayatrimantra as िधयो यो नः चोदयात Shiva is known asगायऽीवभः - गाया वभोगायऽीवभः गायऽीितपा इथ ः SS(179)The avaduta sage lists the similarities between a realised man andthe ocean in his conversation with the king Yadhu The story is seenin Shri Bhagavata He saysमिनः सगीरो िव गाो रयः अनपारो ोः ििमतोद इवाण वः समकामो हीनो वा नारायणपरो मिनः नोपत न शत सिरििरव सागरः BH(11-8-5 and 6)The conversation is narrated by Krishna in His advice to UddhavaThe avaduta says The sage should be placid and profound difficultto fathom and to cross over illimitable and immovable like theocean with its mass of waters at rest And whether he has anabundance of enjoyable things or he has none the sage who has sethis heart upon the Lord neither overflows nor shrinks like theocean on account of the waters of the riversThese verses say that a jnanirsquos mind is clear He is mature andगभीरः deep or profound Describing the qualities of Rama



Narada tells the sage Valmiki that Rama was profound like theocean समि इव गाभीय (Balakanda-1-17)The sage will appear to be simple but his depth of knowledge andmaturity cannot be measured िव गाः Because of his immensewisdom he cannot be overcome or overpowered He is firm He is beyondtime and space as he has found he is अनः and अपारः अपारः means shoreless A jnani is limitless and all pervading ashe has found his true natureपम He is unshakeable thisrefers to his emotional strength On this point Krishna saysःखनिमनाः सखष िवगतहः वीतरागभयबोधः ितधीम िनत BG(2-56)His heart is not distressed in calamities It does not long forpleasures He is free from attachment fear and anger He is called asage a man of steady knowledgeThe sage is not disturbed by his experiences be they favourable orunfavourable King ParikShit was such a person He was born in theroyal family and brought up in the lap of luxury He was said to becalm and serene like Lord Shiva साद िगिरशोपमः BH(1-12-23) But adversity hit him hard in the form of a curse Hehad only seven days left to live But though he was initially upsethe gathered his wits and immediately started thinking of what heshould do next He renounced his kingdom went to the banks of Gangaand sought the advice of sages about what one in his condition should doThe jnani has realised his fulness पण म So he has no wantsHis sensory experiences are like the rivers they may bring in floodwaters or may dry up But the ocean does not swell or shrink in sizeIt retains its fullness This is with reference to materialpossessions also So whether he owns all desirable possessionsसमकामः or has none he treats both situations likeनारायणपरः gifts from God Ramayana gives a fine example inRama for this He was to be made the king but this was not to be He

maargabandhupdf 89


was asked to go to the forest instead But this sudden change offortune did not upset Him in the least Valmiki saysन वन गकाम जत वसराम सव लोकाितगव लत िचिविबया (Ayodhya Kanda -19-33)No change of mood was perceived in him-any more than in a (master)yogi who surpasses all (common) men (because of his having risenabove all pairs of opposites)- even though he was ready to retire towoods and was renouncing the sovereignty to the globeThe man of wisdom does not become arrogant or depressed Rama was saidto be like this सवदािभगतः सिः समि इव िसिभः Bala (1-16) He was always sought by the righteous even as the oceanby the rivers The commentators explain that just as the oceanmaintains its level even when rivers flow into it Rama waslevel-headed even though sadhus were regularly calling on HIm He didnot become proudIt emerges then that in the case of a man of wisdom real possessionsare not material possessions and adversity is not poverty Prosperityfor him is remembrance of the Lord and calamity is forgetting Himसपदो नव सपदः िवपदो नव िवपदः िवपद िवरण िवोः सपद सरण हरः It is possible that in adversity onersquos weakness shows up and allthoughts of Lord recede into the background But this does not happenin the case of a true devotee He is not daunted by reverses In factKunti the mother of the Pandavas found from experience thatcalamities made her think of Him and so she prayed that she should beregularly visited by themिवपदः स नः शऽ तऽ जगरो भवतो दशन यादपनभ वदशनम BH(1-8-25)A jnani has realised his oneness with God So there is no question ofhis forgetting HimSo let us pray to the great Lord Margabandhu to show us the way



भज माग बम - भज= I worship मग बम = theLord Margabandhu

In this verse the poet uses four similies to glorify Shivarsquos generousnature His strength His complexion and His wisdom Talking aboutfigures of speech one has to note that they are used by poets tohighlight some quality or emphasise some thing This works all rightwith the things in the universe (ie) with finite things But whenone tries to use similies while talking about God who is not finitebut infinite they fail The desired effect cannot be produced Onecannot find something equal to or greater than Him Shri DikShita saysthis in his poem Varadarajastavamयिहाितशयोिरलिबितनोपमामपमा समपित सवा सभावकलनािप च न ता तण यािम भवतः कथमािभम He says that one cannot describe His beauty directly or by comparingit with a like object or by exaggeration Describing it directly isnot possible because His form is very subtle and cannot be grasped bywords There being none equal to it one cannot use a simile andoffer a comparison Also one cannot use exaggeration to highlight Hisform For example Kalidasa says that King Dilipa was tall like atree साल ासः Raghuvamsa (1-13) This makes nice readingand sounds definitely better than saying that Raghu wasexceptionally tall But exaggeration will not work when talking aboutHis qualities as nothing can excel them Still poets resort to theuse of the figures of speech as with the worldly objects whilepraising Him This is done in their enthusiasm to sing His glory andwe accept it in the right spirit

Meaning of the verse I worship Lord Margabandhu who is more generousthan the divine Mandara tree who is stronger than the Mandara

maargabandhupdf 91


mountain who is close to the great Gauri who is of crimson colourand who is more profound than the mighty ocean

६ अय गीत ोऽराज पठ भा याणताथ िसि िवध माग मऽभय चाशतोषो महशः शभो

अ = the name of the author यन = performer ofsacrifices गीत = sungोऽराज great poem पठत = reads यः = whoever भा = with devotionयाण = during a journey त = for him अथ = wishdesire िसिः = fulfilment complete attainment िवध = arrangesमः = middle or central part माग म onthe way अभय = freedom from fear securityआश= fastquick तोषः = satisfaction pleasure delightआशतोषः means one who is easily pleased महशः = nameof ShivaThis verse gives the benefit or the fruit of reciting the poem and isknown as फलौितः फल means the fruit the result or thereward The author says that one who reads the poem with devotionduring a journey will be successful and attain his goal or wishes Inaddition he will feel secure and be protected by the Lord on the wayWhat is the nature of the Lord He is महशः the Lord of thelords like Indra and Brahma It is to Him that they all rush whenthey are confronted by fear or serious danger This name wasexplained in verse No 4 where it occurs But though He is thesupreme Lord a devotee can easily please Him by offering items thatcan be obtained without difficulty He is known by following namesसलभः - पऽपफलािदिभ-भ िमाऽसमिप तः सखनलत इित सलभः पऽष पष तोयष अबीतलष सदव स भक-ल पष पराण म कथ न िबयत यः इित महाभारत



VS(817) He is easily pleased by offering some leaves flowers orfruits The lowly woman Sabari could please Lord Rama by offering Himsome fruits she had gathered in the forest Krishna accepted withgreat delight some pounded rice which the poor brahmin Kuchelabrought HimShri Krishna says that His devotees can attain the highest results byjust offering a leaf a flower a fruit or waterपऽ प फल तोय यो म भा यित तदहभपत- मािम यतानः BG(9-26)Shiva is known as करवीरियः - करवीरिय िशवपराणािदष िसम एकन करवीरण िसतनािसतन वा हिर हर वासप भयाय कत इित अनन िशवपजा सौलमम िशवः पजनीय इित च SS(326)भाना सलभः - िशवपजािदपराणा सलभःशीयमनमाहकः तदत मव िशवमित महणम SS(484)One of Shri Lalitarsquos names also states this fact सखाराा -सखन उपवासािदपकायश यप-िनयमनिनब ािदक चारणााराा LS(680) Prahladasays that it does not need much effort to please Him One need notstrain himself and go on pilgrimages etc in search of Himन त ीणयतओ बायासोऽसराजाः आात सव भताना िसािदह सवतः BH(6-6-19) He is the verySelf of every being and He is available everywhereThere is an apocryphal story that once the author Shri DikShita waspreparing to go to a nearby village on some work when he receivedinformation that some people who were ill disposed to him werehatching a diabolical plot to attack and kill him on the way Thepoet composed this stotram and prayed to the Lord to ensure hissafety during the journey As a result the enemies could not carry

maargabandhupdf 93


out their plan and Shri DikShita could complete his travel in completesafety We too can recite this stotram and be protected by the Lordin our travelsIt is our tradition to mention the फलौितः or the fruits ofreciting or listening to stotras or puranas or other holy texts Thisis usually said in the end of the text but sometimes is mentioned inthe beginning of the text or in both places The purpose of theफलौितः is to interest one in reading or listening to thecomposition The author in this case had lead a religious life Hehad built two temples in his native village He had performedseveral sacrifices as is expected of a brahmin So he gets theappellation dikShita appended to his name He also states this factby calling himself as यन The Manusmrithi states thatperforming sacrifices is one of the duties of a brahminअापनमयन यजन याजन तथा दान ितमहचव ाणानामकयत Kalidasa says that the kings of the solar dynasty tended thesacrificial fires by means of offerings and honoured the guests alsoयथािविध ताीना यथाकामािच तािथ नाम (Raghuvamsa-1-6)Manu further says that the noble ones should eat only the remains ofthis yagna as only it is worth eating One who cooks for himself eatssinअघ स कवल भ यः पचाकारणात यिशाशन तताम िवधीयत Krishna talks at length about various kinds of sacrifices in Gita (inchapter IV) He eulogises the performance of sacrifices by sayingयिशामतभजो याि सनातनम नायलोकोऽय कतोऽः कसम Eating the ambrosia the remnant of the sacrifice they go to theeternal brahman Even this world which is common to all beings isnot for one who does not perform the sacrifices mentioned How can



there be to him another world which can be secured only by superiormeans (BG 4-31)The Lord Himself is called yagna यः- सवयपाद यः यो वौ िवः (त-स-१-७-४)इितौतः VS(445) Also यः- सवयपाः य िविरित ौितः SS(160)The performance of prescribed duties or what is known as karmas isnecessary to get purification of the mind This is the necessaryfirst step in the path of spiritual progress िच शयकम says Shri Sankaracharya in his VivekachudamaniHe defines such a person who has been regularly performing thesacrifices as noble minded महाानः अििचाः in hiscommentary (BG-19-13) Anandagiri elaborates the definition asमहान को यािदिभः शोिधत आा स यषा -those whose minds have been purified by sacrifice etcSuch a person who is sincere performs the duties expected of him andis broad minded is known asआः -आः यथात वा - acredible trustworthy person Such persons speak from experience Sowe need not question their sincerity but accept what they say as thetruth with complete faith Thus our tradition saysआवामाणम Great men act and speak for the good of the world only They have noaxes to grindKing ParikShit mentions this point when he greets the great sages whohad come to see him in his last daysसमागताः सव त एव सव वदा यथा मित धरािप नहाथवामऽ च कनाथ ऋत परानमहमाशीलम The king said ldquoshining like the vedas you have all come togetherfrom every quarter You have no purpose of your own in this world (toachieve) in this world or in the next except doing good to others

maargabandhupdf 95


which is your innate dispositionrdquo BH(1-19-23)Shri Sankaracharya also talks about this trait of great menशाा महाो िनवसि सो वसवोकिहत चरः तीणा ःय भीमभवाण व जनानहतनाानिप तारयः (Vivekachudamani)There are good souls calm and magnanimous who do good to others asdoes the spring and who having crossed this dreadful ocean of birthand death help others also to cross the same without any motivewhatsoeverगीत = sung chanted The poet says that he had sung the poemDoes it mean he had not composed it For example one of thedefinitions of the word भगवीता is that it was sung orchanted by Krishna ौीमता भगवता गीता This implies thatHe was not the author of the work (न कता ) but was merelyrepeating what had been said by someone else earlier KrishnaHimself told Arjuna that He had imparted the same teaching long backto the Sun (Vivasvat) at the commencement of evolution by Him Thiswas then handed down in regular succession among the royal sages (menwho were at once kings and sages) Thus it was an ancient teachingThe text may be different but the contents are essentially the sameThey can be found in the upanishads also One of the Gita Dhyanastates thisसवपिनषदो गावो दोधा गोपालननः पाथ वःसधीभा ध गीतामत महत The upanishads are like the cows Gopala is the one who milks themPartha (Arjuna) forms the calf The pure minded one is the partakerand the supreme nectar Gita is the milkIn the same manner in this case also the poet had glorified the Lordby stringing together some of His attributes These attributes are tobe found in the puranas etc and so were known long back Also thefact that singing the glories of the Lord will confer great benefits



is also known from time immemorial In the introduction to the VishnuSahasranama Bhishma tells YudhishtiraI will tell you some of the renowned names of the Lord culled fromvarious sources (such as the vedas and puranas) by great sagesThese names will confer all meritsयािन नामािन गौणािन िवातािन महानः ऋिषिभः पिरगीतािन तािनवािम भतय Thus the use of the word ldquosungrdquo (गीतम) seemsappropriateWhy this piece is calledोऽ राजा a great or splendid piece ofwork In the beginning of Chapter 9 of Gita Krishna talks of theknowledge of brahman and to glorify the subject He calls itराजिवा राजगम ldquothe sovereign science the sovereignsecretrdquoIt is called sovereign because it talks of brahman and not of anylowly subject It shows the way to wash off onersquos sins and attainbrahman Similarly this stotra glorifies the Lord who is brahman whois limitless and thus supreme It does not talk of some thing that isinferior or perishable like a monarch or gods like Indra and Brahmawho are all in the clutches of timeIt says then पठ भा याण त अथ िसििवध (ie) whoever reads this with devotion during a journeythe mission will be completed successfully The emphasis is on theword भा - with devotion This implies that such great hymnsshould not be read or chanted mechanically by rote but withdevotion One should put his heart and mind in it Bhishma says soin the introduction to Vishnu Sahasranama ldquoAmong the dharmasprescribed the one I am going to say namely worshipping the Lord bysinging His glories with devotion is I consider the bestrdquoएष म सव धमा णा धमऽिधकतमो मतः यापडरीका वरचरः सदा

maargabandhupdf 97


This is in reply to King Yudishtirarsquos question to him ldquowhichamong the dharmas or duties you have mentioned is according to youthe bestrdquo को धम ः सव धमा णा भवतः परमोमतःBhakti (devotion) while chanting the names of the Lord is mentionedmore than once in the end after the stotram also For example it issaid भिमान यः सदोाय शिचतमानसः सहॐवासदव नाामतत कीत यत १२५इम वमधीयानः ौाभिसमितः यतासखाि-ौीधितितकीित िभः १३२Shri Sankaracharya in his commentary saysभिमािनािदना भिमतः शचःसततमकामिच ौालोिव िशािधकािरणःफलिवशष दश यित Thus a great deal of emphasis is laidon devotion and faith The Lord is अिनिमषः always awakeVS(215) and on the look-out for people who have devotion He hasinnumerable number of ears eyes mouths etc सवतःपािणपाद तत सव तोऽििशरोहम सव तः ौितमाोकसव माव ितित SU(3-6) His (as Ganesa) ears are bigand very sensitive With them He can hear even prayers mutteredsoftly With His long proboscis He can detect even the faintest aromaof piety He loves sincere prayers offered by His devotees andblesses them He has the nameवियः VS(680) This does notmean that He loves adulation He has no need for it It is we whobenefit by singing His gloriesIt was said पठ भा याण त अथ िसििवध माग मऽभयच आशतोषो महशः (ie) whoever reads this with devotion during a journey the Lordwill ensure that the mission is completed successfully In additionhe will feel secure as he will be protected by the Lord on the wayWe noted that the word याणम means departureor journey But



if we scratch a bit deeper we find that the word also means death ordeparture from this world This latter meaning puts the statement ina different perspective and introduces a very important topic vizthe last moments of onersquos life and how it is to be managed Bothयाणकालः and अकालः mean the same thing TheBhagavatha Purana is very relevant in this context as it deals withthis subject elaborately It presents case histories of the lastmoments of many people to illustrate the theories that are stated init This subject is introduced by Krishna at the end of chapter 7 ofGita and dealt with in detail in the next chapter He saysअकाल च मामव रा कलबरम यः याित स मावयाित नाऽ सशयः Who at the time of death thinking of me alone leaves the body andgoes forth he reaches My being there is no doubt in this BG(8-5)Andय य वािप राव ज कलबरम त तमवितकौय सदा तावभािवतः BG(8-6)Thinking of whatever Being at the end a man leaves the body Himalone O son of Kunti he reaches by whom the thought of that Beinghas been constantly dwelt upon The word Being may mean any personalGod (इ दवता) (like Shiva or Devi) other than Krishna orany friend or relative or anything else (may be his house or bankbalance or even his pet) that had been occupying the personrsquosthought This is mentioned in the upanishad alsoकामाः कामयत ममानः स कामिभजा यत तऽ तऽ पया काम कतानिहव सव िवलीय कामाः MU(3-2-2)An example is to be found in the story of the sage Bharatha that isfamiliar to all This is told in the fifth book of Bhagavatham Thegreat king ruled over the entire country It is because of him thatthe country has come to be known as Bharatam अजनाभ

maargabandhupdf 99


नामतष भारतिमित यत आर पिदशिBH(5-7-3) The king was - महाभागवतः a great devotee of theLord After ruling the country for a long time he handed over thekingdom to his sons and retired to the forest There in the foresthe devoted his time in the worship of the Lord and derived greatsatisfaction But he developed an infatuation for a fawn His mindgot diverted from the worship of the Lord He was engrossed inprotecting and caressing the young deer Even as he was spending histime playing and protecting the deer the hour of death approachedhim He died looking on the deer intentlyतदानीमिप-पा वित न आजिमवानशोच अिभवीमाणोमग एवािभिनविशतमना िवस लोकिमम सह मगणकलवर मतमन न मतजानितःइतरवन-मगशरीरमवाप As a consequence he was reborn as a deer BH(5-8-27)Shri Suka says inanguish that Bharatha a great devotee instead of attaining thesupreme goal died like other common people and was rebornA person with unfulfilled desires at the time of death gets the birthsuitable to the fulfilment of the desires So to one who wants toavoid rebirth Krishna saysतावष कालष मामनर य च मिप तमनोबिमा मवसशयः BG(8-7)Therefore at all times you meditate on Me and fight with mind andreason fixed on Me you shall doubtless come to Me alone Hereldquofightrdquo means doing onersquos alloted dutyThis means that if one thinks of Him in his last moment he willattain Him ldquoAttainingrdquo means realising Him by knowing Histrue nature Krishna says this a bit later in clarification He saysndashपषः स परः पाथ भाल-नया BG(8-22)That Purusha O Arjuna within Whom all beings dwell by Whom all



this is pervaded may be won by means of exclusive devotion ShriSankaracharya in his explanation says that ldquoexclusivedevotionrdquo means exclusive devotion characterised by jnana orknowledge of the self स भा लानलणयाअनया आिवषयया is to be noted Why shouldldquodevotionrdquo should be characterised by jnana In answer herefers to what was said earlier (in verse 7-17) The jnani is thebest devotee as he is exclusively devoted to Him तषा ानीिनय एकभििव िशतOf them (the four types ofdevotees mentioned in verse No16) all the knower ever steadfastand exclusively devoted excels Shri Sankaracharya says that the wiseman knows the truth and so is steadfast He is exclsively devotedfor none else is seen deserving of devotionAttaining Him means liberation from the repeated cycle of birth anddeath Bhishma mentions this fact as he lay dying on the bed ofarrows Krishna was present by his side He prepared to shed hisbody at the auspicious time since he had the power to do so Hepraised Krishna for His kindness to be present by his side at thecrucial moments He saysभाऽऽव य मनो यिन वाचा याम कीत यन जन कलवर योगी मत कामकमिभः BH(1-9-23)A yogi who casts off his body with his thought fixed on Him throughdevotion and chanting His name with his tongue is rid of allhankerings and released from the bondage of actionsThen Bhishma stopped the wanderings of his senses and praised theLordिनववियवििवमाव जिवसजजनाद नम BH(1-9-31)The first verse he said in praise of the Lord shows that he had shedhis attachments and he was surrendering his pure mind to Himइित मितपकिता िवता भगवित सातपव िवभि

maargabandhupdf 101


सखमपगत िचद िवहत कितमपयिष यद भववाहः BH(1-9-32)He said that on the eve of his departure from this world he offershis mind which is free from all thirst for worldly enjoyment to theSupreme Lord He begins by saying इित - ldquothus or in thismannerrdquo ldquoIn this mannerrdquo means ldquoin the manner asadvised by Yourdquo Has not Krishna promised earlier that rdquowith mind and reason fixed on Me you shall doubtless come to Mealonerdquo मिप तमनोबि-मा मवशयः Thus Bhishma said that he was offering his mind that was free fromall hankerings to Him and was thus qualified for liberationNow because such attainment of the Lord is the ultimate goal one candesire saints pray to Him to bless them with His thoughts in theirlast moments Thus Lilasuka prayedपाद-मवतिसत-बिहबहसाचीकतानन-िनविशत-वणरम तजः पर परमकािणक परात ाणयाण-समय ममसिधाम He prays that he should be blessed with the vision of his favouriteGod Krishna that is at once bewitching and radiant and a picture ofkindness standing with His legs crossed decorated with a peacockfeather tucked in His hair playing the flute with His slightlyinclined head in his dying momentsNow Krishna says that by thinking of Him in onersquos last moments onecan escape death and get relief So can one be ldquosmartrdquo andthink of Him only in his last moments but after leading a wayward ora ldquobusyrdquo life that had left him no time to think of theworld to comeldquoNordquo say our scriptures and saints The reason is that thelast moments can be very traumatic for a variety of reasons As onegrows old and infirm his will power becomes steadily weaker His



subconscious is saturated with numerous thoughts These thoughts willtake over and his free will will not be able to function If a personhad laboured hard chasing ldquosuccessrdquo in life accumulatingwealth and all the appurtenances that go with it then he would havedeveloped strong bonds with all of them The thought of having toleave all those hard earned possessions behind will be hovering inhis mind and be very painful Thus he will die thinking of his moneyand perhaps worrying how all that is going to be managed in hisabscence Or one may be very attached to his family members Thethought that he will soon be whisked away from them can be veryexcruciating and occupy his mind at that critical moment Or it ispossible that one may live long but may be overcome by debility andsickness in the old age The suffering can be so intense that anyother thought is rendered impossibleFurther no one can predict precisely when the end will come So itis not possible to plan and work on thinking of the Lord in the lastmomentsThus there can be many reasons for not being able to think of HimSo one should practise thinking of Him right from young age and atall the time possible In this way the mind slowly but steadilygets saturated with the thought of God Then there is a good chanceof the thought surfacing at the right time The words अकाल चliterally mean ldquoin the final moments alsordquo Theldquoalsordquo means not only the final moments but also the timepreceding the crucial moments - ldquoall through the liferdquo asthen only one can expect to be blessed with the thought of the LordThe devotee Kulasekara praysक दीय-पद-पजपराः अव म िवशत मानस-राजहसः ाणयाणसमय कफ-वात-िपः कठावरोधनिवधौरण कत

maargabandhupdf 103


He prays to Krishna that his mind should now itself surrender to HimHe asks how it will be possible to think of Him in the final momentswhen the throat will be choked with phlegm etc and consequentlythere will be acute suffering The celebrated vaishnavite saintPeriazhwar makes a similar request He says that the last momentswill be painful His physical strength will be depleted Hisfaculties will not be functioning properly In such a situation hewill not be able to think of Him Because of these reasons he saysthat he is surrendering to the Lord now itself when the body hasstrength and mind is functioning properlyThen what happens to the atheist who keeps himself busy earning forhimself his family with no thought of the hereafter and perhapsleads a sybaritic life It is a sad situation say our scripturesLord Kapila in His advice to His mother Devahuti gives a graphicalalbeit terrifying picture of the last moments of such a person Hesaysवायनोमतोारः कफसनािडकः कासासकतायासःकठ घघ रायत (At the approach of death) his eye-balls are shot out by the actionof the life-breath trying to find an exit his wind-pipe gets chokedwith phlegm coughing and breathing cause him exertion anddeath-rattle is heard from his throatशयानः पिरशोचिः पिरवीतः बिभः वामानोऽिप न त कालपाशवश गतः Lying (in his bed) surrounded by his sorrowing relations and caughtin the noose of Death he cannot utter a word even when addressedएव कटभरण ापतािजतियः ियत दतानामवदनयाधीः Thus a man of uncontrolled senses who is absorbed exclusively inworldly concerns dies with a mind afflicted and stupified and withhis relatives standing by crying with grief



Further it is said that in the case of such person the memory of thepresent life slowly fades The ारम pertaining to the nextbirth is ready to take over and the person gets a vision of the nextbirth to come In addition Sage Kapila says that the person willalso have a vision of the messengers of Death who have come to leadhim away from this worldयमतौ तदा ाौ भीमौ सरभसणौ स ाऽदयः शकऽ िवमित He then sees before him two emissories of Yama huge in size andmenacing with their terriffic eyes The sight makes him shudder andevacuate in fear BH(3-30 16 to 19) Kapila says furtherएव कट िबाण उदरर एव वा िवसहोभय भ तलमीशम Thus a man who lives his life entirely for the pleasure of his bodyand for the support of his family is wrenched away from both andsubjected to the sufferings of purgatory BH(3-30-30)एकः पत ा िहद कलवरम कशलतरपाथयो भतिोहण यद भतम The body which a man has nourished by exploiting and inflictingcruelty on other creatures he will have to abandon here and go aloneto hell with the wages of his sins as his sole asset BH(3-30-31)कवलन धमण कटभरणोकः याितजीवोऽतािमौ चरम पदम A man who lives in this world merely for supporting himself and hisfamily by thoroughly unrighteous means will certainly reachAndhatamisra the hell of utter darkness BH(3-30-33)अधारलोक यावतीया तनाधयः बमशः समनबपनरऽाोजिचः Then attaining again to this world he passes through various animalbodies one after another as part of his punishment until having paidfor his sins he is purified He is then born again as a man

maargabandhupdf 105


BH(3-30-34)Now let us hear the same thing from the horsersquos mouthYama the godof death told the boy Nachiketaन सारायः ितभाित बाल मा िवमोहनमढम अय लोको नाि पर इित मानी पनः पनव शमापत म KU(1-2-6)Hypnotised by the attraction of wealth he fails to take notice of theother world For him the visible world is everythingand there isnothing like the other world (heaven or hell) Such a person comeswithin my clutches again and againHaving gone through the above material about the ldquolastmomentsrdquo let us seek the answers to the following questions1- why does one fear death2- when do the ldquolast momentsrdquo begin3- how shoud one prepare himself for the ldquolast momentsrdquo and4- how much time the preparations will require

We will try to answer the questions here1- why does one fear deathOne can be expected to fear or abhor or shun some experience if hehad had previously tasted it and found it unpleasant or painful Butdeath can not be such an event One could not have experienced deathearlier in this very life and carry on the experience of it in thesame life We find that even insects try to avoid death Because ofthis reason our scriptures say that this fear is inherited fromprevious births The sage Patanjali mentions this in his Yogasutrasand calls the fear अिभिनवशः He says that the fear affectsthe wise people alsoरसवाही िवषोऽिप तथाढोऽिभिनवशः साधनपादः-९ रसन सारणव वहतीित रसवाही अिपशसमितमिवास तथित तः



परामशित ढः िसः तथाच यथाऽिवषः तथा िवषोऽिपरसवािहहतना यातीयः यशो भयाःिसोऽि सोऽिभिनवश इथ ः िवषामिपमरणऽासकत भयमीित भाकतोम पव पव जस मरणकाल यऽासो जातो मा न भव भयासम इठापो भयनामा तिनत-सरमाऽा-दिवषािमवा-िवदामिप स जायत न तऽािवािदककारणिमित 2- When do the ldquolast momentsrdquo beginSuppose a person plans to go on a long trip say to Kasi and he hadnever been there earlier One can easily imagine the excitement thatwells up in his mind He will start running around gathering all theinformation about the place He will start looking for people who canprovide the information the train fare and numerous other detailsAll these activities will be occupying his mind constantly as therewill be some associated tension also He may be physically presentin his home town but his mind has already gone to the other place Sowe may say that the journey begins the moment it is conceived of Theactual travel is also there and will follow Similarly our journeybegins the moment we start thinking of the other worldThe pilgrimageto Kasi may come through or not but this journey we are talkingabout has to be undertaken by everyone The details are plunged inmystery So it is incumbent on everyone to start knowing the completedetails about the travel and making the preparations All these areto be done now and without delaying it any furtherIt is said that death takes birth along with our birth BH(10-1-38)Vasudeva points this out to Kamsaमः जवता वीर दहन सह जायत अ वा अशतावा मव ािणना ीवम

maargabandhupdf 107


From that moment it never leaves us even for a moment Rama says thisto Bharata when the latter meets him in Chitrakoota Bharata isinconsolable at all the tragic events that had happened in hisabscence His father had died leaving his three mothers widowedAyodhya was plunged in grief and to cap it all his dear brother Ramahad been expelled from the kingdom Rama consoles him and points outthat death is inevitable There is no use in grieving over the deadas every one is inexorably moving towards his own end So Ramaadvises him to stop crying over the king who is gone and instead togrieve for himselfअहो राऽािण गि सवषा ािणनािमह आयिषपयाश मी जलिमवाशवः Passing days and nights quickly end the life-span of all livingbeings in this world (even) as sunbeams suck up the water in summerआानमनशोच िकममनशोचिस आय हीयत यिता गत च Grieve for yourself (alone) why do you grieve for another In factthe life-span of each and every creature whether staying (at home)or departed (for another place) gets shortened (every moment)सहव मो जित सह मिन षीदित गासदीघ मान सह मिन वत त Death ever walks with us (when we are walking) and remains seatedwith us (while we are sitting) (Nay) having travelled a very longdistance (with us) death returns with us (on our return) (AyodhyaKanda -105-20 21 and 22)Thus one has to be alive to the fact that death is shadowing usBecause of this reason there has to be a sense of urgency and everymoment has to be considered as the last moment This is where theglory of Shrimad Bhagavatham becomes evident If Ramayana teaches usthe art of living then Shrimad Bhagavatham becomes an excellenttreatise on the art of dying This is because this purana gives in



detail the answer to the third question3- How shoud one prepare himself for the ldquolast momentsrdquoThis is one of the two questions asked by the king ParikShit to thesage Suka as the king is left with just a week to live He asksअतः पािम सिसि योिगना परम गम पषहयत काय ियमाण सवथा ldquoI enquire of you the greatest preceptor of the Yogis thecharacter and the means of the highest realisation What should bedone under all circumstances by a man who is on the verge ofdeathrdquo BH(1-12-37) The answer to the questions is given in theBook II of Bhagavatam and has been elaborated in the further Booksalso This is similar to what is said in chapter 8 of GitaWe have seen that those who are soaked in samsara and lead a Bohemianlife get inferior births Those who perform their duties and ritualswith desires सकाम कमा get births suitable for the fulfilmentof the desiresThose who perform desireless karmas िनाम कमा and alsoupasana (which includes offering prayers worship of the Lord in anyparticular form etc) form the next higher category Krishna advisesthat such people should at the time of departure cut off allattachments Then they should concentrate on the Lord in His cosmicform as Virat Purusha or Viswarupa Iswara and leave the body Theyattain liberation in stages called बममिः याण काल मनसाऽचलन भा यो योगबलन चव वोम ाणमाव य सक स त पर पषाअमपित िदम BG(8-10) But a person of wisdom - jnani- who has realised his true nature doesnot worry about death as it is meaningless to him He is free andliberated - मः He is totally detached from the body

The celebrated Tamil saint Pattinaththar presents this matter in hisown unique rather blunt way The body by itself is inert only It isthe presence of the consciousness in it that keeps it alive Thus the

maargabandhupdf 109


only difference between a living body and the dead one is thepresence of the animating life in the living body And sooner orlater the living body will also become dead or a corpse So thesaint who was the personification of detachment calls it as theldquowill-soon-be-deadrdquo corpse Or to put it in his languageone is a dead corpse and the other a ldquowill-soon-be-deadcorpserdquo only If one accepts this truth then one need not grieveover death This is a well known fact only but comes as a ruderevelation He is amused at the sight of a group of peoplesurrounding a dead body and crying over it He asks Lord Shiva at thefamous Kanchipuram temple ldquoO Lord whence is this confusionsome will-soon-be -dead corpses falling and crying over adead-corpserdquo A pregnant though a very disturbing onestatement that leaves us much to ponder

4- How much time the preparations will requireThe ldquopreparationrdquo is for escaping death and it ismeaningful only for one for whom ldquodeathrdquo has meaning Aspointed out earlier ldquodeathrdquo is irrelevant for a person whohas gained wisdom ldquoOne can escape death only by knowing HimThere is no other way to escape deathrdquo So assert the shahtrasतमव िविदाितममित नाः पा िवतऽयनाय SU(3-8) Thus the one who has gained wisdom is clear that death candestroy only the body and not him So he has no fear of deathYama-the Lord of death says this to the boy Nachiketa who soughtwisdom from himअशरीर शरीरष अनववितम महािवभमाान मा धीरो न शोचित The wise person does not grieve He knows that the all-pervading thegreatest Supreme Self is present without body among all theperishable bodies KU(1-2-22)Thus the preparation is relevant only to others who are in various



stages of spiritual progress They have to gain wisdom first to beable to reject death This is illustrated by the story of MarkandeyaHe was a devout worshipper of Lord Shiva He knew death was imminentWhen the hour of death approached he embraced Shiva (who is the veryembodiment of knowledge) implying he got wisdom and with the wisdomrejected death and as a result he became immortal

The question now becomes how long does it take to gain wisdom aboutourselves Unfortunately Krishna says it is a very long process andmay involve many birthsबना जना-म ानवान मा पत वासदवःसव िमित स महाा सलभः BG(7-19)At the end of many births the man of wisdom comes to Me (realising)that Vasudeva is the all he is the noble-souled very hard to findShri Sankaracharya explains in his commentary that these many birthsare required to gain the mental maturity to make him fit enough toacquire and assimilate the supreme wisdom that liberates himबना जना ानथ साराौयाणाअ समाौ ानवान ापिरपाकानः मा वासदवगाान तः पत He then realises the goalto be reached is Vasudeva who is the inner self of all Why such aperson is extremely rare to find Krishna had said earlierमनाणा सहॐष कितित िसय यततामिपिसाना किा वि ततः BG(7-3) Just one man among thousands strives to win the knowledge amongthose who know and strive only one comes to know Me in truthWhat is the reason for this unfortunate situation Why are people notinterested in the path of knowledge that assures them liberationThe reasons can be many One is that we have tenanted the body ininnumerable births and have become attached to it The attachment isso great that we have come to take the body to be ourselves Itsounds preposterous to hear that we are not the body but something

maargabandhupdf 111


occupying it It is naturally difficult almost immpossible to shakeoff the attachment that we have so assiduously nourished over such along timeSecondly all the talk about the other world and liberation etcsounds very theoretical Things like heaven and God appear nebulousand remote What they are said to offer is not certain So one tendsto prefer the bird in the hand and not the promised landWe do not come across any who had been there and could narrate theirexperiences All that we hear about is only culled from variousbooks Thus it is very difficult to get a lively interest in thesubjectThen there are enough discussions on other mundane topics that canveer us away from the subject The influences of the media the alienreligions the many incidents that happen around us and some of ourown experiences add to the scepticism and help to slacken what littleinterest one might have developed in the subjectThen the preparatory steps that one is expected to go through tobecome a qualified student for taking up the study of vedanta can bedaunting They too can put off one from taking serious interest inthe subject Because the steps known as साधनचतयसपिः or the four fold qualifications includethings such as control of the mind to curb its wandering tendenciesso that it becomes focussed on a subject control of the sense organsso that they become disciplined detachment to the pleasures of theworldThus the reasons why people are not interested in the topic ofliberation can be many One is busy during the active part of thelife The general tendency is to put off religion for the postretirement period But then it may be too late Old age will bringwith it its own problems So Shri Sankaracharya wailsबालावत बीडासः तणावत तणीसः



वाविासः पर िण कोऽिप न सः So our scriptures advise one to start the practices early in lifebefore one gets sucked into the whirlpool of life Prahlada tendersthis considered advice to his friends कौमार आचराोधमा न भागवतािनह BH(7-6-1) When young the mind is freshreceptive to advices and is not yet polluted by the pulls and pushesof the world Kalidasa mentions that the kings of the solar dynastyabout whom he writes in his great work Raghuvamsam acquainted withthis subject even when young He says शशवऽिवाना(1-7) Our tradition says that only that learning that leads toliberation can be called educationसा िवा या िवमय Shri Sankaracharya also defines educationasआनो बोधः while commenting on the popular verse beginningिवा िवनयसप ाण गिव हििन BG(5-18) It isknowing about Self Thus Devi (LakShmi Lalita) is called Vidyaिवा The commentatorrsquos explanation isमोदानपािा (Lalita Sahasranamam No 549)Other subjects are learnt only to eke out a living They will not beuseful beyond a point of time Thus they are inferior So a wiseperson will not fail to give utmost importance to this subjectThisis said in our upanishads िव विदत इित ह यिवदो वदि परा चवापराच तऽापरा ऋवदो यजवदः सामवदोऽथव वदः िशाको ाकरण िन छो ोितषिमित अथ परा ययातदरमिधगत MU(1-4 and 5)These mantras say that there are two Vidyas worth knowing to men -Para and Apara Out of these two the vedas and all their branchesthrough which one can gain the worldly and otherworldly enjoyments isthe inferior one and is called Apara Vidya Para or the superior oneis that through which the imperishable brahman is knownYama also tells this to his student Nachiketa

maargabandhupdf 113


ौय य मनमतौ सपरी िविवनिधीरः KU(1-2-2) He says that two paths present themselves beforeevery one One is called sreyas ie the one that offers releasefrom all miseries for ever and the other is called preyas ie themeans of obtaining the pleasures of this world The wise personprefers the former viz sreyas in comparison to preyasThe Tamil saint Tiruvalluvar also points this out in his great workTirukkural He asks what profit have those derived from learning ifit does not lead to the worship of the Lord who is possessed of pureknowledgeBut generally all these warnings and advices fall on deaf earsConsequently we have to take the long path for salvation The storyof Gajendra the elephant narrated in the eighth book of Bhagavataillustrates this point The elephant symbolises one covered withignorance The elephant has a large family comprising of sheelephants and baby elephants - a typical samsari He wasldquoenjoyingrdquo the life He was afflicted with the heat andentered a lake full of fragrant waters The fragrant watersrepresent the vAsanAs or the latent tendencies accumulated inprevious births He enjoyed a refreshing bath sprayed the coolwaters on the female elephants as well as their young ones and madethem also drink This he did out of attachment to his own herd ShriSuka adds - like a householder यथागही Such a one steeped insamsara normally does not imagine there can be trouble around thecorner Thus the elephant could not foresee the imminent problem -नाच क कपणोऽजमायया A crocodile -representing kala - caught hold of the elephant The elephantstruggled hard to free himself but did not succeed The gods lookedon the struggle without coming forward to help The struggle went onfor thousands of years This long time represents the numerous birthsone wrapped in ignorance has to take The elephant found that his



family members left him one by one He was left alone drained ofenergy and helpless At this point the distraught animal cried to theLord for help Indra Brahma and similar gods did not respond as theytoo are in the grip of time The appearance of the Lord shows thedawn of wisdom He killed the crocodile and released the elephantmeaning that with the gaining of wisdom one is released from samsaraor the cycle of birth and death

Shri Suka gives another example of the king Khatwanga of the solardynasty He was very powerful and on several occassions had helpedthe gods in their fights against the asuras Once after such a fightthe devas wanted to offer a favour in return for the help they havereceived from the king The only favour the king wanted was to knowthe duration of life remaining Much against their will the devas hadto inform him that he had only about an hour to left to live Theking at once rushed back to earth renounced every thing meditatedon the Lord in that brief period of time and got liberationखाो नाम राजिष ः ायािमहायषाः मता त सव म गतवान हिरम BH(2-1-13) Mostappropriately Shri Suka calls the king राजिष ः or royal sage asaint like kingHow can this be possible when Krishna had said that one can getliberated only after repeated births The answer lies in the factthatone has to take several births before coming to the path of devotionbut having stepped into the right path he will get births suitablefor his spiritual progressतऽ त बि-सयोग लभत पौव दिहकम यतत च ततोभयः सिसौ कनन BG(6-43)Krishna says that in his new birth he gains touch with the knowledgethat was acquired in the former body He strives with greater vigourthan that with which he strove before for perfection Thus the

maargabandhupdf 115


progress continues and does not stop till one gains wisdom mentionedin our shastras At that stage onersquos preparations are over Thus theking too was making progress He got birth in the rightenvironment ie the solar dynasty He got the right education evenas a child just like Kalidasa said of the kings of the solar dynastyशशवऽिवानाम The story of Khatwanga is told inbook nine of Bhagavatha The king on being informed of the shortspan of life left did not panic or get agitated but was smart enoughto take appropriate steps without delay He said that even as achild he knew what was reality and was not attached to sensepleasures offered by his vast kingdom Thus thanks to the righteducation he had received in his early days he had wisdom He couldrenounce his kingdom etc without hesitation and sit in meditationThese characteristics were also typical of the kings of solardynasty ie यथाकालबोिधना they were alert at all timeswhen vigilance was called for and then at the end (of their lives)they abandoned their bodies by means of meditationयोगना तनजाम This is mentioned by Kalidasa in hisRaghuvamsamNo wonder then the king got the result he wanted in a short timeShri Suka gives the example of a great monarch to king ParikShit notthat of an ordinary person or a sanyasi so that ParikShit will getconfidence that even a king like himself who had lived in the lap ofluxury could work and get liberated in a short time But in his caseParikShit had one full week to get freedom So Shri Suka advises himto shed fear first as there was ample timeThen it was said that the one who reads the stotram with devotionwill feel secure as he will be protected by the Lord on the wayमाग मऽभयच आशतोषो महशः It was stated earlier that our journey has already started and so weare on the way The question now is how can reading the storam with



devotion confer security on the way This becomes more relevant asthe upanishads sayआन णो िवान न िबभितकदाचनित the person having experienced the bliss of brahmanever fears not (TU-II-4-1) that only by realising the Self one canshed his fears We are long way from realising brahman We very muchseek security We have the constant fear that the things that weconsider as contributing to our security may get damaged or destroyedor leave us Thus we worry about sickness loss of money friends orrelatives etc The remedy for this feeling of insecurity is torealise that all these listed above can not last for ever Eitherthey will leave us or we will have to leave them some day Everyoneknows this but wants them to last for ever Thus we want the body tobe youthful and last for ever One is unwilling to grow old and endonersquos days Being insecure themselves nothing on the earth can confersecurityThis is a fact and has to be accepted howsoever bitter thismay be But strangely no one is prepared to accept this Acceptancerequires wisdom and it is not got in a day It is a difficultprocess The recital of the stotrams and other texts like the puranaspave the way for gaining the knowledge They describe the endearingqualities of the Lord in a manner that will make our heart turn toHim Once He gains entry into our heart He clears the accumulatedsins and brings in the wisdom Krishna has given this assurance inGita (10-10)तषा सतत-याना भजता ीित-पव कम ददािमबि-योग त यन मामपयाि त ldquoTo these ever devout worshipping Me with love I give thatdevotion of knowledge by which they come to Merdquo Thus devotiondevelops where even the seed of it was absent earlier This is thepower of listening to His gloriesया व ौयमाणाया क परमपष भितप सः शोकमोहभयापहा BH(1-7-7) Such devotion dispels

maargabandhupdf 117


grief infatuation and fear Shri Suka lays stress on the fact thatthis happens even one decides to listen to the Lordrsquos stories(ौयमाणायाम ) leaving us to imagine what benefits it can conferwhen one actually takes to listening to themShri Vedanta Desika states this clearly in his poem Abhitistavam (5)He saysभविमह यः धीिनयतचतनाचतन पनायित नमित रित वि पयित वा गण कमिप वि वा तव गणश गोपाियतःकदाचन कतन चन त न ायम He says that one who praises the Lord or salutes Him or remembers Himor recites hymns about Him or circumambulates Him or knows about atleast one of His attributes does not encounter fear of any kind atany time from anyone at any place This is repeatedly stated towardsthe end of Vishnu Sahasranama stotram in the फलौितः It issaid न भय िचदाोित वीय तज िवित andभयात भीत मताप आपदः andजमजराािधभय नवोपजायत This was what happened to the king ParikShit when he listened to ShriBhagavatham The experience totally transformed him He shed the fearof death gained wisdom and got releaseGod grants us the wisdom that removes the fear So he is calledभयापहः - भय ससारज प सामपन भयापहः VS(935) But there may be fear from foes and elements etc Godremoves them also Shiva is known as सहायः -ादीनामापाल रक इथा ः SS(762) He protectseven gods like Brahma in times of danger Lalita is calledभयापहा - भयािन जललािदयादीिन सवा यपहीितभयापहा आन णो िवा िबभितकतनित ौतः तथा च वायपराण अरयार वािप जल वािप लऽिप वा ायकीरचोरो



भयान िवशषतः आिधिप च सवष दवीनामािनकीत य िदित We do not realise the fact that He is never away from us even for amoment We are used to looking out for security and not within Thedevout Pandavas knew that they could get His help readily whenever itwas needed Kunti the mother of Pandavas acknowledged this factgratefully She saidिवषाहाः पषाददसा दसभाया वनवासकतः मध मधऽनकमहारथातो िौयताहरऽिभरिताः BH(1-8-24) She said that Krishna protected themfrom poison from a conflagration from the look of man-eatingdemons from the assembly of evil people (Duryodhana and hisassociates) from the many perils met during their stay in theforest from the missiles of many great warriors (like Bhishma Dronaetc) in every battle and lastly from the missile discharged byAswatthama (the son of Dronacharya)The gopis also stated that Krishna saved them time and again fromdeath from poisonous water demons in various disguises showersstorm and lightning and other perilsिवषजलायाद ालरासाद वष माताद वतानलात वषमयाजाद िवतोभयाषभ त वय रितामः BH(10-31-3)Thus the truly devout people never miss Him and are therefore donot feel insecure on the way The ldquowayrdquo or माग ः maybe viewed allegorically also Our scriptures talk of many ways toworship Him These are meant for people with differing tastes basedon their temperaments The Shiva-Mahimna Stotram says thisऽयी सा योगः पशपितमत वविमितिभ ान परिमदमदः पिमित च चीना विचाज-किटल-नानापथजषानणामको गमिस पयसामण विमव (7)

maargabandhupdf 119


There are different paths (of realisation) as enjoined by the threevedas Samkhya Yoga Pasupatha doctrine and Vaishnava shastrasPeople follow different paths and each considers some particular pathto be the proper one This is because of the difference in theirtemperaments But ultimately they all reach You only just as therivers enter the oceanKrishna says that all paths of worship lead to Him only and It is Hewho rewards them just in the way they seek Himय यथा मा प ताथव भजाहम ममवा नवत मनाः पाथ वशः BG(4-11)Shri Rudram salutes Lord Shiva who is in the form of various paths Itsays - पथीना पतय नमः पथीना = शाोदिणोर- ततीय-मागा णा पितः This says that Rudra isthe protector of the three paths described in the sastras Later Itagain says नमः ॐाय च पाय च salutation to Himwho is in the narrow foot paths and in the broad highways ॐितःो दवलोकमाग ः पा लोकमाग ः The narrow pathindicates tortuous religious beliefs and practices Krishna talksabout thisमढमाहणानो यी िबयत तपः परोादनात वातामसमदातम BG(17-19)The penance which is performed obstinately with self-torture or forthe purpose of ruining another is declared to be Tamasic The broadand firm ways represent the beliefs and practices inculcated by thegreat teachers They are the safe ways and are intended to be troddenby the common people महाजनाना यनगतः स पाः saysMahabharatha Saint Thiagaraja talks about this in his famous songldquoSakkani raja margamu undagardquo He asks ldquowhen there isthe well-laid kingrsquos highway of devotion to God why do foolishpeople stray into hard tortuous and thorny footpaths andsufferrdquo Saint Manickavachagar has stated the same idea in his



Tiruvachagam He says ldquoI was straying in the company of foolswho did not know the path to liberation The Lord pointed out to methe path of devotion and how to shake myself free from my past actsHe flushed out the impurities in my mind He made me Shivam or theauspicious one and ruled me with grace Oh who had received in fullmeasure the bounty God has showered on me I mistook the wrong pathsto be the right ones He prevented me from following the smallpathways and showed me the broad ones for obtaining His divinegracerdquoAgain Shri Rudra says नम इिरयाय च पाय च Salutation to Him who abides in saline tracts and in troddenpathwaysइिरयाय Irinyaya signifies arid tracts and has a refernce tosamsaraपः बिभिह सिवतो माग ः पथः तऽ भवःपः नम इिरयाय चपाय चितौितःSS(346) Prapathyaya pathway trodden or resorted to by manyThe Lord helps all who seek Him by following various paths Hesaysमितः सवगा िण मसादािरिस Fix your heart inMe You shall by My grace cross over all difficultiesSo let us latch on to Him and win His graceThus we have come to the end of this gem of a poem Quotations fromvarious sources have been given to stress the point that the Lord isone but known by various names and forms We can find that thoughthis is a small piece of work it condenses in itself the gist ofvedantic truth and is very suitable for regular recitation I submitthis commentary of mine at the feet of my preceptor Shri VedantaDesikachariar Swami He litererally flodded me with ideas on thispoem But my bird brain could retain only an iota of what he

maargabandhupdf 121


communicated to me I trust this work will receive the approval ofthe readers Namaste Om Tat Sat

Written and encoded by N Balasubramanian bbalu at satyamnetin

mArgabandhustotram by Appaya Dixita Searchable pdf was typeset using XeTeXgenerateactualtext feature of XƎLATEX 099996

on August 20 2017

Please send corrections to sanskritcheerfulcom


mArgabandhustotram by Appaya Dixita


Sanskrit Document Information

Text title maargabandhu stotra

File name maargabandhuitx

Category shiva

Location doc_shiva

Language Sanskrit

Subject philosophyhinduismreligion

Translated by NBalasubramanian bbalusatyamnetin

Latest update May 8 2004

Send corrections to Sanskritcheerfulcom

Site access httpsanskritdocumentsorg

This text is prepared by volunteers and is to be used for personal study andresearch The file is not to be copied or reposted without permission forpromotion of any website or individuals or for commercial purpose

Please help to maintain respect for volunteer spirit

August 20 2017





Shrimad Appayya DikShita was born at Adayapalam village very nearArni North Arcot District Tamil Nadu in the year1520 AD His father Shri Rangarajadhari was the son of Shri AcharyaDikShita - also known as VakShasthalacharya who was inthe court of Shri Krishnadevaraya ldquoAppayyardquo was anendearing form of his real name Vinayaka SubramaniamldquoThe 16th century AD in South India was an age of confusionwhen begotry and vigorous proselytism were rampant Persecution of one sectby another with the help of the ruling dynastieswas quite common In such an age the need was felt for arare scholar with comprehensive vision and imagination whose missionin life would be the reconciliation of the various creedscults and philosophies Shri Appayya DikShita filled this essentialneed He was a peace maker who pleade for harmony tolera nce and mutualgoodwill and understanding at a time when people werequarrelling among themselves as to who was superior Vishnu or Shiva (Dr NRamesan IAS Shri Appayya DikShita Page 3)ldquoDikShitarrsquos culture was at once profound libeal and wide Hischaracteristic impartiality never failed him even in his out andout militant worksrdquo (A V Gopalachariar Introduction toVaradarajastava 1927 P vI) DikShitarrsquos learning says Y MahalingaShastri was in the truest sense of the word encyclopaedic


maargabandhupdf 1










maargabandhupdf 3









maargabandhupdf 5













maargabandhupdf 7











maargabandhupdf 9










maargabandhupdf 11









maargabandhupdf 13








maargabandhupdf 15












maargabandhupdf 17











maargabandhupdf 19








maargabandhupdf 21








maargabandhupdf 23









maargabandhupdf 25








maargabandhupdf 27








maargabandhupdf 29







maargabandhupdf 31








maargabandhupdf 33






maargabandhupdf 35






maargabandhupdf 37









maargabandhupdf 39








maargabandhupdf 41









maargabandhupdf 43






maargabandhupdf 45







maargabandhupdf 47








maargabandhupdf 49









maargabandhupdf 51







maargabandhupdf 53








maargabandhupdf 55







maargabandhupdf 57






maargabandhupdf 59







maargabandhupdf 61










maargabandhupdf 63







maargabandhupdf 65






maargabandhupdf 67







maargabandhupdf 69






maargabandhupdf 71








maargabandhupdf 73






maargabandhupdf 75







maargabandhupdf 77







maargabandhupdf 79






maargabandhupdf 81







maargabandhupdf 83






maargabandhupdf 85







maargabandhupdf 87






maargabandhupdf 89








maargabandhupdf 91








maargabandhupdf 93






maargabandhupdf 95






maargabandhupdf 97






maargabandhupdf 99






maargabandhupdf 101






maargabandhupdf 103






maargabandhupdf 105







maargabandhupdf 107







maargabandhupdf 109








maargabandhupdf 111






maargabandhupdf 113







maargabandhupdf 115






maargabandhupdf 117






maargabandhupdf 119






maargabandhupdf 121





on August 20 2017






Shrimad Appayya DikShita was born at Adayapalam village very nearArni North Arcot District Tamil Nadu in the year1520 AD His father Shri Rangarajadhari was the son of Shri AcharyaDikShita - also known as VakShasthalacharya who was inthe court of Shri Krishnadevaraya ldquoAppayyardquo was anendearing form of his real name Vinayaka SubramaniamldquoThe 16th century AD in South India was an age of confusionwhen begotry and vigorous proselytism were rampant Persecution of one sectby another with the help of the ruling dynastieswas quite common In such an age the need was felt for arare scholar with comprehensive vision and imagination whose missionin life would be the reconciliation of the various creedscults and philosophies Shri Appayya DikShita filled this essentialneed He was a peace maker who pleade for harmony tolera nce and mutualgoodwill and understanding at a time when people werequarrelling among themselves as to who was superior Vishnu or Shiva (Dr NRamesan IAS Shri Appayya DikShita )ldquoDikShitarrsquos culture was at once profound libeal and wide Hischaracteristic impartiality never failed him even in his out andout militant worksrdquo (A V Gopalachariar Introduction toVaradarajastava 1927 P vI) DikShitarrsquos learning says Y MahalingaShastri was in the truest sense of the word encyclopaedic


maargabandhupdf 1










maargabandhupdf 3









maargabandhupdf 5













maargabandhupdf 7











maargabandhupdf 9










maargabandhupdf 11









maargabandhupdf 13








maargabandhupdf 15












maargabandhupdf 17











maargabandhupdf 19








maargabandhupdf 21








maargabandhupdf 23









maargabandhupdf 25








maargabandhupdf 27








maargabandhupdf 29







maargabandhupdf 31








maargabandhupdf 33






maargabandhupdf 35






maargabandhupdf 37









maargabandhupdf 39








maargabandhupdf 41









maargabandhupdf 43






maargabandhupdf 45







maargabandhupdf 47








maargabandhupdf 49









maargabandhupdf 51







maargabandhupdf 53








maargabandhupdf 55







maargabandhupdf 57






maargabandhupdf 59







maargabandhupdf 61










maargabandhupdf 63







maargabandhupdf 65






maargabandhupdf 67







maargabandhupdf 69






maargabandhupdf 71








maargabandhupdf 73






maargabandhupdf 75







maargabandhupdf 77







maargabandhupdf 79






maargabandhupdf 81







maargabandhupdf 83






maargabandhupdf 85







maargabandhupdf 87






maargabandhupdf 89








maargabandhupdf 91








maargabandhupdf 93






maargabandhupdf 95






maargabandhupdf 97






maargabandhupdf 99






maargabandhupdf 101






maargabandhupdf 103






maargabandhupdf 105







maargabandhupdf 107







maargabandhupdf 109








maargabandhupdf 111






maargabandhupdf 113







maargabandhupdf 115






maargabandhupdf 117






maargabandhupdf 119






maargabandhupdf 121





on August 20 2017












maargabandhupdf 3









maargabandhupdf 5













maargabandhupdf 7











maargabandhupdf 9










maargabandhupdf 11









maargabandhupdf 13








maargabandhupdf 15












maargabandhupdf 17











maargabandhupdf 19








maargabandhupdf 21








maargabandhupdf 23









maargabandhupdf 25








maargabandhupdf 27








maargabandhupdf 29







maargabandhupdf 31








maargabandhupdf 33






maargabandhupdf 35






maargabandhupdf 37









maargabandhupdf 39








maargabandhupdf 41









maargabandhupdf 43






maargabandhupdf 45







maargabandhupdf 47








maargabandhupdf 49









maargabandhupdf 51







maargabandhupdf 53








maargabandhupdf 55







maargabandhupdf 57






maargabandhupdf 59







maargabandhupdf 61










maargabandhupdf 63







maargabandhupdf 65






maargabandhupdf 67







maargabandhupdf 69






maargabandhupdf 71








maargabandhupdf 73






maargabandhupdf 75







maargabandhupdf 77







maargabandhupdf 79






maargabandhupdf 81







maargabandhupdf 83






maargabandhupdf 85







maargabandhupdf 87






maargabandhupdf 89








maargabandhupdf 91








maargabandhupdf 93






maargabandhupdf 95






maargabandhupdf 97






maargabandhupdf 99






maargabandhupdf 101






maargabandhupdf 103






maargabandhupdf 105







maargabandhupdf 107







maargabandhupdf 109








maargabandhupdf 111






maargabandhupdf 113







maargabandhupdf 115






maargabandhupdf 117






maargabandhupdf 119






maargabandhupdf 121





on August 20 2017











maargabandhupdf 5













maargabandhupdf 7











maargabandhupdf 9










maargabandhupdf 11









maargabandhupdf 13








maargabandhupdf 15












maargabandhupdf 17











maargabandhupdf 19








maargabandhupdf 21








maargabandhupdf 23









maargabandhupdf 25








maargabandhupdf 27








maargabandhupdf 29







maargabandhupdf 31








maargabandhupdf 33






maargabandhupdf 35






maargabandhupdf 37









maargabandhupdf 39








maargabandhupdf 41









maargabandhupdf 43






maargabandhupdf 45







maargabandhupdf 47








maargabandhupdf 49









maargabandhupdf 51







maargabandhupdf 53








maargabandhupdf 55







maargabandhupdf 57






maargabandhupdf 59







maargabandhupdf 61










maargabandhupdf 63







maargabandhupdf 65






maargabandhupdf 67







maargabandhupdf 69






maargabandhupdf 71








maargabandhupdf 73






maargabandhupdf 75







maargabandhupdf 77







maargabandhupdf 79






maargabandhupdf 81







maargabandhupdf 83






maargabandhupdf 85







maargabandhupdf 87






maargabandhupdf 89








maargabandhupdf 91








maargabandhupdf 93






maargabandhupdf 95






maargabandhupdf 97






maargabandhupdf 99






maargabandhupdf 101






maargabandhupdf 103






maargabandhupdf 105







maargabandhupdf 107







maargabandhupdf 109








maargabandhupdf 111






maargabandhupdf 113







maargabandhupdf 115






maargabandhupdf 117






maargabandhupdf 119






maargabandhupdf 121





on August 20 2017















maargabandhupdf 7











maargabandhupdf 9










maargabandhupdf 11









maargabandhupdf 13








maargabandhupdf 15












maargabandhupdf 17











maargabandhupdf 19








maargabandhupdf 21








maargabandhupdf 23









maargabandhupdf 25








maargabandhupdf 27








maargabandhupdf 29







maargabandhupdf 31








maargabandhupdf 33






maargabandhupdf 35






maargabandhupdf 37









maargabandhupdf 39








maargabandhupdf 41









maargabandhupdf 43






maargabandhupdf 45







maargabandhupdf 47








maargabandhupdf 49









maargabandhupdf 51







maargabandhupdf 53








maargabandhupdf 55







maargabandhupdf 57






maargabandhupdf 59







maargabandhupdf 61










maargabandhupdf 63







maargabandhupdf 65






maargabandhupdf 67







maargabandhupdf 69






maargabandhupdf 71








maargabandhupdf 73






maargabandhupdf 75







maargabandhupdf 77







maargabandhupdf 79






maargabandhupdf 81







maargabandhupdf 83






maargabandhupdf 85







maargabandhupdf 87






maargabandhupdf 89








maargabandhupdf 91








maargabandhupdf 93






maargabandhupdf 95






maargabandhupdf 97






maargabandhupdf 99






maargabandhupdf 101






maargabandhupdf 103






maargabandhupdf 105







maargabandhupdf 107







maargabandhupdf 109








maargabandhupdf 111






maargabandhupdf 113







maargabandhupdf 115






maargabandhupdf 117






maargabandhupdf 119






maargabandhupdf 121





on August 20 2017



margabandhustotram by appaya dixita - sanskrit documents

Documents