SNS13Rishis
Published: 23 Sep 2019 8 PM Updated: 23 Sep 2019 8 PM Sakthi Vikatan
ஆதியும் அந்தமும் - 13 - மறை சொல்லும் மகிமைகள்
Ādhi & Andham -13 – Great Sayings of Vedas
Author: சேஷாத்ரிநாத சாஸ்திரிகள் Śēṣādrinātha Śāstrigaḷ
Images: MARUTHI
The Purāṇas have a multitude of stories. One of them depicts the search for the ends of Fiery Śiva by Tirumāl and Brahma.
                                                                        
1. The perceiver of Light is the perceiver of the Supreme Being, the One pervading all. Ṛṣi perceived the Supreme Sakthi and always immersed himself in ecstasy. Such Ṛṣis gave us the Vedas, the Purāṇas, and the way of life.
2. The Purāṇas have a mother lode of stories. One of them is the divine story of Tirumal and Brahma, trying to find the ends of Śiva as the fiery Liṅgam. I touched upon the story of Brahma, making a spurious agreement with a Screw-pine flower.
3. Brahma, on the way looking for the supreme head of Śiva, found Screw-pine flower on its way down. He discovered that the flower was falling from Śiva’s head over 14, 000 Chatur Yugas. That information gave him confusion and amazement. Deciding he cannot see the head of Śiva ever, made a pact with the flower.
4. Brahma, with the Screw-pine flower in tow as a witness, went to Śiva, proudly announced he had a Darśan of the head of Śiva (the Fiery Lingam) and the flower was his witness. The patent lie was easily discernable. Śivaperumāṉ cursed the flower, saying it was not fit for his worship anymore. Do you know what Śiva did to Brahma? He snipped one of his five heads and cast it aside as if it was a discarded flower.
5. Tirumāl and Brahma are notable scholars. They could not find the Sakthi that created this universe. The sacred texts bring this story to our attention to drive home the point this Sakthi with no beginning and end is beyond our comprehension.

6. The Purāṇas came into being to explain the Tattvas in the Vedas. The Ṛṣis were at the forefront to reveal to us what remained unrevealed. Those sublime Tattvas are the fruits beyond our reach. The Ṛṣis did us a favor by bringing them within our reach and grasp. One of them was Parāsarar.
7. Once, it happened, he had to cross the Ganges River. There was a boat. And there was a ferryman. Not a man but a woman. Not just any woman but a nubile girl. Parāsarar got on the ferryboat. As the boat was floating across the river, a thought arose in his mind: “A great soul (starets) must make an appearance right now.”
8. There is a mandatory partnership between a man and a woman for the birth of a baby. Under the circumstances and the predicament, he was in, a thought flashed past his mind: I see a girl in the boat. Her name was Matsyagandhi (Girl with fishy odor). That auspicious moment, a baby was born.
9. “Ṛṣi Pregnancy won’t wait overnight.” Yes, Ṛṣis do not go through an obligatory ten-month gestation. We all go through the hardship of gestation in the womb for ten months. Not so with the Ṛṣis. Their goal is not the earthly pleasures. Parāsarar sowed his seeds for the express purpose, a starets must be born. For all these extraordinary events to unfold, Parāsarar never once touched the girl in the boat. Just a brief look at the girl! Matsyagandhi was pre or post pubertal. Parāsarar made a starets (great soul) to take birth from a preteen, (Matsyagandhi with a fishy odor).
10. He is Mantra Dhruṣtā: The Seer of Light through the medium of sound. The seer of Light through Vedas. Veda Vyāsar was the auspicious baby born of the Mantra Sakthi of Parāsarar. Do you know what Veda Vyāsar said to his biological mother, Matsyagandhi?
11. “Ammā! The moment you think of me, I will appear before you. I will take leave of you now.” She never breastfed the baby. He never bonded with his mother. Neither did the mother ask him to stay with her. Parāsarar by his Mantra-Sakthi, rejuvenated her back to her old preteen self. Parāsarar also made sure Matsyagandhi experience retrograde amnesia of her parturient adventure of not her own making.

12. Veda Vyāsar, in the interest of liberation of humanity, presented us with the compilation of Purāṇas. He rewrote 18 Vidyāsthāṉaṅgs into 18 Purāṇas. He was not the creator of the sound-form of Vedas, but compiled the oral-aural texts (‘manuscripts’) in the sound form (Sṛuti & smṛti = hearsay and remembrance), according to the needs of the explicators. That was the reason he earned the name, ‘Veda Vyāsar.’
13. Veda Vyāsar, on his peregrinations, saw two birds in amorous play. He thought about their joyous pastime for a moment. No sooner, a baby appeared named Sukham (Happy)- Kiḷi.
14. Do you know what that baby did? It extracted the essence of the Veda Tattvas and offered it in the form of Bhāgavatam. The father, Veda Vyāsar, expressed the Vedas in the sound form. The child Sukhabrahmam presented us with the wisdom in the Vedas. The father magnified the sound (of Wisdom). The child pointed out to the Light of Wisdom. Are they both not Ṛṣis?
15. Ṛṣi Gauthamar and his Daruma-pattiṉi (wife observant of rituals) Akalyai lived by the river. Gauthamar led a life of daily observances, rituals, and worship. Every day, he rose at 4 a.m., went to the nearby river for ritual bathing, and worshipped God all day. Dhyana on God, he considered as a duty, and nothing else mattered as a source of joy. All other life’s material experiences gave only temporal pleasure.
16. As long as the mango is in the mouth, the epicure enjoys the taste of the fruit. The temporal joy from the feeling ends and disappears. It seeks another mango. To experience that taste, we need the mouth, the teeth, the tongue, and the saliva. And the fruit should be ripe. It must be sweet. Then only you can obtain the pleasures of an epicure. The temporal joy needs so many supportive elements, and comes and goes like flashes of lightning. But Ṛṣis are immersed in ecstasy, the imperishable and undivided moiety.
17. Let us look at the Ṛṣi Parampara, the 18 Purāṇas, and 18 Vidyāsthāṉaṅgs.
Parampara = hereditary or preceptorial succession.
Will Continue.
If you like this article, applaud the writer.
SNS13Rishis                                                                            RGB: 253-245-230