Dattaatreya is a deity revered as the combination of the forces of creation, sustenance and destruction. He is the one who was "gifted" to sage "Atri" and His wife Anasuya, hence the name Datta Aatreya.He is the author of the wonderful book on Advaita, Tripura Rahasya. In this book, He imparts Advaita lessons to His disciple ParasuRaama.
His depiction is very interesting: Dattaatreya is shown with three heads, symbolizing the trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. With Him is the bovine divinity-the Kaamadhenu, and four dogs, representing the four Vedas.
He has 24 Gurus, like fire, water, wind, earth, etc.-pretty unusual considering the fact that even the great Avatars like Rama and Krishna had well accomplished scholars (Vasishta and Sandipani respectively) as their Gurus.
This actually exemplifies the Rig Vedic message "Aa No Bhadrah Kratavo Yanthu Vishvataha-Let noble thoughts come to us from every side". This English translation is in fact the motto of the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, the pioneering educational institution founded by the visionary Kulapati K. M. Munshi.
Showing posts with label Advaita. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Advaita. Show all posts
Friday, March 26, 2010
Monday, January 4, 2010
Peravoor temple
There is an Amman temple in a nondescript village called Peravoor near Kumbakonam, my native place, which is very special for us.
(Not to be confused with the Peravoor in Kerala. The Peravoor mentioned here is a small village which I couldn't locate on the net, but I've been there.)
This temple is a personification of Advaita, which essentially says that it is the same all pervading Brahman that is all around us, and within us too. How?
My grandfather used to say, "Peravoora Kamakshi Mahamaayi Sharanam" pretty often. Kamakshi and Mahamaayi are names of Goddess Parvathi. While I used to think that he was referring to the Amman in the village called Peravoor, I often wondered why he uttered "Peravoora" instead of "Peravoor". I asked him this and here was his beautiful answer.
In Tamil, "Peru" means name and "Ooru" means place. Pera-Oora is a question asked, that is, does the Amman have a name or a place? She has neither of them. Call Her however you want to (Kamakshi, Mahamaayi, etc) but you are referring to the same power!
Note: Generally, Goddesses are usually called "Amman" in Tamilnadu and "Bhagavati" in Kerala.
(Not to be confused with the Peravoor in Kerala. The Peravoor mentioned here is a small village which I couldn't locate on the net, but I've been there.)
This temple is a personification of Advaita, which essentially says that it is the same all pervading Brahman that is all around us, and within us too. How?
My grandfather used to say, "Peravoora Kamakshi Mahamaayi Sharanam" pretty often. Kamakshi and Mahamaayi are names of Goddess Parvathi. While I used to think that he was referring to the Amman in the village called Peravoor, I often wondered why he uttered "Peravoora" instead of "Peravoor". I asked him this and here was his beautiful answer.
In Tamil, "Peru" means name and "Ooru" means place. Pera-Oora is a question asked, that is, does the Amman have a name or a place? She has neither of them. Call Her however you want to (Kamakshi, Mahamaayi, etc) but you are referring to the same power!
Note: Generally, Goddesses are usually called "Amman" in Tamilnadu and "Bhagavati" in Kerala.
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