Prayer by the Gods

Here is another beautiful hymn from the Shiva Purana presented as a prayer from the Gods to Shiva. Not much explanation is needed to understand this prayer for those who understand Shaivism, for it is filled with theology and philosophy. Notice the composer of this hymn has chosen to completely forego any reference to the stories of Shiva’s exploits! For a hymn that occurs within a book replete with legends, this is highly unusual, yet highly uplifting at the same time.

-----

The Gods said:

Obeisance to Thee, O Lord, from whom the mobile and the immobile beings have originated.

Obeisance to the great Purusha, Mahesha, the supreme Isha, and the great Atman. (36)

Obeisance to the primordial Seed of every one, the Form of consciousness, beyond Purusha and Prakriti. (37)

Obeisance to Thee who createst this world, by whom this is illuminated, from whom this originated, 
By whom this is sustained, to whom this belongs and by whom everything is kept under control. (38)

We bow to that self-born Deity who is beyond this and everything that is great, 

Who is the undepraved great Lord, who sees these within Himself. (39)

We have sought refuge at His feet who is the supreme Brahman, who is the Soul of everyone, 

Who is the greatest Witness with unbarred vision and who assumes various forms. (40)

Obeisance to Him whose region is not known by Devas, Sages or Siddhas. 

How then can other creatures realize it or express it? (41)

He is our goal supreme, seeking to see whose region great saints free from attachment perform unmutilated vow of release. (42)

Thou hast no change like death, birth etc., that yields misery, 
Yet by means of Maya, Thou assumest all these. (43)

Obeisance to Thee who art the great Isha and the Performer of miracles. 

Obeisance to Brahman, the great Soul who is far removed from words. (44)

Obeisance to the formless Being of immense form, the great, of unlimited power, 

The Lord of the three worlds, the witness of all and all-pervasive. (45)

Obeisance to the light of Atman, richly endowed with the bliss of liberation, of the form of knowledge. 

Obeisance to Thee, the all-pervasive Lord. (46)

Obeisance to the Lord of salvation who is accessible only through the cessation of worldly activities.
Obeisance to Thee the great Purusha, the great Lord, the Bestower of all. (47)

Obeisance to conscious principle in the corporal frame, identical with Atman, the Cause of all perception. (48)

Obeisance to the Origin of Prakrti, the great presiding Deity of everything. 

Obeisance to Thee, the great Purusha, the great Lord, the Bestower of all. (49)

Obeisance to Thee, the three-eyed, the five-faced and the ever-luminous. 

Obeisance to Thee who hast no cause and who seest all the qualities of the sense-organs. (50)

Obeisance, obeisance to Thee, the Cause of the three worlds and salvation. 
Obeisance to the Bestower of quick liberation, and Deliverer of those who seek refuge. (51)

Obeisance to Thee, the Ocean of the knowledge of Vedic texts. 

Obeisance to Thee, the great Lord and the ultimate goal of devotees and possessed of three attributes. (52)

Obeisance to Thee, O great Lord whose fiery heat of knowledge is latent in the sacrificial churning rod for the production of fire of three attributes. 

Obeisance to Thee whose form is beyond the reach of fools and who livest for ever in the heart of the wise. (53)

Obeisance to the Liberator of the individual soul from the noose (pasha); 

To the Bestower of salvation to the devotee, to the self-luminous, the eternal, the unwasting, the incessant knowledge. (54)

Obeisance to Thee, the Self-Contemplator, the Unchanging, the Holder of great suzerainty and glory.

Never be ruthless unto them who resort to the four aims of life and desire the cherished final goal (Moksha). Obeisance to Thee, O Shiva. (55)

Thy devotees never desire anything solely to themselves. They sing the auspicious glory of Thy exploits. (56)

We eulogise Thee, the imperishable supreme Brahman, the omnipresent whose features are unmanifest, 

Who can be attained by the yoga of the Soul and is complete (purnam). (57)

O Lord of everything, we bow to Thee who art beyond the perception of the sense-organs; who hast no support; who art the support of all; 

Who hast no cause; who art endless; the primordial and the subtle. (58)

All the Devas, Vishnu and others, and the world of mobile and immobile beings are created by deficient digit with the difference of name and form. (59)

Just as the flames of fire and the rays of the sun emerge and submerge so also this current of creation and dissolution. (60)

Thou art neither a Deva nor an Asura, nor a man nor a brute nor a brahmana, O Lord. 

Thou art neither a woman nor a man, nor a eunuch. Thou makest nothing either the existent or the non-existent. (61)

After all negations whatever remains Thou art that. Thou art the maker, the sustainer and the destroyer of the· universe; 

Thou art the soul of the universe. We bow to that Lord Shiva. (62)

We bow to Thee, the Lord of yoga, whom the yogins who have destroyed all their actions by means of yoga, are able to realise in their minds purified by yoga. (63)

Obeisance to Thee whose velocity is unbearable, who hast three Shaktis, who art identical with the three Vedas; 

Obeisance to Thee the delighted Protector of immense potentiality. (64)

O Lord, Thou art impenetrable to the wicked sense-organs; worldly lords cannot reach Thee who art beyond all paths; 

Obeisance to Thee whose splendour is mystically hidden and who art always engaged in the uplift of the devotees. (65)

We bow to Thee, the great Lord, whose greatness cannot be surpassed; 

Whose power the confounded fool with egotistic mind can never realise. (66)

Sri Shiva Purana, Rudra Samhita (Book II), Section II, Chapter XV:36-66.

Aum Namah Shivaya.

Shiva in the Yoga Vasistha

In the early days, when the so-called Vedic age was at its peak, great Maharishis orally imparted their wisdom unto their disciples. For a long time, these teachings were memorized by the pupils and passed on to their own disciples, but not in written form. However, a time arose (traditionally speaking the beginning of Kaliyuga) when teachings were being forgotten and had to be committed to writing for the sake of posterity.

At such a time, these original teachings of the Maharishis were recorded in the form of conversations, discussions, and question-and-answer sessions (cf, many of the early Upanishads). As the centuries passed, this format of writing became so popular and venerated that gurus could no longer impart their original teachings in an independent manner, but had to record it in the form of a dialog from remote antiquity, spoken by a great authority for it to be accepted. Hence the narration format became immensely important and popular. Most post-Vedic texts are, therefore, presented as narrations.

If the narrator were not a great sage from remote antiquity, it had to be a greater Guru yet. So, who better to have narrate than the Guru of all gurus, the original Teacher, the primal Guru, the One from whom all traditions descend, Shiva, the personified Lord Himself, the highest Reality? Such is the case in hundreds of holy books including most of the Agama-Tantras.

Below is an excerpt from the Yoga Vasistha, an important text of non-dualism from pre-Shankaran times. Although it is presented as a narration between Lord Rama and Sage Vasistha, the part below is presented as a teaching from Shiva for added emphasis and authority.

The teaching below is on the Self, the only existence, the only reality. The core teaching is that the Consciousness is the ground of all reality – a teaching that is common to all non-dualist schools of thought (Vedantic and Shaivite). Shaivite non-dual schools of thought would additionally say that this Consciousness (Chit), call it Brahman (Parabrahma) or Paramashiva, apart from being the ultimate Truth (Sat), Light (Prakasha), Knowledge (Jnana), and Bliss (Ananda), is never still, but brimming of self-reflective activity (Vimarsha). In that sense, the nature of the phenomenal world cannot be considered unreal, but as the self-reflective activity of Paramashiva.

-----

Shiva said:

There being only empty consciousness in existence, beyond all limits, it is impossible for an intelligible object to exist anywhere which may continue to all eternity. That which shines of itself is the self-shining Being. It is the Self, the spontaneous agitation of that Being, which has stretched out the universe. Thus the world appears like a city in dream before the conscious soul. This soul is only a form of empty consciousness and this world is only a baseless fabric.

It is altogether impossible for any perceptible phenomena to exist anywhere except in the empty sphere of consciousness. Creation is whatever shone forth in the beginning in the plenitude of Divine Consciousness. Therefore this world which shows itself in the form of a fairyland in dream is only an appearance in the empty sphere of Consciousness. It cannot be any other in reality.

Consciousness is human speech and the cosmos that supports the world.

Consciousness becomes the soul and the living principle. It forms the chain of created beings. Tell me, what else could know all things in the beginning and even before creation of the universe, except the consciousness which saw and exhibited everything in heaven and earth as contained in itself?

The words “sky”, “firmament” and the “emptiness” of Brahman and the world all apply to consciousness, just like the words “tree” and “tree” mean the same thing. And as both dreams and desires arise in us by our delusion, so only our illusion in the empty space of consciousness makes us perceive the existence of an outer world.

Our empty consciousness shows the sight of the external world in our dream. The same thing shows us the world in our waking dream. It is not possible for a city in a dream to be seen anywhere except in the hollow space of our consciousness.  In the same way, it is impossible for the waking dream of the world to be shown anywhere except in the emptiness of consciousness.

As it is not possible for anything that can be thought of to exist anywhere except in the thinking mind, so it is impossible for this thinkable world to exist in any place other than the Divine Mind. The triple world rose of itself at the will and in the empty space of Supreme Consciousness, like a dream rising and setting in the mind, and not as anything other than Supreme Consciousness or any duality beside Supreme Consciousness.

As one sees the diverse appearances of pots and paintings in his dream, all lying within the hollowness of his mind, so at the beginning of creation, the world appears of itself in the emptiness of Divine Consciousness. As there is no substantiality of anything in the fairyland of one’s dreams except his pure consciousness of the objects, so there is no substantiality of anything seen in this triple world, except our consciousness of them.

Whatever is visible to sight, and all that exists or does not exist in the present, past or future, and all space, time and mind are nothing other than appearances in the empty consciousness of Brahman. Brahman is truly the God of whom I have spoken. Only He is supreme in its transcendental sense. He is all and unbounded and includes me, you and the endless world in Himself.

The bodies of all created beings, whether yours, mine, or others, and of all in this world are all full with the consciousness of the Supreme Soul and no other. As there is nothing, O sage, except the bodies produced from the empty consciousness of Brahman resembling images produced in the fairyland of one’s dream, so there is no form or figure in this world other than what was made in the beginning of creation.

Yoga Vasistha, Book VI [Part I] Chap 30:133-151

[Shiva continues:]

O most intelligent sage, know that the God we adore is the true God, the receptacle of the three worlds, the Supreme Spirit and no other. He is Shiva, the joy, who is above the ranks of all other Gods and beyond all of men’s fictions and fictitious images. He is accompanied with all desires and is the enjoyer of neither all or any part of the production of His will. He is full of imaginations of all things, but is neither the all nor any one of the objects in his mind.

He encompasses all space and time, and is neither divided nor circumscribed by either. He manifests all events and things, and is nothing except the image of pure Consciousness Himself.  He is undivided consciousness situated in the heart of everything. He produces and absorbs everything in himself.

Know Brahman is situated between existence and inexistence. It is He who [is] called God, the Supreme Soul, the transcendental, TAT SAT, and the syllable AUM. By his nature of immensity, He spreads alike in all space. Being the great Consciousness himself, He is said to be transcendent and the Supreme Being. He remains as All in all places, just as sap circulates through the bodies of plants. The great soul of the Supreme Being similarly extends as the common entity of all things.

Yoga Vasistha, Book VI [Part I] Chap 31: 10-16

Aham Brahmasmi ~ Shivo'ham. 

Agnideva © 2014. All rights reserved.

Bhairava and the Tantras

From what we know of history, the Tantric corpus revealed by Shiva was truly mammoth, consisting of millions of verses of written literature in hundreds of texts. There were, traditional wisdom tell us, five streams (srotas or amnayas) of Tantras arising from the five faces of Sadashiva -- the Bhuta, Vama, Garuda, Dakshina (Bhairava), and Siddhanta Tantras. So far as the evolution of Shaivism, its theology, ritual, philosophy and ontology are concerned only the Siddhanta and Bhairava Tantras are of importance.

Both the Siddhanta and Bhairava Tantras numbered in the hundreds of texts although most have been lost to time. Within the Siddhanta stream we have the Shiva and Rudra divisions, which consist of ten and eighteen primary tantras, respectively. Thanks to the multitude of sources related to Saiva Siddhanta, the names of the twenty-eight primary Siddhanta Tantras are well known.

Our focus here is on the mysterious Bhairava Tantras. Per tradition, there are sixty-four primary texts in this stream. The number sixty-four is purely idealized, as it is the square of eight (the number of directional Bhairavas). The actual number of primary and secondary texts within the Bhairava canon is, no doubt, much larger. It is relevant to mention here that there is no one or no source that can tell us unequivocally what the names of sixty-four texts are. But why is that so?

As a mystical exercise, one may use the imagery of Shiva, Rudra and Bhairava to intuit the answer. While Shiva teaches with meditative calmness and Rudra with piercing depth, Bhairava teaches with tremendous power and a fierceness previously unknown. The intensity of Bhairava’s Tantric revelations swept over the great Siddha masters and disciples and resulted in the outpouring of hundreds of texts in a relatively short period of time. The writers and redactors who wished to provide a gloss over the growing body of the Bhairava canon could not keep up with the writings, the array of teachings, or even the names of the texts.

We do have, nevertheless, several sources that attempt to list the sixty-four primary Bhairava Tantras with some success. Here again, an attempt is made to provide the names of these primary sixty-four Bhairava Tantras. The list below is compiled from a book by V. N. Drabu (1) and crosschecked with a list published elsewhere referencing the Srikanthi Samhita (2) and the Agama Encyclopedia (3) .

The primary classification of the Bhairava Tantras is in ashtakas (groups of eights). Therefore, there are eight groups of eights within the Bhairava canon. The eight divisions are called:

1. Bhairava Ashtaka
2. Yamala Ashtaka
3. Matakhya (Mata) Ashtaka
4. Mangala Ashtaka
5. Chakra Ashtaka
6. Shikha Ashtaka
7. Bahurupa (Ruru) Ashtaka
8. Vagesha Ashtaka

The texts within each division are listed below:

The Bhairava Ashtakas:
1. Svacchanda Bhairava
2. Bhairava Yamala
3. Chanda
4. Krodha
5. Unmatta
6. Asitanga
7. Mahotsusma
8. Kapalisha

The Yamalas:
1. Brahma Yamala (Picumata)
2. Vishnu Yamala
3. Rudra Yamala
4. Svacchanda Yamala
5. Ruru Yamala
6. Atharvana Yamala
7. Vetala Yamala
8. Not listed - Devi Yamala or Skanda Yamala (?)

The Matakhyas:
1. Rakta
2. Lampata
3. Mata (or Vimbada?)
4. Lakshmi
5. Chalika
6. Pingala
7. Utphullaka
8. Vishvadya

The Mangalas:
1. Bhairavi (Tantrabhairavi)
2. Picutantrabhairavi
3. Tantra Mangala
4. Brahmi Kala
5. Vijaya
6. Chandra
7. Mangala
8. Sarvamangala

The Chakras:
1. Mantrachakra
2. Varnachakra
3. Shaktichakra
4. Kalachakra
5. Binduchakra
6. Nadachakra
7. Guhyachakra
8. Khachakra (Purnachakra)

The Shikhas:
1. Bhairavi
2. Vina
3. Vinamani
4. Sammoha
5. Damara
6. Atharvaka
7. Kabandha
8. Sirascheda

The Bahurupas (Rurus):
1. Andhaka
2. Rurubheda
3. Ajatantra
4. Mulatantra
5. Varnabhantaka
6. Vidanga
7. Jvalin
8. Matr-rodana

The Vageshas:
1. Bhairavi
2. Chitrika
3. Hansa
4. Kadambika
5. Hrtalekha
6. Chandralekha
7. Vidyutlekha
8. Vidyumana

With the flow of tradition, many of these texts got copied, redacted, or their essence extracted into newer books. So many of the books that we may be familiar with are not found in the list of above sixty-four. For example, Jayadratha Yamala and Pingalamata both belong to the Yamala group. However, the Jayadratha Yamala is a subsidiary of the Brahma Yamala, and Pingalamata is supposed to be a subsidiary to the Jayadratha Yamala (4). Therefore, the Brahma Yamala is the base Tantra. Many other times, the base Tantra for a given text remains unknown.

Similarly, the original Rudra Yamala is supposed to have been very large and voluminous, but what remains is a fragment of the original (1)(5). The Vijnana Bhairava Tantra, the Paratrishika, and Shadakshara Stotra are said to be extracted from that text. None of these appear in the presently available Rudra Yamala fragment.

Finally, note that the Tantras said to be central to Kashmir/Trika Shaivism such as Malinivijayottara, Siddhayogeshvarimata, Tantrasadbhava, Netra, etc. do not appear on this list, even though they are connected to the Bhairava canon*. This is not to say that texts that don’t appear on this list are not important or central, but rather that a complete listing of all the texts in this stream and their complex relationship with one another (redaction, extraction, subsidiary position) has never been fully elucidated. Sadly, since many of these texts are no longer in existence, a full picture of the Bhairava canon may never be known.

Many many Tantras may have been lost, but the divine teachings revealed by Bhairava are eternal. It is through His teachings that Bhairava again realizes Himself. May Bhairava impel us!

Aum Namah Shivaya.
Agnideva © 2013. All rights reserved.

References:

(1) V. N. Drabu. Śaivāgamas: A Study in the Socio-economic Ideas and Institutions of Kashmir. 1990, Indus Publishing Company, New Delhi, India. 

(2) Vishnu Arya. List of Sixty four Non-Dual Bhairav-Agams [Saiva Tantras] of Kashmir Shaivism. Published at: http://www.academia.edu/3637198/List_of_Sixty_four_Non-Dual_Bhairav-Agams_Saiva_Tantras_of_Kashmir_Shaivism. 

(3) S. K. Ramachandra Rao. Agama-Kosha (Agama Encyclopedia). Vol II. 2005, Sri Satguru Publications, New Delhi, India. 
(4) T. Goudriaan and S. Gupta. Hindu Tantric and Śākta Literature. 1995, Otto Harrassowitz Publishers, Wiesbaden, Germany.
(5) H. Bhattacharya. The Cultural Heritage of India: The religious. 1956, Ramakrishna Mission, Calcutta, India. 

*Note: Some claim that the Trika Tantras (Siddhayogeshvarimata, Tantrasadbhava, Malinivijayottara, etc.) are part (purvamnaya) of the Kaula Tantras that were later Shaivized, and loosely associated with the Bhairava canon. However, it has been successfully argued that the Trika Tantras represent a phase of tantric works that are pre-Kaula. It must also be mentioned here that there is no solid line dividing the Bhairava and Kaula traditions, and there is a great deal of overlap and interconnection. 

O Bhairava!

O Bhairava of mercy infinite!

May we be devoted to Thee,

Who art our selves, the very Self of our selves. 

May we express our love for Thy glory,

Who shines within the glory of our realization. 

May we worship Thy holy feet,

Which tread every path we walk upon in Thy quest. 

May we experience Thy consciousness,

Which manifests as the worlds and universes. 

May we again and again recognize Thee, 

Who art all manifestation, all existence, the sole reality. 

Shivo'ham!

Agnideva © 2013. All rights reserved.

Five Spheres and Four Eggs

In the beautiful and wonderfully complex world of Shaivite cosmology, we have what are known as the Six Paths (Shad-Adhvans). The paths are not so much paths to tread on, but paths through which one intuits the cosmos from the gross down to the subtlest of levels. These Six Paths are divided into two categories - the subjective (vachaka) and the objective (vachya). 

From the subjective side, we have three paths known as the Path of Words (Pada-Adhvan), Path of Syllables (Mantra-Adhvan) and Path of Phonemes/Letters (Varna-Adhvan). To understand fully the subjective paths, one has to comprehend the Theory of Sound/Speech as elaborated in the Tantras and the Upanishads. Suffice it to say here that going from words to syllables to phonemes, we're going on paths one more subtle than the other.

Similarly, on the objective side, which is what we discuss here, the paths go from gross to subtle to subtlest. On the gross level, there is the Path of the Worlds (Bhuvana-Adhvan) consisting of hundreds of worlds in higher and higher planes of existence. On a more subtle level, there is the Path of Categories (Tattva-Adhvan) consisting of the 36 Tattvas. The thirty-six Tattvas are a familiar feature of Shaivite and Shakta ontology. The various worlds exist at different levels, so to speak, along these categories. Finally on the most subtle level, there is the Path of Divisions (Kala-Adhvan) consisting of the five Kalas. The Kala-Adhvan encompasses the whole of the objective reality envisaged as five concentric spheres going inward each sphere consisting of tattvas within, which themselves hold the various worlds. 

On the outermost and grossest level is the Prithivi Tattva encompassed by Nivritti Kala. The next level inward consists of twenty-three tattvas from Apas to Prakriti, and is encompassed by Pratishta Kala. The next level inward consists of seven tattvas from Purusha to Maya, and is encompassed by Vidya Kala. Going further inward are the four tattvas from Shuddhavidya to Shakti, which are encompassed by Shanta Kala. The highest of these spheres is not a sphere at all and consists only of the Shiva Tattva, which is nothing but Parashakti, and is called the Shantyatita Kala. 

The four Kalas going outward from Shantatita can also be envisioned as concentric eggs (andas) - named after the highest tattva within:

• Shanta Kala is called the Shakti Anda (Egg of Shakti)
• Vidya Kala is called the Maya Anda (Egg of Maya)
• Pratishta Kala is called the Prakriti Anda (Egg of Prakriti)
• Nivritti Kala is called the Prithivi Anda (Egg of Prithivi), which is synonymous with Brahmanda (Egg of Brahma)

To know the five spheres and the four eggs is to know the entire objective reality existing within the Shiva Consciousness. 

Because of the abundance of glory and magnificence in His own Shakti, this group of four eggs is manifested by the Lord - Shakti, Maya, Prakriti and Prithivi. In this manifold universe flow continuously the worlds, organs of sense, and bodies. And in that reality, Shiva alone having assumed the state of a limited embodied being (Pashu) is the Enjoyer.

~ Acharya Abhinavagupta's Paramarthasara, Verses 4-5.

The Shiva Purana has somewhat simplified this concept. Envisaging the entire objective reality as the body of Shiva, the Shiva Purana says that Nivritti Kala goes up to His knees (i.e., sutala chakra), Pratishta Kala up to His navel (i.e., manipura chakra), Vidya Kala up to His throat (i.e., vishuddha chakra), Shanta Kala up to His brow (i.e., ajna chakra), and Shantyatita beyond (i.e., up to sahasrara). 

Aum Hrim Namah Shivaya. 

Agnideva © 2013. All rights reserved.

Meditation on the Divine Mother

In the beat of my heart, the Divine Mother is
In the breath of my lungs, the Divine Mother is 
In the warmth of my body, the Divine Mother is 
In the breadth of my thought, the Divine Mother is 
In happiness and sadness, the Divine Mother is 
In pride and remorse, the Divine Mother is 
In success and failure, the Divine Mother is 
In beginnings and ends, the Divine Mother is 
The Divine Mother is, absolutely is, always is
She who is Shiva, the Witness and Self of all existence
She is, She alone is. 

Aum Namah Shivaya.
From Zurich, Switzerland.

Agnideva © 2012. All rights reserved.

O Lord of Meru

O Lord of Meru, the mount of realization

Hallowed be Thy divine nameless name.

May Thy glory spread throughout creation

As nature is but Thyself, Thy very same.

Dost Thou uplift our spirits into oneness of union

Erasing this longing, this universal game.

Dwelling deep within, beyond thought and emotion

Thou existeth as consciousness, as the flame.

As the eye of the eye, in solution and dissolution

Is Thy fabric, Thy substratum of fame.

As primal Energy, as the sole cause and causation

Found as the all-potential, once the mind is tame.

Beyond the physical, the supernatural and manifestation

Thou are the core, the soul, our only aim.

Intuitive Thy reality, beyond the mind and comprehension

Such is our conviction, such our realized claim.

Aum Namah Shivaya.

Agnideva © 2011. All rights reserved.

Shiva Within Me

O Shiva within me, may Thou give me strength;

O Shiva within me, may Thou give me wisdom;

O Shiva within me, may Thou give me prowess;

O Shiva within me, may Thou give me Thy peace!

O Shiva within me, may Thou give me vision;

O Shiva within me, may Thou give me love;

O Shiva within me, may Thou give me finesse;

O Shiva within me, may Thou give me Thy Shakti!

O Shiva within me, may I never feel abandoned;

O Shiva within me, may I never feel sullen;

O Shiva within me, may I never feel weak;

O Shiva within me, may I never feel Thy absence!

O Shiva within me, may I never feel dejected;

O Shiva within me, may I never feel despair;

O Shiva within me, may I never feel distanced;

O Shiva within me, may I never feel separated from Thee!

For all problems, all issues, all worries, all shortcomings,

O Shiva within me, Thou art the sole solution, the sole remedy!

Aum Namah Shivaya.

Agnideva © 2011. All rights reserved.

Kartik and The Lord's Diwali

Calendrical History

A long time ago, before the emergence of the Gupta Empire in Northern India, the Hindu calendar used to begin the new year in autumn. This was an ancient Vedic tradition dating back millennia, wherein the term autumn was synonymous with year.

May we see for a hundred autumns!
And may we live for a hundred autumns,
May we hear for a hundred autumns,
May we speak for a hundred autumns,
And may we hold our heads high for a hundred autumns,
Yes, even more than a hundred autumns.

Shukla Yajurveda Samhita XXXVI:24

As the lunisolar calendar would shift with relation to the backdrop of the stars and seasons due to a phenomenon known as precession of the equinoxes, the new year would be periodically shifted backward to align with the seasons and keep with the beginning of autumn.

With the emergence of newer knowledge from Persia and the Middle-East during the Gupta Era,  astronomer-mathematicians based in the city of Ujjain decided to move the new year near the vernal equinox. It was resolved that Mesha Sankranti (point of transition of the Sun into sidereal Aries) was to be considered the solar new year, and the lunisolar month that contained the Mesha Sankranti, known as Chaitra, was to mark the lunisolar new year. And so the tradition has been since that time to celebrate the solar new year at Mesha Sankranti (currently around April 13/14), and the lunisolar new year at Chaitra Shukla Paksha (today falling somewhere between March 16 to April 13).

Before this shift of the lunisolar new year from the autumn to spring , the lunar month of Kartik marked the beginning of the year. However, curiously this shift of new year's day did not occur uniformly. While all other regions of India and all countries within the Indian sphere of influence shifted to the vernal new year in Chaitra, Gujarat (particularly Kathiawad) and the Newar region of Nepal refused to change. To this day, therefore, the ancient Vedic tradition of celebrating new year in autumn is carried out by Gujaratis where the Kartik Shukla Paksha marks the beginning of the Kartikadi Vikram Samvat, and by Newaris who mark the same as beginning of Nepal Sambat, both of which fall the day after Diwali (Bali Pratipada).

Commandment of Shiva

Now, there is more to this month Kartik than just the beginning of the ancient Vedic new year. Kartik is arguably the holiest of month in the Hindu calendar, as Ramadan is to the Islamic calendar. Per ancient legends, Kartik was given prominence by none other than Shiva Himself. Upon the commandment of Shiva, it is said, that Ganapati was given the honor of being the first Deity to be worshipped. To ensure that His other divine Son should not feel left out, Shiva dedicated the first month of the year to Kartikeya, the Lord of discernment. While Ganapati was the first to be worshipped, Kartikeya-Murugan was the first to be remembered and commemorated in the new year. In fact, in all traditions except the Tamil, the sixth lunar day in the bright half of Kartik (Kartik Shukla Shashti) is called Skanda Shashti,  a special day for worship of Lord Kartikeya.

It is, therefore, per the commandment of Shiva Himself that the month when the full moon occurs on the asterism Krittika (Pleiades) and aptly called Kartik, is considered the holiest, the best and the first of months. The month of Kartik is still to this day considered a month when one looks within and finds divinity; a month when every action is blessed, and every wish fulfilled. It is a month of fasts, prayers, holy river dips, and introspection. Holy traditions never forget history, even if people do. Praises be to the holy month of Kartik!

Kartik Purnima and the Lord’s Diwali

The height and glory of the holy month of Kartik is felt most prominently during its defining full moon festival. The full moon day of Kartik known as Kartik Purnima or Deva Diwali (the Lord’s Diwali) commemorates a welcoming of the Lord, both as Shiva and as Vishnu depending on tradition, into our lives by lighting oil lamps much in the same way as the main Diwali festival fifteen lunar days (tithis) prior commemorates the welcoming of the Divine Mother into our lives.

In Shaivite tradition, Kartik Purnima, the Lord’s Diwali, is celebrated as the victory of the Lord over Tripurasura (the demon of triad cities). The festival is aptly also termed Tripuri Purnima. If we skip over the myth, it is fairly simple to understand that the triad cities are nothing but anava, karma and maya, the triad impurities. Since the Lord lies beyond the triad impurities, He is considered the Victor over the triad. During the height and light of this festival, one is to have a full realization of the Lord, who exists deep within ourselves as the Atman, who has conquered the triad impurities, and who is ever liberated.

In Vaishnavite tradition, Kartik Purnima, the Lord’s Diwali, is celebrated as the reemergence of the Lord from the allegorical chaturmasa (four-month) slumber. Per tradition, the Deities of Vishnu are considered to be in slumber from Shayani Ekadashi in Ashadh until Prabodhini Ekadashi in Kartik, four lunar days before Kartik Purnima. When Vishnu has awaken from His slumber, His icons once again exit the temple solitude and grace the world on Kartik Purnima. Again, if we skip over the myths, it is fairly simple to understand the slumber represents deep meditation, and emergence from the slumber represents realization. During the height and light of this festival, one is to realize the Lord, who exists deep within ourselves as the Atman, who has been realized through meditation, resulting in liberation.

Now, one may wonder why Kartik Purnima, the second festival of lights of Hinduism, is called the Lord’s Diwali. This is simply for us to realize that the major Diwali festival which occurs 15 lunar days (tithis) prior during the new moon is Devi Diwali, the Goddess’ Diwali. Only by passing through the Goddess’ Diwali, can one reach the Lord’s Diwali. During the main Diwali, Mahalakshmi is worshipped; during the Deva Diwali, Mahavishnu is worshipped. During the main Diwali, Mahakali is worshipped, during Deva Diwali Maheshvara is worshipped. The main Diwali is dedicated to Shakti, the Deva Diwali to Shiva. The main Diwali is dedicated to realization, the Deva Diwali to liberation. During the main Diwali, the Tirthankara Mahavira reached realization; during the Deva Diwali, Mahavira attained liberation. The main Diwali is dedicated to freeing oneself from fetters (Bandi Chhod), the Dev Diwali is dedicated to becoming a liberated being (Guru Nanak Dev Jayanti). It is only by realizing Shakti (main Diwali), can one become liberated into Shiva (Deva Diwali); the holy lamps during both festivals are but a capture of the resplendence of realization and liberation into Paramashiva, the Divine Ultimate.

Rejoice child mine for the Lord of all things is about to rise,

From the slumber of chaturmasa, the four months of rain;

Yet again He shall leave the solitude of the holy temples;

And come out to grace the world and its inhabitants!

O autumnal month of Kartik, blessed art thou indeed!

For thou hath been given prominence by Shiva Himself;

Named after Lord Kartikeya, and considered ever so holy;

May we cherish every passing moment within thy expanse!

Aum Namah Shivaya.
Agnideva (c) 2011. All rights reserved.