I am almost always amazed at the fact that when one suddenly finds some remarkably profound insights into things which are part of a daily routine, it is as if He wants to tell you that it is "His Marzi". Being a die hard fan of "there is no free will" paradigm, even while reflecting during saner moments that perhaps there are only "free will" moments, these providential interventions, take me back to the "there is no free-will you fool" moments of ecstatic enjoyment.
"Rudra Prasanah" is one such routine part of my daily prayers done without the understanding of its import in full measure.Out of sheer boredom I picked up a translation of Rudram a day back and started reading. The result simply was that stumbling moment of "insights" purely Provident designed.
Before I get overwhelmed & in my eagerness try & recount every thing that floods my mind all at once, I am very conscious of the fact that if I do that, I may just end up making an ass of myself as being cohesive in such a state is rare. So I am going to split this blog piece into two postings, by (a) taking a breath & then (b) Re-collect & savor every one of those bits & then slowly put them all down one by one. This way I will not only do more justice to the originals but will probably be able to capture most of what I read. Let me start with the first of these:
The word "prasnah" is intriguing. The word means a query/question. Or is it a quest meaning "jignyaasaa" ? Rudra Prasnah would then probably translate to "quest to know about Rudra.
So let me go first to its etymology : The what/ why of His worship" .
"Rutham Draavayati iti rudrah & Rodhana hethu bhootham dukham draavayiti iti Rudrah" are two clues to the etymological roots of the word.
Rutham of the former is translated as derived dukham in the latter & draavayati means remover/destroyer etc
So one who removes all your dukham is Rudra.....
Can anything be complete without my maverick interpretation: Another meaning of the word Rutham (though it is a different word one is ru from ra raa ri ree .... another is a aa yi yee..... ru ) is "Secular truth" (Ruthagum satyam param Brhma..... in sandhya)
Taking this further, Rudra is one who destroys the secular truth of this manifested universe. The secular manifested Universe is "dukham" BTW....(methinks....).
Having answered the "What" part, the" why" is easy, If you worship Rudra, all your Dukham, arising from the secular world we live in is destroyed and you get to the Spiritual abode .......& merge.....
Rudram is a part of yajur veda & is found in its middle portions. The Eighth portion of Rudra Prasnah or the middle portion of this starts with "namah somaaya cha....& in the middle portion of this comes the Namah shivaya cha Shivatharaaya cha.... the well known pancha akshara mantra...
Shiva means " All pervasive mangala swaroopa" & Shiva tharaaya means one who transforms any one who comes to Him for succor into Shiva..."
(Madayaa is my mudra for all my Tamil poems!! Not only am I an idiot, all those who read/respond /appreciate them would probably be transformed into one. Madayaa cha madaya tharaaya cha would probably describe Vichu - Vishwasya pichu- ha ha ha)
It's tempting to end this piece with this nice self deprecating humor....but let me take a few more moments and take the meaning of "namah" before I reserve the rest for the next..
Namah is bowing down in reverence.....By bowing down to Rudra in reverence, all our desires take a bow & leave us to facilitate our merger unto Him.....(profound enough? Well it is to me.....
.......to be continued......
Love
Vichu alias Ekalavya.......
"Rudra Prasanah" is one such routine part of my daily prayers done without the understanding of its import in full measure.Out of sheer boredom I picked up a translation of Rudram a day back and started reading. The result simply was that stumbling moment of "insights" purely Provident designed.
Before I get overwhelmed & in my eagerness try & recount every thing that floods my mind all at once, I am very conscious of the fact that if I do that, I may just end up making an ass of myself as being cohesive in such a state is rare. So I am going to split this blog piece into two postings, by (a) taking a breath & then (b) Re-collect & savor every one of those bits & then slowly put them all down one by one. This way I will not only do more justice to the originals but will probably be able to capture most of what I read. Let me start with the first of these:
The word "prasnah" is intriguing. The word means a query/question. Or is it a quest meaning "jignyaasaa" ? Rudra Prasnah would then probably translate to "quest to know about Rudra.
So let me go first to its etymology : The what/ why of His worship" .
"Rutham Draavayati iti rudrah & Rodhana hethu bhootham dukham draavayiti iti Rudrah" are two clues to the etymological roots of the word.
Rutham of the former is translated as derived dukham in the latter & draavayati means remover/destroyer etc
So one who removes all your dukham is Rudra.....
Can anything be complete without my maverick interpretation: Another meaning of the word Rutham (though it is a different word one is ru from ra raa ri ree .... another is a aa yi yee..... ru ) is "Secular truth" (Ruthagum satyam param Brhma..... in sandhya)
Taking this further, Rudra is one who destroys the secular truth of this manifested universe. The secular manifested Universe is "dukham" BTW....(methinks....).
Having answered the "What" part, the" why" is easy, If you worship Rudra, all your Dukham, arising from the secular world we live in is destroyed and you get to the Spiritual abode .......& merge.....
Rudram is a part of yajur veda & is found in its middle portions. The Eighth portion of Rudra Prasnah or the middle portion of this starts with "namah somaaya cha....& in the middle portion of this comes the Namah shivaya cha Shivatharaaya cha.... the well known pancha akshara mantra...
Shiva means " All pervasive mangala swaroopa" & Shiva tharaaya means one who transforms any one who comes to Him for succor into Shiva..."
(Madayaa is my mudra for all my Tamil poems!! Not only am I an idiot, all those who read/respond /appreciate them would probably be transformed into one. Madayaa cha madaya tharaaya cha would probably describe Vichu - Vishwasya pichu- ha ha ha)
It's tempting to end this piece with this nice self deprecating humor....but let me take a few more moments and take the meaning of "namah" before I reserve the rest for the next..
Namah is bowing down in reverence.....By bowing down to Rudra in reverence, all our desires take a bow & leave us to facilitate our merger unto Him.....(profound enough? Well it is to me.....
.......to be continued......
Love
Vichu alias Ekalavya.......
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