PDA

View Full Version : Harihara



Vitani
14 May 2012, 10:37 PM
Namaste,

I came across this unique picture of Shiva and Vishnu, called Harihara. I very much like it and feel it illustrates my beliefs well, that both Shiva and Vishnu are the same God. I was wondering, though, what others here thought of Harihara, and if you worship Harihara as your Ishta-Devata?


http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_rpHhfmwHHsw/SywhBNj3InI/AAAAAAAABLo/p5TJdiW4m04/s400/harihara-full.jpg

Pranams,

Vitani

Jainarayan
15 May 2012, 09:00 AM
Harihara aka Shankaranarayana is not my ishta-devata, but I've come to believe what Swami Sivananda Saraswati wrote: (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harihara#One_and_the_same)


"Shiva and Vishnu are one and the same entity. They are essentially one and the same. They are the names given to the different aspects of the all-pervading Supreme Soul or the Absolute. ‘Sivasya hridayam vishnur-vishnoscha hridayam sivah—Vishnu is the heart of Siva and likewise Siva is the heart of Vishnu’."

yajvan
15 May 2012, 10:50 AM
hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~

namasté

We have hari + hara ... what can we say about this ?

hari

If we look to the śrīmad bhāgavatṁ, 6th canto , 8th chapter and the 12th śloka ( 1st line):

oṁ harir vidadhyān mama sarvarakṣāṁ
May Lord hariḥ (as we know Him by oṁ ) protect me on all sides.

This 8th adhyāya (chapter) is considered nārāyaṇa kavacaṁ (armor). This was taught to indra by viśvarūpa.
 
hariḥ by phonemes

ha ह -the Supreme; destroying , removing ; the sparkling of a gem
ra र - acquiring , possessing ;brightness , splendour
i इ --to advance , spread , get about ; to succeed; to arrive at , reach , obtain Hari comes from harati avidyam iti harià - He who (thus) dispels darkness of ignorance. Yet as you would expect there is more to reveal …

As noted above hari is composed of phonemes/sound letters (akṣarāṇām or just akṣara ) ha + ra + i

ha-kāra¹ pingala varṇa or - the syllable ha means that there is no sense of the body.
Further it is said that sarva varṇa vargottamaṃ¹ meaning -it (ha) is the supreme letter.
ra-kāra teja varṇa sat or the syllable ra is the power of God in the body.
i -kāra śakti da-yaka or the letter i is the life (energy) of God given in you.So another view of ha + ra + i is - hari, who is inhaling your breath. According to Lahiri Mahasaya, hari means 'one who steals'. When the jiva (individuality) stage is stolen from you, the resulting stillness is hariḥ.


hara
If we look to the śiva aṣṭottaraśata nāmāvali ( 1008 names of śiva) we find these names:

oṁ harāya namaḥ
oṁ haraye namaḥhara हर is taking away , carrying off , removing , destroying. It is rooted in hṛ हृ to offer, present; it also means to take away , carry off, seize, deprive of, steal, rob; also to enrapture, charm ( we find this not only in Hara but in Hari ). Yet what is hara carrying off , removing or destroying? Ignorance of our true nature. Śiva is being hailed as the Remover, Destroyer, Absolver of ignorance or sin.

With these two names we have the Withdrawer of all things, and the Absolver of sins, bondages.

praṇām

words

kāra - the term used in designating a letter or sound ; it also meand doer, making, doing.
vargottama - chief of class; first; In jyotish this word is used as ~ the best position~

shian
15 May 2012, 10:25 PM
http://www.tw400.com/%7Edodecyl/d022_2.jpg

Namaste Yajvan Ji,

for Hari, Haraih, is same with syllable HRIH ?

devotee
15 May 2012, 11:23 PM
Namaste Vitani,



I came across this unique picture of Shiva and Vishnu, called Harihara. I very much like it and feel it illustrates my beliefs well, that both Shiva and Vishnu are the same God. I was wondering, though, what others here thought of Harihara, and if you worship Harihara as your Ishta-Devata?


There is famous Harihara temple of Lord Harihara in Bihar. Every year hundreds of thousands of devotees come and offer their pooja to Lord Harihara. If I remember correctly, there are 3-4 more temples of Harihara in India.

OM

yajvan
17 May 2012, 06:55 PM
hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~

namasté


for Hari, Haraih, is same with syllable HRIH ?


hari is written like this हरि in saṃskṛtam. Now hari can be written like this hariḥ ( हरिः in saṃskṛtam) and is proper.

Your note of HRIH then... it would be like this hṛḥ (हृः) - if we decode hṛḥ it is hriḥ because ṛ in transliteration ( conversation of saṃskṛt) to English equals ri


A few things to note:

many see hṛ as the root sound of hari - it means many things, here are a few :

to master , overpower , subdue , conquer ; to charm;
to take away , carry off , seize , deprive of , steal , rob
to remove , destroy , dispel But what of this ḥ we see in hariḥ - by the rules of saṃskṛt grammar it is used. It is called visarga. The rule says it is an unvoiced breath, the 'follow through' of the previous sound. In this case , it is the follow through of the letter 'i' .

So, where ever the mouth position is with this letter 'i' ( which sounds like the i in pink) we follow through with visarga and add that puff of air in the same mouthed position. So, it may sound something like hari- he , as the 'he' is just a slight puff of air .

This ḥ as forementioned is called visarga and is written like this : in saṃskṛt. It is said the these two dots, one above the other is śiva and śakti. There is much written about this.


Let's find another simple example of this ḥ - we see it in namaḥ नमः
When the mouth is opened for the sound of 'ma' just a bit more air/puff is the follow through , and may sound like 'ha'. So it would look like nama-ha.


Hope this assists your understanding...

praṇām