Regarding Symbols ...

[yajvan]

hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~
namasté

from the last post above,

When this bhasma is worn on the forehead 3 lines or tripuṇḍra are drawn.

What is your opinion on this? Why is it tripuṇḍra and not pañca-puṇḍra or 5 marks ( lines).
If some one came to me and asked my advice I would say yes, pañca-puṇḍra is my recommendation.
Yet we use tripuṇḍra ( 3 lines). Why so ?





iti śivaṁ

[yajvan]

hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~
namasté
I wrote,

When this bhasma is worn on the forehead 3 lines or tripuṇḍra are drawn, why so ?

According to the the śiva mahāpurāṇa (vidyeśvara saṃhitā section) tripuṇḍra is the essence of
brahma visnu and śiva and in aggregate this stands for maheśvara.

Now within this same subsection of the vidyeśvara saṃhitā, sūta-ji¹ the narrator informs us that there’s
2 types of bhasma: mahā-bhasma and svalpa-bhasma i.e. great and small. I will let the reader review
chapter 24 of vidyeśvara saṃhitā section to define the differences. Yet the differences are there
for various varṇa-s ( groupings, orders, etc).

iti śivaṁ
words

• A sūta is a a charioteer, a story-teller whose business to proclaim/reveal/recite the heroic actions, and the knowledge of the great epics. The recitation of these epics is considered jñāna-yajña. In our case the celebrated sūta is romaharṣaṇa ; his name (romaharṣaṇa) means causing the hairs to bristle or stand erect (through excessive joy). He also was called loma-harṣaṇa also with the same meaning, causing the hair to bristle , exciting a thrill. That infers his story telling abilities and the responses from the listeners.
  
  • His son (suta =son, a child , offspring which is different then sūta just mentioned) was ugraśravā (ugra= the one with the powerful mighty + śrava = sound , therefore his voice). Ugraśravā is best known as the narrator of the mahābhārata. He is first mentioned in the ādi parvan’s introduction starting the whole mahābhārata.
  • ugraśravā is also named sauti meaning son of sūta or romaharṣaṇa just mentioned.

[yajvan]

hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~
namasté

There is a delightful story within the śrīmad bhāgavatam (10.25) where kṛṣṇa-jī protects the people
of vraja¹ from a tumultuous rain, filled with hail and extreme winds. This was all caused by indra’s
anger of which we will not go into.

So, within this story kṛṣṇa-jī with little effort picks up this mountain ‘like a child uprooting a mushroom’
we are told with one hand. This is govardhana mountain. All the people and cattle in the area then seeks the shelter underneath the mountain from
the wind, rain and hail that is thrown by indra for seven days no less. Now pending who is telling the story some add the following (which does
not appear within the śrīmad bhāgavatam).

Once the various villagers are underneath the mountain some have brought sticks to help support the mountain and assist kṛṣṇa-jī, even though kṛṣṇa-jī
is supporting the total mountain with one hand, some say with one finger as in the graphic below ( for the 7 days); yet the villagers provide help ,
with smiles coming from kṛṣṇa-jī.

Is there a deeper meaning to this story ?




iti śivaṁ


words

• vraga – name of the district around agra and mathurā (the abode of nanda , of kṛṣṇa's foster-father )
  
  
  • ​Not to be confused with vi+raja for rajas = free from dust , clean , pure

govardhana mountain - celebrated hill in vṛndāvana (some write bṛndāvan) near mathurā
govardhana go+vardhana go = cow , or anything coming from or including and ox or cow + vardhana = ‘town’ yet also increasing ,
growing , thriving Hence the town thriving with cows. Also go = rays of light. Hence the city thriving in light.

[yajvan]

hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~
namasté

Here’s a few ideas on this matter for one’s reflection (guñjā¹).

First consider the mountain. Note that earth ( earth = pṛthvī) is the sum total of all the tattva-s below it i.e. the elements (officially called mahābhūta-s)
and these with a few other things make up prakṛti¹ loosely meaning nature. So earth is the sum total or contains space, water, air, fire and finally earth.
We can call this visible creation. Kṛṣṇa-jī holds up (supports) all of this creation ( the mountain) with little effort. He only uses one finger to support all of ~this~.

Now come the villagers as the seek shelter under the mountain – note kṛṣṇa-jī invites them to do this. Please enter the space under the hill along with your cows if you wish.
His grace of helping and still giving each person a choice to do this is worth noting.

Now the residents of vraja enter yet some bring their supports ( sticks) to help hold the mountain; another rendition of this is various villagers help by
using their arms. The point to be made is the villagers are there helping to support this massive structure.

Here is one insight
Kṛṣṇa-jī, without the least amount of effort as indicated by doing this feat with one finger, holds the mountain. Yet the villagers think they can help.
Why ? They as embodied beings (kalā śarīra – embodiment of doing) think they are actually the doers of actions.

We are told within the bhāgavad gītā (3.27) by kṛṣṇa-jī, in every case actions are performed by the 3 guna-s of prakṛti¹. He whose mind is deluded by
the sense of 'I' and 'mine' holds 'I am the doer'.

So, why doesn't kṛṣṇa-jī stop scold the villagers and give them a lesson ? The answer is in the 26^th śloka¹ of chapter 3 of the the bhāgavad gītā:
Kṛṣṇa-jī informs us, let not the wise man create a division in the minds of the ignorant, who are attached to action.
Established in Being he ( the wise) should direct them ( the ignorant) to perform their actions, duly engaging in them himself.

There are a few other ideas we can review ( your ideas are welcomed) :

• why indra ?
  
• what was his ‘issue’ and how does it relate to the story ?
• other questions – if the ignorant remain so, what is our responsibility to help or assist them? Do we have an obligation?
• what actions make sense and what do not ?
• why does it 'feel' like I am the doer ?
• how then should one perform actions ?

iti śivaṁ


words

• guñjā meaning humming; yet an additional meaning is meditation, reflection.
• prakṛti we know as nature , character , constitution, yet too it is defined as making or placing before or at first " , the original or natural form or condition of anything. Hence here, this symbol of Kṛṣṇa-jī holding the mountain suggests his is the origin of the ‘original or natural form of any and all things’.
• na buddhibhedaṃ janayed ajñānāṃ karmasaṃginām
  joṣayet sarvakarmāṇi vidvān yuktaḥ samācaran ||bhāgavad gītā 3.26

[yajvan]

hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~
namasté

How many times have I seen this pose ( and perhaps you) ? That is, a mūrti representing devatā. On closer inspection one can see 3 angles of their body-form in this stance. Is this on purpose or just happenstance that the sculptor chose these angles? From my vantage point ( as I have learned over the years ) nothing is done by chance when it comes to these matters.
From my vantage point i.e. my opinion , there is a strong resemblance to the number 1 written in devanāgarī , it looks like this : १ which 3 changes in direction can be viewed. It seems we are being told there is 3 in 1, or that there is only 1.






इतिशिवं
iti śivaṁ