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    Symbols of the mahābhārata

    hariḥ oṁ
    ~~~~~~

    namasté

    This post is the continuation of http://www.hindudharmaforums.com/showpost.php?p=51735&postcount=36 and the idea of the following:
    We reside in the field of action (kurukṣhetra). This is one of many lessons the mahābhārata teaches us.
    Overview
    The continuation of this post has been brought here to the uttara¹ folder due to the subject matter being a bit more in-depth .
    The greatest level of appreciation will be gained for those that have read or are perhaps studying mahābhārata. I put myself in this
    category as the śiṣya (student) of this great work.

    For those that have not read the mahābhārata this knowledge may be mildly interesting and the reader of the posts may be missing a frame of reference that makes the knowledge lively.

    The intent of this string will be to look at the personalities of the mahābhārata that play a major role in story e.g. dhṛtarāṣṭra , the pāṇḍava, kṛṣṇ ( some prefer kṛṣṇa) , bhīṣma, etc. and what they symbolically represent.

    Note that I have searched some years for this information and I am not the final authority on this matter. I will offer the insights on the etymology of many of the words, offer different views and ideas from my studies, yet the muni that is most insightful on this matter is svāmī paramahaṃsa yogānaṃda-ji. His knowledge takes the conversation to the spiritual significance of the personalities and how it aligns ( perfectly) with a yogic view ( that of patañjali -muni), a tantric view - that of the body and various energy centers ( carkra-s ¹), etc. Only a being with direct personal experience can offer the insight that svāmī paramahaṃsa yogānaṃda-ji brings to this conversation; to him I owe my gratitude and respect for connecting the dots. Any blemishes on his ideas that occur can only be from my misunderstanding.

    Let's begin here
    The knowledge in the mahābhārata is quite profound. It can address an audience on multiple levels. As you recall the bhagāvad gītā is part of the mahābhārata. It is full and perfect in every way. My teacher has said it is so perfect it addresses all 6 darśana-s:
    For the ṣaḍ-darśana one could in general group the 6 into 3 pairs :
    • yoga & sāṁkhya - very similar views of creation, one's advancement and the like.
    • mimāṁsā & vedānta as vedānta is also known as uttara mimāṁsā a.k.a. the brahma-sūtra-s
      Also some distinguish mimāṁsā as pūrva ( former , prior ) to that of uttara ( later , following , subsequent ) mimāṁsā
      One needs to look at this work of jaimini's pūrva mimāṁsā and see if one can find īśvara. I see īśvara
      very easily in vedānta as this is = to the upaniṣads, as which is the subject at hand in the brahma-sūtra-s.
    • nyāya & vaiśeṣika - logic and cosmology - Here we find the 'atom eater' or kaṇāda-muni the author of the vaiśeṣika branch.
      And we have akṣapāda-muni (akṣapāda = having his eyes fixed on his feet ) of the nyāya philosophy.

    Why do I mention this ? Many of the personalities & their symbols that will be offered in the following posts will be from the yogic and spiritual perspective. That is, how these intrinsic qualities are part of one's own being and how they may advance or retard one's sādhana.

    With the following posts we will take a look at some of the key characters and their relevance.

    praṇām

    words
    • uttara - northern; spiritually, energy that is rising; in a mundane POV we can consider this upper , higher , superior as opposed to adhara declining.
    • cakra-s - 6 in number mūlādhāra, svādhiṣṭhāna , maṇi-pūra , anāhata , viśuddha some call kaṇṭha-cakra, & ājñākhya
    Last edited by yajvan; 08 October 2017 at 05:07 PM.
    यतस्त्वं शिवसमोऽसि
    yatastvaṁ śivasamo'si
    because you are identical with śiva

    _

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