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Originally Posted by janielee
Thanks Shivani Devi, you are like a diamond in the rough. Hard to spot but oh so beautiful...
I am not familiar with Hinduism but I appreciate this sharing. I am listening to the Mantra now - beautiful 
Namaste,
JL |
Thank you for saying that...it is so very kind of you and you are also a beautiful soul. *hugs*
I am very happy that you are listening to that mantra and enjoying it...this is exactly the way I first learned the Gayatri Mantra and it is an extremely powerful one.
The Gayatri Mantra represents soul awakening, rebirth and the dawning of Divine wisdom...but it is only one side of the coin, often associated with the Goddess within...the sacred feminine which gives birth to the universe.
The other side of this coin, consists of another mantra from the Rig Veda called the Mahamrityunjaya Mantra (The Mantra of Immortality). Here is a very nice contemporary rendition of it:
Chanting Tryambakam - Jro Bagus Ananda feat Palawa
https://youtu.be/x8YpN30HSgo
ॐ त्र्यम्बकं यजामहे
सुगन्धिं पुष्टिवर्धनम् ।
उर्वारुकमिव बन्धनान्
मृत्योर्मुक्षीय मामृतात् ॥
Om Try-Ambakam Yajaamahe
Sugandhim Pusstti-Vardhanam
Urvaarukam-Iva Bandhanaan
Mrtyor-Mukssiiya Maa-[A]mrtaat ||
Meaning:
1: Om, We Worship the Tryambaka (the Three-Eyed One),
2: Who is Fragrant (as the Spiritual Essence), Increasing the Nourishment (of our Spiritual Core);
3: From these many Bondages (of Samsara) similar to Cucumbers (tied to their Creepers),
4: May I be Liberted from Death (Attachment to Perishable Things), So that I am not separated from the perception of Immortality (Immortal Essence pervading everywhere).
Very often, this mantra, the Mahamrityunjaya Mantra, starts off with exactly the same bija mantras (sacred syllables) as the Gayatri Mantra does, to show the significance and relevance of that connection:
Om hroum, jhoom, saha
Om bhuur, bhuvah svah
Then the Mahamrityunjaya mantra is chanted...but the bija mantras, the sacred syllables have been dropped/omitted in latter times for ease and convenience.
There is a story behind this Mantra, which was chanted by the lunar deity, Soma Deva in praise of Lord Shiva.
According to myth, the lunar deity is the brother-in-law (through marriage) of Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva was married to one of King Daksha's daughters named Sati, while Soma Deva (Moon) was married to the other 24 of them...however, Soma Deva only had eyes for one of his many wives (Rohini) and banished/ abandoned all the rest of them..sending them all back to live with their father King Daksha.
Daksha became furious and cursed the moon to slowly lose radiance until it died forever...never to shine again and Rohini was beside herself with grief, so she approached Lord Shiva who gave her this mantra to give to Soma Deva and they started chanting it together on a beach for many years....that beach became known as Somnath - the place where the Lord of the Moon is worshipped...and a Jyotir Lingam (the Light Symbol of Lord Shiva) became enshrined there as one of the 12 holiest sites in India..Suffice to say that through the chanting of the Mahamrityunjaya Mantra, the curse of Daksha became mitigated to a "once per month" thing.
From the very first King of the world (Prajapati), we shall visit a more contemporary one:
King Kertanegara of Singasari
Kertanegara of Singhasari
https://g.co/kgs/5Z3G4u
King Kertenegara was the most influential King of Java during the Hindu Majapahit dominance during the latter half of the 13th Century.
However, Hinduism in Java was coming under threat from two sides, the Islamic invaders from the North and the Buddhist (soft) invaders from the West.
King Kertenegara was a Shaivite (Shiva worshipper) who converted to Buddhism, but still kept his belief in God...Shiva. Thus he became known as "Siwabuddha" and created the syncretic mix of Buddhism and Shaivism, which later became immortalised in the epic poem written during the 14th Century called the Kakawin Sutasoma.
Kakawin Sutasoma
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kakawin_Sutasoma
From this poem, the Kakawin Samskrit motto for Indonesia arose...
Bhinneka Tunggal Ika - Unity in Diversity
This is also representative of the whole Tantric notion of Majapahit Hinduism - "from the many, one".
Later, the Muslim invaders drove the Hindus south amd they took refuge (and diplomatic immunity) on the island of Bali, where it has remained until this day as the last bastion/stronghold of Hinduism in Indonesia amd indeed, in the whole of South East Asia.
Many years later, I came across a booklet written by Sister Nivedita of the Vedanta Society. Sister Nivedita was a disciple of Swami Vivekananda:
Siva and Buddha - Sister Nivedita
https://sfvedanta.org/books/siva-and-buddha/
Enough for today's lesson which is more historical than religious in nature, but it provides a nice backdrop to the whole story.....as does this:
Nanda Indira Dewi - Markandeya Bali Suddha
https://youtu.be/ho3wD7rhJTo
Next episode...of Monkeys and Magic...exploring the cult of Hannuman.
Until tommorrow, take care and god bless you all.
Om Namah Siway
Om Santi Santi Santi Om