The Life of Ganga The story of Mother Ganga, that is also the river Ganga (Ganges)

Translated for the first time in English, The Birth of the Ganga by Harish Johari tells the mythological story of the origins of the river Ganga (known in the West as the Ganges River) and its powerful purifying properties. According to scriptures, Ganga was a goddess residing in heaven but was brought down to earth in the form of a river (the Ganges) to provide salvation to the ancestors of King Bhagirath. It is said that not only did Ganga save King Bhagirath's ancestors, but she provided a means of purification for the entire population of human beings on earth. Today pilgrims travel from all over the subcontinent to bathe in the river as an act of worship in the hopes of obtaining her blessings and realizing salvation.

The Birth of the Ganga will delight readers young and old alike for not only is it a wonderful story of good deeds leading to a just ending, but its 46 illustrations bring to life many of the Indian saints and gods whose names abound in Hindu scripture and history. The original illustrations of the Ganga book, hand-painted on silk, are inspired by the high classical style of the Ajanta caves and temples of Khajoraho. Harish Johari has restored this classical art form in accordance with the Hindu canon. 46 full-color art reproductions bring to life many of the Indian saints and gods whose names abound in Hindu scripture and history. The book also includes a description of the ancient technique of silk wash painting used in creating the illustrations.

The Hindu Goddess Lakshmi Lakshmi, the goddess of light, beauty, good fortune and wealth

Lakshmi was the daughter of the sage Bhrigu and took refuge in the ocean of milk when the gods were sent into exile. Lakshmi was reborn during the Churning of the Ocean.

As soon as the gods saw Lakshmi, they all fell in love with her beauty. Shiva claimed Lakshmi as his wife, but since he had already taken the Moon, her hand was given to Vishnu, whom Lakshmi herself preferred.

Lakshmi was reborn as his consort each time when Vishnu incarnated. For example, Lakshmi was Sita to Rama, Radha and later Rukmini to Krishna.

Lakshmi is the goddess of light, beauty, good fortune and wealth. Being the consort of Vishnu, the preserving principle, Lakshmi also signifies love and grace. Lakshmi often expresses her devotion to Vishnu by massaging his feet as he lies on the coils of the snake Shesha. While Lakshmi is generally worshipped to achieve success, she does not reside long with anyone who is lazy or desires her only as wealth.

The Hindu goddess Matangi Introduction to Matangi, the Dark One

Matangi is the Dark One, a form of Saraswati, incarnated as the daughter of Matang Rishi. He was from the lowest caste known as Chandal, but did not believe in the orthodox caste system and wanted to achieve brahminhood through his karma. Through worship of first Indra and then Saraswati, she became his daughter and was unequaled in her intellect (mati). Thus Matang Rishi gained a reputation to which only brahmins were entitled.

Matangi is one of the ten Mahavidyas - the others are Kali, Tara, Shodashi, Bhuvaneshwari, Bhairavi, Chinnamasta, Kamala, Dhumavati and Bagla Mukhi. The Mahavidyas represent some or other incarnation or manifestation of the Divine Mother. They are in this sense also to be regarded as Vidyas or different approaches to (tantric) knowledge.

Matangi resides in the throat chakra and is radiant like the Moon. Matangi is an adviser of Tripur Sundari and het worship leads the aspirant to Tripur Sundari. Matangi is invoked to achieve command over speech, creativity and knowledge, among others.

Shiva

Shiva is the god of the yogis, self-controlled and celibate, while at the same time a lover of his spouse (shakti). Lord Shiva is the destroyer of the world, following Brahma the creator and Vishnu the preserver, after which Brahma again creates the world and so on. Shiva is responsible for change both in the form of death and destruction and in the positive sense of destroying the ego, the false identification with the form. This also includes the shedding of old habits and attachments.

All that has a beginning by necessity must have an end. In destruction, truly nothing is destroyed but the illusion of individuality. Thus the power of destruction associated with Lord Shiva has great purifying power, both on a more personal level when problems make us see reality more clearly, as on a more universal level. Destruction opens the path for a new creation of the universe, a new opportunity for the beauty and drama of universal illusion to unfold. As Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram or Truth, Goodness and Beauty, Shiva represents the most essential goodness.

While of course many hindu deities are associated with different paths of yoga and meditation, in Shiva the art of meditation takes its most absolute form. In meditation, not only mind is stopped, everything is dropped. In deep meditation or samadhi, even the object of the meditation (like a mantra) is transformed into its formless essence, which is the essence of everything and everyone. Thus Shiva stands for letting go of everything in the world of forms. The path of Lord Shiva is the path of the ascetic yogi.

Forms of Shiva

Shiva has many forms, which are visible in his Panchavaktra form with 5 heads, a combination of all Shiva energies : Aghora (resides in the creamation grounds), Ishana (most often appears as the shivalingam), Tat Purusha (meditating), Varna Deva (the eternal Shiva) and Saddyojat or Braddha Rudra (the old wrathful form). The last also forms the connection to the Rudraksha mala - a rosary made of the dried fruits of the Rudraksha tree.

Another form is the Nataraj. Shiva Nataraj's dance represents both the destruction and the creation of the universe and reveals the cycles of death, birth and rebirth. His Dance of Bliss is for the welfare of the world. In the pose of Nataraj, the King of Dance is giving darshan to his beloved devotees within the "Hall of Consciousness", which is the heart of man. Under his feet, Shiva crushes the demon of ignorance called Apasmara Purusha, caused by forgetfulness. One hand is stretched across his chest and points towards the uplifted foot, indicating the release from earthly bondage of the devotee. The fire represents the final destruction of creation, but the dance of the Nataraj is also an act of creation, which arouses dormant energies and scatters the ashes of the universe in a pattern that will be the design of the ensuing creation.

Yet another manifestation of Lord Shiva is said to be Hanuman, the ultimate karma yogi, in never-ending selfless service to Ram. The fact that this is not really clear can be perfectly explained by the understanding that a true karma yogi will never take the credit for his acts, as they would otherwise not be entirely selfless. The ego would still get the credit. So, in order to respect Shiva as a true karma yogi, let us not pay too much attention to this manifestation.

The Mahamrityunyaya form of Shiva is the great conqueror of death. The Mahamrityunjaya mantra is one of the two main mantras of the Vedas, next to the Gayatri mantra. It is chanted to remove death and disease. This form of Shiva also is the being of pure joy, referring to the unconditioned enjoyment of the perfectly peaceful mind. That is the true nature of the divine elixir that this Shiva offers his devotees in no less than four hands.

Another main form of Shiva is Ardhnarishwara, half Shiva, half Shakti. Also related to Shiva is Indra.

Attributes of Lord Shiva

Shiva's main attributes are :

the trident that represents the three gunas the snakes that show he is beyond the power of death and poison and also stand for the Kundalini energy. the sound of Shiva's two-sided drum maintains the rhythm of the heartbeat and creates the sound AUM in the overtones. the vehicle of Shiva is the white bull called Nandi (the joyful). Shiva is often seated on a tiger skin or wears a tiger skin, with the tiger representing the mind. Shiva lives on Mount Kailasa in the Himalayas.

Relationships

The power or energy of Shiva is Shakti, his spouse, of which Parvati is probably the most popular form. Shiva's first wife was Sati and his second wife was Parvati. They are also known by many other names, such as Uma, Gauri, Durga, Kali, Annapurna and Shakti. His sons are Ganesha and Kartikeya.

Shiva and Parvati are often shown as sitting in happy, intimate embrace. They also like to discuss philosophy. Shiva taught Parvati on Vedanta (transcendent knowledge), while Parvati tought him Sankhya (cosmological knowledge). Both were perfected yogis.

After their marriage, they left for mount Kailash and immersed themselves completely in a sexual intercourse so strong that the deity of desire Kama was reborn when their sweat mingles with his ashes. Their love was so intense that it shook the cosmos and frightened even the gods.

The balance between male and female can also be obtained in marriage, when both partners complement each other to form an ultimate oneness, which is the source of creation. When Shiva does his destructive Tandava dance, Parvati is said to complement him with a slow, creative step of her own, calming him with her soft glances. While Shiva shows a wilder nature that is both ascetic and erotic, Parvati stands for the middle path of the householder. As Shiva exulted in his romantic dalliance with her, the true mother in her longed for a child. Shiva resisted the life of a householder, but Parvati's desire for it was greater than his resistance. Hence first Ganesha was born, later also Kartikay.

The Shiva Lingam

Lord Shiva is conceived in his unborn, invisible form as the Shiva Lingam. The Lingam represents the male creative energy of Shiva. This main symbol of Shiva is worshipped in virtually every Hindu temple and home. The phallus is not worshipped as such, but through it Shiva is worshipped as the supreme consciousness. Embracing the base of the linga is the yoni, the female organ, as the universal energy, as Shakti, Shiva's spouse. Through profound understanding of this symbol, the mystery of creation can be understood as an act of love.

When Ganga incarnated on Earth, Lord Shiva captured her in his hair to avoid that she would flood all of Earth .

Shiva worshippers (Shaivites) are among India's most ascetic yogis, their body smeared with ashes, dressed in saffron colors and wearing a Rudraksha mala. The path of Shiva can thus be seen as the inward-going path, the great journey to find the self. This path is complementary to the path of Vishnu, which is the outgoing path, bringing out the self from within and letting it manifest in the universe and our lives.

In Hinduism, Buddha is regarded as the ninth incarnation of Vishnu, following Ram and Krishna. That is obviously a real honour, even though Buddhism may not see it that way. Buddhism in fact does not believe in Gods and sees him only as the incarnation of a realized being. Nevertheless, various forms of Buddha are worshipped in Buddhism in ways that are very similar to the worship of Hindu gods.

One example is the Amithaba Buddha, seen as the main bodhisattva form of the fire element, which is symbolized by the deity and the according deities, called the lotus family. The fire element as red color symbolizes the western region of the universe and has the lotus or nectar vase as it's symbol. The lotus stands for pure intentions of all activities and the nectar vase, filled with subtle life energy, symbolizes the immense power of this element. The Amithaba Buddha embodies wisdom and essential equality. The Amithaba Buddha is a form of Buddha that represents infinite light. He is the embodiment of the enlightened speech of all Buddha's. The Amithaba Buddha is the principal representative of the blissful pure land of the West.

Another example is the Shakyammuni Buddha, the fourth of 1000 founding buddha's predicted to appear during the coming eon. The purpose of the Shakyamunni Buddha is to reveal the path leading to full enlightenement.

The life of Budhha is an intriguing story that powerfully demonstrates the teachings of Buddhism :

In the 5. century BC., an Aryan tribe called the Shakyas was living at Kapilavastu, a state between Benares and the Himalayas. Those people depended mainly on rice and simple food and lived a farmer's life. Suddhodana, raja of the Shakyas was married to two daughters of the raja of the neighbor tribe, the Koliyans.

Buddha's conception was miraculous. Mahamaya, the elder wife, had a dream in which she was translated by devas of the four directions to the Himalayas. There she was bathed and ceremonially purified and the Bodysattva appeared, coming from the North in the form of a white elephant. When Buddha entered his mother's womb, great wonders took place, trees and herbs burst into flower and untouched instruments started to play beautiful music.

After nine months, in the year 563 BC., Mahamaya gave birth to a boy, but she died seven days later. A short time after his birth, Buddha was named prince Siddharta - Gautama was his family name. When Siddharta was twelve years old, the Brahmans told the king that his son would either become a great king or an ascetic, as the result of seeing problems, disease and death. From that time on, the king took every precaution to keep Buddha far away from the world's problems. The prince lived in a huge palace and had all kinds of comfort and beauty around.

Gautama Buddha was early married to his cousin Yashoda, daughter of the raja of Koli. At the age of 29, the problem of suffering, disease and death was impressively set before Buddha. Filled with the thought of the insecurity of all happiness and grief at the sufferings of others, Buddha felt a deep unrest and dissatisfaction with life. After ten years, his son Rahula was born, but Buddha only felt it as one more tie on the way to seek a solution for the problems of the world.

During the same night, Buddha left his family and home to search for various Brahman hermits and saints. Dissatisfied with their teachings, Buddha practiced alone in the forest. After enduring the most severe penances for a long period of time, with the greatest determination, Buddha found himself no nearer to enlightenment. Buddha abandoned the life of an ascetic, took regular food, sacrificing his reputation so his disciples deserted him.

Buddha wandered along the banks of the river Nairanjara and took seat under a Bo-tree. After sitting there for some time, his mind was clearer and clearer, his doubts vanished and a great peace came over him. Day and night passed and by dawn came perfect knowledge and Gautama became enlightened and became the Buddha. With that enlightenment, there came also a sense of great isolation. How could Buddha share this wisdom with men, less wise and earnest ? Such isolation comes to all great leaders, but love and pity for humanity determined Buddha at all hazard of failure or misunderstanding, to preach the truth that he had seen.

Buddha proceeded to Benares to "turn the wheel of the law". Buddha preached the doctrine of nonviolence to all who could hear him. Some became his personal followers, other disciples lived a householder life. Buddha reached many people also from the higher society classes and converted the worshippers of fire by many miracles.

When Buddha visited Kapilavastu, all the nobles, hearing his doctrine, became his disciples. Buddha perceived that the time had come to visit his native city. His father the king prepared a beautiful garden for his comfort and sent to inform Yashoda, that she might also come to worship Siddharta. When Yashoda heard that Buddha was coming, she cut her hair and went to see him. She humbly bowed at his feet, not as a sudden expression of love, but out of deep devotion, because after her husband left her, she had lived like a nun. Buddha related that in a former life, it had been Yashoda's wish to be the wife of a Buddha and therefore had been his companion and helper for many years.

Buddha´s parents followed his path and also Rahula, his son, was admitted to the order of monks. Buddha refused to admit Yashoda to the order of priesthood, but many years later, he instituted the order of Buddhist nuns and Yashoda was admitted. She attained Nirvana two years before Buddha's own death.

In the year 483 BC., at the age of 54 years, Gautama Buddha left his body in the city of Pawa, surrounded by his disciples. Buddha's last words were "work out your salvation with diligence".

Buddhism grew very popular in India and therefore Adi Shankarachaya installed the four Shankarachayas, each f