Vishnu as Shaligrama Stone

In my last post on Pitra Paksha and another post on the Pind Daan, we spoke about the rites and rituals involved in the offerings made during this time. The Pind Daan ritual is followed by the prayer offering to Lord Vishnu and Yama. While Yama is a god of death and is the caretaker of the souls in the nether world, Vishnu is the God who manages the functions of all the worlds and provides ultimate sanctuary to those who worship him.

Lord Vishnu is worshipped in form of the darbha grass, a gold image or Shaligram stone. The drab grass is known as Desmostachya Bipinnata scientifically. The drabha grass has been considered a sacred grass and has been used in religious rituals since Vedic times.  Darbha is also called Kusha and it is considered perhaps the second most sacred herb in the Vedas after Soma.  Darbha has very unique spiritual properties and is used in all religious rituals in the Hindu tradition.  Darbha helps to protect from toxic radiation and negative energies of all types.  It energetically shields the area around it from curses, ghosts, demons and the negative energies created by negative thoughts.  It simultaneously works to carry and amplify spiritual energies and helps to connect with the higher spiritual realms.  Darbha is not only useful in religious rituals, but also around the home, where it can be used to help shield people from the radiation from electrical appliances.  Darbha also has healing properties and is used in Ayurvedic medicine.

The Shaligram stone is a fossilized stone used to invoke God, and referred as a representation of God. Shaligram is usually collected from sacred river beds or on the banks. Shiva worshipers use nearly round or oval shaped Shaligrams to worship as Shiva Linga. Similarly, Vaishnavas - the Vishnu worshippers, use a  spherical black-colored ammonoid fossil as a representation of Lord Vishnu. The origin of the name is traced to a remote village in Nepal where Vishnu is known by the name of Shaligramam. Shaligram in Hinduism is also known as Salagrama. The name Salagrama refers to the name of the village on the bank of Gandaki where the holy stones are picked up. The name is derived from the hut (sala) of the sage Salankayana, who beheld the form of Vishnu in a tree outside his hut.

Padma Purana says that Vrinda Devi was born on earth to King Kushadvaja. She married Jalhandara, a demon king who had sovereignty over the nether regions and declared war on the Gods. He had a boon that he would be free from death till his wife Vrinda was chaste. Jalhandara drew strength from the chastity and purity of his pious wife, Vrinda. The power of Vrinda`s chastity was so great that Jalhandara could not be defeated by the Gods, even Lord Shiva. Helplessly, the Gods sought refuge in Lord Vishnu.

As a final resort, Lord Vishnu assuming the form of Jalhandara beguiled Vrinda, who mistook the form of Vishnu as Jalhandara. Her chastity was broken as she greeted Vishnu. Taking advantage of the situation, the Gods overpowered Jalhandara and killed him in the battle.
Soon Vishnu appeared in his original form much to the surprise of Vrinda. Understanding the reality, Vrinda became enraged and cursed Vishnu to become a stone for his act of deception. She cursed Vishnu for his stone hearted approach to spoil her chastity that led to the death of her husband. Soon she too burnt herself in the pyre of her husband.

Vishnu accepted the curse hurled upon him and appeared as a shaligram shila in the Gandhaki River in Nepal.

He also blessed Vrinda for her purity and chastity that she will eternally reside in Vaikuntha as his consort. He also transferred her soul into the plant of Tulsi and blessed her to be worshipped as Tulsi. He said that Tulsi will be the most auspicious and dear to him and no prayer is complete without an offering of Tulsi to him. Thus devotees of Krishna never go to him without an offering of Tulsi leaf. He promised to marry her annually on this day in the month of Karthik.

Every year Tulsi Vivah or ceremonial marriage is conducted for Tulsi and Vishnu as shaligram shila on Ekadasi, the eleventh moon of the bright fortnight of Karthik. All devout Hindu women pray to Tulsi and shaligram, on this day and perform a marriage ceremony to Tulsi and shaligram shila for meritorious benefits. By doing this, all sins get burnt away and deep seated desires get fulfilled.
In the Skanda Purana there is a statement praising the Tulsi tree as follows: ‘Let me offer my respectful obeisance unto the Tulsi tree, which can immediately vanquish volumes of sinful activities. Simply by seeing or touching this tree one can become relieved from all distresses and diseases.

The stones are worshipped as manifestations of Vishnu himself, identifiable from other stones by special markings which resemble Vishnu's paraphernalia such as mace, conch, lotus and disc (chakra). They are either black, red, or mixed in colour and are usually kept closed in a box and are only brought out for daily worship (puja). The stones are usually hereditary and are passed down through many generations, never being purchased or sold.

A Shaligrama – which has the marks of a shankha, Chakra, gada and padma arranged in a particular order – is worshiped as Keshava. With the change in the order of the four symbols, the name of the Shaligrama stone is also different and the images of such deities also have similar setting of the four symbols. The various orders and names are given for the twenty four permutations. These are well known names, which are the different names by which Lord Vishnu is known in the Hindu pantheon. The various versions of the Saligrama Shilas or stones vis-a-vis the order of the four symbols are - 

1. Shankha, Chakra, Gada and Padma - Keshava
2. Padma, Gada, Chakra, Shankha - Narayana
3. Chakra, Shankha, Padma and Gada - Madhava
4. Gada, Padma, Shankha and Chakra - Govinda
5. Padma, Shankha, Chakra and Gada – Vishnu
6. Shankha, Padma, Gada, Chakra – Madusudhana
7. Gada, Chakra, Shankha and Padma – Trivikrama
8. Chakra, Gada, Padma, Shankha - Vamana
9. Chakra, Padma, Shankha, Gada - Shridhara
10. Padma, Gada, Shankha, charka - Hrishikesh
11. Padma, Chakra,Gada, Shankha - Padmanabha
12. Shankha, Chakra, Gada, Padma - Damodara
13. Chakra, Shankha, Gada, Padma - Sankarshana
14. Shankha, Chakra, Padma, Gada - Pradyumna
15. Gada, Shankha, Padma, charka - Aniruddha
16. Padma, Shankha, Gada, Chakra - Purushottama
17. Gadha, Shankha, Chakra, Padma - Adokshaja
18. Padma, Gada, Shankha, Chakra - Narasimha
19. Padma, Chakra, Shankha, Gada – Achyuta
20. Shankha, Chakra, Padma, Gada - Janardana
21. Gada, Padma, Shankha, Chakra - Upendra
22. Chakra, Padma, Gada and Shankha – Hari
23. Gada, Padma, Chakra and Shankha - Krishna
24. Shankha, Chakra, Padma, Gada – Vasudeva

Death - The end

I could hear the morning hymns,
I could hear the chirping of birds,
I could hear the music of the rivers,
I could hear the air descending from the mountains.

                          I couldn't hear the snake hissing,

                          I could not hear someone creeping,

                          I could see a vulture hovering,

                          I could see an owl staring.

Someone moved ahead with me behind,
I followed with my eyes blind,
A wolf howled, and a dog cried,
The vulture winked eyes and dived.

                          I felt like in a prison,

                          All the eyes turning crimson,

                          I was dying,

                          And no one was crying.

It was the end,
The end of everything,
The end of all dreams,
The end of life.

                          But was it all an end?

                          I was on a  road bend,

                          I had ambitions to fulfill,

                          Yet my spirits were killed.

What I did, could not be undid,
What I had found was better lost,
What I said, was better unsaid,
And now I rest not in peace, but for the savior.

Pitra Paksha - Homage to our ancestors

Just a week after the Ganesha Chaturthi, the Pitra paksha has started as per the hindi calendar. This period of 15 days is associated with our ancestors. This period is meant for us to remember them and all they have done for us. This is the period to pay our homage to them before starting the journey of a whole new year of festivals. A similar concept exists in people across USA, however it has lost its meaning and is today reduced to a scary fancy dress show - Halloween.

I have often wondered the meaning and the reasoning behind the fortnight dedicated to our forefathers. The curiosity piqued as this period is considered inauspicious and starting something new is not advised. I often wondered why shouldn't my forefathers be happy for me if I try to do something new? Its only later I realized that everyone is busy in praying to their ancestors and trying to strengthen their bonds for this life and afterlife, that starting something new is pushed off until later. This fortnight is kind of reserved for the living to tie their bonds with the forefathers and others who have deceased and have still not reached their destination - heaven or hell.

The story of Karna in Mahabharata did not end with his death at the hands of Arjuna. In the continuation of the story, Karna, upon his death, rose directly to the heaven. On his arrival into the heaven, Karna was greeted with great food made of jewels and gold. Karna asked Indra for the real food. He was told that all his life he had donated only gold or jewels. But Karna never donated food or homage to his ancestors. Hence he shall only get the jewels and gold for food. Since Karna was unaware of the rituals and his ancestors, he was granted a 15 days on the earth to make amends. It is said that the 15 days given to Karna are today known as the Pitra Paksha.

The hindu thought is cyclical in nature and emphasizes the Newton's third law of motion in many more ways than even Newton would have described. Per Newton's law - every action has an equal and opposite reaction. The karmic theory in hinduism says that your life is a result of your deeds in the past lives and even in the present life. Thus extending on the story of Karna, he got food to eat, when he provided for his ancestors and many others who were in need. The hindu thought has evolved over the ages and the periods of time. However, the centrality of the thought has remained the same. As per the Hindu thought, the souls of the preceding generations remain in a realm between the earth and the heaven known as the Pitra Loka. When the a soul from the next generation enters this realm, an older generation soul moves unto either the heaven or descends on the earth again based on their deeds. This movement is also based on the rites performed by the living for the dead. If the living pay their homages well and provide for the dead during the fortnight period as Karna, their ancestors gain their passage to heaven rather than returning back to the earth or being stuck in the Pitra Loka forever. Mostly the rites are performed by the sons of the family. The rites are also explained to the living as their debt to the ancestors for everything they left for the living to enjoy. This is why the male child is highly sought after in man hindu families. The Garuda Purana which is read only on the death of someone, speaks "there is no salvation for a man without a son". Though the ever changing Hindu thought about the male child was more prominent in the time period when the wars were fought and many died. To propagate the human race, the offsprings were needed. And, to increase the importance of the offspring, it is said that once a child is born, the ancestors who would have passed on that day have found their reprieve.

In my last post on the homage to the ancestors, I spoke about how the pind is prepared for the pind daan. In the Markandeya Purana, it is said that if the ancestors are content with the Shraddha rites performed for them, they shall bestow health, wealth, knowledge, longevity and salvation on the performer.

The shraddha is performed only at noon, usually on the bank of a river or lake or at one's own house. Families may also make a pilgrimage to places like Varanasi and Gaya to perform Shraddha. The shraddha is performed on the specific lunar day during the Pitru Paksha, when the ancestor—usually a parent or paternal grandparent—died. There are exceptions to the lunar day rule; special days are allotted for people who died in a particular manner or had a certain status in life.

• Chautha Bharani and Bharani Panchami, the fourth and fifth lunar day respectively, are allocated for people deceased in the past year. 
• Avidhava navami ("Unwidowed ninth"), the ninth lunar day, is for married women who died before their husband. Widowers invite Brahmin women as guests for their wife's shraddha. 
• The twelfth lunar day is for children and ascetics who had renounced the worldly pleasures. 
• The fourteenth day is known as Ghata chaturdashi or Ghayala chaturdashi, and is reserved for those people killed by arms, in war or suffered a violent death.
• The fifteenth day, Sarvapitri amavasya (all fathers' new moon day) is intended for all ancestors, irrespective of the lunar day they died. It is the most important day of the Pitru Paksha.

Though the rites of the Shraadha are usually performed by the eldest son in the family, the rites on the Sarvapitri amavasya can be performed by the daughters as well. Not only this describes the inclusion of the females in the Hindu thoughts, but also explains that the ancestral debt is equally shared between the sons and the daughters. However, since the females are associated with the ones who give the birth to the next generation, are considered to have paid their image through bearing the child.