Ganesha - Reviving the series - 1

Reposting this article from 2015!

Lord Ganesha and his different forms amaze me all the time. So many songs, hymns have been written to worship him - and many of them are laced with fondness. Let's explore some of the forms and their meaning together.

Last year about the same time, I posted a series of blog posts focussed on Lord Ganesha. Looking at his various aspects and the infinite limitless ideas that he signifies. I mentioned that I could never do any justice in talking about Lord Ganesha who is so fluid and so dynamic. there is much more than meets the eye. As is written in our scriptures that the eternal truth lies confound within the infinite myths or ideas or stories. To discover the eternal truth amongst all the stories, Varuna has 1000 eyes, Indra has a 100 eyes, where as I have just 2. (So says my teacher). Hence please do forgive my confusing and abstruse thoughts. I shall attempt as much I can, yet without a promise to display pansophical knowledge. I may still not know infinite stories linked to Lord Ganesha as my two eyes limit the perspective I can see.

Lord Ganesha as seen earlier embodies infinite wisdom - material as well as intellectual. In a way he is considered as a complete God (notice the capital G in god). The devotees of Lord Ganesha adore him and worship him. Many treat him as a son or a friend. However, most of them treat him as a "Vighnaharta" - someone who demolishes all the roadblocks. At the same time, the tantrums embodied Ganesha into a fearful character who is all set to clear off the roadblocks through his angry, fearsome, ferocious looks.

Understanding from the various forms of Lord Ganesha's worship multiple ways have been known to occupy the society predominantly. Each of these are considered as a path of Yoga -

• Gyan Yoga - The intellectual approach to knowing Ganesha
• Karma Yoga - The mechanical, ritualistic approach to Lord Ganesha
• Bhakti Yoga - The emotional approach to Lord Ganesha
• Tantra Yoga - The Tantrik or the occult approach to the knowledge of Lord Ganesha

Just one god and so many different forms. This is what adds to Lord's popularity.

mrignayani

मृगनयनी, चांदनी 

अविरल प्रेम संचायनी 

मधुरिमा जीवनदायिनी 

दुःख हरिणी,

चपल चितवन मानिनी 

सर्वत्र तिमिर भंजिनि

हे प्रेमिका

मेरा ह्रदय है सिर्फ आपका 

चरण ध्वनि अनुसारिणी 

 

Understanding Shivling

Resuming to write after a long break!

A few weeks back we celebrated the Sharad-Navratri or the Navratri leading to Dussehra. This is also the time for Durga Puja and Golu. We are fortunate to have friends from different parts of the country. This helps us to understand the different cultures as well. This year, we had visited many of our friends to see their Golu and their own depiction of the stories.

(DISCLAIMER – Please add Lord or God when reading the names – Shiva, Vishnu or Brahma. I mean no disrespect, but find myself lazy. Being a programmer at heart – consider this as my Global Declaration!)

A very coherent theme everywhere was the theme around Shiva. Some had decorated their Golu with the dolls displaying the family of Lord Shiva. While some had taken to next level with many stories being narrated through the Shiva dolls. Even when many houses had dolls displaying the Dashavatars of Vishnu, presence of the theme with Lord Shiva at its center was very prominent. I have been wondering this affiliation of Golu with Shiva’s themes. I believe, since Golu is celebrated as the celebration of the Goddess Adishakti who is most closely related with Shiva in forms of Sati or Parvati or Kali or Chinnamastika, Shiva theme is a logical inclusion.

At one house they had a scaled model of Mt Arunachalam which is an embodiment of Lord Shiva himself and also the abode of Sri Ramana Maharshi. Around the same, they had displayed 8 Shivling – the most common and popular form of Lord Shiva depicting the 8 temples on the route used by devotees while circumambulating.

My interest was piqued by the display at yet another home where they had 12 different Shivlings – each one had a distinctive color and form. Each Shivling was supposed to symbolize the 12 Jyotirlingas around India. There were a few questions in my mind by now – What are the 12 Jyotirlingas? Does the color of Shivlinga play any role? What is the significance of the Shivlinga shape? And what are the different forms of Shivlinga?

To be honest, there is a complete treatise written by many great scholars around the topics I had questions about. Also, there is a complete purana dedicated to the Shivlinga form of Lord Shiva. There is also a community – Lingayata in the Southern part of India – who wear a Shivling as a necklace. Without hurting anyone’s sentiments, I’ll try to shed some light on the questions that piqued me, and probably will interest many more!

Shivling – is a form of the formless. Lord Shiva is known to be present forever and everywhere. He is also referred to as “Anaadi Ananta”, meaning one without any end and timeless. There are multiple stories for this form of the God. Some of the most prominent ones are as follows –

1.       Once Brahma and Vishnu had a quarrel as to who of them holds the bigger stature. Just then a pillar of fire appeared in between them. The pillar was so big that they couldn’t see either ends. At this time, Brahma went to find the top end, and Vishnu tried to find the lower end. In this search, Brahma tried to lie to Vishnu of finding the end, when Vishnu returned empty handed. Shiva then appeared before them as embodiment of the pillar. This pillar is now signified in form of the Shivling.

2.       Shivling is an ellipsoidal form. This form has no corners. Thus, has the expandability in any direction. Thus, it can be imagined to be of any size! At the same time, it has the property of inclusiveness of everyone and every form.

3.       In the metaphysical interpretation of the things, one can understand the pillar part of the Shivling as the spiritual being, while the surrounding circumference as the material being. The union of the two is explained as the essence of the human life. It explains that the human life requires both the spiritual and the material aspects to lead itself. Knowledge of one without the other is insufficient and never be treated as complete.

4.       Shivling is also considered as a symbol of absolute power. Some scholars have tried to study the presence of the energy waves and their movement around the Shivling. One such example is seen as in the following image. The radiations coming from a Shivling are considered to be really powerful and have often been compared to that of nuclear energy with the Vishnu and Brahma particles analogous to protons(Vishnu) and electrons(Brahma). No wonder why, the nuclear reactors have a dome like shapes that resembles a large Shivling.

5.       The Shivling is also a depiction of the unity in the Trinity of the Hindus – Brahma, Vshnu and Mahesh. As seen in the following pictures –

As a follow-up from the radiation theory of the Shivling, it also explains why one must loo at the Shivling through the horns of Nandi – Shiv’s bull, who is always seated close to him. It is said that observing the Shivling through Nandi’s horns protects one from the various radiations that a human can not handle!

As I mentioned before there are 12 Jyotirlings that are considered the most special and auspicious for every Shiva devotee. Jyotirling is a hindi word which is made by the combination of Jyoti (Light) and Linga(Form of Shiva). As we saw in the point #1 in the prior section, when Shiva emerged as pillar of fire, it is said the same pillar was seen at 12 different places across India. This is how the Jyotilinga came into being. Each Jyotirlinga has its own story and importance. I shall try to cover these in next article. Till then stay tuned.

And to pique your interest, there is a peculiar form that is observed in the Shivling as one travels to different part of India. Can you identify them? Hint – observe the Jyotirling.

Flags and their meanings in Mahabharata

Last night I was telling the bedside story to the younger love of my life, when she asked – “How do you identify the leader of the troop in a war – particularly in a warzone where a lot of people are fighting against each other”?

While I explained to her how the modern warfare works and how the generals lead the army today, I also imagined the warcraft of yesterday and started to describe the vivid imagination fueled by the magnanimity of the movies like Bahubali, Bajirao Mastani and Padmaavat. The job was simple as we both had watched the movies together. And she understood all that I told her. Yet a question from her made me fumble – Do all the warriors have a flag on their chariot, and what do they mean?

In my research for the answer, I stumbled upon the information that I would like to share with you too.

In the Viraat Parva of Mahabharata, Arjuna under the disguise of Brihannala plays the role of the charioteer for Prince Uttara of Virata kingdom. Under the conditions for exile, the Pandavas were supposed to live in forest for 12 years and then 1 year in hiding. If they were found or their true identity is identified by the Kauravas, their exile term shall get reinitialized. The news of Kichaka’s death (Virata’s general) signals Kauravas of the presence of Pandavas. The Kauravas devise a plan to distract the Virata army and the king for a small border issue, while they attack from the different direction to take out the Pandavas. Arjuna or Brihannala accompanies Prince Uttara into the battle and then tells him about his true identity. In this war, Arjuna educates Uttara of all the different leaders in the Kaurava army and defines their identifications. These remain true for the Mahabharata war as well. The list below is an attempt to summarize the information found in different sections of Mahabharata –

Warrior	Main skill in warfare	Flag	Meaning of Flag
Bhishmacharya	Archery	A palm tree	The palm tree depicts his immense knowledge (like the sap of the tree) and his ability to raise above all the difficult situations.(palm trees are usually very tall and Bhishma was the most respected in lieu of his stature and behaviour.)
Dronacharya	Archery	Golden altar decked with a water-pot and the figure of a bow (vedika)	Signifyies his high stature as a teacher to all the Kauravas and the Pandavas.
Kripacharya	Archery	A cow and a bull	Signifies fertility and strength.
Yudhisthira	Spear	Golden moon with planets around it	Yudhishthira was the eldest of the Kuru clan and thus bore the moon - symbol of Chandravansh
Bhima	Mace	Silver gigantic lion with its eyes made of lapis lazuli (deep blue semi-precious stone)	Signifies power and it's eyes instill cold fear in the hearts of the enemy
Arjuna	Archery	Hanuman	Hanuman is an epitome of knowledge,strength,fame ,courage and fearlessness - the very basis on which Arjuna almost single handedly won the war for the Pandavas.
Nakula	Sword	Red deer with golden back	A magnificent creature, known for its beauty, represents the handsomeness of Nakula
Sahadeva	Sword, Axe	Silver swan	Known for intellect, Swan represents the knowledge of Sahdeva
Duryodhana	Mace	A snake wearing a diamond on its hood	Signifying his longing for wealth and his crooked nature.(you can observe a snake does not move in a straight line!)
Duryodhana (From Chapter 17 of the Bhishma Parva and Chapter 101 of the Drona Parva)	Mace	An elephant adorned with gems	Signifying his being the representative of the leader of the Kuru army
Karna	Archery	A beautiful white conch(sankha)	Signifies his ever readiness to go to a battle.
Karna (From Chapter 17 of the Bhishma Parva and Chapter 101 of the Drona Parva)	Archery	Elephant-rope made of gold	Signifies fear. At the same time, signifies him being chained by his decisions and conditions
Abhimanyu	Archery	Golden karnikara tree (tree with yellow leaves)	The flowers of this tree represent a torch. The tree itself signifies an abundance of fruitfullness and attractiveness
Abhimanyu (From Chapter 23 of the Drona Parva)	Archery	Golden Peacock	Shows the affiliation to Arjuna and Krishna
Aswatthama	Archery	Lion’s tale	Vigor and bravery in the battlefield.
Ghatotkacha	Mayavi(Demonic powers)	Vulture	Feeds on dead
Jayadratha		Silver Boar	Bravery
Shalya	Horse Riding, Charioteer	Goddess of Corn	Goddess of Corn represents beauty and fertility with every seed. Shalya was brother of Madri - Nakula and Sahdeva's mother. He served as charioteer of Karna.
Vrishasena		Peacock and a Plough	Vrishasena was the son of Karna and Vrushali
Bhurishrava		Sacrificial Stake	Bhurishrava was the grandson of king Balhika, who was the elder brother of Shantanu the king of Hastinapur.
UpaPandavas - Draupadi's sons		Dharma, Marut, Sakra, and the twin Aswins

Sapnay - Dreams

जाग उठा हूँ मैं, उस बेदर्द नींद से, जो हमेशा साथ में, कितने सारे सपने ले आती है।
	उन्हीं टूटे सपनों की टीस, अब भी महसूस होती है, उन्ही अनकहे सपनों में ना जाने, किस किस से बात होती है।
इन्हीं सपनों में, सारी ज़िन्दगी उतर आती है, कभी शिखर पे ले जाती है, कभी खाई में पटक जाती है।
	हर सपना मुझे, घाव नया दे जाता है, ज़मीन के नीचे, और नीचे, दफ़न कर जाता है।
सपने सच नहीं होते, यह मैंने सीखा है, पर सपने ना देखूं, यह भी कहाँ हो पाता है।
	सपने मन का आईना हैं, तभी तो मैं सपने देखता हूँ, और हर बार चोट खाने पर, आंसुओं का मलहम रखता हूँ।
जाग तो चूका हूँ मैं, उस बेदरद नींद से, पर फिर से आगोश में लेने को, चले आ रहे हैं, यह कांच के सपने।

Violence from Artificial Intelligence!

Lately I have been consumed in the learning of the concepts and algorithms for Machine Learning – a branch of Artificial Intelligence. While dueling the ideas and algorithms and the magical mathematical notations that allow us to understand the existing patterns and enabling the predictions, a very interesting thought came to observation.

Most of the prediction algorithms required us to understand the test scenarios and then create clusters based on measurable parameters. This information and the clustering algorithm trains the system or in other words develops a stereotype in the minds of the observer. Based on the stereotypes, the observers start observing and then deciphering every observation henceforth.

While the strategy works amazingly well when it comes to innate objects, I see a big trouble in extending the same to the thoughts getting generated in an individual. No thoughts in an individual are discreet and are neither mutually exclusive so that we can apply them to a clustering algorithm. The thought process in an individual behaves both as a continuous as well as discontinuous function based on the variety of factors including the time and the thought itself. It is so very difficult to map it on a graph and mimic a human being.

Extrapolating the individual brain to a group or a whole region, we are looking at a much larger diverse dataset. Applying a clustering algorithm which is the most optimum fitting for the dataset would rather be either overfitting for some and under fitting for others. There shall never be a fully fitting algorithm that works all the time.

Think of the interpersonal interactions we have on a day basis. Every time, we meet a new person, we try to judge them – classify them based on the stereotypes we have developed in our mind. Based on the classification model that our brain reports, our interaction is molded accordingly. Based on this classification, we place the individual in a referential frame with ourselves and then we interpret every conversation and respond accordingly. When talking to a group of people, the same strategy applies.

When dealing with a community, region or a large amount of people a well-oiled administration tries to divide the groups into smaller groups so that it can find commonalities and leave out the rest. What happens to those who would fall partly in multiple groups?

Now the question arises again from an individual’s perspective – what happens when you feel that you are not being heard or you are being misinterpreted? The may even believe that their identity is being destroyed since they are misinterpreted. The notion of being misinterpreted causes emotional imbalance in an individual. The individual (which could be me or even you) starts feeling that they are being shunned. By denying someone their thoughts or ideas or even identity, this is a form of violence – emotional violence. When this individual is again extrapolated to a community or group, the violence feeling is also expanded manifolds. Imagine, when the emotional violence reaches a threshold and starts erupting? It may take forms of physical violence and many other ugly forms?

Administration or grouping or clustering is thus the cause of violence in us. When we can understand this concept, and blame it all on the administration techniques employed by the politicians, leaders and governments, why shouldn’t we question ourselves? We must first demolish the habit of building up stereotypes in our head and be open in our communication.

It is easy to handle the individual’s sense of violence though empathy. However, if it grows as a general thinking, it may be an unstoppable phenomenon.

Artificial Intelligence is great – but it is artificial – no match to your own intelligence.

Janani tum ho mahaan

जननी तुम हो महान,

जीवन उपजे तुमसे ही, 

और सिंचित हो तुमसे ही, 

जननी तुम हो महान। 

हो वह कुसमय,

या हो किसी का कुचक्र,

शेरनी बन करो तुम रक्षा, 

जननी तुम हो महान। 

ममता की छाँव फैलाती हो तुम, 

कभी प्रेम से तो कभी दंड से,

पथ दिखलाती हो तुम, 

जननी तुम हो महान। 

चाहें हो संतान का अभिमान,

या हो परिवार का स्वाभिमान,

स्वयं को त्याग कर सबकी बनती हो आन,

जननी तुम हो महान। 

हमसे होना न रुष्ट कभी, 

हमसे जाना ना दूर कभी, 

तुम्हारे बगैर ना हैं हम सभी, 

जननी तुम हो महान।