[Advaita-l] Jyotirlinga swarupa

[Venkata sriram P]

Dear Jaladhar,
 

vArANasyAM sphurati yadidaM dEvatA(a)vimuktaM
shaivaM jyOtiH sakala bhuvanA(a)lOkanA(a)darsabhUtaM
kritvA tasmin pramahasi vadE kShetrasanyAsayOgaM
tvayyEkatvaM vrajati puruSha stEjasIva pradIpaH 
 
O Mahadeva ! the Siva Jyoti at Varanasi is called avimukta.   Whoever contemplates this avimukta jyoti as the great mass of light that encompasses earth & heaven, to such upasaka, the entire universe (vishwa) is reflected in this light.  In such a place where sports the avimukta jyoti, if the upasaka undergoes “kshetra sanyasa yoga”,  the upasaka assumes the jyoti-swarupa and merges with avimukta siva jyoti.  
 
yatpratyakShaM sakalabhuvanAscharyabhUtaM vibhAti
jyOtirlingaM kanakakapishaM srIgirau vyOmna divyaM
tatpashyataH siva ! sukrutinaH kritta saMsAra bandhA
stvatkAruNyA cchira gaNa vada prApti bhAjO bhavanti
 
Srigiri Mallikarujna (Srisaila) shines as the mahAjyotirlinga swarupa in the form of molten golden yellow colour.   The upAsakas can see it as a mass of light in the sky. Whoever with contemplation envisions this golden pillar of light at Srisailam, gets bondage and merges with Siva Jyoti.  
 
Few slokas before this and after these couple of verses describe the Maha Jyoti of Mahakala Swarupa that dissolves the kAla-traya and helps the upAsaka in tripuTi-bhEdana and manOlaya is the mahAkAla jyOtiH.  
 
Jagatguru vishwArAdhya wrote a wonderful gloss on this halAyudha stavaH and brings out certain subtle upAsana rahasyAs adopted by the great yogi halAyudha.   The author of HalAyudha Stotra happens to be from Karnataka kshetra in general and Hossur, in particular. The stotra is engraved on the temple walls of the mahAkAla kShetra called Ujjain and the date of composition mentioned on the temple wall is  10th century.
 
Going by the lines of 41st & 42nd slokas of “halAyudha stavaH”, the author even though an aghOra siva mantra siddha, had attained great spiritual heights in “akShi puruSha vidyA” and “dahara vidyA”.  
 
The sloka :
 
bhAsvat jyotiH kiraNa maruNaM dakShiNE-akNi-sthitaM tvAM
yE vIkShantE puruSha maditaM khyAta mAditya mUrtiM 
tE sarvatrA(a)pratihatadrishaH sUryaparyantalOkaM
vashyaM tyagrE karatala luTha tkanduka spaShTa rUpaM 
 
yE tvAM shambhOH hridayabhAvanAMbhOruhAbhyantarasthaM
jnAnajyOti stadupari lasa drvIhishUkAgrasUkShmaM
udvikShantE dhriDhataralayaM tE vyupAdhi praNAshAt
tvaiEkatvaM nabhasi kalashA kAshava nnirvishanti 
 
The first sloka describes the method of Akshi Purusha Vidya and the second sloka describes the Dahara Vidya.  The famous Upanishad vakya “aditya schakShurbhUtvA(a)kShINi pravishat” and the famous Chandogya Sruti vakya of the contemplation of “hiranmaya-bindu” in the Right Iris of the Eye has been reiterated in the first sloka and in the 2nd one, the parama vyoma in the form of “daharAkAsa” and “chidagni” swarupa lakShaNa are described.  
 
The words of great siddhapurusha in the entire hymn reverberates with this concept of Jyotirvidya and mentions only avimukta, mallikarjuna and mahakala tattvas and describe them to be Jyotirlinga swarupas.  
 


BTW, it is also interesting to note that one of the temple walls in Mahakala Temple of Ujjain engraves the list of 90 Jyotirlingas across India. But unfortunately, the script was not clear and hence couldn’t decipher the names.  
 
So, that doesn't mean that rest of the 9 jyotilingas are secondary and the importance has been devalued.   Every sthala purana has got its own importance and we have to respect the sampradAya that has been carried down to us by our guru parampara.  But in due course of the sampradAya-pravAha,  certain concepts got diluted / incorporated.   
 
So, utlimately faith matters. 
 
Wish you all a happy Sivaratri.  
 
Regs,
Sriram