[Advaita-l] Vedic Symbolism - a cryptic language??

[D.V.N.Sarma డి.వి.ఎన్.శర్మ]

Vaiaakaranis interpret this as describing sabda brahma.

regards,
Sarma.

On Fri, Mar 4, 2011 at 10:55 AM, Venkata sriram P
<venkatasriramp at yahoo.in>wrote:

> Dear Krish,
>
>
> The sastra adopts 3 types of languages.  They are: samAdhi bhASha, laukikI
> and
> parakIya bhASha.
>
> samAdhi bhASha:  The state the experience which is beyond the perception of
> our senses, this language is adopted which involves description of
> “viruddha lakShaNa”
> and negation of the same “niShedha paddhati”.   The Vedanta adopts this
> method.
>
> laukikI bhASha:  To express the hidden secrets of the sAstra, laukika
> driShTAntAs (which is called symbolic interpretation) are adopted.
> These symbolic representations unravel the “hidden mysteries”
> behind the examples.
>
> parakIya bhASha:  There are certain symbolisms and the description of those
> are seems to be quite opposite and unnatural to the normal public like us.
> This is the beauty adopted by our ancient sages.  To express the “innermost
> hidden secrets”,
> the sages codify the languages and hand down a sort of crossword puzzle /
> jigsaw puzzle / sudoko to us.
>
> The methodology adopted to understand this cryptic language is only through
> upAsana.
> And the technical term for this methodology is tantra.   The mimAmsa sUtrAs
> are plenty in
> number that has adopted this tantra paddhati.   The basic foundation of
> karma kANDa
> lies on this “parakIya bhASha.  See below:
>
> “chatvArishringA trayO(a)sya pAdA dvEshIrShE saptahastA sO asya
> tridhA baddhO vriShabhO rOravIti mahO dEvOmartyAgaM AvivEsha //
>
> This the famous rk from Rg Veda that describes a Bull with 4 horns; 3 feet;
> 2 heads; 7 hands.
> This bull is tied at 3 different places.
>
> Can we ever imagine this strange animal to be ever present?  Certainly not.
>
>
> But the entire vedic concept is squeezed in this rik.  yajnA is vriShabha
> that bestows 4 purusharthas; For this yajna rupa vrishabha, there are 4
> ritviks (hota, adhvarya, udgata, brahma) that are symbolically represented
> as 4 horns; the 3 feet represent 3 vedas; 2 heads represent the yajamAna and
> his wife; 7 hands represent 7 chandas of veda (gayatri, ushnik, pankti,
> anushtup, trishtup, jagati, brihati); 3 different places indicate 3 savanas
> (prAtaH, madhyAna, sayam).
>
> Now, why vriShabhA is contemplated to be yajna; ritviks to be its horns; 3
> vedas to be its feet; yajamana & his dharma patni to be its head; chandas to
> be its hands is altogether a different concept and probably we will discuss
> them later.
>
> This same rk is also interpreted in describing Agnihotra & Aditya.
>
> Even puranas & kavyas also adopt this “parakIya paddhati”.  Take for
> instance, the Ramayana.  Lord Hanuman belonged to “vAnara” who is an
> animal.  But if you study Ramayana, Hanuman is said to be foremost among
> jnanis who mastered 3 vedas, 9 grammers.  How can this be possible?  The
> monkey is less evolved when compared to humans in terms of intellect etc.
> There lies the beauty of “vAlmiki hridaya”.   And hence, he was a Rishi.
>
> So, the tantra paddhatis has a characteristic of having inter-woven thought
> processes.  Just as the
> cloth is woven using the threads, tantra has the inter-woven concept of
> “parakIya bhASha” whose objective is to maintain *secrecy* or *guptatva* or
> *rahasya*. There is a rk in veda which says "paroksha priya hi deva,
> pratyaksha dvishah" which means that "Gods prefer what is Secret and dislike
> what is obvious". So, it is this "secrecy" or "gUdhatva" that has to be
> unraveled.
>
> The "secrecy" or "rahasya" has been maintained in Tantra in 6 different
> ways. They are:
>
> 1) Names of Gods (devata nama) 2) Ayudhas of Devatha (weapons of the deity)
> 3)
> Vehicles (vahana) of Devata 4) Devata murthi (sthula) (forms of devata) 5)
> Mantra Uddhara and Varna Sankhya of the Devata (number of letters and
> syllables
> in the mantra of the devata) 6) Twisting and jumbling of Devata Name
> (sometimes the names of Gods are jumbled).
>
>
> All the vehicles (vAhanAs) that we read with respect to our vedic deities
> have the rahasyArthAs that unravel the mysteries of devata tattva whether it
> is sthUla, sUkShma or para.
>
> When time permits, I would explain these 6 aspects of rahasyAs in tantra
> shAstra and how it is related to our sruti.
>
> With regs,
> Sriram
>
>
>
>
>
>
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