[Advaita-l] Advaita-vedanta and Goddess dhUmAvatI

[RAMESH RAMANAN]

Dear Sri Animeshji,
Pranams,

I remember the words Dhooma Marga and Dheepthi Marga in Sri Dattatreya's Avadhuta Gita verse. Does this Goddess dhoomavathi also have something to do with the Dhooma Marga discussed in the Avadhuta Gita? I have not read your report in full, but I am just curious about this comparison. Thanks in advance, Ramesh Ramanan.
 

     On Wednesday, 14 January 2015, 12:22, Animesh via Advaita-l <advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:
   

 SrI mAtre namaH 



Recently I found a good article on  'Advaita-vedanta and Goddess dhUmAvatI ' on internet I'm posting the original article for reading .
At some palaces I found article contradictory with tradition vedanta. I seek comments by  group members.

"
The secret wisdom of the present dark age of Kali resides in the Tantric Goddess Dhumavati and her hidden aspects and forms, as can be discovered in the Rig Veda.

To start with, Dhuma vidya, which means ‘smoke wisdom’, must first be understood. Firstly, Dhuma as smoke relates to Akasha or Space, which is not simply empty but contains the potential of all existence. Space is also the Paramatma, the Supreme Self. The Supreme Self is also Prana or the Breath of Life.The Upanishads (Brihadaranyaka) explain this, and the fundamental keys to understanding the Dhumavidya or Smoke-wisdom:
Smoke is the Clouds (BU.VI.2.10)
Smoke is Fire (BU.VI.2.11)
Smoke is Prana (Breath of Life) (BU.VI.2.12)

The second thing we must note is that Dhumavati equates to the highest state of Anatman (non-ego) or Sunyata (Void) in Buddhism – what non-dual (Advaita) Vedanta in the Hindu school describes as ‘Neti neti’ (not this, not that’ and Nirguna (void of qualities).

It is also interested to note that Jainism and Buddhism also used the Svastika symbol – the Hindu symbol of the Self in their art-work and faiths. The Svastika represents the Sun’s Rays and hence the Supreme Self as the Dhuma or Prana form.

In fact, it is noted in the Upanishads also (BU.VI.2.9), that the rays of the Sun are Smoke! This ties in to these ideas as well, as gives a better understanding or what the higher dhuma or smoke is, in relation to Vedic wisdoms.

Simply, when the Atman (soul) attains the state of the greatest being or Brahman / Mahaprana / Paramatma or whatever we may call it, this is literally the ‘non-ego’ state, since it no longer identifies with the body or the mind.

As the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad states:


"When the person goes away from this world, he comes to the wind. Then the wind makes room for him, like the hole of a carriage wheel, and through it he mounts higher. He comes to the sun. Then the sun makes room for him, like the hole of a Lambara, and through it he mounts higher. He comes to the moon. Then the moon makes room for him, like the hole of a drum, and through it he mounts higher, and arrives at the world where there is no sorrow, no snow. There he dwells for eternal years." (BU.V.10.1)

The myth where Dhumavati ‘eats’ her own consort, Lord Shiva (himself being Atman, Prana or the Conscious Being), is the tale of the Self merging into the highest state of realisation – sunyata, neti net, beyond all form.

She eats him, since the Mother in Vedic times was seen as speech or vak, and hence in the later Tantric tale where she becomes the ‘eater’ (Vedic Aditi), it relates to the organ of speech or the mouth. As also noted above – Dhuma or Smoke is also Fire (Agni) which consumes the sacrifice.

To understand this further, we must point to the Upanishads (BU.V.2.6), where it is stated that the Self is composed of three elements – Speech (vak), Mind (manas) and Breath (Prana). These are the Mother (Speech), Father (Mind) and Breath (Child (verse 7).

Hence, by killing his parents Vritra and goddess Danu (later Dhumavati)  in the ancient tale in the Rig Veda (I.32.8-9) the deity Indra is able to transcend both mind (father) and speech (vak) and therefore merge into his own self-formlessness, known as Prana, which we know as Dhuma (smoke).

By committing such an act of evil or wickedness, Indra in a material or mundane physical sense can be seen as the deity Kali / Nirrita or Goddess Dhumavati. But as we see with Indra, as with Dhumavati, there is a much higher sense relating to Prana and transcending the mind and senses in order to reach such a state.

 

Indra is also a deity of lightening (vidyut), which is born from the clouds, which as above as stated, is also Prana in the form of Dhuma (smoke). 

The teaching here is that we must become the Mother through rising above the senses and all forms of maya or illusion, which in a sense, is Dhumavati in a lower form, as maya or illusion (creation), is the cosmic smoke-screen that obscures our spiritual view and outlook.

So, we must embrace that darker side of smoke through the maya, in order to realise its higher potentials.

That is where we come to the subject of Dhumavati, the Smoke-Wisdom and the dark age of Kali Yuga, our present age which began around 3102BC with Krishna’s disappearance from this earthly dimension."


[ Those who seek more information on goddess dhUmavatI may visit following links . 

1) Dhumavati tantra , Anga vidya and kalpas

http://wp.me/p4M2ms-3m

2) धूमावती महाविद्या

http://wp.me/p4M2ms-1R

3) सौभाग्यदात्री धूमावती कवच

http://wp.me/p4M2ms-2j

4) धूमावती अष्टक 

http://wp.me/p4M2ms-2m

5) Dhumra Ganapati- Ganapati of Dhumavati lore

http://wp.me/p4M2ms-4c

]


Regards
Animesh 



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