|
6. Perfect Timing!
While every minute of every day is ideal for worship,
The Siddhas have specified certain time periods that are particularly suited for the
worship of Lord Sarabesvara, the Great Protector.
These are the Nitya Pradosha Kaalam
and the Raahu Kaalam time periods of each day.
Raahu Kaalam is inauspicious for material activities but ideal for worship.
These time periods on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday
are particularly important for Sarabesvara worship.
Since the Nitya Pradosha Kaalam and Raahu Kaalam time periods coincide on Sunday,
it's of paramount importance that all of us worship Lord Sarabesvara on Sunday during this time period.
Roughly speaking, this time period starts at two hours before sunset and ends one hour after sunset.
While ardent devotees of the Great Protector will worship Him every day,
all others must at the very least dedicate this three hour period for Sarabesvara worship every week.
The Sarabesvara, Ugraha Prathyankira Devi and Narasimha avatars happened during the
Pradosham time period.
The Nitya Pradosham time period on the Thrayodasi
thithi (the thirteenth thithi)
is known as Paksha Pradosham; it occurs once in each
paksham. It's one of the most spiritually potent times
within each paksham (fortnight).
The Sarabesvara, Ugraha Prathyankira Devi and Narasimha avatars must be worshipped
during this time period.
Narasimha Pradosha Pooja.
While it's important to worship Lord Sarabesvara during the Nitya Pradosham time period everyday,
make sure you at least worship Him during the Paksha Pradosham time period every fortnight.
Pradosham worship during Paksha Pradosham is very popular in Siva temples,
but it's very important that we worship Sri Narasimha also during this time period.
There are Narayana temples where this practice is followed
like in the Kaattu Azhagiya Narasimha Temple
near Trichy in south India.
Narasimha Pradosham Worship.
A clean mind in a clean body. Before you start your worship of Lord Sarabesvara,
shower, wear clean clothes and wear the appropriate spiritual mark on your forehead.
You're now ready to glorify Sri Sarabesvara.
7. Kambaharesvara - The Lord in the Pillars
The divine form of Sri Sarabesvara is often found in temple pillars.
Hence He's also known as Kambaharesvara (kambam = pillar).
In the town of Thirubuvanam, near Kumbakonam in the south of India,
there's a special sanctum for Sri Sarabesvara in the Kambaharesvara temple.
Kambaharesvara also means the Lord who destroyed fear (kambam = fear, tremor).
Lord Sarabesvara, the great protector, destroys any trace of fear in His devotees.
The Great Protector manifests His
unimaginable spiritual energy in temple pillars as Kambaharesvara Linga Sakthi.
This process is set in motion by a team of great beings known as the Sikandi Siddhas.
These Siddhas first imbue these pillars with their spiritual presence and in the process
they cleanse these pillars and make it ready for Sri Sarabesvara's entry. They then
request the Great Protector to become present in these pillars for the benefit of those
who visit the temples. The ever merciful Sarabesa agrees with their selfless plea and
manifests His divine energy in these pillars.
This process is known as Sarabesvara Linga Aavaahanam.
Lord Sarabesa showers His blessings on temple visitors from this vantage point.
Worshipping the Sarabesvara form
found in temple pillars is therefore very important, especially on Sunday evenings.
The Sikandi Siddha team is led by Sri Dhandala Maharishi.
The Sikandi Siddhas are part of a class of Siddhas known as Amavasya Siddhas.
The first and foremost peedam (seat) of this entire set of great beings is adorned by
Sri Kavacha Jaloosha, the composer of the extremely potent armour mantra of Sri Sarabesvara.
It's important that we glorify Sri Kavacha Jaloosha and the Sikandi Siddhas during Sarabesvara worship.
8. He's a Rarity!
The unique Sarabesvara form is not that easy to find.
It's not seen in all temples.
Just like a great diamond is not that easily found,
so too is the Sarabesvara form.
One must put in some effort to have a vision of the Great Protector's form.
As said before, there's a special shrine for Lord Sarabesvara in the Thirubhuvanam Kambahareswara temple.
The Siddhas speak volumes about the spiritual potency of this shrine.
The Sarabesvara of Thirubuvanam is a deena dayaala moorthi, He who pardons the sinners.
He destroys bad habits, evil tendencies and incurable addictions.
He transforms liars, thieves, addicts, rogues, lechers and violent ones into model citizens.
The Sarabesvara form can be also be seen in
Thaaraasuram near Kumbakonam, Kaaraikudi, Maadambaakkam near Madras,
Koyambedu near Madras, Thirisoolam near Madras, Arunachala, Madurai, Chidambaram amongst other places.
The Siddhas say that celebrating Paksha Pradosham in those temples where the Sarabesvara
form is found is very very effective.
If Paksha Pradosham were to fall on a Sunday, it's that much more potent!
Use the Agasthiar Panchaangam (spiritual calendar)
to identify those Paksha Pradosham days that fall on a Sunday. On these days, celebrate Pradosham
in a temple where the Sarabesa form is present.
This is a simple Siddha prescription for making rapid spiritual progress.
To go from place A to place B, you can walk, run, ride a bus, take a cab, drive and so on.
In spirituality, following a Siddha prescription is like riding a supersonic jet towards
the ultimate goal of seeing God, knowing God and merging with God.
Follow the Siddha prescriptions and achieve rapid spiritual progress.
9. The Sarabesvara Dance Gait
As the saying goes, one bad apple can spoil the entire barrel.
Likewise, the demon Hiranyakasipu's evil inspired many others to embrace the path of evil too.
It's hard to stay true to the path of virtue, but it's easy to embrace the path of vice.
And so did a lot of souls, following Hiranyakasipu's lead.
As a result of this, the universe suffered and decayed.
Because of Hiranyakasipu, there was asura sakthi (the force of evil) everywhere.
This disturbed and confused even the virtuous ones; they had to
spend their positive energy acquired through a lot of spiritual hardwork
to counteract these evil forces.
But common folk don't have this power and hence they fell into evil ways.
They got dislodged from the path of righteousness and virtue.
It was at this stage that the great Lord Narasimha decided to rif the universe of this force of evil.
As we mentioned earlier, He assumed the frightening Man lion form and destroyed the demon.
The entire universe trembled at the aggressive energy projected by Sri Narasimha.
To combat the evil effects of Hiranyakasipu's reign of terror and the consequent decadence of the universe,
Sri Narasimha decided to destroy the evil forces wherever they had taken hold.
So the great Lord danced in anger in all parts of the universe where evil had taken root.
He sought out every one of these locations throughout the universe
and destroyed the accumulation of asura sakthi through His wrathful dance;
the very touch of His lotus feet destroyed evil!
His bare footed dance physically consumed the evil.
Lands that had been entrenched in evil for centuries were restored to their pristine purity
the moment Sri Narasimha set foot on them.
The positive energy generated by the spiritual hard work
of thousands of rishis and Siddhas over thousands of years alone can deal with this kind of evil,
but Sri Narasimha destroyed this evil in moments because of His divine potencies.
This act of Sri Narasimha also illustrates the importance of selfless service
in a world that's becoming more and more selfish with every passing day.
The blaze of Sri Narasimha's positivism destroyed Hiranyakasipu's blaze of evil.
Nonetheless, it was still a blaze and none could withstand its all consuming power.
Narasimha's radiance was like the brilliance of a billion suns.
Who can withstand this brilliance?
The fire of pristine purity and ultimate knowledge?
No one could and hence they petitioned Sri Siva for help.
As we mentioned before, Sri Siva manifested the Sarabesvara form and
in what was a most unique gait, placed His bare feet exactly
on top of every one of Sri Narasimha's footprints, absorbed the intense heat (ugra sakthi)
of Sri Narasimha into Himself and restored equilibrium everywhere.
These particular spots are unique because they have been touched by the feet of both Hari and Hara!
They are replete with Sarabesa sakthi, His divine energy.
And this unique gait of the Lord is known as Saaluvesa nadana gathi, the Sarabesvara dance gait.
To remember this act of compassion and to show our gratitude to the Great Protector,
we must walk bare foot to the temple for Sarabesa worship.
Click here for the next part...
Part 1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6
| 
