Invoking Divinity Before Rudram

I am giving a brief recap of what we have discussed about the Rurdram so far. Shri Rudram is a Vedic hymn dedicated to Ishvara in the form of Lord Shiva. This ‘order’ in which the universe is manifested, harmoniously exists is called as the Lord of the Universe or Ishvara. Recognizing this order and relating to Isvara by not rubbing against the order is the Vedic / Yogic way of life. The Veda gives us five different types of Yagnasto connect with Ishvara. Shri Rudram can be used as a Deva Yagna for connecting with Ishvara. The Dhyana Slokas of the Rudram visualize the lord as 1) a person 2) Universal form 3) Absolute Reality. Before chanting Shri Rudram, we purify the body by invoking various deities at our different parts of the body through a process called nyasam. Laghynaysam is a simplified form of nyasam.

The process of invoking the Divinity in us is to ensure that the various parts of my body be pure , guarded , governed and controlled by divine forces. The devotee requests that he should act with an awareness of divinity in his body. As part of the invocation, the various Gods from the Hindu pantheon are requested to come and reside in the body. I am giving below only some of the names of the Gods which are listed in the invocation.

• Let Brahma be in parts of creation - Creativity 
• Let Vishnu be in my feet - Standing on our own feet 
• Let Hara be in my hand – Remove sorrows 
• Let Indra be in my shoulders – Face the situations
• Let Agni be in stomach - Digestion 
• Let Lord Shiva be in my heart - Purity 
• Let Vasu be in my neck - Connect with nature 
• Let Goddess Sarawathi be in my mouth – Purity of speech
• Let Vayu be in my nose – proper breathing 
• Let Sun and Moon be in my eyes – Proper vision 
• Let Aswini devas be in my ears – good health 
• Let Rudras be in my forehead – control of sense organs & mind
• Let Adhityas be in the front portion of my head – Clarity 
• Let Mahadeva be in the center of my head – Complete control of the body, mind 
• Let Vamadeva be in my tuft – over all protection 
• Let Pinaki be at the back of my head - Fight negative tendencies 

It may come as a shock to the non-Hindu and also to the "rational" non-believing Hindu as to why there are so many Gods in Hinduism and it is also a main point of ridicule of the religion. However, the criticism is not based on the underlying principles of the multiple Gods. Hinduism, just like any religion which has unraveled the truth is firm in its conviction of a Universal power or God. But what makes each of us unable to realize this universality is because of our individuality or ego. Anytime the ego is suppressed, we are nearest to the realization of universality. If we reflect and say, when are we happiest, it is obvious that we are happiest in deep sleep. At this stage, it does not matter whether we are rich or poor, manager or a peon etc. This happens because, ego is suppressed in deep sleep taking us closest to divinity. That said, it is obvious that any practice which enables us to forget our ego and acknowledge a higher power, brings us closer to the universal divinity and accompanying it is increasing bliss. So the ancient Indian teachers inculcated the principle of God in everything. For them, the tree was a God, the animal was a God, Nature was a God. The idea was that, when any of these encountered, we human beings full of ego, would be able to briefly acknowledge a supreme God and thus reduce our ego.  

Let us look at another argument why humans need multiple Gods. Assume you go to a shop to buy clothes and the only thing available is of color pink. Trouser, shirt, saree, anything, the only color is pink. Next you go to a restaurant and the only thing available is bread. How would life be if variety was not there? Similarly, each of us as humans get emotionally linked to some concept of God and there is no way, that the emotional connect will be same for everyone. Someone may worship a stone as God, another may worship an animal and so on. The point of religion is to allow humans the ability to select any form of divinity as a hook or a means to think of a universal power and reduce their own ego state. 

So, as part of the invocation of the Lord into our body, the prayer asks various Gods to be positioned in various parts of the body. What is the significance of this? If I invoke the Goddess Saraswathi, the god of knowledge to reside on my tongue, there is an invisible emotional gate which prevents me from talking bad when I have the Goddess on my tongue. Similarly, if I invoke the God in various parts of my body, the idea is that in the presence of God, I will not be tempted to do or think anything negative, thus leading to a temporary purification of oneself before chanting the Rudram.

Conclusion

The whole purpose of the Rudram is to enable us to achieve Divinity. Before the chanting of the Rudram, it is necessary to purify the mind so as to focus on the divine thoughts. Hence in the invocation, the student invoks various Gods to come and reside in his body as a symbol of purity. 

Meditation To Cleanse The Mind

In my earlier posts, I have given an introduction to the Rudram and an introduction to the concept of Ishwara. 

The Veda gives us five different types of Yagnas to connect with Ishwara; 

1. Manushya Yagna : Loving and supporting other human beings
2. BhutaYagna: Supporting the nature and other living beings 
3. Pitru Yagna : a. Love and support for family Pitru Yagna  b. Remembering and being grateful to ancestors
4. DevaYagna : a. Surrendering to GOD / Higher Cause b. Propitiating our own body and mind c. Prayers and all spiritual / religious practices
5. BhrahmaYagna: Study and propagation of the scriptures

Shri Rudram can be used as a means for performing Deva Yagna and BhrahmaYagna. 

Imagine we are going on a road trip from the East coast of USA to the West coast. One of the key things we would do is to ensure that the engine is working well and the fuel/oil is clean. In the same way, before starting on the study of the Rudram as a Yagna to connect with Ishwara, it is essential to clear our mind of impurities. If we look at our basic structure, we have a gross physical body, a mind, a intellect and the driving chaitanya or soul. Let us focus on the mind. 

The mind is a seat of emotions. Its very nature is that it is wavering. If I were to tell you right now, not to think of a monkey sitting on a tree, your mind surely is thinking of it. It is something that is seemingly not in our control and accumulates various emotions like jealousy, anger, greed, love, etc. These are what are the impurities of the mind. They are called impurities because they cause turbulence in the mind and prevent it from focusing. Hence if we are beginning the Rudra Yagna, our mind has to be purified to ensure we can focus on the Rudram. The preparation before embarking on the Rudram is known as nyasam.

Basically, as a preparation, we are doing the invocation of the deity in our body. When we worship we should also be as pure as the Lord . We purify the body by invoking various deities at various parts of the body. Nyasas include:

▪ Mahaanyasah – Larger invocation 

▪ Laghunyasam – Lighter invocation 

There is a meditation verse even for Naysam, which is the Dhyana shloka. Meditation is to be done to realize the essential unity of myself with the Supreme. One is advised to seek out a calm lonely place and select a fixed time every day to do meditation. There are several techniques suggested for meditation. Some of them are as follows:

a.Taking an image of a favorite God or angel or spiritual teacher and try to focus thoughts on that
b. Focusing on one's own shadow in the mind
c. Focusing on one 's own image as though in a movie
d. Focusing on a word or "shloka"
e. Focusing on one's own heartbeat
f. Focusing on one's own breath

There is no single technique that can be good for everyone. Readers are encouraged to try any of these and see what works best for them. During initial phase of meditation, it is almost impossible to focus the mind. The nature of the mind is to wander and create thoughts. So a practitioner can become disillusioned about the absolute lack of progress.  But this is very normal. The best strategy is to let the mind wander, but try to be aware that the mind is wandering and slowly bring the mind back to focus. The strategy is to be aware of such thoughts as they arise and observe them as they pass through the self. The idea is to be non-judgmental and just observe the thought as a third person.

The Dhayana Slokas of Rudram describe Lord Shiva in three different ways: 

1. Lord as a person ; with hands & legs, ornaments, weapons, vehicle etc. (Eka roopa) 
2. Lord as total creation endowed with all the forms of creation (Viswa roopa) 
3. Lord as formless, attributeless; the Absolute Reality (Aroopa)

For a beginner in meditation, when it is difficult to control the mind, there is the need for a hook to attach the mind to. This could be any thing that a practioner wants to focus on. It could be  light source, an image etc. Here, the Dhyana shloka describes Shiva as a person and provides the ability to visualize Lord Shiva in a human form and meditate on that image. If we ask the purpose of this, the idea is that in focusing the mind on the image, other impure thoughts will not enter the mind. There is a detailed description of the physical form in the Dhyana shloka, which I will not be covering. Just as an example, the Lord is looked upon as an individual as pure as as a crystal. He has three eyes with the third eye representing knowledge. He has five heads which symbolize the following: 

1. Sadyojāta –Will power, Creative force associated with manipooraka chakra 

2. Vamadeva – Shakthi & beauty, associated with Anahat chakra 

3. Aghora – Power of knowledge, Svadishthana chakra 

4. Tatpurusha –Absolute Reality, MuladharaChakra, 

5. Ishana – Individual consciousness, Vishuddha chakra

My humble suggestion to readers is that at this stage of mediation, they should not try to focus on the symbolism, but just the image. 

Over a period of time, with regular practice, when the mind is fairly under control, it is worthwhile to step up to meditate on Ishwara  as total creation endowed with all the forms of creation (Viswa roopa).  In this form, Ishwara is  Eternal, which implies a concept beyond Time & Space. He is Changeless which implies that Changes with respect to time is zero. He is Pure. There is no movement, no distraction and no decay. In the next stage of meditation, the Lord is seen as  formless, attribute less and as the Absolute Reality (Aroopa). The entire universe is nothing but a manifestation of the Lord . HE is the form of whole universe and pervades the whole universe. 

Conclusion 

Before starting on the actual Rudram, the reader is advised to cleanse his mind through meditating on the concept of Ishwara in 3 different planes. Meditation prepares the mind for the journey of the Rudram study by:

1. A sense of discipline: Just as a regular physical exercise is a discipline that keeps the body fit in the long run, meditating regularly is a discipline that enables one to keep the mind fit for the long run.
2. A sense of calmness : All the while we are focusing our mind outwards and getting frustrated in the illusory world.Meditation turns the mind inwards generating a sense of calm.
3. A sense of positiveness : During meditation,if thought is of all positive things coming in as I inhale and all negative things going out as I exhale, there is a feeling of positiveness