Swaminatha - the real meaning!

Hello all,

Namaste! Hope all of you had a fantastic week where you captured your own Karthikeya (The inner leader), for your own life. I am happy to say my fingers have almost healed with a little bit more to heal. I am totally Thankful, the fingers didn't come off, otherwise, I would have had to rethink my blogging strategies. Anyway, every energy or experience comes into our life to teach or make us aware of some lessons. Maybe I needed to give some rest to my fingers from my constant typing of Quora answers. It would definitely have served a purpose.

Dakshinamoorthy: Last week, we discussed Karthikeya-our inner leader. The same Karthikeya has another name in Hindu mythology, Swaminatha. Let us discuss the real meaning underneath this name. In Hindu stories the God of death and dissolution, Shiva has another role to play as well. He is also considered the Aadiguru (The first teacher) in another form called Dakshinamoorthy.

He is considered as the teacher who sits under a Banyan tree imparting knowledge to other Gods and sages about the wisdom of the Universe itself. The Universe has many hidden mysteries and lessons even the Gods and sages find difficult to relate to or understand. So at that time, other Gods and sages approach Dakshinamoorthy (or Shiva) to make sense of some of the doubts that come up in their mind.

Wisdom, bubbles, water, Soul, mind, conscious, subconscious, intellect, Sun, light, knowledge, attitude, effort, analysis, deep, recess, Moon, ideas, thoughts, creativity, creation, Brahman, Universe, purpose, words, power, desires, intentions, resolutions, butterfly, stars,way, heart, follow, brilliance,boat, ocean, life, direction, map, radar, Survivin, cancer, protein, stress, chaos, peace,oak, acorn, wisdom, Anahata, heart, space, mind, clutter, peace, awareness, Maya, commitment, colors, creativity, mythology, myth
Dakshinamoorthy-The first teacher in Hindusim (Adiguru)!
Rammohan65 [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)]

So, here Shiva knows all the deep secrets of the Universe. He is considered the Swami (the Easwara or the highest God of wisdom) of the Universe. Now, Karthikeya is his son. His other name is Swaminatha or in other words 'Swami- God of wisdom', Natha- Lord or Lord to the God of wisdom, or Lord of Dakshinamoorthy itself. How did that come about? How did the son become the lord of the father? As we have discussed before, mythological stories many times would look very weird and strange at first sight. But the hidden deeper meanings only come to life when we think and contemplate on it.

Swaminatha: Before proceeding with the analysis, let us look at the story itself. This story I am narrating as per the Wikipedia page on Swaminatha. Once Brahma, God of creation came to visit Mount Kailash, the abode of Shiva. There he met Karthikeya, son of Shiva. Somehow Karthikeya got angry with Brahma and asked him to what is his duty? Brahma said he was the creator and he creates everything as per Vedas. Then, Karthikeya asked to recite the Vedas and Brahma narrated. When Brahma reached the word 'Aum' (the root mantra called Pranava), Karthikeya asked to explain the meaning of Aum.

Unfortunately, Brahma was not able to give the correct meaning of Aum. Then Karthikeya (remember, he is the inner leader, so firebrand power) became angry and imprisoned Brahma. Now, as Brahma was the God of creation, creation came to a standstill. The Devas (celestial beings) and other Gods became upset and went to see the God of preservation, Vishnu. Vishnu could not convince Karthikeya. So, he had to come to Shiva, the father and ask for help. Now, Shiva went and talked to Karthikeya.

Then Karthikeya said Brahma even being the creator didn't know the meaning of Aum. Then Shiva asked Karthikeya to explain the meaning. Karthikeya said, as he would be explaining, he becomes the teacher and Shiva was supposed to sit near the leg of Karthikeya and listen carefully to the meaning of Aum. Shiva now being the student, obliged and even being the 'Adiguru' sat at the leg of Karthikeya and listened to the deep meaning of Aum. This shows, we should have the attitude of a student, from wherever it might be, the knowledge is coming.

Impressed by the way Karthikeya explained the meaning to Shiva, who himself is considered the 'Swami'- God of the Universe, Shiva gave Karthikeya the name, 'Swaminatha- Lord to the God of the Universe'. Thus Karthikeya began to be known as 'Swaminathaswamy' and has a temple for him at a place called 'Swamimalai' in the state of Tamilnadu in India. So, this is the mythological story. Now, what I am writing is my interpretation. There can be a thousand other interpretations according to others.

Who is Dakshinamoorthy? Now, who is really Dakshinamoorthy? We discussed him as the Adiguru- the first teacher. But from a human being's perspective, who is he? Who is eternally knowledgeable about all the ancient secrets that become hidden within its folds. Our Souls. Every one of our Souls has gone through thousands or millions of iterations of lifetimes. We may have no idea about the subconscious knowledge we may be carrying. 

So, in that sense of knowledge for our own life who becomes the Adiguru? Our own Soul or the inner core being who is able to lead us perfectly to our path or destiny. Now, it is not the fault of the Soul that we don't believe ourselves or we don't have inner trust. That is not the Soul's fault. That is the fault of the mind who becomes enraptured in the Grand illusion (Maya) of this world. So, already each one of us has our own inner Dakshinamoorthy, the speck of Brahman or the inner brilliance of the divine.

Wisdom, bubbles, water, Soul, mind, conscious, subconscious, intellect, Sun, light, knowledge, attitude, effort, analysis, deep, recess, Moon, ideas, thoughts, creativity, creation, Brahman, Universe, purpose, words, power, desires, intentions, resolutions, butterfly, stars,way, heart, follow, brilliance,boat, ocean, life, direction, map, radar, Survivin, cancer, protein, stress, chaos, peace,oak, acorn, wisdom, Anahata, heart, space, mind, clutter, peace, awareness, Maya, commitment, colors, creativity, mythology, myth
The brilliant wisdom of the Soul (Dakshinamoorthy)!
Image credits - Pixabay.com


But many times as a being are we aware? No, we are not aware of our deep inborn talents, the way we are supposed to use it, or how capturing it can pave our own authentic path. Being in a society, we are conditioned very thoroughly to look outside of ourselves to leaders, teachers, and mentors, whom we consider know much more than ourselves.

Yes, they do know a lot. But doesn't our Soul know exactly what our deep inner wants are? It has been with us the second we took our first breath and has been there guiding us through our own inner intuition. The Dakshinamoorthy, the first Guru, who has come to existence even before our own parents came into the picture. They came into the picture physically only after nine or ten months. But our Soul was there even before our own body came into existence. 

But many times we never realize this fact even in the golden years of our life. We go about life looking for guidance everywhere, outside, never to look within. Yes, I also have done that. I have in 2005-2013 gone to many Professors and mentors to tackle the problem of what career should I pursue, how should I try to spend the rest of my life. Did it work for me? Unfortunately, no. But, I did try my heart out.

So, each of us is born with our own Dakshinamoorthy, eternally wise, always ready to guide us, waiting patiently for the day we would turn inward to ask the deep questions regarding life, living, and everything associated with it. But then, where do we have the time? We have to be bedazzled with  Maya isn't? What Soul? Who Dakshinamoorthy??

Who is searching for Dakshinamoorthy? Last week we discussed who Karthikeya is. He is our inner leader who helps us to capture our life in the truest of the sense. He is our mind, the strategist, who has the courage to take the best possible path for ourselves keeping in mind our inner talents, passions, and interests. But here there is a problem. Can we see that?

Karthikeya, the mind is ready to take the challenge of the path, to find the best version of ourselves for our own life. But then, what is the path? Is there a path? Is there even a meaning to our life? Why were we even born? Have there been any clues that lead to our true Dharma? Our true purpose? This is the problem, being in the stage of Karthikeya.

We have absolutely no awareness, who we are, what are our true interests and how to capture it. When we even don't know who we are, how can we even know our path? For example, a potter who knows he is a potter can buy a wheel (okay, old times, not the machine made pots ;-))), get the correct clay, make a kiln and make beautiful pots. If he/she doesn't know they are a potter, how can they make the pots?

Same way, think you are a writer. Let us take the case of J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter fame). If she hadn't known she was a writer, she would have never touched her computer, pen or paper. The creativity would have just stayed locked inside her. The same way we need to know who we are from our truest of the true core. Now, how can we know it? Not that easy.

Karthikeya as the mind has in it reaches the access to the brilliant mind, Karthikeya itself. But the mind has to remove all the unwanted thoughts and has to use the same mind to think about itself and the awareness behind it. We have already come to the conclusion the awareness/ consciousness/ Soul or the divine wisdom sitting inside us is Dakshinamoorthy.

I know it is getting difficult and difficult. I do understand the concept. But I have to write it in such a way, you the reader can grasp it. Hahaha! The waywardness of Philosophy. So, back to the concept.

The brilliant mind, Karthikeya is there. The ancient wisdom of the Soul, Dakshinamoorthy is there. In this stage Karthikeya the mind has no awareness of Dakshinamoorthy, the brilliant wisdom of the Soul. The only way the mind can know the awareness of its own true nature or the nature of the Soul is by thinking about itself and the awareness behind it using itself. Something like a RAM (Random access memory), which has a connection problem with the motherboard, using its own power of memory, that is damaged or not fully functional by virtue of not having a connection to the motherboard, is fixing the problem to access the motherboard. 

Wisdom, bubbles, water, Soul, mind, conscious, subconscious, intellect, Sun, light, knowledge, attitude, effort, analysis, deep, recess, Moon, ideas, thoughts, creativity, creation, Brahman, Universe, purpose, words, power, desires, intentions, resolutions, butterfly, stars,way, heart, follow, brilliance,boat, ocean, life, direction, map, radar, Survivin, cancer, protein, stress, chaos, peace,oak, acorn, wisdom, Anahata, heart, space, mind, clutter, peace, awareness, Maya, commitment, colors, creativity, mythology, myth
The quest of the mind!
Image credits - Pixabay.com

See the circular argument here. Totally mind-boggling. The mind which is not aware of itself or the consciousness behind it has to use the same mind to know about itself as well as the consciousness behind it using the tools at its disposal from a non-aware state. Hope it made sense now. This is the best way I am able to put it. 

So, every time we go within, first we have to deal with this block of the mind where it has no awareness. Every single time this block comes up as the mind has no connection to the Soul. Karthikeya not knowing about Dakshinamoorthy. It comes up again and again and again. Have I dealt with it? Yes, from 2014-2017. The minute we try to figure out who we truly are, this huge mental block of the non-connection comes to the forefront.

We go within, face this mental block and crash our head on the block again, and again, and again. We as a being become so tired, so absolutely mentally tired. Total mental breakdown. But we have done so much of internal work by now, we don't want to give up. We, again and again, go crash our head on the block, become tired, turn away for one week. Then we again come back. This happens again and again and again. 

Yes, it is pure mental misery. We are so tired, we want to give up and we also don't want to give up, at the same time. This goes on for a pretty long time. Some people may even give up due to the pure mental torture. I did it for around two years. Only thing, no other Soul knew it. The human being becomes so tired, finally, what does the person do?

Who is Swaminatha? The human being is so tired, so mentally tired, the person totally surrenders to the Universal wisdom, that, "No, I just don't know the answer". The mind is so tired about itself, the minute it surrenders, it is taken out of the picture. Now that, the mind or the ego has been totally humiliated or humbled, the divine wisdom shines its brilliant light. Dakshinamoorthy or ancient wisdom comes fully into the picture.

It takes charge of the human being who has become literally mindless. Now, through an epiphany, a thought bubbling up, pure intuition, through dreams or even a random comment they are made aware of who they are. It can come in any form or way. The ways of the divine are numerous and different. For me, it came as a question, "Have you ever considered your spiritual gifts?"

The mind becomes aware of the consciousness behind it. It has a solid connection to the motherboard of total awareness. The key to their own path has been provided. The person has to think more about the key that has been provided and make sense of it more and more. That only the mind can do. 

The Soul can do nothing about it. It is a Soul. The thoughts, analysis, planning, goals, and later the actions are the forte of the mind and the body. So, now the task is solidly upon the person or the mind to pursue the information that has been provided. They have to take this information and decide whether to use it for themselves and their life. It is a free will choice.

Wisdom, bubbles, water, Soul, mind, conscious, subconscious, intellect, Sun, light, knowledge, attitude, effort, analysis, deep, recess, Moon, ideas, thoughts, creativity, creation, Brahman, Universe, purpose, words, power, desires, intentions, resolutions, butterfly, stars,way, heart, follow, brilliance,boat, ocean, life, direction, map, radar, Survivin, cancer, protein, stress, chaos, peace,oak, acorn, wisdom, Anahata, heart, space, mind, clutter, peace, awareness, Maya, commitment, colors, creativity, mythology, myth
Karthikeya with peacock. The spear called Shakthi 
(focus of the mind) can be seen!
Image credits - See page for author [Public domain, Wikimedia Commons]

The mind which has become aware of the consciousness behind it and is able to inform the consciousness about itself, who it is and the true nature of the consciousness itself is Swaminatha. The mind, which knows about itself and has done enough analysis to make sense of it, and also knows the consciousness behind it, aware of it, and its true nature is able to inform the awareness itself who they are. 

So, here the mind is able to inform the Universal intelligence (a.k.a. Dakshinamoorthy) about Universal intelligence (Dakshinamoorthy) itself. Thus the mind, which knows about the awareness behind it, its truest nature, and is able to give that information to the awareness itself is Swaminatha-the Lord of the Swami (Universal intelligence itself) from a Soul's perspective. Thus the mind gets transformed to Swaminatha from Karthikeya.(Hope I was able to convey the real concept across. I have tried my very best way.)

So, now to the question. Is it better to be Karthikeya or Swaminatha? Are we trying to find our own inner Swaminatha? Once we find it, what are we going to do about it?

I wish you a good weekend and I'll see you next Friday!😉 

Next week: The Peacock -The ego!

Credits: Images and links from Wikimedia Commons and Pixabay.com

Ralph Waldo Emerson writes, "There is a time in every man's education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance ; that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better for worse as his portion that though the wide universe is full of good, no kernel of nourishing corn can come to him but through his toil bestowed on that plot of ground which is given to him to till. The power which resides in him is new in nature, and none but he knows what that is which he can do, nor does he know until he has tried".  

 
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