Me My Shiv and the month of Kartik

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Posted: 6 years ago

Chidananda Rupa Sivoham Sivoham

The melody and devotion in the voice vied with each other. It still is too dark with only silence enveloping  the surroundings.. I washed my face and reached the place where I would meet the owner of the voice..my grand mother. 

I was Eight year old who doted on my grand mother for various reasons. 

Firstly I loved the stories she will tell in between her prayers ,secondly I along with my brother relished the butter she would offer us to eat while churning the curd.

By the time me and my brother reached there she is churning asusual and started another of my favourite songs.

Alokaye Sri Bala Krishnam Sakhi ananda Sundara tandava Krishnam 

The month is Karthik which is very special to my grand mother. She got up to light up Diya in the back yard at the Tulasi plant ..the Diya is shining so well but I am more attracted towards the Shiv ling placed under the plant ..it is too small but it is too imposing..

I looked at the Shiv ling and asked." Why is Shiv not without his body? Why do you worship this ...Kanha has body. He is cute..but this Shiv ling.. Strange.. Why? 

My grand mother smiled at me and narrated the story of the emergence of Shiv ling,Brahma and Vishnu's attempt to reach the end..

Shiv should be worshipped as Shiv ling..He will be pleased.

I asked another question " whom do you like ? Kanha or Shiv? Who is great? 

Grandmother placed her hand on my head and said." Sivasya Hridayam Vishnu..Vishnoh Hridayam Shivah.. Shiva's heart is Vishnu Visnu's heart is Shiva. Both are not different..

Like always I was so influenced by her words. I still remember her tone,her smiling face,the silent environment that looked charged up by her words.

I again looked at the Shiv ling..I felt a strange connection to that formless God.


My grand mother told me" Karthik month is very special..If we light up Diya the whole month Shiv will grace us...the darkness disappeared making way for Usha kanya in my Grand mother's language. Usha will invite Sungod to grace us with his lustre.. She is there .. She showed the orange blue sky..with golden hue.

By then my mother got up and became busy with her first job.. take the milk from our good old cowherd who used to bring fresh milk ,

My father who is a nature lover and Shiva devotee already took bath and is reciting his verses from Bheeshma Stuti..praise of Krishna by Bheeshma..


It Is only after I  grew up I understood how right my elders are in worshipping both the gods equally.


Me and my brother still there with grand mother who is now plucking so many flowers from our back garden.' Go and drink milk.. She told us.

No.. We won't go till you narrate the story..

She knew what it is.. The story of Pandavas.. She completed the Draupadi swayamvar and she is too good that she adopts a simplelanguage  to make us understand.

I still remember my question.." She married all the five? She felt bad?

She stared at me and stammered.." May be.. Who knows?

That was the moment I stuck a connect with the valiant prince and the beautiful princess. It continued still..in the journey of my life..

I became a graduate with mathematics as my special. I was so excited that I got an admission into my PG course in applied mathematics . Just next day I would have got into that but destiny and my father intervened and how? 

My father came and said.." Join PG but not with maths ..Do it in Sanskrit literature.

I made a face." No. I love mathematics. Let me do that. 

My father played his card well. He smiled and asked." Don't you want to know Arjun?

I did not understand. I confessed proudly." You know You only got me every book on Arjun..I know him. and I love him.

My father said." Yes you read. But not in Sanskrit. You just read the translations. If you want to know real Arjun you should read Ved Vyasa's epic.And for that you should get a grip on Sanskrit language. And you can write your own thesis on him...

He knew..His ardent wish to get me into Sanskrit studies  will definitely be fulfilled. Arjun won over applied mathematics.


Nothing is permanent in this world. My grand mother also had gone..to unknown destinations may be to sing before my Sankar Shiv..

I grew up.. Many Karthika months passed away..My fascination for Shiv continued.. Read everything that I found out on the blue necked God.. 

Learnt Namakam chamakam.. By heart..

Again Karthika month ... Difference is I am seeing myself in place of my grand mother.. Taking early morning bath lighting up Diya before Shiv..

The legacy continues..hopefully ...with my daughter in my place


I poured water on the Shiv ling chanting.. Namastestu bhagawan visweswaraya mahadevaya triyambakaya tripurantakaya trikagnikalaya kalagni rudraya nilakanthaya Mrityunjayaya Sarveswaraya  Sadasivaya Sri manmahadevaya namah..


.And my father ! He also went off to snowy peaks ,to see Nataraj Chandra Sekhar do Tandav at Pradosh...but not before seeing me write my own thesis on Arjun..



A tribute to my father who guided me towards my goal that made my life meaningful.





(A tribute to my grandmother who planted the seeds of devotion for my shiv in my heart.)


Lakshmi


( A flash back posted in mytho forum during Kartik month.
Edited by ltelidevara - 6 years ago
Posted: 6 years ago
It is said that Parvati after her marriage with Siva arrived at Kailasa on the first day of Kartika month. She then lighted the diya first time and Siva was pleased.He said that whoever lights up diya through out Kartika month will get their desires fulfilled.



karthika masam is very auspicious and sacred for both saiva and vaishnava devotees and the devotees indulge in month long prayers to the gods apart from various rituals and customs. The devotees observe karthika masa vratham also and get good life and moksha. It is celebrated on the full moon day of the karthika month which coincides with krithika star.



Karthika masam starts just the day after Deepavali Amavasya. Karthika month is the favourite month for Lord Shiva amongst all 12 months.During Karthika Masa, devotees execute various rituals and customs. They observe karthika Masa Vratam. One really should stick to the rituals to direct a good life and to get Moksha. Danams like swarna, Vastra, Cow will give good results. Upavasams to be performed on Mondays.



Sivasya Hrudayum Vishnuhu, VIshnusya Hrudaygaum Shiva

Yatha  Shivamayor Vishnu, EEvam Vishnu Maya Shivaha

During Karthika Masam it helps the devotee to understand and embrace within himself that there is no difference between Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva and that both are one.

Karthika masam / Karthika masam is the most auspicious month to our hindus. . Kartika masam is very auspicious and gets us spiritual bliss when we worship Lord vishnu/Shiva. There are many important pooja procedures to be done during this period like Ksheerabdhi dwadasi pooja/ Kartika deepam or Kartika pournami pooja, lighting the lamps near Tulasi plant  and doing nitya poojas to Goddess Tulasi, 

Chanting vishnu sahsranamam or shiva sahasranamam, atleast daily chanting of shiva stotras, fasting on mondays and meditating on Lord shiva are to be done .According to kalidharma and kaladharmam we are not able to follow each and every ritual according to Kartika puranam, but atleast we can adapt some rituals and do simple pooja with scuchi and subratha. (Cleanliness )




Lord Vishnu goes to sleep on Ashadha suddha ekadashi and wakes-up on Karthika suddha ekadashi.
Lord Shiva klled Tripurasuras on Karthika pournami and protected the world.

In this month Ganga (Godess of river Ganges) enters in to all rivers, canals, ponds and wells and makes them as pious as Ganga.
Ayyappa deeksha is also taken in Karthika masam and is continued up to Makara Sankranthi (Jan 15th).


River Bath ( Nadi Snanam)and Shiva worship is important in Kartik Maas . As per the Science, in Kaarthika Masam Water enrich with more Magnetic Power from the Earth and will be stored in water before the Sunrise this may be the one of the reason for taking a Kartika Snanam before Sunrise.

As in Magnetic Therapy, taking bath on Kaarhika Somavaram (Monday) in any Flowing Water for 15mts. that Human being will get relief from STOMACH DISORDERS, LEVER DISORDERS, and GENERAL Health Problems.

Kartik Maas is also known as Damodar Maas. 

Kartika masa is the most auspicious and holiest month for Hindus. 
Pujas are to be performed for the whole month. Those who cannot perform for 30 days (full month)  they can do minimum for 10 days. 

These 10 (ten) days are "initial  starting five days of karthik masam and  5 days before  pournima". These 10 days are  important days in this month.  

As per puranas, there is no sacred month like karthik, there is no God similar to Lord Vishnu, there is no scripture like Vedas and there no river like Ganga.


Karthik month is the favorite month to both of the  supreme Gods Lord Vishnu and Lord Siva. Water in rivers, lakes and ponds get  holy power to destroy ill effects during the month hence karthik snaan is one of the most popular Hindu rituals. 

The pujas, all other rituals, rules and code during the month are called as Kartika Masa Vratam. There are certain rules and codes to perform Kartika Masa vrata. The Karthika Purana provides  details of the rituals and customs to be performed during the month of Karthik. Various Hindu sacred texts have mentioned the list of basic rituals and customs of Kartika masam.Kartik is the holiest month in the Hindu lunar calendar. It usually overlaps with the months October & November in the English calendar. Kartik Maas is described in the scriptures as the best among months for performing austerities.


Sutaji said to the great sages: "The sin-destroying month of Kartik is said to be endowed with divine influence. It is ever so dear to Lord Vishnu and is the bestower of both worldly pleasures and moksha (salvation)."

The rituals associated with the Kartik month are as follows:-

Japa:-
chanting the holy names of the Lord. As per our scriptures, if somebody performs even a little worship of Lord Shri Hari or Shiva  in this month, He offers that devotee His own abode.

Deep Daan (offering lamps): -

Worship the Lord by offering lamps (diyas), flowers, incense, food, etc. Lighting a diya before the Lord is called as "deep-daan" and affords immense religious merits when performed during the Kartik month.


In the Padma Purana, Kartik Mahatmya, there is a very famous story of a mouse.


In a temple of Lord Vishnu, there was a mouse who used to eat the ghee from the extinguished ghee lamps which had been offered by devotees to Him. One day when she felt hungry to eat ghee, she tried to eat the ghee from a lamp which was not yet extinguished. While eating ghee from the lamp, the cotton wick got stuck in her teeth. 


Since the ghee wick had a flame, the mouse started jumping in front of the Lord's Deity form and thus died due to fire. But Lord Sri Vishnu accepted the jumping of that mouse with a lit ghee wick in her mouth as His aarti. In the end, He gave her liberation, the highest destination. 


If somebody burns a lamp in the temple of Lord Shri Hari even for a short time (in the month of Kartik), then whatever sins, he has acquired for millions of kalpas (one kalpa equals 1000 yugas) are all destroyed."

Of all gifts, the gift of a lamp during the month of Kartik is the best. No gift is its equal."

The Pushkar Puran states, "The person who lights the lamp of sesame (til) oil in the name of Lord Shri Hari in the month of Kartik (during Sandhya) gets unlimited prosperity, beauty, blessedness and wealth."

Above all if any person just chants Om Namah Sivaya in Kartik month will get his grace.



On the full moon day of the month of Kartika (November-December) which falls on the ascension of the Kritika  star, the Hindus celebrate the Kartika Deepam. It is on this day that the huge beacon is lit on the holy hill Arunachala, in South India.

Tiruvannamalai Deepam:-( Arunachalam)

It is celebrated in a special manner in Thiruvannamalai. Lord Shiva asks Lord Brahma and Lord Vishnu to find out the exact location of his head and his feet. Since Lord Shiva takes a gigantic form, they are not able to find out anywhere. 

Then Lord Shiva takes the form of a jyothi (light of fire) on the hill of Thiruvannamali. Therefore, this festival is also known as Annamalai Deepam. Here, a special torch is lighted on the zenith of the hill and it is believed that Lord Shiva's jothi will be visible on this day.



Edited by ltelidevara - 6 years ago
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