A   POET'S    PARABLES 

                                                  

********************************************************************************************************

A  Poet’s Parables by Kailash Vajpeyi ; Published by Academic Foundation ; Pages 209  ; Price Rs.995/-

                                  ********************************

The book under review is a tribute by Roopa Vajpeyi to her husband Kailash Vajpeyi who passed away in 2015. He is recognised as an outstanding figure of his generation in the world of Hindi letters, Roopa herself taught English and American Literature in a Delhi University College. She also edited a journal for “ Consumer VOICE “. The couple was married for half a century.

Kailash Vajpeyi was born at Hamirpur district of Uttar Pradesh in 1936. He had completed his PhD in Hindi at the age of 24. He began his career as a journalist and later taught at Delhi University. In his entire career, 28 books were published including 14 volumes of poetry. Some of his notable works includes  Sankrant, Dehant Se Hatkar, Teesra Andhera and Sufinama..

Poets across the spectrum agree that Vajpeyi had a “distinct” style of writing that has gone with him. Gulzar said “Kailashji was a very unusual poet with a style of his own. His usage of metaphors was unlike others and I always heard him with rapt attention… His poetry had a Sufi colour to it- an abstract element.”

Kaiash is a name to be reckoned with on Radio and Television reigning for forty years. His subjects were Arts, Ideas, Philosophy, Religion and Books. He produced over twenty  documentaries. He bagged several literary awards, culminating with the prestigious Sahitya Akademi Award for his “ Hawa Mein Hastakshar “ in the year 2009.

He was a dynamic personality, with a mesmerising voice and his interests were at once extensive and intensive—ranging from Literature, Music, Religion, Philosophy and recondite subjects like Tantra and Quantum Physics. The book under review which Roopa calls “ Parables “ carry the message loud and clear that Mankind is One sharing sorrow and joy. Despite differences we are essentially One, The Parables have a universal value.

In an affectionate “Foreword” Roopa recalls how the couple had a “Fairy-tale life, living inside a bubble that we have created”. Kailash had a range of knowledge that was truly astounding. He had a mellifluous voice that he used for songs and for his own  lyrics and musical compositions. He served in AIR  and BBC(Hindi) and Television. For two decades he made short films for T V  on saints, poets, intellectuals and thinkers. He was untiring in his pursuit of what could be done in one life-time. He maintained a unique rapport with a variety of individuals which made them feel valued.

The parables in the book are a reflection of Kailash and his attainments. They throw light on the human dilemma faced by anyone, anywhere crossing geographical constraints. According to him there is always a solution, often a simple one , which is happenstance  and waiting to be lighted upon.

We give a few examples of the parables for the reader to gauge the Poet’s thoughts.

Ibrahim, the King of Balkh, was a devout man.One night as he lay sleeping, the rooftop began to shake. Startled, he asked, ”Who is that?”. A voice answered,” Don’t worry. I am not an enemy. I lost my camel. I’m trying to find him.” Ibrahim said that searching for the camel on the rooftop was rather strange. The voice replied, ”Fool, You are searching for God sitting on a Golden throne wearing expensive clothes. Isn’t that stranger than searching for a camel on the palace rooftop?”

                                  ******************************

During the last journey of the Pandavas to Himalayas, Yudhishtira’s four brothers and their wife Draupadi slipped on ice and died. Yudhishtira then saw a flying chariot standing before him and a messenger of the Gods beseeching him to go to Heaven in his physical body. His dog, Sarameya was with Yudhishtira.”Can I sit with this dog on the chariot?”,he asked. The messenger said, ”Animals are not capable of entering Heaven. You have to leave the dog here.”. On hearing this,Yudhishtira replied, “Then I don’t want  to go.” The moment Yudhishtira spoke the words, the dog vanished and Dharmaraj himself stood before Yudhishtira,” Son, You are great. Even in the face of death, you have not left the path of Dharma. You have passed the ultimate test successfully.”

                             ******************************

It was the time of the festival of Baisakhi. Guru Gobind Singh was giving his discourse when Mughal soldiers attacked the Sikhs who faced it boldly. Some were killed, some were injured and some ran away. The next day when the Guru was continuing with his discourse somebody came and complained—Kanhaiya is giving water not only to injured Sikhs but to the Mughal soldiers as well.” Guruji called Kanhaiya and asked him, ”Is it true?”. Kanhaiya said,  ” I am working according to your teaching.I see your face in every face.” Guruji said “Only Kanhaiya has understood my teachings—To help the needy is the real religion”.

                             **********************************

                                                                                  

 The great advantage of this book is that the Parables are available in both Hindi and English. Each parable is embellished by a Sanskrit sloka. There are in all 92 parables and these relate to diverse religions—Hindu, Sikh, Islamic, Sufi, Christian, Buddhist etc. This is an immensely  satisfying book that nourishes our intellect. Highly commendable work by Roopa of selecting, editing and  translating her husband Kailash  Vajpeyi’s outstanding work.

           

       Kailash Vajpeyi                    Roopa Vajpeyi

P.P.Ramachandran.

11 / 06 / 2017

 X I I-GRISHNESHWAR  JYOTIR LINGA

                                

Grishneshwar temple or Dhushmeshwar temple, is one of the 12j\Jyotirlingas,  GrIshneshwar means "Lord of Compassion", The temple is an important pilgrimage site located  less than a kilometer from Ellora Caves – a Unesco World Heritage site. It is about 30 kilometres (19 miles) north-west of the city of Aurangabad

This temple was destroyed by the Delhi Sultanate during the Hindu-Muslim wars of 13th and 14th-century. The temple went through several rounds of rebuilding followed by destruction during the Mughal-Maratha conflict. 

The Grishneswar temple is an illustration of south Indian temple architectural style and structure. The temple, built of red rocks, is composed of a five tier shikara. The temple was re-constructed by Maloji Bhosale grandfather of Shivaji in the 16th century and later again by Ahilyabai Holkar in the 18th century.

This 240 ft x 185 ft temple is the smallest Jyotirlinga temple in India. Halfway up the temple, Dasavataras of Vishnu are carved in red stone. A court hall is built on 24 pillars. On these pillars there are carvings depicting various legends and mythologies of Shiva. The Garbhagriha measures 17 ft x 17 ft. The Lingamurty faces eastward. There is a Nandi bull in the court hall.

 This was originally a settlement of the Naga tribes. The place of the Nagas is Bambi, which is known as “Varul” in Marathi--- “Varul” gradually changed into “Verul” and is known by this name only. River Yelaganga flows here. The name “Verul” is derived from Yelaganga, on whose banks the village is located. There was a King by the name “Yela” here. The capital of his kingdom was Yelapar, or Yelur or Verul.

The very devout Shiva devotee, Bhosale once found a treasure hidden in the snake pit (ant hill) by the grace of Lord Grishneshwar. He spent that money to renovate the temple and built a lake in Shikharshinganapur.

Legends—two versions

Grishneshwar Temple, also known as Ghushmeshwar, has a very interesting legend attached to it. It is said that there was once a very religious woman, known as Kusuma, who used to worship Lord Shiva every day. She used to immerse the  Shivalingam in a tank, as  part of her everyday prayer. Her husband had a second wife, who got jealous of the devotion of Kusuma and her resultant respect in the society. In a fit of rage and resentment, she murdered Kusuma's son.

Kusuma became extremely depressed when she came to know that her son had been killed. However, she continued worshipping the Lord. It is said that when she immersed the lingam into the tank, after  the death of her son, he miraculously came back to life again. The legend further states  that  Lord Shiva appeared before Kusuma as well as the villagers. On Kusuma's request, Lord Shiva manifested Himself at the very site, in the form of the Jyotirlinga Ghusmeshwar. The temple is highly revered by people and attracts devotees from far and wide.

According to Shivapuran, in the southern direction, on a mountain named Devagiri lived a Brahmin called Brahmavetta Sudharm along with his wife Sudeha. The couple did not have a child because of which Sudeha was sad. Sudeha prayed and tried all possible remedies but in vain. Frustrated of being childless, Sudeha got her sister Ghushma married to her husband. On the advice of her sister, Ghushma used to make 101 lingas, worship them and discharge them in the near by lake.

Soon Ghushma was blessed with a son. The happiness of the couple made her sister Sudeha jealous and in a fit of envy, she killed the young child and threw the baby in the same lake where Ghushma used to release the holy lingams. When Ghushma came to know of the incident next day morning, she remained calm and unshaken and remained engrossed in worship of the Lord. She firmly believed that Lord Shiva who had blessed her would protect her child too. Her unshakable faith bore fruits and soon she saw her son coming to her from the lake, hale and hearty.

When the Lord appeared before her, she asked forgiveness for her sister and asked Him to remain at the place eternally for the benefit of others in the form of a Jyotirlinga. The wish was granted and soon Lord Shiva assumed the Jyotirlinga form and took the name of Ghushmeshwara. The lake is called the Shivalaya after the incident.

The temple is an excellent example of traditions followed by Hindus in the pre-historic times .The temple is rich with beautiful carvings and is a fine example of medieval architecture.The temple is made of spotted red stone. Decorative friez and sculpturd depoct the pantheon of HINDU Gods, including Brahma, Vishnu, Ganesh, the marriafe of Shiva and Parvati, celestial beings and even Maratha heroes. Close to the temple is a pond called Shivalaya and other temples.

                                                    

The  Unknown  Universe

                                                  

                                                                                                                     

The Unknown Universe by Stuart Clark ; Published by Head Zeus ; Pages 303 ; Price U.K.Pound 16/99.

                                                    ************************

The author of this book Stuart Clark is a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society who  celebrates and challenges the current state of modern astrophysics with a wide-ranging and accessible look at the field’s most cutting edge research. This is a fascinating voyage of discovery for the layman and scientist alike. Stuart explores the arguments, the rivalries, and the triumphs of astrophysics with lively writing and an enviable knack for converting the most complex topics into clear, easy-to-absorb ideas. 

The European Space Agency published a groundbreaking  image three years ago of the Universe as it was 13.7 billion years ago. This was welcomed by astronomers. Then doubts arose. The map of cosmic microwave background radiation left over from the Big Bang shows a universe that consists of nothing but a “gigantic cloud of atoms.” Observations on the rotation of galaxies and the speed of the Universe’s expansion  led scientists to theorise  the existence of dark matter that can’t be seen and dark energy that can’t be found, and raised fundamental questions of  the current understanding of gravity itself. Stuart explains all these to the layman both clearly and crisply.

The map released by the European Space Agency of the afterglow of the Big Bang took us  into  440 sextillion kilometres of space and 13.8 billion years of time. This was at once the acme of science as also the demolisher of almost everything we hold cosmologically sacrosanct.

The  book under review  is the first one to address an epoch-defining scientific paradigm shift. It also raises a whole host of questions. Do we have to rewrite   Newton's famous laws of gravity ; Are  dark matter and dark energy  just celestial phantoms? Can we ever know what happened before the Big Bang? What’s at the bottom of a black hole? Are there Universes beyond our own? Does time exist? Are the once immutable laws of physics changing?

This is the best popular science book you can lay hands upon. Stuart Clark  knows how to talk about the holes that are in science but doesn't tear apart the science that allows us to see the holes in the first place.

Black holes mean that there are holes in the universe and also that there are holes in our understanding of the universe. Observers of the universe want to know the why (the theory), and they also want to know the how (the model). Eddington and Kepler both built models. Newton and Einstein built a theory. Time to Newton is absolute and  to Einstein it is an illusion (relative). There is nothing more exciting than the Planck map of the universe, and this book will teach you something you did not  know.

The author presents  a fine history of cosmology, and  makes it clear that our knowledge and ignorance seem to be expanding co-terminously. The Planck  data showed  “cosmology is not finished.’ ”

 Clark begins his history in the 17th century with Kepler, Halley, and Newton, ending in the unsettling 21st, where the Universe explained so brilliantly by Einstein, has revealed features that he didn’t explain. Educated readers know that the term “unknown” as applied to the universe is literally true because 95 percent is invisible, detectable only because its energy and gravity influence movements of the 5 percent we see as stars and galaxies.

 There are many  cosmic mysteries that Clark explains for the layman.  We get a glimpse of the genius of Newton as well as examples of the irrational views commonplace during his time. The history and evolution of theories about the Solar System are touched upon. The only equation that manages to appear in the book is Einstein’s E = mc2.

A lot of ideas including Arthur Eddington’s bold conjecture that stars are nuclear reactors that use nuclear fusion to generate their energy are outlined. Most of us credit Edwin Hubble with the discovery of the expansion of the Universe. But Clark  writes:

“In 1929, Hubble published results that ignited science in the way Lemaitre’s paper of two years earlier should have done. Hubble showed that the further a galaxy was, the greater was its redshift. It was definitive proof that the Universe was expanding, exactly as Lemaitre had predicted, yet Hubble did not include a single reference to him or his work.”

We live in astounding times. The bulk of the exoplanet discoveries are being made in the data gathered by and downloaded from the Kepler Space Telescope. The story of the discovery of Eris and how that led to the demotion of Pluto’s status is outlined.

The book provides some details of the famous rivalry between Harlow Shapley and Edwin Hubble in the early decades of the 20th century in which Hubble ultimately prevailed. Even though Hubble won that rivalry with Shapley, it’s Shapley’s chosen naming of ‘galaxy’ that is commonplace today rather than the phrase Hubble favoured ‘extragalactic nebulae.’

  Quantum mechanics with its uncertainties and probabilities hard-wired into the Universe became accepted even though titans like Einstein didn’t like God playing dice with the Universe.

Some  Interesting Titbits-

1.Planck Photo—The Planck photo was taken by a ESA Spacecraft stationed at 1.5 million kilometers away from Earth called Planck after the great German physicist, Max Planck The probe had spent two and a half years painstakingly building up the picture, pixel by pixel.

                         

 Max  Planck                  Planck Spacecraft

2.Edmond Halley—after whom the Halley’s Comet is named never lived to see the return of the Comet—after 75 years-- as predicted by him. On 14,January 1742, after a 22 year stint as the second Astronomer Royale, the eighty-five years old Halley asked for a glass of red wine. He drank it, placed the glass on the table next to his chair and expired peacefully.

                                                    

         Halley and his Comet

3.Albert Einstein---All of you have seen this unique photo of Einstein—“ Wild hair, bushy moustache, careworn lines around deep dark eyes, tongue sticking out !.The famous tongue photo was taken on his 72nd birthday in 1953 .A copy signed by Einstein was auctioned in 2009 for $ 74,324/- making it the most expensive photo of the scientist ever sold.

                                                          

Albert   Einstein  

P.P.Ramachandran.

04 / 06 / 2017

Click here to Reply, Reply to all, or Forward

 Eleven--  Kashi Vishvanath Jyotir Lingam 

                                                

Kashi Vishvanath is one of the most famous Shiva  temples   located in Varanasi or Benares. The temple stands on the western bank of the holy river Ganga and is considered to be  the holiest of Shiva  temples. The main deity is called  Vishvanatha or Vishveshvara -meaning Ruler of The Universe.

Benares is the oldest city of the World, for it is believed that it stands upon the first land that ever emerged from the primeval waters.Orthodox Hindus believe that to die in Benares is to attain instant salvation. It is the Mecca and Jerusalem of India and her Rome and Athens all rolled into one.

Since the holy place is situated between the two rivers Varana and Asi, the city is called Varanasi.

It is also one of the Sakthi-Peethas. Out of the various parts of Sati that were scattered it is said that the left hand had fallen in Benares and it is believed Goddess Visalkshi represents that Shakti Peetha.

The temple has been destroyed and re-constructed a number of times in history. The last structure was demolished by Aurangzeb  who constructed the Gyanvapi Mosque on its site. The present  structure was built on an adjacent site by  Ahilya Bai Holkar of Indore in 1789. Two domes of the temple are covered by gold donated by Ranjit Singh but the third dome remained uncovered. The U.P. Government took a keen interest in the gold plating of the third dome of the temple.

 During the religious occasion of Shivaratri, Kashi Naresh the King of Kashi is the chief officiating priest and no other person or priest is allowed to enter the temple's sanctum sanctorum. It is only after he performs his religious functions that others are allowed to enter.  As per Hindu mythology, Lord Shiva married Goddess Parvati on Mahashivaratri and Gauna  was performed on Rangbhari Ekadashi.

The temple has been mentioned in the Skanda Purana. The original Vishwanath temple was destroyed by the army of Qutb-ud-din Aibak in 1194 . The temple was rebuilt by a Gujarati merchant during the reign of Delhi's Sultan Iltutmish ---1211-1266 . It was demolished again during  1447-1458. Raja Man Singh built the temple during Akbar’s 's rule . Raja Todar Mal further re-built in 1585.

 A 7-feet high stone statue of Nandi, gifted by the Raja of Nepal is in the east of the colonnade.

The temple complex consists of a series of smaller shrines, located in a small lane called the Vishwanatha Galli, near the river. The linga of the main deity at the shrine is 60 cm tall and 90 cm in circumference housed in a silver altar.

                                             

 The venerable linga is made up of black coloured stone, and is enshrined in the sanctum, placed on a silver platform.

The main temple is quadrangle and is surrounded by shrines of other gods. There are small temples for Kalabhairava  , Dhandapani, Vishnu, Avimukteshwara, Vinayaka, Sanishwara, Virupaksha and Virupaksh Gauri in the complex.

 Structure of the temple is composed of three parts. The first compromises a spire on the temple of Lord Vishwanath or Mahadeva. The second is gold dome and the third is the gold spire atop the Vishwanath carrying a flag and a trident. In the year 1785 a Naubatkhana was built up in front of the Temple by the then Collector Mohd. Ibrahim Khan at the instance of Governor General Warren Hastings.

 There is a well in the campus of the temple called Jnana Vapi or wisdom well. There is a history behind the well. It is considered that the Jyotirlinga was concealed in the well in order to get protection from incursion. The main saint of the temple  jumped in to the well with the Jyotirlinga to protect it from the intruders.

Many leading saints, including Adi Sankara, Ramakrishna Paramahamsa Vivekananda ,Guru Nanak have visited the  temple, Visit to the temple after  a bath in the river Ganges is one of many methods believed to lead one on a path to Moksha.

Shri Vishwanatha Temple is situated amidst the crowded lanes of Varanasi on the banks of the rive Ganga. The temple can be approached from a lane called Vishwanatha lane.

P.P.Ramachandran.

21 / 05 / 2017