If anyone regularly circumambulates the Lord in the form of Sonacala, he has no rebirth. He shall certainly attain eternity.
If a person takes even a step by way of circumambulation, the entire
earth is sanctified by coming into contact with the dust of his feet.
With palms joined in reverence he should make obeisance in every
direction. He should then meditate and eulogize. He should
circumambulate slowly without his hand touching anyone else.
Without any agitation, without even hearing the sound of his own steps,
the devotee should circumambulate in the manner of a woman walks when
delivery is imminent.
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The learned devotee should put on a clean dress after bath. He should apply sacred ash over his body and adorn himself with rudraksa beads. Remembering Siva he should take steps slowly.
He should think about the likelihood of collision with thousands of
Devas, invisible Siddhas and others of gaseous forms. He should be a
true devotee and go ahead slowly putting down his steps along the path.
Or the devotee should circumambulate along with other devotees chanting
the names of Siva, singing excellent songs and dancing like Siva.
Or he should, with his mind not dwelling on anything else, listen
respectfully to my greatness and circumambulate slowly feeling the
thrill of the bliss.
He must offer different kinds of charitable gifts. He must perform
meritorious deeds. He should render assistance to supplicants. He should
be pious and merciful in a manner he thinks best. Thus he should move
around.
In Krtayuga the Linga is fiery. In Treta it is a jewel mountain. In Dwapara one should think about it as golden and in Kaliyuga it is an emerald mountain.
Or he can meditate upon the red crystalline form that is self-luminous.
Meditating thus, he will be freed from all sins. He shall go to the
city of Siva.
This Linga with the name of Arunachala is the greatest on account
of its inscrutability resulting from its state of not being an object
of speech and mind and also because of its fiery nature. It is
unapproachable. But I become approachable immediately to the person who
circumambulates after meditation.
[Skanda Purana Chapter 9, verses 34-50]
Navagraha - Chandra
Lord Shiva is
known as Chandrasekhara, which literally refers to the 'Person who wears
the moon' and 'one crowned by the moon'. The crescent on the Lord's
head represents the fifth-day moon and near his fiery third eye this
shows the power of Soma, the sacrificial offering, which is the
representative of Moon and signifies that Shiva possesses the power of
procreation co-existent with that of destruction.
In some cultures the appearance of the new crescent moon has been
celebrated as a return of the moon from the dead. This celestial body is
a powerful influence on the human psyche. Its influence which is always
available at Arunachala is celebrated in disparate ways during
Sivaratri and Poornima.
Sivaratri is the fourteenth day of the lunar fortnight, when the moon is
waning and the sun is in the sign of Aquarius. It is a night of
consecration and illumination. Each month there is Sivaratri and once a
year Mahasivaratri. Chandra, who is the deity of the moon and presiding
deity of the mind loses one sixteenth of his brilliance every day after
the full-moon day and continues waning until, by Sivaratri, he is left
with just one sixteenth of his power. It is on this night of the waned
moon (Sivaratri) that it is believed the mind is most tractable and can
be easily conquered.
Whereas the nights of Siva (Sivaratri) are usually associated with
mastery of the mind and success of spiritual ambitions, Poornima (full
moon) is more about success of boons, vratas and heartfelt prayers.
Doing pradakshina on Monday, (the day of the Moon -- Chandra) is
particularly helpful if one wishes to start a new project, attain a high
elevation in life or rid oneself of the fear of death. In Sanskrit
Chandra means, 'bright and shining'. In Vedic Astrology, Chandra
represents brain and mind, emotions, sensitivity, softness, imagination,
Queen and mother. The bright moon is considered a benefic, and for this
reason answers to prayers connected with the Poornima (full-moon)
aspect, are believed to be more easily attained.
Chandra one of the navagrahas (celestial bodies of cosmic
influence) is the lunar deity also identified with the Lunar deity Soma,
and faces the South-East direction. This graha causes nightfall, strengthens the mind, purifies the blood and is considered as the Mother who radiates nectar.
Worship of the Moon is said to be beneficial for relief from all sorrows
and helps in curing mental afflictions. The Moon's cool rays radiate
happiness. Worshipping Chandra on Mondays is said to be very effective
in getting one's prayers answered.
Chandra is
described as young, beautiful, fair; two-armed and having in his hands a
club and a lotus. He rides his chariot across the sky every night,
pulled by ten white horses or an antelope. He is connected with dew, and
as such, is one of the gods of fertility. He is also called Nishapati
(Lord of the Night) and Kshuparaka (one who illuminates the night). The
Moon is known as a hare, or rabbit in Vedic lore, as he jumps faster
than any of the other grahas. The Moon rules over the sidereal
sign of Cancer. He is exalted in Taurus, and fallen in the opposite sign
of Scorpio. Chandra is a lovable God; pleasing to children as well as
elders. Sages and devotees invoke the Goddess in Chandra.
Hinduism propounds the idea that the (nine) Navagrahas (of which Chandra
is one) are 'markers of influence' -- living energies which put out
waves which affect our awareness by seizing our consciousness when we
come under their influence. Reports of psychics and seers agree that
Grahas cause a direct energy influence upon the energy bodies and minds
of all life on earth. The nine planets (Navagrahas) are transmitters of
Universal, archetypal energy and the qualities of each planet helps
maintain the overall balance of polarities in the solar system.
In one legend, Chandra is considered the son of the ocean as he was one of the fourteen ratnas
(Jewels) that emerged from the ocean during its churning and was
gifted, by the Gods and Demons to Lord Shiva, who wore the crescent moon
on his head. Chandra has the following associations: the colour white,
gender female, metal silver, gemstones; pearl and moonstone, element
water, direction north-west, season Winter, body part blood, food rice,
taste salt, day Monday, guna Sattwa.
The sun is the indicator of the soul and the moon is the vehicle of the
mind that receives the light of the soul. Even though all the Navagrahas
are represented at Arunachala, the moon with its particular association
with Lord Shiva (Chandrasekhara) has an extraordinary influence.
A benefic Moon is often found in the charts of doctors, healers or
psychologists, as well as good mothers and wives. A strong Moon can give
power and creates a good administrator or leader open to the needs of
his people and indicates relationship, interchange, and communication. A
strong Moon also shows sensitivity, receptivity, caring for others and a
nurturing attitude in life. It gives emotional maturity, responsibility
and the capacity to have a beneficial effect upon society.
Motorists' Road Aid
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Moonlight
One
day Sun, Moon, and Wind went out to dine with their uncle and aunts
Thunder and Lightning. Their mother (one of the most distant Stars you
see far up in the sky) waited alone for her children's return. Now both
Sun and Wind were greedy and selfish. They enjoyed the great feast that
had been prepared for them, without a thought of saving any of it to
take home to their mother - but the gentle Moon did not forget her. Of
every dainty dish that was brought round, she placed a small portion
under one of her beautiful long finger-nails, that Star might also have a
share in the treat.
On their return their mother, who had kept watch for them all night long
with her little bright eye, said, "Well, children, what have you
brought home for me?" Then Sun (who was eldest) said, "I have brought
nothing home for you. I went out to enjoy myself with my friends - not
to fetch a dinner for my mother!" And Wind said, "Neither have I brought
anything home for you, mother. You could hardly expect me to bring a
collection of good things for you, when I merely went out for my own
pleasure." But Moon said, "Mother, fetch a plate, see what I have
brought you." And shaking her hands she showered down such a choice
dinner as never was seen before.
Then Star turned to Sun and spoke thus, "Because you went out to amuse
yourself with your friends, and feasted and enjoyed yourself, without
any thought of your mother at home - you shall be cursed. Henceforth,
your rays shall ever be hot and scorching, and shall burn all that they
touch. And men shall hate you, and cover their heads when you appear."
And that is why the Sun is so hot to this day. Then she turned to Wind
and said, "You also who forgot your mother in the midst of your selfish
pleasures - hear your doom. You shall always blow in the hot dry
weather, and shall parch and shrivel all living things. And men shall
detest and avoid you from this very time." And that is why the Wind in
the hot weather is still so disagreeable.
But to Moon she said, "Daughter, because you remembered your Mother, and
kept for her a share in your own enjoyment, from henceforth, you shall
be ever cool, and calm, and bright. No noxious glare shall accompany
your pure rays, and men shall always call you 'blessed.'"
And that is why the Moon's light is so soft, and cool, and beautiful even to this day.
Train information for Tiruvannamalai
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Meditations of the Moon
Half of the
human race lives in manifest obedience to the lunar rhythm; and there is
evidence to show that the psychological and therefore the spiritual
life, not only of women, but of men too, mysteriously ebbs and flows
with the changes of the moon. There are unreasoned joys, inexplicable
miseries, laughters and remorses without a cause. Their sudden and
fantastic alternations constitute the ordinary weather of our minds.
These moods, of which the more gravely numinous may be hypostasized as
gods, the lighter, if we will, as hobgoblins and fairies, are the
children of the blood and humours. But the blood and humours obey, among
many other masters, the changing moon. Touching the soul directly
through the eyes and, indirectly, along the dark channels of the blood,
the moon is doubly a divinity.
[Aldous Huxley]
The Moon - The Tides
The moon's
gravitational pull on the Earth is the main cause of the rise and fall
of ocean tides. The moon's gravitational pull causes two bulges of water
on the Earth's oceans - one where ocean waters face the moon and the
pull is strongest and one where ocean waters face away from the moon and
the pull is weakest. Both bulges cause high tides. As the Earth
rotates, the bulges move around it, one always facing the moon, the
other directly opposite. The combined forces of gravity, the Earth's
rotation, and other factors usually cause two high tides and two low
tides each day.
Sonnet of the Moon
Look how the pale Queen of the silent night
doth cause the ocean to attend upon her,
and he, as long as she is in sight,
with his full tide is ready here to honour;
But when the silver wagon of the Moon
is mounted up so high he cannot follow,
the sea calls home his crystal waves to morn,
and with low ebb doth manifest his sorrow.
So you that are sovereign of my heart
have all my joys attending on your will,
when you return, their tide my heart doth fill.
So as you come and as you depart,
joys ebb and flow within my tender heart.
[Charles Best, 1608]
The Charge of the Goddess
I am the
beauty of the green earth, and the white moon among the stars, and the
mystery of the waters, and the desire of the heart of man. Call unto thy
soul; arise and come unto me; for I am the soul of nature, who gives
life to the universe. From me all things proceed, and unto me all things
must return; and before my face, beloved of Gods and of men, let thine
innermost divine self be enfolded in the rapture of the infinite
[Charles Godfrey Leland]
To the Moon
Art thou pale for weariness
Of climbing heaven and gazing on the earth,
Wandering companionless
Among the stars that have a different birth,
And ever changing, like a Joyless eye
That finds no object worth its constancy?
[Percy Bysshe Shelley]
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