Friday, 28 February 2025

THAT, WHICH IS FOREVER MORE

 


THAT, WHICH IS FOREVER MORE
What blessing can i ask from Shiva, for you?
you
who are a troubled soul,
struggling
to find the meaning of life, diving in waters deep,
or then for you
who are happy, full of health
and with abundant wealth; grateful for existence?
and the answer is the same.
I would ask
Shiva bless you with insight ,
to see
His own presence
in your life.
Health and wealth, high and low,
this and that
all,
will go.
But the presence of Shiva,
once known
will last,
forever more.

Sheran Waali, Lady of the lions!

 


Parvati was different from the very beginning. She was well loved by everyone, She played with the girls of Her age, She won the love of Her elders and admiration of Her palace staff, but She was different. There was always a sense of knowership in Her, as if She knew that She was someone very special, born for a very special destiny. But this was not in a conceited way at all. She did not have even an iota of arrogance, even though She was easily the prettiest among all the girls in the whole province.

She was good at Her studies and all the rishis who came to teach Her gave Her an excellent report card. “She can do even better, if She wants,” said Bhrighu one day to Himavat. “But…”
“But?”

“But I have noticed, your Majesty, that Parvati puts in only as much effort as is required to get the basics right. She could excel in anything that She wants, and to be honest She does all things very well, but then, I have noticed, She leaves it at a level of ‘fairly good’, and weans off. It is as if She has Her heart in something else.”

“Hmm… like what?”

"Like, She hardly plays with Her dolls, She keeps making Shivalingas in the sand.”
“The only thing that interests Her about the dolls, is when a doll marriage is arranged!”

“Yes! Yes, that’s true,” said Mena. “I have to make new dresses for the doll bride, and Parvati insists that I make many sweetmeats in the kitchen!”

“Hmm… does She still say She will marry Shiva?” Himavat asked Mena.
“Oh, come on, She is just a child. And those things are very far. Who knows who will marry whom?”

“Shiva. It will always be Shiva,” said Bhrighu with a solemn look.

“Always be Shiva what?” asked Mena.

“It will always be Shiva, whom Shakti marries. It was so in the past, and it will be so in future,” said Bhrighu, his eyes now half closed in meditative bliss. 


"My Lord! My Lord ,what is one to do with Princess Parvati?” asked the captain of the private guard of Himavat’s security.

“Why, captain? What has Parvati done?” smiled Himavat.

“My Lord, She goes after the mountain leopards and panthers, catches them and then pats them as if they are little kittens. It’s dangerous my Lord, this sort of play.”

“But do not all princes play with the wild cats as if they were our domesticated cats? Is it not part of their training and even courage?” asked Himavat.

“Yes, my Lord, but we must not forget that Parvati is all of eight years! And my Lord… She is a girl!”

“Hmm… you are right, captain. I think Parvati deserves a new title for this trait,” laughed Himavat loudly. “From now on we should call Her, Sheran Waali, Lady of the lions!”

“Haha, what are you gentlemen discussing about my little Goddess?” chipped in Mena. “Parvati is luminous, resplendent; She is Jyotan Waali, the embodiment of light…”
From the book 
~  SHIVA, The Ultimate Time Traveller.    , a modern rendition of Great God Shiva's story by Shail Gulhati

Thursday, 27 February 2025

THE QUEEN OF TIME

 


THE QUEEN OF TIME
She was beauty incarnate
Maya, of the highest bind
and He
just an ascetic, of the simplest kind.
They met,
they had too, as all mayic stories unfold
and speak of a magic hitherto untold
He was suitably stunned , struck at first sight, benumbed.
And regaining consciousness , began to beat His drum,
singing, 'Hail the Queen of time, the eternal Sorceress Divine, you need to be mine '
She blushed, how could He do this ? Unravel Her plots every time!
and He sang more ' because i am forever thine'

A CELESTIAL BREEZE

 


A CELESTIAL BREEZE
Over and over again He has created
world after world
in His Divine heart and sketching it with His mind,
so that you may your own divinity find.
Mahadeva knows who to keep
and who to release
what to keep fluid
and what to freeze,
for another time, another world,
and a gentle kiss blown ,unleashes a celestial breeze.

Wednesday, 26 February 2025

Kaliyattam Festival on March 3 & 4, 2025 at Parakunnath Sri Vettaikkorumakan Temple, Aroli, Kannur.

 


The annual Kaliyattam Festival at Parakunnath Sri Vettaikkorumakan Temple, Aroli, Kannur will be held on March 3 & 4, 2025 (Malayalam Era 1200 Kumbham 19 & 20). The festival includes traditional rituals and performances. We warmly invite everyone to participate and receive the divine blessings.

Chairman 

Parakunnath Sri Vettaikkorumakan Kshethram Sevasamithi


March 3, 2025 - Monday

5:00 PM – Temple Opening & Rituals

6:00 PM- The Vettaikkorumakan Theyyam Thottam performance starts

Bhagaval Keerthanalapanam


March 4, 2025 - Tuesday

5:00 PM – Temple Opening & Rituals

6:00 PM – Spiritual speech (Sri Ramachandran Master PV, Aroli)

7:30 PM – Urpazhasi Vettaikkorumakan Vellattam Performance

Followed by Prasadasadya

Midnight- Urpazhasi Vettaikkorumakan Theyyam Performance & Final Rituals

SHIVRATRI

 


SHIVRATRI
It’s that time of year,
when all beings of the manifest world,
from ants,
to birds, animals and even plants,
behave with a certain cheer,
as if cosmically 'stirred' out of their sleepy dormancy
into a mood of 'waking'.
We humans too find ourselves bubbly.
Winter has gone, and a sparkling Sun
is thawing its way, springing into a fresh sky.
And everyone seems to perceive that certain Divinity,
about the way Nature begins the season's regeneration.
Shiv bhakts, in particular, seem doubly merry,
with a definitive halo of authority
that has recently dawned on their countenance,
getting into busy mode and frenetic festivity…
And why not?
It’s that time of year, when
in the dark half of 'Phalgun',
in English, february or maybe march,
on the I3th or I4th day,
the longest night, which is also moonless and so the darkest
has come.
But behold, they say it is the great night of their auspicious Lord,
Shiva ratri, the beginning of all light.
Celebrated all over India,
in homes and in temples,
by the ascetics and the householders,
in sober prayer and in ecstatic intoxication,
by ritual and by trance,
in stillness and in dance,
and many things more.
It is attended by legends
of the wicked and the devout,
the sickly and the stout,
but none agrees on exactly what it’s about.
"It’s Shiva's birthday," say some.
Others swear it’s His wedding night with Parvati.
Some opine that is when the Ananda Tandava,
the first Dance, began.
Yet others teach of it as the profundity of awakening,
saying,
“It’s the celebration of the day Shiva was illumined
about cosmic mind,
a Primal consciousness,
His own rhythm Divine!”
~ From the book 'Shiva Poetry' by Shail Gulhati: Shiva and Mysticism.)

WE KNOW HIM AS SHIV !

 


WE KNOW HIM AS SHIV !
The ancient seers, looked to the sky and the earth,
the stars and the beings
and dwelled into the nature of things.
why
do some have feet
and others, wings?
What is the origin, the design, of all beings?
what, the essence of all we are seeing?
Ah, but how to think of that,
whence all thought itself does rise!
they meditated long ,and dove within.
then themselves rising,
gave a full moon smile,
"it is all ONE"
All One, but in all places!
and goes too by many names,
as love , as peace, as praise..
some call it God,
others , give their own endearing calls
to this endless infinite luminous Hall.
There,
all is awake, all Buddha,
all is compassionate, all Christ,
All is playful, all Krishna,
all is Bountiful, some call it Ma.
Others still , say Tao!
but the Himalayan Rishi saw
and declared mystically,
" Not the hall but the 'way' .
Yes, indeed, He is Infinite,
so each can have their say.
We know Him as Shiv.
The resolute. mindful. compassionate.
Yogi. Friend. Master.
Bringer of quiet repose and an abiding joy.
God?
Yes, Aum Namah Shivaye.

Tuesday, 25 February 2025

WHAT IS SHIVRATRI ?

 

SHIVRATRI

It’s that time of year,
when all beings of the manifest world,
from ants,

to birds, animals and even plants,
behave with a certain cheer,
as if cosmically 'stirred' out of their sleepy dormancy
into a mood of 'waking'.
We humans too find ourselves bubbly.
Winter has gone, and a sparkling Sun
is thawing its way, springing into a fresh sky.
And everyone seems to perceive that certain Divinity,
about the way Nature begins the season's regeneration.
Shiv bhakts, in particular, seem doubly merry,
with a definitive halo of authority
that has recently dawned on their countenance,
getting into busy mode and frenetic festivity…

And why not?
It’s that time of year, when
in the dark half of 'Phalgun',
in English, february or maybe march,
on the I3th or I4th day,
the longest night, which is also moonless and so the darkest
has come.
But behold, they say it is the great night of their auspicious Lord,
Shiva ratri, the beginning of all light.
Celebrated all over India,
in homes and in temples,
by the ascetics and the householders,
in sober prayer and in ecstatic intoxication,
by ritual and by trance,
in stillness and in dance,
and many things more.
It is attended by legends
of the wicked and the devout,
the sickly and the stout,
but none agrees on exactly what it’s about.

"It’s Shiva's birthday," say some.
Others swear it’s His wedding night with Parvati.
Some opine that is when the Ananda Tandava,
the first Dance, began.
Yet others teach of it as the profundity of awakening,
saying,
“It’s the celebration of the day Shiva was illumined
about cosmic mind,
a Primal consciousness,
His own rhythm Divine!”

Shail Gulhati, author of the bestselling book series shiva the says " Shivratri is actually the realisation night of Shiva, when after intense meditation He finally realises His own Shivaness. This is a realisation by Shiva of His Shakti, which then shows its magic across the entire Universe. Therefore Shivratri can be all three in one go: Shiva's realisation, His birth ( to Self ) and His marriage to Shakti ( His own Power )
This picture of Shiva is the one that adorns Shail gulhati's house temple. It is displayed openly on the Shivratri night.

Aum Namah Shivaye.
Shail Gulhati is the Author of the books :
SHIVA, The Ultimate Time Traveller.

The Yogi and the snake
Shiva Poetry
NAAM ROOP- A Tribute to the Divine
And Life Said.

When is it possible to actually get God to accept your gifts?

 

AUM NAMAH SHIVAYE.

Dear friends and Shiva bhakts,
this is an amazing pic from the net. A bhaktin does Abhishek of a Shivalinga somewhere near the banks of a holy river town- probably Haridwar or Rishikesh, and we note that Lord Shiva virtually pops up to give blessings. Her efforts have born fruit. But we also see something startling: Shiva is drenched with the potions of the Abhishek!

Is this p
ossible? Can an offering on a stone image thousands of miles away actually reach a chosen personage? Practically speaking, this is an impossibility, a type of wishful thinking.

But we in India, have long had the tradition of sharing even our food with our God first in a similar manner, and we call this 'Bhog lagana'- 'To make God partake in our feast, knowing that all comes from Him anyway', and because according to the ancient rishis, anything was possible for God,we would do well to understand that this painted scene means to convey a higher message:

When you do something with your body and mind and also pour your soul into it, when Namah Shivaye becomes Mano Shivaye, Tano Shivaye, Dhano Shivaye, metaphorically speaking, ' Shiva is drenched with your love' . He can no longer resist giving you His Darsana.When you offer Him everything you have, your body ( karma)  your mind ( gyana) , and your very soul ( raja yoga) , knowing that all these come from Him, then your worship with the combination of all these  blossoms into a great Bhakti bhava, and Shiva ,who is Aashotosh, ( easily  pleased ), will come to your very doorstep. His Idol in your heart and mandir both, will begin to shine with a divine luminescence for ever after.

Aum Namah Shivaye!


Shail Gulhati author of SHIVA, The Ultimate Time Traveller.series.

Monday, 24 February 2025

YOUR NAME, AND HIS BEING.

 


YOUR NAME, AND HIS BEING.
Life is a walk you are having with God.
your feet and His Travel.
your eyes and His seeing.
your name, and His being.

SHIVA DIKSHA: THE HIGHEST TRAINING

 


SHIVA DIKSHA: THE HIGHEST TRAINING .
Shamshan Nath was no ordinary Gana.He belonged to the Aghora sect; The most elite, but also the most terrifying guard of Shiva. It comprised of some Ganas from Himachala,Tibet and Mahachina, and others from the unknown reaches of the mountains called Shambala.
Aghoras were the earliest and foremost shamans to whom absolutely nothing mattered other than proximity to their Lord, Shiva, at all times.
To be chosen into this guard was indeed a rare honour for a boy from the plains.
“Arise Shamshan Nath” , Shiva had said ever so gently."It is you, who shall prepare for my arrival into the current life cycle". When Shiva clasped his shoulders to shake his disbelief, Shamshan Nath felt as though a thousand bolts of lightning from a sky of knowledge and power had entered him. It indeed had. It was called pervesa, the pervasion of gnosis.
Shiva had this generous habit: he gifted his attendants the powers to be almost Shiva themselves. Gorakh Nath, Balak Nath, Baba Lal, were just a few of the people, who, if they wanted, could conjure all three worlds from their magic bags.
But not once, in known history, had the Ganas ever usurped power.
This was most unlike the Asuras, another primal race who were actually the earlier cousins of the Devas. The Asuras had a peculiar trait of misusing power.
Everyone knew the pattern.They first performed penances for thousands of years to Shiva, and when He would be happy and ready to grant a wish, they would ask for power. Once they secured His boon,they would start to plunder everyone else. This had happened several times.
But Shiva never changed his giving Nature. Instead he realized that to digest power was far more difficult than the act which helped acquire it. It was only being in touch with one’s divinity that could enable this. Shiva, was always in touch with his own divinity, He was the most powerful. And so he realized the need to train some beings to digest power.
These chosen ones were the Ganas. And that was the difference which never allowed them to become like Asuras: The training from Shiva about one’s divinity.