My visit to
Sarabheswara temple yesterday made me think of life from a few different
perspectives. The belief goes this way: on request of people from all over the world including Devas, Shiva took
Sarabheswara form - a combination of bird, animal and human with goddess Shakti
as his wings - to pacify Narasimhar after he destroyed Hiranyan. When you are mentally or physically
disturbed, if you worship Him, He will hug you too and pacify you is the
belief.
Hiranyan was a very
powerful person with a lot of magical powers and almost immortal; he ruled the
world. But he was killed by Narasimhar - who could lift him just like that, put
him on His lap with such an ease, pierce his body with just nails. And such a
powerful Narasimhar was lifted by Sarabheswara just like that, He hugged
Narasimhar like a mother hugging her child and cooled off His anger. And,
Sarabheswara had to have Shakti as His wings. This story clearly shows that
however powerful you are, there is always someone more powerful than you.
In life, many times
we end up expressing anger in such a ferocious manner as Narasimhar. This
anger, even if it is righteous, scares off people who we try to protect (or at
least believe to protect) and they fear coming near us. On the other hand,
though the anger makes us act, it also prevents from coming back to normalcy.
It affects us very badly - much worse than the impact on those who receive the
anger. If we get a Sarabheswara to cool us off and bring back normalcy at the
right time, we are lucky. What would have happened in this case if Shakti did
not come along as His wings? What do we do if we do not have a Sarabheswara?
Can we be our own Sarabheswara? Hmm…
Narasimhar, the
manifestation of the Protector destroyed, and Sarabheswara, the manifestation
of the Destroyer, protected. In highly tensed situations, roles and expressions
can change, will change looks like.
The Protector
decided to appear for a child and destroyed his father out of love. Strange it
sounds, when you say this statement!
I don’t know if
worshiping Sarabheswara will pacify us; but I am sure, thinking about the
lessons from the story can certainly do
the trick. I think, it is the power of this civilization, that thought thru
principles, values and translated them to stories! On 2nd May, there is a dance
drama in Music Academy on Prahlada - the child for whose love the Protector
manifested. I am thinking of an hour long drama, I acted as Prahlada when I was
11 years old! I am happy that I am born in this country, that taught me / keeps teaching me the deeper
meaning of life!!
