SrishtiCosmos
Srishti: Hiranya Garbha
The waters desired, “how can we be repro-
duced?” They toiled and performed fervid
devotions [or, and became heated]; when they
were becoming heated, a golden egg was
produced. The year, indeed, was not then in
existence; this golden egg floated about for as
long as the space of a year. In a year’s time a
man, this Prajapati, was produced therefrom.
He broke open this golden egg. There was then,
indeed, noresting place, only this golden egg.
At the end of a year he tried to speak. He said
“bhuh”; this [word] became this earth-bhuvah:
this became the air-svah: this became
yonder sky. Prajapati, according to this text,
then continues to create through
self-impregnation.
Pancha Mahabhutha
According to Hinduism there are 5 subtle ele-
ments which are responsible
for life. They are called the Panchamahabhutas:
Earth or Prithvi; Water or Jal; Fire or Agni; Air or
Vayu and then Ether or Akasha. It was not that
they were created in random order. All the ele-
ments were created from the subtle energy called
‘Tanmatra’. Another meaning of tan is mother, and
matra also means matter- the mother of matter.
The mother of this whole world is the tanmatras.
The tanmatras are in the womb of the Cosmic
Mother, Prakruti. It is this energy that gives rise to
the objective five elements.
Samudra Manthan
The Asuras- demons and the Gods decided to
churn the primordial waters to find nectar or elixir.
Meru parvat was used as a pivot and the serpent
Vsuki was used as a churning rope- with Gods and
Demons on either side they began churning. One
was one of the many precious entities that came
out and perhaps that explains the relationship
between tides and the moon.
Rituals and Iconography
The Rig Veda hymns praise the water, which
cleanses at both-spiritual and physical planes.
The jar stands as a divine womb sometimes in
the Vedas; the water-filled jar is a symbol of the
mother goddess in present times. The jar is also
considered to be symbol of Parvati’s organ,
which when holds the organ of Shiva (linga)
forms the source of manifestation, the union,
along with an arrow, which symbolises the
generative organ.
Poorna Kalash- the lotus flower, represents
the whole universe.
Lotus- One petal of the flower represents the
earth. A lotus is also the symbol of the womb,
spreading fertility to each and every direction.
It stands at the base of all cosmos.
Purna Kumbha- An earthern pot filled with
water symbolises prosperity.
Conch- Shankha or conch was born during
Samudra Manthan in primordial waters from
which the creative word OM emerges. It is
Sacred to vishnu.
Revive the reverence.
PravahFlow
Atman and Brahman
Water is life. Water is the creative feminine prin-
ciple. From the womb of water fire was born and
the Srishti or cosmos came into being. Water is
the part of the macrocosm that is the world as
well as the microcosm that is the self.
Its a known fact that 70% of earth is covered by
water. Same is the amount of water in the human
body approximately. Thus each one of us is indeed
a fragment of the whole that is the cosmos or the
Brahman.
Sustaining water is sustaining life. India is said to
be Nadi-matrika, a motherlan fed by rivers. India
has Seven main rivers. These rivers provide irriga-
tion, potable water, cheap transportation, elec-
tricity and livelihoods. They help sustain valuable
flora and fauna. The apa principle that flows in
the form of rivers also flows through all the liv-
ing beings. Apa takes form of honey, water, bllod,
milk, sap, mestrual flux and semen in the the living
creatures.
Prakriti
Symbolically, water is
a source and grave of life
a vehicle of cleansing
a centre of regeneration
The mass of water represents the infinite na-
ture of possible, the formless potential repre-
sented by the Apsara. The primaeval waters,
the image of prima matter, also contained all
solid bodies before they acquired form and
rigidity. Limitless and immortal, the waters are
the beginning and end of all things on earth,
forever in flow (pravah). It is the preserver of
life, circulating throughout the whole of nature,
in the form of rain, sap, milk, blood.
Revive the reverence.
PralayChaos
Pralay: Chaos
Water: Social issues
After more than 60 years of independence
equitable access to safe and pure drinking
water to all cross sections of society is merely
a dream. Access or the lack of it based on the
caste of the person is still a prevalent system
in many places in rural India.
Pollution:The amount of sewage treated and
otherwise that is being dumped into rivers
today will only lead to further contamination
of the already scarce resource. Even industries
dump effluents into water leading to poisoning
and major destruction of human life as well as
flora and fauna inhabiting those waters.
Water and politics:As states battle it out
over who gets more water from the said river
dams are being constructed without taking
into account the environmental impact and
the displacemetn issues into account. Push-
ing nature over the edge.Water and corporate
consumption- Big softdrink companies having
established their base in fertile soils of India
long back are not only draining the ground level
of water but also contaminating the farmlands.
The situation as it stands today is such that
you have no water or poisonous one to irrigate
your barren land however you can purchase it
bottled up at an expense. What was sacred,
pure and available to all earlier, is contaminat-
ed, branded and comes at a heavy price.
The sacred waters of India which were ones
being respected are getting polluted today.
Pollution, indiscriminate consumption, wast-
age and many such problems are the modern
day asuras or the demons plauging the sacred
waters of India. Whenever thers is an imbal-
ance and disorder in the environment the life
principle dissolves, absorbs everything into
itself in order to start the creative process
once again. Kali is chosen as the symbol of the
sacred feminine principle that will cause the
world to get completely destroyed so that new
world can come into being again.
Revive the reverence.