Symbolism in Sanathana Dharma

The book of Dan Brown on symbolism in Christianity with specific reference to Michael Angelo's paintings has induced lots of interest in people to study and find out any such symbolism in other relgions.  This piece is an attempt to give just a glimpse into the work of finding such symbolism in the age old Sanathana Dharma popularly called Hinduism.  This being a religion that was there much before, Christianity, Islam and even Judaism, it is pertinent to refer to this as Sanathana Dharma.  Let us look at a few of the symbolic references found in the puranas.

The birth of Lord Karthikeya son of Lord Shiva.  In the puranas, it is mentioned that Sanathkumara, one of the four sons of Brahma gave a boon to Shiva that he would be born as a son to him, overlooking Shiva's consort Parvati alongside.  When questioned by Parvati, he reportedly said that only Shiva sought a boon and that he had given and since she is also seeking a boon, she would hold the son in her hands.  The story goes on to say that from the glare of the third eye of Shiva six separate flames came out and they formed into babies.  These six babies were found in a tank called Saravana Poigai near Pazhani in TN.  The Krithika Star (Pleiades, which consists of Seven star constellation) demigods looked after the babies and finally Parvati took all six into her embrace and the six babies became one with six heads and twelve hands.  

The Kritika star (Pleiades) is a group of seven stars and it is reportedly a hot one considered the source of power and heat.  Shiva is considered a source of energy and Parvati is considered a catalyst.  This is found as a  reference in Soundarya Lahari where Adi Shankara says without the stimulus of Parvati, Shiva is like a dead log.  Onlly when Parvati (Shakti meaning power) stimulates the in-trance Shiva to act, he does act otherwise he remains motionless, the first sloka goes onto explain.  So for an energy source to act, one requires a catalyst and this is explained in the birth of Muruga or Karthikeya.  Only when induced by the boon of Sanathkumara the energy source of Shiva gave out energy beams split into six and the catalyst of Parvati made them into one single energy form. 

The other is the birth of Lord Ayyappa.  When the sages of Daruka vana became head strong and arrogant, Shiva took the form of naked beggar followed by four dogs.  He was seeking alms from the house holds of the sages.  When the women folk of the house hold saw the handsome man naked in front of them, they forgot their duty to their husbands and followed Shiva.  The meditation and penance of the sages thus got disturbed and the avowed fruits such penance could not be obtained. This was a big blow to their ego and arrogance.  They realized their folly and prayed to the Lord who revealed himself and said it was He who came as a naked beggar.  In another incident the demigods or Suras or Devas and their counter parts the Daithyas or Asuras were churning the milky ocean to get Nectar (Amirtham).  Finally when they got it, there was a tussle between them as to who will get the same first.  Vishnu in the form of a beautiful lady appeared before them and assured both the teams that she will distribute the nectar equitably.  Doubting the words of Vishnu, one of the asuras Svarbhanu took the form of demigod and sat with demigods to partake the nectar.  The Sun and Moon noticed it and informed Vishnu.  Vishnu punished him by beheading him.  The head became a separate one and the body became a separate one with the body and the head of a snake respectively.  These are called Rahu and Ketu in the Indian astrology, though they are the nodes.  

That apart, the reported birth of Ayyappa is a conjugal love of Shiva in his naked beggar form (Bikshadanar) and Vishnu in his lady form (Mohini).  It is nothing but confluence of the energy from two different sources.  Energy that emenated from one source interacts with energy from another source to form a new energy as the energy can only be transformed or added or divided or transferred but cannot be destroyed which axiom is well known to those who studied high school physics.  Hence, here energy from two different sources became one and that is reportedly is the HariHara Putra or Ayyappa as worshiped today.

Why such stories as above were built around such complex scientific principles.  It is to make the people understand the principles easily and memorize them without forgetting them, as story telling was quite popular and the people remembered the stories better than the scientific theses.

The above is just a glimpse into the symbolism found in the extensive puranas and itihasas (historical books) in Sanathana dharma and in future  let us examine a few more in more such blogs.