Showing posts with label radha ma. Show all posts
Showing posts with label radha ma. Show all posts

7 March 2011

Radha Ma




In response to various requests for information about Radha Ma, it has been reported that she has now succumbed in a Chennai Hospital from burns after being rushed there from Tiruvannamalai, after what is reported in the local Tamil papers, to have been an attempt at self-immolation.






One hopes that her devotees and followers find solace in thoughts of Arunachala and receive relief from the shock they must be experiencing from the unexpected and tragic death of their Guru.




12 July 2009

Interview with Radha Ma

Radha Ma originates from Bangalore and successfully worked for many years in Hyderabad as a chartered accountant. It was here she met her husband-to-be, who now lives with her at Tiruvannamalai as her devotee. Radha Ma refuses to see herself as a guru or master but many come to her anyway. She now lives off the Girivalam Roadway at Arunachala.






In the following interview Radha Ma was asked: “It appears essential to meet a guru and stay with that guru. Who is the guru? What is the guru's role? How to recognise a true guru?”

Her reply starts: “I never had a Guru, so I don’t know how to answer for this. And I am not a Guru too . . . and I’m not a Guru . . . so you want to know how to recognise a Guru?”

Click on this link to watch and listen to the rest of her response to the question: ‘Who is the Guru?’


9 April 2009

Lord Narasimha

In a previous posting I talked about the ashram of Radha Ma and of the Narasimha Temple located in its grounds. As the posting attracted such a heated discussion, I asked Mayura Natha Swamy to write a short narrative about Lord Narasimha explaining the relevance of this great God in our lives.


Mayura Natha Swamy is a sannyasin who lives at the ashram of Radhama here in Tiruvannamalai. Previously he was a Chartered Public Accountant (CPA) in the U.S. Mayura Natha Swamy left work to begin his spiritual search. On a visit to India, Radhama (who was to become his guru), grabbed him from, 'the ocean of misery' in which he was drowning and he has remained here and not returned to the U.S.



“Narasimha was the fourth incarnation of Vishnu, an incarnation in some ways quite distinct from the other incarnations. Usually Vishnu incarnates for all of mankind to set right some dharmic imbalance, when righteousness is on the decline and ignorance and violence have taken over. In the case of Narasimha the main reason for his manifestation, was out of love for the sweet child devotee Prahlad. That God came for one sincere devotee is the unique aspect of Narasimha’s incarnation.


Narasimha’s story is told in the Srimad Bhagavatam, Sri Vishnu Purana, Padma Purana, and the Narasimha Upapurana. Once the four great sages, Sanandana and his brothers, went to Vishnu’s abode in Vaikuntha to pay their respect to him. The four were the first sons of Brahma, who had created them so they could be the progenitors of all mankind, but the boys refused and sat only in meditation, because of which they remained ever young and like young boys.


Due to their youthful appearance the gatekeepers of Vaikuntha – Jaya and Vijaya, did not recognize them and refused to let them in. The sages cursed them that they should lose their place in heaven forever and be sent to earth. The gatekeepers were so upset they ran to Vishnu and asked him to remove the curse. Vishnu said he could not do that, but he would give them a choice, they could be reborn one hundred times as good devotees of his, or they could be reborn three times as asuras who hated him and he would descend to earth personally to destroy them.


The gatekeepers immediately chose the latter option because they would return more quickly, with the added bonus of being killed by God himself, which would ensure liberation. Their first births were as Hiranyaaksha and Hiranyakasipu, whom Narasimha killed, in the next birth they were Ravana and Kumbhakarna, whom Rama killed, and the last birth they were born as Sisupaala and Dantavaktra, whom Krishna killed.


Hiranyaaksha and Hiranyakasipu were born as powerful asuras. At one point Hiranyaaksha took Mother Earth herself and pulled her down under the ocean. To free Mother Earth Vishnu took the form of a boar, Varaha, his third incarnation, and killed the demon, finally holding Mother Earth above water on his tusks. From then on Hiranyakasipu nursed a great hatred for Vishnu, because he had slain his brother. In order to obtain great siddhis he performed severe austerities and meditated for 25,000 years. The earth and heavens were being scorched by his penance and Brahma came to see Hiranyakasipu and told him to ask for whatever boon he wanted.


Hiranyakasipu asked that he should not be killed by any of God's created beings, nor be killed in the air or on the ground, nor slain at night or day, by man or beast or by any weapons. His boon was granted, and from that day Hiranyakasipu set out to put heaven and earth under his dominion. He threw out the Gods from heaven and sat on Indra’s throne. On earth he ordered that people doing spiritual practices should be killed and established that all negative acts be rewarded and all good acts be punished. However, to this great embodiment of asuric qualities was born a son named Prahlad. From his very birth Prahlad was a great devotee of God, he would sit as if dumb, with his eyes half closed while tears streamed down his face while thinking of God.


Hiranyakasipu thought that he should be sent to the gurus of the asuric race to learn the good demon ways. But, every time that Prahlad came back and was asked by his father what he had learned he would say things like, “I learned that all beings who suffer under the false ego of “I” and “mine” should go to the woods and meditate on Vishnu, the Supreme”. Hiranyakasipu was furious and scolded his son saying, “how can you say that Vishnu is supreme, I am the greatest, I am the most powerful. All the three worlds are under my control”. Hiranyakasipu sent Prahlad back several times to learn the proper ways of the asuras, but it never worked.






Finally, enraged, Hiranyakasipu ordered his guards to kill his own son. They tried to kill him in many ways, by fire, by poisoning, by drowning, by weapons, but every time he came out unscathed. Hiranyakasipu then confronted his son himself. He drew his sword and was coming to cut his son’s head off while saying “Why do you say your God is all powerful and everywhere? If he is everywhere, is he in this pillar”? As he said this he struck a stone pillar.


At that moment a huge sound split the air and out of the pillar emerged Narasimha, with the body of a man and the head of a lion. Narasimha, in a furious, unstoppable rage grabbed Hiranyakasipu, pulled him to his lap, tore open Hiranyakasipu’s body with his claws and garlanded his own neck with the asura’s intestines. It was all over in a few seconds. Narasimha, who was neither man nor beast, killed Hiranyakasipu on his lap, which was neither on the ground nor in the air. He came out of an inanimate pillar and the time was during twilight, neither night nor day, and he killed him with his claws, not a weapon. Thus, the demon’s boon was circumvented.


Everybody was scared, no one dared approach Narasimha, so fierce was his form. But his great devotee prostrated at Narasimha’s feet. The Lord lovingly picked up Prahlad and at Narasimha’s touch Prahlad had all sense of remaining egotism erased and attained self-knowledge. Narasimha then installed Prahlad as king and returned to Vaikuntha. His appearance on earth very short, but intense.


So who is Hiranyakasipu? He is only the ignorant ego. The ego that thinks it can do anything it wants, it thinks it is all powerful, it thinks that it is God, or even greater than God. Surely we are all God, but the ego is not. The ego tries to take that for itself. The ego even goes to the extent of trying to crush that which is good and pure, Prahlad symbolises love, devotion, surrender and all good qualities. The part of us that knows the highest truth and wants to serve that and become that.


But how does that small part of us grow? We are constantly being harassed by the demon ego, Hiranyakasipu. Moved by compassion, God himself comes and destroys that thing that has caused us so many problems – the ego!


The word asura is usually translated into English as demon. However in Sanskrit “sura” means intelligent or learned, “a” means not. So, asura means ignorant. In fact, many of the asuras were very accomplished. Ravana was a master of the veena, and Hiranyakasipu was capable of intense meditation. Also the brothers were the gatekeepers of Vishnu in Vaikuntha, and they voluntarily chose to be enemies of Vishnu so they would return in three births instead of one hundred. These are not qualities usually associated with demons as we think of them in the West.


Some people’s reaction to Narasimha is that he is violent and terrifying, but if you see him as your protector, as a destroyer of hostile forces trying to harm you, how could you feel that way? If you identify yourself as Hiranyakasipu, then you will feel fear. However, if you identify with Prahlad you will only feel God’s compassion everywhere and in everything. Narasimha’s action was really a burst of compassion, not of violence. Only our ego becomes frightened of Narasimha but for the part of us that is love, that loves God, a great attraction is felt and gratitude is felt for his strength and protection.”

23 January 2009

Radha Ma Ashram

Radha Ma invited me to come and visit the recently built Narasimha Temple on the grounds of her Ashram. I love my gardens and my Temples, so didn't need to be asked twice! The below photographs show the lovely Ashram garden which 4-5 years ago was just a patch of scrub land.










The below photographs are of the Temple area.




At this time I wasn't allowed to take a photograph of the actual Narasimha statue inside the Temple, but outside is a well known photograph of the Vishnu avatar, upon which the statue inside the Temple is modelled. The statue was crafted by artisans in Mahabalipuram and the installation ceremony was performed by priests from the Parthasarathy Temple, Triplicane, Chennai where the god Narasimha is worshipped.





Outside the entrance to the Narasimha Temple are paintings of GajaLakshmi and Kamadhenu.




Below is a photograph of Sarada Devi from inside Radha Ma's quarters.




Tale of Narasimha

"
Few of the thousands of stories found in Hindu mythology have as much beauty, poignancy, and moral and intellectual daring as the tale of Narasimha, the man-lion who is the fourth incarnation or avatar of Vishnu. The circumstances under which Vishnu descends to earth in the form of Narasimha are to be found in the fact, as enumerated in the Puranas, that in his previous incarnation as the boar, Vishnu had killed the asura or demon Hiranyaksha, and consequently filled his elder brother, Hiranyakashipu, with a burning desire for revenge.

While commanding the asuras to create havoc on earth, Hiranyakashipu himself prepared for the battle with Vishnu by practicing the most severe austerities, the effect of which was that he acquired the most tremendous powers. For scores of years he stood still on Mount Mandara, and though ant hills, grass, and plants grew on his body, he would not stir; the rivers and oceans trembled; the volcanoes roared and the earth shook; and the astral bodies went astray. The fiery smoke emanating from Hiranyakashipu’s very head left a massive trail of destruction, and the panic-stricken devas or gods, led by Indra, finally made their way to Brahma’s abode. Warning him that the worlds of his own creation would soon become extinct, the devas pleaded with Brahma to intercede, whereupon Brahma, declaring himself pleased at the immense austerities practiced by Hiranyakashipu, agreed to grant him any boon, hopeful that he would cease to terrorize the world and the devas.

Such is the tapas, the fire of Hiranyakashipu’s sacrifice and discipline, that even the gods must render him obeisance. Much like Ravana, his fellow asura, Hiranyakashipu receives from Brahma a boon that he shall "never be killed by these means: the striking and throwing weapons of my enemies, thunderbolt, dried tree-trunks, high mountains, by water or fire." Drought, fire, earthquakes, thunder, hurricanes, and all other manner of natural calamities: from all these he shall have immunity. Most decisively, Hiranyakashipu appears to have clinched his immortality when it is agreed that he shall "not be slain in heaven, on earth, in the daytime, at night, from neither above nor below", and most importantly neither by man nor animal.

Emboldened by the boon, Hiranyakashipu and his asuras lose no time in bringing the entire world under their jurisdiction, dominating the devas, and creating a reign of absolute terror. Hiranyakashipu’s own son, Prahlad, is a devoted follower of Vishnu, and his father’s ceaseless efforts to make him abandon his faith do not bear fruit. He is subjected to much pain and suffering; asuras are let loose at him; and he is thrown down a cliff. Yet Prahlad outlives all these attempts at terminating his life. Immensely pleased by his devotion, Vishnu at last decides to intercede directly. Descending to earth in the form of Narasimha, Vishnu appears before the complaisant Hiranyakashipu. As half man (nara) and half lion (simha), he is neither man nor lion; he springs out of a pillar; he strikes at twilight, when it is neither day nor light; and he attacks Hiranyakashipu at the threshold of his palace, under the arch of the doorway, neither on earth nor in the sky. Narasimha throws Hiranyakashipu upon his thighs and rips apart his bowels with his claws.

The tale of Narasimha speaks to the critical importance of liminality in forging any kind of emancipatory politics or theology. It is at the cusp, in the moment of liminality, in the state of in-betweenness, that ignorance is defeated and knowledge is acquired. If we go only so far as common-sense logic appears to take us, we might not travel very far at all. The tale of Narasimha is also there to remind us of the risks which we must take if we seek to be true moral agents."

16 January 2009

Helping Out

This afternoon visited several spots in Ramana Nagar to put up posters for a friend. Worked my way to Usha's Restaurant, which is a busy vegetarian restaurant across the road from Seshadri Ashram. Surprised to find that a local Guru, Radha Ma was at the restaurant 'helping out' at Ushas as they currently have a serious staff shortage. It was quite a surprise! Anyhow as I haven't posted many photographs of Radha Ma on Arunachala Grace and because readers have requested up-to-date snaps, I am posting several pictures that I took this afternoon of Radha Ma 'working' at the restaurant.






Well her shift is finally over and below she is taking a rest and having a chat with a chum. Good days work!