The Apotheosis of Water and its Inevitability in Indian Culture, Part Three
A paper by Dr. Gauri Mahulikar, presented for a study on the ancient, traditional water and agricultural management systems of India, in three parts.
Water and Culture
Culture has a very vast connotation. It deals with the concrete material world as well as the abstract inner world. For a commoner, it means rites and rituals, beliefs and practices, festivals and fairs and general norms of life. All these aspects can't be discussed here for want of time. I would, therefore deal with the samskaras, an integral part of Indian culture and Indian festivals.
What is Samskara:
Technically, <samskaras means consecration that removes blemishes (if any) from a thing/person and deposits qualities and virtues in it (Brahma Sutra, Sankarabhasya, I.1.4). In Indian tradition, right from birth till death, various samskaras are prescribed. The number oscillates between 16 and 40. These include garbhadhana, pumsavana, namakarana, upanayana, vivaha, sraddha, etc. In all these, the presence of water is inevitable.
Ritual Details:
All our rituals begin with samkalpa, sipping water before declaring the wish/decision to undertake any rite. This is supposed to purify one from within. Then water is offered to the desired deity as padya. Arghya, offering of water with flowers or sandalwood paste, is given as a way of greeting. The most important and distinguishing feature of any ritual, however, is ritual bath or sprinkling.
Snana and Abhiseka:
Regular river bath is advised and preferred in our scriptures. Bath in a river is worth the donation of 100/1000 dark-coloured cows, according to holy texts. Bath is supposed to give new life, new birth to a person, because the river is regarded to be a living unit.
In the Skanda Purana there is a story of Katha, a celibate, studying in the hermitage of sage Bharadvaja. As gurudaksina, the sage asked him to marry his unattractive daughter Revati. After marriage, Katha propitiated Siva and asked him to confer beauty and prosperity on his wife. As told by Siva, he bathed his wife and washed her. She turned into a beautiful lady. The stream which flowed got the name Revati, which later on joined Ganga. Thereupon a reward of beauty was assured for a person who took bath at that place.
The sage Chyavana got rejuvenated and cast off his old emaciated body after a bath (Bhagavata Purana IX.3.13ff). A ceremonious bath is given to a bride in the open as a lustration rite (Rigveda X.85, AV.XIV.1 - both are marriage hymns). Ceremonious bath (avabhrthasnana) is a customary rite for a student, indicating end of his celibacy and eligibility to attain the new status of a householder (Manu Smrti.3.4).
Water is imbued with the power of spiritual purification. All temples are located near a water source. The devotees are supposed to bathe or wash their hands and feet before entering the shrines. This is a universal custom. In Judaism at Mikveh, a holy day, ritual bath is considered important. Muslims, before their daily prayers (namaz) wash hands, feet and eyes. All the mosques have a water source. In Christianity, water is linked with baptism. Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist in the River Jordan, with a belief the water rejects original sin. Thus bath is important in all traditions.
When full bath is not possible, sprinkling is done through jars filled with water. It is symbolic bath. Divinity and positive vibrations are stored and protected in closed jars and not in the open buckets. Therefore in Indian culture, much prominence is attached to ghata or kalasa. It is believed that Visnu, Rudra, Brahma and other gods and goddesses dwell in different parts of a ghata. Thus worship of ghata is worship of all these gods and sprinkling of water from a ghata is being blessed by them.
Ghata also symbolizes the womb and signifies fertility. The water in a ghata is thus creative, fertile fluid and not just elemental water.. The water from a ghata is used in pacificatory rites as well. Water has the inherent power to remove evil and illness.
Festivals:
Festivals form a special feature of any culture. They provide occasion for people to gather together, socialize with each other and pay homage to the deities for their favour. All over the world, some festivals are associated with harvest. After reaping bumper crops, sons of the soil express their gratitude towards the factors causing their prosperity. Water, rain and river are among these prominent principles.
In India, many festivals are connected with the rainy season. Nagapancami, to express gratitude to serpents, the real friends of farmers and the zoomprph of water is celebrated in Sravana. Onam or Pongal also come as harvest festivals. On the full moon day of Sravana, the fishermen throw coconuts in the ocean to pacify it. Then comes Pola, the veneration of bulls. Bull is an emblem of physical strength and symbolizes Indra.
Simhastha or Kumbha, after every 12 years, is the most distinguishing feature of Indian Culture. No invitations, letters or brochures are sent to anyone and yet thousands of devout people gather at places like Prayag, Haridwar, Ujjain, Kumbhakonam Puskar, etc. and take a dip in the holy river. The binding force is Water.
I'll end up my paper with a Vedic verse, in the veneration of pah (Rigveda VII.49.4):
yasu raja varuno yasu somo
visve devah yamurjam madanti
vaisvanaro yasvagnih pravistah
ta apo deviriha mamavantu
"Water itself, particularly that of the Himalayan rivers, is a kind of Soma…"
Source: Sampradaya sun
Water and Culture
Culture has a very vast connotation. It deals with the concrete material world as well as the abstract inner world. For a commoner, it means rites and rituals, beliefs and practices, festivals and fairs and general norms of life. All these aspects can't be discussed here for want of time. I would, therefore deal with the samskaras, an integral part of Indian culture and Indian festivals.
What is Samskara:
Technically, <samskaras means consecration that removes blemishes (if any) from a thing/person and deposits qualities and virtues in it (Brahma Sutra, Sankarabhasya, I.1.4). In Indian tradition, right from birth till death, various samskaras are prescribed. The number oscillates between 16 and 40. These include garbhadhana, pumsavana, namakarana, upanayana, vivaha, sraddha, etc. In all these, the presence of water is inevitable.
Ritual Details:
All our rituals begin with samkalpa, sipping water before declaring the wish/decision to undertake any rite. This is supposed to purify one from within. Then water is offered to the desired deity as padya. Arghya, offering of water with flowers or sandalwood paste, is given as a way of greeting. The most important and distinguishing feature of any ritual, however, is ritual bath or sprinkling.
Snana and Abhiseka:
Regular river bath is advised and preferred in our scriptures. Bath in a river is worth the donation of 100/1000 dark-coloured cows, according to holy texts. Bath is supposed to give new life, new birth to a person, because the river is regarded to be a living unit.
In the Skanda Purana there is a story of Katha, a celibate, studying in the hermitage of sage Bharadvaja. As gurudaksina, the sage asked him to marry his unattractive daughter Revati. After marriage, Katha propitiated Siva and asked him to confer beauty and prosperity on his wife. As told by Siva, he bathed his wife and washed her. She turned into a beautiful lady. The stream which flowed got the name Revati, which later on joined Ganga. Thereupon a reward of beauty was assured for a person who took bath at that place.
The sage Chyavana got rejuvenated and cast off his old emaciated body after a bath (Bhagavata Purana IX.3.13ff). A ceremonious bath is given to a bride in the open as a lustration rite (Rigveda X.85, AV.XIV.1 - both are marriage hymns). Ceremonious bath (avabhrthasnana) is a customary rite for a student, indicating end of his celibacy and eligibility to attain the new status of a householder (Manu Smrti.3.4).
Water is imbued with the power of spiritual purification. All temples are located near a water source. The devotees are supposed to bathe or wash their hands and feet before entering the shrines. This is a universal custom. In Judaism at Mikveh, a holy day, ritual bath is considered important. Muslims, before their daily prayers (namaz) wash hands, feet and eyes. All the mosques have a water source. In Christianity, water is linked with baptism. Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist in the River Jordan, with a belief the water rejects original sin. Thus bath is important in all traditions.
When full bath is not possible, sprinkling is done through jars filled with water. It is symbolic bath. Divinity and positive vibrations are stored and protected in closed jars and not in the open buckets. Therefore in Indian culture, much prominence is attached to ghata or kalasa. It is believed that Visnu, Rudra, Brahma and other gods and goddesses dwell in different parts of a ghata. Thus worship of ghata is worship of all these gods and sprinkling of water from a ghata is being blessed by them.
Ghata also symbolizes the womb and signifies fertility. The water in a ghata is thus creative, fertile fluid and not just elemental water.. The water from a ghata is used in pacificatory rites as well. Water has the inherent power to remove evil and illness.
Festivals:
Festivals form a special feature of any culture. They provide occasion for people to gather together, socialize with each other and pay homage to the deities for their favour. All over the world, some festivals are associated with harvest. After reaping bumper crops, sons of the soil express their gratitude towards the factors causing their prosperity. Water, rain and river are among these prominent principles.
In India, many festivals are connected with the rainy season. Nagapancami, to express gratitude to serpents, the real friends of farmers and the zoomprph of water is celebrated in Sravana. Onam or Pongal also come as harvest festivals. On the full moon day of Sravana, the fishermen throw coconuts in the ocean to pacify it. Then comes Pola, the veneration of bulls. Bull is an emblem of physical strength and symbolizes Indra.
Simhastha or Kumbha, after every 12 years, is the most distinguishing feature of Indian Culture. No invitations, letters or brochures are sent to anyone and yet thousands of devout people gather at places like Prayag, Haridwar, Ujjain, Kumbhakonam Puskar, etc. and take a dip in the holy river. The binding force is Water.
I'll end up my paper with a Vedic verse, in the veneration of pah (Rigveda VII.49.4):
yasu raja varuno yasu somo
visve devah yamurjam madanti
vaisvanaro yasvagnih pravistah
ta apo deviriha mamavantu
"Water itself, particularly that of the Himalayan rivers, is a kind of Soma…"
Source: Sampradaya sun
Comments
Post a Comment