By VGR Pavan
India is called as karma Bhumi. The word “Karma” has a very wide definition and observing the rituals enunciated in “Vedas” is one among them. I am always interested with the esoteric aspect of Vedas and other literature.
Science accepted the fact that humans or other species on earth emerged from the “matter” of the cosmos. Hence we all possess the qualities of the heavens. I think our ancestors were aware of this fact and tried to sync our lives with the cosmos. In the infinite sky we get influenced by the nearest stars or galaxies. Seers used the path of our “father”, Sun as the guide. They believed that Sun is giving us everything by capturing the radiations from farther stars. Hence, the stars surrounding the path of this “Dwarf Star” (Sun) around Earth are the indicators of our fate. After generations of “observation” and “experience”, they recorded their findings in beautiful poetic principles, what we collectively call as “Vedas”. Till today, these unquestionable mines of knowledge are the living apostles of those intellectual giants, about whom we are forgetting.
Returning to the subject, sages of yore found that asterisms/stars are not a small group of celestial bodies but a bunch of galaxies far away from our solar system. Each gathering of these galaxies is named after a Nakshatra (constellation), for which an Upasana or method of worship is created. Here, I wish to show the readers some wonders in the sky. The subject matter of this article is a constellation named “Lyra” in the heavens. It is located near the constellation “Cygnus”, the celestial swan. The following is the picture of its location in this vast and unending space which we call cosmos.
The names are marked in Red and the constellations are separated by red dotted lines. In this picture we will find M57, which is named after an astronomer Messiah and the number corresponds to his list of observations. This is also called as “Ring Nebula” and the following is the exact HQ picture of it.
This nebula clearly resembles a “Lotus” rather than a “Ring”. This nebula forms a great part in the constellation “Lyra”. Greeks admire “Lyra” as a stringed musical instrument. In our country, we call it as a “Veena” which decorates the hands of “Saraswati Devi”. Now, I would like to draw your attention to another area in Lyra which we call “Epsilon Lyra” located near the brightest Vega. In fig.1 it is stated as the “double-double”.
Epsilon is a Greek alphabet and astronomers use it to name the stars in a constellation with these alphabets depending up on the illumination. That means, Alpha for the brightest and Beta next to it and so on. Epsilon Lyra consists of two pairs of sub-stars (say 4 tiny stars) in it. Both will revolve around each other at great speeds so that at any particular point of time the 4 tiny stars will face all the four directions. This is the exact description of “Chaturmukha (four faced) Brahma” in our scriptures.
Now culling all the facts at a place, we should say that Ring Nebula is the lotus on which the Chaturmukha Barhma (Epsilon Lyra) is seated along with Saraswati resembled by the Veena (Lyra). Both have an abode of Swan which is none other than the celestial swan “Cygnus” near Lyra.
Now coming to the Stuti of sage Agastya:
या कुन्देन्दुतुषारहारधवला या शुभ्रवस्त्रावृता |
या वीणावरदण्डमण्डितकरा या श्वेतपद्मासना ||
या ब्रह्माच्युतशंकरप्रभृतिभिर्देवः सदा पूजिता |
सा मां पातु सरस्वति भगवती निःशेषजाड्यापहा ||
- (Salutations to Devi Saraswati) Who is Pure White like Jasmine, with the Coolness of Moon, Brightness of Snow and Shine like the Garland of Pearls; and Who is Covered with Pure White Garments,
- Whose Hands are Adorned with Veena (a stringed musical instrument) and the Boon-Giving Staff; And Who is Seated on Pure White Lotus,
- Who is Always Adored by Lord Brahma, Lord Acyuta (Lord Vishnu), Lord Shankara and Other Devas,
- O Goddess Saraswati, Please Protect me and Remove my Ignorance completely.
This praising of Agastya is more than enough to confirm the fact that the white constellation Lyra itself is Saraswathi Devi. This demonstration is to show the vision of our ancient seers and to strongly object the ignorant remarks of western astronomers about the borrowing of our knowledge from middle-east. They are under the illusion that the clear sky in the middle-east desert is the best canvas to draw the painting of the heavens. It’s a childish delineation to base a theory and if time permits I will bring more facts before the readers. Peace and prosperity to all.
2 comments:
LIKE IT A LOT SIR
A great article. Thank you. Please write more.
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