Significance of Vaahana (Vehicles)

As per Hindu Mythology, the following are the vehicles of important gods.

1. Ganesha - Mushika (Mouse)
2. Saraswathi / Brahma - Hamsa (Swan)
3. Parvathi - Tiger / Lion 
4. Shiva - Nandi (Bull)
5. Vishnu - Garuda (Eagle)
6. Lakshmi Devi - Owl 

Overview:

                    A vehicle doesn't necessarily mean that it is used only for traveling purpose. It means that the vehicles (animals) are controlled by the gods. Here, each animal signifies a particular type of quality which a human being possesses.

Let us see, what they signify:

• Mouse:

                    A mouse is always nervous and is confused. It goes here and there and will always be in doubt whether to do something or not. So, by worshiping Ganesha, one will get a psychological feeling that one has a moral support and can come out of nervousness.

• Owl:

                    Owl wakes up at night and sleeps during morning. It has no friends. It doesn't like human beings. It is always alone. Also, owl is considered to be inauspicious. So, one must understand that, one who runs behind money should lead a life like an owl. He should be aware of the fact that he would not have friends, he would be doing certain things to multiply his money only in the dark (illegal activities).

• Bull:

                    Bull is always aggressive, doesn't think at all and if not controlled, attacks all those who come on its way. So, the meaning is that, one should be aware of this quality and control it. Whenever we think of Lord Shiva, we should keep this point in mind and try to control the aggressiveness, bullying nature in us.

• Garuda:

                    Garuda pakshi is the fastest bird. It is believed that, this bird travels faster than the sound (Supersonic). The bird, here represents 'thoughts'. So, one has to control his words and his thoughts. Garuda Pakshi is the vehicle of Lord Vishnu. So, Vishnu would control our thoughts.

• Hamsa:

                    Both Saraswathi Devi and Brahma are associated with this Vahana. 'Swan' is an imaginary bird which represents 'Beauty', 'Peace', 'Grace', 'Attitude' and 'Noble Living'. Also, it is believed that it has a capability to separate 'Milk' and 'Water'. 'Milk' means right deeds and 'water' means wrong deeds. So, it means that one has to lead a 'noble' life by thanking Brahma for creating a 'beautiful' world. By differentiating the right path and wrong path, one can get moksha.

• Adi Sesha:

                     Lord Vishnu sleeps on Adi Sesha. Adi Sesha (Serpent) is not a 'Vahana'. But, it is controlled by Lord Vishnu. Here, the comparison is that, the desire in us will be like a snake. It comes out suddenly and will not think what is wrong and what is right. So, whenever we think of Vishnu, it should come into our mind that, this quality is bad one and should always be controlled.

• Tiger / Himalayan Lion:

                     Similarly, Tiger is Cruel, Angry, Violent and has no respect for other animals. These qualities will be controlled by Goddess Kali / Parvathi.

In this way, we have to relate each vehicle to some quality and should control it.

Swachandha Maranam - Is it possible?

                    There were many instances where many 'Gurus' , 'Yogis' , 'Swamijis' and 'Sadhus' predicted their time of death.This process of deciding the time and date of death is known as 'Swachandha Maranam'.

Few Instances:

                    There are many examples in our Indian History where people have predicted their date and time of death. Here are a few known ones:

• Bhishma Pithamaha : The Great Grand father of Kouravas & Pandavas - He lived for more than 150-200 years.
• Various Heads of Mutts (Peeta adhipathi) till the 14th Century
• Babas (Like Sai Baba; Even Satya Sai Baba predicted his day of death but could not achieve it)
• Swamy Vivekananda - Died while meditating, by the rupture of blood vessels in brain. He always thought, he should not live beyond 40 years.

So, can we decide our life span?

Answer to this question is -'YES'. We can decide the date and time of death.
 If we have a strong will, we have chances to live for as many years as we decide.

Prerequisites:

One who has fulfilled the following can decide the time of death:

• Who has entirely left all desires, worldly pleasures
• Who has gone through the life contented with just the bare necessities of life
• Who followed a perfect diet throughout his life - by eating only 'sathwik' aahara
• Who has left all the relations in this world (Sanyasi)
• Who always lead a noble life by balancing Dharma, Artha and Kama

The process:

Once all the above stated conditions are satisfied, one can decide when to leave the body.

After the particular date is decided, the heads / yogis (Swamy) who have already decided to attain Ichcha Mruthyu do the following:

• Observe a 54 days fast (not necessarily a fast, it would be something like a notice period) , 54th day being the date of death.
• During the initial 2-3 weeks of the fast period, the swamy would leave certain things one by one. 
• He would leave the 'master - student relationship' which he has with his followers, he would choose his successor etc.
• Slowly, he would stop eating and would consume only liquid food as a part of systematically weakening process
• During the last 2 weeks, Swamy would stop consuming liquids and would stop drinking water. 
• He would spend his time only in meditation, preaching

The Last Breath:

Last two days are very crucial in this process.

• By this time, he would be just a 'body' which did not consume anything for the last 3-4 weeks and which is 'just' breathing. Here, 'Air' is the only thing which he is taking in and out.
• Once he reaches the last 'ghadiya' he would slowly stop breathing. 

                 At this point of time, arrangements would have already been done by his disciples. His followers would have got some instructions to construct a Samadhi around him. He would be chanting some manthras or doing meditation and when he stops chanting, his disciples would cover his samadhi.

                 Earlier, till 12th Century, Swamijis used to instruct their disciples to break a coconut on their skull (Just one coconut). This ensures kapala moksha. But later on, the Maharajs and Emperors (Mughal) have put ban on this process. So, the process of breaking a coconut on skull was stopped. These days, even the process of going into maha samadhi is forbidden.

What is Kapala Moksha?

                    'Kapala' means Head. 'Moksha' means liberation of soul. Kapala Moksha is believed to happen when the life energy leaves the body through the small crack in the 'Bramha Ranthra' in the crown of the skull.                  

                     Scientifically, the 'Prana' (Soul) of a common man, after the death, leaves through one of the nine holes (Nava Randhra / dwara). But, there is one more gate at the top of the head - the 'brahma randhra', also known as 'dasama dwara' or the tenth gate. Only those people who get kapala moksha escape through the 10th gate.

                      Every human being has this spot in the brain known as  'Brahma Ranthra'. This spot is soft when we are born (Touch the skull of small kids, we can feel it). Till the time we reach the age of 5, it will be very soft. Later, it becomes hard. In Yoga and Meditation, the Sahasrara chakra is the most important one which is located at this spot.

What happens on breaking a coconut on the skull?

                     After adhering to 54 days of systematic fast, with no thoughts, relations etc the swamy's skull would be equivalent to that of a 2 year old kid. It would be very soft. So, at this point of time, where the yogi has already separated himself from his body, when a disciple breaks a coconut on swamy's skull, the Brahma Ranthra bursts open and Prana comes out. This is known as Kapala Moksha.

                    People who have attained this type of Salvation are considered to enjoy Jeevan Mukthi and are equal to God as per shastras. It is the highest method of salvation by which the soul can leave the body.

Exceptions:

                    If a yogi who meets all the per-requisites decides his day of 'moksha', his planning would succeed cent percent until and unless

• There is any natural calamity in due course of his life and he dies due to that
• There is any murder / unnatural way of death
• Death by other animals (eg. Malaria- mosquito)  or any other ailments

                   Since he leads a noble and disciplined life, he is not supposed to face the last two exceptions. But, if it is a natural calamity, no one can stop it.

Aryanization by Lord Sri Rama

Important Note:
These views are not intended to hurt anyone. 
I have come across this somewhere and am just putting them here.

I would like to share one more interesting concept - on Aryans and Dravidians.

Who are Aryans?

                    /Arya:/ in Sanskrit means 'Noble'. It means that Aryans are those people (race) who are fair, tall and noble. Aryans have come all the way from Central Asia and have conquered Indian Sub-continent long ago. Aryans worshiped the five elements (Vayu, Agni, Bhoomi, Indra, Akash).

Who are Dravidians?

                    Dravidians are the original native Indians. They stay in a tropical climate and hence are generally dark-skinned. Dravidians are very intelligent and are well educated. They were worshipers of the genitals – Linga. Lingam represents the nature and to them, the greatest God was Siva, the first Man. The Dravidians were very strong in the southern parts of the peninsula.

 Let us now see few instances in Ramayana:

•  King Dasharatha of Ayodhya kingdom (North India) is said to have helped Suras during the fight with Asuras. During that time, he gave a boon to his 3rd wife, Kai Keyi. Later, Sri Rama was sent on Exile for 14 years.
• Rama was on exile for 14 years. During the 14th year, Rama invaded Lanka and killed Ravana (the king of asuras). All these 13 years, he was killing asuras on his way to Lanka.
• Till the time Sri Rama crossed Vindhya mountains and entered south in search of Sita, he never faced any demons / asuras. But, once he came to the South India (Dandakaranya onwards) he was obstructed by various asuras and Rama had to kill all of them and go ahead.

Now, instances of Mahabharatha:

• Mahabharatha's main theme was a fight between brothers (men) and not between suras and asuras as it was the case during Ramayana.
• It ofcourse, had few less prominient asuras. But, they were killed by suras (kings) whenever it was necessary. Like Jarasandha, Keechaka, Hidimbasura etc.
• Bhima (Sura) married Hidimbi (Asura), and many Suras and Asuras lived in the same kingdom.
• There was no special mention of South India in Mahabharatha

What does this mean?

                    It means that, Suras are Aryans and Asuras are Dravidians. The word asura means people who worship nature, Linga and do not worship the five elements. We always think that asuras are rakshasas and are really bad. But it was not like that. That's why there was always a war between suras and asuras.

                    Asuras insisted on Shiva worship, nature worship. Whereas, Suras insisted on five element worship.That is the reason why Hiranyakashyapa / Hiranyaksha during Narasimha avatar stressed on Lord Shiva worship. This was the same case with Ravana and other asuras. So, till Lord Vishnu's Krishna Avatar, it was a war between Sura & Asura. Later, after Ramayana, Shiva was given 'The Destroyer' status along with Brahma and Vishnu to please all the classes.

                    After Ramayana, the Asuras weakened and lost their kingdom. So, Mahabharatha was a war between suras & suras and not between Suras & Asuras. Everyone are now known as 'manava' and not Sura/ Asura.

To summarize:

• Dravidians never worshiped Vishnu and other five elements (Bhoomi, Indra, etc) till Ramayana
• Aryans conquered the South India
• We infer from the epics (written by Aryan sages) that Dravidians are Asura
• The 14 year exile of Lord Rama was to Aryanize South India.

 Ramayana - What it would actually have been:

                    Dravidian King was very powerful, well educated, intelligent but had only one weakness - Interest towards fair women. Prior to Rama, no king could penetrate to the South due to Ravana's power.  Aryan King was asked to go on exile to conquer South India, not by force, but by propagating the Aryan philosophy - which tells way to lead a noble life and practice the 5-element worship.

                    Dravidian king kidnapped Sita since she was fair and good looking. Then the Aryan King, in search of his wife, invaded the Dravidian kingdom, killed all those who came on his way. He took the help of tribals and locals (Sugreeva, Jambavath, and ofcourse, Hanuma) and finally killed the Dravidian King.
 
Current Dravidians:

In the modern world, the Dravidians are:

• All people in Tamil Nadu & Kerala (except Brahmins - That's why Dravidian parties of South are anti-brahmin and are anti-hindi)
• All people in AP, Karnataka (except Brahmin, Vysya (hence the name Arya Vysya) and Kshatriya)
• All the Giri Putras of central India
• Sri Lankans