Spiritual Import of Religious Festivals :Ch-4. Part - 6.

 Chapter-4. Swami Sri  Adi  Sankaracharya - The Genius ( Sankara Jayanti ) :


 Part-6.


These Mantras which were visibly recorded for posterity became objects of study and also vehicles for invocation of the many gods.

To the originators of these Mantras, the gods were not manifold; they were the many phases of the One.

But, now, they lost their connection with the original unity or the background, and only the phases are seen as the multifarious divinities presiding over the quarters of the cosmos – Indra, Agni, Varuna, Mitra, Aryama and many such celestials.



These deities began to be invoked through the very same Mantras which were originally the revelations of the sages.

While in the original Samhitas, in their primordial condition, they were effects of a diviner experience, now they became a cause rather than an effect of an invocation of these multifarious gods.

We invoke these gods by placation, by propitiation, by begging and by requesting them not to do us any harm.

We pray: "Oh mighty God, save us from calamities, from catastrophes. Oh great God, give us all our needs and desires. May our wants be fulfilled."


Swami Krishnananda

To be continued  ....