Rudraksh – mystical seed holding secrets of Shiv upasana. Part 3

The Shiva Mahapurana, Vidyesvara-samhita, chapter 25 shlokas 89 and 90 highlights that Shiv himself explains the greatness of the Bhasma and Rudraksha to Devi Parvati.

Shivasyatipriyau gyeyau bhasmaRudrakshaadharinau |

Taddhamaprabhavaddhi bhuktirmuktirna samshaya || 89 ||

The person who wears bhasma and Rudraksha are very dear to Lord Shiv, they get all their desires fulfilled and gets liberated.

BhasmaRudrakshaadhari yah shivabhaktah sa uchyate |

Panchaksharam japasaktah paripurnashcha sanmukhe || 90 ||

There is no doubt that wearing bhasma (sacred ash), Rudraksha and Panchakshri delivers liberation!

My friends you would have noticed with keen observation - Panchakshri identifies with the creation process and is then followed with Bhasma. Bhasma is the residue and it is remains after the merging or burning of all the elements back into their source. This way Panchakshri and Bhasma completes the creation and destruction process and hence the cycle completes. Once this cycle is completed then the third one surfaces out as Rudraksh. Rudraksh is existence on a different plane. Rudraksh is like a bindu (drop) that is described in detail in yog.

Ok, I would urge you to recall our sanskrit classes. 

You will be able to recall that Rudraksh is a sanskrit word having two words Rudra and Aksh, which are joined together to give Rudraksh. Rudra in the same way appears in many other words like Rudrashtadhyayi or Rudrabhishek. 

Rudra is the other name of ferocious form or fire form of Shiv that eats up everything. Rudra is the god for destruction.  In a controlled way it is greatest friend of Mankind but an uncontrolled fire is the destroyer. A simple example for these two situations could be a nuclear reactor and an atom bomb. A nuclear reactor is a controlled fire that lightens up our lives by providing electricity, while an uncontrolled fire due to fission results in so much of energy that destroys. 

The burnt out residue of uncontrolled Fire or Rudra is the ashes or Bhasm.

As we see that physical fire rises higher and away from earth and towards sky. This is a simple way of understanding that it returns the elements back into their source. Simply, earth, water, fire,air and sky are finally merged back into the cause of space - the goddess herself. 

He said, could you explain it a bit more?

Yes, remember we studied states of matter. When you heat a solid like ice, it melts and becomes liquid. This liquid state is Jal and then we heat this liquid water, it turns into vapours. This vapor state is air. Air is Vayu in sanskrit. This air on superheating gets charged and is plasma in sky. 

So, you see that fire heats. This heat takes the element back to its earlier state of existence. This is the source state. This is how fire burns and assimilates the elements back into their source, leaving only earth or solid residues as Bhasma. 

Hope its clear now? could we proceed…

They nodded the head and after a small pause started sharing again…

                                                                                                                                                              continued in part 4..................