Comprehending and appreciating Puranas 

Before starting to write about the Sixty three Nayanmars [(Sivanadiars or Siva Bhaktas - the anecdotes on these Sixty-three Nayanmars is called "Peria Puranam", which is one among the "Upa Puranams" (Subsidiary Puranas)], I wish to present some facets of them as read and understood by me.

Before reading about Puranas we should have some basic understanding and comprehension about them lest we may not be able to appreciate them and may submit ourselves to the increasing "fabianism" that has been flooding into the society. There are generally many misconceptions about Puranas.

Many think that Puranas are just "Mythologies". This is a misnomer. Puranas by themselves have to be classified as a special type of religious literature. They do not deal with "Myths" but they extensively and intensively delve in "Mysticism". They actually are "Lucid Expositions" of the "ONE" "basic and core principle" underlying the multifarious expressions/manifestations of the COSMIC PHENOMENON in its entirety. The Puranas therefore essentially have to be Mystical as otherwise it would not be possible for them to be exponents of this "Supreme Truth"

We have to view at another aspect of the Puranas. That is their immeasurable "utility value" to mankind, their capability to lift the mortals to higher levels of consciousness and give them perfect ideals which would be a source of divine inspiration and true devotion to God in any form/s.

In order to appreciate the Puranas, one should have a clear and open mind and should not be exposed to preconceived notions. We should not read with "an already foregone conclusion" that, they are just some "fictions" talking of some "Myths", that Ganesha or Vishnu or any other God described therein are all "Myths", and that the main person "Vyasa Bhagawan" who gave these Puranas to this world was just a "Lowly Human" and so on. This sort of conceptions are born out of the so called "Intellectual Ego" and lack of realisation or understanding of the "subtlety of the sublimity" of the human mind.

Just look at what Einstein, the greatest of all time scientists had said:

"The most beautiful and most profound emotion we can experience is the sensation of the Mystical. It is the sower of all true science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead.

"To know that what is impenetrable to us, really exists, manifesting itself as the highest wisdom, and the most radiant beauty, which our dull faculties can comprehend only in the most primitive form - this knowledge, this feeling, is at the centre of true religiousness. The Cosmic religious experience is the strongest and oldest mainspring of scientific research.

"My religion consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable superior spirit who reveals Himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble minds. That deeply emotional conviction of the presence of the superior reasoning power, which is revealed in the incomprehensible Universe, forms my idea of God.

"SCIENCE WITHOUT RELIGION IS LAME; RELIGION WITHOUT SCIENCE IS BLIND"

In the previous posting we saw how the Puranas have immeasurable "utility value" to mankind, because of their capability to lift the mortals to higher levels of consciousness and give them perfect ideals which would be a source of divine inspiration and true devotion to God in any form/s.

In order however to have a charm for an ideal, Man must know how to realise it. For this, Man must have unflinching devotion and commitment in achieving such ideal/s. We should here note the differences existing in the ideals and the means to realise such ideals amongst Men, Communities, Nations and Religions, depending on the prevalent customs and temperament. Reaching and experiencing higher planes was always impossible by pursuing only one path or method.. Rishis of the olden times therefore offered a number of "altars" for the devotees to attach their faiths to, and lift themselves up, with all commitment and devotion, to the heights of perfection as depicted by their chosen ideal/s. It is for this purpose we see a variety of gods and goddesses in the Puranic Lore, each one in its own way, a reflection of the Supreme Reality, and each idol representing an ideal behind it.

The myriad forms of gods and goddesses appearing in the Puranas are for the purpose of "Upasana" (worship) to suit different tastes of different people. However, despite all the different types of worships of different gods and goddesses, only one and the same Supreme Lord in reality is worshipped (Please remember Swami's frequent sayings; "You pray to Krishna, Rama, Siva , Venkatachalapathi or any other god, all these prayers ultimately reach me only").

"Whatever form any devotee desires of me to worship with faith &endash; that same faith of his I make strong and unflinching. Endued with that faith, he engages in the worships that Devata (deity) and from it he obtains his desire: all these being ordained, indeed, by Me alone" said the Lord in Bhagawad Geeta, Chapter VII,21-22)

This also explains why we have today, variant upasakas like Hanuman Upasakas, Devi Upasakas, and so on.

Therefore when somebody is enjoying bliss in worshipping God in the form of Ganesha, or Siva, or Parvathi, or any other deity. One should not be harping on the point that God is formless, that these gods and goddesses are myths and so on and so forth. If one is unable to have eternal bliss by him/herself by this method, at least he or she should not prevent others from having such bliss.

The Puranas are therefore very useful as a spiritual-tool-kit so that at any point of breakdown in faith or doubt the same can be repaired or restored. The spiritual realisation and growth process in an individual is thus never impeded and the individual ultimately realises the Supreme Truth behind the Universe, the only ONE TRUTH that pervades everything, in and through all his experiences at all levels. Here , there is no seeker apart from the sought, no Truth apart from that he already is.

Hence the Puranas were written in Mystic language, as there is no better way to express or communicate the revelation of this COSMIC PHENOMENON.

The PURANAS thus number many, centering around different gods and goddesses. Just as any language is governed by a grammar, a Purana is also expected to deal with five important aspects of COSMIC and TERRESTRIAL EVOLUTION.

We see that there are five basic requisites for a Purana

They are:

1. SARGA (Primary Creation)

2. PRATI SARGA or VISARGA (Secondary Creation)

3. VAMSA (Genealogies of the Divinities, Demons, Rishis and so on)

4. MANWANTARA (Cosmic Cycles)

5. VAMSANU CHARITRA (write-ups on the great dynasties)

These above mentioned contents in a Puranas make them uniquely literary. However, by the time Srimad Bhagavatha was composed, the above contents were supplemented by some more topics, viz., Sthana, Poshana, Oothi, Nirodha, Mukti and Asraya to make the list complete and comprehensive. The 18 Maha Puranas fulfilling these requirements were classified into three broad categories as follows:

Brahma Puranas Vaishnava Puranas Saiva Puranas

Brahma Purana Vishnu Purana Siva Purana

Brahmanda Purana Naradiya Purana Linga Purana

Brahma Vaivarta Purana Bhagavatha Purana Kurma Purana

Markandeya Purana Garuda Purana Skanda Purana

Bhavishya Purana Padma Purana Agni Purana

Vamana Purana Varaha Purana Matsya Purana

There are also a total of 46 Upa-Puranas (Subsidiary Puranas) complementing these 18 Mahapuranas. One of these 46 Upa-Puranas is the Peria Puranam which details about the 63 Nayanmars.(Siva Bhaktas)

Before I proceed further I wish to stress here, just as our Sai Baba as Purnavathar living in our midst is real, the incarnations of the Lord are indeed real. While these myriad forms ultimately representing ONE SUPREME ENTITY can not be disputed , it is equally believable that this Supreme entity could have taken different forms, whether to handle different portfolios or for other purposes. All Theists firmly believe in the principle of incarnation.

To quote Sai Baba in "bits and pieces" just to support the theory that all gods are myths, I again repeat, is like "splicing and splitting" of a tape which does not reflect the truth . Vyasa Bhagawan who wrote the eighteen puranas himself was an Amsavatar and not a "being of Bhoomi loka" (just because he was born on the earth) as wrongly stated by Jegadeesan. This is either ignorance or intellectual ego. Ravi Verma's Paintings were not imagined by him. He had produced those Divine Masterpieces based on some available pictures!

My earnest request to all is do not read the Puranas or the Bible or Kuran or any other religious scriptures/narratives, with an archeological mind. It is only from the medieval periods records in some form or other were maintained. Before that it was all word to mouth recording only. If we are going to be looking for proofs for every utterance in the Puranas then we will miss the "mystic subtleties" contained there in. Look at what Sai Baba reveals of Himself.

"In this Human Form, every Divine Entity, every Divine Principle -- that is to say, all the Names and Forms ascribed by man to God -- are manifest. The same Divine Compassion that blessed Dhruva, saved Gajendra, restored Kuchela, and stood by Prahlada has come to Earth as the Lord of all the worlds, Puttaparthi Sathya Sai, the King of kings.

"I often tell you not to identify Me with this body. You do not understand. You call Me by only one name and believe I have only one form. But there is no name I do not bear and there is no form which is not Mine. Revere any Name of God and the reverence reaches Me. I answer to whatever Name you use. In the years to come, you will experience Me in different manifestations of My Form."

"I require neither food nor sleep. If I needed rest, I would not have incarnated. I have no need to see places. I am everywhere, always! I have no craving for change or recreation. I am always in a state of bliss. My only desire is to share My bliss with you, to encourage you to lead lives full of bliss. Showering bliss is My task"

Sai Baba never suggests anywhere that the previous incarnations are myth and not real. For certain specific questions by some people He might have given certain answers which must be specifically confabulated with that particular instance/s only and should not be generally quoted for one's own argumentative convenience. Let me swear, invoking Sai Baba as my witness, I am meaning no offence to any one. Individual beliefs and non-beliefs are the individual's concerns.

Also a majority of the self-styled swamijis who have suffixed "ananda" to their names never want to part away with the "ananda"(bliss) which they so tightly hold to. So their devotees are always denied the eternal bliss.(There are of course some exceptional swamijis ) It is only after the advent of our Swami and only after his teachings became popular did people start enjoying the divine bliss in such abundance and with ease. Has anyone made understanding of the vedic scriptures simpler and easier to comprehend, than our Swami?

Of course it is an individual's prerogative to believe or not in divine manifestations and incarnations .

With this I will conclude the introductory parts on "Understanding and comprehending Puranas" and will proceed to the Peria Puranam which contain very interesting episodes of 63 Nayanmars (Siva Bhaktas or Sivanadiyars).

Your Loving Sai servant

V. Krishnan