[Rath's Rhapsody] Fifth and Twelfth house -spirituality concerns

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| om gurave namah |We are all 'Shiva's lights and it is only a matter of time for thisrealization to come. It is called 'Shivoham'...chidanandarupa shivohamshivoham. The question is about ista and kastha and the name that will showthe path "in this life".That is the beginning - it is just a name, so start with a name and unlessyou or anyone else starts this, they will never understand the meaning ofthe word 'surrender'. The surrender has to be total and without questions-like a meek wife surrendering to a strong husband (Venus AK)-like a sheep surrendering to the cowherd (Moon AK)-like a servant surrendering to a Lord (Saturn AK)....and I have Saturn as AK so my surrender has to be like a slave orservant to lord Vishnu and my Lord in form is Jagannath Vishnu (Krishna), soI am required to surrender to Him as a servant will work for the boss. Oftentimes I do not understand why He does so many things the way he does it.Personally I love Sürya and Lord Shiva who is my father, and to that I haveno doubt and this I understood much later when I saw the Sun in trine(Kona-arka) in my chart. But the path of bhakti (5th house0 is differentfrom the ISTA devatä which is the 12th house, the house of surrender.Do not mistake and confuse these two houses - for one, the 5th causes'bhakti' and dominance and makes the person feel like he has a right overthe deity just like parents feel they have complete right over a child. Thisis an 'adhikara' that the deity (and also children) voluntarily give to thenative (or parent). These are bhakta like Arjuna who felt they have a rightover Krishna and will choose Krishna over the huge Yadava army - a veryintimate relationship where the huge outside world does not matter andcannot be compared to the one so valuable inner world person/deity. I thinkthe perfect example is the story of Mahindra and Sakshi Gopal (temple inPuri, Orissa). The story told in english by Eswar Josyula is appended below.With the 12th house, there is no such feeling and infact emotions and notallowed here. It is simply a matter of surrendering ones body, then mind andfinally soul in three stages. It is for this reason that we have threeupapada - A12 is the upapada from lagna where we surrender the body to thelord in the form of marriage to be used for his sacrifice and the continuityof theworld, knowing too well that this will lead to attachment and sorrow,we definitely do this. For the ones who have surrendered their minds AM12(arudha pada of the 12th house from the Moon) the fathers and ancestors inthe Moon wait in joy as their mantras and prayers shall lead to good karmaand benefit for the world. Then there are those rare ones who are beyondthis world and have surrendered the soul itself AS12 (arudha of the 12thhouse from the Sun)...for those a supreme path of karma yoga awaits and thelord they have surrendered to shall guide them as he takes complete controlover their senses.I hope I have clarified the difference between the bhakti and ista paths.Also note that the bhakti path related to the 9th house is very different.There we have examples like Prabhupada or Vivekananda where the 9th lord isthe dominant one and one does ones duty to God through duty to Guru. BothPrabhupada and Vivekananda are the finest examples of this third type ofbhakti path.Best wishes and warm regards,Sanjay Rath-------------------------Appendix-1The Story of Sakshi-GopalBy -Eswar JosyulaThe deity of Sakshi Gopal is in a temple in Orissa. The story surroundingthe coming of the deity is interesting, so here goes....Beginning of story of Sakshi-Gopal-----------------------------Long ago in a small village, there lived a couple named Raghav and Radhabai. They had a daughter, Vasanti who was sweet with whom other children of the village loved to play. Mahindra, an orphan boy was of the same age as Vasanti and they both were good friends.Vasanti soon grew up to be a beautiful young woman. The people of the village suggested to the mother Radhabai that Vasanti and Mahindra would make a handsome couple. But Vasanti's father Raghav had different plans for Vasanti. He wanted her to marry Sukhvir who was a rich widower. Meanwhile, Mahindra met Vasanti one evening and told her that he was leaving for the Gopalji-temple town to make a living. Vasanti got sad and speechless and Mahindra separated from Vasanti. A few days later, Raghav joined Sukhvir and his party of pilgrims to go on pilgrimage. Their tours led to the Gopalji-temple town. During their stay, Raghav caught the small-pox disease and Sukhvir immediately isolatedhim.So there he was in a strange place with no one to look after him suffering from the disease. From one of the members of Sukhvir's party, Mahindra came to know that Raghav was in town and he had the small-pox. He went right-away to Raghav's hut and tended to him. From that day on, Mahindra took very good care of Raghav till he got better. On getting better, Raghav expressed his desire to visit the Gopalji-temple. Mahindra gladly agreed to accompany him to the temple. Mahindra carefully guided Raghav through the huge crowds and to the feet of Lord Gopala. Both of them prostrated at the feet of the deity. Raghav was satisfied at seeing the Lord. Feeling extreme gratitude for Mahindra, he expressed his feelings in a promise that he would make Mahindra his son-in-law.He took leave of a happy Mahindra and went to back to his village. Sukhvir noticed how beautiful Vasanti was and was even more determined than before to marry her. He sent expensive gifts to Raghav and pleased him by his generosity. Over a short period of time Raghav changed his mind and decided that he would give away Vasanti to the rich Sukhvir. Before long Mahindra heard about this decision and felt miserable. Radhabai felt sad for Mahindra and she advised him to approach the village Panchayat (the village court). A Panchayat session was held and Mahindra told the village elders the story of how Raghav had promised to give Vasanti in marriage to him. Raghav, however, denied of ever making such a promise. Soon the debate got heated up and the head of the Panchayat calmed everybody down and asked Raghav if he had any witness. He asked Raghav if anybody had heard Raghav make the promise to him. Suddenly Mahindra remembered that Lord Gopala too must have heard of Raghav's promise. He told the Panchayat, "Lord Gopala was witness to the incident." With amusement, the village elders told Mahindra, "then bring Lord Gopala and have him testify."Mahindra left the village and went to the Gopalji temple and exhausted fell on its steps. The Lord appeared as he does to his sincere devotees when they are in trouble needing His help. Mahindra's face brightened on seeing the Lord and he requested the Lord to come in front of the temple and testify on his behalf. To his delight the Lord agreed. However, there was one condition. The Lord would follow Mahindra to the village and at no time should Mahindra look back. A test for his faith, indeed. Mahindra asked the Lord how he would know if he was following him. The Lord told him that his anklets will be tinkling as he walked, so he will know. The Lord gave some Prasadam to Mahindra to regain some strength. Once he was invigorated, both of them left for the village, Mahindra was walking in front and Lord Gopala was walking behind him. Both of them walked through difficult terrain for several days and almost reached the village. Just as they were entering the village, Mahindra could not hear the tinkling and he looked back thinking if the Lord deserted him. Lo and Behold, the Lord was there but he now got rooted to the spot. He examined the anklets and found that sand had gotten into them to prevent tinkling.He regretted that he doubted the Lord. Then in an ecstatic mood he ran to the village and told everybody what happened. "Come and see for yourself, the Lord has come," cried Mahindra. "The Lord has indeed come to bear witness (Sakshi) and vindicate his devotee", said the villagers. Raghav learnt his lesson. He apologized to Mahindra for telling lies. Soon Mahindra and Vasanti got married. A temple was built around the deity of Lord Gopala and Mahindra became the first priest of the temple.End of story of Sakshi-Gopal--------------- --Posted by Pt.Sanjay Rath to Rath's Rhapsody at 6/02/2006 09:23:00 AM