more on guhai namashivayar

[Guest guest]

Guhai Namasivaya

(First published in The Mountain Path, 1990, pp. 115-23)

 

Visitors to Virupaksha Cave, the place where Ramana Maharishi spent about fifteen years of his life, may have noticed a small walled compound a few hundred feet lower down the hill. This compound, which one enters through a small gopuram on the eastern side, contains a cave that was, several centuries ago, occupied for many years by a yogi called Guhai Namasivaya. The cave and the few buildings that surround it now bear his name.

 

 

Guhai Namasivaya is known to have been born around the year AD 1548 in Karnataka to a pious Saiva couple. According to his somewhat hagiographical biography, his spiritual nature became evident at an early age: he was virtuous in his conduct, adept at his studies and evinced no attachment to worldly matters. Feeling a great longing to receive the grace of the Lord, he embarked at an early age upon a search that led him to Sivananda Desikar, a famous Guru who lived at Sri Sailam. He became a disciple of this Guru and began to serve him with fervent and selfless devotion.

Sivananda Desikar belonged to the Virasaiva sect. Since Guhai Namasivaya immersed himself in this tradition for many years, a brief account of the beliefs and practices of this sect will throw a little light on the kind of life he led as a young man.

The origin of Virasaivism, an offshoot of Saivism, can be traced back to the twelfth century. Its philosophy has grown out of the twenty-eight Saiva Agamas and the writings of its early exponents. Virasaivas are also known as Lingayats on account of the immense importance they attach to their conception of the term 'Linga'. For them, Linga is not merely a physical object, it is synonymous with chaitanya, or consciousness, and can be taken to be Siva himself. In their philosophy, the term Linga can be equated with the Parabrahman of the Upanishads, but it has other connotations as well. It is the cosmic principle that is the source of the universe and, in its physical form, it is the

visible symbol of the consciousness that exists in all beings. In addition, and this is particularly interesting in view of the years Guhai Namasivaya spent at Arunachala, it is often conceived of as a mass of light or a column of blazing fire. Worship of the Linga in all its forms is central to Virasaivism.

The goal of Virasaivas is the attainment of oneness with Siva. To reach this exalted state, Virasaivas believe that one must submit to and serve a Guru who has already attained that oneness. Thus, in the Virasaiva tradition, the Guru is given immense importance, for it is he alone who can initiate the disciple, purify him, and lead him to unity with Siva.

For a devout Virasaiva, the spiritual path begins when he approaches a competent Guru and asks him for initiation. Usually, the Guru will first test him for a year to see how serious his spiritual inclinations are. When the Guru is satisfied that the disciple's desire is genuine, he agrees to initiate him and accept him as a disciple. The initiation given by the Guru activates the power of Linga in the three bodies, the causal, the subtle and the gross, and removes some or all of the taints or imperfections that reside in each of the three bodies. Virasaivas believe that these taints, called mala, prevent the disciple from becoming established in Linga, the Supreme Siva-consciousness.

In the initiation ceremony the Guru first places his right palm on the head of the disciple, thereby awakening the supreme Self in the causal body in a form that is called Bhavalinga. Simultaneously, through his power, the Guru attempts to eliminate any impurities that dwell there. Next, the Guru whispers the great mantra 'Nama Sivaya' in the right ear of the disciple. All Saivas hold this to be the best and most potent mantra. The act of whispering establishes in the subtle body a form or aspect of the Linga that is called Pranalinga. The power transmitted by this mantra initiation also cleanses the subtle body and removes some of its imperfections. Then, in what is perhaps the most significant part of the

ritual, the disciple is given a physical Linga. Virasaivas believe the Linga is a great light in the innermost heart that can be brought out and shaped into a physical form by the Guru. In the final part of the rite, the Guru draws out the power of Linga from the heart of the devotee, establishes it in a physical Linga, which is called Ishtalinga, presents it to the disciple and commands him to worship it as if were Siva himself. The handing over of the Ishtalinga removes the taints that are attached to the physical body.

The Guru then commands the devotee to wear the Ishtalinga on his body at all times and to worship it three times a day. The Guru also tells him that the Linga must on no account be separated from the body since such a separation is equivalent of spiritual death. In the Virasaiva tradition, it is not permitted to worship Siva in any other form except that of the Istalinga or the Linga installed over one's Guru's samadhi. Virasaivas are therefore forbidden from worshipping forms of Siva that have been installed in temples.

We can assume that Guhai Namasivaya underwent this initiation ceremony since it is a compulsory rite of passage for all Virasaivas. He probably went through it quite early in his life, for it was not uncommon for eight-year-olds to be initiated in this way.

Sivananda Desikar, Guhai Namasivaya's Guru, was an adept in a Virasaiva yoga system known as Siva Yoga. When Sivananada Desikar noticed what a mature disciple Guhai Namasivaya was, he initiated him into its practices. From then on, Guhai Namasivaya alternated his time between physical service to the Guru and the practice of Siva Yoga. In the course of time he too became an accomplished Siva yogi.

Siva Yoga emphasises dharana, dhyana and samadhi, the last three stages of Patanjali's Raja Yoga system, but it gives them a Virasaiva turn by emphasising meditation on the three Lingas that the Guru has established in the three bodies. In the Siva Yoga system, worship of the Ishtalinga, the Linga given by the Guru to the disciple, is called dharana, or uninterrupted concentration; worship of the Pranalinga established in the subtle body is dhyana, or meditation; remembrance and awareness of the Bhavalinga in the causal body is called samadhi. According to Maggeya Mayideva, a Virasaiva saint, 'samadhi is the action which includes both radiant worship and

meditation on one's own Linga'.

The yoga practice is performed in the following way: 'Setting Ishtalinga firmly in his left palm, restraining the traffic of his other limbs, restraining the movement of breath through breath control, or pranayama, controlling the modifications of the mind, focussing his physical eye on Ishtalinga, his inner eye on Pranalinga and his intuitional eye on Bhavalinga, being one with Linga and unifying the triple Linga into one - he lives his own Self.'(1)

The goal of the yoga is to find Siva in everything and to discover the fundamental root of that immanent Siva manifestation in one's heart. Though Siva Yoga has a strong bhakti component, it must not be forgotten that it is also a variety of Kundalini Yoga. The Siva yogis aim to make contact with the power of the Lord. They believe that the contact finally takes place after the prana, rising through the sushumna, has passed through all the six chakras and moved on to the bramarandhra, located at the top of the head. Accomplished Siva yogis, at the time of their death, voluntarily send all their pranas out of their bodies through this brahmarandhra and merge into the all-pervading

consciousness of Siva.

Guhai Namasivaya practised this system of yoga for many years. When he had thoroughly mastered it, Lord Mallikarjuna, the presiding deity of Sri Sailam, appeared to Guhai Namasivaya in a dream and commanded him to go to Arunachala and remain there as a Guru, giving teachings to mature disciples who approached him. When he related this dream to his Guru, Sivananada Desikar gave him his blessings and told him to carry out the order. Shortly afterwards, Guhai Namasivaya set out on horseback for Tiruvannamalai.

There is a tradition in Tiruvannamalai that Guhai Namasivaya was accompanied on his journey by Virupaksha Deva, the man who gave his name to Virupaksha Cave. Ramana Maharishi occasionally told his devotees that the two of them were Virasaivas who came from Karnataka to Tiruvannamalai at the same time. It is reported that both of them had served Sivananada Desikar for twelve years. Almost nothing is known about the life of Virupaksha Deva except that he lived in Virupaksha Cave for a long time, and that when he died there his body transformed itself into vibhuti (sacred ash). That vibhuti is still kept in the cave and puja is done to it every day.

On his journey to Tiruvannamalai Guhai Namasivaya came one evening to a village where a wedding was in progress. The head of the house where the wedding was taking place greeted him respectfully, invited him into the house, gave him the place of honour and performed puja to him. At the conclusion of the puja everyone present received some vibhuti from the hand of Guhai Namasivaya. Shortly afterwards, the house was completely destroyed by a fire. Some people, associating the fire with Guhai Namasivaya's visit, poured scorn on him by saying, 'The ash given by this yogi has turned the house itself into ash'.

Guhai Namasivaya was deeply hurt by this taunt, not personally, but because of the ridicule to which the Lord's vibhuti had been subjected. He therefore meditated on Siva and through his grace was able to restore the house to its former unburnt state. Subsequently, those in the village who had formerly reviled him began to praise and worship him as if he were Siva himself. Guhai Namasivaya, perturbed by all the fuss his visit had caused, then took a vow that wherever he went in future, he would never again stay in any house.

On reaching Tiruvannamalai he stuck to his vow and lived in public halls, temple flower gardens and occasionally in the surrounding forest. He devoted himself to the practice of Siva Yoga and became so accomplished in it that he was able to spend long periods in samadhi, immersed in his inner Linga. Each day he visited the entrance of the Arunachaleswara Temple but went no further because, as a Virasaiva, he was prohibited from worshipping there. It seems that Guhai Namasivaya either had a desire to worship in the temple, or felt that he would benefit by doing so, for each day he would gesture with his hands in the direction of the shrine and to say to himself, 'Are you well without worshipping him?'

 

There was a sadhu called Sivakkira Yogi who noticed that Guhai Namasivaya never went through the temple entrance, but merely made strange gestures there. He interpreted this strange behaviour as deliberate irreverence and decided to punish him by striking him on the back with his cane. Guhai Namasivaya made no attempt to retaliate, nor did he even reproach his attacker. He merely composed an extempore venba verse in Tamil to the effect that the Lord had struck him in order to drive out his evil propensities. When Sivakkira Yogi saw Guhai Namasivaya responding in such a humble way, he immediately realised that he had failed to recognise the latter's greatness.

After this incident Guhai Namasivaya began to feel that it would be appropriate for him to enter the temple and worship there. While he was contemplating this breach with tradition, his Guru, Sivananda Desikar, unexpectedly appeared, surrounded by a retinue of his devotees. Guhai Namasivaya greeted him with great love and devotion. In return, Sivananda Desikar spoke to him in a friendly and intimate way. Then to Guhai Namsivaya's surprise, his Guru entered the temple with his disciples, walked straight to the inner sanctum and began to worship Siva there. Guhai Namasivaya, who had accompanied his Guru into the temple, followed his Guru's example. He threw himself full-length on the ground and, filled with ecstasy, mentally worshipped the

image of Siva that was enshrined there. When he stood up he could see no sign either of his Guru or his fellow disciples, but when he looked at the Linga he had been worshipping, he saw only the form of his Guru. Spontaneously, the following verse came to his lips:

Lord Arunagiri! Form of true knowledge! Guru to whom I call out 'Om Namasivaya!' Do not scorn me as one who is devoid of Love for you, who is a liar and without self-respect, who is mentally immature and deficient in intelligence, but take me to yourself and be my Lord!(2)

 

 

 

will be continued......

Meet people who discuss and share your passions. Join them now.