Trishula, Siva's trident carried by Himalayan yogis, is the royal scepter of the Saiva Dharma. Its triple prongs betoken desire, action and wisdom; ida, pingala and sushumna; and the gunas--sattva, rajas and tamas. Aum.
What Is Hinduism's Natha Sampradaya?
SHLOKA 151
The Natha Sampradaya, "the masters' way," is the mystical fountainhead of Saivism. The divine message of the eternal truths and how to succeed on the path to enlightenment are locked within the Natha tradition. Aum.
BHASHYA
Natha means "lord or adept," and sampradaya refers to a living theological tradition. The roots of this venerable heritage stretch back beyond recorded history, when awakened Natha mystics worshiped the Lord of lords, Siva, and in yogic contemplation experienced their identity in Him. The Natha Sampradaya has revealed the search for the innermost divine Self, balanced by temple worship, fueled by kundalinî yoga, charted by monistic theism, illumined by a potent guru-shishya system, guided by soul-stirring scriptures and awakened by sadhana and tapas. Thus has it given mankind the mechanics for moving forward in evolution. Today two main Natha streams are well known: the Nandinatha Sampradaya, made famous by Maharishi Nandinatha (ca 250BCE), and the adinatha Sampradaya, carried forth by Siddha Yogî Gorakshanatha (ca 900). Yea, there is infinitely more to know of the mysterious Nathas. The Tirumantiram states, "My peerless satguru, Nandinatha, of Shaivam honored high, showed us a holy path for soul's redemption. It is Siva's divine path, San Marga, for all the world to tread and forever be free." Aum Namah Sivaya.
What Is the Lofty Kailasa Parampara?
SHLOKA 152
The Kailasa Parampara is a millennia-old guru lineage of the Nandinatha Sampradaya. In this century it was embodied by Sage Yogaswamî, who ordained me in Sri Lanka in 1949 to carry on the venerable tradition. Aum.
BHASHYA
The authenticity of Hindu teachings is perpetuated by lineages, parampara, passed from gurus to their successors through ordination. The Kailasa Parampara extends back to, and far beyond, Maharishi Nandinatha and his eight disciples--Sanatkumara, Sanakar, Sanadanar, Sananthanar, Sivayogamuni, Patanjali, Vyagrapada and Tirumular. This succession of siddha yoga adepts flourishes today in many streams, most notably in the Saiva Siddhanta of South India. Our branch of this parampara is the line of Rishi Tirumular (ca 200 BCE), of which the first known satguru in recent history was the Rishi from the Himalayas (ca 1770-1840). From him the power was passed to Siddha Kadaitswamî of Bangalore (ca 1810-1875), then to Satguru Chellappaswamî (1840-1915), then to Sage Yogaswamî (1872-1964) of Sri Lanka, and finally to myself, Sivaya Subramuniyaswami (1927-). The Tirumantiram states, "Thus expounding, I bore His word down Kailasa's unchanging path--the word of Him, the eternal, the truth effulgent, the limitless great, Nandinatha, the joyous one, He of the blissful dance that all impurity dispels." Aum Namah Sivaya.
Who Were the Early Kailasa Preceptors?
SHLOKA 153
Among its ancient gurus, the Kailasa Parampara honors the illustrious Rishi Tirumular and his generations of successors. In recent history we especially revere the silent siddha called "Rishi from the Himalayas." Aum.
BHASHYA
Having achieved perfect enlightenment and the eight siddhis at the feet of Maharishi Nandinatha in the Himalayas, Rishi Tirumular was sent by his satguru to revive Saiva Siddhanta in the South of India. Finally, he reached Tiruvavaduthurai, where, in the Tamil language, he recorded the truths of the Saiva agamas and the precious Vedas in the Tirumantiram, a book of over 3,000 esoteric verses. Through the centuries, the Kailasa mantle was passed from one siddha yogî to the next. Among these luminaries was the nameless Rishi from the Himalayas, who in the 1700s entered a teashop in a village near Bangalore, sat down and entered into deep samadhi. He did not move for seven years, nor did he speak. Streams of devotees came for his darshana. Their unspoken prayers and questions were mysteriously answered in dreams or in written, paper messages that manifested in the air and floated down. Then one day Rishi left the village, later to pass his power to Kadaitswamî. The Tirumantiram expounds, "With Nandi's grace I sought the primal cause. With Nandi's grace I Sadashiva became. With Nandi's grace truth divine I attained." Aum Namah Sivaya.
Who Were Kadaitswami and Chellappan?
SHLOKA 154
Kadaitswamî was a dynamic satguru who revived Shaivism in Catholic-dominated Jaffna, Sri Lanka, in the 1800s. Chellappaswamî was an ardent sage, ablaze with God consciousness, immersed in divine soliloquy. Aum.
BHASHYA
Kadaitswamî was a powerful siddha, standing two meters tall, whose fiery marketplace talks converted thousands back to Saivism. It is said he was a high court judge who refused to confer the death penalty and renounced his career at middle age to become a sannyasin. Directed by his satguru to be a worker of miracles, he performed siddhis that are talked about to this day--turning iron to gold, drinking molten wax, disappearing and appearing elsewhere. Chellappaswamî, initiated at age nineteen, lived alone in the teradi at Nallur temple. Absorbed in the inner Self, recognizing no duality, he uttered advaitic axioms in constant refrain: "There is no intrinsic evil. It was all finished long ago. All that is, is Truth. We know not!" The Natchintanai says, "Laughing, Chellappan roams in Nallur's precincts. Appearing like a man possessed, he scorns all outward show. Dark is his body; his only garment, rags. Now all my sins have gone, for he has burnt them up! Always repeating something softly to himself, he will impart the blessing of true life to anyone who ventures to come near him. And he has made a temple of my mind." Aum Namah Sivaya.
Who Are the Most Recent Kailasa Gurus?
SHLOKA 155
Sage Yogaswamî, source of Natchintanai, protector of dharma, was satguru of Sri Lanka for half a century. He ordained me with a slap on the back, commanding, "Go round the world and roar like a lion!" Aum Namah Sivaya.
BHASHYA
Amid a festival crowd outside Nallur temple, a disheveled sadhu shook the bars from within the chariot shed, shouting, "Hey! Who are you?" and in that moment Yogaswamî was transfixed. "There is not one wrong thing!" "It is as it is! Who knows?" Sage Chellappan said, and suddenly the world vanished. After Chellappan's mahasamadhi in 1915, Yogaswamî undertook five years of intense sadhana. Later, people of all walks of life, all nations, came for his darshana. He urged one and all to "Know thy Self by thyself." It was in his thatched, dung-floor hermitage in 1949 that we first met. I had just weeks before realized Parashiva with his inner help while meditating in the caves of Jalani. "You are in me," he said. "I am in you," I responded. Later he ordained me "Subramuniyaswami" with a tremendous slap on the back, and with this dîksha sent me as a sannyasin to America, saying, "You will build temples. You will feed thousands." I was 22 at the time, and he was 77. In fulfillment of his orders have I, Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, composed these 155 shlokas and bhashyas, telling an infinitesimal fraction of all that he infused in me. Aum Namah Sivaya.
Scriptures Speak on Parampara
There is no one greater in the three worlds than the guru. It is he who grants divine knowledge and should be worshiped with supreme devotion.
Atharva Veda
Abiding in the midst of ignorance, but thinking themselves wise and learned, fools aimlessly go hither and thither, like blind led by the blind.
Atharva Veda
Truth is the Supreme, the Supreme is Truth. Through Truth men never fall from the heavenly world, because Truth belongs to the saints. Therefore, they rejoice in Truth.
Yajur Veda
The supreme mystery in the Veda's end, which has been declared in former times, should not be given to one not tranquil, nor again to one who is not a son or a pupil. To one who has the highest devotion for God, and for his spiritual teacher even as for God, to him these matters which have been declared become manifest if he be a great soul--yea, become manifest if he be a great soul!
Yajur Veda
Disciples get, by devotion to the guru, the knowledge which the guru possesses. In the three worlds this fact is clearly enunciated by divine sages, the ancestors and learned men.
Guru Gita
It is laid down by the Lord that there can be no moksha, liberation, without diksha, initiation; and initiation cannot be there without a teacher. Hence, it comes down the line of Suprabheda Agama teachers, parampara.
Kularnava Tantra
Though himself unattached, the guru, after testing him for some time, on command of the Lord, shall deliver the Truth to his disciple in order to vest him with authority. Of him who is so invested with authority, there is verily union with the Supreme Siva. At the termination of the bodily life, his is the eternal liberation--this is declared by the Lord. Therefore, one should seek with all effort to have a guru of the unbroken tradition, born of Supreme Siva himself.
Kularnava Tantra
Without a teacher, all philosophy, traditional knowledge and mantras are fruitless. Him alone the Gods laud who is the guru, keeping active what is handed down by tradition.
Kularnava Tantra
I adore the lotus feet of the teachers who have shown to us the source of the eternal ocean of bliss, born of the Self within, who have given us the remedy for the hala-hala poison of samsara.
Guru Gita
Night and day in Nallur's precincts, Chellappan danced in bliss. Even holy yogis merged in silence do not know him.He keeps repeating, "All is truth," with radiant countenance. Night and day in Nallur's precincts, Chellappan danced in bliss.
Natchintanai
Seek the Nathas who Nandinatha's grace received. First the rishis four, Sivayoga the holy next, then Patanjali, who in Sabha's holy precincts worshiped. Vyaghra and I complete the number eight.
Tirumantiram
Nandinatha accepted the offering of my body, wealth and life. He then touched me, and his glance dispelled my distressful karma. He placed his feet on my head and imparted higher consciousness. Thus, he severed my burdensome cycle of birth.
Tirumantiram
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This completes the 31 Mandalas of Dancing with Siva. In the future we will be posting the second half of the book which comprises a vast compendium of resources for indepth study.