17. इन्दुमौलिपद्ध्यायी Indu-mauli-pada-dhyāyī

One who meditated on the feet of Lord Candramoulīśvara

His Holiness was dhyāyin, One who meditated, on pada, the feet, of indumauli, the One who bears the crescent moon in His crest. His Holiness once clarified, “Śiva has the crescent moon in His crest. This moon stands for knowledge. Śiva’s wearing it in His matted locks is a pointer to the Lord being endowed with pure knowledge.” As such, that this nāma, which talks of meditation, uses the specific epithet ‘One with the crescent moon on His crest’ for Śiva, is significant. The Upaniṣad says, “Having meditated on the highest Lord (Śiva) who is powerful, has three eyes and a blue neck and is allied to Umā, the sage reaches Him who is the source of all, the witness of all and beyond avidyā.”⁵³ His Holiness meditated on Śiva as possessed of a form with the crescent moon in His crest, and soon went beyond attributes by practicing nirguṇa-dhyāna as per the Lord’s instructions (vide nāma 10), thereby becoming established in the pure knowledge symbolized by the crescent moon that that very Lord bears in His crest.

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His Holiness used to meditate on Śiva as seated with Pārvatī, as Ardhanārīśvara, as Dakṣināmūrti and as Naṭarāja.

It was the 5^th of December, 1935, and the time was a little past 4:00 p.m. His Holiness was about to set out for His meditation spot on the hilltop. An attendant informed Him that the senior Jagadguru had sent for Him. He promptly presented Himself to His Guru and performed namaskāra. The senior Jagadguru gestured to Him to sit down. On His doing so, He asked, “Were you about to leave for meditation?” On receiving an answer in the affirmative, He smiled. Then He remained silent for a minute, gazing fixedly at His disciple’s face. Smiling again, He said, “I am glad. You can start.” As His Holiness then prostrated once more before His Guru, the latter leaned forward and placed both His hands on His disciple’s head and loudly uttered thrice the mantra, “oṁ namaḥ śivāya (Om. Obeisance to Śiva).” This was unusual. As His Holiness got up, He strongly felt, “Today, I must meditate on Śiva.”

That day, the senior Jagadguru instructed His Holiness’s attendant not to accompany Him, and so He nimbly ascended the hill alone. At its summit, He sat down at His place of meditation, facing west. The distant Malahānikareśvara Temple was in His line of sight. The sky was cloudless. Both the sun and the moon were clearly visible.

Having adopted the siddhāsana, He mentally offered His namaskāras to His Guru and Śiva before commencing His meditation. He directed His gaze to the space between His eyebrows. Keeping His eyes fixed, He mentally chanted the mantra, ‘oṁ namaḥ śivāya.’ As usual, He felt a strong tingling sensation between His eyebrows. He soon began to behold an attractive and soothing moon-like disc of light within Him in that region. Such a disc had made its appearance only on a few earlier occasions. What manifested often was a blue hue; much less frequently, a green hue used to manifest. With His mind having become greatly tranquil and attentive, He imagined His heart-lotus in full bloom. As described in the dhyāna-ślokā of the mantra, He visualised Śiva therein as associated with the Divine Mother and as possessed of five heads and ten arms. The meaning of the said dhyāna-śloka is: “I salute Pārvatī’s Lord, who is tranquil, is seated in padmāsana, has the moon in His crest, has five faces (four in the four directions and one upward-turned), has three eyes (per face), bears a trident, thunderbolt, sword, axe and the symbol of granting freedom from fear (open upraised palm) in the (five hands on the) right side and bears a snake, noose, bell, the fire of cosmic dissolution and a goad in the (five hands on the) left side, is variously adorned and resembles (in complexion) a crystal gem.”

As He focused on the form, His awareness of the surroundings and the body vanished. Soon, His mental chanting of the mantra came to a stop and His mind thoroughly locked on to the divine form in the heart. Suddenly, the form became extraordinarily vivid. No effort to concentrate was needed any more. He could then literally experience the immediate presence of Śiva. He was overwhelmed with joy, particularly enthralled by the affection and smile He apprehended in the Lord’s īśāna-mukha (upward-turned face).

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