महाशिवरात्रि !

Post date: Mar 9, 2013 11:08:06 PM

चिदानन्दरूपः शिवोहं शिवोहम् !

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Caption at the Statue of Natraja at CERN:

नित्याय त्रिगुणात्मने पुरजिते कात्यायनी-श्रेयसे सत्यायादिकुटुंबिने मुनिमन: प्रत्यक्ष-चिन्मूर्तये ।

मायासृष्ट-जगत्त्रयाय सकलाम्नायन्त-संचारिणे सायं तान्डव-संभ्रमाय जटिने सेयं नातिश्शंभवे ।।

“O Omnipresent, the embodiment of all virtues, the creator of this cosmic universe, the king of dancers, who dances the Ananda Tandava in the twilight, I salute thee (Verse 56, Shivanandalahari by Sri Adi Sankara). [link]

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Five years ago, I had a beautiful experience which set me on a road that has led to the writing of this book. I was sitting by the ocean one late summer afternoon, watching the waves rolling in and feeling the rhythm of my breathing, when I suddenly became aware of my whole environment as being engaged in a gigantic cosmic dance. Being a physicist, I knew that the sand, rocks, water and air around me were made of vibrating molecules and atoms, and that these consisted of particles which interacted with one another by creating and destroying other particles. I knew also that the Earth’s atmosphere was continually bombarded by showers of ‘cosmic rays’, particles of high energy undergoing multiple collisions as they penetrated the air. All this was familiar to me from my research in high-energy physics, but until that moment I had only experienced it through graphs, diagrams and mathematical theories. As I sat on that beach my former experiences came to life; I ‘saw’ cascades of energy coming down from outer space, in which particles were created and destroyed in rhythmic pulses; I ‘saw’ the atoms of the elements and those of my body participating in this cosmic dance of energy; I felt its rhythm and I ‘heard’ its sound, and at that moment I knew that this was the Dance of Shiva, the Lord of Dancers worshipped by the Hindus. Fritjof Capra in Preface of the book "The TAO of Physics" [via Prof. Hc Verma on fb]

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“ We knew the world would not be the same. A few people laughed, a few people cried. Most people were silent. I remembered the line from the Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad-Gita; Vishnu is trying to persuade the Prince that he should do his duty, and to impress him, takes on his multi-armed form and says, 'Now I am become Death [Shiva], the destroyer of worlds.' I suppose we all thought that, one way or another. [link]

- Robert Oppenheimer, Supervising Scientist of the Manhattan Project, after the first atomic detonation.

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ॐ नमः शम्भवाय च. मयोभवाय च. नमः शङ्कराय च. मयस्कराय च. नमः शिवाय च. शिवतराय च. ॐ नमः शिवाय॥

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Shivoham ! I am Shiva. [Last year's post]

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रुद्राष्टकम् [text] [Audio]

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ताण्डव स्तोत्र [text] [Audio]

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महामृत्युञ्जय मन्त्र: [Audio]

ॐ त्र्यम्बकं यजामहे सुगन्धिं पुष्टिवर्धनम्।

उर्वारुकमिव बन्धनान् मृत्योर्मुक्षीय मामृतात्॥

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