[Advaita-l] Gopuja videos

[Venkata sriram P]

Namaste,
 
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The cows are also praised in Puranas, Vedas and Smruti literature
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gO & brAhmaNa play important role in vaidika karma kANDa like yajnas & kratus
and hence both are extolled in shastras.  
 
For that matter, not only cows but other animals too play important role.  The vAhanAs 
of our devatas are animals only that represent the corresponding devata tattva. 
 
The simha of durga, shikhi of subramanya, muShaka of gaNapati, garuDa of vishnu,
vriShabha of Siva, gardabha (donkey) of Mother Sitala, Hamsa of Sarasvati, Owl of Lakshmi, Goat of Agni etc. represent the subtle aspects of devata rahasyas.  
 
Even the sangita shastra give much importance to the animals and the sapta (7) svaras
represent the dhvanis of 7 animals that emanated from saura maNDala.  The saura maNDala is of the form of rg veda; the hiranmaya purusha in saura maNDala is yajur veda;
saura mayukhAs / kiranas (rays of sun) is sama veda.  The sapta rashmis that emanated
in the form of sapta (7) chandas bore the dhvanis of the following animals:
 
1. The svara dhvani of the elephant is "niShAda"
2. The svara dhvani of the cow is "riShabha"
3. The svara dhvani of the goat is "gAndhAra"
4. The svara dhvani of the peacock is "ShaDja"
5. The svara dhvani of the crane is "madhyama"
6. The svara dhvani of the horse is "daivata"
7. The svara dhvani of the cuckoo is "panchama"

 
These 7 rays represent the following svaras ie., sa, re, ga, ma, pa, da, ni 
respectively.
 
The 1st dhvani that emanated is the "niShAda" dhvani which is defined as:
 
"niShIdati paramEshwaraH asmin iti niShAdaH" ie., the svara which is the first-born and is born by Paramatma where rest of the 6 svaras dissolve is called niShAda.  This is the first born nAda and hence niShAda pratipAdya tattva.
 
This is of the form of "hasti nAda" as explained above (dhvani of elephant).  
And hence, sri-sukta extols Mother Sri as "hasti nAda prabOdhineem" as She 
is of the form of niShAda svara which is ever present in paramAtma.  
 
regs,
sriram