There are no shortcuts, no simple roads, no crash courses nor any magicians tricks for those who seek the true light of God and Jyotish is the means for the blind souls to find some direction in this otherwise dark world. I found myself confronted with the thought that if God is everywhere, in all beings, then how is it that he can have a form? If He did have a form, then how could He fit into these so many bodies simultaneously unless He was so tiny, smaller than the smallest particle or atom ever conceived. That’s not logical, so God does not have a form as He is Vishnu (sarva vyapakesa – literally omnipresent).
But the human being that I am is ruled by the mind, which is the boss and guides everything on the basis of thought, memory and understanding. My mind needs a form to remind it that there is a supreme power that creates, preserves and destroys everything. That is the only way the mind shall remember. And of all the forms, He must be human as this is what is the most beautiful of forms and most appealing to me. Why else would my soul have chosen to take a human body (assuming I made the choice)?…And the mind also needs color to identify cleanliness and goodness as symbols and these have to be white as white is clean (don’t ask me why, every mind thinks so). If I were to stare at the brilliant Sun and then close my eyes, I see a dark circular spot. So the inner eye sees the colors inverted – black becomes white and vice versa and so also all the other colors. So if I want to see white in my inner eye I must stare at black. Of course He must be smiling all the time. How can He be sad? Its we who are sad and long for His company for that little joy and ecstasy of being…And then I saw Jagannath. Exactly as God should be…
Without hands…as it is our hands that He uses,
Without legs and feet…as He is everywhere – no need to travel
With huge circular eyes…reminding me that He watches
With a smiling face…the joy of all creatures
Without eyelids and eyelashes…as the Sun never sets for Him
DBC offers online courses in jyotish (Vedic Astrology) taught directly by Sanjay Rath as per the tradition, through narrated power points and other audio tools. The courses are at different levels, from the beginners through the intermediate to the advanced and are known as SoHamsa | DBC courses, with individual classrooms and assistant teachers
Sagittarius Publications is the publisher and distributor the popular quaterly magazine the Jyotish Digest, as well as many thorough books on the subject of Vedic Astrology or Jyotish.
We have an excellent pandit Divākar ‘Deva’ Mishra, who is from the priests of Vindhyāvāsini Siddha Pīṭha to guide you through the hundreds of temples of Kāśi [Varanasi] and neighbouring regions. He can organise your pūjā, keep you safe and take care. He is supported by an English-speaking well-travelled spouse ‘Supriya Mishra’. Please contact them directly for any services, remedial pūjā and tours. They handled the 60+ member Kāśi Jyotiṣa Group 2022.
Dear Sanjay,
Hare Rama Krishna.
We can also look at Jagannatha another way: since he is omnipresent, he is not merely a mass of Consciusness but is also the intelligence and creativity of His Consciousness. Thus, he is simultaneously abstract and concrete; he has a form and is also formless.
Krishna is an excellent example: formless yet appearing within form.
Jai Shri Ram,
Steve