EKADASA RUDRA PUJA

EKADASA RUDRA PUJA 

Prof. Biswajit Satpathy

Rig Veda mentions a set of thirty-three deities. Yaskacharya mentions: eight Vasus, eleven Rudras, twelve Adityas and two Asvinis.

In the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad the Rishi Yajnavalkya says “The eight Vasus, eleven Rudras, twelve Adityas, Indra and Prajapati are the thirty-three gods".

He goes on to explain: Katame rudra iti: "Who are the Rudras?" and says "The ten senses and the mind make eleven. These are the Rudras.""When the senses and the mind leave the body, they make one cry in anguish." While a person is alive, these eleven: the senses and the mind, subject the individual to their demands, and make him cry in agony if he violates their laws.

The Ten senses are:

Pancha Jnanendriyas

The word Jnanendriya comes from the roots jnana, which means “wisdom,” and Indra, who was the God of the sensory heaven in Hinduism. These are the 5 lower sensual perception organs -- those which allow one to perceive the world around them. They are:-

Shotra - ears

Chakshu - eyes

Grahna - nose

Jivha - tongue

Tvak - skin

The real nature of these senses, which are the particular sensations themselves that result from the interaction of the jnanendriyas with the pancha maha bhutas ( the five elements which underlie the material world), are referred to as pancha tanmatras. They are shabda (hearing), rupa (sight), gandha (smell), rasana (taste), and sparsha (touch), respectively.

Pancha Karmendriyas

This term derives from the roots karma (action), and Indra. Literally, it translates to mean “organ of action,” which signifies that which facilitates our direct contact with the outer world -- or that which enables us to interact with the material objects of the world. These five organs of action are:

Pada (feet) - for locomotion

Pani (hands) - for dexterity

Payu (rectum) - for excretion

Upastha (genitals) - for reproduction

Vak (mouth) - for speech.

Mind is a higher power than the Indriyas. Mind is a consolidated Indriya. Indriya is mind in manifestation. Just as a minister obeys the king, so also, the five Jnana-Indriyas act in accordance with the dictates of the mind. Indriyas represent backwaters. The desire in the mind to eat has manifested as tongue, teeth and stomach. The desire in the mind to walk has manifested itself as legs and feet. If you can control mind, you can control the Indriyas.

Eyes can only see. Ears can only hear. Tongue can only taste. Skin can only touch. Nose can only smell. But, the mind can see, hear, taste, touch and smell. Mind is the common sensory. The five senses are blended there. It can directly see, hear, smell, taste and feel independent of the senses. It is an aggregate of the five senses. All the sense-faculties are blended in the mind. You can see and hear directly through the mind by Yogic practice (clairvoyance and clairaudience). This blows out the Western psychological theory of perception.

Mind is termed the sixth sense: "Manah shashthanindriyani- the senses of which mind are the sixth" (Gita, XV-7). The five senses are the five Jnana-Indriyas (organs of knowledge, sensation or perception).

Control of Thought

If the reins of the horses are under control, journey can be safe. The Indriyas are the horses. Indriyas cannot do anything without the help of the mind, their master and commander. Control of the Indriyas means control of the mind only. Control of thoughts leads to the control of mind and Indriyas also. It leads to the attainment of infinite bliss and eternal life. Control of thought is indispensable for healthy living.

In the Bhagvad Gita, Chapter 6, Shloka 35 Lord Krishna says to Arjuna:

Asamsayam mahabaho mano durnigraham calam

Abhyasena to kaunteya vairagyena ca grhyate.

Doubtless O mighty armed, the mind is restless and hard to control but by practice and non-attachment, O son of Kunti, it can be controlled.

Lord has given us via Arjuna the secret of controlling our mind which remains ever so restless. But before one strives to understand what the Lord is saying, one must be able to recall what Arjuna asked in previous Shlokas. In Shlokas 33 and 34 of Chapter 6 of The Bhagvad Gita Arjuna had talked about the restless nature of mind and hence, he had told the Lord that the mind is as hard to control as the wind. In the above cited shloka the Lord gives Arjuna the technique of controlling the mind. However, first the Lord agrees with Arjuna that the mind is not easy to control and then the Lord gives us via Arjuna two important means to control the mind. The first one is Practice and the second one is Non-attachment.

So according to me Ekadasa Rudra Puja is controlling the ten senses through practicing withdrawal from sense gratification and non attachment to those objects which might violate the laws of Nature. By this the Rudras will not make us cry during our lifetime.