During the recent Shivabharanam on 15 January 2024, Sadhguru consecrated the Mahashula and Nandi at the Sadhguru Sannidhi Bengaluru. Find out what he shared about their deep significance, the qualities they embody, and the potential benefits for us all.
Sadhguru: A year ago, many of you were here for the consecration of the Yogeshwara Linga. We are adding some abharanam [1] for Adiyogi now. Because however wonderful you are, without some of the things you have – maybe a vehicle, a phone, or a computer – you would be seriously handicapped. So, we thought we would fix this for Adiyogi.
The consecration has been a very intense process that has been on for the last forty days. It turned out very well. We have empowered Nandi and Mahashula with consecrated lingas in the two horns of Nandi and the central part of Mahashula.
[1] Adornment.
We are here in the sphere of the Nandi Hills. During the Chola[2] era, this hill was known as Anandagiri. In this part of the country, Nandi, who is generally known as Basava in Karnataka, holds a prominent place in the spiritual culture. Yoganandeshwara is on the top of Nandi Hills, and Bhoganandeshwara at the foothill. This region has invested time and energy in the process of Nandi.
[2] Ancient dynasty of Tamil rulers who built an expansive empire and are known to have established many temples in southern India.
The word Nandi also comes from the root word ananda [3]. Nandi means a joyful, delightful one. It is important to understand that Nandi originally was supposed to be a gana, a constant companion of Adiyogi. There are innumerable stories about his relationship with Adiyogi. Legend goes that Nandi has the privilege of a certain access to Adiyogi.
Nandi symbolizes many things; one aspect is his access to Adiyogi or Shiva. He is always there, serving both as a gatekeeper and his vehicle. This is one reason why, particularly in southern India, there is this tradition and culture that when people go to a Shiva temple, they speak whatever they wish to convey to Shiva into Nandi’s left ear because Nandi is considered an access point to Shiva.
This is a civilization where science, symbolism, culture, and human emotion are all intertwined as one. Why would a bull be the access point? If you look at his repose, he is alert but simply waiting. People go in and out the temple, but he is just waiting, never demanding. Not sleeping, not lethargic – alert and waiting. What this means is, if you can sit here alert, waiting – not for anything in particular, with no need for anything to happen – simply knowing how to wait, then you have become meditative.
If a life becomes intense and relaxed at the same time, it is meditative in nature. Essentially, being meditative means that you rise above your physiological and psychological processes. Physiological and psychological processes are a consequence of what we have gathered in the form of the body and mind. Both these processes are memory-based. If there is no memory, this body cannot function. If there is no memory, this mind cannot function.
This body has taken this form because it has evolutionary memory, genetic memory, and other forms of conscious and unconscious memory. Each body has its own individual nature only because of the type of memory that we carry. Another word for this memory is Karma.
If you become alert or intense and relaxed at the same time, you become meditative and rise above the gathered substance, which is essentially Karma. Then, Karmic bondage, while still there, has no power over you.
[3] Joy, delight, bliss in Sanskrit.
You experience this in many ways. There is so much attraction towards alcohol and drugs because, in some way, for a limited period of time, Karma does not seem to affect those who consume them. Those who cannot handle their own thought and emotion, who are struggling with their memories, get drunk, and suddenly, they do not feel anything, at least for a few hours.
The essential longing is the same; it is just the method that is destructive. Whether it is a drug addict, an alcoholic, a spiritual seeker, or anyone else for that matter, everyone is seeking the same thing: to rise above the processes of body and mind somehow. You may call it achievement, success, fulfillment of ambition, intoxication, or meditativeness. Essentially, you are trying to rise above the cumulative impact of life and become a fresh, new possibility. The question is only which method will do this in a way that enhances your life, rather than damage it.
To be meditative means to be like Nandi. If you are alert and relaxed, waiting without any purpose, you will naturally become a blissful being.
The Mahashula represents three fundamental aspects of time: past, present, and future, which form the ambit of our lives. In terms of experience, you have wakefulness, sleep, and dream states. Then there are Ida[4], Pingala[5], and Sushumna[6].
Another aspect of the Mahashula is tamas, rajas, and sattva. Those who are in tamas are drawn towards all that is negative. Those who are in rajas are drawn towards all that is positive and think they are righteous. But individuals who think they are doing the right thing sometimes commit greater atrocities than those who know they are criminals, causing wars and wiping out civilizations.
So, there is tamas and rajas, and then in the center, there is sattva, which means exuberance and equanimity. Today, with the empowerment that we have in the form of science and technology, equanimity is the most important quality, not tamas or rajas. If intelligence and technology are not tempered with equanimity, they can destroy us. These sets of three are all based on the same principle, manifesting in different ways.
[4] Left basic energy channel or nadi within the human system, representing the feminine.
[5] Right basic energy channel or nadi within the human system, representing the masculine.
[6] Central energy channel within the human system.
We are consecrating the trishula only for the central aspect. That is why it is called Mahashula. Nandi caters to everything, but Mahashula has a single-minded approach. Because survival is not an issue anymore for most people, the Mahashula is focused on one thing: spiritual evolution. Once we have a spiritual fire going in every human being, we will increase the percentage of people who do wonderful things.
When human beings do not have to worry about food, the best possibilities open up for them. But still, when they speak into Nandi’s ear, people will ask for all kinds of things, like a new car, a new house, marriage, or divorce. What you desire today may look like the most important thing. But if you look back, how many of your desires have remained unfulfilled? Suppose all of them were fulfilled, what a mess you would have been. What makes you think that your current desires are perfect?
On the surface, it may seem like life unfolds in different ways for different people. But when you take a little distance, you will see that fundamentally, life unfolds in the same way for everyone. If you remain on the surface, it may be choppy or smooth sailing, depending on various factors. But if you sink a little deeper, for everyone, it is fantastic.
It is just that you should not remain on the surface. If you resolve this one thing, all other things are resolved. There is only one problem in your life: you. A diplomatic way of looking at it would be that you are fantastic, and your wife or your husband is the real problem. But the reality is that you are the only problem in existence. If you solve this one problem, there is no other problem.
Nandi is resolved. Only if you are resolved, can you simply sit here. If you are not resolved and you close your eyes, you will have FOMO, fear of missing out. Something is itching all the time. This is how disturbed humanity is. How many things you have done simply because you cannot be by yourself; how many levels of entanglement and turmoil. Suppose you could sit here and be blissed out, a lot of trouble could be saved, both within you and in the world.
When you speak into Nandi’s ear, only ask for a life of fulfillment. There should be only one desire: This life that you are must be fulfilled.
If you can be fulfilled in poverty, let it be so. If you can be fulfilled in wealth, let it be so. If you can be fulfilled being alone, let it be so. If you can be fulfilled by being married, let it be so. Do not decide how fulfillment should happen. Whether you do nothing or everything, you are fulfilled. Whether everything works or nothing works, you are fulfilled.
