"Appayya dikSitar was an erudite saivite & advaitic scholar in 16th century. Though he believed in non-dualistic advaitic philosophy, he wrote books for mAdhva, rAmAnuja, srikanda philosophies apart from various subjects like ayurveda. It’s very rare that people of one ‘mata’ contribute to other competing ‘matas’ at the same time. dikSitar followed Shankara in bhakti and jnAna. AchAryAs created matAs for bhakti to a mUrti with physical attributes. But the goal of these is to realize that non-dual paramAtma filling up everything, for which bhakti to a divinity with physical attributes is a path. Different acharyas defined different paths for the same.” says mahAperiyava.
Appaiya dikSitar’s mArgabandhu stotram says Shiva manifests as or ‘drives’ our well-being (zam-bhU) from inside. Hence Shiva is our friend/relative in our path of life (mArga-bandhu). This stotram invokes Shiva’s physical attributes to submit to him as friend of our path, who drives our wellbeing from inside us.
Though there are different characteristics of life like metabolism, homeostasis, growth etc aiding each other, we attribute all of them to an underlying abstract concept of consciousness.
Shiva is this consciousness that exists behind. Shakti are various life functions we perceive.
When we invoke Shiva, He manifests as a ‘sAksi’ or ‘witness’ in our manas and guides us as our mArga-bandhu, leading to our well-being.
How..?
Shiva, the eternal consciousness bliss manifest in us as the witness or sAksi, when we invoke AumkAra, guides us in our life-path by modifying our characteristics and leads us to well-being. For eg, we develop the ability to fight opponents without getting subdued.
Shiva who eliminated pride of manmatha, enlightened crores of suns in Universe, provided stability for all life forms like mandarA mountain, eliminates our pride, enlightens us, provides stability to us from inside us as witness and leads to our wellbeing.
This mArgabandhu stotra, the result of appayya’s yajna, tells us when we devote to Shiva, our pride is eliminated, we are enlightened, we fight without being subdued, we are stable like mandarA mountain, as Shiva provides these from inside us as our witness, help us reach our goals by removing our fears, as we progress in our path.
The same concept is espoused in the famous ‘kolaru pathigam’.When ‘Appar’ told Sambandar that the day is not good to start journey, Sambandar told Appar, no planets can harm those who have Shiva in hearts/ullam & are guided by Him (as witness).
Appaiya dikSitar’s mArgabandhu stotram says Shiva manifests as or ‘drives’ our well-being (zam-bhU) from inside. Hence Shiva is our friend/relative in our path of life (mArga-bandhu). This stotram invokes Shiva’s physical attributes to submit to him as friend of our path, who drives our wellbeing from inside us.
Though there are different characteristics of life like metabolism, homeostasis, growth etc aiding each other, we attribute all of them to an underlying abstract concept of consciousness.
Shiva is this consciousness that exists behind. Shakti are various life functions we perceive.
When we invoke Shiva, He manifests as a ‘sAksi’ or ‘witness’ in our manas and guides us as our mArga-bandhu, leading to our well-being.
How..?
Shiva, the eternal consciousness bliss manifest in us as the witness or sAksi, when we invoke AumkAra, guides us in our life-path by modifying our characteristics and leads us to well-being. For eg, we develop the ability to fight opponents without getting subdued.
Shiva who eliminated pride of manmatha, enlightened crores of suns in Universe, provided stability for all life forms like mandarA mountain, eliminates our pride, enlightens us, provides stability to us from inside us as witness and leads to our wellbeing.
This mArgabandhu stotra, the result of appayya’s yajna, tells us when we devote to Shiva, our pride is eliminated, we are enlightened, we fight without being subdued, we are stable like mandarA mountain, as Shiva provides these from inside us as our witness, help us reach our goals by removing our fears, as we progress in our path.
The same concept is espoused in the famous ‘kolaru pathigam’.When ‘Appar’ told Sambandar that the day is not good to start journey, Sambandar told Appar, no planets can harm those who have Shiva in hearts/ullam & are guided by Him (as witness).
