


Sharanagati
Collected words from talks of Swami Tirtha
Sep
29
(from a lecture of Swami Tirtha, 08.05.2017 morning, Rila)
(continues from the previous Friday)
Why the temple of Shrila Shridhara Maharaj has nine domes, nine towers? This is not only an artistic expression of the architect. This is symbolic. The main dome, the tallest one, signifies the ninth element of devotional service – full surrender, full dedication. That means: dedicate your life, sacrifice your life to divine service, right. This is not a bloody sacrifice, there’s no need to eliminate yourself – but rather engage yourself in divine service. That’s a high type of sacrifice. But what is the importance of blood?
Yashoda: Consciousness is there.
Swami Tirtha: Correct. Actually blood carries the consciousness. Therefore this is a very, very precious substance. Why our blood is red? Have you ever thought of that? Because it’s nice, you might say! No, there is some other reason. Chemically it contains iron, therefore it is reddish. What is the most common heavy metal in the Universe? The same – iron. So, we can say that stardust is in your blood. This physically connects us to this Universe. And if in our circulation blood transfers the consciousness and with this circulation pervades the whole body, to dedicate your blood to something means to dedicate your consciousness to something. And in the Gita[1] Krishna describes that the sacrifice with not only intention, but with intelligence, when you dedicate your consciousness – this is the highest type of sacrifice. So, we have to dedicate our life, our consciousness to divine service. Then we can upgrade our consciousness.
Blood is very symbolic. Blood in the case of man indicates death. The heroes are ready to give their blood for the country. While blood in case of ladies is a symbol of life. So, it’s something very-very important. A very intense symbolic deep meaning is there.
And therefore those who deal with blood usually are very powerful people. For example a murderer, or a butcher, or a fighter – they are very powerful. They have very strong aura. Same with the brahmins. The brahmins don’t cut your body to let your blood flow, but they manipulate your consciousness, they purify your consciousness – the essence of your blood. Therefore such people who can purify our consciousness are also very powerful. They also have a very strong aura.
Therefore to take the blood in the case of Jada Bharata and to sacrifice it, to take something very precious and give it in exchange for some gain – it’s like an offering with some hopes, with some exchange. And from the consequences we can see that mother Kali is very much ready to consume this blood. Maybe not from the sacrificial victim, but from those who have wrong consciousness. Again if you take it symbolically, what does it mean to take the blood of the thieves and rogues? To change their consciousness, to take the mistake from them; to digest it, to eliminate it. So this is not a scene from an ancient horror movie, but the main point is the change of consciousness. Take something essential and divert it.
(to be continued)
[1] Bhagavad Gita 18.70
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