Honoring the Dikpala.

Assuming that majority of the readers are Hindus, how many of your really pay attention  to the muttering of the priest.

They perform this ritual called the Lokapaala whatever, in theatre parlance, we call it the Dikpala  puja or the worshipping of the keepers of the cardinal directions. For quite a few years I slept through all these mantras, which were muttered without any explanation, and if one did ask for an explanation, one did not receive it.

Anyway, when I was deciphering parts of Natyashastra I discovered that the cardinal signs were assigned guardians.  Their symbolism was exquisite.

Morning prayers of the priests of Egypt, the shaman’s of the American and Asian ethnic people begin with the prayer to the sun god, facing the east. The sun the sustainer of all life, his gentle rays can nourish he holds the memories of the good and bad of all living creatures, he who is impartial and bestows his blessings with all equanimity.

The pantheon does honour his facing east, and reminding ourselves that he is the centre of the existence, he is the truth, we may choose to call him Surya or just Rah.  The God who really is the guardian of the east is Indra. I would like to say like Horus being the pharaoh but Indra falls short of the yard stick.

The south is guarded by Yama the God of destruction, call him the eternal truth for he is Yama the God of death the only undeniable permanency of life. South is the direction from which India faced destructive rains, and resulting floods, hence the keeper of the south is also the god of death.

The unfathomable depths of ocean, that also dwells in human existence as the mind, soul, lies in the west. From the west came the trade, and wealth, Saraswati the omnipotent river, the nourisher, also in the west, hence the Lord of water Varuna is honoured there.

Finally the north, Kubera the keeper of the coffers of the Gods, the Lord of Yakshas the forest wealth, the rider of the human ambition which translates to abundance, he is Nara vahana the Lord of the North.

The honouring of the Dikpala’ s is reminding us of our strengths and our weakness and from they are sourced.

The earth that we stand on, and the sun that shines, nature worship has been sucked into mainstream rituals.