QUOTES ABOUT MOON

 Ah, moon, how is thy night like to the eclipse

 Ahuramazda spoke to Mashya and Mashyôî thus: 'You are man, you are the ancestry of the world, and you are created perfect in devotion by me; perform devotedly the duty of the law, think good thoughts, speak good words, do good deeds, and worship no demons!' 7. Both of them first thought this, that one of them should please the other, as he is a man for him; and the first deed done by them was this, when they went out they washed themselves thoroughly; and the first words spoken by them were these, that Ahuramazda created the water and earth, plants and animals, the stars, moon, and sun, and all prosperity whose origin and effect are from the manifestation of righteousness . 8. And, afterwards, antagonism rushed into their minds, and their minds were

 and for the Asha-sanctified wind, and for the stars, moon, and sun, and for the eternal stars

 And in that most happy time they let the sun, moon, and luminaries exist

 As tranquil, possessed of the effulgence of ten million Moons; clothed in garments of tiger-skins; wearing a sacred thread made of a serpent; His whole body covered with ashes; wearing ornaments of serpents; His five faces are of reddish-black, yellow, rose, white, and red colours, with three eyes each; His head is covered with matted hair; He is Omnipresent; He holds Ganga on His head, and has ten arms, and in His forehead shines the (crescent) Moon; He holds in His left hand the skull, fire, the noose, the Pinaka, and the axe, and in His right the trident, the thunderbolt, the arrow, and blessings; He is being praised by all the Devas and great Sages; His eyes half-closed in the excess of bliss; His body is white as the snow and the Kunda flower and the Moon; He is seated on the Bull; He is by day and night surrounded on every side by Siddhas, Gandharvas, and Apsaras, who are chanting hymns in His praise; He is the husband of Uma; the devoted Protector of His worshippers (32-38)

 chandrabimba = moon disc

 chandrodaya = moon-rise

 eding upwards to the throat expresses itself in spoken speech which is Vaikhari or Virat Shabda. Now it is that the Mantra issues from the mouth and is heard by the ear. Because the one cosmic movement produces the ideating mind and its accompanying Shabda and the objects cognized or Artha, the creative force of the universe is identified with the Matrikas and Varnas, and Devi is said to be in the forms of the letters from A to Ha, which are the gross expressions of the forces called Matrika; which again are not different from, but are the same forces that evolve into the universe of mind and matter. These Varnas are, for the same reason, associated with certain vital and physiological centers which are produced by the same power that gives birth to the letters. It is by virtue of these centers and their controlled area in the body that all the phenomena of human psychosis run on, and keep man in bondage. The creative force is the union of Shiva and Shakti, and each of the letters (Varna) produced therefrom and thereby are part and parcel of that Force, and are, therefore, Shiva and Shakti in those particular forms. For this reason, the Tantra Shastra says that Devata and Mantra composed of letters, are one. In short, Mantras are made of letters (Varna). Letters are Matrika. Matrika is Shakti and Shakti is Shiva. Through Shakti (one with Shiva) Nada-Shakti, Bindu-Shakti, the Shabda-Brahman or Para Shabda, arise the Matrika, Varna, Pada, Vakya of the lettered Mantra or manifested Shabda

 I will mention them also a second time; Albûrz is around this earth and is connected with the sky. 4. The Têrak of Albûrz is that through which the stars, moon, and sun pass in, and through it they come back. 5. Hûgar the lofty is that from which the water of Arêdvîvsûr leaps down the height of a thousand men. 6. The Aûsîndôm mountain is that which, being of ruby

 indu = moon

 is an increase in the brilliance of the stars, moon, and sun necessary, and

 lands and to the plants, to this earth and yon heaven, to the holy wind, to the stars, moon

 light. moon, the Asha-sanctified master of Asha, and for the full moon which

 maintainer of the worldly creation but it; when by me the sun and moon and stars are conducted in the firmament (andarvaî) of luminous bodies; when by me corn was created so that, scattered about in the earth, it grew again and returned with increase; when by me colour of various kinds was created in plants; when by me fire was created in plants and other things without combustion; when by me a son was created and fashioned in the womb of a mother, and the structure (pîsak) severally of the skin, nails, blood, feet, eyes, ears, and other things was produced; when by me legs were created for the water, so that it flows away, and the cloud was created which carries the water of the world and rains there where it has a purpose; when by me the air was created which conveys in one's eyesight, through the strength of the wind, the lowermost upwards according to its will, and one is not able to grasp it with the hand out-stretched; each one of them, when created by me, was herein more difficult than causing the resurrection, for it is an assistance to me in the resurrection that they exist, but when they were formed it was not forming the future out of the past. 6. Observe that when that which was not was then produced, why is it not possible to

 Maya is not rightly rendered 'Illusion'. In the first place it is conceived as a real Power of Being and as such is one with the Full Reality. The Full, free of all illusion, experiences the engendering of the finite centers and the centers themselves in and as Its own changeless partless Self. It is these individual centers produced from out of Power as Maya-Shakti which are 'Ignorance' or Avidya Shakti. They are so called because they are not a full experience but an experience of parts in the Whole. In another sense this 'Ignorance' is a knowing, namely, that which a finite center alone has. Even God cannot have man's mode of knowledge and enjoyment without becoming man. He by and as His Power does become man and yet remains Himself. Man is Power in limited form as Avidya. The Lord is unlimited Power as Maya. In whom then is the 'Illusion'? Not (all will admit) in the Lord. Nor is it in fact (whatever be the talk of it) in man whose nature it is to regard his limitations as real. For these limitations are he. His experience as man provides no standard whereby it may be adjudged 'Illusion'. The latter is non-conformity with normal experience, and here it is the normal experience which is said to be Illusion. If there were no Avidya Shakti, there would be no man. In short the knowing which is Full Experience is one thing and the knowing of the limited experience is another. The latter is Avidya and the Power to produce it is Maya. Both are eternal aspects of Reality, though the forms which are Avidya Shakti come and go. If we seek to relate the one to the other, where and by whom is the comparison made? Not in and by the Full Experience beyond all relations, where no questions are asked or answers given, but on the standing ground of present finite experience where all subjectivity and objectivity are real and where therefore, ipso facto, Illusion is negative. The two aspects are never present at one and the same time for comparison. The universe is real as a limited thing to the limited experiencer who is himself a part of it. But the experience of the Supreme Person (Parahanta) is necessarily different, otherwise it would not be the Supreme Experience at all. A God who experiences just as man does is no God but man. There is, therefore, no experiencer to whom the World is Illusion. He who sees the world in the normal waking state, loses it in that form in ecstasy (Samadhi). It may, however, (with the Shakta) be said that the Supreme Experience is entire and unchanging and thus the fully Real; and that, though the limited experience is also real in its own way, it is yet an experience of change in its twin aspects of Time and Space. Maya, therefore, is the Power which engenders in Itself finite centers in Time and Space, and Avidya is such experience in fact of the finite experiencer in Time and Space. So much is this so, that the Time-theorists (Kalavadins) give the name 'Supreme Time' (Parakala) to the Creator, who is also called by the Shakta 'Great Time' (Mahakala). So in the Bhairavayamala it is said that Mahadeva (Shiva) distributes His Rays of Power in the form of the Year. That is, Timeless Experience appears in the finite centers as broken up into periods of time. This is the 'Lesser Time' which comes in with the Sun, Moon, Six Seasons and so forth, which are all Shaktis of the Lord, the existence and movements of which give rise, in the limited observer, to the notion of Time and Space

 Moon that has the seed of the Bull. Homage (to the Moon) when looked at

 moon, I nourish all the plants.

 Moon. Of all sins ... I repent

 Nada, as Raghava Bhatta says, exists in the three states of nibodhika or bodhini, nada, and in the form of bindu, according to the predominance of the guna. These three and the saktis, jnana, kriya and ichha, of which they are special manifestations, are said to be in the form of sun, moon, and fire respectively. The moon (indu) is ichchha (will and desire), the eternal precursor of creation. Kriya is like the sun, which makes all things visible. Jnana is fire, as it burns up all actions (see Ṣatcakranirupana, verse 49, and Sarada Tilaka, chap. i.)

 Purashcarana is a form of Sadhana in which, with other ritual, Japa of Mantra, done a large number of times, forms the chief part. A short account of the rite is given in the Purashcarana-bodhini by Harakumara Tagore (1895). (See also Tantrasara 71 and the Purashcaryarnava of the King of Nepal.) The ritual deals with preparation for the Sadhana as regards chastity, food, worship, measurements of the Mandapa or Pandal and of the altar, the time and place of performance and other matters. The Sadhaka must lead a chaste life (Brahmacarya) during the period prescribed. He must eat the pure food called Havishyannam or boiled milk (Kshtra), fruits, Indian vegetables, and avoid all other food which has the effect of stimulating the passions. He must bathe, do Japa of the Savitri Mantra, entertain Brahmanas and so forth. Pañcagavya is eaten, that is, the five products of the cow, namely, milk, curd, ghee, urine, and dung, the two last (except in the case of the rigorously pious) in smaller quantity. Before the Puja there is worship of Ganesha and Kshetrapala and the Sun, Moon, and Devas are invoked. Then follows the Samkalpa. The Ghata or Kalasa (jar) is placed in which the Devata is invoked. A Mandala or figure of a particular design is marked on the ground and on it the jar is placed. Then the five or nine gems are placed in the jar which is painted red and covered with leaves. The ritual then prescribes for the tying of the crown lock (Shikha), the posture (Asana) of the Sadhaka, Japa, Nyasa, and the Mantra ritual. There is meditation as directed, Mantra-chaitanya and Japa of the Mantra the number of times for which vow has been made

 rajaniichara = moon, demon

 shashaaN^ka = moon

 shashi = moon

 sudhaakar = Moon

 tbe Asha-owning wind, and for the stars, moon, and sun, and for

 that of the holy wind and of the stars, moon, and sun, and with that of the stars without

 The God that has established the laws in nature is the Heaven God. He is the greatest of gods, since there is nothing above him nor outside of him; he has made every thing, since everything is produced or takes place . in him; he is the wisest of all gods, since with his eyes, the sun, moon, and stars, he sees everything

 The Parabindu on such differentiation manifests under the threefold aspects of Bindu, Nada, Bija. This is the fully developed and kinetic aspect of Parashabda. The Bindu which thus becomes threefold is the Principle in which the germ of action sprouts to manifestation producing a state of compact intensive Shakti. The threefold aspect of Bindu, as Bindu (Karyya), Nada and Bija are Shivamaya, Shivashaktimaya, Shaktimaya; Para, Sukshma, Sthula; Iccha, Jñana, Kriya; Tamas, Sattva, Rajas; Moon, Fire and Sun; and the Shaktis which are the cosmic bodies known as Ishvara, Hiranyagarbha, and Virat. All three, Bindu, Bija, Nada are the different phases of Shakti in creation, being different aspects of Parabindu the Ghanavastha of Shakti. The order of the three Shaktis of will, action and knowledge differ in Ishvara and Jiva. Ishvara is a11-knowing and therefore the order in Him, is Iccha, Jñana, Kriya. In Jiva, it is Jñana, Iccha, Kriya. Iccha is said to be the capacity which conceives the idea of work or action; which brings the work before the mind and wills to do it. In this Bindu, Tamas is said to be predominant, for there is as yet no stir to action. Nada is Jñana Shakti, that is, the subjective direction of will by knowledge to the desired end. With it is associated Sattva. Bija is Kriya Shakti or the Shakti which arises from that effort or the action done. With it Rajoguna or the principle of activity is associated. Kriya arises from the combination of Iccha and Jñana. It is thus said, "Drawn by Icchashakti, illumined by Jñana shakti, Shakti the Lord appearing as Male creates (Kriyashakti). From Bindu it is said arose Raudri; from Nada, Jyeshtha; and from Bija, Vama. From these arose Rudra, Brahma, Vishnu." It is also said in the Goraksha Samhita, "Iccha is Brahmi., Kriya is Vaishnavi and Jñana is Gauri. Wherever there are these three Shaktis there is the Supreme Light called Om." In the Sakala Parameshvara or Shabdabrahman in bodies (that is, Kundalini Shakti), Bindu in which Tamas prevails is, Raghava says, called Nirodhika; Nada in which Sattva prevails is called Ardhendhu, and Bija the combination of the two (Iccha and Jñana) in which Rajas as Kriya works is called Bindu. The three preceding states in Kundalini are Shakti, Dhvani, and Nada. Kundalini is Cit-Shakti into which Sattva enters, a state known as the Paramakashavastha. When She into whom Sattva has entered is next pierced by Rajas, She is called Dhvani which is the Aksharavastha. When She is again pierced by Tamas, She is called Nada. This is the Avyaktavastha, the Avyakta Nada which is the Parabindu. The three Bindus which are aspects of Parabindu constitute the mysterious Kamakala triangle which with the Harddhakala forms the roseate body of the lovely limbed great Devi Tripurasundari who is Shivakama and manifests the universe. She is the trinity of Divine energy of whom the Shritattvarnava says: "Those glorious men who worship in that body in Samarasya are freed from the waves of poison in the untraversable sea of the Wandering (Samsara)". The main principle which underlies the elaborate details here shortly summarized, is this. The state in which Cit and Prakriti-Shakta are as one undivided whole, that is, in which Prakriti lies latent (Nishkala Shiva), is succeeded by one of differentiation, that is, manifestation of Maya (Sakala Shiva). In such manifestation it displays several aspects. The totality of such aspects is the Maya body of Ishvara in which are included the causal, subtle and gross bodies of the Jiva. These are, according to the Sharada, seven aspects of the first or Para state of sound in Shabdasrishti which are the seven divisions of the Mantra Om, viz.: A, U, M, Nada, Bindu, Shakti, Santa. They constitute Parashabdasrishti in the Ishvara creation. They are Ishvara or Om and seven aspects of the cosmic causal body; the collectivity (Samashti) of the individual (Vyashti), causal, subtle and gross bodies of the Jiva

 They plunged together into the cool, moon-swept waters, and Rama cast at his bride many fair water blooms. Sita retreated before him until she went beyond her depth; then she clung lovingly to Rama, twining her arms about his neck, nor did he hasten to draw her back, so dearly he loved to be embraced by her

 two, and the stars, moon, and sun, among the plants of the Baresman, and Mithra, the

 Waters and light are believed to flow from the same spring and in the same bed: 'As light rises up from Hara Berezaiti [Alborz, the mountain by which the earth is surrounded], so waters spring up from it and come back to it' (Bund. XX); every day the sun, moon, and stars rise up from Alborz, and every day all the waters on the earth come back together to the sea Vouru-kasha, and there collected come down again to the earth from the peaks of Alborz (Bund. VII, Gr. Rav. 431; cf. Farg. V, 15 seq.) As light comes from three different sources, the sun, the moon, and the stars, the waters are invoked three times, first in company with the sun, then with the moon, lastly with the stars, as if there should be three different movements of the rain connected with the three movements of light

 When touching the heart say "Namah," when touching the head "Svaha," and when touching the crown lock thereon "Vashat." Similarly, when touching the two upper portions of the arms, the three eyes and the two palms, utter the Mantras Hung and Vaushat and Phat respectively. In this manner nyasa of the six parts of the body should be practised, and then the Vira should proceed to Pithanyasa (127-128). Then let the Vira place in the lotus of the heart, the Adhara-shakti, the tortoise, Shesha serpent, Prithivi, the ocean of ambrosia, the Gem Island, the Parijata tree, the chamber of gems which fulfil all desires, the jewelled altar, and the lotus seat (129-130). Then he should place on the right shoulder, the left shoulder, the right hip, the left hip, respectively and in their order, Dharmma, Jnana, Aishvaryya, and Vairagya (131), and the excellent worshipper should place the negatives of these qualities on the mouth, the left side, the navel, and the right side respectively (132). Next let him place in the heart Ananda Kanda, Sun, Moon, Fire, the three qualities, adding to the first of their letters the sign Vindu, and the filaments and pericarp of the Lotus, and let him place in the petals of the lotus the eight Pitha Nayikas – Mangala, Vijaya, Bhadra, Jayanti, Aparajita, Nandini, Narasinghi, Vaishnavi, and in the tips of the petals of the lotus the eight Bhairavas – Asitanga, Chanda, Kapali, Krodha, Bhishana, Unmatta, Ruru, Sanghari (133-135)