Shiva's Arms

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Alicia de Larrocha performs Mompou - LIVE

Monday, February 20, 2012

Shivaratri

This week Hindus will observe Shivaratri.Devotees dedicate one entire night to the worship of Lord Shiva, who appeared as a pillar of fire without beginning or end, to give form to the formless.

On Shivratri, Lord Shiva's throat turned blue with poison from the churning milky ocean. Even one drop in his stomach(the universe) would have annihilated the entire world, so he held it in his neck. The 14th sloka of Shivmahimna Stotra says: "O three-eyed Lord, when the poison came up through the churning of the ocean by the gods and demons, they were all aghast with fear as if the untimely end of all creation was imminent. In your kindness, you drank all the poison that still makes your throat blue. O Lord, even this blue mark does but increase your glory. What is apparently a blemish becomes an ornament in one intent on ridding the world of fear."

There are many other legends associated with Shivratri. One of my favorites describes the union of Shiva and Parvati. You can read about the legends here.

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Gymnopedie

Monday, February 13, 2012

A Kiss for Valentines

from Don Juan by Lord Byron

They look’d up to the sky, whose floating glow
Spread like a rosy ocean, vast and bright;
They gazed upon the glittering sea below,
Whence the broad moon rose circling into sight;
They heard the wave’s splash, and the wind so low,
And saw each other’s dark eyes darting light
Into each other — and, beholding this,
Their lips drew near, and clung into a kiss;

A long, long kiss, a kiss of youth, and love,
And beauty, all concentrating like rays
Into one focus, kindled from above;
Such kisses as belong to early days,
Where heart, and soul, and sense, in concert move,
And the blood’s lava, and the pulse a blaze,
Each kiss a heart-quake, — for a kiss’s strength,
I think, it much be reckon’d by its length.

By length I mean duration; theirs endured
Heaven knows how long — no doubt they never reckon’d’
And if they had, they could not have secured
The sum of their sensations to a second:
They had not spoken; but they felt allured,
As if their souls and lips each other beckon’d,
Which, being join’d, like swarming bees they clung –

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Kamadeva Mantras

Cupid et al

In keeping with the Valentine vibe, I give you a painting of Kamadev and Rati.In Indian mythology, Cupid is known as Kamadev. He once shot Shiva with his arrows, and was burned to ashes by Lord Shiva’s third eye. Kamadev’s grief-stricken widow, Rati, begged Shiva to restore her husband's life. He did, with the stipulation that Kamadev would live without physical human form. The day Shiva burned Kamadev is commemorated on Holi, next month’s big festival. And there you have it.