DEVA DIWALI
November 28, 2020
& the Myth of Tripurari Purnima
Deva Diwali is the rejoicing in the spiritual world of the awareness of Shiva to cast the arrow of aware vision upon the blind Karmas of both the Matriarch and the Patriarch. These Karmas are revealed by the force of planetary currents upon the astral plane on Deva Diwali.
Deva Diwali is the Diwali of the Spirit World.
Tripurari Purnima is the full moon of Shiva in his form known as Tripurara.
Tripurantaka is the destroyer of the three worlds. Tripurari (Triparuri are the three worlds) Shiva’s arrow-like vision destroys them.
In the Tantric year, this is the second most important ritual day that is dedicated to Shiva. The main one being the Shivaratri, which translates as the night of Shiva.
Tripurara is a name of Shiva. It means the lord of the three worlds.
Pura signifies a land or a place. The forehead marking upon Shiva is the three lines that denote the three realms.
What are the three worlds and how do they relate to this Full Mooned night?
Svarga, is the spirit world, Patala, is the underworld of the unconscious, and Bhumi, is the earth plane where the two worlds meet.
These worlds are symbolised by 3 terrestrial metals.
Patala is related to the heaviest metal of Iron, The lightest is Silver in the mysterious and unseen lunar world of Svarga, Gold is the weight in between, twice as heavy as silver, it is the metal of the revealed world, illuminated by the golden sun in the daylight, it is the earthly plane of seen things, known in Tantra as the realm of Bhumi
THE ASURA BROS
The story goes that there were three Asuras. These three brothers wished to dominate creation. Collectively they are known as Tripasura, the three.
They had got so powerful by worshiping Shiva and emulating the magical arts of Shiva himself.
Asura is often translated as Demon, this may have very many connotations to call them such.
The Asuras are spirit beings who are overshadowed by unconscious shadows which lead them in destructive ways.
The three Asura brothers were the Sons of the mighty demon Tarakasur who represents the destructive side of the sexual chakra. Tarakasur fathered 3 rapscallious sons named Vidyunmaali, Kamalaaksha, and Taarakaaksha.
The father had already met his fate at the hands of Shiva’s son, the world-famous elephant god Ganesha.
The father was himself a powerful Yogi gone wrong. He had not completed his yogic austerity, but had prematurely gained power by a gamble. The gamble of premature power was given on condition that he could only be killed by Shiva’s son.
Knowing that Shiva was a Yogi far out of reach of the world and of family life, the wicked Tarakasur took the gamble of power. Once drunk on his power, he started to dominate unjustly with his newly acquired and seemingly unstoppable power.
Little did he know that Shakti was to entice the mighty renunciant Shiva and bear a child with him. And so Tarakasur met his fate as had been ordained.
Vidyunmaali. Kamalaaksha, and Taarakaaksha represent the hidden karmas of the active masculine and passive femmine.
They represent the Moon, the Sun and Shuni (the planet Saturn). Shuni is he who raises Karma and that which has not been seen but must be faced.
The brothers, although devotees of Shiva, bore a grudge in their hearts that their father had not been as great as Shiva and had met his demise on account of Shiva’s son.
The grudge that the brothers held against Shiva was to poison their hearts and cause their ruin.
The grudge they held represents the unresolved Karma with which they are synonymous.
THE CITIES OF METALS
The Three brothers and their endless magical concentrations and yogic austerities bore results after continued devotion.
So much so that they won the favour of the creator. They were offered wishes for anything they so desired.
Now, the 3 yogic brothers were so highly jealous of Shiva, who lived in the uppermost heights upon the sacred mountain, that they wished for their own heights and so wished for flying cities in the sky that would float above the abode of Shiva,
The three brothers believed that if they elevated themselves higher than the unfathomable heights of Shiva then they would be greater than he.
The first brother asked for his flying city in the sky to be made of gold.
The second brother wished his flying city in the sky to be made of Silver.
The third brother wished for his flying city in the sky to be made of Lead.
The architect Mayasur was the one who built the cities in the sky for the 3 arrogant brothers. Mayasur was the great Architectural King responsible for building the destructive panels of life. It was he who built and gave his name to the legendary hall of illusionary mirrors known as Mayasabha.
The three brothers conspired to align the cities with the weight of the heaviest metal behind. It took a whole year before they could manage to form an exact alignment.
When they finally did, they conspired to ram full blast onto the sacred mountain upon which Shiva eternally meditates.
They planned to smash the mountain to dust, and along with it, the great Shiva.
And so on the day in question, which falls upon Deva Diwali of the last Full Moon of the darkest part of the year, there is an astral alignment of destructive spiritual forces.
In Tantric science the metal of the Moon is Silver, the metal of the Sun is Gold, and the metal of Shuni (Saturn) is Iron.
At the first place the three brothers put the silver flying city, in second place they put the golden flying city, and behind they placed the Iron city.
Silver is half the weight of pure gold, so they thought that if the silver should not do the job the gold would, and failing that the iron which is equal in weight to both silver and gold combined would certainly smash the sacred mountain.
Shuni is the planet that raises the deep unconscious imprints and most hidden karmas.
When Saturn is behind the Moon and the Sun, he reveals the hidden shadow sides of these two planets. These are the receptive Lunar and the active Solar shadows we are talking of. The unresolved sides are brought to the surface upon the spiritual plane. This occurs on the night of Deva Diwali and is revealed in sacred ritual.
FASTER THAN TIME
At the moment of exact alignment after a year of trying to synchronise they blasted the mountain at lightning speed.
In terminal velocity they broke through space and time, sound and vision barriers were transgressed.
But the Tripasura had underestimated Shiva, the master of Yog!
In speed beyond light and thought, Shiva saw what was going on and summoned Vishwakarman, the architect of the universe and of the creative panels of life.
Shiva asked Vishwakarman for an arrow to be built that could destroy the 3 cities. It was done as the very thought was manifesting.
The arrow appeared as instantaneously as the speed of thought and Shiv took aim with his bow, known as Pinakka. The arrow rained fiery flames and torrents of water upon the three cities and pierced the arrogant hearts of the three yogis gone astray.
The cities rose in flames and Shiv danced the Tripura Nasha Tandava upon them, (that is the ‘vision of the three worlds’ dance). These are three distinct yogic dances that relate to Silver (light) Gold (middle) and Iron (heavy). They are danced upon this ritual night.
The blazing 3 worlds seemed to turn to dust and they departed beyond the terrestrial hemisphere and disappeared.
From the ashes of the burned bodies of the brothers, shiva drew three lines upon his forehead, one silver, one gold and one black.
[There are other variants of the story where Shiva only gazed upon the cities and they dissolved. Nasha means gaze. Some of the versions of the story tell of other quite charming details. For example, the great snake Vasuki (that Shiva wears as a necklace), was the bowstring, and the war chariot on which he rode for the task was Bhumi, the earth Goddess, and had the Moon and the Sun as its wheels. The deity of the heart was the arrow.]Tripurantaka became shiva’s name after he destroyed the 3 cities and the Tripasura (the three demonic brothers).
Tripurara also became Shiva’s name, meaning ‘the lord of the three worlds’.
The forehead markings of Shiva bear significance to this story.
The mountainous home of Shiva is referred to as the stable seat of Shiva, Shivasan.
The story reveals how all of us walk in the balance of our mountain, which can be stirred up, or even ground down by the solar and lunar expressions of unconsciousness.
After marking his forehead victoriously, yet without vanity or display, Shiva returned to his Samadhi but was ever very attentive.
At the exact time each year, by planetary alignment upon the astral plane, the three cities in the sky boomerang back – like an echo etched in the fabric of time and space, they returned and attempted to bombard his sacred mountain meditation once again. The yogic power of the three brothers combined had etched itself into the ethers for infinity.
Shiva takes a whole year to breath one single breath, and between each breath he is vigilant to cast the arrow and blast the cities back into outer orbit.
The pause between each inhale and exhale is a place of vigilance and concentration where Shiva remains aware of the shadow of the three metal cities of gold, silver and iron.
That is, the heavy underworld Karmas of the feminine and masculine that Shuni (Saturn) dredges up from the unconscious feminine and the masculine poles.
The lunar and solar poles of Silver and Gold are raised once a year on this junction.
An opportunity is afforded to see into the hidden stories encoded in the inner and outer constellations we are living, unconsciously between the feminine and the masculine.
Upon this yearly junction the three planets are positioned in such a way that they are pushed by Shuni (Saturn) from the rear, and raise the karma’s latent in the masculine solar (gold) and feminine lunar (silver).
Saturn is the planet that rules the heaviest terrestrial metal that dwells in both the physical and astral body.
Shuni is the king of the planets for his ability to cast shadowy unconscious darkness upon all and sundry.
The Deva Diwali is the rejoicing in the spiritual world of the awareness of Shiva to cast the arrow of aware vision upon the blind Karmas of both the Matriarch and the Patriarch. These Karmas are revealed by the force of planetary currents upon the astral plane once a year on Deva Diwali.
Deva Diwali
A Gupt Puja
The planets are physical and affect us physically, but the planets also have realities in the astral world. This night of Deva Diwali is to be remembered to be based upon movements of the inner astral universe. It is after all the Diwali of the spirit world.
Tantra recognises several unorthodox gupt (hidden) festival days, these are in some ways mirrors of earthly planetary events, the Gupt festivals are times of very subtle inner work. More subtle techniques are applied on the Gupt festival days.
For example, the two navaratri (nine nights of Goddess) are times of physical planetary alignment as ritual in Tantra, they also have their inner equivalent of the Gupt Navaratri where more detailed and subtle techniques are practiced as planets on the astral plane work from the inside out as opposed to the outside in.
Deva Diwali is a secret and inner Diwali that can not be taken for granted. If we do nothing to attempt to look at the Karmas that are pushing us into actions both passive and active, then there is no lamp lighting, there is no rejoicing and the Inner Deva Diwali is nothing we would know as experience.
Spiritual lamps take much care, huffs and gusts of impulses and cheap escapist moves can extinguish magic flames in an instant.
The Arrow
between breaths
In the Tantric pantheon of sacred healing practices, every Moon phase has its corresponding practices and mudras.
Shiva’s breath is his bow (Dhanusha) named Pinakka.
This bow represents the slowly drawn breath, the pause between the breath is the shot of the arrow.
The latent Karmas that live unseen are found between the breaths. When the pause between the breaths is discovered, then the secrets of Pranayam opens up both body and soul.
The backbend in Yog is the essential of melting, it is independent of strength or force but requires a solid foundation from which to fall with gravity. The secret of opening the back bend is in the discovery of the pause between the breaths.
Deep Karmas are melted both physically and psychically in the back bend. Back bend is Bolo, the soft one. Bolo is a name of Shiva.
When we are over-active and living by the solar principle over the Moon, the relationships to the feminine fall into death and destruction. The pause between the breaths can appear as an empty and lonely place which must be ventured in, if we are to know the magical secrets of the mountainous home of Shiva. Pharbhati, who is the manifestation of Shakti as Shiva’s Lover, literally means ‘the light of the Mountain’. She is the Rose of Shiva, but he called her the Rose of Shakti (listen to our recorded tale about this Tantric Myth on our YouTube Channel).
This night’s ritual practice is very much about discovering that which we move away from in the pauses between the breaths, that which we move towards hangs together in absolute relation to what we move away from.
That which we do not want to see, conditions that which we see.
The Yogi investigates Woman and Man, the Moon and the Sun, the Night and the Day, the Egg and the Seed.
Shiva’s bow shoots the sacred arrow of water and fire, this is silver and gold, this is the Moon and the Sun, this is the female dark (Rajas) blood, and the male white (Bindu) seed.
