ASTRA BANU SUDRA OR SUTHRAM = MIND + TIME + SPACE
Salutations to the great divine mother Devi Sri Maha Tripurasundari who has been guiding us through every step of our spiritual journey and salutations to our Guru Satchat Sadguru Sri Suria Narayanan. It is stated in the ‘Saundarya Lahari’ written by Adhi Sankara, that in order for one to recite mother’s name as ‘Devi Sri Maha Tripurasundari’ even once in a lifetime, they would have to be an evolved soul that has strived to seek her blessings and cleansed themselves in their past lives. Here in our Ashram, words are no close description to the grace and leela of our mother who not only initiated us into the Sri Vidya tradition but has also granted us with the fullest support of her own two supporting energies/shaktis namely ‘Devi Sri Maha Vithya Maragathambaal’ and ‘Devi Sri Maha Vidya Karpagambaal’ who both visit our Ashram during Sandya Kaalam every Wednesday without fail.(Refer to the ‘Inauguration of Sri Surya Narayanan’ for further details)
As though all this attributions were not sufficient enough for our structure, the ever-gracious mother has now given us a new gift. An impeachably priceless astral gift called the ‘Astra Banu Sudra’; an astral bow that was presented to Sadguru Sri Suria Narayanan by Lord Shiva on 10th July 2009.
It is said that the best bow to have ever been present is ‘Pasupatha’ bow which was used by Lord Shiva himself. In order to indulge into the topic of the Astra Banu Sudra, we will first have to briefly reflect on the puranic stories regarding the ‘Pasupatha’ bow.
The puranam related to ‘Pasupatha’ goes back to the times of Goddess Kanyakumari, whose shrine is at the seashore of Kanyakumari, India. It was said that during her time, there was an asura who through his deep penance and tapas grew so powerful that he merged to conquer the three cities of highest order namely Kailasa, Vaikunda and Meru, collectively known as the ‘Tripura’. As such he was named ‘Tripura Asuran’, Within these three cities is the abode Lord Sambasadha Shiva and his consort ‘Devi Sri Maha Tripura Sundari’ whose name simply means ‘the beauty that lies within the three’.
This incident which took place even before Lord Rama’s time showed that the asuric influence was so great in the dharmic world that it could even superceed the three cities dominating the ‘Itcha Shakti, Nyana Shakti and Kriya Shakti’. Seeing this, Lord Shiva or Athi Naath was said to have used a bow. With his one point concentration he sent a single arrow and chased the asura from the three cities at once. This bow was called the ‘Pasupatha’. It is only after Lord Thirunilakandar managed to chase all the demons from the Tripura with the use of the ‘Pasupatha’ that he was named ‘Pasupathi’. ‘Pasu’ meaning ‘Jivatma’ and ‘Pathi’ means ‘Paramatma’. As such, ‘Pasupathi’ means the Lord of all souls. Exhibiting these qualities, Goddess Kanyakumari who was in fact Devi Sri Maha Tripura Sundari or ‘Athi Parashakthi’, realised she could find no better man with such capabilities and decided to take his hand in marriage.
The story goes on pause here. Looking back to most of our legends, all spiritual men were always given a high emphasis on the art of ‘Archery’. From a western point of view, we can take the great archer ‘Odysseus’ for an example. He was said to have shot an arrow through 33 pin holes to reach a bull’s eyes. One must understand that the skill in archery referred to here is not necessarily just the physical action of sending an arrow flying. The archery talents of Odysseus was in fact an exhibition of his unwavering concentration in sending the kundalini shakti or ‘serpent energy’ according to Westerners, through the spine to reach the destiny which is the Sahashara(The 7th chakra located at the tip of the human head often pictured as a thousand petal lotus). The 33pin holes here are in fact the 33 vertebrae in the human spine. It is equivalent to the absolute exhibition of the ‘Sushmana Naadi’ which is invisible and only awakened when the ‘ida’ and ‘pinggala’ naadis are in perfect balance. In other words, your mind and timing have to be in perfect union for the precise accuracy of awakening the sushmana naadi or sending the arrow at the bull’s eye. Upon this, he was said to have won over the heart of the maiden name ‘Penelope’ whom he then married. In the Eastern legend however, we have the epic of Ramayana and Mahabharata which is similar as well. Rama won the hand of Seetha Devi by apparently ‘breaking’ the bow. The tradition of offering a maiden after the occasion of archery is common because in early days, a man capable of exhibiting his skills in archery was considered transcendent and divine as it showed his capability of awakening his Sushmana Naadi and connecting to the Brahmam.
On 10th July 1991, Guruji was given the name ‘Sri Surya Narayanan’ by none other than Lord Shiva himself who later said “In time to come, your wife will be known as Patipateh” and vanished. Exactly 18 years later on 10th July 2009, the same Lord Shiva manifested in the form of Aathi Nath and presented Guruji with the Astra Banu Sudra. Shortly after that, the great Lord declared Mataji(Guru’s wife) as ‘Patipateh’ and the prophecy was fulfilled. ‘Patipateh’ by definition is ‘she who lives her life only as a service to her Natha/Pati’. And so through the service to her Pati, Sri Surya Narayanan, our beloved Mataji became ‘Patipateh’ that gracious day. Besides her own merits, the reason for Mataji’s declaration as Patipateh is also due to the fact that her husband or ‘Pati’ had attained the status of ‘Pasupathi’. We must take into consideration that the Astra Banu Sudra is a celestial bow that is very highly regarded even by celestial beings themselves. The presentation of the Astra Banu Sudra shows that the identity it is given to has the capacity to use it to its fullest possibilities. It is at that moment when ‘Pasupathi’ manifests. In fact, in his holy truthful words, Lord Shiva said that the ‘Astra Banu Sudra’ was a celestial bow and is indeed more powerful in comparison to the Pasupatha itself !
Now we will dive back into the legend of Kanyakumari that was left on pause earlier. When the Pasupatha was applied to recover the three ‘puras’ or cities from the demons, Lord Shiva with a single arrow accomplished the task and was supposed to take Devi Sri Maha Tripura Sundari’s hand or ‘Kanyakumari’ as she was known as, in holy matrimony. Nevertheless, in accordance to the ancient India methology, the Tripura Asura could only be avenged by a ‘kanni’ or a virgin maiden. Thus after the use of the Pasupatha, the demon was chased away but he was not anihilated and posed much danger to the dharmic world. If Goddess Kanyakumari were to marry Lord Pasupathi, the Deman cannot be annihilated. As such, the devas were said to have done all they could to delay the wedding until after the ‘Muhurtham’ so that it will be put off and the prophecy can be fulfilled. One of the methods to hinder the wedding was for sage Naradha to coax Goddess Kanyakumari into posing three questions that they presumed to be extremely difficult to answer hoping that Lord Shiva would not be able to answer it. The riddle was regarding the qualities of the man whom Devi said she would marry. The man who could fully understand and come up with the precise answer for the riddle will be non-other than her absolute other-half. And so Devi said :-
“Moondru Kann Illatha Thengai;
Kanu Illatha Karumbu,
Narambu Illatha Vetrilai
Ithan arthangalai thayavuseithu kuurungal en nathane….
Translated in english Devi said :-
“A coconut without three eyes,
A sugarcane without segments,
A betel leaf with no veins”
Kindly give the definition for those three my Lord ….
Lord Shiva had to answer these questions to convince the mother that he was worthy of her as the questions posed could only be answered by Shree Nee Nath/her absolute other-half as said earlier. The all-pervading Lord did in fact answer Devi’s riddle. All purana books states that he answered her riddle and proved himself worthy. Nevertheless, to date nobody has written the answer to the riddle. In accordance to the Ashram’s understanding, the answer to the puzzle became activated when we received and understood the Astra Banu Sudra fully. We are joyous to present to everyone this great knowledge that was given to us. It is our humbly true understanding that the answer to the first riddle is as follows.
Question 1: A coconut without 3 eyes.
Answer:
A great archer is one who looks at the bull’s eye (target) not with his two eyes but with his third eye. With this, the two eyes become one. Eventually, with this absolute one point concentration on the object, his seventy two thousand(72,000) naadis merge and even the third eye disappears to reveal only the overpowering object that he has made his target. His eye becomes the object. With that he is said to have attained a perfect concentration! As such, he is said to be a coconut without three eyes.
Question 2 :- Sugarcane without segments
Answer:
The archer using his full concentration pushes his dormant vital serpent energy(Kundalini shakthi) from his mooladhara chakra to his ajana chakra. When the concentration given is absolute and untainted, with no breakage whatsoever, the sushmana naadi is now in full bloom, piercing through each
vertebrae in the spine it reaches and settles in the ajana chakra. The spine becomes like a sugarcane without segments because the sushmana nadi from the mooladhara has now reached the ajana chakra without breakage alike a serpent without backbone; thus providing the archer wisdom and fullest confidence. Even before he shoots the arrow, he is sure of getting his target. This full forced concentration and confidence over his abilities show a sweetness to thought much sweeter than the sugar cane itself.
Question 3 :- Betel leaf with no veins
Answer:
This personality (the archer) has the utmost love and accepts himself to be an identity of the creator. His 72,000 naadis are fully bloomed with the emerald green love. With the utmost exhibition of this love, every naadi is lighted with love. There is no one part of the body that could be pointed out as an exhibition of love as the entire body itself is a full expression of this unlimited love. All veins disappear at his point. The entire body becomes alike a full green leaf with no veins. This is what is referred to as a betel leaf with no veins.
“How is any of this related?” you may ask. Well, the usage of the Astra Banu Sudra is precisely the exhibition or the compilation of the answers to the three questions posed by Goddess Kanyakumari to Lord Shiva.
The identity that uses the Astra Banu Sudra uses it by realizing the 72,000 naadis/nerves in his body. Using the 72,000 naadis as arrows, he will be able to use them at any time as desired. He can change them into what the Hindu Puranas call ‘Naga Astra’(serpent energy from the kundalini shakthi) to reinstill the dharma(justice) and sathya(truth) in the world. Filled with the unlimited emerald love, he takes up the bow and applies it to correct some situations or even people for that matter. Never for himself but only for the betterment of the world. This way he becomes the betel leaf with no veins. The Astra Banu Sudra has the foundation of the 33 vertebrae(spine). The 33 vertebrae are accompanied by the expansion of the 72,000 naadis throughout the body. As such the 33 vertebrae have to be activated to use the Astra Banu Sudra.
The only way to activate the 33 vertebrae is to awaken the sushmana nadi and push the kundalini shakti up to the ajna chakra. As he pushes the kundalini shakthi up his spine, his entire spine becomes a clear passage for this energy with no breakages that it resembles a sugar cane with no segments. He pushes the kundalini shakti up with the fullest one point concentration on his target using his ‘third eye’. Hence, as mentioned earlier the target itself becomes his eye. At this state, he is said to be the coconut without 3eyes. The sushmana naadi is awakened with the perfect balance of the ida naadi and the pinggala naadi. This is only possible if the archer has the rightful desire and the rightful knowledge. With the resolute concentration and confidence he releases his arrow and achieves his target effortlessly.
Marvelous are the ways our divine universal mother works. Mere words are an unfit description of how delicately she has sculpted us in our journey. Each pebble in our bridge adequately arranged with precision to time to provide only the best. Another one of the all-knowing Devi Sri Maha Tripurasundari’s unprecedented plan was seen on this day, the day that the Astra Banu Sudra was used for the first time ever.
Pertaining to this, a telepathic universal knowledge or awareness was given to us shortly before the Astra Banu Sudra was used. According to mother, there are 3 points situated on the Earthly plane that are similar to the 3 naadis in the body namely the ida naadi(naadi of love governed by the moon), the pingaala naadi(naadi of knowledge governed by the sun) and the sushmana naadi(the invisible naadi that arises from the combination of the ida and pinggala naadi). These 3 centerpoints are said to be linked to the universe activating the Earth at all times. It is similar to the Kundalini yoga whereby the 3 naadis mentioned earlier is said to connect our body to the universe.
The 3 points she gave us was Atlantis, Lemuria and the Lost Mount Meru. In accordance to her, the ‘Atlantis’ point is situated within the Bermuda Triangle in the Atlantic Ocean. The ‘Lemuria’ point is situated in the Pacific Ocean and the ‘Lost Mount Meru’ point is situated in the Indian Ocean. The ida, pinggala and sushmana naadi of the Earth is represented by Atlantis, Lemuria and Mount Meru respectively. These 3 centerpoints are said to be in the form of pyramids.
Subsequent to the identification of these 3 pyramids, an uprise of immense energy was felt by us from these 3 points. As it went on, striking beams of light was seen to rise from these points reaching 3 points in the celestial constellation of stars in space. The Hindus commonly refer to this constellation as ‘Saptha Rishi Mandalam’. Each one of the pyramid points on Earth was now connected to 3 dominant stars in the constellation. While rising, the beam of light from each point was seen to be pure matrix. Upon reaching and mingling with the stars, radiance of colors was seen to come down to the oceans instead. The beam approaching Atlantis was blue. The beam headed for Lemuria was green and the beam of light reaching for Mount Meru was seen as a blue matrix alike the radiance of a blue diamond.
Upon contact of these beams and the water of the oceans, a great fusion almost like strong electrical impulses was created. All 3 of these colored beams were seemingly amplified by its fusion with water and the electrical impulses or energy fields generated were seen rushing towards Kanyakumari, India. Unknown to us was the unique positioning of Kanyakumari whereby this center of merging for the Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean also created a triangular connection which eventually positioned Kanyakumari in the middle or ‘bindu of the triangle.
The 3 dominant stars in the ‘Saptha Rishi Mandalam’ or constellation of stars referred to earlier, is said to be linked to the 3 dominant ‘Saptha Kannis’ namely Devi Gaumari, Devi Gauri and Devi Vaishnavi.
Many ancient religions around the globe believe there were 3 human civilizations in the past to have graced the Earthly plane; proclaimed to be very much more advanced in comparison to us. Nevertheless, they were all said to have declined along time and swallowed by the ocean. To our findings, Lemuria, Atlantis and Kanyakumari/Mount Meru were in fact those 3 civilizations. Lemurians were said to be people with abundance of love. Huge built as they were, they saw everything through their third eye. They were of loving nature but lacked in knowledge. On the other hand, Alantians were people who possessed transcendental knowledge and were extremely intellectual. Their unsurpassed knowledge was said to have given way to their ego during the time of declination. As such, they were people with knowledge but lacked on love. However, those from Kanyakumari were known for both love and intelligence. They were more of perfect beings with a strong emphasis on their chastity.
As we explained in the previous text, the Devas(celestial beings) made all efforts possible in delaying the marriage of Goddess Kanyakumari and Lord Pasupathi. Eventually they succeeded; the marriage was put off and Devi annihilated the Tripura Asura for the betterment of her children on Earth. Nevertheless, she took a vow that she will wait as a virgin maiden(kanni) for the day her Lord comes to receive her regardless of the time it takes. The positioning of the physical statue of Devi Kanyakumari is seen to be looking out at the ocean. From the understanding mother gave us, she was indeed waiting for the time the 3 great civilizations will rise once again upon the arrival of her Lord. She looks out to the ocean arms open as she knows her Lord will rise through these 3 great oceans.
She further explained that she will only become a ‘Sumangali’ or a married woman, when she senses that her Lord, he who can use the celestial bow rightfully, has arrived and take her hand in holy matrimony. After this was seen, the 3 immense rays that were seen rushing towards Kanyakumari after the fusion, merged into Goddess Kanyakumari’s feet. The rays then rose up through her and pierced the space with sheer brilliance. On this faithful day which also happened to be the day of Gauri Vratha, at 7.21pm as the 3 immense rays touched her lotus feet, she reflected the identity of a Sumangali. Indeed the Gauri Vratha was started and observed by Devi Kanyakumari since her marriage was put off. The Gauri Vratha is a religious custom observed by Hindus whereby young virgin maidens get together and pray to the merciful mother to provide them with a competent man to hold their hand in marriage. It seems, Goddess Kanyakumari’s Vratha has now been accomplished by the arrival of her natha on this day, that is the same Friday on the month ‘Aadi’ of the Tamil calendar month, after many ages.
With this it concludes her prophecy and confirms the arrival of her Natha. Besides that, this vision also serves as a vindication to the believes of not only our ashram but many universal organizations around the world that in time to come, the 3 great civilizations namely Atlantis, Lemuria and Mount Meru will rise once again…
Bala thandayutha nath- surya narayanan
