Prof Chaman Lal Raina
Title : Krishna Swambran
Published by: Swami Krishan Joo Razdan Sanatana
Dharma Sanasthan Bhavan Bantalab, Jammu.
The word Swambran is a Kashmiri word,which stands for a collection of the great poetic work of Mahatma Pandit Krishan Joo Razdan Ji. Krishan Joo Razdan is a house-hold name in the Kashmiri ethos related to the Bhakti tradition. This work is Shaivistic in content,as it is the key note form of the Shiva Parinaya. Mahatma Krishan Joo was a celebrated saint of the higher philosophic thought,embedded with Bhakti,Yoga and Mimansa. He is revered as the Sant Mahatma.
The Sanskrit word is ‘Sant’ for a pious soul, a celebrated saint. According to the Sankrit lexicon ‘Sant’ means a disciplined person, whose mind is always established in the realm of Divinity. A ‘Sant’ belongs to all the times.These are the ‘Tri–Sandhyas’ associated with three Vyahritis or cosmic oblations, which are revered as the Bhuh, Vhuvah and Svaha, in the Vedic hymnology. A ‘Sant’ lives the life of ‘Sezar in his principles, Pazar’–in his day to day life within the glorious concept of ‘Ritam’ and ‘Satyam’, which is Shvzar in Kashmiri. It is purity to seek Moksha for himself and for giving the Deeksha through Shabda, the Divine word deriving its source from OM. The saints are of two types, in the Kashmiri context. The one is known as ‘Mastana’ and the other is revered as the ‘Farzana’. Krishna Joo was in no way a Mastana, as he was conscious of the four Ashramas with the Farzana state of mind, being absorbed in the silence of stillness. The four Ashramas are Dharma,Artha Kaama and Moksha. He lived for the Self evolvement and for teaching the Bhakti Maarga to reach the Absolute. It is a mystic moment of life, bearing a confidence with the Ishta Devi and or Ishta Devata. It shows sympathy of self with other creation.
When I study the “Krishna Swambran” (title of the complete works of Krishna Joo Razdan), I do feel that he sees a blissful view of the Supreme Divinity in the wedlock of Shiva and Parvati, celebrated with fondness and reverence by all the Hindus in general and more so by Kashmiri Pandits in particular. That iswhy,the Kahmiri Hindus celebrate the Shiva Ratri with great devotion,including the whole fort-night celebration,according to the Agmas of Kashmir. He was a Yogi par-excellence, a Grihasthi (householder) devotee. He was always in communion with the Shiva and Shakti aspect of the Absolute,as seen in the Spanda and Pratyabjna school of thought of Kashmir Shaivism.
I think he was in the “Brahmi–Avastha”, while communicating to the Divinity, through his ‘Shabda–Vaibhavam’. The word is Supreme. The name is Shiva,with its Energy as Shivani,Parvati ,Uma or Shakti,
As Brahma wanted to arouse the Yoga Nidra, at the time before the Devatas awoke, thus giving the beautiful Ratru Suktam, both Vedic and Puranik. Similarly, Mahatma Krishna Joo Razdan wanted to seek the very existence of Shiva, for self-analysis and human perfection. Thus,we have the Shiva Parinaya in Kashmiri language—a wondeful spiritual gift. He considers Lord Shiva as his Guru-Paramatman. Shiva for him is theJagat Guru,who at the same time is the Absolute Divinity. This establishes his devotion towards the famous hymn–
” Guru Brahma– Guru Vishnu– Guru Sakshat Maheshwara “. But Pandit Krishan Joo lays emphasis on Guru as the Mantra Maheshwara or Parmehvara. His Atma wanted a merger with the Shiva-consciousness. He sees the word of immanence filled with the purity of transcendence, during the Prakash Utsava of the Shiva Lagna. He wanted to see the world as the Pradhanik Rahasya, the secret of Primal creation as an ideal immutable world through his devotional poems. That is his Sadhana aspect, which we see through the syntax and phrases, sentences and literature, as Shabda Nirupapanam or the word analysis on the basis of the Kavya Prakasha of Mammat and the Kashmir Agamas.
“Krishna Swambran” is the magnum opus of Mahatma Krishan Joo Razdan Ji. His life span is the Gift of Time, on the sacred soil of Kashmir, which is but the very presence of Uma as Kashmira, according to the Nilamata Purana. Mahatma Ji was born on the Dwadashi Tithi, 1907 Bikrami corresponding to 19th August, 1850 AD. He lived the life of a Brahmavarchas upto 27th Marga Sheersha,1983 Bikrami corresponding to 13th December, 1926. Thus his life span witnessed the seventy six Krishna Janmashtamis and the ‘Shiva Parinayas’. including the Shravan Purnimas,associated with Lord Amreshwara Amarnath Swami etc. in his life. He is not with us,but his work is ‘Kaalajayi’ transcending time but within time.through his immortal pen. He became Immortal through his Sadhana—austerities and Lekhani–the grace of Mata Sharada Saraswati. He is seen with his poetic pen and in the “Chaitya Purusha” or the state of mind with intuitive faculty of a great and grand devotee of the Divine Being. While going through the lyrics of this Swambaran, I get excited to read such wonderful cosmic scenes, which leads me to the realm of understanding Advaita within Dvaita. Here is seen the Shudha Vidya Tattva of the Trika philosophy. It is a measured rhythm in the long world of Time. The whole poetic formation is a spiritual treatise, to help the readers of the text of the Shiva Lagana or Parinaya and listeners of the devotional music, while the aspirant’s soul embraces the Self in Divinity. This is in my humble understanding the cosmic whirl of the universal reality, while it can be taken as the Varttika in the Trika literature.
In this Swambran the reconstruction of the spiritual thought lies within Agama and Nigama under the wavelength of the Puranik eulogy and Chidananda. Again, it reminds us of the Upanishadic influence and the Yogic modulation to arrive at the ‘Nirakara; through ‘Sakara’. In the Shiva Lagna or the Paani Grahna, Lord Shiva has been revered as the Bridegroom with all the faculties of Saguna Maya–Purusha, where Lord Brahma officiated as the Cosmic Purohit, to see Mata Parvati offering Her hand to Parmeshvara. In return, Shiva is accepting Her as the Primal source of Shakti.
The seasonal change draws us to feel the cosmic consciousness,when Shiva and Shakti undergoes through the Pani Grahan–which in essence is the integration of the Sapta-Matrikas, as revealed in the Agamic literature of Kashmir. The Poshi Pooza offered by Mena, the mother of Parvati, is the human witness or the Saakshi Bhaava, to see the Divine Couple being seen as Shiva and Shakti. It is an intense brevity with the sweet summary of the delight to descend on the earth planet.
The Prithvi Mata or the Mother Divinity as the Bhuh-Devi makes her obeisance to the Cosmic couple. She longs for ‘Svana-Sheen’, which means the snow in abundance for the growth of the botanical life, including the water reservoirs. It is a metaphor in the poetic form. It is also known as the progress in happening, according to the ‘Vakya Padiya of Bhartari. Here, the vastness of the Bhumi is seen with the aspiration to make the barren land converted into fertile land, through abundant water, which would ultimately make the harvest look in like ‘Heaps of Gold’. The thoughts presented by Mahatma Krishan Joo Razdan ji is to see water for bringing progress on the planet, and fodder for the cattle, through forests for ecological conservation and environmental sustenance.
In this celestial marriage all the planets bow their head before Shiva and Shakti for maintaining the cosmic order in balance and rhythm. Peace and prosperity are essential in the human relationship. Thus Shiva and Shakti symbolizes peace and prosperity, within the human progression for the Life Divine. The message is of the Agamic influence on the life on the earth-planet , seeing the cosmic scene. The universal glow appears, presenting a glorious set of units woven with new imagery, within the Shiva Parinaya. To conclude, Krishna Swambran is the Kashmiri version of the Cosmic couple. It reaches the celestial rays. It is a vision of radiant flights of Joy.
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