 POORNA KUMBH: Living A Full Life
Throughout history, man has passionately yearned to conquer death and the slow but sure
degeneration of his strength and power. Similar to the mythologies of many other
countries, India's ancient literature also contains myths about sages and wise men who
spent years in harsh penance and solitary meditation to master the secrets of immortality.
Many Himalayan herbs were said to possess the magical quality of reviving a dead person.
Epics like the Ramayana or the Mahabharata contain stories about the use of Sanjeevani, a
herb of great life reviving qualities.
While physical immortality and everlasting youth remained only a mythical dream, Indian
elders contemplated a great deal about life and how to make it a complete experience. They
sought, through wisdom, experience and the concentration of all mental and spiritual
energy, to add a certain richness to life, a wholeness which would take human beings
closest to the dream of immortality. This concept of fullness, of total self-contentment,
has been symbolised in Indian thought and art by the graphic figure of the Poorna Kumbh
or the full pot.
According to mythology, the gods, wanting to find the nectar of everlasting life, churned
the cosmic ocean and obtained from its rising waves the kumbh or pot of nectar. The pot
contained within its rotund shape the fullness and the richness of life. Bitter wars
followed for its possession but none could gain the nectar completely.
The pot, however, became a symbol, and is even today used widely in religious rituals.
When entering a new home, an Indian family ceremonially carries the kumbh decorated
with mango leaves and a coconut. In weddings and death ceremonies, the full pot features
constantly as a reminder of the human desire to achieve completeness in life . A pot
filled with the water of the sacred river Ganga is often worshipped in household shrines.
Such a pot of water is associated with fluidity and life-giving energy. Often the pot is
decorated with a swastika, the symbol of the sun's energy.
Quite naturally, the kumbh has become the theme of several magnificent festivals
held in India around the time Jupiter transits through Aquarius once in every 12 years.
Millions of enthusiastic bathers gather in Hardwar and Allahabad near the sacred Ganga and
in Nasik and Ujjain on the banks of the Godavari and the Kshipra, for their ritual
drenching, making these festivals the greatest assemblies of bathers in the world.
 |
