Mahavatar Babaji Tells a Story - Nataraja

Mt. Kailash - Shiva Mountain in Himalayas

NATARAJA
In a long ago time the God Shiva sat in meditation on Mt. Kailash. One man, a devotee of Nataraja (Shiva, Lord of the Dance in his form as the cosmic dancer), climbed the high mountain for many days praying to Lord Shiva constantly for absolution of his karma. This man, Kalava was given this name symbolizing the sacred thread which is given to all people attending a yagna, a sacred Vedic fire ceremony, or prayer in the Hindu Tradition.

One night at midnight, as Kalava wearily climbed higher on Mt. Kailas, he saw a great fire which seemed, on the distant horizon, to reach from the Earth to the sky. With renewed strength and commitment, he fervently wished to get as close as possible to this great fire on this sacred mountain of God, Itself! After some time and great effort, he reached the magnificent fire.

Behold, Shiva sat at this sacred fire performing a Vedic Fire Ceremony, a Yagna. Kalava watched in devotion, over-flowing love and fascination as Lord Shiva offered to the fire God, Agni, all the sacred elements of the Hindu Tradition. Kalava fell to his knees in complete surrender and devotion with gratitude in his heart that the Great Lord had allowed Himself to be found.

When the Yagna was finished, Shiva looked directly at Kalava and directed a beam of light from his ajna energy center, or third eye, to the heart of Kalava, who felt lifted from the Earth about three feet. He felt as if his body had become the actual fire in which Shiva had offered his offerings. This must surely be the fire of purification for which I have prayed to Shiva to give me to burn all my karma and give me liberation thought Kalava, even as the fire consumed him.

As the fire within Kalava cooled and he felt transformed and purified, Lord Shiva suddenly began the ecstatic cosmic dance of Nataraja. Kalava felt blessed beyond his ability to absorb at the moment. He knew that Shiva’s Nataraja Divine dance performed with flames dancing all around him symbolized destroying something in order for a new creation to take place. This particular dance, Kalava felt, was representative of the purification Yagna Lord Shiva had just performed for him with his great blessing.

Henceforth, Kalava went into the world an enlightened teacher of the Vedic Tradition of that sacred land called, India. Therein, the great Ganga performs her own purification as She flows throughout the land.

[Remember Babaji’s stories may not be literal fact but used as a teaching story with a moral for you who resonate from the heart. –Swamini VishwaLakshmiAnandama]

Mahavatar continues: 

The moral of this story: All sadhakas, seekers of Divine Truth, go through the fire of purification. Your Teacher Premavatar Swami Vishwananda, when he accepts you as devotee or disciple, puts you through the fire of purification. It is his duty and it is his mission to this planet to open people’s heart to Divine Love. This purification process is not pleasant for the mind and body many times. Sometimes it seems like a sledge hammer has been taken to your life. Family, friends and activities you formerly loved may fall away one-by-one. Sometimes physical illness and many purifications come your way. Your life may seem turned upside down.

Like Shiva’s Yagna of purification, Premavatar Swami Vishwananda Vishnu will take you through a similar fire in your body, mind and in your life. The secret to your transformation within this is to surrender completely to The Divine. Your Guru is your doorway to reaching, or remembering your own Divinity. Surrender everything to him, even as Kalava surrendered everything to his Satguru, Shiva Nataraja, Itself!

Please take this to Heart:  It has to be like this, otherwise you would not change but simply stay focused in the physical world. Surrender to the Satguru . . . everything . . . and liberate your Self to remember enlightenment, which you are and always have been. Purification through surrender and detachment must take place for you to remember your enlightenment.

-Mahavatar Babaji 

NATARAJA  DANCE - LORD SHIVA