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पुराण विषय अनुक्रमणिका PURAANIC SUBJECT INDEX ( Ra, La)
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Lopaamudraa is the name of the wife of famous sage Agastya. She happens to be the seer of rigvedic mantas 1.179.1-2. The rest of 4 mantras in this hymn are of Agastya and his disciple . As is always the case with vedic mantras, it is very difficult to unravel the mystery behind them. One often tries to interpret them on the basis of statements of braahmanic and puraanic literature . In the present context, Dr. Fatah Singh has tried to take an overall view of this hymn on the basis of some story, perhaps from Tamil literature. “Sage
Agastya has been called from north to south India for some urgent work. He
leaves her wife Lopaamudraa
behind, with the promise that he will return back soon. When he is unable to
return, he sends his disciple Vriddhakapi(Vrishaakapi?) to fetch her wife
Lopaamudra from the north. At the same time, he instructs him not to touch her.
When Vriddhakapi is returning with Lopaamudra, he happens to cross a river.
During this period he comes in contact with Lopaamudraa and subsequently Agastya
curses his disciple. Dr. Fatah Singh interprets this story in the way that the
long journey is symbolic of attainment through the path of
efficiency(Dakshinaayana path) which is a gradual path( the opposite of it is
called Uttaraayana path) . The disciple is symbolic of mind which gradually
becomes old monkey(Vriddhakapi, mind is called a monkey because it is never
calm) in this journey. Then it becomes able to achieve Lopaamudraa. Lopaamudraa
is symbolic of higher consciousness. The distance between mind and higher
consciousness disappears when there is a flood of inner bliss which has been
shown in the form of a river.
There may be other significant facts about Lopaamudraa. She is a princess
of Vidarbha nation. She is the higher consciousness attained by a person like
Agastya who is Sthitaprajna( not losing his balance of higher consciousness
anytime). The word Lopaamudraa conveys
the meaning that there is some mystery which has disappeared(lopa means
disappear, mudra, means hidden). When one goes to trance or by performing
fruitless actions, this hidden power starts to appear gradually. This power is
upward going which is shown by an upward triangle ∆
(This symbol is very much used
in tantra texts). This development leads to 4 transformations in human
personality which have been named Bandhu/brother, Subandhu/good brother,
Shrutabandhu/brother hearing higher voice and Viprabandhu/brother who is a
brahmin. These four are the seers of rigvedic hymns 10.57 to 10.60. Their common
name is Gopaayanaas but they are also called Lopaayanaas, the sons of
Lopaamudraa. The story behind these hymns as stated in braahmanic texts briefly
goes like this : The four brothers start performing a sacrifice for king
Asamaati. Two demons Kilaata and Aakuli despise these four and they approach the
king in the form of priests and offer to perform his sacrifice. King accepts
them and during the performance, they keep the mind/praana of Subandhu in the
inner circumference of the sacrificial ground. Subandhu becomes dead and his
other three brothers try to bring back his mind from the inner circumference.
Their efforts are expressed in the form of these hymns of Rigveda. In this
context, Bandhu may be symbolic of the lowermost web of human consciousness
which is called the Annamaya kosha, the sheath formed by food. This may also be
called the next higher praanamaya kosha, the sheath belonging to praana, life
force. Subandhu may be symbolic of manomaya
kosha, the sheath belonging to mind. Shrutabandhu may be symbolic of
Vijnaanmaya kosha, the sheath which is connected with higher
consciousness, but still not completely. Viprabandhu may the mind which is
absorbed in bliss, the highest sheath. King Asamaati may be symbolic of
selfishness, Ahamkaara. His two demon priests may be Raaga/attachment and Dwesha/detachment(because
selfishness gives rise to Raaga and Dwesha). Lopaamudraa
is the power of lord Naaraayana, her consort. Naaraayana is also called Gopaa,
hence the four brothers are also called Gopaayana brothers. The power which
absorbs various powers of a person is called Lopaa. Hence these four brothers
are also called Lopaayanaas. The hymns of Rigveda may signify that if the three
brothers – Bandhu, Shrutabandhu and Viprabandhu strive to keep the human
personality intact with the help of Indra and Agni/fire, then not only they are
able to save the mind only, but also the selfishness is transformed. With the
inducement from the power of Naaraayana, the Lopa, the king also bestows the
four brothers with horses which may be symbolic of Vairaagya and
Bhakti(Detachment and divine attachment).”
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Fatah Singh
लोपामुद्रा टिप्पणी : विदर्भ देश की राजकुमारी लोपामुद्रा अगस्त्य ऋषि की पत्नी है । अगस्त्य नामक स्थितप्रज्ञ व्यक्तित्व की अतिमानसिक बुद्धि ही उसकी पत्नी है । लोपामुद्रा नाम के पीछे एक कारण तो यह है कि समाधि अथवा निष्काम कर्मयोग द्वारा लोपामुद्रा में छिपी मुद्रा ( उन्मनी शक्ति जिसे ऊर्ध्वशीर्ष त्रिभुज की मुद्रा द्वारा प्रकट करते हैं ) प्रकट होने लगती है । इसके फलस्वरूप मनुष्य व्यक्तित्व में क्रमशः चार रूपान्तर होते हैं जिन्हें बन्धु, सुबन्धु, विप्रबन्धु व श्रुतबन्धु नाम दिया गया है । यह लोपामुद्रा के पुत्र हैं । बन्धु - प्राणमय कोश, सुबन्धु - मनोमय कोश, श्रुतबन्धु - आध्यात्मिक ज्ञान से सम्पन्न और विप्रबन्धु - विप्र नामक आनन्द वृत्ति में लीन मन । ये चारों नारायण की सन्तान हैं । नारायण का एक नाम गोपा/रक्षक है , अतः इन्हें गोपायन कहा जाता है । नर/व्यक्ति की विविध शक्तियां जिस नारायणी शक्ति में लीन होती हैं, उसका नाम लोपा है । वही नारायण की पत्नी लोपा है । अतः इन चारों को लोपायन भी कहा जाता है । राजा असमाति के सत्र में उसके पुरोहित किलाताकुली सुबन्धु के प्राण का अपहरण करके आहुति की अन्त:परिधि में रख देते हैं । ऋग्वेद १०.५७ में शेष तीन भाई सुबन्धु के प्राणों को वापस लाने का प्रयास करते हैं और अपने प्रयास में सफल होते हैं । यदि अन्नमय से सम्बद्ध बन्धु, विज्ञानमय कोश से सम्बद्ध श्रुतबन्धु और आनन्दमय कोश की विपन्यया बुद्धि से सम्बद्ध विप्रबन्धु एक होकर मानव व्यक्तिव को अग्नि और इन्द्र के सहयोग से अक्षुण्ण रख लेते हैं तो न केवल सुबन्धु /मन ही असमाति राजा रूपी अहंकार और उसके राग - द्वेष से सुरक्षित बच जाता है, अपितु अहंकार का भी कायापलट हो जाता है । वह नारायणी शक्ति रूपी लोपा की प्रेरणा से चारों बन्धुओं को वैराग्य - भक्ति रूपी रोहित अश्वों से भी युक्त कर लेता है ( वेद सविता, नवम्बनर १९८२) दक्षिण की यात्रा करते समय विन्ध्याचल पार करने के पश्चात् अगस्त्य अपने शिष्य तोलकप्पियर ( वृद्धकपि ) को लोपामुद्रा को लाने के लिए भेजते हैं । साथ में निर्देश भी देते हैं कि वह लोपामुद्रा से दूरी रखे, उसके साथ मिले नहीं । लेकिन लाते समय रास्ते में एक नदी पडती है जिसे पार करते समय दोनों मिल जाते हैं । इस पर अगस्त्य वृद्धकपि को शाप देते हैं । इस कथा का रहस्य यह है कि दक्षिणायन मार्ग ( दक्षता प्राप्त करने का मार्ग ) की लम्बी यात्रा में अगस्त्य रूपी मनुष्य का मन( शिष्य) शनैः - शनैः वृद्धकपि बन जाता है । तब वह लोपामुद्रा को पाने योग्य होता है । लोपामुद्रा को लाते समय यात्रा के आरम्भ में वृद्धकपि और अतिमानसिक बुद्धि रूपी लोपामुद्रा के बीच जो दूरी थी, वह समाप्त तब होती है जब वृद्धकपि /मन आन्तरिक आनन्द की बाढ के बीच उस अतिमानसिक बुद्धि( लोपामुद्रा ) के निकट सम्पर्क में आ ही जाता है ( ऋग्वेद १.१७९) ( केन्द्र भारती, अक्तूबर १९८०) - फतहसिंह
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