The Lord of Air

A story narrated by Paramahamsa Hariharananda

One day, Shiva was sitting in his abode on Mount Kailas with an expression of ineffable joy on his face. His consort Durga asked him, "Why do you look so blissful my Lord? What is the cause? Pray enlighten me."

But Lord Shiva answered that he would not tell her.

"Why not?" she demanded.

"Because you will not believe it," replied Lord Shiva.

"Yes, I will believe it," she said. "Please tell me. What happened to you? Why are you getting such joy, and laughing so carelessly?"

He said, "I am perceiving Rama in my breath, constantly ascending and descending through my nose, and this gives me extreme joy. Shiva and Rama are one. Air is Rama."

Mother Durga asked, "Who is this Rama? What is his power?"

"Rama is not yet born. He will be born soon," Lord Shiva said.

Durga then asked, "Where will he be born?"

"In the city of Ayodhya," he replied.

"How will he be born?" she asked.

"He will be the son of King Dasharatha," Lord Shiva said.

Mother Durga exclaimed, in desperation, "You are mad. There is no Rama, you are saying that he has not been born yet, and..."

"Yes, he will be born later, but he is already going inside my nostrils and I am getting joy," Shiva assured her.

She said, "I am very unhappy to hear this. You are the Supreme Power, and somebody is entering through your nostrils, this... Rama."

Nearby in a tree there was a bird, an immortal being in the form of a crow, named Bhushunda, who had listened to the whole conversation. Bhushunda is a divine, immortal bird, who has survived many world creations, and witnessed the birth and death of countless gods. His story is recounted in the Ramacharita Manasa. There is also a statue of Bhushunda in the Jagannath temple in Puri, Orissa. This immortal bird will get final liberation when he sees Ramachandra. "Where is Rama?" Bhushunda asked Lord Shiva.

"Rama is everywhere," Shiva answered. "Rama is the Lord of Air, formless. He is in the cloud. Rama urvisha rupam." Urvisha means "like the color of clouds". To this day, Lord Ramachandra is described as having a "cloud-colored body." Lord Shiva then asked, "Durga, why don't you believe it?"

She said, "I am sorry, but I cannot."

"Then your name shall no longer be Durga," he said. "From today onward, your name shall be Parvati. I will no longer call you Durga, because you disbelieved me." So her name became Parvati. Parvat ke larki hai means "the daughter of the mountain."

Meanwhile, Bhushunda had flown away, intent on discovering Rama. One day he saw high in the sky a dark cloud in the shape of a human being. He thought this could be Rama, and he flew nearer to it. The cloud opened its mouth. He saw illumination inside the mouth. So Bhushunda entered into the mouth of Rama. When he entered, he saw that the whole universe was in Rama, worlds upon worlds. Filled with awe, the crow wondered "How far will I go? How will I come out?" Illumination was everywhere inside the dark cloud. Outside, there was light. The cloud continued on forever. It went on and on and on.

Rama saw that Bhushunda was frightened, so he caused his cloud-form to stand still, and then gradually released Bhushunda. Elated, the crow returned and sat on the same tree near Shiva. Shiva looked at him and said, "Bhushunda, you are very fortunate. You have seen Rama. The whole universe is Rama. Rama and Shiva are one. If the breath does not enter my nostrils then I am no longer Shiva, I am shava (corpse). This is oneness."

Then, after a number of years, Ramachandra was born as the son of Dasharatha, but not by sex joy. His complexion was dark, like a cloud. Then Durga believed the story and was astonished. She came to Shiva and bowed to him and said, "You are the supreme mystery, my husband. I have now felt your reality. I want to bow to you unlimited times, for I have seen Rama."

Metaphorical Meaning of the Story

South of the holy city of Haridwar is another city named Kankhal where raja (king) Daksha lived. This king had the head of a goat and the body of a human being. This symbolizes a human being with no rationality (animal nature). By the grace of God, his daughter was a divine incarnation named Durga. She knew from the age of five that her husband would be Kailaseshwar ("Lord of Mount Kailas"), the eternally-naked Shiva. Kailas symbolizes the vacuum, so its Lord is undoubtedly naked (formless) and cannot enjoy sexually. Durga knew she would never enjoy sexually either, which is why she decided to become the wife of Kailaseshwar.

Shiva was invited to come to Kankhal and marry Durga. Shiva felt that Durga was a divine incarnation, and was willing to marry her. He clothed himself with the bark of a tree, held at the waist by a cobra. When Shiva came, according to tradition, they presented him with a plate on which was an ishu mul (root of the ishu plant). But the smell of the root of ishu is extremely repulsive to snakes. So when the cobra caught the smell of the ishu mul, he instantly uncoiled itself from around Shiva's waist and climbed on to his neck, leaving Kailaseshwar completely naked. Kailas represents the vacuum, which cannot be covered by any cloth. In the whole universe only the vacuum is remaining. The empty space that you are seeing between you and I is the vacuum; it is Shiva, Kailaseshwar. Shiva remained calmly naked, and the marriage was performed. Then he took Durga on his lap, and in a moment's time, they were in Kailas. Mother Durga has the same power as Kailaseshwar. Shiva and Durga never enjoyed sexually.

They both remained on Mount Kailas. Shiva was extremely happy because although he is vacuum, formless, he took the form of a human being, Shiva.

And the air, also formless, is Rama, entering in the nostrils of Shiva. Shiva's life is Rama. The formless is merging with the formless. This is the secret of real meditation. It is why Shiva took Durga as his consort. He told the story to Durga. But although Durga is Shiva's wife, she is also the daughter of king Daksha (half-man and half-animal), and born in Kankhal (an unspiritual place). It is why she initially disbelieved Shiva. But after Rama was born, Durga gradually became aware that Rama was the most powerful human being. He is the Lord of Air.

Bhushunda the crow represents the individual self (jivatma) who, incarnation after incarnation, seeks to merge with the supreme Self (paramatma). This individual self will attain liberation when he realizes that it is the breath (Lord Rama) that will take him beyond death and rebirth. This is why he flew into the cloud when he heard Shiva explaining to Durga that Rama was there. He entered the body of Rama and saw the all-pervading illumination of God, but he became overwhelmed and frightened by the experience, so he came out by the help of Rama.

Later, when Rama was born in Ayodhya, Bhushunda went there and was very happy to see Rama. At that time Bhushunda attained liberation. That is the real metaphorical meaning of the story.