ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>KAMAL</TITLE> <style type="text/css"> .BODY { background-color: #EAF1F7; background-image: url('images/gtbh.jpg'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: fixed; background-position: center; color: #0066CC;} .C1{text-align: justify;color: #0066CC;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .BIB{text-align: center;color: #000099;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .CONT{text-align: right;color: #FF0000;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} </style><META NAME="keywords" CONTENT="KAMAL"> <META http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"></HEAD> <BODY class="BODY" oncontextmenu="return false" ondragstart="return false" onselectstart="return false"> <FONT ALIGN="JUSTIFY" FACE="Tahoma"> <p class="C1">&#65279KAMAL, also written as <i>ka&#7749val</i> in Punjabi, is a flower, lotus, bearing the richest symbolic and philosophical significance in Indian lore.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Its use in Indian romantic and spiritual literature goes back to ancient times. It carries, in Sanskrit, a multiplicity of names such as <i>saroj, jalaj, v&#257rij, n&#299raj</i> (grown in water), <i>pa&#7749kaj</i> (grown in mud), <i>padma, aravind, pu&#7751&#7693r&#299k</i>, and <i>&#347r&#299niv&#257s</i> (abode of Laksham&#299, the goddess of wealth). This flower grows in muddy water and yet it keeps itself untouched by it : thus it serves as a symbol of purity amidst impurity. In its usage in the religious literature it generally stands for the self emancipated from contamination of allurements and temptations of the mundane existence. In this sense, it is used in the <i>Bhagavadg&#299t&#257</i> (V. 10) and at numerous places in the Sikh canon. In the latter, it has been coupled with the duck which holds its wings dry while swimming on water. In the mythology and spiritual history of India, it figures in the legend of Vi&#7779&#7751u from whose naval sprang the lotus that contained Brahm&#257, thus giving Vi&#7779&#7751u the attributive name of Padman&#257bha, i.e. one who has lotus in his navel. Vi&#7779&#7751u is also called Padmap&#257&#7751&#299 (having lotus-like hands) but this latter attributive name is used for Brahm&#257 and Buddha as well. Lakshm&#299, Vi&#7779&#7751u's consort, is called Kamal&#257 or Padm&#257 (one with a lotus in hand) and Kamal&#257laya because, according to one Hindu legend, she appeared at creation floating over water on the expanded petals of a lotus.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Brahm&#257 is called Padm&#257laya because he was seated on the lotus that came from Vi&#7779&#7751u's navel. Like Brahm&#257, Buddha is also delineated in figures as seated on a lotus.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <i>Padma-rekh&#257</i> (the lotus line) is believed to be a lotus shaped figure of lines on the right hand or foot of a great man betokening eminence. Such a figure is said to have adorned a foot of K&#7771&#7779&#7751a. Gur&#363 Amar D&#257s, the third spiritual preceptor of the Sikh faith, is also said to have had such a sign on his foot.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Kamal also symbolizes the beauty of various organs of the body, so that we have such substantives as <i>kamal-nayan, aravind-lochan</i> (lotus eyed), <i>mukh&#257rvind</i> (the lotus mouth), <i>charna-kamal, charan&#257rvind</i> (lotus feet), <i>hast-kamal</i> (lotus hand), etc. Apart from Hinduism and Buddhism, in Jainism too the lotus has been employed as a sacred, auspicious symbol standing for purity and spirituality.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In the Indian spiritual tradition, a particular posture in meditation, commended also in Sikhism, is called <i>padm&#257san</i> (the lotus-posture), i.e. sitting cross-legged with the body slightly inclined forward in a meditative mood. In the mysticism of <i>ha&#7789h yoga</i>, the six nerve centres sought to be penetrated by the aroused <i>ku&#7751&#7693alin&#299</i> are also called <i>padmas</i> (lotuses).</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The typical representation of lotus in Indian art is somewhat stylized in the form of a standing cup, symbolizing the mind receptive to the elixir of illumination <i> (gy&#257n, jñ&#257na) </i>, as against the mind not receptive to that elixir which has been likened to a cup turned upside down --- in the direction of <i>m&#257y&#257</i>, i.e. illusion or ignorance.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In Sikh sacred literature its symbolic use is of frequent occurrence. So ubiquitous is this use of the lotus symbol in this context that by a long-established convention the metaphor has come to signify the object symbolized, without overtly instituting a comparison or giving it the form of a simile or a metaphor. Says Gur&#363 N&#257nak, "When by the Master's Word is the lotus opened its wanderings and desires cease" (GG, 224). The lotus here stands for the mind. Similarly, Gur&#363 Amar D&#257s also affirms that "When by the Lord's Word the lotus is illumined, the egoistic, foul thinking is cast out (GG, 1334).</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The symbol of lotus has also been employed to represent <i>gurmukhs</i>, untouched by worldly impurities. Gur&#363 N&#257nak says "God's devotees, beloved of Him, remain uncontaminated even as a lotus in a pool remains untouched with water" (GG, 353). Similarly, Gur&#363 R&#257m D&#257s says : "The devotee, even though a householder, remains ever detached, just as lotus in water" (GG, 1070). At some places, the human body, because of its beauty and tenderness, has also been compared to the lotus flower. Gur&#363 Amar D&#257s says : "The lotus of the body must one day wither away" (GG, 1051).</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The lotus at places has also been employed to symbolize the mankind in general. There it comes in association with the symbol of swan that is used for the pure and the liberated among the mankind. Gur&#363 N&#257nak says : "One is the lake, on which are found lotuses of unique beauty, ever blossoming, in fragrance. There swans pick up the orient pearls, sharing in the supreme bliss of the Lord' (GG, 352). The lake here symbolizes the supreme Self, the lotuses, the creatures of the universe, and the swans, the liberated souls. At another place, all these symbols represent, in unison, the supreme Self (lake), mankind (the lotus) and the liberated (swan), signifying the essential oneness of all. Gur&#363 N&#257nak, invoking the supreme Self, says : "Thou art the lake and the swan, the lotus and the lotus-buds, and Thou beholdest in joy Thy own beauty" (GG, 23). The devout attachment of the self to the Lord has been symbolized in the <i>gurb&#257&#7751&#299</i> as the attachment of the humming bee (<i>bha&#7749var</i>) to the lotus (GG, 496). Bh&#257&#299 Gurd&#257s in his <i>V&#257r&#257&#7749</i>, XXIV. 23, paying homage to Gur&#363 Arjan's sacrifice, compares the Gur&#363 in bliss of absorption with Lord to the humming bee lying at night inside the shelter of the closed lotus flower. The honey of the lotus flower has also been used symbolically to express the sweetness of the bliss of the mystic union of the self with the supreme Self. At the close of the <i>&#256rat&#299</i>, it is said, "My heart yearns for the sweet honey of Thy lotus feet fragrant in unquenchable thirst. Bestow on the <i>ch&#257trik</i>, N&#257nak, the water of Thy bounty and grant him endless abode in Thy Name" (GG, 663).</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The lotus thus symbolizes, in Indian religious poetry, the pure and the unsullied self, the liberated self, the mind receptive to illumination of knowledge, a right minded householder uncontaminated by worldly impurities and devoted to, and blissfully united with the supreme Spirit. This is the theme it illustrates in <i>gurb&#257&#7751&#299</i>.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"><i>&#346abad&#257rth Sr&#299 Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib</i>. Amritsar, 1959<BR> <li class="C1"> Gurd&#257s, Bh&#257&#299, <i>V&#257r&#257&#7749</i>. Amritsar, 1962<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">Gurbachan Si&#7749gh T&#257lib<br></p><BR> </font><img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""></HTML></BODY>