Sibi Pranav..


Yesterday night I was telling my son about the story of Emperor Sibi(whose name we gave him). Its the story about the Gods wanting to check the compassionate nature of King Sibi. So they take the form of a falcon and dove and the dove comes to Sibi and asks for his protection. Now the falcon argues that the dove is its food. So Sibi offers to compensate with his own flesh and blood. Finally he offers himself to be eaten and the Gods show him their true form and bless him. This is a story I read/heard a thousand times when I was a kid.

I wanted to find more about this King and the significance of him. All I know came from the stories I heard or read. This story explains the compassion of the King and his justice. Not surprisingly, I found a lot of references in the puranas. From what I have read so far, only thing I can infer is that his story comes down from the old puranas and there may even be more than one King with that name.

He is referred to in Valmiki Ramayan and in Mahabharatha. Although the story referred in Mahabharatha is different one (look for the para 'Nature of a true gift: Markandeya's exposition' and this tells the story of Sibi in a different way). But I think both the epics refer to the same King. He is also referred in Srimad Bhagavatham as an ancestor of Rama.

When I read the story of Sibi, he was called a Tamil Chola King but with the same story. Although I couldn't find any references to that effect so far, I found a couple of temples in the Tanjore district with the stories of King Sibi associated with it. First one is the temple in Thiruvellarai, where Sibi worshipped Vishnu and Vishnu is said to have blessed him. The second one is at Korukkai(near Kumbakonam) where God Vishnu is said to have turned west to see King Sibi perform his great act of compassion. The existence of these temples and the stories associated points to a definite connection with the Early Chola kingdom. In fact, I read in one site that the Cholas called themselves 'Chembian' to indicate that they are descendants of Chakravarthy Sibi. But I think there may have been a Tamil King with the same name and with the passage of time, the same story happened to be applied to both the ruler of Ayodhya and the Chola king blurring the lines. But there is no hard evidence supporting this conclusion and so it remains just a speculation.

Finally, the Jataka tales of the Buddhas also refer to the King Sibi. Interestingly, although the same compassionate story about the falcon-dove finds its way, there is a different story given in this site. King Sibi is made to be a Bodhisatva (an incarnation of Buddha). It is interesting to note that some of the pictures were drawn in the caves of Dunhuang contains a drawing of King Sibi. Most of the Jataka tales actually retells the tales of great compassionate kings described in the Hindu puranas and epics and thus, I think this is also one such tale taken from the puranas and in course of time modified to fit into the Buddhist theology.

Thats about Sibi and the second part of the name Pranav does not have as many background stories related to it but it is very significant.

According to 'Sri Vinoba Bhave, the Latin word 'Omne' and the Sanskrit word 'Aum' are both derived from the same root meaning 'all' and both words convey the concepts of omniscience, omnipresence and omnipotence. Another word for Aum is 'pranava', which is derived from the root 'nu' meaning 'to praise', to which is added the prefix 'pra' denoting superiority. The word, therefore, means the best praise or the best prayer.

Quote from Geethavahini by Sai Baba
"Similarly, in the human body there are six nerve centres, all in the form of the lotus-flower. All the six lotus-forms have one letter or sound attached to each petal. Like the reeds in the harmonium, when the petals are moved, each one emits a distinct sound. Those who follow this statement intelligently may get a doubt; if the petals are said to move, who or what is moving them? Yes, the force that moves them is the Anaahathadhwani, the primeval sound, the undistinguished indistinguishable sound, emanating without effort, irrespective of conscious will. That is the Pranava. As beads in the string, all letters and the sounds they represent are strung on the Pranava. That is the meaning of the statement that He is the "Pranava of the Vedas." Krishna's teaching in Gita is that you should merge your mind in the Pranava, which is the universal basis."

This is about all the information I have so far. I think it is worthwhile to delve a little bit more into the Upanishads to find references to Pranava. But thats not for now anyway.

I made this page primarily for my very inquisitive son who is certain to ask me in a future date why we gave the name he has. I think it will be useful for me to just ask him read this.