Durga Ashtami Puja
Lions and tigers are wild animals, and they have the capacity to even attack a wild elephant. They are strongly related with Hinduism, and Lord Vishnu took the Narasimha Avatar, with the head of a lion, Mata Parvati is having the lion as her vehicle, and Lion is considered as the king among all the animals in the world. They contain great powers, and live their life by hunting animals such as goats, deer, rabbits, camels and elephants etc.Lions cannot be tamed, and they are treated under the wild animal category only.
Tigers are the powerful animals only next to lion, but sometimes during the fights, tigers may win over lions also, and kill them, but that would happen only rarely. Tigers are also connected with Hindu religious history, and they are mentioned in Puranas and ancient texts.
Mata Durga Devi, an incarnation of Parvati, is seated in a tiger, and Lord Ayyappan had brought the tiger milk from the forest, by riding in a tiger. Tigers mostly would kill the animal and eat the meat, and they have sharp eyes, and are able to catch their prey even during the nights.
According to a famous incident in the life of Sri Ayya Vaikunta Swamigal, an incarnation of Lord Vishnu, once he was placed in the cage of a hungry tiger, by the orders of the king. But due to the divinity of the sage, the tiger had bowed its head, and sat peacefully before him, and it didn’t harm the great saint. Tigers are also able to find the sudden changes in the atmosphere like earthquake, storm and cyclone, and would warn us by roaring in a different manner.
In general, both lions and tigers are worshipful animals, and are considered as the divine incarnations of the divine vehicles of Mata Parvati Devi, and let us show our great respect on these lovely animals.
“OM SRI AMBIGAIYE NAMAHA”
“OM SWAMIYE SARANAM AYYAPPA”
WRITTEN BY
R.HARISHANKAR