hare krishna

Oh great, BBB! It was such a pleasure to read your story. I mean of course it was scary too, but knowing you from this board I can really identify with it. I think that you find a mistake in Prabhupada's system without being aware that this was not Prabhupada's sytem at all! He never said that these people should be his successors. They were supposed to initiate the new devotees while Prabhupada was still supposed to be their spiritual master. Servants of the servant. I was reading this on the Isckon revival movement website you posted here. These people didn't follow his system that's why the whole thing finished like this. Had they followed his instruction, none of this would happen. I'm sure of it. Pure devotee means that he has no flaw. These gurus were trying to tell us that Prabhupada had flaws and now it's up to them to bring new methods. This is the beginning of the end. When Prabhupada was here, everything worked. He might have sound like dogmatic, but I believe that this is different. We cannot comprehend intentions of a pure devotee. These people wanted to become like Prabhupada, but not in the means of spirituality. They wanted his material status. They liked the way how the acarya was adored, but they didn't understand that he was adored naturaly for he had no authority, he was authority!!! That is the difference. Well, I must say, I'm ignorant in so many things, but I know that we shouldn't blame great souls for no reason. Prabhupada is the cause why we discuss here on hipforums and he brought us this great wisdom. Many tried to bring it in West, none of them succeed. The only way to Krishna lead through spiritual master, we must appreciate him, because he's got the key, you know. Moreover, Prabhupada says that the practise you do is totaly fine. One doesn't have to go to temple. He himself is the example. He prefered to preach around the world instead of residing in one temple. Prabhupada met his spiritual master only few times, yet he knew perfectly what to do. Remember it's not by physical contact, but by your devotion you should serve.
Anyhow, I felt myself that to go to a temple just isn't in my nature and then I found out about those fallen gurus, so I know how you feel. Hey, it doesn't matter. We should just repeat verses from Bhagavadgita and Prabhupada's books and I think it's ok. As soon as you don't change anything, your work counts. And if you just make this mantra popular what better you can do?

 

Dear Jiva,


Thanks as always for your kind words. I did not intend to criticize Srila Prabhupada in my post, I only wanted to emphasize what can go wrong when the system is abused. You are 100% correct in saying that Prabhupada never intended these people to ursurp power as they did. I do not blame Him.
I don't blame anyone - the false gurus were, as you say, after power and prestiege and worship - just the things most people are seeking in material life!
If they knew Krishna in truth, they could never have acted as they did.
I hope this clarifies things.

Hare Krishna!

 

Dear BBB,

Thank you for sharing that story with us. It is indeed a shame that that had happened to the ISKCON movement... its just a pity that that happens with most organized religions... they forget about spirituality and just fall into words...words, words, words....and no love...

"It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart." Mohandas Gandhi

I could definetely understand your discomfort of the situation...the whole time I was reading the story...the situations just gave off a sense of "not right"...

The shame is that Srila Prabhupada, bless him, really did have faith in these men to follow his instructions...its a shame that they corrupted his trust... all He ever wanted was for us all to get closer to Krishna...

 

BBB: Ok. I think that this is the problem -as soon as we got the form, we tend to forget about the meaning. People are very lazy. They are satisfied with labels, but they don't question anymore. That's why I think that Prabhupada's original books are a gift of Krishna Himself. As Srila Prabhupada said several times- everything is there.

 

Dear Jiva,


The problem seems to me to come from a lack of realization and sincerity on the part of some of Srila Prabhupada's devotees. They set out quite deliberately to set themselves up as Gurus, without any order to do so by Prabhupada. They then went on to use the positions they had falsely asumed for their own egoistic ends -
How this could have come about is, I have to confess, something of a mystery to me. After all, they were supposed to be the 'top' devotees; they'd all had lots of personal association with Prabhupada, and they must have known that they were acting in direct contradiction to His orders.
I can only conclude that they were in fact not at all advanced in Krishna Consciousness, since they all wanted to be 'guru', and also to increase their own personal wealth, gain power over others and so on.
Some were simply perverts and criminals.
Maybe it is a question here of 'power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely'.
It seems they wanted Prabhupada out of the way so thay could take over ISKCON and use the power they had ursurped for their own ends. In all this, any thought of Krishna was marginalized - or simply used as a cover for their nefarious activities.
The seriousness of what happened is reflected by the fact that one of them, Kirtanananda, was fined $250,000 and is serving a twenty-year federal prison sentence for racketeering and conspiracy in two murders.
As I said before, I pray that Krishna will have mercy on them, because their offences seem to be very serious.

Hare Krishna!

 

This guy had posted a link to his Krishna Conscious music on the George Harrison forums and I thought it worth sharing...its very good...


http://rahil.iscool.net/

 

daridrya-nasa, bhava-ksaya -- premera 'phala' naya
prema-sukha-bhoga-mukhya prayojana haya


So by devotional service one should not expect, "My miserable material condition may be improved" or "I may be liberated from this material entanglement." So that is also a kind of sense gratification. If I want that "Let me be free from this entanglement..." Just like the yogis and the jnanis, they try. They try to be free from this material entanglement. But in the devotional service there is no such desire, because it is pure love. There is no expectation that "I shall be profited in this way." No. It is not a profitable commercial business, that "Unless I get in return something, oh, I shall not practice the devotional service in Krsna consciousness. There is no question of profit. Lord Caitanya prays to the Lord like this:

na dhanam na janam na sundarim
kavitam va jagad-isa kamaye
mama janmani janmanisvare
bhavatad bhaktir ahaituki tvayi
[Cc. Antya 20.29, Siksastaka 4]​

"Oh," He says, "My dear Lord, Jagadisa..." Jagadisa means the Supreme Lord, Krsna. Jagat, jagat means this world, material world or spiritual world, all worlds. Jagat. Jagat gacchati iti jagat: "Which is progressing, that is called jagat." So Jagat-isa, the supreme master of this jagat, going concern. "Jagadisa, O the supreme master of this jagat, I pray unto You that I do not want," na dhanam, "I do not want any wealth," na janam, "I do not want any number of followers..." Na janam na dhanam na kavitam va jagadisa kamaye. Kavitam means very nice wife, poetical... "I do not want." "Then what do You want?" Mama janmani janmanisvare. Janmani janmani [Cc. Antya 20.29, Siksastaka 4] means "birth after birth." So He does not want liberation also. Because when we speak of liberation, there is no birth. Mad-gatva punar janma na vidyate: "One who reaches the kingdom of God, he hasn't got to come back again to take birth here." So here Lord Caitanya says, mama janmani janmani: "Birth after birth." That means "I do not want liberation also." Mama janmani janmani.

"Then what do You want?" Isvare bhavatad bhaktir ahaituki: "My dear Lord, I may be put in any condition of My life, but please bestow this benediction, that I may not forget You. That's all. I may not forget You. Because due to My forgetfulness I am suffering so much. So if I can remember You, I don't mind in whatever condition I am."

-Srila Prabhupada; Caitanya Caritamrta Madhya 20.142-143
New York, November 30, 1966

 

Hare Krishna!


Dear Svg GdnBeauty,

Thanks for posting that. I thought you might like to see this - it is from 'The Teachings of Lord Chaitanya' ( re-issued later as 'The Golden Avatar' possibly in an 'edited' form?) by Srila Pabhupada.

Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu instructed His disciples to write books on the Science of Kṛṣṇa, a task which those who follow Him have continued to carry out down to the present day. The elaborations and expositions on the philosophy taught by Lord Caitanya are in fact most voluminous, exacting and consistent due to the system of disciplic succession. Although Lord Caitanya was widely renowned as a scholar in His youth, He left only eight verses, called Śikṣāṣṭaka. These eight verses clearly reveal His mission and precepts. These supremely valuable prayers are translated herein.

1. Glory to the Śrī Kṛṣṇa sańkīrtana, which cleanses the heart of all the dust accumulated for years and extinguishes the fire of conditional life, of repeated birth and death. This sańkīrtana movement is the prime benediction for humanity at large because it spreads the rays of the benediction moon. It is the life of all transcendental knowledge. It increases the ocean of transcendental bliss, and it enables us to fully taste the nectar for which we are always anxious.

2. O my Lord, Your holy name alone can render all benediction to living beings, and thus You have hundreds and millions of names like Kṛṣṇa and Govinda. In these transcendental names You have invested all Your transcendental energies. There are not even hard and fast rules for chanting these names. O my Lord, out of kindness You enable us to easily approach You by Your holy names, but I am so unfortunate that I have no attraction for them.

3. One should chant the holy name of the Lord in a humble state of mind, thinking oneself lower than the straw in the street; one should be more tolerant than a tree, devoid of all sense of false prestige and should be ready to offer all respect to others. In such a state of mind one can chant the holy name of the Lord constantly.

4. O almighty Lord, I have no desire to accumulate wealth, nor do I desire beautiful women, nor do I want any number of followers. I only want Your causeless devotional service birth after birth.

5. O son of Mahārāja Nanda [Kṛṣṇa], I am Your eternal servitor, yet somehow or other I have fallen into the ocean of birth and death. Please pick me up from this ocean of death and place me as one of the atoms at Your lotus feet.

6. O my Lord, when will my eyes be decorated with tears of love flowing constantly when I chant Your holy name? When will my voice choke up, and when will the hairs of my body stand on end at the recitation of Your name?

7. O Govinda! Feeling Your separation, I am considering a moment to be like twelve years or more. Tears are flowing from my eyes like torrents of rain, and I am feeling all vacant in the world in Your absence.

8. I know no one but Kṛṣṇa as my Lord, and He shall remain so even if He handles me roughly by His embrace or makes me brokenhearted by not being present before me. He is completely free to do anything and everything, for He is always my worshipful Lord unconditionally.



Jaya Sri Gaura!

 

Thanks for that BBB...it was very beautiful...

I esp. liked this one:

6. O my Lord, when will my eyes be decorated with tears of love flowing constantly when I chant Your holy name? When will my voice choke up, and when will the hairs of my body stand on end at the recitation of Your name?

Hare Krishna!

 

Haribol!

I've noticed lot of Krishna related topics on the main page

 

And why NOT? This IS a freedom of speach site. These people are hapy with who they are. They are simply Pushy about wanting YOU to be happy too.
I want you all to be happy with who you are. I just don't TELL you what to believe so you CAN be happy.

 

yep. Let Krishna be everywhere, cuz that is happiness right away. just chant:

 

​

"The Makara is a composite monster something like a crocodile, taking many forms, but unreal and elusive in all of them. It is hard to imagine that it was ever believed to exist, yet its figure is common in the architecture of India and the Far East and in the Mayan and Aztec civilizations of the New World. Its appearance is so varied, its features so different, that almost any weird beast can be called a makara; there are elephant-makaras, fish-makaras, dragon-makaras, goat-makaras, and so on, which may possibly account for its lack of a concrete, substantial character.

Two points, however, seem to persist in all the metamorphoses of the makara. Although essentially a sea-beast, it always seems to have characteristics of both fish and mammal and it may be that, even as the Persian bird senmurv was an attempt to combine the features of mammal and bird in a single creature, the makara was intended to combine the features of sea and land animals in one. Secondly, the makara always has at least a suggestion of a snout. This snout, whether it originated in that of the crocodile, or as the horn of the horned shark, the horn of the antelope, or the trunk of an elephant, certainly resembles the latter most closely. The creatures modeled at either end of the ridge pole of Chinese roofs, with the pole itself coming forth from their mouths in a most successful architectural design, are presumably makaras. Their head, and the barely suggested front claws are those of the dragon; the snout that curls back over the wide-open mouth can only be described as that of an elephant.

The makara is essentially Indian, although its prototype may well be found in the goat-fish Capricorn, a creature of the Babylonian water-god Ea. Its most common form is that of an antelope-fish, and as such it is the tenth sign of the Indian Zodiac, being thus identical with the goat-fish Capricorn which is the tenth sign of our Zodiac.

But the strangest thing about the makara is that, although definitely an aquatic animal, it combines features of the elephant and the dragon. And it is in the relationship of the elephant to the dragon, or serpent, that we may find a clue to the mystery of why the dragons of East and West have so different a character. The great reptilian figure, the primeval force that under the guise of the dragon haunted the minds of both Orient and Occident, seems to have been originally one and the same creature; only, as we have seen, in Western mythology it epitomized all that was most diabolical, destructive and terrifying in nature, and in the Far East it was the king and best of all beasts, capricious perhaps, but a true benefactor of man.

In Indian mythology, however, not only do good and evil dragons exist together but they carry on constant warfare against each other. The trouble is that, to add to the confusion, it is doubtful whether either of these two opposing dragon forms are truly dragons. Both are nagas, which is usually translated either as "dragon" or "snake," but the word "naga" is applied not only to the mythological serpent breed but also to the wild elephant. And the elephant is definitely a symbol of good. (This is reflected by early Christian writers, who used the elephant as a symbol of Christ.) Thus, whether from a misunderstanding of words, or from an inarticulate attempt to express the duality of good and bad in nature, the elephant seems to have taken over the good characteristics of the dragon form, while the serpent-dragon-naga absorbed what was evil in it. The first concept, traveling east, may have been associated with an already existing spirit of the waters and thus given the Orient its kindly, bewhiskered dragon (though in this case it could only have been the concept or idea that traveled; it would be hard to imagine anything physically less like an elephant than the Chinese dragon). In the same way the second, traveling west, either created or reinforced belief in a monster of evil, an elemental force incarnate in serpent form. (In this connection it is interesting to find a seventeenth-century English naturalist saying that "There be also serpents called Elephants," whose bite inflicts a kind of leprosy, but that fortunately these are "strangers to our country.")

Whatever its origin, the traditional enmity of elephant and snake is widely accepted both East and West. The Pa snake in Western China is reputed to attack and swallow elephants, as are certain serpents in Borneo. In Libya, near the Nile river, enormous snakes are said to prey on the elephants as they come down to drink, and the same story is told of the dragon in India. There as elsewhere, it is the reptile who attacks the elephant, entangling him in vicious coils until the poor ponderous beast has no hope of escape, but it is said that the wounded elephant makes sure he falls in such a way as to crush his enemy. Thus the monsters die together. No man has ever seen one of these titanic battles, but proof of them is to be found in the existence in the earth of veins of cinnabar, for it is the dragon's blood soaking into the earth that causes this reddish ore. (At least one Japanese emperor tried to make himself immortal by drinking melted cinnabar in the belief that it was truly dragon's blood.)

All this takes us far from the makara. There may indeed be no connection between that vague and unrealistic monster and the question of whether the dragons of East and West have a common ancestor in the "naga," and whether the naga in turn is both elephant and snake. But it is curious that a single combining elephant and dragon does exist.

The makara is a frequent decorative motive, either the whole figure or the head alone, and it is probably due to its popular use in art rather than to any symbolism that it has become so widespread in the Far East. As a design rather than a living beast, it also appears in combination with another strange creature found in Indian and other Asian architecture. This is the Kirtimukha, the "Glory Face" or "Face of Fame," and it is the face of a lion, without body, without limbs, without even a chin below its wide open mouth. The eyes are protruding, the thick line of the eye-brows is extended to form a suggestion of horns, and the bushy hair springs upward as though it were meant to represent flames. The mouth is an enormous grinning cavern reminding one irresistibly of the Cheshire Cat. ("A grin without a cat! It's the most curious thing I ever saw in all my life!") Sometimes, especially when used as the lintel of doorways in Javanese temples, there is no lower lip at all and the "Glory Face" is scarcely even a face. From the open mouth spring festoons of pearls or of flowers, and these in turn end on either side in the head of a makara, fish face, elephant snout and all.

This Kirtimukha is probably related to the "T'ao-t'ieh," or monster face, of China, which was supposed to drive away evil spirits and which was much used on early sacrificial bronzes. It is likely that both are derived from some ancient Asiatic symbol, the meaning of which is lost to us. The origin of the T'ao-t'ieh (also Tao-tieh) is certainly obscure, the only hint being contained in a single reference in the early classical books to the T'ao-t'ieh as one of four monsters exiled into outer darkness by the emperor Shun about 2,000 B.C., but it is interesting to find that the characters for the name of this bodiless monster face mean "voracious glutton." The story as told in India by the worshippers of Siva to account for the origin of the Glory Face fits in well with the idea of gluttony.

Siva, it seems, was just about to marry the beautiful Parvati, when a messenger came to him from the land of the demons. This messenger was Rahu, the demon who every now and then swallows the sun and so causes eclipses, and the message he brought was that the king of the demons considered Siva unworthy to wed Parvati of the mountains, and that he himself would take her instead. On hearing this Siva became so angry that, before he could even speak, a monster in the shape of a man-lion, which was indeed nothing else than his own concentrated fury made visible, sprang out from between his eyes and fell upon the unfortunate Rahu. Rahu, however, threw himself at Siva's feet and begged for mercy, arguing, as the ambassadors of kings have always done, that he could not reasonably be held responsible for the message of which he was only the bearer. Siva, mollified, agreed to let him go. But the lion creature who was born of his wrath now turned upon Siva, and complained of hunger.

"You created me to devour the demon," he protested. "And now you have forgiven him and sent him away. What am I to do?"

"Well," Siva agreed, "that is true enough. But if you have been cheated of one demon, there is still another. You will just have to eat yourself."

And this the monster did. He began with his legs and then his arms, gradually eating himself up until nothing remained of him but the face. (The strings of pearls so gracefully formed into garlands by the artists were his entrails.) The sight of this so amused Siva that he appointed the lion spirit -- or what remained of it -- as guardian of his door, to be worshiped and fed with sacrificial meats by all who entered there.


Text excerpted from Peter Lum's Fabulous Beasts, copyright 1951. "

quoted from:

http://www.call-of-the-sea.com/myths/makara.htm

​

 

This Makara is constructed in two animal forms

Attached image(s)

 

This is the way a Makara is normally placed in a temple structure. there should be one at the other side as well. This one is some kind of aquatic animal with an elephant's trunk holding a fish. Some kind of crocodile with lions' paws and a fin/wing hinting at the union of the diverse elements...

Attached image(s)

 

Here is a Kirtimukha of the Konarak Sun Temple, a Face of Glory, the personification of hunger eating itself, a symbol of the universe

Attached image(s)

 

"Yalli, (corruption of Skt. vyala, fierce monster) are architectural or decorative animal motifs. They feature mainly as stone carvings like the ones at the famous Hindu temples of Madurai in Tamil Nadu, South India.

They usually have the stylized body of a lion and the head of some other beast, most often an elephant (gaja-vyala.) Other common examples are: the lion-headed (simha-vyala,) horse- (ashva-vyala,) human- (nir-vyala) and the dog-headed (shvana-vyala) ones. They are related to the hippogryphs and sphinxes of Egypt and Mesopotamia, and symbolize the world-emperor (Skt. chakravartin,) whose strength derives from divine power.

Another monstrous creature is the Shabara, a hybrid of a lion, horse and ram.)

Their counterparts in European design are some of the fantastic animals used as mediaeval heraldic devices, eg. the griffon.

Mukha

Mukha means face or mask or even maw. A mukha is an architectural or decorative motif that is placed above openings as a form of protection. It is also known as makara vakstra, and is often the central feature in the elaborate cloth door hanging known as a toran. A particular type is known as the Face of Glory or Kirtimukha. It is a demonic mask of great ferocity with protruding eyeballs, stout horns, and a gaping maw with prominent fangs or canine teeth. Kirtimukhas often appear above gates, dormer windows, archways and so on. A kirtimukha often has garlands or festoons issuing from its mouths.

It is also referred to as Simha-mukha (lion-mask) in literature, and the stylized lion's face can be traced to the Persian lion-faces which appear for the first time in India on Mauryan (eg. Ashoka) pillar capitals. It is referred to as Grasamukha in western India, Rahumukha in eastern India, and as Kala in the Southeast Asian countries.

It may be related to the Mask of Medusa as it was used in Greek and Roman architecture. Gorgon heads with their terrific faces were carved on gates and walls of forts, palaces, and temples to ward off enemies and other dangers. Similar decorative devices were also used by the Scythians, Chinese and appear all over the world; in Britain, for example, there is the Green Man mask hiding in corners of Gothic cathedrals.

The Kirtimukha is generally considered symbolic of the destructive power of Shiva Mahabhairav (very wrathful) -- destroyer of demons. It is seen by Hindus as symbolic of the glory of divine power which generates creation but is also the source of destruction. For Buddhists it is a symbol of Impermanence -- the face of the demon grasping the Wheel of Samsara. However, alone, it is an auspicious mark of the activity of Dharma Protection.

Some see in the Kirtimukha, the eclipse demon Rahu who had no body according to Indian mythology. Eclipses are almost never considered good omens and often are interpreted as portents of disaster. Considering the ancient homeopathic principle that we can treat "like with like" then we can understand why Kirtimukhas are believed to ward off evil, especially such forces of destruction as fire and earthquake.

V. S. Agrawala says that kirti denotes an excavated chamber, and so Kirtimukha signifies its façade. ~ Rajaram Hegde's on-line article.

Kirtimukha often appears as a subtle motif in the embroideries, and traditional Tibetan Buddhist hangings and banners that decorate shrine rooms and temples. For some, they still serve in a magical capacity to ward off evil, for others they are only an auspicious motif. Most people do not even realize the mask is there."

a quotation from:
http://www.khandro.net/mysterious_vyali_mukha.htm

 

corresponding ideas in our european and islamic traditions

for a sample of a Green Man in England see

http://www.mikeharding.co.uk/greenman/greenpix2.html


The Green Man in Islamic tradition here, but clearly leading into alchemical symbology:

http://khidr.org/index.htm

 

This is a more speculative piece on cosmic-astronomical connections of these symbols.

"Coomaraswamy writes that the makara is a great Leviathan (serpent) moving through the waters. Since the makara has a primary stelar relationship with Capricorn, the waters, on one level, must be the cosmic ocean of the night sky. Spiritually, or metaphysically, the waters contains the essence of life. The makara decorative types that Coomaraswamy examines are well known as the “vehicle” of Varuna and the banner of Kamadeva. “Vehicle” means conveyence or totem object in which the deity resides. Kama-deva means death or time spirit. In relation to Kamadeva, the makara’s mouth symbolizes the gate of death and birth, and passing through it annihilates time.

In other words, the domain beyond the terrible, devouring mouth of the makara is the realm of unconditioned essences, and is beyond the conditioned experience of time within the manifest world. As such, the makara is related to the gandharva beings who guard the gate of paradise, within which the soma elixir of immortality can be had (if one is spiritually prepared). Krsannau is a gandharva; he is an archer who protects the treasure of heaven at the center of the world. He is associated with Sagittarius, the archer constellation. Already, we have two pointers to a specific region of the sky: Krsannau (Sagittarius) and the makara (Capricorn), which are next to each other. The makara is related to a group of life-sprouting or life-devouring mouths that include the kala-mukha (great mouth) and the simsumara crocodile, who lies in wait within the stream travelled by the newly deceased soul. In many traditions around the globe this river of souls is usually equated with the Milky Way. Given that the mouth motif is located in the region of Sagittarius, Capricorn, and the Milky Way, it is almost impossible to not associate it with the great cleft in the Milky Way which runs north of Sagittarius.

The makara is also the vehicle of the river goddess Ganga (p. 143), and the Ganges is associated with the Milky Way. The makara appears as the source of lotus vegetation (of life). The Yaksa is a spirit of life-essence and the lotus is sometimes shown sprouting from its mouth or navel. Voice and navel were though of as creative forces or centers.

In Mannikka’s book on Angkor Wat, a connection is made between the eagle who stole soma and the Aquila constellation. Krsannau (Sagittarius) shot at the Garuda bird/eagle. The soma is often equated with solar fire, but is also the life-essence that resides at the root of the cosmic tree of creation. It can also be conceived of as creative fire at the top of the cosmic mountain. Varuna was an early form of Indra, whose solar associations place the sun into the sidereal location under consideration. This opens up the yaksa cosmology to time, seasons, and solar movements. The ashvatta twins helped to resurrect their solar father on the winter solstice. The ashvatta is the station of the horse, related to sky elephants (clouds; the Milky Way) who are gandharvas. Yaksas and Yaksis are later male-female versions of the gandharva-apsarases duality, and may relate to the ashvata twins. The asvatta is also the tree under which the Buddha achieved enlightenment; as it is also the station of the horse, we may have an astrological feature much like the Mayan crocodile head that represents the nuclear bulge of the galactic center. Coomaraswamy writes, “the makara is always represented, at least in the early art, as a creature with a head like a crocodile…” (143). A related tree is the nyograva tree, which means “downward spreading.” This inverted tree motif evokes an axis that comes down to earth from a celestial root or center place. This is the tree in the galactic chakra model. Mula is lunar mansion called “root” and is located at the galactic center (see Frawley).



The full-face makara, a widely used architectural element even to this day, is also known as kirtimukha, or “glory head.” Coomaraswamy writes that the kirtimukha was probably not originally associated with the makara. My feeling, given the glory head’s presence in the Rahu-myth, is that it should refer to the Gemini-Taurus gateway. Confusion arises in the multiple uses of different metaphors (mouth, naval, head) and when isolating one side of the sky from the other. The proper system would identify the makara’s mouth as a birthplace (vagina / fish-mouth) and the Rahu glory head as the third eye of the sixth chakra; or, the creativity of third eye mentation is born through incantation and thus voice/mouth. Vagina-mouth duality. The Makara crocodile is analogous to the Greek dolphin (p. 144); the dolphin as symbol of the savior who was born on the December solstice is consistent with the makara’s association with Capricorn (see my argument that the dark-rift “mouth” rises heliacally when the sun is in Capricorn). The makara is related to the flood legend (water or life essence flooding out of the Leviathan’s mouth) – thus an eschatological use. A myth states that the makara’s mouth can contain a pearl, and extracting it was providential; this relates to the soma-beyond-the-gate theme.

It is not surprising that these features and locations come together in the Churning of the Ocean creation myth. At Angkor Wat, this myth is prominently featured. A related myth, the theft of soma, borrows many of the motifs; most significantly, soma. Sagittarius, Aquila, Capricorn, and the sun (as soul-essence or soul-fire) all relate to the sun’s passage (annually or precessionally) through the galactic center. Metaphysically, we can understand this as being equivalent to the soul’s after death journey to God. The soul, like the sun, passes through the highest house wherein the Creator dwells. In the passage through God’s house, spirit-energy attaches to the soul. Or, we might say, the God-consciousness already resident in the soul resonates with the God-soma-energy-light during its after-death processing in the highest heaven."

quoted from:

http://alignment2012.com/coom-yaksa.html

 

Krishna wears a Makara-kundala (Makara-shaped ear-rings)


This is told about Perumal in this regard:

"The makara kundala i.e., ear drops which adorns His ears is studded with precious stones. When He moves His head, they create a gentle musical sound. What is more the bright shining glow of the precious stones in the kundala get deflected by the frontiers of the ashta disas (eight directions) and rebounds on the face of Perumal and enhances His Tejas. It is as if the makara kundalas are dancing with joy at the sight of the lavanya sundaram (Supreme delicate beauty) of the divine face. The face (mukham) of Perumal radiates Tejas (bright effulgence), Saithyam (cool), Mardavarn (softness), sowrabhyam (delicate fragrance). It has all the great qualities (sakala kalaigal). It confers happiness on all; It is so beautiful as to surpass even the ravishing beauty of the blemishless chandramandala and that of a freshly blossomed lotus flower. It makes the devotees who are near Him become uncontrollably mad with a craving to attain Him (pichhu uttri). It is the abode of Maya and makes the devotee forget everything else and think of only one wish viz., to attain His lotus feet and become one with Him."

http://www.srivaishnava.org/sva/lokacar/arche3.htm