Who or what is Cintamani ?

[Sirona]

Namaste,

yesterday, at the temple I translated the lecture into English for some Indians. As soon as "Cintamani" was mentioned in relation to Krishna, one of them got really excited. But as it was a Hare Krishna lecture, Cintamani was the name of a prostitute (what else ) who, according to a legend, seduced some very holy Gaudiya Vaishnava saint, Bilvamangala Thakura. Basically, I don't think this is what the Indian listener got exited about. I asked around the other Indians what "Cintamani" means. One said it meant "jewel of worry" and the others just didn't know. I think there's no point in asking the Krishnas for they don't know anyway.

So, please tell me, who or what does Cintamani refer to?

 

[crossfire]

In Buddhism, it is known as the "wish-fulfilling jewel" that can be metaphorically found in the forehead of the makara and/or naga. (It is a mechanism within ones psyche associated with desire to draw things in towards you analogous to personal magnetism/mesmerism.) Which would, of course, fit right into the strategy employed by prostitutes looking for paying customers.

Within the Krishna paradigm, I do believe that Cintamani would be associated with Krishna's "all-attracting" quality.

 

[Aupmanyav]

"In Buddhism it is held by the Bodhisattvas (divine beings with great compassion, wisdom and power) Avalokiteshvara and Ksitigarbha. It is also seen carried upon the back of the Lung Ta (wind horse) which is depicted on Tibetan prayer flags. By reciting the Dharani (small hymn) of Cintamaṇi, Buddhist tradition maintains that one attains the Wisdom of Buddha, able to understand the truth of the Buddha, and turn afflictions into Bodhi. It is said to allow one to see the Holy Retinue of Amitabha and assembly upon one's deathbed. In Tibetan Buddhist tradition the Chintamaṇi is sometimes depicted as a luminous pearl and is in the possession of several of different forms of the Buddha.
Dharani - Wikipedia

Within Hinduism, it is connected with the gods, Vishnu and Ganesha. In Hindu tradition it is often depicted as a fabulous jewel in the possession of Vishnu as Kaustubha Maṇi or as on the forehead of the Naga (Cobra) king called as Naga Maṇi or on the forehead of the Makara. The Yoga Vasistha, originally written in the 10th century AD, contains a story about the Cintamaṇi."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cintamaṇi
_________________________________________

There is supposed to be another Jewel which came into the possession of Lord Krishna. That is Syamantaka Maṇi (Maṇi means a jewel in Sanskrit). This belonged to the Sun God, who gave ist to one of his devotees, Satrajit, who passed it on to his brother, Prasen. Now Prasen was killed by a lion the lion carried away the jewel. But the lion was killed by the chief of the Bear clan, Jambavanta (who helped Lord Rama during his war with Ravana) and the jewel came to be with Jambavanta.

When his daughter, Jambavanti married Lord Krishna, he gave the jewel to Krishna as a marriage gift. It was said that whichever land possessed this jewel would never encounter any calamities such as droughts, floods, earthquakes or famines, and would always be full of prosperity and plenitude. Wherever the jewel remained, it would produce for the keeper eight bhāras of gold daily (i.e., approximately 170 pounds or 77 kg) of gold every day (or perhaps it meant that the income of the principality will be equal to the value of 170 pounds of gold every day).

 

[stvdv]

Namaste,

yesterday, at the temple I translated the lecture into English for some Indians. As soon as "Cintamani" was mentioned in relation to Krishna, one of them got really excited. But as it was a Hare Krishna lecture, Cintamani was the name of a prostitute (what else ) who, according to a legend, seduced some very holy Gaudiya Vaishnava saint, Bilvamangala Thakura. Basically, I don't think this is what the Indian listener got exited about. I asked around the other Indians what "Cintamani" means. One said it meant "jewel of worry" and the others just didn't know. I think there's no point in asking the Krishnas for they don't know anyway.

So, please tell me, who or what does Cintamani refer to?

I read a wonderful story in the Yoga Vasistha about "Cintamani". Many years ago, but this little gem was one of the best, I never fotget. Maybe those who got excited thought about this particular story

When I read your title, I got excited reading "Cintamini", and started reading your OP, but got very disappointed reading about the Krishna version (prostitute).

 

[Sirona]

I read a wonderful story in the Yoga Vasistha about "Cintamani". Many years ago, but this little gem was one of the best, I never fotget. Maybe those who got excited thought about this particular story

When I read your title, I got excited reading "Cintamini", and started reading your OP, but got very disappointed reading about the Krishna version (prostitute).

Yes, my friend, you understand my problem.

 

[Sirona]

There is supposed to be another Jewel which came into the possession of Lord Krishna. That is Syamantaka Maṇi (Maṇi means a jewel in Sanskrit). This belonged to the Sun God, who gave ist to one of his devotees, Satrajit, who passed it on to his brother, Prasen. Now Prasen was killed by a lion the lion carried away the jewel. But the lion was killed by the chief of the Bear clan, Jambavanta (who helped Lord Rama during his war with Ravana) and the jewel came to be with Jambavanta.

When his daughter, Jambavanti married Lord Krishna, he gave the jewel to Krishna as a marriage gift. It was said that whichever land possessed this jewel would never encounter any calamities such as droughts, floods, earthquakes or famines, and would always be full of prosperity and plenitude. Wherever the jewel remained, it would produce for the keeper eight bhāras of gold daily (i.e., approximately 170 pounds or 77 kg) of gold every day (or perhaps it meant that the income of the principality will be equal to the value of 170 pounds of gold every day).

I read this story in the Bhagavatam. Thanks for sharing, @Aupmanyav .

Cintamani - Wikipedia (correct link to Wikipedia)

 

[Aupmanyav]

Forgot to mention. Kaustubha Maṇi was the jewel which came out of churning of the sea. It was given to Lord Vishnu for his part in the process; because he, in the form of a tortoise (Kurma), bore the weight of Mount Mandara with which the sea was churned.

When I read your title, I got excited reading "Cintamini", and started reading your OP, but got very disappointed reading about the Krishna version (prostitute).

I think that was the effort of Vaishnavas to discourage philosophical discussion and settle for devotion for Lord Krishna.

 

[ajay0]

Cintamani is a name of a prostitute who actually inspired a lecher to become a saint. She is glorified in vaishnavite tradition for this reason.

What a saint learned from a prostitute | ISKCON Seshadripuram Bangalore - Sri Jagannath Mandir

While prostitutes are often depicted negatively in traditional literature, some religious texts depict them positively as testimonies to the transformational potency of divine grace. Thus, in the Gospel is found a story of a prostitute (considered by some to be Mary Magdalene) who was redeemed by Jesus. In Gaudiya Vaishnava literature such as the Chaitanya Charitamrita comes the story of the saint Haridasa Thakura, who delivered a prostitute who had been commissioned to orchestrate his fall.

Prostitutes as teachers

While such narratives that depict prostitutes as receivers of wisdom are not uncommon, far less common are narratives that depict them as teachers of wisdom. In the Vaishnava tradition, we find one such tale in the life of the medieval saint Bilvamangala Thakura. In his pre-saintly life, he was attached to a prostitute named Chintamani, who was almost like his mistress. Once he braved a fierce storm, a dark night and a flooding river to get to her place. When she saw how much trouble he had gone through to reach her, she exclaimed, “If you had gone through that much trouble to reach God, you would have become a saint.” Those words struck Bilvamangala harder than could have any of the thunderbolts of that stormy night – they jolted his spiritual intelligence out of slumber. He thanked her, renounced the world and left for Vrindavana, where he went on to become one of the most celebrated saintly poets in the Vaishnava tradition.

The moral of the story is that we expend tremendous amount of energy and time on transient sense-pleasures.

The nature of sense-pleasure is that it ends in pain and misery due to saturation or impermanance.

If we had spend a fraction of the time and energy on gaining the joy of the Self, which is of a permanent nature, it would have been a much more wiser and better investment.

The joy and bliss of the Self is considered vastly superior to all sense-pleasures.

Though most people may have a certain understanding of this fact, the lure of sense-pleasures is very hard for them to overcome. Through the bait of sense-pleasures Maya fishes foolish people and places them in the basket of endless misery and suffering.

 

[Viraja]

Namaste,

There is also one so-called 'Chintamani Mahamantra' of which one can read here: https://www.hariomgroup.org/hariombooks/english_mantra_chintamani.pdf

(I don't know more about this).

 

[Aupmanyav]

My personal belief is that 'Om', 'Hrim', 'Shrim' are the remnants of the chants of our stone-age fathers and mothers as they danced to the beats on tree trunks around the fire after a meal of a roasted boar, the Shaman leading them in the center. In later times they became the 'magic words'. But I am a maverick Hindu. Don't give any importance to what I say unless you have guts enough. Hinduism does not need to remain in stone age.

However, Theyyam is a beautiful dance and a quaint tradition. We will be poorer without it.

 

[ajay0]

Namaste,

There is also one so-called 'Chintamani Mahamantra' of which one can read here: https://www.hariomgroup.org/hariombooks/english_mantra_chintamani.pdf

(I don't know more about this).

I enjoyed reading this article.

Dullness of the intellect, caused by the guna of tamas, is one of the main reasons why we are not able to develop a refined intellect capable of comprehending knowledge of a high order. The guna of sattva is needed for the latter.

Tamas focusses on the grosser matter rather than the subtle, and is often of a deluded nature mistaking falsehood for truth and vice versa.

Maya correlates with tamas as it is the gross material pleasures that incite cravings which prevent Self-awareness and virtuous conduct. All vices are but cravings in the form of lust, anger, greed, attachment and egoism, and their extreme forms results in malevolent or criminal activities.

Atheism, materialism and nihilistic philosophies stem from the guna of tamas, and hence can be termed as tamasic philosophies as these philosophies have emerged from a tamasic mindset focussed on the gross and incapable of discerning the subtle.

In the materialistic Kali Yuga where the guna of tamas is at its peak, it is only natural that these philosophies will become dominant and the weak lacking austerities will be swept away by them.

It is the austere and the strong who will be capable of correct judgement and be able to discern falsehood from truth.
.

 

[Sirona]

Thanks for your replies. Judging on the reaction of "my" Indian listener, Cintamani seemed to refer to a girlfriend of Krishna of some sort. But it is difficult for me to classify his reaction if I lack the cultural background.

 

[Aupmanyav]

Well, Krishna had many girl-friends. Quite possible that one of them was Cintamani.