INTRODUCING
E-MAILS ON HINDUISM POSTED ON HINDU REFLECTIONS
(BY N. R. SRINIVASAN, BRENTWOOD, TN, USA, MARCH 2018)
Hinduism is one of the world’s major religions. It is older than
Jainism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Zoroastrianism which is one
of the oldest religions in the world owes its origin to the same scriptural
source from which Hinduism has come.
Such an old religion is bound to lose its usefulness and cannot relate
anymore to changing times and people.
Fortunately at different periods, many genuine saints born in India have
cleansed, reformed and revitalized Hinduism.
They made it relevant to their times. This would not have been possible
had Hinduism had a founder. Hinduism as is practiced today springs from Sanata Dharma–The Eternal
Religion. It was also called Maanava Dharma, Religion of the Man and was meant
for the whole of mankind.
Persia had a common border with ancient India known as Aryavarta, the Land of the Aryans. River Indus served as common border between this land and Persia. The Persians could not pronounce Sindhu correctly; they pronounced it Hindu; they also a called the people living on the other side of the river Sindhu, Hindu which became Indu and the land began to be called India later. The religion of the Aryans thus became Hinduism.
Hinduism is a more recent nomenclature given to a conglomeration
of heterogeneous tradition and plurality of beliefs and worship with a long
history from the Vedic sacrificial religion of Aryans through the worship of
Epic and Puranic heroes and personal deities, cults and sects, as well as
philosophical systems rather than to a monolithic tradition or a structure
based on a single system of beliefs and worship or a single text as scripture.
Nobody in particular is its founder. It is the research output of countless learned men called Rishis who were Christ like masters, through centuries. I believe anyone that searches after truth is a Hindu. There is One and Only God and One Truth. The very first book of Hindus named Rig Veda proclaims, "Ekam Sat, Viprah Bahudha Vadanti". (There is only one Truth, only men describe it in different ways). So a Jew or a Christian or a Moslem who is in search after truth is automatically a Hindu. There are more than a billion Hindus in the world. The number of Hindus in USA and Canada are quite significant and fast growing.
The concepts of utmost freedom of thoughts and actions attract
many to Hinduism. Hinduism never forbids any one to question its fundamentals.
On one side, in Hinduism, you may come across people worshiping pests like
rats, and still on other side you will come across concepts parallel to Quantum
Physics and Neil's Bohr Theory of nuclear structure and reactions. On one side
Advaita (non-dualism) and on the other side
Dvaita (philosophy of dualism) is discussed and promoted. Hinduism never
ever banished any one, since he or she wrote a wrong scripture or did not
observe a particular ritual.
This rich background of Hinduism fascinates anyone to explore its granary of knowledge and worldly wisdom. Over a decade I have been studying Hinduism though living outside India for more than 30 years and every morning I get up I come with up a new idea that I would like to share with my intimate readers. But I have my own limitations too to process them for circulation! Understanding Veda mantras that we use in our worships and rituals, and studying Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, Ramayana and Mahabharata, I have tried to understand and analyze their relevance to today’s social problems, individual problems and the Herculean effort of raising kids amidst altogether different cultures. With deep thoughts and sensitivity (for I am living amidst different culture including Hindu migrants from different lands), I have tried to analyze topics such as, the symbolic meaning of idols and their worship, Hindu festivals, Hindu Dharma, cultural and social role of the temples, caste system, vegetarianism, family values, our obligation to spiritually guide the society we live in based on Vedic maxims towards universal Oneness, joy and happiness and others and how Sanatana Dharma has given birth to or influenced many religions.
I have so for delivered around 340 discourses on a variety of topics that I have posted on the blog. I am honored and humbled at the same time by the glowing compliments I continue to receive from my global readers, India leading the rest. My global readers had no opportunity to go through my popular E-mails to my HR Forum Participants on general topics of interest on Hinduism by way of introduction to such discourses and related topics. I have collected as many as I could from the past which I reproduce below that should make an interesting study even to a very busy person who has no time for my long discourses of research nature.
CONTENTS
1. DEVI WORSHIP
2. DIVINE INCARNATIONS
3. PHILOSOPHY SCHOOLS OF
HINDUISM
4. MADHVA AND HIS PHILOSOPHY
OF DWAITA
5. RAMANUJA AND HIS
PHILOSOPHY OF VISHISHTAADVAITA
6. ASHTAANGAYOGA OF
PATAANJALI AND KAIVALYOPANISHAD
7. TEMPLE RITUAL AND WORSHIP
8. TEERTHAYAATRA OR HINDU
PILGRIMAGE
9. DURGAA
10.
HINDU CALENDAR AND TIME MEASUREMENT
11.
MYTHOLOGY AND RITUALS
12.
FORMS OF HINDU WORSHIP
13.
PHYSICAL FORMS OF HINDU WORSHIP (KAAYIKA KARMA)
14.
HISTORIC AND ORTHODOX DATES OF INDIA
15.
AMAZING NUMBERS IN HINDU SCRIPTURES
16.
DOCTRINE OF KARMA (ACTION AND REACTION) IN HINDUISM
17.
IS INDIA HINDU?
18.
THINKING OF OUR SECOND GENERATION
19.
KEEP THE NAME OF THE LORD HOLY
20.
CULTURAL SHOCKS AND THREATS FROM SCIENCE FOR HINDU AMERICANS
21.
PURAANIC STORIES HAVE A MISSION
22.
ATHEISM IS A RELIGION SAYS US COURT; SANAATANISTS SAY HINDUISM
IS NOT A RELIGION
23.
WHERE RELIGIONS AND ATHEISM MEET
24.
BHAJAN AND KEERTAN–OPEN EXPRESSION OF LOVE AND DEVOTION TO GOD
25.
WHY FEW TEMPLES TO BRAHMA AND SARASWATI?
26.
HASTINAPURA NEAR BUENOS
ARIIES, THE CITY OF WISDOM
27.
WAS KAPILAARANYA LOCATED IN CALIFORNIA?
28.
WHERE WEST MEETS EAST—SPIRITUAL SEASON OF DEEPAAVALI
29.
MY THOUGHTS FOR THE SPIRITUAL DEEPAAVALI SEASON
30.
SAMHAIN, GUJARAATI VIKRAM SAMAVAT AND DEEPAAVALI
31.
PRITHVEE SAANTIH! OSHADHAYAH SAANTIH! VANASPATAYAH SAANTIH!
32.
POPE FRANCIS’ SPEECH ON PROSELYTIZATION AND MONEY PLEASES THE
HINDUS
33.
NEW YEAR RESOLUTION
34.
RED AND WHITE STRIPES ON SOUTH INDIAN HINDU TEMPLE WALLS
35.
WIDENING OUR VISION AS HINDU AMERICANS
36.
DIVERSITY OF HINDU AMERICAN TEMPLES, BOTH A BLESSING AND
OBSTACLE
37.
SUBHASITAS AND THOUGHTS OF THE DAY
38.
VIVAAHA—HINDU BRAHMA SACRED MATRIN MONY
39.
CHAITANYA MAHAPRABHU AND HIS SIKSHAASHTAKA
40.
IS FLAG OF INDIA SPIRITUAL OR SECULAR?
41.
WHY HINDUS TOLERATE THE CRITICS OF THEIR SCRIPTURES?
42.
HINDU PANCHANGAMS ARE OUT OF HARMONY FOR OUR RITUALS AND
WORSHIPS
43.
KNOW THE TRUE COLORS OF OUR PANCHANGAMS
44.
SCIENCE AND RELIGION
45.
ENIGMATIC HINDU GODS ASVINS WHO INFLUENCED WESTERN CULTURE
46.
OUR DILEMMA IN OBSERVING NITYA AND NAIMITTIKA KARMAS
47.
CHANDRAMANA YUGADI AND PANCHANGAM
48.
HAYAGREEVA AVATAARA REPOSITED AND RESTORED VEDAS TO
HUMANITY
49.
ENIGMATIC HINDU GODS ASVINISWHO INFLUENCED WESTERN CULTU
50.
INTERNATIONAL YOGA DAY AND THE LEGACY OF YOGA TO MANKIND TO GROW
IN BODY AND MIND
51.
SUDARSANA CHAKRA, SUDARSANA YAJNA AND HOMAS
52.
JAGANNATHA PARIVAR AN NRUSINGHA YAJNA FOR NIRMAAN
53.
VAAMANA—TRIVIKRAMA, THE DWARF AND GIANT AVATAR OF VISHNU
54.
THE DIVINE COWS OF HINDUISM
55.
BHAKTIVEDANTA DOCTRINE AND ITS SCIENCE
OF INCARN ATION
56.
GODS, DEMI-GODS AND REINCARNATION
57.
NARAYANA—GOD TO WORSHIP AND BRAHMAN TO MEDITATE
58.
WHY I AM CALLED HINDU AND MY FOLLOWING HINDUISM?
59.
KAALABHAIRAVA—SIVA THE CUSTODIAN OF TIMES
60.
SIDDHA PHILOSOPHY, ALCHEMY AND SIDDHA SYSTEM OF MEDICINE
61.
MATSYANARAYANA AVATAr
62.
HINDU
RELIGIOUS WEDDING CEREMONY SHOULD FOLLOW THE SIMPLICITY AND
SPIRITUALITY OF
SEETAA-RAMA KALYAANAM
63.
WHY
NO NAVAGRAHA PEDASTALS IN VISHNU TEMPLES?
64.
RELEVANCE
OF UPAAKARMA CEREMONY AS SPECIAL RELIGIOUS EVENT IN TEMPLE
65.
SKANDA
UPANISHAD--SKANDA PURAANA AND SKANDA SHASHTHI
66.
IN
PRAISE OF PARASAKTI--PRIMORDIAL ENERGY AND MATERIAL PROSPER
67.
JAGANNATHA
WORSHIP PROMPTED ICONIC CONCEPT AND TEMPLE TRADITION
68.
AMAZING
TEMPLES AND THRILLING REVELATIONS
69.
SKANDA WORSHIPED EARLIER AS BALAJI IN
TIRUPATI IS SANATKUMARA IN MANY FAITHS &TRADITIONS
70.
LET
US CONSOLIDATE TEMPLE TRADITIONS STARTED BY ADISANKARA
71.
DARBHA
THE SACRED GRASS IN HINDU WORSHIPS, RITUALS AND SACRAMENTS
72.
CONCLUDING
SLOKA-PRAYERS IN HINDU WORSHIPS
73.
CHANT
HANUMAN CHALISA AND WARD OFF BHOOT/PISACH (AVESA) AND DISEASES
74.
HINDU
TEMPLE TRADITIONS—BUILDING, CONSECRATION AND WORSHIP
75.
MICROCOSMIC
HUMAN BODY SAPRINGS OUT OF MACROCOSMIC VIRAT PURUSHA
76.
EIGHTEEN FACETS OF MEDITATION—SWAMI CHIDANANDA
77.
A CRITICAL REVIEW OF ECLIPSES AND THE GREAT
SOLAR ECLIPSE OF 2017
78.
HR E-MAILS OF SECOND QUARTER 2017 SENT TO
PARTICIPANTS
79.
KNOW THE POWER OF YOUR BIRTHSATR AND THE RIGHT GRAHA FOR YOUR WORSHIP
80.
VEDIC ASTROLOGY
GUIDES OUR HOROSCOPES & ASTROLOGERS OUR HORROR-SCOPES
81.
DEVO EKAH, VEDIC 33 DEVATAS & DEITIES SUITABLE FOR COMMON WORSHIP
BY ALL….
82.
HINDU SCRIPTURES DEIFY VITAL FEELINGS, OBSTACLES, MISFORTUNES &
DISAEASES
83.
NIRRTI PRESIDING DEITY OF MOOLAA NAKSHTRA IN VEDIC ASTOLOGY
84.
RASI CHAKRA OF ZODIAC—IS THAT VEDIC ORIGIN OR BABYLONIAN?
85.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY— THIRD QUARTER OF 2017
86.
UNDERSTANDING HINDU SCRIPTURES AND TEMPLE WORSHIP TO SPIRITUALLY PROGRSS
1. DEVI WORSHIP
Hinduism is one of the surviving religions which make room for
the belief that God is both male and female. Some even say God is neither. So
we have the thought of Brahman who is indescribable. He is ever
expanding as the name suggests and sometimes he is concentrated upon
as the sacred word Om. Sakta tradition of Mother Goddess
worship is as important as the worship of Siva and Vishnu in Hinduism. Though
other Religions too had revered Goddesses' worship in the past, most
religions have forgotten or ignored her worship in the male dominated society.
One thing peculiar to Hindu Religion is it had no house cleaning and there is
no authority to do that. More gods appear, more thoughts are created but
nothing is wiped out. She is often concentrated and meditated upon in Hinduism
by the syllables OM, HREEM and SRI, symbolizing the active principle or
Primordial Energy.
Hindu Goddess rides tiger, plays the lute, dazzles divines
and demons with her divine forms, she is glorified as time and space, she
embodies cosmic energy, she holds in her hands implements of life and weapons
of death, she spins the cycle of existence as she creates and also destroys all
that is, she was and will empower and enrich her devotees with ability to
accept and appreciate the ever expanding Universe which too may merge in her
ultimately in the distant future.
In tune with the American Practice we as migrants celebrate
Mother's Day in Temples and at home while giving a Hindu touch of Mother
Worship elevating her to the status of Goddess. But do you know the origin of
Mother's Day? If not, please go through my discourse on "Maatru Devo Bhava--The
American Way"
Please go through my discourses on
"Hindu Concept of Devi (Goddess); Aaandal; Divine Principle as Mother; Srividyaa--Sri
Lalitaa and Baala Tripuraa; Navaakshari and Tripurasundari Homas; Saptaslokee
Durga and Devistuti on the BLOG: <nrsrini.blogspot.com>
(November
2011; March 201; September 2011)
2.
DIVINE INCARNATIONS
God in order to incarnate on earth in human or animal form creates an earthly body for Himself through
his inscrutable magical power called Maayaa and enters into it as Antaryamin
(inner-self). A divine incarnation is never controlled by the forces of Karma,
nor his body caused by any Praarabhda Karma (past deeds).
Adlous Huxley in his book , The Perennial Philosophy, says:
"The doctrine that God can be created in human form is found in most of
the principal historic expositions of the perennial philosophy, in
Hinduism, in Mahaayaana Buddhism, in Christianity and in
Mohammedanism of Sufis.... every human being can be thus become an Avatar by
adoption"
There are several thoughts in Hinduism regarding the Divine
Incarnation. They are: 1) Supreme God-head comes down from the heaven and
assumes the form of animate being. 2) All human beings evolve by leading a
highly religious and pious life. They get enlightened and become exalted
souls and finally release the people from worldly bondage. These noble souls
transform the society for a new world order. 3) There is a theory of Avtar
which seems to have been influenced by Buddhist conception of the former
Buddhas some of whom were worshiped in their own stupas as early as 300 B.C.E.
A large number of Buddhists were admitted to the fold Vaishnavas as suggested by
the inclusion of Gautama Buddha in the list Vishnu Avatars that made Buddhism
disappear from India.
Divine Incarnation is not confined to Vishnu alone as many think
having been influenced by the popularity of worship of Dasaavataaras. There are
also many other incarnations of Siva and Devi (Goddess). India sees
several human beings declaring themselves to be either avatars or
representatives of the Supreme Being or their devotees superimposing the
avatars on their Gurus (like Saibaba, Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Chaitanya etc.)
God incarnates for reformation and not for retribution. It is not
so much for punishing the erring individual or individuals as for providing the
greatest opportunity to those following the evil path to get them reformed.
Those choosing the spiritual path get redeemed while those tread the life-path
of pleasure and temptations suffer.
I have in the past dealt with some Avatars in a different context.
The present discourse consolidates all views as to the general concept of
Divine Incarnations and does not deal with Puranic stories with which
every Hindu is familiar from his childhood.
We have too many Avatars to focus our prayers today and we are
creating more and more Avatars building even individual temples. Probably
Mahatma Gandhi, Satya Saibaba and Aindra Maata (statue of Liberty) too are in
the waiting list! Then we have Karunaamayi and others too as future
possibilities! Lord Krishna says in Geetaa that every Avatar takes place
whenever Dharma declines. I often wonder why we should trouble the
Supreme or the liberated souls to come down to us so often by our bad
deeds rather than we going to Him to enjoy His Bliss by our good deeds?
Of course more Avatars by his descent or our Creation of Avatars will make
temple worship more colorful profitable and keep us busy all the 365
days. This may be our approach to give less attention towards Adharma
keeping busy with special worships all through the year! But better it would be
to refrain from resorting to Adharma and not to give opportunity
for more Avatars to descend on this earth. Soon Avataras too may get jam packed
like the growing population! It is therefore necessary for us to focus
on Spiritual evolution rather than to focus on short time quick and
temporary result oriented religious celebrations!
Please visit the Blog Hindu Reflections at:
<nrsrini.blogspot.com> for a detailed discourse on Concept of Divine Incarnations in Hindu Theology.
(December 2011; May 2012;)
3. PHILOSOPHY SCHOOLS OF
HINDUISM
Western Philosophy is essentially an intellectual quest for
Truth. Hindu Philosophy is intensely spiritual and emphasizes the need for
practical realization of Truth or God-head. Hindu philosophy is popularly
called Darsana or Vision. Upanishadic Thoughts brought forth this vision by
great masters. It stands for the direct, immediate and intuitive vision of
Reality, the actual perception of Truth, and also includes the means which
lead to this realization. Though these philosophies differ in their
approach, they have been found on the sound principles based on Upanishads
which is also based on the different thoughts of those
who taught and those that listened, understood and propagated.
The present discourse is a compilation of fourl lectures given
to Vedanta Class. The Blog contains already individual lectures on Dvaita,
Vishishaadvaita and Basava philosophies. This compilation includes them
also in greater detail besides many other schools of thought.
Hinduism gives the option to study all these under the banner of Sanatana
Dharma and choose what is best suited for individual's mental approach.
Just as all rivers lead to the ocean and lose their identity these also
lead to the ultimate truth and lose their individualistic approach to reach the
same goal.
Hinduism is a Way of Life and is not a Religion. In fact
even Christianity the earliest followers called it simply "The
Way" as propagated by Jesus but later his followers gave it the name
Christianity and brought regimentation to call it a religion.
Thomas, one of the Apostles, founded the first Christian church in India,
for the first time in the World, in A.D. 52. In Hinduism there
is no word equivalent to Religion (in Sasnskrit). Hindus are bound by
Traditions and Philosophy which may be rightly called as Sampradayas and
Siddhantas, all coming under Sanaatana Dharma (Eternal Tradition). With this
posting I conclude my discourses on Hindu Philosophy but for Aaurobindo's which
will appear later elsewhere.
Looking at the present trends in America as followed by Hindu-Americans we
may loosely call Sanatan Dharma as an Integrated
Eternal Traditionconsisting of Hindus, Buddhist, Jains,
Sikhs and other Neo-Hindus like Velansamy (Hawaii Temple),
Vamadeva Sastri (David Frawley), Hare-Krishna Movement Followers etc., as
well as Inter-racial married couples who believe in Sanatana
Dharama. We have already started common form worship for many Sampradayas
including celebrations of some American Holidays like
Thanksgiving, Mother's day, Father's Day, Valentine’s Day, New Year’s Day
etc in Hindu Temples. Why not call them then Santana Dharma
Temples overseas? We have the Vedic
sanction Vasudeiva Kutumbakam(Whole world as one
family). Any certified vegetarian Vedic scholar trained in
Temple worship could be hired as priest. There was a suggestion from a
progressive Hindu-American thinker that Hindu temples should
have at least one Non-Brahmin priest in India Abroad. But who will study
Vedas? Even children of Hindu-American Brahmin priests are
drawn to Western Culture and are not interested in the family profession! Who
will start Veda Schools and who will join to make it a profession? Will
that become a permanent feature to serve future generations overseas? It
is too intricate a subject but needs deep heart- search by every
Hindu-American as well as Overseas Hindus who have moved to newer
pastures.
Some
schools of Hindu Philosophy say that God has really become this manifold
universe just as milk becomes yogurt. Other schools say that God only
appears to have become this universe. He has not really become the world. A
rope in partial darkness may appear to be a snake to an observer; so also God
may apparently become the world. He has not really transformed Himself into the
world.
I believe you had an opportunity to go through
the various discourses on Hindu Philosophy Schools released during the
Philosophers' Fortnight. It may not be a surprise if some of you
may have the doubt as to which one of them to follow in our spiritual
pursuit. Even Sankaracharya was in double mind after coming out
with his powerful postulations based on his in-depth study of several
Upanishads as described in my discourse above.
Foremost in our mind will be which one of the philosophy to
follow as ideal after going through all of them? Also why there should be such
contradicting thoughts for seeking salvation which we all need? Please go
through the discourse posted on the blog, <nrsrini.blogspot.com>: “Philosophy Schools of Hinduism” and
"Epilogue on Discourses on Hindu Philosophy Schools" and
adopt the one that suits your spiritual pursuit.
(April 2012: May 2012)
4.
MADHVA AND HIS PHILOSOPHY OF DVAITA
Madhwacharya, founder of Dvaita Philosophy was born on Magha
Sukla Navami in the twelfth century. His birth day falls on February 1 this year.
He lived a robust life of 79 years. He practiced Yoga and had occult
powers; but he never made use of it except on rare occasions when
situation demanded. He had his early education under a Guru of Advaita
philosophy. He was quite conversant with Vishishtaadvaita Philosophy
of RamAnuja. But realizing the need of the hour where Bhaktimaarga was
gaining grounds, he taught men to look upon the world of matter and soul as
real instead of as illusory (maaya) and unreal in a philosophical sense.
He said God alone is the one independent Reality (Svatantra) and
everything else is Paratantra (dependent) on him. Hence his system was later
given the name of Dvaita or Dualism. His Guru also became his ardent student.
To Madhwa, Bhakti was no blind faith. He rescued it from the
pitfalls of sentimentalism, eroticism and other maladies. He was against animal
sacrifice in Yajnas. He placed Bhakti (devotion) in its right perspective as
love of God based on right understanding of his glory. Madhva was a profound scholar
in Sanskrit both in prose and and verse. He could speak many languages.
He wrote thirty-nine works known as Sarvamoola. They include commentaries
on Rigveda, Upanishads, Geetaa, Brahmasootra, Mahabhaarata, Bhaagavata and
critical works on logic and metaphysics, rituals and right conduct
(sadaachaara).
The Chaitanya Sampradaya of Bengal is greatly indebted to
His philosophy. Followers of Madhwa are found in large numbers
in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra, Maharashtra, Goa and U.P. His followers
Jayateertha, Vyasateertha, Vadiraja and Raghvendra and others spread his
philosophy. Well known Kannada Haridaasas--Purandara Dasa,
Kanaka Dasa and Jagnnatha
Dasa spread his message through their Bhajans who owed
allegiance to him.
They explained the difficult doctrines of Madhwa philosophy in
clear Kannada language. The songs of Daasas were not merely
musically excellent but also provided the attributes, glory and exploits of
God.
On the coast Karnataka stands the holy shrine of Udupi
Krishna. This idol was installed by Madhva which he got while saving the
ship of a sea-captain from a storm by directing it to the shore. As the legend
goes this was made by Rohini, Krishna's step mother to please Rukmini, who
had never seen Krishna as a child. After the destruction of Dwaraka, it was
retrieved by Arjuna from under the sea. The idol was installed facing the East
but it turned West so that a low caste devotee Kanakdaasa who was prohibited
from entering the shrine, could look at him through the crack in the western
wall.
Madhwa is believed to be an incarnation of Vaayu like Hanuman.
His life history reveals that he had met Vedavyaasa (who is believed to be a
Chiranjeevi) in the Himalayas, spent some time with him and with great
reluctance returned back to human society to spread the new message
approved and endorsed by him. That in essence is his Dvaita philosophy
which has been given to the world as most practical coming after Advaita and
Vishishtaadvaita philosophies.
Please go through the discourse Madhwa and his
Philosophy of Dvaita.
(January
2012)
5. RAMANUJA AND HIS
PHILOSOPHY OF VISHISHTAADVAITA
Ramanuja (1017 t0 1137)
was the great Vaishnava saint and Philosopher.
He is believed to be the incarnation of Lakshmana (brother of Rama) and
so was called Ramanuja. He upheld Bhakti (devotion) and Sarnaagati (surrender
to God) as the paths to realization of Brahman or Liberation.There is no
distinction between high and low, between the so called touchables and untouchablesin the quest of
divine grace.
He talked at length on God (Easwara), soul (Chit) and matter
(Achit). God alone is independent; the other two are dependent on God
(Paramaatman or Easwara) alone, according to him. His philosophy is known as
Vishishta-advaita. He wrote commentaries
on Brahmasootra, the Upanishads and the Bhagavadgeetaa. They are together
called Prasthaanatrayee which proclaim Bhakti as the chief means of realizing
God.
He upheld humans are born equal and that caste or social status
has no role in determining one’s relationship with God. His Guru was Kanchi
Poorna, who was not a Brahmin. One of
his most trust-worthy disciples Dhanurdaasa was from a lower caste. He defined
Vaishnava as one who has abundant love of God and he is worthy of respect. He
believed in personal God. In Vishitaadvaita philosophy Brahman is addressed as
Sriman Narayana.
Please visit the Blog Hindu
Reflections; <nrsrini.blogspot.com>
for a detailed discourse on “Vishitaadvaita
Philosophy of Ramanuja”
(April 2012)
6.
ASHTAANGAYOGA OF PATAANJALI AND KAIVALYA UPANISHAD
Bhagavadgeetaa
speaks of Sankhyayoga a combination of Sankhya Philosophy and Yoga Practice.
Patanjali's Yogasootras believes in God while Sankhya does not. The fourth
part of Yoga is called Kaivalyapaada. Kaivalya Upanishad prescribes Aasaana,
part of Yogasaastra, for meditation in a calm and clean atmosphere like
Bhagavadgeetaa where it deals with it at length. In this
Upanishad Brahma the creator is the Guru and the great Rigvedic teacher
Asvalaayana is the disciple. This Upanishad is also known as Brahma
Satarudreeyaa which glorifies Nirguna Brahman and recommends it for
chanting more sacred than Rudram of Rigveda. Rudram in Rigveda deals
more with Personal God.
In Bhagvadgeeta Krishna is mostly represented as a teacher of
great wisdom and erudition: he figures as a Yogi. The Bhagvata records that
Krishna sat up every morning for meditation merging himself with the
transcendental Self. We read in Mahabharata also that Krishna was in the habit
of meditating on Brahman in the hours before sun-rise. Krishna in all
probability was historical in character, and was philosopher who
harmonized the Sankhya-Yoga with the Brahmavada of Upsnishads. Krishna lived on
earth for only 120 years unlike Rama who lived for more than100000 years as the
Puranas say.
Junior President of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
stirred up national attention when he blasted yoga in his Blog; so also the
head of the Islamic Council in Malaysia as well as Vatican. They think Yoga
practice indirectly helps to spread Hinduism and is a propaganda medium.
They strongly recommend their followers to refrain from Yoga practices.
Recently Anderson, a young Yoga teacher from Nashville has gradually added
Christian teaching to her Yoga and calls it Holy Yoga. "If God
is sovereign over all things then I have to know Yoga falls into
that", she says. These have in a way helped the popularity
of physical exercise practices of Yogasaastra by non-Hindus. Everyone
recognizes its merits. On the other hand authors on Hinduism like Deepak
Chopra have tried to discredit Yoga without much success calling it
not based on Hinduism though the current popularity owes it to the great
spiritual Hindu sage Pataanjali. In broader sense Deepak Chopra may be right
because at the time Pataanjali came out with his Ashtaanga Yoga there was only
Eternal Tradition (Sanatana Dharma) which got reduced to a religion called
Hinduism a name given by foreigners to then emerged coglomoration of faiths and
beliefs of later days. My own Yoga teacher who is a staunch Christian begins
every class with a prayer from the book of " Prayers for Thousand
Years" by Elizabeth Robert whose contents are drawn from Upanishads and he
ends his class with obeisance to the Supreme Principle with the word
"Namaste".
It may be of interest to know that Ashtaanga itself is a small
portion of Pataanjali Sootras and Aasana sometimes clubbed with Praanaayaama is
still a very small portion of Ashtaanga. Yoga promoters have popularized these
physical exercises from Yogasaastra for the benefit of mankind calling it Yoga.
Yoga is a metaphysical science which they have reduced to a meager physical
exercise neglecting the main theme of its spiritual aspect of meditation
on the Supreme Principle and attainment of Liberation (Kaivalya). They are also
sufficiently meddling with these physical exercises portion (Aasana) to
call it Hot Yoga, Holy Yoga etc. You might all know once a hatha
yogi demonstrated yogic powers to British Parliamentarians walking on River
Thames in winter with bare foot. There is also a Biblical story that Peter was
about to be drowned walking on waters imitating his Master Jesus Christ for
want of Faith. Someone in later years may claim that Yoga was postulated
by Lord Jesus Christ while he was away after his boyhood days till
his adulthood, as this period of his life history is obscure and prove by
historic manipulations that Pataanjali the author of Ashtaanga Yoga
belongs to a much later period! They may also say Yoga is religious and
not spiritual and even a forerunner to spiritual Yoga if they can link word
Yoga to some word in Hebrew. Some Hindus claimed Jesus was in Kashmir
during this obscure period and there is a book about it. Robert Arnett also
mentions about it in his boo India unveiled.
For the discourses “Ashtaanga
Yoga of Pataanjali”, “Mantras from
Kaivalya Upanishad” and “Kaivalya
Upanishad” please visit the Blog: <nrsrini.blogspot.com>.
(October 2011)
7. HINDU TEMPLE RITUALS AND WORSHIP
The polytheism of the Hindus is apparent through
their Temple worship. It remains a riddle against the Vedic dictum Tadekam—that
ONE. The Vedic statement “Eko Viprah bahudaa vadanti”—The one the
wise call by many names and the Statement of Lord Krishna in the Bhagvadgeetaa that
“He, the Supreme Lord (Ekam), will respond to the devotees in whichever
form they worship him and in whichever way they approach him”,
can form the philosophical basis, typical to Hinduism, for this polytheism.
There is the other Vedic statement “ Om Tat Sarvam’”—that Brahman
is everything. So God can mean all things to all
men, and human beings can supplicate Him for anything—from the sublime
to ridiculous.
There are three aspects to this polytheism as
seen in Temple worship. The deities of three main traditions—the trinity consisting
of Brahma, Vishnu and Siva along with theirconsorts form
the first aspect. Then there are minor deities like Ganeha,
Kumaara, Soorya as prescribed in Shanmathas by Sankara and glorified in
Puranas. It is not very clearwhy Sankara wanted
to promote Shanmathas (six schools of worship) being the strong
advocate of Advaita Philosophy? Perhaps he tried to minimize polytheism to
bare minimum of six knowing the minds of the people. Then we have the
third aspect deities who are protectors of the world (Dikpalakas)—Indra,
Varuna, Agni, Vaayu and others. In addition we have any number
of village deities and demigods who can be regarded
either as very limited manifestations of the Supreme God or as forces of nature
deified or as human beings who by virtue of some
special merit and power are elevated to godhood in course of time,
after their death (Sankara, Ramanuja, Saibaba, Raghavendra etc). It is
therefore no wonder we come across a wide variety of temples to accommodate all
these deities. Still we go to any extent to prove we are not polytheistic and
Hinduism is not faith based. The gods of Hinduism have successfully created
enough confusion in the minds of the followers of alien faiths who
have had a chance to come across them. It has also caused enough conflicts
within the Hindu-fold also.
The only way to get out of this confusion seems to be to follow
the path of spiritual discipline (Sanatana Dharma) which when sincerely
followed will invariably lead to Godhead. At present
attempts are made to spoon-feed the essence of religion to the uninitiated
and spiritually backward minds. Such spiritually backward minds are
not able to get out of superstition and irrational beliefs, create
their own rituals totally divorced from any spiritual discipline. Even Ramanuja
was not able to persuade to stop the Tamasa mode of worship in the Sakta
cults of Pancha Makara Tattvas in places like Puri. These are Madya
(wine), Mamsa(meat), Matsya (fish), Mudra (occult gestures), and Maithuna
(copulation). Sandhipuja and Sola puja still
continues in Jagannath Temple and also in Kashmir Kaula Sampradaya temples. Animal
acrifice is carried out in Kali temple in Kolkota. With strong persuasion
Madhva stopped animal sacrifices during Vedic Yajnas. Fortunately these
practices have not been followed in Hindu Temples built in USA so far.
It is therefore necessary to understand the
original intent of temple and temple worship and rituals associated with
it, focus on spiritual approach in all our ways of worship and spiritually
train our minds. The following discourses and the one by
Jagadgururu Chandrsekharanada Saraswati (Retold) are aimed towards the same. These are:
1) Divine Character of Hindu Temple in Character and Design; 2)
Symbolism of Hindu Temples and Popular deities; 3) Hindu
Traditional Practices for Temple Visit; 4) Abhivaadanam, Gotras and Charan
Spars: 5) Some customary Rituals in Lord’s Worship (like Abhisheka, Homa,
Kumkumaarchan etc.) 6) Kalyaanoetsava Ceremony for the Lord in Temples;
7) Kumbhabhishekam. Please visit <nrsrini.blogspot.com> for
detailed discourses on these topics.
(February
2012;
8.
TEERTHAYAATRA OR HINDU PILGRIMAGE
Teertyaatra or Pilgrimage has been an integral part of
Hindu religious life. Puranas recommend fasting on the previous day before the
journey, worship of family deity, Navagrahas and giving gifts to the needy on
the day of the departure. One should lead an austere life during pilgrimage.
After returning, repetition of worship of the deities, poor feeding and
offering of gifts as a mark of thanks giving.
Worship in India is expressed through many natural forms
including the elements, trees, rivers and hills. The entire country is pervaded
with sanctity due to the association of the creation with the Lord in one form
or another. India is rightly known as Punya Bhoomi or the holy land.
Teerthayaatra has been listed as one of the universal or common duties
(Samaanya Dharama) and is supposed to destroy one's sins, give religious merit
(punya) and purity of mind. Today it has become a part of Tourism Industry in
India.
Discourse on Sooktas of Mahanarayana Upanishad posted in the
Blog contains Mantras that are to be chanted at the time of taking dip in holy
rivers and also for the atonement of sins accumulated during life
time. The present discourse includes
visits to pilgrim centers covering from Badrinath in the North to Rameshvaram
in the South. Please visit the BLOG: <nrsrini.blogspot.com>
which will take you through these
enchanting places blessed with divine power and showering divine
grace on the participating pilgrims bringing peace and tranquility to focus
thoughts on the Supreme in a divine atmosphere.
(September 2011)
9. DURGAA
Durgaa is the most celebrated deity of Bengal. Durga means one
who is impossible to conquer. It is customary to worship Durga, Lakshmi and and
Saraswati the consorts of Trinities in Mythology during Navaraatri. Durga
is considered as Primordial energy and she is worshiped alone during Durga
poojaa. She is worshiped chanting Durgasooktam during the nine days
of Navaraatri in the form of Navadurgas. Out of the three forms of
Durga--Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati emerged Navadurgas, three from each. Navadurgas
are: Shilaaputri; Brahmachaarini; Chandrtaghanta; Kushmaanda; Skanda-maataa;
Katyaayini; Kaalaraatri; Mahaagauri and Siddhadaatri. Durgaa is a Vedic deity
and Durgaa sooktam is the earliest Vedic Mantra and is the most sacred mantra.
In this she is meditated up on as Brahman and as Kaatyaayani with the
concluding famous Durgaa Gaayatri Mantra.
This text is difficult to pronounce as well as understand for
those who have not studied Sanskrit in depth, as is typical of Durga. This
sookta is very important for worshipers of Durga. Many of you who are
Jaganaatha worshipers may know that
in Tantric form of Worship Subhadra is actually Durgaa or Primordeal energy and
not the mythological sister of Krishna. Puri is also known as Srikshetra though
it is popular as Purusottama Kshetra. The iconioc representation we see in
Jagaannath is what Indradyumana perceived in his dream Parabrahman or Universal
Lord in different forms (vyaahritis) as Krishna, Subhadra and Balabhadra.
Hence Durgasookta is also importnat to all worshipers of Jagannath.
Please visit The Blog
Hindu Reflections:<nrsrini.blogspot.com> for a discourse on “Durgaa, the Inaccessible”
(March 2012)
10. HINDU CALENDAR AND TIME MEASUREMENT
Closely watching the solar system to which this
earth belongs, our sages observed that the apparent path covered by the Sun in
relation to earth (called the ecliptic), recurred periodically with rhythmic
precision. Likewise they noticed that the Moon's path in relation to
earth also recurred at regular intervals. Based on this they established units
of time such as day, month, year etc. and gained ability to precisely forecast
the timing of these recurring celestial events. Thus they gave mankind a system
of measurement, by which the correct times for observance of religious rites
can be ascertained in accordance with Saastric injunctions. These were the
origin of Panchaangam (Hindu Calendar).
Based on the time taken for one winking of human eye our sages
established the basic unit of time measurement as Kshana as said in Mahaa
Naaraayan Upanishad. Starting from Kshana and following the various units of
measurement established by our sages we arrive at Veda's age or Brahma's age as
155.521972 trillion years. Closely watching the Solar system our Rishis established
units of time such as Day (Vaara), Fortnight (Paksha), Month (Maasa) and
Year (Samvatsara). They also established the cycle of years as 60 years for
each cycle giving each year a name (Prabhava, Vibhava etc.). This they needed
for conducting their rituals and Vedic sacrifices in strict observance of
the movements of the stars.
They further established a cycle of four Eons (Yugas) Krita
(Satya), Treta, Dvaapara and Kali to constitute a Mahaayuga. One Mahaayuga
accounts for 4,320,000 human years. 1000 Mahaayugas will be 4,320,000,000 human
years. 1000 Mahayugas add up to the period of 14 Manus. When Brahma goes
to sleep at night the first three worlds will be dissolved in the Pralaya
(deluge). This is called Avaantara Pralaya (Intermediate deluge). This
date of creation according to Jyotisha more or less agrees with the view of
modern science which is 4.32 billion years. Brahmas life span is 100 Brahama
years. Brahma's position is that of an executive. It is believed the next
Brahma will be Hanuman (Dharma, Chandrasekharaananda Sarasvati, Sankarachaarya
of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham). The present Brahma is half-way in his
51st year.
Fourteen Manus reign successively during one day time of Brahma.
Soone Manvantara is 71 Mahayugas. Now we are in the 28th Mahayuga of the Manu
Vaivaswata. In this we are in Kaliyuga. This is what we say in our Sankalpa
(resolution) for performing any ritual. The present period of 14 Manus is known
as Svetavaraaha kalpa. Scientists have calculated the time when the sun's heat will
be reduced so much that life on Earth cannot be sustained, then this world
will perish. The date on which this will occur agrees with that given by our
scriptures for the next Avaantara Pralaya.
Please visit BLOG;<nrsrini.blogspot.com> for discourses: Time
Measurement ; Units of Time, Breath and Cosmology; Hindu Calendar.
(October
2011)
11. MYTHOLOGY AND RITUALS
The continual absorption and
dissimulation of different beliefs is perhaps the dominant characteristic of
Hindu Religion. This has helped Hindu Religion give rise to such a rich and
varied mythology. A significant feature of Hindu belief is the desire to
transcend the chaos and unpredictability of the world in order to find Moksha
or liberation. From the earliest times evidence suggests that people believe
that they might achieve the goal through the practice of prayer or meditation.
This has also helped in rich and varied mythology and a wide variety of
ritualistic practices. In times of disastrous situations Hindus resign to deep prayers,
which make God to rush to the scene to give the relief. This has created
several Puranas which others call myth.
Hindus call mythology as Itihaasas and Puraanas. To
them they are History--His+story or the story of the Lord.
Puraanas have given great impetus to iconography. 'Puraa' means in the
past. Therefore that which gives an account of what happened in the past is
"Puraana". Itihaasam=iti+haa+asam, meaning it truly happened--"haa"
means truly. Itihaasas are placed on equal footing with Vedas and are often regarded
as Fifth Veda (according to Jagadguru Sankaracharya Chandrasekharananda).
So researches are working constantly to find these historic
facts: Thus someone has found the relics of Dwaaraka of Lord Krishna in
the seas bordering Gujarat; some British officer saw Rama and Lakshman guarding
the city walking on the flood waters in Madurantakam during floods and
recorded it in Fort St. George Gazette; Madhva's disciple saw Madhva
disappearing in the Himalayan blizzards and then reappearing after a long
time meeting Vedavyasa though barely dressed in loin cloth; someone recovered
the boulders used by the mighty Nala to build Setu (bridge) across the Indian
Ocean connecting Lanka; some records were found in Buddhist monastery in Tibet
as to the visit of Isa (Jesus Christ); audience of Advaita scholars who came to
question Ramanuja on his philosophy of Vishishtaadvaita saw Adiseha hovering
over the head of Ramanuja, who is believed to be the incarnation of
Adisesha, when the curtain was opened in Thondanur, and so on. You all will
have your own stories too!
For a discourse on “Mythology” as well as my
interesting discourse on “Hindu
Rituals and Mythology” please
visit the Blog Hindu Reflections:<nrsrini.blogspot.com>
(November
2011)
12. FORMS OF HINDU
WORSHIP
The earliest form of Hindu worship was performing Yajnas (fire
sacrifices) which dominated the Vedic Period. Later this gave way
to Japayoga. Presently Bhaktimaarga is the most popular mode of worship. Yet the
most ancient form of worship Yajna dominates Hindu way of Life and forms an
essential part of temple worship, rituals at home and part and parcel of
the performance of prescribed Samskaaras from time to time. Many Vedic
mantras make use of the terms used in Yajna in their import. It is therefore
necessary to get a basic knowledge of yajna which was a powerful means of
worship in Vedic days. Yajna also moved away for a time from its spiritual
sense of Purushasookta days to materialistic approach against which people
protested. This gave birth to Buddhism and Jainism that opposed animal
sacrifices and anything against the principle of Ahimsa. Hinduism soon
corrected its wrong approach to a large extent and absorbed Buddha himself as
an Avataar of Vishnu and rescued Hinduism from moving towards atheism
thanks to the revival by the great philosopher Sankara. As you also know the
recently corrected time of Sankaracharya from the historic date known to
us runs parallel to that of Buddha. (509-477 B.C.E.)
Threefold purposes of Yajna, the Vedic fire sacrifice are: 1) To
earn the blessings of deities so that we as well as other living beings may be
happy in this world; 2) To ensure that after death we will live happily in the
celestial world. Our joy in the celestial world lasts only until such time as
we exhaust the merit (Punya) earned in this world. This joy is not complete or
full as the joy which a liberated soul enjoys called Eternal Bliss, in
which state one enjoys the experience of Eesvara; 3) the third purpose is to
perform sacrifices without any expectation of reward as taught in the
Bhagavadgeeta. It is a selfless performance. It is our duty to invoke the
blessings of the Gods for the welfare of the world.
Yajna was performed first Viratpurusha, performed then by
Rishis and then adopted by people (praja) in the course of creation
(Please refer to Purushasookta text). Yajna therefore plays a vital part in
Hindu's religious life (Please refer to the glorification of Yajna given at the
end of the discourse in Appendix from Maha Narayana Upanishad).
Please visit Blog Hindu Reflections: <nrsrini.blogspot.com>
for the discourses “Yajnas—the Vedic
Fire Sacrifices”, Japayoga, “Evolution of
Bhakti Maarga” “Purusha Sookta Homam” and The Yajna in Purusha Sookta”.
October 2011)
13.
PHYSICAL FORMS OF HINDU WORSHIP (KAAYIKA KARMA)
It is possible to give greater expression in physical form of
worship than in oral or mental form of worship. Lord Krishna has given his
directive to this in Bhagavadgeetaa while he said “patram pushpam phalam toyam yoe may bhaktya prayacchati”. \Today’s
physical worship essentially contains these—a leaf (Tulasi or bilva), a choice
fruit, a choice flower and little water offered as a symbol of his love and devotion.
But we believe in quantity also to
derive more benefits! If you closely observe a devotee presents the symbols of
five elements which constitute the entire universe, for he cannot offer
anything that does not belong to him--flowers, water, light, a hand fan,
turmeric, sandal paste, food, a piece
of cloth etc. He also pays his obeisance to these five elements during the
physical acts of worship.
Whether a pooja is conducted at home or temple, the chosen deity
is treated as a guest. The basic pooja is called Panchoepachaara (five-fold
offering). A more elaborate pooja is called Shodasoepachaara Pooja (a sixteen
steps pooja). The most elaborate one is Chatus-shashthi-upachaara pooja
(Sixty-four steps pooja).
Scriptural texts called Aagamas prescribe the different aspects
of worship. They include methods of worship, prayers, and mantras associated
with worship including monthly and yearly festivals to be celebrated by the
followers of Siva or Vishnun or Sakti. In this they have drawn liberally support
from Vedas and various Namaavalis inspired by Rudram and Vishnu Sahasranaamam
initially to atone, concentrate on Brahmopaasana (prayer to the Supreme
Principle) and surrender completely. Whatever way the Pooja is performed, the
ultimate goal is to dedicate one’s actions to the service of the Lord and
making the religious life a continuous process of spiritual growth.
Please visit the Blog Hindu Reflections
<nrsrini.blogspot.com> for the discourse: “Motivation behind Modality of Ceremonial Aaraadhana
(Worship)”; “Sixteen-steps Worship of the Deity at Vishnu Temples and at Home” and “Prologue on Hindu Mass worship in Temples” “Hindu Mass Worship in
Temples and the Need for Spiritual Focus”
(January 2012; August 2013)
14.
HISTORIC AND ORTHODOX DATES OF INDIA
Historic
Dates we have all learnt at school from the Indian History from Western
Historians and Western educated Indian Historians has been very sketchy and
speculative for early and medieval Vedic period. We all learn quite often that
some of the dates were purposely manipulated for the Indian History of
Christian Era before Christ to make Hindu Religion look more recent and a Pagan
Religion of beliefs and faiths. In spite of modern discovery of Harappa and
Mohenjadaro, excavations of Kambhata (Gulf of Cambay) and exhaustive researches
conducted by the Institutions studying Indology, no serious or bold steps have
been taken by the Indian Government to revise these dates. To satisfy the
inquiring mind of Immigrant Hindus some scholars in USA and institutions like
Ramakrishna Math have tried to find authentic dates for many events and
personalities. These were mostly based on astronomical dates found in literary
sources which did not find favor with Western Historians who dismissed Jyothisha
as purely speculative forgetting the fact early Jyotisha gave birth to modern
astronomy and even today many of its predictions agree with modern sciences as
we have discussed earlier. Unfortunately being modest our sages did not reveal
the dates or names in these scriptures as they were more concerned with the
contents rather than seeking recognition or fame.
Please
find enclosed a brief survey of some of the Pre-Christian Era historic dates.
The list serves only as examples of some events and not exhaustive or
conclusive. It is just to remind you all to be on the look-out for authentic
dates in which you are interested from the available sources and not to go by
what present Indian History says for the ancient and difficult periods in
Indian History.
Please
go through my discourse on “Orthodox and
Historic Dates of Hindu Scriptures,
Events, and
Personalities”; “How Can be the Wrong History of Ancient India corrected?”
and “Can
We Believe All that is Said About time and Creation in Scriptures?
(December
2011; April 2012 )
15. AMAZING NUMBERS IN HINDU SCRIPTURES
Albert Einstein complimented Indians for their contribution as
to the concept of Numbers without which
no scientific concept was ever possible.
In all the four Vedas there are several hymns dealing with numbers. The
decimal system for positive integers had become popular in those days. In the
series of ten mention is made of Sata=hundred; Sahasra=thousand, Ayuta=ten
thousand; Laksha or Niyuta=hundred thousand; Payuta= million; Arbuda=ten
million; Nyarbuda=hundred million; Samudra=billion; Madhya=ten billion;
anta=hundred billion; paraardha=thousand billion.
Hindus with Sanskrit knowledge and who are religiously inclined
read Valmiki Ramayana during Navaraatri.
Since Ramayana contains 24000 slokas
this holy reading (paaraayanam; Poojaa path) starts much earlier and
completed on Vijayadasmi Day celebrating
Rama Pattabhishekam (ascending the throne) and his glorious rule. People also
invite people for the holy reading/listening (pathanam/sravanam) and grand
celebration on Vijayadasmi Day with a grand meal served as prasaad. It is
customary to do holy reading (paaraayana) of Ramayana during Navaratri in the
South of India. This ancient epic of poetic composition is called Mahaakaavya
or Aaadikavya and known for its poetic excellence.
In the context of my lectures on divinity of numbers I was
attracted to the concluding slokas of Yuddhakaanda, Chapter XXVIII. Here the two spies of Ravana Suka and Sarana
take a complete survey of the armies of monkeys under several leaders and give a complete description of the same with
the numbers of monkeys under each leader.
It is surprising to learn the amazing knowledge of numbers prevalent in
such ancient times and also how capable they were to conduct the survey for
actual reporting. As we all know we
struggle hard to-day to conduct human census even periodically with all the
facilities and support available today.
I do not know whether even National Geographic Magazine has ever
reported as to the census of Monkeys in the world. But the twin secret agents
of Ravana alone could accomplish this Herculean task. Interested readers should
read the Ramayana if they have the knowledge of Sanskrit. The values for the same names differ in Ramayana from Vedas and other scriptural sources.
I have quoted in my previous E-mail that astronomical scriptures
had the knowledge of numbers up to ten raised to the power of 53 which is one
followed by 54 zeros. Ramayana even goes beyond that. In slokas 33 to 42 Suka
reports to Ravanaas follows: “The wise speak of a hundred thousand multiplied
by hundred as crore (lakh X 100), while a lakh of such a crore is Sanku (10^7 X
10^5=10^12). A lakh of Sankhu is known as Mahaasanku (10^5 X 10^ 12=
10^17). A lakh of Mahaasanku is known as
Vrinda (10^5 X 10^17=10^22). A lakh of Vrindas is known as Mahaavrinda (10^5 X
10^22=10^27). A lakh of Mahaavrindas is spoken of in this context as Padma
(10^5 X 10^27=10^32). A lakh of Padmas is known as Mahaapadma (10^5 X
10^32=10^37). A lakh of Mahaapadmas is spoken of in this context as Kharva
(10^5 X 10^37
=10^42). A lakh of Kharva is known as Mahaakarva (10^5 X
10^42=10^47). A lakh of Mahaakharvas is called Samudra (10^5 X 10^47=10^52). A
lakh of Samudras is called an Ogha (10^5 X 10^52=10^57). A lakh of Oghas is
popularly known as Mahaugha (10^5 X 10^57=10^62). Surrounded according to this
computation by a thousand crore and one hundred Sankus and a thousand
Mahaasankus and likewise by a hundred Vrindas, even so by a thousand
Mahaavrindas and a hundred Padmas, in the same manner by thousand Mahaapadmas and a hundred Kharvas, nay by Samudras and similarly by a hundred Mahaughas
and a hundred crore Mahaughas of monkey warriors, as well as by the gallant
Vibhishana and his own ministers, Sugriva, the ruler of monkeys is following
you for waging war—Sugriva who is thus surrounded by a huge army and ever
endowed with extra-ordinary might and
prowess. Carefully observing, Oh great King,
this army ranged like a blazing planet;a supreme effort now be put forth
so that your victory may be ensured and no discomfiture may follow at the hands
of the enemies”—Yuddhakaanda, Chapter 28, slokas 33 to 42 of Valmiki
Ramayana.
You can very well imagine the mathematical knowledge, the skill
to count and take census or even make estimation looking at a crowd going as a
spy. We also find a systematic way of nomenclature in those days of yore. I do
not know how Goswami Tulsidas describes this in his Yuddhakaanda as I do not
have with me readily Ramcharit Manas. He should be much more descriptive than
Valmiki being in Kaliyuga. I need not tell you how long before this text was
written as by now you all now know the time that has elapsed between now and
then being happily located in computer age. You may also refer to my discourse
on Time Measurement posted on the Blog in October 2011. 10^5 is generally
understood by scientists and engineers as 10 rose to the power of 5 or 1
followed by 5 zeros or one lakh or 100 thousands. I do not find much reference
to Ramayana on this subject in literature though references are made to Vedas
and scriptures of Astronomy.
16.
DOCTRINE OF KARAMA (ACTION AND REACTION) IN HINDUISM
Living in USA Hindu Americans cannot escape going through
the two celebrated religious seasons of the year—Easter and Christmas which
are also incidentally highly commercialized to enjoy shopping for these
festivals. We do not lag behind during Diwali and Navaratri in this
regard. Majority being Christians America forcefully brings
forth catchy slogans with deep religious fervor: “Sin is
the Reason for the Season” for Easter and “Jesus is the Reason
for the Season” for Christmas. It is because Christianity like
certain other founded religions believes in Resurrection and not
Reincarnation. Accordingly believers seriously think of
their sinful actions during Easter but hope for the Lord to
arrive to redeem their sins en-mass however serious their action may be
as one time Pardon, during Christmas.
Hinduism on the other hand thinks of Karma as Action and
Reaction and Punarjanma as Reincarnation with the
Wisdom of Vedas as found in Upanishads all through their worship and
merriment. Seeing the Creation and laws of Nature, Hindus are convinced
that only the body dies and not the soul. Laws of Karma closely
follows Laws of Conservation of Energy both being action
oriented. The cause of rebirth of the soul is Karma and begins to operate
immediately once birth takes place. Unlike other beliefs, it believes
that the soul comes to this world with its load of past actions opening its
account. Good action leads to good results bad action leads to bad
results following the maxim “as you sow so you reap”. However there should be
end to this process. Every beginning has to have an end! That happens
when sole is elevated to the state of realized soul by its own actions when it
goes back to its origin and merges with it. This may happen in this birth or
in several births according to the efforts put in. The defects and
short-coming are gradually corrected and the soul gradually gets freer
until it is perfectly free, when it goes back to the Creator. So,
there is hope for everyone but only time varies, unlike the
other system where the soul waits for the Day of Judgment—for its
liberation or permanent condemnation.
Therefore every Hindu Festival is a ritual unlike Easter
(Prayer and fast) and Christmas (rejoice and Pray), during which time Hindus
focus their attention on Spiritual elevation by fasting and prayers. That is
why in Sivaratri (Birth of Siva as Lingodbhava Moorti), Rama Navami (Birth of
Rama) and Krishna JanmaashtamI (Birth of Krishna) devotees resort to fasting,
prayers and keep vigil yearning for the liberation of the soul. Their merriment
is only to express their gratitude and feel his presence as if he is with
them physically, as a friend, philosopher and guide to shape their
destiny in the right direction on such special days. It may be aptly said “Prayer
is the focal point of the celebration of a Hindu Festival.
Please go through my discourse on the Blog
<nrsrini.blogspot.com> “Doctrine of Karma (Action and Reaction) in
Hinduism” for deeper study and more details.
(March 2013)
17. IS INDIA HINDU?
You may find the following Western opinion coming from Maria Wirth
interesting and inquiring! Hindu Religion Is gradually being depleted of its
valuable and exclusive assets of Wisdom from Vedas, leaving behind what appears
as inferior in its religious thinking to the group of religions whose origin is
Abraham. This has resulted often with many conflicts and disputes between
various groups as well as from within its fold. This is because of our moving
away from Universal spiritual approach of Sanatana Dharma and neglect of study
of Sanskrit, Veda and Upanishads. Incidentally Sanatana Dharma or Eternal
Tradition is secular in its approach suitable to humans of all origin and could
have well fitted into political thinking of secular India.
Both words Hindu and India owe their origin to the cultural
background of Indus Valley. We do not
have Indus with us anymore but the cultural background we built in much earlier
still haunts us! Out of hatred and misconception Pakistan went with a new name
as they were the earliest to move out of Sanatana Dharma and are also haters
being earliest converts. Other converts to Abrahamic religion have also joined hands with them. Could it
have been better if we had insisted on the name of Bharat as first choice and
Sanatanist as our following. Both are
older to Indus valley civilization. We would have been then known as
Bharateeyas or Sanatanists today. Hinduism as practiced today is mostly
influenced by Puraanic approach, sectarian and ritualistic than universal
oneness and spiritual thinking based on wisdom from Vedas. Puraanic approach
was originally intended to take us more towards spiritualism and Universal
Oneness. On the other hand this has gained a reputation as inferior in its
religious thinking by the Abrahamic religions. Many Hindus have moved into this
society seeking fortune and are struggling hard to keep up their
culture. Unlike Europeans they are not
able to merge with the new culture and lose their identity.
We have to get back to our original thinking and influence the
world with our spiritual approach and Universal Oneness and not on Universal
Brotherhood if we want to bring back the glory of the past. Conflict between
brothers is natural in its approach which is the cause of the present day
misery. The migrants from India today are mostly highly educated and if they
desire they can easily influence the world with Spiritual thinking and
Universal Oneness adopting the wisdom from Vedas. This in turn may influence
India where still majority are illiterates and poor to get back to the origin
of Bharat and Sanatana Dharma. This thought cannot come from India as it is
caught in whirlpool of conflicts. This has to come from enlightened Hindus from
abroad.
This is the message from Maria Worth of Germany:
“When Germany is Christian, is India Hindu?
By Maria Wirth
May 11, 2013
(Denying One’s Own Roots)
Though I live in India since long, there are still some points
that I find hard to understand - for example why many educated Indians become
agitated when India is considered as a Hindu country. The majority of Indians
are Hindus. India is special because of its ancient Hindu tradition. Westerners
are drawn to India because of it. Why then is there this resistance by many
Indians to acknowledge the Hindu roots of their country?
This attitude is strange for two reasons. First, those educated
Indians seem to have a problem only with ‘Hindu’ India, but not with ‘Muslim’
or ‘Christian’ countries. In Germany for example, only 59 percent of the
population are registered with the two big Christian Churches (Protestant and
Catholic), however, the country is bracketed under ‘Christian countries’.
Angela Merkel, the Chancellor, stressed recently the Christian roots of Germany
and urged the population ‘to go back to Christian values’. In 2012, she
postponed her trip to the G-8 summit for a day to address the German Catholic
Day. Two major political parties carry ‘Christian’ in their name, including
Angela Merkel’s ruling party.
Germans are not agitated that Germany is called a Christian
country, though I actually would understand if they were. After all, the
history of the Church is appalling. The so called success story of Christianity
depended greatly on tyranny. “Convert or
die”, were the options given not only to the indigenous population in America
some five hundred years ago. In Germany, too, 1200 years ago, the emperor Karl
the Great ordered the death sentence for refusal of baptism in his newly
conquered realms. It provoked his advisor Alkuin to comment: ‘One can force
them to baptism, but how to force them to believe?’
Those times, when one’s life was in danger if one dissented with
the dogmas of the Church, are thankfully over. And nowadays many in the west do
dissent and leave the Church in a steady stream - partly because they are
disgusted with the less than holy behavior of Church officials and partly
because they can’t believe in the dogmas, for example that ‘Jesus is the only
way’ and that God sends all those who don’t accept this to hell.
And here comes the second reason why the resistance to associate
India with Hinduism by Indians is difficult to understand. Hinduism is in a
different category from the Abrahamic religions. Its history, compared to
Christianity and Islam was undoubtedly the least violent as it spread in
ancient times by convincing arguments and not by force. It is not a belief
system that demands blind belief in dogmas and the suspension of one’s
intelligence. On the contrary, Hinduism encourages using one’s intelligence to
the hilt. It is an enquiry into truth, based on a refined (methods are given)
character and intellect. It comprises a huge body of ancient literature, not
only regarding Dharma and philosophy, but also regarding music, architecture,
dance, science, astronomy, economics, politics, etc.
If Germany or any other western country had this kind of literary
treasure, it would be so proud and highlight its greatness on every occasion.
When I discovered for example the Upanishads, I was stunned. Here was expressed
in clear terms what I intuitively had felt to be true, but could not have
expressed clearly. Brahman is not partial; it is the invisible, indivisible
essence in everything. Everyone gets again and again a chance to discover the
ultimate truth and is free to choose his way back to it. Helpful hints are
given but not imposed.
In my early days in India,
I thought that every Indian knew and valued his tradition. Slowly I realized
that I was wrong. The British colonial masters had been successful in not only
weaning away many of the elite from their ancient tradition but even making
them despise it. It helped that the ‘educated’ class could no longer read the
original Sanskrit texts and believed what the British told them. This lack of
knowledge and the brainwashing by the British education may be the reason why
many ‘modern’ Indians are against anything ‘Hindu’. They don’t realize the
difference between western religions that have to be believed (or at least
professed) blindly, and which discourage if not forbid their adherents to think
on their own and the multi-layered Hindu Dharma which gives freedom and
encourages using one’s intelligence.”
Many of the educated class do not realize that on one hand,
westerners, especially those who dream to impose their own religion on this
vast country, will applaud them for denigrating Hindu Dharma, because this
helps western universalism to spread in India. On the other hand, many
westerners, including Church people, very well know the value and
surreptitiously appropriate insights from the vast Indian knowledge system,
drop the original source and present it either as their own or make it look as
if these insights had been known in the west.
Rajiv Malhotra of Infinity Foundation has done painstaking
research in this field and has documented many cases of “digestion” of Dharma
civilization into western universalism. He chose the term digestion, as it
implies that that which is being digested (a deer for example) is in the end no
longer there, whereas the ‘digester’ (a tiger) becomes stronger. Similarly,
Hindu civilization is gradually being depleted of its valuable, exclusive
assets and what is left is called inferior.
If only missionaries denigrated Hindu Dharma, it would not be so
bad, as they clearly have an agenda which discerning Indians would detect. But
sadly, Indians with Hindu names assist them because they wrongly believe that
Hinduism is inferior to western religions. They belittle everything Hindu
instead of getting thorough knowledge. As a rule, they know little about their
tradition except what the British told them, i.e. that the major features are
caste system and idol worship. They don’t realize that India would gain, not
lose, if it solidly backed its profound and all inclusive Hindu tradition. The
Dalai Lama said some time ago that already as a youth in Lhasa, he had been deeply
impressed by the richness of Indian thought. “India has great potential to help
the world,” he added.
When will the westernized Indian elite realize this truth?
*18. THINKIG OF OUR SECOND
GENERATIONS…..
HMEC in USA conducted a Youth Session on 31 August this year on
the subject matter of "Coalition of Hindu Youth' in 3 lively sessions. I
am not a member of this organization but I am on their mailing list. I have in
my own way given my discourses discussing the subject matter discussed in the
three sessions as you all know. These are:
Session 1-=-Moderator: Varuna
Khanna
“Bridge the Gap”
We often talk about the "gap" that exists between the
first and second generation Hindu-Americans. Not only are we aware of it, but
we have taken steps to try and solve it; these steps have largely been
unfruitful, though not for a lack of effort. For whatever reason, a divide
remains - there must be a deeper cause behind the canyon that separates the two
generations. This session will attempt to go beyond the usual discourse and
discussion about "bridging the gap" and attempt to identify that
cause so that a solution can then be constructed.
Session 2- Moderator: Preya Dave
"Engineering the Future"
How do we envision ourselves in 10, 20, or 30 years? What do we
expect from our temples and organizations? More importantly, what do we expect
from OURSELVES? We all agree that we need to develop and sustain our Hindu
society, but is there a plan for that? What does it even mean for Hindu dharma
to be sustained, and are we equipped with the requisite spiritual and knowledge
capital to carry out this task? These are only a sampling of the myriad
questions before our generation - questions that can only be answered through
introspection and a self-journey.
Session 3- Moderator: Bhakti Mehta
"Workshopping the Hindu youth"
The sheer volume of the amassed knowledge and wisdom contained in
Hindu thought is staggering, often to the point of being so daunting as to
put-off many youth from pursuing any form of true education regarding Hindu
dharma. Yet there must be effective ways to learn and disseminate this
information, beyond routine memorization and recitation of facts. We will
attempt to tease out some novel ways of learning about our dharma in a fun,
interactive way.
The subject matter of the above convention is very important to
all Hindus particularly to Hindu Americans. Even in India atheism is growing in
leaps and bounds with political blessings while religion as is practiced is
moving away from the original intent and principles of Sanathana Dhaarma. New
traditions, worships, beliefs and even new gods are springing up confusing what
is called Hinduism or Hindu Religion. In fact USA is becoming more rationale in
thinking moving away from conventional religion and started even looking at
Hinduism and Buddhism for its spiritual hunger though previously it dismissed
Hinduism as pagan, blind belief based
and confused.
Your kind attention is drawn to my previous discourses
"Motivation behind the Modality of ceremonial Aaraadhana","One
Hindu Temple Complex for many Traditions Overseas" and others. Your views
on the subject are invited. Based on the views expressed I may think of a
separate discourse if found necessary.
*19. KEEP THE NAME OF THY
LORD HOLY!
I am often pained to chant the name Ucchishtha Ganapati with the
thinking that he is associated with pollution and left over food. Kaamakoti Peetham gives an elaborate
explanation how Ganesha in this form is Parabrahman and to bring home that
point almost created a Veda out of the word.
Philosophers have come out with their own explanation how this is an
important emanation of Ganesha if not an Avatar. This name seems to be an out-
come of Taantric philosophy which uses the same word for Sakti also in its form of Maatangi.
I was often pained to see the wide publicity of Ganesha Beedi of
Mangalore prominently depicting Ganesha near a Ganesha temple I used to visit
while young. People hang out their
calendar in India along with the beedi display and thus extend worship to the
dirty stuff too. In spite of such a popularity Ganesha enjoys in Karnataka
which has even created the famous Vidya Ganapati in Sringeri, nobody seems to
bother Beedi being associated with Ganesha. May be Hindu sentiments will only rise
when the order in the word Ganasha Beedi is reversed. There are many such examples of misuse of
God's name by Hindus themselves who blame others for minor things. Of course there is also Aambal Snuff in Tamil
Nadu probably drawing inspiration from Maatangi. Aambal in Tamil means Devi. We are often
offended when somebody uses the words cult, mythology, idol in the good
dictionary sense because somebody used it in derogatory sense, reading out of
context. At the same time we glorify the
word like Uchchishtha and sanctify. This
is based on Vaamachaara cult which also promotes three Ms-Matsya, Mamsa and
Maithuna. Perhaps Ganesha Beedi brand name came from Uchchishta Ganapati who
blessed someone prosperous. May be we have an explanation that this is named
after the entrepreneur whose name was Ganesha, named after the Lord during
Namakarana by his parents. But we do naamakarana in a holy ceremony with god's
name to inculcate and develop spiritual feelings to lead a dharmic and
prosperous life as the child grows up and not use it in a contemptuous sense.
It is strange such practices continue even among highly educated and no Hindu
has raised a voice against such practices. I love the commandment "Do not
use the name of thy Lord in vain" even though I do not pay my respects to
all ten of them. Whatever may be the
justification, it looks that we need house cleaning or restrain in highlighting
such names before pointing fingers at others and our critics. I have invariably
heard in Tamil Nadu Christian missionaries starting their propaganda to attract out-castes and low castes to their
religion with the ultimate motive of conversion address them as
"Paavigale" meaning "You sinners". Is there anybody who is free from sin on
earth including the one who addresses? It needs a soul search before promoting a
religion.
In Sanskrit there is a word Uccha meaning lofty or great. Ishta is
another word meaning desire. A
combination of this may be lofty desire or high ideal promoting Ganesha. It could have been Uccha-Isshta Ganapati
meaning highly desirable Gnaapati. May be it got corrupted in usage. Ganesha is
not a Vedic God, not even mentioned in Ramaayana where Kumara is glorified. and
so lacks the depth and wisdom of Vedas in
scriptures about him though Sankara has glorified iGanesha basedm on
popularity then. I am not sure whether
he referred to any of these later emanations! I do not know why our religious institutions cannot promote
this concept instead going round about explaining how sacred is Uchchishtha
Ganapati and making an Upanishad and Homa about it. Better would be to leave
all epithets and focus on
"Ga" and "Ja"
beejaksharas(seed letters) in Gajaanana.
As a spiritual thinker and
a student of Sanskrit I go by the meaning for Ucchishtha as remnant among
several of its meanings. When everything in the world gets dissolved in Him he
still leaves behind Uchchishtha Ganapati that is Remnant Ganapati to establish
new order in the role of Saguna Brahman.
But will this appeal to vast majority of his devotees to whom he is
Modakapriya? Why not we adopt what is more appropriate and simple to elevate
ourselves instead of going by the wisdom of Vaamaachara of Sakta concept.
Vamaachaara propagates conduct involving violence, black magic, sex and
anti-social behavior and tamasic in its mode of worship. It has not become popular with the educated
crowd. Uccchishtha is a concept from Vaamaachaara Philosophy, which everybody
is trying to refine to make it acceptable to all with meaningful understanding.
*20.
CULTURAL SHOCKS AND THREATS FROM SCIENCE FOR HINDU AMERICANS
You have heard about two Hindu lesbians celebrating their wedding
with Hindu sacred ceremony conducted by a Hindu Priest in California. This was
hailed as the great spirit of Hindu tolerance by a large section of Hindus who
attended the wedding. The same was circulated to you. Such issues may soon
become a headache to American Hindus and Hindu religious Institutions in
America, who are bringing up their children here. Hindus in India are not free
from it. We may have to face similar
issues in the future. How can this be a ceremonial Hindu Wedding as the crowd
believed and boasts? Hindu Marriage Samskaara accepts eight types marriages.
All these marriages are between a man and a woman. Indian law accepts
the present traditional Vedic wedding besides wedding by registration, a
British legacy. That is also between man and woman. America accepts only
marriage by registration. So every Hindu has to be married twice for migration
if not registered waiting for 21 days. Is it polygamy? Hindu Americans have created a ninth
one. Who will give it Saastric sanction?
May be some American overseas Hindu Religious Institution!
Aasvalaayana Grihya Sootra echoes the Atharva Veda on Wedding
Mantras repeating the same words; "Amoehamasmi
saa tvam saa tavamasyamoe aham | dyauraham prithivee tvam saama-aham-rik-tvam||
taavehi vivaahaavahai prajaam prajanyaavahai
| sampriyau roechishnoo sumansyamaanau jeevaema saradssatam|| [This one am
I, that one are you; I am heaven, you are earth; I am the saman, you are the
rik. So come, let us two marry; let us beget offspring. Dear together, shining,
with good intentions, may we two live together a hundred autumns meaning years.
Saaman and rik are yajna components of Vedic sacrifice. Saaman is the Vesdic chant, the Saamaveda and
Rik is Rigveda]
Hindu wedding is a Vedic Samskara. Vedic mandate is clear that marriage
is a union between man and woman. Vedic mantras in wedding are addressed to
both man and woman. Brahma split himself into male and female components to
create human beings by the union. Manu is his grandson who is the Adam of the
Aryan culture, the first Man. All divine weddings in human form (Avtars) are
between man and woman. Brahma was capable of creation alone as he brought his
divine maanasaputras (mind-born) or sages. Lord Subramanya and Ganesha are born
out of single parent; but that was exclusive to divine births and not humans.
So the Vedic mandate is clear for Aagama run temples. This privilege was not
extended to humans even when they had no kids. Vedavyasa helped the widows of
Vichitraveerya in getting children who
were accepted by the society. So are children of Pandu born out of wedlock
because of his infertility! They are not mind born as I understand! Did Hindus
know about Surrogating? Or could that be accepted norms of adultery? What about Karna? Nowhere Karna is mentioned as illegitimate child.
Mahabharata says they are all born to mothers. Similar births are also
mentioned in Raghu dynasty in Ramayana. Mahabharata society permitted
polyandry. It is still prevalent in small pockets in North India among hill
tribes similar to the practices in Tibet and China. Even Ganesha is attributed
to Dwaimaatura as Parvati threw the dirt model she shaped to Ganges that got life in Ganges waters and
Subhramanya was born as Siva's
energy came in contact with Ganges making her the virtual mother which was later solved by Siva's
mandate.
There is a scientific prediction by the evolutionary biologist Richard
Dawkins that in the next fifty years scientific advance will lead to the death
and dis-appearance of the soul. Coming from a scientist I have to give some
credit to his statement. Neuroscience will finally kill the old idea of a
disembodied body essence that is animated by a vital or mystical force and
survives our death, he argues. Genetic mapping will label all data of the
living body, and no entity called soul will show up. One of life's great
mysteries will evaporate. His book came out five years ago. If that happen our Upanishads will go to
archaic or dust bin and religious institutions to archaic or historic
buildings. It never happened in the past and may not happen. But who knows what
our computer wizard will reveal which again is God’s sudden Revelation in
recent years. All that we know about computers started with our very creation
but He just revealed it partially now. More may wait to come later. Of course we are often shocked with such
writings and events, but the future possibilities should not be dismissed.
Today some conservative Christian Religion writer who laughed and jeered at
Hindu reincarnation theory, facing now with the challenge of very existence of
soul writes: "In a crowded pew, or a crowded bus station or bleachers or
national protest, the soul drama unfolds. It plays out in the lives of
teenagers, janitors, executives and everyone else. It is present in the older
people, who know what is at stake with the soul, the damage that time and
choices can do it, but also the incalculable treasure it is. They know it is
their gift to hold a while longer on Earth. Everybody else senses this too,
whenever they turn to notice life is aglow, ever-ready for rebirth, against all
odds and predictions. Hence the reincarnation theory in which Hinduism strongly
believes comes as old wine in new bottle.
Whatever may be the future we as enlightened Hindu Americans
should not be a confused mass like our counterparts in India having taken a
step to move out because we could not grow in that atmosphere or we did not
adjust to all that is happening in India. We have to be clear on our religious
following. It seems logical and practical to follow Sanatana Dharma with its
focus on Universal Oneness and Spirituality in our situation which has not come
into contradictions with science so far because Vedanta is Science.
*21.
PURAANIC STORIES HAVE A MISSION
Our worship and celebrations of Rama Navami, Ganesh Jayanti,
Krishna Jayanti, Navaratri, Dussera,
Deepaavali, Kartigai Deepam etc.
during the festival season is based on Puraanic stories. In fact almost all
Hindu rituals and festivals are Puraanic based.
Puraanic stories have taken meaningful shapes that have enabled the
growth of life, communities and civilizations. They are to be evaluated as
neither history, nor Geography, nor Science, though considerable elements of
all these may be involved in them. To interpret all Puraanas as factual, in the
sense of event in space-time, as some Indian fundamentalists do, is as much an
injustice to them as the attitude of some Moderns who equate them with stories
and fables. As Hindu Americans we are more inclined to the latter concept.
In the temples of Vishnu, it is customary to observe with special
worship and festivity the days of appearance of the ten avatars ; the third day
of the bright half of Chaitra in the afternoon--Matsya; the full-moon day of
Vaisaakha in the evening-- Koorma; the third day of the bright half of Bhaadrapada in the
afternoon--Varaaha; the thirteenth day of the bright half of Vaisaakha in the
evening --Narasimha; The twelfth day of the bright half of Bhaadrapada at noon--Vaamana;
The third day of the bright half of Vaisaakha at noon--Parasu-Rama; The ninth
day of bright half of Chaitra in the after-noon--Rama; the eighth day of the
dark half of Sraavana--Krishna; the tenth day of bright half of Aaswin--Buddha
; and the sixth day of the bright half of Sraavana in the evening Kalki
(predicted date).
Puraanas belong to supra-historical order, and their worth is
existential as enduring psychic verities in human consciousness. Their purpose,
too, is not the teaching of history, or geography, or science, but converting
these and all other available information on the universe, creation, plants,
animals, human societies, philosophies, achievements of royal dynasties, lives
of saints and holy personages, divine beings recognized as Incarnations and all
other kinds of traditions to one integrated literature, capable of stimulating
in man a keen sense of an Omniscient, Omnipotent, and all loving Spiritual
Reality, who can be communed with, prayed and visualized in various forms of
spiritual glory.
Bhagavata says Puraanas lead to God and
voices forth in 12.3.14-15:
" I have narrated all these account of great men of ancient
days, all of whom have given up their ghost,
leaving behind only their reputation for good deeds, only with a view to
create in you renunciation and spiritual enlightenment. All the descriptive details given here should
not be taken as literal or as factual history, they being shaped and meant for
the above mentioned purpose. Let one who aspire s to have devotion of Krishna be always hearing to the recitals
of His glory, capable of eradicating all evil tendencies". Viewed in this light of Bhaagavatam Puraana,
Puraanas have succeeded more than any literature in making God a reality to man
through their vivid and realistic descriptions and narratives. Please refer to
my discourse on Mythology posted on Hindu Reflections in November 2011.
22.
ATHEISM IS RELIGION SAYS US COURT; SANATANISTS SAY HINDUISM IS NOT A RELIGION!
In a filing in federal court US Attorney John W. Vaudreuil says
atheism is a Religion. His findings are
"Non-theistic beliefs, including atheism, may qualify as 'religious'
beliefs because they come under the definition of religion and fulfill a similar role in a
personal life". Annie Laurel Gaylor
of Freedom from Religion Foundation wants atheists to tell "We are not
ministers. We arehaving to tell the government the obvious--we are not
church". Department of Justice says Buddhism and Taoism don't include a
belief in God and are considered religions; the government's lawyers argue, so why
not atheism? The argument goes on for
the First Amendment does give religious groups special privileges. Atheists do
not want any interference by the secular government and want special privileges
to be withdrawn. The arguments will continue till all tax-exemptions are
removed.
Does Hinduism fall under the concept of religion, it is hard to
say! Hinduism has accepted Buddha as an Avatar according to many. India has
adopted Wheel of Dharma of Eight fold Path of duty of Buddhism as its national symbol,
though Sankara severely attacked Buddhism. India has its motto Satyameva jayate
where Satya means Parabrahman or Supreme principle, though officially
translated as Truth alone Triumphs. Though India assures religious freedom like
USA, it often interfere regulating temple administration through Hindu
Religious Endowment Boards interfering with religious freedom like certain
Tenth Amendment provisions. All said
and done Western culture dominated Americans love religion, love Christianity.
It's part of the fabric of life. Otherwise why would they allow freely
missionaries abroad to spread Christianity and conversion under freedom of
religion and are not opposed to such missionary movements.
Atheism enjoys its freedom from time immemorial within the fold of
Sanatana Dhrama and the later version of Hinduism designated as a religion by
Westerners. Bhagavadgeeta draws its spiritual support from Sankhya philosophy
which does not believe in Supreme Principle or Brahaman. Krishna was not opposed to Atheism if it did
not violate Hindu Dharma, though Rama strongly opposed and targeted atheists in
Ramayana as a stricter of Dharma.
Chaarvaka philosophy of Atheism and Materialism was widely discussed
within the folds of Hinduism. Buddhism
is glorified by Hindu dominated India. Buddha is accepted as an avatar by
Hinduism though it did not go out of the way to accommodate Buddha idols in
Hindu Temples. It is strange it did not grant that status to Adinaatha
(Rishabha) who is also mentioned as an avatar of Vishnu in Bhagavatam and
continued to be so till he found his new philosophy! Atheists do not declare
themselves as Christians in Western Culture. But atheists claim and enjoy the
status of Hindus within Hinduism and are pampered in many states politically. EVR of Dravida Kazhagam, a Hindu political
leader in India openly declared; "He is a fool who believes in
God". Untouchables condemned as
atheists socially are within the folds of Hinduism and enjoy special privileges
from Indian Secular Government.
Hinduism is Spiritual in thinking when it follows Sanatana Dharma
but practices it as religion often resorting to materialistic and
sectarian approach in its temple and home worships. USA and India being democratic say
they are secular but have their hands in the
activities of churches and
temples. Atheism is tolerated if not appreciated. It is pampered in India in
some States. May be both consider Atheism as a sort of religion and so feel it
needs recognition at National level. The controversy whether atheism is a
religion or not will continue forever. Similarly, whether Hinduism is a
religion or not will continue till Hindus, with their politically ever
expanding complex caste system, with political lip sympathy for out-castes and
Harijans, and with tolerance towards atheist philosophy, revert back to
Universal Oneness preached and promoted by Vedas and Upanishads. Nobody claimed
caste status or earned out-caste status by birth-right then! Charvaka, Buddha
and Jina were not thrown out of society and in fact they were patiently heard
even by Vedic Scholars adopting whatever was good. Some Hindus today say they
are followers of Saibaba but pride with their caste names and religious
practices and orthodoxy! Instead of converting themselves to his philosophy they
are converting him to a religious symbol and divinity.
Please visit Blog Hindu Reflections for a detailed discourse on
the Subject: "US Court says Atheism
is a Religion, Hindu Sanatanists Say Hinduism is Not a Religion"
*23. WHERE
RELIGIONS AND ATHEISM MEET?
Increasing percentage of people in the US don't identify with any
religion. Millions of Americans are living happy, purposeful lives without
religion. This is because they are eager
to find a community where they could ask questions without being told that they
are going to hell for not believing.
These people who believe in "no religion no problem" have been
trained earlier to believe that every word of the Bible is true. But more they
read they found more errors and contradictions
did not make sense to them because there focus had been to find what is
wrong from great many good things said in them. It is the way of thinking. They
are not comfortable in believing their
scripture any more. Reading more science and philosophy, leading American
way of life, many Muslims also
feel doctrines of Islam are not suited for them and they do not believe in
reading the Quran and praying five times a day to save themselves from going to
hell. A number of Hindu children born and brought up in USA are also attracted to this group whom others call atheists. About 1 in 5
American is not affiliated with any religion, majority being in the age group
below 30. One third of all adults say they are not a religious person. I have
heard the sam from some of my American
Hindu friends too. They politely told me that they do not understand religion,
nor they have the intention to know it. Not all these people are stereotype
atheists who question religion. Some among them are honest and hardworking who
love their families and are involved in community welfare caring and
sharing.
You now understand why I concentrated so much of my time in
bringing about my discourse not within my scope of work or mission, "US
Courts say Atheism is a Religion and Hindu Sanatanists say Hinduism is not a
Religion". Within Hindu theology
there is provision for those who care for the society and share with them their
miseries and try to help even though they are indifferent to religious pursuits to be called Hindus. Being authoritative scriptures both, Holy Bible and Quran, mixes historic,
religious, social and spiritual thoughts
which often create confusion in the minds
of their followers just as our Puranas do. But Puranas are not our
authoritative texts in fact there is none, not even Upanishads. After teaching
the essence of all thoughts of Upanishads Lord Krishna says to Arjuna "I
have told all that has to be told. Think about them and take your own wise
decision". Thus Upanishads are open to our logic and thinking and do not insist
on any one set path. One advantage Hinduism has over other founded religions
is, it is not fatalistic. According to the doctrine of Karma one must take full
responsibility for one's good or bad actions and consequent pleasure or pain.
Thus there is hope for everyone. There is no one time condemnation and all can
be liberated to enjoy Eternal Bliss, if
there is a will.
But why atheism did not make great strides in Hinduism as it is
happening in so called great Religions
today? Various saints and Divine
Incarnations at different times have appeared on the stage, played their
individual roles, and enriched Hinduism with their teachings. By reinterpreting
earlier scriptural texts they have made
Hinduism relevant to changed times and people. They have also given validity to
the scriptural truths through their own
spiritual experiences. This would not
have been possible had Hinduism had a founder.
Spiritual thinking is gaining grounds in American Hindu life thanks to
many spiritual thinkers. Sometimes you may find me different from conventional
thinking and
interpretations!
However we need to pay more attention in our adopting religious
worships, rituals and sacraments based on our ancient religious practices some
of which are not suited to present day conditions of Hindu American Way of
life. Many religious scriptures go by
law of the letter and are strictly followed as such similar to our thinking
often about Epics and Puraanas, and following the role models. Puranas are
education oriented. Some Indian Authors in trying to interpret Puraanas as
factual in the sense of events in space- time have done as much an injustice to
them as the attitude of some Moderns who equate them with stories and fables.
Puraanas belong to supra-historical order, and their worth is existential as
enduring psychic verities in human consciousness. Their purpose is not to
teach, history or geography or science, but to stimulate in man a keen sense of
Omniscient, Omnipotent, and all loving Spiritual Reality who can be communed
with, prayed to and visualized in various forms of spiritual glory. The most appropriate and suited thing is to
have a spiritual approach in our practice of religion. Here the community
service and welfare oriented atheists and spiritually inclined religious
followers meet and work for the benefit of mankind while trying to elevate.
*24.
BHAJAN AND KEERTAN—OPEN EXPRESSIONS OF LOVE AND DEVOTION TO GOD
Bhajans and Keertans are employed powerfully as means for
devotional worship to god. These are open expressions of love and devotion to
God as opposed to the spiritual approach of silent meditation. They are outpour of human emotions praising
and singing the glory of God thanking Him or pleading to Him in their helpless
situations. Those who are talented
employ music and melody for such an expression of sentiments. We find this practice in many religions of
the world including our worst critics Christians and Muslims. We are familiar with Gospel Music and Choir
Singing as well as Namaaz. They out-beat Hindus in their pitch of voice. This
is probably due to the thought that heaven is far away from us and it takes a
long and winding path to reach God. Innocent devotees often feel that louder
the voice better it is for the Lord to hear. Everyone seems to be in a hurry to
catch His attention!
The questions that often rise in the minds of the Spiritual and
meditative thinkers are: 1) Why do we employ them as an offering to God? 2) Is
it because how intense you feel inside? 3) Why do we employ musical tones as in
South Indian Tradition? 4) Spiritual growth is personal. How does group prayer
Bhajan or keertan help? 5) Many a times groups are too big. Can one still
benefit from it? 6) Do many people really strive to realize God?
Great saints like Ramakrishna Paramahamsa say that there are
many paths to reach God. Bhajan and Keertan seem to be the easy and most
desirable means of worship with those belonging to Bhakti Marga (devotional
school of worship) as group approach. Employing music pleases the devotee’s
heart and is soothing to the ears listening in a gathering for worship.
*25. WHY
FEW TEMPLES TO BRAHMAA AND SARASWATI?
A Tamil inscription on a slab in Tiruvaannamalai says since Brahma
uttered a falsehood, there should be no temple to Brahma. This happened when
Siva appeared in Linga form and Brahma made a false statement that he had seen
Siva's head and as a proof showed Pandanus flower he had once worn. Enraged
Siva cursed Brahma should have no temple and the Pandanus flower should not be
used in worship. Yet another mythological story says that in the absence of
Saraswati her spouse Brahma hurriedly married Gayatri to finish his sacrifice
and so became a victim of her wrath. Enraged Saraswati cursed Brahmaa that no
one will do worship for him. These are
the crude Puraanic reasons given in Puraanas for the loss of prestige of
Brahma. We should not be influenced by
them. Brahmaa's spouse Sarasvati has also very few temples. There is probably
no Hindu house which does not honor Sarasvati and Lakshmi, at least having
pictures of these Goddesses in some room or other and worship daily. But why Brahmaa's consort has also very few
temples is not seen mentioned anywhere or questioned.
There is a famous temple in Pushakara in Rajasthan for Brahmaa
where he is seen with Saavitri and Gayatri as twin consorts. There is a
beautiful small temple in Kottayam for Saraswati in Kerala. There is a temple
for her in in Kashmir and one in Andhra village Basara on the banks of the
river Gautami. Sankar Math has made her
the presiding deity in all their Monasteries calling her Saarada.
Notwithstanding the crude reasons given in some of the Puraanas
some scholars opine that Brahmaa tradition was predominant in the pre-Vedic
Hinduism and was superseded or suppressed by the later Siva-Vishnu Traditions.
The evolution of Sakti concept -- each of the gods Vishnu
and Siva having his Sakti or Power as his consort -- and the explanation
that creation proceeds out of of the combination of the God and his Sakti, has
made Brahmaa superfluous. In temples exclusively dedicated to Brahmaa, his
aspect as Viswakarma, the architect of the Universe is adopted. Every temple, be it Siva or Vishnu must have
a niche in the northern wall for Brahmaa, and his image must receive worship
every day since he is an important Parivaaradevataa (attendant of Chief-deity).
Our trouble stars after creation so we are anxious to please Vishnu and Siva
aspect of Trinity.
Along with Brahma Saraswati also suffers and not popularly
worshiped. Some people do not relish the
idea as Savitri is the creation of Brahmaa with daughter status she should be
worshiped together with him. In Vedas she is celebrated as a river. Gayatri,
Saavitri and Saraswati are the presiding deities of Gayatree mantra. Gayatri is
the presiding deity of morning prayer and Rigveda. Saaavitri presides over
noon prayer and Yajurveda. Sarasvati rules over evening prayer and Samaveda.
You know now why she is the Goddess of Fine Arts. Invariably Saraswati is
worshiped alone and her name is not clubbed together with Brahmaa like Vishnu
or Siva--Lakshmi-Narayana,Lakshmi-Narasimha,
Sita-Rama, Siva-Parvati etc.
In spite of the fact that Brahmaa is God the Supreme in the
creative aspect and is an equally important member of the Trinity, it is
strange that there are no temples dedicated to him with the lone exception of
Pushakara nor he is offered any special worship like Siva and Vishnu on
specific days. Yet all Brahmotsavas (Anmnual Event of grandeur) in temples have
to be presided by him only. Since there
is no saastric injunction against his worship (in fact it is peremptory but not
publicized) we should at least remember him at least once year honoring him
with special worship. The ideal thing to
do will be dedicating Labor Day to him and worship him in his aspect as
Viswakarma the architect of the universe as I have elaborated in my discourse: Aayudha Poojaa,
Viswakarma Poojaa, Sramik Din Pooja (OCTOBER 2013)
26.
HASTINAAPURA NEAR BUENOS ARIES, CITY OF WISDOM
I have spent more than a decade of my official years in Buenos
Aries extending to several months in a year from 1985 to 1993 but never
heard of Hastinapura in the vicinity of Buenos Aires for Hindu Gods and
the teaching of Vedic wisdom, practice of Yoga and meditation. I have
read about the Incas and Maaya cultures, the Sun temples and the Pyramids
quoted in my discourses which you should have casually glanced
through. The recent developments and actual photographs
amaze me. I feel sad that I missed the opportunity to visit this
spot though within the vicinity of 50 miles from Buenos Aries.
Probably these were not developed when I spent my life in Argentina.
My lack of Spanish confined me to limited people as it happened to me in
China. My knowledge of German and Russian languages helped me a lot in understanding their
cultures while spending long years there. But I did talk about Ganesa Idols in
many lands referring to Mexico and Peru in my discourses. I did not
elaborate. Hastinapura, a city of wisdom in Argentina is
a recent spiritual thought from a non-Hindu while we Hindus
are engaged in Kurukshetrra in India. Probably you are aware there is
a temple complex recently built in Andhra Pradesh near Hyderabad where all the
models of all the holy temples from pilgrim centers of India are
reproduced to arouse pilgrimage interest in the religiously inclined
devotees. Ramakrishna Math has temples where all deities or quotes from
various religions are displayed though some of the religions do not like
idol representation like what you see in the description below. Argentina
leads the beef eating countries. Here to practice vegetarianism
is like a tapas (great sacrifice). I had a hard time
there. Recently Argentinians want to turn vegetarians being fed up with
beef. The lone vegetarian restaurant in Buenos Aries does not serve sugar
for coffee or tea for it is purified by animal charcoal, instead serves
honey. Of course they are not averse to killing bees so accustomed to
butchering cows for their staple food! Argentinians are famous for
their manyaana meaning tomorrow. They would like to postpone
everything. They are known for their fun fiesta and tango which I enjoyed
during my stay. Therefore existence of Hastinapura and the
work of Ada Albrecht and their future plans are highly
commendable and we have a lot to learn in our mission to promote Hindu
culture and spiritualism here in USA. A
discourse on the above subject can be found on the blog Hindu Reflections:
<nrsrini.blogspot.com>. Hats off to Lady Albrecht!
(OCTOBER 2013)
*27. WAS
KAPILAARANYA LOCATED IN CALIFORNIA?
While you are still excited and under the spell of Hastinapura
story and my discourse, I would like to recall one other reference of mine
quoting Jagadguru Chandrasekharananda
Saraswati from his book of Dharma. I quote:
" You know that the
Sagaras went on digging the earth down to the nether world in search of their
sacrificial horse. An ocean came into being in this way and it was called
Saagara after the king Sagara. The
Sagaras at last found the horse near the hermitage of Kapila Maharshi. Thinking
that he must be the man who had stolen the animal and hidden it in the nether world they laid violent hands on him.
Where upon the sage reduced them to ashes with a mere glance of his eye. Such
is the story narrated in Ramayana. America, which is at the antipodes, may be
taken to be Paataala or the nether world. Kapilaaranya (the forest in which
Kapila had his hermitage), we may further take it was situated there. It is likely that Kapilaaranya changed to
California in the same manner as Quichua for Kesava or Madurai to Marudai
(Marudamalai Muruga the Tamils say). Also noteworthy is the fact that there is
a Horse Island near California as well as an Ash Island and the Atlantic Ocean
which is a Saagara and not Samudra"
Earlier you may have dismissed this as a wild guess or gossip from
me or ignored as a mythological bluff. Now that you know this is from
Sankaracharya and that you have enough evidence from Peru you may do a
rethinking as you think about Dwaraka submerged in the sea coming from a Western video
presentation I sent to you some time back. Incidentally Ramayana is
called Itihasa meaning it happened so to distinguish it from Puranas which
deal in parables and myths. You started
believing in Deluge of Dwaraka mentioned in Mahabharata another Itihasa supported by the research work of Dr.
Narahari of Memphis on Mahabharata War after seeing the video presentation
rendered by an American.
28. WHERE
WEST MEETS EAST—SPIRITUAL DEEPAAVALI SEASON
Deepavali Spiritual Season begins with Mahalaya Amavasya and ends
with Vaikuntha Ekadasi. Yesterday night Hindu Americans participated in
Halloween willingly or unwillingly to join the stream. It initiates the tritium of Hallowmas, the
time in the liturgical year dedicated to remembering the dead, including saints
(hallows), martyrs, and all the faithful departed believers, like our Mahalaya Amavasya (October 4) at the
end of Mahalay Paksha, the holy fortnight. Don't you think spiritual Halloween Night is worth
remembering in our temples in our joint venture of celebration of cultures if
we had skipped Mahalaya Amavasya since we obviously rush to temples on all American Holidays
including Valentine's day? Can we not have a mass ritual like in Gaya Kshetra
if our temples have taken the task of helping Shraaddha performers (Praying for
all souls) like All Souls Day in Christianity on November 2, on Mahaalya Amaavasya
Day? Shraaddha performance is in the schedule of temple rituals in USA.
Today November 1 is Samhain New Year Day. Catholics later made
November 2 as All Souls Day. On
November 1 this year which happens to be Dhan Teras Day, Hindus run
to jewelers to buy gold and rush to temple to pray to
Goddess Lakshmi to become rich
and prosperous. They then start Diwali
celebrations lasting for five days. These
celebrations are filled with hedonistic pleasure and acts of spiritual happiness.
Deepavali though falling round the period of Samhain does not always coincide with it as in this
year. Read the discourse attached for
scientific findings on hedonistic pleasures as well as happiness based on a
sense of higher purpose and service to humanity. The last day of Diwaali is Govardhan pooja
day where nature is worshiped along with cattle basing it on Puraanic story.
This tradition of worshiping nature during the season as well as adoring animals
can also be seen in Celtic Christianity tradition as in St Patrick's Day.
Let us turn our thoughts towards the brighter side of Holiday
Season. It is the time to overcome the darkness and look forward to the white
light that would bring brightness and happiness into our lives.,
It is also the time to gain wisdom
looking at the turn of nature, the Fall, changing of colors and the
growing darkness, which all turn to green foliage later. Hindu Festivals focus on the spiritual
significance of these festivals. The
caring among us have observed Mahaalaya Paksha rituals that started
last month (Sept 20) and culminated on October 4, honoring the dead and
feeding the starving. We are celebrating Deepaavali to overcome darkness with
bright lights on November 3 distributing sweets and exchanging greetings which actually
starts on November 1 t many in the
North. Knowingly or unknowingly some of us are also busy in food stuff
collection and distribution to the poor during this time.
Human nature is covered with lot of Tamoguna or darkness and
ignorance, and Rajoguna (ego) that come in the way of Spiritual advancement and
liberation. They need to be
overcome with Satvaguna or the
brightness and purity of thought and even go beyond. That is why we put so many
lights up and make a big sound of it too and soon forget about it too. But we
are constantly reminded of it as in the following rituals and festivals
(Vaikuntha Ekadasi, Makara Sankranti etc.). Let us think of Spirituality of
Samahin and Deepaavali seasons to bring
light and happiness to our lives and overcome the gloom and ghost of the night of Halloween and think of the long waiting period of our ancestors in
Pitruloka needing our help.
Wish you all a Happy Deepavali which is also a New Year for some
among us. Gujarati calendar begins a day after Diwali. It begins with Gujarati
month of Kartak. Probably those who celebrate New Year on Bali Paadyami after
Diwali are part of Dravidians from whom
the Druids parted but kept on the tradition of celebrating their New year
with their parted brothers. Bali Paadyami is the day on which the Lord killed
the ego of King Bali though he was virtuous just as Krishna killed Tamoguna on
Naraka Chaturdasi Day killing Narakasura.
We have to rise above even Satvaguna to become a Gunaateeta to join the
Lord as Geetaa says and as I had explained often. Please see my elaborate explanation in the
attached discourse, scientific and spiritual, which is not too long and also
read my discourses: "Festival of Lights: Ancient in Traditions; Universal
in Appeal" and "Mahalayapaksha, Hindu Mamorial Fortnight" on the
blog <nrsrini.blogspot.com> to enrich and enlighten.
*28. MY
THOGHTS FOR THE SPIRITUAL DEEPAAVALI SEASON
I get my inspiration watching at the hard work of our
philanthropists and social workoholics
whom I meet every Sunday at the
local temple here to work devotedly on Hindu Reflections which has exceeded 180
discourses as on date. One of the readers commented "such a huge block but
no words to find a comment with so much information". I hope the local
community is taking advantage of it! At
the beginning of the year I thought I had not much to contribute except
revising and posting few discourses I had in stock. To my surprise this list
started growing as and when I get inspired and charged with spiritual thoughts
and actions in spite of the many
external disturbances at home. I did
not pay attention to spirituality till I came to USA and I knew very little of
it too. Even in USA I thought of it at the beginning of this millennium after
my heart surgery in February 2002. I suddenly felt the urge to serve the
community. I did not have the financial background to help the society much as
I had to struggle hard in life and also had no parental help or guidance
spiritually or financially. I do not
know from where I get my inspiration? Probably it is all divine driven! When I
retire late at night to bed I start thinking and when I get up in the morning
get inspiration and also come across some interesting subject as well as
information suddenly. I go on working on it, revise often and decide to
communicate. Sometimes it takes months for a subject to get the final shape.
With more feedback I would have functioned better. I feel the following
thoughts form the basis for my inspiration and working in spite of my single
touch typing and lack of computer skills other than basic knowledge while fully
concentrating on personal and family matters.
Neuroscience says, happiness, love of serving is in our genes. Most humans have mirror neurons that cause us
to experience pain when others are in pain or suffering and that we are
hard-wired for empathy. While all of us alive today will not
witness when peace on earth and good will occur, we can at least be assured
that the process of evolution is doing its work and that this day may come
someday, even if none of us will be alive to serve as witness. That is there will be Heaven on Earth. But as
Hindus we can hope many among us will be there incarnated! The other world is
accessible to few liberated to whom frequent travel may be possible without
passport! Science is more optimistic
than Vedanta today. Read my article on
Philosophy of Deepaavali season circulated on Friday. Enjoy the thoughts below
and act appropriately if it suits your philosophy in life which I want to share
with you as others did!
Successful people never relax in their chairs, they relax at work;
they sleep with ambition and wake up with commitment.
Life can give us lots of beautiful persons but only one person is
enough for a beautiful life.
You can preach a better sermon with your life than with your
mouth.
You cannot enjoy being idle unless you have plenty of work to do.
Bath purifies body; meditation purifies mind; prayer purifies
soul; charity purifies wealth; fast purifies health; forgiveness purifies
relations.
+ is made up of two -. Similarly all –ve things can be shaped as
+ve by hard work and positive thinking.
Destiny depends on the strength of your desires. If you cry at
troubles, they will double and if you laugh at them, they disappear like a
bubble.
It is not what you gather, but what you scatter that tells what
kind of life you have lived. Let's scatter good things!
*29. SAMHAIN, GUJARAATI VIKRAM SAMAVAT AND
DEEPAAVALI
Irish priest remarked that my discourse "Samhain, Spiritual
alternative to Halloween" is great and further enriched my knowledge with
Samhain songs. Some among you also felt that it is a great discourse linking
Samahain Druid traditions with Hindu Dravidian Culture. Is there a culture called Dravidian culture
That has an existence and a name or is it the creation of the Western
Historians to suit the British presence
over three centuries in India interfering with its past culture And
glory and rule over all?
According to some
historians Druids are a branch that moved out to British Isles from Dravidian
Settlements of Indus valley civilization which was run over by Aryans having
grown weak. Their wealth and their luxurious ways of living must have made them
lazy. Later settlers destroyed the great cities Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro and
thus put an end to one of the greatest civilization of ancient days. Dravidians of today are part of that great
culture which the settlers took into their fold and got mixed up with
them. They called themselves as Aryans. The
word Aryan means cultured or noble in Sanskrit. Even to-day this word is
frequently used to mean so. The mixed race who settled in the Indus Valley and
developed Vedic culture called themselves as Aryans. They also developed a fine
language out of the one or more that existed, probably akin to Tamil (Tamil is
believed to have existed before Aryans) and called it Samskrit meaning well
created (sushtu kritam is Samskritam as the word is derived). Both the words Sanskrit and Aryan are culture
based. These were migratory Messiahs and liked travel. They moved out in different
directions to spread their culture. Later they moved to Ganges Plain while the
sea venturous moved to South beyond Vindhyas. Thus there were two groups that
grew independently Vindhyas being the barrier but separated from rest of the
world by Himalayan Ranges. That is why
South Indian Culture is distinct from the North. These Aryans who were originally from the
Pre-vedic culture moved to South with their newly acquired Vedic Culture which
they practiced intensely than the main lot.
Their culture could not be destroyed because of their strong will or
because they were less intimidated by invaders. In contrast North suffered too
much from invasions and many of lost their culture and got converted. The worship of Siva as Pasupati, the
worship of Ganesha, the worship of Hanuman and the worship of Goddess were all
Dravidian (Harappa-Mohenjo-Daro) forms of worship. They moved boats and sailed
on them far and near. You know the history of Kattabomman. Valmeeki Ramayana even mentions about
Pandyan Kingdom. The Dravidian merchants
carried on trade with many countries. I
have read this in history. I therefore
took interest in this festival which bears lot of resemblance and thoughts to
that of Hindus in General and South Indians in Particular. Along the coast the influence of Christian
and Muslim traders had strong impact. So you find strong Christian pockets in
Kerala, Konkan,Goa and Gujarat. Gujaratis may be part of the Prevedic culture.
That is why we find them celebrating New Year on Deepaavali Day, Gujarati
Vikram Samavat New Year, approximately coinciding with Samhain. There had been
attempts to shift Hindu New Year to November which officially adopts Chandrmana
New Year. VIkram New Year day was the Day Indian Constitution was adopted. It
is the Indian Constitution Day.
30.
BHAJANS AND KEERTANS—OPEN EXPRESSIONS OF LOVE AND DEVOTION TO CHOSEN DEITIES
Devotional prayer and singing has become an important part of
worship today for all Hindus. Vedic culture earlier concentrated on Tapas
(sacrifice) and meditation focusing on inner-self. Age of Puraanas created heaven and hell
concept, system of punishment and reward and
promoted open expression form of worship focused on their chosen deities. Deities also
exploded during the period. Ramaayana concludes with elaborate explanation
of benefits derived by reading and listening to Raamayana, story of Rama in
musical form in Sloka meter. Ramayan path (reading and listening of Raamaayana)
annually during Navaratri is a
popular mode of worship even today. These trends have develop into
Bhajan and Keertan singing form of worships today focusing on individual's or group's chosen deity or deities. Influenced by Puraanas devotees feel the gap
between heavens and earth so raise their voice in prayers to make sure their
messages reach Heaven!
Group praying and singing of devotional songs and hymns is
important to most Hindus. This brings people with a common objective of
remembering God together. It helps people concentrate better. They find it
inspiring and experience an inner peace that is superior to the pleasure of
worldly possessions. Together the group achieves more than what each could
independently achieve. In Raamacharit Mans Saint Tulsidas says devotee wins
over the confidence of God through devotional songs and hymns. They believe in
response God ensures success and happiness to devotees.
It is customary to clap as one sings in groups. Ramakrishna
Paramahamsa also recommended clapping during morning and evening prayers. This
helps cleanse one's sins. Just as birds fly away when one claps standing under
a tree, ignorance vanishes when one sings devotional songs clapping to maintain
the beat and the rhythm. Besides spiritual benefits it helps physically too.
In South Indian Music Bhajana Sampradayam has become an important
part of the music tradition. It is believed that Swami Boedhendra Saraswati
started the tradition along with others.
Famous among this school of thought are saints like Thyagarja,
Purndaradas, Kanakadasa, Muthusami Deekshitar etc. North Indian Music has also
created this tradition of Bhajan singing.
There are many famous Bhajan singers ancient and modern. To mention a
few from ancient times are Sant Tulsi das, Meeraa bai, Kabir, Jayadeva
etc. Keertan singing is another form of
such prayers. Some of these devotees
record as having seen God and shared his company momentarily which we may call
as illusion in extreme state of devotion.
Sometimes these Bhajans are mixed with story-telling and dancing
as in the old Kathak traditon of the North or
Kathaakaalakshepam of the South.
I have pleasure in including a note on "Bhajana Smpradaaya
Keertans" By Dr. Sankaran Mahadevan, Director of Kala Nivedanam, an
institution dedicated to promote South Indian Classical Carnatic Music in Nashville, TN, USA.
Please go through the attached discourse for more details as well
as visit the Blog; Hindu Reflections; <nrsrini.blogspot.com> This is an
elaborately revised final discourse from the earlier circulated draft on 10/21/13, based on new findings and comments received by popular Bhajan Singers in USA.
(NOVEMBER 2013)
*31. PRITHVEE SAANTH! OSHADHAYAH SAANTIH!
VANASPATAYAH SAANTH!
Please recall my E-mail on World Earth Day suggesting to honor
this day with a worship to Mother Earth (Bhoodevi) in American Hindu Temples to
focus on environmental protection, preservation of flora and fauna,and
maintaining the pristine beauty of
Mother Earth while enjoying her gift of nature with standard norms. Though
Mother Earth figures in all Hindu daily rituals and in worship of processional
Vishnu Deities no particular Day is earmarked for her worship as for Goddess
Lakshmi, Saraswati and Durga on many days in a year. I would like to bring to your kind attention
the following message from Hindu Council of Australia which should be more
appealing to you all than a stray thought from individuals like me:
"A Hindu Reflection on Ride to Worship
A perspective from the Hindu Council of Australia
Hinduism is one of the world's oldest religions and it Is third
largest. Hindus call it Sanatana Dharma--the eternal religion, ever present.
Its origin lies prior to the recorded history. Hindus have lived in perfect
harmony with nature for thousands of years. Hindus worship the sun, the stars,
the rivers, the trees and the animals- nature in all its manifestations and
glories.
Following is the message of living in harmony with Mother Nature
from the Holy Scriptures of Hinduism:
Live in complete harmony with Nature,
Experience the grace of God in the splendor of the universe.
The sweet dawn will sweeten your soul,
The dazzling mid-day will set your hearts aflutter,
And the serene music of your soul will guide you towards peace and
prosperity.
And when the day's task is over, you will sleep in the lap of
Mother Nature,
All the deities will be favorable to you.
(Mother
Nature, Yajurveda 34.37)
It is a pity that we have ignored this sublime message of living
in complete harmony with nature and enjoying the many splendors of the
universe. By our indiscriminate use and abuse of its abundant resources we have
spoiled its beauty. Consumerism has been at the core of our ever-increasing
desire to possess more and more to add to our so-called comforts for living. We
have complicated our lives, and have added a lot to our mental worries. The
ever-increasing demand on our energy resources has led to climate change and
warming of the earth's atmosphere with some drastic consequences. Obesity has
become one of the biggest problems in our society. Eating cheap processed food
and living a sedentary lifestyle are the some of the main causes.
Ride-to-worship is part of this initiative to encourage people to exercise
more, walk or ride a bicycle to work, to shops or even to place of worship, if
we can, or to use public transport instead of our own cars to reduce our
ecological footprint and feel healthy, active and energetic. Hindu Council of
Australia fully supports this initiative".
Every Human activity needs to be ZERO waste and emission
eventually...with 7+ billion humans, there is little choice (if we want to
survive in the long term). We have to live with Nature and be a part of Nature...not
try to "conquer" Nature.
The most compassionate thing to do now (great 2014 New Year
Resolution) ...To live in a sustainable manner by reducing climate change,
reducing pollution, and preserving the very natural eco-systems that have been
keeping us alive! Clean air, water, food, and land is priceless for all living
beings including Humans.
Ganesha Temple in Nashville has taken a positive step in this
direction by eliminating the use of paper plates and plastic spoons to serve the
devotees around 500 in number every week. The diversion of Abhishekam material
and kitchen wastes to composite manure to be used in its own vast soil for
plants may perhaps add to this concept.
*32. POPE FRANCIS VIEWS ON PROSELYTIZATION AND MONEY PLEASES HINDUS
I believe some of you located in Tennessee might have gone through
the write-up of a columnist titled
"Words of Pope Francis are a breath of fresh air". To many
Hindus who are worried about the Christian propaganda missionary and
proselytization (conversion of Hindus to Christian faith) in India words of
Pope Francis should be comforting, coming from a World Authority on
Christianity. Pope Francis has said: "Proselytization is solemn
nonsense". By that he has attracted the admiration of many Hindus
unlike his predecessors. Proselytization by Western Missionary often ends up
with violence though it has a good side by way of providing food, clothes,
medicine and free quality education. Many a poor from low caste illiterates
convert because the caste system in India treats them badly. Besides the poor
who are recipients of these benefits convert to Christianity out of gratitude.
Before India's Independence such converts also enjoyed political benefits
moving away from the machinations of higher castes. In spite of so much Governmental concession
and privileges the scheduled castes enjoy today, these conversions are taking place among
illiterates because of many social abuses in the Hindu Society or because low
castes are allured by proselytization and the carrots before them. This does not happen between intellectual
equals. Educated elites feel Proselytization among the poor and uneducated are
due to exploitation and manipulation. At one time the educated among the
scheduled castes could successfully divert them to Buddhism which is still an
Eastern culture and akin to Hinduism unlike Christianity. There was no angst
against this. Conversion to Sikhism is a routine affair. Buddhism does not offer those benefits as
Western Christianity which has enormous financial resources. Very few are attracted to Islam now-a-days.
Middle East's enormous riches have not
helped in the process. They are
therefore jealous and frustrated as their aggressive spread of religion has
halted. They have been projecting more
the negative side of Qu'ran. Hare
Krishna Movement has a strong dampening effect against these conversions though
they too employ often the technique of proselytization to attract everybody to
their Theology within Hinduism.
Hitherto, Abrahamic faiths have always been insisting that theirs
is the only true path of the divine and
Hinduism is a pagan religion based on blind faiths and idol worship. Even
though they started from the same source of beliefs as Jews and Muslims they
now believe they are most refined and have successfully eliminated all pagan
practices from their religion while Hinduism is still progressing more towards them. They are up
against its caste system as human discrimination. Pope Francis has come out
with his fresh pleasing interpretation moving away from the authoritative stand
of his predecessors. Hinduism believes
all paths of religion lead to the same One Source, some taking a longer route
than theirs.
Buddha said root cause of misery in life is greed. Pope francis has linked this to desire
for money. "Money sickens our
minds, poisons our thoughts and even poisons our faith, leading us down the
path of jealousy, quarrels, suspicion and conflict. It also corrupts the mind
of some people to see religion as a source of profit. 'I am a Catholic, I go to
Mass, everyone thinks well of me... But underneath I have my business. I
worship money' say affluent and rich Catholics.
Money begins by offering a sense of well-being. Then you feel important
and vanity comes. And after vanity comes pride. When you worship money you
worship a false idol" says the Pope. Hindus have even certain religious
auspicious days earmarked for the worship of money and buying of jewelry! People travel as far as Bhadrinath to perform
Kubera (Lord of Wealth) Pooja. Recently I wrote to you how our Kubera Puja and
Lakshmi Puja should be performed on Dhan Teras and Deepavali religious days
with a goal in mind to serve the society
better as we grow richer by His grace. The words coming from the learned and
sincere Pope is in strong support of the same.
We do hope the strong message from Pope will bring in real reform
in the world's richest Catholic Church
in Rome to direct its policies in Roman Catholic Churches world over which in turn will bring in chain reactions
including our richest temples. This will also dampen proselytization which
often perturbs majority Hindus in India who at the same time need lot of their
own house cleaning. As educated elites Hindu Americans can quicken their own
thinking at their end for promoting
Universal Oneness of Sanatana Dharma in action for all round Peace. To them
proselytization is not a problem being the educated elite. To them the deep
concern is the inter-racial marriages and the growing atheism of their children.
Their worry is how to bring the other partner and their children to the Hindu
culture preventing from being attracted
towards faith based religions or turning
atheists all together. The
solution lies in spreading the message of Universal Oneness, yoga and
meditation while practicing it and not in ritualistic loaded Hindu worships
which can be kept to a low key. Then they will be able to guide not only their
generation but also make Sanatana Dharma attractive for others which got
complicated in present day practice of Hinduism.
*33. NEW
YEAR RESOLUTION
Have you made your resolution
for the New Year on January1? If not you can make it on January 14
Makara sankranti Day when Uttrayana Punyakala Begins. You know now why I say
this? All resolutions are made on good Muhoorta (auspicious time). You will
soon here more about January 1. You
need not worry for we make resolutions and forget about it for a year. But if
you still insist her are few to choose from the desk of Gadadhara Pandit Dasa
Gadadhara Pandit Dasa--Author, Lecturer, and Hindu Chaplain,
Columbia University, New York University, and Union Theological Seminary.
"New Year's resolutions are hard to maintain. We are very
familiar with the routine where we feel Gung-ho about a change we want to make
and a few weeks into the New Year, the resolution is already slipping away.
Even having the desire to make a change, in my opinion, is praiseworthy and
deserves a pat on the back. What to speak of actually following through on it,
even if it only lasts a few days or weeks. Some change is better than no
change. A little endeavor is better than no endeavor. If the resolution isn't
made, then no action will follow. So, go ahead and make the resolution.
I am including some resolutions that will help us grow
spiritually. Resolutions I plan on working on myself. Pick one, two, or all 10
and do the best you can with them. Good luck and a Happy New Year!
1. MEDITATE two
to three times a week for 10 minutes by focusing on your breath.
2. Spend quality TIME with friends and
family, in person or on the phone, at least once a week.
3. Consume
COMPASSIONATELY, by eating only vegetarian food at least once a week.
4. Take time to
write down and express GRATITUDE for the positive things happening in your
life.
5. REFLECT on all
the small and big ways in which people are helping you.
6. Feel JOY for
another's success even if it is the same success you were hoping for.
7. Mend old RELATIONSHIPS
by forgiving those who hurt you and by seeking forgiveness from those you hurt.
8. COMMUNICATE
mindfully -- practice speaking in a way that is honest, helpful, yet doesn't
offend or hurt others.
9. ANGER can lead
to regretful behavior; so don't let anger get the best of you.
10. Don't become
proud of your gifts. Instead, just BE grateful."
34. RED
AND WHITE STRIPES ON SOUTH INDIAN HINDU TEMPLE WALLS
One of my HRA (Hindu
Reflections Active) Participants posed me a question " Why South
Indian Temples are painted with white
and red strips. As an Iyengar by
birth I could only think of my Namam
which I gave it up long ago often
persecuted by DK neighbors in Madras now called Chennai, insulted,intimidated
and abused whenever I stepped out of my house in Royapettah. I was not rich
enough to live then in peace in Triplicane with Iyengar crowds. Hindutva was not active then as it is today
against Christians and Muslim converters or abusers of Hindu religion. Being
Hindu I could not understand such a treatment from fellow Indians while we are
up against others with arms? These promoters of hatred are in full power today. I usually witnessed also
on temple walls the holy mark of Namam along with the bold stripes of white and red varying from
red to reddish brown on the outer walls of the temple as I prostrated before
the flag-post before entering the temple.
I also knew both Vadagalai and Tenkalai Iyengars in Kanchipuram went to
Privy Council of England for British to decide which Namam U or Y is the
right one for Varadraja Swamy? India was
under British yoke then! Today there are
more strifes and quarrels in Secular India.
I saw these stripes more
in Tamil Nadu temples compared to temples in Karnataka. I consoled to the idea
then that these are symbols of Lakshmi and Vishnu Pada (footprints of Vishnu)
in those days. But why this appears in Siva temples also which I seldom visited
then? Receiving this question immediately after my discourse on Christmas Tree
and Lighting in which I have drawn ample reference to Hinduism which should
have inspired the pagan religions and Christianity to these practices I thought more deeply, spiritually
oriented and came out with my own explanation as I did on Chamakam odd
and even numbers sometime back. I am
sure my Tamil friends will have more to say about it and correct me where I am
wrong also. I have therefore decided to circulate it as a draft inviting your
comments and suggestions to enrich my knowledge . Please send your comments by
January 25. If no comments are received I will take it for granted that this
discourse is worth publishing on the Blog: Hindu Reflections
<nrsrini.blogspot.com>
*35.
WIDENING OUR VISION AS HINDU AMERICANS
India has adopted a policy of live and let live. This spirit
remains with immigrant Hindus also wherever they are settled. Hinduism which is
the major religion wants to live in peace amid various religions by adopting
its philosophy of Dharma though often
afflicted with occasional outbursts and bubbles. This policy is being pursued
more intensively by American Hindus because the changes that has been brought
about in their lives where they live as
minority intellectually advanced, rich
and prosperous.
I live in the religious belt town of Nashville. Over the period I
have seen Nashville, a town fully engaged in Christian missionary and
propaganda is becoming increasingly cosmopolitan, and people are coming in with
different worldviews and with secular and spiritual views. Contributions of
Hindu Americans are no less than others in this regard. Our worship pattern is
slowly changing. We often end with prayers with universal Oneness and peace all
around more prominently than in orthodox temple worships in India. We go to the
temple not with the idea to change our surroundings and go back home, but want
to change ourselves so everywhere feels like home. We often see people singing
in temples Bhajans like "Easwara
allah tero nam’” which Mahatma
Gandhi promoted strongly in India. But somehow it has not appealed to the Indian
community still. Religious war goes on
in India. Many here think "sayeesa saranam" is addressed
to Saibaba, Muslim-Hindu Saint in our
prayers. Kabir bhajans are popular. It
has accepted many Gurus of Western descent. Thus American Hindus have widened
their outlook. Inter-racial marriages are becoming popular but the Hindu
partner who insisted on a ceremonial Hindu wedding tries hard to bring his counterpart to His
way of thinking with which he has been brought up making compromises and adjustments here and there appealing to both.
Yoga and Spiritual outlook of Sanatana Dharma comes to his help often. Hindus often seek solace in things like Sai
bhajans which are not sectarian or narrow traditional based which appeal to
all.
In this background our Hindu Religious Heritage Classes have
introduced some innovative ideas like periodically visiting churches and
mosques and get acquainted with the religious outlook of others, serving the
poor participating in common kitchen to feed the poor, extending their hand in
construction work of the habitat for the poor etc. It will be interesting to
learn what is going on in other migrant countries not only at children’s and
young scholars’ level but also at adult level. I have therefore pleasure in
attaching a news item that I came across in the Internet and the reaction by a
religiously inclined Hindu migrant. Please think about these developments and
see what we can do further.
*36. DIVERSITY
OF HINDU AMERICAN TEMPLES, BOTH A BLESSING AND OBSTACLE
I have so far presented several discourses to bring forth
how our temple worship is intended towards one tradition of Trinity
worship in its aspect of creation (Srishth)i, existence (Sthiti),
and dissolution (Laya) by the number of Vedic mantras and
peace invocation and conclusion mantras used in temple worship ultimately
focusing on Nirguna Brahman, Supreme Being. This has lost its significance
with sectarian approach influenced by Puranas. This is also not suited for
Hindu Americans drawn from different traditions. Our worship is also directed
towards five elements as Vyahritis representing) Brahman intended for all
traditions as explained in my discourses. These discourses are:
1. Hindu Mass Worship in
Temples and Need for Spiritual Focus (January 2012)
2. Divine Character of
Hindu Temples in Concept and Design (February 2012)
3. Motivation Behind
Modality of Ceremonial Aaraadhana (May 2012)
4. One Hindu Complex for
Many Traditions Overseas (June 2013)
5. Mantras and Hymns for
Temple and Home worship (August 2013)
6. Shoedasa Upachara Pooja—16 steps
Worship ((August 2013)
7. Why Temple outside Prakara Walls are
Painted Red and White? (February 2014)
8. Smaarta tradition of Temple Worship ideal
for Hindu Americans (March 2014)
9. Whose Abhisheka are we witnessing on
Mahasivaratri"? -It is of Trinity only (February 2014)
I will be concluding the series with the last discourse, “10. How
should we conclude all our worship with Meditation on Supreme Being? -- as
recommended by Saayana with his brother Madhava, the Commentators of
Vedas and Upanishads, disciple of Vidyaranya of Vijayanagara Empire and promoted
by Ramakrishna Math.
Dr. Murali Balaji, Director of Education and Curricula
Reform at the Hindu American Foundation says: "The diversity
of temples is both a blessing and a potential obstacle, because cultural
customs often become conflated with religious values, and even the most
well-meaning of temple tour guides can often present a perspective limited to
just one sect or worship tradition. For school teachers, taking students to an
ISKCON temple (Krishna devotees) would present one view of
Hinduism, while going to a Shiva temple might present another (sectarian
outlook). It would be in some ways akin to the challenges posed by taking
school children to a Catholic Church or Presbyterian house of worship and
representing either as the epitome of Christianity"
American Hindus having built temple complexes need not call them
by any chosen deity's name and could follow the practice of Siva --Vishnu
Temple in Livermore California to call them all uniformly as Siva-Vishnu
Temples or even more appropriately Temple of Trinity. This needs overcoming
some personal inhibitions and narrow outlook of our temple builders. They
should think that these temples are built for the community with personal
sacrifice and philanthropic disposition and not built for their
own Ishta Devatas. Priests should also adapt Smaarta tradition of all-in-one
Panchayatana worship as systematized by Sankara and end all worship with
Universal meditation on Brahman. Our temple complexes are ideally suited for
such a worship and we need not go ISKCON way to install only Krishna deity
or for their proselytization methods. Only our sectarian emphasis should change
in conducting worships and all devotees should think that they go to
temple to worship Saguna Brahman to meditate upon Nirguna Brahman. It is
interesting to know what is happening with major religion of the country-- One
united church for all traditions and one mass worship of universal
appeal as described earlier are replacing traditional sectarian
churches.
A recent write up by Dr. Murali Balaji
on "Diversity of Hindu American Temples Both a Blessing and
Obstacle" will throw some light on this topic.
*37.
SUBHASHITAS AND THOUGHTS FOR THE DAY
Please find below my next dispatch of thoughts for the day from my
collections sent by friends. I am sure you will appreciate and enjoy these
thoughts as usual. But at the same you should know what lies in our ancient
literature as Subhashitas or Wise sayings in Sanskrit.
Subhashita means good speech. They are wise sayings, instructions
and stories, either in poetry or in prose
in Sanskrit language which is the
oldest language in world and considered as "Mother of all
Languages".Subhashitas were composed by ancient saints and scholars which
can be dated back to 5000 BC. Some of the well-known Sanskrit scholars
include Bhartrihari, Subhashita Ratna
Bhandagara and Somadeva Bhatta. The Panchatantra and the Hitopadesha also
belong to this category. This compilation draws from all these sources in
addition to Bhagavadgeetaa and other Puranas, Ramayana, and Mahabharata.
Subhasitas act as teacher in formulating the sense of morality and
character, which sums up the total of a person’s virtues including
dispositions, behaviors, habits, likes, dislikes, capacities, traits, ideals,
ideas, values, feelings, and intuitions. By understanding the meaning one can
cultivate a strong and morally superior character.
38.
VIVAAHA—HINDU BRAAHMAA SACRED MATRIMONY
Traditionally Hindus do not believe in any courtship before
marriage. Belief among them is that love develops gradually after marriage and
not before. The tradition of arranged marriages is breaking down with
American Hindus and falling in love and marrying has become common
due to most of the marriages take place as inter-caste and inter-racial
marriages. Hindu--Sikh and Hind--Jain weddings are common.
Muslim-Hindu and Buddhist-Hindu weddings are few and far between. Interracial
weddings are quite frequent between Christian and Hindu partners in USA.
It is this Inter-racial marriage between a Hindu and Christian that
goes for the grand and colorful Hindu wedding as well as majestic
walking down the aisle of a Christian wedding. Often both traditional marriages
are celebrated on different days to please the partners. Such couples settle
down and decide on their religious, spiritual or atheist pursuits in their
wedded life later.
Hindu weddings differ from tradition to tradition and also
it depends on their caste tradition wherever they are settled. Hindu
American weddings mostly take place in a temple. The ceremony is performed
before a fire lit in a special metal vessel. Usually a Hindu priest
conducts the wedding ceremony by reciting hymns from the scriptures written in
Sanskrit. As a part of the ceremony the bride and groom exchange rings and the
groom presents the bride with saris. The bride and groom garland
each other and the couple walk around the fire three times at the end of
the ceremony. Among some castes the couple walks around the fire seven times.
Hindu marriage consists of five important ceremonies--Vaagddaana (verbal
contract); Kanyaa sampradaana (giving away the daughter); Varana (welcoming the
bride and bridegroom); paanigrahana (ritualistic holding of each other's hand)
and Tripadi or Saptapadi (the three or seven steps walking round
the sacred fire ritual).
Hindu arranged marriage works well because Hindus believe
that the union of marriage is predetermined and is a form of Karma. Statistics
show there is not even one percent of divorce among Hindus. It also works
because Hindus by tradition try very hard not to break a wedlock. In Hindu
marriages the union is not between a boy and a girl, but between two families.
The girl is given in marriage to a family and not to a boy. Acceptance and
adjustment of inter-caste and inter-racial weddings is more natural
between the families in America than in yet conservative India
where caste -system has increased manifold politically nurtured. Traditional
concepts are fast changing influenced by other cultures overseas where Hindus
are settled and to some extent even in India.
The present discourse conveys the meaning of many Vedic
mantras chanted and slokas recited as
ideal footsteps for wedded life inspired by the divine weddings from
Puranas containing meanings of resolutions and promises made by the bride and
bridegroom to serve the two families and the society as useful citizens and to
preserve Hindu Dharma life-long, from various Hindu proven ancient
traditions that have withstood the test of times. This is not a priest's
guide for conducting marriages as per different traditions of Hindus in India.
A uniform code of practice to conduct Hindu marriages in America is
slowly developing for marriages conducted in temples keeping to
essentials from all ancient traditions (this in turn often depends
on the temple priest) to suit inter-racial and inter-caste marriages between a
man and a woman. Homosexual weddings do not fall within the scope of Hindu
Religious marriages. Braahma type of marriage out of several types of
marriages prevalent in Hindu Society is the only one recognized legally
for official marriage registration in India as well as USA. The
present discourse deals with the same as practiced in different Hindu
traditions.
We have here something to learn from Western culture. There
is an elaborate marriage rehearsal before the actual wedding takes place to
convey the meaning of Holy Matrimony to the families in Western practice.
This is more needed for Hindu Americans uprooted from their culture and living
in a multicultural and multi-traditional society. Hindu Marriages are
packed with Mantras in Sanskrit language and the wedding is conducted in that
divine language. The priest tries very heard to explain at least the
meaning of selected mantras and procedures during the ceremony which neither
registers with the bride and bridegroom and their busy running
around parents nor the large noisy audience. It is therefore necessary that the
head priest meets the parents of both sides prior to actual
ceremony and explain all the mantras and procedures so that their
minds are set to follow the actual proceedings purposefully with meaning and
understanding. Usually a pamphlet describing the procedure (not all
mantras) is distributed to all which is scarcely glanced through. Once
the wedding is over nobody takes any pain to understand the meaning of these
mantras and procedures except it remains with the priest. This rehearsal is
essential as marriages are conducted in hurry keeping to the time schedule to
tie the knot. Otherwise it becomes a formality with no meaning. It is easier for
temple authorities to organize the same in USA because marriages are
mostly conducted in temples in standardized fashion to propagate the
culture. It is hoped my discourse as attached if circulated to prospective
couple and their parents in advance would make the ceremony more
meaningful and educate the couple with the wisdom of Vedas instead of
mechanically performing the ritual without understanding the wisdom contained
therein. It is a compendium of worldly wisdom to lead a happy life together.
(JUNE
2014)
*39.
CHAITANYA MAHAPRABHU AND HIS SIKSHAASHTAKA
On Sunday, July 6th 2014 Hindus
celebrated Jagannath Ratha Yatra all over the globe inspired by the
famous Ratha Yatra at Puri Jagannth popularly visited as pilgrimage
center among Chardams. One cannot forget to recite Ashtapadee Geeta
Govinda and Sikshaashtaka of Jayadeva and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu respectively
on this day. It is customary to perform Odissa classical dance on
this day set to Hindustani Music based on these lyrics. Please recall my
discourses Jagannatha of Puri and Ratha Yatra (June 2012) and Origin and
Growth of Fine Arts of Hindus (October 2011).
Around 14th and 15th Century
Hinduism was greatly threatened by the Muslim Rulers who
converted Hindus to Islam on large scale by the power of Sword as well as
exploitation of the poor and scheduled castes. This is the reason for the
large Muslim population to-day and the creation of new Nations Pakistan and
Bangladesh leaving behind painful history of holy land of Bharat Khanda.
India has the second largest Muslim population in the world, though a small
fraction of its major religion Hinduism which is being constantly threatened
and plagued. This large scale conversion was halted to some extent by
non-violence movement by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu who reinforced a
caste-free Vaishnavism following Ramanuja and Jaydeva, focussing on
devotion to Vishnu as the simplest way to liberation. Unfortunately the Neo-Muslims
could not be converted back to Hinduism as there is no such provision in
Hinduism dictated by orthodoxy. Nobody can also be banned from practicing
Sanatana Dharma and also worship of Jagaannath by all human races as
Universal Lord, whatever may be their religious following for these belong
entire humanity though Pandas in Puri have their own views.
Viswambhara was born to Jagannatha Misra, a well-known Vedic
scholar in Nawadveep, in Bengal. Mishra had lost eight of children earlier.
Young Vishwambhar was intelligent and mastered the sacred texts. After his
father’s death he began to teach students and became a reputed scholar and
teacher. After marriage, he left for Gaya to perform religious ceremony,
being the life-time aspiration of every religious Hindu where he met Pandit
Iswar Puri who inducted him to the devotional school of Bhakti Marga.
This brought about a change in his outlook. He gave up spiritual discourses
(upanyasa) and introduced Sankeertan singing of God’s name in chorus. He had
the realization of the Supreme in his form as Krishna and sang in ecstatic joy.
Large numbers of devotees were drawn to him and group singing of God’s name
became popular. He then left home at the age of 24 and opted for
monastic order or Sanyaasa. He became Chaitanya and went to Puri,
revealed his greatness and then traveled to Vrindavan, Varanasi and far
South. Returning to Puri, he lived there for 18 years, of which the
last 12 years were spent mostly in spiritual trances, extolling the glory of Lord
Jagannath. He is reverentially called Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.
The Gaudiya Math was
formed on 6 September 1920, about 30 months after Bhaktisiddhanta
Sarasvati took sanyaasa, the
renounced order of life. On 7 March 1918, the same day he took sanyaasa,he
established the Sri Chaitanya Math in Mayapura, later
recognized as the parent body of all the Gaudiya Math branches. Its
purpose was to spread Gaudiya
Vaishnavism, the philosophy of Chaitanya
Mahaprabhu, through preaching and publishing.
Please enjoy brief life sketch on Chaitanya
Mahaprabhu by Krishna Conscious group of Chennai, Sikshaashtaka, its meaning
and spiritual rendering by Prabhupada and others.
(JULY 2014)
40. IS
FLAG OF INDIA SPIRITUAL OR SECULAR?
The History and Symbolism of Indian Flag is very exciting.
Most of the Hindu Americans have opted for the status of "Citizens
of Indian Origin" and therefore it is necessary they should also
know about the Indian Flag though they know about Star-spangled American
Banner very well. You recently received the Independence Day August
1947 spiritual speech of Jagadguru Sankaracharya in which reference
is made to the tricolor flag of India with its Ashokchakra. I had
an occasion to hear to the explanation given by our Statesman-philosopher
President Sarvepalle Radhakrishnan also. I strongly believe origin of
Wheel of Dharma goes back to Brahmachakra as described in Svetaswataara
Upanishsd which has also given birth to Srichakra motivated by Adisankara as
glorified in Lalita sahasranama.
Of course political views are different to make it appear that it
is focused on secular obligations to cater to the aspirations of all
community. I often wonder why Sanatana Dharma is not considered secular which
comes with such noble thoughts as "Tadekam", Eko Viprah
bahudaa Vadanti, "Vasudheka kutumbakam", Krinvanto viswamaryam"
etc. Viewed with the Vedanta perspective, Indian flag appears
to me more secular than listening to Political speeches justifying it that
started with the first Speech of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. I am sure many
in NAMO Government would be thrilled by the speech of Jagadguru Sankaracharya
on Augst 15, 1947 than my elaborate discourse on the subject. Somehow
this did not catch the eye of the masses. May be this discourse too!
(AUGUST
2014)
*41. WHY HINDUS TOLERATE
CRITICS OF THEIR SCRIPTURES
Sanatana Dharma with its many changes over its long millennium of survival and growth called today as Hinduism and Judaism mother of all religions are practically the only two religions in the world. All other religions in the world existing today have arisen from them if you look at them dispassionately. Many religions out of this fold that existed for a while have vanished or almost extinct.
When my attention was drawn to distorted book of War and Peace in
Gita of Wendy Doniger and volley of rebuttals I started
questioning myself what is Hinduism and why does it attract so many as
its lovers and few haters too. Unfortunately there is no conversion
mechanism and the title Hindu is a birth right conventionally and at the
same time if any one calls himself as Hindu and practices Hindu Dharma
he is appreciated or even raised to a divinity as Shirdi Saibba and Buddha.
Once deified in Hinduism, one is beyond all castes, religions or
race. Of late Christianity also which has come out of Judaism
with many changes is facing problems though not to the extent of Hinduism.
Hinduism has formidably withstood all hatred and criticisms for
millennium and is the third largest religion which does not have a regular
conversion program and missionary mechanism and funding to convert those who do
not believe in it and not even reconvert those who have been forcibly converted
or converted by exploiting their poverty. Soon focus will turn more
towards Islam by the affected and inflicted as this is a religion sprung
out of Judaism in frustration with many provocations to have its way as
could be learnt from Koran. It promotes hatred and forceful conversion
based on certain provisions contained in Koran which are almost their mantras
though projects Universal Brotherhood on which pious and peace loving
Muslims only focus. Please find few quotes from the Holy book of
Koran as attached. I wonder how any religion could prescribe such
mantras to guide its followers? I often felt Paritranaya
dushkritam sounds better than Vinasayata dushkritam learning
from the lives of Valmiki, Narakasura and others from
the Puranas which Hindus emphatically feel are not myths.
The concepts of utmost freedom of thoughts and actions attract
many to Hinduism like what it attracts all nationalities to USA.
Hinduism never forbids any one to question its fundamentals. On one side,
in Hinduism, you may come across people worshiping pests like rats, and still
on other side you will come across concepts parallel to Quantum Physics and
Neil's Bohr Theory of nuclear structure and reactions. On one side Advaita
(non-dualism) and on the other side Dvaita (philosophy of dualism)
is discussed and promoted. Hinduism never ever banished any one, since he or
she wrote a wrong scripture or did not observe a particular ritual. Therefore a
spiritual or religiously inclined Hindu dismisses War and peace in Bhagavad
Gita as "They know not what they write, forgive them".
Mahatma Gandhi wrote:
“even atheists can call themselves as Hindus”. That is very true. In fact the
Charvaka philosophy or Nastika philosophy, (existed during the Vedic period)
founded by Charvaka rejected the existence of God and considered religion as an
aberration. Voltaire in Essay on Tolerance wrote: "I may disagree with
what you say, but I will defend to the death, your right to say it".
Hinduism is the symbol of what Voltaire wrote. Its Yoga practice, freedom
to practice religion based on individual choice and spiritual meditation has
attracted many from the founded religions world today have arisen out of
them.
These thoughts made me come out with my next discourse"Gita
is Yogopanishad,it is neither a book on war and peace, nor rituals nor
Biography..."Why America is not focused on these or worried about it and
dismisses it as freedom of speech may be concern of some
agitated Hindus? Though declared a Secular State, Race has become
its biggest problem such as Ferguson for USA. America's race problem is
increasingly one of Class not Caste or Religion in India. African American's
problem is poverty which is most visible. Hindus could have easily joined
them in the race war but poverty is not the problem among Hindu Americans, and
therefore they do not join this race war. The conversion to Christianity by the
various Missionaries are taking place off the shore in India mainly
taking advantage of tolerant philosophy of majority of Hindus and State
Policy to care only for minority religions and also as it is impossible
for them to operate here to convert migrants. Few convert by choice and for
political favors. So there is not much focus on people like Wendy Doniger who
are ignored under the protection clause of freedom of speech and so have a free
hand. They also enjoy freedom of education whether it makes sense or not. That
gives us also lot of leverage to enjoy the privilege of freedom of speech to
come with more rebuttals.
*42. HINDU PANCHANGAMS ARE
OUT OF HARMONY FOR OUR RITUALS AND WORSHIPS
The apparent path covered by the Sun
in relation to earth called ecliptic recurs periodically with rhythmic
precision about which our sages had the exact divine vision even though they
did not have the modern powerful telescopes. Likewise they also noticed that
the Moon’s path in relation to earth also occurs at regular intervals. Based on
these observed phenomena, the units of time such as day, month, year, etc.,
were established. This knowledge is needed to precisely forecast the
timing of these recurring celestial events. Mankind, particularly
religious Hindus who are so particular about time in samskaras like
maangalya dharanam, muhurtam and Gatti melam in religious weddings who
are ritualistic and believe in astrological predictions need a system of
measurement, by which the correct times of observance of religious rites can be
ascertained in accordance with Saastric injunctions. Lord Krishna says in
Bhagavadgita ”tasmaat saastram Pramaanam te kaaryaakaarya vayavasthithow” (sastras
are ultimate authority)
Hindu saastras say Kaamya, Naimittika
and Nitya karma should be performed only at specified place, time in the
space-time continuum. If the karmas are performed otherwise, although they may
not cause injury, they certainly will not be efficacious. Now we know why
our rituals and worships often disappoint us and God does not answer us?
The Hindu Temple Society of North
America, having felt the need of Hindu Americans are taking lot of
trouble to publish a Panchangam (almanac) with the help of expert astrologers
in India and also taking suitable corrections for time changes in America as
well as time zones. Yet are we following stipulations of S our Saastras?
Should there be different birthdays of Krishna and Hanuman? When is
Uttarayana? These questions bothered me. Of course we sometime cover our
ignorance by the clause “Mamopaatta durita praayschittaartham” atonement for
late performance or wrong performance of a ritual.
In a specific problem I faced
with, I referred the matter to an astrological expert. I have pleasure in
reproducing his expert opinion. I also wonder why we cannot have one
panchangam in India making Winter Solstice Day (December 22) as the starting
day for Hindu New Year and fix all festivals, rituals and rites in relation to
that. Of course when it is Winter solstice in Northern Hemisphere it is Summer
solstice in Southern Hemisphere and vice Versa. Hindus are everywhere. If
they are religious they should be serious about this problem. In India there are
so many Panchagams forced on majority who are not well read or illiterate. But
In USA Hindus are supposed to be scientists, doctors, computer wizards mostly
and many among them are also temple trustees. Can they not study this
problem and fix them instead of the blind leading the blind? Council of Hindu
Temples of North America is in this business of providing a genuine Panchangam
for the faithful. They call it North American Panchangam though meant for
Hindu Americans? Many believe in Rahu Kalam but observe at the wrong time
unknowingly. They should be serious about it and in turn help their
unfortunate brother and sisters in India. Secular Indian Government will
not do it. They have their Salivahana saka Calendar for official Bharat record
And Christian Calendar of January 1.
"Hindu
Calenders are out of harmony with natural seasons
on earth because of difference of 0.0165656 days in
the actual and the assumed lengths of a solar
year which remained uncorrected for well over
fourteen centuries. The result is we are
now celebrating our fasts and festivals after
over 23 days of their actual
happening or Shastric prescribed time.
All our Panchangs require to accommodate this
change.The present Niryana system is not accurate. Our
calendar is based on seasons, ayanas, equinoxes, etc.
Moreover the stars are not placed evenly in
heavens and the view of them through ecliptic does
not yield 2.25 stars per zodiac sign. Stars are
of unequal span. Who is prepared to bell
the cat to make the change in panchangs ?
In view of the above following Georgian
calendar seems to be more appropriate " Certainly
Hindu Americans can bell the cat and open the vision of Hindus in India
too.
We pride in Sanatana
dharma. We pride in saying we taught Astronomy to the world. Should we be then
more dependent on Gregorian Calendar which is actually Christian Calendar
for accuracy of our religious performances than our own? This needs serious
thinking and brain searching. We parade only on our past glory and
forget the wisdom of Vedas and sastras and follow things blindly. All our
worships, festivals and rituals are based on wrong calculations and
wrong timings and therefore may not yield desired results though He forgives us
often!
*43. KNOW THE TRUE COLORS OF OUR PANCHANGAMS
Someone sent me this. Someone called it Truth and some other
titled it Colors. May be they meant True Colors! Enjoy! But wait for more
exciting TRUTH about Green tree decoration and White Lighting as Hindu
Americans and also why we have our Music Season during Christmas and why
we do not have to rush on January 1 to temple to watch the special Abhishekam
and make our NEW YEAR Resolutions? All our Panchangams are screwed up! It does
not matter when we worship our Holy Days. Durgapuja we celebrate on Navaratri
Sundays whether it is Ashtami or not;Holi we wait for a warm day in summer;
Krishna Jayanti we have several days : Hanuman Jayanti in April or
December, Who knows?; Uttarayan Punyakala after 23 days in January and so on.
We wait for Muhurtam time for Mangalya dharanam and Tamils for Gattimelam based
on wrong fixation of Shbhamuhoortam! When do we have Rahukalam if we believe in
it? Based on this wisdom we keep our Temples open declaring any day
calling it Special Religious Events Day particularly during the
American Festival Season for it is Holiday Convenience Season. After all
America makes the Presidents Day and Presidents do not make their day! They are
born on a day convenient to us! Know the Truth or Why We Do It? Inmy
forthcomin discourses. It will attract full of comments and yet I have
not asked for comments; if you have time you can still send it? Anyway
during holiday Season you will just give it a cursory glance and no serious
reading? Then forget also! Are we
serious about religion and religious practices as per sastras (Tasmat saastram
pramaanam te says Gita) really? Can someone guide us and correct some of them?
Who will bell the cat? Can we do it? It is my guess or anybody elses?
*44. SCIENCE
AND RELIGION
Science and religion generally pursue
knowledge of the universe using different methodologies. Science acknowledges
reason, empiricism, and evidence, while religions include revelation, faith and
sacredness. Despite these differences, most scientific and technical
innovations prior to the scientific revolution were achieved by societies
organized by religious traditions. Much of the scientific method was pioneered
first by ancient civilizations such as the Hindus, Greeks, Egyptians, and
Sumerians. Later during the middle ages the Catholic church was responsible for
saving much of the scientific knowledge from these civilizations, thus allowing
the scientific method to develop in Europe during and after the Renaissance and
through the enlightenment period. Islam also made great contributions to areas
such as Mathematics, and Astronomy. Many of the most famous scientists in
history were devout Christians such as Blasé Pascal, Copernicus, and the founder
of modern genetics Gregor Mendel. The founder of the Big bang theory was also a
Jesuit priest named Goerges Lemaitre. Hinduism has historically embraced reason
and empiricism, holding that science brings legitimate, but incomplete
knowledge of the world. Confucian thought has held different views of science
over time. Most Buddhists today view science as complementary to
their beliefs.
Hindu sages were the first to realize
that the manifested Universe has sprung out of the Supreme spirit and that each
fragment of the Universe is influenced by the rest of the Universe and vice
versa. Closely watching the solar system they gave mankind a system
of time measurement, by which correct time for observance of religious rites
can be ascertained. That was the beginning of Astronomy and Science. The
details of their scientific contributions to the world can be found in my
detailed discourse.
Science has an objective approach
whereas the approach of religion is subjective. Physical science is concerned
with man’s external nature, but religion is concerned with man’s internal
nature. Einstein says that science can change the nature of an element. But it
is only religion which can change human nature.
Hindu Philosophy says there is no
creation and only manifestation. Science also says that something can never be
created out of nothing. There is really no creation or destruction. There is
only change of from. Vedanta says everything we see in the tree was in the
seed. It is not that anything was added later. There is only
manifestation from the seed to the tree and from the tree back to the seed.
Vedanta says, Self is the gene out of which this universe has come.
The Self is never created nor destroyed. It is only sometimes manifest,
sometimes un-manifest, sometimes evolved and sometimes involved.
The atomic theory is the brain-child
of Western mind. The Western scientist generalizes the experience that one can
subdivide matter until one meets the ultimate particle. Vedanta
goes further and reduces everything to one element called Brahman; Brahman,
because it is everywhere--Self of everything and every being.
Man may be physically comfortable, but
he must also be morally sound, generous and selfless. A scientist must be
a Vedantin. A Vendantin must be scientific in outlook. Rituals may help us to a
point but they become a hindrance beyond a point. A true scientist is also a
Vedantin as he is concerned with truth as a whole, not only the truth that is
apparent, but truth that is real, the truth which is beyond the senses. No
wonder the greatest scientist Albert Einstein said, “Science without Religion
(Vedanta) is lame, and religion without science is blind”
People often turn away from religion
in their frustration and struggle. That happened to Mother Theresa also.
She later surprised us with her practical religion of serving humanity and was
raised to divine heights being honored as a saint. Probably vexed with
growing cynicism and atheistic tendencies Rabbi Geoffrey says “Science does not
make a case for God”. Please see the articles attached for
details.
*45. ENIGMATIC
HINDU GODS ASVINEES WHO INFLUENCED WESTERN CULTURE
The Ashvins or Ashwinee
Kumaras in Hindu
mythology, are two Vedic
gods, divine
twin horsemen in
the Rigveda, sons
of Saranyu (daughter
of Vishwakarma), a
goddess of the clouds and wife of Surya in
his form as Vivasvant. They symbolize the shining of sunrise and sunset,
appearing in the sky before the dawn in a golden chariot, bringing treasures to
men and averting misfortune and sickness. They are the doctors of gods and
are devas of Ayurvedic medicine.
They are represented as humans with head of a horse. In the epic Mahabharata, KingPandu's
wife Madri is
granted a son by each Ashvin and bears the twins Nakula and Sahadeva who,
along with the sons of Kunti, are known as the Pandavas. They are
called Nasatya (dual nāsatyau "kind,
helpful") in the Rigveda; later, Nasatya is the name of one
twin, while the other is calledDasra ("enlightened
giving"). By popular etymology, the name nāsatya is often
incorrectly analysed as na+asatya "not
untrue"="true". Various Indian holy books like Mahabharata, Puranas etc.,
relate that Ashwini Kumar brothers, the Raja Vaidyas to Devas during Vedic times,first
prepared Chyawanprash formulation
for Chyawana Rishi at his Ashram on Dhosihill near Narnaul, Haryana, India, hence the
name Chyawanprash. The Ashvins can be compared with the Dioscuri (the
twins Castor and Pollux) of Greek and Roman
mythology, and especially to the divine twins Ašvieniai of the
ancient Baltic religion".
While I was in Russia working on a project I
had visited Lithuania and have seen the twin horses heads being
exhibited on the roof tops of houses prominently. They also believe
that horses take care of healthy living. My thoughts then went with horse
shoe which is hung on the house door as a protective talisman in
Hindu culture as well as many other cultures like China and Europe. Why
then two horse heads was my curiosity? In Vastu Sastra horse shoe is
one of the most popular protective symbols for a home. In western
culture horse shoe is placed above front doors to protect against evil
(goblins) and attract good luck. We can also find a horse shoe above fire
places, doorways, windows and in various home decors. But the article sent by
India Divine.Org now links the two horses to Asvinee Devatas as the protectors
of Health as Divine physicians whose details you will find in the
discourse. Please go through the additions made to the subject which was
earlier circulated briefly. Your valuable suggestions are welcome.
*46.
OUR DILEMMA IN OBSERVING NITYA AND NAIMITTIKA KARMAS
The significant days for Hindu
Festivals and Rituals seems to have been fixed by religious authorities in India based
on Purnaic incidences which were not celebrated like to-day in Vedic culture
and therefore are not mentioned in Vedas or Upanishads. Our sastras say all
Nitya and Naimittika Karmas should be performed only at a specified place andtime in the space-time continuum.
Also observance of Nishiddha Karmas like Rahukaalam should be based on time and
place. The number of followers of Hindu faith in North American continent has
markedly increased during the last four decades. As a result, the need for a
Panchangam applicable to this part of the world has been fulfilled by bringing
out a North American Hindu Panchangam by the Hindu Temple Society of North
America since 1997. Yet we are often confused on the days we perform Nitya and
Naimittika karmas as we want to get back to our traditional
approach following our own customary panchangams. Hindu Temples in America
follow their own tradition based on the wisdom of Founding fathers and not
based on the rational Panchangam which has been brought out by referring to
various Panchgams which confuse Hindus in India too. But they have their
sectarian temples. Government of India has taken its own arbitrary decision to
follow Chandramana Panchangam and Salivahana Saka Era to please the majority
but not a Panchangam which is logical and most agreeable to the official
calendar of the country which is Gregorian calendar. All said and done a year
has 365 days and Panchangams should be based on that to align it with
official Gregorian calendar which also 365/366 years based.
Hindu Americans say all our Panchangams are screwed up! It does
not matter when we worship our Holy Days. Durgapuja we celebrate on Navaratri
Sundays whether it is Ashtami or not; Holi we wait for a warm day in summer;
Krishna Jayanti we have several days: Hanuman Jayanti in April or
December, Who knows? and Uttarayan
Punyakala after 23 days in January and so on. We wait for Muhurtam time for
Mangalya dharanam and Tamils for Gattimelam based on wrong fixation of
Shubhamuhoortam! When do we have Rahukalam if we believe in it? Based on this
wisdom we keep our Temples open declaring any day calling it Special
Religious Events Day particularly during the American
Festival Season for it is Holiday convenience Season. We are in
line with American Culture for America makes the
Presidents Day and Presidents do not make their day! They are born on a day
convenient to us! Are we serious about religion and religious practices
as per sastras (Tasmat saastram pramaanam te says Gita) really? We
are told if a ritual is not performed in the prescribed Muhoorta we will not
derive any benefit even though it may not harm us.
We have four Panchangas: Souramaana (365.25 days); Chandraamaana
(354 days); Nakshatramaana (360 days); Brahaspatyam (361 days). Most logical
among these which will closely align with official Gregorian calendar is
Souramaana Calendar. Hindu Americans are drawn from different
traditions and mostly go by Gregorian Calendar. It would be therefore logical
to go by the Hindu panchangam which has also 365.25 days per year. But the
problem is it is based on 365 days neglecting the fraction. Over several centuries
this has pushed us away from the Winter solstice day which falls on December 22
to April 14. (Defaulting by 23 days). It has now given the impression that
science and astrology do not conflate with each other though we inspired
Gregorian calendar based on astronomy, though our sages based astrology on
astronomy and gave that science to the world. Tamils and Bengalis who are very
religious have been following Sauraamana calendar from days of yore and
for that they have not gone to hell and others to heaven. But the problem is,
Sauramana calendar astrologers have been indifferent to do necessary
correction after having rounded off a year to 365 days.
Gregorian calendar does leap year correction as well as leap century correction
so that their Christian Religious Holidays come on the same day for observance.
American Hindus should take these deficiencies into
consideration, update the Sauramana calendar and prepare their American
Panchagam and make it more accurate than Gregorian Calendar which is not impossible
with our scientific, computer and astrological skills. Till then it is
advisable for Hindu Americans to go by one calendar to suit all traditions,
time and place that is American Pancahgam as of today which takes care of
place and time correction. Hindu Temple Society should seriously consider
this handicap in our religious followings. Also many festivals and rituals have
universal appeal for all traditions of Hindus and yet they are celebrated as
sectarian like Vaikunta Ekadasi, Panguni Uttiram , Holi, Karadiyan nonbu,
Karuva chaut etc. We have One Temple To Go for our religious
observances and therefore temple should review them in the interest of all and
adopt those only as Special Observance Days leaving very sectarian days to individual
traditions to celebrate or observe at their homes. Most rich
Gujaratis have moved out to have their swami Narayan Temples and do not
join the main stream too. It is therefore time to arise and awake to the
problem.
47. CHANDRAMANA YUGADI ND PANCHANGA
Tomorrow February 19, is Lunar New
year in many countries mostly popularly known as Chinese New year. Lunar and lunisolar calendars differ as to which day is the first day of
the month. In some lunisolar calendars, such as the Chinese calendar, the first
day of a month is the day when an astronomical New moon occurs in a
particular time zone. In others, such as some Hindu calendars, each month
begins on the day after the full moon or the new moon. Others were based in the
past on the first sighting of a lunar crescent such as the Hebrew
calendar. Hindu Lunar New year starts on March 20, Chaitra Sukla Prathama after
29 days. Chinese lunar Calendar thus seems to be more based
astronomically.
The length of
each lunar cycle varies slightly from the average value. In addition,
observations are subject to uncertainty and weather conditions. Thus to avoid
uncertainty about the calendar, there have been attempts to create fixed
arithmetical rules to determine the start of each calendar month.The
average length of the synodic month is 29.530589 days. Thus it is convenient if
months are in general alternately 29 and 30 days (sometimes termed respectively
hollow and full). The distribution of hollow and full months can be determined
using continued factions and examining successive approximations for the
length of the month in terms of fractions of a day.
The Indian National Calendar, often
called the “Hindu Calendar,” is based on both lunar and solar years. This
calendar was introduced in 1957 in a government push for all of India to use
the same calendar, but various traditional calendars continue to be used
prompted by different religious heads. The start of the Indian National
Calendar year coincides with March 22, except in a leap year, when it coincides
with March 21. The year is counted from the first year of the Saka era,
in A.D. 78. The year 2015 translates to Saka era 1936-1937.
Senior Indian Astrophysicist
Meghanad Saha was the head of the Calendar Reform Committee under the
aegis of the CSIR. Other members of the Committee were: A. C. Banerjee, K.
K. Daftari, J. S. Karandikar, Gorakh Prasad, R. V. Vaidya and N. C. Lahiri. It
was Saha’s effort, which led to the formation of the Committee. The task before
the Committee was to prepare an accurate calendar based on scientific study,
which could be adopted uniformly throughout India. It was a mammoth task. The
Committee had to undertake a detailed study of different calendars prevalent in
different parts of the country. There were thirty different calendars. The task
was further complicated by the fact that with calendar religion and local
sentiments were involved. India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in
his preface to the Report of the Committee, which was published in 1955, wrote:
“They (different calendars) represent past political divisions in the
country…now that we have attained Independence, it is obviously desirable that
there should be a certain uniformity in the calendar for our civic, social and
other purposes and this should be done on a scientific approach to this
problem”
Unfortunately this Monumental work
under the direction of Congress work seems to have found its dooms day this
year as NAMO Government decided to stop printing the National calendar as it
was caught in politics and quarrelsome Copycat astrologers from different
traditions who feel reluctant to adjust their calculations and continue with
their wrong data based Panchangm as as to winter solstice day.If they acquire
computer skills this should not be a problem. A bold attempt to bring January
14, the month of Thai as New Year beginning was also thrown out by his
rival Jayalalita without recognizing its closeness to Gregorian
Calendar both having 365 days a year. Sauramana Panchangam defaults by not
correcting like Gregorian which does leap year and leap century
corrections due to astrologers who are traditionally family based and old
systems, and lack of computer skills.
Hindu Americans drawn from different
Hindu traditions will be better advised to go by the Indian National
Calendar which will slowly go into archives torn in politics and religious
prejudices. They need not follow any one religious panchangams
which are all inaccurate and do not comply with scriptural
injunctions to perform rituals and worships as per time, date and
place of living. This needs a proper aligning of Hindu American Panchangam
of today with Indian National Calendar or better base it on
Sauramana Panchangam taking into consideration its serious neglect in not
correcting for astronomical facts that has moved Makara Sankranti by 23 days
from actual day of December 22 Winter solstice day when the Sun’s direction
changes actually towards North (Uttarayana). As highly enlightened and
religious conscious society with lot of computer geniuses we have to base
things on astronomical facts which was the basis on which our Rishis carried
out their worships and rituals. We not go by blind faith and blind Panchangams
of faulty astrologers. READ THE
DISCOURSE ON CHANDRAMANA YUGADI AND PANCHANGAM
48. HAYAGREEVA AVATARA REPOSITED AND RESTORED VEDAS TO HUMANITY
Hayagreeva Avatar is the earliest Avatar
in which Vishnu is believed to have been assumed a horse -head to kill a
horse-headed demon named Hayagreeva or the demon brothers Madhu and Kaitabha,
or to recover the Vedas which were hidden under the sea by demon Hiranyaksha.
Later Matsya Avatar was pushed to the first position and also credited with the
recovery of Vedas from hidden sea in order to align with the later
emerging scientific views on theory of evolution which starts with fish
to perfect and intelligent human beings. Hayagreeva-Vishnu has a
human form with two, four, eight or twelve hands, and with a horse’s head
surmounted by a tall crown. He is celebrated as the Lord of Learing.
Paushkara Samhita explains that the Vedas are personified in human forms
with faces of horses (Vaaji-vaktras sthitaa–vedaah sampoorna nara
lakshanah). Therefore Vishnu as the presiding deity of vedic learning must
be imagined as a man with horse’s face (Hayavadana). Thus initially knowledge
was associated with horse which later got switched to elephant when
puranic deity Ganesha was pushed to the fore-front whose prominence is
because of to Siva to please Parvati. Ganesha isonly a mind-child
of Parvati and not an Avatar.
Padma Samhita describes him as
seated comfortably on a serpent-couch, with hoods rising up behind him
with left foot on Sesha and right foot on tortoise, accompanied by Lakshmi and
Bhudevi. As the presiding deity of Parakala Math, a royal patronized
monastic institution in Mysore He is seen with Lakshmi seated on his thigh and
worshiped as Lakshmee-Hayagreeva like Lakshmee-Narasimha. He is also
worshiped by followers of Madhva saint Vadiraja who is described as
one who was feeding the the Lord with gram prepared sweet dish which Lord
enjoyed coming with a horse’s head which sweet dish is also named after
him as Hayagreeva (Bengal gram sweet Paayasam) in Karnataka.
It is strange the worship of Hayagreeva is not known at all
in North India. There is a lone temple in
Assam named after Hayagreeva–Madhav where the deity is Narasimha. Evidently
they should have been confused with various narrations about this Avatar in
puranas or there might have been the icon of Hayagreeva before. There is also
an icon of Hayagreeva in Khajuraho temple on its walls. All these
show his worship was once popular in the North. Hayagreeva is not
a sectarian deity introduced by Puranas like Ganesha, Swami Narayan or Andal
but a Vedic God described in Vedas. Vajasaneya Samhita is
described as another form of Yajurveda given to Yajnyavalkya by Sun-god who
appeared before him as a deity with horse’s head and taught him Veda which
is named after him as Vajasaneeya Samhita (a compilation rendered by the
horse).
Hayagreeva is the earliest known Vedic
God Of Learning and the Guru of Sarasvati, Brihaspati, , Dakshinamurty and
Vedavyasa. Hayagreeva is glorified as god in Buddhism like Buddha who has
become an avatar of Vishnu in Hinduism. Hayagreeva, the Vajrayaana God, is an
attendant or companion of the Khasarpana and Lokanatha forms of
Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara.
Hayagreeva Jayanthi falls on the same
day as Yajur and Rigveda Upakarma day on Sraavan Pournima when Vedas are
studied with religious reverence (Veda Parayana). It would be appropriate to
celebrate his Jayanti on this day with Kamaokarsheet Homa and
Medahasookta Homa so that all could reap the benefit and
receive the blessings of the Lord of Wisdom instead of simply dismissing as a
day for changing of threads for Brahmins only. It is all the more important in
American Hindu Temples where there is only one temple for all traditions where
the day is declared as a sectarian Special Religious Events day for Dwijas
(who have undergone thread ceremony). Who does not want (Jnaana) and who
does not need Repentance (Prayaschitta) for which Sravan Pournima is significant?
American Hindu Temples include very
sectarian festivals like Arudra Darsanam, Koodaraivellum, Karadiyan Nonbu,
Thiruvadipporam, Avani Avittam, Karwa Chaut known only to a small
group of regional people or very sectarian and celebrate them as Special
Religious Events day hoping everyone will participate. Hayagreeva
Jayanti should be a day for
celebration for all traditions like Rama Navami or Krishna Jayanthi or
Buddha Jayanthi. By coincidence this falls on Sraavan Poornima Day which
is sacred to all Hindus though celebrated as Upakarma by South Indian
Brahmins. So this could me more broad based to suit all. Any
celebration of festival should be to the deity installed or
should focus on all traditions and should not be based on what founding fathers
have fixed at the time of inauguration based on the then prevailing
circumstances. It should be need based to fulfill the religious aspirations of
larger section of the people particularly when there is One Temple for all
traditions. That will also keep the participation significant for
all, active and finances sound. Some of the present
celebrations like Avani Avittam, Panguni Uttiram and Kartigai Deepam have
to be broad based to attract all traditions for a united worship and not end up
as a sectarian festival.
Hayagreeva is celebrated by Vedanta
Desika in Hayagreeva Stotra inspired by the Dhyana
sloka in Pancharatra Agama which reveals his incarnation and describes his
avatar pleading for grant of wisdom and control of our senses. Hayagreeva
the demon in Puranas represents the seven horses driven by the Sun which
represents five senses, mind and intelligence that are to be controlled by all
to acquire Jnaana from Jnaanaanadamaya. Hayagreeva
who appeared in the form of the Horse to deliver Veda to Yajnyavalka is the
Universal Light that alone shines (Tvamevabhaati anubhaati sarvam) all the world and the source of all
lights (tasya bhaasaa sarvamidam vibhaati).
49.
ENIGMATIC HINDU GODS ASVINIS THAT INFLUENCED WESTERN CULTURE
It is hard to collect information on Vedic
deities Asvini devatas who are referred in many Vedic mantras in different
roles. I have come across casual references to them in Upanishads and
worship mantras but found no detailed information as to their importance.
They are not among the 33 Vedic deities and are considered as minor deities.
While I was in Russia working on a project I
had visited Lithuania and have seen the twin horses heads being
exhibited on the roof tops of houses prominently. They also believe
that horses take care of healthy living. My thoughts then went with horse
shoe which is hung on the house door as a protective talisman in
Hindu culture as well as many other cultures like China and Europe. Why
then two horse heads was my curiosity? In Vastu Sastra horse shoe is one of
the most popular protective symbols for a home. In western culture horse
shoe is placed above front doors to protect against evil (goblins) and
attract good luck. We can also find a horse-shoe above fire places,
doorways, windows and in various home decors. An article sent by India
Divine.Org now links the two horses to Asvini Devatas as the protectors of
Health as Divine physicians whose details you will find in the discourse.
Asvinis
(meaning of the horse) who are regarded as the divine physicians (devaanaam bhishajaa) are described in
Ayurveda as having cured Indra, the mighty Vedic warrior god, when he had
fallen ill due to excessive Soma drinking.
According to Hindu Puranas
Ashvini Kumaras are twins Gods
born to Sanjna (Lord Surya's wife) and Surya (the sun). 'Ashvini Kumaras
mean sons born of a horsewoman. These
twins are associated with healing power and everlasting youth. Ashvini
Kumaaraas symbolize swift movement, falcons of Light, Lords of intelligence
(Medha) and brilliance.
50. INTERNATIONAL YOGA
DAY AND LEGACY OF YOGA TO MANKIND TO GROW IN BODY AND MIND
On December 11,
2014, The 193-member U.N. General Assembly approved by consensus, a resolution
establishing June 21 as “The International Day of Yoga” (IDY)
“Yoga
has become a universal language of spiritual exercise in the United States,
crossing many lines of religion and cultures.....…..Every day, millions of
people practice yoga to improve their health and overall well-being. That's why
we're encouraging everyone to take part in PALA (Presidential Active Lifestyle
Award), so show your support for yoga and answer the challenge”, said US
President Barak Obama. U.N.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said: “The International Day of Yoga would
bring attention to yoga's holistic benefits (wholesome benefit for body, mind
and spirit). Yoga can contribute to resilience against non-communicable
diseases. Yoga can bring communities together in an inclusive manner that
generates respect. Yoga is a sport that can contribute to development and
peace. Yoga can even help people in emergency situations to find relief from
stress." Yoga embodies unity of mind and body; thought and
action; restraint and fulfillment; harmony between man and nature; a holistic
approach to health and well- being.
June 21, the Summer solstice
Day is chosen as the International Day of Yoga, which is the
longest day of the year for us and has special spiritual significance.
Today Yoga is being practiced
and used in original or modified forms because it contains
great power of increasing the physical, mental and intellectual capacity.
The present form of yoga is welcomed, however this is only one side of
Yoga and not a complete form, which is purely the external and elaborated form.
Its internal and real form is the one, which has been practiced by ancient
Indian sages and saints and people who followed the path of devotion for deep
knowledge. Even worst critics and enemies of Hinduism realize
its unique benefit for integrated development of body, mind and
spirit unlike mere physical exercises for healthy body. They also
realize its medical, psychological and health benefits.
A Hindu’s life is so knitted with
Religion he cannot think any event but without being a worshipful day like
first day driving in a new car after worship only. Moreover unlike in
India all Hindu American Temples are also cultural centers and so there is
natural tendency is to make the day a Special Religious Events Day. HMEC
of America has jumped into the arena. In my opinion we should not take
this day to sanctum sanctorum choosing a deity to preside over the day.
Taking yoga to sanctum will be a dangerous move. It may amount to killing
the golden goose! India fought for long against stiff opposition from major
religious followers to get the International status and Indian origin stamp to
Yoga in whatever form it is currently practiced. We should also not worry
as to what goes on India. We have left the country and are united as Hindu Americans.
We should plan things in our own way. It should not become an issue for Al
Qaida or Abrahamic Religions food for a long battle.
I understand Islam
objects to OM and Surya Namaskar! Why can't they chant Ameen and do
Moon Salaam (Chandra Namaskar) to the borrowed light of Sun instead,
since they are the late risers. Moon comes after Sun; Islam came
after Judaism and Christianity. This should be acceptable to Hindus who
make Moon also a star like Sun. ""Nakshatraanaam aham
Sasih" --" I am Moon among stars" says Geeta.
Krishna made Moon (Earth's only satellite) a Star for them
only as he also said world needs many religions. Yoga in YMCA ends
with Namaste instead OM, so they can end with Ameen if they don't
like Amen of Judaism. They joined hands with Christians and christened Hinduism
and Judaism, Cult based as --ISM means cult for they do not like both. Anyhow
we love and enjoy the word Hinduism given by them. They couldnot
pronounce Sindhu though grabbed it and we surrendered, a sort of Saranagati!
Please go through the
detailed discourse as posted on the Blog Hindu
Reflections:<nrsrini.blogspot.com> Do not fail to go throug
the three interesting appendices to the discourse-- The one : How Yoga
opened Scientific Vision in early Vedic culture; the second : A Report from New
York Times on the Eve of International Yoga Day and the third: From
a Muslim Yoga practitioner
51.
SUDARSANA CHAKRA, SUDARSANA YAJNA AND HOMAS
The Sudarsana Chakra is the mighty
weapon of Lord Vishnu whom Vaishanvites address as Sriman Narayana.
Jaganntha, Lord of the Universe is none other than Vishnu and a
Universal Form which is sanctified in the temple of Puri along with his
brother Balarama, sister Subhadra and Sudarsana-Narasimha in the
form of a pole (who emerged out of a pillar with flame.) Sudarsana
has many auspicious attributes associated with it. Saint
philosopher Vedanta Desika most eloquently summarizes the characteristics of
the mighty Chakra (Wheel) in both the Sudarshana Ashtaka as well as the
Shoedasaayudha Stotra. The mighty flame (Jwaala) is the aspect of Jwaala
Nrisimha who destroyed Hiranyakasipu and therefore, resides in the wheel
of Sudarshana Chakra as Jwaalaa Narasimha. The Sudarshana Chakra has
healing characteristics. Legend has it that Vedanta Desika composed the
Sudarshana Ashtakam to help the people of a village stricken by the plague
epidemic. As soon as he finished his composition, the epidemic got eradicated
completely. Every month on the day of Chitra Nakshatra it is customary to
perform Sudarsana Homa and Abhisheka (bathing ceremony) to Sri Sudharsana known
as Chakratthazhwar. Chitra Nakshatra (day of the Hindu
month) in the Month of Aashaadha is designated as Sudarsana
Jayanti Day which is celebrated in all Vishnu temples in the South. I am
not sure about Puri Jagannath Temple? Before the start of annual
Brahmotsava to Vishnu deity in South Indian Vishnu temples it is
customary pray to Sudarsana first for the successful conduct of the festival as
he is the bodyguard of Lord Vishnu along with Garuda and Vishwaksena. It is
also customary to end the tenth day of the festival with Chakrasnaanam when
Sudarsana is bathed in the temple tank.
It is customary to conduct Nrisingha
yajna (fire oblation worship for Jagannatha before Jagannartha
Nirmaana (installing the new icons) after Kalevara
(samadhi of the old icons) in the form of Jwaala Narasimha who is located
within the wheel of flame. Thus both Narasimha and Sudarsana are
worshiped together.
Om Kleem Krishnaaya Govindaaya Gopeejana
Vallabhaaya Paraaya Parama Purushaaya Paramaatmane | Para Karma
Mantra
Yantra Tantra Oushada Astra
Shastraani Samhara Samhara | mrityor mochaya mochaya.| Om Namo Bhagavate
Mahaa
Sudarshanaaya deepthrae \Jwaalaa Parivrithaaya Sarva
Dikshobhana Karaaya Hum phat | Brahmane Paranjyotishe Swahaa”
“Om Sudharshanaya Vidmahey Maha Jwalaya Dheemahe Tanno
Chakra Prachodayaat”
Sudarsana Homa and Japa are popular in
all Hindu Temples of America and are most popular among scheduled rituals
like Ganesha Homa. Periodically Sudarsan Homas are conducted
for world welfare peace and prosperity. How come then Sudarsana
Jayanthi is rarely celebrated even where Jaagannatha
sanctums are provided? Sudarsana is a prominent deity on Ratna
Sighasana. June 26th of this month
is Sudarsana Jayanthi Day! Religiously devoted often wonder
how American Temples decide on Special Religious Days for worship; not
necessarily based to suit all traditions! It is one time decision of
founding fathers based on the sectarian group majority in the council
of Philanthropists and the Panchangam
and dates they follow based on consultation with sectarian priests
they have hired at that time.
Please go through the detailed discourse on
Sudarsana as posted in Hindu Reflections.
52.
JAGANNATHA PARIVAAR AND NRUSINGHA YAJNA
FOR NIRMAAN
Some of the famous shrines in India
are shrouded in mystery. Who was Venkateswara? Today he is accepted
as a manifestation of Vishnu, but his identity has been a hot
debated subject. The biggest mystery of all is which
God could he be—Skanda, Shakti, Siva, Vishnu--all or none? The origins of
this God are shrouded in a mystery which will probably never be solved. The
deity of Puri, Lord Jagannath surpasses all. His shrine in Puri is the
amalgam of all religions and encompasses all philosophies. It is more of an
inclusive philosophy than exclusive.
The biggest mystery and surmise of all
who visit Jagannath Temple is which Gods could be on the Ratnasinghaasana
to-day in Puri Jagannaath and which were there before? Which are male deities
and which or female? Common innocent devotees worship them as Krishna,
his brother Balarama and his sister Subhadra. The account given in Skanda
Purana identifies Jagnaantha with Vishnu, Balabhadra with Siva and
Subhadra with Lakshmi or Kaatyaayini, Bhuvaneswari or Ekaanaamsa. Jagannath is worshiped as Vishnu or Narayana or Krishna
and Lord Balbhadra as Shesha. So simultaneously, the deities are
also regarded as the Bhairava with Bimala (the Devi or the consort
of Siva) installed in the campus of the temple. So we find here a fusion of
Saivism, Saktism and Vaishnavism of the Hindu religion with Jainism and up to an
extent Buddhism in the culture of Jagannath and the cultural tradition so
reverently held together in Purushottama Kshetra.
The deities of Jagannath, Balabhadra
and Subhadra always wear saris and a nose ornament made of flowers (probably
introduced by Tantric priests who resorted to worship Him as
Sakti). It is said that until the British period, a Bhairava deity was sitting
on the Ratna Simhasana together with Jagannath. Another interesting fact
is that Bhairava Shiva is also identified with the Sun, with the name Martaanda
Bhairava (Moon shines from borrowed light of Sun and Siva is known as
Chandrasekahra. One eye of Siva is sun, the other moon and the third
Agni). The worship of Surya Narayana is also an extremely
important part of the rituals of the Puri temple: the Surya Puja is performed
every morning here before any other activities take place in this temple.
The strict connection between Jagannath, Narasimha, Surya and Bhairava is
also confirmed by the prominent presence inside the Lingaraj temple at
Bhubaneshwar. But Saura Purana in one of the hymn says
that Sudarsana Chakra is another form
of Lord Bhairava - Chakra Bhairava. This goes with the
contention that at one time Ratnasinghaasan was occupied by Sudarsana in the
form of Chakra Bhairva.
The Adi Jagannatha Perumal
Temple in Tirupullani in Tamil Nadu is one of the 108 Divya
Desams and a very important site related to Ramayana. So Jaganntha
temple is not exclusive to Puri alone. Ramanuja
visited Jagannath temple
also. But Tirupullani is the one that is among the
108 Srivaishnava Divya Desas. Vedas connect Puri temple to
Jagannath and Puranas connect Tirupullani to Jagannatha.
It is customary to do Samadhi Ritual
for the old shrines and install new deities on Ratnavedi in a ceremony called
Nava Nirman and Mangalaarpana starting with Nrisingha Yajna every 12 or 19
years. The sacred Indradyumna Tank in Puri includes a shrine
of little child Lord Krishna in the form of Bal Gopala and the shrine of King
Indradyumna which are located at the bank of the lake. On the advice of Sage Narada, King Indradyumna made an icon of
Narasimha out of black stone and placed the image under black sandal wood
tree and worshiped Him. It is believed that in front of this temple the
Ashwamedha Yajna took place and so the deity is called Yajna
Narasimha. Nrisinga Yajna is performed for the
"Yajna Purusha" Jagannatha (the protector of mankind), to
whom oblations are offered at the commencement of sacred event of
Jagannatha Nirman. There are many mantras appropriate to Narasimha
Homa of various forms. The most appropriate mantra that appeals to me for
Nrisingha Yajna with normal procedures of a yajna rituals before
Jaganaatha Nirmana rituals, is the Mantra of Sudarsana
Narasimha and Nrisimha Gaayatree :
Please discard earlier drafts received
by some of you and go through the latest detailed discourse
on the subject which includes changes and a brief description of
Navakalebara. Please also find my earlier discourse "Jagannatha of
Puri and Ratha Yatra" as this ceremony ends with Ratha Yatra.
53. VAAMAN—TRIVIKRAMA, THE VDWARF AND GIANT AVATAR OF VISHNU
Vamana is the fifth Incarnation of
Vishnu and the first incarnation in Tretayuga. He is the
first avatar to appear as a human, although he does appear as a
dwarf Brahmin bachelor form. Puranas also say that his
consort was Padma or Kamala (synonym with Lakshmi). Vaamana was
born to Aditi and
Kasyapa. He is the last among twelve
Vedic Gods of Adityas. Vaamana is also the younger brother of Indra also
known as Upendra.
Vaamana
Jayanti is celebrated with full vigor every year
by some on Dwadasi tithi of Shukla Paksha (Waxing moon period) of the
Bhadrapada month. According to the Hindu scriptures, it is believed that it is
even more auspicious if Vaamana Jayanti falls on the Sravana Nakshatra.
On this day, devotees worship Lord Vishnu with complete devotion, and the one
who worships with a pure heart is said to get freedom from all the sufferings
and attain salvation.
Why did Vaamana assume the form of a dwarf? Hindi philosophy
teaches us even God had to resort to the dwarf’s form in all its simplicity
while choosing the position of mendicant and resort to
begging. It also showed the greatest power of spirituality over the
mighty power of sword. Mahaabali symbolizes ego (ahankara), the three
feet symbolizes the three planes of existence Jaagriti, Svapna ans
Sushupti. The final step of Lord on his head gave hope to
Bali to elevate himself from all three states and attain Moksha. It also
represents three Gunas. Paataala representing Taamasa, Earth Rajasa and
Svarga Sattva. His leg stretched beyond Svarga and stopped at Vaikuntha. One
has to transcend these three gunas to become Gunaateeta to attain liberation.
Ego affects even Great Rishis. When the four Rishis headed by Sanatkumara went
to see Lord they were stopped at the sixth step by the Dwarapalakas Jaya and
Vijaya. Instead of praying to Vishnu to cross the sixth step and reach the
abode of Vishnu they used their ego and cursed the gate-keepers to be born as
demons. Vishnu smilingly came down to sixth step himself and
apologized. These poor Rishis little did realize that they were not allowed to
transcend seventh step and join Vishnu in Vaikuntha. Puranas
say that there are seven steps to Vaikuntha. Good lord goes to any
extent to please his devotee (bhakta). He willingly became his gatekeeper in
Paataala as one story goes.This is the avatar that explains Brahman as
"anoraneeyaan mahato maheeyaan" smaller than the smallest and
bigger than the biggest and as "Brihat" meaning Brahman ever-growing.
Vaamana is the most celebrated
incarnation of Vishnu in Rigveda and other Samhitas. One Purana among the
18 celebrates his glory. There is no Nrisimha Puran or RamaPurana
as you know among the celebrated 18. Vaamana and Trivarkama names are included
in the 24 Gayatri forms of Vishnu. Yet he is not as popular as
other incarnations in temple worship. American Hindu Temples do not
celebrate his Jayanti mostly. Probably he stuck to "paritraanaaya
saadhoonaam" in this incarnation and not extended it to "Vinasaayacha
dushkritam" to make it more a colorful avatar with battlefield scenes?
This discourse contains some rare
dhyana-sloka, mantras and Naamaavali which you will not easily find. He is the
first human and humane avatar.
54. THEDIVINE
COWS OF HINDUISM
Puranas
have made cows holy based on the
narrations below. In Vedas bull was a sacrificial material if not
cow. Even today bulls are branded and sent out to freely roam about as
part of rituals following Antyeshti. Brihadaranyaka Upanishad prescribes young
bull meat offered in Yajna for begetting an intellectual and valorous son.
Concepts have changed influenced by Purans. With the present
agitations going on, India should become total vegetarian or should not support
only Hindu views having declared itself secular sovereign republic. Total
vegetarianism is good economically and health-wise. Apart from present
agitation more focus has to be given towards mercy killing in clean slaughter
houses to deliver hygienic meat to those Non-vegetarian Hindus who seem to be
in majority than Vegetarin Hindus. Buddhists who championed the cause of
Vegetarianism once have admirably settled to enjoy beef and even pork;
fortunately they all left India long back and changed
non-violence thoughts of Buddha!]
"The
wish Fulfilling Divine Cows
Kamadhenu
also known as Surabhi
is a divine bovine-goddess described in Hinduism as the mother of all cows.
Kamadhenu, the sacred cow which grants all wishes and desires, is an integral
part of the entire Indian culture. This divine cow, which lives in swargaloka
(heaven), emerged from the ocean of milk (kshira-sagar) at the time of
samudra-manthan (the great churning of the ocean by the gods (suras) and demons
(asuras).
It
was gifted to the seven sages by the Gods, and in course of time came into the
possession of Sage Vasishta.
Kamadhenu
is also well-known through its other five forms: Nanda, Sunanda, Surabhi,
Susheela and Sumana. Kamadhenu’s complexion is like the white clouds.
Every part of cow’s body has a religious significance. Its four
legs symbolize the four Vedas, and its teats the four Purusharthas. Its horns
symbolize the gods, its face symbolize the sun and the moon, its shoulders Agni
(the god of fire), and its legs the Himalayas Brahma (the creator of the
Universe in Hinduism) is her back, while Lord Vishnu is her throat. To
the right, a man is seen as protecting the cow from being slaughthered.She’s
described as sometimes taking on an anthropomorphic form, with a human head, a
cow’s body, a peacock’s tail, and the wings of a parrot.”
According
to the Ramayana
Surabhi
is the daughter of sage Kashyapa and his wife Krodhavasha, the daughter of
Daksha. Her daughters Rohini and Gandharvi are the mothers of cattle and horses
respectively. Still, it is Surabhi who is described as the mother of all cows
in the text. However, in the Puranas, such as Vishnu Purana and Bhagavata
Purana, Surabhi is described as the daughter of Daksha and the wife of
Kashyapa, as well as the mother of cows and buffaloes.
According
to the Mahabharata
Kamadhenu-Surabhi
rose from the churning of the cosmic ocean (Samudra manthan) by the gods and
demons to acquire Amrita. As such, she is regarded the offspring of the gods
and demons, created when they churned the cosmic milk ocean and then given to
the Saptarishi, the seven great seers. She was ordered by the creator-god
Brahma to give milk, and supply it and ghee for ritual fire-sacrifices.
According
to the MatsyaPurana
Surabhi
is described as the consort of Brahma and their union produced the cow
Yogishvari, the eleven Rudras, “lower animals”, goats, swans and “high class
drugs”. She is then described as the mother of cows and quadrupeds. In another
instance, she is described as a daughter of Daksha, wife of Kashyapa and the
mother of cows. The Harivamsa, an appendix of the Mahabharata, calls Surabhi
the mother of Amrita (ambrosia), Brahmins, cows and Rudras.
According
to the Bhagavad Gita
The
Bhagavad Gita, a discourse by the god Krishna in the Mahabharata, twice refers
to Kamadhenu as Kamadhuk. In verse 3.10, Krishna makes a reference to Kamadhuk
while conveying that for doing one’s duty, one would get the milk of one’s
desires. In verse 10.28, when Krishna declares to the source of the universe,
he proclaims that among cows, he is Kamadhuk.
The
cow symbolizes the dharma itself.
It
is said to have stood steadily upon the earth with its four feet during the
Satyayuga (world’s first age of truth), upon three feet during the Tretayuga
(the second stage of less than perfection), upon two feet during the
Dwaparayuga (the third stage of dwindling and disappearing perfection) and only
on one leg during Kaliyuga (the fourth and current age of decadence)."
55. BHAKTIVEDANTA DOCTRINE AND ITS
SCIENCE OF INCARNATION
Recently
I came across an interesting article sent to me by IndiaDivine.Org titled Bhaktivedanta Doctrine and its Sciene of
Incarnation. May I recall my discourse on the subject of Karma, Hindu Doctrine
of Action and Reaction.
Jnaana Yoga or the path of wisdom is a
spiritual path which leads to the discovery of the Supreme Being in his own
soul or self. Karma Yoga is the Path of Action and is the means by which
a person engaged as a householder in a day to day worldly activities can
harmonize such activities with spiritual advancement. Bhakti Yoga is
the Path of Devotion to God and worship of one’s own personal
God or Ishta Devata. Krishna Consciousness Bhaktivedanta people say that
this personal God is Srikrishna only.
Sankara
propounded the theory of Advaita based on the need of the then hour
“Brahmasatyam jaganmithya jeevo Brahmaiva na Paraah”--Ultimate Reality behind
the entire Universe including the individual souls, is One Supreme Soul,
Parabrahman , all the rest being His own Maayaa Shakti with names
and forms. This called for Jnaana Yoga for attaining Mukti. Towards this
he realized spiritual fulfillment of Mukti cannot be attained without Bhakti,
which according to him, is not mere spiritual knowledge of speculation but is
the exhilarating experience of love when the mind is seasoned to submission to
the lord. The important thing here is the preparedness of the mind and
not an ignorant or indifferent or casual mind. He did not have much
time left and it was Ramanuja who later came out with his
elaborate philosophy of Vishishtaadvaita promoting a co-ordinated approach of
Jnaana and Bhakti with proper Karma or action
Today
Bhaktivedanta or Krishna Consciousness Philosophers have come out with the
magic formula of Bhaktimarga dhanvantari for all quoting elaborately Bhagavad
Gita for their support. Similarly they have come out with their own
theory of Scinece of Incarnation projecting all avatars from Krishna avatar
drawing puranic support which says Krishna is Purna Avatar. They have
also ignored Rama Avatar which Purnas say is also Purna Avatar though
they use combined RamaKrishna Mantra for Bhajans.
This Mantra they use is from Kalisantrapanopanishad the order being reversed
form Rama to Krishna. They have also attributed ultra-wisdom to
Buddha than Krishna in their theory drawing their support from Jayadeve who has
included historic Buddha as an avatar which Vedanta Desika and other orthodox
circles of Bhagavata have rejected.
The
Bhagavad Gita, an epitome of the Upanishads, has set out three main Yogas for
Mukti, namely the JnaanaYoga, the Karma Yoga and the Bhakti
yoga and leaves the choice to the bent of mind, the temper and the capacity of
the individual. It has also introduced the fourth Yoga called Raja
yoga which is a graded course of physical and mental exercises so
as to achieve concentration and control of mind but as ancillary to
the other three which has spread like wild fire all over the world and is not confined
to Hindus alone. Thus Bhagavad Gita even felt some sort of mental
preparedness and maturity as pre-requisite to follow any one of these three
paths of liberation. Swami Vivekananda and other spiritual leaders were all
favorites of Raja Yoga. Presently India has successfully marketed Raja Yoga for
Universal practice of spiritualism.
Spiritual
Knowledge or Jnaana about the soul and the Supreme soul cannot be acquired by
mere learning. Realizing the difficulty Dvaita philosophy
came with its dualism theory and said we can only attain the status of
Salokya (Vicinity), Sameepya (Nearness) or Sayujya
(becoming a part--Uniting). It can be acquired only by
sincere devotion to God and intuition which can be facilitated by purity of
mind, clarity of thought, meditation and prayers (Katopanishada). Faith and
reverence are prerequisites.
56.
GODS, DEMI-GODS AND REINCARNATION
Vedas
mention of 33 symbolic divinities called 33 gods. They are 8 Vasus
from the cosmos (5 cosmic elements of earth, water, fire, ether and air plus
Sun, Moon and Constellation.) 11 Rudras of the inner world (Ten Pranas and
the Aatman) which means the 5 sense organs and 5 motor organs and the
eleventh is Self. Time is eternal and is differentiated with 12 Adityas
(Suns, the sons of Aditi, the Eternity), representing the 12 months of the
year. The remaining two gods are Indra and Prajapati. Indra could mean
mind and Prajapati Intellect. The former is all pervading electricity and
sustains and the latter is creative energy. So Hindus have these 33 divinities
designated as gods or devas but the God of all gods is the Supreme Spirit. The
Hindus believe in one God, the Supreme Spirit or Brahman and this is the monism
of Vedas, which is by inclusion and not that type of monism which lives by
exclusion as is witnessed in case of many other religions by exclusion.
Puranas
created many Gods. “From the highest planet in the material world, Brahma Loka,
down to the lowest, all are places of misery wherein repeated birth and death
take place. But one who attains My abode never takes birth again ” says Gita.
Here we can get an idea of the definition of God. He must be
situated beyond time. The higher controlling devatas (Agni, Ganesha,
Vishwaksena, Subrahmanya, etc.) have a life span of one Kalpa (4,320,000,000
years). Brahma, the topmost material entity, has a life span equal to the
life of the universe. When the universe is destroyed by the will of
Brahman, even Brahma must face death to meet his karma, as all living entities
do. Despite their tremendously long lives, still, having taken birth, they must
also face death. This we have seen in Avatars also.
Indra
belongs to a different category than the controlling Devas. His position is
based on his Punya (pious results) and when his Punya expires he loses his post
as controller of the heavens. The enjoyment of Indra may be higher than that of
the controlling demigods, but his duration of stay is much shorter. By sitting
on the seat of Indra one burns up all of one’s pious results at a very rapid
pace. For this reason Sukracharya (the spiritual master of the demons) instructed
Bali Maharaja to rule Indraloka after defeating the demigods but not to sit on
Indra’s throne. For if he sat on Indra’s throne his Punya would finish and he
would lose his position very quickly. The controlling demigods hold their posts
for a fixed duration of time (one day of Brahma), so they see many hundreds of
Indras come and go. Bali is believed to visit Kerala even today on the day of
Onam]
Within
the material realm God has arranged a hierarchy of control for automatic
administration of nature. Each of these personalities (numbering 330 million)
can be called a controller ( sub-isvara) as they are each in charge of a
particular aspect of nature. They are actually secondary controllers. It is
exactly like a government that has many levels of control, such as Prime
Minister (national controller), Chief Minister (state controller) and District
Magistrate (district controller). To an uneducated person, the District
Magistrate is supreme. That is why we hear often one’s personal God as being
held supreme. If one gets his blessings, any governmental work one needs to get
done will be accomplished. But he is only supreme within his district. Above
him there is a higher controller, who controls the entire state. If one
surrenders to the state controller and receives his blessings, one need not
fear the district controller. Thus one may think the Chief Minister of a state
is actually supreme. But above him is the Prime Minister, who controls the
entire country. According to one’s level of knowledge, one will identify a
particular level of supremacy. But factually there is only one supreme
authority situated above all others. That is Parabrahman called Tadekam in
Vedas.
Later
Bhaktimarga came with the idea of Poorna Avatars. They did not feel Rama and
Krishna as Devas but as aspects (Vyahriti) of Brahman. Krishna means one who
makes you attracted to him and Rama means one who delights and Vishnu one who
is all pervading. Vishnu with Krishan and Rama characteristics considered as
Narayana who is none other than Parabrahman. But what is not understandable is
superimposing Avatars on liberated souls like Swami Narayan, Saibaba, Andal
etc., in addition to already over-populated Devas 330 million Devas or
Demi-Gods! Do we want to match the population growth?
Please
go through the Bhaktivedanta Doctrine promoted by Chaitnaya, Jayadeva,
Prabhupada, Vallbha and others promoting Krishna Consciousness which has turned
into Jagannatha Philosophy. Please do not forget to read my remarks at
the end and a simple explanation of Tadekam of Rigveda--More Gods than
one in Hinduism?
57. NARAYANA—GOD TO WORSHIP AND BRAHMAN
TO MEDITATE
It
was water everywhere with NARAYANA reclining on Ananta, the cosmic serpent of
Time. From him belly-button sprouted the four
petal lotus on which was seated the four-faced Brahma who
pronounced the four letters NAA RAA YA NA. With that four Vedas
filled his mind. He created Narada. He chanted the twin mantra Narayana
Narayana and started his wanderings in all the three worlds filling the air
with the twin Mantra. Prahlada appeared in the world chanting Narayana.
Hiranyakasipu was disappointed for he did not hear the mantra of Hiranykasipu
honoring the law Pitru devo bhava. Poor Prahlada did not
know in what form Narayana will come when he pleaded for his help!
Hiranyakasipu questioned who that Naryana was! He said He is the one that he
sees everywhere and responsible for Creation (Srishthi), Maintenance (Sthiti)
and Destuction (Laya). Narayana appeared as Nara-Simha, Lion King of all Souls.
Ajamila, the notorious sinner heard the word Narayana as Narada was passing by,
got motivated and pronounced Narayana lying on his death bed and died. He was
surprised to find himself standing by the side of Narada in Vaikuntha. So
we hear the stories in Puranas. He is worshiped as Lakshmi-Narayana in temples
even though you do not see Lakshmi by his side as in other portrayal of Gods.
Here Lakshmi occupies a prestigious place in his chest as Srivatsa. He
has absorbed Sakti (power) in himself. Parbrhaman (Nirguna) is worshiped
directly in his only iconic form (Archana Moorti) as Narayana
(Saguna). Narayana is Parabrahman in Ramanuja Concept. We worship
Narayana (Parabrahman) through icons of Rama, Krishna, Ganesha
etc., and also as Narayana alone in his archanaa moorti (worshipful) form
Christianity
defined Narayan as GOD? G stands for Generator ((Srishthi),
the cause of germination, O stands for Operator (Sthiti) and D
stands for Destroyer (Laya) or disintegrator as visualized by Prahlada.
He did not know English language then but had the true concept of God
(Srisahthi-sthiti-laya kaaraka). But English language grabbed the idea
many Eons later and created the word God in their dictionary
substituting for Narayana. As you know the word GOD cannot be
etymologically derived, but can be conceptualized.
Narayana
is the One (Tadekam) that is worshiped as Personal God and at the same time
meditated upon as Parabrahman. Gita says whatever form you worship
Narayana it all reaches Narayana only to whom you submit ultimately
(Saranagati). Naaraayana is the most popular name of Vishnu, the All-pervading.
The word Naaraayana implies several meanings:
1) One who is the final goal of allbeings
2) One who has made the causal water
as his abode
3) One who has made the hearts of
human beings as his abode
4) One who is the abode of all humanbeings.
The
first one is derived from, “Naaraayanasya jnaanasya ayanam prapyasthaanam”
meaning the goal of all knowledge. The second one is derived from, “aapo
naaraa iti proktaa ayanam sthaanamasya” meaning residence in the water of
existence. The second meaning has given rise to description of
Naaraayana for the iconic worshipful (Moorti) form which is common and popular.
Thus He is both immanent and Personal.
Please
go through the detailed discourse with his full description in Veda Mantras:
58. WHY I AM CALLED HINDU AND MY FOLLOWING
HINDUISM?
My thoughts were focused on "Why I am a Hindu and my
following Hinduism and my Tattva Hinduttva" as popularly
projected by the present Government of India. I am often told by
many Pundits that our religion is not Hinduism but Sanatana Dharma meant
for all in the world in its doctrines (Sarvejanah sukhino Bhavantu).
Even after I migration I continue to be called a Hindu and my following
Hinduism. I am growing with my imported Hindu Culture and imparting it too,
thus it has become one among world religions or theologies due to
migrants, absorbing fresh thoughts into its fold. All these made me to
think about the subject deeply in the light of Supreme Court rulings in
India, Policy of secular Government of India, interpretation of Hindu and
Hinduism from learned Swamijis in India and consequent on springing up of
many institutions in USA--Hindu Temples and Hindu Cultural Societies. At
the same time I believe in what Vivekanada propagated in USA:
"Vedanta is the religion of the future and it believes in "Universal
Oneness" and not Universal Brotherhood as Abrahamic religions say.
My discourse on the subject has become too long trying your patience
containing some important quotes and court rulings which I can't ignore.
So please bear with me! We as Hindu Americans must evolve our own concept of
Hinduism and Hinduttva and for being called Hindus despite what goes on
in India with the Government, Courts and Religious Mathas (monasteries). Our
message should be clear that it is the most logical theology for developing
Interfaith, Multi-culture development and Universal Oneness
benefiting from the rich resource and wisdom of our Vedas and Upanishads.
Though
in USA, our Religious Resolutions (Sankalpa) and Obeisance to elders
(Abhivadanam) go by identifying ourselves with the origin of our
culture and not on the parents. Based on this traditional practice and
culture Hindu and Hinduism trace back to River Valley
Philosophy with which our culture started and is integrated.
Based
on my deep study I have concluded both nomenclatures Sindhu and
Sindhuism have sprung out from our own basic Theology and
Philosophy and not from others, which over a period got mispronounced to Hindu
and Hinduism as Apabhramsas. Goddess Sarasvati is a river or Sindhu in
Sanskrit worshiped as Water Deity. It is no wonder Hindus are children of
Sindhu and hence called Sindhus which Arabs mispronounced as Hindu coming from
a River-Valley Culture. Philosophically Sarasvati means “the
flowing One” which means she is responsible for the human flow (moving of
Praana in the Nadis) that lead to Saagara (Brahman), ocean for
ultimate merger. In Vedas Sagara is glorified as Brahman (Vyaahriti).
That makes us Children of Immortal Bliss! All rivers flow towards Sagara the
ONE Source to merge with it and lose their identity. All religions lead to One
Source called Saagara or Tadekam. So we are all children of Immortal
Bliss or Children of the River or Sarsvati, Parasakti (Universal
Spiritual flowing Power or Activity). Hinduism (Sindhu Tattva) is a perennial
(Sanatana) river (Sindhu) that floods all religious and spiritual thoughts and
carries with it all of them to join the Ocean of Universal Oneness
(Supreme Being).
People
must learn to let their inner rivers, the channels, currents and Nadis (rivers
called astral tubes) of the soul flow again with all their vibrancy to call
themselves as Hindus. Unless our inner rivers are flowing, our outer lives will
remain dry and empty, dependent upon an external world of want to sustain a
mirage of happiness. Let us join together in creating a harmonious,
conscious and spiritually evolved existence through awakening the higher Self,
empowering the divine grace within, and embracing the Inner World of Shakti!
India
has been changing the old names correcting Apabrahmsas (wrongly pronounced
names) of late--Calcutta to Kolkata, Baroda to Vadodara, Madura to Madurai
etc., and getting it accepted by all Nations in the world. Based on the
detailed analysis in our discussions it would be proper to call
ourselves as SINDHUS and our following SINDHUTTVA (Sindhu Tattva.) India
may also think of changing its name to SINDHIA or better
SINDHU RAASHTRA. (We call international as Antar-raashtra
already). The word Sindhu should be acceptable to all religions and
traditions in India as Sindhu means river which may mean Land of Many Rivers.
This will amount to only a correction of the present nomenclature and not
change. By adopting Sindhuttva we will avoid the derogatory suffix "--ism"
in Hinduism which was planted by Abrahamic Religions to all other religions
except theirs.
Please
go through for my detailed discourse in detail and think for yourself. I
thought about it seriously. Let me listen to your thoughts too!
(DECEMBER
2015)
59. KAALABHAIRAVA—SIVA THE CUSTODIAN OF
TIMES
Kalabhairava is
the most fearful form of Siva and is considered to be an Avatar of Siva though
Avatar Concept is rarely found in Saivism. Maha Kala Bhairava Ashtami will fall on 8th waning moon in the Tamil
month of Aipaasi (Mid Oct – mid November). Kalabhairava Mantra is: Hmmm
Hram Kala Bhairavaya Namaha…….. (Om is recited as Hmmm) Kalbhairava is considered as the guardian
of temples of Lord Shiva. After locking the doors of the temple of Lord Shiva,
the keys are ceremonially offered to Bhairava and taken back in most of the
Shiva temples. This musical stotra of Lord Kalabhairava described here
written by Sri Adi Sankaracharya is recited by the priests
of the temple of Kalabhairava in Varanasi before blessing the devotee with a
tap by the cane of Lord Kalabhairava. Bhairavi Yatana in Varanasi Cremation
grounds is an intense process of obliterating Lifetimes of Karma in a moment.
In USA Sadguru Ashram of ISHA Foundation conducts the same for the religious
faithful. Please go through the introduction and Ashtakam with meaning
and explanations included in the discourse provided by courtesy IndiaDivine.Org
December3, 2015 is his Janmashthami Day this year.
Kaal Bhairava temples can also be found around
Sakti Peethas as it is said Shiva allocated the job of guarding each of 52
Shakti Peethas to one Bhairava. As such it is said there are 52 forms of
Bhairava, which are in fact considered as manifestation of Shiva himself.
Traditionally Kala Bhairav is the village deity in the rural villages of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and and Andhra Pradesh, where he is referred to as "Bhaivara/Annadhani" Vairavar. In Karnataka, Lord Bhairava is the supreme God for the community commonly referred as "Gowdas" especially for the Gangadikara Gowda caste he is considered as the care taker and punisher.
Traditionally Kala Bhairav is the village deity in the rural villages of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and and Andhra Pradesh, where he is referred to as "Bhaivara/Annadhani" Vairavar. In Karnataka, Lord Bhairava is the supreme God for the community commonly referred as "Gowdas" especially for the Gangadikara Gowda caste he is considered as the care taker and punisher.
60. SIDDHA PHILOSOPHY, ALCHEMY AND
SIDDHA SYSTEM OF MEDICINE
Siddhas
include Natha Siddhas of North India, Medieval Alchemists known as Rasa Siddhas, Vajraayan Buddhist , Jain
Siddhas and Tamil Nadu Siddhas who are
Saivite Saints. Tamil Nadu Siddha theology is an amalgam of many schools of
thought—Vajrayana Buddhism, Saivite Tantrism, Indian Alchemy, magic and
sorcery, Hatha Yoga and pranayama disciplines propagated by Goraknath etc. To a
common man in Tamil Nadu it remains a sort of unorthodox mysticism or
sainthood. Popular and famous Siddha
saints are Agastya, Tirumular one of the Nayanmars, the female Siddha Avayiyar
(Tamil poetess) and Ramalinga Adigal apart from the pioneer Siddhas
Nagarjuna of Andhra Pradesh and Bogar of
Tamil Nadu hailing from China. China is credited with pioneering
alchemy though the inspiration they got
from Mercury Linga worship of
Tantriks. Typically Siddhas are saints, doctors, alchemists and mysticism
practitioners all at once.
Siddhas
are spiritual seekers who are believed to control and transcend the barriers of time and
space by yogic meditation, who resort to
the consumption of special preparations called Rasayana that transform the body
to make it potentially deathless (Vajrakaaya) like a diamond, and a particular
breathing practice, a type of Pranayama.
This
divine science was originated and developed in Tamil Nadu and is wide-spread
all over the world consequent on the migration of Tamils. Treatment for all
round development of body, mind and soul is part and parcel of Siddha practice.
Along with the body, the mind should be tuned and soul be purified from Maya or
illusion. Just like polishing an ornament our soul has to be cleansed from the
impurities. A Siddha Guru is a spiritual teacher and also an expert physician
who leads one through Yoga, meditation and Pranayama.
Siddha
medicines were fore-runners to Ayurveda and Homeopathy. They were the first to
discover pulse reading to diagnose complex diseases. Siddha medicines are
natural and Herbal without any side effects. Kaayakalpa Chikista in Kerala
is an offshoot of Siddha System of Medicine.
Tamil
Siddhas revere and worship 18 Siddha divinities Siva being the additional
presiding deity. Ganesha devotees have shifted that position to Ganesha.
Tutikkai means trunk of the elephant and so that of Ganesha. It means worship
of the Hand (Tuti=worship; Kai=hand). This interpretation is applied to Ganesha
to the elephant headed God of Gateways. His trunk (hand) symbolizes the
spinal cord with Kundalini Power--the trunk of
raised (hand lifted for prayer)aloft and holding the full blown
lotus enlightenment Sahasrara at the crown of the head as described by
Tirumular in Tirumantra. Ganesha guards the gates to Inner World as
inferred from the Puranic story of Parvati's (Parasakti,--Sakti aspect of
Brahman or Saguna Brahman) gate keeper, and therefore his appeasement to
start with becomes important to Tamils.
Siddha Philosophy owes its origin to
Svetasvatara Upanishad where details are found as to the vigorous Yoga practiced by Siddhas and the spiritual philosophy behind it. Purushasookta
mentions Devas, Siddhas and Rishis in
the order of their divine merit. We come
across references to Siddhasrama and Ashta Siddhis attained by Siddhas. The earliest references
are to Hanuman, Agastya and Sage Patanjali. Hanuman is a master of
Ashthasiddhis mentioned by Sant Tulasidas and goal of Siddhas.
Please
go through the detailed discourse as referred and also my detailed discourse on
Ayurveda:
61. MATSYANARAYANA AVATAR
Vishnu
is addressed as Rohitah in Vishnu Sahasranama Stotra. The term “Rohita”
means fish, and this name has come to indicate Lord Vishnu because His first
Avatar as the fish is hailed in Puranas. When the entire world was
submerged in the waters of the deluge, the only living creatures that were
available at that time could only be fishes. This was a red tiny fish as it
appeared in the hands of Svaymbhu Manu. Lord could incarnate at that time only
in the form of the Fish. Therefore, here the term Rohitah means “One who had
manifested to serve the living creatures as Fish among fishes”
The
Matsya Narayana temple in Omkar Asram on Omkara Hills in Srinivaspura in one of
the highest Points in Bengaluru that celebrates the major annual festival on
Matsya Jayanti on a grand scale. The annual festival of Matsya Jayanti is
celebrated on Chaitra Shukla Paksha Triteeya (Third day of the waxing moon
period of the Chaitra month (March- April) every Year. This has somehow missed
the attention of Hindu Temples in USA and also many temples in India too.
Only Krishna, Rama, Narasimha, Vamana Koorma-Varaha seem to be popular for
worship among Dasvatars. Probably Hindus are embarrassed as many of them are
Fish Eaters including Brahmins of Konkan and Bengal while majority
agitate for cow slaughter as they are not beef eaters and also of
late started worshiping cows influenced by Puranas though not an
Avatar. There is a lone bull temple in Bengaluru which is
famous and here it worshiped as the mount of Lord Siva and not as Gomata.
In 2016 Matsya Jayanti falls on April 9, 2016.
The
detailed discourse includes Dhynasloka
and Gayatri mantra for meditation and also interesting appendices narrating the
detailed story of Matsyavatara,
Evolution of humans from fish, the Description of Mermaids and mermen
and the Stories of the Great deluge in
Puranas and the Holy Bible.
In
the symbolic divine marriage ceremony celebrated in Hindu Temples, pure
consciousness (thought) and formative energy (action) are viewed coupling
together as Easwara in his manifested form (Saguna Brahman) and through this
medium facilitate meditation on the Absolute (Nirguna Brahman or Self), which
is the only way for salvation, as postulated by all Upanishads.
Over
a long period Hindu marriage ceremony has included many elaborate steps
symbolizing different stages in the bonding of the couple based on Vedic
culture and social traditions and conditions. The various steps include:
Kanyaasnaanam; baraat, Compulsory Money gift, dowry, Maangalyadhaaranam,
Paanigrahanam; Saptapadi; Laajahomam; Grihapravesam; and
Dhruva-arundhati darsanam. There are invocations to the Gods, gurus, and
ancestors asking them to witness and bless the sacred bond. At the end of the
marriage ceremony, the Sthaaleepaakaa and Aupaasana rituals are performed. The
sacred fire from these rituals is then carried home and the Vedic karmas
enjoined are performed with this fire as witness for the rest of one’s married
life. Through such rituals one expresses the gratitude to the sages, gods and
ancestors. A truly religious marriage ceremony becomes a significant
milestone in the life of an individual, giving him the eligibility to perform
certain Vedic rites. It is unfortunate today Hindus are moving from this
original thinking and reduce the sacred ceremony to mere pomp and show as well
as an opportunity to fleece the bride’s parents and also make the girl
reduced to a struggling and abused housewife solemnized by a priest when not
satisfied with dowry and money flow from bride's parents. Soon what ought to
have been an eternal bond love and mutual respect ends with a
separation. Even Upanishads have focused on this point. One main reason is we
have made marriage too expensive, complicated with more focus on fun and frolic
and exploitation of the bride and her parents moving away from the simple
spiritual ritual described in Ramayana when Rama
married Seetaa.
Ritualistic
religious minded Hindu thinks of celebrating divine wedding the
same way as he dreams for his own daughter or son. He visualizes Rama and
Seetaa as normal human beings and kin and kith of
his own and goes through all the above steps today while performing
Kalyanotsava to the Lord which is also supported by Aagmas , the same way
it has blessed Shoedasa Upachara Puja (16 steps worship which I have
explained). Thus you find today in Temple practice many rituals that did
not take place when Rama married Seetaa. Sometimes a spiritual seeker
visiting temple is amazed at the pomp and show of such a worship with
overflowing Bhakti moving away from the spiritual symbolism of coupling
mentioned in Vedas and explained above.
The
traditional Vedic wedding of Raama and Seetaa is celebrated in
temples with all reverence according to Aagama rites, wherever Seetaa and Rama
idols are consecrated in temples all over the world, at the request of the
devotees as well as general public. It is celebrated for the
welfare of the individual family or the devout society in the locality,
invoking divine blessings for universal welfare, peace, and prosperity.
Sri
Ganesha Temple in Nashville TN, USA is conducting Kalyanotsavam to the
newly consecrated Seetaa and Rama idols on June 18 on a grand scale. Please go
through the detailed discourse delivered for the occasion on the
subject titled: Seetaa Rama Kalyaanam–A trend Setter for Present Day
Hindu Religious Wedding. Following discourses
will be worth going through:
Hindu Religious
Wedding Ceremony should follow the simplicity and spirituality of Seetaa
Kalyaanam! I have added the detailed description of Seetaa-Rama Kalyanam
as given in Tamil Kamba Ramayanam which includes some of the Tamil Wedding
rituals as are in vogue today and also worship of Lord Ranganatha that
are not mentioned in Valmiki Ramayana in an Appendix. From both texts it
is clear Mangalyadhaaranam did not take place in the divine wedding but
is of recent introduction which is considered as the most sacred key
ritual as our astrologer expert says. Please see the text below:
63.
WHY NO NAVAGRAHA PEDESTALS IN VISHNU TEMPLES?
I was surprised to see among the 264
discourses posted so far on my Blog Hindu Reflectioins:
<nrsrini.blogspot.com> one on Navagrahas and the other on Sanipeyarchi
appear among 10 most popular discourses wherein I have just
elaborated on current religious practices, beliefs and myths prevailing among
Hindus. It shows what a spell our astrologers have on the
religiously inclined Hindu minds though sound illogical more
often than not based on wrong astronomical calculations but
nevertheless has a strong basis for such beliefs! Navagraha Homas and
Pujas will continue to be popular in temples and homes despite all criticisms.
Even Hindu politicians run after astrologers for Navagraha
Santi as debated upon in recent Tamil Nadu election. Sukra, the Guru of
Demons still favors Jayalalitha. Recently my E-mail on “Why Vishnu
Temples do not have exclusive pavilions and sanctums for
Navagrahas” attracted attention of some and also resulted in some interesting
exchange of thoughts. I therefore thought it is a subject ideal for
a E-discourse suitable for posting on the blog that may interest you and other
global participants. Whether we like it or not exchange of
horoscopes besides arranged marriages will continue for several decades as well
as horoscope writing based on astrological predictions. It has even the
blessings of Sankaracharya as seen in his book of Dharma. Enthusiasm for
Mangalya dharanam, tying of the holy knots by the bridegroom on the neck of
the bride besides exchange of rings at the exact auspicious
moment (Gettimelam) drama scene as fixed by clever marketing astrologers
will continue if not in celebrating festivals and conducting
rituals. Exploration and exploitation based on true or false
Janmanakshatra will bring in lot of business to astrologers! It is a good time
pause.
Generally I do not post such highly
controversial topics which may upset Religious Hindus who are more inclined to
myths, beliefs, pagan practices and followers of their own Gurus who guide them
and also without exhaustive research, authoritative literary sources and
responses from knowledgeable people in religious matters and
astrology. I therefore circulate this draft discourse
for a month to invite your specific suggestions based on sound references for
any modification needed as I did my draft discourse on Vedanta Religion.
Please respond promptly!
Finalized
version posted on the blog and circulated with this E Mail:
Worship
of Upa-devatas (minor deities)= is based on Puranas, Myths and Beliefs
and super-imposition of divine status on persons with occult powers
or magic spells. It is so popular with the blind belief of the Hindus
that it is impossible to dislodge the same from the minds of
religious followers and Temple Traditions to suit their appetite to
convince them as myths which has even found entry into
Aagamas and Vedas by way of Upanishads and Sooktas in the recent past
beyond the original 108 Upanishads. Anything trying to explain will be
dismissed as Atheism or religious rebel. Yet we get offended when others
criticize us and come with serious arguments as to how we are not
followers of pagan religious practices, myths and beliefs. We put in lot
efforts to show we are followers Sanatana Dharma and believers in
One and the same God with all our diversions about which we have
discussed at length. Why to make things so complicated and then try
to prove about symbolism and significance to justify? We need to make
worship simple and pure in thought and convincing to our Consciousness.
Today Hinduism has reduced itself to the level of many other belief based
religions moving away from Vedanta Religion, trying to please Supreme Being
through the medium of worship of Gods they believe in and crying to
these Gods for even minor troubles without focus on liberation.
Thus if someone is affected by smallpox they run to Sheetal Devi
for cure! They run everyday to Ganesha! We spend all our efforts to make
myths reality. Westerners do not waste their time to make Iliad, a History
and prove Trojan War did take place ! We have seen how 9
stone pillars planted on the sea shore near Rameshvaram are attributed to
Rama's spending some time to install them to worship and thus want
everyone to believe Rama to be a devotee of Navagraha
Upadevatas. Ramayana clearly narrates Rama worshiped Sun
with Adityahridaya Hymn focusing on him as Parabrahman. If we
believe Ramayana is true we have to believe also Rama's worship of Aditya
is true and not Navagrahas. Navagraha worship is the clever marketing
promoted by astrologers. Many rituals start with Navagraha Shanti Homam!
It starts as soon as a child is born. We see how busy these altars are
to the utter neglect of the main deities in Siva temples. These alters
are very busy during marriage season and birth. Thanks to the enormous efforts
put in by Ramanuja in 108 (one temple has become prodigal) Divyakshetrams
Vaishnavas are free from their influence in Temple Worship though they
are very much influenced by astrologers in their private
life. One can understand this from the popularity enjoyed by
my two discourses being among top ten and to the minimal focus on ishta-devatas
on which I have spent lot of time--- Navagraha Devatas and Sani Peyarchi. I had
only explained prevailing practices and beliefs in detail there
with some comments then received.
I
was therefore hesitant to post this discourse without inviting your
comments which focuses on pin-pointing the blind beliefs of many
and purposeless worship, which was in circulation for nearly a month. If
religious hunger still feels necessary for this kind of worship, this could as
well be directed to Surya Devata alone as Vyahhriti of Brahman. To
my surprise there was not even one comment with proper
justification for any correction needed. On the other hand I received
additional information in support from a well versed astrologer who is also an
important member of a reputed astrological society in Bengaluru. I have
also added additional information how we are progressively becoming belief
based religion like others without focus on spirituality moving away from
Vedanta Religion about which we discussed at length. Please find the
discourse on the subject as finalized and posted on the Blog:
The
significance of Upaakarma Day which falls on Sravan Poornima Day is that Lord Vishnu
took the form of a horse (Hayagrieva Avatar) and restored the Veda that was
stolen from Lord Brahma by the demons Madhu and Kaitabha. It is a day to pay
our reverence to Vedas and also start their studies (Vedaadhyayana). It is a
day to honor Vedas and perpetuate their study.
Upākarma
Day marked as the "Beginning" of Srauta rituals for the Season also
called Āvaṇi Aviṭṭam
(Tamil), Janivārada Huṇṇime
(Kannada) and Gamha Purnima(in Odiya) is a ritual dictated by Hindu Srauta
scriptures to be observed by the Brahmin caste that claim their title by
birth-right. In fact we have very few Brahmins who follow their Varna Dharma.
Upaakarma consists of a number of ceremonies starting with Kamokarishi Japa,
Sankalpa, Satveeka Tyaaga which includes change of threads, Navakandarishi
Tarpana, Adyayan Homa, Navakaandarishi Homa, Jayaadi Homa and Upasthaana
closing ceremony for the day followed by Gayatri Japam the next day. Then the
regular study ofVedas start for the season.
Kaamoekaarsheet’
in Sanskrit means ‘those acts that are out of desire’. ‘Manyurakaarsheet’ means
“those acts that are committed out of anger”. The general practice of uttering
‘namoh namah’ after this mantra appears to be not appropriate as this Japam is
done with a sense of contrition according to some. It is therefore fitting and
proper to chant kamokarsheet manyurakarsheet mantras contained in sections 61
and 62 in full and not what is given in Upaakarma ritual manuals. Any Veda
mantra when modified or condensed loses its efficacy. This ritual exclusive to
Brahmins has lost its relevance today as Brahmins quite often miss Upanayana
ceremony at right age and also do not study Veda which is its objective. It is
done as formality with lot of show and fanfare with no real significance. Like
Brahma marriage where Mangalya Dharanam is not obligatory there is no
compulsion to wear sacred thread when its significance is lost.
Sravan
Purnima Day is a very important day, the day on which many celebrations take
place and rituals are performed all over India. It is a National Holiday under
different names as described in my discourse on the subject. Hindu Temples in
America offer facilities and guidance to Brahmins to change the sacred thread
and help perform prescribed rituals to Dwijas (twice born). Thus it is confined
to a particular caste even overseas where caste system is almost extinct but
traditions of different castes as in India continue with families in USA. Hindu
migrants continue with their surnames which more often than not reveal their
birth caste identity. In the light of the detailed discussion in the discourse
it would be fitting and proper to make this day a special sacred day of
significance for all by Making it: 1) annual day for atoning for sins by
conducting Kamokarsheet and Manyurakarsheet Homa (ExpiationHoma); 2) A sacred
day for Conducting Navakanda Rishi Tarpana and Homa for all; 3) a sacred day
for listening to Vedaparayana or Vedpath Day like Ramayan Path, Gita path etc.
and 4) a day for Mass Pranayama and Gayatri Japa Meditation 5) a day
celebrating Hayagriva (who restored Vedas and Incarnation of Vishnu) Jayanti
and rebirth of Vedas. These would benefit all traditions and all caste
backgrounds. Otherwise it presents a narrow-outlook as promoting and caring
only for privileged class of Brahmins on this sacred day in “One Temple for all
Traditions” with its main goal to serve all.
Please
go through my detailed discourse as attached.
(August
2016)
65. SKANDA UPANISHAD, SKANDA PURAANA
AND SAKANDA SHASHTHI
Mantrapushpas
are a collection of Veda mantras, Upanishads, Suktas and Divya slokas directed
to Ishtadevatas of many Hindus influenced by Puranas for recitation published
by Ramakrishna Math. I was rather surprised that this wonderful collection
missed Skanda Upanishad though includes Ganapati Atharvaseersopanishat,
Narayanopanishat, Kalisantarpanopanishat and Navagraaha Sukta which are
not included among 108 Upanishads and Rig, Yajur Vedas and are cleverly
inserted to Atharva Veda at a much later date. It shows how Lord Skanda
so celebrated in Ramayana while Ganesha is nowhere to be found in
Adikavya, is ignored by North Indians while mythological Ganesha is
popularized as Prathama Vandita and even scared of consequences if
neglected! Murugan with Valli and Devayani is very popular with Tamils who do
not often care for Vedas and are happy with Thiruppugazh. I am glad Swami
Chidananda has glorified this Upanishad for its Wisdom Thoughts. Particularly
noteworthy is its focus on Brahman: "Rita(ga)m Satyam Parabrhaman"
and "Tvam Rudrastvam Vishnustvam, Brahmastvam....."
Skanda
Upanishad though included among 108 Upanishads is least known while Ganesha
Atharvaseersha Upanishat later added is very popular? Ganesha is in
forefront while Skanda so celebrated in Ramayana is not at all popular
except in Tamil Nadu. Myths and beliefs in the worship of upa-devatas has taken
over Hinduism moving away from the Vedic concept of Brahman(Deva) and his
33 controllers (Devatas)? Even among upa-devatas popularity
is very much biased often influenced by Puranas and astrologers. So we
have limitless deities pushed to the status of Deva running for
help to fulfill even our petty desires without focusing on exhausting our Karma
by self-purification, meditation and submission. For convenience we
quote Gita for such a diversion forgetting what Gita says that the end results
depend on the deity one worships and the mode of worship? Gita says:
"Those who worship me (Brahman) only come to me; but others go to whom
they worship". We constantly fight what idols to install in Hindu Temples
and worship focusing on sectarian opinions in a multi traditional Hindu society
even in USA where educational level among migrant Hindus from many nations is
quite high. We often elevate normal human beings to divinities.
We see how in India temples built for Venkateswara or Lakshmi
Narayana built by philanthropists are popular as Birla Temples or JK
Temples! We end up with Birla Namavali instead of Om Namo Narayanaya or
Namo Venkatesaya! When it comes to Religion we become sectarian minded and are
least influenced by the wisdom of Vedas. We focus on exaggerated stories
and their popularity in Puranas than on hidden philosophical content. We
concentrate on Vadamala for Hanuman than focus on his Ashta Siddhis!
Playful Ganesha with Modaka is more attractive than spiritual genius Guruguha
(Skanda)!
Skanda
says that jiva (a living being) is Shiva. Just as
before husking, it is called paddy and after husking, rice grain,
similarly bound by Karma it is called jiva and when liberated from
karma, it becomes Shiva. Skanda in this Upanishad pays his respects
himself to Shiva, who is a form of Vishnu and Vishnu, who is a form of
Shiva. Further, Vishnu is said to dwell in the heart of Shiva and vice versa. Shiva
and Vishnu are the one and the same reflecting Vedic thought, in his prayer.
A
prayer in first person follows. Obeisance is offered to the Supreme Light,
wishing for prosperity and longevity. Vishnu as Narasimha
and Shiva as Mahadeva are addressed. The hymn declares that by their grace,
people realize the incomprehensible Brahman, which transcends thoughts, is
un-manifest and infinite and indestructible, but takes the form of the deities,
Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva.
“Upanishads
point out that the vision of the Infinite Truth alone can set us free.
Seeing the unbounded truth and letting go of all false identification go
together like the two sides of the same coin. The latter part is conveyed by
the double negation not this, not this (neti, neti)—in
Brihadaranyaka Upanishad” says swami Chidanada
Deep
in Upanishads hidden is the wisdom of certain practical aspects to life. Swami
Chinmyananda comes out frequently with such implied
wisdom which I have been forwarding to my readers often with
my limited understanding. “True wisdom is when we see absence
of division everywhere; meditation is when your mind is not pursuing objects as
you infer from the mantra 11 of Skanda Upanishad” says Swami Chidananda.
Please
go through the detailed discourse as attached.
I
have attached Skanda Kavacham in
Tamil for the benefit of those who speak Tamil as English transliteration.
Others can benefit from its translation.
(AUGUST
2016)
66. IN PRAISE OF PARASAKTI—PRIMORDIAL
ENERGY AND MATERIAL PROSPERITY
Devi is worshiped as Shakti in her most splendid manifestation of
Devi. She is Durga to North Indians and Sri Lalita to South Indians. She is
popular as Goddess of Wisdom, Saraswati. She is Goddess of affluence and
abundance and goddess of Bounty in her form Lakshmi. Devi is worshiped in all
these forms during Spring Navaratri during September-October. The Autumn
Navaratri is called Vasanta Navaratri popular in Bengal dedicated to Durga. The
Chaitra/Vasanta Navaratri is probably not as famous as the Sharada Navaratri that comes in
Sep/Oct time-frame but Srividya
Upasakas are expected to observe this without fail.
It is customary to chant the whole 700 slokas
(hymns) of Durga Saptasati contained in Markandeya Purana during nine days of
Spring Navaratri. Particularly Durgashtami Worship
on the eighth day is concluded with the chanting of slokas that all
begin with the phrase “Ya devi Sarvabhooteshu”. In the past I had posted
these slokas on the blog of Hindu Reflections in 2011 with my translation in
English. Later I received several slokas on Sakti aspect of Devi from
IndiaDivine.Org from various authors as well as Muralidharan Iyengar of
Singapore. These slokas are chanted with reverence equally by Saivas, Vaishnavas
and Saktas and also both by North Indians and South Indians. I have
pleasure in presenting to you these slokas and also post it on the Blog for
permanent reference and use. Most of them have a translation. Added
addition is the lecture by Swami Krishnananda on The Esoteric Significance of
Devi Mahatmya. These are included as appendices. Various slokas
included in this discourse are;
1) Sapta Matrikas ; 2) Esoteric
Significance of Devi Mahatamyam; 3) Devi Kavacham from Devi
Mahtmyam; 4) Devi Keelakam; 5) Durgaa Suktam; 6) Devi Mahatmya Stotra
Ashtakam; 7) Durga Dwaatrimsa Namamaalaa; 8) Saptaslokee
Durgaa; 9) Bhavani Sahasranamam; 10) Soundarya Lahari; 11)
Sri Bhagavatee Satee-Rudra Yamalam.
This year Sharada Navaratri starts
on October 1. I have therefore sending this compilation
sufficiently in advance so that you may pick your hymn (sloka) of choice and
get familiar with its reading for the occasion. You may be happy to note you
have the translation for most of them. Few left out are very popular and their
translations are easily available. You will not get all of them at one source.
Wish
you all a very pleasant Navaratri season! May Parasakti in her Trinity Role
of Durga, Lakshmi and Sarasvati shower on you her choicest blessings!
http://nrsrini.blogspot.com/2016/09/in-praise-and-worship-of-primordal.html http://nrsrini.blogspot.com/2016/09/normal-0-false-false-false-en-us-x-none.html
(Please note these
are posted separately in 4 parts on the Blog as the Blog would not take all at
once. Please download and keep for your periodic use on festival days of Devi
or for daily prayers)
(SEPTEMBER 2016)
67. JAGANNATHA
WORSHIP PROMPTED THE ICONIC CONCEPT AND THE
TEMPLE TRADITION
Rigveda indicates worship of Parabrahman in the form of wood as
explained by Sayana the well-known commentator on Vedas and Upanishads who
relates it to the Jagannatha icon of Puri. It is a strange
coincidence that Supreme Being appeared as Aswattha Tree to Sage Kanva and
others in Tiruppullni, but on their request appeared with his true form of
Vishnu, the sustenance aspect of Parabrahman as described in Brahma Vaiavasvata
Purana with conch and disc. Indradyumna also dreamed him in this
form and wanted to make a deity out of the reddish brown wood that
he came across floating on the sea that started its journey on the waters near
the submerged city of Dwaraka, with the help of Viswakarma.
As the legend goes Dasaratha worshiped Lord Jagannatha here
and got his mantra to get children and also later Sri Rama praying for his
success to build the bridge across sea and reach Lanka to kill Ravana.
Abundance of Darbha growth, Popularity of sweet pudding Prasadam and
tradition of Snake slab consecration supports the Puranic background. The
historic journey of wood from Dwaraka to Puri from which the deity was planned
by Viswakarma as desired by Indradyumna has settled the mystery of Jagnnatha
idol on the Ratnavedhi identified with Krishna Blabhadra and Subhadra worshiped
today.
Ramanuja who had decided that Thirupati deity is that of Vishnu
and regularized the worship there wanted also take such a decision and reform
worship in Puri Jagaannath Temple but the Pundits there strongly opposed and
prayed to Lord Jagannath to stop his intervention. Jagannatha though he might
have prompted Ramanuja to do so did not like to upset his faithful
devotees and magically shifted Ramanuja to Kurmakshtra
hundred yojanas away while in sleep. When his life was threatened there
he was shifted by Garuda without his knowledge to Srikurma near Simhachala in
Andhra Pradesh revealing to Ramanuja that he is present there in the Saligrama
form and also instructed him to go with his reform. Ramanuja when
he arrived there was disappointed to see people worshiping Salagrama as Linga
and Siva. So when he prayed to Lord Jagannatha that if he is present in the
Linga he should turn towards him. To his surprise the Salagrama turned towards
him. To-day in this temple Lord of the Universe is worshiped as Kurma-Varaha following
Pancharatra Agama and the temple has two flag-posts, Dwaja-sthambhas, an
unusual feature in Temple Tradition.
Sri Ramanuja had visited a place located some 28 km south of Puri
known as Brahmagiri and was delighted to see a beautiful deity of four
armed Sri Maha Vishnu, with Conch, discus, Mace and Lotus flower. King
Choddaganga ruling king then, as a Vishnu devotee, remained significantly
mesmerized by the teachings of Ramanuja. It is said that Sri
Ramanuja had considerable influence in Purushottma Kshetra on worships and
rituals including the Rath yatra festival fashioned after Rathotsava in
South Indian Temples with the support of the king, though he could
not intervene in the hotch-potch worship of Jagannatha then.
Rathotsava is a regular festival as a part of Brahmotsava celebration in all
Vishnu Temples in the South. Rathotsava introduced in the North for the first
time in Puri temple soon became popular, unique in the North, which
made Jagannatha temple in Puri famous. The name Jagannatha in Rathayatra
mistakenly pronounced as Jagger Naught (a strong military vehicle)
caught the admiration of all Western rulers who ruled India
later. Jagannatha became famous to ignorant too because of Ratha Yatra.
Rathotsava is philosophically rendered in Chandogya Upanishad
mantras
It is logical to conclude that Temple Tradition started with
Jagannatha worship as Nature in the form of Aswattha Tree that reappeared as
Koorma Saligrama from very early times. In Gita Bhagawan declared that
among trees I am Aswattha and also said he will be pleased with the offerings
of “Patram, pushpam, phalam, toyam” a leaf, a flower, a fruit or
little water--all materials of nature. In Puri such a worship was started
by simple Tribal folks with pure hearts before civilized people came to picture
to build gigantic temples and complicate worship. The Tribal
worshiped a simple icon in an enclosure whose eyes, ears and hands only
mattered to them to take care of their welfare (yogakshemam vahamyam).
Moorti Upasana, iconic worship in the form of Salagrama and Linga (vyktaavyakta
form) in Thiruppuillani and Rameswaram was started by Rama himself
as Puranas tell us. Before that it was all sacrificial
(yajna) form of worship, tyaga and sanyasa. Whether it is Krishna or Krishna
Dwaipayana in Gita one can come across divine assurance that:
“Om ityekaksharam brahma anusmaran…… yaati paramaam gatim”
--Whosoever meditates on single syllable AUM knowing
that it represents the Supreme Brahman, he will certainly attain
the Supreme abode. This is the principle of present day Aaraadhana (Moorti
upaasana) or Hindu Temple Worship which should be focused on Parabrahman and
his Sakti aspect as Saguna Brahman. Your comments to enhance the value of this
discourse are welcome.
(OCTOBER 2016)
68. AMAZING
TEMPLES AND THRILLING REVELATIONS
AMAZING TEMPLES AND EXCITING REVELATIONS
I have been delivering my discourses
on Venkateswara of Tirupati that casts magic
spell on millions and that cured Lord Monroe and Williams of incurable diseases
like Cancer to which I have added my own life story. I had also similar personal life
experience as with Balaji of Tirupati with another Anjaneya Temple in
Sholangipuram near Chennai. Yet I do not pray today asking Him for any favor by
joining Bhajan groups and chanting several slokas or repeating after priest
mantras. I leave it to Him as He knows what is best for me and what I deserve. So I meditate on simple
Gayatri “OM TAD BRAHMA TAD VAAYU TAD ATMA TAT SATYAM TAT SARVAM TAT PUROR
NAMAH” That is all I need to focus as Vedic wisdom tells me.
Look
at some of the ancient skill and the wonder of architectural skills and
spiritual mystery attributed to Sthapanis like Viswakarma and
others that abounds in the temples I have described in the attachment. You will
find six or seven temples in the 70 degrees parallel Longitude to
Greenwich Meridian the Line of Time from Rameswaram in the Indian Ocean and
down further to Kedarnath in Himalayas and up further. Shortly we will
celebrate Kartikai deepam on Decembver 12 and see the light as Annamali
Deepam in Tiruvannamallai which falls in this 70th parallel of
flame line or Universal Light Line partially revealed. You will see it
as Makara vilaakku on Sabarimalai in January. Malai in Tamil means
Mountain. You will se the full light as a fire column on
Mahasivaratri Night with no end or beginning. This is the Universal light
Moses saw in the Wilderness and received Ten Commandments, that Buddha and Rishabha saw and surrounded
by it! Look at the Bermuda Triangle as attached. Convince yourself the mystery
of Bermuda Triangle in Rigveda and Atharvaveda and the mystery puzzling the
Western culture!
Sphatika Linga can record our prayers, our sincerity and
falsehood in our offerings which you unknowingly express by your expression
instead of meditation on One-to –one basis so that He passes that on to
Lord of Dharma and judge your merits or defaults. Sankara, the founder of Advaita
Philosophy and later Shanmata Sthapaka, standing before Lord Viswanatha in Kasi
confessed his three mistakes and finally glorified the sustenance aspect of
Parabrahman Vishnu as the only God in Bhajagovindam and Aatmabodha in our daily
life who is none other than Venkateshwara is Skanada and Balaa Tripura
Sundari!
You may
not know Venkateswara was for long worshiped as SKANDA (who is MURUKAN for
Tamils) who is Sanat Kumara who explained Brahman to Narada in Chhandogya
Upanishad. This Santat Kumara was the Eternal Youth who stood Before Vishnu as
Kumara, before creation started, who is hailed as Jesus, Son of God in
Christianity, Jehovah (THat I AM), Al Kadiir in Islam and in many other
Traditions including Native Americans.
It is thrilling to note certain amazing facts about this enigmatic
deity to show he is Skanda and the deity is carved out of wood. Please
understand whom you are worshiping standing before Him chanting
Suprabhatam and VSN. We have
forgotten Ramnuja along with Sanakra to celebrate their Jayantis on
Akshaya Triteeya Day but rush to Temple to worship Lakshmi with the newly
purchased gold Ornament to get blessed to become more rich. You may
succeed temporarily even as I was by Venkateswara and Anjaneya by my mom's and
grand-father's prayers. I don't even attend the temple on this Gold rush
day for fear of stampede! Unfortunately our temples too have decide to settle
for material focus on Lakshmi on this day guided by our priests and not on
Spiritual wealth. But this brings revenue needed to ruin the temples.
November 2016
69. SKANDA WORSHIPED
EARLIER AS BALAJI IN TIRUPATI IS SANAT KUMARA IN MANY FAITHS & TRADITIONS
In Sanskrit, "Sanat Kumara"
is "Eternal Youth"; from Sanat comes Sanatana
meaning Eternal; at the cosmic plane, it is Subrahmanya (Supreme
Knowledge); at the Solar plane, the Kumara is Sanaka; at the
Planetary plane, it is Sanandana; and on this planet, it is Sanat Kumara.
This Sanat Kumara is Skanda says Chandogya Upanishad. Tamils call
Skanda, Murugan. MU=Mukunda or Jagannatha; RU=Rudra and
KA=Katyaayini (Durga or Parasakti). Sanat Kumara in Chandogya Upanishad refers
to Skanda who got all obstructions to the realization of Brahman destroyed by
the spiritual teaching even as the Commander-in-Chief of the Divine
Army (Devasenapati) destroyed the Asuras (demons). The
Upanishad concludes this anecdote with the statement that Sanat Kumara taught
the esoteric secret knowledge clearly to Narada the Supreme Brahman
attainable through Upaasana. Lord Venkateswara was worshipped as
Skanda long before Ramanuja decided him to be worshipped as Vishnu
because the deity had Sankha and Chakra as accessories. In Tamil
Nadu at Thiruvaiyaru Siva Temple, Ambal Dharmasamvardhini has Conch in one
upper hand, Chakra in another upper hand, Abhaya mudra by one lower hand, and
Varada mudra by another lower hand. At Rayan Pettai, Murukan has
Conch in one upper hand, Chakra in another upper hand. People
worship Murukan as both son of Siva and and
Vishnu In these places they do not feel the need for separate Vishnu temple.
It is interesting to note that Srimad Bhagavatam says that the
four Kumaras are incarnations of Vishnu. Chandogya Upanishad says
Sanatkumara is Skanda. So that would mean that Kartikeya is an incarnation of
Vishnu! That would certainly put the discredited theories that the
Venkateshwara statue in Tirupati is Kartikeya in a whole new light. As
you all know Venkateswara was worshiped as Murugan before Ramanuja’s intervention
who decided the deity is Vishnu as that had provision for fixing Sankha (Conch)
and Chakra (Discus).
We hear about Sanat Kumara, in
Esoteric Traditions of the East and the West. Sanat Kumara is a manifestation
of God, a spiritual being of great light. He is known as the Ancient of Days,
the Eternal Youth, the Regent Lord of the World and Ruler of Shamballa. He is
also one of seven holy Kumaras referenced in sacred scriptures. Sanat
Kumara is referenced in the Koran, in Rumi’s poetry and in other Islamic work
as El Khadr. Speaking of El Khadr, the Prophet Mohammed says, “I have seen my
Lord in the most beautiful of forms.” Esoteric Tradition can be found in
all beliefs of the World
The Planet Mars – sometimes known in Vedic Astrology as Mangala
or Kuja, is son of the Earth, and is a focus of energy or Sakti of the
Earth. Mars is said to be of a fiery nature, and has the Vedic fire god Agni as
its ruling deity. The mythological tales of the Puranas gives the son of Lord
Siva, Karthikeya (also known as Skanda, Murugan, Subramaniam) as the deity
behind Planet Mars.
Hindu Americans
will be wiser to have only Venkateswara for worship in all Hindu American
Temples. This will help them in consolidating their worship focused on
one deity with significant rituals and festivals concentrating on
Supreme Spirit who is none other than the Holy Spirit of Christianity, Jehova
of Jews, Allah of Islam, Buddha of Buddhists, Vardhamana of Jains, etc. Thus
Hindus will be back to Sanatana Dharma or Vedic religion which proclaims “Eko
Viprah bahudaa vadanti-The One Pundits call by many names”.
Why then Ramanuja
considered Skanda as Vishnu as he is worshiped in Tirupati today? Skand with
sankha and Chakra is not unusual! Skand is hailed as Sant Kumara in Vedas who is
again considered as Son of Vishnu/Brahma.It ius only Puranas built sectarian
walls and made Skanda as son of Siva and Parvati. Read within for more
elaborate explanation.
This discourse is
recommended to be read along with my next discourse: "VENKATESWARA IS
SKANDA THAT IS SANAT KUMARA WHO CASTS MYSTIC SPELL ON MILLIONS" . The
deities Skanda, Venkateswara, Jaganantha and Aiyappa shows the Hindu genius has
the peculiar virtue of reconciling the irreconcilables. These deities with
their Puranic stories come handy for Saivas and Vaishnavas who are at
loggerheads. the deities Venkateswara, Skanda and Jagannatha are ideal for
Hindu Americans drawn from many traditions with their outreach to Jains,
Buddhists and Sikhs while Skanda as Sanat Kumara--The Eternal Youth and
son of God reaches further for a fusion of all World Religions
taking us back to Sanatana Dharama which proclaims "Devo ekah",
"vasudaiva kutumbakam" and "sarvejanah Sukhino bhavantu"and
UNIVERSAL RELIGION.
--December 3, 2016
70. LET
US CONSOLIDATE TEMPLE TRADITIONS STARTED BY ADISANKARA
Lot of confusion prevails in Hindu Temples of
America among the highly educated Hindu Americans by simply copying India and
following the conceptualization of our founding fathers of the temple serving
the religious needs of migrant Hindus not only drawn from India, though in
majority, but also from other migrant countries in one temple for all
traditions which may be called Hindu Confusion-ism. If they
are rich in sufficient numbers they just walk out in protest if their specific
wishes are not fulfilled and build their own sectarian temples or all together
avoid going to temples. In one temple for many traditions you can find not less
than a dozen deities with small sanctums or enclosures facing all directions
with no provision for circumambulation except for the presiding
deity. Some temples have up to three presiding deities
one to satisfy sectarian needs Siva or Sakta sects, one for the Vaishanva sect
and one to the choice of founding fathers. Based on
Indian Hindu group pressures we can also find deities of Vardhamana,
Buddha, Saibaba, Jagnnatha of Puri, Nagdevata, Durga etc. It gives one an
impression that one goes through gallery of artifacts while worship
is going on for the main deity on week-ends. On specific occasions only
focus is drawn to individual deities sponsored by sectarian groups.
Added attractions are modern religious marketing Techniques of
worship of Navagrahas and Hanumanji!
Inspiration to have such a large consecration
of deities in one temple comes from India where the focus is on Puraanas and
the donors. Recently Puri Sankaracharya removed the idol of Saibaba
from the temple against stiff opposition. Also recently at Thiruvaiyaru
in Tamil Nadu all the Navagrahas, 63 Nayanmars, and all the deities
except Shiva Lingam, Daskshinamurthy, Murugan, Ganesha and Ambaal
Dharmasamvardini were completely removed from temple. Hundreds
of deities and hundreds of priests were all thrown out of temple in
the process of house-cleaning but for one priest for Shiva and one priest
for Devi. Dharmasamvardhani a consort of Siva
here is seen with conch and discus an unusual feature in Siva complex.
Similarly there is a Murugan deity with conch and discus. similarly
Venkateswara processional deity is seen with three horizontal lines on a
particular day in the year reminding he is Skanda or Rudra also.
Hindu Americans also need such a
house-cleaning. In fact Sanakara started such a consolidation drawing the
attention of people to Shanmatas and Panchayatana Puja
consolidating directionless worship of several
hundred deities whose number was left to anybody’s guess. In the end he recommended
to only focus on sustenance aspect of Parabrahman that is Vishnu, as
can be learned from slokas in Bhajagovindam and Atmabodha.
Hindus hailing from India are traditionally
sectarian worshipers and are happy with Kindergarten level of religious
following as accustomed rather than serious thoughts focused on
spirituality. So any consolidation should be by evolution and not revolution as
it happened in Puri or Tiruvaiyaru stated above. Hindu American
Temples should confine initially to deities like Jagannatha,
Venkateswara, Adinatha and Buddha to come together(bringing together other
religious groups carved out of Sanatana Dharma) and later concentrate on
Venkateswara as the sole deity with focus on Sanatana Dharma and Spirituality
to achieve Universal Oneness that Vivekananda dreamt--“Vedanta is the religion
of the Future” and as described in my discourse “Vedanta Religion- Everlasting,
Universal and Unifying Spirituality”.
Hindu Americans living as minority religious
group with major religions of USA will be ultimately wiser to have only
Venkateswara for worship in all Hindu American Temples if they want to be in
Interfaith Forum and attract all religions also to Sanatana Dharma and
Spirituality promoting Esoteric Sanat Kumara Tradition concept of
Theosophical Schools. For this Balaji will be ideal as already
explained in a detailed discourse. This will help them in
consolidating their worship focused on one deity with significant rituals and
festivals concentrating on Supreme Spirit who is none other than the Holy
Spirit of Christianity, Jehova of Jews, Allah of Islam, Buddha of Buddhists,
Vardhamana of Jains, etc. With proper propagation of Sanartkumara concept, Yoga
and meditation centers and spiritual education center we will be able to
attract major religious groups who are presently fed up with their own religious
worships and routine sermons and also many who have walked out of
their religion and have established their own religion of atheism who are
almost 1/3 in their group. Spiritually oriented Sanatana Dharam once
served as the universal binding force and people lived happily together
with the Vedic wisdom “vasudhaiva kutumbkam” whole world is on family.
I am confident with our own reviving of Vedic religion
and practice we will be attracting others too out of their own
will.
Please go through the very detailed and long
discourse on this subject covering the history of Hindu religion
from Sanatana Dharma of Vedic days to modern religious
practices of Hindu Americans and the need to focus on UNIVERSAL ONENESS.
--December 2016
71. DARBHA THE SACRED
GRASS IN HINDU RITUALS AND CEREMONIES
Use of Kusa grass in Hindu rituals began in
Vedic times, more than an estimated 3,500 years ago. The grass is variously
known as Kusa, Dharbha, Durva etc.
Darbha also called Kusa
popularly is considered perhaps the second most sacred herb in the Vedas
after Soma. Darbha is said to purify the offerings during
Vedic rituals. At the time of eclipse, people place that
grass in food items that could ferment and once the eclipse ends the grass is
removed. On studying the effect of various grasses on the microbial community
of the curd, darbha grass alone was found to attract enormous number of
bacteria into the hierarchical surface features. Researchers at SASTRA
University reports that Darbha could be used as a natural food preservative in
place of harmful chemical preservatives and the artificial surfaces mimicking
the hierarchical Nano patterns on the surface of Darbha grass could find
applications in health care where sterile conditions were required.
Since Kusha grass
has good insulation properties devotees retain the energy generated in the
ceremony in communion with God sitting on Kusa mat. It is believed that mantras chanted sitting
on a Kusa mat always brings good results. Wearing of Kusa rings (pavitram) in
ceremonies and rituals in addition insulate ring finger in the hand and prevent
energy leak into adjacent fingers. It is believed that Surya from whom we get
life energy brilliance and fame resides in the ring finger and that should not
be wasted.
Kusa grass is
ground up and the essence used for Kusa oil (to be used in summer for its
cooling effects) and Kusha flavored juice also drunk for its cooling
effects. In tribal medicine it has been
used variously to treat dysentery and menorrhagia and as diuretic.
--April 2017
*72.
CONCLUDING SLOKA-PRAYERS IN HINDU WORSHIPS
Here are my five most popular discourses posted on the blog. These
focus on Veda mantras used in our daily temple and home worships. Besides I
have also circulated to you discourses
explaining mantras chanted during Nitya karmas and Naimittika karmas
(daily and specific duties). It is interesting to note these five discourses
are most popular with readers from India and India. This shows how starved
these religious followers are about the deeper meaning of the mantras they use
in worships and rituals by just parrot chanting. It looks our priests and
parents are just focusing on mechanically chanting these mantras just to repeat
on them with no focus on spirituality. I am thankful to Google Research for this
amazing revelation and so you are:
Hindu
prayers and worships end with popular slokas appealing to the Supreme for all
round prosperity, Peace and Harmony whose authorship is not known. These
compositions are often based on Veda
and Upanishad Mantras and are inspired by Dharma explained in Vedas. I have
collected the most popular mantras and brought out a discourse titled “CONCLUDING
SLOKA‑PRAYERS IN HINDU WORSHIP INSPIRED BY THE WISDOM OF VEDAS AND FOCUSSED ON
DHARMA” I hope You will appreciate my hard work in this regard with some
unorthodox explanation appealing to the elite audience of Hindu Americans but may
not be to the liking of conservative and orthodox religious followers in India.
However I would like to hear from the learned scholars a better and convincing
explanation. If you have more slokas in view please pass it on to me with
proper meaning and explanation for the benefit of the HR Forum. I had had explained in detail the difference
between a mantra and a sloka as well as the power of the mantra for spiritual
elevation and liberation that has a Chhandas (Meter), Guru and Deity to focus
on. Slokas generally resort to sloka
meter fashioned after Ramayana.
*73. CHANT HANUMAN CHALISA AND WARD OFF
BHOOT/PISACH (AVESA) AND DISEASES
On Sunday 23,
APRIL 2017 in Ganesha Temple in Nashville, ardent devotees chanted
Hanuman Chalisa of Sant Tulsidas 108 times praying to Lord Anjaneya in which
all participated chanted mostly without understanding the meaning but for a few
from the State of Rama Janmabhoomi. Many strongly believe that such
parrot chanting will lead them to the High way to Heaven and the Good Lord will
also pardon all our sins like what Christians believe that Jesus sacrificed
himself for the sin of all and so those who believe in Him
will not be troubled by sins which we often criticize as blind belief. I
was a silent spectator and not an active participant and often my people think
I am a non-believer as they have no clue as to my spiritual disposition.
I deal with the Supreme on one-to- one basis.
In this chanting my particular attention was drawn to the slokas that
says Chanting Hanuman Chalisa or any sloka on Hanuman a sub-deity, he
will drive away all evil spirits (BhootPisaach) from the possessed
and ward off all diseases making physicians, surgeons and psychiatrists
jobless. Indeed Gita also says that the Supreme out of his kindness
fulfills such minor wishes even though the ignorant resort to many devatas for
fulfillment of petty wishes but such people will not come to Him as liberated
souls. I believe in leaving everything to His choice for He knows what I
deserve and what is best for me too (Yadbhdram
tanma aasuva). Otherwise I miss the big chance only my little wish being
fulfilled.
I was wondering
whether we should believe in such evil possessions, behavioral
acts that being possessed of Aavesa or Ghost
haunted? Is it necessary to seek faith-cure when modern
psychiatric medical science is so well advanced? May be or may be
not based on my own life experience of miracles, scientific back-ground and
spiritual pursuit! What is the Vedantic view on evil spirits and evil
possession, ghosts etc. termed as Aavesa?
In earlier days
people solely depended on Spiritual Gurus who were all-in-all guiding human
destiny and took care of their welfare including health problems.
Minor deities like Hanuman were also outsourced
by religious Acharyas and they were effective. I believe it all started
with the rule of the Supreme and his 33 controllers. Today with population
explosion and insurmountable problems Good Lord rightly
thought to outsource the work and gave us many selfless men
of knowledge like doctors scientists and engineers to serve the mankind
and wanted them to follow the path of dharma relieving undue
pressure on his deputies and relieving them from pressures of day-to day
petty problems. But many forgot Dharma too but for a few..
I am bound to think so, migrating to USA , as I find some
philanthropic doctors and engineers are not money-minded but are engaged in
serving the humanity and spreading the message of Sanatana dharma by way
of building temples and supporting religious institutions. I believe they
are god-sent. Wisdom of Vedas also says do not be petty minded and ask
for little favor like what we do today running to
Ganesha to succeed in whatever we do as we created a mythological Vignaraja
not mentioned in Vedas. It may be the reason why Hanuman and
others are not active today to cure our Possession and diseases
though it worked for my family. So please take help of the
infra-structure the Good Lord has provided like doctors, engineers,
scientists etc. for your minor needs and focus on your major goal to
spiritually evolve by meditating on Supreme Being!
Present discourse not only deals with this subject in detail as to what should be Hindu American’s disposition towards such belief based worships but also includes my exchange of views with an expert psychiatrist on the subject and an Appendix containing the research study by a scholar on the subject of Avesa received by me some time back. Please take some time to go through this interesting discourse. Your suggestions are welcome.
Present discourse not only deals with this subject in detail as to what should be Hindu American’s disposition towards such belief based worships but also includes my exchange of views with an expert psychiatrist on the subject and an Appendix containing the research study by a scholar on the subject of Avesa received by me some time back. Please take some time to go through this interesting discourse. Your suggestions are welcome.
(APRIL 2017)
Comments:
Tkp Naig Srinivasanji, how well you have put it in
these pages & articles...I thoroughly enjoyed it at this lower level of
prakruthi.
74.
HINDU TEMPLE TRADITIONS—BUILDING, CONSECRATING AND WORSHIPING
The Hindu Temple is a
comprehensive expose’ on the evolution of a simple and sacred place of worship
to a monument. Which over the centuries became pivot of Indian religiosity,
culture aesthetic expression; the super-ordinate ideological focus of society
and polity. Its origin traces back to Ramayana, its sanctity, and
the unwavering reverence accorded to it even today as
advised to Vibhishna before his final departure to Ayodhya after crowning
him as the King of Lanka killing Ravana at Tiruppullani near Rameswaram. His
final advice was “Aaraadhaya Jagannatham”. We thus come across the word
Aradahna popularly used today. Lord Jagannatha appeared as Aswattha Tree to
prying sages who at their request appeared as Vishnu with his assembly of
Sankha, Chakra and Mace along with Dharmasamvardhini. Jagannartha was the
family deity of Ikshvakus and Dasartha was blessed with four sons blessed by
Jagannatha. Devotees accord their unwavering reverence even today which is
manifested in the elaborate rituals performed within its precincts and the
festivals celebrated by them throughout the year.
The
orthodox Hindu Temples are symbolically designed. Its very construction
indicates the path of Self-realization. Hindu Temple symbolizes live human body
which consists of gross, subtle and casual bodies and the inner Self which is
called Aatman, representative of Universal Brahman, the Supreme Principle or
Consciousness
Visiting temple is not obligatory for
Hindus. Every Hindu home usually has a shrine, no matter how small, where
daily prayers are offered. Hindus generally go to their temples only
during important religious festivals but for a few who make it a
daily ritual before taking food. As a result temples do not have as much hold
on Hindus as Christian churches or Jewish synagogues have over their members.
Temples usually have religious activities only. Funeral services,
commonly conducted in churches, are not held in Hindu temples but of late
Namakarana, Upanayana and Marriage including Shashti-abda-poorti
ceremonies are conducted in Temples in Halls attached to the temples. Hindu
temples often organize Kirtans (devotional singing) and religious discourses
for the public.
I
have in the past given flowing lectures on Temple Traditions and Worship:
1)
Divine Character of Hindu Temples in Concept and Design (February 2012)
2)
One Hindu Temple for Many Traditions Overseas (June 2013)
3)
Hindu Traditional Practices for Worship (February 2012)
4)
Hindu Mass Worship in Temples and the Need for Spiritual Focus (January 2012)
5)
Multi-traditional Hindu Temples in USA Need to Focus on Spirituality and
Deities to suit All (July 2015)
6) Upaasana, Moorti Worship or Image Worship
(March 2013)
7) Shoedsaha Upachaara Pooja—Sixteen-steps
Worship (August 2013)
Here is my concluding discourse on the
subject which dwells on certain aspects of temple traditions and worship—Hindu
Temple Traditions—Building, Consecrating and Worshiping which includes some
interesting and informative appendices from other authors.
PLEASE
GO THROUGH MY FINAL AND CONCLUDING DISCOURSE ON TEMPLE TRADITIONS:
(MAY 2017)
75. MICROCOSMIC
HUMAN BODY SPRINGS OUT OF MACROCOSMIC VIRAT PURUSHA
Upanishads say microcosmic human body has been
created by Macrocosmic Virat Purusha modelled after it. Our body
houses the Aatman (Self). When this Aatman is realized human body with
its physical, subtle and causal bodies attains divinity. One
who performs Sandhyavandana touches the various parts of the body with
the wet fingers chanting 12 names of Vishnu to
energize the sacred spots of the Body. Upanishads describe
Brahman as Purusha with fire as his head, the Sun and Moon as his eyes, the
quarters as his ears, the Vedas as his speech and the earth as his feet.
One sloka says: At the top of the palm dwell Devi Lakshmi, at the middle of the
hand dwell Devi Saraswati, and at the base of the hand dwell Sri Govinda.
We come across such thoughts linked to body parts in many slokas sprung
out of the wisdom of Vedas.
Brihadaranyaka
Upanishad (3.2.1 to 3.2-9) speaks of eight Grahas and eight Atigrahas in the
body in the sense of grasping deities (sense-organas) and overseeing grasping
deities (sense-faculties). This inspired Puranas to come up with a new series
of grasping deities for worship called Navgrahas who are presumed to be
playing with our lives and even in finding a life partner. Whether this
will affect those inter-racial marriages where horoscope exchange
does not come into picture only pundits and astrologers can tell!
Vedas only glorify by Mantras Sun, Moon and Stars.This has also
built a myth around Eclipse, a purely astronomical phenomenon by creating
a story that Rahu and Ketu are teasing Sun and Moon quite often
threatening to grasp them to devour. Hanuman is also believed to have hidden
Sun for some time another unique myth in Hinduism nothing to do with Upanishadic
thoughts. Of course this has helped to create
innumerable number of priests and astrologers exploiting millions of Hindus
while the industry flourishes as well as the need for Navgraha altars in Hindu
Temples established, a rich source of income to Temples. We realize the
importance of the Sun, the Moon, and representation of points where the
Moon's orbit crosses the plane of the Earth-Sun orbit. This is popularly
believed to be representations of solar and lunar eclipse. So the astrologers
deified these nodal points as Rahu and Ketu and made us believe strongly
about their evil influence on human life which is not scientifically supported
either in India or elsewhere or by other religions of the world. You will
hear more about it in August when we will have exciting full Solar
Eclipse.
The analogy of man’s constitution
with the temple architecture is a favorite theme of many canonical texts as
Sri-prasna, Vishnu Tantra, Silpa Ratna Vaatulaagama and Aparajita Silpa. The
texts insist that the devotee must approach the temple as if it
were the body of the Divine. It is interesting to note that the
architectural terms used in all the texts are the names of the human
body, for example Sikhara, Garbha etc,
We all know that our body is constituted with five
elements as we are born, by the will of the
Supreme and therefore we say the human is Microcosm coming from the
Macrocosm. It is therefore no wonder we pay our tribute to five element as we
enter and leave the temple in our worship with or without understanding!
Please
go through the detailed text on the subject as attached:
--May 13, 2017
76. EIGHTEEN FACETS OF MEDITATION—SWAMI
CHIDANANDA
Arani
series Sparks 34 and 35 from
Fowai Forum recommends from
Bhagwad Gita and Upsnishads 18 facets on
the spiritual subject of Meditation
on which I had given my discourse that was also published by the spiritual Magazine Mother from Rishikesh. What puzzled me most was the
magic number 18 of slokas from Bhagavad Gita and mantras from Upanishads chosen to explain many facets of Meditation. I believe the
magical number eighteen chosen by
Guruji induces us to inward focus, concentration and meditation. You may kindly
recall my interesting article titled: “Words identified with Numbers in Hindu
Scriptures”. Perhaps Dhyaana (meditation) should be identified with Number
18! Figure 18 has two digits 1 and 8
influenced by the invisible digit 0 or Soonya. Here 0 represents Nirguna
Brahman (Supreme Spirit) who controls the Universe He created silently and
without being noticed, 1 and 8 represent Saguna Brahman (Supreme spirit) who
controls this world with his eight directional spirits. I have attempted to elaborate these 16
slokas from Bhagavad Gita and two Mantras and Upanishads to be studied along
with my detailed lecture on Meditation. Discover the significance and
importance of the sacred number 18 in Hinduism.
Meditation
is the silence, energizing and fulfilling. Silence is the eloquent expression
of the inexpressible. The key word here is energizing. That quiet place inside
us is a source of tremendous strength. There are deeper levels of silence—outer
silence, the inner silence and the inmost silence. This silence is not just the
absence of sound. It is not even the
absence of thought. It is the blossoming of our indomitable inner will. It is
the dynamic quality which characterizes true meditation”-- Chinmayananda
Please go through
my detailed discourse on the subject:
--July 2017
77. A CRITICAL
REVIEW OF ECLIPSES AND THE GREAT SOLAR ECLIPSE OF 2017
Rahu and Ketu have been considered as Grahas
in Hindu Astrology. They have no physical identity but only
mathematically calculated sensitive points believed to be having immense
influence on the natives of earth.
Moon in its orbit, on a northerly course from
South to North, crosses the ecliptic (the apparent path of Sun). This point of
intersection is known as Rahu or Dragons head. 180 degrees away from this
point, Moon on its southerly course crosses the ecliptic. This point is called
the dragon's tail or Ketu.
Rahu and Ketu are unique to Modern Hindu
Astrology. Why so much stress on the point of intersection of the
ecliptic is given? It is based on the thought, while Sun is the body and
Moon is the mind often projected in Hindu scriptures as
having immense effect on human lives, the intersection is also bound to give
immense effect. Hindus believe that even the powerful star Sun is a planet
also the satellite of the Earth, Moon is also a planet and
occasionally Rahu swallows these planets and holds them for a while but
both Sun and Moon escape through the open end of his cut-off head
to function normally. Puranas contain many such mythological stories.
Here
is also an interesting Puranic story besides Rahu story of devouring Sun that
says: “Thirty million is the number of the malignant spirits, called Mandehas,
who manifest a desire of devouring the Sun at day break. He, who does not
attend to his Sandhya rite at the meetings of the day and night (who does not
perform Arghya pradhana ritual), verily kills the Sun, inasmuch as
the libations of consecrated water (offered unto the sun-god in the course of a
Sandhya) tend to consume these monsters (Mandehas) like streams of liquid
fire." Even Hanuman hid the Sun in his armpit for a while and brought life
on earth to stand-still.
These two nodal points are not stationary in
space but have a mean motion of about 19 degrees and 30 minutes in a year. It
means it takes about 18 years and 6 months to make a revolution around the
Earth. This motion is retrograde. There is a concept of Mean Rahu and True
Rahu. In Hindu astrology people talk about the True Rahu.
However,
in spite of having number of Puranas extensively dealing with
various signs of exaltation and debilitation of Rahu and Ketu as approved by
Vedavyasa (he is supposed to have edited major Puranas) there exists
significant amount of controversy over the same and modern science
conflicts. They question the very basis of Sun as moving body and also
the utter negligence of astrologers having not corrected the
changes that have taken place over centuries to the relative movements of
planets. Only Hindus in India misled by astrologers celebrate Winter Solstice
21 or 22 days later on January 14 while astronomically it is on December 22
currently.
On August 21, 2017, a total solar eclipse will
sweep across the U.S.A. This suddenly sunless heaven when the moon fully
eclipses the Sun that everyone in my city Nashville, would like to watch is a
scene that hasn’t appeared over Middle Tennessee since 1478. According to
astronomers earthlings will be able to spot a few particularly bright planets
and stars, and several solar features, too. Outreach astronomers at
the Vanderbilt Dyer observatory, say that eclipse observers will be able to see
four planets during totality, the two minute phase, when the moon completely
blocks the sun’s light. The cloudless sky will show planets Jupiter, Mars,
Mercury and Venus. Venus (please refer to my discourse on Sanatkumara
descending from Venus revealed in the Book of Revelations of the Holy Bible)
will appear the brightest. Jupiter, the largest planet orbiting the Sun, will
take the second place for luminosity intensity during totality. Observers may
have a tough time spotting the Solar system’s fastest and tiniest planet
mercury orbiting so closely to the Sun. Stars we see at night are always the
stars that are on the opposite side of Earth from the Sun. In the summer we see
certain set of stars and winter different set of stars. This will be the first
time we see the Star Sirius in the summer. I hope this will help you to
research eclipse ahead of time and bring knowledge, instead of equipment to the
scene. You can then have a general idea of where to expect to see the planets
and stars once totality begins.
The discourse deals at length on scientific
and religious viewpoints on Eclipses and the religious beliefs and Hindu
religious mandates to observe eclipse as a ritual. Hindu religious Pundits and
astrologers say that this solar eclipse is not seen in India and
hence it is not a Grahana (eclipse) for any religious observance. Hindu
Americans blindly follow Indian Panchangas and therefore will not observe this
Grahana as a religious event in USA. In fact if they are religious they should
observe this day with fasts, prayers, purification bath and
Tarpana (water oblation) as ordained by Mathadipatis, religious
heads. Hindu American temples are often misguided by Hindu Panchangas
specifically meant for India which they have no will to correct the situation
and hence many religious observances lose their efficacy though they may not
harm, but completes the formality. Hinduism is not confined to India today but
a world religion and Hindus follow Hindu Dharma
--JULY
2017
Comments Received
The
last 3 pages were given by me earlier to you. There are also a few minor
errors in other pages. Most of your articles are very high level
which could be submitted for Ph. D theses or MS theses. God bless you for
your excellent service.
--Prof. G. Nagarajan, Nashville
78. HR
E-MAILS OF SECOND QUARTER 2017 SENT TO PARTICIPANTS
I believe many of you are too busy struggling
hard with your kid’s future and also busy in your pursuits. Those retired like
me may think it is too late to focus on spirituality and postpone it to next
birth enjoying the short time left behind. You might have missed my regular
E-mails now and then or stored them and forgotten about it. I bring to your
kind attention and leisurely reading my collection of all E-mails sent to my
active participants in the second quarter of the year 2017. I would like to
share these thoughts sent you spending time and effort with my blog readers
also apart from the discourses that I share. This is a
new service I started last year which according to Google Reports is very
popular among blog visitors though comments and suggestions from you were
sporadic. I hope to end my contribution of discourses to the Blog
by the end of this year. However, I will continue posting my
collection of E-mails sent to you on quarterly basis on the blog to
benefit the blog visitors from different parts of the globe as long as I can.
They have been quite active and the blog reading as well as
registration on the Blog are gaining momentum though many of you have not
cared to register. My E-mails often dwell on forwarding messages
received from great thinkers and knowledgeable people like Swami Chidananda of
Fowai Forum, Swami Chidananda of Paramrtha Niketan, Sadguru Jaggi
Vasudev, Phil Goldberg, John Smallman, IndiaDivine.Org, Facebook,
Feed-spot, Huff-post, Swarajya, Internet sources, serious religious
and spiritual thinkers and HR Forum participants who have sent their
valuable suggestions etc., with my comments and further research. I
started my discourses on Hindu Religion, Spirituality and Culture in 2002 at
Sri Ganesha Temple, Nashville TN, USA encouraged by the then Chairman,
Baal Vihaar School DR. Vedavyas and an ardent devotee and teacher of Baal
Vihaar Kamala Raghunathan. Some of you continuously support me too
appreciating my work. I did not realize my own strength then. Now Hindu
Reflections will complete its mission with little more than 300 postings with
more than 3000 pages of reading material on the blog and the customary E--mails
as you see in this E-mail. Around 350000 pages have
been read by blog visitors not counting your participation. I hope I have taken
your thoughts around multi-aspects of Hindu Religion, Vedanta,
Hindu culture, Inter-faith, Spirituality and Out-reach available all at one
source making it mini-encyclopedia on Hinduism. Your comments and
further suggestions as to how I had served you in the past and how can I can
serve you better in the future will be highly appreciated. I would strongly
recommend that you download my classified discourses and use it for
reference to go to your subject of interest as my blog is perhaps one of
the largest of its kind. My discourses are posted as they got delivered as
guest lectures and are not arranged in any orderly fashion. These E-mails are
not related to my discourses posted on the Blog. Those of you who are busy in
your pursuits may unsubscribe to receive the E-mails in the future and
be content with registration on the blog If any of your friends wants to be on
my e-mail they may contact me at <nadipuram @hotmail.com>The topics so
for posted on the Blog under this series are:
2. Exclusive E-Mails
of Hindu Reflections (January 2017)
3. Thought for the
Day --First Quarter 2017 (July 2017)
4. Thought for the
Day --Second Quarter 2017 (August 2017)
--AUGUST 2017
79. KNOW THE
PRESIDING DEITY OF YOUR BIRTHSTAR AND THE RIGHT DEITY TO WORSHIP
Know the presiding deity of your Janma
Nakshtra (Birth Star) in Vedic Astrology and know how temperamentally you
are born and develop your in-born qualities or try to improve upon it. Don’t go
by your Horoscope, astrological predictions if the presiding deity is different
and what it predicts about your Janma Nakshatra.
Many of you may be under the impression that I
am against astrology and Navagraha Puja which is too close to your heart.
Jyotisha Sastra is one of the Vedangas and is a well-developed science based on
astronomy as well as the Panchangas. But today it remains distorted and
confused due to our own utter negligence due to no time correction being made,
new imaginary deities brought in out of fear and anxiety (like Seetal
Devi for Small pox and demonic Rahu and Ketu). We
fail to perform rituals and Samskaras as per the scriptural injunctions
of Bhagavad Gita which is a compendium of Upanishads that says “tasmaat
saastram prmaanam te”--in case of doubt go by the injunctions of sastras.
Know the truth, convince yourself and act and
do not be misguided by priests and astrologers who are also unfortunately
misguided. Kuja, Budha, Sukra, Sani, Rahu and Ketu located in
Navagraha altars are not the ruling deities of any Janma
Nakshatra,. Worshiping them may not cause any harm but will
not bring in any desired results as predicted by your astrologers in the
horoscope. On the other hand Vedic Astrology includes the Navgraha
deities of Surya (Sun), Chandra (Moon) and Brihaspati (Jupiter). It also
includes the most celebrated and worshiped planets as Vedic deities-- Indra
(Neptune), Varuna (Uranus), Prajapati (Pluto) and Aditi (Earth ) Planets.
7 days Week-concept in Hindu astrology is based on Hellenistic Astrology,later
introduced in their anxiety to adopt Roman Week-concept while still
retaining Paksha (ardha-masa) concept hailed in Vedas. Christianity
favored Greek Gods to Hindu Gods calling it pagan including Saturn and Venus
mentioned in the Holy Bible as good and bad planets for naming seven days in a
week. Now this Christian calendar has become Gregorian Calendar for the whole
World. Vedic astrology had only Paksha and Tithi Concept
originally as you learn from Vedas. Our Sraddhas (obeisance to ancestors) are
Tithi based. I do not know why our astrology did not name the
7days in a week after Sun, Moon, Jupiter, Pluto, Uranus, Neptune and
Earth that are the presiding deities of Janma Nakshtras and worship
them as Sapta Grahas Instead of Navagrahas as is in vogue today because Indra,
Varuna, Prajapati and Aditi are glorified in Vedas! This would have been
accepted by all Hindu traditions including Vaishnavites who do not worship
Navagrahas today but attach importance to horoscopes! Hiindu Americans can
think of such Saptagraha Altars without following sectarian Indian Hindus
whose worship will not be against Agamas and will be accepted by all and
convince better those who believe in Janma Nakshatra, Sankalpa for paying
obeisance to the presiding deity of their birth-star. seven is the most
sacred number in Hinduism. Recall the Veda Mantra I explained long back: Sapta
praanaa prabhavanti tasmaat saptaarchishah samidhah sapta jihvaah
| sapta ime lokaa eshu charanti praanaa guhaasayannihitaah sapta
sapta || Brahman is addressed as Sapta Hastaaso, one having
seven hands .
Please go through the detailed text below
for details as posted on the Blog which contains surprising
revelations!
Comments:
Congratulations, Srinivasan on bringing out
the brilliant article on a topic of great interest. I look forward to more such
informative notes from you. Wish you all the best. I have been fortunate in
being on the mailing list of my dear friend Srinivasan. It is very difficult to
imagine how a person can manage to have such a thorough understanding of so
many diverse subjects and at the same time be able to present the view points
in a convincing manner. The present
article on Star Power is very comprehensive and informative. I sincerely admire
the writing power of Srinivasan and always look forward to receiving his mails.
--BRG Iyengar from Bangalore
80. VEDIC ASTROLOGY GUIDES OUR
HOROSCOPES & ASTROLOGERS OUR HORROR-SCOPES
Vedic Astrology
called Jyotiṣha is one of the Vedāṅga, the six
auxiliary disciplines used to support Vedic rituals. Early Jyotiṣha Sastra was concerned with the preparation of a
calendar to fix the date of sacrificial rituals. Sun, Moon, Mother Earth and Brihaspati were venerated and worshiped as Vedic deities, not
from astronomical considerations. Nothing was written on planets in
early Vedic period.
Navagraha worship is inspired by
the worship of Vedic deities Surya (Sun), Chandra (Moon) and Brihaspati
(Jupiter), later including some planets Mars, Mercury, Venus,
Saturn and the nodal points of Moon Rahu and Ketu. People of all faiths
always believed in the influence of the planets on human life with the
first-hand experience of Life on Earth. Logically speaking, the creation of
planets precedes that of human beings. Hence, some sort of cause and effect
relationship must subsist between the two. This seems to be the basis for
Navagraha belief. It all started by Purans drawing inspiration from Adiytya
Hridaya prayer by Rama before his final battle with Ravana. Religious
pundits have wrongly projected this as Navgraha worship by creating
a temple near sea shore of Rameswaram and attribute it to Rama. Rama only
worshiped Adi Jagannatha in Tiruppullani near Ramesvaram, family deity of
Ikshvakus hailed in Ramayana.
Vedic
Astrology mentions only of Surya, Chandra, Brihaspati (Jupiter)
deities as presiding deities of certain Janma Nakshtras in the 27 Nakshatras in
amonth related to child-birth and horoscope that are also deities
in Navagraha Altars. Vedic astrology also includes Planet Earth as the
ruling deity of the auspicious birth-star Punarvasu Nakshatra that
is not included among Navagrahas and not referred at all in horoscopes.
Only Vedic planet Jupiter is included in Navagrahas. Surya is a star.
Moon is the satellite of the Earth. Rahu and Ketu are only nodal points of
Moon. These two are not Vedic astrology deities and are
mythological deities created by Puranas and exploited by
astrologers and priests. The presiding deity for Mula Nakshatra is Ketu in
Modern Commercial Astrology. This Nakshatra as Janma Nakshatra is dreaded most
by ignorant parents of a girl who are advised to conduct elaborate
Shanti. They also find great difficulty in horoscope-exchange arranged
marriages. In Vedic astrology Mula is ruled by Nirriti, or Kali
the Goddess of destruction. It has the power to ruin or destroy. Its basis
above is breaking things apart (barhana shakti). Its basis below is
crushing things. Through these three one gains the power to destroy
destruction. In Vedic astrology Mula Nakshatra is glorified as
a powerful star. You can thus see how modern astrologers
and religious priests are exploiting us moving away from Vedic astrology.
Please go through the detailed study on the subject which
includes the opinion of modern Vedic scholars and Gurus Jaggi Vasudev and
Vamadeva Sastri. I have also talked about Makara Sankrati being
worshiped as Uttaraayana Punyakala decided by astrologers while astronomically
it is on December 22. So also Dakshinayana. We worship
these two very auspicious days on wrong days violating saastras
thanks to religious pundits and misguiding astrologers. We run to Navagraha
altars to appease \ a demon split into two parts by Vishnu now occupying
coveted position with starsa and planets.
“Nowadays,
for anything that people want to do, they want to look at the planets and stars.
If you want to step out of your house, the planets should align themselves
properly. People are looking at the right time, the wrong time, rahukalam,
gulikakalam and whatever else. If they want to get married, they go and ask
astrologer “Can I live happily with my wife?” Whoever it is that you marry, why can’t you
live well with her or him? Or if they show some new kind of madness that you
did not expect, why don’t you leave them (divorce)? You have the option open in
USA” says Jagadguru Jagggi Vasudev of ISHA Foundation. Why bother when most of
the Hindu American kids born in USA do not have a horoscope nor their
parents believe in horoscope verification of boy and girl before wedding or the
children give chance for such an exchange. They go to Navagraha altars with
blind faith guided by religious pundits and fraudulent astrologers. Vedic
astrology never raised this split piece demon to divine status. Rama did not
consult his horoscope nor tied a Mangalyam but chose an auspicious day for his
marriage—Phalgun Uttar.
Please go through my detailed discourse posted
on the Blog Hindu Reflections
--AUGUST 2017
81. DEVO EKAH, VEDIC 33 DEVATAS & DEITIES SUITABLE FOR
COMMON WORSHIP BY ALL TRADITIONS IN TEMPLES
The apparent Polytheism of the Hindus
can be seen visually in operation in American Hindu Temples today,to please all
traditions, when you walk through the gallery of sanctums with its selective
crowd gathered round a particular deity in command for any particular day
ritual or festival.
Mahanarayana Upanishad makes a
distinction between Deva and devatas and says DEVO EKAH-the Supreme
Being, Brahman, Paramatman is ONE without any second (adviteeyam). Its
panchabrahma Manrtras, Daharavidya etc. are directed to that DEVA.
There are other Mantras to various Devatas
like Aditya Devataa mantrah, Bhoo-devataa ka mantrah, Sarvaadevataa
mantrah, Vaisvadevataa mantrah etc.
Unfortunately though MNU clarified Deva
and devatas we find often these terms are mixed up and indiscriminately
used and the reference to Deva or devata is left to our discretion
according to context. This is so even in Bhagavad Gita. While God could be
ideal translation for Deva, unfortunately we have to translate devi and devatas
also as gods and goddesses that brings in lot of confusion in
our understanding of spiritual and religious discourses. One way to
overcome this is to use the word god in all Capitals as GOD when we refer to
Brahman or Paramatman or Supreme Spirit. This has given room for
lot of confusion and often mislead us to run to subordinate devatas
instead of focus on Supreme for achieving our ultimate goal in life. Gita
clearly says those who worship these devatas go to these devatas and get
their petty desires fulfilled, those who worship manes go to manes and
only those who worship the Supreme go to to Supreme Spirit or
Brahman and get liberated if not in this birth but in the near
future.
The Vedic texts describe 330 million
devatas, or universal controllers, but we should not confuse these beings with
DEVA or GOD. GOD is beyond the purview of the material universe. The
devatas are controllers of various aspects of nature within the
material realm. Various demigods such as Ganesha, Karttikeya, etc., are
actually posts that are occupied by a particular living entity for one day of
Brahma. For example, it is described in the Puranas that in the present
day of Brahma, the post Karttikeya (Skanda) is being occupied by
Sri Sanatkumara, the great liberated son of Lord Brahma about which I had
talked to you elaborately. Sanatkumar’s arrival is also glorified in the Holy
Bible. It is exactly like a government that has many levels of control, such as
Prime Minister (national controller), Chief Minister (state controller) and
District Magistrate (district controller). Through meditation one can perceive
these higher entities – the gandharvas, apsaras, yakshas, and devatas. By
purifying our consciousness we can enter these higher dimensional planes through
our sukshma-sarira (subtle body composed of mind, intelligence, and
identification) and see these beings face to face, just as I can see you if you
are standing before me.
Vedic astrology contains
seven presiding deities, Sun (Surya), Moon (Chandra), Jupiter
(Brihaspati), Neptune (Indra) Uranus (Varuna), Pluto (Prajapati), and Earth
(Aditi) that preside over seven Janma Nakshatras and not Rahu and
Ketu. In fact these 7are devatas among the 33 controllers of
Supreme Being. There is no need to have a Navagraha altars for worship in
temples lured by astrologers and their false predictions as the same
is found only in Siva temples in South India. If however the need
is felt we can have Saptagraha altars of these 7 Vedic devatas out
of 33 controllers which would also conflate with Vedic Astrology or Jyothsha
sastra,
Hindu American Temples that cater
to Multi Traditions and conduct inter- caste, inter-racial and inter-faith
weddings by Brahma Marriage Samskara (sacrament) as well as keep the temple open
to all faiths and races will be wiser to choose Venkatesvara as the Ideal
symbolic Deva (God) as presiding deity and also have Sapta Graha altars to
satisfy those who are believers in their Horoscopes based on authentic Vedic
astrology which is Vedanga called Jyotisha Sastra,
Please go through the detailed discourse
with lot reference to Vedas, Bhagavad Gita and Ramayana as well as
elaborate elucidation by Swami Prabhupada of Krishna Consciousness,
ISKCON.
82.
HINDU
SCRIPTURES DEIFY VITAL FEELINGS, OBSTACLES, MISFORTUNES & DISAEASES
Please recall my
recent long E-mail “Why deify anger and pay obeisance” motivated by Arani
Series lecture on the subject by Swami Chidananda. We often come across many
deities in Hinduism focused on Shadripus, six enemies and Navarasas,
nine human emotions vividly portrayed in sculpting and our Fine
Arts based on Vedas and Puranas. So I went deep into the subject further
to come out with an exclusive and detailed discourse including many such
emotions and negative as well as positive forces and feelings dealt
often as pairs of opposites in our scriptures.
I have fully taken
the support from our Scriptures and writings from learned people
including from the major Culture in USA who focus on Love as the Universal
BFinding Feeling which Hinduism treats as pairs of opposites like Kama--lust,
desire and Human goal (Purushartha). I present to you
this unique spiritual discourse on the subject. I was also
influenced by a booklet about to be published by Dr. Kalai Mugilan, The Urban
Monk--A Human Perspective: The nine Vital Feelings of Monk-like People in
Society. Our Rishis (Monkls) have been always focused on noticing,
paying attention and elaborating on these feelings from time immemorial as
you will see from my discourse. Dr. Mugilan
deals with Forgiveness, Gratitude, Hope, Beauty, Brilliance,
Belonging, Respect and Death. My concluding lecture will focus on Death our
continued journey in life which in many religions is treated as end of life’s
journey. The beauty of Love lies in treating it with respect to enhance its
value as Universal Binding Vital Feeling. Treating Love with Respect is
deep rooted in Veda Mantras Matru devo
bhava, Pitru devo bhava, Acharya devo bhava and Atithi devo bhava. Love treated with respect
is initiated in Nasadeeya Sukta and vividly portrayed in
Kamasastra by Vatsyaayana. In Hinduism wife is described as
Sahadharma-charinee, one who equally follows Dharma with her love-life partner
raising kids with Dharma and sharing equally serving society with Dharma.
Since the created
world is a mixture of opposites and things happen in cyclic
order both fortune and misfortune, obstacles and success, happiness
and misery etc., are the two sides of
the same coin. Being part and parcel of this creation and hence our life,
misfortune is no less divinely ordained than fortune. It is perhaps to teach
this great fact of life that even misfortune is deified, like Vighnas,
obstacles. Puranas have focused maximum
on obstacles that come in our ways of
material as well as spiritual progress and present us a very popular deity
Vighnaraja with a number of mythological stories built around the deity to
convince us or confuse us. Siva created him to us as Ekadam Tam instead of Anekadam to focus on Supreme as Devo
Ekah. But we have moved away from that
wisdom and glorify him as Ekadnatam one with broken tusk and worship him!
The discourse includes an appendix on Lord of
Obstacles by Iskcon Desire Tree who have moved away From Bhagavad Gita and
elaborately drawn support from myths and mysteries of Purana to show how
such a upa-devata could be meditated upon as Parabrahman thus differing
from Swami Prabhupada; “The devatas, though very powerful entities, are ultimately embodied
beings just as we are. Even Indra, Ganesha and Brahma are eternal
spirit souls covered by a devata body due to illusion” says Swami Prabhupada. Again why
we have to glorify the most
popular deity Ganesha as Uchchishtha—refuse ? Gita clearly
says:
The worshipers of the gods (devatas)
go to the gods, the worshipers of the manes (pitrus) go to
the manes, the worshipers of the spirits go to the spirits, and MY (GOD)
worshipers come to ME. Our worship depends on what our goals are and also based on our maturity!
We can also find how Western thoughts arising from
strict regimental religion have started realizing the wisdom of Vedas in
dealing with a subject like love treated as Isvara-prema, Love of God
and celebrates it as Special Religious Event--Valentine’s Day?
No doubt Vedas
have focused on negative contributors and opposing powers that influence
our lives which hinder the progress of meritorious deeds, deifying
them and prescribing mantras for sacrifice and also
paying obeisance but at the same do not consider them
ideal as Vyahritis (substitutes) for mediation as Brahman.
Puranas have brought in Kshetrapala, Ganesha,
Jaya-Vijaya as the chief guardians of the temple or gate-keepers and vividly
display in temples. While Ganesha has
been glorified and even made a presiding deity, Jaya Vijayas have been
subjected to repeated births of demons
to be killed at the hands of various Avatars. Fear of death due to Small-pox
and Poison has brought in deities with specific assignment, worshiped as Sital
Devi and Manasa Devi. We have a mid-wife deity Sasti too, to take care of
child-birth. Practically every village has a goddess as patron deity representing
the terrible aspect of Parvati. You now understand why I say Hindu Americans
should not go by the Hindu Indian way but focus on Hindu Dharma and Universal
Oneness!
Vedas mandate all
our worships should be directesd to Brahman alone that should end with the
following Mantra: OM tad Brahma, tad Vaayu tad Aatma tat Sathyam tat
Sarvam tat Puror namah||
This discourse with
lot of references from our scriptures and thoughts from Swami Prabhupad,
Dr. Kalai Mugilan, a spiritual thinker and John Smallman, a spiritual
Blogger, is unique like of which will be hard to find at one source. Your
comments to enhance its value will be appreciated. Please go through the
detailed discourse.
83.
NIRRITI, PRESIDING DEITY OF MOOLAA NAKSHATRA IN VEDIC ASTROLOGY
This discourse on Nirrti brings
home to us the fact that we are misguided in our horoscope readings and future
predictions by modern astrologers moving away from Vedic astrology which
is based on astronomy at that period. I have also earlier discussed
how misguided by astrologers and Hindu Panchangams we celebrate both Uttaryana
Punyakala and Dakshinayan Puinyakala that are Winter and Summer solstice days
in Northern Hemisphere whose dates are fixed exactly in Gregorian calendar
based on astronomical studies.This is due to our negligence to correct
panchangams over centuries moving away from Vedic Jyotisham. Similarly we have
seen how confused and diversified we are in celebrating birth days of Hanuman
and Lord Krishna. Why this confusion should prevail among Hindu Americans who
have world renowned expert Astra physicists among them? The present
discourse is based on specific case study of Janma Nakshatra of Mula
which is believed to be pretty bad and also make us believe that its harmful effects
can be overcome by propitiating a false planet Ketu which is the body of a
demon glorified in Puranas that has been consecrated in a Navagraha Altar
along with its head portion Rahu which are against Silpasastra. Why the head
and cut off bodyof Rahu and Ketu as such are depicted in Navagraha altars
that have been embodied and worshiped and also later mutilated version with
ekadanta Vigraha as Ganesha and not the original Gajanana with two tusks
as presented by Lord Shiva?Also the horrible form of Kali with blood dripping
tongue and cut off head of a demon. Many gods killed demons but they are
not depicted in Murti upasana or idol worship?
\Nirriti is said to be the chief of the demons
in Puranas. Ramayana often refers to Nairritis as ogres. He may be riding on a
donkey, lion or a man and surrounded by the demons and seven Apsaras. The
intermediate direction of South-west is ruled by Nirrti. While Puranas
describe Nirrti as male demon Vedic astrology describes Nirrti as
female deity. Modern astrologers identify Nirriti as Ketu Graha which is
not a planet that is also not at all mentioned in Vedic astrology.
Horoscope studies on birth star and predictions of the future are based on
studying the life of great people born on a specific Janma Nakshatra.
While Vedic astrology predicts greatness of Hanuman born on Mula
Nakshatra, modern astrologers have falsely identified Ketu the demon as the
presiding deity and also project horror and misfortune for those born on Mula
Nakshatra based on the life study of Ravana who was under curse from four
sages. This suits well their profession for good exploitation of people born on
Mula Nakshtra by suggesting various expensive Shantis (appeasements) and
Navagraha Homas. David Frawley a renowned Vedic astrology scholar identifies
Nirrti with Kali worshiped popularly by Ramakrishna as Mother and by Bengalis
predominantly.
It
is unfortunate that a cut off and accidentally immortalized body
and head of a demon alive due to the magic power of Amrita has
entered the altar of Navagrahas leaving out most
worshiped planets Earth, Pluto, Uranus and Neptune, but including
lifeless Mars and Venus as well as dreaded Saturn condemned in the Holy
Bible. I refer Holy Bible because naming of our seven days are based on Greek
and Roman Gods which the Western world has adopted that Hindus copied moving
away from Tithi concept. Saturn is presented as an evil spirit trying to
tempt Jesus Christ. You now understand why we are wrong in worshiping Rahu or
Ketu, the decapitated demon and also believe in its influence on our
lives! No mutilated Vigraha is fit for worship. That includes glorified
Ekadanta who was installed by Siva as Gajavadana with two tusks but later made
Ekadanta with a broken tusk due to sudden anger by mythological stories.Gajanana
is worshiped as Viwshvaksena by Vaishnavites who also don't believe
in Navagraha altar that includes Rahu and Ketu! Please go through the
detailed discourse: http://nrsrini.blogspot.com/2017/09/nirrti-presiding-deity-of-mula.html
RASICHAKRA OF ZODIAC—IS THAT VEDIC ORIGIN OR
BABYLONIAN? JUDGE YOURSELF
Skanda Purana says that when
Brahman made this whole creation and its living beings he also created a circle
dividing the entire sky. This Chakra is called Rasichakra which has twelve
Rasis or zodiac signs of 27 constellations. The whole universe pulsates by the
influence of these planets, stars and constellations which is also the cause of
any creation, birth, sustenance and death.
The Cosmic concept of Kaalachakra
in influencing time measurement should not be forgotten. Two straight lines of
same length intersecting vertically at
their mid points produce four right angles which add up to 360 degrees. Their
ends when joined in the form of an arc produce the circle circumscribing their
end points. The circle has therefore 360 degrees. When this is divided
internally into twelve equal segments each segment has an angular movement of
30 degrees. These twelve segments are the 12 Zodiac signs in astrology.
Further, each degree can be divided into 60 minutes and each minute to 60
seconds. One minute of the arc in Sanskrit is also known as "Asu".
Modern clocks are designed on this model to give a circular moment of the hands
through 360 degrees in 12 hours. In Savana Maanam Hindu Calendar one year has
360 days. One month has 30 days and one Paksha 15 days. 360/12 gives 30 (there
are 30 Muhurthas in a day). 30 (Muhurthas) x12 (Zodiac signs) =360 (days in
year)
Brahmachkra is described as also
Kalachkra in Svetasvataropanishad that speaks of chakra symbolizing “Kaala-atmaka-aniyadhi-tishthaty-ekah”--He
alone presides over all those causes comprising of Kaala and Aatman. We are
concerned with Kala here. The entire Universe of rhythm and order of cyclic
nature is maintained in its strict nature because of Him (Eko-deva) only. Ara
iva rathanabhu— As spokes in a wheel (Pr.Up.) Time controls everything.
Time in all denomination is
controlled by one bond of cosmic force that is Kaala Purusha. “Sarve
nimeshaa jagnire vidyutah purushaadadhi |kalaa muhurtaah kaashthascha
aho-raatraascha sarvasah| ardhamaasaa maasaa ritavah samvatsarascha
kalpantaam | sa aapah pradudhe ubhe ime antarikshmatho suvah || (MNU)—All
Nimesha, Kalaasa, Muhurtaas, kaashthasa, days, half months (pakshas), and
seasons were born from the Self-luminous Person. He milked water
and also these two, the firmament and the Heaven. The time measurement started
with the winking of the eye (nimesha) all the way up to life span of Brahman
that is Kalachakra which is spinning pralayas after
pralaya.
Western Historians who have
largely contributed to the Aryan Dravidian Conflict theory have also
meddled with Vedic Jyotisha and said that India received the knowledge of
the zodiac as well as the concept of 7-days week named after Sun,
Moon and the five planets from Babylonia or even later from Greece.
It may be true as to the seven days since the MNU Mantra above speaks of Ardhamasa
and not Saptah. Our astrologers focused more on Navagraha concept
introducing demonic planets Rahu and Ketu as the harbingers of our
destiny than focusing on Vaara (week) concept. Only they got
confused as to 48 or 52 weeks in a year and had several Panchangas.
48 seems to be divine number starting with 12 and linking to 360 days in a year
and Cosmic age Kalpa (4320000000 human years). However, as old as the Rig
Veda, the oldest Vedic text, there are clear references to a chakra or wheel of
360 spokes placed in the sky. The number 360 and its related numbers like 12,
24, 36, 48, 60, 72, 108, 432 and 720 occur commonly in Vedic symbolism. It is
in the hymns of the great Rishi Dirghatamas (RV I.140 – 164) that we have the
clearest such references. Please go through the detailed explanation of
Dirghatams by Vedantin and a Padmabhushan awardee David Frawley,
added as an Appendix to be convinced and to realize how falsified and
misguided we are about Indian History.
--September, 2017
THOUGHT
FOR THE DAY—THIRD QUARTER 2017
Hindu Reflections is
devoted to spread the messages on Hindu Dharma, Hindu Ancient Culture, Hindu
Gods and Goddesses, Hindu Festivals and Rituals, Hindu Sacraments (Samskaras),
Introduction to Vedic Knowledge and Wisdom based on Upanishads and Bhagavad Gita,
Hinduism’s Influence on other Religions and Faiths and its Teachings aimed at
Outreach and Universal Oneness to promote Peace, Prosperity and Happiness and
Interfaith Dialogues all available at one source. Its mission seems to be
almost complete with few more postings. Please visit Hindu Reflections
<nrsrini.blogspot.com> and download the “Classified list of Discourses”
published in March 2015 for your guidance and use. They are posted
under 14 headings from A-N.
In addition Hindu
reflections extends additional E-mail service to you on specific topic of the
day within its scope often inspired by your comments and messages received from
spiritual and religious Gurus and Pundits. This service on quarterly basis will
continue as long as I am able to do. Such E-mails for the third quarter of 2017
are now posted on the Blog which are not related to the discourses
posted on the Blog, nevertheless make an interesting and leisurely reading on
wide variety of topics. If you have missed any of my E-mails during that
quarter you will find the same in it. Your suggestions and comments are always
welcome and suggestions for any new discourse you feel that calls
for a research or you have any information on the same!
--October, 2017
86. UNDERSTANDING
HINDU SCRIPTURES AND RELIGIOUS WORSHIP TO SPUIRITUALLY PROGRSS
The knowledge gained by reading Gita,
reading Upanishads and practicing religion in the form of Shodasa
upachara puja and other rituals loaded with Veda Mantras and chanting of
Ashtotrtaras/Sahasranamas in praise of deity focused upon in worship
would help us in crystallizing our ideas to turn spiritual and progress.
”Bhagavan
says in the Bhagavad Gita: “yanti deva-vratan devaan”--Those who worship
the devatas attain to the abode of their object of worship. This worship
is not the common worship we see in temples, where a person simply tells, “Give
me this, give me that.” Deva-vrata must be with full surrender to the
particular devata. If one surrenders unto Lord Shiva or Ganesha, one will
attain to the abode of Kailasha in the next life. In that abode the
enjoyment and opulence are thousands of times greater than on this earthly
plane. But from there one will again return to this earthly planet by
the destructive influence of eternal time. Thus one would have simply succeeded
in wasting his valuable time, while neglecting the actual goal of human life –
self-realization” saya Srila Prabhupada of ISKCON. Then why to waste our time
worshiping various devatas instead n meditating on Supreme Being,
Parabrahman. In this process we need the help from Temple also to guide us
properly.
Hindu
American Temples are planned and built by high intellectual philanthropists.
They can very well plan temples installing a meaningful deity like
Venkatesvara to suit all traditions and also please those grown
with orthodoxy at the same time, with adequate focus on Teaching of Vedas,
Yoga and Meditation for us to follow the path of Spirituality.Why do we need a
deity to focus on Supreme Being who has no form? But having grown with Puranic
worship of deities over several centuries moving away from sacrificial
worship(Tapas), we need something solid to focus on. Then why not
focus on one that has universal appeal to all faiths and attracts maximum
number of people in the world any day any time? "Temples are not meant for
seeking God or offering prayers but for divine battery charging"
says Sadguru Vasudev.
Even in India where Hindus are conservative
and orthodox and mostly at kindergarten level in religious maturity, lot
of changes are taking place to consolidate temple worship and focus on few
meaningful devatas as an initial step to focus on spirituality and restore the
glory of past Sanatana Dharma. Recently the Temple Board of Tiruvaiyaru,
a sacred religious center, decided to remove all altars of Navagrahas and 63
Nayanmars from Siva temple premises and in Puri Saibaba
altar from a Vishnu temple earlier consecrated and worshiped according to
Aagama Sastras. In USA around 40% of the population say they are
Spiritual But Not Religious (SBNR). They are looking up to American
Hindus and Buddhists to guide them spiritually as veterans in the field. Alive
to the situation and with a vision on the future, Spiritual organizations like
ISHA have planned to drastically reform modality of Hindu
religious worship to Hindu spiritual oriented worship to attract all
people of different faiths to spirituality in temples located in their
monasteries or Ashrams focused on ONE spiritually significant
deity. Marrieds couples in which one is a Hindu and other is from
Abrahamic religions are also attracted to SBNR. Future looks bleak for Hindu culture
and Dharma to survive in USA as the inter-religious
group marriages are rapidly increasing. It will have the same fate as European
Culture in USA in course of time and they too will identify as SBNR. Hindu
Temple Traditions should therefore think of gradual evolution to change
from ritualistic sectarian Puranic deities worships to universally
appealing spiritually focused Vedic worship of One symbolic and
meaningful deity without a revolution and within the framework of Aaagamsastra
and Sanatana Dharma following the Vedic wisdom of Vasudhaiva
kutumbakam, Eko viprah bahuda vadanti, Eko devah, sanghacchadvam sam
vadadvam, sarvejanah sukhino bhavantu etc. The ball is in our court and the
fate in the hands of Board members of Hindu Temples in USA who are
wrongly guided by sectarian and conservative Hindu India who have moved
away from Vedic wisdom and Dharma for long. Your suggestions are welcome,
Comments
Received:
Thanks for your effort in preparing
theoretical framework for transforming/revolutionalizing worship/religious
practice for the most evolved Hindus of the world who has the means and the
background to lead the world of the future.
I am caught up
with the dilemma of preserving the ancient traditions and practices, and
providing spiritual guidance to our children.
I do believe we
need to learn a lot from people like Prabhupada, SriSri, Jaggi Wasudev,
Chinmaya mission leaders who have found areas of our religious practice and
customized it to appeal to educated Hindus.
I want to collect
the modifications, analyze them and find the practices that are of universal
value that promote personal growth and spiritual growth.
If you can do
this research and present it to a forum for spiritual advancement in Nashville,
I will try to have one.
Reply by NRS
Thanks for the confidence you have in me. I will try. But the task
is not easy. Even these progressive Vedanta institutions do not openly talk on
the subject though feel the need due to the conservative and sectarian
religious Hindu mind developed over centuries moving from Vedic wisdom. Also
such religious lobbies are very powerful. This requires more than you and me
but nevertheless we can be instrumental and help in the process of Uttishtata
if not Jagrata and Charaiveti! We should motivate organizations like HMEC and
VPH to discuss the problem and do what is good for us as a highly educated but
not motivated group. We are Fine Arts motivated but not spiritual. In this we
have to look at what JAINA has done as a very small group. They
have tackled the problem at grass roots of children in educating them with
highly professionals in Jain Dharma and not religion unlike our Baal Vihaaras
focused on Purans and Phalasruti strotras and dramatics. I have sent you
their programs in the past. We love fun and food. Best thing would be to
organize a seminar with all these monastery representatives in Nashville under
the auspices of HMEC as they often do in other cities. They are alive to the
problem. But often they talk about Interfaith and Outreach or squabbles among
a Asiatic Religions sprung out of Sanatana Dharma. It is necessary for
Hindus to set the house in order before advising others. For this they have to
consolidate, Unify in their worship with all participation—Sanghacchadvam
Samvadadvam”
I have not been theoretical but practical in my views drawing
wisdom from these Gurus. I have talked about false Navagraha worship and
elevated souls’ worship like Saibaba Murtis distracting from main focus based
on scriptural support and the thoughts from David Frawley and Jaggi Vasudev
and the reform that has taken place even in Conservative India. Just
because India is fighting for Go-Samrakshan motivated by Sankaracharay we
cannot start agitation here. We should move forward cautiously within the
framework of Aagama sastras as happened in Tiruppullani and Puri. This is not a revolution but evolution but
such messages should come from the mouth of Sankha and not ordinary glass of
you and I, for us to act.
Worships focused
on universally appealing deity like Venkatevara that attracts the largest crowd
in the world in any day worshiped according to Aagamas is not moving away
from the tradition and a revolution. We have come out of caste system and
encourage Inter-faith marriages that we cannot avoid that will hit at the very base
of Hindu Dharma if not well planned to promote the same based on wisdom of
Vedas. Otherwise we are only postponing the problem to be solved. Jaggi Vasudev
says temples are not meant for worship or find god but to energize in a
charged atmosphere while I say energize, meditate and focus on Tadekam in the
temple collectively.
4 temples'
trustees, spiritual Gurus, Vedic scholars and conservative religious pundits
are on my mailing list. Let us see whether they have anything to say!
Thank you for sharing the information with us, it was very informative
ReplyDeleteArteriovenous Fistula Treatment Clinic in Gurgaon, Delhi - India