Sekharipuram a diaspora

भजरे यदुनाथं

भजरे यदुनाथं मानस भजरे यदुनाथं
bhajare yadunāthaṁ mānasa bhajare yadunāthaṁ
You silly mind of mine, you dwell for ever on that master of the clan of Yadhus
You silly mind of mine, you dwell for ever on that master of the clan of Yadhus

गोपवधूपरिरंभणलोलं
गोपकिशोरं अद्भुतलीलं
gopavadhūpariraṁbhaṇalolaṁ
gopakiśoraṁ adbhutalīlaṁ
That fellow who is engrossed in the embraces of the damsels of the land of cowherds
Though an impish little child, performing wonderful pranks

कपटाङ्गीकृत मानुषवेषं 
कपटनाट्यकृत कृत्स्नसुवेषं
kapaṭāṅgīkṛta mānuṣaveṣaṁ 
kapaṭanāṭyakṛta kṛtsnasuveṣaṁ
The fellow who has taken human form just to deceive us
That master of dramatics and disguise..

परमहंस हृत्तत्त्वस्व्रूपं
प्रणवपयोधर प्रणव स्वरूपं।
paramahaṁsa hṛttattvasvrūpaṁ
praṇavapayodhara praṇava svarūpaṁ|
That fellow who is the ultimate truth manifesting in the hearts of sages
The source of the torrent of Pranava the primordial word and He himself taking shape as Omkara
भजरे यदुनाथं मानस भजरे यदुनाथं
bhajare yadunāthaṁ mānasa bhajare yadunāthaṁ
You silly mind of mine, you dwell for ever on that master of the clan of Yadhus
You silly mind of mine, you dwell for ever on that master of the clan of Yadhus

to the skeptic

I think the disappointment with God stems out of denied expectations, .It is all in the manner you soldered your connecting wires.. or the USB port you used.. The disappointment would not have been there if the connecting terminals were stronger..
I think of Krishna as so cute, so great, so learned, so perfect.. and He makes me feel good.. 
It will be a bonus, a boon and ultimate windfall, if ever even the faintest love or consideration of His is directed towards me.. 
It is immaterial whether He cares for me, but I am blessed because He is there in all His glory.. 
Maybe it is a platonic one-sided love.. But that love makes meaning in life for many including me and most believers..
He was there before the biological mass that is me was formed and He will be there even after this biological mass undergoes some chemical change and decays..
How can I say He was not fair to me..? Do I matter much in the scheme of things? Besides, I believe He suffers the pleasures and pains of this illusion when each living being is subjected such pleasures and pains..
हरिर्दाता हरिर्भोक्ता हरिरन्नं प्रजापतिः हरिर्विप्रसरीरस्तु भुङ्ग्ते भोजयते हरिः Hari is the giver, Hari is the enjoyer, Hari is the mass of food which is enjoyed, Hari is the Grand Sire, Hari is the body of the learned man, Hari is eating and enjoying and Hari is the one who makes us eat and enjoy.. 
So in the scheme of things does it matter whether I believe in Him or not? Divine presence is too obvious..
If Radha often fought with Krishna, it was only a fight for His love...The yearning of the lesser evolved soul to reach the perfect soul..
This is our journey and this is the journey for all of us, whether we realize it or not..
YOU ARE NOT A NON-BELIEVER.. YOU ARE JUST ANNOYED or is peeved AT HIS BEHAVIOUR for the present. 
Just like a child feeling temporary dislike for the mother when she punishes him for some small mistake..

What is faith?

What is faith? Is it blind belief? Or is it the result of reasonable deduction? For a mature person it must be the end product of contemplation, evaluation and perhaps even experimentation.. Just as a beautiful sculpture shows itself out of a shapeless piece of rock at the end of a chisel wielded by a brilliant artist faith is the final product of a lot of processing.. Faith may be good or bad according to the quality of the mind which holds it .

science and spirituality meet here..

The supreme controller is the same whatever your concept of that controller is.. Maybe you are not a votary of the traditional methods and logic.. there is nothing wrong in that.. after all scientific spirit is also a divine inspiration.. you deduce things by the use of brain cells, neuron or whatever you can call them.. Let us break the issue further into smaller units.. we will end up with electrons and other particles and maybe with energy mass duality or conglomerate.. but who can say for sure why these things are ordered and happening in a particular way.. why do thoughts occur? Cause and effect are taken as two complimentary things and we tend to believe even on the litmus test of scientific deduction that for a cause there should be an effect.. We do scientifc experiments in the order... Data, Hypothesis, experiment and conclusion.. If we approach the issue with some radical reasoning, the hypothesis will either stand proved or disapproved by the result obtained through experiment.. Mostly, in spiritual matters also seer like Shankars and by and large even the rishis of Vedas and Upanishads have followed the same method.. And they have pronounced certain results.. and such results have come after spending lifetimes after lifetimes in contemplation and deduction.. I am sure that the scientist in you will, after evaluating all the parameters, zero in on a solution.. and perhaps you can call that conclusion God.. Seekers and scientists all reach that point ultimately..You are spelling out your conclusions before the experiment is over.. General theory of Relativity came after the Special theory.. Now both theories are challenged in a way by God Particles.. So the experiment goes on.. You cannot disagree on anything and spell out the final word.. We are all too small players in the grand scheme of things.. of God, of chance, of serendipity...

show off and survive

निर्विषेणाऽपि सर्पेण कर्तव्या महती फणा।
विषमप्यस्तु माऽप्यस्तु घटाटोपो भयङ्करः॥
चाणक्यनीत्यां
nirviṣeṇā'pi sarpeṇa kartavyā mahatī phaṇā|
viṣamapyastu mā'pyastu ghaṭāṭopo bhayaṅkaraḥ||
cāṇakyanītyāṁ

Even if a serpent is not having venom any more it should raise up its hood and make a show.. The show of strength and creating a lot of noise can instil fear on others and save you..

The master statesman is just spelling out a stark reality of life.. People go by appearances.. When we see a snake we are stuck by fear.. However if the snake is very meek and simply keeps quiet, we will throw stones at it, even if it is poisonous. But if its raises its hood and makes hissing noises, we will normally bolt away, and it is not likely that we are going to stay near the snake and make a verification whether there is poison in its fangs..
And this is how many people survive.. It is not the inherent worth of a person that matters.. Usually we get away with show offs..
Tinsel world survive on make-ups.. Politicians survive on the gift of the gab.. And we survive in Facebook executing Chanakya's above dictum so faithfully..

happy vishu

Agre pashyaami....
अग्रे पश्यामि
അഗ്രേ പശ്യാമി
அக்ரே பச்யாமி

May Guruvaryurappan give us a very happy Vishu

and

New year

।श्रीकृष्णो रक्षतु।
|śrīkṛṣṇo rakṣatu|
Have a nice and happy day
with profound respect and warm regards
K V Ananthanarayanan
blog   http://kanfusion.blogspot.com/
त्यजन्तु बान्धवाः सर्वे निन्दन्तु गुरवो जनाःI
तदापि परमानन्दो गोविन्दो मम जीवनंII
let all my relatives abandon me, let the great people insult me, still I am in supreme bliss since my life  is GOVINDA alone.
Iकृष्णात् परं किमपि तत्वं अहं न जाने"I
लोकाः समस्ताः सुखिनो भवन्तु।
lokāḥ samastāḥ sukhino bhavantu|

in proper places

स्थाने एव नराः पूज्यन्ते ॥३०९॥

चाणक्यसूत्राद्॥

sthāne eva narāḥ pūjyante ||309||

cāṇakyasūtrād||

An important observation by Chaanakya

People are respected only when they occupy the right position..

It goes without saying that a person who loses his position loses everything. Usually the respect and reputation one enjoys is based on the position he occupies.. 

This is explained by the following subhaashitam

स्थानस्थितस्य कमलस्य साहाय्यौ वारिभास्करौ।

स्थानच्युतस्य तस्यैव क्लेदशोषकरावुभे॥

sthānasthitasya kamalasya sāhāyyau vāribhāskarau|

sthānacyutasya tasyaiva kledaśoṣakarāvubhe||

When the lotus is blooming with its deep roots , the Sun and the pond and its water help it to shine better.. the water supports it to raise up and the Sun helps it to bloom.. But when the same lotus flower is plucked away the sun and water will not help it any more.. A lotus plucked away from the pond will be dried up by the scorching rays of the sun and the flower will decay if it is put in water again.. Therefore the support that the lotus got depended entirely on its position.

We human beings are vain.. We get praise, in place or out of place, depending on the position we occupy and the powers we wield.. However we are deluded by arrogance to assume that the respect and adulation we receive are on the basis of some supernatural and intrinsic powers possessed by us.. The bluff will be called when we lose the position for some reason or other.. 

Maybe good education. good contacts humble behaviour and helping nature exhibited while occupying positions of power could be remembered by some and could give us some solace even after losing power and position.

vanity

Two occasions in Mahabharatham, where Arjuna's vanity was exposed should prove eye openers
First.. the scene of the gory killing of dussaasana by Bheemasena.. Dussaasana is cornered by Bheemasena and before finishing him off the second Pandava throws a challenge to all assembled in the battlefield, ' I have completely vanquished this wretch.. Is there any man here who can save him?"..The kshatriya in Arjuna is stoked and he is about to challenge his brother.. Then Krishna asks him to to touch him and have a look at Bheema.. and what Arjuna sees in the place of Bhima is Lord Rudra in His most destructive form..Arjuna is terrified..Who could challenge the God of destruction?

Second, the war is over, Arjuna is led back to the camp by Krishna in the Chariot and Krishna asks Arjuna to step out of the Chariot before He himself gets out.. The Victory has gone over the head of Arjuna..He is irritated that his Charioteer Krishna has not stepped out and lent his hand for Arjuna to get down.. The Lord however insists that Arjuna got out first and the latter obeys grudgingly.. But seconds later when the Blessed Lord steps out of the chariot, the Chariot is thrown into flames.. The various weapons and arrows and spells which have been cast on the Chariot had made it so susceptible to destruction and the presence of the Lord alone was keeping it safe and protected .. The Lord knew it but Arjuna did not..

The long beard

The ruler of Vijayanagaram, Krishnadevaraya,    most of the time had to contend with the attacks of rulers from other adjoining territories, and  acting on the advise of his  generals he decided to  purchase a large number of horses..  To ensure that such horses were reared and kept in spic condition for any combat, it was decided that they should be kept in the houses of the Royal courtiers who would feed and nurture them and for this there would be an allowance  of fifteen silver coins per month..  Tenali Ramakrishna also volunteered to  become the guardian of one such horse..

He  collected his horse and the silver coins..

The silvercoins, he decided to keep for his domestic expenses..  Essential commodities for human sustenance were scarce and costly and the Royal treasury was mostly empty due  to defence  expenditure..  Ramakrishna could not digest the situation where people starved and elephants and horses were fed sumptuously.. 

He led the horse to the dingiest room in his residence, and built a brick wall across the entrance, leaving  just a small hole to let in some air.. And daily at about noon, a handful of dried grass was pushed through hole and  the horse had to eat  that to keep its body and soul together. 

A month passed and there was a Royal summons that the courtiers should parade the horses at the Palace  stable.. Everyone brought the horse entrusted to his care, with great pomp..

However  when Ramakrishna’s turn came,  he pleaded that the horse given to him was very disobedient and had refused to present itself at the Royal Palace.. The king was enraged and the Sardar of cavalry, a muslim with a long goatee grey beard which flowed down upto his knees was directed visit Ramakrishna’s house and bring the recalcitrant horse to the Royal presence.. This Sardar prided himself as an expert trainer of horses who could  subjugate any troublesome equine..

With pride and pomp the Sardar proceeded to where the horse of Ramakrishna was lodged. It was almost noontime and the ration of handful of dried grass was overdue for the hungry and emaciated horse. 

The sardar  peeped through the  hole to have a look at the miscreant horse, and his long beard flowed in through the hole   The poor horse thought that  his daily food  of dry grass was coming in and without hesitation bit at the protruding  beard.. The Sardar pushed the other way  in utter pain, but the horse would not let go.. Finally two Royal barbers had to  be summoned to cut off the portion of the beard that was still outside the horse’s mouth.. 

His pride and beard gone, the Sardar demanded that the horse should be brought out of the room.. There everyone   saw  that  the horse  which was nothing more that its hide and skeleton..

“You cruel fellow,  why have you kept the horse starving for so many days? “  Asked the Sardar..” I am reporting the matter to His Majesty.’

Ramakrishna and his horse were paraded before the King.. 

“ Your  Majesty, Please see how ill-tempered and rowdy this horse is.. Even when it was not given proper food, it had the temerity to bite the beard of your Sardar.. If I had fed him with all the food the fifteen silver coins would fetch,  then the fellow would have trampled the Sardar to death.” 

 This was the explanation of the court jester for the frugal supply of food to the horse.

As aside, there was a murmered remark by Ramakrishna..

" There is no food for the people in the kingdom. However the horses are fed from the Royal Court”..

The Kings anger flared up for a moment..  Then realization dawned upon the Royal mind..

The first duty of the King was to feed his subjects.. and not to wage wars..