like father like son

ज्येष्ठो भ्राता पिता चैव यश्च विद्यां प्रयच्छति।
त्रयस्ते पितरो ज्ञेया धर्मे पथि हि वर्तिनः॥
यवीयानत्मनः पुत्रः शिष्यश्चापि गुणोदितः।
पुत्रवत्ते त्रयश्चिन्त्या धर्मश्चेदत्र कारणं॥
वात्मीकिरामायणम् किष्किन्धाकाण्डं  १८    १३--१४
jyeṣṭho bhrātā pitā caiva yaśca vidyāṁ prayacchati|
trayaste pitaro jñeyā dharme pathi hi vartinaḥ||
yavīyānatmanaḥ putraḥ śiṣyaścāpi guṇoditaḥ|
putravatte trayaścintyā dharmaścedatra kāraṇaṁ||
vātmīkirāmāyaṇam kiṣkindhākāṇḍaṁ  18    13--14

Our elder brother and the great preceptor  who imparts knowledge to us are to be given respect  equal to our own father,  yes, all of them are our fathers.
Likewise, the younger brother and the virtuous disciple  are to be treated by us with equal affection as is due to our own sons,  yes all of them are our own sons.

--
।श्रीकृष्णो रक्षतु।
|śrīkṛṣṇo rakṣatu|
Have a nice and happy day
with profound respect and warm regards
K V Ananthanarayanan
(kanfusion)
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

: CHAT WITH DR. DEVI SHETTY -Forward to all whom you care about!

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: seetharaman r

Pls Share with larger audience A chat with   Dr.Devi Shetty (Heart Specialist), Narayana Hrudayalaya, Bangalore was arranged by WIPRO for its employees .   The transcript of the chat is given below. Useful for everyone.   Qn: What are the thumb rules for a layman to take care of his heart?   Ans: 1. Diet - Less of carbohydrate, more of protein, less oil 2. Exercise - Half an hour's walk, at least five days a week; avoid lifts and avoid sitting for a longtime 3. Quit smoking 4. Control weight 5. Control blood pressure and sugar   Qn: Is eating non-veg food (fish) good for the heart?   Ans: No   Qn: It's still a grave shock to hear that some apparently healthy person gets a cardiac arrest. How do we understand it in perspective?   Ans: This is called silent attack; that is why we recommend everyone past the age of 30 to undergo routine health checkups.   Qn: Are heart diseases hereditary?   Ans: Yes   Qn: What are the ways in which the heart is stressed? What practices do you suggest to de-stress?   Ans: Change your attitude towards life. Do not look for perfection in everything in life.   Qn: Is walking better than jogging or is more intensive exercise required to keep a healthy heart?   Ans: Walking is better than jogging since jogging leads to early fatigue and injury to joints   Qn: You have done so much for the poor and needy. What has inspired you to do so?   Ans: Mother Theresa , who was my patient   Qn: Can people with low blood pressure suffer heart diseases?   Ans: Extremely rare   Qn: Does cholesterol accumulates right from an early age (I'm currently only 22) or do you have to worry about it only after you are above 30 years of age?   Ans: Cholesterol accumulates from childhood.   Qn: How do irregular eating habits affect the heart ?   Ans: You tend to eat junk food when the habits are irregular and your body's enzyme release for digestion gets confused.   Qn: How can I control cholesterol content without using medicines?   Ans: Control diet, walk and eat walnut.   Qn: Can yoga prevent heart ailments?   Ans: Yoga helps.   Qn: Which is the best and worst food for the heart?   Ans:   Fruits and vegetables are the best and the worst is oil.   Qn: Which oil is better - groundnut, sunflower, olive?   Ans: All oils are bad   .   Qn: What is the routine checkup one should go through? Is there any specific test?   Ans: Routine blood test to ensure sugar, cholesterol is ok. Check BP, Treadmill test after an echo.   Qn: What are the first aid steps to be taken on a heart attack?   Ans: Help the person into a sleeping position   , place   an aspirin tablet under the tongue with a sorbitrate tablet if available, and rush him to a coronary care unit since the maximum casualty takes place within the first hour.   Qn: How do you differentiate between pain caused by a heart attack and that caused due to gastric trouble?   Ans: Extremely difficult without ECG.   Qn: What is the main cause of a steep increase in heart problems amongst youngsters? I see people of about 30-40 yrs of age having heart attacks and serious heart problems.   Ans: Increased awareness has increased incidents.. Also, sedentary lifestyles, smoking, junk food, lack of exercise in a country where people are genetically three times more vulnerable for heart attacks than Europeans and Americans.   Qn: Is it possible for a person to have BP outside the normal range of 120/80 and yet be perfectly healthy?   Ans: Yes.   Qn: Marriages within close relatives can lead to heart problems for the child. Is it true?   Ans : Yes, co-sanguinity leads to congenital abnormalities and you may not have a software engineer as a child   Qn: Many of us have an irregular daily routine and many a times we have to stay late nights in office. Does this affect our heart ? What precautions would you recommend?   Ans : When you are young, nature protects you against all these irregularities. However, as you grow older, respect the biological clock.   Qn: Will taking anti-hypertensive drugs cause some other complications (short / long term)?   Ans : Yes, most drugs have some side effects. However, modern anti- hypertensive drugs are extremely safe.   Qn: Will consuming more coffee/tea lead to heart attacks?   Ans : No.   Qn: Are asthma patients more prone to heart disease?   Ans : No.   Qn: How would you define junk food?   Ans : Fried food like Kentucky , McDonalds , samosas, and even masala dosas..   Qn: You mentioned that Indians are three times more vulnerable. What is the reason for this, as Europeans and Americans also eat a lot of junk food?   Ans: Every race is vulnerable to some disease and unfortunately, Indians are vulnerable for the most expensive disease.   Qn: Does consuming bananas help reduce hypertension?   Ans : No.   Qn: Can a person help himself during a heart attack (Because we see a lot of forwarded emails on this)?   Ans : Yes. Lie down comfortably and put an aspirin tablet of any description under the tongue and ask someone to take you to the nearest coronary care unit without any delay and do not wait for the ambulance since most of the time, the ambulance does not turn up.   Qn: Do, in any way, low white blood cells and low hemoglobin count lead to heart problems?   Ans : No. But it is ideal to have normal hemoglobin level to increase your exercise capacity.   Qn: Sometimes, due to the hectic schedule we are not able to exercise. So, does walking while doing daily chores at home or climbing the stairs in the house, work as a substitute for exercise?   Ans : Certainly. Avoid sitting continuously for more than half an hour and even the act of getting out of the chair and going to another chair and sitting helps a lot.   Qn: Is there a relation between heart problems and blood sugar?   Ans: Yes. A strong relationship since diabetics are more vulnerable to heart attacks than non-diabetics.   Qn: What are the things one needs to take care of after a heart operation?   Ans : Diet, exercise, drugs on time   ,   Control cholesterol, BP, weight.   Qn: Are people working on night shifts more vulnerable to heart disease when compared to day shift workers?   Ans : No.   Qn: What are the modern anti- hypertensive drugs?   Ans : There are hundreds of drugs and your doctor will chose the right combination for your problem, but my suggestion is to avoid the drugs and go for natural ways of controlling blood pressure by walk, diet to reduce weight and changing attitudes towards lifestyles.   Qn: Does dispirin or similar headache pills increase the risk of heart attacks?   Ans : No.   Qn: Why is the rate of heart attacks more in men than in women?   Ans : Nature protects women till the age of 45.   Qn: How can one keep the heart in a good condition?   Ans : Eat a healthy diet, avoid junk food, exercise everyday, do not smoke and, go for health checkup   s   if you are past the age of 30   (   once in   six months recommended)   ..

---

IT IS MY OWN VANITY AND MAYBE ARROGANCE

As I am crossing the 56.5 years in age it is really old age for me.  When I meet young ladies even around 35 years, my  mind is rather paternal. I could see my son alone in all the youngsters.  It is a good augury for a worthy social life but the fact that one has grown old, the hairs are grey, the teeth are no long accommodative, the steps are doddery.... all make me introspect.

Almost completing thirty five years in the Incometax Department at various levels,  and having reached the peak that I could achieve considering the entry point...I want to introspect..  Years thinking nothing else other than taxation for about 14to 16 hours a day,  with a mercenary spirit...right or wrong you collect tax for the department...no prick of conscience that others suffer... it is an obsession. No escape  from it. Neglected were may parents and siblings, wife and son...except for the complete surrender of ones salary to them...every day except one day  mortgaged to the Service... what have I achieved.

I talk about Krishna.. about gita, bharathiars pantheism, poonthanam's self surrender, but is Krishna a mere opiate to haul me up when I am in physical distress?  I have read old and new writings about Him, I try to concentrate all my faith on Him, but I have not seen Him, not felt Him in my life...I am trying to spend a lot of words and hyperboles on Him in the uncertain expectation that He will show up some day..If He is not kind enough to show tat least a small piece of the peacock feather he adorns Himself with?

A couple of weeks ago I visited the temple of Anathapadmanaabhaswamy in Trivandrum..when I was handed over the prasadams of the Lord, I found a piece of mayilpeeli (peacock feather) in it.  Usually no priest give this as a prasadam... I wonder whether the dark darling boy is beckoning me.  May be it is only a hallucination.  But the piece of feather remains with me..

Was it a vision or a waking dream...?

kaamokaarshiid manyurakaarshiid namo namah

कामोऽकार्षीन्नमो नमः।  कामोऽकार्षीत्काम करोति नाहं करोमि कामः कर्ता नाहं कर्ता कामः कारयिता नाहं कारयिता एष ते काम कामाय स्वाहाः।
मन्युरकार्षीन्नमो नमः। मन्युरकार्षीन्मन्युः करोति नाहम् करोमि मन्युः कर्तानाहं कर्ता मन्युः कारयिता नाहं कारयिता एष ते मन्यो मन्यवे स्वाहाः।
महानरायणोपनिषत्         ६१         ६२
kāmo'kārṣīnnamo namaḥ|  kāmo'kārṣītkāma karoti nāhaṁ karomi kāmaḥ kartā nāhaṁ kartā kāmaḥ kārayitā nāhaṁ kārayitā eṣa te kāma kāmāya svāhāḥ|
manyurakārṣīnnamo namaḥ | manyurakārṣīnmanyuḥ karoti nāham karomi manyuḥ kartā
nāhaṁ kartā manyuḥ kārayitā nāhaṁ kārayitā eṣa te manyo manyave svāhāḥ|
mahānarāyaṇopaniṣat         61         62
  Salutations to the gods. Desire performed the act. Desire did the act. Desire is doing the act, not I. O Desire, fascinating in form, let this oblations be offered to thee, Hail
  Salutations to the gods. Anger performed the act. Desire did the act. Anger is doing the act, not I. O anger, let this oblation be offered to thee.
These mantras as from Taittariya Aranyaka of Krishna Yajurveda.  The latter is found in rgveda also.  Brahmins belonging to the Krishna yajurveda school, chant a shortened form of this manthra every day once during  the oblations to  Sandhya three times a day.  On the upakarma day, this year it falls on today, this manthra  in shortened form is repeated 1008 times as expiation by way of confession that many of our acts are instigated by desire and anger over which we have little control most of the time, and, therefore we are trying to propitiate them so that they will get out of our way.

shadow of friendship

आरम्भगुर्वी क्षयिणी क्रमेण।
लघ्वी पुरा वृद्धिमती च पश्चात्॥
दिनस्य पूर्वार्द्ध परार्द्ध भिन्ना।
च्छायेव मैत्री खलसज्जनानाम्॥
ārambhagurvī kṣayiṇī krameṇa|
laghvī purā vṛddhimatī ca paścāt||
dinasya pūrvārddha parārddha bhinnā|
cchāyeva maitrī khalasajjanānām||

भर्तृहरि   नीतिशतकं ४९
bhartṛhari   nītiśatakaṁ 49


The friendship with a silly idiotic person will appear to be very serious and weighty in the beginning but slowly the relation will get thinner and thinner with time to disappear into obscurity.  However the friendship of a noble person may look insignificant at the start but as time progresses and the understanding is fortified, it progresses from strength to strength
The two phenomena are like the disappearance and the growth of a shadow in step with the movement of the Sun from dawn to midday and  midday to dusk.  The shadow at sunrise will be very long but by midday it will be very small or inexistent. This phase is compared to the friendship with an idiot.  From midday to sunset, the shadow gets longer and longer..and this is compared to the friendship with noble souls.
--

।श्रीकृष्णो रक्षतु।
|śrīkṛṣṇo rakṣatu|
Have a nice and happy day
with profound respect and warm regards
K V Ananthanarayanan
(kanfusion)
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

Lord Dhanwantari in human form

गुरोरधीताखिल वैद्यविद्यः
पीयूषपाणिः कुशलः क्रियासु।
गतस्पृहो धैर्यधरः कृपालु
शुद्धोऽधिकारी भिषगीदृशः स्यात्॥
guroradhītākhila vaidyavidyaḥ
pīyūṣapāṇiḥ kuśalaḥ kriyāsu|
gataspṛho dhairyadharaḥ kṛpālu
śuddho'dhikārī bhiṣagīdṛśaḥ syāt|

The ideal doctor is described here.

He should have acquired abundance of education from the Masters in the field and also have training . He should be so learned and beloved that he should be considered the living form of the Lord  Sree Dhanwantari with the pot of Nectar,  He should be dexterous in absolute terms while engaged in profession..  While on his profession he should be bereft of  personal likes or dislikes and the removal of the distress of the patient alone should be his concern.  He should be and should appear to look very bold and confident while giving treatment. His compassion should know no bounds.  He should be clean physically and mentally... The candidate for this profession should be slected  from the most eligible. 

The doctor trained in Allopathy is expected to take the following oath and follow it to his end.

THE OATH OF HIPPOCRATES

I SWEAR by Apollo the physician and Æsculapius, and Health, and All-heal, and all the gods and goddesses, that, according to my ability and judgment,
I will keep this Oath and this stipulation — to reckon him who taught me this Art equally dear to me as my parents, to share my substance with him, and relieve his necessities if required; to look upon his offspring in the same footing as my own brothers, and to teach them this art, if they shall wish to learn it, without fee or stipulation; and that by precept, lecture, and every other mode of instruction,
I will impart a knowledge of the Art to my own sons, and those of my teachers, and to disciples bound by a stipulation and oath according to the law of medicine, but to none others.
I will follow that system of regimen which, according to my ability and judgement, I consider for the benefit of my patients, and abstain from whatever is deleterious and mischievous.
I will give no deadly medicine to any one if asked, nor suggest any such counsel; and in like manner I will not give to a woman a pessary to produce abortion. With purity and with holiness I will pass my life and practice my Art.
I will not cut persons labouring under the stone, but will leave this to be done by men who are practitioners of this work. Into whatever houses I enter, I will go into them for the benefit of the sick, and will abstain from every voluntary act of mischief and corruption; and, further, from the seduction of females or males, of freemen and slaves. Whatever, in connection with my professional service, or not in connection with it, I see or hear, in the life of men, which ought not to be spoken of abroad,
I will not divulge, as reckoning that all such should be kept secret. While I continue to keep this Oath unviolated, may it be granted to me to enjoy life and the practice of the art, respected by all men, in all times. But should I trespass and violate this Oath, may the reverse be my lot.
Do we find any difference between the Indian expectation spelt out in a simple sloka and the above oath in the name of Apollo?

And to the great credit of professionals in this field, the Doctors world over  have alway lived up to the expectations of the patients except perhaps for small  and rare aberrations .
They as a class have been the greatest boon from God and have kept the world blessed by their presence.
--

।श्रीकृष्णो रक्षतु।
|śrīkṛṣṇo rakṣatu|
Have a nice and happy day
with profound respect and warm regards
K V Ananthanarayanan
(kanfusion)
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

happy onam

Onam is definitely an occasion to reaffirm and recapture friendships.  When maaveli ruled kerala, everyone was equal to all others, there were no disease, no cheating, no mental strains, not even bad measuring vessels. 
Human mind is a highly partial measuring  vessel.  It expands to immeasurably large dimensions when it comes as a measure to gauge our love for friends. But it should not be allowed to grow while measuring our hatred. 

Friends, there would have been unsavoury arguments, criticisms,  frayed emotions and tempers, and some friendships would have reached breaking points,  But Friendships are like our virtues.  They will outlive everything.  There is no end to any friendship.

I take this occasion to wish all my beloved and respected friends, according to me the number is very huge, a very Happy Onam.  I take this occasion to crave your indulgence in forgiving me if in my rustic below average cultural upbringing,  I have knowingly or unknowingly behaved in any manner that would have marred our friendship.  Please forgive me, we have to learn to forgive because we have to stand ultimately before our Maker with folded hands asking for forgiveness for whatever we have done. You are the Master when you forgive.

May the Grace of KRISHNA vist you on this happy occasion

--
।श्रीकृष्णो रक्षतु।
|śrīkṛṣṇo rakṣatu|
Have a nice and happy day
with profound respect and warm regards
K V Ananthanarayanan
(kanfusion)
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

young or old, lion is lion

क्षुत् क्षामोऽपि जराकृशोपि शिथिलप्रायोऽपि कष्टां दशां।
आपन्नोऽपि विपन्नदीधितिरपि प्राणेषु नश्यत्स्वपि॥
मत्तेभेन्द्रविभिन्नकुंभपिशितग्रासैकबद्ध स्पृहः।
किं जीर्णं तृणमत्ति मानमहतामग्रेसरः केसरी॥
kṣut kṣāmo'pi jarākṛśopi śithilaprāyo'pi kaṣṭāṁ daśāṁ|
āpanno'pi vipannadīdhitirapi prāṇeṣu naśyatsvapi||
mattebheendravibhinnakuṁbhapiśitagrāsaikabaddha spṛhaḥ|
kiṁ jīrṇaṁ tṛṇamatti mānamahatāmagresaraḥ kesarī||

भर्त्तृहरि  नीतिशतकं   २१
bharttṛhari  nītiśatakaṁ   21
Will the lion eat the sun dried grass in the forest, even if he is emaciated with hunger, even if he is dogged by old age, even if he is facing very difficult times, even if he  has lost all his  vigour and ebullience of his prime youth, what to say, even if he  is facing a real threat of losing his own life? 
The food for the king of the forest  can be only the hard pieces of flesh he has extracted from the forehead of a rowdy elephant by splitting it with his powerful hits.  The lion is very proud of his eminence and valour and his own life is not very important to it in comparison.
The master poet is explaining how a person with true self respect should behave.  Bad times, poverty, ill health, and even the possibility of imminent death should not deter him from his upright and bold attitude, because death overtakes everyone one day or the other, but the really great people outlive the death of the physical body.

--
।श्रीकृष्णो रक्षतु।
|śrīkṛṣṇo rakṣatu|
Have a nice and happy day
with profound respect and warm regards
K V Ananthanarayanan
(kanfusion)
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

mother

The consummation of Motherhood... she has delivered the three a few days ago, she is tired, she had little food herself but the tiny three are sucking the vitals out of her. But she is in ecstacy and stupour... that is the instinct of a mother... God Created mothers so that he need not be present everywhere.

--
।श्रीकृष्णो रक्षतु।
|śrīkṛṣṇo rakṣatu|
Have a nice and happy day
with profound respect and warm regards
K V Ananthanarayanan
(kanfusion)
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

Fwd: Clay Balls

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Srinivasan Ravi
Date: Fri, Aug 20, 2010 at 7:12 AM
Subject: Fwd: Clay Balls
To:

Clay  Balls         A man was exploring caves by the Seashore.  In one of the caves he found a canvas bag with a bunch of hardened clay balls.  It was like someone had rolled clay balls and left them out in the sun to bake.   They didn't look like much, but they intrigued the man, so he took the bag out of the cave with him.  As he strolled along the beach, he would throw the clay balls one at a time out into the ocean as far as he could.     He thought little about it, until he dropped one of the clay balls and it cracked open on a rock .  Inside was a beautiful, precious stone!     Excited, the man started breaking open the remaining clay balls.  Each contained a similar treasure.  He found thousands of dollars worth of jewels in the 20 or so clay balls he had left.       Then it struck him.  He had been on the beach a long time. He had thrown maybe 50 or 60 of the clay balls with their hidden treasure into the ocean waves.  Instead of thousands of dollars in treasure, he could have taken home tens of thousands, but he had just thrown it away!     It's like that with people.  We look at someone, maybe even ourselves, and we see the external clay vessel.  It doesn't look like much from the outside..  It isn't always beautiful or sparkling, so we discount it.     We see that person as less important than someone more beautiful or stylish or well known or wealthy.  But we have not taken the time to find the treasure hidden inside that person.     There is a treasure in each and every one of us.  If we take the time to get to know that person, and if we ask God to show us that person the way He sees them, then the clay begins to peel away and the brilliant gem begins to shine forth.       May we not come to the end of our lives and find out that we have thrown away a fortune in friendships because the gems were hidden in bits of clay. May we see the people in our world as God sees them.   I am so blessed by the gems of friendship I have with you.  Thank you for looking beyond my clay vessel.     APPRECIATE EVERY SINGLE THING YOU HAVE, ESPECIALLY YOUR FRIENDS!   LIFE IS TOO SHORT AND FRIENDS ARE TOO FEW!     Pass this on to another Clay Ball!!! Do not ask GOD to Guide your Footsteps if you are not willing to MOVE your Feet'

--
S Ravi

--
।श्रीकृष्णो रक्षतु।
|śrīkṛṣṇo rakṣatu|
Have a nice and happy day
with profound respect and warm regards
K V Ananthanarayanan
(kanfusion)
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

character is the charm

character is the charm

मित्रं स्वच्छततया रिपुं नयबलैर्लुब्धं धनैरीश्वरं।
कार्येण द्विजमादरेण युवतिं प्रेम्णा समैर्बान्धवं॥
अत्युग्रं स्तुतिभिर् गुरुं प्रणतिभिर्मूर्खं कथाभिर्बुधं।
विद्याभी रसिकं रसेन सकलम् शीलेन कुर्याद्वशं॥
mitraṁ svacchatatayā ripuṁ nayabalairlubdhaṁ dhanairīśvaraṁ|
kāryeaṇa dvijamādareṇa yuvatiṁ premṇā samairbāndhavaṁ||
atyugraṁ stutibhir gururṁ praṇatibhirmūrkhaṁ kathābhirbhudhaṁ|
vidyābhī rasikaṁ rasena sakalam śīlena kuryādvaśaṁ||

हितोपदेशम्
hitopadeśam
 One can always maintain intimacy with  bosom friends by being just natural.
 With appropriate strategy and show of strength one can keep his enemy at bay.
A miser can be kept pleased only by supply of more funds,

One's favourite God can be propitiated through service ( to all humans).
 A beautiful young lady can be made happy through romance

One's relatives will be happy if one shows the sense of equality and identify with them. 

We lose many close relations by flaunting our own so called status. 
For the parents we are just the sons and daughters 
and for the siblings we are only brothers or sisters.


To keep a ferocious thing   away from attacking us is only by vocal praise or even flattery
( the ferocious thing can appear in so many forms....wife, boss. mother in law,  to cite a few examples) . 

The only way the preceptor can be kept   happy is by prostrating at his feet 


The learned person will be pleased when one shares his knowledge and erudition  with humility.  . 

 One can keep the friendship of an inveterate idiot only by engaging him with silly talk.

 A connoisseur in fine arts will be pleased when the art is performed to perfection.

 And everyone in the world will be pleased with one's good manners and character.

--

Fwd: your CARICATURE :)

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Sajjive Balakrishnan <sajjive@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, Aug 17, 2010 at 6:42 PM
Subject: your CARICATURE :)
To: "ANANTHANARAYANAN.K.V" <kvananthanarayanan@gmail.com>

Dear Sir,



This happened all of a sudden,
but based on a photo fished out from the net .
I am not publishing this in the web without your YES :)

sajjive120


A SMILE is a short curve that sets many things straight !

--
।श्रीकृष्णो रक्षतु।
|śrīkṛṣṇo rakṣatu|
Have a nice and happy day
with profound respect and warm regards
K V Ananthanarayanan
(kanfusion)
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

let me blow the conch even if it is on deaf ears.

धर्मं भजस्व सततं त्यज लोकधर्मान्
सेवस्व साधुपुरुषाञ्जहि कामतृष्णां।
अन्यस्य दोषगुणचिन्तनमाशु मुक्त्वा
सेवाकथारसमहो नितरां पिब त्वं॥
dharmaṁ bhajasva satataṁ tyaja lokadharmān
sevasva sādhupuruṣāñjahi kāmatṛṣṇāṁ|
anyasya doṣaguaṇacintanamāsu muktvā
sevākathārasamaho nitarāṁ piba tvaṁ||

श्री शिल्हणमिश्रस्य शान्तिशतकात्
śrī śilhaṇamiśrasya śāntiśatakāt


follow the virtuous path with staunch determination,  give up the silly mundane functions,  seek out and serve the noble men , give up for ever carnal desires,  give up the habit of always contemplating and elaborating on the faults and foible of others  and praise the service rendered by others and  engage yourself in fruitful service.

I think the first step in the pathway to  virtue is giving up telling about the wrong deeds of others and starting to interpret how bad you yourself are.  Then giving up on Carnal desires.. every person nowadays wants to look at and  craves to being looked upon  as a don juan or venus...how to give up that habit?   And seeking out the noble man to serve... in an atmosphere where leaders of our society would expect   that if we see a seer and a serpent together, to kill the seer first,,  And again how can anyone survive without shifting the blame of others.. a man running carelessly  along a slippery path falls down and breaks his head but blames the sight of a cat or a widow in the morning as the cause..one committing a mistake in office starts blaming everything right from the printing paper, computer keyboard, the absence of peon or the bald head of his boss, but not anything about his own inefficiency..

I am really wasting my morning sleep, but it  is not a big deal because I am an incurable insomniac...
And one will see a consummate idiot in me when I repeat the same thing, but again it is a fact

--

।श्रीकृष्णो रक्षतु।
|śrīkṛṣṇo rakṣatu|
Have a nice and happy day
with profound respect and warm regards
K V Ananthanarayanan
(kanfusion)
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

poyyars

 I for one agree with you fully... but this thread is about poyyars, persons who are Iyers on the surface fully but do not follow the essential scriptural prescriptions. The definition of a poyyar on the basis of non performance of pancha mahpathakas may be more relevant than the six conditions prescribed by my brother narayanan who has simply listed six things out of a huge number of items. In my opinion it is not wrong to live as a poyyar. Unless we change with times we lose our grounds. Nowadays the discussion on brahminism and spiritualism leads to a journey far away from the reasonable highways and byways. But there should be a maamiyar or swamiyaar to point out what it was in the old days. What I quoted was from a vedic stanza reproduced in mahanarayanopanisat and even while giving vyakhyaanam to that years ago, the interpreters were aware that all these so called sins were being committed and this mantra was only an expiatory measure. The ganga episode in Mahabharatam is a fait accompli, and nowhere in bharatham that episode is justified. Infanticide was the greatest sin for which Kamsa got killed by his nephew. Even gurutalpagamanam may not be relevant today because in certain circumstances one's own wife can become ones teacher in a university.. and then is it a mahapatakam to sleep with one's own wife?
The above quotation is simply a limited addendum to the qualification of a POYYAR and nothing more. In fact if I have only one son out of a married life exceeding 25 years at least one of the sins has been repeated a few times...this will be true with most people including iyers or Poyyars whatever you would like to call them

life is fleeting

प्राणं वापि परित्यज्य मानमेवाभिरक्षतु
अनित्यो भवति प्राणः  मानमाचन्द्रतारकं
prāṇaṁ vāpi parityajya mānamevābhirakṣatu
anityo bhavati prāṇaḥ  mānamācandratārakaṁ

പ്രാണം വാപി പരിത്യജ്യ  മാനമെവാഭിരക്ഷതു
അനിത്യോ ഭവതി പ്രാണ മാനം ആചന്ദ്രതാരകം

do not hesitate even to lay down your life to uphold your rectitude and unblemished name.  This life is flleeting but ones good name survives so long as the moon and sun last.

--
।श्रीकृष्णो रक्षतु।
|śrīkṛṣṇo rakṣatu|
Have a nice and happy day
with profound respect and warm regards
K V Ananthanarayanan
(kanfusion)
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

Aaapadi Kim Karaneeyam...?

Aaapadi Kim Karaneeyam...?

Aapadi Kim Karneeyam? Smaraneeyam padyayugalam ambaayaah, tat smaranam kim kurute ? brahmaadeenapi kimkareekurute
॥आपदि किं करणीयं  स्मरणीयं पदयुगळमम्बायाः तद् स्मरणं किं कुरुते ब्रह्मादीनपि किंकरीकुरुते॥

When one faces real threat to his existence, the only way out for him is the worship of the lotus feet of Ambaa Sree Lalithaambika. And even if one remembers her for a fleeting second, the entire world including the Brahmadeva Himself wait on his side prepared to obey his orders.

The worship of a male god, as the fountainhead of all virtues and strength and a female counterpart as the source of beauty, wealth and fertility is a common thread that runs throughout almost all the ancient civilizations in the world. The greatest ever civilization in the world, that of India also has the same tradition.  In tribal worship we can find the presence of this, either as Sakthi and Siva, Prakriti and Purusha or whatever format and name that appealed to the ancient mind. The remnants of Mohanjadaro and Harappa, which according to some schorlars is the starting point of our Hindu Tradition, and by some others is a separate culture has left the remnants of a fatherly male god  the protector with a prominent phallus and a mother goddess, the mother from whom springs all living beings, whose symbol is yonimudra.  Whether that culture was a separate one which went into ruins by some serious and shortlived calamity, or which gave us the prototype of the prime Indian religion in its present form,  the worship of linga and yoni representing Shiva and shakti remains for ever.

In the beginning of Vedic culture the prominence was for the male gods under the commandership of Indra with goddesses like Ushas, Medha, etc getting only fleeting reference. Even in those periods the names of Goddesses like Swaahaa and Swadhaa were prominent in connection with agni (fire) and aryamaa (the god of pitrus).  However may be out of human experience that one's own mother was the greatest source of energy and protection for each of us and also the fact that the woman as the wife alone can make the life of a male worth living, people started giving prominence to the female as a deity. Through passing ages, in some cults, the mother goddess gained ascendancy over the male counterpart. The tendency was germane even in Vedas where great mantras were always considered as representing a female deity.  Gayathri is the most prominent example.

The prominence of Devi became unquestionable because life was never easy for any members of an evolving culture, especially when it was subjected to a great extent by non democratic controls by stronger constituents of the society,  and the suffering  human being always craved for some mercy and tenederness and the woman was always the embodiment of these virtues while the strong male was always domineering.

In our country the fusion of the male and female divine forces is really wonderful.  Every great thinker and philosopher has underlined the mutual complimenting of the male and the female forces.
Maybe the evolution is like this.  The Lord Parameswara carried the entire universe on His head in the shape of a crescent representing the upper worlds.  In his matted hair he carried the entire  resources for the existence of humans, in the form of Ganga. He carried the the two most potent natural sources of energy, the Sun and the Fire, in his two eyes and the moon took his third eye. When concentrated evil oozed out in the form of the poison Halahalam he gobbled it up and kept it as a concentrated lump in his throat so that it cannot harm anyone.  All the demonic forces, he kept under his feet in the form of apasmaara. Then he burned of Kamadeva who created mutual attraction between male and female, which represented happiness and fertility.  This was too much.  The Sakthi, the prakriti, challenged this. She burned herself using her own yogic powers. The world came to a standstill. Siva the purusha could not suffer the pangs of separation. He carried the body of the burning Sakthi and ran amuck across the whole country running and crying  half in anger and half in anguish all the time.  The diplomat that is Mahavishnu, saw the catastrophe   overtaking the universe and hence he followed the  Rudra at a safe distance and tactfully cut off one part after another of the burning body of Sakthi. The pieces fell in one hundred and eight places in our sacred country and each place became  Sakthi Stala and the presence of Siva the great and Vishnu the protector could be seen everywhere.
The things took a beautiful turn when the Sakthi again took birth as Parvathi and adorned the  Siva with the marriage garlands and the latter, realizing that it was too difficult for himself to bear the brunt of maintaining the whole world all alone,  gifted half of his body to Shakthi, to become Ardhanaareeswara.

Adi Sankara, who is Lord Shiva himself. knew this well and so he proclaimed in the Soundaryalahari....Sivah Sakthya yuktho yadi bhavati sakthah prabhavithum, na ched evem devo na khalu kushalah spandithumapi.... Shiva when in the company of Shakthi is capable of performing all the functions of creation, maintenance and destruction, but the same God, if Sakthi is not with him will have the capacity even to move. a little ॥शिवः शक्त्या युक्तो यदि भवति शक्तः प्रभवितुम् न चेदेवं देवो न खलु कुशलः स्पन्दितुमपि॥

To express our gratitude to the mother who is the source of  knowledge, wealth, energy and all that is great  we celebrate the Navarathri.  The greatness of the celebration is in its uniqueness that it is the one festival which is observed all over the country in all the temples or households irrespective of what is the favourite deity of that temple or the househlod.

May we place our pranaams at the lotus feet of   the mother.
Sree Maatre Namah  ॥श्री मात्रे नमः॥

--
।श्रीकृष्णो रक्षतु।
|śrīkṛṣṇo rakṣatu|
Have a nice and happy day
with profound respect and warm regards
K V Ananthanarayanan
(kanfusion)
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

--
।श्रीकृष्णो रक्षतु।
|śrīkṛṣṇo rakṣatu|
Have a nice and happy day
with profound respect and warm regards
K V Ananthanarayanan
(kanfusion)
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

She is our mother

She is fragrant.  At times Her body may give out stink also.  The food and wealth she gives us may not be always of the quality we expect in our vanity.  Our brothers and sisters, all Her own children, may not be all endearing to us.  But She is our only mother. We cannot decide who our mother should be.She is a sweet caring  mother We are fortunate to be Her children.We share all that is good and not so good available with her.  But She is our mother. No person, more charismatic, more good looking or more wealthy can be subsituted in He place. She is our only mother.   I love Her, love Her, love Her... My affectionate pranams to our Mother India...She never gained Independence because She was never a slave.  Whoever came to conquer her and dig up her bosom  ended up as Her children.   On this symbolic day of Independence, let us leave  our loving kisses at her lotus feet...because She is our mother.  Bharat matha Ki Jai.       Bharat mata  Ki jai                          

--
।श्रीकृष्णो रक्षतु।
|śrīkṛṣṇo rakṣatu|
Have a nice and happy day
with profound respect and warm regards
K V Ananthanarayanan
(kanfusion)
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

worst sins

worst sins
अकार्यकार्यवकीर्णो स्तेनो भ्रूणहा गुरुतल्पगः।
वरुणोऽपामघमर्षणस्तस्मात् पापात् प्रमुच्यते॥
akāryakāryavakīrṇo steno bhrūṇaha gurutalpagaḥ|
varuṇo'pāmaghamraṣaṇastasmāt pāpāt prmucyate||

महानारायणोपनिषत्  १-----६८
mahānārāyaṇopaniṣat  1-----68
 
the Lord of Waters and the destroyer of Sins Varuna, will expiate one who worships the gods of water, of even the five mahaapatakas or most heinous sins , 
(1) working contrary to the dictates of the scriptures, 
(2)  being disloyal to one's own promises out of cowardice 
(3) causing destruction to the human foetus in the womb 
(4) indulging in robbery or coveting the wealth of others and 
(5) causing disrespect to the preceptor by entering his bed .

This mantra has twin  purpose. First, to extol the greatness of  water... it is said to  release one from the panchamahapaatakas themeselves.  

However,  it should not be taken as  a licence  to commit sins.  One should not think that he can gleefully commit all the sins and wash off his hands. 

 Secondly the moral standards of our ancestors were of the highest order. 
One can feel here the absolute faithfulness to the Vedas. 

 Our ancestors strongly believed that if solemn promises made by the constituents of the society are not kept it would lead to imbalance even in the working of natural forces.  
When Yudistira lied even once partially, it is said that his chariot which always moved floating about one foot above the ground suddenly dropped down to the earth with a thud.  

At present  our society is very permissive about termination of pregnancies but our ancestors could not condone it. 
They believed more in continence. 
In fact sexual copulation was ordained to be limited only for the furtherance of the race. 
The fate of Aswathaama who  directed the Brahmasiraastram and Apandavaastram  on the womb of Uttara to annihilate the foetus of Abhimanyu's son growing there is well known.   The foetus was protected by the Lord and Ashwathama was cursed suffer eternal pain,
And unfaithfulness to Guru.. is never to be tolerated..
--

slokas vol 3

Resepcted firends, sirs, Namaskaram
 I have collated 60 slokas I has sent you all one at a day as the third volume in Pdf format link is given below.  Thanks.
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B2n1qyKu0eCcTV9Bd3l1WHByQUE/edit
--
।श्रीकृष्णो रक्षतु।
|śrīkṛṣṇo rakṣatu|
Have a nice and happy day
with profound respect and warm regards
K V Ananthanarayanan
(kanfusion)
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

they keep us alive

अमृतं सद्गुणा भार्या अमृतं बालभाषितं।
अमृतं राजसम्मानं अमृतम् मानभोजनं॥
amṛtaṁ sadguṇā bhāryā amṛtaṁ bālabhāṣitaṁ|
amṛtaṁ rājasammanaṁ amṛtam mānabhojanaṁ||

The following are like elixir for a man's life.  A wife with adorable qualities, presence of small children at home with their endearing talks,  obtaining honours and awards  from the king or the government, and the capacity to have daily meals in an honourable  way.
Once a schism develops between a man and his wife, the lives of both are lost for ever. At present we are trying to find many alternate remedies for it but it would appear definite that for the human race the pairing of one male and a female for a lifetime is the happiest thing .  Without  children with their plays and pranks, every house is empty..The children may be sons and daughters, grandchildren or great grandchildren. In fact our affection for them increases exponentially with advancing generation.  To be honoured for the services rendered for ones own country is the proudest achievement any human being can aspire for. And if a man reaches a stage in life where he has to search for food even abandoning his dignity, he is more dead than alive.

food for thought

अन्नदानात् समं नास्ति विद्यादानं ततोऽधिकं।
अन्नेन क्षणिका तृप्तिः यावज्जीवं तु विद्यया॥
annadānāt samaṁ nāsti vidyādānaṁ tato'dhikaṁ|
annena kṣaṇikā tṛptiḥ yāvajjīvaṁ tu vidyayā||

There is no gift as great as gift of food.  But the gift of education is even greater.
The satisfaction derived by  enjoying food is short- lived.  But education once imparted properly remains beneficial as long as the recipient is alive.

The ultimate thing that keeps a  being alive is food. In fact the food is given as a gift by nature, the ultraviolet rays from the sun, the heat, the carbon dioxide  chlorophyll and water, all being His own  free creation. The stronger living things either prey on the weaker ones or simply hoard the means of food using brutal force. Hunger, the lack of food was the real creator of history full of revolutions, battles and heroes.
To day starts the Holy month of Ramzan.. The message of Ramzan is a saga of control of resources and mindset through regulating the intake of food.  It is also a month of gift of food. During the daytime our muslim brothers and sisters fast, but they partake in the food during nights, and the hearty part of it is that they all ensure no human being who has fasted during daytime goes hungry during the night also. 

Of course the continuous physical existence is achieved by eating and digesting food. In fact all the living creatures somehow manage to get food at periodical intervals and if food is absent for a reasonably long time, they cease to live. (At this moment we have think of the mother...she supplies food for the foetus in her womb and after the child is born ensures that it is fed and kept alive, until it has learned enough skill to eke out its own food.. every mother does it even at the cost of sacrificing their own lives in the process.)
But mere exiistnce and a vegetation is achieved by this food.  But a meaningful existence will be in place only if the food for the brain, that is, vidya (education) is imparted. Here also every living being through some biological promptings which one may call intelligence, instinct, or by any other name  acquire some habits which sustain them and ensure their safe livelihood.  However, the human beings go one step ahead and learn things much more than what is required for an ordinary existence. The quintessence of knowledge which has been evolved through generations and kept pure through perhaps repeated process of evaporation and distillation lies with the guru...that knowledge when imparted to the disciple through education makes the world what it is for us the human beings.  We consider the faculty to impart and receive education as the mother intellect, and the teacher who is the medium of imparting the knowledge as the embodiment of God himself.

--
।श्रीकृष्णो रक्षतु।
|śrīkṛṣṇo rakṣatu|
Have a nice and happy day
with profound respect and warm regards
K V Ananthanarayanan
(kanfusion)
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

He is the doctor

yes,

 शरीरे जर्जरीभूते व्याधिग्रस्ते कलेबरे 

औषधम् जाह्नवी तोयम् वैद्यो नारयणो हरिः

śarīre jarjarībhūte vyādhigraste kalebare 

auṣadham jāhnavī toyam vaidyo nārayaṇo hariḥ. 

(when the human body is afflicted with old age and diseases, the only medicine is the holy waters of Ganga and the solitary doctor in the Lord Narayana himself)

 In fact one has to say it is not disease but death that has no cure.. because it is a natural process like birth.. and it is only a state of the jeeva for a pre ordained period decided by the blessed lord.  One need not worry about the cancer that afflicts the body, there is another sort of cancer, may be we call it arrogance, ill will to others, anger  and so one which afflicts the psyche and it neither kills nor allows us to live in gods blessed state. 

I forwarded a message on cancer I received only because it is a prayer for our fellow human beings...I dont know for myself whether there is real cure for cancer, but I have seen people succumb to worry when they are aware of this malady and the worry sometimes is more dangerous than the disease itself.

I had an elderly friend who was the embodiment of happiness, and he spread his optimism and goodwill wherever he went. A large number of friends used to call him ammavan (uncle).  The man was not affluent but very rich in love for others. Suddenly for some days he was having sore throat and when it  persisted, he went to a speciality hospital and was diagnosed of  throat cancer. The man's mirth simply disappeared.  He went into a shell.  All words of comfort were in vain. On my part, all I could do was to hand over a picture of Guruvayurappan which I was keeping with myself for a long time.  When he took it I saw a light on his eyes which was not of this world.  Of course the disease is cruel and the worry is still more cruel and without much warning he passed away within a fortnight.  But the light I saw in his eyes when he saw the picture of Guruvayurappan still lingers in my mind after three decades.  The lord is the vaidya because He can keep company to our soul and lead it away peacefully when the ordained day comes.

What are we before His divine will?  

Namaskarams.  Krishnaarpanam.

--
।श्रीकृष्णो रक्षतु।
|śrīkṛṣṇo rakṣatu|
Have a nice and happy day
with profound respect and warm regards
K V Ananthanarayanan
(kanfusion)
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