Let us be realistic..

Let us be realistic..

Most of the relationships in life are loveless or having little love..

A couple may be devoted to each other in excessive yearnig in the earlier periods of courtship and marital bliss .. but physical, material and psychological factors do make dent even in this relation and after sometime --it is pax romana...nothing particularly right or wrong about it..

And love for the offspring is pronounced in parents.. but it cannot be denied that social compulsions also play a role in that too...

But as the children grow up and grow their own wings, the same amount of love cannot be expected to be returned..

In fact, the gesture of caring for old parents comes more from social rules rather than love or even gratitude.. This is natural.

No one need blamed for that..

Each one has a role to play and once he leaves the stage, limelight will not follow him.. But the conflict arises because the characters who should exit and wash off the makeup, are trying to sing and dance, and hindering the new players whose term has already come..

Things will be more clear if we can see the issue from the perspective of both the players..

Our judgment gets clouded when we empathise with one person or point of view in preference to the other party to the transaction and the latter's state of mind...

The biological aspects of love are more real, and love would remain strong to bond the persons concerned as long as that aspect endures.. The other aspects of love, like idealistic, social, spiritual, etc have really no such strong legs to stand...

Let us be realistic..

It is not commerce, it is camaraderie..

We had merchants or vendors visiting the households with their merchandise.. even the Legendary Kabuliwallah of Tagore was of that genre...

These people were not just merchants, they were friends and harbingers of a lot of tidings from one place to another...

In fact some such vendors used to visit each house of their customers on some fixed days whether there was any purchase or not..

There was credit, there was ever barter, and of course friendly bargain, and our womenfolk would give them refreshments, and even though there would be noisy bargain and bickering, they were often paid more than the worth of the merchandise..

The value of the social interaction with such vendors and hawkers was the key element..

In the famous Valli thirumanan..(வள்ளித்திருமணம்) drama in Tamil, the hero, Lord Murugan visits Valli the heroine in the guise of a vendor of bangles..

The vegetable vendors were a hearty sight in the mornings in the agraharams..

Now the tribe has dwindled almost to nil..

But we still have some groceries-provision-tinklet shops in our villages..and we patronize them fully knowing that if we cross a highway and walk a few metres, we would find department stores, and we can place retail orders over telephone or mobile phones..

It is the slow and friendly vibes that count for old-timers..

It is not commerce, it is camaraderie..

It is a slice of life..

Our own words can kill us..A story...

Our own words can kill us..A story...


I am reminded of a situation in the first Chapter of Devi Mahatmyam.(of Markandeya Puranam).

The Lord Vishnu was having his yogic sleep atop his cozy bed of Sesha the Snake floating in the Vast ocean covering the earth.deluged in the waters of deluge or Pralayam.

There came out of his ear wax two demons Madhu and Kaitabha.. and they started attacking Brahmadeva immediately..

Unable to resist, the four headed Creator entreated with Yogamaya Thamasi, , to rouse the sleeping Lord..

and Vishnu was woken up from His sleep and He fought with the demons for centuries with no success on either side ..
Then Devi entered the demons" mind as delusion or arrogance and prompted them to tell Vishnu that they were pleased with the way he and fought with them and so they would give him any boon He, the Vishnu, wanted...

The Lord, was very practical and did not resent the arrogance of the two demons..

He requested the He be granted the boon of the ability to kill those two fellows themselves..

The two demons were trapped.. bound by their own words, they granted the boons..

They just clamped only one condition.. Seeing the whole world covered with water they thought it would be impossible for the Lord to kill them in a place where there was not water and so they demanded themselves to be slain where no water was..

The Lord agreed and them simply caught hold of them, put them on his spacious laps and severed their heads with the Sudarsana Discus..

So Madhu and Kaitabha were actually killed by the words of their own mouth, uttered without thinking..

Silence

Silence



I have listened in utter silence to my plants talking, telling their experience of Ecstasy when a new flower of a fruit shows or a new leaf or tendril dances, when the flowers talk in their most flirty undertones to the visiting bees, and the same plants crying silently when some leaf or branch is broken by a careless hand of a man or a beast, and seen them groaning in silent hunger and thirst, when even for a day I fail to tend for them.

I talk in silence to printed words, and can see the cries of joy as well as the screams of agony of the characters in them, the heroes, heroines, the villains as also the authors, and when the pages are treated with in a soothing caress and are devoured by the eyes with affectionate expectation and adulation. we can feel the happiness that is experienced by the book too ..surely in silence . And when we throw away a volume carelessly and its beauty gets mutilated I can hear the book cry silently and I cannot hold back my tears.


When I am happy, my Krishna comes to me from where I do not know and tickles me and make me laugh like a mad fellow.. that too silently

And when my heart aches, my feelings and emotions are ruffled and I am burning inside all over... I just ask the fellow Krishna why it is so painful..
And then comes silent but sweet words to soothe me, soft, tender and dexterous but unseen hands .caress my wounded body and the heart, and it is all silence...
But in Silence that fellow works..

Maybe He can hide everything but a tiny piece of peacock feather fallen from his hair would betray his presence..
No wonder, as small children, we used to keep the pieces of Mayilpeeli.. (peacock feather) secretly between the pages of our books..

We knew for sure as children that its owner will visit it.. and He was welcome..

As we grew up the peacock feather and its owner both because nothing to us.. most of us..
But we are still everything to Him.

Krishna I love you

समन्दहसितेक्षणां .

Samandahasitekshanaam.
 समन्दहसितेक्षणां ..
smiling  through the eyes 
This is an epithet for the Divine Mother  from Mahatripurasundari Ashtakam.. a great hymn of profound and hidden meanings to Vidyopasakas..  
They see secret string of letters and meanings.

But the poetic meaning for us  is that the mother.... and the mother who is the embodiment of beauty, compassion and grace. can alone  have that expression..
is giving a bewitching smile through her eyes.. 

We see people smile using their mouth, with teeth or without teeth, or with made up teeth,smile with a sense of commiseration or even smirk.. some toothy smiles are beautiful. some can be quite irritating... 

But this lady, our Mother, when Her eyes fall on any of Her children, is  so blissfully happy that the process of showing happiness starts even without the impulse or signal travelling the short distance from the eyes to the lips. 

Just think of Her love for Us..The hymn is famed as having been penned by Adhishankara Himself.

Vishvam Vishnur...

Maybe it is only a story...if you ask where it is found, in which purana, which chapter, which slokam.. No answer.

We know AdiShakarabhagavatPadaa wrote a commentary on Vishnusahasranamam.. Judging by the clear attachment of Shankara for the smartha way of life, this is an enigma.

There is a story abot it..

One day the Acharya was planning to compose a commentary on Lalitha Sahasranamam.. He asked his disciple Sureshwarachary to fetch the palm-leaves containing the text of Lalithasahasranamam from the inside of the Mutt..
The disciple went inside and brought a bundle of palm-leaves and to his surprise it was Vishnusahstranamam..
The Acharya pointed out the mistake and sent the disciple to fetch the correct text.

This time when the disciple went in he saw a cute girl of eight years red in colour and clad in red and this girl handed over a bundle of palm-leaves saying this that must be the book the Guru was searching for..

Dutifully Sureshwaracharya took the bundle, and when Acharyaswamikal opened it it was found that Vishnusahasranamam alone has been brought once again ..

The Guru asked the disciple as to why the wrong text was brought once again.

And Sureshwara replied that a small girl child was standing inside the mutt and had given him this text and insisted that it should be taken to the Guru ..

The acharya could not understand what was happening.

." A young girl in our mutt?.".

So the Master went in to verify what was happening, with Sureshwara following closely.. He saw the Girl of the hue of Sindooraaruna, clad in dark red dress, and she was telling.
" You describe the names of my brother, I am pleased to hear that more than mine.."

It was Gauri Lalithamahatripurasundari, instructing Shankara.. He prostrated at Her lotus feet and started explaining Vishnusahasranamam..

The great Bhagavatha exponent and Tapaswi , Brahmasri Sengalipuram Anantharama Deeskhitar has narrated this story in many of his discourses..

Depletion of Personal Power of Penance.

Depletion of Personal Power of Penance..

अपमानात्तपोवृद्धिः सन्मानात्तपसः क्षयः।

अर्चितः पूजितो विप्रो दुग्धा गौरिव सीदति॥

आप्यायते यथाहस्तु तृणैरमृतसंभवैः।

एवं जपैश्च होमैश्च पुनराप्याते द्विजः॥

॥आपस्तंबः॥

apamānāttapovṛddhiḥ sanmānāttapasaḥ kṣayaḥ|

arcitaḥ pūjito vipro dugdhā gauriva sīdati||

āpyāyate yathāhastu tṛṇairamṛtasaṁbhavaiḥ|

evaṁ japaiśca homaiśca punarāpyāte dvijaḥ||

|'apastaṁbaḥ||

Some of my friends had raised a query whether a person having divine and spiritual powers will have those powers reduced or depleted if he blesses others and passes his spiritual power in that process.

A quote from the Dharmsastra of Apastambha.

(the text is given above)

If the tapas(or penance) of a person is ignored or not taken note of by others, the power continues to increase..

If the powers are noticed by others and the person is respected and worshiped for that reason the tapas or the power of penance gets depleted..

When a learned man is offered respects, his powers are actually taken away from him like a cow which is milched.

After receiving such worship, the learned man becomes almost powerless..

This is similar to what happens to a cow. When a cow is milched in the morning, it becomes weak.. but during the day the cow eats grass which is like amrutam or elixir for it and she becomes energetic again and her udders are filled with milk..

In the same way, the learned man regenerates his depleted power of penance by meditation, chanting of mantras and offering oblations to fire..

The quote from Apastambha is also seen in Bhaskara Raya's vyakhyanam of Lalitha Sahasranamam.. while explaining the meaning of the name 
"Viprapriyaa" विप्रप्रिया( Saubhagyabhaskara Bhaashyam)

love as we understand it...

love as we understand it...

Love is not related to reason, but is a twin brother of emotion.. And human mind is so muddled that a huge bundle of emotions and attitudes including prejudices, selfishness, desires of carnal nature and many such things are mixed with what is called love.. 

The opening portion of Devi Mahatyam is an eye opener..

A king named Suratha, driven away from his kingdom by his enemies, takes shelter in the hermitage of a Rishi called Medhas.. 

In a conversation with the sage, the King says that the attachment to one's family, wealth and even the objects of enjoyment which used to be his, binds him too much and human being with superior knowledge and instincts act the same way as the birds and animals with not so much of such knowledge..

The sage replies that all living beings have been provided with sufficient intelligence and survival modes, and humans are not much better..

The sage further says that when a bird is just coming out of its eggshells and is crying for food, the mother bird collects food in her own mouth without swallowing even though it is very hungry, but passes the food to the chick.. without any expectation.. and when the chick is grown enough to fend for itself, just drives it away, never expecting anything from it..

But human being usually love others with many strings attached and many expectations implied.. 

Usually we love others taking into account the benefits we might derive from them in the present or in the future..

Onnum Kaanaathe

Onnum Kaanaathe

While reading about the ingenuity of the pattars (the Tamilspeaking brahmins settled in Kerala a few centuries ago), I am reminded of an old joke going the rounds in Palakkad. 

Once upon a time, there was a huge flood in Palakkad and the Kalpathy river was running amok,covering and inundating the banks and carrying uprooted trees, and huts and hapless domestic animals in its onward torrential course .

Hundreds of people were watching with fear and anxiety the flow of the river standing along one of the comparatively safer banks. 

Suddenly a middle-aged pattar was seen jumping into the running waters.

Everyone was shouting, " Sami, what are you doing? If you wanted to die, there are easier methods. Was this necessary?" 

People were closing their eyes tightly expecting a big tragedy.

A few minutes passed. 

Nothing was seen of the Pattar.

Then, lo and behold, the pattar was swimming back enthusiastically, with consummate deftness, and was catching up with the river-bank. And, he was holding fast to a big bunch of coconuts which he had secured from one of the uprooted trees which were being carried away by the torrential flood. 

When the pattar reached the banks, everyone was remarking, 

" Onnum Kaanaathe pattar vellathil chadilla"(ഒന്നും കാണാതെ പട്ടര്‍ വെള്ളത്തില്‍ ചാടില്ല) meaning the Pattar would not have jumped into the waters if he did not see any material benefit. 

This is your pattar for you

a very sensible prayer

a very sensible prayer

Someone asked whether there was any prayer to be made Young persons in order to attain a suitable wife..

I found one straight but very potent prayer in the Argala Stotram, chanted as a prelude to chanting Devi mahatymam (Saptashati Chandi from Markandeya Puranam).

I find only one slokam from Argala Stotram in the poorvanga of Devi Mahatmyam...

പത്നീം മനോരമാം ദേഹിമനോവൃത്താനുസാരിണീം

താരിണീം ദുര്ഗ്ഗസംസാര സാഗരസ്യ കുലോദ്ഭവാം (അര്‍ഗ്ഗളാ സ്തോത്രം 26)

पत्नीं मनोरमां देहि मनोवृत्तानुकारिनीं 

तारिणीं दुर्गसंसार सागरस्य कुलोद्भवाम्

Patneem manoramaa dehi manovrutthaanukaarineem

tharineem dugasamsaara saagarasya kulodbhavaam

It is a prayer to Mother Mahaatripurasunadari

May Your Merciful Grace be pleased to bless me with a wife who is pleasing to the mind, who would conduct herself in sync with the yearning of my mind, who will be successful in ferrying me across the ocean of life which is indeed very difficult to cross, and who is born in a decent family.

(Since it is a mantra from tantric text, it will have many hidden meanings.. and that is for Vidyopaasakaas.. This is one of the fifteen chants prescribed from Devimahatmyam .. all of which can bring great results to sincere devotees.)

I love social media, just because, I could read a lot here..

For a compulsive or a rather obsessive reader like me, the web and the social media are real boons.. 

Reading just for the love of words, reading for enjoyment, reading with affection.... that is an experience without match for an lover of words..

Reading in any language one knows, reading anything from poetry to pulp fiction, would give some sense of purpose to life, which can be too drab otherwise..

I remember reading from pieces of newspaper coming as packing material to grocery.. I remember reading cinema notices and song books.. half a century ago, and reaching blind alleys not being able to understand all that is written.. Still it was an experience..

But as the reading progresses, the music of the language, the rhythm of the grammar, just grows inside us.. When there is a wrong usage, a faulty spelling, a gruff word,...we just get uneasy, often very angry.. We may even blurt out something rather undiplomatic.. and it can be mistaken as arrogance.. It is the love of the language, love of rhythm that prompts us to cry out and not the persona of the author.. But that is never accepted that way

A lover of words, by his very nature, cannot keep quiet, especially when the language is mutilated.. Can one keep his calm when his sibling, friend or child is receiving bleeding gashes on their faces from the sharp fingernails of some naughty and inconsiderate peer?

I love social media, just because, I could read a lot here..

reaching God through Music...

reaching God through Music...

वीणावादन तत्त्वज्ञः स्वरशास्त्रविशारदः

ताळज्ञश्च अप्रयत्नेन परं ब्रह्माधिगच्छति

വീണാ വാദന തത്വജ്ഞ: സ്വരശാസ്ത്ര വിശാരദ: 

താളജ്ഞശ്ച അപ്രയത്നേന പരം ബ്രഹ്മാധിഗച്ഛതി

veenaavaadhana tattwajnaH swarashaastra vishaaradaH 

taalajnasya aprayatnena param brahaamdhigachati 

yaajnavalkya smriti... യാജ്ഞവല്ക്യസ്മൃതി याज्ञवल्क्यस्मृति

A persons who has completely mastered the art of playing the Veena, a person who is an expert in the science of swaraas, and and who is having pure sense of taala.... He reaches the Ultimate, Brahmam without any effort.

protect us Durga Maa..

protect us Durga Maa.. 

शूलेन पाहि नो देवी पाहि खड्गेन चाम्बिके 

घण्डास्वनेन नः पाहि चापज्यानिःस्वनेन च॥२४॥ 

प्राच्यां रक्ष प्रतीच्यां च चण्डिके रक्ष दक्षिणे 

भ्रामणेनात्मशूलस्य उत्तरस्यां तथेश्वरि॥२५॥ 

सौम्यानि यानि रूपाणि त्रैलोक्ये विचरन्ति ते 

यानि चात्यन्तघोराणि तैरक्षांस्मांस्तथा भुवम्॥२६॥ 

घड्गशूलगदादीनि यानि चास्त्राणि तेऽम्बिके 

करपल्लवसङ्गीनि तैरस्मान् रक्ष सर्वतः॥२७॥ 

॥देवीमाहत्म्ये चतुर्थे अध्याये॥ 

śūlena pāhi no devī pāhi khaḍgena cāmbike 

khaṇḍāsvanena naḥ pāhi cāpajyāniḥsvanena ca ||24|| 

prācyāṁ rakṣa pratīcyāṁ ca caṇḍike rakṣa dakṣiṇe 

bhrāmaṇenātmaśūlasya uttarasyāṁ tatheśvari||25|| 

saumyāni yāni rūpāṇi trailokye vicaranti te 

yāni cātyantaghorāṇi tairakṣāṁsmāṁstathā bhuvam||26|| 

ghaḍgaśūlagadādīni yāni cāstrāṇi te'mbike 

karapallavasaṅgīni tairasmān rakṣa sarvataḥ||27|| 

||devīmāhatmye caturthe adhyāye|| 

Mother Ambika, protect me with your trident, protect me with your sword, protect me with the chime of your bells, protect me with the twang of your bowstring when it connects to the arrow. 

Protect me Mother Chandika, in the Eastern Directions, protect me in the western direction too, protect me in the South and protect me by the swirl of your trident in the northern direction. 

Mother, protect me and the earth too, manifesting yourself and going around the three worlds in your peaceful forms, and your grotesque and fearsome forms too. 

Ambika, may you protect us everywhere with all the weapons that are held by your hands which resemble tender leaves--weapons like swords, spears and maces.

Nostalgia

Nostalgia

Nostalgia has become a habit, especially in social media..

Nothing basically wrong in feeling good about what it used to be, years ago..

But trying to superimpose those experiences on the current moment is just inflicting misery..at least on others.

To remember a nursery rhyme I sang at the age of six with warmth is indeed pleasing( for myself, definitely), and maybe, if I mention that to a few close friends just once, it may produce the same warmth, (almost)...

But if I repeat it at sixty, dancing, singing and making actions, over and over, 

I may be able to enjoy it,

But what about my family and friends and the world at large?

statement on oath

statement on oath

A most respected and beloved friend of mine had given his views on the solemn Oath taken in the name of God, in the name of own mother and such great things.. He trusts that such solemn promises may not be broken

But, the average human being, in my view' would make any oath in the name of almost anything to save a situation and also to steal the limelight too in that process..

We see that phenomenon in action even among our most popular leaders be it politicians, statesmen, gurus, saints, savants, and self proclaimed prophets...

But in law, statements on oath or solemn affirmation are important mainly because such oaths and affirmations have been made legally binding.. My views on that

“Statements given on oath or solemn affirmation before courts or competent authorities, have enforceable value.. if what is stated on oath or solemn affirmation before such authorities is proved untrue or even found to be factually wrong or distorted, the deponent or the testator can be punished with fines or imprisonment as provided by law.. There are some statutes or rules regarding oaths in every judicial system.. We have one such law in India.. So the system works..

But the other proposition that we are afraid of Gods anger, or the consequences that may visit others because of our oath etc, can be of value only to truthful and nice people.. and for truthful and good people, no oath is necessary..”