definition of God is only inclusive.

definition of God is only inclusive.

---------------------------------------------

AllaH (may He ever be praised) is not a Muslim and

Balaji is not a Hindu..

Jesus is not a Christian

They all represent the timeless, limitless Supreme power.. 

and 

we Trust they shower infinite mercy on all of us too..

The names attributed to that Supreme Being vary only because of differences in languages and dialects..

Ekam sat vipraaH bahudaa vadanti 

एकं सद्विप्रा बहुधा वदन्ति

ஏகம் ஸத் விப்ரா பஹுதா வதந்தி

If you try to read Shatarudreeyam which is also called Sri Rudram and is appearing as a part of Yajurvedam, what you would find is that the devotee knows that the Lord is present, controls and is the master of whatever one could perceive.. so we just go on calling him the lord of this, lord of that and so on..

But any definition of God is only inclusive... 

We can say God is man too, 

God is monkey too, 

God is the King too, 

God is the priest too.

.God is the thief too, 

God is the tree too.. and so on...

But God is all that and infinite objects and things more..

I do not know whether the followers of Islam of Christianity would accept it if I pray to Allah or the Holy father and Jesus in the same manner as to Krishna, 

but my faith does not prohibit me from doing that..

Mend your ways or choose to perish

the earth is our mother.. mother of each living being..

and everything on earth has a right to our love and care.. not only fellow humans, the entire flora and fauna should be dear to us.. Every speck on soil on this planet is sacred..
True, nature has deemed it fit that we cannot exist or sustain our lives without making the mother's lap dirty.. We breathe in Oxygen and give out Carbon-dioxide.. We consume fine food and give back dirt.. But these are inevitable,, and in her abundance of love for her children, mother earth has already found ways and means to recycle out toxic products and restore the balance.


But as we progress in our race for greater comforts, we are creating more and more waste, that too more durable and persistent waste which nature cannot recycle..
There we are making our mother sick, and in turn, we are inviting maladies and final annihilation for us as a race and biological species..

We have to think.. not only think, we have to act, we have to strive to correct ourselves..

The slogan is

Mend your ways or choose to perish

new year resolution by Kanfusion

It is nothing new..
But my new year resolution is to control and if possible kill the imp and the cynic in me... before the combination kills me..

I confess I have attempted it many times but somehow the urge to point out others mistakes and shortcomings and to pass comments ranging from those which are openly hostile and therefore hurting to apparently sweet but venomous and again hurting, has been my habit.. and idle mind amply provided by retirement has in fact run the workshop whose owner the devil and which has been taken on a cheap lease by me and is churning out lots and lots vitriol.. It has to be stopped.
All, and each one, has the right to express his own views, in his own style and the only golden rule is that he should not cause hurt to others..


No one is appointed as a social reformer ex-officio, nor as a social critic even if you are retired, and you have nothing else to do.

Kanfusion, learn not to poke your nose in the direction of stinking gas, and never try to sneeze to spread virus..

God help Kanfusion.

Honesty

Honesty is something like a homeopathic pill.. Coated with or mixed with sugar, it can be quite a winner..

Two astrologers were examining the horoscope of the yuvaraja ( heir apparent) of kingdom.. in the presence of the powerful and ferocious king.. Both could see that the prince's longevity was under threat.. and could foresee that he would pre-decease his father..

The first astrologer was candid and confessed the fact without mincing words.. And the sword of the king moved like a lighting and the severed head of the astrologer touched the ground with a thud and rolled over.


The second astrologer also saw the same thing in the charts of the prince, but he also saw the head of his professional colleague rolling over the carpet like a football.

He made his prediction.." Your majesty, I read from the position of the starts that your Royal Highness will have a very long life.. And I have the happy tiding to submit that His Majesty will have the great fortune to anoint his grandson as the Yuvaraja.."

His Majesty was pleased beyond all limits, and the astrologer was flooded with presents.

For once, the King did not realize that his grandson would become the heir apparent only if his son left before the king himself..

Therefore it is evident that sugar-coating works wonders..

But I do not know about diabetics..

I am a diabetic and I have started hating sugar and sugar-coating too..

bare bust

my senior friend and mentor Siva mama was writing about moving about the street with bare body...

I galloped on the horseback of my imagination in the reverse direction. 

Even today I present myself in the agraharam with open upper torso.. After bath and sandhyavandhanam, I walk upto the Ganapathy temple nearby, with a dhothi and an angavastram tied round the hip, the face and body adorned only in Vibhooti, painted all over like perhaps the stripes in the body of a tiger..and with a three into three poonal.. 

But most of us in our agraharam do that even these days

I am remembering about my childhood.. No dress of any kind up to about three years.. Running along the streets in birthday clothes was natural for small boys. No one saw anything amiss.. Girls of that age might wear some sort of gown. 

Then we get introduced to what is called Valli. or slinged trousers or knickers.. Two cylinders of clothes of any size stiched together and two long tapes of clothes attched to the two cylinders... the cylindrical part to be slipped in with the legs and the tapes to be adjusted on the shoulders.. and sometimes there will be an opening in the front portion of the two cylinders meeting in the front, and some cloth button and a hole to secure it would be provided.. We would slip into the trousers and run along the streets, often forgetting to close the "Post Office" and some strict eyes would catch us an give warning that if the post office is not closed, the crow will take away the contents..

Then when we reach third or fourth standard, the Valli of the Knicker would be an embarrassment.. So the bands would be removed, and the knicker would be secured around the hip with aranakkayaru, or even poonal.. 

Every boy would have one or two shirts, to be used only if they are to go to school, or if they are going outside the boundary of the village..

In our Sekharipuram.. there was one tailor, whom we called Thaadi.. because he sported a long white beard (his name was subramanian pillai, I came to know much later) and his trouser measurement for all would be the same.. So also the shirts..If anyone complains, Thaadi will say that the boy is growing.. so it is always good to make big shirts and trousers.. The whole material would be coarse cotton..;Black, Brown or Blue for trouser and relatively less coarse white or striped cloth for shirts.

The boys would beg Thaadi to provide two big pockets to the trouser. and additional ones if possible (the second request would be refused). |

they can store ghotti(marbles), pambaram(tops), nellikkai(Amla berries), small mangoes, some eatables.. all in these pockets..

And one boy just picking the sumptuously filled pocket of another was a usual incident. 

This would lead to quarrels and fist fights.. 

But quarrels would be settled between friends.. If the complaints reach any elders, both will get only some slaps in the buttocks.. and to give slaps, the elders need not be your parents.. any mama or mami, anna or akka of the village will do that and there will be no issue.. 

I remember I started wearing shirts on a regular basis only when I was eighteen or nineteen and wore a pair of chappals and pants when I appeared for interview as an Inspector of Income-tax..

The context of VishnuSahasranamam in Bharatham

The context of VishnuSahasranamam in Bharatham is like this.

Bheeshma Pitamaha is defeated and covered all over his body by the arrows sent by Arjuna in the war and he is just lying in the battlefield in a bed of arrows awaiting death.. because he has the power to choose the time of death, and he wants to leave his mortal body when Uttarayanam starts..

Meanwhile the Pandavas win the battle, Yudhistira becomes king.. Krishna is present to assist in establishing the Pandavas securely in the throne. In spite of many discussions with Krishna and others, all feel that the final authority in law, politics and Dharma is Bheeshma alone, and so the King, accompanied by his brothers and also the Blessed Lord Krishna, pay a visit to the dying Patriarch Bheeshma, and the Grand old man willingly shares all his knowledge with the Emperor that too in the presence of the Eternal Being Krishna standing there is great reverence to the elderly warrior.
After discussing statecraft and law, the discussion turns to the means available for human beings to attain welfare in the earthly life as well as life of eternity thereafter..
Bheeshma lists the most important thousand names of Lord Narayana,, present before Him as Krishna the son of Devaki, and declares that chanting or contemplating on these thousand names is the ultimate for a human being in spiritual and temporal life..
The greatness of the mantra is that the dying old man is stating with ultimate faith and authenticity about the glory of the Supreme being, who just stands before him like an obedient child and listens..
And Bheeshma does not fail to deliver the final punch..."रथाङ्गपाणिरक्षोभ्यःसर्वप्रहरणायुधः rathaangapaanir akshobhyaH sarvapraharanaayuthaH --the man who wears the wheel of a chariot ready to strike...
Yes, Krishna has promised that He would never wield a weapon for strike in the Bharatha war, and Bheeshma was keen that the lord should be forced to wield the weapon..
In a fierce battle with Arjuna, where Krishna was the Charioteer, Bheeshma would disarm Arjuna and force Krishna to charge ahead with the wheel of a chariot in hand to attack Bheeshma and protect Arjuna.. and Bheesma withdraws at that moment in deference to the Blessed Lord Krishna..


In fact, it was just because Krishna wanted to admit defeat and break a promise for the sake of a pure devotee that such a thing happened..

It was the zenith of glory for Bheeshma and the old man concluded the Vishnusahasranamam, calling Krishna as the one who wielded the chariot wheel in battle, breaking a promise.

chanting Vishnu Sahasranamam

One mantram on which I have thorough and absolute initiation is Sri Vishnu Sahasranamam..

I can call five persons as my Guru..

Some boys of our agraharam, below the age ten, would be chased by three old men all in their seventies, and forced to sit in the praakaaram after the Garuda Mandapam of our Sekharipuram Lakshminarayanaswamy temple at 6-30 in the evening after the first Deeparadhana and we would be asked to accompany the elders in chanting Sahasranamam..

One was a Swaminatha Mama, One my own maternal Grandfather and another equally respected thatha.. whose name I am not able to recollect now, but his pious and simple form lingers before my eyes.

Then there will the Perumal and His Madam and Garuda Azhvar also listening..

(the Divine Couple Lakminarayana, Garuda Azhwar and the three elderly thathas were my five gurus)

If there are two dozen boys loitering in the street running around two or three would be caught, asked to wash legs and face, wear Vibhoothi and sit with the elders..

Initially, it was a torture and I could not utter any name properly..

But within a few days, the beauty of the names with its rhythm and sacredness percolated gradually into my mind..

So it is almost for sixty two years that I am under the spell of Vishvam Vishnur Vashatakaaro...

Someone who did not understand Vishnusahasranamam and its beauty was asking me the other day while I was chanting..

"After Wishing someone, and shouting at someone, you start calling bhoothams.. Are you trying to do some black magic?"

विश्वं विष्णुर् वषट् कारो भूत भव्य भवत् प्रभुः भूत कृत भूतभृत भावो भूतात्मा भ्प भूत भावनः पूतात्रमा पमात्मा च ... so many bhoothams ?

I can only reply..

एको विष्णुर् महत् भूतं पृथक् भूतानि अनेकशः त्रीन लोकान् व्याप्य भूतात्मा भुङ्ग्ते विश्वभुक् अव्ययः

Krishna the Vishnu is the Bhootham of immense dimensions, imposing size, that has encompassed all the other Bhoothams or beings of all variety, has spread over the entire Universe, and standing there is witnessing and enjoying everything.

स भूमिम् विश्वतो वृत्वा अत्यतिष्टत् दशाङ्गुलं.

Love you Sweet Krishna

Trust in Divine actions and its complete propriety and fairness

There cannot be  dilly dallying  in  matters  of  faith in God..

We have just to have Trust in Divine actions and its complete propriety and fairness and  avoid attempts to  analyse and pass facile judgments..

We have too little knowledge or experience to pronounce our judgments on divine actions like causing birth or death.

When that Master is organising the affairs of innumerable beings in a canvas spanning over the  infinite space and time , our judgment of an action as right or wrong or fair or unfair can be completely faulty..
We have to remember that  sitting in a limited environs of vision with all bias.. some of which nature has endowed us with and some of which we have developed for ourselves..   our span of vision is pathetically narrow
and we cannot attain much accuracy sitting in such a rat-hole..

If we think god is unfair, then our judgment of Him is million times more unfair..

If we try to revisit  ancient lore or scripture or history,  we can find that destruction, whether timely or untimely according to us, has happened  to many good, bad, not so good, and utterly bad persons.

The scenario repeats till date .
We cannot really pass our judgement as to why those things happened..

Further ,  God has given us little degrees of freedom..

We can use iron to make a knife to cut vegetable or to make plough-head to till and cultivate land, and also to make swords, guns and bombs.. If we preferred weapons of destruction  God cannot be faulted for that.

The same nitrogen nurtures plants and forms part of dynamite which inundates people and persons and god has given us freedom to make either dynamite or fertilizer.

and strangely TNT also can be used to keep check clots in blood..

The cruel human being just sows and reaps destruction within the small extent of free will given..
Why should we  bring in  God to this issue..
Why blame Him?

Death of Abhimanyu in Bharatham  at such a tender age is a glaring example when God refused to move a finger against destiny..
The boy was his disciple, his nephew, his own son in law, and so many things to Krishna the person..
Still Abhimanyu  had to face  death

Order should be the  first priority , and exceptions rare..

man and his monkey

A man and his monkey were walking along a village road, the man carrying a stick in addition.. 

The man saw a round waste can lying waste at the centre of the road..

He just brandished the stick cricketer-style and hit the can, and it flew a long way, if not for a sixer. 

The monkey was watching with interest.. 

They were walking on. 

The man left the monkey and the stick too in the middle of the road and walked to the side to ease himself.. 

There was a potter's house where mud pots were being made, burned in the oven and stacked in a big row one pot upon the other.. 

The monkey remembered his master's earlier flourish with a round can and though of the round mud pots too.. He rightly presumed that the time was ripe for the cricketing contact between the pots and the stick and choosing the pot in the lowest row as his ball, and put the presumption into action..

The result is history..

Broken pots, the vanishing monkey, the bolting owner of the pot, the shouting potter and finally the stick lying silently on the roadside, and of course the broken heart of the potter

A good lesson to support swacchatha activists.. No one should leave trash in the middle of the road.. And none should retire to the roadside to ease himself..

SASTHA PREETHI CELEBRATION Sekharipuram Agraharam

POORNA PUSHKALAMBA SAMETHA SRIHARIHARAPUTHRA SWAMINE NAMAHA

SASTHA PREETHI CELEBRATION

Sekharipuram Agraharam

Dear Devotees

With the blessings of Lord Sri Harihara Puthra Swamy with his consorts Poorna Pushkalamba the specific annual Glorification, termed as the HOLY SASTHA PREETHI is scheduled to be performed on Saturday 3rd January 2015 at the village Shrine with all religious devotional fervour.The programme is briefed hereunder.

                                                                              PROGRAMME

03/01/2015

5 A.M                                                                    : Ganapathy Homam

7.30 A.M                                                              : Mahanyasa jabam and Rudrabhishekam

12 Noon                                                               : Maha Neivedyam,Maha Deeparadhana and                                                                                                  Annadhanam

6.30 P.M                                                              : Sandhya Deeparadhana

7.00 P.M                                                              : Rudhra Kramarchana

7.30 P.M                                                              : Maha Deeparadhana, Prasadaviniyogam

In full recognition of the very sincere efforts of the villagers in the conduct of all temple events befitting the occasions,closely monitoring the quality and cost aspects as well, the ever responseful devotees and well wishers are requested to avail of this holy opportunity to render their best of assistance including their personal participation for the grand successful conduct of this AUSPICIOUS SACRED SASTHA PREETHI.

MAY LORD SRI HARIHARA PUTHRA SWAMY SHOWER HIS KIND BLESSINGS ON ONE AND ALL.

                                                                                                                                SAFCO

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The remittances may kindly be forwarded to:

The Treasurer,Sekharipuram Agraharam Festival Committee,Sekharipuram Palakkad 678010 Kerala.

Remittances may also be routed through our bank account 1166101021046 CANARA BANK KALPATHY PALAKKAD 678003 IFSC : CNRB0001166.

Kindly intimate us by E mail to our Email id sekheripuram@gmail.com the UTR no, your postal address to enable us to send the Holy Prasadam

Note: The following festivals are going to take place in our village during January 2015:

1. 01/01/2015                                                     : Vaikunda ekadasi at SRI LAKSHMI NARAYANA                                                                                                               SWAMY TEMPLE

2. 04/01/2015                                                     :Annual Vazhipadu at EMOOR BHAGAVATHY                                                                                                    TEMPLE

3. 05/01/2015                                                     : Aadra Darsanam at SRI SIVA TEMPLE.

2015 Annual car festival at SRI LAKSHMINARAYANA SWAMY TEMPLE is scheduled to start either on 1st or 2d may 2015.

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..”

study in contrast..

study in contrast..

The most beautiful woman, yes, the beauty of thousand Rathis bundled into one girl, (सहस्ररती सौन्दर्या) the daughter of the Landlord of all Gods(Himavan), the owner of all valuable gems and precious metals, 

just married a fellow who did not have clothes to wear and so adorned himself with the skin of an elephant he killed. having no garlands, tied snakes around His neck, and tied his matted locks with some more snakes, and the matted hair was so solid with dirt that when a whole river fell on it with all its vigour, the whole Ganga was absorbed and no water came out...

She rode a fierce Lion while 

He transported Himself on an elderly bull..

Still Uma and Shankara are the most successful and everlasting couple..

What a compatibility!

Kalidasa explained this.. in Kumarasambhavam..

अकिञ्चनःसन प्रभवःस सम्पदां थ्रिलोकनाथःपित्रुसद्मगोचरः

सःभीमरूपःशिवःइत्युदीर्यते न सन्ति याथार्थ्यविदः पिनकनः

He is penniless, but he can bless anyone with all the riches anywhere,.. he is the source of all wealth... 

He is the master of the Universe but He does not know who His parents are or where he originally resided,,

He looks grotesque, in body and also in attire, but we call Him Shiva the calm and attractive one.. 

Indeed no one knows who is really this Master who wields the bow Pinaka.. that Shankara

In Devimahatmyam, Shakthi in her Kausiki form (Chapter 5) says that she could woo asHer husband only the one who can control her arrogance and vanquish Her if there is a fight... 

Who else other than this blue necked, fellow with matted hair can ever manage that? 

Once this Lady got the urge to perform the dance of destruction,, and if She had done this on land, the whole universe would have gone smithereens..

Then this gentleman allowed her to dance on his Chest till her passion for dance was over, and He survived that too..

the ideal and the real....

the ideal and the real....

I had posted on Deepavali about the Sacrifice of a mother in killing her son Narakasura for the welfare of the society.. Someone raised a query as to whether all the living beings were the children of God, implying that there was nothing special in that Mother slaying Her son. 

My reply to that as a layman is as follows:-

But it is definitely very difficult and even a heartbreaking experience for a father or mother to mete out punishments on his own children... 

Secondly, we consider God as the father and mother of everyone just because he created or crafted us..

By the same argument, a pot is the child of a potter, a building is the child of a mason, a plant is the child of a farmer.. That is true only in a symbolic way..

But when a child is born out of the union of ones own cell with another, that makes a real difference.. Paradigms and raw truth are sometimes poles apart.. Of course, the story of Deepavali like this would make sense only if Naraka is considred as the child biologically born to Vishnu and Mother Earth..

There is a lot of difference between symbolic sayings and realities of life...

I may declare, I am brahman,, aham brahmaasmi..अहं ब्रह्मास्मि

But then in the normal course, my stomach will not be filled if the so called Brahmam eats..

I am a subscriber to the idea that we have two thinking planes..

One, the poetic, spiritual, and mythic... that would give a very pleasant mental sensation..

But there is the real and mundane thinking plane which is equally significant --.. where I scratch when the mosquito bites, run for life when a bull or buffalo chase me, swoon when I see blood, react sharply when someone berates me, feel the pangs of thirst, hunger, heat, cold etc..

That proves that I am present in the Terra Firma.. (the hard and firm earth)

So long as we live with this body, we cannot help   having at least one foot, and preferably both feet, anchored firmly on the ground.. 

Thanks.

Personally I do not believe in death or even ageing..

Personally I do not believe in death or even ageing..

Compared to the vast continuum of infinite magnitude that is time, the life of any being, be it thousand years or a few seconds, is just too trifle..

Maybe some chemical rearrangement of the One who possesses infinite wisdom-- that is our lifespan..

The concept stands proved to my mind judged by the very fact that the living beings or organisms of varied species, as also being born in the same species, posses different levels of fitness and knowledge even at the moment they are born or are introduced to this arena by that Master..

The different levels could have in all probability, stemmed out of the prior existence of the being in some other form..Hindus believe in rebirth...

Hinduism in general would appear to subscribe to the idea of some inherited Karma, inherited intelligence etc, and also the Karma and intelligence or knowledge acquired during the lifetime.. 

Some believe that we are given each life to live off and compensate for the bad Karmas.. or alternately good Karmas practiced by us in earlier lives..

And it is something like a balancing of centripetal and centrifugal forces that is keeping the beings in the orbit of Karma, and it is also believed that the Supreme Being of Infinite wisdom can, if It pleases to do so, give us some small push, which can provide us escape velocity from this cycle..cycle of birth and death, and the orbit of Karma --unto emancipation, which we call Moksha..

He is never born in reality, nor He is dying, He had no origin,

He is eternal.. goes on Gita describing the Atma, and in advaitam the life force inside us is nothing but that atma..or paramatma..

Na jayate mriyate vaa kadaachit.naayam bhootwa bhavitaa na bhooyaH ajo nityaH saashvatoyam purano, na hanyate hanyamane shareerey..

Sannyasam is only a state of mind.. the four Ashramas of Brahmacharya, Grihasta, Vanaprastha and Sannyasa are deviced by the Lawmakers to give some orderliness to life.

In Mahabharatham Bheeshma's seven elder brothers were thrown away into river Ganga even as they were born to Her by Ganga herself, almost for this reason

Shankara could graduate to sannyasam at the age of seven, without entering the other ashrams..

lesson from Kathopanishad

lesson from Kathopanishad 

I see the greatest lesson from Kathopanishad..as this . 

Those who fear death and bolt and hide and pray and try to cajole destiny to avoid the Yamaraja atop his black buffalo are chased and finished off with clinical precision well in time.. 

Nachiketa was an exception.. Just because he was offered as a present to Yama by his father in a fit of rage, he pursued Yama to the latter's abode, to find that Yama was on duty elsewhere.. 

And when Yama realizes when he returns home that he has kept his noble guest waiting for three days, it is the turn of the God of death to atone for the disrespect to the young but bold boy but also to send him back to live a full life.. 

See the irony.. the bold man with a sense of purpose and dedication could keep even the toughest taskmaster that was Yama on the defensive.. 

Death runs away from one who has come to offer himself to be taken by it.. 

Another lesson is that Yama was ready to offer all material wealth and comforts to the boy, but when it came to imparting of the most secretive knowledge about death, 

Yama tried to test the boy's mettle to the full by offering all the allurements which would have trapped any normal human being , and the knowledge was imparted only when the student was found to be absolutely free from temptations and completely fit to receive the knowledge.. 

So at the end of the day, determination, courage and sincerity triumph..