Musings 21

अर्जुन उवाच-

स्थाने हृषीकेश तव प्रकीर्त्या
जगत् प्रहृष्यत्यनुरज्यते च।
रक्षाम्सि भीतानि दिशोद्रवन्ति
सर्वे नमस्यन्ति च सिद्धसङ्घाः॥
भगवद्गीता ११- ३६

arjuna uvāca-
sthāne hṛṣīkeśa tava prakīrtyā
jagat prahṛṣyatyanurajyate ca|
rakṣāmsi bhītāni diśodravanti
sarve namasyanti ca siddhasaṅghāḥ||
bhagavadgītā 11- 36

11-36 of Bhagavat Gita
arjuna uvāca
sthāne hṛṣīkeśa tava prakīrtyā
jagat prahṛṣyaty anurajyate ca
rakṣāḿsi bhītāni diśo dravanti
sarve namasyanti ca siddha-sańghāḥ

Arjuna tells the Blessed Lord after having seen the glorious vishvaroopam

Krishna the Hrisheekesha, as is befitting to your glory, the whole universe is exhilarated by the praise of your greatness and all enjoy that too.. The evil beings like Rakshasas and others are running for escape in various directions. The divine beings like Siddhaas are all offering pranams to you

this sloka is being used as a mantram to ward off evil spirits.. the mantramm is called Gita Thrishtup..
The context of the Sloka is that when the Lord showed his universal form, the evil spirits are bolting.. True..
But Neither Vyasa, nor Krishna or Arjuna or anyone even intendent this statement by Arjuna to be used as a chant by sorcerors to exorcise evil spirit..
Now half a dozen of priests sit around fire and chant this mantram thousands an offer twigs, rice, clarified butter etc to fire and people around are delirious with bhakti and all..

One instance of disuse of the great philosophical text and misuse of the same at the hands of avaricious and showy sorecerors and priests..
This is just one instant..
This mantram now is a very effective tools with Jolsyars and Vadhyars..
Of course it is their profession.. let them earn..
But others have a right to know the facts..

Musings 20

at some stage in life a person should realize the fact that happiness and unhappiness, accomplishment or lack of it, all are just within himself.. 

and even the thought that he can be happy or unhappy because anyone else praises or decries him is meaningless..

We find people around us, people who praise, who heckle, people who praise within sight and who condemn us when we are away.. 

people who will be friendly when we are well off and would kick us when the chips are down..

and if happiness from external things are sought, such pleasures are limited to situations where the external thing can give such pleasure.. example.. a child is happy with his mother and her breast milk because he depends for his existence on them.. 

But when he advnces in age his priorities change.. That is nature..

If we have faith in God and believe that God who is the source of all that is great is residing inside us, then too we can be happy with ourselves.. 

But even for those who have no faith in God, the source of their happiness is just within them alone..

We need not pretend to be happy with others when we are not really so.. Because play acting would exhaust us, drain us out and would lead us to depression, in a small or big way..

But I am learning now one lesson in life.. 

One should Ignore sources of unhappiness.. 

it is not necessary to react and buy more unhappiness. 

Regarding some marriage rituals...

Regarding some marriage rituals...of tamil iyers..

I am sure Janavasam or whatever it is and Kashi yatra are not part of any vedic ritual. 

Mangalya dharamam is also a loukeeka ritual. it is not a vedic ritual.

In the Nambuthiri marriages it is the father of the bride who ties the thali. 

Thali represents just Mangala devata or Pratisara devata. 

And manalyam tandunaanena etc a much touted thali kattu mantram is not from any veda.

The kanyaka us the property of her fathers kulam and the groom has no authority to touch or even see the girl before the father or the representative of his kulam offers the kannyakadhanam. 

Now photos and videos with the groom and bride in compromising positions are made even at the time of betrothal..

But these are boisterous practices over which it is for society and community to ponder over and decide. 

The role of vadhyar as a professional is just to conduct the vedic and dharmic rituaĺs.

Of course any vadhyar is a part of brahmin community and that way he can express his views

Panigrahanam at any stage after kanyakadhanam would make sense but holding hands at the culmination of kasi yatra which precedes the dhanam is anacharam violative of scriptural provisions. .

the hands that touched Him..

अयं मे हस्तो भगवान् अयं मे भगवत्तरः अयं मे विश्वभेषजो अयं शिवाभिमर्शनः

ayam me hasto bhagavAn ayam me bhagavattaraH ayam me vishvbheSaja ayam shivAbhimarshanaH

this hand of mine is the all powerful God itself..

this hand of mine is even more that than the all powerful God .. bhagavan the provider all that is sublime

this hand of mine is the supreme medicine and elixir for all the universe.. 

this hand of mine is the one which has touched the supreme being that is called Shiva..

this is from Shri Rudram.. 

The person who worships the Lord with the supreme hymn of Namakam the Rudram concludes that his hand is blessed with the presence of that All Powerful consolidation of Energy that is named Shiva.. and therefore the hand of his who chants the name of Shiva itself becomes Bhagavan, the healer and protector of the universe.. 

Maybe if a devout chanter of the Name of the Lord Shiva places his hand on something with this solemn statement what he touches should turn sublime..

It is again an article of faith.

അയം മേ ഹസ്തോ ഭഗവാന്‍ അയം മേ ഭഗവത്തരഃ അയം മേ വിശ്വഭേഷജഃ അയം ശിവാഭിമർശനഃ 

എന്റെ ഈ കയ്യ്‌ ശിവന്റെ പൂജയില്‍ അവനെ സ്പര്‍ശിക്കുന്നു. അപ്പോള്‍ അത് അഷ്ടസിദ്ധിയും ഷഡ് ഗുണങ്ങളും എല്ലാം തികഞ്ഞ ഭഗവാന്‍ ആയി തീരുന്നു. ഏറ്റവും വിശിഷ്ടമായ ഭഗവത് ചൈതന്യം അതില്‍ പ്രസരിക്കുന്നു. അത് എല്ലാ രോഗങ്ങള്‍ക്കും വിഷമങ്ങള്‍ക്കും മരുന്നായി മാറുന്നു.. അമൃതനിഷ്യന്തി ആയിത്തീരുന്നു.

Musings 19

it is really very difficult to decide what is right and what is wrong

The decisions can be very subjective..
If I do something, or if someone who is close me does it, my first impression will be that it is right..

When the same thing is done by someone else, especially if that someone else does not have much of a mutual positive vibe with me,
my first impression will be that what he did not right.. not exactly right, or even patently wrong

We start our transactions, conversations, debates, all starting from the first impression... 

If the start itself if not definitely right, where can we find just and right solutions?

But there is one relief.. 

Human mind, be it yours or mine, has a rational side to it..

If one asks himself whether what he did does or will be doing will be right, and seek an answer from the mind and the brain.. keeping away the prejudices, preferences etc and keeping the general order and welfare as the aim, we will get the right answer.

Some may agree with such candid answers coming from inside and openly admit that in public and even make adjustments that could save the interests of all concerned..

But most of us are rather asinine and opinionated.. 

Our ego would force us to stick on to our prejudices even when the rational being within us would be prompting us to see reason

So, even if the process is rather difficult and vexatious,
let us have dialogues with our candid minds once in a while..
That can be the solution for many problems..

Another thing, when we see things and incidents at close proximity we are likely to act very passionately and impulsively..

We may even commit grave errors, get wounded and carry the scars for ever..

But if we look at the situation much later the hollowness and absurdity of our actions would be fully visible..

As boys two friends would have fought for a chocolate candy and in the fight, the candy would have fallen on the dust and both would have cried..

But the same two persons, say after a few decades, if they recalled the incident, would not be of despair, sadness or acrimony.. but they might at best have a good laugh..

I just wanted to mention that priorities in life change and it takes a lot of thinking and evaluation even to decide what really are our priorities.. 

We can even take a few hours or even few days to decide what are our real priorities.. 

and we can have periodical reviews too because nothing in life.. including priorities are static.. 

They are dynamic..

They change with time..

Anyway is it not better to have a clear roadmap when we start a journey?

I have to confess that I could not really understand my priorities and preferences in life even after a life of six decades..
I have blundered on

My resolve (at least I hope so) in the new year would be to understand, what my real priorities in life are, as on this day..

I wish all, including myself, a very happy and balanced new year..

Of course Krishna is there to look after all of us..

Krishnaya Thubyam namaH
कृष्णाय तुभ्यं नमः

think and be wise

प्रविचार्योत्तरं देयं सहसा न वदेत् क्वचित्।

शत्रोरपि गुणाः ग्राह्याः दोषास्त्यज्या गुरोरपि॥

नीतिसूक्तिः

pravicāryottaraṁ deyam sahasā na vadet kvacit|

śatrorapi guṇāḥ grāhyāḥ doṣāstyajyā gurorapi||

nītisūktiḥ

===============================

उत्तरं प्रविचार्य एव देयं answers should be given after deep thought and deliberation 

क्वचित् सहसा न वदेत् one should never speak impulsively and without thinking 

शत्रोः गुणाः अपि ग्राह्याः the virtues and good qualities of even an enemy should be accepted and adopted 

गुरोः अपि दोषाः त्याज्याः the bad qualities and vices, even the preceptors should be shunned and abandoned

===================================

One should never answer to a question or give his views on some issue without proper study and contemplation.

No opinions should be aired just on impulse or at the spur of the moment and without proper application of mind

One should not hesitate to accept and even adopt and assimilate any and all desirable qualities even if they are found in an enemy.

But bad qualities even if they are found in the preceptor or guru should be shunned and abandoned..

=================================

പ്രവിചാര്യോത്തരം ദേയം സഹസാ ന വദേത് ക്വചിത്।

ശത്രോരപി ഗുണാഃ ഗ്രാഹ്യാഃ ദോഷാസ്ത്യജ്യാ ഗുരോരപി॥

നീതിസൂക്തിഃ

ഒരു കാര്യത്തിന്റെ എല്ലാ വശവും നല്ലവണ്ണം  ആലോചിച്ചു മനസ്സിലാക്കിയ ശേഷമേ അതിനെക്കുറിച്ച് അഭിപ്രായം പറയാവൂ.. പെട്ടെന്ന് എടുത്തുചാടി ഒരു കാര്യത്തിലും മറുപടി പറയരുത്.
കൊടിയ ശത്ക്കരുളിലാണെങ്കില്‍ പോലും നല്ലത് കണ്ടാല്‍  അതു സ്വന്തം ജീവിതത്തിലും പകര്‍ത്താന്‍ മടിക്കരുത്.   പക്ഷെ ആരാധ്യനായ ഗുരുവാണെങ്കില്‍ പോലും, അദ്ദേഹം പോകുന്ന വഴി തെറ്റാണെങ്കില്‍, അദ്ദേഹത്തിന്റെ പ്രവര്‍ത്തികളില്‍ ദോഷങ്ങള്‍ കാണുകയാണെങ്കില്‍  ആ ദോഷം നിറഞ്ഞ മാര്‍ഗം പിന്തുടരരുത്. 

(നീതിസൂക്തി എന്ന  ശേഖരത്തില്‍ നിന്ന്.)

Musings 18

Rationality, reason.. everything just leaves me.. and only He can make it happen 

Yesterday, was just listening to some songs on that black naughty Krishna.. maadhava nee bhaa.... by bhimsen joshi, a couple of Ashtapadis from Balamuralikrishna 

.. 

No it is not just the cadence sweetness of the song or the lilting nature of the lyric.. maybe that would have soothed and made me happy..

But then, the feeling that that wonderful fellow must be just running around, playing, singing and dancing all the time.. ever happy and ever giving happiness.. that simply seeps into the heart.. and the response it evokes...

is it happiness, ecstasy, love..?. 

no... it is beyond everything like that..

The only desire at that moment..

" why don't stop this heart at this moment..?. I do not want to go back to old states of mundane realities.."

Yes, calling Him Krishna as just God is limiting and restricting Him..

Even God has to confine to a definition...

But Krishna does not.. 

Love you Krishna

Musings 17

God ... Krishna .. You make me completely lonely and listless.. 

I think Your idea is that I will try to develop connections with You, when all other connections get snapped..or shattered..

But the connecting ports within me are decayed and rotten.. 

How can I try to secure a connection with You.. and keep it too.. 

Krishna, I love you, but I am not able to reach up to you.

The rotten mind often refuses to get connected..

What am I to do..?

Helplessness.. Pain Tears.. and Your neglect..

Do you revel in my misery Krishna?

Your track record is baffling.. You are the source of all mercy.. But You are cruel too when You enforce Your will.. 

You did not avoid killing and decimating races when you could have easily saved lives . 

And Gandhari cursed you for that.. and Your own clan perished too 

You are faithful to ridiculous levels.. but You have proved Yourself to be unfaithful... unfaithful even to Radha..

How to trust You..?. How to back You..?

But how not to trust you ? How not to back you..?

You make me insane.. you make me mad.. 

Where are you?

blessing or bonanza?

मात्रा समं नास्ति शरीरपोषणं चिन्तासमं नास्ति शरीरशोषणम्।

भार्यासमं नास्ति शरीरतोषणं विद्यासमं नास्ति शरीरभूषणम्॥

mātrā samaṁ nāsti śarīrapoṣaṇaṁ cintāsamaṁ nāsti śarīraśoṣaṇam|

bhāryāsamaṁ nāsti śarīratoṣaṇaṁ vidyāsamaṁ nāsti śarīrabhūṣaṇam||

मात्रा समं शरीरपोषणं (अन्यत्र) न अस्ति   There can be nothing more nourishing to the body than the care of the mother.

चिन्ता समं शरीरशोषणम् न अस्ति    There can be nothing more destructive to health than tension and anxiety.

भार्या समं शरीर तोषणम् अन्यत्र न अस्ति    No other person can give happiness to the body in a better way than one's own wife.

विद्या समं शरीर भूषणं किञ्चिदपि न अस्ति    There cannot be any better ornament other than knowledge that could add attractiveness to the body,

There can be nothing more nourishing to the body than the care of the mother.

There can be nothing more destructive to health than tension and anxiety.

No other person can give happiness to the body in a better way than one's own wife.

No other person can give happiness to the body in a better way than one's own wife.

I do not know whether all will agree about the role of the wife..

Similarly, many may not agree about education.. Gold, diamond, platinum etc and Silk and denim and deodorant sprays might be the ultimate in adding attractiveness for many..

Note 

I found this slokam in a compilation called Neeti Sookthi.. 

I do not know more than this about the authorship of the Sanskrit verse..

And for me the authorship makes little difference, 

I agree heartily with the content

skanda shashti

                         Skanda Shasti 

A very auspicious day for that beautiful and powerful God Subramania or Murugan..

I would love to share a few words on the glory of the Holy ashes adorning that cute warrior..
the words which are endorse by Shankaraacharya Himself

Lord Subramania was born to fight the Cruel Demons Like Soora, Simhavaktra and Thaaraka..

The Lord vanquished Soorapadma on the Skanda Shasti day, and gave Moskhsam to the demon by permitting him to be his mount the peacock and also the insignia in His flagstaff the rooster..

This happened in Lanka and the Lord Murugan (Skanda) stood on the shore of the Bay of Bengal, at Jayanti puram of Tiruchendur.. 

with his spear of Shakti pressed on the ground and held in one hand and casting a challenging glance westwards to see if anyone was left behind to challenge him in a battle..

With another hand he offered Bilva leaves to his Father, the Supreme Lord Shankara..

The lord Stands there in His most ferocious form -- 

the Supreme Commander of the Army of Gods just after concluding a victorious campaign ..
No force could dare to stand facing him..

He is also manifest in his six-faced form in Tiruchendur

After the glorious victory he is manifesting himself in all Royal glory..
The Vedas themselves wanted to praise Him and took the shape of a tree with lots of branches full of leaves.. and flowers 

( The tree according to the local lore is called Panneer tree) and the Lord is worshiped with these flowers and each leaf represents a great mantra of the Veda, it is believed..

Adi Shankara, was once afflicted by an incurable abdominal ailment.. and all medicines and yogic powers could not give any relief..
So the Saint Visited the Shrine of Skanda at tiruchendur and praised the Lord with a hymn. 

Subramania Bhujangam.. a beautiful piece of literature in elegant Sanskrit, composed in Bhujanga Metre..

It is believed that Shankara got cured of all His ailments by the mercy of Subrahmnya of Tiruchendur..

The main prasadam at the temple is the holy ashes which bathe the idol of the lord and is distributed in the leaves of the Panneer tree..

The greatness of this ash on the leaf.. "patrabhooti " is underlined at stanza 25 of Subramanian Bhujangam

अपस्मारकुष्ठक्षयार्शःप्रमेह ज्वरोन्मादिगुल्मादिरोगाः महान्तः।
पिशाचाश्च सर्वे भवत्पत्रभूतिम् विलोक्य क्षणात् तारकारे द्रवन्ते॥२५॥
॥श्रीमद् शङ्कराचार्य विरचिताद् सुब्रह्मण्यभुजङ्गात्॥

apasmārakuṣṭhakṣayārśaḥprameha jvaronmādigulmādirogāḥ mahāntaḥ |
piśācāśca sarve bhavatpatrabhūtim vilokya kṣaṇāt tārakāre dravante ||25||
||śrīmad śaṅkarācārya viracitād subrahmaṇyabhujaṅgāt||

Shankara Says,
Oh Slayer of the demon Tharaka, ( Muruga)
on just seeing the holy ashes placed on leaves in your presence, powerful and incurable diseases like epilepsy, leprosy, tuberculosis, piles, diabetes, fever, mental disorders, delusions, and enlargement of spleen just vanish within split seconds, and the demons afflicting people flee for their life..

Notes..
The diseases which are cured by the Lords Holy ashes in the leaf given at Tiruchendur temple

Apasmaara.. epilepsy..
Kushta leprosy
Kshaya Tubeculosis
ArshaH piles
Prameha Diabetes
Jvara..fever unmaadi.. mental disorder, delusion
gulma.. the abdominal disorder.. enlargement of spleen

and if any evil demi gods or demons have afflicted the body of the visitor to the temple, those depart and bolt away on the sight of the holy ashes..

water.. pure and divine

While doing pooja (worship of God) today I was just thinking over the reverential prayers we offer to the water and the even the pot of water ..

I think our people always realized the vital importance of the wholeness and unity of our India and her lifelines, the rivers..

A man in Kerala, or Tamilnadu or in the North offers prayers to all the rivers and water sources spread all over the vast Indian subcontinent, and requests all those holy waters to be present in the water we use to offer pooja to the Lord..

I thought I should share the mantrams with meanings just as a reminder..
Everyone who has performed poojas or watched poojas would have already heard these mantrams..

गङ्गायै नमः 

यमुनायै नमः 

गोदावर्यै नमः

 सरस्वत्यै नमः 

नर्मदायै नमः 

सिन्धवे नमः 

कावेर्यै नमः

gaṅgāyai namaḥ

 yamunāyai namaḥ 

godāvaryai namaḥ 

sarasvatyai namaḥ 

narmadāyai namaḥ 

sindhave namaḥ 

kāveryai namaḥ

Pranams to Ganga, Pranams to Yamuna, Pranams to Godavaree, Pranams to Saraswathi, Pranams to Narmda, Pranams to Sindhu, Pranams to Kaveri

आपो वा इदग्ँ सर्वं विश्वाभूतान्यापः
प्राणा वा आपः पशवः आपः अन्नमापः।
अमृतमापः च्छन्दाग्ँस्याप ज्योतीग्ँष्याप
यजूग्ँष्याप सत्यमाप सर्वा देवता आपः॥
ॐ भूर्भुवस्सुवराप ॐ श्री केशवाय नमः

āpo vā idagm sarvaṁ viśvābhūtānyāpaḥ
prāṇā vā āpaḥ paśavaḥ āpaḥ annamāpaḥ|
amṛtamāpaḥ cchandāgmsyāpa jyotīgmṣyāpa
yajūgmṣyāpa satyamāpa sarvā devatā āpaḥ ||
om bhūrbhuvassuvarāpa om śrī keśavāya namaḥ

All that is found in this world has origin in water, whatever is manifest as universe is water, water is the life-breath in us , all living beings are manifested in water, food is emanating from water, water is ambrosia (nectar) , water forms the vedas (chandaas) , water is the energy found in light, water is the yajus, water is the truth, all gods are manifested in water--
Om, I invoke water in the three worlds bhoo, bhuva and suvaH... OM I prostrate before the God with copious hair, kesava, the Lord Krishna

कलशस्य मुखे विष्णुः कण्ठे रुद्रः समाश्रितः।
मूले तत्र स्थितो ब्रह्मा मध्ये मातृगणाः स्मृताः॥
कुक्षौ तु सागराः सर्वे सप्तद्वीपा वसुन्धरा
ऋग्वेदो अथ यजुर्वेदः सामवेदोऽप्यथर्वणः
अङ्गैश्च सहिताः सर्वे कलशाम्भुसमाश्रिताः॥
गङ्गे च यमुने चैव गोदावरि सरस्वती
नर्मदे सिन्धु कावेरि जलेऽस्मिन् सन्निधिम् कुरु।
सर्वे समुद्राः सरितः तीर्थानि च ह्रदा नदः।
आयान्तु शिवपूजर्थम् दुरितक्षयकारकाः॥

kalaśasya mukhe viṣṇuḥ kaṇṭhe rudraḥ samāśritaḥ |
mūle tatra sthito brahmā madhye mātṛgaṇāḥ smṛtāḥ ||
kukṣau tu sāgarāḥ sarve saptadvīpā vasundharā
ṛgvedo atha yajurvedaḥ sāmavedo'pyatharvaṇaḥ
aṅgaiśca sahitāḥ sarve kalaśāmbhusamāśritāḥ||
gaṅge ca yamune caiva godāvari sarasvatī
narmade sindhu kāveri jale'smin sannidhim kuru|
sarve samudrāḥ saritaḥ tīrthāni ca hradā nadaḥ|
āyāntu śivapūjartham duritakṣayakārakāḥ||

Lord Vishnu resides on the face of this water pot,
Lord Rudra is present in its neck,
Lord Brahma is present at its base
and the Divine Mothers are there in the whole body of the holy pitcher of water
.
All the oceans are present in its belly region, along with Vasundhara the Mother Earth with all Her seven continents (Islands).

In the waters contained in the Kalasha or pot, all the four Vedas Rik, Yajur, Saman and Atharva with all their ancillary parts are present.

Mothers Ganga, Yamuna, Godavari, Sarasvati, Narmada, Sindhu, Kaveri, may you all be seated in your glorious presence here in this waterpot.

May all the seas, brooks, sources of holy waters, rivers flowing from east to west, and rivers flowing from west to east, who are all capable of removing all our sins and hardships,
manifest here to enable me to offer pooja to Lord Shiva ( Or Vishnu or any deity as the case may be,)

In fact, it should be a universal prayer.. we see no traces of any particular religions here..

Narayana, Narayana

Narayana.. Narayana..Narayana 

देवतान्तर नामानि नाशुचिः परिकीर्तयेत्।

नारयणस्य नामानि सदा सर्वत्र कीर्तयेत्॥

अपवित्र पवित्रो वा सर्वावस्ताम् गतोऽपि वा।

यः स्मरेत् पुण्डरीकाक्षम् स बाह्याभ्यन्तर शुचिः।

devatāntara nāmāni nāśuciḥ parikīrtayet|

nārayaṇasya nāmāni sadā sarvatra kīrtayet||

apavitra pavitro vā sarvāvastām gato'pi vā|

yaḥ smaret puṇḍarīkākṣam sa bāhyābhyantara śuciḥ|

One should not venture to utter the names of other Gods when one is not in a pure and unpolluted condition..

But one is permitted to utter and praise the name of "Narayana" wherever or in whatever condition he is in 

Whatever may be the conditions of a person.. polluted, impure, pure , purified or even beyond all states, still if he remembers Pundareekaaksha.. Lord Narayana, he becomes pure externally and internally.. with immediate effect..

Yes, the name of Narayana.. the Supreme being.. be it Govinda, Krishna or Vasudeva... can be uttered without considering ones own state of purity.. 

This is not possible in respect of other ritualistic worships..

Ante Narayanasmruti...अन्ते नारायणस्मृति 

Remembering Narayana when one is breathing his last.. is the ultimate that can be attained by any living being.. 

The story of the delinquent brahmin Ajamila is a standing testimony for this..

Ajamila, though born as a brahmin, fell into nasty ways and was living with a fallen woman, and begot lots of children in her.. 

As luck would have it, he named the last child, a favourite of his as Narayana..

The brahmin was about to die and the lieutenants of the fiery death god Yama were ready with sturdy ropes to tie him and take to hell for punishment for his cursed ways.. 

But just out of fear, the brahmin shouted out the name of his last son.. Narayana.. that is the name of the Lord too..

And the name of the lord worked for itself.. 

The angels of Vishnu appeared immeditely, grabbed the soul of the brahmin from the emissaries of the death god and carried him to Vaikundam.. the abode of the Lord Narayan..

We do so many foolish things without knowing the consequences.. and purchase trouble too..

Why do we not make the mistake of.. if we can call it a mistake.. calling out the name of Narayana once in a while.?

. We are sure to be blessed..to be rewarded for that mistake 

A Vaikunda Ekadashi thought..

merit vetoes minor defects...

व्यालाश्रयापि विफलापि सकण्डकापि 

वक्रापि पङ्किलभवापि दुरासदापि।

गन्धेन बन्धुरिह केतकपुष्पवल्ली

एको गुणः खलु निहन्ति समस्तदोषान्॥९२

नीतिसारे॥॥

vyālāśrayāpi viphalāpi sakaṇḍakāpi 

vakrāpi paṅkilabhavāpi durāsadāpi|

gandhena bandhuriha ketakapuṣpavallī

eko guṇaḥ khalu nihanti samastadoṣān||92

nītisāre||||

व्यालाश्रयापि haunted by poisonous snakes 

विफलापि having no fruits 

सकण्डकापि endowed with very sharp thorns 

वक्रापि gnarled 

पङ्किलभवापि having origin and growing in dirty marshes

दुरासदापि very difficult to reach or collect 

केतकपुष्पवल्ली the plant and the flowers of Ketaka(.Kewdā केवड़ा, Thaazhampoo தாழம்பூ, Kaitha കൈത or Ketaki केतकी)

. गन्धेन by its fragrance 

इह बन्धुः भवति becomes the loved one of every one

एकः गुणः समस्त दोषान् निहन्ति खलु. perhaps one great quality just eclipses all the defects.

The kethaki flowers blloom in plants

Where poisonous snakes have permanent camp

The plant never gives sweet fruits

The leaves have sharp and barbed thorns

The plant is gnarled 

The plant usually grows in dirty marsh area 

The flowers are very difficult to collect

But they are sought after by all as if it were a close relative, just because of its heavenly fragrance..

If one possesses even a single sterling quality, all his other drawbacks and defects would be ignored

Musings 16

Some friend says.. one must understand his own weaknesses and shortcomings and try to improve failing which there is no difference between animal and human.

My humble view is that

man too is just an animal.. and some sort of discretion seeps into him by experience and instinct in various degrees.. 

There may be lesser animal in some men than in others..

But then rat is an animal,,, Snake is an animal.. Dog is an animal.. Cow is an animal.. Tiger too is an animal, so also lion.. 

They are all not of the same character..

There is no difference between man and an animal..

may be by learning and application of knowledge and wisdom, man becomes a better animal..

and finds himself in a place where he gains sufficient tolerance to live together with persons and situations which are not appealing to him and which he really does not like..

You cannot ever find the boundary line between man and an animal.. 

Of course if our attempt is to curb our baser and cruel instincts by claiming that we are not animals but men, I welcome that idea..

Musings 15

Before the creation of human beings which i believe is the last of creations who was praying to God ?Did he create human beings as sychophants?Can somebody answer my doubt?

A most revered Guru and guide for me raised this question..

My answer..
Who asked humans to pray.?
If there is a god who is perfect and omnipotent he does not have any reason or need for our prayers.

Perhaps the tendency of a fellow being falling to praise and sychophancy tempted the tricky and scheming men that we are, to try this technique on god too.
If a man sings before a stone or structure the stone or structure is not responsible for that.

We are from birth onward unreasonable demanders.
What to do?

There are so many idiotic things that we do individually and collectively jointly and severally..

If the poetic and lyrical beauty of Narayaneeyam

 and

 the lilting melody of Jayadevas Geetagovindam.. 

or the lullaby of Harivarasanam 

captivates us, it need not be as a prayer or entreaty to God..

We can love God and even praise Him for all the order and mercy he has kept in store for us in this world..
Of course whether he did it out of concern for anyone of us in particular  is a debatable issue..

Musings 14

religion or any faith should be there only to foster goodwill among human beings.. 

No one is ever born into any religion.. 

The cellular and genetic contents and physical or nervous architecture of any human being is not ever dictated by the religion he belongs..

And decent human life lies in one being controlled and dignified first in his own behaviour and deport..

Maybe use of force to defend ones basic existence may be called for.. But defence is not hatred, defence in not prejudice..

One can understand if one fights for food, if one fights for clothes and if one fights for his right to mind his own business at least to the extent it does not make inroads into similar rights of his neighbour

Of course even wars have happened in the name of religions..

But if an unbiased analysis of the causes and results of such wars is effected later, it is invariably found that it is not exactly faith or religion in is pure form but the tendency of vested interests in the establishment to perpetuate the ascendency gained by them was the real cause for such strife...

The leaders of faiths mostly fight for their personal gains and the paid coterie works for the crumbs..

but they create a smoke screen which mislead the innocent followers who are carried away by the guiles of these leaders..

What is the pupose of any religion if it cannot permit all humans to respect and love one another and facilitate their harmonious co existence..?

My religion is that..

If that is not my religion, then I do not want any religion..

Musings 13

I happened to read some books in Tantra and Shakta branches..

It is clearly stated that the language of the Mantram is not the basic issue..

The discoverer of the mantra or the mantra drashta attracted the mantra with a certain sound and frequency.. and perhaps in a certain langauage..

The mantra will be effective if the same frequency, tone and timbre, intonations etc are simulated.. 

That cannot be possible when the mantram is translated..

There are great mantras in tamil.. maybe in other languages too..

But translation would not work.. according to mantra sastram..

But if you are raising arguments in a general way when the concept will apply to only particular situations, then there are no answers..

The language, machine language, software, hardware, operating system.. all should sync and there should be power too.. then only the system will work.. 

What will work in Windows may be garbage in Linux or Ubuntu..

Musings 12

but then God is a beautiful concept..
It can make even the most selfish of the human beings, the most arrogant of the human beings to admit that there is something better than themselves.. 

 
To do a pooja and chant a beautiful mantra

 with all its order and cleanliness, 

can make the day for almost any person.. 

 
Even the imageries and descriptions of poets.. 

of the likes of

 Wordsworth 

or Keats, 

or Vayalar 

or ONV 

are all from their blessed  imagination. 

 
But our minds get elevated when we read them..


If the thought of God also can elevate us to some lovely heights, I see no infirmity in believing in God..

But if the same God is used to spread 

discrimination and hate, 

bloodshed and pillage, 

dishonesty and superstition, 

then I have no use for such God.. 

 

I do hope no one has use for such Gods..,

Musings 11

Actually without the fiery epithets and depiction as a villain, Duryodhana was just an ambitious Prince or ruler who did not want to part with what he got .. rightly or wrongly..

Even Shakespeare's Macbeth was like that.

And a normal human being of any age or epoch would have been just like him..

The world was, is and will be full of Duryodhanas..

Ultimately his ambition and reluctance to give up what he possessed was the cause of Bharatha war..

The description of evil deeds and the unsavoury portrayal was all just like adding sauce or ketchup to the dish..

If he were a nice persons and had the kingdom, still he would have tried to hold on to it..

But then in every story we read in life Duryodhanas will be there, showing up even without any conscious invitation.. 

It is just a reflection on a down to earth human mind.

And without the diplomatic and soldierly talents and the expertise of the Lord Krishna as a tactician, Mahabharata would not have been what it is..

I do not think Duryondhana would have given up the kingdom without fight even if he were a nice fellow..

But poetic fancy, once the characters were put in place, just gave different colours as to the personal preferences of the various stakeholders..

And Shakuni was just a sidekick.. a sort of villainous joker.. and nothing more.

Let us consider the core.. the root.. and the twists and turns in the epic Mahabharatham .. and the various climaxes..

We can see the presence of Krishna almost everywhere..

Musings 10

the kazhagam or poojari or the ooralan in a temple is not the pratishta.. 

A messenger is just a messenger.. 

An agent is just an agent.

We tend to confuse basic thoughts with subordinate thoughts and get carried away by use of flowery word.. 

Just take the case of a meaningful sentence.. 

There is a subject, and predicate. 

There may be objects, adjectives and adverbs.. 

If we tend to assume that objects, adjectives or adverbs are more important that the subject and predicate, we are slipping into a false track..

( kazhagam.. is a person who does cleaning works, make garlands etc in a temple.. Poojari is the priest.... Ooralan...is a sort of administrator of the temple.. and Pratishta is the Deity.. the God)

Musings 9

We build our houses with the fond expectation that we can have a contented and peaceful life inside.. 

If such places become prisons or spots of misery, we would rarher run away.

We must do that or be prepared to perish

This test applies to the implemenation of social and state laws as also to many aspects of our social existence and life with peace

It is futile and silly to cling to something just because it is there for a long time. 

When we start gaining the good sense to see and to have an open mind then alone we can have progress.

Musings 8

reminded of an incident in Srimad Valmikiramayanam.. Balakandam sargam 2

समाक्षरैः चतुर्भिर्यः पदैर्गीता महर्षिणा।
सोऽनुव्याहरणात् भूयः शोकः श्लोकत्वमागतः॥४०॥
॥श्रीमद्वाल्मीकिरामायणे बालकाण्डे द्वितीये सर्गे॥
samākṣaraiḥ caturbhiryaḥ padairgītā maharṣiṇā|
so'nuvyāharaṇāt bhūyaḥ śokaḥ ślokatvamāgataḥ||40||
||śrīmadvālmīkirāmāyaṇe bālakāṇḍe dvitīye sarge||


It is legend that Sage Valmiki went to the Ghats of River Thamasa to take bath one morning, and to his utter sadness, he found that a hunter shot an arrow at a male Kraucha bird perched on a tree in the company of his mate.. and while the male bird died, the female was crying her heart out..
Overcome by grief the sage uttered the sloka by way of contempt or curse.. to the hunter.. and maa nishaada was born..
But immeditately the sage was stricken by remorse.. Was it proper on his part to curse anyone or anything..?
But then Brahmadeva Himself appeared before the sage and explained that the verse in Anustup chandas in four padas was caused to be uttered by the sage by Vani the goddess of letters Herself, and that this verse was to become the basic theme of the epic Ramayanam..

That is explained in the above sloka.. verse 40 of Balakandam Sarga 2

Meaning
The verse sung by the great sage in four feet or padas of equal number of words ( the chandas is anushtup), since it has emanated from the sages mind expressing Grief and driven by mercy, would become an eminent Slokam ( that would become highly acclaimed for ever)

i JUST POSTED THIS TO SAY THAT MANY VERSES JUST COME OUT OF SORROW..

Shelley said.. Our sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest thought.

MY EARLIER NOTE ON MAA NISHAADA....

maa nishaada
मा निषाद प्रतिष्ठां त्वं अगमः शाश्वतीम् समा
यक्रौञ्चमिथुनादेकमवधीः काममोहितं॥
श्रीमद्वाल्मीकिरामायणं
mā niṣāda pratiṣṭhāṁ tvaṁ agamaḥ śāśvatīm samā
yakrauñcamithunādekamavadhīḥ kāmamohitaṁ||
śrīmadvālmīkirāmāyaṇaṁ
maa nishaada pratishtaam twam agamah saaswatee samaa
yatkraunchamithunaadekam avadheeh kaamamohitam

This couplet in anushtup chandas was the harbinger of poetry in Sanksrit Language. The great Sage and poet Valmiki was on his way to the morning bath in Tamasa River near his aashram. On a lush tree there perched two lovebirds, holding tight to each other in ecstatic love. Suddenly came a hunter from nowhere and shot his arrow at the birds as is his wont. The honeymoon stopped and the male bird lay on earth writing in death, levaing his mate to eternal agony. The sigh of this hurt the sensitive heart of the Sage, who cried.
"Oh, hunter, curse on you who mercilessly slayed the male bird while he was in a session of intimate love with his lady love, and has left her in sorrow beyond consolation. May nothing good and praiseworthy ever happen to you."
The sage was aghast. He has uttered something sublime, the first ever poetic creation in sanskrit well structured in metre and formation of words. Why should it be a couplet of curse?
Then he remembered the story of Ramayana which was recounted to him just earlier by the Sage Narada. He though of the Maryadaa Purushotham, the embodiment of virtue, Rama.
The couplet appeared to assume a different meaning
"O(Rama), do not grieve. You have attained eternal and unchangeable place in the hall of fame due only for the greats for eternity.
You have done indeed right in slaying Ravana, the male of the demon couple, who, in his unquenchable lust had abducted and given grief to the Divine Mother Seetha."
The outpouring of great minds never become curses. The first ever epic poetry was born...this stanza finds a place in the first chapter of Ramayanam/
The Great Rama without any comparisom, the Divine Mother Seetha the epitome of love and purity and Sri Hanuman the embodiment of valour and faithfulness may bless us al

Musings 7

Life is an enigma.. 

Normally it will be flowing very slowly and sedately.. 

Even for those who have disadvantages mentally or physically or both, through the force of habit things gets settled down.. 

and even they manage to live through with minimum strife possible under the circumstances..

But sometimes some sudden incident can throw things haywire..

And cause permanent or near permanent damage..

A person who is on wheel chair may be just going on with some difficulty but a noisy or meddlesome relative, neighbor or sambandi would pay a visit and would be whispering to someone about that nuisance of a lame fellow.. 

or even make some direct remark.. 

This would throw the victim's balance of mind into disarray and he may react unpredictably, he may shout, he may quarrel and may even try to commit suicide in worst cases..

The meddlesome Shakuni or Mandharai will leave happily leaving the victim and his family shattered for long periods..

Such damage can be perpetrated by social media posts, 

where some posing good samaritans give out remarks and advices gratis..

apparently encouraging but actually depressing..

I cited two situations... 

Hundreds of such situations can be cited..

People do not permit others to live their lives.. This is all the more so when the victim is physically or mentally challenged..

ആരാന്റെ മക്കള്‍ക്ക്‌ ഭ്രാന്ത് പിടിച്ചാല്‍ കാണാന്‍ നല്ല ചേലുണ്ട് ..

It is indeed pleasing to watch if the son of a neighbour is crazy..

ashta aisvaryam

In the Sanatkumara samhita of Skaanda Puranam the thousand names of Laksmi are given as a discussion between Sanatkumara and Gaargya.. There the Ashta aishvaryam personified by Divine mother Lakshmi are given as below..

पुत्रपौत्राभिवृद्धिश्च विद्याभोगबलादिकम् ।

आयुरारोग्यसम्पत्तिरष्टैश्वर्यं त्वमेव हि ॥ १४८॥

putrapautraabhivriddhishcha vidyaabhogabalaadikam

aayuraarogyasampathirastaishvaryam tvameva hi..

Mother Lakshmi you are the eight aishvaryam 

the wealth of sons 

the wealth of grandsons

the wealth of education

the wealth of capacity to enjoy the riches

the wealth of physical strength 

the wealth of longevity

the wealth of good health 

the wealth of Sampath..or accumulation of good things or objects

putra abhivrudhi, pautra abhivriddhi, vidyaa, bhoga, balaa, aayuH aarogyam sampatthi..

measured silence...

भो भद्रं कृतं मौनं कोकिलैर्जलदागमे।

वक्तारो दुर्दुरो यत्र तत्र मौनं हि शोभनम्॥

bho bhadraṁ kṛtaṁ maunaṁ kokilairjaladāgame|

vaktāro durduro yatra tatra maunaṁ hi śobhanam||

ഭോ ഭദ്രം കൃതം മൌനം കൊകിലൈര്‍ ജലദാഗമേ 

വക്താരോ ദുര്ദുരോ യത്ര തത്ര മൌനം ഹി ശോഭനം

As the clouds gather as a prelude to rains, cuckoos stop singing.. 

This action looks very apt.. 

They must be knowing that the best thing to do is to keep quiet when the spokesmen and orators of the season are the frogs..

A nice lesson to learn from the happenings in nature.. 

In the spring season when nature is at here loveliest best, the cuckoos and nightingales sing to their hearts' content and add to the beauty and merriment.. 

There they are appreciated too.

Come the rainy season, the birds of song choose to keep quiet.. 

But the frogs embark on their noisy exercise.. perhaps, their pleasure is in making the noise and they hardly care if they are heard or not

Musings 6

There was a discussion elsewhere or Curse by departed forefathers on pithru shapam.. Some people where raising a question as to why the departed fathers and grandfathers and their great grandfathers who all love their children so much would curse them just for not offering some rice morself or gingely seeds and water in time.. 

In my view the curse does not come from the Pithrus, but the controller of the order and truth in life.. the Supreme being himself..

I give below my own post there

===========================================

We have to look at it in a diiferent way. The moment we are born to our parents we become debtors to our pithrus. 

The debt account is not managed by our affectionate fathers who will definitely condone and pardon everything.

But the account is handled by the eternal keeper of righteousness rtam and satyam. 

Call him Shankara or Narayana or Dharmaraja or Varuna or Chitragupta. 

The liability is arising from drawal of credit from universal dharma. 

Pithrus have no control over the balance, deposits or withdrawals. 

When there is default there can be interest penalty and even prosecution. 

This can add up to papam and shaapam from the controller of rtm..Narayana or others.. 

it is called pitrusapam not because it is the curse of pitrus but because the cause of the curse is failure on our part in respect of our duties to pitrus.

Note that if I injure my mother she may pardon me but the law of the land will not. 

Such punishments are given by the State not on the basis of complaint by affected party

Republic Day

May Krishna bless our Mother India and all of us Indians.. 

May He keep us united, prosperous and affectionate to one another 

Let Peace Prevail 

Om Shanti Shanti Shanti 

Greetings to all on Our Republic day..

Musings 5

One's mastery over a language cannot be tested just by his capacity to speak, read or write in that language..

He is good at a language only if he can form thoughts too and arrange mental and visual ideas in the language in which he is trying to express himself..
If he is using more than one language, he should be able to keep away the influence of the languages other than which he is applying for the present


we see funny pieces of literary and verbal acrobatics submerged in absurdity because the user just thinks and sees only in his own favourite langauge and is trying to give expression to such thoughts and visions by some sort of translation to another language..

Actually many Indians are multilingual..

For example a palakkad iyer can easily think separately, as the occasion demands, in Malayalam, Tamil, English and a little Sanskrit too..

And the Mumbai Iyer of Kerala Origin adds Hindi and often Marathi too to this..

And a Bangalore Kerala Iyer will adopt Kannada too like this.

Of course people with messy thought process and having smatterings of vocabulary of various languages create hybrids.. funny as they are..

But exclusive and water tight linguistic processing by the mind in thoughts and actions is actually very easy..

Translation can be hazardous..Thoughts lose their life and grammar too in the process..

However, this will apply to people who want to think and transact their business in an orderly manner..

Nothing applies to great jnaanis and absolute morons.

Musings 4

My post below was in response to an anecdote shared where Arundathi the wife of Sage Vasishta manages to serve thousand and eight vegetables to sage Vishvamitra.. I am not going into the story.. But it is remarked in that post that Arundathi belonged to a lower caste..
And the story finds a shadow in the Vararuchi and Parayi episode which is a legend in Kerala..
==================================================
My views--


Arundathi is the daughter of Kardama Prajapathi and Devahooti.. Kardama is the son of Brahma.. and many divine beings including Kapila Vasudeva the incarnation of Vishnu were born to the couple..

So I do not understand how Arundathi is termed as a low caste lady.. And the incident of thousand curries has nothing in particular to do with the caste of the lady..

In fact there is a story about Vararuchi and a Parayi.. a Paraya( A supposedly low caste) Lady who became wife of Vararuchi

Once Vararuchi visited a household where the girl was growing as a foster child..

And she was growing in a high caste household, it would appear..
Vararuchi, on his visit to the household put a condition that if he were to take food in the house he should have a meal with 1000 curries of vegetables..

The master of the house was baffled..
But the girl in the house said that this could be managed.. When Vararuchi came for food, she served a curry made of Ginger or Inji...
In Kerala it is believed that the Inji Curry is equal to thousand curries.

Pleased with the resourcefulness of the girl Vararuchi married her..
But he came to know that the girl belonged to the Paraya caste..

He did not abandon her but wandered across the length and breadth of Kerala..
Twelve children were born to them..
When the first child was born he asked her whether the child had a mouth..
When she said yes, she ordered her to abandon the child and continue with their journey..
His theory was that if God has given the child a mouth, He will feed the child too..

This child was adopted by a high nambudiri family and became the great Mezhathur Agnihotri.
.
Other children followed..
Pakkanar was adopted by a low caste parents, and various parents adopted children like Perunthachan, Uppukottan, Karaikkal Ammayaar etc..

When the twelfth child was born, the lady told a lie  that the child had no mouth, in a bid to keep the child with her ..
Immediately the child became mouthless..
This child was consecrated as Vayillaam Kunnil Appan.. the child with no mouth residing in a hillock..
The place Vaayillyaamkunnu and the deity are still there in Palakkad District in Kerala..
All the population of Kerala is believed to consist of the twelve clans started by the children born to sage Vararuchi.. the grammarian of eminence and the Parayi or Paraya woman
Parayi pettra panthiru kulam..
പറയി പെറ്റ പന്തിരു കുലം

A lot of details on this can be read from the monumental Aitihyamala of Kottarathil Shankunni..