what every father dreams.. what he expects...

what every father dreams.. what he expects... 

a fathers day message.....

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अश्मा भव परशुर्भव हिरण्यमसुतं भव।

आत्मा वै पुत्रनामासि स जीव शरदः शतं॥

अङ्गाद् अङ्गाद् संभवति हृदयात् अधिजायते।

आत्मा वै पुत्रनामासि स जीव शरदः शतं॥ 

aśmā bhava paraśurbhava hiraṇyamasutaṁ bhava|

ātmā vai putranāmāsi sa jīva śaradaḥ śataṁ||

aṅgād aṅgād saṁbhavati hṛdayāt adhijāyate|

ātmā vai putranāmāsi sa jīva śaradaḥ śataṁ|| 

a vedic mantram 

 When the father sees his new born son for the first time, he says,, 

My son, you be as tough as the rock, you be as sharp as an axe, and you be as brilliant as pure gold...

you are myself born in the name of my son.. may you live to see hundred autumns. 

My son, you have been born from my own limbs, you occupy and share my heart,

you are myself born in the name of my son.. may you live to see hundred autumns. 

If the son would strive to reciprocate such expectation, that should be the ideal Fathers day gift..

What is the essence of our sanathana dharma.. ?

What is the essence of our sanathana dharma.. ?

I could think of this answer only..

What we have to understand is that there are no general rules applicable to all Hindus..not even to persons belonging to the same caste or community.

All divergent thoughts are accommodated

Hear good

see good

speak truth

do not harm

do not give trouble

do not hateor exploit others.

Help others.

Dharma followed by fathers and elders of the clan to which one belongs should be followed sincerely.

Change should be effected only after great thoughts and where there are positive advantages

. And each person is responsible for what he does.. either good or bad

And dharma is supreme..

one should be prepared to give up everything including life for dharma and Satyam

And we should wish and pray for the welfare of all and our own welfare will happen naturally

That is the essence.

God is one although he is called by many names

Retire at the right time.. Or…

Retire at the right time.. Or…

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जराशुभ्रेषु केशेषु तपोवनरुचिर्भवेत्।

अन्ते वनं ययुर्धीराः कुरुपूर्वा महीभुजः॥९५

क्षेमेन्द्रविरचिते चारुचर्यायाम्॥

jarāśubhreṣu keśeṣu tapovanarucirbhavet|

ante vanaṁ yayurdhīrāḥ kurupūrvā mahībhujaḥ||95

kṣemendraviracite cārucaryāyām||

A very wise advise presented by Kshemendra in his work Charucharya. This idea is reflected in and is cavassed with a lot of force in almost all the ancient texts of our country, including Itihasas, Puranas and Dharmashastre..

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Meaning

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When the hairs of a person have turned white due to old age, then he shold definitely turn his mind to retire to some simple hermitage where he could spend his time and rest of his life, in penance and contemplation

Even great Kings with Emperor Kuru in the vanguard, retired to forest when they became old and were expecting end to their physical existence on earth..

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Comments

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Yes, the greatest problem with old people is that they have outlived their utility and productivity, but most of them feel young and aggressive in mind.. And they do not want to part with anything they have earned or even hoarded during their active innings of life.. They often forget to realize that a younger and more vigorous set of people are waiting in the queue, anxious to occupy the slots created by the expected departure of the oldies.. A lot of strife and unrest in society arise out of such a situation.. Even strife between parents and their offspring arise out of the tendency of the elderly parents to hold on to whatever they could keep in their clutch..

Better let go.. When the time to depart to the abode of yama comes the oldie cannot take anything with him

The idea of Vanaparsta was an established practice in India.. Great kings, when they realized that their next generation had become good enough to take control of the state and family, would just retire to lives of penance and austeriry..

The fact is , it is better to leave before you are thrown out..

This should be a lesson to the elderly and doddery politicians who just stick on like parasites to their positions, come whatever may..

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word analysis

नरः a person

केशेषु जराषुभ्रेषु सत्सु when his hairs have turned white due to old age

तपोवनरुचिः भवेत् get deeply interested in doining penance in a hermitage.. should observe physical and spiritual austerity.

कुरुपूर्वाः धीराः महीभुजः great and valorous kings and emperors like Kuru

अन्ते वनं ययुः.. just retired to forest when their ends were near.

musings 129

Gratitude is a feeling for something which we have been blessed with without which we could not have existed, and for which we could not fix monetary value by the usual fiscal standard.. There is the absence of one more rule.. if you want to repay the gratitude, you need not, and often could not pay it to the agency or supplier who delivered the bounty on you.. The gratitude for the wealth showered on by us by God is repaid by applying the wealth for the good of the mother earth and the humanity.. My gratitude to my mother should go to my sister, wife or daughter or a sibling or my child.. The gratitude to a tree having shaped himself into a beautiful statue should be shown by planting another sapling.. The gratitude we feel for the dessicated wisdom we find in words of scholars and printed words should be given back by opening the eyes of generations through education.. So, if your neighbour hands over a packet of sweets to you on a divali day, just telling Mubarak of Thanks is an empty exercise.. Distributing the sweets to those who really would relish and thank God.. may be the real gratitude.

musings 128

The temples in Kerala following the traditions unique to Kerala,usually do not differentiate between coconut oil and gingely oil being used for lighting deepams,,

In some temples it is the practice that the oil used in the sanctum is gingely and the chuttrambalam, chuttru vilakku, deepastambham etc (in the outer periphery of the temple )use coconut oil..

The preference in fact is not the inferiority of coconut oil in any way, but coconut oil gives a whiter flame and gets oxidized quickly in comparison to the more viscous gingely oil..

Of course, Palakkad brahmins and the temples relatable to them use gingely oil only for lighting lamps.. Coconut oil is a rarity

Kerala has more coconuts than ellu.(gingely). so that oil is more in circulation.. In Ayurveda, the role of coconut oil in making various thailams ( funny that the word thailam in sanskrit is derived from thilam or gingely) is vital..

In many acharams or rituals, the adoption is due to the availability of the resources.. No Vasishta or Yajnavalkya would have written that coconut oil should not be used

.

Palmolein was not an oil in circulation in good old days. But castor oil was.. There is a definite prohibition for use of castor oil for lamps in pooja.. Maybe castor oil can be used for lighting in the house externally,, and actually it gives a brighter light than either coconut or gingely oils.. The more unsaturated organic compound an oil is, it burns more and gives more light... and the more saturated chemical oils burn with blue flame..

The basics of religions are simple

The basics of religions are simple.

Step one... A man and his group, during their lifespan full of challenges and near -impossible situations, are often stuck in blind alleys.. not having any clue how to take even a single step forwards.

Some sort of group entities, whether acting with clear ideas or by just a chance would have encountered the presence of the supreme power and this presence would have yielded some good result, either as a success of their physical exertion or as an answer to some sort of prayer or as a result of the combination of both..

But the simple mind of our predecessor just attributed the the success to some such force and called it Divinity.. Step one.. 

Two .. When people were living together, there were strong and weak among them, there were man woman child, etc who differed in their life agendas fundamentally.

Even though the small sugarcoat of attraction affectation or love would among different types would have been there, generally the rule of the power of fist and stronger mind had the day..

However, the necessity for some fairplay against brute force was ever felt.

. One of the reason for this was that persons seen and perceived as very strong authoritative, and omnipotent were suddenly struck down without any warning by death, maladies and madness.. and the group realized or believed that some external strong person entity , was or should be making their law.. Stpe Two 

Three,,, people wanted to have some settled procedures to conduct their daily affairs..

These issues formed the basic template for religions..

The religions were put in place or were evolved to help and protect..

How can one subscribe the idea that such rules were made just to destroy or subjudgate all those who did not follow these fundamental tenets.?.

Similar tenets would have evolved in other groups also.

And such ideas should exist in harmony or at least without conflict. 

The seeds for religious faith were sown at this stage and germinated according to the geography of the terrain. 

Of course the rules regarding hoarding of wealth, women, cattle, land, water-resources etc for the selfish enjoyment at the cost of the weaker ingredients of the group. varied..

the attitude and law regarding this varied from group to group... Sure, some groups or religions appear to be more lenient to the lesser privilaged,, in comparison to the attitude of some other groups or religions. 

From this a social historian can easily take over and record the history, theology and sociology of any religion.

..

This is the skeleton..

As rigveda started...

Agnimeeley purohaitam..

Selfishness and sadism are our eternal enemies..

We do so many things which are or no particular benefit for ourselves in any way, just because such actions can cause difficulties or discomfort to others..

and we seem to derive pleasure out of other's woes.. 

Yes,, I am sure and everyone must be sure that I cannot increase my happiness by seeing or making someone else suffer..

But I fail to understand it.. 

Then selfishnes..

We just want all that is good or nice to be under our control and possession..

Our professed love for the kin and claim of magnanimity in friendship are all mostly stage-managed..

Usually we look for the toast which is buttered thick.. 

But selfishness is silly..

We cannot earn and possess things beyond certain limits..

We cannot enjoy even the best things without limits..

We cannot swallow fifty Tirupathi laddus in one sitting

and we cannot hoard those laddus for fifty days too.. 

We have to stifle or if possible even finish off these two enemies, if we expect even a little peace of mind and a little happiness in real terms. 

I am asking myself..

"why do not you see reason.. even if it is too late in the day?"

joy at the inferiority of others

One’s virtue is destroyed by

impatience at the excellence of his betters,

by haughtiness to his equals,

and

by joy at the inferiority of others.

-------from Yogavaasishtam..

How true..

 I know I revel in all these three.. 

in spite of the best controls I try to impose on myself.. 

So there is not virtue or Punyam left in me..