779. Good Company....!

Now there are wax fruits in the market which we buy and place them in the showcase. They are very attractive and visually better than the real ones. They exhibit vibrant colors and are very gorgeous for our eyes. They are “For Your Eyes Only”. There was a small toddler who was left under the care of its father. With milk teeth emerging the kid was pleased to put everything in its mouth. The kid saw the apple fruit made of wax and started licking it. Care taker was reading the newspaper and he was pleased that the child was silent and not disturbing him. After sometime the kid threw the wax fruit and started to babble, frowning at it the father gave it a fruit made of wood. The child started licking it and remained silent for a few minutes. Just imagine in a similar situation the mother of the kid would have sliced an apple, peeled it and given it to the kid instead of apple made of wood or wax. The kid would have relished and would have had the experience of tasting that fruit. Correct??? 

The same is true with our mind dear friends. Mind is always happy with the objects in the world outside. Amazingly it is not satisfied with things which it is already got; instead it looks for something new thanks for the variety of choices the outer world has to offer. Like the father of the child our senses try to keep the mind upbeat with the variety of the experiences spoon fed through Sight, Smell, Taste, Sound and Touch. Even then the chattering of mind never stops. It is the tendency of the mind to crave for anything that is of interest. It also concludes that it can obtain security, peace, pleasure or happiness from the varieties supplied by our senses. Like the child licking the wax fruit and getting satisfied for sometime and then disinterested with it and accepting the other item pushed at it, the mind also is only aware that the possible source of happiness is in the outer world. 

Just as the mother who offered a sliced piece of apple to the kid, if someone let the mind taste the joy of becoming aware of the inner world the fluttering of the mind will stop. Now, who can be like the mother of the child for us to serve what our mind needs? As far as my experience here in this forum it has been my fellow seekers who respond to the write up who are like the mother of the child to me. They have taken me to the inward journey stopping me from licking the wax fruit. Those profound and insightful responses have cleared my path and brightened it.   

I have been by far successful in taming my restless mind with the assistance of many here. Posting the blog and sending private messages to some and contemplating on the responses received have had a positive impact on this mind. Those insightful responses have tamed it to be calm. And with a calm mind it is easy for my strong will and intellect to make decisions. With the gain of tranquility of mind the inner joy is experienced and when in this state I neither depend on objects outside me to make me happy nor worry about circumstances which might make me sad. 

I need to be grateful to Sri Hari for providing me this Sat Sangha. 

Satsangatve Nissangatvam

Nissangatve Nirmohatvam

Nirmoatvam Nishchalattvam

Nishcalattvam Jiivanmuktih

778. Honour a commitment today & catch a peaceful sleep tonight!!

A commitment made has to be honoured at any cost this is one discipline which I learnt in life. In our factory we manufacture semi-finished product, which is raw material for another factory which make finished products. We have to honour the commitment made to our clients, if we fail to deliver as promised the cycle is broken. When I started the industry as soon as I was just out of college, I did not know the consequences of not honouring a commitment. I used to tell my clients that I will send them the material and by chance if it was not possible I would not worry a lot over it and would sleep peacefully. That sleep was due to ignorance. When my customer questioned about it the next day I would just say it could not be done. Later on I understood that if I do not supply in time I will be hampering the chain of events.

My personal experience since my twenty years in business is “Promise a little and produce a lot to keep your client pleased.” Such commitment does not end in professional level. When I have commitment to be made to my family and friends I have to see that I fulfil it. In the first place I need not commit to that which I cannot execute; if I am committed I have to discharge it at any cost, lame excuses won’t work and will not let me have a peaceful sleep.

In Treta Yuga there was a king named Raja Harishchandra in the lineage of Suryavamsha (solar dynasty) who was the ancestor of Lord Sri Rama. He was renowned for his truth and will to honour commitment. His Raja Guru was Sage Vashishta and in one instance at the Indra Sabha he talks about Harishchandra’s commitment. Sage Vishwamitra wants to prove Vashishta wrong about Harishchandra, so he plans to test the trustworthiness of the king. He calls on the king and asks for some charity to do Yagna. Harishchandra without hesitation tells the sage to ask whatever he wished. Seizing the opportunity Vishwamitra asks for gold mound as high as the height of a sea shell which reaches when a tall man standing on a huge elephant would toss it towards the sky.   

Without batting an eyelid Harishchandra complies with the strange demand, but Vishwamitra would not take it and wants the king to keep it safe with him and would collect when needed. Years pass by and once Harishchandra was on a hunting trip, he is thirsty and a damsel sent by Vishwamitra quenches his thirst. For the favour done the damsel wants him to marry her. But Harishchandra tells her it was against dharma for him to marry the second time. Sage Vishwamitra intervenes and urges him to marry her. Harishchandra a bit emotional tells Vishwamitra that he was ready to forsake his kingdom rather than to take someone as his second wife. Vishwamitra who was waiting for such an occasion gladly accepts the kingdom. Harishchandra cheerfully offers his kingdom to the sage.  

After acquiring the kingdom, Vishwamitra wants the king to give him the promised gold mound. Harishchandra tells it is in the treasury, but sage insists that the treasury was now his and so he has to arrange. The king sells his wife and son in Kashinagara and finally, sells himself to a caretaker of cemetery to procure gold. In the process he becomes a slave to the caretaker of the cemetery, and is given the duty to collect money from those who come to cremate their dead.

When his own son dies of snake bite, his wife, Chandramati, brings the body for cremation. Harishchandra was now put to the ultimate test. He asked his wife for payment for the cremation, without which he would not let her cremate; as it was his masters instructions. This act of commitment from Harishchandra not only wins the heart of the Gods but also that of Sage Vishwamitra and from then on the sage becomes a well-wisher to the solar dynasty. It was then that all the Gods of heaven descended and hailed Harishchandra’s moral character and will to fulfil commitment.

This was the story which impressed the father of our nation and inspired him to live the life of truth and commitment....!

“Commitment- unlocks the doors of imagination, allows vision, and gives us the "right stuff" to turn our dreams into reality.”

777. Before the Conceptualisation of the word Hindu!!!!

People known to the world as “Hindus” are the inhabitants who live on the other side of the River Sindhu. This river Sindhu (Indus River) flows in Pakistan and people living beyond this river were referred to as “Sindhus” by Persians but Mohammedans in Arabia and other Far East countries has a problem with their pronouncing the word “S” they would end up with “H” and instead of “Sindhus,” they said “Hindus.” So people living on the other side of the river Indus were called “Hindus.” Otherwise, this word “Hindu” is not seen in any of the four Vedas.

Also there is no date of the origin or the founder or a preacher who introduced this way of life. The foundation of this way of life is laid on the substratum of spiritual truths. The whole structure of this very way of life had been built on Eternal Truth which were visualised by seers. That Eternal Truth was not based on belief but on experience. Hence Agni Pooja and Sandhya Vandana were given more preference.

They followed Eternal Law which was applicable to every individual irrespective of time and place. They believed in a life which was both immanent as well as transcendental. There were no ideological differences as there was none except “Sanaatana Dharma” at that time. A sanaatani recognises the Truth and acknowledges the world as transient and illusion. He gave importance to Sva-Dharma foremost. Sanaatana Dharma indicates the vibrant summation of the whole knowledge which is not subjective but objective. This knowledge helped a sanaatani to accept the universal principle of cause and effect. Thus the eminent truth that every action good or bad returns back to us was deemed. The subtle body was the one which would be experiencing the resultant remunerations in the next birth and hence the notion of rebirth was also reckoned. A sanaatani considered Atma to be eternal never created and nor destroyed. More importantly he accepts the truth that Atma as consciousness brightens the subtle body just like the moon borrowing the light from the sun and illuminates the night.  

Sanaatana Dharna endows a healthy lifestyle with practices like bathing in the river early in the morning and indulging the body and mind in Yoga and Pranayama. The physical body was not considered luxurious but was treated as a means to attain the highest which is Moksha the ultimate liberation. This was the destination and the goal of human life. Moksha is the liberation of subtle body from the cycles of birth and death.

Under the umbrella of Sanaatana Dharma emerged contemporary Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism while significantly were the cause for many other religions to follow much later. Though at the advent of time there were many religions on this earth plane but all of them supported humility and humanity. An attitude of understanding and tolerance is taught by every religion. Even though there are small some drawbacks in every religion, no religion advocates looking down upon the other religion or to consider their ideologies to be superior and better than another.

Sarva Dharma Samanvaya, tolerance towards every religion is the need of the hour that is the exact meaning of secularism. Uni-religion is practically an impossible solution for secularism since now there are differences in ideologies.

776. Is there any Difference between a Holy, Lowly and Showy????

It is said that the entire creation comes from the Consciousness of Absolute. Just as the spider builds the web from its own strand of silk so has Absolute create this vast Universe, the galaxies, the endless number of living and non-living from the very fabric of Himself. Thus everything we see around us in this universe animate and inanimate is all sparks of Divinity! His glory and splendour is spattered across the creation in various forms, characters, roles. Hence every created object and individual has to be loved and revered.

Why is it not possible to love and revere every creation of Absolute? It is our ignorance which fails our mind to comprehend that as we are the part of divinity so are they. How can one know that they are also from the same source? Is it that we come to know about it only in the scriptures or from the wise men? No, we can feel that everything has sprouted out from same source when we experience it which is the main goal of human existence. This level of thinking comes when we learn to respect all creation at the fundamental level. We have to understand that every creation feel like same as we feel. Just as we do not like to be insulted or harmed so do other creations also think in the same lines. If an insult can upset us so does it when we use it on others.

Youngsters have to be taught to respect others in action. Later on they will themselves develop in their words and ultimately it will go into their thought. How does one learn to respect in action? Whenever elders visit the house the young should touch their feet so that they receive the blessings of the elders. Then they have to speak to them politely. This is how one learns to respect other outside family also. First respect through actions, then speech and at thought level, if we give respect to others we receive the same from them. It is like what we hear as an echo on a mountain.

Every religion teaches its seekers to shower love and revere each other and all life forms. If only this simple message is followed by all there would be no hatred, vengeance and enmity between two individuals as well as two nations. Is it difficult to follow the message? A white man looks down upon a dark skinned individual. A person from one region and religion hates another from a different region and religion. The whole problem behind this divide is the ELITE and it we destroy that narrow elite-ness then everything will stand on the same pedestal. This elite-ness is there because of Avidya (Ignorance).

At one point even Sri Sri Sankara had fallen prey to the vagaries of elite and it is said that Lord Siva himself had to come to correct him. Lord Shiva as an outcast asks Sri Sri Sankara whether the reflection from the Sun falling on the Ganga waters was different from that which was reflecting in dirty waters of the cesspools in the streets of outcast. If it is the same, then the Consciousness that is brightening the Soul in him and the Acharya has to be the same. A person lost in gross materialistic world would have brushed aside such subtle event. But Sri Sri Sankara very well realised the profound truth that had been conveyed in such subtle way.

775. White or Blue Collar Job do it Sincerely & Respect equally!

Any job has to be done with sincerity and equally respected as long as it is serving the society. There is no occupation which has to be considered superior or inferior, since the society cannot move on without them. Dignity of labour emphasizes on respecting all types of jobs without any gradation. Remaining jobless has to be condemned and resorting to begging even if one is fit to work has to be objected. Some are obsessed with the white collar job find it to be the best in their career. Even the white collar job has to be equally supported by the blue collar job in the society. When an IT professional has to drive to his company the roads are to be clean and it is the municipal corporation worker who is put his efforts in making it motor able.

Occasionally it is the elders who sow the seed of inferior and superior jobs in the youngsters mind it a way of instigating them to do better academically. They indicate that if they do not do well academically they are supposed to get inferior jobs. It is not the way to bring out the best in a child; instead we can tell them if they fare well academically they can use the knowledge thus obtained in a greater way.

There are many who give loads of lecture on the social justice and equality but are unwilling to let sewage cleaner or road sweeper into their house. We have to learn to give respect to all jobs without discriminating one from another. There is nothing wrong in vending paper early in the morning if the boy has his vision to be owner of a daily newspaper someday in future. It is the attitude that matters most, a boy can remain a newspaper vendor thought his life or go on to become an editor or even a creative writer in a newspaper. Although this is one of the most important things that we have to develop which is rarely found. The lack of such understanding in society is the main cause for unemployment.

Youngsters in rural sectors are more worried about what others think about what they are doing for living than getting employed. This lack of honor to job has left them remain idle instead of making them think doing something useful in life is better. It’s mostly evident in developing countries like ours where people either have too much self-pride or fear of what their family, friends or relatives think about what they do for a living. One must agree that social status is being judged by what they do for the living. The farmers, barbers, potters, dhobis, carpenters, weavers do not get the same position in society as one look upon a doctor, engineer, I T professional. It is only when a White collar job and Blue collar job are both looked at in same status that we respect the dignity of labour.

Wisdom is to think that all the professions are same and ultimately it is for the wellness of the society. Isn’t it???

774. Different kinds of Seekers have many ways of Doting Reality!

Every seeker has own ideas on religion and its reflections on science and off course spirituality. And to his aid or to his confusion there are so many schools of thought. He tries to compare and relate to one another keen to understand better. Hence we have different kinds of theists while atheists are of only one kind, they just do not believe in God. As far as the theist category there are various kinds in it. Let us see some and most importantly neither of them or inferior or superior. In the first place categorizing them itself is not correct but this attempt is just to understand how we are different in our approach. I appeal that it is not to hurt the feelings of anyone or to look down upon anybody.

Some are ritualistically inclined people strongly believe in religion they practice and for them other religion does not seem to exist. They whole heartedly perform the rituals prescribed without even trying to understand the essence behind those. In ancient times Sadhus used to suggest some pooja and ask the devotees to offer certain Prasad to the deity they would very tactfully give the recipe taking the health and physical conditions of the devotee. When I was young we had to go to temple early in the mornings in the month of Dhanur (November-December) and it was very cold. Sri Sringeri Shankar Mutt, Shankarpuram, Bangalore would be close by 8 AM. The tirtha (holy water) they would provide there had Ardraka Kashaya (ginger potion) and this was given keeping the weather conditions. The organizers knew that there is Lord inside the body which we need to take care of. This might be a ritual but it has a strong meaning behind.    

Some are rationally ritualistic they keep their faith in all school of thought and will stay in one at a time which is convenient to them pertaining to the situation and circumstances. They are ready for a ritualistic worship as well as meditation which every influence them at that particular time. One can find them in a Church or a Dargha or a Temple or a Gurudwara since they do not mind which God will hear their prayers and bestow grace on them. What is more important to them is they need to have the blessings of the God that is what ultimately matters to them.

Next in the section are rationally spiritualists they believe in soul or spirit and understand its power and brilliance, but they thrive hard to somehow prove other what they believe in. In this regard they push their intellect to find for validity of what they believe and in the process want to refer all the holy texts. They always have an urge to know the unknown through the known. One beauty with such people is they ignore nothing they have their mind open to every thought from any schools of thought.

Finally there is spiritualist who is beyond the notions of religion, rationality and realities. They live a normal life yet they are different in the way they perceive things. They are very much aware of the present and know and take the present as it comes. They feel the manifestation of God in every single object hence they spread Divine Love for all that exists around them. It is as if they are performing the worship of God by interacting with what everything they find, animate or inanimate. They do not yearn for name or fame, nor do they give sermon on any subject. They just silently fulfill their life purposes and leave their bodies peacefully.

All of them have a place on the lap of the Lord and that is what really matters........Right???

773. Outcome of a Deed will be Excellent if offered to the Lord!

Mayi sarvaani karmaani samnyasaaadhyathmachethasaa

Nir- aasheer nirmamo bhoothva yudhyasva vigathajvara

Offering all your actions to Me, your mind in unison with the spirit and free from desires and ego, you fight without the slightest touch of hatred or excitement.

Thus says Lord Krishna to Arjuna in Chapter 3 while describing the Karma Yoga. Here in this verse we see two words, Niraashee and Nirmamo. They are to be understood in correct sense. All actions performed through attachment and desires get us nothing as they are filled with ego selfishness. Niraashee is without desire (of result) and Nirmamo is without Doer-ship.

Actions with doer-ship gives rise to bondage as it is performed with a heart loaded with selfish desires. Actions without desires are not actions at all as they are incapable of producing any painful experiences that is the reason why Lord Krishna is suggesting Arjuna renunciation of action in the whole of the fifth chapter. Here, the renunciation of action only means the giving up of the wrong motives behind the actions and not giving up the action itself.

Tansen was great musician in Emperor Akbar’s court. He was blessed with divine voice by the grace of his mother and his Guru. One day Akbar was charmed by his music rendering and said, “I have not heard any one who is equal to you in singing”. Immediately Tansen replied, “No Jahanpanah, there is one person who can sing better than me.” Akbar asked him who could be singing better than him. Tansen said, “He is none other than my Guru Swami Haridas. He lives in Vrindavan.” Akbar got curious and wished to listen to Tansen’s Guru singing and requested Tansen to invite Swami Haridas to the court.

Tansen replied, “Jahanpanah, my Guru has not ventured outside Vrindavan. Many kings have invited him to their courts to listen to him singing but he has not obliged anyone.” Akbar asked, “But I want to listen to his songs Can you take me there?” Tansen replied, “Yes, Jahapanah but you have to come with me in disguise as my disciple.” Akbar agreed and both went to Vrindavan and Akbar had disguised himself as a disciple who was learning Vocal with Tansen.

On reaching Vrindavan both Tansen and Akbar paid their respects to the Swami Haridas. They both stayed there whole day and Swami Haridas did not singing.  Next day in the evening, Tansen took the tanpura and started singing while Swami Haridas was watching him. While singing, he made a deliberate mistake in Arohana (the ascending note) of Swara (scale). Swami Haridas immediately corrected him and in order to explain the correct Arohana he started to sing. Tansen stopped singing and he along with Akbar sat spellbound listening to the divine voice. Swami Haridas forgot himself and went into a trance like situation rendering the song in ecstasy. Akbar had never heard anything like that before.

After sometime Akbar said, “Tansen you are blessed to have a Guru like him. How is it that he is able to sing so well?” Tansen replied, “Jahanpanah, my Guru does not sing for mortals like me and you, he sings for Him. That is the reason why his music is so good to listen. 

Anything which does not have doer-ship and is not filled with desire is always excellent.”

Creativity will bloom if there is no doer-ship or there is no desire for the fruit…….!!!

772. Dreams have no limit but Reality does have…..

Krishnadevaraya was the king of Vijayanagara Empire about 500 years back ruling the Deccan Plateau. He was a righteous King taking caring of his subjects well. Once he dreamt of an artistically designed palace which was floating in the air. He was very much fascinated by the idea of having a palace that can float. The next morning he summoned his ministers and courtiers and told them about what he had dreamt. He expressed a wish to have a palace that would float. Everyone assembled there knew that this was a ridiculous wish yet no one dared to speak against the wish of the King. Some went on to praise the King of dreaming a floating palace and hoped that King have a floating palace soon. King made an announcement that any architect who is ready to build a floating palace will be rewarded one lakh gold coins!

  

The entire kingdom knew that it was impossible and the King had gone mad, yet they did not dare to tell the King that his dream was far from reality. As day went by no one came forward to build a palace in the air, King consulted some of his senior ministers in this regard. Gathering courage they informed the King that dreams are never real. They just come and go; there is no sense in analyzing a dream and concluding that it is possible to covert a dream into reality. Since the King was so fascinated by the dream he had lost the power of reckoning. His desire to have a floating palace was so strong that he wanted it built at any cost. He doubled the reward money and asked the announcement to be made outside his kingdom as well.

The entire cabinet was fed up with the childish nature of the King they approached Tenali Ramakrishna, the court jester to help them in convincing the King about the futility of his desire. Tenali Ramakrishna was very intelligent and witty as well; he asked them not to worry and requested them to give him some time. 

  

A few days later an old man who could hardly walk came to the King seeking justice. King Krishnadevaraya asked the old man the reason for the problem and promised him of justice. The old man said he had been looted of his hard earned wealth by a person known to him. The King could not tolerate the fraud activates in his kingdom. He asked the old man to name the culprit and if found guilty he would sentence him to death. Initially the old man seem to be hesitating and when the king assured him that nothing will happen to him and security will be arrange to safeguard him, the old man said: Your Majesty, you were the thief!

The King would not believe what he had heard. He asked the old man what made him think so. The old man answered thus: O King, last night I had a dream that I have gone outside the country and earned five thousand gold coins. On my return back to your kingdom you had come to my house along with your soldiers and looted me of the gold coins. I have lost all my life savings!

  

The King was calm all this while howled at the old man in anger: You old fool! How can you imagine that what you saw in a dream was true? Dreams come and go in sleep.

  

The old man replied: O King, if your dream of having a floating palace could be taken seriously, why should my dream not be true also? The old man removed his wig and beard and showed his true identity. It was Tenali Ramakrishna who bowed before the King and said: Forgive me, your majesty I could not see any other way to convince you not to take dreams seriously. The King understood that dreams are indeed fantasies of mind and sometimes cannot be true.

  

Dreams are in fact the reflections of the wake state and so we get involved and transact with the people in it and participate with them. Even so in the dream state we assume that what is happening is for real until we are awake. Everyone has had this experience of assuming the dream to be real. Most amazingly a person who has had a stupendous meal may dream he is very hungry and get up in the middle of the night, only to say what a silly dream?

  

Off late quantum physics is inclined to believe that this universe is more like a dream than imagined earlier. This insight has made Sir James Jeans, noted physicist, mathematician and astronomer announce thus: “The Universe begins to look more like a great Thought than a great Machine.”

771. Is It Correct To Blame God for Everything???

The western thoughts have made us to believe that if anything good happens we need to praise the Lord. In the same lines the atheist questions if the Lord is praised for the good is it not logical to blame the same Lord for the bad that is happening?

True, theoretically it is right. If the team leader is appreciated for the successful completion of the project, he will be blamed for anything that goes wrong. This is the thought that prevails in corporate world. So the praise and blame is just the use of the words to vent out the emotions.   

What does the Sanatana Dharma say about this?

A firm believer of Karma Siddantha will neither attribute the Good or Bad to Absolute. Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi in his Upadesha Saram starts thus:

   “Karthuragnayaa Prapyathe Phalam”

Actions yield fruits, for so the Creator ordains it.

Further goes on to say:

   “Karma Kim Param Karma Tad Jadam”

How can Actions which are inert be beyond limits?

Here it is clear that the actions we perform will yield resultant fruits, and Absolute is just the conferrer of those resultant fruits.

We could understand this with an example; let’s suppose I, Sreeram Manoj Kumar am organising a football match between the two localities in my vicinity. I ask for the participants from the respective localities to take part. 

Firstly, I will not let an ace cricketer or a Kabbadi player to take part if he has not played football at all. Only if the player is knowledgeable to play football game I ask them to be a part of the game.

Secondly, I am just an organiser who wants to encourage the football players and would love to see them excel. What they do on the ground is entirely their prerogative.  

Thirdly, as soon as the coin is tossed and one player reads it correctly the opportunity to kick the ball is provided, I as an organiser have to sit and watch the game. I cannot decide who has to kick the ball first.    

There could be False Start, Offside, Holding, Pass Interference, Facemask, Intentional Grounding and Roughing to which as an organiser I do not have any say. My only interest is to watch which team performs better.

I am not entitled for the praise if there is a goal scored or take the blame for a missed penalty kick. I am just an organiser. Amazingly (in the lighter vein) some of the spectators will never who this Sreeram Manoj Kumar, the organiser is, to blame him.    

Now imagine what position the Absolute would be. He has just let us, the players to play the game of life. It was our choice to play it. Absolute never ever wanted or force us to play in the same way as Sreeram Manoj Kumar, the organiser I would not let players of other game into the football match. He just wants us to excel and is not at all intervening in the moves we make. Just as the center-back could fail at making the ball sail into the post there could be failure in the game of life to which neither Organiser of the football game nor the Absolute could be held responsible respectively.          

I am sole responsible for my destiny. Though it would be a good gesture to attribute whatever success I experience to others, it would be my stupidity to entrust my failure on others. And moreover a person who understands Karma Siddantha will never get entangled in the success failure debate, he just does what he needs to do and move on……What say???       

770. Equality or Justice.....!!!!

Sanatana Dharma endorses a particular Dharma which has its traces in the concept of Ritam. Ritam is that which is definitively responsible for the proper functioning of the natural, moral and sacrificial orders in this entire universe. 

Dharma is conceived as the course of action which if followed would benefit the person both socially and spiritually. The failure to follow Dharma would result in Adharma which is social and spiritual fall. If Dharma is followed, the society we live in is in harmony.

However it is not only the harmonious living that could be the criterion. We find Dharma as one of the vertex in the triangle alone with Artha and Kama to realize Moksha. While Dharma stands for the idealism, Artha is for profits and Kama for pleasure. It is human tendency to fail to act on account of Dharma alone by sacrificing Artha or Kama. Since ages there is a great debate on which vortex should be given primacy in deciding what the correct course of action is. Every philosophy tells that for pleasure and profits one should not breach idealism. 

Dharmic system is predicated on a universal view of a system which decides the ideology of every person on his behaviour and his work. That ideology happens to be the Svadharma which unfurls as the basis of that persons Dharmic ideals in the society he is living.

In Vyadha Gita we have a butcher teaching Dharma to a Sanyasi. The episode which appears in Mahabharata describes the importance of performance of Swadharma (prescribed duty). According to the story, a Vyadha (Butcher) who is engage in mincing meat which is his Swadharma is capable of teaching a Sanyasi on how to attain liberation by the performance of Swadharma. In Dhramic system there is nothing which can be pointed out as “Idam Ittam” (definite rule)  

After the advent of British to my country the Dhramic system was disturbed. They had this conception that justice system has to be based on certain definite rules. The law was amalgamated to Anglo-Hindu system which was against the grain of our ancient Dharmic system. Thus the legal system and thereby our Indian Constitution is a peculiar continuation of the strange world of Anglo-Hindu system. This peculiar system is trying to make sense in a “modern” western way of the very ancient Dharmic society. Hence our Constitution tries to address the problems of “Jati” through westernized system of reservations not realizing that it would in effect entrench the system further.

Reservation has pulled my country down. Appraising of certain caste in the name of equality has brought disaster to justice system. We have applicants faking the caste certificates to have a lick at the reservations provided. The main reason to have reservation was not to promote inequality but to promote equality. It is statistically proven that the reservation based on the caste system created imbalance in society and hence there are castes which do not get fair and equal opportunity to grow and participate in economy and social activities. This reservation system does not look at justice but caters only equality and hence it does not account for the upper caste poor and unfortunately hold good even for the lower caste rich.

On the 67^th Republic Day of India I keep hopes that the Constitution of India will be amended to give better social justice to all my siblings who are under the motherly care of my country INDIA.

Wish you all A Happy Republic Day…..!

769. The amalgamation of the Five Vayu in Hanuman............!

When we inhale we take in the life vital breath called Prana Vayu and when we exhale we breathe out air expelling carbon dioxide and this is Apana Vayu. These two vayus are normally known to us but there are three more namely Vyana Vayu, Udana Vayu and Samana Vayu. Vyana is in the blood which helps the blood circulation. Udana is the air which operates in the throat and helps us talk and swallow food. Samana is in stomach which takes care of digestion.

Prana vayu is the most important of the five and hence it is called “Mukhya Prana.” 

Hanuman is called Mukhya Prana in Dvaita Philosophy. He is termed “Jeevottama” the best among Jeevis. Why is he called Muhkya Prana? If contemplate deep there are Abhimana Devathas for all our organs. Sun is the devatha for sight, Ashwini twins for smell, Varuna for taste, Saraswathi for speech, Kubera for touch, Bruhaspathi for hearing, Maha Rudra for mind and so on. If either of the devathas leaves the body the physical body does exist but if Mukhya Prana leaves the body Sri Hari who is the Consciousness in us depart.

We have noticed the five faced Hanuman image. Is there any link to the five face and five pranas? Yes, the mention of the Panchamukha Hanuman can be found in Yuddha Kanda of Srimad Ramayana.

Mahiravana, the brother of mighty Ravana was expert in Mahendrajala, Indrajala, Vashikarna and types of black magic. At the time of the Great War between Shri Rama and Ravana, Mahiravana tried to kidnap both Shri Rama and Lakshmana to Patala loka (Nether World) to offer them as sacrifice for his rituals. Vibhishana the other brother of Ravana who joined the Shri Rama sena gets to know about it and intimate Hanuman. Hanuman forms a fortress with his elongated tail and keeps guard. Mahiravana disguised as Vibhishana eneters the tail fortress takes away Shri Rama and Lakshmana who are in deep sleep to Patala Loka.

Hanuman goes to Patala Loka encounters Mahiravana and learns that the way to kill Mahiravana is to extinguish 5 flames glowing in five differnt lamps in different directions. It is here that Hanuman takes the form of Panchamukhi, the five faced amalgamation of Hanuman as prana vayu towards east, Narasimha as udana vayu to the south, Garuda as samana vayu to the west, Varaha as apana vayu to the north and Hayagriva as vyana vayu towards the upper side (central). By blowing of the five flames simultaneously Mahiravana is vanquished.    

It is said that adoration of Panchamukhi Anjaneya confers purity of mind and there by success by Hanuman, fearlessness and thereby victory by Narasimha, Garuda guards from negativity thereby positive attitude, Varaha takes care of prosperity thereby survival, and finally Hayagriva bestows wisdom and thereby perfect progeny.  

I bow to the amalgamation of the five vayu in Hanuman. 

kapi mukha purvam dakshine narasimham paschime garudancha uttare sukaracha urdvam hayanana

768. Oh! Mind you are different from what you were………!

A few decades ago the son of a deceased who had performed the final rites was advised to remain in the house for 11 days. He was restricted from going to a temple or let to attend any ceremonies. Understandable so in those times the son was lamenting the loss of his beloved parent. His mind would be preoccupied with those sweet memories which would recur to him in the absence of his beloved parent. The loss would be unbearable as the bond was so thick that he felt the void and knew there is nothing that can fill it……not even the thought of God. There is a saying “Time is the best healer” and as accordingly the 11 days had been allotted for the bereaved person to remain in silence. 

Our scriptures endorse a stable mind to be the precondition for self-realisation hence the ritual of Pranayama before Sandhyavandana. Mind and Breath are interconnected and hence it is said that to calm the mind the breath control is the key. A disturbed mind cannot concentrate on anything as it is very restless. Obviously a bereaved person was believed to have a disturbed mind and caught in the vagaries of mind hence he was told to keep away from the act of merger with Absolute.       

Off late there was chaos over restriction on menstruating women entering the famous shrine on the Sabarimala hill. In earlier days women who were experiencing the menstrual cycle were advised to take rest by not getting involved in the domestic chores. It was the time when their body needed enormous rest as the energy in them would be draining out. The pilgrimage to the holy shrine in the western ghat had 45 days votive and the menstrual cycle phase of a woman being 28 days it was impossible for them to undertake the votive. Though now even men now don't follow the 45 days votive.  

Now the time has changed we have seen the bereaved person inevitably attending his office or factory. Last year one person known to me had arrived from U.S to perform final rites of his mother and had applied 15 days leave. A practical person that he was, he thought of purchasing a property making use of his arrival to Bangalore. But his relatives objected to that, I wondered if the person does not feel the bereavement and is looking forward to purchase a property why, should one object in the name of rituals. Can the dogmas induce the bereavement? 

As far as the menstruating women is concern, when we have allowed her to go for work even on those menstrual period not letting her take rest, can restricting her to enter temples justified? The only reason mentioned in our scriptures is that she is “ashudha” (unclean) during that period. 

Hygiene was the matter and in those days women would bath either in the river, pond or near the well. It would be awkward to bathe together during the time when the woman would be menstruating and hence they were restricted. Now in the convenience of sophisticated bathrooms woman can take bath in private. So they can have entry to kitchen drawing room or even pooja room. This is physical purity and in recent times women are more concern with hygiene. There is mental aspect as well.

Psychiatrists talk of the menstrual syndrome, where a menstruating woman becomes more petulant because of a hormonal imbalance. They claim that there is a different aura around a women maybe again a chemical reaction. Segregating to pray requires a positive attitude and people tend to respond to the negative vibrations of a person standing with you; maybe that was the reason why a woman was asked to keep away from place of prayer during these days. 

Whatever the reason, women folk who used to work so hard during the month would get a well-earned rest during that period of time. Amazing in the name of equality they are happy to lose those comfortable days too.

767. How Why and What to write in a blog post

To write a blog any topic can be considered. It is left to the author to decide on what he has to write. The subject that is so selected has to generate interest in the readers and should bring in new dimension in thinking to both the author and the reader More importantly the author has to know more through the responses and get a better understand that what he had before he had selected the subject. This should be the purpose of the blog.

Every effort on the blog impacts the readers from content to the design and everything in between. The readers will read the blog if they like what is written about a specific subject and they appreciate the style of writing only if the author is not done with the blog to tell that what is written is ultimate. There has to be space to the readers to express their views and if a debate has to take place it has to be such that the reader and the author are benefited by it. It is a good gesture to keep it personable so as to invite interaction through blog comments from other bloggers who like what is written.

Writing blog posts which readers want to read is a matter of speaking honestly and openly about a subject that the author is passionate about. The authenticity of the topic is the life breath of the blog and the subject should not hurt the sentiments of the readers. The subject in the blog has to deliver some evident information there is no point in writing just blog where the subject is either prejudice or non-convincing. The blog posts needs to be dynamic, interesting and enjoyable. The selection of the subject play an important role, the author has to verify if the topic is going to be of any use to the readers in general and to him in particular.  The author has to understand that a wise reader will just ignore the blog if the contents are not apealing. It is foolishness to incorporate sensational stuff to make the blog attractive without pure authenticity in it. The author has to post blogs which has passed the “Test of Three”.

What is this TEST OF THREE??

One day Socrates, the great philosopher came upon an acquaintance, who ran up to him excitedly and said, “Socrates, do you know what I just heard about?”

“Wait a moment,” Socrates replied. “Before you tell me, I'd like you to pass a little test. It's called the Test of Three.”

“Test of Three?”

“That's correct,” Socrates continued. “Before you talk to me about that something you know about, let's take a moment to test what you're going to say. The first test is Truth. Have you made absolutely sure that what you are about to tell me is true?”

“No,” the man replied, “actually it is just what I heard about it.”

“All right,” said Socrates. “So you don't really know if it's true or not. Now let's try the second test, the test of Goodness. Is what you are about to tell me about something good?”

“No, on the contrary...”

“So,” Socrates continued, “you want to tell me something bad even though you're not certain it's true?”

The man shrugged, a little embarrassed.

Socrates continued, “You may still pass though because there is a third test - the filter of Usefulness. Is what you want to tell me about going to be useful to me?”

“No, not really...”

“Well,” concluded Socrates, “if what you want to tell me is neither true nor good nor even useful, why tell it to me at all?”

The man was defeated and ashamed and said no more.

A blog has to send great messages not just a have an issue on an individual, community, society, religion to discuss. The blog has to take us front not drag us back.

766. Symptoms of approaching Kali Yuga – A Story from Bhagavatam.

After the Great War Lord Krishna left Dwaraka to Paramapada, King Yudhisthira was ruling Bharathavarsha. His mighty brother Bhimasena was in charge of the welfare of the citizens in the kingdom. He used to help in solving the problems of people; hence people would come to him with grievances.

One day a person came and told Bhima that he noticed a strange thing that day. The fence he had erected around his filed had gained momentum and had ventured into other persons field. He requested Bhima to help him find out why it was happening so. Bhima had never heard a thing like that so he asked him to approach Yudhisthira in the evening durbar.

On the same day, another person came and told that he came across with a strange thing. He had a big pot with full of water and he had poured that water into small pots, amazingly when he tried to pour back the water from the small pots to the big one only half of the big pot was filled. The person was wondering what had happened to the other half quantity of water. Bhima not knowing what to say, he asked him to contact Yudhisthira.

Yet another person came to Bhima that day with a complaint that he happened to see a strange thing. A huge elephant could pass through the eye of the needle but to his surprise its tail got stuck in that hole. Bhima again referred him to Yudhisthira.

Another person came to Bhima and said that he saw big rock in the street and huge wrestlers in the locality could not move it an inch but a Sadhu who was passing by just waved his Palasa Danda (the staff of Palasa tree) and astonishingly the boulder moved. Bhima thinking that it has been a bad day for him since he could not any find solution to the weird happening, he referred them to Yudhisthira.

They all went to Yudhisthira and asked about these questions, then Yudhisthira said that, all these qualities shows that Dwapara Yuga is ending and Kali Yuga is near approaching and he explains ......

The first symptom is one of the fence is moving into other persons filed shows that people are not satisfied with what they have and are more interested to know about what others have and think of a way to acquire them either hook or crook.

The second symptom is the big pot with full of water when it is poured into small pots and pour back into big pot fills only half this means that a person can expect only 50% of love or affection or help from a person to whom he had shown love affection and had helped.

The third symptom of big elephant is going through a needle but the tail getting stuck, it means that henceforth people are ready to spend a lot of their earnings on sensual satisfaction but when it comes to philanthropy they do not spare even a little.

The fourth symptom is, big rock not moved by persons who are having lot of strength but a Sadhu could move it just by waving his Danda. This means that one can get rid of all their enormous and vast problems just by contemplating on the holy name of the Lord.

765. Love is Universal.....

“I love my husband a lot but I can’t stand my mother-in-law” says a young woman. With such a thought, will there be peace and harmony in a family. Will the young woman’s husband be happy to be with a person having such thinking? How can a person love a person and can’t stand another unless he is infatuated by the person whom he thinks he loves. It is like saying I love that red rose but I don’t like the thorn. One has to admit that the love for the red rose is only because the thorns in it did not allow the cattle to gulp the flower. Can there be a rose without thorns? Yes rose is good but that flower would not be without the plant and the plant would not be without the soil.   

All aspects of love can coexist with the personality. With that personality the identity is maintained. There is one aspect of love where the personality and identity loses its ground that is called Universal Love or Divine Love. When our being-ness manifests as Universal Love the identity vanishes and there is no personality. It is this love that spiritual gurus refer to when they say that as long as there is ego, there is no love. They are talking about the Universal Love.

Love is a universal feel it is an expression of the harmony of the totality. Nothing is excluded as everything is in harmony with everything else. It is a unification of all aspects of the essence. When I experience Universal Love I do understand the action of love as well. Love in action is when I am gentle when gentleness is required or compassionate when being compassionate is the need of the minute or to yield when yielding becomes necessary. In total whatever emotions are required it is present and most importantly in correct balance depending on the situation. That is Sama Bhava (Balanced Emotion).

Off late we have seen a few political leaders talking about serving their community and pleading their life for the up-liftment of their particular community. With the lack of Universal Love we have confined to colonisation and the unity of my country has received a blow. My country was practicing Sama Bhava there was never “divide and rule” policy here. We had the thought of Sarva Dharma Sama Bhav (Equal respect to all Religion). We had no differences even though our ideologies and philosophies had difference in opinion. Earlier a family was united and the neighbourhood was united and the locality was united and the region was united and province was united and the whole nation stood united.

Unfortunately now there is no unity in a family and the talk on Universal Love is too big if there is no love among the family members……What say???