Uniting India
Archive for February, 2012
Nature – The Provider
Feb 28th
There is a saying in classical Indian poetry that a lake, a tree, a saint and the rain are all symbols of benevolence, i.e., they are constantly giving to others. If we spend some time to think about this, we can learn much about the act of benevolence from such elements of nature.You may ask how can we learn to give from a mere tree? There is a wonderful story, which is a true incident that took place in Saurashtra, that best illustrates this.
One day, the King of Bhavnagar was relaxing in the garden surrounding his palace. There was a high boundary wall separating the garden from the outside road. Just at that time, a poor Brahmin and his young son were walking on the road. It was very hot and the young child was extremely hungry. He noticed a high mango tree beyond the palace garden wall. The tree had bent across the wall and there were ripe mangoes on the outstretched branch.Forced by temptation, the boy picked up a stone from the road and threw it at the stem of the fruits. His aim succeeded and he caught a beautiful ripe mango. Unfortunately, the stone exceeded the target More >
God Can Never Go Wrong!
Feb 27th
Many of us blame the God, when we are in difficulties. Often we complain about life, and negative things that happen to us, forgetting that nothing is random and that everything has a purpose. God will never take a wrong decision for us. Let me tell you a story I learnt in my childhood.
A king, who did not believe in the goodness of God, had a slave who, at all times, said: ‘’My king, do not be discouraged, everything God does is perfect, there will be never any mistakes!’’
One day they went hunting and on the way a wild animal attacked the king. His slave managed to kill the animal, but could not prevent his majesty losing a finger.
Furious and without showing his gratitude for being saved, the nobleman said “Is God good? If He were good, I would not have been attacked and lost my finger.”
The slave replied: “My king, despite whatever happened to you I can only tell that God is good, and he knows “why” for all these things. What God does is perfect. He is never wrong!”
Outraged by the response, the king ordered the arrest of his slave.
Later, he left for another hunting trip and was More >
Nature is the Guru – Sri Sarada maata
Feb 25th
There is nothing that one can ignore in this nature because it is all pervaded by the supreme God. Each element of nature whether it is a person, animal, plant/tree, hill and river etc. depends on each other and one cannot survive without the other.Shree Sarada mata gives us the message that we can learn from everybody.
When Maata was a small child, She was cleaning a room and upon finishing, she threw the broom to a corner. Then She heard the voice of Sri Ramakrishna say, “Hega, you threw that broom? See how beautifully you cleaned the room with that very broom and now you threw it? You must respect your tools as well as your actions. Cleanliness is next to Godliness?” Then Mother bowed down to the broom. From then on She would bow down to it everyday. Maa said that, Thakur Ramakrishna told Her, “If you respect each and every one of your actions, you will get me.”
Respect is an important part of learning. To illustrate this, Maata has shared these stories with us. These stories teach us how to learn and how to become divine. We can learn every moment from every thing because Mother Nature is More >
The Teachings of Paramahamsa
Feb 25th
God can be realized through all paths. All religions are true. The important thing is to reach the top. You can reach it by stone , wooden, bamboo steps or by a rope. You can also climb up by a bamboo pole. One should not be unilateral in thinking, ‘My religion alone is the right path and other religions are false.’ God can be realized by means of all paths.
It is enough to have sincere yearning for God. Infinite are the paths and infinite are the options.
”I had to practice each religion for a time — Hinduism, Islam, Christianity. Furthermore, I followed the paths of the Saktas, Vaishnavas, and Vedantists. I realized that there is only one God towards whom everyone intends to reach; but the paths are different”.
Truth is one; only it is called by different names. All people are seeking the same Truth; the variance is due to climate, temperament, and name. A lake has many Ghats. From one Ghat the Hindus take water in jars and call it ‘Jal’. From another Ghat the Muslim collects water in leather bags and call it ‘Pani’. From the third the Christians take the same thing and call it ‘Water’. Suppose More >
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LaLitha, Padmini, Ragini- Travancore Sisters
Feb 23rd
”For the past fifteen years, I have served in this cine industry. During my service, I have been interviewed by various magazines and dailies. But at that time the journalists asked only about my cinema career. This is the only weekly that has asked me to write an article about my family life. Because of this I am writing this article with pleasure”.
The article goes like this… Yes, Mrs.Padmini Ramachandran of Travancore sisters fame gave an introduction, in that magazine like this, in the year 1961.
Her family is an artiste’s family. Her sister Lalitha achieved the maximum glory in this field and settled peacefully as house wife. Padmini also rendered her service in this field and later settled as house wife. Following her, Ragini also settled in the family life. They belong to Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala state. They belong to a traditionally respectable Royal family. They are brought up with care by their parents Mr. Thangappan Pillai and Mrs. Saraswathi Ammal.
Eventually, her family fame put hindrance to her passion as she was very much interested in fine arts. The Royal family didn’t permit the sisters to dance and put many hindrances for them to learn arts. The Royal family thought that More >
Maha Shivaratri – The great night of Lord Shiva
Feb 19th
The worship of Lord Shiva is prevailing in Hindu religion and philosophy from time immemorial perhaps since Vedic times on par with the worship of Lord Vishnu. There are many historical and Puranic references to the worship of Lord Shiva. In our mythological books we read that Sri Rama, Sri Krishna and Sri Parashurama, the incarnations of Lord Vishnu have worshipped Lord Shiva and installed Shiva Lingas during their period at places like Rameswaram, Srisailam, Dwarka, Somnath (Prabhas Kshetra) are some of the examples to name a few. Lord Shiva is worshipped by all including Deities and Sages except Vaishnavites. Among his greatest devotees are Markandeya and Ravanasura. Markandeya attained long life after worshipping Lord Shiva. The most popular Panchakshari manthra” Om! Namah! Shivaaya! ”is dedicated to Lord Shiva.
On the contrary we find Lord Shiva is mentioned as the greatest devotee of Lord Vishnu. He is the one who has eulogized the significance of Sri Rama Nama by preaching the same to his consort Goddess Parvathi. Lord Sri Krishna in his Bhagavathgeetha says that He is the Shankara among the Ekadasa Rudras. Lord Shiva known as Hara (destroyer) forms a part of the 24 Kesava Namas (Haraye Namah!).
Lord Shiva More >
Merits of Bilva- The Divine Tree
Feb 19th
There is nothing that one can ignore in this nature because it is all pervaded by the supreme God. Each element of nature whether it is a person, animal, plant/tree, hill and river etc. depends on each other and one cannot survive without the other. They complement each other for their survival and existence. So much so, plants and trees are an integral part of human or animal life and without plants/trees a man or an animal cannot survive. Each part of the plant like root, stems, barks, leaves and flowers are used in Hindu rituals. Apart from spiritual significance there is also an element of health consciousness and environmental protection involved in its usage. Even today these leaves/herbs are very much used in preparing Ayurvedic medicines meant for curing several diseases. Apart from this, they also act in a divine way of controlling pollution, be it water or air.
In Hinduism, plants/trees are worshiped and are treated as embodiment of God since Vedic days. There is no worship or ritual in Hinduism without the usage of plants/trees in some form or the other. They are considered as divine personification for the soul and puja material of each Hindu God More >
Truth & God
Feb 19th
The Mahabaratha war is about to begin. One day Lord Shri K rishna is resting in Dwaraka in his room and Duryodhana comes to meet him. Krishna is aware of his arrival but feigns sleep. Duryodhana sits at Krishna’s head waiting for him to wake up. Arjuna arrives and seeing Krishna asleep, sits at his feet.
Krishna wakes up, sees Arjuna and asks him when did he come. Arjuna replies that he had just come, but Duryodhana had been waiting there before him. Krishna looks at Duryodhana in surprise. Though Duryodhana had come first, Krishna says he saw Arjuna first and gives Arjuna the choice between Him and his soldiers (Narayana sena) as help for the battle.
Arjuna promptly chooses Shri Krishna. Krishna underlines that if Arjuna chooses Him, it will be only Him and he will not take part in the battle. Arjuna humbly agrees and reiterates that Krishna is enough for them. Duryodhana who was worried lest Arjuna asks for Narayana sena, is very happy to hear this and accepts the other choice – Narayana sena.
Duryodhana triumphantly boasts to Bheeshma that he opted for Krishna’s soldiers whereas the Pandavas had chosen just Krishna who will not even take part in the More >
Driving towards uncompromising values
Feb 19th
Values / Ethics can be defined as moral principles that a person or a culture adheres to. These are a basic requirement for human life. These act as the fundamental force to sustain the society. Lesser the values, more chaotic the world becomes. These play the role of a foundation stone – be it the building of life of individual, family, society, nation or world as a whole. A firm base of values is must for a happy and successful life. Some values to be considered to be inculcated in children are -
- Honesty
- Integrity
- Respectfulness
- Sacrifice
- Loyalty
- Compassion
- Heroism
- Perfection
- Liberty
- Generosity
An aware school culture with focus on the part of school teachers and management to exhibit these by self-implementation can go a long way. Also there has to be planned effort on the part of the school to catch any compromise on values on the part of the students and work effectively with parents to take corrective measures before it gets too late. There are interesting ways which different schools have adopted – like sharing inspiring life stories of great men who have exhibited these values and appreciation to students found living these values. So do check out how your school is working on this, and once you More >
The Significance of Hindu Lunar Month Magha Masam
Feb 19th
As per Hindu lunar calendar the month in which full moon day coincides with Makhah (Maghah) star, that month is denoted as Maagha masam which occur during the calendar months of January-February. Makhah also means Yagna and Lord Vishnu is referred to as MahaMakhah (Sri Vishnu Sahasranama sthothram sloka # 47) the presiding Deity of Yagna. The Lord is also worshipped through the medium of Yagna. Maagham is a Sanskrit word Ma+Agham. Ma means not present and Agham means sin, evil, malefic, annoyance, suffering, grief and Maagha masam is the month which is highly meritorious, auspicious and free from any sin or suffering.
Lord Maha Vishnu in the name of Maadhava is the presiding deity (Masa Niyamaka) who governs the month Maagha Masam and to be worshipped. We find a reference to the words Madhava in sloka #8, 18 and 78 of Sri Vishnu Sahasra Nama Sthothram. Madhava means one who is the consort of Goddess Lakshmi Devi, one who is the bestower and Lord of superior knowledge. Astrologically, Kethu the Mokshakaraka is regarded as the ruling planet of Magha star and Pithru Devathas as the presiding Deities. Maagha masam, the eleventh month as per Hindu lunar calendar is considered More >
