"Even animals can do sadhana"

Question: We were thinking that only human beings have thinking ability, and thus only they can do "sadhana" (spiritual practices), but other animals could not. Is this concept false? How can animals do "sadhana"?

Answer: This is not true. All animals can also do "sadhana" (spiritual practices). If animals cannot do "sadhana", they cannot get better lives, which lead to the human life. If they cannot get a human life, then they cannot get moksha (liberation) at all at any time. This is not true, thus it is proven that animals also do "sadhana" and get better lives.

They do "sadhana" by their mental activities. We can see a lot of differences in the behaviors of various animals. In the same category of, say cat, dog or cow, we can see a lot of difference between two animals. For example some are soft, some are sensitive, some are more active, etc. This is due to their mental "sadhana". Also in children, who are not having developed thinking power, we can see many differences. We have seen a child, in Bombay, around 2 years old. While sleeping, he tightly hugs a Krishna idol. He does not drink milk without offering to Krishna. He always wants to listen to Krishna's stories. He always wants to see the puja of Krishna. This is all due to previous "samskara" (purification). Like this, animals also will have their own previous samskara and "sadhana"

Sesame And Water: Where Do They Go?

An explanation of tarpanam by Shri Chandrashekarendra Saraswati swamigal of Kanchi Kamakoti matham.

All human beings must express their gratitude to their fathers (pitrs) and to the gods- they have a debt to pay their fathers, rites to perform for the gods. We must serve our fellow creatures to the best of our ability and extend hospitality at least to one guest a day. This is atithya or what Thiruvalluvar calls "virundu", also known as manusyayajna. Thiruvalluvar has said more or less the same thing as the Vedas say:

Tenpulattar, deivam, virundu, okkal, tan enru angu aimbulattaru ombal talai.

Tenpulattar are the pitrs, the fathers. All are duty-bound to pay their debt to them. Mother Veda says: "Matr-devo bhava, pitr-devo bhava. " (Be one to whom the mother is a deity. Be one to whom the father is a deity. ) Auvvai, who brings us the essence of the Vedas, observes: Annayum pitavum munnari deivam" [Mother and Father are the deities first known. ]

We must treat our parents with respect and do all we can to keep them in comfort. We cannot make sufficient recompense for all the sacrifices they make on our behalf. After they depart from this world we must without fail offer libations to them and perform the sraddha ceremony, all in the sastric manner. Though they ridicule the idea of performing sraddha, even reformers have agreed that we must care for our parents.

"The sesame you offer, the water, the balls of rice, the plantains and other items of food remain here," point out the reformists. "Or we see someone removing them before our own eyes, or eating them. You say that the departed parents are born again in this world. If that is true, is it not madness to claim that what is offered here will reach them?" Some of you must be harbouring similar doubts.

Let me tell you a story.

A certain man had sent his son to college in a distant town. One day the boy woke up to the fact that he had to pay his examination fee in a few days. So he wrote to his father: "Please send such and such a sum by telegraphic money order. " The father was a little perplexed. All the same he went to the telegraph office and handed the clerk at the counter the money that had to be sent to his son. "Please send it by telegraphic money order," he told the clerk. He had thought that the clerk would make holes in the notes, put a length of wire through them and send the whole thing to his son. Moments later the clerk said to the man: "Your son will get your money. It has already been sent. " The villager was again puzzled. He saw the money still in the cash box without the notes strung together. He told the clerk:"My money is still here. You haven't made holes in the notes yet." The clerk assured him: "It will reach your son." Now he turned to his work of sending messages: "Ka-tu-katu-katu." The poor village was still not satisfied.

But the money of course reached his son.

Offering libations to one's fathers is similar. If this rite is performed according to the sastras, the deities concerned will convey them to those for whom they are meant. If the fathers are reborn as cows the offering made to them will be taken to them in the form of grass or hay. The deities in charge carry out the orders of the Paramatman. So the father of the mother whose sraddha is performed need not personally come to receive the offering.

Does not the telegraphic money order reach the addressee? If the addressee resides in a foreign country our currency will not be valid there. If rupees are paid here arrangements are made to pay the money in dollars, pounds of whatever. The things offered to the fathers according to the sastras are conveyed in a form suitable to them.

What is important is a sense of gratitude to our fathers and faith in the sastras. At parties a toast is proposed to somebody and all the guests drink or eat to his health. They do so in the belief that by virtue of the mental power the man toasted will become healthy. Sraddha means that which is done in faith. Faith is of the utmost importance. If we do something we must do it according to the rules laid down for it. When you write a letter how do you make sure that it reaches the addressee? "I will write the address as I like. Why should I drop the letter in that letterbox over there? I have a better box at home." would you speak thus?

Source: kamakoti.org

Every One Has The Right To Be Ignorant!

The India Today Conclave offered a basis for a discussion on spirituality, “Halo or Hoax?” Javed Akhtar joked, “In movies we create an illusion and then after three hours we put up a sign, The End, and make people step back into reality, whereas spiritual people also create an illusion but they do not put an end to it.” The audience applauded. I smiled within and thought, yes, what this man says is correct, all that is created comes to an end. If something does not end then it is not created! Perhaps he didn’t even realise the profound truth of what he was saying.

So in some way he tacitly accepted that the love and drama he creates in the movies does end, but the love and transformation created by spiritual people never end. Yes, this whole world is an illusion that never ends. I drew Adi Shankara from his sarcasm. What an enigma: the perception and the reality.......

Spirituality is intoxicating. Only those who step into it will know. Before criticising we need to do our homework.Has one spent time with saints? Only then does one’s views carry weight, else they remain simple accusations only, a distorted perception, not reality.

Mr Akhtar thundered again: “All modern-day spiritualists are hypocrites”. Many people froze as he dismissed the present-day gurus. Today there are millions of people who follow spirituality: are they all hypocrites? I appreciated that he could express his feelings boldly, without pretension. But the contempt that was exhibited for gurus was alarming. The hatred and frustration were obvious from his body language. It’s not just Mr Akhtar. Many journalists, communists, atheists and naxalites live in that state of mind, of being anti-religious, anti-rich, anti-famous, anti-business.

Should I argue and put him down? No! I have never put anyone down. I can’t deviate from my nature. So I simply said, everyone has the right to be ignorant. A flash of Aurangzeb, who butchered thousands of gurus and would not listen to any reason or logic, came to mind. An intelligent man would look into all the avenues before he makes a comment or accusation.....Blaming the entire modern-day spiritual guru and sadhu community is as foolish as branding the entire Muslim community as terrorists.

Then came his next statement that Buddha went from the palace to the forest and today the gurus come from the forest to the palace. I said to myself, ‘Come on! Buddha went to the forest when he was unhappy and miserable, and he came right back when he became a guru’. Any high school student knows this. Besides, every palace had a rajguru. Last year hundreds of sadhus were evicted from the caves and hermitages of the Himalayan region, near Haridwar, by the forest department. People generally think sadhus should live in forests with torn clothes but the forest department wanted to send them to the city!

A man who equates arms, drugs and spirituality is not going to change his opinion immediately and anyway his opinion is not going to matter for what is and what will be. Come on, I thought, sing a new song. My compassion grew. Spirituality is not a matter of the head, it is a matter of the heart. I had two choices: to argue and turn the conclave into a conflict or to keep silence. I chose the latter.

(H.H. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Founder of the Art of Living)

Source: http://www.haindavakeralam.com/HKPage.aspx?PageID=8463&SKIN=D

Shri Kannadasan's Arthamulla Hindu Madham

The following is the speech by Shri Kannadasan on "Arthamulla Hindu Madam" (Meaningful Hinduism). There are totally 14 videos. Here we showcase only one video, make sure that you listen to all the 14 videos.

Govinda Dwadashi on March 8

Gobinda Dwadasi, or Govinda Dwadashi, is an auspicious day which falls on the 12th day during the waxing phase of the moon in Phalguna or Falgun month. Gobind Dwadasi is considered highly auspicious by Vishnu devotees. In 2009, Gobinda Dwadasi is of great significance at the Puri Jagannath Temple. A rare combination of calculations as per Hindu astrology and almanac taking place after 48 years provides the opportunity to take holy dip at the Mahodadhi Teerth on Puri coast. In 2009, the date of Gobinda Dwadasi is March 8.

Such a rare combination in Hindu Almanac associated with Gobinda Dwadai at Puri Jagannath Temple had last happened in 1961. The chance to take a holy dip at Mahodadhi Teerth and visit Jagannath Temple is happening after 48 years. Mahodadhi Tirth is a six kilometer long stretch of the Puri Seacoast from Chakra Tirth to Swargdwar.

It is expected that more than half-a-million devotees will take a dip at Puri Jagannath Temple seacoast on the auspicious day of Gobinda Dwadasi Buda.

The Ekadasi on March 7 is known as Papanashini Ekadasi in Orissa due to the Pushya Nakshatra on March 8.

Source: www.hindu-blog.com

A documentary on the priests of Chidambaram

Click here to watch a 30 minute video documentary on the priests of the ancient Chidambaram Nataraja temple in Tamil Nadu. This will be able to provide a right perspective of the issue after the recent take over of the temple by the HR&CE. Happy watching!

Grand Mahashivarthri celebrations around the world

KATHMANDU, NEPAL, February 24, 2009: Around four million devotees from within and outside the country visited the revered Hindu temple of Pashupati Nath on the occasion of Maha Shivaratri on Monday.

Devotees had lined up to Old Baneswor and Chabahil to get a chance for worship in the temple from as early as 3 am. Devotees had to stand in line for more than six hours.

About 150 sadhus, less than expected, had come from different parts of India at the Pashupati. Foreigners were also seen dancing to the tunes of Nepali devotional songs. For the first time in the Nepal’s history, President Ram Baran Yadav offered puja as the Head of the State at the temple. President Yadav was welcomed by the devotees with a huge applaud. Most of the TV channels and FM radios were broadcasting the event live from Pashupati.

FIJI, February 24, 2009: For Mahasivaratri, many temples in Fiji observe a three-night festival which culminates with a grand prayer ceremony on the last night.

Devotees strongly believe that sincere worship of Lord Shiva on the auspicious day of Shivaratri, absolves a person of sins and liberates him from the cycle of birth and death. Shivaratri is considered especially auspicious for women. While married women pray for the well being of their husbands unmarried women pray for a husband like Lord Shiva, who is regarded as the ideal husband.

Devotees also offer 108 Bilwa leaves to the Shiva Linga to seek blessings. These leaves are believed to be the best offering for Lord Shiva and have great significance as highlighted in the Shiv Puranas.

Source: www.nepalmountainnews.com
fijidailypost.com

Glorifying Rudra with Rudram

Vedic Lecture Series in Chennai

Webolim cordially invites you to the Vedic Lecture series in Chennai. Lectures by Dr. Shri Ranganji from 25th February to March 1st. His lectures are based on Taittiriya Upanishad. The lectures are going to be in Naradha Gana Sabha - Mini Hall, TTK Road, Alwarpet, Chennai between 6.30 pm to 8 pm. The topics are given below.

Value Education - Shiksha Valli (25/02/2009)
Gurukula Education Vs. Modern Education - Shiksha Valli (26/02/2009)
What is Bhraman? - Ananda Valli (27/02/2009)
What is Happiness? - Ananda Valli (28/02/2009)
Freedom from Five Adjuncts. - Bhrigu Valli (01/03/2009)

Lectures are going to be in English.
Background on the speaker:

Shri R.Ranganji is the founder president of Webolim, an organization which spreads the values of Vedas and usage of Vedic values in every day life.. He is a master of Vedas, Vedic Sanskrit, Upanishads and epics. He has authored many books on the Vedas giving its meaning and its practicality for the present age. Ranganji conducts Vedic workshops in various places in India and abroad.

He is a Vedic scholar and learnt Vedanta in a traditional way. He composed seven thousand verses in Sanskrit even at the age of thirteen. He could memorize all the eight major Upanishads and most of the slokas of Ramayana by the age of sixteen. He translated Shankara bhashya of Bramhasutras at the age of eighteen. He established a big study circle of Ramayana the original text of Valmiki while he was an under graduate. He did his Masters in management studies. He did his PhD from sVYASA University.

He has written many research articles on Ramayana, Mahabharata, Vedas, Vedanta, Yoga and published six books on philosophy. He has done a Bhashya of Bhagavad-Gita synthesizing various bhashyas . Presently he is a consultant to Vivekananda Yoga Anusanthana Samasthana (Vivekananda Yoga University) in Bangalore.

I hope everyone can make use of this occasion and enrich their Vedic knowledge. Please pass on this information to those who would be interested.

A Mahamahopadhyaya from Mylapore

BR Haran
Mahamahopadhyaya is a great honour conferred on well-learned scholars, who associate themselves to the noble profession of ‘teaching’ in their respective subjects or areas of interest.

This coveted award is bestowed on great pandits, who have come up with sincere devotion, spirited hard work and a never dying insatiable quest for knowledge. It was divine and blissful to interact with one such great scholar from Mylapore Dr R Krishnamurthi Sastri, a Sanskrit teacher par excellence for over forty with immense knowledge of the Vedas, Upanishads, Puranas, Ithihasas and all Dharma Sastras, was conferred Mahama-hopadhyaya.

The Tirupati based University, ‘Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeetha’, which celebrated its 12th convocation, conferred on him the title recently. Hailing from a traditionally scholarly family and born to S Rajagopala Ghanapatigal and Vaalaambal at Mullaivasal in Thanjavur District, Krishnamurthi Sastri started his quest for knowledge at a very early age.

He learnt Krishna Yajur Veda under his father through the age-old tradition of Gurukula and since then there has been no looking back in his illustrious career. His academic excellence in Sanskrit and Hindi has been proved many times in Sanskrit promoting institutions like Kanchi Mutt, TTD, Madras Sanskrit College, University of Madras and Hindi Prachar Sabha.

Dr Sastri’s career as a Sanskrit Teacher started at Vaideeswara Oriental School in Mettur Dam, Salem District in 1966. After a stint of seven years there, he served as a Lecturer of Vedanta in Madras Sanskrit College for one year and then became the Vice Principal of S V Vidya Kendra, Tirumala, where he served for two years from 1974 to 1976.

Then he served as Professor of Vedanta at Madras Sanskrit Colllege between 1976 and 1999 and became its principal serving between 1999 and 2003. At present he is serving as Academic Council Member in Lal Bahadur Sastri Sanskrit Vidyapeet, Delhi; Jt. Secretary, The Sanskrit Academy, Chennai; Member, Research Admission committee, Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeetha and Expert Committee Member, Sarasvati Mahal Library, Thanjavur.

When asked about the titles and honours that he has won so far, he said, ‘I have been honoured by a few institutions with some titles but feel shy listing them’.

However the list is endless and to name a few, he was honoured with the title Veda Bhashya Ratnam by Kanchi Sankara Mutt, Vedanta Visarada by His holiness Sankaracharya of Sringeri, Veda Sastra Parangata by Samskrita Sahitya Parishad, Trichy, Meemamsa Siromani by University of Madras, Veda Bhashya Vidwan by TTD, Tirumala and Vedabhashya Ratnakara by Jeer Azhagiya singar of Ahobila Mutt.

Krishnamurthi Sastri has authored and published many monographs and books like Veda and its relevance in today’s life, Samkshepa Dharma Sastram, Yajusha Mantra Ratnakaram, Krishna Yajur Veda (both in Grantha and Devanagari lipi) and a critical edition of Alankara-stava by Vinukonda Venkatarama Deivagna.

On invitations he has participated in and presided over a number of conferences, seminars and Vidwat Sadas and presented and published numerous articles relating to Veda & Vedanta and its relevance to modern times.

He has been entrusted with the responsibility of conducting Veda-bhashya Sabha and Advaita Sabha at Kanchi Mutt every year and he also founded the ‘Heritage India Educational Trust’ with the blessings of Kanchi Paramacharya in the early eighties mainly to publish Krishna Yajur Veda in Granta-lipi, which has already gone into four prints benefiting a large number of students.

Dr Sastri’s wife Prema Krishnamurthi, who has stood behind her husband supporting all his endeavours, is also a great intellectual. She conducts classes for Patshala students and addresses neighbourhood gatherings regularly on the religious and cultural aspects of Sanatana Dharma.

She participates in service activities, which focus on Hindhu Dharma. Their son Ramasubramaniam is a Professor of Astronmomy and Astro-Physics in IIT, Mumbai. He has travelled to places in India and abroad to render intellectual discourses on India’s Vedic Heritage and how it is far ahead of the western world. This humble family from Mylapore is a role model for others to follow.

Source: http://www.newstodaynet.com/newsindex.php?section=12&catid=21&id=14750

Management Lesson from Ramayana

Fire Yogi of Tanjavur

Found this interesting....

How hungry are you for God?

In a town in Bengal , there was a man who worked in an office. He lived with his wife and two children. One of the children was only three or four months old and the other was seven years old. One day, the man told his wife, "You will have to prepare breakfast early today because I have to go into the office early. After I eat, I shall leave right away." When the wife went to cook, she first put the baby on the bed and then went into the kitchen. But, whenever she would enter the kitchen, the child would cry. She thought, "With the child in my lap, how will I be able to cook? It is very difficult." She was thinking what she should do. Then she thought of a way she could manage. She called the seven-year-old child.

"Darling, come here!" she called. "Do you know that red toy in the shop?"

"Yes, I know it," the child answered.

"Go and buy that toy, but be sure that it makes a nice jingling sound."

The child took some money and went off to buy the toy. He brought it home and gave it to the mother. The mother laid the baby down on the bed and hung the red-colored toy with the jingling sound above him, at the end of a rope. The baby saw the toy and immediately started to play with it, hitting it from side to side. The child was most delighted as he continued to slap the toy and hear the jingling sound. For one hour he played like that, and the mother went to do her cooking. After that, the child started to feel hungry. For the entire time that the child was playing, he did not remember his mother. But, now that he felt hungry, he thought, "Oh, where is my mother?" But his mother did not come. Then, he started crying, signifying, "I am hungry! Come!" He could not speak, so he beckoned his mother by crying. "Come to me and suckle me! I am hungry!" His mother, however, was busy cooking. "No," she thought, "let the child cry."

After some time, the child stopped crying and went back to playing with the toy---jingle, jingle, jingle. After playing like that for a while, the pangs of hunger returned. His hunger increased and increased and he became more and more unhappy. He began to cry for his mother even more loudly than before.

His mother heard the crying of the baby, but thought that she should first finish her cooking.

Finally, the hunger became unbearable for the child. The child thought, "I don't want toys!" All he could think about was his mother.
His crying became louder and louder until he was screaming. He started to throw his arms about and kick his legs, in a tantrum.

Then the mother thought, "Oh, I cannot stay away any longer!" The mother ran toward the child, embraced him and suckled him.

Like this, the Supreme Lord has given us toys---the toy of a wife or husband, toys of children, toys of buildings, toys of radios, toys of videos, toys of computers. Seeing this, Krsna thinks, "They are absorbed in their toys! I have no worries. I am engaged in My pastimes in the transcendental realm. They do not want this. They want those things instead. Here, take this computer! Take that video! Take this! Take that!"

Upon the awakening of his real self (atma), a man feels the want of the sweetest affection of the Supreme Lord. He cries, "Oh Supreme Lord! In this world, nothing gives me happiness. Everything is temporary. Everyone is selfish. You are my most beloved! Where are You? I have forgotten You! Come! Come! I am in a furnace! Come! Come!" Weeping, he calls, but Krsna does not come. "I am engaged in My pastimes," Krsna says. For some time, the man then becomes absorbed in the affairs of his family and relatives, and forgets Krsna. Time passes and he cries again, "Where is My beloved Supreme Lord? Where is He?" Crying, crying. But, the Supreme Lord still does not come. Ultimately, he shouts, "I do not want a house! I do not want anything! Nobody is mine---You are mine! Oh beloved Supreme Lord! Come! Come! Come!" He cries and weeps, tossing his arms and legs about. Then Krsna cries, "Oh!" and comes to him. This sort of perturbation of the heart, extreme eagerness for getting Bhagavan, must be there.

When we associate with the suddha bhakta who is crying for Krsna, then the eternal nature of atma will be awakened. You have love for God. Love is there in your soul. It exists, but it is presently enveloped by the external potency of the Supreme Lord and you have become averse to Sri Krsna.