Spiritualism Redefined

33 % reservation. Is it justified?

2009-06-09T21:59:00.003+05:30

Limiting the history of feminism or in other words women empowerment to the history of the modern feminist movement has always been criticized by many of us. Our socio-cultural structure has ignored women's opposition to patriarchy over the course of thousand of years. Infact, in our so called modern, orthodox and conservative Indian society, women empowerment is almost negligible as what we see even today that despite opposition the parliament has proposed a 33% reservation in seat for womens in the state legislative assembly and parliament. The irony is that despite of so many efforts done by the law and NGO's there still exists a huge disparity for the women in our society.

Moreover, my interaction with people and with the surroundings, gave me a feeling that the problem need to be given a microscopic view from the grass root level. What I felt that in our social strata we actually fails to imbibe the concept of gender equality and empowerment from the very beginning in the minds of our children’s. And even the word empower and equality gets bandied about so much that one should be forgiven for over looking what actually they mean; to imbue some with power, to instill in the individual a sense of equality.

As a matter of fact, here, it would be not only the responsibility of the male to imbue a sense of equality. But, indeed women as a part of this civilized society should refrain begging in the name of equality and empowerment by taking simpler means like 33 % reservation which are altogether a political gimmick to secure the vote banks of some rascals. But, each one of them should come up and displaythe real essence of motherhood .

Ramayana” Management of the Theory of Time

2009-02-20T14:39:00.004+05:30

Shri Rama: He represents a human being having complete control over his / her ‘Mind’. It also represents a ‘Natural Age’ state of mind.

The Ravana: He represents a human being who has lost control over his / her ‘Mind’. It also represents the influence of extreme ‘Material Age’.

Controlled Mind personalities: They are balanced personalities with clarity in objectives and right vision. Their thoughts, speech and physical actions are positive, constructive, ethical and value adding. They maintain self-control and self-discipline. They aim at serving others in a selfless state of mind. They believe in non-violence, peace, truth and simplicity. They follow sacrifice and forgiveness. They practice mutual help and co-operation. They spread love, respect, good health and happiness to each form of life across the globe. They always keep at
peace and are not influenced by anger, ego, deception or greed. They worship work and maintain humbleness. They represent, respect and also follow true laws of life by nature.

Un-Controlled Mind personalities: The one who is opposite of the controlled mind personality.

The War between Shri Rama and The Ravana and the victory of Shri Rama: It represents an eternal ‘Theory of Time’ which starts from ‘Natural Age’ but gradually moves towards ‘Material Age’ where the world at large starts suffering from its negative side effects. When it goes to extreme limits and reaches the peak of ‘Materialism’ then nature has to ensure the rebirth nof complete ‘Natural Age’ as a gradual process and finally rebalance the world to ensure its survival and so on. This explains the eternal process of management of the theory of time as per the laws of life by nature. Nature ensures that the world is ruled as per its laws of life and does whatever is necessary to bless e.g. natural resources and to punish e.g. natural calamities.

Let’s try to understand the ‘Theory of Time’ from other aspects:

Economy: In general, as per studies, the economy faces the eternal cycle of economic development from recession to prosperity and then again to recession and so on.

Shares / Stock Market: In general, as per studies, the share market faces the eternal cycle of Bull Run and Bear Run. In between the Bull Run we have corrections and then again Bull Run and vice-versa and so on.

Life: The eternal soul is an invisible living energy which takes birth in a material form of life and then takes rebirth in some other material form on death of the former one, which has no beginning as per the ‘Theory of Karma’, which is based on the principle of ‘Action-Reaction’. It is also believed that a soul that has done positive deeds visits heaven to enjoy extreme material pleasures whereas the soul that has done negative deeds visits hell to suffer from extreme material pains. With the help of ‘Meditation’ we can achieve self-realization and reach the stage of ‘Omniscience’. We, the eternal souls can achieve complete enlightenment by getting complete rid of karmas i.e. material actions caused by thoughts, speech and physical actions linked to our material desires aimed at senses gratification, which keeps the soul trapped in material lives. At the end of such ‘Human life’ the soul enters into the ‘Spiritual Space’ i.e. ‘Salvation / Nirvana / Moksha’ and wins freedom from material pleasures and pains forever.

Let’s try to understand the ‘Theory of Time’ based on various religious teachings:

Christianity: The teachings blessed by the holy soul prophet Jesus Christ includes mentioning of the day of ‘JUDGMENT’ which also means destruction of material existence. (This is just a reference. For complete and exact details please refer to the holy book ‘Bible’).

Islam: The teachings blessed by the holy soul prophet Hazrat Muhammad includes mentioning of the day of ‘QAYAMAT’ which also means destruction of material existence. (This is just a reference. For complete and exact details please refer to the holy book ‘Quran’).

Hinduism: The learning from literatures of Hindu religion includes mentioning of the current extreme ‘Material Age’ as ‘KALI YUG’ which is one of the cycles of the ‘YUG CHAKRA’ i.e. eternal process of the time cycle starting from 1 to 4 and then again from 1 to 4 and so on, according to which the current cycle is the 4th one known as the ‘DARK AGE’. (This is just a reference. For complete and exact details please refer to the holy books on ‘Hinduism’).

Jainism: The learning from literatures of Jain religion includes mentioning of the current ‘Material Age’ as the ‘DUSHAM KAL’ which is one of the form of ‘AARA / KAL CHAKRA’ i.e. eternal process of the time cycle starting from 1 to 6 and then again from 6 to 1 and so on, according to which the current cycle is the 5th one in the time cycle from 1 to 6 which is known as the ‘PAINFUL AGE’. (This is just a reference. For complete and exact details please refer to the holy books on ‘Jainism’).

The above analysis is just an unbiased attempt to find a link between few religious teachings to learn the Theory of Time. There is no intention to test or verify or evaluate them. There is also no intention to comment on them, whether they are true or false. In fact the efforts are made to learn from all of them. They teach SIMILAR life management principles based on the spiritual laws which are universal in nature. However we humans misinterpret them and loose the beauty of its essence by fighting with each other in the name of a religion or God.

In today’s commercial world, no one can deny the fact that the more we are developing, the majority of us is turning selfish, short visionary, inhuman and evil. We are unnecessarily compromising with the values, principles, discipline and ethics which are required to build a beautiful world with long term sustainable growth and ever increasing peace, good health and happiness for all forms of lives forever. Let’s try to analyze the current situation of 21st century:

Human brain has got mainly three quotients:

• IQ: Intelligence Quotient
• EQ: Emotional Quotient
• SQ: Spiritual Quotient

Majority of us concentrate just on IQ and EQ. The mind functions in two ways Viz. Conscious and Sub-Conscious. The mind has two ways of thinking Viz. Left Brain (mainly IQ Based) and Right Brain (mainly EQ and SQ based).

We intelligent and biased emotional humans are trapped by the deceptive intelligence by concentrating only on the conscious mind and left brain thinking process. We, the commercial world of 21st century are not fully aware of the power of ‘Spiritual Intelligence’.

We have such a beautiful earth to live. What are we giving it in return? We are causing extreme pollution, massive waste products, global warming and depletion ofnatural resources etc. We have such a wonderful opportunity of living life as a human being. What are we doing in return?

We are causing religious bias, wars, terrorism, riots, murders, power games, corruption, bribing, frauds, black market, smuggling, scandals, crimes, gambling, robberies, kidnapping, rape, sexual harassment, prostitution, racism, inequality, quarrels, family splits, cheating, divorces, intoxication, consumption of drugs, adulteration of food, fake medicines, counterfeit products, extreme materialism, increasing gap between rich and poor, beggars and killing of animals and birds for food / consumables etc. All such psychological, emotional, behavioral, personal, professional, social, economical, political, ecological and environmental issues are increasing at an alarming rate which take away peace and happiness from our lives and also cause deterioration of our mental as well as physical health.

The time has come to be serious about the future which we all are defining for ourselves including our next generations to come. It will also benefit our own self during the journey of our soul in various lives, in different material forms, having different characteristics until we achieve salvation.

To worship God is to be God. To be God is to be Good. To be Good is to follow Godliness. Let’s take up the collective charge of God and contribute to spread Non-Violence, Peace, Truth, Simplicity, Good Health, True Success and Real Happiness across the globe for all forms oflives and move towards our Salvation.

Majority of us believe only in material comparison which leads to jealousy and so we compete with each other to satisfy our egos. Thus indirectly we are competing with God because at the end we all are representatives of God i.e. “Nature”. Let’s try to maintain neutral and indifferent state of mind to the influence of extreme material environment. Learn to feel happy through satisfaction by keeping our true inner self, the soul detached from material illusions. Follow thegolden principles of love, help, respect and co-operation because power is not a thing to beowned but it is a responsibility to be shared. We all have limited time and power as a humanbeing. Now it is upon us to decide the way in which we want to invest it.

Let’s be smart and not just fake intelligent. Let’s unite and contribute for our own well-beingwhich is possible only by collective well-being of all forms of lives across the world. Simplicityis real Smartness. Too much consumption and materialism is illusory intelligence.We may choose to live a valuable life or just spend it worthlessly. We should find a balancebetween our personal, professional, social and spiritual goals.

Though we can not change the eternal theory of time as defined by nature, we can at least try to reduce its impact for many who will choose to be SMART!

What works- hard work or smart work

2008-12-03T15:00:00.000+05:30

The Bhagvad Gita says “If one attempt to abandon action while being bound in Nature, the consequence will be disastrous. Action is the insignia of life in an organism. So long we live and breathe; we have to act and work, which is the final expression of life in its complete form. So one should be very aware how one should act or how smartly one should work. But what are we talking about when we say ‘smart working’? It ‘s an approach to organize work aiming to drive greater efficiency and effectiveness in achieving job outcomes through a combination of flexibility, autonomy and collaboration, in parallel with optimizing tools and working environments.’

Smart working might be seen as an objective that can help individual’s minds on how they can think about reorganizing work to improve performance. The fact that the idea of smart working has no distinct boundaries may actually make it more powerful – if it leads individuals to ask questions about how the objective can be achieved in their own organization. This is not an idea that tells someone what to do, but to offer insights into the changes going on around them and a basis for reflecting on how best one should respond to it. It can perhaps be best seen as a model or pattern, or way of looking at the world.

It has been understood that time management is the key to either being a smart worker or a Hard worker. Good time management usually leads to organizing the work at hand increases the clarity regarding one's role and deliverables, optimistic outlook where the task(s) seems too easy or even a confident attitude where one is confident of completing the work in time. All these behaviors’ lead to an overall tendency to manage time in an effective manner.

Importance of Effective Communication

2008-10-16T21:23:00.001+05:30

Importance of Effective Communication

Þ 40-60% of the message is lost in transmission

Þ Tone of voice + vocal clarity + verbal expressiveness = 40%

Þ Facial expression + dress and grooming + posture + eye contact + touch + gesture = 50%

Þ Words = 10%

Þ Barriers Culture differences, values and attitudes, language, noise, hearing

Þ Clear
Þ Coherent
Þ Correct
Þ Concise
Þ Crisp
Þ Credible
Þ Convincing
Þ Customized
Þ Conclusive
Þ Complete
Þ Cost-effective
Þ Continual

Clear: Clear voice. Vary tone/tenor, pitch and volume, as required by situation, to add more punch to the message you wish to convey. Avoid mumble and jumbles.
Coherent: Besides clarity, coherent delivery of the message is perhaps as important. The cardinal rule here is to express yourself rationally & logically and, if possible, fluently. Command over the language to be used is an asset and hence in the beginning itself clarify the mode of communication to be employed.
Correct: This is most important, particularly if your message includes data, figures, coordinates, etc. Homework is vital
Concise: In most of the communication, it is always advisable to cut the bull and come straight to the point. Avoid beating about the bush. Even a humorous piece loses its punch if it is too long or has too many interruptions. Define the subject clearly, briefly. If possible, give a summary.
Crisp: If first four ‘Cs’ are followed in tandem, it becomes apparent to communicate crisply thus saving on time, effort and perhaps, money. Command over vocabulary and judicious use of phrases, helps. Crisp communiqués carry more punch and are more effective. You do not have to be curt to be crisp. Be cordial instead.
Credible: Credibility of the communication should be beyond doubt and it is almost synonymous to correct & coherent communication. Wherever factual information is to be conveyed and use of statistics & data is unavoidable, quote reference(s). If necessary, present back-up material.
Convincing: Any communication can become convincing if it is delivered with a smattering of examples, case studies, experiences, role plays, etc. These should be backed up with references to establish credibility. Clarity of purpose and sincerity of the one delivering the communication add to making the communication more acceptable.

Conclusive: Conclusive here also means all-inclusive. It is better to re-cap the entire communication towards the end, of course in brief. This helps in zeroing on to the vital, critical issues in the communication. As mentioned above, clear definition of the subject or the purpose of the entire process aids in concluding properly.
Complete: An effective communication must have a well defined ending, linked to subject. You can gauge the level of all the ‘C’s mentioned above by asking for a feedback. There are several ways to check completion and the easiest is to ask if the message had reached the audience.Cost-effective: This dimension has not even been touched upon in most of the material available on effective communication. In today’s world, however, it has assumed critical importance. It is not easy to make instant cost-benefit analysis of most communications but it is possible to have a fairly good idea. This is particularly true for lectures, training, interactions, etc. for which one has to pay to attend. In addition, your Communication should preferably be either Contemporary or Classic depending on the receiver’s background and also on the ambience. For example, to a young generation next audience, a Contemporary (chic) style and delivery will perhaps be more in order while a group of freedom fighters who took part in India’s struggle for independence would appreciate the Classic approach. Here, Creativity could play a crucial role. One need to be imaginative and a judicious mix of both these modes may help the sender to carry the day, particularly if the audience consists of a mixed bag. However, try and avoid use of clichés and too much jargon.

The Communication Process
message to be sent – decode (some error likely)
encoded by receiver (some error likely) message received
Although all of us have been communicating with others since our infancy, the process of transmitting information from an individual (or group) to another is a very complex process with many sources of potential error.
Consider the simple example:
Terry: "I won't make it to work again tomorrow; this pregnancy keeps me nausious and my doctor says I should probably be reduced to part time.
Boss: Terry, this is the third day you've missed and your appointments keep backing up; we have to cover for you and this is messing all of us up.
In any communication at least some of the "meaning" lost in simple transmission of a message from the sender to the receiver. In many situations a lot of the true message is lost and the message that is heard is often far different than the one intended. This is most obvious in cross-cultural situations where language is an issue. But it is also common among people of the same culture.
Look at the example. Terry has what appears to be a simple message to convey-she won't make it to work today because of nausia. But she had to translate the thoughts into words and this is the first potential source of error. Was she just trying to convey that she would be late; was she trying to convey anything else. It turns out she was. She was upset because she perceived that her co-workers weren't as sympathetic to her situation as they should be. Her co-workers, however, were really being pressured by Terry's continued absences, and her late calls. They wished she would just take a leave of absence, but Terry refuses because she would have to take it without pay.
Thus what appears to be a simple communication is, in reality, quite complex. Terry is communicating far more than that she would miss work; she is conveying a number of complex emotions, complicated by her own complex feelings about pregnancy, work, and her future.
She sent a message but the message is more than the words; it includes the tone, the timing of the call, and the way she expressed herself.
Similarly, the boss goes through a complex communication process in "hearing" the message. The message that Terry sent had to be decoded and given meaning. There are many ways to decode the simple message that Terry gave and the way the message is heard will influence the response to Terry.
In this case the boss heard far more than a simple message that Terry won't be at work today. The boss "heard" hostility from Terry, indifference, lack of consideration, among other emotions. Terry may not have meant this, but this is what the boss heard.
Communications is so difficult because at each step in the process there major potential for error. By the time a message gets from a sender to a receiver there are four basic places where transmission errors can take place and at each place, there are a multitude of potential sources of error. Thus it is no surprise that social psychologists estimate that there is usually a 40-60% loss of meaning in the transmission of messages from sender to receiver.
It is critical to understand this process, understand and be aware of the potential sources of errors and constantly counteract these tendencies by making a conscientious effort to make sure there is a minimal loss of meaning in your conversation.
It is also very important to understand that a majority communication is non-verbal. This means that when we attribute meaning to what someone else is saying, the verbal part of the message actually means less than the non-verbal part. The non-verbal part includes such things as body language and tone.
Barriers to Effective Communication
There are a wide number of sources of noise or interference that can enter into the communication process. This can occur when people now each other very well and should understand the sources of error. In a work setting, it is even more common since interactions involve people who not only don't have years of experience with each other, but communication is complicated by the complex and often conflictual relationships that exist at work. In a work setting, the following suggests a number of sources of noise:
Language: The choice of words or language in which a sender encodes a message will influence the quality of communication. Because language is a symbolic representation of a phenomenon, room for interpretation and distortion of the meaning exists. In the above example, the Boss uses language (this is the third day you've missed) that is likely to convey far more than objective information. To Terry it conveys indifference to her medical problems. Note that the same words will be interpreted different by each different person.
Defensiveness, distorted perceptions, guilt, project, transference, distortions from the past
Misreading of body language, tone and other non-verbal forms of communication
Noisy transmission (unreliable messages, inconsistency)
Receiver distortion: selective hearing, ignoring non-verbal cues
Power struggles
Self-fulfilling prophecy
Assumptions-eg. assuming others see situation same as you, have same feelings as you
Distrusted source, erroneous translation, value judgment, state of mind of 2 people
Perceptual Biases: People attend to stimuli in the environment in very different ways. We each have shortcuts that we use to organize data. Invariably, these shortcuts introduce some biases into communication. Some of these shortcuts include stereotyping, projection, and self-fulfilling prophecies. Stereotyping is one of the most common.
Interpersonal Relationships: How we perceive communication is affected by the past experience with the individual. Perception is also affected by the organizational relationship two people have. For example, communication from a superior may be perceived differently than that from a subordinate or peer
Cultural Differences
Majority of meaning comes from Nonverbal Communication Cues
A Short Example of Effective Communication

Example: Maria: My project coordinator, Judy, is in a slump; she's just not producing her usual caliber of work. I need to find out what the problem is.
On the surface, it would seem that getting good information is easy. But like other forms of communication, it takes planning and experience to develop skills in this area
Key Techniques
Focus the discussion on the information needed Judy, I've noticed in the past month that you've fallen behind on keeping the project schedule current. I'd like to figure out with you what we both can do to get it back on track.Use open-ended questions to expand the discussion You've always kept the schedule up to the minute-until about a month ago. Why the change?
Use closed ended questions to prompt for specifics "What projects are you working on that take time away from your work on this project (warning: closed ended questions are often disguised as open ended as in "Are you going to have trouble finishing this project?)
Encourage dialogue through eye contact and expression This involves nodding in agreement, smiling, leaning toward the speaker, making statements that acknowledge the speaker is being heard.
State your understanding of what you are hearing This can be done by restating briefly what the other person is saying but don't make fun of it"So it sounds like these phone calls have ended up taking a lot more time than you or Jay expected; you think the three of us should talk about priorities; is this your position?" Summarize the key points; try to get some agreement on the next steps and show appreciation for the effort made so far. "So let's call Jay right now and set up a time when we can meet and iron this out; keeping the schedule updated is a high priority and I'd like to get this settled by Wednesday.
Conversation starters that work like magic
1. Do not drill with questions
2. Be funny
3. Ask open ended questions
4. Make the other person comfortable
5. Bring up a subject everyone can talk about

Self Affirmation

2008-05-23T10:10:00.000+05:30

We think that the ways we lead our life as well as the rules our society lay down for us to follow and the creation are all ruled by logic. We are completely wrong. Our life is far beyond reason and logic. All laws, rules and regulations are based on the partial understanding of our life. At times, I hear people saying “Our Life is meaningless. We are on this earth for no reason. Honestly, the human logic does not have answer to this question.

The secret answer to this question lies in self affirmation. The philosophy of self affirmation is simple: as you think so you become. We have programmed ourselves for thousands of lifetimes to think of ourselves as limited, puny, weak and meaningless. This is the most dreadful thought of ourselves and how much self destructive it this thought of our’s that we can’t even measure it. If we think of ourselves as weak, we shall act accordingly. If we think of ourselves as helpless sinners and our existence as meaningless, we will without a doubt act accordingly.

As we have drummed the wrong thoughts into our minds again and again to create wrong impressions, so we must reverse the process by drumming into our brains right thought of purity, strength and truth. I will quote over here which I have been repeated from my earliest boyhood and a famous verse from “The Bhagvad Gita: As the different streams having their sources in different places all mingle their water in the sea, so, o lord, the different paths which people take through different tendencies, various though they appear, crooked or straight, all lead to the thee. The above notation totally disqualifies that our existence on planet earth is meaning less. Rather, than it should be if one believes his ownself, then surely his existence on this earth is as much meaningful as our existence on this universe.

The Concept Of Maya

2008-04-27T13:40:00.001+05:30

Vedanta declares that our real nature is divine: pure, perfect, eternally free. We do not have to become Brahman, we are Brahman. Our true Self, the Atman, is one with Brahman.
But if our real nature is divine, why then are we so appallingly unaware of it?

The answer to this question lies in the concept of maya, or ignorance. Maya is the veil that covers our real nature and the real nature of the world around us. Maya is fundamentally inscrutable: we don't know why it exists and we don't know when it began. What we do know is that, like any form of ignorance, maya ceases to exist at the dawn of knowledge, the knowledge of our own divine nature.

Brahman is the real truth of our existence: in Brahman we live, move, and have our being. "All this is indeed Brahman," the Upanishads—the scriptures that form Vedanta philosophy—declare. The changing world that we see around us can be compared to the moving images on a movie screen: without the unchanging screen in the background, there can be no movie. Similarly, it is the unchanging Brahman—the substratum of existence—in the background of this changing world that gives the world its reality.

Yet for us this reality is conditioned, like a warped mirror, by time, space, and causality—the law of cause and effect. Our vision of reality is further obscured by wrong identification: we identify ourselves with the body, mind, and ego rather than the Atman, the divine Self.

This original misperception creates more ignorance and pain in a domino effect: identifying ourselves with the body and mind, we fear disease, old age and death; identifying ourselves with the ego, we suffer from anger, hatred, and a hundred other miseries. Yet none of this affects our real nature, the Atman.

Maya can be compared to clouds which cover the sun: the sun remains in the sky but a dense cloud cover prevents us from seeing it. When the clouds disperse, we become aware that the sun has been there all the time. Our clouds—maya appearing as egotism, selfishness, hatred, greed, lust, anger, ambition—are pushed away when we meditate upon our real nature, when we engage in unselfish action, and when we consistently act and think in ways that manifest our true nature: that is, through truthfulness, purity, contentment, self-restraint, and forbearance. This mental purification drives away the clouds of maya and allows our divine nature to shine forth.
Shankara, the great philosopher-sage of seventh-century India, used the example of the rope and the snake to illustrate the concept of maya. Walking down a darkened road, a man sees a snake; his heart pounds, his pulse quickens. On closer inspection the "snake" turns out to be a piece of coiled rope. Once the delusion breaks, the snake vanishes forever.

Similarly, walking down the darkened road of ignorance, we see ourselves as mortal creatures, and around us, the universe of name and form, the universe conditioned by time, space, and causation. We become aware of our limitations, bondage, and suffering. On "closer inspection" both the mortal creature as well as the universe turn out to be Brahman. Once the delusion breaks, our mortality as well as the universe disappear forever. We see Brahman existing everywhere and in everything.

Scientific view of Mahabharata

2008-04-01T15:19:00.003+05:30

Science tells us that planet earth is a living being. But an imminent ecological cessation due to the reckless destruction of earth's assets finds humanity facing the challenge of saving the planet.

To put the earth we inhabit in a true perspective, Veda Vyasa personified the Earth as Kunti Devi in the epic Mahabharata. As a young girl, Kunti was granted a boon by Sage Durvasa Muni that she could invoke any God by chanting a sacred mantra.

Kunti was always fascinated by the rising Sun. In the aura of the Sun, one day, she saw a handsome man adorned with divine armor and brilliant ear-rings. Remembering Durvasa's boon, she chanted the sacred mantra and the Sun God had appreared before her. The Sun God, by the power of divinity, granted her a Child. Kunti had then, gave birth to a son called Karna. The child also wore armor and ear-rings (kavacha & kundala in Sanskrit).

In Sanskrit, "Kun-ti" means "The Earth". Kunti's other name is Pritha or Prithvi which means the same. Life originated on Earth with the help of Sun's rays. Vegetation was born. Karna, literally means, grain with chaff. He represents seed, the essence of the vegetable kingdom. But a seed cannot sprout without water. Kunti placed her child in a basket in the waters of the river Aswa. karna was found and brought up by Adhirath, a charioteer, who lived by the banks of the river. "Adhi-rath" actually means, "anxiety for the body".

Karna grew up as a great warrior later to be known as Ang-raj, meaning "ruler of the body". The significance of Karna's protective armor and ear-rings can be comprehended from the Sanskrit words, kavacha and kundala. The entire vegetable kingdom has a protective skin or peel, hide or shell, husk or crust. Kavacha in Sanskrit means protective covering and also rind or bark. And fruits hanging from trees just look like ear-rings or kundalas.

Kunti, used the boon of chanting the sacred mantra, and with the help of celestial grants, gave birth to the 5 Pandavas - Yudhistira from Dharma, Bhima from Vayu, Arjuna from Indra, Nakul and Sahadev from the Asvins.If Kunti's first born (Karna) conceived through the energy of the sun represents the vegetable kingdom, all the 5 Pandava brothers may be considered to constitute different parts that go to the making of the man, the highest manifestation of the animal kingdom.

Yudhistira represents Buddhi, Bhima - the mind, Arjuna - Prana or breath and the twins Nakul and Sahadev - arms and legs respectively. They were born one after the other, just like the child emerges from the womb - head first (this is the place of the Buddhi i.e., Yudhistira) then the brow, the place of the mind (Bhima) then the organs of the senses from the ears downwards through which the breath can pass (Arjuna) completing the principal parts of the man. Then we have arms, followed by legs, which are alike in every part and lie together in the womb; and so they are twins represented by Nakul and Sahadev.

The above interpretation merely seeks to draw attention to the importance of all aspects of the environment, for, as human beings, we have within us, all the elements t hat exist outside of us. The earth and its inhabitants therefore need to live in mutual harmony is the essence which Ved Vyasa is portraying to the common man through this epic story of Mahabharata.

Mythological origin of Maa Durga

2008-02-27T10:03:00.003+05:30

Several mythological legends have commingled to form the basis of Durga Puja. These are mentioned below:

1.Before fighting Ravana, Sri Ramachandra was advised by Narada to propitiate Devi Durga. According to Hindu mythology, during the six months of the sun's southward journey the gods remain asleep. (They remain awake during the six months when the sun moves northward.) So Rama had to awaken the Goddess first. This is why the first ritual in Durga Puja is the awakening (bodhan) of Durga. This legend is found in the Ramayana in Bengali written by Krittivas. In some other Puranas it is mentioned that, when Rama wanted to propitiate Devi, it was Brahma who did the awakening.

The present-day Durga Puja is, thus, a commemoration of the first Durga Puja performed by Sri Rama.

2.The second legend is about the coming of Devi Uma from Her abode in Kailash to the home of her parents - Himavat and Menaka. She comes riding a lion. In the Vedas, Uma is first mentioned in the Kena Upanishad where She is described as Uma Haimavati. It is a popular belief in Bengal that Uma comes and stays with the people for three days. A whole set of songs, known as Agamani, describing the homecoming of Uma has come into existence. These songs are sung during the days preceding Durga Puja. These songs serve to spiritualize Hindu mother's love and concern for their married daughters.

3. The third legend is about Sati Devi. Although neither Sati nor Uma is mentioned in the Chandi, in the mool-mantra used in Durga Puja, Sri Durga is addressed as Daksha-yajna-vinashini, ''The Destroyer of Daksha's sacrifice.''
Daksha was one of the Prajapatis or Creators of the Universe. He had eight daughters, of whom the eldest was Sati. Against her father's wish, Sati married the great God Shiva who was an ascetic wearing matted hair and leading an unconventional life on Mount Kailash. After some years, the roving Rishi Narada reached Kailash and gave the news that Daksha was going to conduct a big sacrifice to which all gods and goddesses were invited, except Sati and Shiva. Although uninvited, Sati went to see her father. But Daksha spoke insultingly of Shiva and, unable to bear the insult, Sati fell down dead. Shiva was naturally enraged; and his anger burnt to ashes Daksha and his sacrifice, and then Shiva began a dance of destruction. But the gods intervened, and Shiva finally returned to His meditation in Mount Kailash. Sati was reborn as Parvati who, after years of intense tapas, got Shiva as Her husband once again.

The mool-mantra, Daksha-yajna-vinashinyai, refers to the destruction of Daksha's sacrifice mentioned above. It is, however, quite obvious that this great Mantra has some deeper mystic, esoteric meaning far beyond the mythological significance.

4. The most important legend which is central to Durga Puja is about Durga, and forms the theme of Chandi. The word Durga literally means one who ''protects like a fort'' or one who ''destroys the evil consequences'' of our actions (durgati-nashini). In the Chandi, Durga is mostly referred to simply as Devi, the Goddess, and occasionally as Ambika. She is an independent, supreme Goddess, not the consort of any male God.

As already mentioned, the Chandi is one of the oldest scriptures on Mother Worship. It was obviously composed before the sectarian divisions of Shaivism, Vaishnavism and Shaktism entered Hinduism. Hence Devi is referred to in this book as the Power of Vishnu and also addressed as Narayani repeatedly.

Durga in Chandi

The Chandi is divided into three parts.

1.In the first part Devi appears as Mahamaya which is described as yoga-nidra of Vishnu. That is to say, Mahamaya is the power of Tamas which makes people lethargic, indolent and sleepy. Under the influence of this cosmic delusive Power, Lord Vishnu went to sleep. At that time two demons by name Madhu and Kaitabh came out the ears of Vishnu and attacked Brahma the Creator God. Brahma then praised the Divine Mother as Mahamaya or Yoga-nidra. Pleased with the petition, she withdrew herself from Vishnu's body. Vishnu now woke up and killed Madhu and Kaitabh.

2.In the second part Devi appears as Mahishasura-mardini and is also called Chandika. The story goes that when a powerful demon by name Mahishasura was the king of the Asuras (demons), they attacked the Devas (gods) and vanquished them. The defeated gods went to Shiva and Vishnu and complained about the atrocities of Mahishasura. Hearing this, Vishnu, Shiva and other presiding Deities became angry. The rays of their anger combined to form a supremely powerful and dazzlingly bright female Being - the Devi known also as Chandika and Ambika. Seeing the dazzling brightness of the Devi, Mahishasura first sent his army to attack Her. But the Divine Mother exterminated them all. Then Mahishasura, who had the form of a buffalo, himself attacked Her. Devi at once jumped upon his body, pressed his neck with her foot, struck his chest with her spear, and finally cut off his head. The gods being extremely relieved and pleased, praised the Devi, and their praise takes up the rest of the second part of Chandi.

3.In the third part of the book, Devi appears first as Parvati and then, out of her form, there arises another form known as Kalika. But she continues to be referred to as Ambika. The third part narrates another valorous act of the Divine Mother. Once upon a time two brothers, Shumbha and Nishumbha became lords of the three worlds, and the gods lost everything. Coming to know of the beauty of Kalika, they sent word to her asking her to come to them. When she spurned their order, they at first sent two demons, Chanda and Munda, to capture her. Seeing them, Ambika became angry and out of that anger there issued forth a terrible form known as Kali who fought with the demons. Finally Kali cut off the heads of Chanda and Munda. She thus came to be called Chamunda. Now Shumbha and Nishumbha themselves rode in their chariots and attacked Ambika and Kali. After a protracted battle Ambika herself destroyed Shumbha and Nishumbha.

Significance of Chandi

The image of Durga as Mahishasuramardini epitomizes the Chandi. To understand the significance of the image we have to understand the significance of the Chandi.

The gory scene depicted by the image of Durga, and the blood-curdling descriptions of a warrior Goddess exterminating hordes of evil doers drenching the earth with blood, may be enigmatic and repulsive to some people, especially to those who are outside the Shakta tradition of Hinduism. A mature and realistic understanding of the Divine in the context of the real situations in human life and society is necessary to understand the true significance of Chandi. The basic significance of Chandi may be briefly stated as follows.

1.The main purpose of Chandi is to glorify Shakti. Shakti is the dynamic aspect of the ultimate Reality known as Brahman. Shakti is generally regarded as the feminine principle. The feminine principle has two aspects: a lower, seductive aspect, and a higher, maternal aspect. It is the higher maternal aspect that is glorified in the Chandi, and in the Shakta tradition in general. Sri Ramakrishna used to say: Jini Brahma tini Shakti, tini i Ma ''He who is Brahman is Shakti, and He himself is the Mother of the Universe''

A mother has three main functions: to give birth, to nourish, to care and protect. It is the third aspect that is highlighted in the Chandi. God is not a disinterested spectator of the drama of human life. She is an active participant. She protects people from dangers. Think of the cosmic figure of a Divine Mother towering over millions of people guarding them from dangers, punishing evil doers. Well, you can see this image of the Cosmic Mother in the Chandi.

2.The second purpose of the Chandi is to depict the reality of evil. Vice, wickedness, cruelty, injustice, suffering - all these are as much real as virtue, love, compassion, cooperation etc which humanity has idealized and dreamed about from time immemorial. Dharma and Adharma, virtue and vice, are two inseparable aspects of reality, and we have to accept both.

We generally tend to associate Godhead only with love and compassion. We forget that Godhead has also an aspect of power, terror and destruction. It was this destructive aspect of Godhead that Sri Krishna showed Arjuna through the Vishwarupa Darshana revelation. What we find in the Chandi is the same terrible aspect, but associated with the Eternal Feminine.

Mahishasura, Shumbha, Nishumbha and other characters portrayed in the Chandi are of course mythological, but this does not make them irrelevant in the present-day world. Do we not find similar, or even worse, types of people in modern times? Political leaders who commit mass genocide, terrorists who bomb crowded trains, buses and market places, serial murders, rapists et cetra, about whom we read in newspapers - are these people in any way better than the demons described in the Chandi? As a matter of fact, Chandi assumes greater reality and relevance in the contemporary world than at any other time before.

Chandi is not a book of romance. Nor does it promise a utopian world. On the contrary, it wakes us up from our futile dreams and situates us right in the midst of the terrible realities of the present-day world which we very often fail to face.

3.The third message of the Chandi is the empowerment of women. In recent years there is a lot of talk about empowerment of women, especially in rural and tribal areas in India. The Chandi shows to what heights this empowerment can be raised. In all countries in all times, women have been indoctrinated from childhood to believe that they are weak, helpless and totally dependent on men. The Chandi shows how much power women can wield, how they can work independently, and face boldly even the worst challenges of life without unduly depending on men.

4.Lastly, Chandi delivers a message of hope, the assurance of divine help and succour. In spite of all the terrible happenings described in the book, there is absolutely no pessimistic tone or note of despair in the Chandi. Let troubles and difficulties come, let even dire calamities occur; we have nothing to fear, for there is a God, a Mother, who protects us from all dangers or gives us the inner strength to face them. In modern times the Divine Mother, born as Sri Sarada Devi, has given us this assurance: ''Always remember, there is somebody behind you … Place your burden upon me and remain unperturbed.'' This is also the last message of the Chandi.

MARRIAGES ARE MADE IN HEAVEN

2007-12-18T14:06:00.000+05:30

Before इ discuss anything about a successful marriage, let's first discuss “What actually marriage is?” According to the established opinions/ theories, “Marriage is a relationship between a man and a woman which allows them to live together after the completion of a host of customs and rituals after which they become husband and wife।” These customs and rituals vary from one religion to another and are based on the beliefs and practices of certain religion. It marks the beginning of a new conjugal life which ultimately includes a host of responsibilities for the husband and the wife. In a broader sense marriage is accepted as a social ceremony which combines not only two people of opposite sex but two families also. This ceremony is attended and witnessed by the relatives and friends of both the sides.

"Remember that a successful marriage depends on two things: finding the right person and being the right person" quote। Do we really know the actual definition of a successful marriage? If not then, let's try to look at it carefully and see what conclusion we can draw. We often hear people saying that someone somewhere is made for you and the day you come across that person you start feeling that he or she is the one you have been looking for. But later we find that due to lack of understanding, emotional and mental compatibility they move apart. So how can we say that they were the perfect match since they didn't give any effort to understand each other? So it's very important for you to know your partner. There are people who get attracted physically towards their counterpart and fill with love and admiration for each other and eventually end up getting married. But later on when they realize that their sentiments and emotions are not matching perfectly, they get separated easily without a second thought. In today's generation we see these incidents more compare to earlier generation. And this is more due to the changing social scenario. With so many things to divert your attention you really don't know what to do.

Marriage is not just coming together of two Individuals.There is much more to it. To sustain a marriage it is important that there must be equal effort from both sides then only a marriage can be considered as successful and can continue forever. A successful marriage is like a good recipe whose main ingredients are love, faith, commitment, understanding, concern and togetherness. If the couple can include these aspects in their married life only then they can find happiness in their married life and can share their love, thoughts and happiness through the remaining part of their life without the slightest of hesitation. Andre Maurois once aptly said, "A happy marriage is a long conversation which always seems too short." This statement is too true to be disbelieved or turned down. When we talk about mental and emotional compatibility between husband and wife, we have experienced that not only in the case of arranged marriage this problem exist quite naturally because both of them were unknown to each other before their marriage but even after many years of courtship in love marriages, this problem exist because when we meet before marriage we are at our best to impress the other person. And we start accepting each other the way we like to see each other. But gradually after marriage when we slip into our natural self that time we have to accept each other as we are. And in most of the cases the real self is not what we wanted to see and only then begins the conflict and contradiction with the person whom we have loved and with whom we have spent our life. So it's important that whenever you love a person, love him or her way he or she is and not the way you wish him or her to be. Simply we may conclude that we should accept our male or female counterpart in their true self and expect nothing extraordinary from him or her. Then only we can be happy throughout our life.

A happy married life calls for constant commitment and concern for each other. There are few small and minute aspects, which we tend to forget in our married life, as we get busy with the daily routine work and get less time to attend to these trifles. So at times it is important to indulge in those minute details of a married life, which will constantly remind each other of the love and concern being present. We can conclude by the quote of Barnett Brickner, which says it, all that "Success in marriage does not come merely through finding the right mate, but through being the right mate."

SHRI KRISHNA JANMASHTAMI

2007-09-03T10:32:00.000+05:30

Krishna was born on Janmashtami.

Janmashtami is around the corner, so I thought that it would be a good idea to get re-acquainted with Sri Krishna.

Shri Krishna is an incarnation of Lord Vishnu or Narayana.

Meaning of Krishna:- Krishna means the one who attracts, 'akarshit ati te Krishna'.Krishna attracts people not only by the matchless beauty of his form. He attracts people by his music, his dance, his sports and his words...But one must need to love Him first. Understanding follows...

Krishna is the 'The Dark One'Krishna's colour is dark blue.

The color blue is associated with the ' infinite' like the blue sky.

Krishna's favorite color of 'dress' is yellow.

Yellow is the color of the Earth. I have read that this is because, the earth when introduced into

a colorless flame emits a yellow hue.

The Blue colour of the sky and the yellow colour of the Earth could indicate that the Pure and Infinite Consciousness of Krishna has descended on earth to play a human role.

THOUGHT # 1

Men love to say with a naughty twinkle in thier eyes " Why can't we have as many girlfriends as Shri Krishna had gopis, and get away with it like he did?

I say; If you can pick up the Govardhan mountain with your little finger, if you can change the poison that was offered to Meera and turn it to nectar, If you can dance on a thousand fanged cobra and above all, if you are you are a young lad of 9,you may dance with as many gopis as you please.

THOUGHT # 2

When Shri krishna left Vrindavan.He stated that no matter where he resides physically, his spirit of the atmaan would always remain in the land where Radha stayed. He promised Radha that she would forever dwell in his heart.

Krishna pledged with Radha that her name would always preced his name.

Hence one always say's" RadheKrishna" never "KrishnaRadha".If the name of radhs is chanted repeatedly, it turns into "Dhara". Dhara means a stream.Radha is the stream of love that emanates from Krishna and returns to him,emanates and returs, becomes "Dhara"
and turns to "Radha", from "Radha" to "Dhara" and so on until eternity.

Radha is the Manisfested Universe from the unmanifest Krishna.