UrvasiPruravas | ||
Sakthi Vikatan Tamil Stories in English Aug-2024
Translation by V. Krishnaraj
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USA & NYC Stories
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02PanchatantraStories01-10 |
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Original Stories (OS)
u S
Bosco, the shapeshifter 2024 Original Stories
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Based on Contents from The Library of Congress (LOC)
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Paramārtha Guru Stories. = Stories of Guru with no worldly experience
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SUFI Stories
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Tamil Proverbs & Related Stories
PER01-IceCream | PER03-HeavenHelpsTheHelpless | PER2242-ServeAnAssForHigherObjective |
PER4-GodHelpsTheHelpless | PER5-DestituesOpinionHasNoTraction | PER6-AllIsWellThatEndsWell |
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English Proverbs & Related Stories
Sakthi Vikatan ஆன்மீகம் = Spirituality
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Ms.KittyGoesForAStroll | DoctorWithDogNose | |
AKB-BIR03-TruthWins |
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2023OS-04-TheTaleOfReincarnatedRacers |
Stories From Hinduism Sacred Texts
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2023 Adult & Children's Stories
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Humor
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Baghavan Krishnar Stories
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SM02-VidehaMuktiToTheTailor eImpenetrableTreasury.htmleImpenetrableTreasury |
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2023OSheImpenetrableTreasury.htmleImpenetrableTreasury |
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Children's Stories
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News & Stories
The Vikram Betal Stories
Vikram was the king, obligated to take the ghost to the
mendicant. Betaal was the Vedalam, the ghost riding on the back of the king, the storyteller
and the savior of king Vikram who carried the ghost to a mendicant. The Vedalasm
told a story to the king. King Vikram must give the correct answer. If not, the
king's head would explode into 100 pieces. If he gave the correct answer, the
ghost will fly off his shoulder to its refuge in the moringa tree, thereby
frustrating Vikram to take Batal to its destination, where a mendicant was
waiting for Betal delivered to him as prmised by the king. The mendicant would sit on
the Vedalam, perform certain rites and rituals and thereby gain all the power in
the world.
Vedalam is the analogue
of west's Vampire. (Betall-Badal-Bedal-Betal-Vedalam-Vetalam = the ghost)
Here is a detailed story.
King Vikram held court and received gifts from the
visitors. A mendicant gave him a fruit on every visit, which the king handed
over to the royal storekeeper. One day, the fruit broke while being handled and
a ruby came out. The king ordered all the fruits to be examined. All the stored
fruits yielded rubies.
The king wanted to meet the mendicant, who proposed to
meet him under a banyan tree in the center of the cremation ground on the
outskirts of the city on the 14th day of the dark half of the month (waning
moon). The king
met him under the tree. The mendicant asked the king to go to the northernmost
corner of the grounds, locate a moringa tree there, bring down a talking corpse (Badal)
hanging from a tree branch, and take it to the mendicant. The mendicant wanted
to sit on Bedal and perform certain rites, the idea being to kill the king and
become the master of the world
En route, Batal would tell a
story, and at the end, pose a question to the king. If the king knew the answer,
he should answer, or else Vedala (Badal) would break the king's head. If the
king spoke, broke the silence, and answered the question correctly, Batal would fly back to the tree. This
happened 25 times (thus 25 stories). The king was supposed to deliver Batal to
the mendicant according to the agreement.
Batal revealed to the king that the
mendicant intended to kill him in order to gain all the power in the world. The
king went to the mendicant, who tried to kill the king but ended up being killed
by the king instead.
Vikram Betaal
Translation by Kincaid
Background. "Vikram Aur Betaal" is a series of
enchanting tales derived from the 11th-century work 'Betaal Pachisi' by Kashmiri
poet Somdev Bhatt. The narrative follows the wise and adventurous King
Vikramaditya of Ujjain. When a mendicant consistently gifts him fruits
containing rubies, the king's curiosity is piqued. Meeting the mendicant under
specific, eerie conditions, Vikramaditya learns of a task only he can perform:
to retrieve a corpse, Betaal, from an ancient tree for the mendicant's mystical
rituals.
As King Vikramaditya carries the corpse, Betaal's spirit tells
him tales, concluding each with a riddle. If Vikramaditya knows the answer but
stays silent, his head will shatter. But answering breaks his vow, and Betaal
returns to the tree, making the king restart his mission. After 25 stories,
Betaal reveals the mendicant's ulterior motive: to gain unparalleled powers by
sacrificing the king. Forewarned by Betaal, Vikramaditya confronts the mendicant
and, through his wit, triumphs over the deceitful ascetic.
ZEN Stories
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Children's Stories. Stories for all ages.
Children-Can-Do-It Stories
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Poems
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Avvaiyar Poems (Aphorisms explained in English poems)
Avvaiyar_Aththisudi_In_English | ||
Stories by Krishnaraj | ||
TiruvasakamGivesATurnForGood | VillageBarber (Jun 13, 2020) | |
GanesaTheAllayerOfSuffering Sep 18, 21 | ||
MuruganInstructsSivaOnAUM | LingaPuranam (Tirumantiram Verses 347-352) | Siva-Nandi |
Nataraja | ||
ChitraRamayanam01.html Dasarathar on the deathbed hearing of Rama's exile. |
ChitraRamayanam02 Dasarathar dies; Rama goes on exile. |
ChitraRamayanam03 Guhan Meets Ramar at a hermitage. |
ChitraRamayanam04 Rama meets Guhan the hunter and boatman. |
ChitraRamayanam05 Rama makes Guhan the fifth brother |
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HereIsMyDeity01 | ||
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FieryLingam (and Karthigai Dipam Dec 10, 2019)
New Series on Adhi and Andham. July 2019 | ||
சேஷாத்ரிநாத சாஸ்திரிகள் Seshadrinatha Sastrikal (SNS). Greatness of Vedas... Sakthi Vikatan | ||
SNS01Adhi&Andham | SNS02GrandeurOfVedicSayings | |
SNS04Jnana&Duty | SNS05YagamForRain | SNS06LetTheWorldProsper |
SNS07OriginOfSound | SNS08Sound&Light | SNS09DasaAvaratarams |
SNS10Ayurveda | SNS11FieryLingam | SNS12Sound&Light |
SNS13Rishis | SNS14DescentOfGanges | SNS15TheSpiritOfSharing |
https://www.myindiastories.com
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List of articles: Click below link New series July 7, 2019 Siva Purana Series (SP) beginning May 2019 01T-01-10TirukkuralPraiseOfGod New File: UnityOfLife Dated February 1, 2019
December 7, 2018 Mahāṉs = Staretsy: spiritual leaders whose wisdom stems from God as obtained from their ascetic experience. We are the beneficiaries of such True Men of God.
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Veeraswamy Krishnaraj
Veeraswamy Krishnaraj, M.D; F.R.C.P (Canada) About-the-Author |
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The hummingbird flew down, put a big stick across the cat's mouth to
prevent the cat from biting on the beak, and pulled out the rib cage of
the mouse from its throat. The relief was immediate. Proof: the cat took
a deep breath. Cat's nose turned pink. The cat was jumping for joy. The hummingbird dropped the ribcage from its bill, knocked the stick off the mouth of the cat, flew away and sat on the branch of a tree. The cat thanked the bird profusely. The Hummingbird And The Cat February 11, 2019 Story by Krishnaraj |
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The incident did not go unnoticed. That was the talk of the town hall and the sylvan glade among the fauna. The news reached the other temple elephants through the gossiping goose, who watched the entire episode sitting on the side rail of the bridge. The pachydermal panelists seated in a semicircle held a judicial enquiry and questioned the senior elephant, “Was it true, you let a dirty pig pass by you because you were afraid of the swine? How could you tolerate such an egregious conduct from a pig? Don't you know we are Elephas Maximus. Hearing such probing questions from the judicative panelists, the younger sibling of the defendant recused himself. |
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I visited New York Botanical Gardens to see Chihuli Glass Art on October 28, 2017. See the Exotic Flowers and Bowls in colors. ChihuliGlassExhibits November 2, 2017 Welcome to Balaji Temple, Bridgewater NJ USA With this booklet, you may take a leisurely walk Among gods, goddesses, people, priests, volunteers…. You may gawk at the gods and goddesses; you may point your fingers; You can Ah and OO; you may admire their fake jewelry and the hairdos; You may even dance in front of the Lord of Dance. No offence is taken by gods. They are glad you are here. The Floor Plan is the centerfold. Please make any comments or corrections. I hope you like the tour guide and make all the stops, stoops, and peeks. The custom forbids you to enter into the Sanctum Sanctorum. If you have any suggestions, please do not hesitate to write me. The email is in the pamphlet. Veeraswamy Krishnaraj, BridgewaterBalajiTemple November 24, 2017 Varalakshmi vratam is a special Hindu prayer to Goddess Sri Varalakshmi (Mahalakshmi) – the consort of lord Vishnu who is the abode of auspiciousness, prosperity, and wealth. Lakshmi is symbolic of eight forces, Wealth, earth, learning, love, fame, peace, pleasure, and strength, collectively known as Ashtalakshmi. Since she is ever ready to grant boons to Her devotees, she is reffered to as ‘Varalakshmi’. Varalakshmi vratam is celebrated on the Friday before the full moon day in the month of Sravan (AugustSeptember). This vratam is observed by married women (sumangalis) for the welfare of their family. BalajiTempleFestivalsAndSignificance December 20, 2018 After 20 days of giving personal care to Sankaradas, a person unknown to him until his ride in his Auto, the doctors discharged him from the hospital. Ravi took him to three temples after discharge because Ravi prayed at those temples for his recovery. When Ravi sent him off to Calcutta, Sankaradas uttered not one word. Das embraced Ravi and cried with tears rolling down his face. There was no need for a talk. The lofty language of love spoke. LoveOfFellowMan May 8, 2018 Aum is the whole universe and beings in all their states. A comes into a state of wakefulness; U goes into dream sleep; M goes into deep sleep. A is creation; U is life on earth; M is dissolution. The silence that follows OM is the period between dissolution and creation. This cosmic series of events takes place in our daily lives on a smaller human scale: birth, life and death; wakefulness, dream, and deep sleep. In wakefulness (A), one is aware of subject and object differentiation. It is I compared to you, it and that. Duality is the order of wakefulness; there is no self-illumination; it is all ego; it is matter; it is waiting for (spiritual) illumination from outside of itself. The empirical world is its playground. In dream sleep (U), I , You, and that become objects; you are a subject who dreams and also an object along with others; thus, subject and object differentiation blurs and becomes one. It is a subtle state, where all are imageries, hopes, aspirations, fears, and possibilities. In deep sleep (M), consciousness is in a potential state. It is a conceptual self in that seminal concepts are incubated without awareness until they are hatched. This state of union with Brahman confers a temporary relief lasting for the duration of deep sleep. It is a Bliss state, though temporary MantraIt was a jungle with multiple species of animals. A lion and a fox were roaming for days with no food to eat. One day they met face to face and lamented their luck. They decided to hunt in collaboration. The lion drew up the plan for such an endeavour. The plan was as follows. The fox should emit a loud howl. The howl will frighten the animals and scatter in panic. The lion should lie in wait and attack the animal running in fright. The fox liked that stratagem and accepted the plan. The fox sounded its loudest howl. Hearing the strange sound, the animals ran hither and thither. The lion killed the animals coming in his way. The fox gave up its howl and came near the lion and was happy to see many dead animals. It became arrogant thinking its weirdest howl brought in a crop of dead animals. The fox approached and asked the lion what it thinks of its work. With hubris in its voice, the fox said, “By my mere howl, don’t you see I killed so many animals?” The lion acknowledged its mite and said, “Do I have to elaborate on your work?” The lion praised the fox saying, “If I did not know you were doing the weird howl, I might have died of fear.”
One day, when he was selling the snacks in the evening at the beach,
he found a diamond earring glistening in the sand. He picked it up,
put it at the end of his lungi, tied
and tucked it by his hip. He wanted to return the earring to
the rightful owner. He worried that he might be mistaken for a
thief.
Several days passed and as he was reading the daily newspaper, he
found an advertisement in the ‘lost and found’ section about one
earring lost in the beach. He felt good he would not be mistaken for
a thief, if he returned the jewel to the owner. Apologues (Moral Fables akin to Aesop, an export from India) Feb 18, 2018 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Suddenly there was a melee and a mini-stampede. People saw a youth pull the sacred thread off the neck of the fifty-year-old man in his Srivaishnava getup. The scalawag, fleet of foot, pushed through the wall of devotees and escaped into the Agrahara street. He was gone. The hapless victim went to the security office and lodged a written complaint. He felt outraged that his sanctity was robbed. The security personnel located the clip showing the face of the alleged grabber in his act. A complaint was filed with the police. JagTheRipper March 25, 2018 ThreadOfService April 2, 2018 All seemed to go well. The people were enjoying the show. A lion escaped the netted corral and moved to the stands. The patrons in a panic moved away from the charging lion. The lion trainer ran after it shouting his orders. Nothing helped. The Sadhu jumped in front of the lion, ordered it to stop and lead it back to the corral. The owner of the circus and the lion trainer profusely thanked the Sadhu and offered a high paying job as an Animal Welfare Specialist. The Sadhu declined but said that he would stay for a few days to calm down the stressed animals. He entered the cages of the wild animals, spoke to them in soft voice and calmed them. 5:10. He, who
dedicates his works to Brahman without attachment to work, is never
affected by sin as a lotus leaf by water. He who works, having
given up attachment, resigning his actions to God, is not touched by
sin, even as a lotus leaf (is untouched) by water. The Gītā requires us,
not to renounce works but to do them, offering them to the Supreme
in which alone is immortality. When we renounce our attachment to
the finite ego and its likes and dislikes and place our actions in
the Eternal, we acquire the true renunciation which is consistent
with free activity in the world. Such a renouncer acts not for his
fleeting finite self but for the Self which is in us all. – Sankaracharya is the propounder of the theory of Māyā. Advaita proponent Prakasatman explains, Brahman and Māyā constitute the whole universe, just like the stationary longitudinal warp (thread) and the transverse woof (thread) make the fabric. while Brahman is the substratum or the hypostasis (warp), while Māyā is the manifest world (woof). In Advaita Vedanta, there are two realities: Paramarthika and Vyavaharika (Absolute Reality and empirical reality = Brahman and Māyā). We roil in the world of happenings and Māyā keeps us bound to the empirical world. It is like a cloud (Māyā) hiding the sun (Brahman). The veil conceals Brahman. Faustian Māyā has the disposition and power to conceal Spiritual Reality (Brahman). The products of Māyā take birth, live, morph, mutate, evolve and die with time. NyayaRopeSnakeAnalogy01 February 6, 2018 The sandalwood paste was ready as the Vedic scholars finished eating. The sponsor ordered the youth to bring the paste to them. So, it was done. The participants smeared the paste on their bodies with glee and gusto. Soon their bodies felt warm and later they felt their bodies were on fire. Bubbles and blisters appeared on the bodies. They were in agonizing pain. The sponsor called the youth and demanded an explanation with the promise and threat of bodily harm. The youth stopped for a moment and went over in his mind all the steps he followed while preparing the sandalwood paste. He realized the scalding of the body resulted from the recitation of Agnisuktam during his grinding stint. Receiving the leftover paste, he grinded it again reciting Varunasuktam and asked the Vedic dinner guests to smear the reground paste on their bodies. They smeared the paste as advised by the still famished village scholar. Lo and behold. The fiery bodies immediately cooled down and the bumps and blisters simply vanished. SithamalliOnMyMind01 Feb 23, 2018 That form had a familiar appearance with ochre clothes, beaded-wood Tulasi garland, and a handheld Kamandalam (a water-vessel, an accouterment and sine qua non of a mendicant or a saint). Is he not the Mahāṉ, to whom Natarajan pays homage every day? Natarajan’s sense of trepidation dissolved that very moment, he had a clear vision of him. A joy came on him. In that ecstatic moment of his Dharsan of Mahāṉ on his street, while he was getting ready to fall prostrate at his holy feet, the Mahāṉ, not moving to his house, went to the opposite house and stood in front of the house. He sprinkled water from his water-vessel at the front entrance to the house. He used his foot to draw a Yantra in a Kolam where he sprinkled the water. Having done it, he retraced his steps and disappeared. A sense of disappointment and grievance descended on him. Why did the Mahāṉ, having given him a Dharsan, go to the opposite house? He felt a creeping sense of mild anger. What is the reason? Sundaranarayanan (SN) in the opposite house was an inveterate atheist. Though his birth was in an orthodox family and for no apparent reason, he had no belief in God. He had no belief in orthodoxy and observation of religious austerities. To know him well, we should go back to the early 1960s. SithamalliOnMyMind02 Feb 24, 2018 Ramamurthy and his spouse Chitra went to the woman’s house with the clothes and other paraphernalia meant for the deities. They placed the puja accouterments in the Pūja room and sought for the woman’s blessings. The night before, in the woman’s dream, there was a wonderful vision. The Mahāṉ appeared in her dream and showed her the holy idols in Sithamalli, exposed to the effects of the sun, rain and other natural elements under the open sky with no overhead roof. “Make sure you make ritual clothes available for the deities. People belonging to Sithamalli will be with you tomorrow.” The Ramamurthy couple arrived at the woman’s house as she envisioned in her dream. The woman narrated the dream sequence to the couple: “Thāthā (the Mahāṉ) came in my dream and told me that the Divine couple in Sithamalli are with no clothes. You take clothes for the deities.” She further said that the clothes they had with them were not long enough and they should buy longer clothes for the donning of the holy idols. SithamalliOnMyMind03 Feb 25, 2018 Though Sundaranarayanan, in the spirit of a viṭṭēṟṟi (= விட்டேற்றி = compulsive alienator), expressed his negative attitude, will God Rāgavēndirar leave him scot-free? Because of His Līla, SN devoted his time and effort in building a temple for Perumal and Thāyār (against his initial resistance). விட்டேற்றி viṭṭēṟṟi , n. < id. 1. One who forsakes his relations and induces others to do likewise. = Compulsive alienator Perumal assumed all the sorrows of the devotees as his own, responds to their supplications in a fruitful manner and confers his blessings to them. His holy services at the temple are ascendant. SithamalliOnMyMind04 Feb 25, 2018 Perumāḷ in his will for SN to know of the strength of his grace, while SN was in Chennai, Perumāḷ in his divine impersonation of SN woke up the worker from sleep and ordered him, “There is a flow of water in the canal. Go and redirect the flow into the paddy fields.” Sundaranarayanan understood the whole episode was the divine play of Perumāḷ, horripilated and as forecast by Padmā, the yield of paddy that year was abundant. He gave one sack of paddy as an offering to Perumāḷ. Thinking of the grace of Perumāḷ in the divine impersonation of him (SN), SN praised him and came to a determination to at least build a palm leaf thatched roof over the deities. That thought jostled in his mind, as the sleep overtook him. SithamalliOnMyMind05 Feb 26, 2018 Within a few months after the installation of the thatched roof, a festival of votive offering to Sithamalli Perumāḷ was conducted on October 23, 2012 with pomp and circumstance. By the grace of Perumal and Thāyār, many wonderful and auspicious events took place in the lives of their devotees. Many life problems were solved. The devotees had contentment in their lives, dedicated themselves to the service of Perumāḷ and continued to offer their mite in the upkeep and service of the temple. We will investigate the part played by Perumal in the life of the devotees with emphasis on His Līlās (Divine Plays). Let us explore a recent incident in Sithamalli. After a few months, the milk output lessened, SN wanted to buy two more cows. A bovine broker from Manalmedu told SN that a cow of superior breed from Sindh was in the market for sale. SN looked at the cow, was very pleased and asked for the price. The broker quoted a price of Rs. 65,000, which made SN retreat. SN told the broker he did not have that kind of money on him, but the broker insisted on the sale of the cow to SN and tried to sweeten the deal with a discount of Rs. 10,000 and a gift of Rs.101. SN protested, but it did not work. The broker put the cow on a wagon and brought it to Sithamalli. The broker did not leave him alone. He took SN to a nearby village to an owner ready to sell his cow for the bargained price of Rs. 29,000. The broker made SN buy that cow, burdening SN with a total debt of Rs. 84,00. SithamalliOnMyMind07 Feb 28, 2018 Having received Brindavanam Darśan and coming out, he joined his friends for one more Darśan. SN harbored in his mind a notion that his past-life Vāsanās (fragrance, clinging Karma from past life) is still afflicting him, though he is happy and enjoys Mahan’s Anugraham (Favor, kindness, grace). SN placed his booklet of holy temple services in Brindavanam and challenged Mahan, “Swamy, if it is true that you, in your holy intent, involve me in Perumāl’s Kaiṅkaryam (physical services for God), you offer me your grace and favor in full measure. Does Mahan not know what doubts SN had in his mind? The next moment, a miracle happened. The crossandra flower petals above the Mahan’s Brindavanam rained down on the Service manual for temple services. Mantrālayam Mahan confirmed his complete grace and support to SN that allowed him to participate in the temple services. SithamalliOnMyMind08 March 1, 2018
They went to Sithamalli and offered prayer to Perumāḷ and Thāyār.
They promised the deities, as soon as the wedding was over, they
would buy silk sari for Thāyār equal in quality and price to that of
the bride.
Good news came to them the next day after they returned home from
Sithamalli.
A distant relation of theirs came to see Anuradha as the prospective
bride. He was a medical doctor. He had a majestic bearing and was
handsome. The Thangavēl couple had a desire to have him as a groom,
as soon as they saw him. The bride-to-be had education and status.
But she had white spots on the body. They wondered how the
prospective groom would react to the white spots. That gave them
more anxiety and sorrow.
Everything happens according to God’s will. The prospective groom
looking at the white spots, showed no signs of hesitation. He did
not retreat. In the manner to dispel the anxiety of her parents, he
told the parents, “I like the prospective bride. You may arrange for
the wedding.” As if to earn his trust, Sithamalli Perumāḷ appeared in the minds of some good souls and advised them to contribute funds towards the treatment of Krishnan’s daughter. (God arranged for crowdfunding!). The surgery went with no hitch and his daughter recovered fully with good eyesight. Sithamalli Perumāḷ is a skillful (munificent) God to his devotee to whom he offers grace and needed help without an appeal for help. In that laudable manner, Perumāḷ offered help and grace to Chennai Ramamurthy. Ramamurthy was the first person to hear from Padmā Māmi about Sithamalli Perumāḷ and the owner of the house Sundaranarayanan, where Perumāḷ and Thāyār were the in-house deities. He directed others also towards Sithamalli Perumāḷ. SithamalliOnMyMind10 March 02, 2018 Sithamalli Tiruvēnkatanātha Perumāḷ, worshipped with oblations by Mahāṉ Rāgavēndirar is a manifest deity, a fact realized by many devotees. Worshipped by Rāgavēndirar, Perumāḷ and Thāyār disappeared under the earth a long time ago. To rescue people from the nature’s fury, Perumāḷ and Thāyār manifested themselves. Perumāḷ, the Great gem, by his will wanted to be unearthed from his burial place. He desired to have his own temple. He sought after Sundaranarayanan (SN), an atheist, made his mind mature by his gracious acts and cultivated in him Bakthi, which gradually thrived and prospered. Perumāḷ made him do all the temple services. Sundaranarayanan was anxious about seeking funds for performing services at Perumāl’s temple. Here too, Perumāl’s help was forthcoming. Countless devotees in need enjoyed miracles in their lives because of the grace of Perumāḷ, who made them give contributions for the temple maintenance. SN shared the stories of the countless devotees in need who benefitted from Perumāl’s grace. SithamalliOnMyMind11 March 02, 2018 Tiruvēnkatanātha Perumāḷ had the Divine Will to offer blessings and grace to the Sangitha couple who surrendered to him with faith and made the sound of the bell possible in the shrine. In Sangitha’s life, his divine act (Līlai) is a miracle. Where the doctors could not help, she became pregnant within a few months of her Darśan of Perumāḷ. The day they tied the bell in the shrine was on 18th December, 2013. Exactly a year later 18th December, 2014, Sangitha delivered a beautiful baby boy with the first cry sounding like a bell. This is the power of mercy of Perumāḷ. What else could it be? The Sangitha couple were horripilated in narrating the gracious act of Perumāḷ to all the interlocutors. Perumāḷ of gracious nature has performed many miracles in the lives of countless devotees in a few years of his manifestation as Padmavathi Thāyār Samēthar and made them involved in the temple devotional holy services. Perumāḷ continues to do so. Tiruvēnkatanātha Perumāḷ, worshipped by Mantrālaya Mahāṉ, gave his blessings and grace over many generations. Why did he hide himself with Thāyār in the earth all these years? What are the reasons for this internment? Why did the need for self-manifestation take place? SithamalliOnMyMind12 March 4, 2018 Sundaranarayanan is the reincarnation of the neglector, was the atheist initially, became the theist later and still later the central figure in Perumāḷ’s divine services. (This miracle is the divine work of Perumāḷ.) Padmā Māmi, the reincarnation of the SN’s sister the co-conspirator, blessed by SrīRāgavēndirar became the agent of popularizing Sithamalli Perumāḷ to the outside world. SN and his sister underwent many difficulties, trials and tribulations in this birth (in the act of resolution of the past karma). The benign Will of Perumāḷ helped manifest himself through SrīRāgavēndirar, who worshipped him. This manifestation is for removal of miseries of SN and sister and of the people of the world. SN and Padma Māmi realized the truth (about Perumāḷ) dove headlong in the Divine Service of Perumāḷ. From that day onwards, their trials and tribulations gradually melted away like snow in the rays of the rising sun. Sundaranarayanan involved (commanded by Bhagavan) in building a temple for the newly manifest Sithamalli Perumāḷ and Thāyār received Mahāṉ SrīRāgavēndirar’s anugraham and Perumāḷ’s grace in full measure. That was the reason why the temple rose fast and the daily services became a regular occurrence. The main completed features are the dome over the sanctum sanctorum, the hall of the sanctum, the hall behind the sanctum, and the portrayal, according to holy suggestions of SrīRāgavēndirar, of Krishna Lilas on the pillars along the Prākāram (Circumambulatory path). The main hall, Rāgavēndirar Shrine, Anjanēya Shrine, Vināyaka Shrine because of Perumāḷ’s Conch resembling the shape of Vinayaka, and Muruga’s Shrine because of appearance of trident on Perumāḷ’s shoulder are in the planning stage. Painting, electrical wiring of the premises… are waiting for completion. SithamalliOnMyMind13 March 5, 2018 Sithamalli OnMyMind01 to 13: All articles are in one file: SithamalliOnMyMind.pdf --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mantra is just not only for prosperity but also for release from life’s problems, a blessed device discovered and propagated by Mahaṛṣis. Mantra chanting is Mantra Yogam. Its greatness is that it makes us great. If used wrongly, it abandons us. Only the deserving has the right to using Mantra. It is too important to trifle with. It is essential to receive a Mantra with instructions from a Guru. Nāda Braḥmam originates from the heart. That is where the Munis hear the voice of God. It is the Anāhata Chakra. The Munis with the power of Tapas can hear the utterances of 90 million Devās. To communicate with a Devata, there is a need for a deity-specific Mantra. The Munis discovered the deity-specific Mantras and blessed us with the revelation with instructions of Mantras to us. There are strict guidelines for the enunciation of Mantras. Gurunāthar’s instructions help us in their proper enunciation and using deity-specific Mantras designed for a specific purpose. The cornerstones of Mantra meditation and worship are purpose-specific, deity-specific and mantra-specific, which can be revealed only by a qualified Gurunāthar to a qualified candidate or disciple. MantrasOnMyMind01 March 14, 2018 Antahkarna is the Inner Organ made of Mind, Ego, Buddhi and Cittam. Cittam is the top of the heap privileged to communicate with the soul. This Inner Organ is a functional and not an anatomical organ. Mind receives impression from the world of matter via eyes, nose, ears...(Sensory Organs). These impressions are colored by Mind, Ego, Buddhi and Cittam as they ascend the totem pole. Cittam delivers this processed product to the individual soul which issues orders to the Inner Organ, which conveys the orders to the Motor Organs. You are what Cittam is. The Buddha and Jesus Christ had exemplary Cittams. Cittam varies from person to person. Cittam makes man, what he is. Cittam can be virtuous, passionate or dark (Sattva, Rajas, Tamas or a combination of the three). InnerOrgan November 26, 2017 The dentist faced a tigress with a gaping mouth in the forest. He saw a carious tooth. The tigress was suppliant when the dentsist extracted the offending tooth. It licked him on his face. He got paid for his services: Tiger tooth. TigerAndDentist November 6, 2017 They were back on the forest path on their return journey and very much wished to see the cubs and their mother. Quarter way down the path, they heard a grunt. They were nowhere near the corral. Fear struck them. The three cubs greeted them. The lioness was not too far behind. The cubs could see with their eyes at three weeks of age and came to them with no fear. The mother lioness was very sedate and came near the midwife, while the rest of the family was far away. The lioness licked Sundariammal on her feet. Yes, she knew her smell and feel. Here, TS Narayanaswamy discusses Hindu religion, its strengths and the aspects that need change. Tree in The Seed01 November 10, 2017 The maxim of our elders is, “Rare indeed is human birth.” The Sastras declare that of all the creations, only man with six senses is Jīva Sṛṣṭi with many inherent powers. We earned human birth with or without our desire. Our Life dawned on earth without our knowledge whether there was a primordial desire for life, a compulsion, an ordainment or circumstances. Because of them, most of us live or have an inherent desire to live. Man’s birth and death have an element of uncertainty. Intellect and science have no control over an event called death. Death as an event is an absolute certainty. No one can time it. We want death will not happen to us. It is a strange, impractical and false belief. Believing in eternal life, we desire to live long. TreeInTheSeed02 November 11, 2017 The proposed experimental model consists of four important areas of interest: Body, mind, intellect and soul. To measure man’s power and potential, these four divisions become the subjects of study. Āṉmā is the prime mover of the body, intellect, mind and thoughts, consciousness and the kaleidoscope of emotions. TreeInTheSeed03 November 12, 2017 Mei = மெய் = Truth; Body. ‘Mei’ as a word (Homonym) carries the meaning ‘Truth.’ Mei as a word also means the human body. Why should the falsity of a body be named Mei, meaning truth? It is known to all living persons, the human body grows, gains strength, gets fatigued, simply withers and dies. Every human being loves his or her body very much. Man, through the medium of his body experiences happiness and grief. The body (Mei): Let us take the body first. Concurrent to the singing, ‘the body is false,’ there were pathfinding elders who glorified the body as the divine abode, deserving nurture. ‘Mei’ as a word (Homonym)carries the meaning ‘Truth.’ Mei as a word (Homonym) also means the human body. Why should the falsity of a body be named Mei, meaning truth? Mei as a corporeal instrument demonstrates the truth (Mei) derived from the emotional experience of happiness and distress and therefore, thought arises whether homonymous ‘Mei’ the decaying body stands for truth. To comprehend our web of desires, the consequent difficulties, and the needed coping mechanisms, knowledge about our body is essential. TreeInTheSeed04 November 14, 2017 If we call brain’s ability as intellect, what is mind? Which part of the body activizes thought? Are mind and intellect one or separate? The mind sometimes cooperates when the organs function. Many other times, the mind is opposed to the functions of the organs. Is it the mind or intellect the principal arbitrator of likes, dislikes, desire, affection, feelings, anger, and fury in human activity? Is it the organ-dependent body, mind, or intellect that a person should control, when he (or she) thinks of leading a disciplined life? These questions are raised over many ages. Religious texts and Tattva Sastras have given answers from many points of view. TreeInTheSeed05 November 15, 2017 Body is important; intellect and mind are more important. Ātmā, the inimitable power, orchestrates all these entities, standing apart from them and their acts. Āṉmā is a powerhouse. It is a hypostatic power. It gives sustenance to the body. Once it goes, the life goes. That is death. Āṉmā is the dynamic power capable of energizing and activizing the bodily organs and functions. Āṉmā does not take responsibility, credit or blame for its induction of successes and failures, desires and bondages, and joys and agonies. As an example, let us take electricity, which passes along two wires from one end to the other end. What is connected on the other end determines the power and function of the electricity. TreeInTheSeed06 November 15, 2017 Read about Christopher Columbus and the mutiny in his ship on the way to America. He reasoned with the sailors and made them see his way. Take Agasthiyar. He wanted to traverse Vindhya mountains. The mountain cheif wanted him to chant his name and offer a prayer. Agasthiyar pays homage to God and Munis only. To curb Vindhya's ego, he grew bigger than the mountain. His foot was larger than the mountain. Vindhyan paid homage to Agasthiyar, who just in one stride crossed the mountain. TreeInTheSeed07 November 18, 2017 Tipu Sultn did not want his country to become a vassal state. He determined with audacity to let Cornwallis take his two sons as hostages and a guarantee of future payment. The country and every household shed tears. The British could not refuse the offer. The British thought wrongly that unable to meet the monetary obligation and not wanting to be away from his children, Tipu quickly would buckle under burden and surrender the territory to the British. Their calculation went awry. TreeInTheSeed08 Right judgment is the highest ability! He lives in darkness, when deprived of light and goodness. God gave us intellect and right judgment. Right judgment is to know what is right and what is wrong and to have the ability to choose what is right. Life will be in the right path. If we make the wrong choice or make an error in judgment, we get caught in the web of difficulties and suffer grief. Most problems come from bad choices and wrong conclusions. TreeInTheSeed09 The highest of the three categories of men is the Divine man. He observes Dharmic justice in full measure in his life. He is bereft of the six undesirable qualities: Lust, Anger, Greed, Delusion, Pride and Envy. He is the highest among men for compelling reasons: No dislike of anyone, friendship to all living beings, compassion to all, empathy with the misfortunes of others, Mental ability for forgiveness, Self-satisfaction, Self-restraint… Sri Krishnar states in Bhagavadgita, “That man is a divine man.” To develop this Divine quality must be the aim and pursuit of man. The divine qualities only help solve any problems in life and find good outcomes. That is the transcendent supernatural power that a man can desire for and exhibit. TreeInTheSeed10 The writers publish research papers advising people on management of problems. They say, “Do this, do that.” It is hard to understand and carry out the advice. We know the great human power in us. When we face problems, worry and fear haunt us, we are torn to pieces, wither and droop and don’t know how to rejuvenate the hidden creative potential buried deep within us. It is like saying, “I know the way but have no legs to go there.” We think we are a tiny seed. We don’t see the tree within us. From time immemorial, life and living are concerned with satisfying the basic needs: food, clothing and shelter. Long time ago, the needs were basic: ‘eating a quarter measure, clothing four cubits,’ as said by Avvaiyar. Those days the needs were small. They were self-satisfied with what little they had. There were no huge problems. The modern man has basic needs, conveniences, ostentation and compelling needs. The needs, conveniences, ostentations…are conditioned by wealth and prosperity. There are caste and economic divisions. When people ascend from one economic category to the next category, they face problems. TreeInTheSeed11 Negative thoughts pop up usually during illness. These days, most people are familiar with medical sciences. When they have a minor cold or fever, they entertain negative thoughts. They fear whether it was malaria, dengue or chikungunya…The acquaintances offer negative opinions and increase the fear. Good doctors do not induce fear in patients and cure them with reassuring words. The doctor’s kind words give confidence to patients, which help manifest the erstwhile hidden power in the patient and get them on the way to health. When afflicted with illness, we should remain cautious but not panicky. We call the physically impaired differently abled. We see many of them have useful abilities and lead productive lives. We have an important lesson to learn from them. That is, not to give in to negative thoughts. Positive thoughts improve our life. TreeInTheSeed12 November 26, 2017 For success in life, the support power is an individual’s thinking ability. The self-confidence is the prime mover. Among body, mind, intellect and Ātmā there is cooperation between mind and intellect. The power of mind lays the path for short- and long-term success in plans and endeavors. What is the gain in the success of my endeavors? What benefit do they offer to the fellow humans? Do my deeds cause demerit or evil? Once we know the answers to these questions, we should make appropriate plans, our aims will find success. TreeInTheSeed13 Dec 2, 2017 When told, ‘Be satisfied with what you have,’ it does not mean that you should abandon desires, endeavors and improving the quality of your life. Rare indeed is human life. Make full use of it; improving the quality of your life should be your objective. You should work hard. You should endeavour hard. You must keep ascending the peaks of victory always. Feel satisfied that loss teaches good lessons, practice and experience. Satisfaction as man’s nature does not contradict failures. Know your ability. Know what your aim is. And make your move to attain it. The chances for victory are high. The bliss thereof is the base for mental fulfillment. Multitudes of people are in search of happiness but not mental satiety. Search for mental satiety. TreeInTheSeed14
Aim of human life!
Dvaitam refers to Jīvātmā and Paramātmā. When all Jīvātmās become
divested of Malas, they merge with Paramātmā. Jīvātmā is a fragment
of Paramātma, abiding in each one. Though the two are one and the
two should merge, the human life becoming useful is the function of
Ātmā.
When body is destroyed, mind and intellect disappear. But Ātmā does
not disappear, according to Krishna Bhagavan in Bhagavadgita. We
should keep the imperishable ātmā pure. For that, body purity,
mental virtue, and Dharma should be improved. Religion means
re-merger with God again.
Latin religare means ‘to bind.’ “Krishna, from me, it is a no to the war. I do not desire a victory in war by killing the near and dear. Killing of the elders against the Kuladharmam is sin. The name and fame earned from victory, I reject. I am afraid to engage in this mean act.” He supplicated to Bhagavan Krishna. In this discourse, Arjuna himself presented Dharmic principles to Kaṇṇaṉ. He was teaching Dharma to Krishna, when it must have been the other way. For that reason, the first chapter goes by the name ‘Vīṣāda Yogam.’ (Litany of grief) As the fear and sorrow ascended, he never picked up the bow and arrows and sat there diffident and lacking courage. There is a reason for the hesitancy of the incompetent. How could an all-around competent person with fallen crest be brought back to his self? Hearing what Arjuna said, Krishna answered with a touch of anger, “Arjuna! Your fear and cowardice are not in line with Kṣatriya Dharma. The battle has begun. There are none in this theater of war with your mental confusion. You must have come to a deliberate conclusion. You are already in the battlefield and now try to change your mind and determination discovering new reasons. This is not the ethos of a warrior. TreeInTheSeed16 December 22, 2017 Attachment to objects is commonplace. Attachment becomes desire. When desire goes beyond its scope, it becomes greed. When greed does not find fulfilment, disappointment ensues and morphs into anger. Anger causes mental confusion, which leads to memory loss and alienation. They become fear and fright or panic. Sacred Pipal tree has small almost invisible seeds. The seed falls into the crack in the rocky wall of the house. Imbibing the rain water falling on the wall, the seed grows into a sapling, becoming a tree and demolishing the wall and the house. Likewise, small desires become a seed, sapling, plant, tree and demolish the edifice of life. When the seed falls on the fertile ground, there are tangible benefits. When it falls on a wall and grows, who gains from it? It causes fear because the wall might collapse. To prevent such eventuality, it is not enough to cut the branches, but to cut the tree root and all and cauterize the roots in the wall with acid. We should regularize our life. We should eradicate desires completely. TreeInTheSeed17 December 23, 2017 Counselling sessions with the experts and creative power of the individual will help expunge fear and this positive step will bring about a permanent cure. Finding out the cause of the mental agitation, discussion of the case in utter transparency and finding the remedial measures will lessen the mental burden. The courage to accept one’s mistake and the ability to forgive and forget other’s misdeeds: These will facilitate in a large measure to reduce the mental agitation. Taking one’s skill set and desire into consideration and determining the prospect of success or failure at an endeavor will to a certain extent help avoid failure. TreeInTheSeed18 December 24, 2017 Jñāṉis and the intellectuals say Ātma is the greatest power of the human existence. We know our body, our feelings and the power of the intellect. We do not know Ātmā and we never endeavor to know it. When we live merging the body, the mind and the intellect (Buddhi) with Ātmā, we can restrain our desires. We are able to annihilate ego; we can grow human love; we can treat happiness and sorrow equally; we can forgive the crimes of others; we can live like a Yogi with satisfaction and self-control. Our life transforms into a delightful park. There is prevailing tranquillity. There is no higher state. All 19 articles (TreeInTheSeed) are in the pdf format. TreeInTheSeed (PDF File created on Dec 28, 2017 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The next-door neighbor bought a T.V., about half the size of a movie screen. At one time, out of eight live channels on the TV screen, a mere touch of one icon will bring it to a full view. Āhā! … Āhā! Just like that, I should have one. Cash crunch! What to do. If there is a will, there is a way. The neighbor tells him all about the TV from the price to the operational details and the laptop integration. He bought the TV and secured it to the wall. He sits before the TV with the remote in hand and feels ecstatic as if he just realized the goals of his present birth. As the waves of ecstasy reach the shores of his mind… The man in the opposite house bought a brand-new car. Even a child can drive it with ease. Flip a button. The car parks itself. Upon hearing it, the erstwhile ecstasy turns sour and vanishes. Now waves of despair hit the lake of his mind and he wonders how he can buy a car just like the one the man across the street has. ManCanBecomeGod01 December 30, 2017 The verse: The Lusters of Gold, Land and Woman and the anchorite. In their individual souls, God stands as The Witness. Let us worship his feet. Despite the differing stance of the lusters and the anchorites, the Supreme Soul brooking no division or discrimination, takes irrevocable residence in all the souls. Such was the beautiful presentation of the author of the verse. Continued… ‘That Parabrahmam does the three functions of creation, maintenance and destruction, appearing as three divinities. Braḥmam is of many forms. God as the Sun of Wisdom (= ஞான சூரியன்) rising from the ocean of ecstasy is Braḥmam. That which shines as the form of wisdom is Braḥmam. That kind of Braḥmam, I worship,’ says the author. Braḥmam depicted as Sun of Wisdom is surprising. The sun, we know of, is the bringer of day beginning with dawn and of night upon dusk. The physical sun appears and disappears from sight. But the Sun of Wisdom has no such thing, neither a beginning, nor an end. ManCanBecomeGod02 December 31, 2017 OK… Let us see the foursome. 1. The wisdom to know the eternal and the non-eternal decisively. 2. Giving up desire for sensual delights in this world and the heaven. 3. Samādhi including six Guṇas. The next verse describes them.) 4. Desiring for Mukti (Liberation). Having these four is enough. We will be in good shape. These four are essential for those desiring for tranquillity, peace and Mukti. But there is a problem. Though the first reading appears to give us an understanding of the four entities, it is hard to understand the basis, the depth, the dense Truths… So what. Delving deep in the discovery of depth and the density of Truths makes life interesting. ManCanBecomeGod03 January 2, 2018 In the next stage as youth, do we have the privilege of doing what we want? What we see with our eyes magnetizes us. We have no idea where we fell, when we got up and how we managed through them with wisdom and balance; by then, our hair turns grey, eyesight goes dim, old age takes hold of us, presses and weighs us down by an agile force. What is next… We are subjected to the next man’s derisive talk and contempt and unable to bear such treatment, we wonder and lament, heaven or hell, whether the god of death Yama (Thanatos) lost his Book of Death. An immensely clever man he is and yet cannot escape from the net of Ādhidaivikam. Education, wealth, or position does not have the wherewithal to rescue you from Ādhidaivikam. Thirdly… Ādhibhautikam consists of the five great elements, the causative agents of the good and the bad: cold, heat, rain, wind, lightning and thunder, tsunami, mudslide, earthquake… In the likeness of the man unable to escape from the three miseries twitches and flinches and at last to attain a birthless state, runs for water to douse the flaming hair on his head, runs seeking the Gurunāthar. Navanītham Kaivalliyam gives an example to the man who runs seeking the Gurunāthar. ManCanBecomeGod04 January 4, 2018 Valmiki posed the question to his wife. She answered curtly, “Your sins are yours. I cannot partake of it.” Her words sank in and since then, Valmiki had a salubrious change of life and made an honest living. Therefore, if you are caught in the net of Love of wealth, wife and children, the committed sins, we should realize, will assault us. One such person under assault went to a Gurunāthar, fell prostrate at his feet and supplicated him for rescue from his predicament. Gurunāthar offered him three kinds of initiation. In this verse, three Dīkṣas are mentioned. The explication is simply wonderful. 1. To think inside the mind like a turtle. (Thought initiation = Māṉasa Dīkṣa) 2. To turn back and see. (Sight Initiation = Nayaṉa Dīkṣa) 3. To offer refuge (to the chicks by touch) under the wings like a bird (Touch Initiation = Sparṣa Dīkṣa) ManCanBecomeGod05 January 5, 2018 There was a worm in a mud nest. The wasp stung the worm multiple times. Unable to bear the pain from the stings, the buzzing of the wasp itself made the worm think of the wasp. Over days, the worm morphs into a wasp. Likewise, Gurunāthar makes a disciple mature, gives him Jñāṉa Upadeśam and raises him to his level. The line in the poem says, “The wasp buzzing before the worm inside the mud nest.’ The next line says, “Seeing the Jīva (of the disciple), he instructed.” The buzzing of the wasp and the instructions of Gurunāthar draw a parallel. The wasp buzzes only before the worm and not before the mud nest. Likewise, Gurunāthar offers instructions before the Jīva (soul of the disciple) and not before his body. Guru of that high a caliber still offers Upadeśam to the deserving disciple. ManCanBecomeGod06 January 8, 2018
Don’t we know we differ from the clothes we wear? Likewise, we
should understand that body differs from Āṉmā (soul). Whether we
understand or not, thought of it never occurs to us.
That is the problem with the
greenhorn-disciple, who believes in and says ‘What you see is what
your get.’ All this is
body. Hearing the words of the disciple, Gurunāthar was alternately
happy and unhappy.
Gurunathar was unhappy about how he will make him understand the
concept of Āṉmā Tattva, while he thinks, ‘I am the body.’
Simultaneously …
‘Appātā,
Though he holds to the view, ‘I am the body,’ does he not hold on to
something? That is gracefully enough! He was happy that the believer
in body will one day become a believer in the soul.
He put forward some answers in the form of questions. They are…
Appāṭā
=
அப்பாடா = int.
An exclamation of surprise, relief.
It is an expanse of sand (as far as the eye can see). The thirsty
deer ran searching for water. There was an appearance of water far
away; the deer ran towards it. But there was no water there. It
appeared to the deer that water was at reach at a certain distance.
The deer ran again towards the water. But there was no water there
either. That being so, how is it that the deer saw the water?
That is not water. It is mirage water. The heat in the expanse of
sand gives the appearance of a sheet of water. Deceived by the
mirage, the deer ran and fell parched and famished.
In this mirage water story, the deer is we. Just as the deer ran to
quench its thirst, we run in multiple paths to fulfill our desires.
Just as the trusting thirsty deer was fooled by the mirage of water,
we are
bewildered and disappointed
in relentless pursuit of our desires. Don’t be confused by such words, Sthūla and Sūkṣma. Variar Swāmigaḷ explains them in simple terms. “How does the car run? It runs on four wheels. The wheels have tires. Inside the tire, there is the inner tube. Inside the inner tube there is compressed air. The visible tire is the gross body. The Inner tube is the Sūkṣma body. The air inside the inner tube is causal body (Kāraṇa Śarīram). Helped by the compressed air, the tire on the rim whirls and the car moves. But we cannot see the air. We see only the spinning tires. ManCanBecomeGod10 January 12, 2018
This verse depicts the saying of the Guru to his disciple about
the cause for birth, and the ways to attain Mukti, tranquility,
peace…, the two times such as day and night (Awakening and decline
of the spirit), the power of enveloping Māyā’s
nescience, and more importantly the word ‘Maindhā.’ Let us look at them in order. Maindhā, though it occurs at the end of the verse, should be put
initially and find the explanation.
‘Maindhu’ has
two meanings: Mayakkam and
Āṛṛal (மயக்கம்-ஆற்றல்
=
faintness and energy). According to Tamil Dictionary, the Guru calls
the faintish (fainting) disciple ‘Maindhā.’ Moreover, the
disciple has the power to free himself from danger and ignorance.
Therefore, he calls him ‘Maindhā,’ meaning an energetic (energized) man.
If we want to free ourselves from anything, we should be
cognizant of our surroundings. We should have the energy and
stratagem. A disciple is such a person. That is why Gurunāthar calls
him ‘Maindhā.’ Let us put ourselves in Maindhā’s place and follow
the verse.
Taking medicine is for good health. That is, the intent of
medicating ourselves is not to take medicine anymore (and prevent
recurrence of disease). Likewise, the intent of our birth is not to
have any more births. Not to be born again is a sure sign of Mukthi.
To attain such state, human birth is of immense help. The spiritual
treatises say the metempsychic sorrow will resolve itself and
disappear, if we perform four acts.
These four acts
are Hearing, Contemplation, Clear Comprehension, and Meditation. Who are we? Soul or body? How do they come together? Why did we take birth? All these questions should appear in our mind. But it appeared in the mind of a disciple. He poses questions and the Gurunāthar answers. Let us follow them. Gurunāthar in his answers described the creation of the world and the help Muktas (the liberated) receive for liberation. Some suffer from obscuration (= concealment = மறைப்பு) by which they do not realize virtue and knowingly suppress clarity. Maṛaippu (= மறைப்பு = obscuration or concealment) is not a wall or obstruction. Let us assume we know everything. We know right and wrong. If that is so, we should all be well. But it is not so. ManCanBecomeGod12 Jan 12, 2018 What is night for us is day for the Jñāṉi. What is day for us is night for the Jñāṉi. To put it more plainly, we shut our eyes, on seeing virtuous things and refuse to go there. That is the night for us. In that same period, the Jñāṉis realize the Truth and follow it. That is their day. We go wide-eyed seeing the bad and the inviting shine and sheen. Jñāṉis, upon seeing the bad, shut their eyes and minds and refuse to go there. ManCanBecomeGod13 Jan 13, 2018 Variar Swāmigaḷ explains it in simple terms. “As you are walking barefoot, accidentally you step on a thorn, that gets embedded in the sole of the foot. We use another thorn to remove the offending thorn and once done, both are discarded. The offending thorn is the Asuddha Māyai. The thorn that helped in the removal of the offending thorn is the Suddha Māyai.” These two Māyais create seven states. Gurunāthar narrates a story to explain these seven states. ManCanBecomeGod14 January 14, 2018 ===================================================================== -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The ball fell in the poisonous waters of river Yamuna. The timorous boys were afraid to retrieve the ball. Krishna, unafraid, jumped into the waters. A hood popped up. Krishna ignored it. Then, one by one, other heads pierced through the surface of the water. Where is Krishna? The gopis, the boys and herders came running to the river edge. The 110-hooded Kāliya wrapped its body around Krishna in the depths of the river. Krishna was a child (youth). What was he going to do? The coils of the snake squeezed his life breath away. Krishna’s brother Balarāma unconcerned watched him from the banks of the river and asked Krishna to use his divine power to defeat Kālia by enlarging himself severalfold. He did and the snake gave up. None knew the divine nature of Krishna except his brother Balarāma. KrishnaAndKaliya September 15, 2017 The forest lion and the feral mouse were friends. The lion allowed the mouse to ride on its mane. Find out how the mouse returned the favor. Lion-And-The-Mouse October 14, 2017 Look at the photos of Chidambaram Temple Paintings renovations. Chidambaram-Temple-Paintings-Renovations 1. We need Temples to develop Bhakti. Offerings are tokens of our gratitude to God. Faith in God and tolerance remove sorrows. 2. We all have in us THIS, which is the Source, God, Reality... 3. He alone is Acharya, who knows, practices and teaches Sastras, and makes people follow the path of Sastras. universal_guru_of_kanchi_speaks Sep 2, 2017.New File combining all 48 Ramanamaharishi individual files: Ramanamaharishi.pdf 1. We need Temples to develop Bhakti. Offerings are tokens of our gratitude to God. Faith in God and tolerance remove sorrows. 2. We all have in us THIS, which is the Source, God, Reality... 3. He alone is Acharya, who knows, practices and teaches Sastras, and makes people follow the path of Sastras. universal_guru_of_kanchi_speaks ********************************************************************************************************************* MIS MIS MIS MIS MIS MIS MIS MIS MIS MIS MIS MIS MIS MIS MIS MIS (My India Stories)
Sundaramaiyar has no formal education to be a lawyer; but he is a
learned man. He had the wherewithal to plead and argue his case. Those
days, the British Raj allowed the literate non-lawyers to conduct
lawyering business in the courts.
Sundaramaiyar is tall, tight-faced, sharp-eyed, stiff-lipped and
full-cheeked. His stance is a lawyer coming to argue his case in the
court before the justice should not be sporting smiles. Therefore, he
always remained tranquil and sharp of disposition. He had a thriving law office with a solid income. He bought a house near the temple. He had two adjacent stepped entrances in the house. One side is for his private use; the other is an office for the consulting and overnight clients.
His clients are from the surrounding villages; the cases were land
disputes, individual or communal violence, petition for judicial
enquiry, judicial appeal… When the night falls, even the men in
Tirucchuzi fear traversing the jungle paths. Therefore, the clients stay
overnight, ready to leave at the break of dawn. That is the convenience
provided by the advocate in his house.
Here is an article on truthful Rama and lying Krishna. How do you reconcile these polar opposites? That is for you to find out in this article. May 21, 2017 RamaTruthKrishnaLies Nammazvar (Our Own Azvar) is the Saint-Poet, a primier Vishnu devotee and a major contributor to Tamil Veda (Nalayira Divyaprabhandam = 4000 Sacred Verses). NammazvarOurOwn May 20, 2017 Siva and Parvati wanted their sons to get married. Which one first? Whoever wins the contest will marry first. Siva asked the brothers to go around the world once and whoever completes the task first marries first. Muruga mounted on his peacock and flew around the world. Thinking a world of his parents, Ganesa circumambulated his parents. By the time Muguan/Skanda/Karttikeya returned after one round around the world, Ganesa completed seven rounds around his parents. Ganesa won. GanesaAndHisSaktis 5/19/2017 Swami Vishnu Dayananda talks about Bija Mantras, also known as Seed Mantras based on Sanskrit letters. Bija Mantras May 15, 2017 Ramanuja is well-known to the Hindus. He had a Guru, Yādava Prakāśa. Ramanuja and Prakāśa had frequent arguments in interpreting Vedāṅgas. Ramanuja’s ideas took a hold among people and his fame increased. Prakāśa was angry over his popularity. He planned to kill Rāmānuja. When Prakāśa planned on a pilgrimage with his disciples, he wanted to drown and kill him in Ganges River. Ramanuja's nephew Govinda Bhattar got wind of this one-man conspiracy, warned Ramanuja and asked him to leave him. Bhattar later became the disciple of Ramanuja known as Emperumāṉār (Our Great man). Ramanuja gave him the short version of hiw own name: Embār. Embār was Ramanuja's shadow. Ramanuju-And-His-Shadow-Embar May 12, 2017 Dakshinamurti, the south-facing Siva-Guru is God, Guru, Self, and teacher. He is a very young teacher with aged students at his feet; he teaches Advaitic principles by silence and Cin-Mudra, apposition of thumb and forefinger which indicates the identity of the Supreme Self and the individual self. His face is suffused in Bliss. Advaitic principle says that the Self appears as the teacher, the taught, god and the self. Sankaracharya, the propounder of Advaita, brings four elements together in one advaitic unity in the following hymns: Jiva, the individual soul and the enjoyer; the universe, the object enjoyed; the Supreme Siva, the grantor of enjoyment, and the Guru, the leader in the path of release. Dakshinamurthy Rama came to earth as an Avatara Purusha. Though he was man by appearance, his divine persona was manifest by his very acts. His life and living illustrate a Transcendent Being, who by his Iccha, Jnana and Kriya (Will, Knowledge and Deed) is unlike man a God. The stories illustrate this fact. God-And-Man-Difference May 9, 2017 Siva Lingam means Mark of Siva. Linga may have no face or one to 12 faces or more. Five or six faces are common. Siva And His Many Faces May 5, 2017 Anjaneya was on a mission. His search for Sita abducted by Ravana was extensive in Lanka. He found an Asoka forest. He had a hunch Sita must be there. Yes, there was a woman of divine nature with sallow complexion surrounded by Rakshasis (Ogresses). Anjaneya gave her a ring to assure her of his good intentions and autheticity that he is the messenger of Rama. Sita wanted to give a gift but had none to give. She looked around and saw Betel Leaves on the vines. She plucked a few, made a leaf-garland and applied it to him. That became the tradition in Anjaneya worship. Garland of Betel Leaves May 1, 2017 There was an incorrigible rake who knew every prostitute in town. "O him, I know." He sold his mother's ring given to her by his father for exemplary service to the king. The son Vedanidhi gave it to his favorite lady of the night and spent the money on his lascivious pastimes. His father threw him out of the house,when the king found out from the court dancer she was wearing the gifted ring. He was nowhere to go. He shored up courage and went to a client server. She knowing he had no more moola promptly ejected him from the place of her business. He was on the streets. He stole food from the temple. The guards shot him with arrows and killed him. The way to heaven starts here. Read more. Lecher Goes to Heaven April 29, 2017. There was once poet and philosopher. He was born a Hindu. He was ahead of his time. He wanted equal rights for women and the oppressed castes. Thet was in the 12th century. He was Basava. Basava-Lingayatism April 29, 2017 Krishna clones himself multiple times as need arises. He was once seized by the Gopis. He cloned himself so he could dance with each Gopi as her own dance partner. Seven bulls came charging at Krishna. What did he do? Yes, he cloned himself, each clone taking on one bull. He came victorius by subduing the seven bulls and won the hand of Napinnai. Read all about it here. Krishna-Clones-and-Seven-Bulls April 26, 2017 Here is presentation on the famous Parthasarathy Temple in Chennai. Bhagavan presented Gita in the battle field. He appears as a member of the family in the Tiruvallikkēṇi Temple and is waiting to lead us in the path of Gita. Paramātmā sports a twisted mustache and is the fixed deity as Sri Venkata Krishnan and the processional deity as Pārthasārathy Perumāḷ. The temple is named after the processional deity. He appears in a family configuration: Consort Śrī Rukmaṇi Pirāttiyār, elder brother Balarāma, younger brother Sātyaki, son Pradyumna, and grandson Aniruddha. There are very few temples with such a family constellation. Parantāmaṉ with his family invites the Kaliyga devotees with grace. It is a special privilege to receive Darśan, according to Vaishnavas. Here is a story about Kanchi Periyava and Pillaiyar. Periyava was on his way to Madurai with his entourage. Periyava = Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswati Mahaswamiji (20 May 1894 - 8 January 1994), or the Sage of Kanchi, was the 68th Jagadguru of the Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham. I attended the same School as he did decades ago - American Arcot Mission Hight School Tindivanam Tamil Nadu) He stopped in a village to see a new temple dedicated to Pillaiyar (Ganesa). To him, Pillaiyar was ready for consecration. Villagers and the president of Panchayat were not sure. Periyava insisted that the Pillaiyar was ready for consecration. So syaing he left. The sculptor was wondering why Periyava said it because he did not give the final touch to the idol to open the eyes. The sculptor was in a quandary. A boy came running to him and the Panchayat board members. Get to know why the eyes were open though the sculptor (Stapathi) did not put the fine chisel to open the eyes. Periyava-Ganesa's Open-Eyes April 20, 2017 Surpanakai was a Rākṣasī, sister of Ravana, who abducted Sita, Consort of Rama. Poet Kamban of Kamba Ramayana describes Surpanakai as a very beautiful woman with fish-eyes (Minakshi), shapely frame, and a loving persona. She had the ability to morph to any form. She tried to seduce Rama. When she proposed marriage with Rama, Rama rejected the proposal. Surpanakai tried to kill Sita. Rama intervened and commanded Lakshmana to mutilate her. She remained a lover of Rama ever since. Yugas later, When Krishna came down to earth, he meets Surpanakai, morphs into Rama and allows Surpanakai to smear Rama with Sandalwood paste. Surpanakai-And-Rama April 18, 2017
Sannyasi Lāldās
in 1800s came to Chennai from Lahore on foot. Built 420 years ago (in
2007), Sri Venkatesa Perumal is reminiscent of Tiruppathi Ezumalaiyan
(the Lord of the seven Hills). Alarmel Mangai Thayar (Consort) has a
nearby separate shrine here. Shrine for Devaraja Perumal reminds us of
Kanchi Kshetra Perumal, along with other shrines for Sri Kannapiran as
Venugopal with Sridevi and Bhudevi, Sri Lakshmi Narasimhar, Puri
Jagannathar, Azhvars, Acharyas…replete with eternal bliss in the Bairaki
Matam (Mutt) of Graceful Venkatesa Perumal Temple.
Agastya Muni had a young disciple. He left a prayer box with Salagrama stone in his safekeeping. His assigned duty was to offer worship to Salagrama every day. Rishi's sons were throwing stones to bring down the fruits from a tree. Sudhishanan, having no stone at his disposal, used the Salagrama stone to throw, strike and bring down the fruits on the tree. Read more. Sriman Narayana & His Disciple April 14, 2017 Rama by helping people earned many deed-based names. ராமன் எத்தனை ராமனடி! (How many names does Rama have, my lass!) was a Tamil movie long ago. This article gives the many of his names. Polynomial Rama April 13, 2017 Orange by any other name is sweet. Sanskritists called the fruit Naranga. The fruit and its name travelled to Europe via Persia, Arab Countries and Portugal. The name Naranga was forgotten but the taste lingered on and the fruit took a new name:Portakal. Orange-Naranga April 9, 2017 Today (April 5, 2017) is the birthday of Avatara Purusha Sri Rama. This day is joyously celebrated all over the country as SriRama Navami. Ramayana and Mahabharata are the two eyes of Bharat (India). As the great rivers of India flow, their alluvial soil and water support our sustenance. Likewise, these two Great Epics bring people together and are our cultural legacy. Do you know some one short on cash and long on taking his family on a vacation? Go to Tiruppathi. Have Faith and Tavel. Don't be afraid. It won't cost you a bundle. Leave your money and jewels home and plan on going to Tiruppathi. Once you land in the foothills of Tiruppathi, you are in for a surprise. A lot of Freebees. Start counting them. The best of all freebees is you and your family get a free Darsan. While you stand on line, you are served free food. All you need is Time, patience and faith. You get the Darsan, the best part of the trip. It does not end there. There is more. Freebees in Tiruppathi April 7, 2017 Miracles do happen. Here is moving incident, wherein a Muslim devotee poet of Murugan fell into hard times. He was a penurious debtor. The lendor sent a peon insisting payment of the debt. He prayed to Murugan (also known as Skanda). There were three souls involved in this drama: The penurious poet, the insistent peon and the king. Read more to find out how his debt was discharged. It is a moving story. Murugan-Discharges-The-Debt April 5, 2017 Rama was preparing to go to Lanka to rescue Sita. Vibhishana, Ravana's brother, surrendered to Rama, who requested the Lord of the seas (Samudra Raja) to give him permission to build a bridge to Lanka. The king of the sea was procrastinating. Rama became angry and was ready to launch an arrow; being afraid, the king of the sea surrendered and offered to help him. That is the second surrender to Rama. The place they surrendered is Tiruppullani, where now stands a temple. SurrenderRemovesSorrows April 4, 2017 Ramakrishna Paramahamsa is known all over the world for his spiritual eminence. He warns his devotees and everybody else about Five Evil Entities one should be careful about in their dealings: 1. The Super-rich 2. The Drunk 3. The Young bull 4. The Dog 5. People of the nature of Cobra. FiveEvilEntities March 31, 2017 Here is a story why we find Anjaneya smeared with vermillion all over his body from head to toes. His child-like innocence, devotion, and service to Rama and Sita elevated him to the level of demi-god. Have you ever wondered why Anjaneya is smeared with Sindur. This story explains the reason. Anjaneya March 14, 2017 The word Mantra one of the Sanskrit words found its way in European and English languages so much so, it is in common use today. Random House Unabridged English Dictionary defines Mantra as "a word or formula, as from the Veda, chanted or sung as an incantation or prayer." But its use has transcended its original meaning and intent. Mantra = Man (rhyming with sun) + tra. Man = to think or meditate. Tra = to protect or liberate. Man in Sanskrit indicates thinking (man) in English, meaning man is a thinking (and speaking) animal. Mantra is so compact and densely packed with meaning, it is compared to a seed, which contains a humongous tree. In fact there are Seed (Bija) Mantras - Syllabic Mantras - based on Sankrit letters: HAUM DUM KREEM HREEM SHREEM AIM... The potency of Mantras is immense. Mantra is a magical formula based on a sound, a syllable, a word, a phrase or a verse which, when chanted in silence, solo, or chorus, creates wholesome vibrations and energy. Mantra March 7, 2017 Ganesh Temple of Flushing Queens, New York is well-known all over the world as the First Hindu Temple in New York and the USA. It had a humble beginning in a decrepit church, as the plans for a Hindu Temple was in the works. Dr. Alagappan was the prime mover in this effort and gave us the honor of visiting with us in our home. At present, Dr. Mysorekar retired OB-GYN is at the helm. GaneshTempleQueensNYC
Guruvaurappan Temple is in Morganville New Jersey, USA. Though the
central deity is Guruvayurappan, it is a polytheistic temple.
The configuration chart shows the shrines in their relative
positions regarding the main deity. It is a beautiful temple in a wooded
area.
It had a humble beginning though its majesty was no less than it is now.
There are two floors, one at the ground level and the other on the
second level, which is the Great Hall of Shrines. T
other side of the parking lot. They serve South Indian Fare for a
reasonable price. During festivals, the temple serves free meals, mostly
made of rice, as usual in the Hindu temples in the USA. Murugan-Shanmuganathar or Skanda in North India-has taken residence on the mountaintop of Peacock mountain with his consorts in Kunraikkudi. The temple is famous for its documented miracles. There is a fascinating story of how Murugar came to claim the peacock as his mount and flying machine. Peacock-Mountain Shanmuganathar Kunraikkudi-Hilltop-Temple All three titles have one common link. Feb 5, 2017 A pregnant lioness wandered off to the edge of Gir forest and saw a mob of sheep. She was hungry, pounced on a sheep precipitating deilvery of a cub and bled to death. The sheep raised the cub. One day a lion saw the most disreputable scene of a lion cub amongst the sheep. He waited until the night fell. He approached the cub which bleated like a sheep: Baa, Baa, Baa... The lion never knew a shame like a bleating lion cub. He took him to a lake and asked to look at his face in the water mirror. The cub was shocked to see his face resemble the lion. The lion took him home to his pride. It was his own son. His mate died in delivery, when she went charging to kill a sheep. That very sheep and its ilk raised the cub.Lion-Cub Guruvayurappan Temple in Morganville New Jersey also known as Krishnaji Mandir is one of the best Hindu temples in North America. It is polytheistic temple. There are more than 20 shrines both big and small housed in a humongous hall. GuruvayurappanTemple Pillaiyar (Ganesa) worship is popular all over India. He is the deity with elephant face and a broken tusk. Mr. S. Kathiresan explains the physical part of daily worship of Ganesa, known as Pillaiyar in the south. Pillaiyar-Worship January 31, 2017 Thiruvalluvar is the poet of Tamils, India and the world. Here is his view of the God in ten verses. God-and-Thiruvalluvar January 23, 2017 Who is the greater: The Householder, the princess, the Sannyasin...? Each one is great in his own skin and element. A great fish out of water is out of its element and therefore not great. Here is an instructional story by Swami Vivekandanda. Who-Is-Greater January 16, 2017 Thuglak was a Muslim ruler of India (1325–1351 CE). He moved people and the capital from Delhi to Daulatabad, a distance of 1500 KM. Most of them were muslims. They suffered from hunger, thurst, and exhaustion, though he made arrangements for food and water on the way. He reversed course and moved the people back to Delhi with disastrous results. He wanted to conquer China but on the way and up in the hills, 10,000 soldiers died. Cho-And-Thuglak January 16, 2017 There were two boulders by the mountainside wondering what their fates were. They wanted to escape the beating rain and the scorching sun. The city sculptors came to take the stones and carve idols. The first stone chose to become the idol, while the second stone did not want to suffer from chiseling. The second stone won't budge calling the first stone an ignoramus. The first stone became Lord Siva, worshipped by devotees and the second stone continued its existence as a know-nothing stone. Statue-and-the-Rock January 8, 2017 A year before the Kumbabishekam (consecration), renovation of the Canopy Paintings behind Nataraja Sanctum in Chidambaram Nataraja Temple took place. Sixteen paintings over 1000 years old depicting the ancient history of Chidambaram are among the rare paintings. These paintings originally drawn with Herbal colors were deteriorating. On the recommendation of Dikshithars, under the guidance of the most famous antique painter Silpi’s pupil Artist/Painter Padmavasan, pictures and portraits were drawn with new brightness and grandness. Mr. Padmavasan stayed in Temple grounds in Chidambaram Koil for many months, bought Kerala herbal colors and redrew on Singapore Canvas Fabric the ancient 16 paintings in living colors for many hundred thousand of rupees. Chidambaram-Temple-Paintings-Renovation January 7, 2017 Anjaneya is a
demi-god in the Hindu pantheon of gods. Kambar one of the greatest poets
in Tamil Country attributes the qualities of Great Elements to Anjaneya.
He was the son of Wind-god. He jumped over the ocean
straits to reach Lanka. He flew in the sky for the benefit of
Rama in search of Sita. He found Sita the daughter of Earth in
Sri Lanka. He kept the Light lit.
This poem mentioning the Panchabhutas is a brief of Sundara Kanda
extolling the rare service and acts of Anjaneya in the Sundara Kanda
section of Ramayana. Victory for us is permanent if we read these
stories daily and engage in ceremonial rendition with the worship. We
saw the poem. Let us read about some wonders. Just like people, the gods and goddesses have likes and dislikes. This article explores them. Siva likes Bael leaves and Vishnu like Basil leaves. Deities-And-Their-Likes December 13, 2016 Lakshmi’s eighth form is Gajalakshmi. She is seated on a lotus flower as the elephants of eight cardinal directions shower her. Vishnu Purana says that as she emerged from the ocean, elephants from the eight quarters came with gold vessels having pure water and bathed her. Since she was seated in the midst of elephants showering her, she was called by the eponym Gajalakshmi (elephant-Lakshmi). Gajalakshmi December 12, 2016 There are eight forms of Lakshmi: Adi Lakshmi, Dhana Lakshmi, Dhanya Lakshmi, Gajalakshmi, Santana Lakshmi, . Vira Lakshmi, Vidya or Aishvarya Lakshmi and Vijaya Lakshmi. As the names imply, they provide all that a man needs in this material world. The one that is not emphasized but true is she offers liberation of the souls after death. Accordingly, she is a grantor of, mediatrix, or purushakara for liberation of the souls. Ashtalakshmi December 12, 2016 Here is a story of a newly wed groom visiting with his in-laws, sometime after his wedding unaccompanied by his newly minted wife. He ate delectable sweet Rice Dumplings (Kozukkattai) and Athirsam. He loved the kozukkatai and on his way back forgot its name. He could not recall its name. He remembered the word 'Attari-baccha' as the people said when they jumped over streams on a rainy day. He asked his wife to make some Attari-baccha for him. She did not know what it was. The story continues and find out what made him remember the name. Groom&HisWelts In these stories, I bring surprises: the monkey saves its keeper the bangle salesman by giving the pose of revered Hanuman before the dacoits, set to rob and hurt him. Yes, Hanuman was their deity. Its keeper before the bangle salesman trained the monkey to assume Hanuman Pose as part of street entertainment. Bangle-Salesman Margara the cat the saint among cats made friends with dog, langur, mongoose... The cat is actually a Yogi with ability to transmigrate into the body of another being. The feline Yogi brought langur back to life after a snake bite. Read more about his miraculous exploits. Margara Thugs were planning to rob the seer-king and his party in the open field in the night. The thugs camped out near an anthill. One thug after another clutch their ears and fall. The ants got on the clothes and into the ears seeking the wax. Could it be that the seer-king with supernatural magical powers (Siddhi) commanded the ants to raid the ear canals of the thugs as they were getting ready to rob him and his entourage in the middle of the moonless night? SeerKing The Yogi walks with professional killers in the jungles and yet escapes death by wit and wisdom. Sadhu I had rich experiences in the towns and villages of my aunts and cousins with whom I visited. I wandered around in the villages and towns always learning and experiencing new things: It could be as simple as climbing trees, watching street magicians, performers, and hooded cobras … I took in the experiences of my near and dear and others proximate to me. I had a fascination with street, and animal performers, such as monkeys, birds, bears… They take their proud places in the stories. Yes, for a fee, this man believed in what the fortune-telling parrot pulled out from a stack of cards and the bird trainer read his fortune. The edentulous monkey, whose teeth have been extracted, goes through fiery hoops, plays drums, walks on the hind and fore legs… The monkey, for a morsel of banana, climbs the tall trees and brings down the coconuts, mangoes… for the keeper to drink and eat. A python wraps around a small child and chokes him only to be alerted by a dog and a monkey and saved by a spear-wielding adult, who severs the spinal cord of the python. Bangle He is a fowl thief. He trains the roosters to become gamecocks. He played foul in the villages. Whereever he goes he steals roosters and then joins the villagers in a search and rescue operation. His relatives ostracized him for making a living by cockfights. FowlPlay All these experiences, I put in the fiction I present here. My fictional animals behave like men, and some men behave less than human. Some animals and men get along fine with each other. Yogis have intuitive wisdom and control the thought and mind of animal. Animals from different species develop friendship: a donkey and a dog… Read a story about wild elephants which lead the Yogi to the remote human settlement on the top of the mountain. They are that intelligent and understanding. There were four Dalit brothers. The villagers gave them derisive monikers: Madaiyan (Madhavan), Sadaiyan (Seshaiyan), Komban (Govindan) and Sumban (Sundaram). A Brahmana teacher goes out of his way to take one of the Dalit children to a hospital in his cart. Madaiyan becomes a politician; Sadaiyan a teacher; Komban a doctor; and Sundaram a curator of a museum. FourBrothers Coming to people, the inter-caste marriages though scrupulously avoided for fear of rejection, have taken nascent roots and thrives well in the modern era. Yet in villages and small towns where anonymity is a rare commodity, inter-caste marriages are discouraged, frowned upon, prevented and punished. People die because of prevalent attitudes against such practices. Child marriages are commonplace in the villages. Unless the law knows about it, it goes on. No one cares about the ruination of girl’s education… Read about Calufa the war dog, whose adventurous forays into enemy territory and its return back to its trainer. It was almost human in its behavior when the enemy caught her, took her, trained her to sabotage its handler and friends. Read about how daring its escape was from the enemy. WarDog Read the fictional story of a OB-GYn doctor who diagnosed pregnancy, ovarian cancer… just by smelling the patients. How did he do it? He took the stem cells from the nose of the dog and grafted them on to his nose. DogNoseDoctor Follow the exciting journey of the stolen Egg Diamonds from an island kingdom and their return back to the king by mysterious means. Egg-Diamonds Most of us are surprised to learn that every Hindu woman has celestial serial husbands: Soma, Visvavasu, & Agni before a human husband. I named them gods of Pubarche, Thelarche and Menarche. ThreeDaughters We are all familiar with five Pandavas and Darupadi. Now read the fictional polyandrous Mathanam: How she became the queen and sported with one husband for one weekday. Read about our polyglot Sadhu who spoke the language of world of fauna and how he saved the life of a cow from a cobra by making mutual agreements between them. The sadhu about to be eaten by a tiger was saved by a croc. Sadhu Sakti in the form of a preternatural girl brought the ego of Sankara down on the banks of Ganges. Sankara A biscuit was thrown at the children -by WW-2 white soldiers- who scrambled to grab it. One child in my village was standing and watching. He went to his mother who made biscuits for him. Read the moving story. That child was me. Boy&Biscuits When you come across these three daughter of privileged life, you know life at the top. Their names were appropriate to their gunas: Sattvi, Rajasi and Tamasi. They were the grownup children of the city mayor. Read about their lifestyles, their weddings…ThreeDaughters You are familiar with Pruravas and Urvasi. Get the taste of the juicy events. Urvasi&Pruravas There were three brothers, a doctor, an engineer and a wanderer. The first two stayed in one place; the third one knew not where his next meal, his next transport, his next bed, his next travel companions would be. You might call him a troll, though intelligent, observant, compassionate and almost divine. He is a multilingual with an added facility to communicate with animals: He speaks Animalish. He is richly endowed with biomagnetism, with which he endears men and animals. He calls himself the Faunal-Lingual as opposed to banal nomenclature, whisperer. He can do all the animal noises known to man and animals, that too with intelligence and understanding. He knows all the nuances of animal-speak. Besides that, he could ferret out their likes, dislikes and other myriad emotions of man and animal, which humans never care about and willfully ignore to the detriment of man and animal. He knows his human and animal psychology in its complexities. Here is a story of Vamana presenting himself as an itenerant recluse to his devotee King Bali, who evicted the gods from heavens. They complained to Vishnu, who took the form of a Dwarf (Vamana) to divinely hoodwink Bali, wrest the heavens from him and give it back to the gods. Bali in his munificent mood tells the Dwarf to ask for a gift, whatever it is. First mistake. Sukracharya sizing up the Dwarf and recognizing him as Vishnu Himself, pulls his shoulder and raises his admonishing finger to cease and desist for his own welfare. No, Bali does not give up. Second mistake. There is no way he is going to send a holyman empty-handed. Vamana asks for a paltry piece of land measuring the length of his three feet. Yes, said the king. Third mistake. What has he done? He got the surprise of his life. Preternatural Vamana expanded to cosmic proportions, strode his two feet over earth, middle and heavens and asked Bali, "Where is my land for the third foot." Bali hoodwinked by the benign Lord offered his head for the third foot of land. The Lord pressed Bali's head, the terra firma gave way, a sinkhole appeared to swallow Bali and dispatch him to the netherworld. Having freed heaven from Bali, the gods moved back to heavens with the chief of gods Indra. Bali was happy to rule the Asuras of the netherworld. After all they are Asuras, his own kind. Vamana-Bali-Sukra Adi Sankara populirized Panchayatana, the five-deity worship with one deity being the Ishta Devata or personal deity of one's own liking. Herewith I have give diagramatic form, the anicons...Panchayatana Stepmother stopped Princely Dhruva from sitting on the lap of the henpecked father-king, while her own son Uttama was sitting on the king's lap. Dhruva, aged five, was tender in years but far ahead in intellect and knowing the implications of the forbidding stepmother. Dhruva complained to his mother, whoadvised him that it was the past Karma catching up with him. She advised him to follow the examples of Brahma and his grandfather Manu who became great seeking the feet of Vishnu. Dhruva left the palace to practice penance and received guidance from Narada Muni on Mantra meditaion on Vishnu... Distruptive forces such as gods, goblins, goofs, animals tried their best to interefere with his meditation. He saw Vishnu in his heart and nothing else. The gods afraid Dhruva may exceed them in merits complained to Vishnu, who placated and send them on their way home. Vishnu gave Dhruva a vision of His Universal Form. Read more. Dhruva Saturday evening was a fateful day, when the world of beings were on the brink of Total Annihilation. Siva saved the day and all beings. It is the day for clebration. Saturday Evening in certain Tamil months is Sani Pradosam, a holy day in Hindu calendar. Siva drank poison to save the world of gods, humans... on a saturday evening. That twilight hour is celebrated as the evening when Siva drank the poison to save the world. Here is the full story. Sani-Pradosam There was once a bad dude called Basmasuran. He was a demon by birth. He did penance for very long time. Siva appeared before him and promised to bless him with a boon. One day Siva impressed by his penance, Siva appeared before him and asked, if there was something he could do to him. The Asura asked for the boon of burning and reducing people to ashes, when he touched their pates. He wanted to touch the head of Siva to test his newly-acquired boon. Siva escaped him. His consort Parvati ran to her brother Vishnu and sought his help. Vishnu morphed into a drop-dead beauty. Read more for the conclusion. Basmasuran. The common depiction is Lakshmi massaging the feet of Vishnu. In a role reversal Krishna is massaging the feet of Radha. The king of Bikaner (reigned 1631-74) had a dream about Vishnu and Lakshmi in their heavenly abode. He woke up in a state of exhilaration. He summoned the royal painter to his presence and described his dream in great detail. Massaging the Divine Feet Here is a trilogy encomposing Dispute-Merit-Compassion. A devotee argues with his god: Who is greater? There is a twist in his argument. A Guru discusses the finer points of giving: spontaneous and requested. Giving without being asked carries greater merit than giving following a request. The third episode is about Swami Vivekananda experiencing the munificent Radhai. Dispute-Merit-Compassion Background history of Ramanamaharishi as a child.
This house on Sokkappa Nāyakkar
Street is near the temple. I could run to the temple as and when I
wished. I could stop at each shrine and pay homage. Remembering every Nāyaṉmār
from my reading of Periyapurāṇam,
I could touch each Nāyaṉmārs
icon and offer homage.
If my father was alive, I could ask him to narrate the stories once
again. My older brother knows but will not narrate. Uncle could be knowing
them but will slip away saying, “I have work to do.” There is no one to teach me about God. My brother told me that knowledge of God came on its own accord and not from teaching. So, said my uncle. When the talk on God took place, my brother talks with uncle as if he is all-knowing. He paid no attention to Venkatraman. “These transcendent matters you would not understand.” But Venkatraman paid attention to what his brother said and remembered them by frequent recollection. 01Ramanamaharishi20100414 Venkatraman was deep in thought, looking at what is present. There was a change in his breathing. When the mind subsides, the breath subsides. The breath from the nostrils, usually extending to one foot shrank gradually. Diving deep inside to apprehend what there is, expiratory air was at its borderline. Considering what is deeper, losing which death is certainty, breath stood at standstill at the upper nose (Posterior Choanae). This is when he first experienced the beginning of Turiya sate. 02Ramanamaharishi20100428 Ramanamaharishi20100428.pdf He (Sundaramaiyar father of Ramana Maharishi) had a thriving law office with a solid income. He bought a house near the temple. He had two adjacent stepped entrances in the house. One side is for his private use; the other is an office for the consulting and overnight clients. Periyava brought rain to a parched land, where the river for the first in many years had water flowing. 03Ramanamaharishi20100513
The future Periyava went to American Mission School in Madurai. A passel of devotees went to Kaḷḷazhagar Temple.
Venkatraman-the future Periyava- went to Kaḷḷazhagar Temple. He and
fellow devotees walked back to Madurai. On the way back, Venkatraman
carried the pot of Prasada on his head over 22 miles plus, giving him a
pain in the neck. Reading
Periyapurāṇam changed his life. He pined to get vision of Siva. Read the story of Periyava, who refused to take a
ride in the palanquin. About 250 years ago, the Āćāryas of Sankara Mutt and Chidambaram Dīkshitars had a minor dispute. The Dīkshitars told the Āćāryas should receive the Vibhūti upon their offer. They added, “Dīkshitars, that we are, belong to Kailāsa Parampara. We earned the right to dispense Vibhuti for others to receive. The Āćāryas refused to accept Vibhuti from the higher hand of Dīkshitars. Periyava settled the dispute by visiting Chidambaram Temple. 06Ramanamaharishi20100626 There is a conflict between his brother, aunt,
uncle and the school on one side and Venkatraman (Periyav in the making)
standing alone with no support from anyone. He is spiritual, stuck in a
hurly-burly phenomenal world. The relatives pull him to the world of
happenings. Venkatraman wants to enter the world of spirit inside him.
External world does not appeal him. Education and job is for the mundane man. Spiritual
enlightenment is the object of a sage. He takes three rupees and leaves for
Tiruvannamalai. He does not know where his next meal comes from. Pattu Sastri knows the future Periyava from 10
years of age and narrates the story of Periyava as he knows him . One Swaminathan suggested to install a five-metal
idol of Periya in the temple in Chennai. Who will pay for it?
Read more to see when, where and who the money came from.
Read the trials and tribulations suffered by Venkatraman (the future Periyava) on his way to Tiruvannamalai. He was short on cash. He was asked to leave the temples at closing time. He was refused food. One good soul ( a drummer) gave him. From that day on, he accepted food from anyone irrespective of his caste. 09Ramanamaharishi20100809.html To go further on his journey, Venkatraman needed to buy a rail ticket. No cash, what to do? He pawned his earrings to Muthukrishna Bhagavathar and asked him for money. Bhagavathar appraised the earrings and valued it at 20 rupees. Those days twenty Rupees is equal to 10,000 rupees in today’s money. He took the earrings and gave Venkatraman four rupees. Bhagavathar gave him a piece of paper with his address. Happily, Venkatraman took the money and put it inside a knot at the end of his dhoti at waist level. 10Ramanamaharishi20100824.html Who is there?’ The voice rang in the cave below. He
saw the shadow of a person. There was no movement.
Pazhaṉisāmi is not a youngster. He is
not a mere man. He realized the Brahma Tejas. Pazhaṉisāmi lived in a
small town near Palakkad and in search of spiritual liberation could not
stay at home and came to Tiruvannamalai as the appropriate place for his
spiritual development. The mountain, the temple, and the Sadhus made him
ecstatic.
At mealtime, the daily duty of the
caretaker comprises giving food to Bālaswāmy (the future Maharishi),
wiping the face, hands and feet, changing the loincloth, cleaning the
sitting place and sitting him back in his place. That completes the
daily duty. When a devotee supplicates loudly, the caretaker discourages
and removes him gently and prevent people from prostrating before
Bālaswāmy and touching him.
When Sivan goes to Kanchipuram, Periyava is all. He was about 80. Very rich.
Mahāperiyava was his God. What Periyava said was Vedas (=Holy
Testament). Coming to
Kanchi, he brought a turmeric-colored bag with loincloth, holy ashes,
some currency notes…
Usually, Periyava moves his hand in a
gesture of blessings. But that day, he said, “Are you leaving for your
place? Won’t have a drink of soda? OK, you are leaving. At least do it.”
Periyava gave him permission to leave, mentioning about the drink.
Sivan boarded a bus in Chengalput
going to Tirunelveli. There were four youngsters causing hue and cry.
Sivan could not take the ruckus. Who will discipline that rowdy gang?
The rowdy youngsters mocked him and said, “Hey, Old man, are you looking for
your yellow bag? See the bag
on the seat behind yours. Go and sit there.”
They did not know where else to go in search of Venkatraman (the future
Maharishi). There were no transportation facilities, no roads and no
highways those days as at present. Travel was difficult. These factors
put a brake on further search. Azakammai (the mother) went into grief
and deep depression.
With no troubles, Bālaswāmy lived solitarily on a raised platform under
a mango tree. Below the platform Pazhaṉisāmi sat. Bālaswāmy and
Pazhaṉisāmi ate the food brought by Darśan-visitors.
Pazhaṉisāmi asked the visitors not to bother Bālaswāmy and
arranged for Bālaswāmy to remain in seclusion.
The watchman on duty refused admission to Sundaramaiyar’s brother
Nellaiyappar, accompanied by a friend Nārāyaṇasāmy
Iyar. Nellaiyappar sent a note about his credentials. Bālaswāmy (Ramana)
himself came to the gate and invited them. Seeing Bālaswāmy,
Nellaiyappar felt suspicious, ‘could he be really the son of my older
brother? Long nails, matted hair, wasted appearance…
15Ramanamaharishi20101105.html
Bālaswāmy’s mind merged with the Relative who transcended the earth-bound
relatives. There is no revelation of the mind hiding in the Truth beyond
life. The phenomenal world, getting caught in Māyic notion that
only the maker (the earthly mother) of the earthly body is important,
babbles, ‘Mother, mother.’ Pazhaṉisāmi, observing everyone, remained a witness. Wondering and worrying how Bālaswāmy will cross this razor wire fence, Pazhaṉisāmi sat down with his eyes fixed on him. No one should take sides and offer support in that place (and time). This is not a debate forum or a court house with lawyers talking the fine points of law. It is not a gathering of elders discussing rules, law, Dharma, back and forth bandying of Tantra. There is no judge here; there can’t be one.
16Ramanamaharishi20101116.html
The creator knows he is resident in our mind (and soul). If we do not do supplication and incantation, that makes our mind and soul feel deceitful. If we engage in incantation, the knot of deceit will leave and our mind will be in peace. Incantation and supplication will not change what God has in store for us. We do it for the purification of the mind. Tiruvalluvar says, ‘If we do not resort to the feet of the incomparable Lord, it is rare (difficult) to shed the mental agony.’ The thought and devotion that God exits is the knowledge that will cleanse our thoughts. 17Ramanamaharishi20101130.html
The mind subsides with the enquiry, ‘Who am I?’
The thought, ‘Who am I?’ strips the mind of all thoughts, like the
self-destroying staff (stick) used to stir up the funeral pyre. Then,
there will be Sorūpa-Darśan (Self-realization, Witnessing the Supreme
Being, Vision of God)
He narrated his near-death experience, “Suddenly my vision became
blurred. A white screen hid my vision. The tree, the plant, the vines
began gradually disappearing. Again, a white screen came and everything
disappeared. I sat to take rest. The white screen disappeared. The
objects appeared in my vision. The tree, the plant…appeared in my
vision. But the body lacked strength. Again, the white screen enveloped
me.
Because of the benefit of his austerity over many births, he has with
ease held the Supreme Being in him. He is Ṛṣi. Mahaṛṣi. Kāviya Kāṇḍa
Ganapathy Sastri celebrated him as Bhagavan Srīramaṇar. That word
‘Srīramaṇar,’ given to the youth Venkatraman from Tirucchuzi, came to be
regarded as the proper appellation (to Bālaswāmy). Since then the people
instead of calling him Sāmy, Ayyā…called him SriRamaṇa Mahaṛṣi.
Maharishi immediately left for the Ganapathi’s place, put his right hand
on the crown of his head and applied pressure. Ganapathi’s pain
dissipated from inside him. The flow channels came back to normal. The
breath became regular. The distressed body became erect. Darkness left
and the face blossomed. What Ganapathy had, was a setback. This is an
impediment, when one goes fast. When an experienced one sends his mind
to the soul, it becomes proper and optimal.
Bhagavan SriRamaṇa Maharishi and Gaṇapathy Sastri sat facing each other,
while the devotees sat around them with pencils and papers.
Ramaṇar looked straight into the
eyes of Sastri in a piercing manner. Inside,
Gaṇapathy had poetic inundation. Seven hundred became 800. Eight hundred
became 900. Nine hundred became 1000. As
Kāviya Gaṇapathy dictated, the devotees transcribed the verses.
The assembled people felt a
sense of relief and peace at completing the project. Bhagavan questioned
Sastri, “Nāyaṉā, were all my sayings put down in writing?”
Nāyaṉā with modesty nodded his
head, “Yes.” Bhagavan said, “Those verses appeared to have been written
by me. That is why I questioned you.” Self-acclaim and Celebration were
not intended. There was no denial of the implicit claim either. The fact
that it happened because of Bhagavan was announced, though there was no
hubris of ‘I did it.’
Devotees of Ramanar knew he was a Brahmana Sāmy.
They go to Tiruvannamalai first for Darśan of the deities and later to
the cave on the mountain to see Periyava. They offer homage to the
Sadhus on the way, contribute food and money and leave. Many Sadhus wait
eagerly for the devotees and the offerings. They usually accost,
buttonhole and make the mountain-climbing devotees sit before them
against their wishes.
Once Ramana Maharishi (known as Brahmana Sāmy) came to the cave on the
mountain, the phony Sadhus drew less crowd. The money-grubbing Sadhus
were jealous and unhappy to see a greater cashflow to Ramanar.
Bhagavan SriRamaṇa Maharishi had no thought about money flow or food
donation. Bālāṉanda knowing the
detachment and the deep silence of Periyava took advantage of him. “The
child inside is my disciple; give him whatever his needs are. ‘O child,
don’t reject what they offer! Take them,’ blustered Bālāṉanda with an
air of Papal order (lordly injunction).
In January 1897, Kuñju Swāmigaḷ was born in a small village in Kerala’s
Palghat area. He was not like other children engaged in play activities,
displaying adamancy, and crying; he was still staying in one place.
Perceiving this behavior, his parents took him to his maternal uncle for
his astrological prediction.
Rangan asked Bhagavan, “Why did you become a Sannyasi?” Bhagavan
answered the question politely, “This is my fate. True, it is difficult
to shoulder family responsibilities. But, in the pursuit and attainment
of Jñānam, Sannyasam is the easy way (conducive).”
A man performed severe austerities. Siva appeared before him and asked
him what boon he wanted. He said, “I want poverty and sufferings every
day. Siva could not believe it. He asked him to state the reason, he did
not ask for wealth. He said, If I was rich, my eyes would not see what I
should see, and my ears would not hear what I should hear. I would be
immersed in the worldly entanglements and take may rebirths. My
suffering will keep me thinking about you constantly.
42Ramanamaharishi20111115
Once a man with an air of erudition sat before Bhagavan. He showed a
desire to query Bhagavan. Having disturbed the collective silence of the
attendees, he posed a question.
Here is the mother’s recall of all she did to her famous son. ‘The man
you celebrate, this important person, I raised him on my lap. This man
you pay homage to is my son on whose head I smeared oil, poured warm
water on him, massaged his body and limbs and brought him up tall. I fed
him balls of softened food. I washed his mouth. I wiped his spit. If any
stranger came to the house, he will wrap his head with the end of my
sari. He followed me wherever I went. He slept holding on to me.’ Her
mouth speaks of her pride and joy. It speaks in volumes of his likes and
dislikes.
Paul Brunton was the driving force behind
Sādhakas from many foreign countries paying homage to the mountain,
Ramanar and other Jñānis.
Who else is there for an individual giving help like a Guru? Who takes
you to a higher mental state, and offers help in this world and the
other? Where will the cows go on losing the herdsman?” Nowhere. They
seek another herdsman. They cry and emit various sounds. The devotees of
Ramana were trembling in fear at losing Bhagavan.
At 8:45PM in the sky there was a shooting star going north. A shooting
star appeared in the skies of Chennai and other parts of Tamil Nadu, a
sign of death of a Mahan. The effulgent Janani’s Āṉma left the body, rose with greater effulgence and merged with the outer space. This is the Universal form of Bhagavan. It is the witness that Ramana was not an ordinary earthling. 47Ramanamaharishi20120124
Ramanamaharishi: 30 December 1879-----14 April 1950 (aged 70)
We can classify love into three
categories: 1) Love of nobility, 2) Love of family and friends and
3) Mercantile love. Love of nobility: Because of their virtue,
giving, self-sacrifices…, we love Mahans, honest people,
truthtellers, philanthropists, Jñāṉis, paragons of power… The next
one is love of family, friends, relatives, acquaintances… The third
one is mercantile love: Love of people with whom we do business and
make profit. We love our employers for giving us the salary. We surmise, upon seeing a house, that a builder
must exist. We come to know of the engineer of the building. The same is
true of a car. It came into a form to serve a useful purpose. The home
and the car did not spontaneously take shape. An intelligent being must
have created it, we assume. This goes with all objects. There must be a
plan and a creator or maker of all objects. If that is so,
there must exist of a Builder of the universe, with the later (universe)
bound to multimodal disciplines and universal laws. He made it possible
for life to exist on earth, in addition to Nature made of objects with
multiple utilities. These are created with a motive. There must exist a
great power to manage and maintain these objects. PeriyavaOnSwami1-01 May 17, 2018
|
Here is the list of articles/html/pdf links.
Shoulda, Coulda, Woulda of Ramayana (pronounced as Shuda, cuda,
and wuda) Shoulda = should have Child Rama had fun launching the mud ball missiles with great accuracy with slingshot on the Mandari’s hunchback. This is the forerunner and seed of Ravana’s killing. If not for the slingshots, the enmity of Mandarai would not have sprouted and grown. Would the abused Mandarai have offered her wrong advice to stepmother Kaikeyi to spite Rama for his slingshots? Would Rāmar, who undertook destruction of the evil doer, have caused trouble to Mandarai? The next mistake Rāmar made was to stay in hiding and shot an arrow on Vāli. Ravana abducted Sita. It should be impressed on the world that going a long distance without help must never be done. Dasaratha died of broken heart (because of Rama's exile). Would not Bharata come with the military if a message was sent to Ayodhya? Rama could have gone to Vāli and told him, “You took and restricted Ravana in your armpit, visited the four oceans for worship of Siva.” Rama could have told Vāli that Ravana abducted Sita. Ravana seeing Vāli would have released Sita (simply because Vāli earlier tied up Ravana’s 20 hands with his tail, held his head in his armpit for challenging him during his worship of Siva and tied him up as a hanging crib toy to amuse Aṅgada his (Vāli’s) infant son. |
Pillaiyar (பிள்ளையார் = Ganesa)
Temples are ubiquitous all over Tamil Nadu. There are Pillaiyar
temples with walls, roofs, and domes (Turrets). There are
Pillaiyar idols even at the base of trees, open to the sky and
the elements. Pillaiyar is found on street after street, by the rivers... All over Tamil Nadu, our ubiquitous Pillaiyar confers his blessings to us all. Only in Tamil Nadu, he has the distinction of being addressed Pillaiyar (honorific way of addressing a son) in a loving manner. He is the first son of Siva and Parvati, the Father and Mother of the universe. Kumaran (குமரன்) is son (பிள்ளை). All over India, Kumaran refers only to the second son of the divine couple Siva and Parvati. He is Kumara-k-Kadavul (குமரக்கடவுள்). We do not address him Kumaranar (குமரனார்), an honorific title. We gave the honorific title only to the elder son of Siva and Parvati. |
Pillaiyar (பிள்ளையார்
=
Ganesa) Temples are ubiquitous all over Tamil Nadu. There are Pillaiyar temples
with walls, roofs, and domes (Turrets). There are Pillaiyar idols even at the
base of trees, open to the sky and the elements.
Kumaran (குமரன்)
is son (பிள்ளை).
All over India, Kumaran refers only to the second son of the divine couple Siva
and Parvati. He is Kumara-k-Kadavul (குமரக்கடவுள்).
We do not address him Kumaranar (குமரனார்),
an honorific title. We gave the honorific title only to the elder son of Siva
and Parvati. |
We
surmise, upon seeing a house, that a builder must exist. We come to know
of the engineer of the building. The same is true of a car. It came into
a form to serve a useful purpose. The home and the car did not
spontaneously take shape. An intelligent being must have created it, we
assume. This goes with all objects. There must be a plan and a creator
or maker of all objects. If that is so, there must exist of a Builder of the universe, with the later (universe) bound to multimodal disciplines and universal laws. He made it possible for life to exist on earth, in addition to Nature made of objects with multiple utilities. These are created with a motive. There must exist a great power to manage and maintain these objects. 1-01PeriyavaOnSwami |
What is the meaning
of Svāmy? Svam means possession
or property. Svantham (சொந்தம்)
is what we own. That is our property. In Telugu it is 'Sommu.' Temple property is called in
Kerala ‘Dēvastham.’ The Owner of the property is Svāmy. Uḍaiyār is the
Tamil word for Svāmi. The carvings on the rock walls of the temples have
Uḍaiyār meaning Gods: Tiru-c-ciṛṛampalam-uḍaiyār, Tiru-venkatam-uḍaiyār,
Tiru-nākēcchura-uḍaiyār, Kapālīṣvara-uḍaiyār… Guru and God one for Vaiṣṇavas and they say Srī Rāmānujar is Uḍaiyavar. 1-02SwamyMeans |
We also see in Nature pairs of opposites in Sakthi. When there
is a severe winter season with snow, there is an oppressively
hot summer season. Night and day are another pair among others:
Sweet and sour; love and hate. Thinking in those lines, there
must be something opposite to the human mind. What is the nature
of the human mind? It is roiling in the noose and mire of
desire, dissatisfaction... There must be an Entity free of all
these entanglements, immersed in peace, tranquillity,
satisfaction and wellbeing. That is Svamy. 1-03NatureIsvaraTattva |
We are sentient Intelligent Jīvars and unintelligent and insentient inert entities. We did not create the inert objects. Likewise, Inert substances did not create us. How could the non-intelligent Jatam (the inert) perform a deed on its own accord? How could a non-intelligent Jatam create an intelligent Jīvās? If some say that the non-intelligent inert entity exists from time immemorial and functions in an orderly fashion, that inert entity must have been created and maintained by a Great Intellect. If that Great Intellect created the universe helped by some other substance, a question arises how the other substance came into existence on its own accord. Therefore, that Great Intellect shows itself as the inert universe. Here we are, the Jīvars. Did we self-generate on our own accord? Of the life forms, each species exhibits a unique behavior pattern, species-specific qualities, body arrangement and anatomy. Observing them, it becomes certain each individual species could not have self-created itself individually. Therefore, One Great Intellect must have created this entire faunal community. Jīvaṉ’s intellect came not from some unknown regions. It is the work of The Great Intellect. 1-04Advaitam |
When you see an elephant statue, do you see the elephant or the wood it made of.
A carpenter made a wooden elephant for the temple. Another carpenter went to the
temple to examine the wooden elephant. As he went close to the elephant, his
child shouted, “Father, don’t go near the elephant. It will butt you with its
head.” The carpenter to his child said, “It is a wooden elephant. It will not
butt me.” He took her near the elephant. |
Jñāṉa is the highest form. Ātmā Vichāram (self-enquiry), Dhyanam, and Yogam are
high. Bakthi, Puja, and Kṣētrātanam are a notch lower than the former. Bakthi,
Puja, and pilgrimage are still lower. Below Bakthi are Ācārams (the many forms
of orthodoxy), Aṉuṣtāṉam (observance of religious austerities), and Vaidik
Karmas. This is the consensus. In the modern times among the educated, this
opinion is prevalent. Rituals are all superstition. Bakthi is sentimental.
Meditation (Dhyāna), Yoga, and Self-inquiry are the spiritual paths, according
to the prevalent opinion. 1-06WhyNeedSwamy |
Though the visible world appears varied, science has established that one became many. Fifty years ago, the opinion was 72 elements made the world and the elements were disparate. The modern view is the elements are not different but identical at the basic level. It is one Sakthi or energy. The scientists have come close to Advaita Vedanta. Matter and Energy are non-different, according to modern science. Advaitam is the ancient truth reflected in science today. Einstein and James Jones found a convergence in Sankara’s Advaitam. The meaning of Māyā, as said by Advaitam, is the world is a phenomenal truth (vyāvahārika) and not the ultimate truth. Its existence is in Braḥmam. Braḥmam is the ultimate Reality and Truth. The scientists concede to the Advaitic principle that the Braḥmam is the Ultimate Reality and the world is phenomenal and relative reality and not the absolute reality. 1-07Advaitam-And-Science |
One we call rose; another we
call Ūmaththai (ஊமத்தை
= Datura). If you look
at it with the eye of Wisdom, it is not Rose. It is Bliss. Likewise, the Datura
flower looks it is Bliss. Since we do not have the Spiritual Wisdom (Jñāṉam), we
see a Rose Flower and a Datura Flower. All are Bliss. The reason we do not see
the truth is we have impurity in our Citta (mind) with lack of a sense of Unity.
If the mirror shakes, the reflection is not exact (blurry) but an altered form.
If there is surface dirt on the shaking mirror, the reflection will not be as
natural as the object is. Since our mind-mirror shakes and is dirty, the
reflection does not show the object as a Blissful object. The human mind sees two flowers. The spiritual mind
with a sense of unity sees Bliss. |
1-09The-Divisible-And-The-Indivisible.html |
|
There is floral garland on the street. It was dusk. A
hapless person stepped on it and panicked saying, “Aiyō, Snake, snake!” The
garland and the snake are one. Once he discovered it was a garland, he
understood there was no snake. What was the basis for the snake? The garland. |
|
|
Māyai is zero, zip, zilch, nada to a Jñāṉi. Until the advent of
Spiritual Wisdom, the Jīvaṉ (embodied soul; you, me, he, she)
thinks itself as a special numerical entity and adds the zero(s)
next to it. The zero elevates itself to one and adds a zero to
it (0->1->10). The zero next to a number becomes 10, 100, 1000…
Likewise, to the Ajñāṉi, the Māyai expands and gives the (false)
appearance of true objects-Phenomenal-world.
1-14Mayai |
His internal Bliss is like a big ocean; the joy he gets from the external objects is a teaspoonful. Once a person realizes this, he will not seek the joy from external objects. He will experience Bliss from inside himself, and remain the ocean of Bliss. The ocean stays contained within its shores but the rivers fall into the ocean. Likewise, the desires fall into him and disappear just as the rivers disappear in the ocean. Bhagavadgita 2:70 says, ‘āpūryamāṇam1 acalapratiṣṭhaṁ samudram.’ Brimming with waters from all sides, remaining steady without change, the ocean of ecstasy.’ Even the title and bliss of Devendra is only a drop compared to the Ocean of Bliss of Ātmā. 1-15Aham-Puram |
There is no feeling of heaviness if you move a water-filled
vessel below the surface of the water. But the same vessel above
the water levels feels heavy. Heavy objects are easily moved
below surface of the water. Likewise, we should submerge our
sorrows in the water of Jñāṉa. The causes of sorrows remain but
the sorrows become lighter as water-filled vessel moves easily
below the surface of the water. 1-16PathToReduceSorrow |
We can establish the identity of a Yogi in other ways. If his
Cittam stands steady with Paramātma, thereafter however big the
sorrow is, the cittaṁ should not stagger, move, or cry. Unlike
the steady state, if his Cittam shakes even minutely, it means
he did not attain Paramātman. Yogi may have many sorrows. They appear as sorrows to the world. But he does not experience the sorrow even a little bit. He looks like a dead tree. Not even that. Is it not a state of insentience? Yogi only remains in full conscious awareness. He is in constant ecstasy. Not desirous of this and that, Yogic state is simply everlasting ecstatic state. In his natural self, Yogi is a font of mercy. He does not show anger or hatred towards anyone. He holds thoughts of not causing even a little injury to an animal. Whatever activities he does, he does not have the egoistic thought or feeling of ‘I am the benefactor.’ Without self-interest, his activities have Supreme Mercy in them. Though some deeds appear harsh, his inside entertains nothing but Supreme Mercy. In like manner, Mahāyōgi Parameśvaraṉ does his destruction (சம்ஹாரம் = Samhāram = death). To us it may appear cruel.1-17Yogi |
Whatever is the course of Past Karma, it is important not to increase
the Karmic burden henceforth. Instead of searching for remedy for the
old Karma, it is important to seek the help of Īśvara to stop
accumulating new Karma and desist from doing new sins. Īśvara Dhyanam (meditation) is the true remedy for the present sorrow from the past Karma. It is also the means to desist from casting new seeds of Karma. There is no external agent that inflicts sorrow. That is the monistic experience one should cogitate about, which is the final state of remedy of sorrow. In there, there is no sorrow and there is no joy. The hypostasis for the two is Satyam, which remains the effulgence of one’s self 1-18RemedyForSorrow |
In the night, we see a garland and think it is a snake. Now, the garland
appears as the snake. The garland did not transform into a snake. The
garland did not create the snake. Once snake is imagined, it (the
garland) completely appears as a snake in fullness. If we discover it is
a garland, in its fullness it is a garland. In the Pūraṇam of the
garland, the Pūraṇam of the snake dawned. (Some call this
Superimposition of snake on garland.) Likewise, In the Braḥma Pūraṇam
appears the world Pūraṇam. (God appears as the world. God is the world.
Is God projecting himself as the world, the universe...?) That is, in
one state the garland is the Pūraṇam; in another state the snake is the
Pūraṇam. There are no two Pūraṇams. One Pūraṇam on two occasions appear
as two Pūraṇams. In the garland, had the appearance of snake added to
its weight? No. When the realization that it is a garland became clear
and the appearance of the snake died, did the weight of the garland go
down? That was not the case here. 1-19DvaitamPlusBhaudamIsAdvaitam |
Besides the personal practice of Dhyāṉam, we should urge others
in our ambit to do the same. We should not get angry for failure
to follow advice. Use love and gentle persuasion in encouraging
others to do Dhyāṉam. Even stony hearts melt to the force of
love. I have done my duty to carry out the injunction of Saṅkara. That grace and gain came because of you. You had the grace to hear the injunction of the Āćārya. My duty in this endeavour earned me benefits. You listened to my advice to follow the path for the loftiness of the soul. You and I gained mutually. 1-20InjunctionOfAcharyas Hex={CC,99,FF} |
‘Realizing that God owns the whole universe, Man’s Dharma was to
conduct oneself according to God’s suzerainty. All selfish deeds
push man towards Adharma. Therefore, one should curtail one’s
selfishness. All religions came into being by reminding people
of the ever-abiding Isvara and instilling the thought of his
suzerainty over this universe. There is no religion in the world
that preaches the follower to conduct oneself according to his
whims and desire and accumulate wealth for oneself. If a man
puts his self-interest in the forefront, he will act only in his
self-interest. Knowing this tendency of man to self-interest,
all religions brought to man’s attention to the fact that he is
nothing before the Māhāsakti that created the whole universe and
helped attenuate his ego. If you adhere to Mahāsaktimān, the
creator of our brain will correct it to his liking and make us
steeped in Dharma. Most religions advanced Bakthi as the
mainstay. |
Sin has two Sakthis: 1. It gets us involved in evil ways; 2. It
instigates us to do the same tomorrow.
Here is an example. Snuffing tobacco is harmful the day
you use it.
Tomorrow, it instigates you to use snuff again. This is Vāsaṉa—
habitual predisposition; clinging disposition (Vāsaṉai =
வாசனை
= fragrance).
We should suppress this predisposition and accumulate
meritorious Vāsaṉās.
(Vāsanam means smell. It is the like the remnant smell of
smoke in fired clay pots. Our predispositions from past life, we
carry in the present life as Vāsana. If you smoke cigarettes or
cigars, your clothes, body and mouth carry the smell of tobacco,
long after you finished smoking. You must launder the clothes
and take a bath to wash off the smell.) |
The four goals are 1) dharma =
righteousness;
2) artta,
or wealth; 3) kāma,
or pleasure; and 4) Mōkṣa, or liberation. In Tamil Dharma is
Aram or virtue. Arttam (Artham
=
அர்த்தம்)
is wealth. Kāmam is pleasure. Mōkṣa is Vīdu, abode of God or
liberation. Arttam follows Dharma and means ‘To think of want.’
Whatever Puruṣa (man) thinks of as necessity is Puruṣārtha. What
does he regard as wants? Since we of lesser maturity think of
money and
possessions, this earned the name ‘Arttam.’ Economics book, we
call Arttam. Arttam gives a temporary insignificant happiness
Our Acharya observes this Arttam (wealth) is a big Anarttam
(meaningless and useless entity) in Bhajagovindam and this
Arttam, having been given to us, confiscates the wholesome
Mōkṣa. |
The animals grow in a transverse (horizontal) fashion and so are
called
Tiryak.
Opposed to it is the man growing vertically towards the sky and
on that account, he should have a loftier outlook than the
animals. When his outlook is high, he can enjoy wellness more
than the beasts. In a practical sense, we experience greater
sorrow. The animals do not have as much sexual passion, worries,
sorrows, disrespect… as the man has. More than anything else,
they do not suffer the stain of sin in them. (Animals are immune
from the fruits of sin.) By doing sinful deeds, we experience
sorrows from the sins.
|
We should be accustomed to the thought
that Bhagavan is what we become, though initially there is a
Bhagavan-Baktha divide. Because of it, our love for Bhagavan
increases. Is it not a fact there is no entity that is more
desirable and lovable than oneself? Īśvara the benevolent God and the giver of fruits for our merits gives more fruits for our continuing Bakthi and offers grace as we get nearer to him. He will reveal himself to us on who and what he is (his identity and nature). We need not look for and research him. He will descend because of our Bakthi and reveal his nature. In Gītā, he says the same thing. 1-25BakthiTheCommonThread July 10, 2018 |
All religions came into the fore for worship of God. All
religions declare God is One. That Monistic God, worshipped by
the followers of a religion, accepts their worship. Therefore,
no one need not leave his or her natal religion and embrace
another religion. The buildings housing Koil, Church, Masūdi, Vihāram…may differ from one another. The sign inside the place of worship may be different. Each religion has its own disparate ceremonies. But the Monistic God offering grace and blessings does not change and is the same by different names. A multitude of religions came into being depending on the attitude and conduct of the people and the dictates of their sacred texts. All these people engage in the worship according to the inclination of their mind and intention to merge with God. Therefore, no one must abandon one’s own natal religion and convert to another religion. The converts not only debase their erstwhile religion but also debase their new religion. They debase God Himself. 1-26AmityAmongReligions |
I cannot go to war against a warring converter. I do not have the means
to build a hospital, a school …as others do for proselytization. Let us
assume I have the means. The changes brought about by this is not
genuine and permanent. If another group with strength and extraordinary
wealth comes in the horizon, that group will destroy and gain victory
over us by destroying what we built with our strength, blood, sweat and
money (Blood, toil, tears and sweat). We should not depend on the
external Sakthis. We should rest our belief in our Ātma Sakthi (Power of
the self) and elevate ourselves. That is what we should be doing. Then,
no self-promotion, fight, magical enchantment… are necessary for our
religion to live, grow and prosper. It is possible the greatness of the
doctrine of Advaitam (Monism) is the reason the intellectuals of other
nations in droves celebrate Advaitam. They researched on Vedāntams, Ātma
Vichāram (self enquiry) and Advaitam and recognized their greatness. But
it is not a matter for the laity. A great Jīvaṉ should take birth so to
teach for them to embrace and follow the Advaitic principles. 1-27Proselytizer&HisDecorums |
Multitudes of sounds originate in the
sky, besides the vision (Mantras appear as skywriting). Science
tells us that the universe originated from the vibrations in
space. The Ṛṣis through the greatness of their Tapas (austerity)
saw in the sky the Mantras that are the sounds that liberate
Jīvās from rebirth on earth. They are not the composers of the
Mantras. These Mantras were not man-made but Apaurusheya (not
coming from man) Vedas that are the respiratory breaths of the
Sky-Form of Paramātma. The great Ṛṣis found and gave them to the
world. Concluding this by deduction and not knowing who the founder of our religion was, which not being a deficiency, are a matter of pride for all of us. The Vedas are the respirations of Paramātma. We are the observing heirs of this ancient religion. Let us feel the exuberance of receiving this blessing.1-28InnominateReligion |
The researchers seeing Hindu symbols
in other countries dating back to 2000 years, advance the
theory, that immigrant Hindus changed or replaced the
civilization of the adopted countries.
At the dawn of civilization in those countries, the Vedic
symbols existed there. In later years only, the native
civilization and religion appeared among the aborigines of the
countries. In Greece, an ancient religion with pantheism and
temples appeared and Vedic religious symbols were prevalent
then. Before Christ, the Semitic and Hebrew religions in those
countries had similarities with Vedic religion including
Varṇāsrama divisions. In Mexico, the aborigines worshipped
Nature gods and performed many rituals. 1-29WorldwideReligion.html |
Hindu religion’s unique features are reincarnation of the soul
with a body, and God’s incarnations.
Sadvastu
(Real Entity = God) is one; That became many (Many life forms):
That is Hinduism’s supreme principle. That Supreme Being (Param
Poruḷ
= பரம் பொருள்)
is the aggregate of all life forms undergoing repeated births
and deaths. It is
Isvara, the protector (savior) of the world of Jīva-Jada (Beings
and Inert objects). This Isvara has no Karma Bandam (Karmic
bond) as in man. Man takes a multitude of births to experience
Karma (and hopefully become divested of impurities before merger
with the Supreme Being. Man is the highest being among fauna and
flora, privileged to merge with the Supreme Being after removing
all impurities from his soul.) 1-30HinduismSpecialFeatures |
There are many kinds of sweets; there are many Rāgās (Melodies).
Likewise in the society, many activities must take place in the
society in melodic sweetness. Knowing that Rasam (mulligatawny
soup) has salt and if you add salt to the sweet drink, that
Rasa-ābhāsam (perversion of taste).
If you add a svaram (note) of one melody to another melody, that
is
Rasa-ābhāsam (inappropriate melody and note).
Rāgam = melody.
Svaram = note. Today’s people have lost the sense of
taste or melody. The Bhāgavathars engage in words of ridicule in
the middle of narrating the moving stories from Puranas. The
congregants enjoy those inappropriate sayings. When there is
good nutritious food available, people smoke tobacco with
no concern for their health.
These are the minor Rasa-ābhāsams (perversion of taste;
bad taste in the mouth).
The major Rasa-ābhāsam or
worse perversion or vulgarity is division of many Special
Dharmas beneficial for general Dharma into a multitude of
Varnas, causing confusion. 1-31DivisionOfLabor |
All those old native religions in each country with the advocacy
of general requirements or uniform code of ethics for
all, tumbled face down.
Greece’s Hellenic religion and Middle Asia Hebrew
religions are nowhere to be seen. In the east, Confucius
religion and Shinto religion barely exist. Christianity, Islam,
and Buddhism replacing these religions have only one Dharma, but
the Varna-specific Visēṣa Dharma application of codes of conduct
(for each Varna) do not exist. But, these religions in disparate
countries give fulfillment to the local people. The
non-believers in these countries are growing in strength. They
are not atheists but many have received no fulfillment in their
religion. They gravitate towards our Yogam, Bakthi Mārga
(devotional path), Jñāṉa Visāram (inquiry into truth) … In these
countries, no one knows how long the followers of historical
religions will last. I am not saying this because I am the
Hinduism’s representative. I see no need to talk low of other
religions. I hope and
desire that others should stay in their own natal religion and
attain soul development. I invite no one to come to my religion.
My opinion is such calls are against the basic tenets of our
religion. Nothing in this world happens accidentally or for no
reason.
|
Sannyasi must practice Ahimsa in its fullness. He should not nip
even a leaf. He should not cook the plants to eat. Because of
Ahimsa, the sacred texts did not require him to perform fire
sacrifice. Insects may accidentally fall into the fire. Because
of prohibition of fire ceremonies, there is no funeral ceremony
for him. His body is buried in the earth upon his death. He
takes a vow at initiation into Sannyasam: Let no animal fear me.
His Dharma, in full application of injunctions, is he should
live with no Himsa to the fauna and the flora. |
Satyam is more than concordance between or convergence of mind
and speech. To express in speech the good thoughts from the good
mind is Satyam. Satyam yields good results. Satyam is what causes good and is dear to people. These are the qualities of Satyam. What causes goodness to animals by speech, deed, and thought is Satyam. Asatyam is misdeeds. It is not enough to tell a person what is good for him. You must say it with love so he accepts it. If you give good advice in a harsh manner, no one accepts it. The good words going to waste is not Satyam. Your words must be good. The advice given to a person must give joy and comfort to him. That is Satyam. 1-50Satyam |
We offer Sraddha (oblation) to the manes
(dead ancestors). We are here on earth. The dear departed are
somewhere else, not known to us. They were reborn man, animal,
or plant. How would the oblation of Sesamum and water reach
them? Sesame seeds, water, rice balls, plantain,
food… are all sitting here on earth. Or someone took them away
before our eyes. Or someone ate the food. You (the ritualists)
say the ancestors took another birth somewhere. Is it not crazy
to say this food leaves and reaches them? Many of you may have
such doubts, but do not express it. The Pitr gods (the transportation gods for
the ancestors) knowing the rules and injunctions take the
oblations to whomsoever is the recipient. If the Pitr was reborn
a bull or a cow, the oblation and the feed will be hay. If he
was reborn a horse, it will be grass. |
When we are away from home, there is
no trouble doing the Puja for ten minutes. We need not worry
about getting the flowers for the Puja. It is enough to carry
dry leaves of Vilvam and Tulasi (Bael and Sacred Basil) with
which we can perform Archana of Siva and Vishnu. We can use
aṭcatai (rice with saffron or turmeric) for the Archana. We can
perform Naivēttiyam with raisins.
We can put Tulasi, Bael, raisins, the colored rice in a small box that contains the stones of all five deities. 1-52PujaWorship |
When the rice was cooked, a handful of rice was added in the pot
for the poor, thinking of God’s grace. People collect rice from
households from street to street, cook it in the temple, offer
it to God and then distribute it to the poor. With rice, people
must contribute a paisa for overhead expenses like firewood,
vegetables, rental of utensils… This is philanthropy. This
scheme helps feed the poor. They get the Prasadam (sacrament)
which fills their stomach and satisfies the mind. This brings
people to the temple. Since it is Prasadam, it gives mental
purity. Free food is part of philanthropy. Philanthropy, community service, and social service receive so much notice, publicity and demonstration. In the olden days, this was a routine everyday event that duty-bound people did. This was called Pūrtha Dharmam: Digging wells and ponds, food distribution, temple building for spiritual progress, planting flowering plants in garden… Pūrtha Dharmam = meritorious work like digging wells. 1-53Philanthropy |
Hex={F0,FF,F0}
Krishna Paramātma appeared to us he indulged in play activity
(lila) all the time. On the inside, all that was philanthropic
work. He protected the people and restored righteousness. His
plays were all service to humanity. No one played so much; no
one served so much. That was his example. He served not only in
the worldly affairs but also in spiritual matters. He advised
Arjuna and Uddhava. Service,
Jñāṉam, and play activity existed in unison in him. He had no
self-interest or attachment in what he did. He smiled, laughed
and served calmly. He did all these with no effort or pain.
Among us also, this laughter and tranquility must always exist
with courage and enthusiasm. Of all the Avatāras, Krishnāvatāra excelled in service. In Rāmāvatāra, the exemplifier for service, Anjaneya Swamy came to the fore. Thinking of these two, with pure heart and soul, without self-interest and unmindful of name and fame, we should do service. |
ecause we have this body and needs, we cause so many troubles or
injuries to so many life forms. We are so proud of keeping our
house clean. Think again. Every house is an abattoir. Dharma
Śāstram says every house is like five abattoirs. What are those five? Cutter-board-seat (Kaṇdiṉī) is the first abattoir. We cut the vegetables with that. They are living things. The second abattoir is the pan for pan-frying the vegetables. The next one is the Ammi (flat-bed rock, & roller pin) for crushing garlic, ginger… oil press, stone grinder… We grind the grains with no mercy. 1-55AllLivesMatter #ff9933. 255 153 51 |
Today, all have changed. Kinship of the olden days is missing in
the today’s rich. Helping the poor relatives is on the decline.
There were true food donations in the olden days. Now the rich
entertain the rich at parties. In the country now, there is so
much of expenditure of money on such feasts. It neither serves
Dharma nor purifies the mind. Parties and feasts are held to
cheat the invitees, which both know. The host does not hold the
party and the feast for the guests because he loves them. The
ulterior motive of the feast was transactional and business
cultivation. The guest knowing this eats happily and leaves. Who
is cheating whom? The guest eats the food and cheats the host.
Parties and feasts are cheating games and do not contribute to
purify the mind. Hex={FF,99,CC} 1-56SiddhaSuddhi |
When faced with a plethora of faults in a person, do not exaggerate them. The advice by the elders is to celebrate even a small good behavior in the next person. I myself make your faults public. Do not divulge the bad qualities of others. Reveal their good qualities. Take for example the crescent moon perched on the head of Siva. It is cool and bright. Siva to celebrate those qualities wears it on his head. The same Siva drank the most dangerous Halāhala poison and keeps it hidden for the eyes of others in his throat. Poet Thandi says that. 1-57Faultandcharacter |
We should be very careful with the Great
Sinner, Krōdhaṉ. Let us give it a thought. We know it. We have no right
to get angry and yell at anyone. Our inner witness or self knows we have
committed graver errors than those with whom we get angry. Though we may
not have done grave errors, we should think that we could have committed
the same error under similar circumstances.
Krōdhaṉ is our great enemy. We should protect ourselves by not allowing him to approach us. 1-58Anger |
Can we get angry with others, assuming we did no wrong? In that
pristine state, we would be Love Galore. Then, we will have
compassion to the sinner and nothing else. Anger will not rise.
If we are accused of wrongdoing, we will not be angry to the
accuser. In the state of absent wrongdoing, we realize it is
only Ambal’s Līlai (Divine act). In that state, whom do we hate?
Anyway, we should never entertain anger. Krishna paramātmā says Desire and Anger are two great Sakthis that drown man in depths of sin. Why should we self-inflict harm to ourselves because of our anger? The opponent mostly ignores our anger. Impatience harms our body and mind. Man’s natural Dharma is to show love. That is bliss. Love is bliss for us and the adversary. Love is Sivam. We should all exert great effort to abide in Love is Sivam. 1-59Self-appraisal |
That one which is immutable is Paramātman whom we should love with our
body and mind and soul. Paramātman will not leave us anytime. When the
soul leaves our body, that soul without fear of separation from
Paramātman merges with him. The love we show him is permanent. A question may arise if we must be in love with Paramātman, should we not be in love with others who one day disappear from earth? If we extend our love to Paramātman, we are bound to know nothing is other than him. Thinking of people destined to die and to whomsoever we extend our love, the causal agent of hardship, they will all appear to us as the imperishable form of Paramātma. Looking at the world as Paramātman, we should show love to all. That love will never ever appear as the cause of hardship. 1-60Love&Hardship |
We should practice that causeless
love of Parama Siva. Why should we hate someone identified as a
wrong doer? When we do wrong, do we discard ourselves? That
attitude we should extend to others. We should love the great
people. “He does wrongs like me. His mind instigates him to do
it. We should try to make his mind good.” That should be our
thinking and attitude. Those with the spiritual power to heal
must consider it a duty to expunge the sins of the sinner. Once we in the outset extend causeless love to a person, that will make us Love galore (personification of Love), which will help to spread the love to all. We should practice extending our causeless and unpretentious love to the Guru. That causeless and equal love on continued practice considering everyone as Guru should be extended to all living beings. If we fill this world with love, that is joy. That is pure bliss. That is supreme peace. 9900FF 1-61Love |
We should install in the higher echelons of government those who are in the know of Dharma, matters of labor, observances and virtuous conduct. They should establish Dharma Rajyam, show its proper operation to the foreigners and help them emulate our form of government. For such exemplary governmental operations, they must learn our Sastras. There are very many books to guide us in these matters. Because these books exist, I mention it. Why can’t we do it as said in Sastras? The voting public should send men and women of such nature and qualifications to the legislative assembly. We should use our freedom to conduct government according to Dharmas, show the paths to the foreigners and receive the blessings of Paramesvara. 1-62Selfgovernment |
Whatever is the nature of action and reaction, there should not be a feeling in the mind other than love. Love differs from Ahimsa mentioned by The Buddha and Gandhi. In the conduct of worldly affairs and welfare, it is impossible to withhold or avoid violence to the wrongdoers. Then there is no taint in violence. Bur we should entertain love towards the target of punishment. We should consider the welfare of the world and the receiver of punishment, that is he should not accumulate more sins doing the crime again. Love is the guide for all acts. All evils will slowly attenuate and disappear. This is not my message. This is the essence of all the spiritual instructions of the Ṛṣis and Munis. 1-63VirtueLoveGovt |
he government officials and the people should together must do
the Dharmic acts. The Govt. should create conditions for the
Dharmiṣters (Dharma followers) to do people’s work. The government must pay attention to encourage and increase Dharmic workers instead of expanding the police departments and the court system. The Government must encourage people who put aside selfish goals, resist money making schemes out of advisory boards, have philanthropy as the goal and explicate Dharma to others. There is more power and prestige in living such noble life than to hold didactic talks. 1-64CrimeDeclinePath Hex={CC,66,FF} |
True learning helps people attain Ātmajñāṉam and Amaratvam (Soul
Knowledge and Liberation). Nothing is higher than that in this
world and true education gives that. Arts and sciences have
their use and give worldly benefits. They may even help attain
Paramātmaṉ. Worldly benefit generally refers to accumulation of
wealth, which is useful for many Dharmas including charity and
philanthropy. Worldly Dharmas are of use to Brahma Jñāṉam. Ādhi
Saṅkara declares Ātmajñāṉam is earned by performing one’s own
hereditary vocations properly, austerity, prayer and worship.
The learning that provides and inculcates Soul Wisdom is Paravidya (Supreme Knowledge) and the rest is Aparavidya (Inferior or worldly Knowledge). Paravidya also known as Brahma Jñāṉam gives us direct benefits to know Supreme Satyam (Supreme Truth), incomprehensible to us. It lifts Ajñāna darkness (the darkness from absence of the Light of Higher Wisdom). Dharma Lakṣaṇa (Dharmic Attributes), inaccessible to sensory organs, are knowable only through Vedas and Smṛtis. For cultivation of Jñāṉam, besides perception, inference, technique…Vedas, experience…are the means to knowledge. This is the firm opinion of Saṅkara. The teaching of astronomy, political science, economy, history, science and the West’s investigative techniques, which demand intellect and exercise of the senses, are of help in the scientific advance of our country. 1-65TrueLearning Hex={E6,E6,FA} |
The first requirement of being a student is Vinayam (humility). In the
olden days, the student was known by the moniker ‘Vinayaṉ.’ Where there
is no modesty, there is no learning. The student must always be modest.
There is no evidence the uneducated hill tribes with no civilization
have criminal behavior. In the tribal areas there are no courts,
magistrates…There is no crime. Where there is a plethora of schools,
colleges, and universities, court cases, criminal cases, minor street
crimes…are on the rise.
|
1-67QualityOfLife. |
The external symbols and Samskaras
bring inward peace. If they are taken as a disguise, so will
they be. If you have sincerity, dedication and belief in wearing
them, they will certainly bring inward peace and fulfilment. The
outward helps the inward. It is not important that I took upon myself to practice the Samskaras, uphold Āśramas, and wear Vibhuti and Rudrākṣa rosary on me. I am the head of the Mutt. If I wear all these external symbols, you will come seeking me. You will give money for the upkeep of the Mutt. Therefore, these external props are essential to give meaning to my activities. Your situation is different. You make a living in a different way. Better than me, your observations of Samskaras and wearing of the symbols help you in the purification of the soul. You deserve and must receive that purification. Let us wear the symbols that remind us of the supreme Satyam (Truth). Let us not deviate from the virtuous path. Let us do good deeds to bolster our chosen good path. Let them be the beauty in our life. Let us get mental purity. We have clarity of purpose and purity in our soul. Let us meditate on the Supreme God, experience its reality and immerse ourselves in Bliss. 1-90InwardOutward |
Rites and rituals are not essential
for attainment of true Ātma Jñāṉam. Likewise, Īśvarā’s image
(idols) is not essential. All these are at a higher stage of
spiritual development. A greenhorn cannot reject it initially.
Firstly, Īśvarā is essential. There are multiple reasons for it.
Let me give you a pointer. We need a tangible and great example
of a Murthy (Idol or image of God) replete with all auspicious
qualities. We regarded Īśvarā as the repository of endless
Kalyāṇa Gunas (auspicious qualities). Mere mention of the name
Isvara makes us think of him as devoid of any undesirable
qualities. Beauty, compassion, Power, Jñāṉam… in perfection and
wholesomeness mean invariably Isvara. According to psychology,
we become what we think. Ever thinking of auspicious qualities
of Isvara, our faults and foibles desert us making us as good
people. The benefits from rites, rituals, Puja…help us become good people and introducing us to Dhyana Yoga with inaction and Jnana Vichāram (Quest of Spiritual wisdom). 1-91Rites |
Since mind is restless, experiences
of happiness and sorrow happen to us. If the mind stops
oscillating, they don’t exist. Purity of mind by practice is
one-pointedness. For the attainment of Yoga, this is the path.
All Yogis do not begin with breath control. When we engage in a
virtuous act with total immersion in it, the mind will remain
pure. If you try to control the mind directly, it will pull
itself away and scatter in all directions. Not paying attention
to the mind and applying oneself to a virtuous act, there is
less chance for the mind to become unsteady.
1-92KarmaYoga #a3ff00 |
Ahaṅkāram causes desire and hatred. Once egoism is abandoned, there is no feeling of superiority or inferiority in the mix of hereditary vocations. We will be disposed to do our sastra-assigned vocations as duty with feelings and happiness. The world will be a happy place. There is no self-conceit in the spirit of performance of one’s duty and dedication of the fruits at the feet of Isvara. Gita says that in Karmayoga. Without personal like or dislike, do the work in the interest of world welfare. The culture of cultivating purity of the soul has thrived since time immemorial. Sri Krishna Paramātmā has done us a favor by offering this culture to us in the handy jewel case. 1-93Karmayoga Hex={DE,B8,87} |
Verse 2891 Tirumantiram. Tirumular warns man of six evils belighting man who is born with Egoism, which he has to shed before reaching God. The evils are Lust, Hatred, Infatuation, Avarice, Arrogance (Ego) and Malice. Man is born with Ahankara (the feeling of I, Me, Mine) which is portrayed by the Mynah bird. All around this Mynah bird are the evil animals: The owl, the snake, the parrot, the cat and the Quail. God is warning the Man (the Mynah Bird) of the six evils. The mouse represents God or the Kundalini Power. TMTMVerse2891 |
The how-to-do of acts and observances prescribed by the Veda are
mentioned in Kalpam the sixth Vedāṅga. Kalpam contains the
description of the procedural elements of fire-sacrifice in
Gṛhya, Śrauta and Dharma Sutras. There are minute descriptions
of the stages of Jīva from the moment of fertilization, birth,
marriage, family life, commitment to funeral pyre and cremation.
Smṛtis describe the Dos, the Don’ts and the Hows in great
details from awakening to sleep as a routine checkout list. Smṛtis, once seen and studied, tell us for our complete understanding what we should do according to our religious precepts. 201PuranicRites |
The word of Mahākavi (the greatest poet) is the greatest authority. The
explicators and followers of our religion, Sankara, Ramanuja,
Madhva…advised adherence to and practice of Veda. This is not an
authority. These religious leaders are sectarian. Their goal is to
uphold the traditions of their individual sects. Therefore, they will
not venture outside of their sectarian values. The poet does not have
such restrictions. He has no compulsion to establish, maintain and
advance an idea or a sect. He follows what he perceives as truth without
sectarian ideology. |
Puruṣa (husband) has Gayatri Mantra. For the woman, what Gayatri
is available? If the husband worships Gayatri, wellness come to
the spouse. The upper three castes should worship Gayatri for
which they are entitled. This guarantees the unentitled other
Jātis to obtain benefits. The higher castes are the trustees for
the unentitled women and Sudras. If the upper castes do not
worship Gayatri as their duty, obtain benefits and pass them on
to the women and Sudras, there is no expiation and they will be
damned with sin. Mantras are plenty. Before Japam, we consider the special and different benefits and then worship gods. Gayatri Mantra’s benefit is mental purity: removal of stains from the mind. The benefits from all other Mantras are eventually for the creation of mental purity, which is the direct and one and only benefit from Gayatri Mantra. 230TheGreatnessOfGayatriMantra |
Varalakshmi vratam is a special Hindu prayer to Goddess Sri Varalakshmi (Mahalakshmi) – the consort of lord Vishnu who is the abode of auspiciousness, prosperity, and wealth. Lakshmi is symbolic of eight forces, Wealth, earth, learning, love, fame, peace, pleasure, and strength, collectively known as Ashtalakshmi. Since she is ever ready to grant boons to Her devotees, she is reffered to as ‘Varalakshmi’. Varalakshmi vratam is celebrated on the Friday before the full moon day in the month of Sravan (AugustSeptember). This vratam is observed by married women (sumangalis) for the welfare of their family. |
In Ayodya, having ruled in the solar race, Ikṣvāku the son of Vaivasvata
Manu had the dawn of spiritual thoughts in his life. He saw and realized
the inexorable changes in every fleeting second in his body and tissues,
the ravages of time on his youth, the onset of old age, the unexpected
maladies, and the death of the loving near and dear.
All these adverse events impressed on him, ‘Mutability only is
immutable in this world.’
These events made him realize the truth there was no one in this world
who ever lived or will ever live with eternal youth and inexhaustible
power. The thoughts that old age is immanent and life one day will end oppressed him. This oppression raised the question, ‘What is fulfilled and complete life?’ The answer came from his father Manu. |
Your body soaking in sensual pleasures, may refuse to subjugate itself at the beginning of Tapas. Particularly, only when you attempt to control your mind, it will, like a footloose horse, gallop away. Don’t give up Tapas because of your bewilderment. That galloping mind of a horse: suppress it with detachment and fasten it in Sūnya, the stable. Think of Brahman with one-pointed mind. Your detached Tapas should make the Satyaloka shudder. “Mahā Guru, may I ask you a question. Please do not take it amiss. How do my earthly thoughts about Brahman echo in Satya loka in the heaven? Will Brahman know only when people like my father, the travelers between earth and heaven, go to the heaven, the abode of Brahman? 255-153-153 02Rangarajyam |
Indra (the chief of gods) is the
heaven-dwelling epicure capable of vanquishing the opponents of
his high lifestyle. Because of it, sometimes his deeds bring
imbroglios to the world of gods from which they do recoup.
Brahma called Indra and warned him, “Ikṣvāku’s Tapas will make Satyaloka banal and morph Bhūlōka into Satyaloka.” He added it was Indra’s responsibility to prevent such an outcome, and stop this catastrophe from becoming a reality. Brahma’s utterance had the similar effect of tying bell anklets to an accomplished dancer. Indra began cooking up a plot to disrupt and destroy Ikṣvāku’s Tapas. He inflicted on Ikṣvāku his usual punishments like thunderstorms, cyclone, and other so-called natural disasters. Ikṣvāku never budged. The next strategy was to employ celestial damsels to sing and dance their way into the heart and soul of Ikṣvāku. The damsels did what they knew best. It was a fiasco. Indra was ashamed. 03Rangarajyam |
Brahma: “Perturbation, yes Prabhu. The cause is not unknown to
you. When your Praṇavākāra is being established in (moved to)
the Bhūlōka, daily Pūjās should take place with no deficiency.
When the installation is subjected to Yuga Māyā, what should be
done in that instance is the undertone of my agitation.” Parantāmaṉ: “The ball of the earth is subject to the duality of night and day. Virtue and evil are the admixture in the life of humans. That duality may have repercussions upon Praṇavākāram. But Praṇavākāram will suppress the evil and advance the cause of virtue in the lives of people. That desire was the cause of the formation of Praṇavākāra Vimāṉam and my descent as Araṅganātha. Do you understand only when I present it to you in explicit terms?” 04Rangarajyam Oct 10, 2018 |
Dasaratha: “Yes, Vaidīkar (Vedic Scholar; priest)! I am afraid whether I
will be a man by birth. Only when my Vamsam flourishes (and I have a
progeny), my Kulam will have a future. If my Kulam ends with me, won’t
it mean I am a disabled person.” The priest: “My king! Do you show grief in the Sanctum of Perumal? Perumal went from Vaikuntam to Satyalokam and then to our Bhūlokam, particularly Sarayu Riverbank. Won’t he confer grace to you at least to safeguard his honor? Priest: If Perumal does not give you grace, won’t this sanctum become dark? Since Perumal has come down to illumine himself and others, would you worry?” 05Rangarajyam |
The Devas came running to offer us the fruits of our Tapas,
performed to establish righteousness and with no expectation of
material benefits. Emperuman was not far behind. He appeared and
killed the tiger of an Asura and praised our Tapas. The Munis: Then, we all offered our gratitude to Vyākkiran the Tiger-demon, because of him only, we obtained the impossible Darśan of Emperuman. Once we saw him, Emperuman disappeared. 06Rangarajyam |
Rama in the guise and spirit of servile devotee, desired to
perform the ritual ablution of Praṇavākāra Araṅganātha Perumal
with his own hands. His brothers helped Rama in his effort. Lakshmanan passed on the milk vessel for Abhiṣēkam, Bharata the honey pot, Śatrughna the rose water. The four brothers performed the ablution. It was like the personified four Vedas offering prayers to the merciful creator. Vasiṣtar standing aloof enjoyed seeing the heart-warming sight. He was even-minded, being a Brahma-Jñāṉi. He was joyous to note the gracious act of Parantāmaṉ. 07Rangarajyam |
That day, it was a celebration everywhere. In the sky, there was
a cloud cover like a pandal with small clear spaces through
which the sun’s rays were shining like shafts of light. All
people of Ayodhya wore new clothes. They clothed the backs of
the horses and the cows with bells tied to the four corners of
the drapes. The bells created sounds. The festoons of spring vines and mango leaves decorated the front of the houses and danced in the wind. All for one reason. That was the day of coronation of Rama after completing forest exile. Until that day, an impossible peace prevailed. Yes, there was no deficiency in the reign of Bharata. However, absence of Rama and Sita was by itself a deficiency to the full extent. When that deficiency was lifted that day, it was a new splendor in Ayodhya. A new enthusiasm prevailed in the minds of the people. To show off their enthusiasm, the uninhibited singers and dancers walked the streets giving their performance. The street wrestlers walked showing off their talent. The people perched on the porches watched the parade of revelers go by. People felt that the heavens descended on Ayodhya. 08Rangarajyam |
20. Rama found blessed Sita’s location of internment helped by
Hanuman, the personification of True Knowledge or Spiritual
Wisdom. 21. Rama built a dam against the ocean of metempsychosis and destroyed evil qualities named Rākṣasas. 22. Rama destroyed Tāmasa Guṇa (quality of darkness) named Kumbakarṇa. 23. Rama killed Ravana with Rākṣasa Guṇa. 24. Rama installed Sattva Guṇa Bhūṣaṇa (the jewel among the Virtuous) as the king in the name of Vibhīṣaṇa. 25. Rama rescued Blissful Sita, took her to the world of Mōkṣa, Ayodhya and became the king. 153-255-77 09Rangarajyam Oct272018 |
Things happened. Vibhīṣaṇa crossed the river Kaveri in a large
boat and commanded his men to anchor the boat near the riverside
where the Chola people stood and watched them. He disembarked,
holding Prāvākāra Perumal on his head and continued walking on
the shore. His minions walked behind him. His close advisor
Mārgaṛṣi said to him, “King! This is the most felicitous place
for today’s and tomorrow’s sacerdotal ceremonies. Kaveri river
is here for bathing, Uraiyur is nearby for eating, rest and
relaxation and it is most appropriate that we stay here.” Vibhīṣaṇa had travel fatigue. Immediately, he agreed and said, “yes.” Before he dismounted the Perumal idol from his head, he looked for the most desirable place to place it on the ground. A wonderful place appeared in his sight. 10Rangarajyam 255-153-204 |
As Dharmavarma’s mind was crashing
like waves on the rocks, a miracle was enacting on the stage.
They tried hard. They could not move Praṇavākāra Perumal. Vibhīṣaṇaṉ down with fatigue, sat down and looked up in the sky saying, “O Emperumane, What a trial! What a tribulation! Why do you refuse to budge? A disembodied voice came from the sky. The Voice: Vibhīṣaṇaṉ! We will remain in the center surrounded by Kaveri river. For all times, we will remain here and offer rescue to world’s people. We gave protection to you for your worthy deed. When you give up the elemental body at your death, you will attain liberation. After that, you will never have another rebirth. This does not mean we abandon your country Lanka. Lanka will shine as an expansive land in my direct vision. My Third-Eye Dīkṣa radiates in three directions. Let Lanka shine in its path. You may arrange for your further journey. You will be on my mind as long as this temple exists. The disembodied voice exhilarated Dharmavarman and continued. 11Rangarajyam 153-77-255 |
The temple’s greatness and strength depend on how the turret or
the dome comes to be. He who knows the mechanism (structural
engineering) becomes the architect in heaven. They knew the art
and science of architecture. With their help, Sannidhi’s Golden
Vimāṉam was built. The image of Araṅgaṉ as Paravāsudevaṉ was
made. Visvakarmās idols were fashioned and installed. Inside
abides Praṇavākāra Araṅgaṉ for Darśan and on the outside abides
Paravāsudevaṉ for homage and worship: This is to impress that
Inside and outside his presence is complete and resplendent. The Araṅga Tower’s consecrated pots are part of Gayatri’s cranial division. The Araṅga Mandapam below has 24 pillars. They are the echoes of (stand for) 24 alphabets (syllables) of Gayatri. They are built with the greatness and power of Mantra and structural strength and integrity. Around the Araṅgaṉ Temple seven concentric walls were built. There were seven circumambulatory paths between these walls! A devotee can expunge the bondage of the soul preventing rebirth by these means: circumambulation along the seven paths, entering the Gayatri’s Araṅga Mandapam and taking Darśan of Araṅgaṉ in his Śayaṇa Kōlam (Recumbent pose). 12Rangarajyam 77-153-0 |
The king took the stirring of the mud by the parrot as an
indicator and asked his minions to dig the area. Śrīraṅga
Vimanam came into view. Next appeared Paramapatha Nāthar. Though
they were buried for thousands of years, no stain or defect was
detected. Seeing them he felt the exhilaration of his soul. That moment he was called Kiḷi (parrot) Cholan. Under his supervision, thousands of people joined and recovered the buried Tiruvaraṅgam. Inordinate recovery! All seven Prakārams (circumambulatory paths) were dug up. They told us about the island’s society living in devotion and prosperity. In those days, our ancestors had such a high standard of living. Kiḷi Cholan thought to himself we should now have a higher standard of living. 13Rangarajyam 255-153-77 |
The Vasuki Snake wrapped around the mountain. The Devas held the
head, and the Asuras held the tail. They churned. Emperuman bore the entire weight of the mountain on his back. The snake could not tolerate the friction and the traction created by the churning and cried hard. It became nauseous and vomited the Halāhala poison. Siva Paramesvara came forward to scoop up an entire load of poison and swallow it wholesale. 14Rangarajyam |
Ṛṣi: Emperuman taught a lesson to Asura the Golden-Robed (Hiraṇyakaśipu) who thought of himself as the Parabrahmam greater than Emperuman. That came as a lesson to him from his son himself. The Golden-Robed met his death according to his Varasiddhi (Conditions of his boon). The Annihilator was Narasimha the personification of rage himself. (It was a death by default because his conditions had a limited scope. The Lord went above and beyond the scope of the conditions of Hiraṇyakaśipu's boon.) 15Rangarajyam |
Ṛṣi: Asura Thunthu was the son of Kāśyapa M<uni. There is no
compulsion that the sons of Muni must be born Munis. The present
birth is the direct cause of Karma of previous birth. It is the
fruit of Kāśyapa’s wicked karma that Thunthu was born an Asura.
His Asura qualities were immense: irascibility, selfishness,
prolonged sleep, and excessive sexual proclivity. He was the
epicenter of these wicked qualities. Thunthu was jealous of Devas with Varasiddhi (Realization of boons). He asked his father Kasyapa why there was so much of difference between them and other Devas and why they are so splendorous. Kasyapa first laughed and later answered his son. 16Rangarajyam |
The Story of Vāmaṉar and Bali part 1 The most important element in this Yāgam is giving. If the beneficiaries feel shortchanged, the sacrifice will not attain perfection and completion. Mahābali performed the sacrifice impeccably (with no faults or deficiencies). Vāmaṉamuṉi was on his way to get his share of the largess. A strange thing happened when he arrived. The sacrificial offerings reserved for the Asuras began its flow to Vāmaṉamūrthy. 34 The Asuras made vociferous protests, and Mahābali was shaken. He asked Guru Śukrāchāriar, ‘what is the reason for this imbalance?’ He closed his eyes, delved deep into meditation and saw the coming of Srīmahāviṣṇu in the human form of Vāmaṉa. He shook like a leaf. 35 17Rangarajyam R-G-B: 255-153-255 |
The Story of Vāmaṉar and Bali Part 2 Śukrachāriar appeared as if he wanted to say something. Mahābali did not take the clue and ask his Guru whether he had anything to say. Mahābali took the Guru’s cues amiss and told Vāmaṉaṉ, ‘He (meaning Guru) was afraid whether you (Vāmaṉaṉ) may ask for something that I do not have, which may cause a deficiency to the fire sacrifice.’ 28 Vāmaṉaṉ: ‘That is the beauty and propriety of a good Guru. Don’t you have such a fear?’ 29 Bali to Vāmaṉaṉ: What now, the son of a Muni! Are you testing me? ‘30 Vāmaṉaṉ: ‘Testing! Narayana! I asked you simply.’ 31 Bali: ‘Whatever is your manner of asking, your entreaty gives me pride. As your receiving hand is lower and my donor's hand is higher, who will ever have such a stroke of luck?’ 32 As Mahābali said this, his chest heaved and expanded. Supreme arrogance danced on his face. 33 Vāmaṉaṉ: 'Nothing is holding us back! I will ask you, your luckiest yāsakam (alms). What I need is three feet of land: That too, my three-foot length of the land. That is it!' 34 Vāmaṉa’s demand of the alms in a small measure made Bali laugh aloud. Śukrachāriar was perplexed to realize Mahābali’s imminent entrapment in the big net cast by Vāmaṉaṉ. 35 Will Continue. 18Rangarajyam 153-153-255 153-153-255 |
Vāmaṉar: “Don’t be confused Mahābali! It looks there is a blockage. Let me unblock the spout with a strand of Dharba grass, and the blockage will clear.” Vāmaṉar asked for a strand of Dharba grass, with which Vāmaṉar poked the spout., Śukrāchāriar’s eye was poked and bled out of the spout. 25 Here on the spot, the sacred water flowed, the three-foot land came into the possession of Vāmaṉar. Mahābali kept his word, as he promised. He fell at Vāmaṉar’s feet in eight-limb prostration (Sāṣtāṅgam) and said, “Emperumāṉ! I understand there is no life in the 14 worlds equal to you in intellect, modesty, power, and performance. I understood the futility and emptiness of my words like” ‘I,’ Mine and Me. Please forgive me. Please give me refuge. Take me as your slave and admit me into your good graces.” He cried and sobbed before Vāmaṉar. 26 19Rangarajyam The story of Vamanar's Stride 153-153-255 |
Princess Kamalavalli and God Araṅganātha Perumāḷ The maidservant: “King! The princess with the attendants was bathing in the Palāśa pond and seeing a beautiful youth on a white horse, followed him. The young man entered the Tiruvaraṅga Temple, the sanctum sanctorum and disappeared inside the Sanctum. The young man was Araṅga Mahāprabhu as surmised not only by the princess but also by the temple officials. 29 “Having experienced such an extraordinary event, she, as a Yogi, is in constant thought of Araṅga Prabhu. She rejected food and sleep, and babbles, “Araṅga-p-prabhu! Why did you invite me? Leaving me alone, you disappeared. When will you come back to take me as your slave and servant (confer grace to a faithful devotee, that I am)? 30 20Rangarajyam Princess Kamalavalli and God Araṅganātha Perumāḷ |
Kamalavalli Merges with Arangan Among humans, wedded life is superior. The practice of controlling the senses, and performing Tapas (austerity) to extricate oneself from the clutches of Karma is not for everyone. The celebration of the divine wedding as a festival is to exemplify and glorify the wedded life and its Dharmas as the channel for reaching and merging with Araṅgaṉ. As a memorial to the king, a circumambulatory path around the temple was named Azhagiya Maṇavāḷa Rājamahēndiraṉ divine street. This event in the history of Tiruvaraṅgam became a great fillip for Bakthi Mārga (Devotional path). 26 21Rangarajyam |
King Kulasekaran and princess Iḷai abdicate. The king: “You rule this country according to the desires of the council of ministers. I have one request. Do not on any account disrespect or cause injury to the servitors.” The king abdicated, giving up his crown. He wore tree barks as his clothes. 50 Iḷai, the daughter of Kulasēkaraṉ: “Father! Can you abandon me and go on the path of devotion to God? What sin did I commit?” 51 The king: “Child! Are you undesirous of being a princess? 52 The princess: “I always followed your likes and wishes. How could you ask me a question like it?” 53 The king: “You are of the age to live and take responsibility.”54 Princess: “Yes. I am of the age to have and live with Maṇavāḷaṉ.”55 The king: Child, what is this? Is Araṅgaṉ your Maṇāḷaṉ? 56 Princess: Yes, father! I dedicated myself to him.” 57 The king: “These are the words of Kamalavaḷḷi, the daughter of Nanda Chōzaṉ.” 58 Princess: “her chosen path is my path.”59 60 The king: “I have no objection. We live with impurities like the spit and feces. We sleep, become old and wait for Yemen (Deity of death) wondering every day Princess: “You said it right. Won’t the God, who showed mercy to Kamalavalli, show me compassion? 61 The king: “Let us believe in it. Let us start the journey. Hereafter, Tiruvaraṅgam is our place to live. Tiruvaraṅgam is the joy of our life.” 62 King Kulasēkaraṉ with his daughter Iḷai began his journey. 63 22Rangarajyam |
A Dream Prediction One day, Aṇṇāmalaiyār in the guise of a recluse with three-stripe Vibhūti, Rudrākṣa (rosary), and ochre clothes appeared in the dreams of the couple and told them, “I will remove your barrenness.” He further ordered them to go home. Accordingly, a baby boy fathered by Sivasīthāmbaram Piḷḷai took an Avatara in the womb of Mīṉāmbikai and was born ten months after their pilgrimage on an auspicious day. Because the grace of Aruṇāchalēśvarar made his Avatara possible, the parents gave him the name, ‘Aruṇāchalam.’ This Aruṇāchalam is no other than Dakṣṇāmūrthy Swāmigaḷ, mentioned earlier. 001StaretsyDivineGrace = 001Dakshinamurthy Swamigal Swamigal 255-204-0 |
One day, the teacher’s child fell off Thiṇṇai (raised platform) accidentally and broke the hand. The teacher was in school. SrīSwamigaḷ told the teacher, Ayyā! Your child broke his arm. Leave immediately to attend to him!” The teacher, having known about SrīSwāmigaḷ a little, left for home in a hurry. As he exited, news came authenticating the veracity of SrīSwāmigaḷ’s narrative. After administering proper treatment, the teacher returned to the school. Since then, the teacher’s regard, respect, and devotion grew. As SrīSwāmigaḷ entered the school, the teacher stood up. The teacher sat only after permission from SrīSwāmigaḷ. Seeing such conduct from the teacher, SrīSwamigaḷ gave up attending the school. He attended the school for only three months. 002StaretsyDivineGrace = 002Dakshinamurthy Swamigal |
When Māl Murugan pointed the way, will Māl fail Ammaiyār? She
brought 100 plows from the villages of Neduvayal, and Acchan
Putūr and stationed them in the lands belonging to Murugan
before the break of dawn. She held the first plow and plowed the
land of the Murugan. What will happen in the conflict between God and man? Learning of the news, Rāyar brought hundreds of his men bearing swords, batons, and sickles. The ruffians used abusive and vituperative words and epithets to denounce Ammaiyār, cut the cords of the bulls and let them loose on the defenseless plowmen and Ammaiyār. They attacked Ammaiyār’s people. That was the greatest mistake the ruffians did. The ropes were cut. The hope was to run down Ammaiyār and her men in the stampede of bulls. The bulls free from their yokes became the living fury and ran around like wild animals charging people with their horns, stampeding them in a frenzy, smashing people under their feet, and whipping people with their tails. As the Rāyan’s ruffians ran, the enraged bulls ran after them causing many injuries to them. The bulls did not molest Ammaiyār’s men. That was Murugan’s divine handiwork. It looked as if Vadivēlan’s Spear was whirling in the fields. The powerless rogues under Rāyar’s control threw their weapons and took to their heels to escape death from marauding bulls. Realizing the spiritual strength of Ammaiyār and his own grave mistake, Rāyar fell at the feet of Ammaiyār and begged for forgiveness. Ammaiyār gave him Tirunīr (sacred ash) because he realized his grievous error. With no conditions, restrictions, and disputes, Rāyar ceded the property to Ammaiyar, the custodian for Murugan. Twelve-handed Paraman’s grace and blessing helped Ammaiyār in the 19th century perform this Dance of Grace. This is just one of many. Sivakāmi Ammaiyār on Vaikāsi Visākam 003StaretsyDivineGrace = 003Ammaiyar |
Aṭikaḷ went to Madurai at the behest of Gurunāthar and received direct Darśan of Ambāḷ, who showed the way to Tiruppōrūr. There he reformed the thieves. Murugaṉ came in the guise of the Guru and asked him to build a temple. He benefited us with his treatise and the Yantra. Srī Chidambara Swāmigaḷ on Vaikāsi Visākam merged with Muragapperumāṉ. He showers on us even today his grace. Let Tiruppōrūr Murugan protect us by expunging our deadly sins. 004StaretsyDivineGrace = 004Chidambaram Swamigal |
In Chennai Purasaivakkam in the year Supakrutham, month of Āvaṇi
12th day (Aug 27, 1902) Parthasarathy Nāyakkar, and Ciṉṉammaḷ
gave birth to the Incarnate Guhasrī Rasapathi Aṭikaḷ. Aṭikaḷ’s mother had immeasurable love and devotion to Vaḷḷālar. She raised his son in the path of devotion and had a daughter after his son’s birth. She was admitted in Ezumbūr (Egmore) Maternity Hospital and delivered a baby girl. Both mother and the baby girl died. 005StaretsyDivineGrace = 005Guhasri Rasapathy Atikal |
Aṭikaḷ married Jayalakshmi in Tiruvallikkeni. They lived on
whatever money he made by lectures. Aṭikaḷ thought, “When will
God confer on me the grace to remove my poverty?” That evening, a devotee came in a horse-drawn cart and gave him Rs.20.00. The donor said, “I know you very well.” He pleaded with him, “Without rejection, please take the cash.” Aṭikaḷ felt his hair stand on end. “O my God! I supplicated to you only this morning. Soon, you gave me your grace!” He shed his tears. The visiting guest took Aṭikaḷ to his house in Rayapuram, asked him to stay there and told him, “The Piḷḷaiyār Temple is nearby. You must give two lectures a week. I gave Rs.20 as an advance.” Besides, he gave two silk Vēṣtis (Dhotis), one shawl, one silk sari, one silk blouse, and Rs.5 on a plate and paid homage to Aṭikaḷ. The lectures, Aṭikaḷ delivered according to the agreement. Once the talks were completed, the rich man was happy to honor him with a five-pound-sterling medallion cum Rudrākṣa garland. 006StaretsyDivineGrace = 006Guhasri Rasapathy Atikal |
Hearing the poem, the jail superintendent immediately ran to
Vadamalaiyappar. “O, King! There are a host of your subjects in
jail for not paying the land tax. One among them is an
impeccable Tamil poet. That poem had your name in it. I ran to
report to you.” 22 Vadamalaiyappar jumped on the back of the horse immediately, reached the jailhouse, got down from the horse and ran to the jailhouse. His body, mind, and soul were tremulous seeing the Dikshithar singing with his eyes closed. 23 Vadamalaiyappar: “This incarcerated man: Is he a personified Tamil language, Divine Ecstasy, or the Vedas of the nobility? How could this happen?” He lamented. Dikshithar opened his eyes. Coming to know of the history of his incarceration, Vadamalaiyappar said, “I seek your forgiveness. The jailers, not knowing the details, put you in jail. Don’t be upset. I already released you.” 24 007StaretsyDivineGrace = 007Vadamalai Pillai |
God appearing in his dream said, “Arasappā! Let Gurupūjai take place in
Madurai. Don’t come to Kōvilūr. Here itself, you conduct the Gurupūjai.’
Thence, Siva disappeared from his dream. Arasappar acted on God’s advice
and conducted the Gurupūjai splendidly in Madurai itself. 16 However cautious one may be, the association with the evil person is tormenting. Without the grace of God, we cannot remove the relationship with the evil person. Only when we know that a person is evil, we can walk away from him or remove him from our association. 17 008StaretsyDivineGrace = 008Arasappar |
After the rescue of Bālayōgi, and yielding to the supplication
of servitors of Avalūr Pēṭṭai, he stayed at the
Moṭṭaip-Piḷḷaiyār Temple. His services are incomparable. 30 He faced four acres of badlands. He rehabilitated those lands into cultivable lands and planted a grove. He maintained the temple pujas from the income from the orchard. As usual, he fed the servitors by Kāvaḍi and took care of their welfare. 31 There was no telling how many temples, temple gardens and sacred ponds and lakes he helped renovate. To honor him is to maintain them. Then, the water shortage would not be a problem. 32 We not only forgot about the Staretsy (TiruvaruḷSelvarkaḷ = திருவருள்செல்வர்கள் = Divine-Grace-Staretsy) but also ruined their divine selfless service projects. Let the past be past and gone. The rainy season is imminent. Let us remember Pazaniswāmy, His Divine Grace Starets and take care of the lake, pond, and well. 33 009StaretsyDivineGrace 009Pazani Swamigal 255-153-255 |
Aṇṇāmalai sang a poem immediately. The king was surprised to
hear the extemporaneous poetry. He decided, “This man is capable
of constructing a poem impromptu.’ Aṭikalār requested the king
to arrange teaching of grammar to him. Annamalai having been
accepted by the king stayed there with the king and became a
great Tamil grammarian. He took leave of the king after
completion of his studies and came back to Seṉṉikuḷam. 14 010StaretsyDivineGrace = 010Annamalai Kavirayar 204-255-0 |
Astrologers declared that the newborn's horoscope predicted death of parents. The mother died. The father feared his son will be left to the mercy of his relatives. He chose his faithful servant to raise his infant son. He gave the servant enough riches to support his son and revealed to him there was a buried treasure in the field. The father died soon. The servant married his adoptive son to a woman of substance. He told the son there was treasure to be dug and acquired. The treasure was guarded by a ghost, who killed the servant digging the treasure and declared in the son's dream a virtuous man should be sacrificed to claim ownership. The son tells the servant. The servant sacrificed himself to let the Ghost to release the treasure. Here the servant made several sacrifices: Adopting and rasing the richman's son, marrying him off to a suitable woman and giving his life to restore the treasure to his adoptive son. 011StaretsyDivineGrace = 011Ekambavanan 203-255-255 |
Tanjore king and Vellore king were present for the fire
sacrifice. Srīdīkṣithar completed the sacrifice according to the
established tradition. The jealous Vidvān told the kings that
the Dīkṣithar cast and destroyed all the royal rewards in the
fire. He submitted a complaint in writing. The kings came to
Srīdīkṣithar and knowing the charge, he prayed to the fire-god,
“O Agni Bhagavan! Please show me the golden articles, the
devotees gave me, which I gave you with my heart and soul. That
moment, Agni Bhagavan manifested himself and showed all the silk
and gold offerings he received. The complaining Vidvān with
downcast head offered homage along with the kings and took leave
of the Srīdīkṣithar. 17 012StaretsyDivineGrace = 012Appayya Diksithar |
Srīdīkṣithar went out to bathe in the pond. He knew the
conspiracy, chanted, ‘Mārgabhanthu Stotram,’ a panegyric about
Siva, meditated on Siva and left home. The killers were at the
ready to do their assigned job. But they did not kill
Srīdīkṣithar. What was the reason? 12 The killers had an incredible daylight vision of a multitude of warriors bearing tridents on the march and surrounding Srīdīkṣithar. That was the end of their killer assignment. They dropped their weapons, fell at the holy feet of Srīdīkṣithar, offered homage, named the instigator and begged for forgiveness. 13 013StaretsyDivineGrace = 013Appayya Diksithar R-G-B: 153-102-255 |
There was a Mantra-meister in Thiruvananthapuram who rattled a
multitude of people. Hearing his name induced fear in the
audience. 14 With a reputation like this, Srīvijayīnthirar visited Thiruvananthapuram. Knowing his arrival, the Mantra-meister came in search of Srīswāmigaḷ and challenged him saying, “Could you compete with me in Mantra Vidyai?” Knowing him, the assembled devotees were in an uproar. But Srīswāmigaḷ said in a composed manner, “we will have it next day evening.” 15 The news discomposed the Thiruvananthapuram officials, who came running and feared whether Mahāṉ would suffer danger or humiliation because of the Mantravāthi. 16 014StaretsyDivineGrace = 014Sri Vijayindirar |
A Mantra-meister, a popinjay, draws a Jnani to the dark world of
incantations and black magic. Swamy, standing on the side and performing supramagical feats, sends his neophyte disciple to take on the magician of the black art. His magic was that the Jnani (here his disciple) should go past the rings to get a lemon (? to make lemonade). The stand-in disciple has not a clue as innocent as a newborn baby. He saunters from one ring to the next and confronts a hot shower of fiery coal, black snakes, autonomously charging spears, and a tangle of snakes. If the disciple goes past all these life-threatening impediments at the command of his Guru, the reward is a little lemon, and he becomes the winner. 015StaretsyDivineGrace = 015Sri Vijayindirar RGB: 210-180-222 |
A female Mantra-meister came to Ramanathan’s home and assured him she
would drive out the evil forces afflicting his family. She settled for
Rs.300, after a marathon haggling. That time Srīswāmigaḷ came to
Ramanathan’s home. When the Mantravāthi saw Swāmigaḷ, she jumped up,
dumped on him a boatload of abusive words and left in fury and a hurry.
24 RGB: 215-189-226. 016StaretsyDivineGrace = 016SrīŚivasidhāṉantha Swāmigaḷ |
The young man went to the Swamy’s place, saw a recluse with simple
clothes and told him, “I need to see the Swāmigaḷ.” 11 The recluse asked, “What for?” The youth described his needs. The recluse reassured him, “Don’t worry! I will teach you.” The recluse taught him a few poems from the book of poems brought by the youth and told him, “Come tomorrow at this time.” The youth took leave. 12 The youth was not satisfied. He was disappointed. He thought to himself, “I approached Tirugñāṉasambandam, but he sent me away to a recluse.” He told Tirugñāṉasambandam of his disappointment. Tirugñāṉasambandam, discovering the particulars of the recluse’s physical appearance, was happy and blossomed with a smile. He mentioned to the youth, “What is your objection? Whom you saw was the Jñāṉiyār Swāmigaḷ. Go and report to him at the appointed hour tomorrow for your lessons.” 13 017StaretsyDivineGrace = 017JnaniyarSwamigal |
Muragapperumāṉ in a gesture of body language told him of his
disapproval. 21 Swāmigaḷ perceiving the holy sight of Murugan and visibly shaken in his body and soul, closed his eyes, and said, “My Father! Aṭiyēn, as I am yours, did not utter any falsehood for receiving land, property, or luxuries. It is for the attainment of the richness of the soul. Please show me patience and extend your grace to me.” Murugan knowing Swāmigaḷ’s mind and stirring of the soul said, “That enrichment of the soul: Could it be done by me? Hereafter, until I (Murugan) extend a welcome invitation to you, you should not go to Pazani. Tell me that you will not go to Pazani.” Srīswāmigaḷ said, “So be it.” 22. 018StaretsyDivineGrace = 018Pamban Swamigal RGB: 255-153-51 |
That horoscopist was full of Divine Grace. He wrote out all the details
in a piece of paper in a few seconds and gave it to Raththiṉam Piḷḷai.
12 Having read it, Raththiṉam Piḷḷai, the man immersed in temple service, was astonished. These are the text in the paper. 13 The Text: V. Iraththiṉasāmy, Temple on the mind, Forest temple, New Temple Service, Temple tank in the North, The buried idol will be found, Tiruvāthavūrar, Lankan girl with congenital speech loss, made to talk, The town named after the retreat of Buddhists. 14 Because of the increase in insult to Siva by the Buddhists, he in Piṉṉatthūr was invited for a discussion and debate. Srīswāmigaḷ won the debate. His enemies caused a great deal of hardship to him since they could not accept his winning the debate. To cause insult to them, SrīSwamigaḷ wrote many wonderful books including ‘Saiva Samaya Sarabam.’ 15 What we know of the greatness of Srīswāmigaḷ is little. In the last article, we saw the cure of a woman by Srīswāmigaḷ. That woman is my wife. In the name of Imavāṉ’s grandson Muruga Peruman, Srīmath pāmbaṉswāmigal to this day sends his Divine showers of grace to us remaining in the Mayūrapura Samādhi temple. 16 019StaretsyDivineGrace = 019Pamban Swamigal |
Vishnu and Brahma each thought he was supreme. Siva was standing with the head in the firmament and feet in the depth of the world as a fiery column. Brahma’s Vāhaṉa was the swan. Vishnu assumed the form of a boar (Lord Boar or Varāham = பன்றி). Brahma went up flying on the swan, and Vishnu burrowed down to reach the bottom. Vishnu came to Siva saying he did not find the lower end of the fiery column. As Brahma rode the swan up to find the end of the fiery column, he met a Ketaki flower. Brahma asked the flower to bear a false witness saying he found the top end of the column. The flower (Thazhampu = தாழம்பூ) agreed, and both reported and lied to Siva. Siva knew the lie and immediately cursed the flower it would lose its status as the favorite flower. Brahma, Siva said, will never have a temple for worship. Appreciating the honesty of Vishnu, Siva said he would have many temples and was equal to him. KarthikaiDipam |
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சேஷாத்ரிநாத சாஸ்திரிகள் Seshadrinatha Sastrikal (SNS). Greatness of Vedas... Sakthi Vikatan | ||
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SNS04Jnana&Duty | SNS05YagamForRain | SNS06LetTheWorldProsper |
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UnityOfLife.html Science offers proof that all living entities share common genes and qualities. Genetic studies prove this unity in existence. Bacterium and man share genes. This is called horizontal transfer of genes to man from bacteria. Scientists say that the bacterial genes came into the human cell and set up housekeeping chores outside the nucleus of the cell. These bacterial genes came to be known as Mitochondria. The human cell nucleus found uses (symbiosis) for these bacterial mitochondrial genes and incorporated some into human cells. There is an exchange of genes between species. mtDNA is used to trace motherhood of all people to the African Eve. The points of coalescence for all humans are the African Adam with the Y chromosome and African Eve with X Chromosome and mtDNA. |