A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty…….Albert Einstein
Jai Shri Ram Jai Shri Dadaji Jai Janani Devi JaiRenuka Devi
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Tuesday, June 21, 2011
A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty…….Albert Einstein
Monday, June 20, 2011
Sunday, June 12, 2011
THE PALE BLUE DOT
[edit] Reflections by Sagan In the book, Sagan related his thoughts on a deeper meaning of the photograph:
Sagan points out that "all of human history has happened on that tiny pixel, which is our only home" (speech at Cornell University, October 13th 1994, shown here inside a blue circle).
From this distant vantage point, the Earth might not seem of any particular interest. But for us, it's different. Look again at that dot. That's here, that's home, that's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there – on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.
The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds.
Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves.
The Earth is the only world known so far to harbor life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment the Earth is where we make our stand.
It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known.
………………………………………………………………………………….
published inInspiration Friends dt,11th June 2011
[edit] Reflections by Sagan In the book, Sagan related his thoughts on a deeper meaning of the photograph:
Sagan points out that "all of human history has happened on that tiny pixel, which is our only home" (speech at Cornell University, October 13th 1994, shown here inside a blue circle).
From this distant vantage point, the Earth might not seem of any particular interest. But for us, it's different. Look again at that dot. That's here, that's home, that's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there – on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.
The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds.
Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves.
The Earth is the only world known so far to harbor life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment the Earth is where we make our stand.
It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known.
………………………………………………………………………………….
published inInspiration Friends dt,11th June 2011
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Today 5th June World Environment Day!
.
1)Wangari Maathai:
Wangari Maathai has made environmental preservation in Africa her life’s work. And what a life it’s been! Born in Kenya in 1940, she was the first woman in East and Central Africa to earn a doctorate degree. She later went on to found the Green Belt Movement – an organization that has helped women plant more than 40 million trees on community lands throughout the continent. She also has been active in politics throughout her career, and in 1998 she became co-chair of the Jubilee 2000 Africa Campaign for debt forgiveness. In recognition of her contributions to sustainable development, democracy and peace, she was awarded the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize. Momentum recently had the honor of speaking with Maathai about climate adaptation in Africa, the role of women in the environmental movement and her hopes for the future.
2) Julia:
Julia Lorraine "Butterfly" Hill is an environmentalist, poet, writer, educator, speaker, and founder of the organization Circle of Life. She earned international fame as an environmental activist by protecting an old-growth forest in northern California from clear-cutting by a logging company. To prevent the logging, she lived in one of the trees a 1,000-year-old redwood known as "Luna" for 738 days until an agreement was reached with the Pacific Lumber Company.
Enduring not only illness and the forces of nature but also the efforts of Pacific Lumber to bring her down, Hill established the longest activist "tree sit" in the world, the prior record having been ninety days in England. Eventually a legal agreement was reached that provided for the preservation of Luna and all the trees within the three acres surrounding it; in return, Pacific Lumber received a $50,000 payment that was provided by Hill, with the stipulation that it be donated to a local college, Humboldt State University.
Her courage, commitment and profound clarity in articulating a message of hope, empowerment, and love and respect for all life has inspired millions of people worldwide.
Founder of the Circle of Life, an organization devoted to environmental education and activism
Youngest person ever elected to the Ecology Hall of Fame
Named by John F. Kennedy Jr., in George magazine, as one of the twenty most influential women in politics
Co-founder of the Engage Network and the inspiration behind What′s Your Tree
3) Jane Godall :
Originally brought to Africa to work with Louis Leakey, Jane Goodall began her work with chimpanzees in the Gombe Stream Reserve in 1970. By close observation, she documented the social organization of chimps in the wild, including their social nature, their tool-making, their occasional systematic killing of one another, their hierarchy and their social development.
Jane Goodall has also worked for the conservation of chimpanzees in the wild and for better conditions for chimps in zoos and research institutions, through speaking and writing, raising funds, and through the Jane Goodall Institute.
4)Dr. Vandana Shiva
Navdanya International, founded in India by physicist and internationally renowned activist Dr. Vandana Shiva, was born out of a vision of peace and non-violence. Navdanya’s aim is to defend and protect nature and the rights of people to access to food and water and dignified jobs and livelihoods. Promoting local and ecological food models is critical to alleviating poverty, hunger, and safeguarding natural resources, including water, especially in this time of climate change chaos.
Articulating rarely heard views from the global South, Navdanya believes that cultural and biological diversity is essential for ensuring creative, peaceful societies throughout the planet.
5) Nirupama Deshpande:
About SBK
Sampoorna Bamboo Kendra (SBK), founded by social workers Sunil & Nirupama Deshpande, was started around 12
years ago from tribal village of Lawada in Melghat Forest. SBK was started initially as a means to solve the malnutrition
problem in the region and to help improve upon the many other social problems that plague the region. Today with the
advent of mass produced goods, artisan based products are having a hard time competing at these price points and
hence artisan communities around the world and in India are dwindling. The artisan communities at one time formed the
base of a socially, economically and environmentally sustainable decentralized industrial economy, unlike today’s
western industrialized economies, which aren’t nearly as socially or environmentally sustainable. It is this
economy that is based on artisanry that they would like to resurrect. Hence, the ultimate vision behind SBK’s work
is to: “Restablish respect & honor for artisans in society”With such a deep vision, their work is well beyond
the activities of just generating a livelihood in the Melghat region, it spans the entire country. The Melghat is where they
are effectively developing this model that they hope to spread across all of India in hopes of revitalizing and
reestablishing India’s amazing tradition of artisanry, some of the best in the world and while in the process
employing rural India much more effectively and responsiblly than today. This vision has led them to generate livelihoods
in the Melghat region by offering trainings in bamboo handicraft & housing work to ST and SC youth. Bamboo was
chosen as it is an eco-friendly sustainable renewable resource with remarkable strength and flexibility, locally available
throughout India and has 100’s of applications for man-kind. In support of this work, they are involved with
marketing of handicrafts through an artisan cooperative, building awareness of bamboo applications, working to organize
artisans on a local, state and national level through Karigar Panchayats in order to fight for artisan rights and working to
change government policies to be more artisan supportive. In addition, their work concentrates on improving design and
production in order to ensure the trainees have viable livelihoods in today’s socio-economic environment. Outside
of the bamboo livelihood work, SBK is involved with other social development work in areas such as rural credit
generation, village-level micro-planning, SHG group creation and crèche center operation, all targeted at the local
Melghat population.Mission:
- Increase employment opportunities in rural India (particularly for SC/ST groups) by production of value-added items
- Promote cultivation and use of an eco-friendly material like bamboo
- Foster creativity, self-reliance and self-confidence among our traditional artisan communities
- Get Bamboo recognized as a modern engineering material
- Establish an artisan education system that spans from the local to the national levelAssistance
We could always use assistance in our everyday activities. If you genuinely understand and feel the cause that we are
fighting for and would like to either donate your time to us as a volunteer or donate money to help fund future activities
published the above article in Inspirations Friends.
The United Nations has declared 5th June as World Environment Day. The five women who contributed In this field, one of them a Kenyan woman procured Noble Prize in 2004 . A brief summary about them and their work.
1)Wangari Maathai:
Wangari Maathai has made environmental preservation in Africa her life’s work. And what a life it’s been! Born in Kenya in 1940, she was the first woman in East and Central Africa to earn a doctorate degree. She later went on to found the Green Belt Movement – an organization that has helped women plant more than 40 million trees on community lands throughout the continent. She also has been active in politics throughout her career, and in 1998 she became co-chair of the Jubilee 2000 Africa Campaign for debt forgiveness. In recognition of her contributions to sustainable development, democracy and peace, she was awarded the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize. Momentum recently had the honor of speaking with Maathai about climate adaptation in Africa, the role of women in the environmental movement and her hopes for the future.
2) Julia:
Julia Lorraine "Butterfly" Hill is an environmentalist, poet, writer, educator, speaker, and founder of the organization Circle of Life. She earned international fame as an environmental activist by protecting an old-growth forest in northern California from clear-cutting by a logging company. To prevent the logging, she lived in one of the trees a 1,000-year-old redwood known as "Luna" for 738 days until an agreement was reached with the Pacific Lumber Company.
Enduring not only illness and the forces of nature but also the efforts of Pacific Lumber to bring her down, Hill established the longest activist "tree sit" in the world, the prior record having been ninety days in England. Eventually a legal agreement was reached that provided for the preservation of Luna and all the trees within the three acres surrounding it; in return, Pacific Lumber received a $50,000 payment that was provided by Hill, with the stipulation that it be donated to a local college, Humboldt State University.
Her courage, commitment and profound clarity in articulating a message of hope, empowerment, and love and respect for all life has inspired millions of people worldwide.
Founder of the Circle of Life, an organization devoted to environmental education and activism
Youngest person ever elected to the Ecology Hall of Fame
Named by John F. Kennedy Jr., in George magazine, as one of the twenty most influential women in politics
Co-founder of the Engage Network and the inspiration behind What′s Your Tree
3) Jane Godall :
Originally brought to Africa to work with Louis Leakey, Jane Goodall began her work with chimpanzees in the Gombe Stream Reserve in 1970. By close observation, she documented the social organization of chimps in the wild, including their social nature, their tool-making, their occasional systematic killing of one another, their hierarchy and their social development.
Jane Goodall has also worked for the conservation of chimpanzees in the wild and for better conditions for chimps in zoos and research institutions, through speaking and writing, raising funds, and through the Jane Goodall Institute.
4)Dr. Vandana Shiva
Navdanya International, founded in India by physicist and internationally renowned activist Dr. Vandana Shiva, was born out of a vision of peace and non-violence. Navdanya’s aim is to defend and protect nature and the rights of people to access to food and water and dignified jobs and livelihoods. Promoting local and ecological food models is critical to alleviating poverty, hunger, and safeguarding natural resources, including water, especially in this time of climate change chaos.
Articulating rarely heard views from the global South, Navdanya believes that cultural and biological diversity is essential for ensuring creative, peaceful societies throughout the planet.
5) Nirupama Deshpande:
About SBK
Sampoorna Bamboo Kendra (SBK), founded by social workers Sunil & Nirupama Deshpande, was started around 12
years ago from tribal village of Lawada in Melghat Forest. SBK was started initially as a means to solve the malnutrition
problem in the region and to help improve upon the many other social problems that plague the region. Today with the
advent of mass produced goods, artisan based products are having a hard time competing at these price points and
hence artisan communities around the world and in India are dwindling. The artisan communities at one time formed the
base of a socially, economically and environmentally sustainable decentralized industrial economy, unlike today’s
western industrialized economies, which aren’t nearly as socially or environmentally sustainable. It is this
economy that is based on artisanry that they would like to resurrect. Hence, the ultimate vision behind SBK’s work
is to: “Restablish respect & honor for artisans in society”With such a deep vision, their work is well beyond
the activities of just generating a livelihood in the Melghat region, it spans the entire country. The Melghat is where they
are effectively developing this model that they hope to spread across all of India in hopes of revitalizing and
reestablishing India’s amazing tradition of artisanry, some of the best in the world and while in the process
employing rural India much more effectively and responsiblly than today. This vision has led them to generate livelihoods
in the Melghat region by offering trainings in bamboo handicraft & housing work to ST and SC youth. Bamboo was
chosen as it is an eco-friendly sustainable renewable resource with remarkable strength and flexibility, locally available
throughout India and has 100’s of applications for man-kind. In support of this work, they are involved with
marketing of handicrafts through an artisan cooperative, building awareness of bamboo applications, working to organize
artisans on a local, state and national level through Karigar Panchayats in order to fight for artisan rights and working to
change government policies to be more artisan supportive. In addition, their work concentrates on improving design and
production in order to ensure the trainees have viable livelihoods in today’s socio-economic environment. Outside
of the bamboo livelihood work, SBK is involved with other social development work in areas such as rural credit
generation, village-level micro-planning, SHG group creation and crèche center operation, all targeted at the local
Melghat population.Mission:
- Increase employment opportunities in rural India (particularly for SC/ST groups) by production of value-added items
- Promote cultivation and use of an eco-friendly material like bamboo
- Foster creativity, self-reliance and self-confidence among our traditional artisan communities
- Get Bamboo recognized as a modern engineering material
- Establish an artisan education system that spans from the local to the national levelAssistance
We could always use assistance in our everyday activities. If you genuinely understand and feel the cause that we are
fighting for and would like to either donate your time to us as a volunteer or donate money to help fund future activities
published the above article in Inspirations Friends.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
THE SUN( O COSMIC GOD)
The early morning walk invoked my feeling for the rising Sun, splashing its golden beams everywhere. Life had begun. With reverence to the Sun God I chanted the Gayatri Mantra.
Om Bhur Bhuvah Swah: Tat Savitur Varenyam: Bhargo Devasya Dhimahi Dhiyo Yo nah Prachodayat:
Meaning:
God You are Omnipresent,Omnipotent and Almighty.
You are all Light. You are all Knowledge and Bliss. You are Destroyer of fear; You are creator of this Universe,
You are the Greatest of all. We bow and meditate upon your light.
You guide our intellect in the right direction.
There is a great scientific meaning behind this mantra.
Bhur the earth Bhuvah the planets (solar family) swah the Galaxy. We observe that when an ordinary fan with a speed of 900RPM moves, it makes noise. Then one can imagine what great noise would be created when the galaxies move with a speed of 20,000 miles per second. This sound is termed as ‘Om’ The sound was heard during the meditation by Rishi Vishvamitra. He told us that we could realize the formless God through the known factors viz , sound of Om and light of Suns(stars).
The Sun has been worshipped as God since preshitoric times. The ancient Egyptians the Aztecs of Mexico Native American tribes(Red Indians) the Chinese and many others have been inspired by the Sun. The Sun was called ‘Helios’ by the ancient Greeks and ‘Sol’by the Romans. Which eventually got the name‘Sun’ in English.
It has a diameter of about 1,392,000km about 109 times that of Earth and its mass (about 2x10raised to the power of thirty kgm.330,000 times than of Earth). Three fourth of the Suns mass consist of Hydrogen, while the rest of is mostly Helium . Less than 2% consists of heavier elements like oxygen carbon neon iron etc. About one million Earths could fit inside the Sun. The Sun is made up of ionized gases it is not a solid body like our Earth. The Sun is about 4.5 billion years old. The structure of the Sun is made up of i) The Core ii) the radiative zone &iii) the connective zone in the interior, iv) visible surface (photosphere), v) the Chromosphere and the outermost region vi) the Corona. The Core produces the Thermal energy through nuclear fusion in the Hydrogen atoms. This energy travels to the layers of photospheres before it escapes into the space as sunlight, also termed as kinetic energy of the particles, which we receive on Earth after about eight minutes. The energy of the sunlight supports almost all life on Earth and drives its climates and weather too. Dark spots called sunspots are visible in the photosphere region. They are areas of strong magnetic fields. They are cooler than the surrounding region.
The Sun is the closest Star to our Earth, a distance of 149.60 million km (92.96 million miles). This distance of Earth to the Sun is termed as Astonomical Unit(AU), it sets scale of distance all across our solar system.
In addition to heat and light the Sun emits a low density stream of charged particles (mostly electrons and protons) known as the solar wind, travelling 450 km/sec . The Solar winds & the Solar flares in the Corona region can create disturbances on Earth. .
The recent news about the Solar Storm has been predicted by an American Scientist (Astronaut) Kathryn Sullivan declared that in 2013 our Earth is expected to face Solar Storm. It is the release of radiations and charged particles from the Corona of the Sun. They affect the satellite system which result in disruption of working of Computers, Navigation and Telephone Networkings. What measures the Scientist are taking to overcome this new hurdle endangering our Earth is the point of concern!
O Cosmic God
Bhadram karnebhi srunuyama devah,
Bhadram pasyemaksabhir yajatrah;
Sthirair angais tustuvamsas tunubhih,
Vyasem deva-hitam yadayuh.
O Cosmic God
May we hear with our human ears all that is auspicious,
O God who are truly of worship ,
May we see with our human eyes all that is auspicious .
May we enjoy our Life given by You.
My above article was published in The Hitavada dt.5th June 2011.
Prajakta Dighe
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
The Search for Happiness
Srila Bhaktivedanta Narayana Maharaja
THE SEARCH FOR HAPPINESS: Each one of us are in Search of Happiness. The more we try by materialistic approach the further it seems to elude. Those who adopt Sprititual means come closer and closer to Happiness culminating into Peace. Here is some excerpts of Swami Narayana Maharajas version…for a fruitful Search for Happiness.
PURE LOVE AND AFFECTION
THE ORIGINAL MESSAGE
I’m very happy to be traveling and preaching in the Western countries, but I have not come to give anything new. I am simply following Srila Bhaktivedanta Svami Maharaja, and giving the same thing that he came to the West to give. Svami Maharaja is my bosom friend and instructing guru. He also did not come to this world to give anything new; rather, he has simply given what he received from his Gurudeva and from all the teachers in our disciplic succession, which goes back to Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is actually the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Krishna Himself. However, He came in the form of His own devotee to teach us the process of transcendental devotional service, by which we can develop pure love and affection for Him. Why? Everyone wants peace and happiness in their lives, but I don’t think that the advancement of material science has actually made any one happy. Happiness really depends on love. We cannot find happiness without prema, or love and affection. This is our real necessity: happiness and love. We want pure happiness, and pure love and affection, but we can’t find them here. Nevertheless, they do exist. We are trying to find happiness by developing impure love and affection for imperfect personalities. The Vedic literatures tell us that we can only be happy by developing pure love and affection for the supremely pure personality, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Throughout the Vedas and Upanisads we read that we are parts and parcels of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna. Our constitutional nature is to serve the Supreme Personality of Godhead with love and affection. Unfortunately we have forgotten this, and that is why we are bound by maya in this material world. Maya has imprisoned us, and she is giving us the sorrows and sufferings of life: birth, death, old age, disease, and so on. This is just so that we will understand that we cannot be happy in this world.
We cannot become happy by making material arrangements, or by trying to fulfill material desires, or by collecting material possessions. We can only be happy in this world and the next by serving the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna. We should chant and remember His holy names and glories.
Posted on Divine Awakening Web Page dt 27/4/2011
Sunday, April 10, 2011
SUMMER TIME
I love to go awandering along the mountain track and as I go I love to sing my knapsack on my back……………….
Val-da-ree val-da-raa……..
The above scouts song we used to sing in schooldays. What fun we had while trekking ,at picnics . Gone are the days when my heart was young and full of spirit.
I know, now I am not that young but my heart is ever green ever young and my memories are fresh and fragrant as this morning breeze of Summer. My morning walks to the Temple below the hilltop is ever energizing. Specially the great neem trees are blooming with flowers. Gifting the passerby with their ephemeral scent. I love to hum the song while the bells chime in rhythm.
The calm golden rays of the new born sun evokes a spiritual bond . I greet the Sun God with folded hands. I know we(all) the creation has an inkling a bondage with him. Living or non living all have been created from him and unto him. I hum… “All things bright and beautiful all creatures great and small… all things wise and wonderful the lord God made them all..”
The lovely dainty flowers every where be it in my balcony earthenpots or roadside trees have sprouted their heads in sprightly dance. Wordsworth was evoked by the lovely daffodles..my heart too is dancing in glee .in the jocund company of Summer Flowers.
I reminisce my childhood..the summer vacations..specially the afternoons in the mangrove. We pelted stones on the green unripe mangoes. The cherries lurching in the ventilators..the plucking of strawberries in the backyard. All so mischevious ventures.. what was the song of then those famed songs in everyones lips..
Stawberries cherries and the angels kissing spring,
My summer wine is really made of all these things..
Take off your silver spurs and help me pass the time …
And I will give to you…Summer Wine.. O Summer Wine..(Nancy Sinatra)
Our college campus too is in full bloom. The greenery of the nursery is worth seeing . The different species of all kinds of plants … the lovely roses have earned trophies in the contest. Imagine our independent cottages..built at the time of britishers are blooming with trees .. to name a few the lime, custard apple, berries,tamarind plums,mangoes pears the drumsticks etc Our ancestors the monkeys (primates) are in huge numbers to relish the new ripe mangoes. At time they do not knock the back.door of your kitchen and elope with the container of chapattis. Their infants clung to their stomach bracing the hazardous leaps of their mothers. .From one destination to another leaping on trees and terraces in search of food and shelter.
One such summer walk I saw a cow writhing in pain. She had fallen in the canal dug for drainages. No one heard her cry and those who saw her simply ignored. I felt pain in my heart. In spite of our eyes we turn a blind eye, inspite of our ears we turn a deaf ear towards these living beings. We have no sympathy for the animals…I contacted some people and found her owner. It was a herculean task to drag the poor thing out safely. She was bruised and bled profusely. That night I slept soundly,cause I had done a good job of helping save a life indeed. We worship, read avidly the tales make use of them. But when it comes to looking after them we refrain. Our own existence in this beautiful Earth is correlated with plants and animals both. ..The flora and fauna are a part and parcel of our life our sojourn on Earth.
The above article got published in The Hitavada Dt.14/4/2011
I love to go awandering along the mountain track and as I go I love to sing my knapsack on my back……………….
Val-da-ree val-da-raa……..
The above scouts song we used to sing in schooldays. What fun we had while trekking ,at picnics . Gone are the days when my heart was young and full of spirit.
I know, now I am not that young but my heart is ever green ever young and my memories are fresh and fragrant as this morning breeze of Summer. My morning walks to the Temple below the hilltop is ever energizing. Specially the great neem trees are blooming with flowers. Gifting the passerby with their ephemeral scent. I love to hum the song while the bells chime in rhythm.
The calm golden rays of the new born sun evokes a spiritual bond . I greet the Sun God with folded hands. I know we(all) the creation has an inkling a bondage with him. Living or non living all have been created from him and unto him. I hum… “All things bright and beautiful all creatures great and small… all things wise and wonderful the lord God made them all..”
The lovely dainty flowers every where be it in my balcony earthenpots or roadside trees have sprouted their heads in sprightly dance. Wordsworth was evoked by the lovely daffodles..my heart too is dancing in glee .in the jocund company of Summer Flowers.
I reminisce my childhood..the summer vacations..specially the afternoons in the mangrove. We pelted stones on the green unripe mangoes. The cherries lurching in the ventilators..the plucking of strawberries in the backyard. All so mischevious ventures.. what was the song of then those famed songs in everyones lips..
Stawberries cherries and the angels kissing spring,
My summer wine is really made of all these things..
Take off your silver spurs and help me pass the time …
And I will give to you…Summer Wine.. O Summer Wine..(Nancy Sinatra)
Our college campus too is in full bloom. The greenery of the nursery is worth seeing . The different species of all kinds of plants … the lovely roses have earned trophies in the contest. Imagine our independent cottages..built at the time of britishers are blooming with trees .. to name a few the lime, custard apple, berries,tamarind plums,mangoes pears the drumsticks etc Our ancestors the monkeys (primates) are in huge numbers to relish the new ripe mangoes. At time they do not knock the back.door of your kitchen and elope with the container of chapattis. Their infants clung to their stomach bracing the hazardous leaps of their mothers. .From one destination to another leaping on trees and terraces in search of food and shelter.
One such summer walk I saw a cow writhing in pain. She had fallen in the canal dug for drainages. No one heard her cry and those who saw her simply ignored. I felt pain in my heart. In spite of our eyes we turn a blind eye, inspite of our ears we turn a deaf ear towards these living beings. We have no sympathy for the animals…I contacted some people and found her owner. It was a herculean task to drag the poor thing out safely. She was bruised and bled profusely. That night I slept soundly,cause I had done a good job of helping save a life indeed. We worship, read avidly the tales make use of them. But when it comes to looking after them we refrain. Our own existence in this beautiful Earth is correlated with plants and animals both. ..The flora and fauna are a part and parcel of our life our sojourn on Earth.
The above article got published in The Hitavada Dt.14/4/2011
Saturday, April 2, 2011
SHREE RAM NAVRATRI
By Swami Durgananda
The Beginning
In the 16th century Rajapur – about 200 km east of Allahabad – in the Banda district of Uttar Pradesh, there live a rather gullible brahamana couple: Atmaram Dube and Hulsi Devi. The year 1532. One day, at a somewhat inauspicious moment, was born to them a male child. Even at this happy moment the mother was frightened. Born after 12 months of gestation But it is believed that it was asterism mula that was on the ascent then – a period of time known as abhuktamula. According to the then popular belief, a child born during this period was destined to bring death to its parents. The only remedy, it was believed, was for the parents to abandon the child at birth – or atleast not to look at it for the first 8 years!, the baby was rather huge and had a full complement of teeth! Under which unfortunate star this child was born is not known for certain.
The utterly poor father had nothing in his house for the celebration of the child’s birth or for the naming ceremony. Meanwhile, the mother died. Weighed down circumstances and superstition, the father abandoned the child. Chuniya, the mother-in-law of the midwife who had helped him during the birth of the child, wet-nursed. Such was the child’s fate that Chuniya too died after five years and he was left wandering, looking for morsels of food here and there, taking occasional shelter at a Hanuman temple. This was the boy who would later be recognized as Sant Tulsidas and excite bhakti en masse with soul inspiring couplets
Such was the turn of events when Narharidas, a descendant of Ramanand, was commanded in a dream to pick up an abandoned boy and instruct him in the timeless story of Sri Ram. He spotted the boy, who at that time went by the name Rambola , took him to Ayodhya, and completed his sacred thread ceremony. From a reference to a tulsi leaf used during that ceremony. Narharidas named Tulsiram, which later became Tulsidas. After about 10 months of living in Ayodhya, at the confluence of the rivers Sarayu and Ghagara – where they lived together for five years. It was here that Tulisdas heard the fascinating story of Sri Ram. We can well imagine what fire must have been ignited in the boy Tulsidas when the immortal story of Sri Ram fell upon his pure heart.
Another sadhu, Shesha Sanatana by name, now came into Tulsidasa’s life and took him to Varanasi, the city of learning or light. It was here that Tulsi learned Sanskrit, including Panini’s grammar. We read that Tulsidas was extremely bright, could remember texts after hearing them only once, and became adept in Sanskrit. That he had a good command of Sanskrit can be known from his few Sanskrit writings and the Sanskrit words, apposite and accurate, thrown casually but widely into his other works.
Marriage and Renunciation
Tulsidas married a girl whose name was Ratnavali. We are told the simple couple lived at Rajapur and that their only son, Tarak died in infancy. Tulsidas was extremely devoted to his wife. This attachment may have been in the form of inchoate form of bhakti – wrongly directed towards a human being – for it was this love, when freed from human attachment that blossomed into an unbounded love for God.
Friday, March 25, 2011
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