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Showing posts from September 7, 2014


Onam Story – Onam Festival Story of Mahabali and Vamana

The story of Onam festival is associated with the Vamana incarnation of Vishnu and King Mahabali (Maveli). Onam, the most popular festival in Kerala, is the day when the legendary Asura king Mahabali visits his subjects. Mahabali had turned his kingdom into a virtual paradise on earth and the ‘devas’ could not tolerate this and they sought the help of Lord Vishnu to eliminate Maveli. Onam is perhaps a rare Hindu festival in which Lord Vishnu, the vanquisher, is the villain and the vanquished King Mahabali the hero. As per Puranas, the Asura or demon King Mahabali made the utopian kingdom a reality. His fame spread all over the earth and the netherworld and slowly into the heaven. Indra, the king of Devas and the ruler of heaven, felt threatened by the growing popularity of Mahabali. Aditi, the mother of Indra, observed a penance called 'payovrata' to help her son and pleased with her devotion Lord Vishnu was born as Vamana, a dwarf, to Aditi. Vamana approached

Sri Ramakrishna on Three Kinds of Love

Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa explains the three kinds of love among human beings. There are other kinds of love: sadharani, samanjasa, and samartha. In the first, which is ordinary love, the lover seeks his own happiness; he doesn’t care whether the other person is happy or not. That was Chandravali’s attitude toward  Krishna . In the second, which is a compromise, both seek each other’s happiness. This is a noble kind of love. But the third is the highest of all. Such a lover says to his beloved, ‘Be happy yourself, whatever may happen to me.’ Radha had this highest love. She was happy in Krishna ’s happiness.