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Showing posts from May 3, 2013


Sudarshan Kavach for Protection

Sudarshan Kavach is recommended in Hindu astrology for protection. By wearing the kavach, one gets the desired strength to face difficult situations and enemies. As the name indicates, this kavach is based on the Sudharshana Chakra or discus of Hindu God Vishnu. Astrologers and makers of the Sudarshan Kavach state that it is very powerful and it will protect the wearer against all sort of nefarious activities of enemies. It is also believed that the Kavach will guide a person in taking good and wise decisions. 

On Vedic Way of Life at Mathur and Hosahalli Village in Karnataka

Mathur Village in Karnataka had garnered national attention when it declared Sanskrit as its official language. Mathur and Hosahalli near Shimoga in Karnataka are also famous for promoting Vedic way of life.  Trichur. S. Viswanathan writes about Mathur and Hosahalli in The Hindu  The Brahmins of Mathur and Hosahalli lead a Vedic lifestyle, chant the Vedas and keep Sanskrit alive.  Mathur is one of the two villages in India where Sanskrit is the official language. The villagers speak a dialect called Sanketi, which is a mixture of Sanskrit, Tamil and Kannada. It has no written script. They read only in Devanagiri script and some in Kannada.  The entire village is a square, like a typical Mada street, with a temple. This area is called Brahmanaru Mane. Great respect is shown by the rest to these Brahmins. There is a village paatashala, which teaches chanting of Vedas in the traditional way, especially Krishna Yajur Veda along with other ritualistic rites from Bodhayana sut

Swami Harshananda on Samskriti – Prakriti – Vikriti and Samskara

Let us first understand what we mean by the word ‘culture.’ Since it is being widely used as the equivalent of the Sanskrit term samskriti, it is better to study this word first, its connotations and implications. The verbal root kr (to do) can give rise to several nouns when associated with certain prefixes. Out of these, three words have a direct bearing on our subject:  prakriti (basic matter or condition), samskriti (refined matter or condition) and vikrti (modified or decayed matter or condition). A block of stone is prakriti, the basic raw material. When it is sculptured into a beautiful image, it becomes samskriti. Hence, a lump of gold is prakriti; an elegant ornament made out of it is samskriti. Raw food articles like rice and sugar are prakriti, whereas a delicious pudding prepared out of them is samskriti. On the other hand, if the block of stone is broken into chips, or the gold lump reduced to powder, or the food articles get putrefied, they become vikri