The knowledge of the Self is the fire that burns up the dry grass of desire. This indeed is what is called samadhi, not mere abstention from speech. He who realizes that the whole universe is really nothing but consciousness and remains quite calm is protected by the armour of Brahman; he is happy. The yogi who has attained the state which is beyond everything and remains always cool as the full moon is truly the Supreme Lord. He who reflects in his innermost heart upon the purport of the Upanishads dealing with Brahman and is not moved by joy and sorrow, is not tormented by samsara. Just as birds and beasts do not take shelter on a mountain on fire, so also evil (thoughts) never occur to a knower of Brahman. Wise men also, like foolish men, (occasionally) make others angry, (but they do so only) in order to test their ability to control their innate feelings (that is to say to see how far the anger of other persons will affect them). Just as the trembling (of the ...

Poondhamalli , also known as Puvirunthavalli, is a historic place in Tamil Nadu. It is located around 25 kilometers from Chennai on the way to Kanchipuram. In the epigraphs found at different places in Chennai, Pundamalli is variously mentioned as Poovirundhavalli and Puvirunthavalli. In ancient times, Poondhamalli was a colony (agrahara or Chaturvedi Mangalam) of learned Vedic scholarsand was known as Chera Pandya Chaturvedimangalam, as a result of its conquest by the Pandyas and by the Cheras. Poondhamalli and surrounding areas appears to have been a flourishing town during the reign of Kulothunga Chola II (1133 – 1150 AD) and the inscriptions mention that it was situated in the ancient territory of Mangadu – Nadu, a subdivision of Puliyur Kotam. An inscription from Tirusulam in Chennai, dates 1250 AD, in the reign of Kulottunga III, states that Poondhamalli was known as Uyyakondan Cholapuram. The area of Pundamalli was granted to Vedic scholars by the Chera king Ra...

Pundarika Vittala is a musicologist of the 16 th century AD. He was born at Satanurva village near Shivaganga Hills in the South Indian state of Karnataka. His parents were Vittala Raya and Nagamba. A contemporary of Tansen and poet Tulsidas,Pundarika was well versed in Sanskrit and Kannada languages. He was expert on matters related to music and dance. Literary Words of Pundarika Vittala Pundarika Vittala is the author of a quartet of works on music. Sadragacandrodayam Nartananimayam Ragamala Ragamanjari. Sadragacandrodayam contains autobiographical details of the artist, beside his theoretical expostulations on the nineteen musical scales and sixty five ragas. Pundarika had dedicated this work to his patron, Burhan Khan. Ragamanjari mentions fifteen Parasikeya (of Persian origin) ragas some of which have now become defunct. According to the noted musicologists T.S.Parthasarathy , Pundarika Vittala was perhaps the only theoretician who was well versed in...

While rowing the boat, not only our oarsmen should be doing their job but we also should have lifted the anchor — the metal device used to prevent a boat from drifting. An anchored boat does not move. There is an interesting story in this regard: One moonlit night, some drunken men took it into their heads to go on a boat ride. They went to the river bank, hired a boat, sat at the oars and started rowing. They rowed and rowed the whole night. Early in the morning, when the effect of drink had gone, they found to their surprise that they had not moved an inch. ‘What is the matter? What is the matter?’ they asked one another. They had forgotten to raise the anchor! In the context of spiritual living too, we have to lift our anchors. As it is said by an eminent spiritual teacher, at the time of your spiritual practice are you able, at least to some extent, to free your mind from worldly matters and give your purified mind to God? That is the point. Lifting the anchor means ha...

Dharana means the act of holding, preserving or retaining in the mind. In yoga it indicates a steady abstraction of the mind. It is the first among the three constituents of antaranga yoga or esoteric concentration and the sixth part of Patanjali’s eight fold Yoga, where it is defined as “the binding of chitta or the mind to a desha (a restricted sphere of attention). Unlike dhyana (meditation), it is not ekagrata (a state of pin pointedness) but in it, the natural tendency of the mind to move from object to object is to be curbed and still it is focused on an object, which may be a picture, image, symbol, a part of the body, the tip of the nose, or chakra (a spiritual energy center) inside the body. Definitions of dharana are found in many texts. In Goraksha Paddhati (II.52-58) and Yoga Yajnavalkya (VII 1-15), dharana is defined on the basis of the five basic elements in the body such as earth, water, fire, air, and akasha (ether) giving their location and the effects of con...

Ramal Shastra is a dice based method of fortune telling and many books on it have been written in Sanskrit, and the names of formations (sakals) are both in Urdu and Sanskrit. It is believed that this method of predicting future by people from west Asian regions especially Arabs. The dices used in Ramal Shastra are technically prepared by using eight metals – silver, gold, iron, lead, copper, zinc and pewter (alloy). Each dice contains four marked cubes, tightened in wire. These are thrown at the time of a query (prashna) and the figures are noted. A standard kundali (horoscope) contains sixteen figures (sakals) and the sakal chart is known as sthira kundali. For any prashna, the answer is drawn from the original four sakals. The mars on the cubes are dots, a single dot is show as ‘0’ and two are show by a line. There are sixteen ways of creating formations for cubes of the dice. The sixteen formations in Ramal Shastra are: Lahyan, Kabejtul, Dakhil, Kabajtul Kha...

Words of Swami Adbhutananda – a humble disciple of Sri Ramakrishna Anger and ego are very bad — both are people’s enemies. One cannot recognize one’s true self while under the influence of anger and ego. Moreover, it is a sin to be violent. That is why Buddha said that non-injury is the highest dharma. There was no trace of hatred or sin in the mind of Yudhishthira. As much envy a person gives up, so much purer he will be. One will have peace of mind. The mind of a hateful person is impure and utterly restless. If you want peace, give up hatred. Even if you receive all these material objects, you should realize that they are like worthless clay to a person of renunciation; the guru is the only truth. Brahman alone is the truth. If someone praises you, your chest expands five and a half cubits, and the moment someone slanders you, your mind contracts. I see that this is the habit of people. One is highly fortunate whose mind does not waver in the least at praise or bla...

The story of the origin of Shukla Yajur Veda is associated with Sage Yajnavalkya. Once Sage Yajnavalkya, a disciple of Sage Jaimini had a serious argument with his guru. The matter of argument was related to King Janak. Both the Guru and his disciple were not ready to give up. They had heated arguments. Guru was angry at the behavior of his disciple. The infuriated Guru, Jaimini, ordered his disciple to abdicate all the knowledge that he had imparted. Immediately, Yajnavalkya obeyed it and vomited all the knowledge that had gained from his guru. Yajnavalkya left the ashram and performed intense Tapas. He prayed to the Sun (Surya) and assumed him as his guru. Surya was pleased to have such a worthy disciple and Surya imparted him all the knowledge. All that Surya taught Yajnavalkya emerged as Shukla Yajur Veda. Since then, the scholars of Shukla Yajur Veda are called Yajnavalkyas. In the Shukla Yajur Veda imparted by Surya Bhagavan, the worship of Sun an...

Paravastu Mutt is one of the centers for the propagation of the Vaishnava Faith. It is only meant mainly for Sattada Srivaishnavas, whose religious head is the jira of the mutt. Paravastu is the name of an acharya purusha. Other names of such acharya purushas are Kandadai, Prativadi Bhayankaram and Anandanpillai. The functions of the mutt include the installation of the images of the Alwars, rearing flower gardens for Srihari Vishnu, promoting centers of learning the prabandhams of Alvars, propagating the philosophy of Ramanuja, establishing Ramanuja Kutams for free feeding of the poor, and reciting Tiruvaymoli and Iyalpa on festive occasions. The Vijayanagar kings patronized the establishment of the mutts. There are two inscriptions at Tirumala which show that Anatalvan rendered service to Tiruvenkaamudaiyan as a member of Paravastu Mutt by taking a pledge to carry on the thirumanjana kainkarya (temple ceremony). His grandson offered Amudapadi and Sathupadi. The mu...

'Importance of Goal setting in life' is from a speech delivered by Arunima Sinha, the first woman in the world to climb Mount Everest with an prosthetic leg. The first thing that youth must remember is they must have a goal in life, a high goal. The difficulty is not whether we succeed in achieving the goal; the difficulty is that a large number of youth do not have any goal at all. Hence, first we must fix a goal. And then day and night think about it, saturate our mind with the thought of our goal. We must so vigorously pursue our goal that people start calling us mad! Let us not forget that only those ‘dreams’ are realized which are dreamt during waking state, not during sleep. And dreams should be so overpowering that they do not allow us to sleep, and then only they will be realized. Goal-setting should be followed by proper planning or means to achieve our goal. Besides thinking well over it, we may have to seek help from the experts or eminent people in the fi...

Dronacharya was one of the finest archers in the world and he was the son of Bhardwaj Rishi. Story of Dronacharya runs through the Mahabharata and he plays a very important role in the epic. Childhood of Dronacharya and His Friendship with King Drupad He took lessons from his father. King Drupad also studied in the ashram of Bhardwaj Rishi and he and Drona became thick friends. Years later when Bharadwaj Rishi took Samadhi, Drona continued staying in the ashram studying and performing intense penance. Soon he attained mastery in Vedas and other scriptures and came to be known as Dronacharya. Married Kripi – Son Ashwathama Dronacharya married Kripi, daughter of Sharadvan Muni and sister of Kripacharya. They had a son who later became famous as Ashwathama. Student of Parashuram One day, Dronacharya came to know about Parashuram, the fifth avatar of Vishnu, meditating on Mahendra Mountain. Parashuram was looking for an ideal person to transfer the knowledge of all divin...

Goddess Raktadantika is one of the fierce manifestations of Mother Goddess Durga. She is considered the Tamasic form of Goddess Jagadamba. Raktadantika Mata is worshipped for changing bad luck into good luck. She is worshipped for getting unimaginable physical and mental strength. Below is Goddess Raktadantika Devi Puja vidhi or procedure along with mantra. This is a simple guide on how to perform Goddess Raktadantika Mata Puja and is ideal for performing it at home. Goddess Raktadantika Mantra ॐ रं रक्तदंतिकाय नमः॥ Om Ram Raktadantikaya Namah When to Perform Goddess Raktadantika Devi Puja? The ideal day to perform the puja: Third day – Shukla Paksha Tritiya Tithi - the third day after Amavasya (no moon day) in a Hindu lunar month. The puja can also be performed when there is mool or moolam nakshatram in a Hindu lunar month. It is doubly auspicious to perform the puja when mool nakshatra is present on Shukla Paksha Tritiya Tithi. Benefits of Performing Ra...

Lord Surya, or Sun God, had a son named Shradha Deva. He did not have any children after several years of marriage. So he took the advice of Sage Vasishta and performed the Puthrakameshti Yajna to get a child. Shradhadeva asked the sage conducting the yajna to pray for a boy child. But during the course of the yajna the queen asked the sage to pray for a girl child. A year after the yajna the queen gave birth to a girl child. The king was disappointed as it was not a boy child. So the king asked the sage who conducted the yajna where he had made the mistake. The sage said that he did not make any mistake but during the course of yajna the aim of the prayer and puja was changed on queen’s request. Shradhadeva then prayed to Lord Shiva for a boy child and he was blessed with a male child later. This story illustrates that while praying or doing puja there should be only a single aim. When there are numerous wishes and desires none will be fulfille...

Pandav Leela is a folk dance in Garhwal in the Himalayan region of North India especially in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Pandav leela literally means the play of the Pandavas of the Mahabharata and it is also known as Pandav Nritya (dance of the Pandavas). Pahari Rajputs, who regard themselves as descendants of the five Pandava brothers, the heroes of the Mahabharata, see it as a form of ancestor worship which would confer both spiritual and material benefits on the sponsors, performers and onlookers of the dance. Pandav Leela consists of dramatic vignettes of incidents from the Mahabharata, wherein the individual Pandava brothers were engaged in acts of valor and heroism. The play is accompanied by competitive dance and recitation of the relevant incidents. The dancers gorgeously dressed and wearing ornaments and headgear, feel themselves possessed by the characters of the epic that they represent. Several of the scenes from the great war of Kurukshetra, betw...

Sangita Raga Kalpadruma is a unique work on classical music compiled by Pandit Krishnananda Vyasa (1795 – 1889),   son of Hirakananda Vyasa of Udaipur. Raga Kalpadruma has five major topics: Swara Raga Tala Vadya and Rasa Though the author wrote many volumes, he could publish only four. Three volumes have been published by the Bangiya Sahitya Parishad and another three by Bharat Kala Bhavan (of the Banaras Hindu University) in Devanagiri script. About 16,000 ragas and ten talas are mentioned and the raga ragini concept, uparagas, day and night distinction for presentation of ragas, etc, are dealt with in the text. In the chapter on dance, Tandava and Lasya, margi and desi types are discussed. Sangita Raga Kalpadruma is a major text on classical music which details several technical aspects. Bibliography Rajas of Indian Classical Music (1989) Anupam Mahajan – Gyan Books New Delhi History of Indian Music (1960) Sambamurthy P – The Indian Music...

Teachings from Bhagavad Gita on Egoism All actions are performed, in all cases, merely by the Gunas (Qualities-in-Nature). He, whose mind is deluded by egoism, thinks "I am the doer. (3.27) He who hates no creature, who is friendly and compassionate to all, who is free from attachment and egoism, balanced in pleasure and pain, and forgiving… Ever content, steady in meditation, self-controlled, possessed of firm conviction, with mind and intellect dedicated to Me, he, My devotee, is dear to me. (12.13 – 14) Indifference to the objects of the sense, and also absence of egoism is knowledge (13.9) Given to egoism, power, haughtiness, lust and anger, these malicious people hate Me in their own bodies, and in those of others. (16.18) Having abandoned egoism, power, arrogance, desire, anger and aggrandisement, and freed from the notion of 'mine, ' and so peaceful --- he is fit to become Brahman. (18.53) Explanation And Other Relevant Facts: The Bhagavad Gita,...

Chaurasi Khamba Temple, popularly known as 84 Khamba Mandir, is located at Kaman in Bharatpur in Rajasthan. As the place is just 13 km east of Barsana, it forms a part of the Braj Bhoomi, associated with the childhood of Bhagavan Sri Krishna. Although the temple is believed to have 84 pillars but it is impossible count the number of pillars. Story Of 84 Khamba Mandir In Bharatpur Rajasthan Kaman is ruled by the number 84. There are 84 ponds, 84 temples and 84 hectares of land which is mysteriously divided into 84 small pools of water. Chaurasi Khamba temple (84 pillared temple) has no murti or idol and no kind of worshiped is performed in the temple. It is believed that child Krishna used to play and spend time at the spot. It is also believed that Pandavas lived here for a brief period during their exile period in the Mahabharata. It is believed that there is a pond near the temple known as Dharam Kund. The famous Yaksha Prashna between Yama, disguised as Yaksha, an...

To have a happy life learn to live in the present. But unfortunately we all are living in past regrets or old glory or fear of future. If you wish to be happy stop living in past and future. Some people are so engaged with the images of past or future that one finds them, in their quiet moments, talking to themselves — arguing, appreciating, contradicting, chiding or encouraging the invisible people, or the situations arising out of such interactions. They live in the company of past or future, swinging between the two. Though present in the present moment, they are actually living in the past or future. Past, present and future, in reality, are three modes of thinking. All thinking takes place in time. We think of past, reflect over what happened, regret or feel elated, sigh at the days gone by, mull over the things that occurred. Or think of the future — imagining what will happen, visualizing ourselves in various situations or with people and objects and places, feeling ha...

Dvara means a door which allows entry or exit of things or persons. The Bhagavad Gita (V.13) describes the human body as Navadvarapura (a town having nine entrances). These are as follows: the two doors of the eyes, two of the nostrils, the mouth, two of the ears, the anus and the opening of the generative organ and for urination. These are the nine doors of the body. Actually there is one more; namely, the dasama dwara (the tenth door), which is in the skull. Dasam Dvaram remains closed in almost all persons. This door is mentioned in Katha Upanishad (II:3.16). It is said that “there are one hundred and one nadis (channels) of the hridaya (heart). Of these, one nadi pierces the skull, leading outwards. The soul which goes out through it become maritattvameti (immortal). All the other nadis make for utknamana (experience of the world). This tenth opening is called brahma randhra or vhdriti, by which at the beginning of life it first entered. Hence the opening of that nadi in ...

A collection of wisdom of Nisargadatta Maharaj. Ponder on these wise words to understand your life goal. A quiet mind is all you need. All else will happen rightly, once your mind is quiet. As the sun on rising makes the world active, so does self-awareness affect changes in the mind. In the light of calm and steady self-awareness inner energies wake up and work miracles without any effort on your part. You do not want to give up either worldly knowledge or so called spiritual knowledge and yet, through these worldly concepts, you want to understand the riddle of your existence, and that is precisely why you are not able to understand. Fight with all the strength at your disposal against the idea that you are nameable and describable. You are not. Refuse to think of yourself in terms of this or that. Once you know with absolute certainty that nothing can trouble you but your own imagination, you come to disregard your desires and fears, concepts and ideas and live by truth...

Story of Ganesha, demon Analasur and durva grass is found in the Puranas. When ignorance overcomes divinity, asur thinks himself to be the most powerful. Analasur became strong and powerful and started harassing all living beings on earth. Devas, Rishis, humans and all other living beings in the universe approached Shiva and asked to put an end to the rule of Analasur on earth. Shiva asked them to approach Ganesha as only he had the power to annihilate Analasur. The living beings then approached Ganesha, who readily agreed to put an end to the tyranny of Analasur. Ganesha asked Analasur to stop all Adharmic activities. But the demon did not listen to Ganesha and challenged him to battle It was impossible to defeat Analasur  using weapons. He was invincible to weapons. Ganesha then thought of idea and challenged Analasur for a fist fight. While the wrestling was underway, Ganesha opened his big mouth and swallowed Analasur. The agni in the stomach of Ganesh...

Maa Bagalamukhi is the eighth among the Dasa Mahavidyas – the 10 Mother Goddess concept in Hinduism and Tantrism. Goddess Bagalamukhi is depicted as cutting the tongue of a demon. Baglamukhi Beej Mantra is chanted for protection. Some adepts chant this mantra for control over the mind and thoughts. Bagalamukhi Beej Mantra Text in Hindi and English Om Hleem Sarva Dussthaanaam Vacham Mukham Padam Stambhaya Jihvyamkilaya Buddhim Vinashaya Hleem Om Swaha ॐ ह्लीं सर्व दुःस्थानम वाचं  मुखं पादम स्तम्भय जिह्वयाम्किलाया  बुद्धिम विनाशय हलीम ॐ स्वाहा  Benefits of Chanting Baglamukhi Beej Mantra She is worshipped for desire fulfillment. She protects the devotees from unwanted thoughts. She helps a devotee keep the mind from wandering into unwanted domains that leaves stains of sin. She helps a spiritual aspirant reach the pure soul unstained. She is also invoked by those having speech related problems to find early cure. Some devotees invoke her for ...

As per Hindu teachings, ego comes into being through ignorance and dies when knowledge dawns in a person. The teaching is explained through the conversation between a student and a monk. A young man asked a monk, ‘What is ego?’ The monk in turn asked him, ‘Who are you?’ ‘Well,’ replied the young man, giving his name, ‘Mohan.’ ‘I am not asking your name; I want to know who are you?’ countered the monk. ‘I am a student’, said the young man. ‘But that is your present station or “profession” in life; my question is—who are you?’ The young man thought for a while and then said, ‘I am the son of so-and-so.’ ‘That is your relation with your parents,’ smiled the monk. ‘I am a Bengali’, said the young man. ‘That is your mother-tongue’ ‘I am a Hindu and an Indian.’ ‘That is your religion and your nationality.’ ‘I am a human being,’ the young man reached his wit’s end. ‘Now, you are referring to the species— the Homo sapiens. Who are you?’...

Muhurta Martanda, also known as Muhurta Jyotish, is one of the renowned treatises on Hindu Astrology. The contents and usefulness of it to people, students of astrology and astrologers is comparable to that of Muhurta Chintamani, another standard treatise on the subject. The author of Muhurta Martanda was Daivajna Narayana, who completed the word in 1571 AD. Muhurta Martanda deals with the subject of choosing an auspicious time for activities. Like all other branches of knowledge, Muhurta Jyotish aims at maximizing human well-being. Daivajna Narayana wrote his treatise to help the selection of Muhurta or auspicious times for various activities of life and for performing various samskaras like vagdana samskara (word giving ceremony before marriage), vivaha samskara (marriage ceremony) and so on. It also provides knowledge of many other concepts which are of great use in phalita jyotisha or predictive astrology. The treatise consists of eleven prakaranams or chapters...

Know the core of Vedanta Teachings. Vedanta brings, first of all, the lesson of universal toleration – that there is truth in all religions. Vedanta points out that all are true for their day and generation. No other position, they say, will stand logical analysis. For, if what we believed yesterday be false because we think differently today, then our today’s belief is equally false because we shall certainly advance from it to another belief hereafter… The vedantists say that each successive modified belief is part of a main stairway… of progress toward the ideal, of which each particular stair is as necessary as every other…Each individual step, from the lowest to the highest, is necessary and important and true. Every thought of our mind, every act of our body, has its cause and will in turn be a cause. And what one is today is nothing other than the sum of the thoughts, desires and aspirations of one’s past. Source - Prabuddha Bharata magazine December 1905 Wh...