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Showing posts from April 15, 2020


How Vidura Died In The Mahabharata?

The death of Vidura is not directly mentioned in the Vyasa Mahabharata. But Kashidashi Mahabharata gives a satisfying answer to the query how Vidura died. A few years after the Kurukshetra war, Dhritarashtra, Gandhari, Kunti and Vidura had left for the forest. Yudhisthira was unhappy with this decision of his mother and uncles. But he had to let them go. Yudhisthira remained sad and one day he along with his brothers decided to visit Dhritarashtra, Gandhari, Kunti and Vidura. They reached the Dwaipayana forest and located the ashram of the elders. Dhritarashtra was happy to see the Pandavas. Dhritarashtra then told Yudhishtira that Vidura has given up food and sits meditating under a tree on the banks of a river. Yudhisthira went in search of Vidura and saw him sitting calmly and meditating under a banyan tree. Yudhisthira felt profound peace as he approached Vidura. Everything remained calm and silent. He notice yellows leaves falling from the tree. Yudhish

Chita Shakti In Saiva Siddhanta Philosophy

Chita Shakti is an important concept in the Saiva Siddhanta philosophy. It is the manifestation of Shiva’s grace. Saiva Siddhanta accepts three fundamental things – pati (god), pashu (individual selves) and pasha (bondage). The individual self, according to this system, can be explained only in relation to the world which is otherwise called pasha. It is three fold, viz., anava which conceals the Lord from being realized by jivas; karma, good and bad acts of an individual; maya, the instruments like body and the world that help in the performance of good and bad acts. The first is called sahaja or natural and the latter two, agantuka. They help jivas get realized from the first. Release is actually to get released from anava mala. The present birth received by the grace of the Lord must be made use of, to achieve this goal. The actions performed here must be conducive to this. However, the anava mala makes one forget oneself as dependent upon God and makes the jiva think he

You Cannot Know God Through Another Man's Knowledge

From The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, (Kolkata: Advaita Ashrama, 2016), 1.456-57. You may be the greatest philosopher but as long as you have the idea that you are the body, you are no better than the little worm crawling under your foot! No excuse for you! So much the worse that you know all the philosophies and at the same time think you are the body! Body-gods, that is what you are! Is that religion? Religion is the realisation of spirit as spirit. What are we doing now? Just the opposite, realising Spirit as matter. Out of the immortal God we manufacture death and matter, and out of dead dull matter we manufacture spirit. Therefore, Krishna says if your method is better and higher, you have no business to say that another man’s method is bad, however wicked you may think it. Again, we must consider, religion is a matter of growth, not a mass of foolish words. No man’s seeing God can help you the least bit except that it may excite you and urge you to do th