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Showing posts from May 3, 2020


Achyut Dattatreya Pusalkar – Renowned Indologist

Achyut Dattatreya Pusalkar (November 22, 1905 – June 6, 1973) was a renowned Indologist. Ancient Indian history, epics and puranas, and archeology were the fields of his special contribution. His studies on the Epics and Puranas of India are an authoritative work on the subject. He worked with R.C.Majumdar as assistant editor for the History and Culture of Indian People series of the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Mumbai and edited six volumes, also contributing many chapters on a wide-ranging variety of subjects.  He edited Bharatiya Vidya (1944-57).  He was joint editor (1959-71) of Annals of the Bhandarkar Research Institute, Pune.  He live in Kolkata for some years as an editor of some volumes of The Cultural Heritage of India, a publication of the Ramakrishna Mission, Kolkata.  He served as the Director of the Post-graduate and Research Department of Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute (BORI).  He published six books, including Swami Vivekananda – A Patriot Saint of Mode

Vasistha – Arundhati Marriage – Sand Turned To Rice

Arundhati was another name for sanctity and there is an interesting story in the puranas which narrates her marriage to Sage Vasishta. So high was her purity that Arundhati turned sand to rice. Once, Sage Vasistha was going around in search of a person who would cook the sand in his hand and turn it into rice and feed him with that. Sage Vasistha travelled around the world looking for a person who could perform this unheard deed. Finally he met Arundhati in a village. She promised him that he could convert the sand in his hands to rice and feed him. She put the sand in a pot and then meditated on the Supreme Deity. Her devotion and single-pointed attention converted the sand into rice. She cooked it and fed Vasishta. Impressed by this, Sage Vasishta married Arundhati. Arundhati shines as a as star in the sky. It is a tradition to look at the star on Holy occasions.

Always Remember Our Divine Nature To Avoid Crashing To Low Level Of Human Life

Memory is important but how to handle it is the point. Portraying a graphic picture of the ways of mind, Sri Krishna says in the Gita: In one who dwells longingly on sense objects, an inclination towards them is generated. This inclination develops into desire, and desire begets anger. Anger generates delusion, and delusion results in loss of memory. Loss of memory brings about the destruction of discriminative intelligence and loss of discriminative intelligence spells ruin to a man. ‘Delusion results in loss of memory’ not only when we are angry and upset and do things harmful and unethical but it also comes when we are careless. Carelessness (called Pramada in Sanskrit) does not mean not doing something but while knowing what is to be done – due to a lazy attitude and lack of seriousness – forgetting to do it. That is why we have to be reminded, again and again. (Gita, 2.62-63) If ‘loss of memory’ is equivalent to carelessness (Pramada), then it implies that one should