--> Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from August 1, 2020


Why Shalmali Tree Has Thorns? – Story In Hinduism

Why the Shalmali tree (Indian silk cotton tree) has thorns on its trunk is mentioned in a story in Hinduism. As per the Mahabharata, Bhima, the second of Pandavas, decided to play a prank on Draupadi. One day he put a log of Shalmali tree and covered it with a sheet. The Shalmali tree did not have any thorns on the trunk then. Bhima then feigned that he had great pain in his body. Draupadi hurried to the bed chamber and without even removing the sheet, started massaging the log of wood thinking that it was her husband. She kept massaging but got tired pretty soon. Finding Bhima’s body to be inert and getting tired pretty quickly, she removed the sheet and saw that all this time she had been massaging a log of shalmali tree. Bhima had been hiding in the room and on seeing Draupadi’s face at finding a log of wood, he burst out laughing. Feeling ridiculed and annoyed, Draupadi cursed the shalmali tree to have thorns. Bhimasena took the log and planted in the garden

Story Of Poosalar – Devotee Who Made Shiva Temple In His Heart

There is a famous story of Poosalar in Tamil Nadu. He was a Shiva devotee who built a temple for Shiva in his heart and Shiva resided in the temple. In Tinnanur, an ancient town in Tamil Nadu, there dwelt a pious devotee of Shiva, Poosalar. His mind was forever fixed on the feet of Shiva. Wishing to build a Shiva temple, he tried to raise money. But try as he might, he failed. In grief he pondered, "What shall I do?” He resolved at last to raise within his heart a temple to his Lord. From far and near he fetched in fancy, little by little, stone and metal and other building material. Skilled masons and sculptors too he engaged and instructed in thought. And at an auspicious hour, he dug the ground and laid the foundation stone. Devoted, busy, sleepless even by night, he watched the temple grow, part by part and layer by layer, gateway, tower and central shrine, all planned according to the rules of Agama, and wrought in detail with minutest care. On top of the domed tur

Uparati In Hindu Religion – Renunciation Of Desire For Children – Wealth And Worldly Pleasures

Renunciation of desire for children – wealth and worldly pleasures in Hindu religion is known as Uparati and is one of the six attributes of a spiritual aspirant known as Samadhi sarakam. The other five are sama, dama, titiksa, shraddha and samadhana. These six attributes are not independent of one another, but are interrelated and mutually reinforcing. Hence they are viewed as one integrated unit. This set of six in turn forms a part of the quartet of spiritual means, called Sadhana Chatustaya. This quartet of means is considered a necessary prerequisite for a sadhaka to undertake intense inquiry into Brahman, as specified by the famous aphorism, “Athatho Brahma Jijnasa”, in Badarayanasutra. Just as several pearls strung together are described as one necklace, the above mentioned set of six attributes, in view of their inter-dependent nature, is viewed as one instrument or sadhana. Hence uparati facilitates the other five, and it in turn stands to benefit from the oth

Essence Of Bhagavad Gita – Sri Ramana Maharshi

A devotee once complained to Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi that it was hard to keep all 700 verses of the Bhagavad Gita in one's memory and asked whether it would not be possible to pick out the most important verses for remembrance. Bhagavan accordingly selected 42 verses which he arranged in an appropriate order. Further asked if any of these could be regarded as the most essential, he mentioned Book X, v. 20, that is the verse which comes fourth in his enumeration : "I am the Self, Oh Gudakesa, dwelling in the heart of every being; I am the beginning and the middle and also the end of all beings." Essence Of Bhagavad Gita This body, Oh son of Kunti, is called the kshetra (field); Him who knows it, the Sages call, the kshetrajna (Knower of the field). (Bhagavad Gita xiii. 1.) Know Me also as the Knower of the field in all the fields, Oh Bharata: knowledge of the field and of the Knower of the field I deem to be true Knowledge. xiii. 2. I am the Self, O