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Showing posts from August 15, 2020


Story Of Composing Subramanya Bhujangam By Adi Shankaracharya

Subramanya Bhujangam is a brilliant hymn of Adi Shankaracharya that extols ineffable supremacy of Muruga, son of Shiva, who is also famous as Kartik and Skanda. The story of composing Subramanya Bhujangam shows the unfathomable compassion that Muruga has for his devotees. Adi Shankaracharya had defeated many scholars who were following various different schools of thought. One such rival scholar grew jealous of Adi Shankara’s felicity in debates. He cast an evil spell on Adi Shankaracharya and this caused severe stomach pain to the acharya. Adi Shankara thought the stomach pain as prarabdha karma. He tried to avoid the pain of the body. But Muruga was not ready to ignore the severe pain that his devotee was going through. He therefore appears in the dream of Adi Shankaracharya and summons him to Tiruchendur Temple – the famous abode of Muruga in Tamil Nadu. Adi Sankara reaches Tiruchendur Temple through yoga marga. Here Muruga shows him the rarest of rarest vision – Muruga stand

Color Of Bhagavan Vishnu In Four Yugas – White – Red – Green – Black – Significance

Rishi Karabhajana told King Nimi in the Srimad Bhagavata Purana that in each yuga (eon as per Hinduism), Bhagavan Vishnu was worshipped in different forms and in four different colors – white, red, green and black. Vishnu In Satya Yuga In the Satya Yuga, Vishnu is white in color. He has four hands and covered his body with bark of trees. In this yuga, living beings led a peaceful life by helping each other and not harming any living being. Living beings existed through cooperation. All living beings had control over their senses. They performed various austerities and merged in Bhagavan Vishnu. In the Satya Yuga, Bhagavan Vishnu had ten names: Hamsa, Suparna, Vaikuntha, Dharma, Yogeswara, Amala, Iswara, Purusha, Avyaktah and Paramatma. Vishnu In Treta Yuga In Treta yuga, Vishnu is red in color, with hair of a golden hue. He wears golden color garments. He has four hands and there were three folds in His stomach. He has in His hands sruk and sruva – wooden ladles used for p

Story Of Ravana Wanting To Marry Goddess Parvati And Frog

The story of Ravana getting boon from Shiva to marry Goddess Parvati is part of folklore in many regions in India. There are numerous versions of the story and here is one of the popular versions that involves a frog. Ravana was an ardent devotee of Shiva. He once heard from the sages that Shiva’s wife Parvati was the most beautiful woman in the world. He developed and intense desire to possess her. To achieve his goal, he performed a very harsh penance. Pleased with his devotion, Shiva granted him a boon.  As boon, Ravana demanded to take away Goddess Parvati to Lanka. Shiva had no choice but to allow him to take her to Lanka. When Parvati heard this, she decided to teach Ravana a lesson for coveting on another person’s wife. She caught a female frog and transformed it into a damsel who looked quite similar to her. Ravana saw the damsel and thinking her to be Goddess Parvati, carried her away to Lanka and made her his chief queen Mandodari. Manduka means a female frog.

The Four Sentinels That Guard Doorway To Heaven

The four sentinels that guard the doorway to heaven are: Shanti (equanimity of mind), Santosh (contentment), Satsanga (company of those who tell us the way to Shanti and Santosh) and Sad-vichar (right enquiry so that we always keep our life flowing in the right direction, keep our thoughts in the right direction.) Swami Chidananda Saraswati (1916 – 2008)  was the president of the Divine Life Society in Rishikesh – associated with the Swami Sivananda Ashram