Veda gyan

Welcome to the 16^th issue of Vedagyan

Life of a great saint of our times!

Life sketch of Sri Chandrasekarenda Saraswati Maha swamy of Kanchi Mutt.

Sri Swaminathan was born in Villupuram, a satellite town near Chennai on 20^th May 1884 to Sri Subramanya Sastrigal and Mahalakshmi Ammal. Like every one of his time he too joined the American Mission School at Tindivanam, and under went convent education. At his early school days he showed his mastery over English language and acted in Shakespeare plays and won prizes! He also joined the Bible class and won prizes for his thorough knowledge of the Bible! When he was thirteen years old he was identified by the then 67th Pontiff of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam to succeed him. So he formally installed Sri Swaminathan as the 68^th Pontiff and the successor to himself. He also acquired his new name as Sri Chandrsekarendra Saraswati.. The Acharya under took study of Sastras and nuances Vedas under the learned pundits of Mahendramangalam. During this period he is supposed to have acquired in depth knowledge of Astronomy and Photography too!

He was erudite scholar in History, Archeology, Science, Politics, Mathematics, Music, Journalism, study of oriental languages, thorough understanding of other religious faiths, customs etc. He was also a multi linguist who could understand and converse with ease in many tongues! His vast spiritual wisdom can not be described with this limited vocabulary! He lived an austere life set an example for the humanity to emulate! He was admired and loved by people of all faiths and religions equally! Scholars from India and abroad revered him and sought his wise counsel.

He traveled the length and breadth of India by foot and spread the message of Dharma and Spirituality! He lived a life of a true saint and shined as Seer par excellence till 1994!

Let us learn about the great spiritual personalities who have nurtured the path of righteousness and Dharma and have rendered yeomen service to our society. Here we shall start learning about Alwars and Nayanmars of Vaishnavite and Shivite sects. They were never narrow in their out look and were not on war path with other faiths! They were sincere in their chosen task of spreading the message of spirituality and were strict in resisting those who were opposed to our scriptures and religious faiths. 

A brief life sketch of Poigai Alwar

Poigai Alwar was born in Kanchipuram during 7^th Century AD. Near the Yadothakaari temple in Kanchipuram there is a lotus pond and this Alwar is said to have been born in the Pond so he was called Poigai Alwar.

His other names are Saro Yogi, Kaasaara Yogi, Poigai Piran, Padma Muni.

The Story of Tiruneelakanta Nayanar

This great nayanar was born at Chidambaram, in a kuyavar family those who make mud pots and vessels, though he was pious and a devotee of Lord Shiva, he was lusty and could not correct his wrong ways of life easily. This led him in search of women who could satisfy his lust. Annoyed by his wrong doings his wife took a vow in the name of the Lord Shiva also called Neelakanta that hence forth in her life she will never touch him (Husband)! And she announced this to all including her husband. Her husband immediately realized his mistake and truthfully supported her to uphold her vow!

One day Lord wanted to proclaim their real Bakthi to the world appeared in the form of an old mendicant and asked for Biksha at the house of the nayanar. After having accepted the Biksha the mendicant told nayanar that since he was on his way to Tirta Yatra or holy pilgrimage he would like Nayanar to keep his begging bowl and on his return he would claim it back. Unsuspecting Nayanar agreed to this and took his bowl and kept it under lock and key! After several months the mendicant returned and promptly asked for his bowl. Nayanar went inside his house to fetch the bowl, but to his surprise that was missing. With much pain he explained his predicament to the mendicant, but he would not budge! Nayanar even offered a bowl of gold! But the mendicant was insisting on his old bowl to be returned. Nayanar told him that he had not lost it but the vessel had simply disappeared. He swore by the Lord. To this the mendicant said that if he could swear by his son then he would agree. Nayanar replied that he has no issues! Then the mendicant said that if he could hold the hand of his wife and swear then he would agree. For this also the Nayanar could only give an explanation that he was upholding a vow by his wife so he could not hold her hand. Though they were both old now they were following Dharma! But the mendicant did not agree to these and went to the king and made a complaint against the Nayanar. The King heard all these patiently and finally gave his verdict. According to that both Nayanar and his wife are to hold a long sick and take a dip at the temple pond and then swear upon the Lord that what they say about the bowl is true. To this mendicant agreed. Next day the entire town was curious to know what would happen assembled on the banks of the temple tank. As agreed both holding a long stick took a dip into the pond and rose! What a surprised both regained their youth! And there appeared the Lord on his Rishabha and proclaimed that both were his blemish less disciples and would live for some more years spreading the message of spirituality and return to his abode! Just then every one noticed that the mendicant had also disappeared and he was non other that Lord Shiva himself. From then on the Nayanar was known as Thiruneelakanta Nayanar.

TIT BITS

Do You Know?

I would like to share with you certain interesting facts that find mention in the scriptures that prove that the society was much more advanced in science and technology in those days.

Though they were proficient in using metal vessels in cooking but when it came to taking food they used fully biodegradable natural products. These were also selected after much careful consideration as to their utility with respect to the food category and the person partaking food!

Curd was stored in specified earthen pots for enhanced taste and quality! They were biodegradable too!

Salt was stored in wooden vessels and not in metal containers!

One of the legends says that the Moon God got afflicted by leprosy and was cured of his ailment when he took cooked rice mixed with curd in Errukku leaves.

Sandal wood is proven for its medicinal properties to cure urinary ailments and kidney disorders! During the ‘Abisheka’ of idols in temples this was used and given as ‘Prasad’ at the end to be consumed by the devotees!

Red Sandal paste was used to anoint the deity and the same was distributed to devotees. This contained excellent medicinal properties to cure any type of skin ailment. During important family festivals and religious festival this paste was offered to every one and was freely anointed all over the body!

“Aadu thoda ilai” (Athatoda vasica) this plant’s leaves were used for relieving the congestion in the bronchi and today it is an accepted ingredient in a cough syrup! It has been used as an antispasmodic, bronchodilator, and mucolytic agent it has oxytocic properties and can be abortifacient.

We were all used to taking food in Banana leaves during festivities. Do you know that when hot rice is served on banana leaves they give out the vitamin that is taken by us while we eat? The leaf and other parts contain B1,B2, B2, B3 B5 and B6 vitamins apart from Vitamin C and other minerals! The banana tree was as whole considered auspicious. All parts of the tree are still in use.

When you take food that is deep fried or oily and with high fat content our great grand mothers took care to make a preparation of chutney using a cacti! Cisusquadarngularis (Latin). This is called “Perandai” in the colloquial language! It is suggested as a medicine for osteoporosis, asthma, cough, hemmoroids, and gonorrhia! It contains a rich source of carotenoids, triterpenoids and ascorbic acid. It is an effective treatment of gastric ulcers and preventative of stomach cancer .

The herb called “Vallarai” (Centella asiatica) is proven to be the memory enhancer that has been patented today by our nation.

Do you know that India won the patent suit against the multinationals for “Neem” tree and its medicinal properties.    

 Tulasi regarded as most sacred and used in worship of Lord Vishnu is well known as Basil in the west and is known to cure respiratory ailments. This is given along with sacred water in all Vishnu temples and it will contain sandal paste, cardamom etc.

Bilva (Aegle marmelos) Leaves used in worship of Lord Shiva are good for cardiac ailments and known to reduce blood pressure if taken regularly as prescribed!  

Naiuruvi (Achyranthes aspera) a shrub used in the homa conducted to propiate Lord Sudharsana is known to have a great impact on mental disorders! And is a proven anti venom agent!

A news item appeared in The Hindu dated 20^th April 2005 which states that a report in the famous magazine called ‘Nature’

Tells us about a research study carried out by a microbiologist of Northumbria University, New Castle, Tyne, United Kingdom found that the bacteria is less likely to survive in brass water vessels and within 48 hours the level of bacteria in the vessel dropped to undetectable levels! You may know that brass is an alloy of copper and zinc. Our forefathers were wiser after all !

Veda gyan

Welcome to the fifteenth issue of Vedagyan!

In the last issue we saw that there are two paths that lead to heaven and earth. The path of moon and the path of sun. This is actually esoterically expressed. What are meant by the moon are individuals dominated by or ruled by the mind. The sun represents the knowledge of supreme or eternal truth. Due to intense sadhana or practice of contemplation upon GOD, one attains the knowledge that is supreme. Due to this attainment he overpasses the limitations of the physical body. This results in freedom from the cycle of birth and death. Literally this means birth and death will have no bearing upon this individual! This path is called the path of Sun.

On the other hand those who are ruled by the mind will have to be bound to earthly consciousness and suffer the pangs of sorrow and crave for impermanent joy that is just fleeting! These individuals are said to follow the path of the moon. Vedic scriptures and Upanishads speak of this very often. The Isavasya Upanishad says that those who lack profound knowledge of the supreme are like travellers who are blind, led by another blind into a sun less world!

The names of Gods and Rishis are many that are associated with light. For example Rishi Gothama, Lord Gopala. The word “ GO” means light, the knowledge of supreme. They are knowledge embodiments. The choice of Sun God to represent the Brahman is so apt because the physical Sun has all these traits or qualities. It has fire in it that is constantly burning, the brightness that illuminates the entire surroundings. It sustains all the living and nonliving forms! It is also responsible for the orderly transit of all the celestial objects around, about their trajectory. Seemingly remaining stationary, it is also in constant motion around the galaxy!!

The words Sura, Surya mean illumination. Swar means illuminated mental plane that is capable of existing all by itself. The word Mitra means beholder of judgement that is blemish less. Sarira means beholder of flame! That is the body! So all these expressions bring out one common theme that light is the representative of knowledge.

Story time! 

The story of Great grandson of Gyanasruti. He was a famous king and ruled his kingdom in a righteous manner and was loved by his subjects. He was very wise and knowledgeable. He had a unique capability to understand the language of the birds!

He was resting one day on the terrace of his palace. Two hamsa birds were conversing with each other and flew over his palace. They attracted his attention and he listened to their conversation intently. One bird said to the other that the king resting below is so virtuous and famous for his good deeds, and if she insults him, she would burn to ashes! The other bird replied that the king is just nothing in front of the great sage Raikvar and all the good deeds of the king are encompassed by the knowledge sage possesses! Hearing this king became restless and could not sleep well that night!

Next morning he asked his ministers and his wise men to go and search the entire kingdom and find the sage called Raikvar. Soon the king’s men fanned out in all directions in search of the sage. All his men returned in vain but one. One of his men went to a distant village and spoke of his mission. The villagers directed him to a sick old man leaning upon a hay stack near a cart and told him that they knew nothing about him except that his name was Raikvar! When he approached the old man he was taken aback. He had ulcers all over his body and tiny worms were feeding upon them. The old man patiently took the worms that fell down and put them back on him! This sight was nerve shattering to the messenger of the king and he hurried back to the kingdom to report what he saw and heard.

He met the king and explained to him every thing that had happened. The King was now all the more curious to meet him and learn the highest knowledge! That he possessed. The King immediately handed over the administration of his Kingdom to his council of ministers and readied a number of elephants and his cavalry with numerous gifts of gold and silver and silks and went with all his retinue to meet the great sage. To much of his surprise the sage when he approached did not even look up. He addressed him as a man of passion and pleasures! And asked him what he wanted. The King told him that he is the King and wanted the Knowledge of the Supreme to be imparted to him. He also narrated the story of the birds that flew over his palace! The sage smiled and told him that he is not yet fit to learn the highest knowledge and added that what ever he has to offer is equal to the worm on his body! The King asked him what should be done by him. The sage asked him to get back to his Kingdom. The King returned though determined to obtain the knowledge, he again approached the sage with cows and also his daughter to be given in marriage to the saint! This time the sage said that he was impressed with him, since he was determined to offer even his daughter who meant everything to him. Then he said that what really is to be done is to forsake every possession and come to him empty handed, devoid of his ego! Then he would begin teaching him. The king agreed and went back to his kingdom and handed over the kingdom to the council of ministers and distributed his personal wealth among the poor and needy assumed the role of a mendicant and then approached the sage!

The sage was immensely happy this time and readily accepted him as his disciple, and started the process of teaching him!

The story emphasises the sacrifices one will have to make to obtain the highest knowledge and the attitude one must possess.

The importance of Sivarathri Day!

Lord Siva is one of the principal deities of Hindu Pantheon. He is depicted in the scriptures as the one who is responsible for conduct of human life, the Lord of vegetation, the physician of all physicians, the destroyer of the universal creation during the annihilation; he is the Lord of activity as well as non activity! This two contrasting roles are depicted by his two forms namely Sri Nataraja and Sri Dakshinamoorthy. Lord Sri Nataraja represents all the principal elements that make up this universe of forms and names! They are called Pancha Bhutas. His dance represents perpetual activity that is going on in the universe! The cycle of birth and death as well as total destruction and creation that happens in a cyclic manner. He performs this dance in a totally unattached manner and has the representation of ego as an asura under his foot. His Damaru or the drum that he holds represents the physical gross form with names and the sound derivatives! His other hand holds Fire that represents the divine will power as well as aspiration in every creation that strives to rediscover the divine in creation. Just after the great deluge Lord Siva is supposed to have danced in the cosmic space that resulted in the start of a new cycle of creation as the inactivity gave birth to activity. From Sadasiva, the Siva with Sakthi emerged. This dance is worshipped during the Maha Sivarathri day!

In the other form of Lord Siva that is the form of Sri Dakshinamoorthy he represents a perfect Yogi withdrawing his senses inwards and contemplating on the Supreme Brahman. He radiates the Power of Universal truth or the Eternal Brahman, having become one with it. Great seers who sit at his foot are saints who strive to attain perfection in their knowledge of the supreme. He also keeps the asura representing the ego under his foot.

 The Japa mala that he sports in one hand depicts the cycle of creation and destruction. If one stars counting from nine, the subsequent numerals will add up to give numerals one to nine, that is numeral 18 would give 9 as the total. So the108 beads of Japa mala depict this rhythm of creation and destruction and the again creation.

 He also keeps the hand in Chin Mudra which means the pointing finger that represents human intellect always identifies itself with the world around through the play of Ahankara that is manifestation of ego or separate consciousness. When it is withdrawn from the outward progression and turned inward to contemplate on the Brahman within one’s own self that is represented by the thumb, then three planes of consciousness can be surpassed! He also holds a book that represents knowledge of supreme. The beauty of this Lord is he imparts knowledge through silence. In the next issue we shall see the significance of the churning of the ocean, Krishna’s Kaalinga nardhana or dance etc.

 See you all in the next issue.                

   

Veda gyan

Welcome to the Fourteenth Issue of Vedagyan.

 Thai month starts with a Pooja for the Sun god. Our Culture, Scriptures and Ethos hold the Sun God at an exalted position. He is referred to as Prathyaksha Brahman Which means the concept of Brahman though beyond comprehension finds itself expressed by the Sun. Vedic scriptures dedicate several chapters in praise of this God. Sun represents Knowledge, valour, Health; he is the ordainer of the active universe. There are several examples in the scriptures that highlight the role of the Sun God as the giver of the ultimate knowledge. For instance Sun god taught The Yajur Veda  to Yagyavalkya. He appeared as a white horse and taught entire Veda and it is called Sukla Yajur Veda.

 Sage Agastia taught Lord Sri Rama the Aditya Hrdayam to win the war against Ravana and this was followed by the Lord! Sama Veda has dedicated a chapter called Arunam for Surya Namaskara. Sandhyavandana mantra is a prayer to sun God and the mid day prayer in particular is fully dedicated to Him. there is a mudra by clasping both the palms and looking at the sun through fingers. They are arranged in such a manner that the direct sun light does not affect the retina! Sun God is discribed as a relentless traveller from east to west, though the Veda also states clearly that it is allegorical.

He is depicted as being driven in a charriot by Aruna the brother of celestial bird Garuda! His seven horses represent seven colors. Once Vrtrasura captured Sun God and kept him captive in a cave, who is later released by Indra after a war in which the enemy is killed! 

 Lord Rama is born in Surya Vamsa, Karna of Mahabharat is of his amsa too, Manu the first human father is born to Sun God. Two wives of Sun God are Ushas and Chaya. Yama, Saneeswara, and Yami or Yamuna are born to Chaya Devi. Sun God represents knowledge and the moon represents mind.  His twelve forms are Dhaatr, Mitra, Aryaman, Rudra, Varuna, Surya, Bhaga, Viswavan, Pusan, Savita, Twashta, and Vishnu. His other names are Amsa, Daksa, Marthanda, and Aditya being the son of Adithi! Scriptures discribe that those who die take either the path of sun or the path of moon.

 Those who take the path of Sun during Uttarayana are not born again! Many scriptures define the sun, moon and agni as the three eyes of Lord Siva, Nrsimha, sakthi and the Sudharsana the Lord of the weapon at the hands of vishnu.

Welcome to the 13^th Issue of Veda gyan.

Importance of Months in Tamil Calendar.

All of us have celebrated Karthigai festival and later the month of Margazi began with its own grand festivities. These are some of the gifts that our tradition has handed down to future generations. Let us also know more about them so that we appreciate them and look at them at proper perspective. The month of Karthigai comes after the celebrations of Deepavali of previous month. Festival of lights brings joy and prosperity to the people. The same festive mood continues but with some sobriety in the month of Karthigai. Every day lamps are lit in the evenings at the entrance gate of the house and at all doors within the house. These lamps signify presence of goddess Lakshmi in every house in Jothi swaroopa! As a culmination of a month long festival on the day of Thirukarthigai Lamps are adorned with flowers and sandal paste,kunkum and they are worshiped and food is offered to these lamps and to the deities in the pooja room. It is described in the sastras that by observing these rituals one is endowed with good health and harmony among the members of a family. Incidentally it is during this month the men folk remember their sisters who have been married into other families and send them gifts and good wishes. It is worth mentioning here that during Deepavali people pray for wealth and during a month long festival of lights in Karthigai people pray for health and harmony. This month also serves as a preparatory step for totally spiritual festivals to follow!

During the month of Margazi Lighting of lamps are done in the dawn! It has a great significance. This month is considered to be the morning for the devatas! Their calendar is different; our one month constitutes a day (morning) for them! So the month of  Margazi is considered important. Even for us the twilight hour just before the sunrise is considered very good because during this time cosmic radiation bring favourable rays of energy upon earth. Similarly the sun set time is considered equally good.

The nithya or daily karmas like sandhyavandanam are to be performed only during this time.

Persons doing Yoga and Meditation attain maximum results when they are undertaken during this time period. Since our entire attention will have to be focused on the attainment of expanded consciousness, the month of Margazi is considered good for prayers and not for any social activity. But why a stigma is attached to this month by calling it a soonya masa or empty month?

Because they wanted us to fully concentrate on God and not divert our attention. Similarly people of our village consider the neem tree to be holy and will not venture cutting it down unnecessarily. This saved the tree and an ecology disaster. Also people were advised not to sleep under the trees at night because the harbour goblins!! This prevented even the commoner to obey explicitly thereby he was prevented in getting excess of Carbon dioxide. These are thoughtful strategies adopted by our earlier societies to conveniently educate the masses about the ill effects as well as good ones. Whether a person is fully informed or not full compliance will be achieved quite easily. To day we are seeing the amount of propaganda that goes on to educate people about ill effects of AIDS! These were achieved through much simpler ways!

Life of a great spiritual personality of recent times.

Sri Ramana was born in a village near Madurai in the Year 1879 and was named Venkatraman. His family was a religious Brahmin family and he grew up between his brother and sister and like every one, went to school to pursue his modern education. Some how from the early years he was attracted by the call of the eternal and would spend long hours in silence!

He was even pulled up for performing badly in his studies by his teachers and his brother. Once he was on a trip to his uncle’s house on a holiday while he was sixteen years old. This trip transformed his life all together. When he was fast asleep he had an experience of death! He felt that slowly he is dying and his body was loosing the signs of life and becoming stiff! But to his won surprise he was observing every minute change that was taking place! At that time a thought struck him, even though his body was dying there is something that does not die and is eternal! After he woke up his out look towards the entire world had changed.

 Six weeks after this incident he went away from his family to Tiruvannamalai, the abode of Sri Arunachaleswara. He had once visited this shrine when he was younger along with his friend and was drawn to this lord. In the shrine he chose to sit inside a cave temple that was beneath the surface for over a week. But by then the insects and rodents had eaten the flesh on his thigh but he was totally unaware of all this and was immersed in deep meditation on the lord! The local children accidentally found out his presence and informed their elders. Sri Seshadri swamigal who was an accomplished ascetic living in Tiruvannamalai at that time, heard of this and immediately brought him out of the cave and nursed him. Even while he was being brought out he was still in trance!

 Sri Seshadri swamigal realised that Ramana was no ordinary person and a realised soul! After this incident Ramana used to be lost in meditation in and around temple precincts for long hours! But the visitors to the temple and children used to disturb his meditation quite often. So he chose to migrate to a cave atop the hill and was lost in meditation for years together rarely coming to earthly consciousness. But the rise of spiritual power within could not be kept a secret any more. Soon the word spread all over and people thronged to visit him. He spent most of his time in total silence. But people around him would get immediate peace and were free of all their worries. He was much sought after by people of the far off lands of the globe! Slowly his family also realised his greatness and came to him for solace! His mother was a permanent resident at his abode. Ramana took upon himself to teach her the essence of Vedanta and made her realise her true self!

One astonishing fact of this great soul is that even the member of animal kingdom felt an affinity towards him and sought his presence irrespective of their surroundings. Unusually they would behave like human beings and were lost unto themselves in his presence. They included cows, monkeys, snakes, squirrels, crows, deer and peacocks. One such famous animal was the cow named Lakshmi, by Sri Ramana that attained mukthi at his feet. Ramana shined like a sun and as an embodiment of Brahman till 1950. During the last days of his earthly presence he was afflicted by cancer on his shoulder, but his attitude towards his illness was great example for yogic achievement! He never showed any reaction to pain and was totally detached from his body consciousness and had the operation performed on his tumour without anaesthesia. During his lifetime people of all walks of life from India and abroad alike sought him after. A number of miracles have happened during his lifetime that bears testimony to his realisation.     

Story Time!

The Lord of Death pretended ignorance of the fact that Nachiketas was emphasising and told him that he was not that knowledgeable and it would be proper for Nachiketas to approach others for an answer. Nachiketas answered the Lord that he was not the one to be deceived by such diversionary tactics, and he knew very well that among all the devatas he was the right one to answer the question in its totality.

This attitude of Nachiketas gave no room for any diversion of attention and the Lord of death had to reluctantly agree to answer the question. But again he did not want it to be an easy give away! He started the answer with an elaborate offer of

Huge wealth in terms of elephants, horses, gold, and other precious metals and ornaments and most beautiful damsels! That earthlings would not have seen, offered entire world as a kingdom to rule with its accompaniment retinues of attendants the chariots etc.

These offers were made to Nachiketas if he would not persist on getting the answer to his last question. But Nachiketas was unmoved! The Lord of death continued with different sets of offers now. He said that Nachiketas would be blessed with many

Wives and off springs! He went ahead and added that he would grant him longevity and as long as Nachiketas whished he could live and rule the kingdom. To this Nachiketas replied in the most exemplary manner. He said that he knew that what ever that was offered is to perish at some point of time. So hankering for them is futile. He adds little sarcastically that Lord of Death’s offer of longevity is the very purpose. Because by the boon only he could survive and all others would perish! And surviving among new generations would be impractical. Lord of Death listening to all these were sure that Nachiketas is not the one to relent. So he finally started explaining the concept of God. He began with the process of contemplation. He went on to elaborate the fire sacrifice or Agnihotra and right from the construction of the fire altar up to the offerings to the fire was explained. Upon finishing the treatise He made sure that Nachiketas had the grasp of what has been taught, by asking him to repeat whatever was told! Nachiketas was at his best and repeated in Toto. Lord of death was immensely pleased and offered a garland of precious stones and told that the fire sacrifice will be named after Nachiketas. He later blesses Nachiketas to realise himself and get the answers to his questions!! The Upanishad ends with suspense without explaining what Nachiketas finally learnt! Perhaps we are to toil like Nachiketas to know the secret.

From the story one aspect comes clear. That is one should never leave the focus of his objectives. What ever be the diversions

That arise one should not rest until the goal is reached. One should have lot of patience till the objective is realised.

Another Upanishad called Brhadaranyaka Upanishad answers the questions of Nachiketas, which we shall see in future issues.               

Now I take leave and shall meet you in the next issue.

Welcome to the 12th issue of Vedagyan

Our Culture

Our culture and tradition is much older than our science age and it is very clear that our forefathers had adopted technologies that are far superior to ours. It is because they did not deny the role for the human mind in their approach to truths about cosmos and its physical operations.

In fact their approach was a complete one, whereas ours is fragmented. The following facts will prove the above line of argument.

You have already read in the earlier issues of this bulletin about Geometry during the Apahstamba Rishi period, the science of flying or Aeronautical Science in the early scriptures, you would have also noticed the advanced language skills that they adopted and their wealth of literature in writing many commentaries. Vyasa Bhagavan’s monumental works are classic example of this. Panini’s grammar is an exhaustive work, the epics like Ramayana and Mahabharata give us a lot of information on the warfare and weaponry. The various Sutras by the Rishis tell us about the great value based society that had existed.

Just to know how catering technology had developed during the epic era, you should go through Ramayana’s passage wherein Sri Hanuman who had come in search of Sita visits the palace of Ravana, and he enters the palace after the night has fallen. Only the previous night a grand feast had taken place! The variety and the wafting flavours that emanated from those preparations and they are described in great detail! In Valmiki Ramayana. The same epic also narrates the Pushpaka vimana the aircraft that took Rama back to Ayodhya from Lanka!

Ramayana also narrates the interesting event. Kausalya personally attended all the female members of the monkey clan and had the hairdo done by her for the occasion of Rama’s ascendancy to the throne! A fashion statement of epic era!

The technology of healthcare was at its glory, and that is being rediscovered today in the form of Yoga therapies, pranic-healing centres that have become a part of modern health care procedures! Every one of you might have heard of Charaka an incarnate of Adishesha of Vaikunta. He was a great personage whose contribution to the medical science is immense. Even today there is no parallel to this work. Plastic reconstructive surgery had been performed successfully during those times!

Story Time

To continue from where we left…

 The Brahma rakshas was eating people who happened to pass by. This went on for long time. One day Gokarna visited his native village and went about enquiring the whereabouts of his ancestral house and was shown a dilapidated house. He went around the house and felt sad deep within his heart and as he was very tired due to his long journey he felt sleepy and rested in the courtyard. Suddenly he was rudely shaken and he woke up to a shrieking sound! It was dark all around but some thing strange; dark was lurking in the dark! It was a huge beast. It advanced menacingly towards Gokarna. But Gokarna was unmoved. He cast a cool and calm look and asked the beast who he was. The beast obviously could not tolerate this indictment and changed its form into a bison and then into a wild goat. All this only amused Gokarna and he persisted with his question. He addressed the beast as an unfortunate one and asked it to come clean. Hearing this the beast assumed its original Brahmarakshas form and talked to Gokarna. He enquired why Gokarna was here. Gokarna reassured the goblin that he was here in search of his ancestral home and also to know about his lost brother. Immediately the goblin came very near to Gokarna and was sure that he was his own brother. The goblin narrated the whole story of his and pleaded with him to somehow get rid of this curse that has befallen on him. Gokarna felt very sad at the plight of his brother and promised him to find a cure. Saying so he went towards the forest in search of great seers who could give him a solution. On the way he met many sadus and seers but none of them could give him a solution. At last he came across a sage who asked Gokarna to go to Kasi and said the solution would be found there. So Gokarna rushed to Kasi and there he found many seers were discussing the outcome of bad karmas and methods to atone them and get salvation. He approached them with reverence and narrated the story of his brother. They listened to him and said that observing the vow and discipline for a fortnight and reciting the Srimad Baghavata Mahapurana for seven days and making his brother listen to the discourse would cure him of his curse and he will be rid of the goblin form!         

Gokarna went back satisfied and immediately took steps to organise the discourse as suggested by the seers.

On an auspicious day on a decorated stage duly observing all the rules and injunctions

In front of pious audience Gokarna performed the initial poojas and started his discourse. Having been told by Gokarna about the discourse, his brother Dundukari who was in the form of a goblin came to the venue and hid himself in a bamboo stalk with seven nodes! At the end of the day after listening to the discourse the first node exploded with a thud! Like this all the seven days the discourse was heard by all devotees and also by Dundukari and every day one by one the nodes exploded and the last day, from the bamboo, Dundukari emerged not with his goblin form but with brilliant princely form. There stood a celestial vehicle with attendants ready to receive him. Dundukari saluted all the pious ones gathered over there and boarded the celestial vehicle and departed to the heavens! Among the awe struck on lookers was his brother Gokarna with a satisfied look.

This story illustrates the greatness of Srimad Bhagavata Mahapurana.

Let us look at another story that is the central theme of an Upanishad called Kathopanisad.

This story emphasises several important points in the quest for the truth.

They are 1. When should the enquiry into the self or the Truth about God be started?

              2. What should be the attitude and aptitude of such an enquirer?

              3. What can be achieved by steadfast contemplation on God?

              4.What are the pitfalls that are likely surface on such a mission?

              5. Which are the aspects a sadak should avoid?

THE STORY OF NACHIKETAS……

King Vajasrava was ruler of Vedic age who had a son called Nachiketas a strict follower of Brahmacharyam or celibacy and also a well-read student of dharma and sastras. The king was known for his broad mindedness and had performed many yagnas or sacrifices and had given a lot of gifts to the needy and deserving. During one such yagna he had vowed to give away all his wealth! In the process he distributed his wealth to all the Brahmins, the poor, and the needy. While he was at it he gave a cow that was old, barren, ill fed and obviously the Brahman could not get any benefit out of it and also not maintain it.

Nachiketas was observing this and got disturbed and went up to his father and asked him that act of his is not in tune with the dharmasastra and explained that instead of giving the benefit his act will result in loosing the benefit of yagna. This act of his infuriated the king and immediately king asked Nachiketas what else could be offered? Pat came the reply from Nachiketas that the King could offer Nachiketas if so desired. This reply in front of every one further angered the king who said that he wishes to make the offering to the lord of Death. Nachiketas readily agreed. He instantly walked in space towards the abode of Lord of Death. When he reached the destination, it so happened that Yamadharma the Lord of Death had gone away from his abode! So Nachiketas had to wait at the gate for three days to meet the Lord of Death. At last when he arrived on the third day he was surprised as well as worried to see a Brahman at his gate. Enquiries revealed that he had been staying there for three days and had gone without food. According to sastras a Brahmachari who arrives at ones doorstep should be treated as an Athiti(Guest) and should be offered food and shelter before even the household partake food. If an Athiti goes hungry, untold miseries will descend upon the host! Lord of Death feared that he would loose his exalted position due to this mistake, as he was the foremost upholder of Dharma.

Yamadharmaraja addressed Nachiketas and explained that first of all he was not to have come to his abode, as Nachiketas has good longevity. Later he added that having come he has not received the due honours. He also said that Nachiketas would have to eventually return to earth. As an atonement of this sin Yamadharmaraja offered three boons to Nachiketas, and asked him that whatever he wished would be granted. To this Nachiketas thoughtfully replied that by first boon he would request the lord of death to make his father forget the animosity against him and also not have memories of himself coming here. Lord of Death felt happy and immediately granted this boon. Second boon was redeemed by requesting the Lord of Death to absolve the King Vajasravas of the sin he had acquired by offering an inappropriate gift to the Brahman. But the third and final boon came as jolt to the Lord of Death. Nachiketas asked the Lord a very difficult question about the concept of death and its aftermath! He asked what happens to people after they die? Sastras say that they take two different routes on of sun and the other of moon. Where do they go? And Nachiketas wanted the concept of rebirth explained to him. This question of Nachiketas really rattled the Lord of Death and he decided to divert Nachiketas from the topic and started talking to him.    

Did he succeed ?  Let us see in the next issue.

Answers to the Quiz shall appear in the next issue.

 Veda gyan

Welcome to the 11^th Issue of Vedagyan.

MANTRA

In this issue let us understand more about the Mantras and stotras.

What is a Mantra?

Literally it means to approach through the mind.

 Mantras are specifically composed verses that are made of selected words with specific phonetic qualities. This means that these Mantras are closely linked to the time intervals that are called “Matras”. The words cannot either be pronounced long or short. They have to follow the set pattern. Each Mantra has a Devata .

They are made in specific Chandas or syllables and are recited in the proper swara and sruti and laya. The recitation of a Mantra requires certain amount of discipline on the part of the person and requires him to concentrate on the mantra and its Devata. They cannot sing these aloud but have to recite at a low tone. There is a preparation procedure to start recitation. This is called Anga Nyasa and Kara Nyasa (Invoking the right attitude and aptitude in our organs of perception

Like head, shoulders, hands, heart, legs etc). Then one must do “Dikbhandana”(Warding off negative influences from the four directions) that ensures trouble free, distraction free recitation. Then they define the eye or seed or the central point, where the focus of attention has to be. The next part of the process is called Keelakam. In the olden days when the locks for the doors were not in vogue, the practice is to place wooden bars across the doors and secure them. During wars elephants were employed to break open these doors by hammering heavy logs against doors! These logs that hammer is the Keelakam, they help in opening the closed door. Similarly every Mantra has a Keelakam (A particular word), the repetition of which will act like a log that breaks opens the door and allow the benefit from the Devata, to flow towards the person who is praying.

When the Mantra is recited in the above manner, in the mathematical precision, the benefits flow to the individual. As the “sankalpa” usually done before the start of recitation, defined the purpose, so the person accomplishes his objective.

You may liken the Mantra recital to a well-written computer programme that is executed through the proper medium. Any mistake any where would render the Mantra useless at the same time yield negative results too!

Once upon a time a King wanted to propitiate Lord Brahma and through that obtain a son to kill Indra! He was so meticulous in his plan and took at most care to execute his plan. But at the end it so happened that he himself had to pronounce the words, “Give me a son to Kill Indra” instead he ended up making a mistake in his pronunciation by changed intonation that meant, “Give me a son to be killed by Indra”! He promptly got what he prayed for too. 

Stotra on the other hand is not so complicated in its execution but will help the person reciting it to get his mind tuned to the objective easily. It develops the Bakthi (An attitude of mind to align effortlessly on the GOD). Normally the Stotras are coupled with prayers for granting generic benefits on the whole society!

Story Time

Atmarupa was a Brahmin who lived in a village near a forest on the banks of a holy river. He was a pious person and his wife was a greedy and short-tempered women. She always wanted more and more wealth and had no inclination to help even the poorest of the poor. These two had no issues and this worried Atmarupa. One day he went into the forest quite dejected.

He came across a sage who was a yogi. Atmarupa knew that he was the person who could satisfy his wish.

He approached him with reverence and pleaded to bless him with a child. The sage took pity on him and explained to him that in this birth he is not destined to have a child and only in the next birth he would have a child. But he was so obsessed he almost pestered the sage to accede to his request. The sage finally relented and gave him a mango and asked him to give it to his wife who would bear a devote child for him!

 He made pranams and happily left the forest and reached his home. He narrated the events to his wife and gave her the fruit and wanted her to eat it. She was a selfish woman and lazy too. She did not want to have a child and go through all the physical strain! Instead, she made a plan to deceive her husband and also be free of trouble. She spoke to her sister who was pregnant and told her that she would take her child at the time of its birth and tell the husband that she had given birth to the child and till then pretend to be carrying! Since her sister was poor she readily agreed to this proposal and the mango fruit was to be given to some one. Both of them pondered over the issue and decided that the fruit shall be given to the cow in the house of Atmarupa!

 They started to implement their plan. Months passed and one day the child was born to the sister of Atmarupa’s wife and promptly the child was brought to his house and she announced that she had delivered the baby boy! Atmarupa’s joy knew no bounds. He immediately announced the good news to the entire village and arranged for a grand feast and gave away lot of gifts to the poor and needy! Though these acts of his annoyed her but she could not resist him.

In the due course Atmarupa performed the Upanayana to the child and also sent him to school. Days passed and another miracle happened in his house, the cow also delivered a baby boy! But his ears were like that of a cow! The entire village turned to look at this unique child and counselled Atmarupa to retain this child as God’s gift and bring him up too! Atmarupa accepted their advice and brought up that child also.

The child was named Gokarna and was initiated through upanayana and made to learn the Sastras and Vedas. Soon he became a very brilliant child with profound knowledge where as the other child had fallen into bad ways and did not continue his studies and took to robbery and acquired all the vices. Atmarupa felt bad and tried in all possible ways to prevent his son from going astray, but he could not succeed.

Atmarupa sent Gokarna to a nearby town to learn higher knowledge. Due to advancing age he could not earn as he used to and his son did not care to do anything responsible. Atmarupa’s wife became restive and started pestering her husband for more money and finally both her son and herself joined together and drove Atmarupa away to the forest since he was no more useful to them.

Though humiliated much Atmarupa, felt relieved and retired into the forest and led a life of a mendicant and died. But unfortunately her son did also not spare Atmarupa’s wife!  His need for money grew as his bad ways and he started selling off all the wealth that his father had left behind and soon became poor. But his girl friends kept on asking him for more money. In order to satisfy them he intensified his robberies and extortion and committed a lot of crimes! How long this could go on? He soon got tired and was unable to bring the money they demanded. In the meanwhile he had driven out his mother stripping her of her frugal belongings. She begged in the village, grew old and sick and finally died!

One day the son returned to his friend’s house without any money, which angered her and her friends, and they decided to get rid of him once and for all. When he felt thirsty and asked for some water to drink they tied him up and poured molten metal into his mouth. Writhing in pain he died a miserable death. He soon turned into a Brahmarakshas (Goblin).

What he did do as a goblin? And what happened to Gokarna? To know, wait till the next issue reaches you! 

              

Veda gyan

Welcome to the 10^th Issue of Veda Gyan.

In this issue let us start learning about certain methods of reciting Veda that helped the students remember the renderings as well as the words without the help of written communication.

There are eight ways of reciting Vedas especially Rig, Yajur, Vedas. They are 1.Jatha 2.Mala 3. Sikha 4. Rekha   5.Dwaja 6.Danda 7.Ratha and 8.Ghana.

Let us have an idea of how the Ghana recital would sound like for example:

Verses containing two halves or four quarters will be as follows, if for instance the first half contains six words,we shall take them to be A, B, C, D, E, F.

Now the repetition would be as below in Ghana.

1. AB, BA,  AB, C; CBA! ABC!!
2. BC, CB,  BC,  D; DCB! BCD!!
3. CD, DC,  CD, E;  EDC! CDE!!
4. DE, ED,   DE, F;  FED! DEF!!

EF, FE,    EF! F iti  F!! (This last line gives the meaning for the word used) By reciting in this manner they were able to make the students remember the verse, its octaves, tone, the set music as well as meaning!

In the last few issues we learnt about the lives of many saints and we will continue the story of Sri Ramanuja in this issue also.

Ramanuja wrote many books like Vedanta Deepam, Saranagati Gadyam, Vaikunda Gadyam, Sriranga Gadyam, and Nityam detailing the Tiru Aradhana Kramam a method of performing Pooja to Lord at temples or homes.

Most famous work of Sri Ramanuja is the Bashya or Commentary for Brahma Sutra of Vyasa. He went to Kashmir and presented this work before Goddess Saraswati. She appeared in person and accorded her approval and also called his work as SRI BASHYAM. And also called him Bashyakarar!

Story Time!

During those days the Muslim kings used to invade and attack the Hindu temples!

On one such occasion the sultan of Delhi entered the temple at Melkot Karnataka. Along with the king, his daughter also came to the shrine. When she saw the Utsava idol of Tirunarayana she simply fell in love with him. She was so infatuated she refused to go back to Delhi! Finally the King took the idol along with him. She kept the idol at her private quarters and treated Him as her lover!

For a long time the temple went without the idol and when Sri Ramanuja was told about this he decided to go to Delhi risking his life!

He went to the Sultan and enquired about the idol, initially he was reluctant later he agreed and allowed Sri Ramanuja to go to his private quarters of his daughter. The King also explained to him the predicament he is placed in because of his daughter’s love towards the Lord! Ramanuja realised that her bhakti must be unparalled and went to her quarters to check. She was totally lost in the adoration of the Lord! He waited for a while and as she noticed his presence explained that the idol should be returned to the temple and the King had agreed to do so, on her giving the required consent. She said to every one’s surprise that she would marry on the Lord and none else! Hearing this Sri Ramanuja addressed the Lord as Chellappillai and requested him to come along with him to Tirunarayanapuram.

Immediately the idol came and sat on the lap of Sri Ramanuja! Every one present heard the divine command that he would full fill the desire of the princess and would marry her at the temple! King was also dumb struck and finally agreed to this. He sent his daughter along with Sri Ramanuja as he would send a daughter for the marriage! with a retinue of his trusted officers to escort.

On reaching the temple along with the idol and the princess, she walked into the sanctum sanctorum in her bridal attire and disappeared!

This version of the story is told at the temple and you could see a shrine dedicated to the Muslim princess, even today the deity of Lord is offered Roti and Butter as his dinner!

Sri Ramanuja breathed his last, amidst his disciples in the year 1137 AD, at a ripe age 120 years, listening to the Nalaira Divya Prabhanda recitation!       

The life history of the famous music trinity!

Tiruvarur in Tanjore district of Tamil Nadu is the place that gave the music world of South India the three gems known as the Trinity.

They are Syama Sastrigal, Saint Thyagaraja, and Muthuswamy Dikshitar. Their krtis set the tone and tenor of Bakthi movement in South India after the Alwars and Nayanmars.

 First among them is Syama Sastrigal.

Syama Sastrigal was born in 1762 AD. He was adept in Telugu and Sanskrit. At the young age of 18 he moved to Tanjore from Tiruvarur and started learning music from his uncle,Sangeetha Swami and Pachimiriam Adaiappar.All of them taught all intricacies of music. He was a great devotee of Bangaru Kamakshi Amman. By the grace of the Goddess he became an expert composer. He sang nine kritis on Meenakshi of Madurai, which were so good, and the temple authorities received him with great honours. These were known Navaratnamalika. He attained eternal bliss in 1827 at the age of 65.

Next is the Saint Thyagaraja.

 He was born to Ramabrahmam and Sitamma in the year 1767. He was trained in traditional music by Sonti Venkataramanayya.His won grand father Giriraja Kavi was a great poet of Sanskrit. He was married and soon after he lost his wife and he remarried Kamalamba in 1790.

His music was not a pass time but an Upasana. His ishta devatha was Rama whom he adored. Once Thyagaraja sang before a group of musicians and on hearing his

Kriti in Kamboji, King Serfoji of Tanjore wanted him to come to his court and sing and also expressed his desire to honour the saint.

Sri Thyagaraja declined his invitation and said that the honours and the wealth that the king could offer are not important to him and singing in praise of his Lord was his only honour! The King realised his mistake and came down to meet the saint personally. The King who was suffering from an acute pain in the abdomen was cured of his ailment.

In 1805 Saint Thyagaraja had a great misfortune of his ishta devata Sri Rama’s idol being thrown into the river Kaveri by his own brother due to a family quarrel!

After about three months he got back the idol having been directed by the Lord to search in particular spot in Kaveri. During this period the saint sang a number of songs expressing sorrow at the loss of the idol.

It was the practice of the saint to go for alms every day around the streets of Tanjore. During one such trip a sage called Haridas appeared and directed the saint to recite the name of Sri Rama 96 crore times! Thyagaraja carried out the sage’s instructions. On the last day he heard the knock at his door while he was doing his pooja and when he opened, to his surprise he found Lord Sri Rama, Sita, Lakshmana, and Hanuman standing at the door. They all went straight to his pooja room. There they gave the darshan of Pattabishekam to the saint. The saint sang the krti “Balakanakamaya” in Atana.

When Saint Tyagaraja visited Tirupati the temple was closed and the saint felt sad that he could not have darshan immediately and started singing in praise of the Lord and all the temple priests assembled around him listening to his songs! To every one’s surprise the temple door opened and the screen fell down and the saint had the darshan instantly. He sang “Venkatesa ninu sevimpa” and all the temple honours were bestowed on him!

His 690 krtis in 160 ragas are available today. He took sanyasa in 1847 and the very next day he passed away in the presence of all his disciples at the age of 80!

The third in the line is Sri Muthuswami Dheeshita

He was born in 1766 to Ramaswamy  Dheekshita and Subbulakshmi ammal. He acquired expertise both in music and Sanskrit at his very early age! At the request of Manali Muthukrishna Mudahar the family migrated to Manali along with the three sons and the daughter Balambal. At Manali Chidambaranatha Yogi of Varanasi met the family of Sri Muthuswamy Dheeshitar and took him to Kasi along with him as a student! During the 5 years of stay there he also learnt Hindustani music, and after the passing away of his Guru he returned back. According to the wish of the Yogi, Sri Muthuswamy went to worship Lord Muruga at Tiruttani and the Lord appeared before him and asked him to open his mouth and offered a sweet! From that moment the music that he composed was of celestial nature!

Sri Dheeshitar had undertaken a journey to Ettayapuram from Tiruvarur and on his way he found the entire country dry without rain, he sang a song in the raga Amrtavarshini and prayed to the Lord for rain. Immediately it rained so well the draught vanished in no time!

His famous compositions were 1.Pancha Bhootah stala keerthanas (The five shrines of Lord Shiva representing the five forces of nature namely Earth, Water, Fire, Air, and Ether) 2.Navagraha krtis 3. Sri Abayamba Navavarana krtis (The goddess of Mailaduthurai temple) 4. Shodasa Ganapati Krtis (16 krtis)

5. Vibakti Krtis ( 8 krtis one in each vibakti of Sanskrit grammar)

His last composition was on Goddess Meenakshi and he reached the abode of Lord in 1835.

Titbits

Do you know who are the 18 Siddhas?

1.Agastiar

2.Tirumoolar

3.Sivavakkiar

4.Pattinathar

5.Badragiriyar

6.Pambatti Siddhar

7.Idaikattu Siddhar

8.Agappai Siddhar

9.Khudambai Siddhar

10.Azugunni Siddhar

11.Kongana Siddhar

12.Kaduveli Siddhar

13.Karuvoorar

14.Chattaimuni

15.Romanathar

16.Nandeesar

17.Ramadevar and

18. Khakapusundar.

The Siddhas are saints with great powers of tapas and they were known to perform many miracles and cure ailments and also sing a number of songs, which give hidden meaning to those who concentrate on them. They were endowed with powers like becoming as light as cotton, as heavy as a rock, appearing in two different places at the same time, going to places that are thousands of miles away instantly, becoming invisible, materialising objects from thin air and getting into the dead body of another person etc! some of them are supposed to live even today in the dense forests and mountain ranges! 

Bye now and meet you in the next issue!