The dilapidating treasure

I was born and brought up in Gujarat, India. I take pride in saying that. My parents belong to Assam, India, and they have given me (like every parent) the tradition and culture of the place they belong to. I take pride in saying that too. The culture of Gujarat has (obviously) had a much more profound effect on my behavior than the culture of Assam. The culture of Assam is rich and bountiful and yet I am thankful that I was born and brought up in Gujarat. My wife would actually kill me if she saw this so I better be very clear about what I am saying.

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It is that time of the year…!

It is that time of the year when I quit smoking, drinking and everything that i love quite dearly, even such a thing as eating non-vegetarian food. It is that time of the year when I give up on all my materialistic attachments and get a grip over life. Trying to clear the fog and make sure I am walking the right path. It is that time of the year… like Lent for Christians and Ramadan for Muslims… It is that time of the year when I test my spirit… let go off all bonds of temptations…

It is that time of then year, when, basically sudden lack of nicotine in my blood makes me post a blog post… such as this…

“Nicotine doesn't stick around your body for too long. It has a half-life of about 60 minutes, meaning that six hours after a cigarette, only about 0.031 mg of the 1 mg of nicotine you inhaled remains in your body.

How does your body get rid of nicotine? Here's the process:

• About 80 percent of nicotine is broken down to cotinine by enzymes in your liver.

• Nicotine is also metabolized in your lungs to cotinine and nicotine oxide.

• Cotinine and other metabolites are excreted in your urine. Cotinine has a 24-hour half-life, so you can test whether or not someone has been smoking in the past day or two by screening his or her urine for cotinine.

• The remaining nicotine is filtered from the blood by your kidneys and excreted in the urine.

Different people metabolize nicotine at different rates. Some people even have a genetic defect in the enzymes in their liver that break down nicotine, whereby the mutant enzyme is much less effective at metabolizing nicotine than the normal variant. If a person has this gene, their blood and brain nicotine levels stay higher for longer after smoking a cigarette. Normally, people keep smoking cigarettes throughout the day to maintain a steady level of nicotine in their bodies. Smokers with this gene usually end up smoking many fewer cigarettes, because they don't constantly need more nicotine.”

“As nicotine enters the body, it is distributed quickly through the bloodstream and can cross the blood-brain barrier. On average it takes about seven seconds for the substance to reach the brain when inhaled. The half life of nicotine in the body is around two hours.”

“Nicotine acts on the nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, specifically the ganglion type nicotinic receptor and one CNS nicotinic receptor. The former is present in the adrenal medulla and elsewhere, while the latter is present in the central nervous system (CNS). In small concentrations, nicotine increases the activity of these receptors. Nicotine also has effects on a variety of other neurotransmitters through less direct mechanisms.”

“Nicotine increases the level of other neurotransmitters and chemicals that modulate how your brain works. For example, your brain makes more endorphins in response to nicotine. Endorphins are small proteins that are often called the body's natural pain killer. It turns out that the chemical structure of endorphins is very similar to that of heavy-duty synthetic painkillers like morphine. Endorphins can lead to feelings of euphoria also. If you're familiar with the runner's high that kicks in during a rigorous race, you've experienced the "endorphin rush." This outpouring of chemicals gives you a mental edge to finish the race while temporarily masking the nagging pains you might otherwise feel.”

“When a cigarette is smoked, nicotine-rich blood passes from the lungs to the brain within seven seconds and immediately stimulates the release of many chemical messengers including acetylcholine, norepinephrine, epinephrine, vasopressin, arginine, dopamine, autocrine agents, and beta-endorphin. This release of neurotransmitters and hormones is responsible for most of nicotine's effects. Nicotine appears to enhance concentration and memory due to the increase of acetylcholine. It also appears to enhance alertness due to the increases of acetylcholine and norepinephrine. Arousal is increased by the increase of norepinephrine. Pain is reduced by the increases of acetylcholine and beta-endorphin. Anxiety is reduced by the increase of beta-endorphin. Nicotine also extends the duration of positive effects of dopamine and increases sensitivity in brain reward systems. Most cigarettes (in the smoke inhaled) contain 0.1 to 2.8 milligrams of nicotine.”

“Technically, nicotine is not significantly addictive, as nicotine administered alone does not produce significant reinforcing properties. However, only after coadministration with an MAOI, such as those found in tobacco, nicotine produces significant behavioral sensitization, a measure of addiction potential. This is similar in effect to amphetamine.”

“What happens when smokers abruptly stop using nicotine? While you're using nicotine-containing products, your body adapts the way it works to compensate for the effects of the nicotine. For example, neurons in your brain might increase or decrease the number of receptors or the amount of different neurotransmitters affected by the presence of nicotine. When you no longer have nicotine in your body, these physiological adaptations for nicotine remain. The net result is that your body can't function the same way in the absence of the drug as it did before, at least in the short term. People trying to quit nicotine experience this as:

• Irritability
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Craving for nicotine

Over a period of about a month, these symptoms and the physiological changes subside. But for many smokers, even a day without nicotine is excruciating. Every year, millions of people try to break the nicotine habit; only 10 percent of them succeed. Most people throw in the towel after less than a week of trying, because the way that nicotine rewires the reward system in the brain makes nicotine's pull irresistible.”

Understanding the mis(s) interpreted Ramayana

This Post is a response to the one my dear wife wrote about Ramayan after our discussions and debates over it. Hence I am also partially responsible for her outrage and had to write this to clear the cobwebs………….

Hmm… I see a lot of Anti male chauvinism and anger here… Point to be noted here. Isn’t fighting against male chauvinism called female chauvinism? Isn’t that sexual discrimination too? Well all I am saying is, if you want to do something, do it softly, mildly. The best way is to ask neutral questions without really getting so emotional about it.

Although the original post has come out only after discussing with me, still I am against it, because it portrays such strong emotions.

Ok let me, humbly try to dissect the original post and make an attempt to explain this. Later I will dissect the comments posted here too.

Let’s see.

Swayamwar Muckup: Firstly It was not King Janak’s clause. It was only a test of strength and determination. A convenient way to find the strongest and the most determined. But as we all know the final decision lies with the princess. There is a reason why they call it the swayamvar and not a pratiyogita. “Swayam” meaning self and “var” meaning husband. The princess chooses the husband herself. In our case the princess happened to be the avatar of Shri MahaLakshmi ji, who in all her divinity knew who Shri Ram really was. And as far as breaking the bow goes, the bow was too old and unstrunged for too long. Perhaps it couldn’t withstand the pressure of being strung.

Banwaas muckup: I am not a chauvinist. At least I feel I am not. But one must understand that a man has responsibilities besides his wife. He didn’t insist on Sita to come with him. In fact he requested her not to. Secondly going to the forest was his father’s order and the royal order too. He was bound by his responsibilities towards his father and the king. But one must also understand that at times it is difficult to understand the ways of God. “Leela” as we call it, it was a part of a master plan. Ram not only went to get his wife back, but destroyed a lot of demons and monsters on the way. Ram, Sita and Ravan were only the major players. The true purpose was to arrive at a balance of good and evil. Of course this could have been done in a much better manner. Sita didn’t have to get abducted. But again it could be a way to exemplify that even the Gods are at times bound to the happenings of fate, once they take human form.

Prove that you didn’t sleep with Ravan: Agni is not a negative thing. Although the way we know fire (in the modern world), it is supposed to have only one characteristic, to burn things. But Agni, as portrayed in our culture, has many forms with many qualities. There is an “Agnihotra” ritual that actually invokes the healing properties of fire. Even hunger is a form of Agni known as “Jatharagni”. We at times do not interpret things the way it was originally intended. We should also consider the Agni Pariksha a means to cleanse someone who has spent an entire year with demons and monsters.

Bali was a monkey. An animal, creating havoc over the forests, because of his uncontrollable rage against his brother. What do we do when a lion or a tiger starts killing men and cattle alike and destroying too many lives. We hunt it down. We don’t battle him man to man, because it is not a man we are fighting with. it is a monster. Rama was a Kshatriya. He was born to destroy evil. He didn’t even have to take human form to destroy evil he could have just moved his finger lying on the lap of Shesha naga in the ocean of milk and all evil would have destroyed. But he chose this manifestation and he played by the rules.

Exile Part II: it is not really just a washerman (not a fisherman) shouting. Rather it was the general respect of the populace that Sita was losing. Although it was a monarchial system of governance, Rama was very democratic. He bowed down in front of the general opinion of the populace and had to let Sita go. Now he could have walked away with her into the forest and he didn’t. There could have been a hundred reasons. He was the reign king of Ayodhya, the people could have objected, of letting him go to the forest. What one must understand is that this Mahakavya has been written twice by 2 very wise men. Valmiki and Tulsidas. I cannot believe that they would originally intend Rama to be selfish and a Chauvinist. Also this again was a part of the master plan. Lava and Kusha were destined to be born at the Ashram of Valmiki and get proper training from him.

Later Sita took solace with mother earth. Her purpose of her manifestation was complete. Immediately after Sita left, after crowning Lava and Kusha as princes, Rama also takes Samadhi and returns to his celestial form as Vishnu. Doesn’t appear that bad when you look at the larger picture does it?

About the Comments:

Swayamwar: This is not in any way a ceremony to disrespect women or consider them to be a commodity. This is a ceremony to give voice to the bride and let her choose her groom. I do not see how we can disrespect womanhood through swayamwar even if we intended to, real hard.

Ashwamedha Yagya: This yagya is not a representation of Violence and wars. If someone might have misunderstood the true intent of Ashwamedha, let me clear it out. When you run a large kingdom, there are always rebels who want their own territory. The reason could be anything starting from not wanting to pay taxes to having their own kingdom. Again there are neighboring kingdoms that want to snatch a part of yours. Greed has no bounds. Ashwamedha Yagya was a peaceful way of ensuring stability. A horse and a small platoon goes around. Whoever catches the horse has a battle with the reigning king. It is not a full-fledged war. Nobody gets killed and peace is ascertained.

Godhead: we did not elevate a normal human being to godhead. We created a perfect human being (fiction) to create an example. Every Avatar of Narayan creates an example. This one perhaps creates an example of sacrifice and responsibility. But we didn’t look at it like that, now did we?

How to treat women: do we not have enough examples of how to treat women in Sanatan Dharma? I think we are the only culture (or one of the very few) in the world who have goddesses with equal and sometimes more power than the Gods themselves.

Exploiting the Vanar community: forgive me but I had to laugh at this one. Are you saying that Rama had to exploit the Vanar community to wage a war against Ravana? I just think we should think what we are thinking before we even think about thinking it. That’s all I want to say :)

I might not have answered all the questions, but again the idea should be to ask questions and gather wisdom before we really start pointing fingers. Isn’t that conventional wisdom?

You are a Juggler...

You are a juggler... Say you have unlimited supply of balls to juggle with... But you decide how many balls to juggle with... But you can't pick up balls while you are juggling... So say there is a man standing near you who at random throws balls at you which you may or may not decide to catch, while you are juggling with whatever you already have.

Let's start with one ball. How long would one ball juggling keep you interested. So you catch another one thrown at you. Let's say you are pragmatic enough to not catch a third ball until you are proficient with the 2 balls you are already juggling. Now let's say the man decides when to throw a ball at you. He is the decision maker and not you. So he might not throw a ball at you for a long time even after you have become proficient with the no. of balls you are already juggling with.

Or he may throw a ball of a different size or color that you may or may not like. So every ball thrown at you is an opportunity. You may like it and you may not. But you hardly have a split second to decide.

Of course you may decide to throw away one of the balls you are juggling with if you don't like it too much. And of course some of the balls are high priority that you must juggle with eternally. And of course you can't catch too many balls at a time or you drop the high priority balls too.

There is a trade off here. You get exceedingly proficient with the existing no. of balls as time passes. There is always a learning curve if you take up a new ball so the juggling proficiency goes down by a magnitude or two (depending on the size and color of the ball) every time you take up a new ball.

Let's call these balls your responsibilities. Let's call the man that throws balls at you fate. Let's call juggling "LIFE". The high priority balls are family and profession. The lower priority balls are things that you are passionate about. And the rest of the balls are what keep the zing in your life.

Like marriage. Every time the marriage ball is thrown at you, you decide to catch or not to catch in a split second based on your existing proficiency with the balls you are already juggling with, and your priorities. This ball is crucial because Mr. Fate may not throw another one at you for a long long time. Boy ain't life complicated...?

I have probably caught too many balls at this time. I am having some serious troubles juggling with family, profession, investments, health, guitar, Boomer (My new pet, a 40 days old cream Labrador), music, gadgets. And I am looking at picking up a couple of more balls to juggle with like marriage, learning sanskrit as a language, Tango and Salsa Lessons.

Am I Superman or what...!!!

Om Namaha

In sanskrit there are root words for every word. like vriksh is the root word for tree. Now there are many forms if this root word like Vrikshaha or Vriksham or Vrikshe or Vrikshabham. But the root word remains the same. Every form denotes its grammatical meaning like its singularity / duality / plurality or its male of female or whether it is an object or a predicate. But it is the root word from which all of its grammatical forms are derived.

Perhaps Om is the root word of all words. "Om" is said to have been the first word that Shiva uttered after his creation by "Mahakal" or time. In Vedic Mythology, Time is considered to be the creator even of the creators and the destroyer even of the destroyers. So it is "Om" from which sprung up the entire universe and everything that manifests of can manifest. Even the possibilities of a manifestation sprung up from Om.

It is a little difficult to describe a sanskrit word because even though it is just a word it means a lot more than an English word. For example the word "Namaha" in Sanskrit, means:

1. Humility
2. Respect
3. Admiration
4. Wonder
5. Reverence
6. Simplicity
7. Prayer
8. Homage

Krishna and Rukmini

Neela wasn't convinced of the importance of Rukmini. She says, that Radha Rani was the prime consort of Krishna and Rukmini does not have the importance that she deserves. So to pacify her, this post.

The Principal Queen and closest wife of Krishna, Rukmini, was the Daughter of King Bhismaka of Kundil, Upper Assam. Bhismaka was a political ally of the King Jarasandha of Magadha. He had two children. Rukmi (the son) and Rukmini (the daughter). Rukmi wanted Rukmini to marry Shishupala, another ally of Jarasandha. Rukmi was against the marriage of Krishna and Rukmini because Krishna had slayed the Evil King Kamsa who was a friend of Rukmi.

Rukmini was in love with Krishna for his qualities, courage and divine presence. And Krishna also fell in love with Rukmini, for she was considered the most virtuous women of all times.

Balarama battled with Jarasandha while Krishna duelled with Rukmi. Krishna was inevitably victorious and so brought Rukmini to Dwarka and married her with great pomp and ceremony.

Rukmini is a representation of silent devotion. Her devotion to Krishna is expressed in the Tulabharam incident. Satyabhama in her pride once takes a vrata when she has to give away Krishna to Narada and then buy him back by giving away gold and jewellery of the weight of Krishna. After mobilizing all the money that she can when she is not able to do so, Narada advices her to gulp her ego and ask for help from Rukmini.

Rukmini removes all the wealth from the weighing scale and just puts one leaf of Tulsi with all her devotion. The leaf weighs much more than lord Krishna. This signifies how a single leaf of devotion can weigh more than the Krishna himself, who carries on his shoulders the weight of all the three lokas.

Rukmini was Lakshmi Incarnate. As Vishnu is Vishnu's Shakti, Rukmini is Krishna's strength and driving force. Though Krishna is matter, or existence itself, it means nothing without the moving force (Rukmini) that puts everything into action.

Krishna and Radha

Govinda-Mohini: The one who mystifies Govinda

Govinda-Nandini: The one who gives pleasure to Govinda

Govinda-Sarvasva: The one who is all in all for Govinda

Shiromani Sarva-Kanta: The crown jewel of all Krishna's Consorts

Radhika: Her worship of krishna consists of fulfilling his desires

Aradhana: The root name of Radharani, meaning one who excels in worshipping Krishna

Damodara rati: She who dresses up to please Krishna

Every aspect of Krishna's life is a lesson. his persona tells us about human life and how it should be. There is no incident in his life that is there for no reason. Then we wonder what the significance of Radha is. What is it that Radha and Krishna relationship tells us. As Neela asks me. Why do we celebrate a love that does not culminate in a marriage. Radha rani was separated from Krishna When Krishna left for Mathura. They never looked back at each other and led a life of Karma. Radha was married to Chandrasena and Krishna later married to Rukmini, Tulsi and Satyabhama (formerly known as Jambuvanti - the daughter of Jambuvant, the bear). But if you study the scriptures, there is a lot of importance given to the relationship between Krishna and Radha.

She is called the primeval internal potency of the Lord Krishna in Brihad Gautamiya Tantra, Padma purana and Vidagdha-madhava. The Bhaktivedanta calls her the source of all spiritual inspiration.

There could be a number of interpretations of the relationship, but what I like to believe is the beauty of being momentary. Like the dew drop on a leaf. While it lasts, it is the most beautiful thing that you can see. But it lasts only for a few moments. Then it falls off the leaf and never sees it again.

But imagine if it would have been eternal, would it be so beautiful? We celebrate the momentary beauty of the love between Krishna and Radha and sheer fact that it was not meant to last a moment longer. No questions asked, no justifications expected nor given.

It is made eternal by bringing an end to it when the time is right.

Vaimanika Shastra and Futuristic Technology 5000 years back...!

I have started learning Sanskrit. It is a training course run by Sanskrit Bharati in the Microsoft Campus itself. This training got started yesterday. The HoD of Hyderabad University, Sanskrit Section had come to inaugurate the session. She was talking about how and why sanskrit is necessary.

She talked about what kind of profound knowledge our Vedic Shastras have and how that knowledge can be used. 2000 years back, in one of our shastras, there was the decimal to binary conversion algorithm. And it was recursive in nature. she actually showed us the sutra that described the algorithm. She then broke it down to every word and explained how it converts decimal to binary. Most amusingly, this sutra was just 4 words. So this sutra explained the decimal to binary conversion algorithm in just 4 words.

She also mentioned that Panini had written the entire grammar in 8 chapters which is called the Ashtadhyaya. And in it he had used concepts like Abstraction and Inheritance. Common properties should be taken to the base and should apply by default if specific properties are not provided.

There are other shastras like the Vaimanika Shastra which is a text about aeronautics and discusses the construction of vimanas, or the chariots of the gods, mythical self moving aerial cars. It covers the following things:

1. The secret science constructing aircrafts which will not catch fire and indestructible by normal means
2. The secret of making aircrafts motionless
3. The secret of 100% stealth aircrafts
4. The secret of espionage using remote hearing
5. The secret of espoinage using remote viewing
6. The secret of radar technology for viewing remote enemy planes
7. The secret of making enemies un-concious
8. The secret of destroying enemy planes

The propulsion of the vimanas is used by a "mercury vortex engine" apparently a concept similar to electric propulsion. The evidence of the mercury vortex engine can be found in the "Samarangana Sutradhar" The 11th Century treatise on architecture.

The questions that come to our mind is that if we had such technology and such science, which is still science fiction to us with all our modern science in action, where did all this vanish? Now there are a no. of theories for which we have no particular evidence, and I will propose these theories in my upcoming posts. But According to Professor Uma, the problem that we are facing these days is that the Sanskrit Pundits that we have do not understand modern science and physics. And the modern day intellectuals do not understand Sanskrit.

Hence we should try to learn Sanskrit and study these shastras as much as possible. revive them. And who knows the world might see a completely new face of Science. Which is perhaps way ahead of what we have today.

Describing MahaTripuraSundari...

This is an extract from a podcast I listen to regularly, Called Vedic Mythology, Music and Mantras.

In the Lalita SahasraNaam, She is described thus...

The young wife, passionately fond of her husband. She is a mother who takes care of her children, She is forever young, rosy in the morning sun, and the jewels she wears rival the stars in their splendor.

Her breath has the perfume of camphor, her voice is sweeter even than the Veena of Saraswati, and she has the fragrance of Sandalwood.

She is passionately fond of flowers and constantly wears them in her hair, she shines like the rose but is fonder of the flowers of the spirit.

She is the home of all the arts. She is the priceless pearl hidden in the depths of all the scriptures. The vedas bow to her, for she is their mother.

She is worshipped by all the Gods in Heaven, but is accessible by all even the poorest and the least educated. Her grace is easily won and requires no particular merit on our part.

The upanishads describe her as being the ultimate reality, above all tatvas and categories of thoughts, above all dualisms, the one indivisible spirit without qualities, without parts, ever free and ever pure, formless and timeless and without a cause, without a lapse and without a limit.

A very inspiring vision of the divine.

Some extracts of the Lalita Sahasranama goes thus...

8th Verse: Om Raga swarupa prasadayayey namaha, meaning I pray to she, who holds in her left lower hand a noose, representing the power of love. Not a ribbon, not a string, but the noose of love. There is a lovely irony there.

And at times she is described as someone who is wonderfully sensual. What else would you expect from the wife of Kameshwara.

Even though she is described as the wife of Kameshwara, she is also, among one of the verses described as she who has no over lord. So even though she loves her husband so much, she is not over powered by him or controlled by him.

The Male Female Harmony in Vedic Tradition...

As compared to other religions like Christianity and Islam, where they see one holy father as the great creator, in Vedic Mythology, it takes both the Divine Male and Female Entity for the creation of the universe. Shiva and Shakti, are required together for the universe to manifest, where Shiva is the pure being the existence itself, and Shakti the pure will to put everything into motion.

In one of my previous blog posts, I had written about Lalita Tripura Sundari. Lalita means the playful one or the one who plays. Meaning the creation, manifestation and destruction of the entire universe and everything that prevails is but the play of the divine Goddess. She is also known as the MahaTripuraSundari, or the transcendent beauty of the Three places. It could also be interpreted as the the divine beauty who has conquered the three lokas, dev loka, mrityu loka and danav loka. This Goddess is born out of Shree Chakra that is created by Lord Indra out of a Yagna. Even after being so powerful, she is destined to get married before she goes ahead to destroy the great evil Bhandasura.

So after being satisfied that her independence will not be harmed after marriage, she agrees and throws a garland into the air which lands around the neck of Kameshwar, the God of love and pleasure, one of the divine forms of Lord Shiva.

Later after the battle with Bhandasura is won, she goes to stay in Shrinigar, a city built for her by Vishwakarma, the celestial architect and Maya. She is described as sitting on a Sinhasana, the legs of which are Brahma, Vishnu, Eeshwara (The personal God) and Maheshwara. She sits on a blanket, which is Sada Shiva and finally she sits on the lap of her husband, Kameshwara.

This is wonderfully symbolic, the way it is described. Brahma, Vishnu, Eeshwara and Maheshwara as the base, and then Sada Shiva, the five faced ascetic form of Shiva and then finally on the lap of Kameshwara (he who has conquered pleasure). Meaning, in order to truly enjoy the full pleasure of life, material and spiritual, one must rise above material pleasure through spiritual means, but interestingly enough the end is not entirely ascetic, the end result is Lalita and kameshwara together.

Obviously with all this power, the battle with Bhandasura was nothing more than a tiny Irritation to the Devi.

Shanaishwarya / Shani

Since I brought up the subject of Shani Deva in my last blog, I thought of taking it a little further by narrating an amusing story of how Shani deva was born. The Sun God was very hot and his wife Aditi was angry with him because she used to get burnt every time she came close to hug him. So getting angry and annoyed with all the heat, she decided that she would take a break and go away to meet her father, the architect of the universe. But the Sun God wouldn't let her go. So Aditi made a replica of herself, "Chaya" and left. The Sun God, being a male, didn't find the difference until he had a son from Chaya. This son unlike all other sons, was "manda" or dark and did not possess the brilliance of the Sun. This was Shani Deva.

Later the Sun God went to his wife Aditi who asked him to let go off some of his heat. so he parted with some of his heat and brilliance and out of parted brilliance, he created the Sudarshana Chakra, Lord Vishnu's weapon, the discuss and Trishul, Lord Shiva's Trident.

What remained is the Sun that we see today.

Shani is depicted as dark, clothed in black, holding a sword an arrow and two daggers and riding a raven. He is depicted as ugly, old, lame and with long hair, teeth and nails. This is perhaps the cause of all the fear for Shani. It is said that nobody can escape Shani.

Once Shani went to Lord Shiva and told him that his Sade Sati begins the next day. To avoid Shani, Lord Shiva dived into the Ganga river and meditated for seven and a half years. At the end of it he came out and mocked Shani saying he couldn't affect Lord Shiva and said that he was under Ganga meditating. Shani smiled and said "Exactly my point" and left.

Lord Hanuman on the other hand handled Shani in a very different way. He asked Shani to meet him in the market place on Saturday and start of his tenure of 7 and a half years. Then he went to the market place on Friday and told the people that he is organizing a Puja on Saturday and that all the people in the market place can come and break coconuts on his head. On Saturday Shani came and sat on Hanuman's head to start off his tenure and the people broke all their coconuts on Shani's Head. Shani had no choice but to flee.

The moral here is that Shani cannot be escaped. He has to be welcomed and he can cause you no harm if you dedicate yourself to selfless service to others. It is the people's blessings (coconuts in Hanuman's case) that will Keep shani from harming you.

Shani affected Rama and caused him to go for a vanvasa and affected Ravana to make him foolish enough to kidnap Sita. He even affected Krishna when people accused him of stealing the Semantaka Gem. But that story in some other post...

Shani (Saturn), Rahu and Ketu (The shadow planets)

Shani or Shanischarya the planet Saturn has great importance in the Vedic Astrology System called the Jyotish Vidhya. This planet plays the role of stripping maya / delusions layer by layer and showing us the reality. Shani usually takes away materialistic pleasures from you and motivates you to look towards your inner self. The Sade Sati or the period of 7 and a half years falls between the time period when the moon leaves or enters your chart.

The moon symbolizes your emotional and material self. Shani is a shadow on this which also signifies a process of growing mature. Understanding the importance of "Adhyatma" or spirituality.

After the Samudra Manthan, The Gods did not want the demons to have the nectar of immortality. They played a trick (as usual). Lord Vishnu took the form of "Mohini" and distracted the demons. While distributing Amrita to the gods, distributed "Piasam" A simple sweet dish that looks like Amrita to the demons.

One of the demons from the underworld was not distracted and so he disguised himself as a god and sat with the Gods. He did get some amrita. But Surya and Chandra, The Sun and Moon alerted Lord Vishnu who took his Sudarshana Chakra and cut off the head of the the Demon. Since he had already eaten some of the Amrita, he couldn't be killed. So the head of the Demon is called Rahu and the Body is called Ketu. Rahu was really angry with the acts of the Sun and Moon and hence he tries to Eat them up every cycle which is the Surya Grahan and the Chandra Grahan, the solar and lunar eclipses.

Rahu and Ketu are called the Chaya Graha in Jyotish Vidhya. Meaning the Shadow Planets. Even though they do not have a body, they are considered to be planets in Vedic Astrology. Rahu cannot be satisfied ever; since he doesn't have a body. So no matter how much he eats, he needs more. People who win the Academy awards or the Oscar awards are people who usually have a very strong Rahu in the Astrological Charts.

Ketu on the other hand is prominent in the fields of Engineering and High Technology. Ketu is a body without any head so in the mythological sense, ketu is unpredictable. Ketu is also a symbol of Enlightenment. Since he has no head he also symbolizes the lack of Ego.

So while Jupiter and Venus give us things, Shani and Ketu them them away... Back and forth they go until we are stripped off of all deceptions. Sounds just like the churning process to bring out the nectar of immortality.

Samudra Manthan

Contd...

There were so many things that came out of the Samudra Manthan before Amrita, the nectar of immortality.

1. Sura, Goddess of Wine
2. Apsaras, Various divine nymphs like Rambha and Menaka
3. Kaustubha, the most valuable jewel
4. Ucchaishravas, the divine seven headed horse
5. Kalpavriksha, The wish granting tree
6. Kamadhenu, The wish granting cow
7. Airavata, The white elephant
8. Parijat, The divine tree
9. Chandra, The moon
10. Dhanvantari, The Doctor
11. Lakshmi, The goddess of wealth
12. Amrita, The nectar of immortality

Dhanvantari symbolizes the fact that material and spiritual success can be achieved only when the body and mind are in perfect state of health and harmony.

Amrita symbolizes the ultimate achievement of material and spiritual goal.

if you observe everything that came out of the Samudra Manthan before Amrita, was in a way to distract you from the final goal. Halahal, symbolizing pain and misery, Sura, the Goddess of Wine, Apsaras the ultimate object of desire, Kaustubha, symbolizes Wealth, and divine animals like the seven headed horse and the wish granting trees, etc.

It is only after you surpass every pain, misery and temptation, you achieve the ultimate goal.

Samudra Manthan

The Gods were not always immortal. And all the battles that they were having with the Demons, it was a bit of a problem. On top of that Indra was once cursed by Rishi Durvasa to be deprived off all his possessions and Laxmi. So they approached Lord Brahma, to help the Gods regain their supremacy. Lord Brahma Suggested the Samudra Manthan.

This is also representative of the fact that the oceans can be mined for natural resources and when the earth starts getting depleted. And that the ocean is a great resource.

Samudra Manthan is the churning of the Milky Ocean "Kshirsagar". It was churned using Mount Mandar as a pole, Vasuki, the king of the snakes as a rope, the Gods on the tail side of Vasuki and the Demons on the Head side, pulling the snake alternatively, causing the huge mountain to rotate.

This whole process represents many things. "Man" meaning mind and "Dhar" meaning in a line. Putting them together it means concentration, which should be like a mountain. Vasuki symbolizes desire. The demons and the Gods held their desires to seek immortality.

During the Manthan process, Amrita, the nectar of immortality was not the only thing that came out. In fact the first thing that came out was Halaa hal, the deadly poison that threatened to destroy all living beings from the planet. Lord Shiva drank this poison and Parvati held on to his throat which stopped the poison from going into his stomach, in effect not harming him. But the poison was so deadly, it turned Shiva's throat into Blue, and that's why he is named "Neela Kantha" meaning the blue throated one. The divine doctors as a part of the therapy advised the Gods to Keep Lord Shiva awake during the night. So to amuse Lord Shiva and keep him awake, all the gods took turns to sing and dance and entertain him through the night. This is what we now celebrate as "Shiva ratri".

Continued...

Hinduism & Quantum Physics

 

Hinduism & Quantum Physics

Hinduism and Quantum Physics...?

I generally avoid putting up links to other blogs and websites... Prefer writing about what I feel about God, Religions, and try to keep this space unbiased for any particular religion...

But I found this one so interesting... I just had to post it here...

http://www.hinduism.co.za/hinduism.htm

It is a little long... But it is a good read... Be a little patient and I am sure you will enjoy...

Friendship

Friendship is one of the most beautiful relationships ever. this has been depicted in the Hindu religion so many times. One of the beautiful examples is the friendship between Krishna and Draupadi.

Draupadi was the daughter of King Dhrupad. Hence her name "Draupadi". But her real name was "Krishnaa", meaning the dark one. Now Dhrupad wanted to marry his daughter to Krishna.

Krishna was a great statesman and the incarnation of Lord Vishnu. Even though he was God himself, He used to keep minimum intervention and only manipulated the events to acquire the desired situation. He knew the future course of events of the Mahabharata and could not have gotten married to Krishnaa. So he talked to her and said you are Krishnaa and I am Krishna, that makes us siblings by name. Besides that, he promised her that they would be friends and that he would be there for her whenever she needed him.

Now there are 3 historic times when Krishna came to her aid. First time, the Draupadi Vastraharan incident. The second was during vanvas, when Durvasa came and there was no food. And by eating a grain of rice he filled the stomachs of the entire universe with one meal. And the third was when he took Draupadi to Bheeshma's tent in the enemy camp at night during Cease Fire and got her the boon of "Saubhagyavati Bhava" meaning may your husband have a long life. And later learning the strategy to defeat Bheeshma from Bheeshma himself.

Friendship sometimes is beyond all other relationships. It is chosen. All other relationships are either inheritance or maybe forced. But friendship can never be forced. We live it without malicious intent. We help our friends just for the pleasure of helping them.

Kriti Bhakti...

You can't really pay off what your parents have done for you... and it is the most compassionate relationship ever. They dedicate their entire life for you and they don't feel an ounce of pain or sacrifice. In fact after going through so much they end up feeling that they couldn't do enough for you and that they could have done better... How can you ever even up that feeling... As my friend Sarang puts it, even thinking about paying it back would be like a sin...

So I was thinking... can you ever pay it back... I was reading this beautiful book (I don't remember the name of...) long time back... and from that I realize that the only way that you can pay back is through Kritagyata or thankfulness. Because no matter how many materialistic pleasures you get them, they cannot be bought off... But just by expressing your thankfulness, you can make their life complete...

Just by being a good son / daughter, just by showing through your actions that you are thankful to them... just by making them feel that they are the best parents in the world... you pay back for all the sacrifices they have made... because you make them realize that it was all worth it...

I call this Kriti Bhakti... devotion through thankfulness... All my actions, everything that I do or say... is dedicated to them... I am an aethist and I do not believe in God... I only believe in what I see... I see them...

The Goddesses in Religion...!!!

whenever we hear of stories of the divine feminine, there this great sense of unconquerable power. Frequently we see Brahma or Shiva giving a boon and getting in trouble because it empowers the demon who in turn comes backs and torments the Gods and Demi-Gods with his new found power. We also hear Shiva or Vishnu having to win a battle purely by tickery or deception.

But with the Goddess it is difficult to think of an example of a mistake, with the possible exception of Sita's desire for the golden deer. The goddess is always right, always direct and she never loses a battle.

We all know the story of Parvati trying to woo Shiva after Brahma bestows upon an asura a boon that he shall only be killed by the son of Shiva. While doing so, Kamadeva helps Parvati to bring Shiva out of his meditative trance so that he can see Parvati in her beatiful form and fall in love with her and start a family. In the process, Lord Shiva burns Kamadeva into ashes for disturbing him in his meditation.

Now the story that we know, Rati the wife of Kamadeva comes and pleads to Shiva and he gives her a boon that he will be restored to life in the Dwapar yug. But in this version of the story, the shiv gana to help rati bring the ashes of Kamadeva and make a statue of a man out of it and after Rati's pleading, he instills life into that statue and teaches him a mantra by which he can gain half the power of his adversary instantly and also gives him the boon to rule over all the worlds for 60,000 years. And since he sent him off saying, "Bhanda, bhanda", meaning nice nice... he was named Bhandasura. Now since he was born out of the wrath of Shiva, he had the Ugra swaroop and turned into a demon, "Bhandasura"...

Bhandasura attacked Indra and took over the heavens. Indra prayed to Tripura Sundari for 60000 years and she agreed to help him. She took her army and waged a war against Bhandasura. Now Tripura Sundari is also known as lalita meaning soft and beautiful. So Bhandasura laughed on her saying she is beautiful and soft and battle and war is not something that she should be doing.

The battle between Bhandasura and Tripura Sundari was most unusual. It wasn't a direct battle. Bhandasura created demons and Tripura Sundari created deities that destroyed the demons. Bhandasura created hiranyakashipu and she created prahlada and Narasimha. Bhandasura created Ravana and she created Rama. In fact the Vishnu's 10 incarnations "Dashavatara" are also known to be born from the 10 fingernails of the divine Tripura Sundari. Bhandasura created mahishasura and She created durga. The battle between Mahishasura and Durga has been beautifully described in the brahmana purana.

Then one of the generals of Bhandasura named Vishnukra used a yantra called the Jayavighna which takes away the will to be victorious from the armies of Tripura Sundari. The Generals of Tripura Sundari Manthini and Dhanapta informed this to Her and she just smiled. From her melodious smile was born Lord Ganesha, also known as the Vighneshwara. He weakened the force of the Jayavighna yantra and the armies got their strength back. Vishnukra slays Ganesha in this story using the Gaja astra and as a reward Tripura Sundari blesses Ganesha that he be prayed first in any puja henceforth.

Later in the story Vishnukra deploys the weapon called the trishna astra and the armies of Tripura Sundari become extremely thirsty. That's when Manthini suggests to call Sura Sindhu (The ocean of liquor) to quench the thirst of the entire army. This depicts that nothing in itself is negative or positive... even an element like liquor has been created by the divine and may have its own divine purpose at times...

Finally Tripura Sundari kills Bhanda and Rati, wife of Kamadeva or Bhanda pleads to her to restore his life. Because Kamadeva is the lord of desire and without him there would be no desire. So she in her infinite divinity and kindness restores the life back into Kamadeva in the Dwapara yuga.

The no. "3" is closely associated to Tripura Sundari. e.g. she is the icha shakti (will), gyana shakti(wisdom) and kriya shakti(action) in this entire eternity. Her other name is lalita which according to one script has 8 meanings: beauty, brilliance, manifestation, sweetness, infinity, energy, grace and generosity.

Women have been described as the manifestation of perfection in our own ancient scripts. They have been the source of all power the medium of creation. For example Saraswati is the medium between the Goddess Tara and Brahma. Brahma derives the energy to create from Goddess Tara and Saraswati is the medium.

More to come...

Do we really need God...?

I am not an aeithist... But I am not a believer either... You could say I am somewhere between an aethist and a believer... But very close to being an aethist... Let me put it this way... I do not believe in the existence of a personal God... I do not believe that if you pray feverishly, God will come and bless you with stuff that you want... I also do not believe in intelligent design of the universe. I do not think God designed and created this universe, even though I cannot yet explain how it all started... But I am sure science will some day come up with a theory and enough circumstantial evidence to prove the creation of the universe.

But on the other hand, sometimes when times are really hard, I do wish that there were a personal God or an angel rather who would come and rescue me... But it seems nothing like that has ever happened... every single time I was in trouble I have had to work my way through it...

So the point is if nothing in life is free and if you have to work for everything, if praying really doesn't help except giving you solace and perhaps increasing your patience, then is there really a need to believe in God...?

If we think that God created everything, and if we start assuming that God is the Cause and Effect of everything, If we truly believe in God then wouldn't we stop experimenting? If the answer to every question is God... wouldn't we stop asking questions?

The only reason why we doubt ourselves is that we don't have a satisfactory answer to our questions... If God is the satisfactory answer to all our questions, viz. the creation of the universe, the existence before the beginning of time, etc. wouldn't we stop exploring...?