Happy Janmashtami!

Krishna, Kishan, Madhav, Banke Bihari, Gopala, Kanhaiya, Ranchhod, Parthasarathy, Ishvara…the many names and the many facets of the personality of the most loved God in the Hindu pantheon – Sri Krishna. 

God is all-powerful, controls the Universe – fear God, they say – since He is looking at all your bad deeds and will punish you. Pray to God, else you will rot in hell. Be afraid. Don’t speak ill of Him, be in awe of Him. The fear of God has led many men to do many things – good and bad. The eternal fear of going to hell and being punished by God has kept millions in check – why take a chance of offending the great one? 

And then there is Krishna. 

The first thing that strikes you about Krishna is his name – the dark-coloured one. In a country currently obsessed with fairness, it is ironical that their most loved God is himself dark. But wait – why him, and not ‘Him’? And how can you call him by his name? Isn’t it supposed to be Sri Krishna? 

Well, Krishna means a lot of things to a lot of people. Some love him as Bal Gopal – the naughty kid who loves butter and steals it (maakhan-chor), the natkhat child who loves troubling his mother Yashoda…others love him as Kanhaiya who engages in Ras-Leela with the gopikas of Vrindavan, the eternal lover of Radha…yet some others revere him as Narayana – the supreme God who stood in the middle of the biggest armies and delivered the sermon of life – the Bhagvad Gita. They look up to him as their guide – Parthasarathy, their God Ishvara, the supreme Yogi Yogeshwara, the liberator Mukunda, the forgiver of sins Hari, and the Jagadguru – the Guru of all Gurus and of the world. 

You can love him, you can also scold him, you can cry with him, you can laugh with him, you can get angry with him, you can worship him…Krishna is your friend, your lover, your guide, your God, your child, your parent…Krishna is what you make of him, and he is always there for you – because he exists within you, as a part of you. 

With which other divine personality can you share such a wide range of emotions and feelings? Which other God can you love and adore and revere all at the same time?

In his younger avatar, he is almost every kid who loves to be naughty and playful, in his teen avatar he is the ultimate prankster, and in his adult avatar he is the Chakradhari – the one who has the power to end the Universe if he chooses to. Yet, he is also a Ranchhod – the one who runs away from the battlefield. Krishna is cunning and shrewd – he is not the straight arrow that Rama was, yet he is worshipped more than any other deity. 

And the reason is – that he is like me and you. He is divinity in human form, and he is the ultimate expression of the human form. He shows us that it is ok to be wrong, as long as you find the right way…why – he even gives you different ways to the destination, and he doesn’t let you get there alone. Krishna is there as a guide, as a friend, to help you along the way, saving you from the pitfalls and lifting you up when you fall. You have to walk on your own, you have to fight your own battles, he says. Yet he stays with you, starving when you starve, feasting when you feast, suffering when you suffer, and rejoicing when you rejoice. He does not give up on you, even when you give up on yourself. He doesn’t scold you, even when you make a hundred mistakes. 

What kind of God is this, who is so forgiving, so personal, so intimate?

And that is why you find yourself drawn to this personality – it starts slowly – after all, you are apprehensive – this is GOD we are speaking about. What if I say something wrong, or do something wrong? What if I don’t follow the right method to worship him? But then he says – even a leaf or a small flower that you offer to me, is the biggest gift I can get. That easy? You find yourself thinking. 

You start getting drawn into his world, you start to understand that divinity is not to be feared, but loved, and not just ordinary love – an all-encompassing, all-surrendering love – that others call bhakti. And you start to fall in deeper – so deep that you are no more in his world, nor he in yours...he BECOMES your world, and here is the beauty of it – you become his world too. 

And then you forget who you are – or who you thought you are – and realise that you are a part of him – a drop of the ocean that is him, inseparable and indiscreet. You realise that you don’t love him…HE IS LOVE. You realise that you have been searching for him your whole life, while he was waiting, eagerly yet patiently, with a soft smile on his face, flute in hand, playing a beautiful tune that you know is just for you….

Discover your Krishna, love him and worship him and surrender to him. He will stand by you, and help you to fight all your battles, not by picking up his sudarshan chakra, but by empowering you. Make mistakes, he will forgive you. Do good, and he will appreciate you. And when your time has come, he will also make you one with him. 

This is my Krishna, and today is his birthday. Happy Sri Krishna Janmashtami!

श्री कृष्ण जनमष्टमी की हार्दिक शुभकामनाएँ!

जय श्री कृष्ण!

And what do we take with us?

नामुत्र हि सहायार्थं पिता माता च तिष्ठतः । 
न पुत्रदारं न ज्ञातिर्धर्मस्तिष्ठति केवलः ॥ २३९ ॥

nāmutra hi sahāyārthaṃ pitā mātā ca tiṣṭhataḥ | 
na putradāraṃ na jñātirdharmastiṣṭhati kevalaḥ || 239 ||

Manusmriti 4.239

The Manu Smriti tells us: namutra hi sahayartham pita mata ca tisthatah. na putradarah na jnatih dharmas tisthati kevalah. “When you depart from this world, your father will not come with you, your mother will not come with you, your brother will not come, your sister will not come, your husband will not come, your wife will not come, your children will not come, your money will not come, and even your body will not come with you.” 

Then what will come with you? The verse mentions that your spiritual merit alone accompanies you. 

Everything else remains here – life goes on, the assets that we accumulate pass on to the next generation, or wither away. How many of us can recall (or even know) the names of our great-great grandparents, and their parents? Even our names will be forgotten within 2-3 generations, and that is the truth. 

How we live everyday counts – not towards any credit that we can cash out on when we depart, but towards our growth now.

Read more here:

And what do we take with us?

Ganesh Chaturthi

Ganesh Chaturthi, also known as Vinayaka Chaturthi (Vināyaka Chaturthī) or Vinayaka Chavithi (Vināyaka Chavithī) is a Hindu festival celebrating the birth of Ganesha. It falls in the months of August or September of the Gregorian calendar. The festival is marked with the installation of Ganesha clay idols privately in homes, or publicly on elaborate pandals (temporary stages). Observations include chanting of Vedic hymns and Hindu texts such as, prayers and vrata (fasting). Offerings and prasadam from the daily prayers, that is distributed from the pandal to the community, include sweets such as modaka as it is believed to be a favorite of Lord Ganesh.

Read more at: https://www.rohitghai.com/श्री-गणेश-चतुर्थी-ganesh-chaturthi/

Sri Krishna Janmashtami

Krishna Janmashtami, also known simply as Janmashtamior Gokulashtami, is an annual Hindu festival that celebrates the birth of Krishna, the eighth avatar of Vishnu.It is observed according to Hindu luni-solar calendar, on the eighth day (Ashtami) of the Krishna Paksha (dark fortnight) in Shraavana of the lunar Hindu Calendar and Krishna Paksha in Bhadrapad of the lunisolar Hindu Calendar, which overlaps with August and September of the Gregorian calendar.

School children dressed as Hindu Lord Krishna take part in a function held ahead of “Janamashtmi” celebrations in the southern Indian city of Chennai, August 8, 2012. Janamashtmi is the birth anniversary of Lord Krishna which will be celebrated on August 10. REUTERS/Babu (INDIA – Tags: RELIGION SOCIETY ANNIVERSARY)

It is an important festival particularly to the Vaishnavism tradition of Hinduism.Dance-drama enactments of the life of Krishna according to the Bhagavata Purana(such as Rasa lila or Krishna Lila), devotional singing through the midnight when Krishna was born, fasting (upavasa), a night vigil (ratri jagaran), and a festival (mahotsava) on the following day are a part of the Janmashtami celebrations. It is celebrated particularly in Mathura and Vrindavan, along with major Vaishnava and non-sectarian communities found in Manipur, Assam, Bihar, West Bengal, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and all other states of India.

Krishna Janmashtami is followed by the festival Nandotsav, which celebrates the occasion when Nanda Baba distributed gifts to the community in honour of the birth.

 

Read more: https://www.rohitghai.com/श्री-कृष्ण-जनमाष्टमी-sri-krishna-janmashtami/

Rakshabandhan – रक्षाबंधन

Rākhī derives from the Sanskrit rakṣikā, a join: rakṣā protection.

On this day, sisters of all ages tie a talisman, or amulet, called the rakhi, around the wrists of their brothers, symbolically protecting them, receiving a gift in return, and traditionally investing the brothers with a share of the responsibility of their potential care.

Read more about this unique festival here: https://www.rohitghai.com/rakshabandhan-रक्षाबंधन/

Panchagni Vidya

PANCHAGNI VIDYA, the Theory of the Five Fires, is central to the understanding of the laws of the Universe.

The CHHANDOGYA UPANISHAD lays down a unique template which maps out each activity in the Universe through the prism of chants.  The term CHHANDOGYA  is etymologically derived from CHHANDA (poetic metre).  Even as it presents a five-to-seven fold chant structure, through which all human and natural phenomena are seen, the CHHANDOGYA, at another level, goes deep into the metaphysical dimension of the empirical world.

The doctrine of PANCHAGNI through the story of Svetaketu, the highly learned and educated son of Sage Uddalaka, who, in the course of his travels, turns up at the court of king Pravahana Jaivali.  Having welcomed the learned young man, the King poses some questions to Svetaketu to comprehend how much the young man has learned.

His first question, “Do you know where mortals go to after death ?” perplexes Svetaketu, who is at a loss for words. The second question, “Do you know from where people come when they are reborn ?” confuses Svetaketu.  The third and fourth question, “Are you aware of the two paths through which the soul ascends ?” and “What is the reason this world is able to contain so many people yet not overflow ?” further stumps the young scholar.

The last question, “Are you aware of the Five oblations that are offered, and how the fifth as water / liquid becomes a human ?” leaves Svetaketu at his wit’s end.  He realises that there are fundamental principles of which he is unaware.  So he turns to his father, but he too has no insight into such matters.  His father turns to the King for answers.

The King initiates Sage Uddalaka into the principal of the Five Fires, in which the COSMOS / SKY is in itself metaphorically seen as a great altar, into which the fuel of the burning sun is offered, from which rises the moon.  The Upanishad lays down this as the first Fire stating that all existence follows this cycle of fire.  The next altar is of CLOUDS, where the fuel is the air from which arises rain.

The third altar is EARTH, where the fuel is time, from which arises food.  The fourth altar is MAN, where the fuel is food, from which arises semen (seed).  The fifth and last altar is WOMAN, to who the seed is offered as oblation, and from whence arises the foetus.

The CHHANDOGYA views Creation at all levels as a sort of YAJNA (sacrifice), where every activity is interconnected.  The birth of a child is not just a simple outcome between man and woman.  The CHHANDOGYA states that the child is conceived from every cell of the universe, and this prompts us to look beyond the obvious, to delve deep into the

fundamentals of whatever we see, hear or touch.

TAT TVAM ASI is the grand chant of the CHHANDOGYA, the MAHAVAKYA that each of us COMES FROM and ARE that Self, the ATMAN, nothing less.  ———

————-Pranav Khullar.

Pattadakal

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PATTADAKAL, also spelled PATTADAKALU is a World Heritage Site, a Village and an important tourist centre in the State of Karnataka, and is located on the left bank of the MALAPRABHA River in Bagalkot District.  It is 22km from BADAMI and 514km from AIHOLE, both of which are well-known for Chalukya monuments.  The pre-Chalukya historical and archaeological site BACHINAGUDDA is also near Pattadakal.

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Pattadakal, the place for Chalukya’s Coronation, was the capital of the Chalukya Dynasty of Karnataka in Southern India.  The Chalukyas built many Temples here between the 7th and 9th century.  There are 10 Temples, including a Jain Sanctuary, surrounded by numerous small shrines and Plinths in fusion of various Indian architectural styles (Rekha, Nagara, Prasada and Dravida Vimana) .  Four Temples were built in Chalukyan Dravidian style, four in the Nagara style of Northern India and the PAPANATHA Temple in mixed style.  Nine Shiva Temples and one Jaina Basadi, situated along the northern course of the river, which is considered as very auspicious according to the Holy Scriptures.

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Pattadakal was a great centre of art and architecture.  According to the inscriptions, the place was known by the names KISOVOLAL (red town  ——- mostly mountains near Pattadakal gave this name, RAKTAPURA.  It continued to be an important centre under the RASHTRAKUTAS and the KALYANI CHALUKYAS.  It became a chief city for a small region called KISUKADU.  The SINDHAS of YARAMABARIGE (Yelburgi) also ruled it for some time.

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UNESCO, in 1987, included PATTADAKAL in its list of World Heritage Sites.  The group of 8th century monuments in Pattadakal are the culmination of earliest experiments in the VESARA style of Hindu Temple architecture.

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VIRUPAKSHA Temple is the largest and grandest of all the Temples in Pattadakal.  It was built in the 8th century by Queen Lokamahadevi to commemorate her husband Vikramaditya — 2 victories over the Pallavas of Kanchi.  The Temple has rich sculptures.  It has a sanctum, pillared navaranga and triple entrances from the north, east and south porches.  It has a massive gateway in front from the east.

We are custodians, not possessors

Lord Krishna : Everything which we possess today was possessed by somebody else yesterday and will be possessed by others tomorrow and somebody else day after tomorrow.

Everything which we possess —— money, house, car, jewellery, property, etc., — was possessed by somebody else in the past, which means they got transferred to us.  We might have either earned it, or inherited it, or won it in a lottery, but the fact remains that they were possessed by somebody else, and in the present we possess them.

Will these possessions remain with us permanently ?  Will they not go to somebody else tomorrow, the way they came to us ?  They will definitely go to someone else after our death.

The land on which our house is built belonged to somebody else before our house was constructed, and maybe after 100years belong to somebody else with another house built over it.  Is it not our ignorance that the house in which we live is felt to be ours, the wealth which we own today is felt to be ours ?  All these things are temporary.

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Our body is not  permanently ours, as we will leave it after our death.  Our thoughts that emanate from our mind are not ours.  They have been received from other people and since our mind liked them, it possessed them.  We change our thought pattern too when we grow in age  or get influenced by others’ thoughts (of more intelligent, successful or spiritual people).

Everything in this creation is passing through from person to another, from one hand to another and from one place to another.  Everything is in a transmigratory state be it wealth, property, relationship or physical body.  We can at the most feel custodianship of all that which we possess.  A custodian is never attached to anything, has no ego of ownership, as he knows full well that all that which he possesses belongs to somebody else.

The laws of creation do not permit anything to remain permanently with anybody.

———-  Sadguru Rameshji.   

Nathdwara

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It literally means GATEWAY to SHRINATHJI.  It is a town in Rajasthan, famous for its Temple of Krishna which house the idol of Shrinathji (14th century)——- a 7-year-old infant incarnation of Krishna.  Nathdwara Town itself is popularly referred to as SHRINATHJI, after the presiding Deity.

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As per the religious beliefs, the shrine at Nathdwara was built in the 17th century at the spot as exactly ordained by Shrinathji Himself.  The idol of Lord Krishna was being transferred to a safer place from Vrindavan, to protect it from anti-Hindu, iconoclastic, Mughal ruler Aurangzeb.  When the idol reached the spot n the village of SINHAD, the wheels of the bullock-cart, in which the idol was being transported, sank axle-deep in mud and could not be moved any further.  The accompanying priests realised that the particular place was the Lord’s chosen spot, and accordingly, a Temple was built there, under the rule and protection of the then Maharana Rana Singh of Mewar.  Shrinathji Temple is also known as HAVELI (mansion) of Shrinathji.

Nathdwara has an average elevation of 1919ft.  It is set amid idyllic hills.  A steady stream of pilgrims has ensured a plentiful supply of transport and accommodation.  Shrinathji Temple is the centre of attraction, but the town is also famous for its PICHWAI paintings (large paintings on cloth depicting legends from the life of Lord Krishna), handmade terracotta, ivory articles and HAWELI music (devotional music akin to DHRUPAD singing with compositions meant for various seasons, festivals and sections of the day).

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The structure of the Temple is simple, but the aesthetic appeal of this Temple is ceaseless.  Lord Shrinathji symbolizes a form of Lord Krishna, when He lifted the Govardhana (a hill).  In the image, the Lord is revealed with His left hand raised and the right hand is like a fist.  The idol is carved out of a large black stone.  Images of two cows, a snake, a lion, two peacocks and a parrot near the God’s head are imprinted on the idol.

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The Temple authorities have not less than 500 cows.  Darshan opens eight times a day and the Lord looks different in every Darshan, and the RAJBHOG Darshan, taking place around noon, is the most important and sought-after.  Photography and mobile phones are strictly prohibited in the Temple premises.  The best time to visit Shrinathji is from September to February.

Satva, Rajas, Tama

When PURUSH (soul) combines with PRAKRITI (creation), in the form of three gunas ——– Satva, Rajas and Tama —– a being takes birth in creation..

Light, Happiness and Gyan are properties of SATVA, RAJAS pertains to desires, attachments and resultant actions, and TAMA is darkness, ignorance and sleep.  At all times, all the three gunas are present in a human being, one dominating the other, depending on the desire and state of evolution of being.

Ordinary beings are ruled by TAMA, which is also the guna dominant in animals and other lower beings.  When a being leaves the body with the dominance of TAMA GUNA, se/he gets the animal yonis and enters into the netherworlds, says the Bhagvad Gita.  So the TAMA GUNA needs to be reduced and SATVA and RAJAS increased.

As the RAJAS GUNA increases, one is guided towards action (KARMA) driven by passion, material desires and attachment.  Every action has an equal and opposite reaction, every BHOG has a ROG attached to it.  So under this guna, a being indulges in pleasures of the senses and experiences the pains that come with it.  This ties the person to the downward spiral of birth and death —- each birth being lower and more painful than the previous.  Therefore, excess of the RAJAS GUNA is bad.  Abundance of the SATVA GUNA, makes us practise DHYAN & SADHNA and initiates cleansing through service and charity.  Gyan and bliss follow.  When a being leaves the body with dominance of SATVA, she/he takes birth in subtler dimensions and LOKAS, in the yonis of Devas and Rishis.

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All the three gunas pertain to physical creation.  We can exit the painful cycle of birth and death to merge with the ultimate reality i.e. GOD by rising above these gunas.  When we go beyond the influence of TAMA, RAJAS & SATVA, we become GUNA ATEET ——– a state that can only be achieved through a guru’s help.  When a guru transfers his Gyan (Shakti) to the disciple, the latter becomes GUNA ATEET.  But Gyan can only exist in a SATVIK environment.  So, it is imperative for us to engage in charity and service, to change the negative karmas accumulated over so many births.  Only then can we move towards gaining Gyan and Liberation from the cycle of birth and death.

————– Yogi Ashwini