A child's calling for Shiva - हे नटराज

A personal favorite of mine is this wonderful song of calling Shiva, by the young Tansen.

The movie - Sangeet Samrat Tansen (saṅgīta samrāṭ tānaséna : Music Emperor Tansen) based on the music maestro Tansen, a few centuries ago, who still holds many new raga-s to his name in the classical Indian music.
Here he is a small boy, at a Shiva temple, and starts to sing in his praise.



The words he uses are all names for Shiva, as follows:

Maha Shiva Ratri - महा-शिव-रात्रि

Three wonderful videos of the Shiva Tandava Stotra, including one from a TV serialization of Ravana singing it himself! Enjoy.
Many well wishes for Maha Shiva Ratri महाशिवरात्रि

Hindu Prayer Book (Hindi)

Hindu Prayer Book (Hindi)

A new and expanded print and Kindle version of this book is coming soon. The goal is to provide accurate transliteration, easy to read for new-comers, word by word accurate translation, and meaning to help you understand your devotion.

For inquiries please contact Shashi@PracticalSanskrit.com or visit http://facebook.com/PracticalSanskritor http://PracticalSanskrit.com

Hindu Prayer Book - Hindi translation. Compilation of most common prayers. This was in response to an article published in Cleveland Plain Dealer in January 2003 that Kirtans are becoming very popular in Cleveland, but not (m)any knew the meaning. Then some ’experts’ commented that words are not important and even that words can be an obstruction to real realization.

The question then comes - why then sing a kirtan, bhajan, and that too in Sanskrit? Words are important, when they convey an idea. So this humble collection of important and common mantras, shlokas, and artis.

Any error is mine,
any perfection is divine.

Simple shloka-s for children and adults alike.
Daily prayer shloka-s and mantras

Hindu Prayer Book - Hindi

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Attitude Shift - Sanskrit maxims for life and leadership or Kindle e-book

(c) shashikant joshi । शशिकांत जोशी । ॐ सर्वे भवन्तु सुखिनः ।
Practical Sanskrit. All rights reserved. Check us on Facebook.

Hindu Prayer Book (English)

Hindu Prayer Book (English)


A new and expanded print and Kindle version of this book is coming soon. The goal is to provide accurate transliteration, easy to read for new-comers, word by word accurate translation, and meaning to help you understand your devotion.

The first section will have uninterrupted devanAgarI of the shaloka-s, mantra-s, aartai-s etc.
The second will have the full content in IAST format (Roman characters with diacritic marks).
Once you understand every word and meaning, you won't need the later section.

Then the third section will have word by word meaning, detailed explanations of each usage, stories behind each name. For example, why is Shiva called Neelkantha, and why Parvati called Uma.
The explanations will give your devotion a solid ground of understanding, not just blind 'faith'.
If you new to Hindu devotion/spirituality or an old hand, this will help understand why spirituality and Hindu religion is not a matter of blind faith but of deep psychology, philosophy and spirituality.


For inquiries please contact Shashi@PracticalSanskrit.com or visit http://facebook.com/PracticalSanskrit
or http://PracticalSanskrit.com

Read sample of the older version below.

Hindu Prayer Book - English translation and transliteration. Compilation of most common prayers. This was in response to an article published in Cleveland Plain Dealer in January 2003 that Kirtan-s are becoming very popular in Cleveland, but not (m)any knew the meaning. Then some ’experts’ commented that words are not important and even that words can be an obstruction to real realization.

The question then comes - why then sing a kirtan, bhajan, and that too in Sanskrit? Words are important, when they convey an idea. So this humble collection of important and common mantras, shloka-s, and arti-s.

Any error is mine,
any perfection is divine.

Simple shloka-s for children and adults alike.
Daily prayer shloka-s and mantras

Hindu Prayer Book (English)

Become a fan of the blog. Join us on Facebook.
JOIN US IN ONLINE AUDIO-VISUAL CLASSES/SESSIONS.
Attitude Shift - Sanskrit maxims for life and leadership or Kindle e-book

(c) shashikant joshi । शशिकांत जोशी । ॐ सर्वे भवन्तु सुखिनः ।
Practical Sanskrit. All rights reserved. Check us on Facebook.

Conquer evil with good - अक्रोधेन जयेत् क्रोधम्

This  wonderful pearl of human psychology comes from the wise minister Vidura (vidura, विदुर) of the Emperor Dhritarashtra (dhRitarAShTra, धृतराष्ट्र) of the Kuru (कुरु) empire. The Emperor had real untrue policies, unjust actions which caused the major civil war of historic India. The wise minister in over 500 shloka-s advices the king in the epic Mahabharata.

This is one of the gems.

The advice applies if you are overcoming anger (or evil, greed, lie) in others or in yourself.

Conquer Anger with Calmness.
Anger (krodha) is something we confront regularly. Either expressed violently or slowly simmering. Neither one is good. One spoils the relationship, other our intestines. Anger is like the fire that burns the angry, as much or more than it scorches the recipient of anger.

It is not done, till it is done - अजातपुत्रनामोत्कीर्तन

CHANTING UNBORN SON’S NAME
ajāta-putra-nāma
अजात-पुत्र-नाम

In the USA, you have to name the baby before it leaves the hospital, in three days, since the Social Security Office has to be notified. In Indian tradition, the child is named only on the 11th day after birth. One of the reasons for this ancient practice was the high mortality rate in childbirth, as was all over the world. Whoever survived, lived long, whoever was biologically weak was eliminated by nature early on. Sad but true.

Be Happy. Be Healthy. See the good. - सर्वे भवन्तु सुखिनः

This is the New Age of spiritualism, feel good quotations and tangent spirituality. The less you can understand, the better it is for your soul and your cool. Many times, new quotations are made just to be funny or snappy or witty, or just for the viral effect.

Many Sanskrit mantra-s are given an overall-mushy explanation, without going into the finer details, even at the average Joe's level of understanding.

Here is a very old quotation, by all means a couple of millennia, a mantra or a peace invocation (shAnti pATha, शान्ति पाठ) that has usually been translated as 'may all be happy, healthy and see the goodness, may not anyone get sorrow.' That sounds just like a mushy-two-shoes blessing, where all your problems will be solved by the divine grace of someone kind enough to bless you. Or to chant in your yoga-tea-or-coffe-club meetings. But there is more to this famous mantra:

Saraswati Stuti 6,7 - यया विना जगत्सर्वं

Without whom the entire world and eternal life would become like dead, the one who is the presiding deity of "knowing", for that Saraswati, salutation, salutation. || 6 ||

Saraswati Stuti 5 - ब्रह्म-स्वरूपा परमा

Salutations and salutations to the one who is like Brahma, the Supreme, Illuminating, Eternal, overseer of all knowledge, to Speech. || 5 ||

Saraswati Stuti 4 - भद्रकाल्यै नमो नित्यं

Bow to the auspicious Kali daily, and salutations again and  to Saraswati, who emanates from the Veda-s, Vedanga, Vedanta and other sources of knowledge. || 4 ||