Happy New Year - नववर्षाभिनन्दनम्

time ticked one more second and as per the modern common custom, it is time to make resolutions, or should i say time to 'start following up on the resolutions made under extreme peer pressure'.

vidur has a small advice for resolutions, undertakings, projects that we decide to undertake. "the wise should only make those resolutions (undertake projects) that are according to one's ability and aptitude." else they will have less chance of completion.

"once started, the wise doesn't stop or get distracted by fear or attachment, cold or heat, ample or no resources, pride or aimlessness; the wise takes resolutions to completion."

and here is a simple yet deep thought for the new year:
"but the one who sees all beings in the divine and divine in all beings, after that [after such viewpoint, experience] one doesn't hate anyone." - iishAvAsya upaniShad (6)

each of the 18 shlokas of this upaniShad is packed with meaning worth a chapter or a book in itself. being part of the upaniShad, these kind of thoughts are very ancient, much before any of the 'modern' institutionalized 'religions' started.

here is pursuit of truth, spiritualism in its purest form, loaded with many layers of meanings and experiences.

here is wishing you all a happy new year.

embrace the world with an open heart.

for the great saint tulasiDasa says - "run towards the [people of the] world and hug them with love, for you never know in what form you may find the divine".

नववर्षाभिनन्दनम् = नव-वर्ष-अभिनन्दनम् = new-year-greetings

resolve to take resolutions to completion!



(c) Shashikant Joshi । शशिकांत जोशी । ॐ सर्वे भवन्तु सुखिनः ।

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How we learn and grow - आचार्यात् पादमादत्ते

One fourth from the teacher, one fourth from own intelligence,
One fourth from classmates, and one fourth only with time.

AchAryAt pAdamAdatte, pAdam shiShyaH swamedhayA |
sa-brahmachAribhyaH pAdam, pAdam kAlakrameNa cha ||

आचार्यात् पादमादत्ते पादं शिष्यः स्वमेधया ।
सब्रह्मचारिभ्यः पादं पादं कालक्रमेण च ॥


This one shloka opens up many facets, related to learning and teaching – be it regular schools or spiritual learning. Modern education system, student-teacher relationship, undue blame on teacher or students for below expectation results.

Let us look at each of the four parts. one learns from four sources - teacher, self, others, and with time (i.e. experience).

This doesn't mean it is exactly one-fourth from each. That may depend upon individual case - how good the teacher, classmates, own intelligence or environment is.

Just like to grow a tree a gardener, good seed, fertile soil and time are needed, so too to learn one needs a teacher, own intelligence, co-students and time (patience, experience).

Give dutifully when, where, to whom the need is

it is that time of the year,
the season of giving,
the season of charity, caring, love and kindness!

merry christmas!

those in the snow belt, enjoy the snow.
others, enjoy the sun! but enjoy.

recently, on a reputed online discussion forum, i read a comment in context of why indians (read - hindus) don't do much charity, that other religions stress on charity, even as much as 15% of your income! that is a hefty chunk of charity! surely the trait is giving is shrinking everywhere - with our increased wants and needs, increased population, and increased selfishness, corruption and reducing trust.

it is true that many hindus are wary of charity as a routine, mainly because they are not sure of what happens of the donation. many non-profit organizations exist for the mere task of funneling money in form of expenses. but otherwise, hindus do actually do charity, in many small to large organizations around the world.

but this set me thinking, what does the ancient philosophy say on this? does the 'religion' talk about it? i am including just a few thoughts on the topic of giving, and since the sanskrit is not necessarily simple, i have skipped the language part for them.

the concept of giving was at many levels. the householder sustained a large part of the society via charity. the students begged their food in the village/town as brahmachAri. this ensured they didn't develop egos larger than their hearts! the sannyAsii, poor, wandering monks all depended on the gRihastha (householder) for sustenance. this is still seen among buddhist societies, where monks still take alms.

Belur Halebid - temple towns of the hoysAlA dynasty

900 years old temples, the belur temple is continuously used temple with prayers offered and even weddings performed.

the halebid temple was destroyed by invading muslims even while under construction.

more photos to come.
click here to see comments on the photos.











(c) Shashikant Joshi । शशिकांत जोशी । ॐ सर्वे भवन्तु सुखिनः ।

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May HanumAn give you intellect and strength - बुद्धिर्बलं यशो धैर्यं

intellect, strength, patience, fearlessness, health,
consciousness (awareness) and oratory - may they come by remembering hanumAn .

बुद्धिर्बलं यशो धैर्यं निर्भयत्वमरोगिता ।
अजाड्यं वाक्पटुता च हनुमत्स्मरणाद्भवेत् ॥

buddhir_balam yasho dhairyam nirbhayatvam_arogitA |
a_jADyam vAk_paTutA cha hanumat_smaraNAd_bhavet ||


while devotees of any divine form will say that their divine will give them everything, why are these things associated with hanumAn - intellect, strength, patience, fearlessness, health, consciousness (awareness) and oratory? there are specific reasons.

in the master epic rAmAyaNa of vAlmIki, we come across a wonderful character named hanumAn. his character has captivated people from all times and of all ages. along with shiva and ganesh, perhaps there are most temples of hanumAn. so vast are the qualities of hanumAn and the reasons for them that one post will not be sufficient.

being an avatar of shiva himself, he is favourite of bachelors, and men of strength like wrestlers. he is called as the monkey god. but calling it that in english removes all the greatness one feels when refered as vAnara - which means "maybe human", i.e. half human, like the great apes.

there are many shlokas in his name, and saint goswAmI tulasidAsa wrote a full 40 verse, compact poem called "hanumAn chAlIsA" i.e. 40 verses of hanumAn. in it, he summarizes all the adventures of the great hero.

Renounce smaller selfish interests for the bigger good - त्यजेत् कुलार्थे पुरुषं

renounce one person for the sake of the family,
a family for the sake of village;
village for the sake of country and
even the [kingdom of] earth for one's own sake.

tyajet kulArthe puruSham grAmasyArthe kulam tyajet |
grAmam janapadasyArthe AtmArthe pRithivIm tyajet ||

त्यजेत् कुलार्थे पुरुषं ग्रामस्यार्थे कुलं त्यजेत् |
ग्रामं जनपदस्यार्थे आत्मार्थे पृथिवीं त्यजेत् ||

this is a very much misunderstood shloka, and the misunderstanding comes from not taking in account the context, the speaker and the essence of the statement. this shloka appears in many shloka collections, including panchatantra and hitopadesha. the earliest reference seems to be in vidura neeti 5-17, which is part of the larger mega-epic mahAbhArata.

the wise minister vidura, of the kuru super-empire, is advising the emperor dhRitarAShTra to follow the path of dharma, right conduct, and not to let unfair things happen due to power intoxication or familial attachment. the emperor was literally blind, but metaphorically blind in parental attachment to his son duryodhana, and lets him get away with some of the most blatant and unfair thing he does out of jealousy and ego. duryodhana, the son was not ignorant of the right conduct, but he accepted he had a natural liking for a-dharma, even though knowing well he was doing wrong.

there are three common misunderstanding regarding this shloka -
#1. that the sacrifice of the [good of] smaller unit SHOULD be done to be able to get the good of the larger unit. this makes it a prerequisite to the greater good, which is not so.

#2. that this justifies mass killing like that done by Mao, Stalin, Naxal insurgents of india in the name of greater good. even eminent thinker like Gurcharan Das got this one wrong.

#3. giving it a spiritual spin, the last part is translated as 'abandon the [attachment to this material] world for your own moksha, nirvana.' i.e. leave worldly attachment, only then you will be able to liberate yourself.

The six pleasures of life - अर्थागमो नित्यमरोगिता

incoming wealth, always good health, friends,
sweet spoken wife, obedient children, fruitful knowledge
- these are the six comfort/pleasures of this mortal world, o king!
--
arthAgamo nityamarogitA cha priyashcha bhAryA priya-vAdinI cha |
vashyashcha putro'rthakarI cha vidyA ShaD jIvalokasya sukhAni rAjan ||
--
अर्थागमो नित्यमरोगिता च प्रियश्च भार्या प्रियवादिनी च ।
वश्यश्च पुत्रोऽर्थकरी च विद्या षड् जीवलोकस्य सुखानि राजन् ॥ ०-१०

continuing the discussion in hitopadesh, the king after hearing the two shlokas on the morning walk - recipe for disaster and two types of knowledge - started to think about his children and their education or lack of it, future of his kingdom etc. and he remembers this shloka. this was originally said by vidura in mahAbhArata (vidur neeti) to emperor dhRitarAShTra .

in this mortal world, where we live and die, and all the experiences are within this short span what are the sources of comfort/pleasure? let us see how the wise vidur lists them out, and how the rest all follow from these! remember, this is not about the next world, or spirituality. sometimes we have to talk of the present and real as per our limited senses. specially, the people of action (rajas)!

Hindu Prayer Book

Hindu Prayer Book (English)

Hindu Prayer Book (Hindi)

[updated 2012] 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.

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 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 (English)

Hindu Prayer Book - Hindi

(c) Shashikant Joshi । शशिकांत जोशी । ॐ सर्वे भवन्तु सुखिनः ।

https://PracticalSanskrit.com/

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Happy Diwali to all!

Happy Diwali to all!

 

i had written an article in 2003 on Diwali that i have as a PDF, so instead of extracting text out of that, i thought of uploading the PDF itself.

click on the small icon on bottom right of the document (Fullscreen) to read comfortably.
or you can also read that as GIF by clicking on the pics below.

Diwali Article in Tarang Oct 2003

View more documents from Shashi Joshi.

God helps them who help themselves - न देवा दण्डमादाय

The gods don't protect like a shepherd with a stick.
Whom they want to protect, they give them intelligence.

न देवा दण्डमादाय रक्षन्ति पशुपालवत् ।
यं तु रक्षितुमिच्छन्ति बुद्ध्या संविभजन्ति तम् ॥
विदुरनीति ३-४०

na devA daNDamAdAya rakShanti pashupAlavat ।
yaM tu rakShitumichchhanti buddhyA saMvibhajanti tam ॥
viduraneeti 3-40


As described in an earlier post on smart goals, the wise minister and brother Vidura gives the emperor Dhritarashtra (dhRitarAShTra), a sermon of eight chapters in the epic Mahabharata.

After two chapters of some of the best advice on leadership and management and politics and friendship and social responsibility, the emperor says - tell me more, your interesting and varied talks entice me and i don't get tired of listening to them.


Time and again Dhritarashtra had said - "What you say is correct, but I can't think straight when it comes to the interests of my own son Duryodhana". Duryodhana plots and plans against the cousin Pandava (pANDava) and cheats them, insults them and sends them on exile for 13 years.

This is when Vidura says this shloka, meaning that the emperor should not think that he will be saved by any god or divine if he keeps making foolish decision and not use his own intelligence and good brains.


This one shloka itself has deep implications in many aspects of society, politics, religion.

There are people who think that if they surrender to god, to a master, to a guru, then everything will be okay. They give big donations, charity and all PR stunts. Then there are those who claim there can't be any god or God if there exist pain, sorrow, injustice and all the negativity in this world.

There are those who claim big titles, and positions and assure deliverance from whatever. there are missionary TV channels who will pray for you and get your message to God and save you. Now this trend has started in Hindu religion also. You have TV puja-s, and internet homa and prayers - on your behalf.

There are temples where the rich give donations of many crores (1 crore rupees = about 250,000 US dollars) in the hope and assurance that god will listen to them first. They have their own VIP lines to have quick and easy darshana (viewing) of the divine (statues in the temple). There are 'saints' and realized masters who have multi million dollar business of saving souls! They harp on the importance of a living guru and overshadow even the supreme divine in their megalomania.

And all of them rely on the spirituality, philosophy given by the ancient seers. No one has invented anything new. If they say so, laugh at them heartily. They sure have reinterpreted for their times. So we should look carefully at the original sources. Don't worry that those original people themselves are not alive.

Even if we don't believe in gods, avatars etc., even then we have to believe that some people existed who saw the way they saw and generations have carried their words. We have the scriptures to prove that somebody said these things. It is their humbleness that most of the Indian seers didn't leave any specific details about themselves. Even without their physical bodies, their words, if contemplated genuinely and earnestly, will deliver us!

Veda Vyasa is attributed to have categorized the Veda-s, no mean task by today's standards. So we must listen to his words carefully. And Vidura was one of the wisest in the Mahabharata, so we must listen to him even more carefully.

So,

to those who think if we pray to god, god will come and deliver us;
to those who think god is going to deliver us only if we believe in this or that form of god (whether Indian or not);

To them - god will not come down and stand on your doorstep like a guard, will not be with you all the time like a body guard. While faith is important, it is the intelligence that god gives along with other skills that intelligence/mind can use, that ultimately saves us.

God is good only if thoughts, prayers to him/her etc. bring any change in us, our hearts and minds. And not all of life is spirituality, lot of it is also reality. As Kalidasa (kAlidAsa) says in Kumara-sambhavam - shareeramAdyam khalu dharmasAdhanam (शरीरमाद्यं खलु धर्मसाधनम्) - this body is the instrument of (executing) all dharma (responsibilities and deeds) - so we should not neglect the shareera-dharma as well. And with society comes the practical world and wisdom and neeti and reality of this world.


What miracles we hear - Jesus walking on water, Meera drinking poison, rocks thrown on Buddha splitting in pieces and not hurting him - they are created to give us a sense of greater than human perspective. They are to appeal to our feelings, emotions, and to create in us an unwavering faith. And through such 'higher than us' figures, good teachings are passed. We tend to believe larger than life figures, and the trend of creating legends continues to this day - be it Princess Diana or 9/11.


But before the faith, we must use our mind, our viveka to see what are the intention of the faith creator. Lot of world's problems are because of this negligence.

This shloka is like 'buyers beware' advice in Indian market. You be aware of what you are buying.

We should not blame anyone for our problems.

This doesn't mean it is everyone for oneself, and there is no need to do good. When Draupadi and Yuddhishthira have a discussion on the importance of karma while in exile, he says - I don't follow dharma even for following dharma [and having the fame of how dharmika I am]. I follow dharma (the right conduct) because I think that way, I must do the right thing, for I have to do karma, then why not the right karma.

So we all need to do our duties in the society. After that it is not our fault. A farmer tills the land, but if it doesn't rain it is not his fault. That is why kings and governments give subsidies, and relief funds during drought.

Anyway. Some of the statements above may not seem connected, because there is so much that can be said connecting them that it would be too long for a single post.

But, use your brains, your intelligence and the divine will protect you.
God helps them, who help themselves.

Question: when Rama is getting ready for exile, Lakshmana, his younger brother says that they should grab the throne by force. Because, this decision of Dasharatha - their father and king - to send Rama to exile, was not right decision for the father to his son or for the king to his kingdom. And yet Rama says - it is destiny (daiva). Even when Lakshmana says - the brave make their own destiny, Rama refuses.

Why?

---

And now the language aspects of the shloka -


na = not
devAH = gods, divine
daNDamAdAya = with stick (daNDa) in hand (AdAya)
rakShanti = protect (plural third person of verb rakSh)
pashupAlavat = like a cattle-grazer
pashu = animal
pAla = protect
-vat = like, when used as a suffix
pashu-pAl-vat = like a cowherd/shepherd

yaM = whom
tu = rather, instead
rakShitumichchhanti = desire (ichchhanti) to protect (rakShitum = for protecting)
buddhyA = with intelligence
saMvibhajanti = attach, join, (endow)
tam = that (person)

[ The intention of this post is not to challenge anyone's belief but to remind them that god works through our own hands and mind, so we should always be aware, alert, and right thinking, for we alone take ourselves to heaven or hell by our own deeds].

(c) Shashikant Joshi । शशिकांत जोशी । ॐ सर्वे भवन्तु सुखिनः ।

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