Friday, April 29, 2011

Practise Shreddha and Steadfastness


Last two weeks we heard story on how important is practicing and internalizing.
This week we can listen to a story on how to practice and pursue our efforts.
Our scriptures has outlined it simply as "Shreddha" in Sanskrit, which means being confident and steadfast with complete faith on God. This story is about a small boy who remained a Pole star as a result of his efforts with Shreddha.

Most of  us are aware of Pole star, which is a bright start above North Pole and also remains in the same position when viewed from different parts of earth. In Indian legend, this star is called as "Dhruva Nakshatra" named after the small boy Dhruva. So, here goes the story on how the small boy turned into a bright Star!

There was a King by name Uttanapada and he had a wife Suniti. As they did not have any offspring, the King married Surichi, who gave birth to Uttama. Soon after Suniti also got conceived. Surichi got afraid that her son might not get into the throne, made some plot and moved Suniti away from the Royal Court. Suniti lived away from the Royal Court and gave birth to Dhruva.

Dhruva as he grow, learnt many good qualities from her mother and other noble people  visiting their house. When he was around five years old, he constantly nagged his mother asking who is his father. One day Suniti told that his father is the King of this country and on hearing this Dhruva wanted to see him. Suniti dressed up Dhruva as a Royal Prince and sent to the Royal Court to see his father. However, she instructed him to only see his father and not to speak to anyone in the Royal Court. Anxious Dhruva waved his head and ran towards the Court.

The moment he entered the Royal Court, being a Prince by birth, he walked gracefully towards the centre and was very happy to see his father sitting majestically on the throne.  Being a small boy, he wished to sit on the lap of his father and approached towards him. The King inquired about his whereabouts and was happy to see his son after many years. While Dhruva was about to sit on his father's lap, Surichi came and pushed him away saying, "You should have born to me if you want to sit on his lap". The small boy Dhruva did not expect this treatment, but decided to go away. As his mother taught him, before leaving the place, he bowed to his father and small mother Surichi as they are elders to be respected.

Dhruva then went weeping towards his mother Suniti and explained the happenings. Suniti was sad on hearing it and told that though he cannot sit on the lap of his father who is the King of this country, he can gain a permanent place in the heart of the King of this Universe, who is the Lotus-eyed Lord Vishnu. The moment she uttered those words, Dhruva bid farewell to her saying "Matha, as you told, I will go and search the King of the Universe, Sri Vishnu and get a permanent place for us".
Dhruva went out to the forest and roamed all around. He asked all trees, plants, animals and other living beings in the forest, whether they know the lotus-eyed King of Universe. Silence was the reply from everyone. He did not get deterred and wandered more and ate whatever he got along the side. Seeing this Rishi Narada came and blessed him saying "Oh My son Dhruva, I am pleased with your determination to see Lotus-eyed King of Universe. However you cannot see him by wandering, but have to sit in Padmasana and meditate on him by chanting the mantra "OM NAMO BHAGAVATE VASUDEVAYA". Please carry out this procedure with your confidence and determination and you will surely see the Lotus-eyed King of Universe. He did the same for sometime and one day Lotus-eyed Lord Vishnu appeared before him and told him "My son Dhruva, I am pleased with your shreddha bhakti towards Me. Please ask what boon you want". Dhruva did not have anything to be asked for except to be with the Lord always. Lord Vishnu then granted him a permanent place with him as a Pole Star and hence the pole star is named as Dhruva.

There are many morals that can be learnt from this story.
Sage Narada guiding Dhruva with the mantra and a procedure illustrates that, if one is determined in their effort then God will bless us with a path to proceed and make our efforts fruitful. 
Perseverance is not related with age, as a small boy like Dhruva can do efforts with utmost Shreddha.
One may be rejected by some of his own kith and kin and friends, but if he is determined, he can reach skies, as Dhruva became the Pole star.

This Barathiyar song sung by Yesudas strikes our heart directy with a message "to be determined".

Next week we can listen to another small boy who showed steadfastness and Shreddha.

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Importance of Mantra Upadesam


As promised here is a humorous story on the importance of uttering words from a person who has internalized it!

There was a Pandit by name Chandrasekar who was a member in the court of King Nanda. He was a good friend of King Nanda. One day King Nanda on his way to hunting, crossed Chandrasekar's home and thought of paying a visit to his friend's home. When he entered, Chandrasekar's wife was surprised. She greeted him and offered seat and told him that Chandrasekar is performing his daily pooja and will be completing within few minutes. The King could see Chandrasekar chanting some mantra and finally completed his pooja. Chandrasekar was very happy on seeing the King visiting his home and welcomed him. The King asked him what Mantra he was chanting. Chandrasekar replied that his Guru has blessed him with a mantra to chant everyday to lead a healthy life. The King asked his friend to tell that mantra so that he can also chant everyday.

But Chandrasekar replied, "O King, this mantra upadesam has to be given by a Guru who has mastered it and being a novice, I cannot do the mantra upadesam to you."

Eventhough the King insisted him to tell the mantra, Chandrasekar replied that the mantra will not have effect if it is not duly learnt from a Guru and refused to tell him.

The King felt his words disrespectful and furiously told "Come and meet me in the court tomorrow"

Chandrasekar thought deeply on how to face the King tomorrow and escape from his punishment, while at the same time not telling him the mantra.

Next morning, Chandrasekar entered the court and made a bow before the King. He saw the security people and with a loud voice ordered them as
"Go and put the handcuffs to the King". "He has involved in many wrongdoings that affects the citizens of his nation"

The King, Members of the court and the people were shocked by his statements. The security people did not react to his words and the King immediately ordered his security people as
"Go and put the handcuffs to the Pandit".

Immediately the security persons arrested the Pandit. Now Chandrasekar bowed before the King and told

"We both uttered the same words "Go and put handcuffs", however the security persons obeyed yours while they did not react when I ordered them. This is a simple incident to prove, that words are not mere words and carry momentum based on who says so and with what intention. Similarly only a Guru who has internalized and mastered a Mantra can do upadesam and only then it will have an effect on us when we chant."

Let us all pray God to show us our Guru who could help us in our efforts.

This is a soul stirring song by Maestro Ilayaraja on our JagadGuru Adi Shankaracharya.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nj5nx4ywkYQ

Friday, April 15, 2011

Words from me

There are umpteen things that might interests you in this high-tech world..
What matters finally is what you do - which really shows what you are interested in!

I am still searching mine..
Let me know if you have any!
If you are passionate about your interests, do drop in your comments for my post on Drop Outs!

@Anusha - I have posted my short movie here as I could not add it to the comments section. Hope you will like it :)

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Practise and Preach

Saints advices us what they practice and only those words have its effect on the people. This is evident from the below story.
Guru Ramakrishna Paramahamsa used to spend sometime daily in meeting his devotees and blessing them. Once a lady along with her son came to meet him. The lady told to Guru that his son used to eat sweets everyday which is not good for his health, and hence pleaded him to advice his son on that. Guru after having a smile at the boy, told the lady to come after two weeks.After two weeks the lady visited Guru along with her son. This time, the Guru recognised them and asked the boy to come near him. He then told the boy that it is not to good to eat sweets daily as it would affect his growing teeth and body. Also, he added, that if he eats sweets daily, their parents have to spend more on sweets and thus could not get him good books or clothes. Finally he patted the boy and asked "So when do you eat sweets from now?" and the boy replied "I am a good boy and eat sweets occasionally". Saying this the boy ran outside.

The lady is happy for she knows that her son likes the Guru a lot and would want to adher his words to him. But she wondered why her Guru did not say these words when they came first time and asked the same to the Guru.



Guru replied "When you came first time, I used to daily eat sweets brought by the devotees. How can I advice your son not to do something, when I myself doing it daily?

From that day I stopped eating sweets and that gave me the strength and power to advice him on not eating sweets. And I am sure, that made him understand quickly why eating sweets is bad. Only when we preach what we practice, are our words full of sincerity and appeal to the listener"



It may appear to us just as telling words, but whatever we utter will have real effect only when we internalize those words within us. Hence we all should learn to practice and then preach.

We will listen to another humourous story on this topic next week!



A lighter song this week.. As soon as I think about children and sweets, I am reminded of the ever enjoyable "Jelabi" advertisement of our childhood.

Here it iswww.youtube.com/watch?v=mk8Z0WbSWV0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8VEaPjeLhQ

Enjoy!

Story Courtesy: www.balsanskar.com

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Secret behind Hanuman's power


Secret Behind Hanuman's power:

This week we can listen to a story of Lord Rama, remembering his Janmadina on April 12th, Tuesday.
Hanuman the ardent devotee of Lord Rama expounds that all his valorous deeds are possible only because of chanting Rama Nama. He is the one who crossed the ocean with formidable courage and belief. As we pitch in to do any activity, we would be faced with many obstacles. So it is with Hanuman. He faced many obstacles while he crosses the ocean. Soon after he took off from Rameshwaram with a resounding "Jai Seetha Raam", he found a mountain rising up on his path and blocking his way. As he approached nearer, the mountain spoke to him "Namaste Hanuman. I am mountain Mainaka. I know that you are travelling to Lanka in search of Seetha. This ocean being very long of more than 100 Yojanas (an ancient metric), I offer you to have a short stay here and boost up your energy. It is every individual's duty to serve Aditi (Guest) and that too for a Rama messenger, I feel blessed to serve you. Please accept my offer."



Hanuman who started fiercely, did not want to get halted by this offer and want to reach Lanka as early as possible. Hence he replied, "Dhanyawad Mainaka. I am sorry that I cannot abide your offer now as Rama Karya is of utmost important than my rest. However I can just touch you with my hands, and acknowledge your Aditi Seva." Saying this he continued his fierce jump again.



Next came a big snake called Surasa, blocking his way. She yelled at Hanuman saying ,"Oh, Hanuman. I got a boon from Brahma that all beings going by this side has to enter my mouth once and can then cross the place. So now its your turn." Saying so, she opened her big mouth.



Hanuman replied, "Naga Matha, I am going for an important Rama Karya, once it gets completed, I will come and enter into your mouth". But Surasa did not accept that. So Hanuman doubled his size than Surasa, seeing that Surasa grew bigger than him. Hanuman quadrupled his size and again Surasa grew bigger. While Surasa grewing bigger than Hanuman every time, suddenly to Surasa's surprise Hanuman shrink his body to the size of a thumb, entered into Surasa's very big mouth and came out the next moment. Surasa now paved way for Hanuman and appreciated his wise action.



As Hanuman further travelled, he found his speed getting dragged down by some force. After looking around, he found a demoness residing in ocean which attracted his shadow and thus slowed down his speed (This incident proves the existence of Bermuda Triangle). She rose up and blocked the way of Hanuman. Hanuman recognized her enormous strength, so took a small size and entered into her body through her mouth. He then pierced her organs and came out of her stomach, thus tearing her into pieces.



Hanuman after winning over these obstacles multiplied his speed and landed on a mountain in Lanka. While we read this a story, a meticulous observation will provide insight on how we have to handle obstacles.

1. Hanuman faced hospitality which indeed is a hindrance (not an obstacle) to his Rama Karya through Mainaka. He won that with his persistence character.

2. He has to abide by Brahma's boon of Surasa, and at the same time should not get trapped. He won that obstacle by his wise action.

3. Recognizing Simhika as a powerful demoness, he won her by his valour and strength.



And, at the end, he attributes his prowess to the Rama Nama that he chants.



Similarly we all will face many difficulties and obstacles when we take up some efforts. As Hanuman displayed, it is important to win over each obstacle either by our character, wisdom or strength and we can get the power by chanting Rama Nama.



As Meera Bai sings in this song, there is no other valuable other than Rama Nama.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUqA69N_0MM - By Dr. Lata Mangeshkar


paayoji mainne ram ratan dhan paayo - 2

Vastu amolik dil mera sataguru - 2
kripaa kari apnaavo (payo ji maine)

janam janam ki punji paal - 2
jag mein sakhovaayo (payo ji maine)

kharcha na koi chor na lutai - 2
din din badhat savayo (payo ji maine)

sat ki naav khevatiya satguru - 2
bhavsagar taravayo (payo ji maine)

meera ke prabhu giridhar nagar - 2
harash harash jas gaayo (payo ji maine)

Story: Taken from Sundara Kandam of Ramayana
Lyrics Courtesy: www.hindilyrix.com