Mahabharath in life

When Yudishtir pledges to enjoy the pleasure of senses only by means prescribed by sanatana dharma, he refrains from unscrupulous, non-dharmic carnal pleasures and enjoyments. The ego does not like it. So it easily influences the mind which is already a slave of a hundred vices to gain control on senses by hook or crook. Budhi always tries to guide the mind in the right path. Mind listens to it but falls back into the influence of the 100 vices. By virtue of the prodigious talent it got by birth, chit is capable of enhancing the enjoyment of its masters. If not taken care properly, it can also destabilize the mind and cause downfall of the whole creation. The ego and mind are thus wary of Chit. Chit always follows the senses. Not having chit on their side makes the ego burn into frustration. Desire is always with ego. It helps ego in every aspect in whatever way it can. At the tipping point, ego makes the mind to determine to fight with the senses that are not willing to obey him. Mind has the strongest power with him - the Will power. Nothing can defeat will power. The only way it will be defeated is by its own will. No external force in this world can defeat it. This power of will is given to mind. Ego and the 100 vices makes the mind to use its will power to fight the senses that are not obeying them. They are all definitely sure that the senses don't stand a chance in front of minds desire and will power. And it is true. Senses by themselves are very incapable to fight against mind, desire and ego. But because Yudishtir pledged to follow dharma, Krishna came to help them. With Krishna's help, ego and desire are defeated and Yudishtir wins.

 

Dhuryodhana is ego and Dhritarashtra is the mind. Vidur is budhi, will power is Bhishma, Karna is desire and kauravas are 100 vices ego being one of them and strongest of them. Draupadhi is chit and pandavas are senses. Arjun is sense of sight. Bheema is sense of taste. Nakul and sahadev are sense of hearing and touch.

 

And Yudishtir is you. Every body whoever is fighting with ego and vices to follow sanatana dharma is Yudishtir. Their life is Maha Bharat and Krishna is always there to guide them in troubles.

 

--Krishnam Vande Jagadgurum

Why Brahmins should not eat meat?

According to Ayurveda, foods are grouped into three categories - Saatvic, Rajasic and Tamasic

A Brahmin's profession requires him to have Saatvic nature predominately. Sattvic qualities imply consciousness, purity, creativity, clear perception etc. Saatvic people are loving, compassionate, and pure – minded. They tend to have positive behavior, and love for all beings. They do not become upset or angry easily. They look fresh, alert, aware, and are recognized for their wisdom.

Fresh meat is considered rajasic, and old meat is considered tamasic. Hence it is not prescribed for Brahmins.

Sattvic diet is a regimen that places emphasis on seasonal foods, fruits, dairy products, nuts, seeds, oils, ripe vegetables, legumes, whole grains, and non-meat based proteins (animal proteins). Some argue that Sattvic diet cannot include dairy products as milk has protein derived from animals. But as per ayurveda  it is safe to rely on dairy for supplemental protein and is considered non-harming.

Further references:

http://www.yogachicago.com/jan05/diet.shtml

http://ayurvedaplace.com/2011/09/05/food-affects-mind-sattvic-rajasic-tamasic-food/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sattvic_diet

Terminal velocity of a rain drop

The terminal velocity of a rain drop is 9 m/s. That means from the moment a drop leaves the cloud, its velocity increases continuously from 0 m/s to 9 m/s. But after that it stays constant. It travels all the way through the atmosphere with this 9 m/s velocity and hits the earth. This is a wonderful phenomenon. Had it not been like that, if the rain drop continues to gain speed, no living creature can tolerate its momentum. It will shoot like a tracer bullet and will shatter anything that comes in its way.

 

Hinduism explained this concept like this. Though there is water on earth, there was no rain for a long time from the beginning of the creation. Sage Bhageeratha did arduous tapasya to please Lord Brahma (the creator) to send Ganga (rain) to earth. Pleased by Bhageeratha's tapasya, Brahma agrees to send Ganga. But raises a question. He says, "My creation will not survive the momentum of Ganga. Her ferocity will shatter everything on earth. So I suggest you pray Lord Shiva - The all powerful supreme master to help you in reducing Ganga's ferocity while coming down to earth.

Bhageeratha is determined and focused on getting Ganga down onto earth. So he continues his tapasya to please Lord Shiva. Shiva - The kind hearted appears in front of Bhageeratha and offers himself to help. He orders Ganga to jump on to his head there by he will first absorb all the impact and then slowly release the water to earth.

 

But Ganga is headstrong and adamant. She did not realize the power of Shiva - the supreme. She decides to jump onto Shiva's head with full vigor and take him down and shatter everything. Shiva realizes Ganga's intention. He signal's her to jump from the sky. Shiva was standing on the earth with knees bent and hand on the hips to brace for the impact. Ganga hits Shiva's head. Shiva quickly locks her up in his tumultuous hair and captivates her completely. Then Ganga realizes about Lord Shiva and prays him to release her. Then Shiva releases Ganga slowly. Ganga flows down along Shiva's long hairs and reaches earth.

 

The philosophy behind this story is the science explained in the first paragraph. Shiva is also called as Vyoma Kesha. Vyoma means sky. Kesha means hair. Vyoma Kesha means he who has sky as his hair. Means he is spread across the sky as atmosphere.

 

Vyomakesha is not just another name of Lord Shiva. It is a scientific term. Gangavtaranam is not just story in Ramayana. It is a detailed explanation of the concept behind the terminal velocity of a raindrop.

Distance to Sun - Hanuman chalisa

Distance between earth and sun is explained in  ” Hanuman Chalisa”.

“! जुग सहस्त्र योजन पर भानु, 

लील्यो ताहिमधुर फल जानू !”

This means that Sun (भानु) is at a distance of  Juug Sahastra Yojans (जुग सहस्त्र योजन- Distance Unit in Hindi)

According to following conversion practices that are in use as per Hindu Vedic Literature-

1 Juug = 12000

1 Sahastra= 1000

1 Yojan = 8 Miles

Thus

12000 X 1000 X 8 =  96,000,000  miles

1 mile = 1.6 kms

This further implies that distance is  96,000,000 * 1.6 kms = 153,600,000 Kms

According to Modern Astronomy and Science, distance between earth and sun is =  152,171,522 km.

The ultimate WHY

Extracted from Srimad Bhagavadgita - Sadhaka-sanjivani of Swami Ramsukhdas

"There arose in God, before creation, a resolve of multiplying Himself in many forms. By this wish the One God, became manifest in two forms; Sri Krishna and Sriji, for the exchange and promotion of love. Both staged a play in order to mutually conduct the sport. By God's wish, endless number of beings and objects came into being. The play takes place only when the players on both the sides are free. For this, the beings were granted freedom by the Lord. Sriji's attraction lay focused only on God, there was never a slip on her side. Thus there was a play of love between God and Sriji. But the other beings, who assumed their part, with the matter of the play by mistake, for their coincidental joy, whereby they got into the cycle of birth and death.

The objects of a play are only meant for play, not for anyone's personal possession. But these beings forgot to play the right game, misused their freedom and began to regard the materials of the play, as personally their own. Therefore, they got entangled in matter and totally turned away from God. Now, if these beings had shunned the perishable material of forms and looked towards, God, then they could be free from the great pain of births and deaths, forever. Thus withdrawing from the world, the beings would realize is eternal relationship with God only for the sake of this realization, the Bhagavad Gita, has come down to us"

We all came to this theatre to witness the eternal, omni present, ecstatic, blissful joy of love of Sri Krishna, but sadly got side tracked. It's like we came to a movie to enjoy the play but became overly possessive about the protagonist, graphics, music etc and in the end left the theatre dis-satisfied because we never really enjoyed the original play that we came for. God is kind hearted so gives us another ticket for free(life). Says "Don't worry dear, watch the movie again". It's like another chance. We wasted crores of chances like this. God is still not complaining. But how long will we continue like this? After all why ?

Dharba - Holy grass

Dharba is a holy grass with a lot of significance in sanatana dharma. It's botonical name is Eragrostis cynosuroides. It is called as Kus or Kusha in Hindi. Brahmins use this Dharba grass in all functions, auspicious or inauspicious. A performing person needs to wear a ring made of this Dharbam. Below are a few scientific applications of Dharba

Absorber of harmful rays:

During the Eclipse time, these Dharba are used to cover all food items to protect them from the harmful ultra violet radiation. It is also said that Dharba can also absorb 60% of X-rays if placed between the body and the X-ray machine.

Conductor of phonetic vibrations:

Before a homam, brahmins perform a site-cleansing act known as "Sudhhi Punyaahavachanam". While reciting the selective versus, they hold the Dharbha bunch in their hand and placing the tip point of it over the vessel containing water. Thus the recited vibration values are absorbed by water in the vessel through the Dharbha. The Holy Grass known as Dharbha has the highest value in conducting the phonetic vibrations through its tip. It acts as the transmitter of the vedic phonetic vibrations from brahmins to water. Then this water is sprinkled in every nook and corner of the place where the function is held. A Dharbha without the tip is considered of no value, as the conductor-type value is lost in it."

Ramayanam is written by sage Valmiki but Lava and Kusha spread it across the length and breadth of the country. Just like that Dharba which is transferring the vibrations into water. Valmiki aptly named the boys as 'Kusha' the tip and 'Lava' the other end. Lava Kusha gave us the phonetic vibration of word "Rama" by singing Ramayanam

Usage:

While chanting and reciting some Vedic phrases and versus, one needs to wear a ring made of Dharbha on his right hand ring finger. This is most essential, while performing all the rituals, such as Agni Santhanam, Thiru-Aaradhanam, all sorts of Havans known as Homam etc. The count of leaves depends upon the function that is held viz.: for some functions related to death only Single leaf Dharbha is used; for Auspicious and daily routine a ring made of two leaves is used; for inauspicious but not death related functions, (i.e. Amavasya Tharppanam, Pithru Pooja etc) a three leaf Dharbha ring is used. And for the Temple Prayer and Pooja, a Four-leaf Dharbha ring is used. Also, when a fire ritual known as Agni Santhana is performed, these Dharbha are spread all the four sides of the Agni Kundam.

The last dialogue

We all are born for different reasons. Our creator gave us capabilities as per that purpose. Along with this He gave us freewill. But the world He created is quite enticing. With freewill, we are constantly at risk of loosing focus and being digressed from the purpose. So we need stories, movies, music, lessons etc, that reminds us about the purpose. That inspires us to go back to the right path.

But is freedom a problem?

It is our purpose. Our desire and our motivation. We took a birth for that reason. So why will we be unhappy to progress towards it? The actual problem is ignorance not freedom. Freedom is fun!!!

In the last dialogue with God, we will have the final appraisal. Post that the purpose of the next birth will be decided. Based on that we choose our parents. Our past karma will form our tendencies and then we enter the womb. We grow and struggle for 9 months. We crave and pray for freedom. God helps us in the form of 'Prasooti Vayu'. He will trigger labor pains and mother pushes us out. After we come out, the doctor will pat on our back. In a shock, we will open the eyes and start crying. For the first time, the lungs will expand, lot of air gushes into the rib cage. Pressure builds up, we will breath out and boom!!! Everything changes.

It all happens very fast. Due to back pressure from lungs, the valves in the heart close. Two new valves open due to blood pressure in the vessels. These valve operations mean we will no longer receive mom's blood. We have to purify our own blood because the gateway to mom's uterus is closed. This is called 'shatam'. That's the end of the memory of previous birth, purpose, last dialogue, appraisal etc. Nurse will cut the umbilical cord and we will start life on our own with ignorance, freedom, capabilities and tendencies. All of us will be busy crying out of shock and fear in this moment.

Though 'shatam' plunges us into a world of ignorance, the ethereal connection between mom and us will still be live. Magic of motherhood will start its enticing drama. Our shrill cry will secrete colostrum in Mom's breasts. She will embrace to feed us. That magical touch, that wonderful food, that mesmerizing love will soothe us. We will feel safe and protected. From that moment on wards, it is all Icha shakti --> Gnana shakti -->Kriya shakti. Desire to do something --> knowledge to do something -->doing that thing. This triangle continues until next final appraisal.