Adding link to a temple website created by Subha recently-
http://www.dakshinaahobilam.info/
This temple has been constructed in 1918. This temple is dedicated to Sri Yoga Hayavadhanar and Sri Vedanthadesikar at Perumpakkam Village of Villupuram Taluk, Tamil Nadu
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Friday, May 11, 2007
The Essence of Ramayana
This ancient land of Bharat has turned out numerous work of literature. The objectives have always been to achieve more than entertainment. Woven are teachings for life and beyond. These lessons are often not explicit – that too for good reason. As with the Ramayana – the simple mind is held fast with the beauty of the characters and poetry, this eventually leads to spiritual enlightenment.
The story of the Rama is now so-much a part of us, that we can boldly claim there are none-unaware of it, across socio-economic-religious divisions, but what about its hidden Thatva-artham(Essence). This beautiful secret was described by my Guru - Sri Anna in his Ramayana Upanyasam.
As long as the Sita (Jeeva- Athma) had no other desire than staying together with Ram (Param-athma) – there is complete happiness. Being instigated by Surpanaka (Maya), Ravana** (Manas) causes Sita to desire a deer, causing her to be temporarily separated from God.
Thereafter, Ravana tries distracting Sita by showing his wealth (The Senses and Manas causes distraction by showing the pleasures of the World). Sita – being dedicated to Rama is greatly distressed by separation from him and is least interested on anything offered by Ravana. She knows that Rama will come for here and spends all her time in penance at Ashoka Van, in complete Dyan of Rama. (Sharnagathi Dharma - Complete Surrender to God)
Rama too is very disturbed due to his separation from Sita and undertakes all effort to rescue her. Hanuman (Guru), being directed by Rama makes contact with Sita and consoles her. Hanuman gives Sita Rama’s ring with the Moola-Manthra “Ram” written on it – signifying the Guru guiding the Athma in the path of Nama-Sankeerthana. Finally Rama destroyers Ravana rescues Sita.
The Essence of Ramayana is extremely simple and yet profoundly insightful. Jai Sita Ram!!!
** Ravana’s 10 heads corresponding to 5 Karma Indh-riya [Sensory Organs] and 5 Gyan Indh-riya. Vibeeshan , Ravana and Kumbhakarna correspond to the Sattvik, Rajasik & Tamasik Guna.
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
PanchaAgni Vidhya
A man was running from a tiger, when he slipped and fell into a deep well. He grabbed the root of a tree, to halt his fall – only to realize the hiss of many snakes at the depth of the well. Just as a jungle rat started to gnaw at the roots which lent him life, he savored the drops of sweet honey, dripping from an overhanging honeycomb.
Such are the pleasures of mortal life said Sri.Vellukudi Krishnan, at his Upanyasam on the Chandogya Upanishad, part of the Sama Veda. He talked about the PanchaAgni Vidhya – which I try to convey as close to verbatim as possible.
Context:
The PanchaAgni Vidhya is a conversation between Raja Praah-vanan and the saint Swate-Kathu, who is accompanied by his father. The king describes to the saints the knowledge of what happens to the soul from the moment of death to point of time it is reborn on this earth.
The 5 fires:
The PanchaAgni Vidhya mentions 5 sacrificial fires (Agni) to which the soul is the offering (Ahuti) . In essence it talks of the 5 stages a soul travels from the point of death to the point of re-birth.
The First fire: Upon death, the soul takes on another body, in a subtle atomic (Sushma) form and travels to Heaven (or hell - as the case may be). This form of the soul called the Sradha. Thus the heaven is the Agni and the Sradha is the Ahuti.
The Second fire: The soul cannot stay in heaven indefinitely (Time and place cease to exist only on Moksha, which is partial equality (samyapathi) with the Param Brahmam). The duration of stay at Heaven is determined by the accumulated punya. After which the soul will be cast out into the clouds. This is called the casting of soma, representing the fall from pleasure. Thus the Clouds are the Agni and the Soma is the Ahuti.
The Third fire: The soul residing in the clouds falls to earth as rain. This rain can fall anywhere on earth, on soil or on sea. The rain which falls on land , cause the growth of food (Annam), Wherein the soul enters the food. The Earth (Prithiv) is the fire and the rain (and the soul within) the Ahuti.
The Fourth fire: The act of feeding by the human (Purushan) is the offering of the Soul, now in the form of Annam to the Purushan, the fourth fire. It’s obvious that this food can be consumed by animals of all species, directly or indirectly, causing branches to the described path. This food is causal for the strength and vigor of the human race. The Purushan is the fire and the Annam (and the soul within) is the Ahuti.
The Fifth fire: The act of sex causes the Soul to transfer from the man to the Women (Sthree), where the soul develops the into a pregnancy, to be born back into this world. The Sthree herself is the Agni and the Veeriyam (sperm - and the soul within) is the Ahuti.
Comprehension:
What is the point of knowing the passage of the soul? We apply a bit of probability to the PanchaAgni Vidhya to answer this question. We soon realize that the PanchaAgni Vidhya describes the straight line, which has a million branches.
Since it is obvious that only a human being is mentally capable of breaking the cycle of birth & death, we need to see – what the probability is for us to be born again as a human being.
1) What is the probability that rain falls on cultivable land and not into the sea? For then the soul will enter the aquatic life cycle.
2) What is the probability that the soul inside the food would not be consume by a dog or rat.
3) What is that probability that – the human who has the food would also bear a child at that point of time.
And so on…
We need to conclude that worldly pleasures are drops of honey. We need to realize that time is gaining on all of us, as we should desire to break this cycle of birth and death. The paths for this are many Bakthi, Yogam, Sharanagathi, etc.
After all, how do we know how many millions of years we would have to wait for another birth as human?
Such are the pleasures of mortal life said Sri.Vellukudi Krishnan, at his Upanyasam on the Chandogya Upanishad, part of the Sama Veda. He talked about the PanchaAgni Vidhya – which I try to convey as close to verbatim as possible.
Context:
The PanchaAgni Vidhya is a conversation between Raja Praah-vanan and the saint Swate-Kathu, who is accompanied by his father. The king describes to the saints the knowledge of what happens to the soul from the moment of death to point of time it is reborn on this earth.
The 5 fires:
The PanchaAgni Vidhya mentions 5 sacrificial fires (Agni) to which the soul is the offering (Ahuti) . In essence it talks of the 5 stages a soul travels from the point of death to the point of re-birth.
The First fire: Upon death, the soul takes on another body, in a subtle atomic (Sushma) form and travels to Heaven (or hell - as the case may be). This form of the soul called the Sradha. Thus the heaven is the Agni and the Sradha is the Ahuti.
The Second fire: The soul cannot stay in heaven indefinitely (Time and place cease to exist only on Moksha, which is partial equality (samyapathi) with the Param Brahmam). The duration of stay at Heaven is determined by the accumulated punya. After which the soul will be cast out into the clouds. This is called the casting of soma, representing the fall from pleasure. Thus the Clouds are the Agni and the Soma is the Ahuti.
The Third fire: The soul residing in the clouds falls to earth as rain. This rain can fall anywhere on earth, on soil or on sea. The rain which falls on land , cause the growth of food (Annam), Wherein the soul enters the food. The Earth (Prithiv) is the fire and the rain (and the soul within) the Ahuti.
The Fourth fire: The act of feeding by the human (Purushan) is the offering of the Soul, now in the form of Annam to the Purushan, the fourth fire. It’s obvious that this food can be consumed by animals of all species, directly or indirectly, causing branches to the described path. This food is causal for the strength and vigor of the human race. The Purushan is the fire and the Annam (and the soul within) is the Ahuti.
The Fifth fire: The act of sex causes the Soul to transfer from the man to the Women (Sthree), where the soul develops the into a pregnancy, to be born back into this world. The Sthree herself is the Agni and the Veeriyam (sperm - and the soul within) is the Ahuti.
Comprehension:
What is the point of knowing the passage of the soul? We apply a bit of probability to the PanchaAgni Vidhya to answer this question. We soon realize that the PanchaAgni Vidhya describes the straight line, which has a million branches.
Since it is obvious that only a human being is mentally capable of breaking the cycle of birth & death, we need to see – what the probability is for us to be born again as a human being.
1) What is the probability that rain falls on cultivable land and not into the sea? For then the soul will enter the aquatic life cycle.
2) What is the probability that the soul inside the food would not be consume by a dog or rat.
3) What is that probability that – the human who has the food would also bear a child at that point of time.
And so on…
We need to conclude that worldly pleasures are drops of honey. We need to realize that time is gaining on all of us, as we should desire to break this cycle of birth and death. The paths for this are many Bakthi, Yogam, Sharanagathi, etc.
After all, how do we know how many millions of years we would have to wait for another birth as human?
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Varna Dharma’s relevence today
What is Varna dharma? Does it exist today? I try to answer these questions today.
Varna system was a system of checks & balances, which grouped people based on their Swa-Bhava (the essential characteristic of an individual). Its logical that there must have existed a high correlation between lineage and Swa-Bhave, for the Varna system to grow to represent lineage.
Brahmana: They were widely respected but were commanded to live a life of poverty. Dependent on the charity of the other three Varnas for food and clothing.
Kshatriya: They were the rulers who lived on the lap of luxury. The luxury provides the Kshatriya the physical and mental strength to pursue his goal of preservation of dharma.
Vaisya: The business men of yesteryear – were allowed to accumulate wealth, while providing for the other three classes. Charity to the Brahmana, taxes to the Kshatriya and Salary to the Shudra.
Shudra: They were employees, compensated for their work and would be socially stable class with regular income and reduced risk.
The Mahabharata has been described (in Pravachans and Upanyasam I am quite fond of listening) as a guideline for the people of the Kali Yug. The Mahabharata shows that the correlation existing between the Swa-Bhava and heredity Varna will no longer be relevant in the Kali Yug. Dhoracharaya can be described as a Brahmana-Kshatriya, Vidur can be described as a Shudra-Bahmana. Yudistra is a Kshatriya-Brahmana, etc.
We can always expect people to have the Swa-Bhava of one or more of the four Varna’s. This we can identify from the basic character of the person. Simple questions like, Does the person…
..exhibit an aptitude and interest for business and entrepreneurship
..seem oriented towards knowledge and religion
..is quick to anger, is inclined towards professions such as law, military, etc.
..looking for a simple life with assured income to supports the needs of his/her family.
I conclude by saying Varna Dharma can no longer be applied based in birth, but should based on individual Swa-Bhava. Hence the dharma is still relevant, but in a more fundamental form
Varna system was a system of checks & balances, which grouped people based on their Swa-Bhava (the essential characteristic of an individual). Its logical that there must have existed a high correlation between lineage and Swa-Bhave, for the Varna system to grow to represent lineage.
Brahmana: They were widely respected but were commanded to live a life of poverty. Dependent on the charity of the other three Varnas for food and clothing.
Kshatriya: They were the rulers who lived on the lap of luxury. The luxury provides the Kshatriya the physical and mental strength to pursue his goal of preservation of dharma.
Vaisya: The business men of yesteryear – were allowed to accumulate wealth, while providing for the other three classes. Charity to the Brahmana, taxes to the Kshatriya and Salary to the Shudra.
Shudra: They were employees, compensated for their work and would be socially stable class with regular income and reduced risk.
The Mahabharata has been described (in Pravachans and Upanyasam I am quite fond of listening) as a guideline for the people of the Kali Yug. The Mahabharata shows that the correlation existing between the Swa-Bhava and heredity Varna will no longer be relevant in the Kali Yug. Dhoracharaya can be described as a Brahmana-Kshatriya, Vidur can be described as a Shudra-Bahmana. Yudistra is a Kshatriya-Brahmana, etc.
We can always expect people to have the Swa-Bhava of one or more of the four Varna’s. This we can identify from the basic character of the person. Simple questions like, Does the person…
..exhibit an aptitude and interest for business and entrepreneurship
..seem oriented towards knowledge and religion
..is quick to anger, is inclined towards professions such as law, military, etc.
..looking for a simple life with assured income to supports the needs of his/her family.
I conclude by saying Varna Dharma can no longer be applied based in birth, but should based on individual Swa-Bhava. Hence the dharma is still relevant, but in a more fundamental form
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)