The Birth of the Lord

This year, Aug 21 was celebrated as Shri Krishna Janmashthami. Lord Krishna is one of the ten avataras of Lord Narayana. Krishna avatara was during dwapara yuga.

Srimad Bhagavatham describes the Birth of Lord Krishna in a very beautiful and heart-capturing manner. As a reader , one gets immersed in that description of the divinity and tranquility at the time of the Lords birth.

The time was auspicious. All the stars and planets were the positions from where they showered peace and joy. It was Rohini nakshatra (star ). The rivers were flowing with clear and sweet waters. The trees were full of flowers. The lakes were full of lotus flowers. There was a gentle breeze in the air which carried an intense and sweet smell of various flowers. The minds of all men were happy for no reason at all. There was peace , joy and tranquility everywhere. The fires which were kindled by the brahmins were burning with no smoke.

The devas and rishis were showering flowers on the earth and the entire earth was filled with a divine and peaceful atmosphere. The apsaras were dancing with abandon and the kinnaras were singing words of praises.

It was midnight and Abhijit muhurtha. There was a great roaring from the clouds just like the sound of waves in ocean. Lord Narayana was born to Devaki, the wife of Vasudeva.

Happy KrishnaJanmashtami to all !

Guru Purnima

Purandaradasa said "Guruvina Gulamanaguva thanaka dorayadanna mukuti ..Paripari shastrava odidarenu, vyartha vayithu bhakuthi..." Today is celebrated as Guru Purnima. In Sanskrit , the word 'Guru' means the remover of the darkness. (Gu means darkness and Ru means the remover ). By translating the above line in English , the meaning gets somewhat distorted. Sanskrit is a complete language and no other language can provide an equivalent or apt translation. However , the above line in general means that until one is a gulama or dasa (servant ) of the Guru ( spiritual teacher ) , he cannot attain mukuthi ( in general, becoming one with the supreme God or attaining liberation from the cycle of life and death )


Guru is Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshwara as is evident from the shloka "Guru Brahma , Guru Vishnu , Guru Devo Maheshwara. Guru Sakshaat , parabrahma , tasmai shri guruve namah " I salute to my Guru who is God manifested in human form.

Guru Purnima is the day of eradicating ignorance and illuminating our lives with knowledge. On this Full Moon, the Guru can inspire us to overcome our limitations , lethargy and conjure a life of wonderful possibilities.

Wishing all a very happy Guru Purnima !!

Abbur Mutt - Shri Brahmanya Thirtharu

This monday , I had gone to Abbur to visit the Mutt. Abbur is a small village near Channapatna on way from Bangalore to Mysore. This place is very quiet and serene , amidst greenery and on bank of river Kanva. The mutt  has the Mula-Brindavan of Shri Brahmanya Thirtharu and other saints of Vaishnava seers. We were lucky to see the pooja performed by the Swami of the mutt. As there were hardly 15-20 people on that day , we really got a very close look at some of the idols worshipped in the mutt.

visit http://brahmanya-thiirtha.blogspot.com/ for more details and photos

Happy

This is for my dear Lakshmi:

Happy that i am .Happy that u are.
You and me are happier than we both are

Cause its not important that i alone be happy
and so also not that you alone are happy

For if the world is made up of  you and me
and if one is unhappy , how can another be happy ?

Shuddha Brahma Paratpara Rama

Shuddha Brahma Paratpara Rama
(Lord Rama, Who is Pure and absolute Brahman)

Kalathmaka Parameshwara Rama
(Rama, the essence of Time, the Lord Supreme)

Shesha Talpa Sukha Nidritha Rama
(Rama, blissfully reposing on Shesha as his bed)

Brahma Dhyamara Prarditha Rama
(Rama, worshipped by all Gods, beginning from Brahma)

Rama Rama Jaya Rajarama
Rama Rama Jaya Sitarama

Priya Guha Viniveditha Padha Rama
(Rama, Who was worshipped by his friend Guha)

Shabari Dhata Palashana Rama
(Rama, Who ate the fruits given by Shabari)

Hanumath Sevitha Nija Padha Rama
(Rama, Who was served by Hanuman)

Sita Prana Dharaka Rama
(Rama, Who is the support of life of Sita)

Rama Rama Jaya Rajarama
Rama Rama Jaya Sitarama

Happy Ugadi

April 4th (Monday) is Ugadi. Its a very important festival for Hindus and marks the beginning of the New year. This year is called "Khara Nama Samvatsara".

On this day, elders in home distribute a mix of the leaves of neem and jaggery. Neem is extremely bitter to taste and jaggery is very sweet.This actually signifies that we accept equally ,both the aspects of human life – sorrow and joy in the coming new year.Such meaningful and beautiful concepts our forefathers have made for each festival. I feel its very important that our generation retain as much as possible and pass on to our next generation.

Here's wishing all a very Happy Ugadi and little bit more of jaggery than neem in the new year :-)

Shri Raghavendraya Namah

Chanting ‘Raghavendra” actually results in chanting the names of  Sri Rama,Hanuma and Sri Guru Raghavendra. if we describe the word Raghavendra as the most revered person in Raghuvamsha then Shri Rama is “Raghavendra” , if we describe the same word as he who has Sri Rama as his lord, then Hanuma is Raghavendra , and if describe him as the one who cleanses the sins of his devotees and protects them, then we are chanting the most renowned lord of mantrayala Shri Raghavendra. 

Sri JagannathadAsaru says:-

gururajashtaksharam syat mahapatakanashanam |

Ekaikamaksharac chatra sarvakamyartha siddhidam ||

Which means the 8 letters of “ShrI raghavendraya namah”  destroys all the mighty sins, every letter in this name, will result in fulfillment of all the wishes, 

Jagannatha dasaru also composed a separate work named “ShrI Raghavendra Ashtakshara Stotra” which describes the results of chanting each letter of SrI Rayara name as below :

Chanting of “ra” relieves one from all the diseases,

Chanting of “Ga” enhances longevity, glory and strength of the person

chanting of “va”  will result in gain of worldy riches

chanting of “dra” will drive the sins of person chanting

He who chants “ya” will not be troubled by yama

Chanting “na” will bestow higher positions

By chanting “ma” one will be blessed with riches equalling that of devendras.

- from Kalpavriksha Kamadhenu