What Is Sanatana Dharma

Meera Bai
Anger is quelled by compassion, enmity by friendship, hatred is conquered by love, and sins by good conduct. This is Sanatan Dharma, an eternal religion."

- Pujya Bhaishri

The Story Of Maharshi Valmiki

Valmiki

The Adikavi, the Poet of Poets, of India, who gave the world the immortal epic, the 'Ramayana'. By profession a highway robber, he came under the spell of Maharshi Narada and became a 'Brahmarshi' . He not only sang the matchless greatness of Sri Rama, but gave shelter to his wife Seetha Devi, and taught the epic to Sri Rama's sons Thousands of years ago there lived a hunter who lived by robbing and looting. He lived in a jungle with his wife and children and no traveller who passed through the jungle was safe. If need be he never hesitated to kill the innocent pilgrims to achieve his object. One day Devarshi Narada passed through the forest. As usual the hunter was on the look out for victims and as soon as he saw a sage approaching joyously singing and playing on his Veena, he thought he would have best of the chance to get rich. With a thud, he jumped down before the sage from the branch of a tree where he was hiding. Flashing his sword he threatened, "Give away all that you possess. Otherwise I will kill you." Narada was the son of Brahma Deva himself and he was never afraid of any one. He saw God in all and loved at all. He looked kindly into the eyes of the hunter and said, "Why do you want to kill me? I have never harmed you." The robber replied, "It is not because of anything you did that I want to kill you. I want your wealth to maintain my wife and children. If you obstruct me in getting them I will kill you." Narada was not perturbed by his threatening attitude. He said, "Very well my boy, you may do as you please. But please tell me one thing. You say that you are committing all this sin for the sake of your wife and children. They who are sharing the wealth earned by you, will they share the sins that you are earning too? The robber was non-pulsed. He never thought of the matter in this light before. He replied, "Of course, they will have to. Why else should I commit sins for their sake?" Narada moved his head in disagreement and said, "No, they will not. If you have any doubt, go and ask your wife and children." The robber was suspicious that Narada might be playing a trick on him to escape. He sternly said, "No, I won't leave you and go. You are just trying to hoodwink me and escape." Narada laughed at his suspicions and assured, "No, my son, I promise you that I won't escape. I will surely wait for you till you return. If ;you don't believe me, tie me up to one of these trees and go to your house." The robber tightly bound Narada to a nearby tree and hurried to his home. Ever since the sage asked him the strange question he was disturbed in his mind. Had he been ruining himself with sins to no purpose? He went home and called out his wife and all the children. He said, "My dears, you know how I had been earning wealth by robbing and killing, to maintain you all. You have been sharing all that I earned. Won't you be sharing the sins earned by me also?" The wife and children were horrified at the suggestion. They said, "We are your dependents and it is your duty to maintain us. We never asked you to commit sins for the purpose of the wealth. If you choose to commit sins, it is your own look out. How are we concerned with it? You alone will have to bear the result of your sins." Suddenly the eyes of the robber were opened. He realised that he was accumulating terrible sins from which there was no escape. Why should he lead a sinful life for these people? He ran back to where Narada was and hastily untying his bonds fell at his feet. Deep in grief, he begged, "Mahatma, in ignorance I have committed many sins. Please tell me how I can redeem myself. I have no more desire to lead this life of sin. Pray, save me." Narada rejoiced at his transformation. He lifted the robber to his feet and told him, "Fear not, my son. There is one name, the Taraka, which redeems even the greatest of sinners. Repeat the name with all your mind and soul in it. All your sins will be washed away soon." He then whispered in his ears the sacred name, "Rama" and asked the robber to repeat it. The whole of his life was spent in doing and saying only harsh things. So the robber could not utter the word "Rama" try as he might. But Narada was too kind to leave him thus. So he tried another method. He slowly uttered the word "Ma ra" inverting the sacred name. This time the robber could pronounce the letters, "Ma ra" , Ma ra...." And he started repeating the letters in quick succession... "Ma ra, Ma ra, Ma... Ra.... Ma Ra...Ra...ma...Rama....Rama....Rama..." Thus after a time without his realising it, the robber was repeating the Taraka nama. He was captivated by the charm of the sacred name and he went on repeating the name forgetting his surroundings. He sat on like that continuously without moving and without opening his eyes and years passed away. Seeing him sitting like an immovable stone, ants, worms and insects crawled fearlessly near him and on him and built their homes and nests. The ant hills grew and grew until they covered him fully and he could not even be seen. This undisturbed tapas washed off all his sins and at last he gained a vision of Lord. Overflowing with great joy and bliss, he rose from his seat shedding off the ant hills around him. As he rose from the ant hills, "Valmika" as they are called in Sanskrit, he came to be called Valmiki. Since then Valmiki Maharshi lived on the banks of the Ganges in an ashram of his own. One day while he was returning from the river after the morning bath he saw a Krouncha birds couple, flying joyously in the sky and having their love play. He was charmed by the innocent joy of the birds and continued to look at them in blissful rapture. Just then an arrow struck the male bird in the heart who fell down bleeding and pitiously crying. Seeing her mate gone, the female bird arose in great grief and flying round and round the body of her mate, moaning and shining. The bird's wordless grief was so pitiable, that the kindly sage's heart was touched. Tears came out of his eyes and he felt all the misery of the small bird in his own heart. He looked around and saw a hunter crouching nearby. In infinite mercy and sorrow Valmiki cried out, "A future, O hunter, none you will have For killing the Krouncha in the midst of love" Then he suddenly stopped surprised at his own words. For it was not his usual way of speaking.... these words contained a rhythm and a melody. He realised that it was a poem that came out of his heart's anguish, the first poem that he ever composed. In fact it was the first sloka in the history of the world for no one wrote any poetry till then. He later on wrote Ramayana, the story of the incarnation of Lord Vishnu as Rama in a melodious, beautiful verse. It is sung reverentially by all Hindus daily, even though thousands of years passed away since it was composed. Valmiki is acclaimed as the Adi Kavi, the first poet and is gratefully remembered by all poets when they begin to compose a new poem. In Santana or the Hindu religion it is always said that you should never ask the origin of rishi or river.

Vasishta Rishi

VASISHTA
Author - N.Ranganatha Sharma
Vasishta was a great ascetic. He was the preceptor of great men like Sri Rama and Harischandra. He had conquered anger and desire. He was a great saint who humbled insolent men. As a preceptor he imparted knowledge and became a guide to thousands of aspirants.
Have you seen the Pole Star? If you observe keenly you can see it at night in the northern part of the sky shining bright always. Below the Pole Star you will find a group of stars i n the shape of inverted English letters as shown here-u). They are seven in number and are called ‘Saptarshi Mandala’ or the Great Bear,a constellation. The seven saints after whom they are named are: Marichi, Atri, Angiras, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu and Vasishta. Rishi or saint means a wise man, the man who knows the secret of the Vedas.
Kulapati (Acharya, The Teacher)
Vasishta is supposed to have been born as the result of Brahma’s will-power. He was a great ascetic, laboured for the welfare of the world Vasishta was not a recluse, he was householder. He was married Arundhati. Arundhati is famous for virtues and devotion to her husband There is a small star close to Vasish in the Great Bear or Saptarshi Mandal They have named it after Arundha Among the Hindus, immediately after, the wedding, the bride is shown Arundhati and she worships the star. It is a symbolic acceptance of the ideal of virtue and devotion by the bride .
Vasishta had his hermitage on the banks of the river Saraswati. Arundhati spent all her time in the service of husband. He had with him thousand of disciples and taught them he Vedas.
Vasishta was affectionately addressed by his disciples as Kulapati or chiefpreceptor. In those days a teacher who fed and taught at least ten thousand students was called Kulapati. Vasishta's daily routine was to teach his disciples, to preach dharma to the visitors and to practise tapas or austerities.
There was an atmosphere of peace in the hermitage. The plants and trees were full of flowers and fruits. A variety of birds sang and flew about in the hermitage. Herds of deer and cows lived there. There was regular performance of several holy sacrifices for the good of the world. Several Hundreds of visitors used to come to the hermitage to meet Vasishta. The merit earneds by the performance of tapas was Vasishta's great strength.
He was a man of peace. He had conquered desire and anger. His Ashram needed great quantities of milk, curds and ghee for the feeding of thousands of his disciples, guests and performance of sacrifices regularly. Devendra had gifted to Vasishta a divine cow, having admired his generosity and performance of sacrifices. The cow was called Nandini. She was the daughter of Kamadhenu. Since it was a divine cow it had extra ordinary powers. The Ashram got plenty of milk and ghee from this cow. Since it had moonlike patches all over the body, it was also called 'Shabala.' The word mean many-coloured. Vasishta and Arundha were very fond of Nandini.
Nectar of Words for People in Sorrow
Raghu's son was the emperor Aja. Indumati, his wife, was as noble as she was lovely. Aja loved her very greatly. But she died young. Aja was depressed with sorrow. He forgot his duty as king. He sorrowed so much that he wished to die. Here is the advice that Vasishta
gave Aja at that time: "King, do not forget your duty because your wife has departed. It is not proper for you to think of following her. Your may die but you will not get Indumati. Birth and death are unavoidable. Set aside your sorrow and engage yourself in the doing of your duty. Soul leaves the body which sheltered it. Therefore it is not surprising that it leaves behind the relatives. No one can avoid death. Remember your parents. He who faces difficulties is the hero. When the wind blows, plants shake but the mountain does not shake. You should be firm like a mountain."
Vasishta was fond of cows. Once a man called Soudasa asked, "Great saint, which is the most sacred object in this world?" Vasishta said, "I consider the cow as the most sacred. Is then anything more nourishing than cow milk? Its manure is very important to grow our food-grains. For men like me everything necessary for , the performance of sacrifices comes from the cow. A cow is like the mother. We can live where the cow lives. Let cow live with us always. It is not enough i we worship and honour her. We must look after cows as we look after our mothers."
Vishwamitra Arrives as a Guest
Vasishta's tapas, patience and the aura of God-realization were so great that king Vishwamitra was influenced by him to give up his kingship and desired to become a Rishi like Vasishta.
Vishwamitra was a king. He went to the forest to hunt. Once, after hunting he was returning with his tired army and happened to pass through Vasishta's Ashram. He wished to pay his kingship and desired to respects to Vasishta. Vishwamitra saluted Vasishta with proper respect and humility. Vasishta was glad to meet king Vishwamitra. He entertained the king and his army with fruits and other delicacies and spoke to him with affection.
Vishwamitra got ready to depart after this. Then Vasishta said, "Vishwamitra, you are a guest here. You and your army may take food and rest here and then depart."
Vishwamitra thought, 'My army is big. If all of us stay here for food, the inhabitants in the Ashram will be put to hardship'. He said aloud, "Great soul, we are all satisfied with your kind words. I am fortunate to have met you. I thank you for your kindness. Extend the same love always. Allow us to depart." Vasishta said, "King, do not feel embarrassed. I do not feel happy if you go away without taking food. All of you should stay back." Vishwamitra agreed to do so since Vasishta pressed him.
As a result of Nandini's divine powers there were large quantities sweets and other eatables. Vishwamitra and his followers ate to their heart content.
Guest becomes Enemy
Vishwamitra was greatly surprise at what Nandini had performed. He felt greedy and wished to take the cow wit him to his capital. He went to Vasishta and expressed his desire.
Vasishta said, "King, Indra gave this cow to me. I am able to feed thousand of my disciples and guests every day only with the help of this cow gifted to me by Indra. Even the milk, curds and ghee required for sacrifices here and supplied by Nandini only. How can you ask for such a cow?"
Vishwamitra said, "Saint. I shall give in place of your cow one lakh decorated cows which will supply your requirement and you will not feel the absence of Nandini."
Vasishta said, "That is not the point, King. It is not proper to give away a gift made to me by Devas. it will go against the wishes of the Devas." Vishwamitra argued, "it will not violate any ethical norms. I shall supply all the requirements of your Ashram. Give me Nandini." Vasishta argued, "Why should you bear the burden of this expenditure? If you have ample Supply of foodgrains, use them to help your subjects. Give them to the poor. Let them be happy. I do not wish to accept money from a king for the use of our Ashram."
Thus the argument went on between the two. Vasishta would not agree to part with Nandini and Vishwamitra would not accept the refusal. Finally Vishwamitra became very angry. He thought, 'I am a great king. Whatever good things there are in. my kingdom should belong to me. A poor saint like Vasishta is disrespectful by his conduct and then said, "Vasishta, if you do not give Nandini, I will take her by force.
So saying, he got ready to leave.
Vasishta remained peaceful and do not say anything.
Vishwamitra called his soldiers an ordered, "Soldiers, tie up the cow will ropes and bring her along by force. They surrounded the cow. But she dodged them and came running to Vasishta and pleaded, "Great saint, the king's guards are trying to drag me by force. Do you give me up? What wrong did I do?"
Vasishta answered, "Shabala, you have done no wrong. I have not given you up. Vishwamitra is taking you by force and he has the army. Besides, he is my guest. How can I stop him? Then Nandini said to Vasishta, "Give me permission. I shall subdue his army.
Vasishta agreed. Nandini then bellowed once. By the divine power of her voice, lakhs of magical soldiers came into being and faced Vishwamitra's army. There was a great battle and Vishwamitra's army was defeated.
Power of Tapas
Vishwamitra became most worried. He felt ashamed because he was no able to face a saint and a cow though Like a fangless he had a large army snake and like a wingless bird, he felt sad. He was burning with the desire to take revenge. He decided to earn Powerful weapons by performing tapas. He went to the Himalayas and worshipped Ishwara with his austere tapas and earned in return knowledge of archery and divine weapons.
Vishwamitra was insolent because of his position as king and overlord. After winning the divine weapons, he was swollen with pride. It went to his head. He thought he would be able to defeat Vasishta completely and destroy him. With this determination he came to the hermitage of Vasishta. He began to rain arrows on the Ashram and destroy it. The other saints and disciples ran helter-skelter. The animals and bird! of the Ashram were terrified. There was wailing followed by destruction.
Vasishta came to know about the destruction caused by Vishwamitra. He comforted the frightened disciples and advised them to take courage. He tool, his Brahmadanda - the staff of a saint- and came out of his hermitage and confronted Vishwamitra and said, "O you fool, why are you destroying the Ashrarn without any cause? Is it proper for a king to destroy when he should protect?" Vishwamitra got ready to release his arrow called Agneyastra, a powerful weapon. Then Vasishta put up his saint's staff (Brahmadanda) before him and said, "Vishwamitra, show me your valour and strenght." Then Vishwamitra released - his Agneyastra against Vasishta. The arrow sped roaring with fire towards Vasishta but got reduced like a burnt-out faggot and fell at his feet like live coals dropping into a tank.
What is a Brahmadanda?
It is the staff in the hands of an ascetic. The power and strength of Vasishta's tapas was concentrated in the staff. In his anger Vishwamitra released one by one all his powerful weapons. Roudra, Aindra, Pashupata followed each other to the incantation of mantras or verses. But all of them were rendered powerless before Vasishta's Brahmadanda. Vishwamitra was furious with anger. When he had used all his weapons in vain, he took out the divinely endowed arrow called Brahmastra and fitted it in his bow. It frightened all in the Ashram as well divine beings in heaven. Every one became concerned for Vasishta Vishwamitra released it against Vasishta invoking the spiritual powers of mantras. Vasishta stood undisturbed. I appeared like a bright flame at this moment; sparks of fire emanated form his body. The staff in his hand look like the staff in the hands of Yama God of Death. The Brahmastra sped like lightning towards Vasishta make frightening noise like thunder. It pounced on Vasishta's Brahmadanda and was absorbed into it. The other saints who saw this praised Vasishta's strength said, "Great man, your strength beyond our guess. Control your I and become peaceful." Vasish, accepted their advice and became Calm.
There was no other weapon left with Vishwamitra. He had used all his weapons and had been totally defeated by Vasishta. He felt repentant. He realised his mistake. He understood the truth would always win. He felt, "I took the wrong path. It is impossible suppress truth by force." He sighed and went away saying, "There is no value for my power and strength. The real power. is that which comes from tapas.
Vishwamitra was a man determination, ambition and strength. He said to himself, "All my diving weapon are rendered powerless. The power of Vasishta is great. Tapas, truth are non-violence are matchless. I must become the equal of Vasishta." He gave his kingdom to his son and went to forest to perform tapas. He started performing severe tapas. People stopped calling him king and started calling him saint Vishwamitra. He became famous as a Rishi

Promise Of Protection

Vibhishana Meets Rama

Promise of protection

By Sri.B.SundaraKumar

Courtesy The Hindu
The Supreme Being who is the cause of the universe and is at the same time responsible for its sustenance and dissolution is also the most approachable to those who sincerely seek His feet. This is reiterated in the scriptures, the Puranas and the Itihasas and is borne out in the many incarnations and instances when the Lord has always stood by His devotee, if only the devotee displayed implicit faith. This unique bond between the devotee and the Lord is the quintessence of the principle of surrender, which is at the crux of the Vaishnava tradition, on Vibhishana’s surrender to Lord Rama.
The Lord demonstrates His accessibility (Saulabhya) when He accepts Vibhishana who came to Him after abandoning Ravana. Vibhishana’s act was analysed in Lord Rama’s camp and in the midst of the ensuing pros and cons the Lord asserted His promise of protection to those who seek Him. The Lord proclaims that since Vibhishana had come with the intention of friendship, He would certainly accept him. In fact it is implied that even if he came as a friend in guise, or the demon was good or bad, it did not matter in the least. The Lord could kill any being — be it a devil, demon, supernatural being, or an ogre — with the tip of His finger, and is capable of protecting all against any kind of enemy.
Lord Rama alludes to the story of the dove that displayed a rare hospitality by offering itself as food to the hunter who had killed its mate, when it realised that his action was prompted by hunger. If a bird could show such magnanimity to one who was the cause of its sorrow, should we not be inspired to be courteous to all?
When Putana came as a mother in disguise with thr intention of feeding child Krishna poisoned milk, the Lord graced her instead without investigating the act. Such is the Lord’s greatness that even when He punishes He searches for some good traces in the sinner to be used as an excuse to exonerate the sin.
During Rama Avatar, the Lord kept His Supreme Nature well hidden. Yet this vow of protection reveals His Absoluteness and compassion towards mankind.

Message For Vijaya Dasami

Jai Shri Krishna

Very often we are instructed by scriptures, saints and family members that we must love God. They tell us that God should be the object of our love. However, we cannot force ourselves to love God, can we? Love for God must develop naturally within our hearts and it must be spontaneous. Let us look at scientific phenomena to help us understand this better.
Isaac Newton described the law of gravity in scientific terms, but gravity has been defined differently by our Rishis. The scriptures say that gravity is applied when a small object is attracted to a larger object from which it is derived. As the small object is derived from the larger object, it has the same characteristics as the larger object, but on a smaller scale. Therefore, when a rock is thrown into the air, it returns to earth because it has emerged from, and is a part of, the earth. Similarly a flame always burns upwards, because it is derived from the sun and therefore has the same characteristics as the sun.
The larger object is known as the 'anshi' and the smaller object is called the 'ansh'. The ocean is the anshi and the drops of water are the ansh. When it rains, the drops of water fall and finally flow into the ocean because of the attraction between the ansh and the anshi. This attraction between ansh and anshi is described in our scriptures as ‘bhakti’.
Though we may not realize it, we are on a natural journey towards loving God. Many people spend their lives searching for truth, for knowledge, for happiness. These qualities of truth, knowledge and happiness are associated with God. In the scriptures God is described as ‘sat-chit-ananda’, truth-knowledge-happiness. We have a natural love for truth, knowledge and happiness, and therefore strive to achieve these. This is nothing but bhakti for God.
God is the anshi and the individual soul is the ansh. Our natural tendency is to return to God, where we came from. We always strive for the best things in life. This is because in essence, we are a part of the Supreme God and therefore it is in our nature to want the best.
When realized masters see people performing bad deeds, they understand that these people have forgotten their true nature. Hence, they do not get angry, but they bless these people with the hope that they will understand and realise their true nature.
May we also realise our true nature and become one with Him.
My blessings and best wishes to everyone during the auspicious occasions of Navratri, Vijayadashami and Sharad Purnima.
With love and blessings,
Bhaishri

Lord Dattatreya

Lord Dattareya: Master Par Excellence

Datttreya The Lord Par Excellence

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Dattatreya Jayanti message given in the year 1973. Dattatreya Jayanti falls on the full moon day in the month of Margasirsha (November-December)

By Swami Krishnananda of Divine Life Society

Lord Dattatreya is regarded as the visible incarnation of the Supreme Being himself in his aspects as Creator, Preserver and Destroyer, which we know as Brahma, Vishnu and Siva, respectively. The creative, the preservative and the disintegrating powers of God are supposed to be manifest in the personality of Lord Dattatreya. The name or word 'Dattatreya' is constituted of two terms, Datta and Atreya. In Sanskrit, Datta means one who is bestowed as a gift, and Atreya is an honorific which is derived from the name of a great sage called Atri. The son of Atri is Atreya. A descendent of Atri also is Atreya. One who is bestowed as a divine child on the great Sage Atri, by the Gods Brahma, Vishnu and Siva themselves, is Dattatreya. Tradition holds that he was the divine child of Sage Atri, born to his famous consort, Anasuya. He is also, therefore, known as Anasuyanandana, the darling of the great queen of chastity, Anasuya Devi. The name of Dattatreya, the great sage, is a by-word in all religious circles in India. In certain parts of Gujarat and in Maharashtra, the worship of Dattatreya is pre-eminent. It is believed by the followers of the tradition that Dattatreya is in flesh and blood even today. He is not merely a dead-and-gone saint and sage of ancient, pre-historic times. Devotees believe honestly that he is physically alive even today and he is supposed to be having his abode in those holy places in the western part of India such as Gangapur in Maharashtra. There is a famous hill in Saurashtra, Mount Girnar, which is dedicated to the adoration and worship of Lord Dattatreya. Lord Dattatreya is not merely a divine incarnation like Bhagavan Sri Krishna and Sri Rama, but, unlike them, He is held in high esteem as a visible personality, physically available to us for our Darshan, if only we would have the honesty of belief and devotion at his sacred feet. There are wonderful sidelights given to us of the personality Bhagavan Dattatreya. One of the symbolic and very significant features of his life is depicted in certain painted portraits which many of you might have seen. In such portraits you will see Dattatreya with a bag hung on his shoulder, leaning, almost, against a cow behind him, with four dogs following him wherever he goes. Four dogs and a cow you will see always with Dattatreya in all portraits and paintings. What are these dogs? Why does he take the dogs with him, wherever he goes? What is this cow and what is this bag? The tradition is this: Dattatreya is perhaps the most powerful of conceivable sages, almost identical with God himself. For all practical purposes we may say that he has all the powers of God, viz., creation, preservation and destruction, being an embodiment of Brahma, Vishnu and Siva themselves. But, he lives as a fakir. The term 'fakir' means a beggar owning nothing, except a bag (a Jhola, as you call it), and a stick in his hand, which is sometimes identified with the trident. He goes for Bhiksha or alms, for he lives on alms. The master of all the forces of Nature at whose command are the sun and the moon and the stars, goes begging for his Bhiksha! The spiritual reading of this Bhiksha or alms-begging by Lord Dattatreya is that he is asking us: "Give me all your sins." He does not beg for rice, wheat and Dal from us. He asks for the sins of our past lives and of our present life, and this is the Bhiksha that he wants. He will collect the sins of all people. How many sins have we committed in our earlier lives and up to this time in this life! He can swallow and digest all the sins of all the people. So he goes from door to door asking for alms. We can imagine the power of the man who asks for the sins of all people. He does not want our virtues and good conduct. We always ask for good things, merits, Punyam. But, he asks for our sins, Papam only, and not the merits or Punyam. He wants only all the evil propensities that are in us. He puts them in his Jhola or bag and walks off and digests the whole thing. These sages are terrible and their powers are inconceivable. Incidentally, I will tell you a humorous story, to give you an idea of the power of sages. There was a time when the demons were a terror to people. There were two demon brothers. They were carnivorous. Their only profession was to eat human beings. They used to kill them, cook them and eat. But how to get human beings every day? You cannot get people to eat every day. So these demon brothers hatched out a plan. They pretended to be very humble devotees of Brahmins, and every day they invited a Brahmin for lunch. The younger brother was a pastmaster in black magic. He would allow himself to be cut into pieces and cooked. He had the power to regain his life afterwards. The elder brother would cut and cook his younger brother and feed the invited Brahmin, who would not know what he had eaten. After the eating was over, the elder brother would call out his younger brother saying, "O Vatapi, please come." Vatapi was the younger brother's name. That man, through the power of his black magic, would regain life, burst the stomach of the Brahmin and come out. And the poor Brahmin would then be the meal for both. Every day this used to happen. Most of the Brahmins were finished, one by one. One day, it so happened, they had a very bad bargain. There was a very powerful sage by name Agastya Rishi. He was a Brahmin. He was invited for lunch. He was like Lord Dattatreya. He was not, therefore, an ordinary Brahmin as the two brothers took him to be. As usual, the younger brother was cooked and given to Agastya for his lunch. Agastya knew this. He thought: "These demons want to kill me and eat me! I will teach them a lesson today." He ate the meal. As soon as he finished his meal, the elder brother said, "O Vatapi, please come." Agastya, the sage, rubbed his belly, muttering, "Vatapi jirno bhava": Let Vatapi be digested. Turning to the elder brother, the sage said, "Sir, your brother has been digested; he cannot come out and he will not come out." Oh! The elder brother was shocked. He thought there was some special power with this Brahmin and he ran for his life. But Agastya would not let him escape. He simply uttered 'Hum' (a mystical sound) which reduced that elder brother to ashes. I am giving this instance to throw some sidelight on the power of spiritual masters. Lord Dattatreya was the greatest among such sages. His power to protect was such that Mother Earth herself took the form of a cow and pleaded for succor. She said, "O great sage, thou art the only refuge." And she, in the form of a cow, is supposed to be under the protection of Lord Dattatreya. The four dogs which we see around him are the forms taken by the four Vedas - Rig Veda, Yajur Veda, Sama Veda and Atharva Veda. The Vedas knew the predicament that is going to come upon them in Kali Yuga; they knew that they would be disregarded, insulted and cast aside by people. They, therefore, took the form of dogs, and went to this Sage-Protector for protection from destruction. To Mother Earth and the four Vedas, who thus took shelter under him, Lord Dattatreya gave Abhayam; he bestowed fearlessness upon them. When we go to Lord Dattatreya for protection, not all the three worlds can shake a hair of our body. This is the spiritual meaning of this beautiful symbol that we see portrayed in the pictures of Lord Dattatreya with a cow and four dogs. It is also given in a famous scripture of our land, the Srimad Bhagavata, that one day Lord Dattatreya was walking along a street like a mendicant, very happy in his mood and lustrous in his face. His joy was such that he seemed to be bursting with happiness. But he had nothing with him except a bag and a staff. The king of that land, known as Yadu, met him on the way. The king did not know that it was Sage Dattatreya. He took him to be a beggar and wondered within himself: "How is this person so happy, even though he has nothing with him! I am an emperor of this vast kingdom, but I have got so much grief on my head. What is this mystery? How it is that, being a king, I am so unhappy, and this beggar is so happy?" He went and humbly prostrated himself before Dattatreya and asked him, "Sir, may I know how is it that you seem to be so happy? What is the source of your happiness, though you seem to be a beggar? Who are you? May I know your whereabouts and a little of your history?" Dattatreya did not say who he was. He merely said, "I am happy because of what I am, not because of what I have." Here is the secret of happiness. We are happy in proportion to what we are and not in proportion to what we have. While the king had many things, he was an empty shell inside; on the other hand, Dattatreya had nothing to possess and call his own, but he was everything himself. The long conversation which Dattatreya and the King Yadu had is recorded in the eleventh book of the Srimad Bhagavata Mahapurana. Dattatreya, such a great master, humbly said, "I am a student of Nature." He did not say that he is a Guru. Nowadays, nobody says he is a student; everybody says he is a Yoga-teacher! You never find a Yoga student anywhere, for all are Yoga teachers! But such a great master as Dattatreya says that he is a student of the forces of Nature. If he is a student, who are his Gurus? Oh wonderful! You must read this particular chapter in the Srimad Bhagavata. You will find that he was a student of everything. He says, "I am a student of Mother Earth; I am a student of the waters of the ocean; I am a student of the air that blows; I am a student of the sun that shines; I am a student of the moon that is luminous in the sky; I am a student of the honey bees that collect the pollen-nectar from various flowers; I am a student of the fish; I am a student of the vulture." The king was astonished and said, "O God! You are a student of all these things! What does it mean? How are you a student of all these? What lessons did you learn from them?" Dattatreya then gives surprising answers to King Yadu, as follows: "Earth is my Guru, because I learn the lesson of immense, unlimited and unsurpassed patience from the earth. You may spit on the earth, you may defecate or micturate, you may walk with shoes over her or you may kick her. Still, Mother Earth does not complain. How patient is this earth! All the dirt we throw on her face, but still Mother Earth does not complain. How stable she is! I have learnt patience and stability from earth. So earth is my Guru and I am her student. "Now hear what I have learnt from the waters of the ocean. Whatever be the quantity of water that is poured into or removed from the ocean, neither does it increase nor decrease. The ocean maintains its dignity, fixity and content. Likewise whether people praise me or censure me, whether they talk for me or against me, whatever it be, it makes no difference to me. And, further, I maintain purity of character like the water which is a symbol of purity. "Fire also is my Guru. Fire burns anything that you may offer. If you offer ghee, it burns; if you offer milk, that also it burns; if you offer dirt, that too it burns. When it burns anything, that burnt stuff becomes pure. Dung becomes pure when it is burnt by fire. It may be a pure or an impure thing that is offered, it makes no difference to the fire; it turns that thing pure. Likewise, whatever enters me through the sense organs is converted by me into the residue which remains after it is burnt by the fire of knowledge. "I will tell you what I have learnt from air. I roam about wherever I like, like air. Freedom is my nature. Air cannot be controlled by anybody. You cannot tell the air to stop here or to stop there. Further, purity is the character of air. Wherever air blows, it purifies everything there. Pavana is a Sanskrit word which means 'one who purifies'. Pavana is also the term used for air. All infection in the atmosphere is removed by the movement of air. Stuffiness, insanitation and impurity of every kind are removed and the whole atmosphere is turned pure by the movement of air. Similarly, wherever I go I spread the atmosphere of purity, goodness, compassion and mercy, and I am free like air in motion and I do not stick to a particular place. I am not bound by the atmosphere around me. "I will now tell you what I have learnt from space, which is one of my Gurus. Vast is my kingdom like space. Everything is mine and everything is not mine also. Everything is contained in space and yet space cannot be contained by anybody. I do not depend on anything, even as space does not depend on anything. Everything depends upon space for its existence. "I learnt a lesson from the honey bee. The bee moves from place to place and from flower to flower, collects sweet pollen from flowers and mixes them into a jelly, then blends all these beautiful essences into what is called honey. Likewise I go from place to place, meet different persons and things, get what is good in them, collect the knowledge that is in them and blend all of them into the wisdom of my life. "A bird also is my Guru. Do you know how that bird is my Guru? It so happened that I saw a bird carrying a piece of flesh in its beak. It was flying, high up in the sky, and a vulture pursued it. Why did the vulture pursue this small bird? Because there was some eatable in its mouth. Oh, the bird went here and there in search of some place of safety, but the vulture pursued the bird wherever it went. At last the bird dropped the piece of meat, and went away free, because the vulture left pursuing it. The vulture was interested only in the flesh. This bird taught me the lesson that possession is the cause of bondage and suffering. So I do not possess anything. If you possess anything, you are always pursued by someone. I have nothing with me and I go free. "I learnt a lesson from a poor girl, in a village. Please hear what lesson I learnt from that girl. That girl belonged to a very poor family. They had barely something to eat for a single meal a day. She was to be betrothed to some gentleman. That gentleman, with his father and mother, came to the house of this poor girl to see her. They wanted to know how she looked and what she was like, and all that. People do not settle a marriage without properly investigating into the background of the girl. So they were talking to the girl's parents. And the hospitality of the country is such that whenever guests come they have to be fed first. And there was nothing to feed them with, except a little unhusked paddy grain which had to be husked for obtaining rice. They were too poor to have any servant in the house. So, she herself started pounding the paddy inside the house, for the sake of getting rice which had to be cooked for feeding the guests. You know, these ladies wear bangles. This girl also was wearing a number of bangles on both the wrists, of course all cheap glass bangles. So when she started pounding the paddy with a pestle, the bangles started making sound - kanu, kunu. She thought: "Now what will the guests think? They will think that since I am myself doing the work, our family must be very poor and therefore I am not a suitable match for them. Oh, these bangles are causing the trouble! I will remove them." So she removed all the bangles, leaving only two bangles on each wrist. And still they made a sound - tung, tung, tung. Then she removed one more and kept only one. Then there was no sound. So, I have learnt from this girl that I must be alone. Even two persons are not good. There is a saying: "Ek niranjan; do ghad-bad; theen lath-path": If one person is there, he is happy; if two are there, there is quarrel; and three means fighting. And in the Narada Parivrajaka Upanishad also it is said, "Ekah sadhu suprayuktah, dvitiyam gramamuchyate, tritiyam nagaram smritam." This means that one person is good, two persons make a village and three make a city. I have learnt this lesson from that poor girl, who is therefore one of my Gurus." Likewise, Dattatreya gives a list of twenty-four Gurus, regarding himself as a humble student of the whole of creation. He also teaches us the lesson that the higher is one's knowledge, the humbler is that person. The larger is our wisdom, the smaller we look in the eyes of people. The nearer we are to God, the farther we appear from people's eyes. So Lord Dattatreya is here before us as a spiritual magnet and a magnificent embodiment of divine power - the powers even of creation, preservation and destruction. This three-faced God, Lord Dattatreya, is regarded as an embodiment of Brahma, Vishnu and Siva. He is regarded as the Guru of Gurus and he is specially worshipped on Brihaspativara or Guruvara, which is the sacred Thursday. Thursday is supposed to be the Guru's day and we worship the great Guru Lord Dattatreya on every Thursday. May we all become fit instruments for the reception of the unbounded grace of Lord Dattatreya by following his example.

Agastya Rishi

Agastya Praying @ Vindhyas
Sage Agastya is regarded as one of the Saptarishis in the Mahabharata. He is born to the two Gods Mitra and Varuna from Urvashi. He is credited with many hyms of the Rig Veda. He is said to have helped in the development of the Tamil language. He is considered the first and foremost person of Sidda. He has contributed to the Nadi form of astrology. Sage Agastya was the first to listen to the Lalita Sahasranama from Hayagriva. He is said to have composed the Aditya Hrudayam and the Saraswati Stotram
Agastya & Vindhya
Vindhya mountains separate the North and the South India. Legend has it that the mountain had the tendency to keep growing so as to obstruct the Sun. Agastya journeyed from the Northern part of India to the south. On the way he met the mountain and requested him to give way since it has now become impassable. The mountain in reverence to the Sage bowed low. Now the Sage Agastya and his disciples and family passed from the North to the South. The Sage told the mountain to remain so until his return. Agastya settled permanently in the South. It is beleived that from this incident the Vaasthu Sastra was born
Agastya & the Ocean
It is said that once all the demons hid in the ocean and attacked at night. Sage Agastya drank the entire ocean to enable the Gods to fight and vanquish them
Agastya & Lopamudra
Sage Agastya was a renunciate. But he had to marry and beget children to repay the Manus. So he created a girl child that would be a fit wife for a renunciate and arranged that she be born as the daughter of the Vidarbha King. The child was named Lopamudra. At the oppropriate time Agastya went to the King and sought Lopamudra’s hand in marriage. At first the King hesitated but Lopamudra was intent on leaving her father’s palace and living in Sage Agasthya’s forest Ashram. They were duly married.
Agastya & Vatapi
Ilvala and Vatapi were two demon brothers. Vatapi could changed himself into any form he desired. IIvala knew the Sanjivini Mantra. Hence the demons used to trick people into eating Vatapi who would assume the form of a goat and then IIlava would say the mantra enablign Vatapi to tear the stomach and come out. Agastya wanted to put an end to their ways. Hence we met them and as expected IIlava offered Vatapi as food to the Sage. The Sage after eating simply said “Vatapi Jeerno Bhava”. Then IIlava could not bring back his brother’s life.
Agastya and Kutralam
There was a Vishnu temple in Kutralam. Sage Agastya was denied access since he was a Shivite. Agastya then assumed the form of a Vishnavite and entered the temple. He then by his miraculous power changed the idol to a Shiva Lingam. He showed the people that Shiva and Vishnu are manifestations of the Supreme Atman.

Secret Of Creation

Vyasa Rishi

Secret of Creation.

Sage Pippalada What you think exists, is not real. What you think does not exist, is theReality.There is nothing in the world Which is not pervaded by God.Once upon an ancient time, six young disciples, who were keen to learnabout the mystery of existence and the true purpose of human birth and wishedto investigate the goals of life, came to the sage Pippalada. The sage at first explained that for undertaking any task, one has to havethe minimum competence. Without that competence, even the answers will bebeyond one's comprehension. Even for doing the smallest task, one has toacquire the requisite fitness. If one wants to build a bridge, he must be aqualified engineer. This applies equally to every undertaking in the world.Swami's Teaching is a bottomless source for spiritual compentence for everyaspirant. However, nothing can attain without serious study. All the conceivable doubts that could arise in any person were placed beforesage Pippalada by the six young disciples and they got from him the rightanswers. Pippalada asked the disciples to control their thoughts as theirthoughts and nothing else determine their vision of the world. The sage taughtthat this awareness should be the primary objective. In that awareness, theidentification with the body consciousness goes and the oneness of the Atma inall is realised. This is the message of the Prasnopanishad what is actual todayand after many thousand years. The universe is not different from God. The Prasnopanishad expatiates onthis cosmic unity.In every padaartham (object) there is a paraartham (Divineelement). Without this Divine basis,no object will be cognisable. A beingwithout life is as good as non-existent. The divine element is the basis ofthe physical substance. Viewed from the physical point of view, these twoappear to be contradictory. But viewed from the spiritual point of view, itwill be apparent that there is no material object without a divinebasis, noliving being without the vital force and no inert substance withoutconsciousness.In the universe, both matter and chaitanya (consciousness) areself-existing. The cosmos is the synthesis in consciousness of these two(spirit and matter). Pippalada explained that by the Divine will of Prajapathi (the cosmicprogenitor), two pairs were created; the subtle and the gross, the inert andconsciousness. By the union of the two, the entire cosmos, consisting ofanimate andinanimate objects, was created. The secret of creation that it isGod without a beginning or an end. The entire cosmos consisting of moving andunmoving objects is mithya (illusory). Although there is the Real in theillusory Universe, all that is perceived in the phenomenal world is liable topass away.Creation has no predetermined limits. It is an eternal process whosebeginning or endcannot be known. In the process of birth, growth anddissolution, besides the will of the Lord, the role of human effort can also berecognised to a certain extent. Death exists as well as birth. Human's destinyis determined by the nature of his actions, thoughts and desires. No one cantell how human came into existence and the circumstances of ones origin. Buthuman has the capacity to free himself from rebirth. When the desires arereplaced by the Brahmic (Atmic)consciousness and the mind is emptied of allother thoughts, there will be no rebirth. As long as one's life is immersed indelusion, as long as delusion remains, the Absolute cannot be realised. TheAbsolute is realised by absorption in the Brahmam and then there is no rebirth.All phenomena relating to Time are associated with Prajapathi. Time is amanifestation of Prajapathi. Time moves in two directions Uttarayana andDakshinayana. ('Ayana’ means journeying). When the apparent movement of the Sunis northwards, the period is termed Uttarayana. When the apparent movement issouthward, it is called Dakshinayana. The period of Uttarayana is marked bybrightness, peace, rejoicing, fearlessness, and purity. Dakshinayana ischaracterised by darkness, peacelessness, fear and disasters. By Pippalada life redeems itself only when it merges in Prana. The Prana(Life-Principle) is the most important factor. You have to merge yourselves inthe mind. Merge the mind in the Atma. Whatever you do, do it in a spirit ofdedication to the Atma (the Divine, God). When you practise it in a spirit ofdedication, work will be transformed into worship. When life is led in suchmanner, there is no rebirth. Thoughts are in tune with desires. According tothe thoughts, the results follow. A living creature proclaims its existence by the Life-Principle in it. Thistruth has been recognised by the Vedic sages and modem scientists in theconcept of the convertibility of matter and energy. There is no basicdifference between the revelation of the scripturesand the discoveries ofscience. However, many consider that spirituality has no concern withmundane affairs and there is no connection between the physical world and therealm of the Spirit. This is a grievous mistake. One is the base and the otheris sustained by it. One is prana (life) and the other is the prani (livingbeing). Likewise, life and the living being exist naturally. Below is more proper Vedic explanation to this phenomenon. By Pippalada five basic elements (ether, air, fire, water and earth) arelike five feet for the Sun. The twelve months correspond to twelve seasons forthe Sun. The passage through the twelve "houses" endows the Sun with sevencolours. Every month has two halves - the Sukla Paksha (bright fortnight) andthe Krishna Paksha (dark fortnight). On Full-moon night, it shines with all itssixteen Kalas (aspects) illumined. On Amavasya (New Moon) night, the moonreceives no light from the Sun and hence it is totally dark. The fortnightafter the full moon, when the moon starts waning, is called Krishna paksha, thedark fortnight. The fortnight after Amavasya (New Moon) when the moon goes onwaxing is called Sukla paksha, the bright fortnight. Sukla paksha is Prana(life) and Krishna paksha is Praani (the living being). The entire cosmos ismade up of the combination of Prana (the Life-breath) and Praani (the containerof the Life-breath). All these are manifestations of the creative power ofPrajapathi.From Akaasa (ether), Vaayu (air), Tejas (effulgence or fire), water andearth emerged in succession. The faculties corresponding to these elements arespeech, sight, hearing and thought (or mind). Controlling all of them is Prana(the Life-Force). The abode of this Life-Force is the body. The Life-Forceoperates using the body as its sanctum. Prana is timeless in its origin, butseeks an abode in a new body. In this body, the Sahasraara Nadis (nerves) enterall subsidiary organs and function throughout the body. There are 72 crores (720millions) of nerves in this body. Hence, one's status or condition in life is based upon one's actions. Thescripturesteach not to succumb to difficulties or gloat over success butmaintain equanimity in allsituations. Each one is responsible for own joy andsorrow. One's own thoughts and actions areresponsible for one's successes orfailures, honour or ignominy, pleasure or pain. Whether onegoes to heaven orhell or any other place, it is his own actions that are responsible. No one can fully explain the secret of creation. There is a shadow whichclosely follows every object. When the Prana leaves one body and entersanother, the results of one's actions follow the Prana to the other body. ThePrana enters another appropriate body in accordance with the results of theactions in the previous body. You alone are responsible for your joys andsorrows. God is in no way responsible. He is only a witness. But if you pray toHim with all your heart and soul, the effects of all karmas will disappear likemist. Devotion, sadhana performed with deep faith will free human from theconsequences of deeds. Real sadhana consists in transforming bad into good,converting sorrow into joy. This calls for the right use of the mind. However,there can be no happiness without sorrow, no good without the bad. In creationthere are many things which are naturally bad by human's understanding. Out ofthese bad things, good emerges. The mind is the cause of all our sorrows andjoys. The powers of the mind are indescribable. In one moment it can encompassthe universe. It is not possible for anyone to know in what form, in whatsituation, at what time and in what circumstances the Lord appears to teachhuman how to get rid of bad thoughts, bad qualities and bad actions. Hence, do not blame God for anything. For all your difficulties and joys,your actions alone you are responsible. Keeping this truth in mind, you have tofollow the path of righteousness.(Reet's compilation from, Sathya Sai Speaks: Vol. 24. ."