Thursday, January 28, 2010

Delhi's Mhabharata Connections



By R.V.Smith Courtesy The Hindu
Not many know about the history behind the Kunti Devi temple in Purana Quila, said to be built by the mother of the Pandavas
The Purana Quila has many secrets hidden in it, among them the Talaqi Darwaza and the Kunti Devi temple. The latter is said to have been built by the mother of the five Pandavas and is dedicated to Shiva and Durga. Hence, it is also known as Shiv-Durga Mandir. History books are mainly silent on this little temple, which was renovated in 1915 by Pandit Ghasiram Bhardwaj, the 108th Mahant of his sect. Even now the mandir is being looked after by his heirs, under whose possession also come the adjoining dharamshala, platform, garden and surrounding land, as stated in the inscription displayed outside the temple.

Few visitors to the old fort are attracted to this place, which should originally date back to 1000 B.C., more than 1,500 years older than the fort built as Dinpanah by Humayun and later built upon by Sher Shah Suri, who ousted the second Moghul emperor barely 10 years after his reign. Sher Shah ruled for only five years and then his son Salim Shah came to the throne, after which Humayun, who had taken refuge in Persia, came back and recaptured his kingdom. But he ruled for less than a year before falling to his death from the Sher Mandal inside the fort.

A group of people, including students and their parents, who were taken for a walk in the fort last week by heritage activist Surekha Narain, stumbled upon the Kunti Devi Mandir by chance and were fascinated by it. Excavations in the Purana Quila have unearthed black polished ware and painted gray ware, the former dating back to 300 B.C., which strengthens the belief that the site now occupied by the fort was probably part of the Indraprastha built by Yudhistar, with its ‘fairy gates'. Coins dating back to the Gupta and pre-Gupta periods have also been unearthed.

The Imperial Guptas reigned from 319 to 495 A.D. and the fact that they had control over this area long before the Delhi Sultanate came into existence is proof that their kingdom included Delhi and the areas north of it – Punjab, Kashmir and perhaps parts of Afghanistan too. As a matter of fact, it is believed that Maharani Kunti's sister-in-law Gandhari, wife of the head of the Kauravas, Dhritrashtra, got her name from her native place Ghanadar, as Kandahar was once known. So Kunti Devi's temple is of some significance.

As intriguing as this temple is the Talaqi Darwaza or Forbidden Gate, which has a mural of a man fighting a lion. Why this gate was considered forbidden is not known but there were probably some secrets lying locked beyond it as it happened to be the northern gate of the fort and perhaps full of telltale ruins of the Mahabharata days and women in bondage, of which orthodox Sultans did not want their subjects to know about.

The Bhairon Mandir, outside the northern wall of the Purana Quila, is also said to date back to the Pandava times and is closely associated with the strongest of them, Bhimsen. Incidentally, the Purana Qila had 1,900 people living in it in village-type huts.

They were evicted in 1913 when proper maintenance of the fort began. During the partition days of 1947 refugees from the Walled City of Delhi were camped there by Rajkumari Amrit Kaur (Union Minister for Health) and after their departure the ones from Punjab and Sindh found refuge in it. Sounds amazing that a medieval fort became a sanctuary for 20th century refugees.

Surekha Narain, who has led walks to Ghalib's haveli, the First War of Independence monuments on the Ridge and other places, made the students accompanying her visit the fort museum and attempt a quiz on the objects it contained. The Kunti temple and Talaqi Darwaza, with which Lutyens aligned the Central Vista of New Delhi, were also part of the questionnaire. Heritage walks are proving to be a novel way of rediscovering the history of the Capital.

Monday, January 25, 2010

The Helping Hand


This is a good story and is true, please read it all the way through until the end! (After the story, there are some very interesting facts!):

I am a mother of three (ages 14, 12, 3) and have recently completed my college degree.
The last class I had to take was Sociology.
The teacher was absolutely inspiring with the qualities that I wish every human being had been graced with.
Her last project of the term was called, 'Smile..'
The class was asked to go out and smile at three people and document their reactions.
I am a very friendly person and always smile at everyone and say hello anyway. So, I thought this would be a piece of cake,
literally.
Soon after we were assigned the project, my husband, youngest son, and I went out to McDonald's one crisp March morning.
It was just our way of sharing special playtime with our son.
We were standing in line, waiting to be served, when all of a sudden everyone around us began to back away, and then
even my husband did...
I did not move an inch... an overwhelming feeling of panic welled up inside of me as I turned to see why they had moved..
As I turned around I smelled a horrible 'dirty body' smell, and there standing behind me were two poor homeless men.
As I looked down at the short gentleman, close to me, he was 'smiling'
His beautiful sky blue eyes were full of God's Light as he searched for acceptance......
He said, 'Good day' as he counted the few coins he had been clutching..
The second man fumbled with his hands as he stood behind his friend. I realized the second man was mentally challenged and the blue-eyed gentleman was his salvation.
I held my tears as I stood there with them.
The young lady at the counter asked him what they wanted.
He said, 'Coffee is all Miss' because that was all they could afford. (If they wanted to sit in the restaurant and warm up, they had to buy something. He just wanted to be warm).
Then I really felt it - the compulsion was so great I almost reached out and embraced the little man with the blue eyes.
That is when I noticed all eyes in the restaurant were set on me, judging
my every action.
I smiled and asked the young lady behind the counter to give me two more breakfast meals on a separate tray..
I then walked around the corner to the table that the men had chosen as a resting spot. I put the tray on the table and laid my hand on the blue-eyed gentleman's cold hand..
He looked up at me, with tears in his eyes, and said, 'Thank you.'
I leaned over, began to pat his hand and said, 'I did not do this for you. God is here working through me to give you hope.'
I started to cry as I walked away to join my husband and son... When I sat down my husband smiled at me and said, 'That is why God gave you to me, Honey, to give me hope...'
We held hands for a moment and at that time, we knew that only because of the Grace that we had been given were we able to give.
We are not church goers, but we are believers.
That day showed me the pure Light of God's sweet love.
I returned to college, on the last evening of class, with this story in hand..
I turned in 'my project' and the instructor read it.
Then she looked up at me and said, 'Can I share this?'
I slowly nodded as she got the attention of the class.
She began to read and that is when I knew that we as human beings and being part of God share this need to heal people and to be healed.
In my own way I had touched the people at McDonald's, my son,the instructor, and every soul that shared the classroom on the last night I spent as a college student.
I graduated with one of the biggest lessons I would ever learn:
UNCONDITIONAL ACCEPTANCE.
Much love and compassion is sent to each and every person who may read this and learn how to LOVE PEOPLE AND USE THINGS - NOT LOVE THINGS AND USE PEOPLE.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Sankhya Yoga


There are six major schools of thought in Hindu philosophy called the Shatdarsanas, which accept the authority of the Vedas and are therefore grouped as astika. They are Nyaya, Vaiseshika, Samkhya, Yoga, Purva Mimamsa and Uttara Mimamsa (or Vedanta). Of these, the Samkhya (pronounced 'Saankhya') system is considered as the oldest philosophical system founded by Kapila Muni.

The Samkhya school of philosophy is of particular interest to us now since it is considered as the basis of all schools of Indian Dualism and finds mention in the Mahabharata, Bhagavata and later in the Yoga Vashishtha.

According to the Bhagavatam, Kapila Muni was born to Kardama Muni and Devahuti. After his father Kardama Muni renounced the world, Kapila Muni instructs his mother into the nuances of yoga and devotion to Lord Vishnu. Thus, his teachings are also considered as the essence of Bhakti Yoga. In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna refers to himself thus, "Among the Siddhas, I am Kapila Muni" (10.26).

Kapila Muni also finds a place in the story of the origin of the holy river Ganga. King Sagara of Ayodhya, an ancestor of Rama, performed the Aswamedha yajna (horse sacrifice) ninety-nine times. Indra the King of the Heaven grew jealous of him since the scriptures say that any person who performs the horse sacrifice a hundred times becomes the next Indra, ruler of the heavens. So, Indra kidnapped the horse and hid it in the hermitage of Kapila Muni during the hundredth sacrifice.

The sons of Sagara found the horse in the Muni's ashram and attacked him suspecting him to be the culprit. Kapila burnt the assailants to ashes with his spiritual power. Later, Anshuman, a grandson of King Sagara, went to Kapila and begged him to redeem the souls of his ancestors. Kapila replied that only if the water of the holy Ganga descended from heaven and touched the ashes would they be redeemed.

The story of Anshuman's son Bhagiratha fulfilling his father's unfinished task by bringing down the Ganga and making it flow through Kapila Muni's ashram is quite well known.

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Swami Vivekananda Universal Teachings


UNIVERSAL TEACHINGS OF SWAMI VIVEKANANDA
SEE GOD IN ALL
This is the gist of all worship - to be pure and to do good to others. He who sees Siva in the poor, in the weak, and in the diseased, really worships Siva, and if he sees Siva only in the image, his worship is but preliminary. He who has served and helped one poor man seeing Siva in him, without thinking of his cast, creed, or race, or anything, with him Siva is more pleased than with the man who sees Him only in temples.
GOD IS WITHIN YOU
It is impossible to find God outside of ourselves. Our own souls contribute all of the divinity that is outside of us. We are the greatest temple. The objectification is only a faint imitation of what we see within ourselves.
PERSEVERE IN YOUR SEARCH FOR GOD
To succeed, you must have tremendous perseverance, tremendous will. "I will drink the ocean," says the persevering soul, "at my will mountains will crumble up." Have that sort of energy, that sort of will, work hard, and you will reach the goal.
TRUST COMPLETELY IN GOD
Stand up for God; let the world go.
LOVE OF GOD IS ESSENTIAL
Giving up all other thoughts, with the whole mind day and night worship God. Thus being worshipped day and night, He reveals himself and makes His worshippers feel His presence.
SWAMI VIVEKANANDA's QUOTES

When I Asked God for Strength
He Gave Me Difficult Situations to Face

When I Asked God for Brain & Brown
He Gave Me Puzzles in Life to Solve

When I Asked God for Happiness
He Showed Me Some Unhappy People

When I Asked God for Wealth
He Showed Me How to Work Hard

When I Asked God for Favors
He Showed Me Opportunities to Work Hard

When I Asked God for Peace
He Showed Me How to Help Others

God Gave Me Nothing I Wanted

He Gave Me Everything I Needed

Swami Vivekananda
THE 15 Laws of Life
By Swami Vivekananda

1. Love is the Law of Life

All love is expansion, all selfishness is contraction. Love is therefore the only law of life. He who loves lives, he who is selfish is dying. Therefore, love for love"s sake, because it is law of life, just as you breathe to live.

2. It is Your Outlook That Matters

It is our own mental attitude, which makes the world what it is for us. Our thoughts make things beautiful, our thoughts make things ugly. The whole world is in our own minds. Learn to see things in the proper light.


3. Life is Beautiful

First, believe in this world - that there is meaning behind everything. Everything in the world is good, is holy and beautiful. If you see something evil, think that you do not understand it in the right light. Throw the burden on yourselves!


4. It is The Way You Feel

Feel like Christ and you will be a Christ; feel like Buddha and you will be a Buddha. It is feeling that is the life, the strength, the vitality, without which no amount of intellectual activity can reach God.


5. Set Yourself Free

The moment I have realized God sitting in the temple of every human body, the moment I stand in reverence before every human being and see God in him - that moment I am free from bondage, everything that binds vanishes, and I am free.


6. Don"t Play the Blame Game

Condemn none: if you can stretch out a helping hand, do so. If you cannot, fold your hands, bless your brothers, and let them go their own way.


7. Help Others

If money helps a man to do good to others, it is of some value; but if not, it is simply a mass of evil, and the sooner it is got rid of, the better.


8. Uphold Your Ideals

Our duty is to encourage every one in his struggle to live up to his own highest idea, and strive at the same time to make the ideal as near as possible to the Truth.


9. Listen to Your Soul

You have to grow from the inside out. None can teach you, none can make you spiritual. There is no other teacher but your own soul.


10. Be Yourself

The greatest religion is to be true to your own nature. Have faith in yourselves!


11. Nothing Is Impossible

Never think there is anything impossible for the soul. It is the greatest heresy to think so. If there is sin, this is the only sin - to say that you are weak, or others are weak.

12. You Have The Power

All the powers in the universe are already ours. It is we who have put our hands before our eyes and cry that it is dark.


13. Learn Everyday

The goal of mankind is knowledge... now this knowledge is inherent in man. No knowledge comes from outside: it is all inside. What we say a man "knows", should, in strict psychological language, be what he "discovers" or "unveils"; what man "learns" is really what he discovers by taking the cover off his own soul, which is a mine of infinite knowledge.


14. Be Truthful

Everything can be sacrificed for truth, but truth cannot be sacrificed for anything.


15. Think Differently

All differences in this world are of degree, and not of kind, because oneness is the secret of everything.

So! just go through them and live with it.

May God Bless All with Good Health and
Happiness & Ignite Divine Love in you.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Makar Sankranti


Makar Sankranti is one of the most auspicious occasions for the Hindus, and is celebrated in almost all parts of the country in myriad cultural forms, with great devotion, fervour & gaiety. It is a harvest festival. Makar Sankranti is perhaps the only Indian festival whose date always falls on the same day every year i.e. the 14th of January.


Makar Sankranti is the day when the glorious Sun-God begins its ascendancy and entry into the Northern Hemisphere and thus it signifies an event wherein the Sun-God seems to remind their children that 'Tamaso Ma Jyotir Gamaya', may you go higher & higher, to more & more Light and never to Darkness.

To Hindus, the Sun stands for knowledge, spiritual light and wisdom. Makar Sankranti signifies that we should turn away from the darkness of delusion in which we live, and begin to enjoy a new life with bright light within us to shine brighter and brighter. We should gradually begin to grow in purity, wisdom, and knowledge, even as the Sun does from the Day of Makar Sankranti.

The festival of Makar Sankranti is highly regarded by the Hindus from North to down South. The day is known by various names and a variety of traditions are witnessed as one explores the festival in different states.

Ganga Sagar Mela


Legend has it that, before joining the sea, the Ganga watered the mortal remains of King Sagar’s 60000 sons liberating their souls once and forever. It was standing on the Sagar Island that the mythical Kapil Muni condoned th sins of the sons of King Sagar who had dared to stop the horse blessed at Lord Indra’s Aswamedha Yagna and tied it to a post near his temple. It is this legend that attracts people to this little island in a remote southern corner of West Bengal.

The Ganga Sagar mela (fair) is the largest annual assemblage of devotees in India. The greatness of the mela can be assessed from the fact that over a million pilgrims come from far-flung corners of India and beyond, speaking different languages and belonging to diverse castes and creeds, for a sacred dip at this holy confluence. For this, no invitation is given. No propaganda is carried out and overall no authority exists for carrying out the mela.

It is indeed a tough journey. A few days in packed buses and trains bring the pilgrims to Calcutta. From there, again a long bus journey to ferry ghats or jetty in Sunderbans area, followed by crossing the tidal river stretching for miles across. The last leg involves either walking or traveling by a local bus upto 30 kilometres depending on the location of embarkation point.

The journey can be tiring but religious fervour of the pilgrims overcomes all hardships. Kapil Muni ki jai, Kapil Muni ki jai, (Hail Kapil Muni), the din rises above the grinding motors of the launches ferrying the pilgrims across the Ganga and the countless buses plying between Calcutta and Namkhana. The problem of traveling doesn’t deter even the weak and vulnerable. Old people in their eighties, and village women carrying babies and little children in tow are a common sight.

The never ending stream of pilgrims keeps pouring in throughout the day and night before the auspicious day and occupies any available space on the sandy beach. They move about the place in groups, many displaying saffron and red flags, identifying the religious Akhara (group) they belong to as well as acting as beacon to the members who stray out of the group.

People walks to the sound of the bells, blowing conch shells and chanting prayers. Strains of devotional songs can be heard from far and near. And, the ceaseless din of loudspeakers. An array of shops, stacked with heaps of vermilion, rudraksha, colourful beads, conch shells line the pathways. Many a visitor stands wide-eyed before the shops selling everything from food stuff, household utensils to remote controlled toys.

People crowd around the naga sadhus (naked ascetics) without whom the Ganga Sagar mela is incomplete. Sitting naked in little huts near the temple and enjoying a chillum of ganja, (cannabis) they are also the target of tourists’ camera.

While devotees jostle in front of numerous temporary shrines of Hindu deities to pay homage, Kapil Muni’s temple remains the chief attraction. The temple of Kapil Muni, as we see it today, is by no means the spot where the sage meditated. It went under the sea millennium ago followed by the many others built in its place, which subsequently was also swallowed, by the advancing sea.

The present one was built only a few decades ago, quite a bit away from the sea. The tall dome of the temple is visible from a distance. In the temple, three images engraved in stone are displayed, the one in the middle is that of Kapil Muni. The sage is seen in a jogasana; his eyes wide open, looking towards the sea with millions of devotees before him. The idols of Ganga and King Sagar flank Kapil Muni and the horse of the sacrificial yagna stands at a distance.

The typical Ganga Sagar pilgrim is a country rustic, generally elderly, hardy, remarkably disciplined and fervent in his devotion. His dhoti seldom going below his knees, a cloth bound packet, containing everything needed for survival, on his head. And, of course, his women – heavily tattooed and clad in colourful saris.

As the night, pregnant with the auspicious moment, descends, all wait for the precise hour to take the dip. The sandy track to the water’s edge is crowded with people who sit around fires before proceeding for the bath, chanting devotional songs and prayers. The seaside presents a spectacle in the darkness before dawn with the large bonfire lit by the bathers to keep off the cold.

At midnight, the high tide drives the pilgrims back. The biting cold wind of mid – January from across the sea lashes the bare body. But there is a confidence on their faces and a kind of fire in their eyes. The confidence in God and the fire of earnest faith makes them brave the chill.

The stars in the sky have quite a long time to fade when the moment of truth comes. As soon as the priest announces, the auspicious pre-dawn hour, the crowds surge forward to meet the tide with a loud chorus Kapil Muni ki jai and plunge into the sea. Suddenly the place is charged with the extraordinary power of the believers.

After taking their holy dips, the shivering devotees trudge the one kilometre expanse leading to the brightly lit temple of Kapil Muni, where prayers were performed. Coconuts, flowers, vermilion, sweets, and money are offered to the image of the ancient sage.

The bustle of activity continues for quite sometime in the morning as the pilgrims perform a series of rituals including the symbolic godan to Brahmins. A calf is symbolically handed over to the Brahmin priest by the devotee. Many perform the symbolic crossing of the river of blood, baitarani to attain moksha or transcendation. It is interesting to observe the people, clutching the tail of a cow and wading through a puddle a few paces. Many people shave their heads and perform the last rites of departed relatives.

A number of marriages are solemnized on the beach during the day. Also, many local girls get married to the sea. This will ensure that theoretically they never become widows, even if their menfolk, braving the rough sea and tiger infested jungle for a living, die.

It is no wonder that for many tourists from abroad, like though French couple I met, Sagar mela is something more than a mammoth religious congregation. They have visited the mela twice and found “something which has disappeared from France and Europe at least half a century ago”.

Naturally this large an affair leads to some confusion. People get lost. The public address system works overtime as relatives try to trace those they have lost.

But the majority of the pilgrims take it easy. After the rituals are complete, they dry their clothes and hair, cook their food on open fires, eat and rest. Happy, contented and smiling, having made the pilgrimage.

The Ganga Sagar mela continues to throb with life, with the energy of millions of pilgrims. The pilgrimage may be extremely tough, but the pilgrims know that the visit will purify their souls. The visit fulfils their lifelong desire and often one can see tears of joy rolling down their cheeks. That is the magic of religion.

A solar month is divided into 30 or 31 days and each is known as gate. A solar year has two halves of six months each known as ayana. The Northern declination of the sun when it appears to move between the constellations Capricorn and Gemini is called Uttarayan. This corresponds to the movement of the sun from the Tropic of Capricorn northwards towards the Tropic of Cancer. Uttarayan starts on the day of Makar Sankrant (14 Jan). The Southern declination of the sun when it appears to move between the constellations Cancer and Sagittarus is called Dakshinayan. This corresponds to the movement of the sun from the Tropic of Cancer southwards towards the Tropic of Capricorn. Dakshinayan starts on the day of Kark Sankrant (16 July).

Friday, January 1, 2010

In Praise Of God Tirukural


In Praise of God

Verse 1 "A" is the first and source of all the letters. Even so is God Primordial the first and source of all the world.

Verse 2 What has learning profited a man, if it has not led him To worship the Good Feet of Him who is pure knowledge itself?

Verse 3 The Supreme dwells within the lotus of the heart. Those who reach His Splendid Feet dwell endearingly within unearthly realms.

Verse 4 Draw near the Feet of Him who is free of desire and aversion. And live forever free of suffering.

Verse 5 Good and bad, delusion's dual deeds, do not disturb Those who delight in praising the immutable, worshipful One.

Verse 6 A long and joyous life rewards those is theirs who remain firmly On the faultless path of Him who controls the five senses.

Verse 7 They alone dispel the mind's distress Who take refuge at the Feet of the Incomparable One.

Verse 8 They alone can cross life's other oceans who take refuge at the Feet of the Gracious One, Himself an ocean of virtue.

Verse 9 The head which cannot bow before the Feet of the Possessor Of eight infinite powers resembles eyes which cannot see.

Verse 10 The immense boundless ocean of births can be crossed, but not Without intimate union with Infinity's Holy Feet.