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SriMani Dravid Sastrigal
Courtesy The Hindu
A sure clue to one's spiritual quotient is present in the answer to the question “Who am I.” If one is conscious of his position as a man, in the context of his birth, status, society, education, etc., it is indicative of bondage. A Jnani always perceives the Atma Swaroopam and the concept of the involvement with the material world does not occupy any space in his consciousness. To detach oneself from bondage, we have to understand this truth and be able to see the Jnani's viewpoint regarding one's true identity, pointed out Sri Mani Dravid Sastrigal in a lecture.
The Upanishads describe the omnipresence of the Supreme Brahman by stating that He is smaller than the smallest atom, and bigger than the biggest ever presence. The Isavasya emphasises that God is accessible to those who realise His presence in everything and everywhere — from the mundane to the profound.
But it is difficult for the Jivatma, who is caught in the cycle of birth, to be aware of this truth always, though sometimes it is realised in flashes (for brief spells) in one's consciousness. The involvement with the daily activities in the material world keeps us immersed in joy and sorrow. These worldly experiences delude and obstruct us from realising the essential truth of God. It is similar to our inevitable reactions, when in darkness, a rope is misconstrued to be a serpent. We are relieved only when the light reveals the absence of the serpent.
When in sorrow we do think of God and seek His grace for alleviation of sorrow. Kunti prayed for difficulties to enable her to think of God at all times.
God is both far and near says the Upanishad. He is far to those who are preoccupied with the material world and near to those who are always established in His presence. A Jnani seeks God for His sake and revels in His sheer glory at all times. He perceives only Him as the ever present reality and remains detached to the happenings of the world.
Our lifetime becomes fruitful if we strive to seek Him — using the opportunities before us. The ability to learn to comprehend the views of realised sages is a faculty available only to human beings.
By Padma Ramachandran
Varalakshmi pooja, which falls tomorrow, is observed with rituals, music, and a delicious spread of eats,Varalakshmi pooja falls on Friday, August 12. Hindus believe that Goddess Lakshmi comes visiting on that day. The pooja is generally on the last Friday in the Tamil month of Aadi or Shravan.
Many married women fast on that day and in many a home, it is a tradition that is handed down from mother-in-law to daughter-in law.
Many married women in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka observe this ritual. Several eats are made, the chief among them being ‘kozhakattai'(also known as ‘modakam'), which has a rice flour coating, and a variety of fillings such as jaggery and coconut, jaggery and ground chana dal, powdered gingelly and gud, or steamed urad dal and coconut – a savoury filling. Athirasam, idli, vada and payasams are also made. The goddess is offered a variety of fruits and flowers.
Decorating the courtyard
Early in the morning, the courtyard of the house is decorated with kolam and a kalasam containing rice, betelnut and leaves, a couple of lemons, and coins (usually one preserves the same coins year after year).The kalasam is decorated with haldi-kumkum, a coconut and mango leaves.
A ‘face' in silver (representing the Goddess) is affixed to this. This symbol of Goddess Lakshmi is brought into the house along with a lamp, to the accompaniment of a song – ‘Lakshmi, rave ma intiki….shri rabdiputri varalakshmi, rave ma intiki, bhagyalakshmi, rave ma intiki' – a Telugu invocation inviting the goddess inside the home. The kalasam is placed (on a banana leaf which has rice spread on it) in a makeshift ‘mantapam.'
The pooja involves the chanting of ‘Lakshmi ashtothram' and shlokas in praise of Lord Ganesh. After the poojas are done, a yellow thread is tied on the woman's hand by her husband or other women.
The evening is joyous with music and women visiting the house for haldi-kumkum.
Next day a small pooja called punar poojai is done to bring the rituals to a close. But you have to wait till Sunday morning to lift the Goddess with the kalasam and place her in a rice bin, to be kept safe for next year's Varalakshmi pooja.
Once, in a Hindu temple, when the priest had gone for a lunch, the Stepping Stone of the temple had a conversation with the idol. The Stepping Stone told the Idol: What a good fortune you have? We both were the same lump of rock for millions of years. Now, The sculptor had carved an idol out of you and everyone is worshipping you. And look at me, I am just a stepping stone and every one stamps and stands on me. I am suffering here but you are enjoying all the time. What kind of life is this?
The Idol kept smiling, didn't bother to answer this question, but the stepping stone just couldn't keep quiet. Then the Idol slowly remarked: “Do you remember when the sculptor set out to carve an idol, he chose you first. But then, you were so impatient. You couldn't tolerate the strikes of the hammer and within a few strikes, you broke into two. On the other hand, when he tried on me, I grinned, I smiled, I beamed with joy and bore all the hammers and chisel strikes with patience and persistence. Here I am the worshipful and the happy”
Spiritual practices should not be done in public or for show. If you do them before others, that will be harmful to you. People will pass comments and make fun of you and offer you unsolicited advice and conflicting suggestions, as a result of which various doubts will arise in your mind and your spiritual progress will be obstructed. The ideal sadhaka behaves thus – he goes to bed at night with the mosquito curtain drawn down. Everybody thinks that he is sleeping, but as a matter of fact, he spends the whole night in Japa and medication, lying quietly on his bed.
While you are young, you must try hard to get a taste of divine bliss. When once you have got this taste of divine bliss. When once you have got this taste, you can never forsake your Sadhana. Even at the risk of your life, you will continue your spiritual practices. Those who are troubled with too much sleep in the night will do well to sleep during the day, with a view to devote the night to meditation. The best time for meditation is dawn, dusk and midnight. Too often people waste these valuable periods in useless ways.
Sri Ramakrishna never spent the night in sleep, nor would he allow the young devotees who stayed with him to sleep at night. When others had gone to bed, he would wake up his disciples saying,' Why are you sleeping? Have you come here to sleep?' He would give them definite instructions and send them to the Panchavati, or the Mother's temple, or the Siva temples for meditation. They would spend the whole night in Sadhana as directed, and take rest during the day. It was in this way that Sri Ramakrishna used to take them through various spiritual exercises. Often he used to say,' Three classes of people keep awake in the night – Yogis, Bhogis and Rogis. You are all yogis. You should by no means sleep away the night'.
Source: Eternal Companion - Life and Teachings of Swami Brahmananda
Skanda Vale is a multi-faith ashram (or monastery) near Carmarthen in Wales. It was founded on pure Sanathana Dharma; the Timeless Consciousness of God, as taught by Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita. We believe that all religions stem from, and merge into the one Reality; God is One, though His forms are many.
The ashram was established here in Wales in 1973, though our roots can be traced back to Sri Lanka, for that is where our founder, Guru Sri Subramanium was born. You can find out more about the history of Skanda Vale here.
We have three temples; the Murugan Temple, the Maha Shakti Temple and the Sri Ranganatha Temple, and hold six pujas every single day of the year. Skanda Vale is the name of our organisation, whilst the people that live here are known collectively as the Community of the Many Names of God.
Nobody at Skanda Vale is paid. All Community members live here full time, and are entirely dependent on the Grace of God for all their daily needs. Skanda Vale is funded solely through voluntary, anonymous donations. We do not charge anyone for food, accommodation or services, and everything is offered completely free of charge. The Community is very self-sufficient, and completely independent from any religious or commercial organisations.
The vast majority of Community members live as ‘sannyasa’ – unmarried renunciants who have dedicated their lives to loving, serving and experiencing God through karma yoga and bhakti yoga. We take the Franciscan monastic vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. Senior monks are known as Swamis – they lead the higher forms of worship in the temples and take a more exacting form of vow.
Our work is of a routine and generally simple nature; cooking, cleaning and caring for an annual congregation of 90,000 pilgrims. An important area of our work is animal care. We have a large number of different animals, including Valli the Temple elephant, a herd of cows, buffalo, deer, goats, plus many birds, rabbits and dogs – many of whom have been rescued from slaughter or neglect.
One of our main areas of work is Skanda Vale Hospice, where we offer a high standard of personal care for people with life-threatening illnesses, completely free of charge. The Hospice is staffed entirely by volunteers, mostly from the Skanda Vale sisterhood.
Skanda Vale has been built with and is sustained only through the Community’s trust in, and love for God. We are here to help people of all faiths experience God – not just believe, but come to discover for themselves the freedom, peace and joy of living in the consciousness of the Divine.
By Jaya Srinivasan
The human mind falls an easy prey to the pulls of vices such as jealousy or anger that bring down a person's moral worth in no time. When Manthara, the hunchbacked nursemaid of Kaikeyi, tempted her with the attractive prospect of her becoming the queen mother only if Bharata ascended the throne, Kaikeyi's spontaneous response reflects her basic noble nature.Such an idea had never crossed her mind at any point of time prior to Manthara raising the issue.
In fact, Kaikeyi was delighted about the coronation preparations that were in the offing for Rama. We see in Kaikeyi not only a mother's innocent and unalloyed love for her son, but also a remarkable perception of truth in her assessment of Rama. She confesses that she considers Rama as her own son. Rama is as dear as Bharata, if not even more. She finds great pride in the way Rama serves her — on a par with the way He serves Kausalya.
Rama's penchant for Truth is unparalleled. As the eldest son of Dasaratha is He not the rightful heir? If Rama has the kingdom, then it is equal to Bharata having it as well.
Kaikeyi chides Manthara for her jealous feelings. How can anyone be disappointed when the entire city rejoices at the joyful tidings of Rama's coronation? Manthara highlights the danger for Kaikeyi, if Rama ascends the throne. It would make Kausalya the queen mother and Kaikeyi would lose her edge and must be content to toe the lower rungs in the palace.
Kaikeyi begins to believe Manthara's viewpoint and in a short while, she begins to see eye to eye with her. Her earlier goodness disappears and her only intent now is to send Rama to the forest and win the kingdom for Bharata.
The motive for Manthara's grouse against Rama finds mention in the Azhwar's hymns and in Kamban's. There is a reference to Rama's childhood when He used to shoot mud-balls from his bow and at times He would aim it on the hunchbacked maid. Other sources imply that both Kaikeyi and Manthara were divine agents sent to accelerate the annihilation of Ravana.
SriMani Dravid Sastrigal
