Geeta Saar 

Krishna: Change is the law of this universe! 

Today I went to Hindu temple Sunnyvale with some of my friends after my dance practice. As I was sitting in the mandir, listening to the chants, observing people, I saw Geeta Saar (summary of the holy book - Geeta) posted on the wall.
The one sentence that caught my attention was "Change is the law of this universe!"
Growing up, my grandma used to enforce daily chanting of Geeta Saar in the evenings with all kids together (I used to live in a joint family of 10-12 people, with an incoming, unannounced, no-appointment oriented load of guests, friends, coming over to stay, visit, etc.)
Those were fun times, and as a kid, you don't really give any thought to the bigger meaning of life especially when you are chanting philosophically deep book like Geeta. So, after reading this Geeta saar today again, I felt so overwhelmed, so connected with my roots. 

For those who don't remember it, here's the hindi and english version:

अतीत में जो कुछ भी हुआ, वह अच्छे के लिए हुआ, जो कुछ हो रहा है, अच्छा हो रहा है, जो भविष्य में होगा, अच्छा ही होगा. अतीत के लिए मत रोओ, अपने वर्तमान जीवन पर ध्यान केंद्रित करो , भविष्य के लिए चिंता मत करो (Whatever happened in the past, it happened for the good; Whatever is happening, is happening for the good; Whatever shall happen in the future, shall happen for the good only. Do not weep for the past, do not worry for the future, concentrate on your present life.)

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जन्म के समय में आप क्या लाए थे जो अब खो दिया है? आप ने क्या पैदा किया था जो नष्ट हो गया है?  जब आप पैदा हुए थे, तब आप कुछ भी साथ नहीं लाए थे.  आपके पास जो कुछ भी है,  आप को इस धरती पर भगवान से ही प्राप्त हुआ है.  आप इस धरती पर जो भी दोगे, तुमभगवान को ही दोगे.  हर कोई खाली हाथ इस दुनिया में आया था और खाली हाथ ही उसी रास्ते पर चलना होगा. सब कुछ केवल भगवान के अंतर्गत आता है. What did you bring at the time of birth, that you have lost? What did you produce,  which is destroyed? You didn't bring anything when you were born. Whatever you have, you have received it from the God only while on this earth. Whatever you will give, you will give it to the God. Everyone came in this world empty handed and shall go the same way. Everything belongs to God only.

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आज जो कुछ आप का है,  पहले किसी और का था और भविष्य में किसी और का हो जाएगा. परिवर्तन संसार का नियम है. Whatever belongs to you today, belonged to someone else earlier and shall belong to some one else in future. Change is the law of the universe.

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आप एक अविनाशी आत्मा हैं और एक मृत्युमय शरीर नहीं है. शरीर पांच तत्वों से बना है - पृथ्वी, अग्नि, जल, वायु और आकाश।  एक दिन शरीर इन तत्वों में लीन हो जाएगा.
You are an indestructible Soul & not a body. Body is composed of five elements - Earth, Fire, Water, Air and Sky; one day body shall perish in these elements.

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आत्मा अजन्म है और कभी नहीं मरता है. आत्मा मरने के बाद भी हमेशा के लिए रहता है.  तो क्यों व्यर्थ की चिंता करते हो? आप किस बात से डर रहे हैं?  कौन तुम्हें मार सकता है?
Soul lives forever even after death as soul is never born & never dies. So Why do you worry unnecessarily? What are you afraid of? Who can kill you?

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केवल सर्वशक्तिमान ईश्वर के लिए अपने आप को समर्पित करो.  जो भगवान का सहारा लेगा, उसे हमेशा भय, चिंता और निराशा से मुक्ति मिलेगी. Devote yourself to the Almighty God only. One who takes the support of God, always gains freedom from fear, worry and despair.

source: http://www.gitablog.com/2014/03/gita-saar-in-hindi-with-english.html

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Such powerful lines! written in one of the ancient most text known to mankind. I realized that the traditions that my grandma drilled into each of us have not been lost, were not a colossal waste of time (as I used to think when I wanted to play, but she insisted on all of us getting together as a family and chanting these mantras). 

Somewhere, whenever I was challenged, I was able to turn inward thanks to my grandma - we used to call her Bai affectionately. I was her favorite :)  As I sit today, miles apart from my family on the auspicious occasion of Akshay Tritiya, I want to be the person, who carries forward her legacy towards the next generation. 

This is my family (me with my awesome buas (aunts)) - 

Well, coming back to the original topic of Geeta Saar, I felt a powerful connection today to myself after reading the entire Geeta Saar. What stuck out to me was the following lines: 

"What did you bring at the time of birth, that you have lost? What did you produce,  which is destroyed? You didn't bring anything when you were born. Whatever you have, you have received it from the God only while on this earth. Whatever you will give, you will give it to the God. Everyone came in this world empty handed and shall go the same way. Everything belongs to God only."

Ignoring the religious aspect of the above lines, philosophically it touched me on so many levels: 

1. Why have we all become so objective and materialistic? we did not produce anything that could be destroyed, so nothing should worry us.
2. Everyone comes empty-handed and leaves empty-handed. 
3. Change is constant 

I remember one very vivid memory of my dad telling me to live a balanced life. Krishna mentions, excess of anything is also a sin. What we need is to reach a state of being "Stithpragya".

Stithpragya is a state of mind that does not get impacted by either profit or loss. It is extremely difficult to practice being in equilibrium and not giving into either too much happiness or feel too much sadness. 
source: https://hinduism.stackexchange.com/questions/13573/what-is-the-term-stithpragya-steady-wisdom-according-to-bhagavad-gita

Food for thought! More later ...
xoxo 

Shades of Grey

Growing up in countryside in India comes with lots of perks and disadvantages. The prime disadvantage is the constant heavy-duty shower of the so-called "bharatiya sanskruti" lectures.

A little background info:

Indians think they are better off than the westerners solely because of the spiritual power - the power that is passed on just because they have the Indian heritage and follow its cultures and mores. This whole package is called "Bharatiya Sanskruti" by these silly billies.
To add injury to the insult, these daily hindi soaps glorify all the outdated traditions and show everything in the shades of only white and black. (Psst.. a secret, these soap producers are color-blind!)

What I think:

Oh come on, do you really have to ask this?
Of course it is a propaganda by the moral police/TRP-greedy-color-blind soap producers. These silly billies abuse religion as marijuana.

It was always imprinted on us that our traditions are of utmost value and that you can either be Tulsi (drama queen of one of the soaps)  or can be Komolika (part of the wicked brigade in this soap). There is no shade of grey anywhere in any of these so called righteous characters. The worst part is they always depict the righteous characters weepy and under constant stress while the vamps are shown wild party animals.

I am not sure why we Indians take ourselves so seriously (this includes me as well - I blame it on genes :P). Partying wildly, dating, wearing skimpy clothes are all a complete no-no (especially if you are born as a girl in India).

A well-behaved girl is someone who is obedient (her decisions are irrelevant!) and even if her family gives her the right to take her own decisions, they try to manipulate her every possible way (crying, bullying, anything) to make her agree to their decisions.
I know I paint a very grim picture.. but that is what I have observed most of the time.

So basically, no shades of grey allowed at any time!

Contrast this with Mahabharat characters, btw Mahabharat is the same text that Indians revere.
Bhisma kidnapped three young girls and asked them to marry his brother (without considering their will). He also got Gandhari to forcibly marry his blind brother Dhrishtratra. He was mute when his daughter-in-law was disrobed.

Karna provoked Duryodhana and Dushasana during the shameful act of Draupadi disrobing. Draupadi disrobing also reminds me to write something about this equally shameful and shocking incident that happened to young girl in India.

Even though Krishna had his own grey shades, I respect him because he played the game with consistent rules - the most prominent being - kill the bad guys with whatever means and to always show respect for the women.

We Indians have double standards when it comes to the so called Indian culture (or Sanskruti) stuff.
I hope to raise a fearless child who is open about her choices and who wont give a damn to what others think about her decisions.

Art of Asking the Right Questions

I have had to struggle a lot to get the right career (it is still going on.. ) and because I am so perfectionist... the struggle would go on till I get it right :)

The struggle happened because I did not plan for the future.. relied on only one person's reasoning and did not actually go out and seek answers to my questions..
Basically I had shut myself from the entire world , and then I expected someone to reach out to me and save me from my self-imposed misery..
Well I learned the hard way.. things do not work that way.. there is no miracle .. except yourself...
It is only when you reach out to people.. you are out of the vicious circle of self-struggle..

And today as I was reflecting about the whole thing.. it made me realize.. if only I had followed what Arjun did in the Kurukshtra war..

Arjun.. the great warrior of all times.. was in confusion.."dwidha" (the sanskrit word for confusion).. when he was about to start the great battle with his own family members.
He was sickenend by the thought that all this war is just because the Pandavas wanted a small piece of land..

But instead of wallowing in his self-misery, and getting entagled in the labyrinth of confusions.. he tried to seek out help..
How?
By asking the right questions..
And to whom?
To God himself... Krishna (worshiped as reincarnation of God Vishnu)..


This whole scene makes me realize two things:
1. It is important to ask questions.
2. But it is also equally important that who is answering your questions.

For Arjun, it was his trusted friend - Krishna.
For Duryodhana- it was his wicked uncle - Shakuni..
and that made all the difference between right and wrong, victory and defeat..

All those questions that Arjuna asked and Krishna answered are compiled in the verses called as "Bhagwad Geeta".
So exactly what did Arjun ask?

Geeta describes what happened to Arjuna when he saw all his near and dear ones .. in the opposite camp of Duryodhana:
Arjuna said: Krishna, at the sight of these friends and relatives present before me in such a fighting spirit, my limbs give away, my body quivering and my mouth is parched.

"arjuna uvacha
drstvemam sva-janam krishna
yuyutsum samupasthitam
sidanti mama gatrani
mukham cha parisusyati"
(Bhagwat Gita: Chapter One verse 28)

"Sanjaya said: Arjuna, having thus spoken on the battlefield, cast aside his bow and arrows and sat down on the chariot, his mind overwhelmed with grief."

"sanjaya uvacha
evam uktvarjunah sankhye
rathopastha upavisat
visrjya sa-saram chapam
soka-samvigna-manasah"
(Bhagwat Gita: Chapter One verse 46)

Seeing this state of Arjuna, his best friend, his guide and trusted aide - Krishna replied:
"It is far better to discharge one’s prescribed duties, even though faultily, than another’s duties perfectly. Destruction in the course of performing one’s own duty is better than engaging in another’s duties, for to follow another’s path is dangerous."

"sreyan sva-dharmo vigunah
para-dharmat sv-anusthitat
sva-dharme nidhanam sreyah
para-dharmo bhayavahah"
(Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Three verse 35)

And then Krishna talks about the idea of performing one's duties without getting bogged down by the results..
"Lord Sri Krishna said: You have a right to perform your prescribed duty, but you are not entitled to the fruits of action. Never consider yourself the cause of the results of your activities, and never be attached to not doing your duty."

"karmanye vadhikaras te
ma phalesu kadachana
ma karma-phala-hetur bhur
ma te sango ’stv akarmani"
(Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Two verse 47)

This shloka gives me so much of inspiration.. to perform my duties.. without getting distracted.
Sometimes we are so tied up with the idea of future, the idea of result, that we forget to even perform the task at hand..

Krishna said.. whatever action you do.. attribute it to me.. for I am the creator of the world, vedas, and everything. It is I who have taught Vivaswan the

Hearing this Arjun was full of doubt... and asked
Later was your birth, earlier the birth of Vivaswan. How then am I to understand that you taught him in the beginning?

arjun uvacha

aparam bhavato janma
param janma vivaswataha
katham etad vijaneeyam
tvam adau proktavaan iti

This question is to unravel the mystery of who Krishna really is.
It appears Arjuna is questioning the validity of the authority of Krishna’s statement. How
could the friend he knew for so many years say that He is prior to Vivaswan? Sage poet Veda
Vyasa has made Arjuna come out with this question on behalf of mankind who would also
entertain the same doubt.

It is only after Arjun asked this question.. Krishna shows him his divine avatar...

And that my friend is the art of asking the right questions ..and to the right person!

More Later!

If only Bhishma would have remained Devavrata

Born as Devavrata, son of king Shantanu and his first wife Goddess Ganga, he got the name Bhishma (means "He of the terrible oath") because he took the vow of life-long celibacy and of service to whoever sat on the throne of his father.
This was because when his father wanted to marry Satyavati. Satyavati's father refused, on the grounds that his daughter's children would never be rulers as Shantanu already had a son. This is when Bhisma took an oath of life long celibacy..
His vow was an important turning point in the course of events of Mahabharata.

It was he who paved the way for the second important turning point in the story, namely, the wedding of his stepbrother, son of Satyavati, Vichitravirya. Vichitravirya was the second son of Shantanu and Satyavati. Their first son was named Chitrangada, who was a great warrior and was challenged by a Gandharva king, also by name Chitrangada, simply because his slighted his pride to see a human being walking around, bearing his name! Chitrangada was killed in that battle, which lasted three years, and his death moves the course of the epic to an extent, in that Vichitravirya would not have been enthroned had Chitrangada not died simply because he was christened as Chitrangada!

With the death of the elder brother, Vichitravirya was crowned as the king. Since he was too young at that time, Bhishma looked after the administrative matters on his behalf until such time he grew up into a man. Then, the responsibility of finding a bride for Vichitravirya fell on Bhishma. It was at that time did the king of Kashi announce the Swayamvara of his daughters, Amba, Ambika and Ambalika. It was Swayamvara, the selection of bridegrooms by the brides themselves. But Bhishma decided otherwise. He wanted to get at least one daughter of Kashi Raja wedded to his stepbrother, Vichitravirya and went in person, duly securing the permission of Satyavati.

The presence of this ageing lion of Hastinapur amused the kings who had assembled in the hall. ‘This fellow undertook a vow of celibacy and why would he come here, seeking the hand of these maidens?’ they giggled among themselves, not having the courage to speak those words loudly. Bhishma, however, understood the reason for the mockery that is going on behind his back. Added to this, the brides, while walking past him shrugged and acted as though they were afraid of this old man.

That pricked the pride of Bhishma. He walked like a lion, took all the three princess by force on his chariot, and announced to the gathering: ‘I came here with the intention of securing a bride for my brother. There are eight different kinds of marriage that the Books sanction. The eighth one is the one by which the bride is taken by force, facing adversity. I am now taking all the three brides to Hastinapur by force. I challenge anyone to stop me.’ So saying he sent his horses flying in the direction of Hastinapur. Many kings were afraid of coming in his way.

Salwa Raja however did not relent and he pursued Bhishma, since he had already lost his heart to princess Amba. Amba was in love with him too; but she was afraid of saying anything to this ageing lion that had taken them in one sweep into his chariot and was challenging all the kings. Though driven by the impulse of his love for Amba, king Salwa could not match the swiftness of Bhishma, which was a bit too much for even Parasurama, the terror of Kshatriyas.

The three brides were taken to Hastinapur. Ambika and Ambalika had no difficulty in accepting Vichitravirya as their husband. ‘I am in love with King Saalwa,’ Amba blabbered hesitantly. ‘We are in love and I had already decided to garland him as my husband.’ Vichitravirya was not prepared to break the heart of this maiden and marry her against her will. She was therefore sent back to seek the hand of King Salwa.

Little did Bhishma realize that he had seeded his own death, with his own hands, by his own deed, on that day. The events that followed were so painful that Amba vowed to kill herself, or to aid the killing of Bhishma. But even if he was aware of that fact, Bhishma would not have in any way been affected. He was above the fear of death.

Bhishma reflected pretty much everything that was wrong in the system. He was a person who was blinded by his traditional beliefs .. so much that he failed to judge right from wrong..
First he forcibly got the daughters of King of Kaashi without seeking their permissions.. Seems like that is what happens with girls everywhere.. they have to accept what the so called "elders" decide for them.. and if a girl decides to choose her own path.. oh well she is branded a failure..

The second sin that Bhishma committed was keeping mum when his own daughter-in-law was getting disrobed by the Kaurava prince.. He kept quite on the premise that he was tongue-tied because of his duty to the throne of hastinapur..

Mahabharat has taught me that sometimes you have to question the traditions.. You cannot simply follow the traditions blindly.. There must be a rationale somewhere.. If there is no rationale to your actions.. you might end up being a bhishma, living lonely life.. without any purpose..

Like today I came across this article in NY Times.. where lot of male priests have denied ordaining of women priests in catholic churches..
http://catholicism.about.com/od/beliefsteachings/f/Women_Priests.htm

Isnt this simply something what people like Bhishma would do.. follow the traditions blindly..
Sometimes thinking about all this makes me wonder.. if only Bhishma would have remained Devavrata...

Karmanye Vadhikaraste..

Ok so I am little disturbed today.. and wanted to know how long before I see the actual results of my action.. and that's when I thought about what Geeta would have for me in such a situation..
The answer is I think "Karma Yoga"

Karmanye Vadhikaraste, Ma phaleshou kada chana,

Ma Karma Phala Hetur Bhurmatey Sangostva Akarmani

Karmanye Vadhikaraste, Ma phaleshou kada chana – You have a right to perform your prescribed duty, but you are not entitled to the fruits of actions

Ma Karma Phala Hetur Bhurmatey Sangostva Akarmani – Never consider yourself the cause of the results of your activities, and never be attached to not doing your duty.

In simple terms it means: Keep on performing your duties without expecting for any reward in return, leading a selfless life – this it what it is all about.

This is a simple yet profound sentence.. and yet it is so difficult to follow..

Today I also remember a teacher of mine who once told me.. remembering your sorrows/ your past is like swimming in a strong current of water with large logs tied to your legs.. you will never get past anything.. (even though you are the best swimmer)..

So.. for me the only mental exercise is to walk the walk and talk the talk... (ok saying that made my head spin.. ) :P

So.. I am just goin to shutup.. and be "Karma Yogi" for a while... :)

More Later!

Why is Karna a failed "hero"?

Character of Karna has always fascinated so many people. Karna is a very powerful character in mahabharat (abandoned by his mother Kunti and embraced by Duryodhan- the villain in mahabharat).
Karna had all the qualities to succeed - in fact he was much better than all the other pandavs.
But still he fails.. and the question is why..

I dont think it is destiny or his friendship with Duryodhan that led him to destruction.
I think it is his own nature that wreaked such a havoc on him.

Karna never learnt to go back.. take a detour..
Even when Krishna repeatedly advised him to join the pandavas.. tell them the truth about his birth.. he denied saying he has learnt only one thing in life.. never to go back.. always follow one path like the ray of sun..

And that my friend caused all the problem. Plus he had other issues too..

I think the reason why he failed was because no one ever dared to tell him the difference between right and wrong.
The day duryodhan offered kingship to him.. he accepted it..
He also took part in all of Duryodhan's evil plans like disrobing Draupadi (the daughter-in-law of royal family), chasing padavas to the forest etc. etc.

I think it is very important in life to have a guiding force... someone who can guide you to right direction.. someone who can save you from the agony of deep regrets..
And another thing that is more important than first one is the presence of mind to take a detour and correct your actions..

This blog truly summarizes why Karna is a failed warrior.. but not a true hero..
http://pushti-marg.net/bhagwat/karna.htm


More later!

Anushtup Chanda...

Ok so I know the Sanskrit pundits will look down upon me when I start writing from a basic concept like "anushtup chanda"..
There are so many times in lives when we simply follow the rituals that are passed down from generations..

I remember during my childhood .. my grandmom would make me and my siblings do "sandhya-dhyan". Sandhya-dhyan/ "diya-baati" as it is called popularly is a evening ritual in most of the Indian households and it is considered auspicious. All the family members are supposed to participate in this ritual. Pray, meditate etc, etc. For me, the whole ritual of sandhya-pooja was kind of meaningless because it would mean that I had to do, say things which made no/little sense to me as a child..
So one of the ritual was to sing chants for "ram-raksha storam". Now this stotra is actually supposed to be very powerful by many Hindus (and yes I do chant this whenever I am in distress).. nooo don't roll your eyes yet!!

Ok, so coming back to the point, this ram raksha stotra starts with word "anushtup chanda"
And I always would wonder what anushtup chanda actually means.. until wikipedia came to my rescue..
Here it is .. straight from the horse's mouth:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anustubh

And for those of you who are interested in reading more, this is another great post:
http://ram-raksha-stotra.blogspot.com/2010/10/anushtup-chanda.html

(And while I am writing this blog.. an almost another parallel thread of thought pops up in my head. .what if I want to become a politician in India.. the thought runs something like this: because of this blog I will be termed as extreme Hindu and would branded as an RSS enthusiast and then may be Muslim votes would be lost forever..) Damn.. this vote bank politics in India.. I can't even focus on being a hindu now :P

To quote the blogger .Dr. Bharat Bhushan

The story of Valmiki discovering the Anushtup Chanda metre of poetry is in itself extremely fascinating, especially because of the romanticisation of the love of the Krauncha birds and their subsequent sorrow. The death of one of the birds caused the sage, Valmiki, to exclaim in verse, that he later realized was in a proper metre, and was accepted and recognized as the Anushtup.

The verses in Anushtup metre were grouped into chapters that were termed as Sarga, that were later compiled within a Kaanda. Interestingly, the word Kaanda, is usually meant to depict the internode point of sugarcane, and in ancient Sanskrit, was used to depict an interlude within a story. Valmiki’s Ramayana, now recognized as the Srimad Valmiki Ramayan, is organized into six Kaandas or Books. There is a seventh Kaanda, and its inclusion is a different story and a different argument elsewhere.

The Anushtup metre is comprised of 32 syllables in one verse. Each sloka, or a para within the poem, is usually comprised of four lines, and sometimes more. Uniquely, the sage-poet, Valmiki, seemed to have confirmed to most of the rules of Sanskrit Grammer, that must have been defined much later. The Ram Raksha Stotra is also similarly constructed, in precise Anushtup metre, with 32 syllables in four lines of the verse.

Sri Budha Kousika Rishi, as did Valmiki, did not stray from the rules that would later be written to depict the system governing the structural and functional relationships of the verse, following its earlier verse, and subsequently leading to the compilation of the entire Sri Ram Raksha Stotra. There is extremely complex interplay of word components, mostly of course, with the word ‘Ram’, which is to be expected. There is also complex organization of the morphology and syntax of the series of words within each metre.

In fact, so powerful is the ram raksha stotra that it is actually part of "garbha-sanskara" ritual.
Garbha-sanskara is a collective set of rituals for a pregnant woman in hinduism. Chanting these mantras helps in creating a peaceful pregnancy and labor experience.
Also, it is said that chanting this verse from ram raksha helps to remove any stuttering problems
for a baby:

Rama rame rameti,

rame rame manorame |

Sahasra naama tatulyam,

rama naama varanane ||

More later..