24 Forms of Vishnu

24 Distinct names of Vishnu based on the order of holding Shankha Chakra Gada Padma.

1. Shankha, chakra, gada, padma: Keshava

2. Padma, gada, chakra, shankha: Narayana

3. Chakra, shankha, padma, gada: Madhava

4. Gada, padma, shankha, chakra: Govinda

5. Padma, shankha, chakra, gada: Vishnu

6. Shankha, padma, gada, chakra: Madusudhana

7. Gada, chakra, shankha, padma: Trivikrama

8. Chakra, gada, padma, shankha: Vamana

9. Chakra, padma, shankha, gada: Shridhara

10. Padma, gada, shankha, chakra: Hrishikesha

11. Padma, chakra, gada, shankha: Padmanabha

12. Shankha, chakra, gada, padma: Damodara

13. Chakra, shankha, gada, padma: Sankarshana

14. Shankha, chakra, padma, gada: Pradyumna

15. Gada, shankha, padma, chakra: Aniruddha

16. Padma, shankha, gada, chakra: Purushottama

17. Gadha, shankha, chakra, padma: Adhokshaja

18. Padma, gada, shankha, chakra: Narasimha

19. Padma, chakra, shankha, gada: Achyuta

20. Shankha, chakra, padma, gada: Janardana

21. Gada, padma, shankha, chakra; Upendra

22. Chakra, padma, gada, shankha: Hari

23. Gada, padma, chakra, shankha: Krishna

24. Shankha, chakra, padma, gada: Vasudeva

Source: Garuda Purana, Chapter 45

Cash System Vs Caste System

 Political parties, party over trivial issues related to Lower caste-Higher caste dealings or even concoct stories based on such sensitive problems.

While the Media takes advantage of this and makes money, laymen sit and watch all the drama, only to get further agitated and add fuel to their agenda!

Wondering how thats even related to this picture/incident?
Well, thats the catch!
Businessmen/Politicians sell what is more in demand!

Remember all the cries and hues that we hear about upper castes looking down or being unjust with lower castes? But in modern society....

Before I finish my sentence, you might have guessed it! And if you havent yet, here it is: Money is the new caste and also religion in most cases!

It would ofcourse be too naïve to consider that the influence of the previously existing caste system has been fully eliminated, but nonetheless, Money speaks the loudest in todays society.

Its money that decides the way people treat you and how you are respected in society. Your bank-balance categorizes you into a certain 'caste'!

You speak to persons only on 'your level', you party with those on 'your level', you attend functions or invite guests only on 'your level'.
You seek advice or confide only in persons who are on 'your level', based on their financial background!

Anyone else is an outsider or a third person. It might not be necessary to get into the nitty-gritty of daily life, but the basic concept is probably clear.
We categorize ourselves based on our incomes. And if that doesn't happen, society straightens us out.
After that, the rest is history, err.... 'modern history'!

The image is of a Zomato delivery person and a customer(Makeup artist), who had a brawl because the customer didnt want to pay due to late delivery. What might have actually happened between the two, can only be speculated and construed in different ways based on which side you stand.

We have used this example only by mere coincidence, but the case of 'higher caste' being unjust to 'lower caste', can be observed in various aspects of todays society. It is seen in almost all exchanges between the two, and gets brushed off by the higher one and digested by the lower one with great difficulty.

If you are expecting me to spell out the solution, here you go: "There is none."
Im here only to bust your myth and the modern fantasy of a 'class-less society'!

There can never be a classless society no matter what miracle you do or what formula you apply.

Disclaimer:

This article is only an attempt to discuss how important Money has become in todays society. It is not intended to hurt the sentiments of any individual, community, sect, caste or religion.

Eclipse, Battleships or Apocalypse

Staying well prepared for any sort of situation or training our new generation in every possible skill is the need of the hour right now!
Well, not just now, but has always been and will be required in the future too.

It is quite sad that our modern day education, (atleast in India) is quite insufficient for anyone to lead a normal life. Isn't it an irony that we are so proud of the scientific temper and technological advancement but when a 'child' graduates out from the current educational institutions, he is ill equipped to face the real world.
He is adept at calculus, but fumbles to even buy some figs.
She is a crackerjack chemist at school, but hardly knows how to handle a tiny wound.
They are pushed for mastery in every subject at school except the training to function independently in real life.
Some of us have even experienced how it was a bit challenging when we faced the real world just after college/university, whether it was handling finances, or managing time, or planning for something big in life.

There are various skill sets and capabilities that help us survive properly in every situation of life, be it a regular day or an apocalypse like situation.
Whether those are taught at school, home or even at special training centers, it is important that every kid has exposure to them, or even basic know-how.

Below listed are a few areas that you could start with:

Growing your own vegetables
Starting/building a fire
Cooking and baking
Pickling & Curing
Basic weather forecasting
Building a shelter out of locally available materials
Procuring/filtering water
Identifying edible plants
Martial arts
Creating compass
Navigational skills based on sky and other natural signs
Tree climbing & Hiking
Basic first aid and self medication
Swimming
Sign language
Learning to do your daily chores like sweeping, washing dishes, feeding pets, doing laundry,
cleaning, cleaning bathrooms, dusting

Image: Internet

Lord Chaitanya and Haritaki

"......Govinda Ghosh was travelling with Lord Caitanya as His brahmacari assistant.
And, Lord Caitanya said, I have some indigestion, give Me some haritaki.
So he went into the village and he got Lord Gauranga, Lord Caitanya some haritaki.
The next day they were in Agradvip and Lord Caitanya said I need a haritaki again! Within a few minutes, Govinda Gosh offered haritaki........"

You can read the full pastime of Lord Chaitanya in the below link, but the mention of Haritaki(Gallnut) for indigestion is something to learn from.
It is of great value in Ayurveda.

As per RajVallabh Nigantu:
यस्य माता गृहे नास्ति, तस्य माता हरीतकी।
कदाचिद् कुप्यते माता, नोदरस्था हरीतकी ॥
(अर्थात् हरीतकी मनुष्यों की माता के समान हित करने वाली है। माता तो कभी-कभी कुपित भी हो जाती है, परन्तु उदर स्थिति अर्थात् खायी हुई हरड़ कभी भी अपकारी नहीं होती। )

YASYA MATA GRIHE NASTI ,TASYA MATA HARITAKI
KADACHIT KUPYATE MATA NODARASTA  HARITAKI
For a person whose Mother is not at home,HARITAKI is like a mother...
Even a Mother can get annoyed sometimes but HARITAKI never gives any negative effect.

A nice video about Haritaki:
A Great Use of Haritaki


Entire lecture by HH Jayapataka Swami Gurumaharaj
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20200218 JAYAPATAKA SWAMI GURU MAHARAJ, SRAVANA UTSAVA DAY 1, SRI MAYAPUR DHAM, INDIA

Mukham karoti vacalam pangum langayate girim

Yat kripa tam aham vande sri gurum dina tarinam

Paramananda Madhavam Sri Caitanya Isvaram

“Acintya can sit next to Sujitendriya in case he has any difficulty understanding me. Can you understand what I say in English, or do you need repetition? Ok. If I start to fade off or something, tell me! So, I am supposed to speak on the sankirtan movement of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. But I would like to speak how Lord Caitanya and His associates did devotee care in the sankirtan movement. Just like in the song of the namahatta, Nadiya Godrume Nityananda Mahajan, pati ace namahatta jivera karan. Lord Nityananda, He gave the namahatta to help the fallen souls. The fallen jivas, they have to suffer birth, death, old age, disease. They are suffering so much! So, Lord Nityananda, He set a process of namahatta or sankirtan in order to help the jivas to go back to Godhead. And, just like Atul Krsna prabhu mentioned Jagai Madhai, Madhai, hit Nityananda prabhu with a broken wine bottle. And, Lord Nityananda, He was bleeding! But He said, just because you caused Me to bleed, I won’t give you love of Godhead? So Jagai he told Madhai, He is not an ordinary soul, you just hit Him and He is bleeding, but He is talking about love!! Ha! Ha! So, Jagai influenced Madhai to bow down. And then, Lord Caitanya, He promised He would not use any weapon of violence. But His long standing promise was that His devotees will not perish. So He called His Sudarsana cakra. But Lord Nityananda said, I beg You please! Give Me these two in charity! And, Lord Caitanya said that if they promise not to do these misdeeds anymore, I will forgive them! Jagai Madhai lived by the side of the Ganges. But they never bathed in the Ganges! Ha! So Lord Caitanya said, they should bathe in the Ganges and come back and then they can be initiated.

Now, when Lord Caitanya was acting as Nimai Pandit, He knew all the sastra, He could defeat anyone. In fact, He could prove a person wrong, then prove Him right, then prove him wrong! ABAAR!! (Again) But when the Digvijay Keshava Kashmiri came to Navadvip and with great arrogance challenged that who are you? Come on and debate, otherwise sign my jaya pataka that you lost. (Guru maharaj asked Sujitendriya prabhu: You speak English or Bengali? And he replied, guru maharaj, you spoke in Bengali, so I am speaking in English! Guru maharaj laughed, Ha! Ha!). So it says that Lord Caitanya actually thought that if I defeat him publicly, he will suffer embarrassment, people will loot his belongings! But he is too proud, I need to humble him. So how Lord Caitanya as Nimai Pandit, He was thinking about Keshava Kashmiri. He was manifesting devotee care!! He wanted to humble him, at the same time, He didn’t want to destroy him. He wanted to help him. So He defeated him in a very, what to say, very gentlemanly manner! And, He memorized all the verses that were composed by Keshava Kashmiri and He asked him what are the good and bad points of your poetry? He asked Keshava Kashmiri in all your verses, say what is the good and bad quality? Keshava Kashmiri said, my poetry has no faults! So Lord Caitanya gave verbatim, the verse 57! Keshava Kashmiri was bewildered, how did you memorize all the verses? He said, just as Krsna has blessed you with a good learning, so I have been blessed with a good memory! Ha! Then Lord Caitanya said what were the good and bad aspects of the poetry. I remember one defect was that he said, Bhavani Bartu – the husband of the wife of Lord Siva. So, it is confusing! Does Durga have two husbands? Bhavani already means the wife of Bhava, or Siva. So saying Bhavani Bartu, her husband. So, like that, He pointed out some defects. So Keshava Kashmiri, he was speechless, his mind went blank! And he was a great devotee of Saraswati. And so he prayed to Saraswati, why did you allow me to be defeated by this youngster? She said, you see, He is My Husband! Ha! So I cannot help you against Him! Ha! So the next day, Keshava Kashmiri went to the house of Nimai Pandit. And he bowed down and said, please reveal to me, who You are? So He revealed His actual identity as Krsna! So Keshava Kashmiri, he gave up being a Digvijay and debater, and became an acarya in the Nimbarka sampradaya. There are four bona fide sampradayas – Brahma, Rudra, Laksmi and four Kumaras. So, Nimbarka is a guru in the four Kumaras sampradaya.

That reminds me that Jagai Madhai, they went also to Lord Caitanya’s house, the next day. And Lord Caitanya brought both of them to the Ganges side. He said, put a Tulasi in My hand, give Me all your sins, ALL YOUR SINS! My Lord, as many hairs as I have on my head, I have done more sins! So I feel very embarrassed to give all my sins to You! So what devotee care, Bhakatavatsala, Lord Caitanya was giving!! Put the Tulasi in My hand! I WILL TAKE ALL YOUR SINS! Then they put Tulasi in His hand. For a minute, Gauranga became Shyamanga! One second! Then, Jagai Madhai, all their bad karma, vikarma, was destroyed by Lord Caitanya. They saw this in the Patala loka, there was a big commotion amongst all the accountants. Yamaraja’s principle bookkeepers were talking amongst themselves. Yamaraja came out and saw the commotion. Lord Gauranga has wiped out the karma of Jagai and Madhai! How much bad karma did they have? If you were to put it down in writing, it would take godowns after godowns! We had a special architect design for them a custom made hell! Ha! Hearing this Yamaraja, he fainted! So they were trying to revive Yamaraja! Around that time, Lord Siva came. He said, oh, what happened to Yamaraja? They told Him what happened. He said, he is not unconscious by being shocked. HE IS IN ECSTASY! He has become ecstatic thinking of the mercy of Lord Gauranga and then fell unconscious! Haribol! Gauuuuuranga! Gauuranga Gauranga! If you want to revive him, you have to chant Hare Krsna! Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna HARE Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare! Everybody in Yamaloka started dancing and singing in kirtan. Not only that, even in the Devaloka, everyone was chanting. Gauuuuranga! Nityananda!

The sankirtan movement can liberate the whole universe! The Navadvip parikrama that you do, there are different parties, that has a tremendous effect on the whole universe! Haribol! So, Srila Bhaktisiddanta Saraswati Thakur, he said while on the parikrama, he said, my next disciple who crosses over the ocean, he will bring people from all over the world. I will not live to see it, but it will HAPPEN! IT WILL HAPPEN! Haribol! Ha! So he predicted coming of Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. And Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur said that people would come from all over the world and do this parikrama. They would tell their Indian brothers, that we have accepted the shelter of the lotus feet of Sacinandana! Please embrace us and don’t think of any prejudice or caste, color, creed or anything. And then they embrace each other! Men embrace the men and women the women! So we were doing that for a number of years. That is the mercy and predictions of our previous acaryas. And Srila Prabhupada, took his first parikrama out, and he was the one who established that we do Navadvip Parikrama. So, like this, Lord Caitanya has shown His extreme care for all His devotees. I forget who, there was one devotee in Vrndavana, when any of the Bengali devotees would come, he would give them mustard oil. Ha! Ha! Because, it is very dry in Vrndavana and here in Bengal, it is very humid. So therefore the Bengalis needed the mustard oil to adapt to the dry climate! Just like this year we have the South Indian parikrama party added! And they like sour things like yogurt, tamarind. So, apparently they are bringing their equipment up. I heard that one machine has been purchased in Coimbatore which would cook 1000 idlis at a time. The International party may want to try it out one day!! And one day the South Indian party should have Pongal, which is like South Indian Khichdi. That way the International Party can get idli. Ha! Anyway, we are very grateful to Srila Prabhupada – he could have stayed in Vrndavana, and easily he could have gone back to the spiritual world. But he was thinking about the people in the western world, that they are suffering in ignorance. So, he took great difficulty to cross the ocean by cargo ship! He only had seven dollars! And only one box of Srimad Bhagavatam. He had heart attack, he wasn’t used to the rough seas. And he had a dream where Krsna came and said, I am taking you across the ocean! After that the Atlantic Ocean became very peaceful like the Pacific Ocean. So Srila Prabhupada, he crossed the ocean and he brought the sankirtan andolan, the sankirtan movement of Lord Caitanya to the western countries. Haribol! Haribol! Haribol! Srila Prabhupada ki jai!

Lord Caitanya had said that in every town and village of the world, His name would be sung. So, Srila Prabhupada had that vision. He was telling that to his fellow residents of Vraja. But they said, no, no, that means civilized world, India! But Srila Prabhupada said, no, prithvi te means the whole world! The others, they couldn’t believe it. But Srila Prabhupada had faith, and he carried out the order of his guru, and therefore today we have the International Society for Krsna Consciousness! The disciples of Srila Prabhupada, men and women, we have some limited time we can be here. You have to carry on this movement, after we go! You have to continue carrying on the great thing that Srila Prabhupada established. So, everyone should take to the occupation of preaching! Srila Prabhupada said, books are the basis, preaching is the essence. So, we need to understand Srila Prabhupada’s mood and keep the sankirtan andolan spreading and growing. ( Guru maharaj said: I said andolan, he said movement of the repeater!) Sometime I think in English, sometime in Bengali, sometime in Spanish!!

So, anyway, caring for the other devotees is very important. Lord Caitanya said in His third verse of the Siksastakam, amaanina mana dena kirtaniya sada Harihi. Give respect to all others, and don’t expect any respect for yourself. In this way, you can constantly chant the holy names of Krsna! Someone asked me, what to do if someone treats you bad or enviously, what should you do? Do you take vengeance? What did Nityananda prabhu when He was hit by Madhai? He said, just because you hit Me, does that me I will not give you love of Godhead? So we should not seek vengeance. We want to help everyone. Lord Caitanya, He was in this mood of helping everyone. But sometimes, He would test devotees! Kolaveca Sridhar, He went and tested him many times. When He was doing the 21 hour Mahaprakash lila. And everyone could see, He was the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He called for Kolaveca Sridhar, bring him here. And when some devotees went to Sridhar and told him that Nimai Pandit wants to see you, he was so humble, he fainted!! So what could do the devotees do? They picked him and carried him. Then, they put him in front of Lord Caitanya. At that time, Lord Gauranga was manifesting Brahmajyoti. Lord Nityananda was holding an umbrella over His head. One devotee was fanning Him. So, when Kolaveca Sridhar regained consciousness, Lord Caitanya said, I want to give you a boon, what do you want? I will make you a king and you will have a big kingdom with many ministers and horses and things. I don’t want that! I don’t want! I will give you mystic power! Anima lagima praapti etc. siddhis. No, no, I don’t want. I can give you the liberation you can merge in the nirakara. No, no, I don’t want that, no, no! WHAT DO YOU WANT? TELL ME WHAT DO YOU WANT? I want, if I have to ask for something, if I am qualified, in all your incarnations, if I can provide your vegetables and fruits’ requirement and if I can see that smiling face of that brahmana boy, that is what I want! But if I am not qualified for that, please allow me to take birth in the family of your devotees. Then Lord Caitanya said, I GIVE YOU THE BLESSING OF PURE KRSNA PREMA! So when the devotees heard how a hawker in the street, who sells bananas and thors (banana stem), he got Krsna Prema! Ha! Ha! Lord Caitanya! They were overwhelmed, they pulled their hair and fell to the ground! HARIBOL! HARIBOL! GAUUUUURANGA! GAUUUUURANGA! GAUUUUUURANGA! Talk about devotee care! Ha! Ha! What Lord Caitanya gave is incomparable!

Locanadas Thakur, he is saying, and Srila Prabhupada sang this in New Panihati Dham, Atlanta. Parama koruna pahu dui jana Nitai Gaura candra. Saba avatar sara shiromani, kevala ananda kanda. Amongst all the avatars, Lord Nitai and Gauracandra are the crown jewels! Nrsimhadev taught Prahlad how He could meditate, and thus we have Yoga Nrsimha deity. But Lord Caitanya, His process is singing Hare Krsna, dancing, reading Bhagavatam and Gita and taking Krsna prasad. And we take this austerity of Krsna prasad! Ha! Ha! So, what time is it?

How Lord Caitanya, He gave out His mercy, without considering who is qualified and who is unqualified, is truly amazing! How the devotees, I remember one pastime, Govinda Ghosh was travelling with Lord Caitanya as His brahmacari assistant. And, Lord Caitanya said, I have some indigestion, give Me some haritaki. So he went into the village and he got Lord Gauranga, Lord Caitanya some haritaki. The next day they were in Agradvip and Lord Caitanya said I need a haritaki again! Within a few minutes, Govinda Gosh offered haritaki. So Lord Caitanya said, how were you so fast? I kept a few extra, in case You needed it. Oh, then you have a grihasta mentality, saving for a rainy day! So you have to get married! Ha! Ha! He had no parents but it was the order of Lord Caitanya, so he took grihasta life. He had a wife, he was serving the Gopinath deity. He had a male santan, child. But then his wife she died somehow, snakebite or something. And then, the boy was also killed! So he became, Govinda Ghosh became very disturbed. So the deity Gopinath complained that you are not serving Me properly! I was a brahmacari, I was ordered by Lord Caitanya to take grihasta ashram. Obviously, I wasn’t qualified to be a brahmacari. So I had a son, after I die he will perform my shraadha ceremony. But my wife, my son, all died! The deity said, I am your son! But you are not that kind of son, you are not going to perform my final rites. So if I promise to do that you will serve Me properly, the deity asked. Alright, I will call the village leaders. Then he announced and, the deity spoke to them - on the day of the death anniversary, material world anniversary, of Govinda Ghosh, I should be taken to perform pindi and shradha for him. So, how Lord Gopinath, He was also caring for His devotee. One year we went there with the safari. It was that day. And the Gopinath deity was taken to the samadhi of Govinda Ghosh. I mean, I think there are three brothers – Basu Ghosh, Govinda Gosh and Madhava Ghosh. Between Govinda and Madhava, I think it was Govinda Ghosh. Anyway, the pujari dragged me into the samadhi and Ganga das, he was at the doorway. And then they dropped the rice pindi from the hand of the deity. And they said that the black stone deity changed during this ceremony. I felt like something different was happening. People were, one side were the ladies, other side were the men. One lady, she was trying to get in and see what is happening. From behind her, another lady pulled her by her hair and a big fight was going on. How to see what was going on inside? Somehow I was in the middle of this storm! So, poor Ganga das, with his watch, he had so much skin off his scalp! Any way that is Bengal enthusiasm! But inside how the deity was satisfying the wish of his deity even after 500 years! So that festival is still going on, you can see it after Gaura Purnima, on Ekadasi or after.

Similarly, Srila Prabhupada said that no one in a ten-mile radius should go hungry. Krsna is everyone’s father. And in the presence of the parents, the child never goes hungry. So, since this is a temple of Krsna, we should see that everyone is fed Krsna prasad. Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s devotee care was manifested throughout His sankirtan movement. And Srila Prabhupada, he brought that same attitude of Lord Caitanya around the world. Srila Prabhupada ki jai! Gauuuuranga! Gauuuuuranga! Gauuranga! Nityananda! Nityananda! Nityananda! Haribol! 8.27 pm Any questions?

Question: Hare Krsna maharaj. (Guru maharaj said: Hare Krsna) I wanted to ask that you mentioned that Keshava Kashmiri when he realized that Lord Caitanya is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, later on he became an acarya in the Nimbarka sampradaya. So when he realized the position of the Supreme Lord, Lord Caitanya, why did not become a direct disciple or follower of the Gaudiya sampradaya?

Guru maharaj: You see when Keshava Kashmiri met Nimai Pandit, that was still many years before He started the sankirtan andolan. Many years He was acting as Nimai Pandit, when He went to Gaya and He was initiated by Iswara Puri, then He started to manifest love of Krsna. And in Kanhainatashala He had a darshan of Krsna, Krsna embraced Him. And when He returned to Navadvip, He was changed! He was Gauuuura Hari! We are reading that part on the Lotus building top now. Other question?

Question: Hare Krsna maharaj. You said that Jagai Madhai are just offering the Tulasi to Lord Caitanya. They have cleared all sins. They not only did the sins, they offended the vaisnavas also. So how we can understand this maharaj?

Guru maharaj: Madhai built a Madhai ghat. And then the Navadvipvasis, Mayapurvasis used Madhai ghat. And that forgave him of the offences he committed on the residents of Navadvip. That means by helping people in their spiritual life, we get forgiven for our offences. That is why we chant the name of the Lord LOUD! GAUUUUURANGA!

Question: Hare Krsna guru maharaj (Guru maharaj said: Hare Krsna! ) Like you said, Srila Prabhupada said, no body in a ten-mile radius of our place should go hungry without prasad. So, some of our affluent temples, the security and some staff employed that carry bags for sannyasis and devotees, they are not given any prasad. And the temples receive so much Laksmi day after day for free prasadam and these poor security and other devotees who are serving there in the heat and cold, they are serving us. And it gives great pain to me that they are not given prasad. And for two years I tried to speak to the management and the senior leaders of Sri Sri Radha Parthasarathi Temple in Delhi, that please give them prasad, from so many years they are serving. And for two years I tried but you know. I am an insignificant person, but it gives great pain to my heart and my humble request and prayer at your lotus feet, guru maharaj, if you could take this up in the GBC that these people who are serving us with their heart and soul, they don’t get prasad and they feel so bad. I had so much tears in my heart you know, please guru maharaj, please take this up at the GBC, my humble prayer at your lotus feet!

Guru maharaj: Write me an email and I will forward it to the management, whichever temple you are talking about. Thank you.”

Alright! Thank you all!

Transcribed by Jayaraseshwari devi dasi





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Modern Education

Proper Nutrition plays crucial role in Brain development and functioning(and students performance), but we give Zero importance.
Note what rubbish is fed especially at school/college canteens!
And ofcourse Parents add more junkfood at home!

Color/Style of Uniform has zero effect on Academic performance of student,but it is given utmost importance!
Note all the absurd combinations of school uniforms and the senselessly strict rules on implementing them!

If proper things are taken care, the same syllabus could be grasped by the student in 6 months instead of 1 year.

Garbhadan Procedure Videos

Enough has been said about the importance of Garbhadan Samskar but its really hard to find the essential points together at once.

Here are a few videos of Acharya Mehulji, who is an Ex-Ayurvedic doctor and now a 'hard core' Gurukula preacher and teacher.

He gave up his profession of being a doctor and has taken up spreading awareness and establishing gurukulas all over India. He also has his own gurukula at Rajkot, Gujarat.

When buying a pair of shoes, we make sure its the right color, texture, size, model, design, weight, and many such qualities.

Some spend hours choosing just a single dress, by visiting several stores to get the dress of their favorite color, pleasing design and texture.

So to bring home an article that is going to hardly last a few months or few years, we spend so much time choosing what we want and try to express our desire clearly so that we get exactly what we want.

But it is sad to see that the same kind of interest is not shown while bringing a Spirit Soul into our life who is going to be there with us for several years and influence and change our life for ever.

Garbhadan Samskar is the procedure given to us for this very reason.
It helps us choose and decide the kind of soul we want to invite to our lives.

I am just repeating what I have heard from other lectures of Acharya Mehulji, so I wont write more about it now.
Please watch these videos carefully and share with anyone who might find them useful.

The videos are in Hindi.

Introduction
https://youtu.be/UB49VhJPq7I

Vedic Science of Parenting - Inaugural Address by Acharya Mehul ji
https://youtu.be/kQUmAq1wkqg

Vedic Science of Parenting - Garbhasanskar Part 1 by Acharya Mehul ji
https://youtu.be/y38K2UXJWsY

Vedic Science of Parenting - Garbhasanskar Part 2 by Acharya Mehul ji
https://youtu.be/kfPLRVKusaQ

Vedic Science of Parenting - Garbhasanskar Part 3 by Acharya Mehul ji
https://youtu.be/Yd6pHp1MGl8

Vedic Science of Parenting - Garbhasanskar Part 4 by Acharya Mehul ji
https://youtu.be/U0albR3JCeg

Vedic Science of Parenting - Garbhasanskar Part 5 by Acharya Mehul ji
https://youtu.be/CZlR930GPcM

Vedic Science of Parenting - Garbhasanskar Part 6 by Acharya Mehul ji
https://youtu.be/FvNVqPPIJLc

Vedic Science of Parenting - Garbhasanskar Part 7 by Acharya Mehul ji
https://youtu.be/nxY7_LqlPgM

Vedic Science of Parenting - Garbhasanskar Part 8 by Acharya Mehul ji
https://youtu.be/YLM_ygoqHSk

Vedic Science of Parenting - Garbhasanskar Part 9 by Acharya Mehul ji
https://youtu.be/5HpGXnCINec

Vedic Science of Parenting - Garbhasanskar Part 10 by Acharya Mehul ji
https://youtu.be/wWFJPvAlchU

Vedic Science of Parenting - Garbhasanskar Part 11 by Acharya Mehul ji
https://youtu.be/qENvZDWX09A

For more such videos, please check his own channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbkCz02XZXlXsyO05FPvmVw

Anesthesia for Trees!

Did you know Plants have life?
Old news right?
Ok.

Cutting down big trees when widening roads or construction of buildings is not rare these days.
But some friends try to remove them carefully and transplant them in a different place.
Many big trees die if transplanted, or their chances of survival is less.

It has been found that they undergo a shock when suddenly removed.
So why not use anesthesia and perform the 'operation'?
Why not use treatments similar to us?
How about using Chloroform when transplanting a big tree!?!?

PC: Internet.

You are certainly laughing at me right now!
Am I crazy? Did I lose my mind?
Maybe yes, Maybe no.
But it has already been done.

Who?

It was already done by our Indian Scientist who proved to the Modern world that Plants have life!

Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose (1858 – 1937)

"Bose was using chloroform on huge trees to transplant them into new ground.
Many large forest trees die very quickly after being moved however Bose proved that with chloroform and an antidote the trees would survive the move.

 Bose's apparatus proved that trees possess a circulatory system; their sap movements correspond to the blood pressure of animal bodies.
 Peristaltic waves issue from a cylindrical tube which extends down a tree and serves as an actual heart!
 The more deeply we perceive, the more striking becomes the evidence that a uniform plan links every form in nature."

http://livingtransformation.ch/index.php/79-science/116-life-in-plants.html

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/the-saviour-of-diseased-trees/article30070462.ece

Monsoon Masala 'Vaccination'

When we are able to regulate/control the food we eat and also follow natures cycle, food itself acts as a medicine and keeps most diseases away.

There are different aspects of food that we need to take care of, one of them is Ritucharya.
What we eat should be seasonal and should also match with the nature of our body.
Each vegetable, fruit, the ingredients of seasoning can be used in different ways to cure or prevent various ailments.

Here is a recipe to prepare vaccination that can be used during the Monsoon season and also Winter.

Recipe:
1 spoon of dry ginger powder
2 spoons of jaggery
1 spoon of ghee

Mix them and make little balls, around the size of small marbles.
Adults can eat one ball every morning and kids can have half of it.

This will help in keeping away different infections of monsoons & winter, due to bacteria,viruses,etc.

Did you know?
According to Ayurveda, even good food prepared/served/eaten with anger can become toxic for your body.
It is said that the toxins created in this way stays within the body for 60 days!!!
So have your food with a happy state of mind.

Bengali Sweets

Its great to have found some recipes of Bengali sweets and as you can see from this image, the book is from 1948! So chances are high that we might be getting them without extra modern additions.

Download : Bengali Sweets

Jiboner Hisaab

Jiboner Hisab, means "the accounts/calculation of life".

This article is just an attempt of English translation of this beautiful Bengali poem.

I didn't have the fortune of 'studying/learning' my mother tongue at school, but was taught by my mother at home just to make sure we knew how to read&write in our mother tongue.

So I don't know many Bengali poems. 

However my wife being educated properly in Bengali, suddenly blurted out this poem casually and it caught my ears!

It is very interesting to see how the Bengali poems of children used to convey such deep meanings.

There are so many such poems which are being lost and replaced slowly with modern ones.

I guess its the same in all states of India like I also noticed in Andhra Pradesh/Telangana. They have had such nice poems for children that just the poems itself teach so many things.

This is an excellent poem by Sukumar Ray, trying to teach us two aspects.

The first is a warning of pride, of our little knowledge and the second one asks us to prioritize things in life with great care.

Notes:

Below explanation might help you understand the poem better.

The poet names the scholar using the phrase "Bidye Bojhai Babu Moshai" , meaning scholar overburdened by knowledge.

An anna (or ānā) was a currency unit formerly used in India and Pakistan, equal to ​1⁄16 of a rupee.

4 anas is 25 paisa(or 25% of one rupee)

8 anas is 50 paisa(or 50%)

12 anas is 75 paisa(or 75%)

16 anas is 100 paisa,one rupee(or 100%)

PC:Internet.

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জীবনের হিসাব

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বিদ্যে বোঝাই বাবু মশাই চড়ি শখের বোটে

মাঝিরে কন, “বলতে পারিস সূর্য কেন ওঠে?

চাঁদটা কেন বাড়ে কমে? জোয়ার কেন আসে?”

বৃদ্ধ মাঝি অবাক হয়ে ফেলফেলিয়ে হাসে,

বাবু বলেন, “সারা জীবন মরলিরে তুই খাটি,

জ্ঞান বিনা তোর জীবনটা যে চারি আনাই মাটি!”

A scholar gets on a boat for a joy ride.

"O boatman, do you know why the Sun rises?

Do you know the reason of the Moons waxing and waning?

Do you know what causes the High tides?"

The elderly boatman just laughs in surprise.

The scholar said "You have just wasted your life working like an ass!

Without knowledge, your life is wasted by FOUR ANAS!"

খানিক বাদে কহেন বাবু, “বলত দেখি ভেবে

নদীর ধারা কেমনে আসে পাহাড় হতে নেবে?

বলত কেন লবন পোরা সাগর ভরা পানি?”

মাঝি সে কয়, “আরে মশাই অত কি আর জানি?”

বাবু বলেন, “এই বয়সে জানিসনেও তা কি?

জীবনটা তোর নেহাত খেলো, অষ্ট আনাই ফাঁকি!”

After a while, the scholar speaks again:

"How does the flow of the river bring it down the hills?

Why is the ocean filled with such salty water?"

The boatman replies:

"Oh sir, I don't know much"

The scholar states again:

"Don't you know even this much in this age?

You have wasted your life by EIGHT ANAS!"

আবার ভেবে কহেন বাবু, “বলত ওরে বুড়ো,

কেন এমন নীল দেখা যায় আকাশের ঐ চূড়ো?

বলত দেখি সূর্য চাঁদে গ্রহন লাগে কেন?”

বৃদ্ধ বলেন, “আমায় কেন লজ্জা দিছেন হেন?”

বাবু বলেন, “বলব কি আর বলব তোরে কি, তা,-

দেখছি এখন জীবনটা তোর বারো আনাই বৃথা।”

The scholar questioned again after some moments:

"Old man, do you know why the sky is blue?

What causes the Solar and Lunar eclipses?"

The old man replied:

"Why are you embarrassing me, oh sir?"

The scholar stated again:

"There is nothing more for me to say. I see that your life is wasted by TWELVE ANAS!"

খানিক বাদে ঝড় উঠেছে ঢেউ উঠেছে ফুলে,

বাবু দেখেন নৌকাখানি ডুবল বুঝি দুলে।

মাঝিরে কন, “একি আপদ ওরে ও ভাই মাঝি,

ডুবল নাকি নৌকো এবার? মরব নাকি আজি?”

মাঝি শুধায়, “সাতার জানো?” মাথা নারেন বাবু,

মূর্খ মাঝি বলে, “মশাই এখন কেন কাবু?

বাঁচলে শেষে আমার কথা হিসেব করো পিছে,

তোমার দেখি জীবন খানা ষোল আনাই মিছে।”

Suddenly there was a storm and the waves were growing higher!

The scholar could feel the boat being tossed by the waves and spoke to the boatman:

"Oh boatman What kind of danger is this?

Is the boat going to sink?

Am I going to drown and die today?"

The scholar nodded his head in negation when the boatman asked: 

"Do you know to swim?"

The boatman then stated:

"How can you accept defeat now sir?"

"Anyways, you can do the remaining calculation of my life later if you survive. But now is see that your life is wasted to a full SIXTEEN ANAS!"

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Srila Prabhupad uses this story in a slightly modified way to warn us from becoming proud of our material knowledge and not value spiritual knowledge, which is actually required to cross the material ocean.

Lecture by Srila Prabhupad to Technology Students (M.I.T.) -- Boston, May 5, 1968

There is a nice story. You'll appreciate it. In India, especially in Bengal, there are many rivers. The land is full of rivers. Because it is on the bank of the Bay of Bengal, all rivers are falling. Therefore Bengal, the land of, especially the east Bengal, is full of rivers.

One student of technology was going home, and he was on the boat.
So the student was asking the boatman, "Do you know what are the stars?"
The boatman said, "Sir, we are ordinary boatman. What do we know about these stars?"
"Oh. Then your fifty percent of life is wasted, useless."
Then he was asking, "Do you know what are these trees?
Do you know any science of botany?"
He said, "Sir, we are ordinary laborer. What do we know about botany?"
"Oh. Then seventy-five percent of your life is useless."

In this way the student of technology was asking the boatman,
"Do you know this? Do you know that?"
And he said that "I am ordinary man. What do I know all these things?"

Then all of a sudden there was a black cloud, and there was storm, and the river began to be inflated, and the boatman said, "My dear sir, do you know swimming?"
 "Oh," he said, "no."
Then he said, "Then your cent percent knowledge is spoiled.
Now you have to go down to the river. Your life is finished."
In this way they dropped in the river, and the technological student, because he did not know how to swim, so the storm and the waves grabbed him.

The idea is that we are making progress, certainly, in technology, in economics, in so many other departments of human necessities.
But Bhagavad-gītā says that real problem of this world, or real problem of our life, it is said in the Bhagavad-gītā, janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi-duḥkha-doṣānudarśanam (BG 13.9).
If you are intelligent enough, then you should see the real problem is birth, death, old age and disease. Janma means birth, and mṛtyu means death. Janma-mṛtyu-jarā. Jarā means old age, and vyādhi means disease.
So actual material problem is this, janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi.

Deepavali & Govardhan Puja

Deepavali was a bit sad day yesterday, thinking about the last 2-3 years that I spent it at Vrndavan Bhaktivedanta Eco Farm by the mercy of HG Rupa Goswami pr.

Govardhan Puja and Deepavali is such a great celebration among the Brijwasis.
Since the farm is inside the village, the local culture and traditions of Vraj can still be seen around.

You can find entire villages trying to renovate/repaint/clean their houses and decorate it just before Deepavali.

For Govardhan puja you can see every courtyard being decorated with cowdung 'images' of Giriraj.
Its such a nice seen to see each house with a decoration like that and all the children coming together to help with that.

On one corner of the courtyard lays a stringed cot like couch for the elderly folks of the house to spend their days of retirement in peace while watching over the kids playing around.

At night everyone comes and lights lamps and incenses around it, and do parikrama singing Brajwasi songs...elderly men wearing turbans and women with their faces veiled with sarees, children running behind their mothers and older kids naughtily running all over the place... streets semilit by the little fires and lamps, Cows and buffaloes occupying any place they might choose, street dogs guarding their respective territories.....

Its a scene that needs to be 'captured' as it may soon fade away due to 'modern' influences.

Oh friends, how much more can I describe... its a scene/mood/feeling which not even professional cameras can catch.

Better late than never... please go and experience this for yourself before it is all wiped out in the name of 'development'!

S.A.C.H.I.R.A.N.I Mataji

SachiRani Mataji is such an old timer of Sridham Mayapur and Her dedication, hardwork and sincerity in serving the Lord and devotees is not something anyone can describe in words.

She never showed an iota of pride either in her actions or words, of 'being a disciple of Srila Prabhupad.
Her name stands tall when counting the famous cooks of Mayapur.

Im not sure exactly how long, but most of old Mayapur folks know that she has been cooking for ages!
My mother said "..thousands of recipes are gone with her..."

And her determination to continue serving even in her old age when her body hardly co-operated, is just something that has not gone unnoticed, by devotees and surely the Lord!

It is devotees like her that we should make our role models for an 'empowered woman' or a 'strong lady'.
She did have so many ups and downs of her life and that is what makes her steady service attitude even greater!
Even though she was offered support and care and asked to refrain from serving, she kept cooking as long as she could somehow walk to the kitchen!


If any of you might be wondering why you never heard of her before, its her 'fault', that she always kept herself fully immersed in the Lords cooking and never made a show of her service by trying to gain attention via any means.

We might or not forget her services, but the Lord will surely never.
And so he decided to take her back home yesterday, on such an auspicious day of Kartik Month, Rama Ekadasi!




Days grow darker and darker as we keep losing such great souls! 

Mayapur Brahmachari Ashram

“A brahmachari should be quite well behaved and gentle and should not eat or collect more than necessary. He must always be active and expert, fully believing in the instructions of the spiritual master and the sastra. Fully controlling his senses, he should associate only as much as necessary with women or those controlled by women.”
- Srimad Bhagavatam, 7.12.6, translation

In the Vedic scriptures, the life of a brahmachari begins from as young as 5 years of age and goes up until 25 years of age, after which the decision to continue with celibate life or to go into the next ashrama is made. In the brahmachari ashrama, the brahmacharis are properly trained in various areas of etiquette and practice celibacy. They live austerely and are fully engaged in various services and sastric studies under the guidance of the spiritual mater or mentor.


Living separately from the grihasta community, the Brahmachari Ashrama in the Sri Mayapur Chandrodaya campus is located near the Panca-tattva entrance of the temple. There are over 290 residential brahmacharis who are all engaged in service in and around Mayapur. They are engaged in a variety of services such as campus preaching and outreach, pujari service, sankirtana bus preaching, school preaching, bhakti-vriksha preaching, medical care, management and so on.

To join the Mayapur Brahmachari Ashrama, devotees are required to complete a six-month course taught by the New Devotee Department. This program teaches new bhaktas the philosophy and practice of Krishna consciousness through the books of Srila Prabhupada and by engaging them in many services throughout the day, such as tulasi-seva, cleaning the temple, setting up for the morning Srimad Bhagavatam classes and packing up afterwards, and cleaning the Mayapur campus.  Additionally, they attend a variety of classes on philosophy and Vaishnava etiquette.

Once the first course is completed, bhaktas aspiring to join the Brahmachari Ashrama take a six-month Vocational Training Course. This course includes learning the basics of singing bhajans and kirtan, as well as learning how to play mridanga, kartals and harmonium. They dive deeper into sastric studies, and learn how to cook and how to distribute books. This training program not only assists them in their day-to-day services and life in the ashrama, but is also beneficial for when and if they eventually leave the ashrama. Once the two courses are completed, the devotee can then join the Brahmachari Ashrama.

The wellbeing of each of the resident brahmacharis is looked after by the Mayapur Brahmachari Care System (MBCS), which serves as a counselling system for the resident brahmacharis. There are 16 brahmachari group leaders, called Sevaks, and they are each the group leader for 10-12 brahmacharis. Each group gathers once a week for studies and spiritual discussions. The Sevaks in turn meet every 2 weeks for an istagosti. In this way, the MBCS oversees the brahmacharis’ sadhana, studies, services, and physical and mental care.

 The senior brahmacharis live in the senior brahmachari ashrama, which facilitates their personal studies. The senior brahmacari ashrama also provides the space required to take personal care of the elderly brahmacharis. There are always 5-6 younger brahmacharis constantly ready to serve the senior brahmacharis with anything they may need. The younger brahmacharis take care of basic needs such as laundry, cleaning the rooms, bringing medicine and prasadam, and so on. By performing such menial services for the senior brahmacharis these young brahmacharis get immense benefit, as they are performing the highest service of all – Vaishnava seva. Taking care of the elder devotees in their ashrama is conducive not only for the training of the young brahmacharis but also, most importantly, for their Krishna consciousness. This service also gives them the opportunity to receive guidance and association from the senior brahmacharis, and thus this system has proven to be very successful.

Many of Mayapur’s brahmacharis appreciate the ashrama experience because it allows them to fully engage in devotional service in the holy dhama. Whether they stay in the Mayapur Brahmachari Ashrama for their entire lives or move on to another ashrama, the training and experience they gain in the Mayapur Brahmachari Ashrama are an invaluable asset in their spiritual journey.

 One resident brahmachari reflects that, “Although brahmachari devotees have to undergo different types of austerity, tolerance and risk, this ashrama is very simple with less material problems. It’s easy to get spiritual bliss and finally go back home back to Godhead in this lifetime. So if you want to be free from complicated life, and quickly make your life a success, please take a vow and join the Brahmachari Ashram.”

 
Bramacharis of the Mayapur’s Sankirtan Department
These are just a few of them from the team.
Its actually hard to get all Mayapur Bramacharis into one snap. You will have to stop the entire Mayapur services in order to do so! :D

“After completing one's education as a brahmachari in this way, one should give daksina, an offering of gratitude, to one's guru, and then one may leave for home and accept the next ashrama-the grihastha-ashrama-or else one may continue in the brahmacharya-ashrama without adulteration.”

- Srimad Bhagavatam, 7.12 Summary

Source:
This was posted by the Mayapur communication dept, on the Mayapur forum on 28 Sept 2018.
I reposted it on my blog to bring it out on a platform where everyone else can read this.

Ayurveda Notes

Dr. V. Thrivikraman, who has treated different devotees and also HH Jayapataka Swami Gurumaharaj is sharing health tips with devotees of mayapur, which I thought of sharing with many other friends over here.

Below is his website:

http://swetaranya.com/

I will keep updating the document as and when he shares more and more information for everyone's benefit.

AYURVEDA NOTES




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My name is Dr.Thrivikraman. I completed the Ayurvedacharya course – B.A.M.S. – from Coimbatore Ayurveda College in 1990. Though the college was following CCIM syllabus, curriculum was a Gurukula type. All the faculties were staying within the campus and students got an opportunity to meet teachers even in late hours every day to clear their doubts or for any interactions.

In the campus the day starts at 4am and all students should be present in the class room for Swadhyaya (self-study) for one hour. Students then should go to learn Kalarippayattu (Kerala martial arts).

After bath and one hour prayer they have to attend Yoga classes strictly. Students were allowed to go out of the campus only on Sundays after morning prayer and should come back before the evening prayer. This type of living helped us to understand the importance and value of Bharateeya Sastras which in turn helped every student to understand Ayurveda deeply and to apply it properly.

After completing 7.5 years course, I went for training in manasika roga for one year under Dr. A.V. Balaraman who was one of the leading ayurvedic psychiatrist in Kerala. I got clinical experience for more than four years under the guidance of Padmasree. Dr. K. Rajagopalan, who is a modern medicine and ayurvedic scholar as well as a teacher and examiner for many colleges.

I worked for 10 years at Kottakkal Arya Vaidya Sala and six years at their outlet in Muscat. I resigned my job in 2011 to look after my parents and grandmother. Started my own home hospital Swetaranya Ayurvedasram after renovating our 150 year old ancestral house on 29th July 2011.

Hospital website: http://swetaranya.com/ 3


Swetaranya Ayurvedasram
I came to Mayapur twice to treat His Holiness Jayapataka Swamiji. He underwent Ayurveda therapy for one month there. I sent a therapist and a doctor and both stayed there for a month to treat him. I came there for a day first to examine him and then stayed for four days to start and monitor the therapy.

After his therapy Gurumaharaja himself sent many of his disciples here. Prabhu Achintya Chaitanya, Vidwan Gauranga Dasa Prabhu, Krishna Vahan prabhu, Krishna Naam das prabhu, etc., came here. Budhikrishna Das Prabhu and his wife were my patients in Muscat and they told me to check Gurumaharaj. Every year we have a few devotees here for treatment. Patita-pāvana Nitāi Gaura Dāsa.(Pravin Prabhu) was also here for treatment and I asked him last week about a platform to share the Ayurvedic way of living among ISKCON devotees.

Hindu Vs Multiple Castes

"Why do 'Hindus' have so many castes, subcastes and even more multiple levels of subcastes?"
There are many mainstream answers, some are widely accepted, others are hardly known.

I was browsing thru a document "ETHNIC IDENTITY", a detailed study of the Chenchu tribe and suddenly realized that the answer to the above question is just lack of sufficient knowledge or the lack of interest to access it.
Or mere immaturity.

From what I understood, the answer is very simple.
Hinduism doesnt exist. Yes, you heard that right. It doesnt actually exist.

Then what is it?

We all know that the word Hindu was just coined to indicate persons living in the subcontinent of Bharat or India, across the Sindhu river.
And the Indian subcontinent isnt a uniformly populated, homogenous group of people.
Its a vast expanse of land with variegated terrain consisting of hills, mountains, plains, plateu, forests, river basins etc
And this literally calls for different food habits, language, culture, traditions, lifestyle, clothing, hunting practices, agricultural methods, occupation, building sytles etc to list a few aspects.
And it also includes religious/spiritual practices & rituals.

Some of them could be similar to each other, others might have certain common elements and there are also many others who are totally different from the rest.
And again, this might include the religious elements.

But as the word has it, they always had Unity.
Which meant that they either lived in symbiosis or they ensured not to disrupt or disturb the other group/party/community.
And thus lived in harmony.
Hence we say, Unity in Diversity.

Back to the main topic.
Invaders and outsiders knew Indians as 'Hindus'. So when they came to attack, conquer, trade, colonialize and convert, they saw all of us as a single unit, the Hindus.
So whenever there was an attempt to conquer, colonialize or convert, we all stood together as Hindus and defended our rights, culture, customs and religious beliefs.

So in essence Hinduism came to be a Huge Umbrella and the entire subcontinent consisting of different groups & cultures, took its shelter trying to survive the external conquests and conversions!

Moving Away From Nature

They taught you that your hand is unhygienic and introduced hand wash and sanitisers...

They taught you that banana leaves are unhygienic, earthenware are not handy and introduced plastic /synthetic vessels...

They taught you that fruits/vegetables / leaves etc directly from plant are unhygienic/contain micro organisms and introduced packed (in plastic) food articles...

They taught you that children playing in the ground, wearing traditional clothes cause infections and introduced electronic games...

They taught you that cotton, handwoven dress are 'local' with poor quality and introduced 'branded' synthetic wears...

They taught you that home remedies& traditional medical systems are uncivilised and introduced civilised system of medicine with lots of chemicals...

They taught you that diagnosing a disease from patient's signs and symptoms are not reliable and introduced machines / laboratories...

They taught you that natural cleaning agents will not kill bacteria and introduced powerful chemical cleaning agents...

....... Now...

When we realised that sanitisers failed to maintain health, we lost natural healthy hands...

When we realised plastic and synthetic vessels create very harmful effects, we don't have banana leaves and earthenware...

When we realised packed food articles have dangerous chemicals to preserve it, we couldn't find naturally collected foods...

When we realise walls and games are injurious to the mind and body, we lost playgrounds and friends...

When we realised that branded synthetics harm our health and nature, we found the closed spinning Mills...

When we realised traditional health care is the safest and economic way of maintaining health, we are trapped in emergency health care systems...

When we realised laboratories and machines are money making systems, we lost skilful medical practitioners...

When we realised the natural cleaning agents will protect helpful micro organisms, chemicals eradicated them...

GOING AWAY FROM NATURE WILL NEVER MAKE YOU HEALTHY.... BUT MAKE "THEM" WEALTHY....

Credits: Internet

Whey Protein, Lies & Tricks.

Marketing the Waste:
They make so much cheese for all the millions waiting in queues for the bursting tastes of junk food.
Whey is a by product of the Cheesemaking process.

Not familiar with the cheese making process?
Its almost like making Paneer.

They wanted to make some profit out of the waste liquid also. So a great marketing strategy had to be brought in by involving the health advisors/trainers etc.


UnTrustable Milk source:
Its an open secret that Whey is what is left after the preparation of Cheese.
But what about the source of the Milk used? It could be from Cows loaded with chemical injections, or Cows put thru torture and pain etc

I had a gut feeling about this. I thought I got a nice 'new' Theory. But I was wrong!!!
When I googled it out, I was in for shock!

The secret was already out there, for everyone to read and understand. People had already known about it!
One of the pages I found, had the below link!

The Whey Protein Hoax

But I feel amused and also sad, about the craze of Whey protein among health experts and gym trainers!

Save Hinduism - short notes

Hinduism is a way of life or better said, is life.
So to protect Hinduism, we need to save&recreate the entire ecosystem/environment.
Trying to save only the ritualistic part or the religion part will weaken the package and wont last long.
The steps we can take right now to revive is to focus on creating
1.selfsufficient (hindu)villages and
2.gurukuls with all round education like olden days.

Selfsufficient villages:
We need to first list out all the Hindu (only) or Hindumajority villages and implement natural farming methods to make them sustain on their own and also produce surplus for sale outside the village also.
Natural/Cowbased farming has two benefits: Value of cow increases, and Dependency on outside factors decreases.
And ofcourse better health,no loans and so many other things.

The govt can also get involved into this in the name of smart villages by helping them in the infrastructure developments and keeping out corruption etc.


Gurukuls:
These are meant to create new set of citizens, who will think differently by studying in these gurukuls and living in these kinds of villages and also observing outside world(filled with chaos,destruction,corruption,etc).
They need to be taught subjects that were taught in olden day gurukuls and all around development should be the focus.
And slowly refine their individual skills and interests, thereby creating citizens for different purposes like administrators, economists,fighters,musicians,artists,skilled craftsmen,etc
This is another big chapter anyways...

But one needs to remember that children actually dont grow up at school/gurukul. Even an appropriate environment/society is necessary.
And that is where our developed villages will come handy.

We all keep hearing how ISIS guys capture so many women and keep them as slaves to produce kids. They use their kids to create new generations of terrorists who can hardly be influenced by external factors or outside world.
So we need to learn from them how certain kinds of citizens are created from childhood. Training old dogs is too difficult.

Other than these villages and gurukuls, there also needs to be other departments later, but these are the starting points that need a lot of focus,research,study and implementation.

Economy will be boosted by agriculture and it will be handled and expanded by educated ppl from gurukuls.
So I don't understand why any Hindu 'supporting' govt doesn't do these things if they actually want to do something.

Photocredit: Internet

Ayurvedic Dinacharya(Daily chores)

In our rush of economic/technological/social/national/global development, or lets say in the name of such development, we have brushed aside all our cultural and traditional activities/rules/chores etc.
Ofcourse foreign invasions have also contributed in the destruction of these priceless aspects, but our nature of trying to ape the 'developed' countries has taken the toll even more.

Unfortunately, we have not only lost Spiritual, but also material 'heritage' and are still losing now due to the influence of many factors, one of them being the television media.

And one amongst the many treasures, is the knowledge of a healthy life, Ayurveda.
Ayurveda, given to us originally by Lord Dhanavantari, is so scientific and immeasurably deep that even our daily chores, if properly done as per the given procedures, we can be assured to stay far more healthier and live longer.
Ayurveda is not just a 'medical system', but it also has aspects that are merely a part of life and could look quite normal. However if these are included in our daily life, we can immensely be benefited.

Here is a PDF compiled by Rupesh Gauranga Prabhu which gives us all the rules/procedures of the daily chores as per Ayurveda, in a short format.

Please try to spread this and share this with everyone you know, and also lets thank Rupesh Gauranga prabhu for compiling this for everyones benefit.
I personally received this PDF on a whatsapp group and Im doing my part to share this with everyone.

Ayurvedic Dinacharya PDF Download link

 ------------------------------------------<~~~>---------------------------------------

I have heard many video lectures of Acharya Mehulji on Gurukula Education, Ayurvedic ways of living healthy life, Panchagavya & Ayurveda and so many other interesting topics related to these.

Mehulji, of Sanskruti AryaGurukulam, Rajkot, is primarily fully dedicated to spread the Gurukula system all over India on the order of his Guru.

Mehulji is an Ayurveda expert and share his wisdom at many workshops/camps/seminars....wherever possible.

I came to know about Ayurvedic Dinacharya from his videos and was very inspired to add it to my life and also share it with all my friends and foes.
Then I came across this PDF by Rupesh prabhu.
Thank you so much.

Men Vs Mercedes

When we are able to acknowledge that this Kaliyuga is full of faults, we must understand that nothing can be perfect in this material world.

So to cross this ocean of misery Srila Prabhupad has built the ship of ISKCON and he also called it a hospital where patients like us can come and get some treatment.
And when its a hospital, you really cant expect everyone and everything in it to be working fine. There will be people of different diseases and varieties of problems created due to that. But this doesnt mean we should abandon either the hospital, people or the circumstances or even the process given to us, to get cured. There can be many problems due to all these complexities, but we must sincerely follow the rules, regulations and
other instructions given by Srila Prabhupad.

We have seen Iskcon go thru different peaks and falls and there were issues with Children,Gurus,Men,Women,insiders,outsiders....nothing and no one group has remained a saint all the while.
So in regards to the past issues of Women when they might have not been treated so well due to the men also being quite new to the systems, yes the men did fail then and maybe there are still a few around who still havent got the hang of this process yet.

But a bigger issue at hand, is the entry of Feminist ideas in our movement, adding fuel to the fire of wobbling equilibrium of an established society.
Modern disease is to use and create anything 'disposable' as opposed to the more ancient idea of repairing, reusing and recycling only when the former two are impossible.
And this is not just about products/goods but also about human beings and other systems.

But the traditional and more practical way is to adjust, repair, reuse, recycle and reboot: Humans, systems, machines, techniques....

Srila Prabhupad wanted to establish the Varnasrama system where each person is categorised and placed in the system to serve the lord in the best possible way. And this is the vedic sustainable way of living.
Men, Women, Children, Aged.... each have their roles and responsibilities within this framework. So the most intelligent thing is to try to follow these things according the vedic scriptures.
Sometimes we fail to properly implement them or we might have different opinions due to our past conditionings. But when we are unable to properly organise or plan it, the best solution is to try better and improve over experience.
The solution shouldnt be, to totally abandon the system or throw the baby out with the bathwater!

Individuality is a significant aspect of our philosophy unlike the Sunyavadi or the Mayavadi school where everything can merge into everything or anything or into nothingness.
But according to the Vaishnava school, we understand that each soul has a permanent separate identity, in this world, in the next, in Goloka and forever.
And that each soul has a particular and special relationship with the lord and also has its own basket of unique qualities which do make the soul stand out of the countless other Souls in the universe. They also have their unique skillsets, talents, likes, dislikes, color, odor, form etc and every other aspect that you can imagine.

Even in the spiritual realm, when we have the chance to go into more intimate pastimes of the Lord, we hear about the rivalry of two groups of gopis, the groups headed by Srimati Radharani Vs Sri Chandravali. We could reserve the study of these pastimes for devotees on the upper rungs of the ladder, but we should understand that these could not exist without the Lords will, for reasons beyond our reasoning.

However the point being made, is about variety and individuality even in the spiritual world, of which we are the perverted reflection.
So our efforts to embrace and/or implement a communist-like false classless society or the modern concept of socalled 'equality', being sold to us by feminists, doesnt really fit into actual reality of our eternal existence.

I could be a driver like any other person on the road, but my capability to move on the road will depend on what kind of automobile I use.
So when we use a particular body of a certain kind/type/variety, we are bound to be grounded within the permitted perimeters of that body!

Anyways the takehome point is not to ditch the vedic culture as a solution to our failures of improper implementation or any other mistakes, but to try to learn, adjust, mend and progress in our eternal paths of progression.

PC:internet

END.


Note:
This is not meant to offend or hurt anyone but is in reply to certain ideas/views being propagated thru videos/articles on the internet by 'modern' devotees who feel that the traditional cultural values of our society need to be thrown out to administer justice to the 'oppressed' Women of our society.

I have just thrown out the ideas out here in the form of words, in a very crude manner without any proper formatting or arrangement. So it might not look very organized.
These are my own views, which I guess Im entitled to have, just as you have yours. So lets avoid an online debate.
Hare krishna.

His Grace Narrottam Prabhu

HG Narottam prabhu.
Papamocani ekadasi.He chose to leave this world on ekadasi.
Narottam prabhu was associated with Srila Prabhupads Puspa Samadhi Mandir from almost its begining in '96. He served as one of the main pujaris for Srila Prabhupad. He was later doing other simple services due to his increasing age, when he moved to the 'senior bramachari ashram'.
He was well known for his simplicity and sincerity. His service in the movement of more than 40 years never showed a tinge of pride. Many would call him Narrottam Baba out of love.
Unfortunately I dont know more about him, but the residents of Sridham Mayapur will surely have volumes to speak.
I only knew him as my fathers friend. They were good friends from even before my father got married. My father would tell us how he was very strong in his sadhana, and so he remained a bramachari all life.
My brother was lucky to serve him in a little way. When we had moved from Mayapur and were living in Tirupati, Narottam prabhu had given pictures of the lotus foot prints of the Lord and wanted my brother to paint them on canvas with oilpaints.
And how can I forget that he would share Srila Prabhupads Maha manytimes and also invited us for lunch at the Samadhi a few times. HG Shital prabhu(Dadu) would be more informal, joking and laughing and share prasadam, and Narottam prabhu was more formal and grave.

My mother recalls that just before I went to Mayapur this year for Gourpurnima, he had asked her:
"Mother, when will your 'choto baba' come?"
But unfortunately I heard that he was admitted in the hospital when I was there and never had his darshan again! :(

The moment Uttarayan starts, we start losing such great souls! It is very clearly visible every year!!! Its as if they keep waiting for Uttarayan to start! Last year HG Shital prabhu and this year Him! :(

Unfortunately these are the only pics I could find now. If anyone has better ones, please do share.

Upa-Bhokta Vs Bhokta

When the telephone companies show you your actual position...

We call someone on the phone and if they are busy, the phone company says:

"Jis Upa-Bhokta" ko aap call kar rahe hai, wo abhi vyast hai.."

So the word they use to refer to you or me is : Upa-Bhoktha
And not Bhoktha.

The Bhagavad-gita (05.29) states that those who understand Krishna to be the enjoyer of everything attain supreme peace.

Srila Prabhupad says:
He is the supreme enjoyer of everything that be, and thus none of us, however great we may be, can be the enjoyer of the universe and its paraphernalia.
Since our position is subordinate to that of the almighty Viṣṇu, the Supreme Godhead (Īśvara, the supreme controller), we can enjoy only what comes from Him as a token of His kindness.
We must not enjoy anything that is not offered by Him.
We should not make any extra effort to obtain anything which belongs to Him or others. That is the spirit of Vaiṣṇavism.

The Second Child Labour

Honk! Honk! Hooooooooonk! Honk!

The peaceful morning silence was broken into a million pieces and scattered by the honking school bus!

It was almost 06:45Am but the Sun hadnt yet removed the little fog formed due to the heavy rains on the weekend.
The breeze was cold and the air still wet. The little sparrows showed up as usual in the veranda and the little black bird pecking at the window glass and crashing into it again and again.

While I sat chanting on the cot, my wife was cooking, so the windows were open and the door left ajar.
It  was not even 7am, so people could be seen out on the streets for their morning walk.

But it was already late enough for a kid in our neighbourhood so the schoolbus kept honking.
The sound was loud enough to cut through the silence of our not-so-busy street so early in the morning.
The driver kept honking so hard that we both rushed to the window to check what stopped his yellow spaceship!

The poor kid ran down with his mother, puffing and panting to catch the bus on time. He was helped into the bus by the conductor who could almost pull him up with one hand.

We saw the bus drive away and on the little last glance, we saw him take a seat. It was surprising to see that he was so young that he wasn't even tall enough to reach the seat properly!

My wife hadn't even finished half her cooking so we wondered if the kid even had the time to properly shower at this hour...what to speak of having a good breakfast.

Such a small kid surely needs a good sleep, some playtime and a nice breakfast to boost his morning time.

This was just pure pathetic upbringing!!!

Who do I blame?
His parents? His teachers? School? Society? World? Education system?
Where do I start and where do I end?

Im not sure about you the reader, but atleast many people I know, including myself, very much cherish childhood memories and school days for one big reason:
Lack of worries & pressure or atleast minimal.

Yes, maybe it slowly increased as you went higher in the education ladder but Im talking about primary and preprimary aged kids.
Kids who grew up in villages ofcourse enjoyed a far higher level of luxurious freedom in childhood.

Those were the days when we freely played with no thoughts of day or night, inside or outside, sun or rain, school or home!
Academics did have their place but they only remained secondary at first and slowly increased their share in our lives as we grew in age.
But the bottom line was: NO WORRIES!

Why dont we give our kids the same? Why do we want to deprive them of that treasure?
Why are we growing so cruel that we want them to grow up into mere money earning robots?
Yes, money seems to be ruling the world quite a lot... probably too much!
But life is much more than that.

We need to be happy! We need to pass on the secrets of being happy to our kids.
We surely have the responsibility of teaching them to 'stand up on their own feet', but dont we want them to be happy?
Do we stop at just teaching them how to earn their daily bread?

And who is going to question about the way we are supressing their different talents and trying to just fit them into ready made modern moulds?

Where are we headed to?

A little kid rushing to catch his school bus at 06:45am? The kid would have hardly been in grade 1 or 2!

What tragedy, what misfortune, what disaster has befallen his parents that they need to put the kid through so much pressure?

Isn't this some kind of torture ?
What has comeupon the kids parents that they need to train him so vigorously at such a tender age?

And we see this in every street of our city, state, country and everywhere!
It is so disheartening to see such little kids being pushed away out of their homes so early in the morning without a proper sleep, breakfast or leisure time!

I don't wish to give a conclusion to this topic, I rather wanted to start a discussion.
Why is society punishing them so early in life?
I wanted to ask you if it doesn't bug you to see such a scene so early in the morning.
I wanted to ask every kid if they want such a thing for their friends.
I want to ask every parent if this is what they will do to their kid.
I want to ask every teacher if they have kids who they wish, had such a morning.

"GOOD MORNING!"

Credits:
Image: Internet

Selling Your Soul On a Marriage Bureau

वासांसि जीर्णानि यथा विहाय

नवानि गृह्णाति नरोऽपराणि |

तथा शरीराणि विहाय जीर्णा

न्यन्यानि संयाति नवानि देही || 22||

As a person puts on new garments, giving up old ones, similarly, the soul accepts new material bodies, giving up the old and useless ones.
 ~ B.G. 2.22

If you know India, you pretty much know that this verse from the Bhagavad Gita, is a typical chant you hear at funerals, meant to drive home the fact that this body is only as good as the clothes you wear and you the person, are a Spirit Soul.

Let me narrate a small incident.

Bhakta Krishna Das lived in Goloka colony with his two kids and wife. They never ate unoffered food at karmi outlets and always cooked at home and promptly offered it before honoring. One day Bhakta Krishna Das decided to take his family to visit the newly opened Prestaurant(Prasadam Restaurant) named "Vaikuntha Varieties" in his neighbourhood.

His kids really loved the ambience of the Prestaurant, especially the water fountains and lights in the porch.
They found a nice corner table beside a large canvas painting of Lord Krishna, as a butter thief. The menu on the table was really exhaustive but they chose to pick out something which was not so frequently cooked at home.
While the daughter and wife of Krishna das chose Creamy Spinach Lasagna, He and his son chose Pizzas. He picked a Margherita and his son chose a Sicilian Pizza.

The chattering of his kids kept him busy and time flew by, making the waiting totally insignificant.
The well dressed waiter suddenly appeared from behind the curtains. He had a fresh tilak on his forehead and a bright red Kurta with a logo, serving as his uniform. He placed two plates full of hot Khichdi on the table, a plate of Chapatis and another plate of Puris with sabji.

He was about to leave but was stopped by Krishna Das.
"Hare krishna prabhu, Wait!", He said, almost gasping for breath in his great astonishment.
He was trying to remember if he had ordered these by mistake or was it only being delivered to the wrong table.
Krishna das showed him the items on the menu that he had ordered and the waiter only smiled in return.

"Its all the same prabhu", he said waving his head sideways.
"Its all prasadam of the lord prabhu but even then I brought you foodstuffs similar to what you ordered", he added.
Krishna das and his wife looked at each other, being dumbfounded by his words.
"I brought Khichdi in place of Lasagna, Puris in place of Margherita and Chapatis in place of Sicilian Pizza... but anyways prabhu, since its all prasadam of the lord, its all non different from the lord", the waiter continued.

It was more than what Krishna Das wanted to hear after a long day of hectic work at office. His face grew red as a cherry and his blood was boiling. He was ready to destroy the entire city by mere sight!

The waiter realised this and tried to calm him down and continued.
"Prabhu, we are after all just spirit souls. So it doesn't really matter what varieties you feed the body, it just needs to be prasadam of the lord. And trying to differentiate in varieties of prasadam is quite offensive. Please try to understand this. We know that you are very knowledgeable and will be able to understand this quite easily"....

Photo credit: Internet

Are you wondering what this is all about and what is the connection between the title and my content?
Well, then let me narrate a real life incident to you.

A friend of mine was trying to find a match to get married but months and years passed by. So he sent his details to one marriage bureau, apparently meant for 'devotees'.
They sent him a few profiles but they either didn't match his astrological charts or didn't go well with his preferences.

One day he got a phone call from the marriage bureau. It was a 'mataji' on the line, who started asking him about why he rejected even ones which matched his charts. He was frank enough and told her about his other preferences.
She then started 'preaching' to him how devotees shouldn't be too much concerned about looks, skin color or other external appearances. She also cared to tell him that he was looking for a movie actress and that is quite impossible and also unnecessary for a devotee to consider externals.
He didn't reply much but just listened patiently and finished the call. Since then he didn't get anymore profiles or phone calls until a few weeks ago.
He recently got a new profile which matched quite well with his horoscope and also suited his liking.
But there was a problem. He had quit his previous job recently. So he promptly replied explaining how everything matched this time but he quit his previous job recently.
You guessed it right! He just never got another phone call or email from the bureau!

So what is all this?
For the girls who were looking for matches, they scrutinisingly enquire about the Salary and status of the 'devotee' boys. He has to be well paid, well settled in life and in a good position. He should be handsome and a great devotee.
But he should be such a great devotee that he shouldn't enquire anything about me. Nothing about what I do, how I look or my skin tone, how much I spend, absolutely nothing. He should just see my 'pure spirit soul' and ignore my bodily disqualifications. He should expect only my spirit soul and nothing less, nothing more.

I say Why even get married when you see only the soul? If I am actually such a realised soul, why would I even be marrying your highness? And what business do you have on a marriage bureau if you have realised that you are a spirit soul? Are you selling a soul?

They preached about  seeing the soul when he spoke about external appearances but when he later told about his job for the other profile, why wasn't there a reply from the same mataji? What happened to his soul? Did it get poorer by a penny? Why weren't the girls family looking at his soul now?
Marriage and Money aren't something the soul requires. So why even marry?! Why this hypocrisy?

This is quite similar to the arguments of these 'Feminist Gurus' coming up lately, who claim that the body shouldn't be considered, only the soul. They dare to equate themselves to great devotees like Sri Jahnava devi and claim that they can become gurus since we are able to find 3 bonafide women gurus in the last 3 trillion years.

Well my point is, no matter what time, place and circumstance you are in, if you have a material body, you have its conditioning and its inhibitions. You just cant deny that flatly unless you are an ultra pure devotee. So just calm down, act according to your age, body and time.

With all due respects to all the women out there who consider me their son or brother, please do not be offended by this article if you find any reason to be. Please consider the facts I have put forward and try to understand what is being explained.

If you are in total disagreement with my views and opinion, kindly ignore this article with a smile since you are a pure spirit soul :)

************************

सत्यम् ब्रूयात् प्रियम् ब्रूयात् न ब्रूयात् सत्यमप्रियम् | 

प्रियम् नानृतं ब्रूयात् एष धर्मः सनातनः ||

satyam bruyat priyam bruyat na bruyat satyam apriyam

priyam ca nanrutam bruyat esha dharmah sanatanah

Speak truth in such a way that it should be pleasing to others. Never speak truth, which is unpleasant to others. Never speak untruth, which might be pleasant. This is the path of eternal morality, Sanatana dharma.

~ Manusmṛiti 4:138