गाँवों

तुम कह रहे हो ' वैसे गाँवों में क्या रखा है ! '

होती थी शाम मम्मी, कहतीं थीं आ बना दूॅं,

बाबा की प्यारी बिट्टी, अम्मा का राजा-बाबू,

आँखों में मोटा काजल, माथे पे एक टीका,

कहतीं थीं 'खेल आओ', दे कर के एक सिक्का,

तब छूटते ही घर से, अम्मा को दौड़ते थे

जाए जहाॅं भी अम्मा, अम्मा न छोड़ते थे,

लड़ती थी लाड़ में इक, बछिया वो नीम नीचे,

पूछो न नीम की उस छाॅंव में क्या रखा है!

विज्ञापन

दिन ढलते रोज द्वारे, बिछती थी एक खटिया ,

बाबा बुलाते थे फिर, 'आओ कहाँ हो बिटिया ?'

बारहखड़ी, पहाड़े, भर पेज लेख हिंदी,

सुनते थे पहले सीधी, फिर सौ से उल्टी गिनती,

फिर कुछ सवाल-मीनिंग, बूझो तो तुमको जाने,

हम करते नींद के या, फिर भूख के बहाने,

चप्पल पहन के जिनकी, चलते थे शौक में हम

तुम पूछते हो उनके, पांवों में क्या रखा है ?

वो दोपहर की नींदें, वो रात की कहानी ,

अम्मा के चोर - डाकू, भगवान , राजा - रानी,

चलता था आना-जाना, घर-घर में तब किसी भी,

होते न थे पड़ोसी, होतीं थीं चाची - भाभी,

जाते थे देखने जब, नहरों में  बहता पानी

या खेत, मेढ़, कुईयां, ये बाजरा वो धानी,

कंधे पे जो पिता के, घूमें है बैठ सारा ,

क्या - क्या बताएं ऐसे गाँवों में क्या रखा है !

साभार : मनु वैशाली की फेसबुक वाॅल से |

तेरी बुराइयों को हर अख़बार कहता है

और तू मेरे गांव को गँवार कहता है।😏

ऐ शहर मुझे तेरी औक़ात पता है

तू चुल्लू भर पानी को भी वाटर पार्क कहता है।।

थक गया है हर शख़्स काम करते-करते

तू इसे अमीरी का बाज़ार कहता है।

गांव चलो वक़्त ही वक़्त है सबके पास

तेरी सारी फ़ुर्सत तेरा इतवार कहता है।।

मौन होकर फ़ोन पर रिश्ते निभाए जा रहे हैं

तू इस मशीनी दौर को परिवार कहता है।

जिनकी सेवा में खपा देते थे जीवन सारा

तू उन माँ बाप को अब भार कहता है।।

वो मिलने आते थे तो कलेजा साथ लाते थे

तू दस्तूर निभाने को रिश्तेदार कहता है।

बड़े-बड़े मसले हल करती थीं पंचायतें

तु अंधी भ्रष्ट दलीलों को दरबार कहता है।।

बैठ जाते थे अपने पराये सब बैलगाडी में

पूरा परिवार भी न बैठ पाये उसे तू कार कहता है।

अब बच्चे भी बड़ों का अदब भूल बैठे हैं

तू इस नये दौर को संस्कार कहता है।।

Ultimate.

 What I want to bring about in the material world, upon the earth.

1. Perfect Consciousness.

2. Integral Knowledge, omniscience.

3. Power invincible, irresistible, ineluctable; omnipotence.

4. Health, perfect, constant, unshakable; perpetually renewed energy.

5. Eternal youth, constant growth, uninterrupted progress.

6. Perfect beauty, complex and total harmony.

7. Inexhaustible unparalleled riches, control over all the wealth of this world.

8. The gift of healing and giving happiness.

9. Immunity from all accidents, invulnerability against all adverse attacks.

10. Perfect power of expression in all fields and all activities.

11. The gift of tongues, the power of making oneself understood perfectly by all.

12. And all else necessary for the accomplishment of Thy work.

23 October 1937.

The Mother. 

Chutney

 How often have you wondered why the chutneys in a South Indian restaurant in USA are served cold / chilled and not at room temperature and suspected that it was not made fresh that day ?

You are not alone. Many people in fact write reviews on Yelp and Google Reviews expressing their displeasure without knowing the facts. 

I don’t know about other restaurants but this is what happens in Mylapore / Idly Express.

When we grind the coconut and green chillies with Dahlia in a 3.75 HP / 27000 RPM blender for five minutes the chutney that comes out is hot as hell at 90-95 degrees F.

According to health dept guidelines, hot food must be kept at 135 F or above and cold food must be kept at 41 F or below. In between 41 F and 135 F is what we call as a danger zone where bacteria thrives.

This chutney is already in the “danger zone” and must be rapidly cooled or it will go bad. You can very well understand what will happen if the warm chutney is packed in a cup with a lid on top. The chutney will deteriorate quickly due to rapid growth of bacteria and will go bad very soon. 

If the end user (you the customer) picks up the take out box and travels in his car and consumes the product after a couple of hours you can imagine what would have happened to the coconut chutney.  

Many a times when I read reviews pointing out to chilled chutney that was served , I would just smile and move on but today I wanted to show you the other side’s view on why we do certain things.

Thanks for reading.

Rare reference.

 

Mask.

 Worth reading..

GURU ~ By Dr.

Subhash Munje.

I started my first job at a hospital in Alibaug.

One afternoon, an injured woman was brought in. She was pregnant after 11 years of marriage.

A bull roaming around the streets of Alibaug knocked her down & gored her stomach with its horn.

It was a scary sight, with part of the woman's stomach injured and a baby's hand peeping out of the crack of the uterine wall.

My mind was in a turmoil. The mother's life could be saved, her stomach wound was not serious. But to sew up the wall of the uterus was unthinkable, as it was impossible to put the child's hand back inside. 

The family's mandate was clear, "Save the mother's life". But how would I ignore the call of that little hand which appeared to be asking for help!!!!

The operation theatre had a skeleton staff. Apart from me, there were two nurses, a compounder and a helper whose job was to sterilize tools.

He was middle aged and an alcoholic, but extremely sincere & efficient in his work for which the entire staff tolerated him.

In the OT, I observed that he was standing quietly & observing the proceedings. 

After healing the stomach wound, how do I get that little hand inside was beyond my bookish knowledge. The creator had made the Uterine wall so strong that it cannot be opened easily, no option came to my mind except to perform surgery.

At this point, the helper, who was silently watching, all of a sudden came up to me and whispered in my ear, "Saheb, there is a way that the hand will automatically move back in".

I stared at him. Time was precious. I didnt know why, but my inner conscience made me ask him what he had in mind. He said, "Heat the injection needle and touch the hand, it will immediately go back". 

Having no other option, I agreed to his suggestion. I prayed to God in my heart and asked for a hundred apologies from that little one.

I gathered courage, warmed the needle and pricked the little hand lightly.

The miracle happened at once!! The baby's hand immediately withdrew back inside with a jerk.

The further work was easy. I put the strap on by dressing the uterine wall.

Two months later, the woman safely delivered the baby in the same hospital and that little baby was smiling right in my hands.

I consider that helper as one of my many gurus. 

To my mind, I believe that when there is no cure by the books, God shows the path as a guru in any form, as the helper showed me that day. His tip will not be found in any medical book.

In the end I will say, "This is the Will of God"

(From Doctor Subhash Munje's book "Behind The Mask")

https://www.blogarama.com/blogging-blogs/326964-lost-accountant-blog/45719311-behind-mask-life-times-subhash-munje

Koti please register

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Here is a link to write Srimad Bhagwad Gita in the language of your choice. Please register and contribute towards one koti yajna likita Bhagwad Gita and get blessed. 

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JAI SHREE KRISHNA

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Jai shree krishna 🙏

40.

 The power of the words of Hanuman Chalisa has been prevalent since time immemorial. It consists of forty verses of appraisals about Hanuman, who was the link between the Lord and the masses. Written by Tulsidas, the author of “Ramcharitmanas” the Hanuman Chalisa has several significant instances other than being a strength symbol. It signifies various purposes of life along with highlighting death rituals according to the Hindu customs.

According to Hindu history, it is said that Tulsidas sang the Hanuman Chalisa from a prison confinement for forty whole days, signifying the forty verses of the chant. At the end of which, an army of monkeys appeared to hamper regular life in the court of Akbar. This eventually led to the release of Tulsidas who then preached the strength of the powerful verses.

The string of verses in the chant tell the story of devotion and submission of Hanuman to Lord Ram. He believed in a very strong form of worship that of serving the Lord. All his acts of such devotion are immortalised in the Chalisa, “Chalis” meaning forty. Several of his acts of selfless service, including the time when Hanuman carries the entire mountain containing “sanjeevanibuti”, the magical herb to cure Lakshman, are mentioned in the verses. He traverses across the oceans in search for Sita to leave a token of the Lord for her. All these acts of bravery and selflessness symbolise the strength that these verses contain.

Creating the picture of an ideal devotee, the Hanuman Chalisa casts Hanuman as the ideal embodiment of a dedicated devotee. It preaches an eternal feeling of love and sacrifice, holding the God in your heart at all times. Going back to the history of the esteemed Hanuman Chalisa, it is said that whoever chants the Chalisa in undying devotion to Hanuman will acquire his grace and strength. It involves miraculous interventions in everyday problems and those to do with the evil.

According to the Indian history, Hanuman intervened in all the problems Lord Ram faced. It is said that chanting the Hanuman Chalisa in utter devotion brings him to come to their rescue to solve all their troubles. The strength that the verses evoke can bring about life changing alterations provided there exists a complete faith and devotion of the great devotee Hanuman.

Everyone knows that Goswami Tulsidas ji, the great poet-saint who became known to the masses during the Moghul era in India, not only wrote the Ramcharitmanas in Hindi but also composed the Hanuman Chalisa. The time period in history when Tulsidas ji wrote his devotional works, India was ruled by Akbar. The period was marked by religious strife and moral degradation. 

Tulsidas ji wanted to reintroduce the Hindus to the Vedic scriptures. After writing the Ramcharitmanas that connected with the minds and hearts of people of all social classes, particularly in the Northern parts of India, Tulsidas ji started becoming a household name. His own devotion toward Lord Ram intensified, and all of his work was performed in the service of the Lord. People’s faith in God and Tulsidas ji increased to the point where common people started relying on him to help or save them during challenging times. Tulsidas ji dedicated his actions to Lord Ram when he helped others but common people spread rumors that he performed miracles.

When Akbar heard such rumors, he ordered Tulsidas ji to appear in his court and perform some miracles. With all humility, Tulsidas ji told the emperor that he was just a simple devotee of Lord Ram and did not perform any miracles. Akbar was enraged assuming that Tulsidas ji was being non-compliant and defiant toward the emperor. In anger, Akbar ordered him to be imprisoned. 

It was when Tulsidas ji was in prison in Fatehpur Sikri, that he composed the Hanuman Chalisa. He was imprisoned for forty days, thus each of the forty verses represents each day in prison. As Tulsidas ji wrote the verses, his heart overflowed with devotional sentiments as he contemplated how Hanuman ji had been instrumental in enabling him to have Lord Ram’s darshan. In a spirit of total surrender to the Lord, Tulsidas ji paid tribute to Hanuman ji’s divine qualities and character strengths in each of the verses. He described how Hanuman ji was the protector and savior of the destitute and devotees who needed divine intervention. 

Interestingly, by the time the forty verses were composed, Akbar’s palace and city were inundated by an army of monkeys. They attacked people and destroyed property everywhere. When the situation became unbearable, Akbar pondered on whether this happened because he had imprisoned Tulsidas ji. He went to visit him in the prison and asked him to make the monkeys stop wreaking havoc. Tulsidas ji offered his prayers to Hanuman ji and subsequently, the monkeys disappeared. Akbar released Tulsidas ji from prison. 

The story of Saint Tulsidas ji has inspired innumerable people throughout the country even in Kaliyug. People began to perceive the strength and power of chanting Hanuman Chalisa as a way to seek divine grace, especially during challenging times. It is important to understand that mere chanting of these forty verses is not what leads to divine intervention, but the underlying faith and belief in the power of God. When our recitation is accompanied by total humility and surrender to His wishes, the Lord will intervene in a manner that is best for the elevation of souls. Thus, let us chant Hanuman Chalisa, visualizing Hanuman ji going about his seva for Lord Ram, facing and overcoming each obstacle with perseverance. 

ज्ञान

 यमुना तट को, वंशी वट को, मन के हठ को समझाओगे कैसे...

राधा के नैनों के नीर को मीरा की पीर को धीर धराओगे कैसे...

कान्हा के नाम का प्रेम पीयूष पीया है जिया है यहाँ सबने... 

'ऊधो' ये तो बता दो कि 

प्रेम के रंग पे ज्ञान का रंग चढ़ाओगे कैसे..!!

By Madhyam saxena.

Kausitaki U

 Also called kausitaki brahmanopanisad, it Isa fairly long Upanisad and is entirely in prose.

The first chapter deals with 2 well known paths Devayana and pitryana. There is a fairly detailed description of not only the journey to the world of Brahma by the Arciradimarga or Devayana but also of the Brahmaloka itself.

The second chapter gives a detailed account of pranavidya, upasana of prana as Brahman. There is also rite recommended to be performed by anyone coveting ekadhana, interpreted as the highest wealth.

The third chapter contains a long discourse by Indra ( who has realised the Supreme Being and hence identified with him.) To the king Pratardana to meditate on him as Prana. Prana IA also identified with prajna consciousness.

The last chapter which is in the form of a dialogue between the King Ajatasatru and the learned Gargya Balaki is almost a repetition of Brhadaranyaka Upanisad.

P and p.

 We all fall under this category.

Punya.  1, 2 ,3, 4

Papa. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.

Result 3. 

So the 3 is discussed in sarva papebhyo. 

Pápa can also be called the concept that cannot touch the one who is grateful and dwells in Jnana or the magnificence of Iśvara, but can throw the ignorant deep into the pits of Naraka:loka. This being one of the vital topics of Sanātana Ḍharma, let us dive deeper. Another way of defining pápa is an action when performed by a karta (person who is performing it) solely for fulfilling one’s desire, whether that desire is rāga (liking) or dveṣa (hatred). Even if karmā associated with an action is explained and encouraged by Śāstra, it doesn’t necessarily make it puńya. Let us say one seeks the desired outcome, either out of rāga (liking) or dveṣa (hatred), and so performs an action hoping to fulfill that desire, then it is called pápa. Now, before we jump to any conclusions, let us understand this thoroughly. Then what is puńya? At a high level, both puńya and pápa are the same because one is a “kree:needa” to the other, meaning one shadows the other. But why? Because puńya is something we enjoy through some sort of availability (say good health or mind and body, peace, materials of comfort, and more), but they get exhausted in kālá or kāláam (time), and what lies at the end of each puńya is pápa and vice versa. If we love something, there is always the dormant fear of losing it; so anything that can disturb what we desire automatically results in hate, but irrespective of what we like or dislike, kālá(m) (time) exhausts it no matter what. 

True essence

 True essence of life is to live it truthfully.

Never to have hatred or grudge against anyone. Not scheming against others for personal satisfactions living with a belief that there is an almighty watching and to be truthful to him rather than to people around one s life. 

Living then becomes simple. 

Everyone has challenges thrown at them but if we have a balance in thought and live truthfully. One can overcome life's imperfections. Live for truth then things will automatically fall In to place. People who scheme fall into their own trap. 

Life is beautiful one has to just rize Above situations and live true to their heart.

For the soul never misguides you. It's part of the mighty whole. 

P & P

Pápa & Puńya

Bali donating to Vamana Murty, while Guru Shukracharya asking Bali not to (Sadashiva temple Nuggehalli, Karnataka, India) (2015)

Paapa (pápa), though widely interpreted as sin, is explained in Sanātana Ḍharma literature as an experience of the Jīva as a result of dush:karmā, and Punya (puńya) as an experience as a result of sat:karmā. These concepts are inherent in Hinduism and Buddhism. This exploration is not to compare, but to delve into its fundamentals. In the form of pápa(m), the Jīva experiences dush:karmā through some sort of unavailability or suffering, and puńya through some sort of availability or happiness. Puńya(m) and pápa(m) both get exhausted over time. As and when suffering and happiness get exhausted, the Jīva tends to accumulate both based on its current actions, which is nothing but karmā, making it a never-ending cyclic loop called saṃsāra. So what is Karmā and its source? Karmā is a vital concept in Sanatan Ḍharma and means an action (Kriya) of a karta (person performing it) and its associated result (cause and effect). Understanding karmā and its source are vital to interpreting this concept (can be explored on this portal). A sloka from Śrīmad Bhagavād Gita, Chapter 9 of Rajavidya Rajaguhya Yoga, Sloka 21, wherein Gitacharya (Śrī Kṛṣṇa) says:

ते तं भुक्त्वा स्वर्गलोकं विशालं क्षीणे पुण्ये मर्त्यलोकं विशन्ति।

एव त्रयीधर्ममनुप्रपन्ना गतागतं कामकामा लभन्ते।।

Meaning, after spending a certain time in heaven (Swarga:loka) the Jīva depletes its karmāphala and falls back into other mortal lokas, and so the cycle (saṃsāra) of karmā (actions defined as per Vedā and the outcome of those actions) and janma (taking birth) continues as long as the life of desire (kama) continues.

Śiva (Nataraj) performing the cosmic dance with Parvati witnessing it. Snake and Evil under His feet. (n.d.)

Let us take a deeper look into the concept of pápa and puńya. Before that, please note that Sanātana Ḍharma literature refers to various related concepts like Iśvara, Karmā, and Guru. However, these concepts are not principles because this is not a philosophy, and since this explanation is in English (rendered from Sanskrit and other Vedic inherent languages), words like “principles” and “rules” should not be taken literally. Why? For this, we have to understand what Sanātana Ḍharma is all about, and this can be explored on this portal. Pápa can also be called the concept that cannot touch the one who is grateful and dwells in Jnana or the magnificence of Iśvara, but can throw the ignorant deep into the pits of Naraka:loka. This being one of the vital topics of Sanātana Ḍharma, let us dive deeper. Another way of defining pápa is an action when performed by a karta (person who is performing it) solely for fulfilling one’s desire, whether that desire is rāga (liking) or dveṣa (hatred). Even if karmā associated with an action is explained and encouraged by Śāstra, it doesn’t necessarily make it puńya. Let us say one seeks the desired outcome, either out of rāga (liking) or dveṣa (hatred), and so performs an action hoping to fulfill that desire, then it is called pápa. Now, before we jump to any conclusions, let us understand this thoroughly. Then what is puńya? At a high level, both puńya and pápa are the same because one is a “kree:needa” to the other, meaning one shadows the other. But why? Because puńya is something we enjoy through some sort of availability (say good health or mind and body, peace, materials of comfort, and more), but they get exhausted in kālá or kāláam (time), and what lies at the end of each puńya is pápa and vice versa. If we love something, there is always the dormant fear of losing it; so anything that can disturb what we desire automatically results in hate, but irrespective of what we like or dislike, kālá(m) (time) exhausts it no matter what. (Srichaganti. S.V.V, 2014., p.1., Srichaganti. K.D.S, n.d., p.5)

There are three means by which pápa and puńya can be committed. They are Mānas, Vaachika, and Śarīra, and each results in its respective phala (fruit/consequence).

Mānas is the thought process of a Jīva influenced by Vāsanā (inherent tendencies). Just an ill thought about others or their property, or about Iśvara or Śāstra itself is a pápa of mānas. The same applies to puńya. Just thinking about Iśvara or Ḍharma and hoping to perform Ḍharma:sādhanā (strive towards walking the path of Ḍharma) itself constitutes puńya. An honest thought of Ḍharma itself can uplift a human. One might not believe in Śāstra or Iśvara, but rather than claiming the unknown, if one imagines ill and schemes to undermine Śāstra or Iśvara, such thoughts result in pápa. Before a committed act, one must resolve that act as a thought and that thought can define as puńya or pápa. The thought is a very powerful thing and just a thought can trigger various chemical (rasayana) reactions within the body and can either throw one’s health out of balance or bring it to composure. The following is a sloka from Śāstra:

Paradravesya vidyanam| manasa:nista chintanam||

vithathabe:invechachya| Threevidham manasam smrutham||

परद्रवेस्या विद्यानं| मनस:निस्ट:चिन्तनम||

विठठाबी:निवेचस्का| थ्रीविधाम मानसं स्मृतं||

Meaning, fostering ill thoughts and ill feeling towards others or towards “Pāradravesya” (other’s possessions) is considered pápa of mānas as it results in dush:karmā, the  fruit/consequence (karmā:phala) of which one will have to suffer with a deformity of mind or lack of content or peace of mind in future.

Vaachika means, that which is said through Vak (speech) using the indriya (mouth/tongue).

Paarushya amrutanchaiva| Paishunchapi sarvarsha:haa||

A:samvardha pralapascha| Vangmaschi dhurvidham||

पारुष्य अमृताञ्चैवा| पैशुनछापी सर्वशा:हां||

असंवर्ध प्रलापाश्चा| वंगमासची धुर्विधाम ||

Meaning, ill words, rudeness (Paarushya), or lies (amrutanchaiva) said using speech will result in Vachika pápam. People who say such things just for fun, personal pleasure, hate, or jealousy are evil (Paishunchapi) in nature. Such pápa also applies to those who talk carelessly just for the purpose of gossip (a:samvardha pralapascha), with no sense of truth or purpose, leading to a careless attitude and immoral character (again morality is not a concept of Sanātana Dharma, it is an illustrative reference), inadvertently spreading lies and confusion (Vangmaschi dhurvidham) or a false impression about themselves or others. Even if there exist facts in what one speaks, one should always consider the place and time to speak. One can’t attend a devotional ceremony and indulge in irrelevant gossip disturbing others, corrupting the environment, and lowering one’s own prospects of evolving in consciousness. This is the reason why Shastra (Śāstra) says, it is Ḍharma that a human being should follow four crucial characteristic traits.

A:himsa satyamasteyam|

soucham indriya:nigraha:ha||

अहिंसा सत्यमस्तेयं| शौचं:इन्द्रयाँनिग्रहं||

“A:himsa” meaning non-violence, “satyamasteyam” means to always be truthful and speak the truth, “soucham” means cleanliness and personal hygiene, and finally “indriya:nigraha:ha” means to be in control of our sense organs and not be a slave to their weaknesses.

Maharśi Vishvamitra made innumerable efforts to make King Harishchandra commit a lie; however, even after countless difficulties, the loss of his family, kingship, fame, and wealth, the king didn’t deviate from the path of truth. Such is the resolve of a man with a character who follows Ḍharma. It was his resolve that brought down heavens and Gods to stand in front of him ready to grant his wishes. Yet he didn’t succumb to selfishness or personal comfort, he chose the well-being of his entire kingdom as his wish.

In the same way, pious, soft, and well-spoken words, or Iśvara (Ishwara) nāma sankīrtana will result in Vaachika puńya.

Finally, Sharira means the physical body given by Prakruti (Prakṛti), and any act committed using the means of this body results in pápa or puńya. The one who performs an action is called Karta and the action itself is called kriya. Any kriya performed by a karta, together with its result, is called karmā. Any kriya performed in line with the Ḍharma of one’s ashram is called sat:karmā, else dush:karmā. Let us take an example from one of the Itihasa of Śrī Ramayanam, wherein Ravana kidnapped Sita Devi – which was an atrocious pápa and is considered as “muulagati”. Sita Devi was the Ḍharmapatni of someone else (Śrī Rama), and Shastra (Śāstra) says one must view and address all women other than one’s own Ḍharmapatni as a mother. Hence the sloka from Shastra (Śāstra):

Matruvat paradhareshu|

Paradravyani lostavat||

मातृवत परधारेषु| परद्रव्याणि लोसटावत||

“Pāradhareshu” (all women, other than your wife), should be viewed as “Matruvat” (mother-like). And “Pāradravyani”, or objects belonging to others, should be treated as stones and dirt with no significance; hence the word “lostavat”. This is the reason why in many Southern India languages words for relationships with women (except Ḍharmapatni) have “amma” or “talli” (mother) incorporated in them. Even women who are strangers are addressed with the title of mother.

Similarly, any kriya in line with the karta’s Ḍharma is considered as satkarmā and results in puńya. (Śrī Bharati Tirta Swamy. 2013. The Three Types of Paapa & Punya)

Now the real question, then how should one act devoid of puńya and pápa? We have an answer in the sloka from Śrīmad Bhagavat Gita, part of Śrī Maha:bharath(am), composed by Maharśi Vedā Vyāsa, chapter 16, sloka 24:

“तस्माच्छास्त्रं प्रमाणं ते कार्याकार्यव्यवस्थितौ।”

“Tasmaac Shastram pramaananche Karya karyou vyavasthitho.

What this means is, one should perform kriya (action) because Śāstra says so, and not because one likes the kriya (action) or likes its outcome. This type of performing Kriya without desire is called Nishkama Karmā. Desire should not be the basis for a kriya (action) or its associated karmā, and so when Śāstra is taken as the basis, then the Karmā that is associated with it gets nullified. This is the reason why a jñani (gyani) is not associated with an ashram and hence the Dharma of that ashram is not applicable to the jñani, and subsequently, the karmā associated with that Ḍharma gets neutralized. Now, why should Shastra be the basis, and what exactly is Shastra? Please read the topic of Sanātana Ḍharma to explore the meaning of Śāstra.

For a common man, new to Śāstra, is this really practical or possible? The answer is no, it is not. Then what is the answer? Manava or Manushya (human being) is a bundle of desires arising from the Vāsanā (habitual influence) carried by the inner dwelling Jīva, whose main reason for taking this existence (as a human) is to shed that Vāsanā and move into higher planes of consciousness. This very desire should be channeled and used as a ladder to uplift ourselves and walk towards becoming a jñani, with a lifestyle that fosters that upliftment as presented by Śāstra. Śāstra, like a parent, has our well-being in its message; and though one might face difficulty understanding it and implementing it, that doesn’t make it wrong. It might be tough to follow such a lifestyle, especially in Kali:yuga, but one needs to understand that our very existence as a human is an opportunity to shed our pápa and puńya and exit this reality through jñana. This only happens through devotion, by means of which humility and compassion bloom within our hearts.

The statement “pápa-puńya getting exhausted” can be rephrased as Śiva (Śiva) devouring pápa-puńya from a Jīva by giving it its appropriate suffering and happiness (which is known as karmā phala, or fruit of Karmā). Śiva(Śiva) doesn’t just devour lokas (worlds) in His “Laya” process but also devours our pápa-puńya. He, as a father, bears witness to His children’s actions and disciplines them for dush:karmā, and compliments karmā in line with Ḍharma, but doesn’t overwrite their will.

In Sanātana Ḍharma, Śrī Viṣṇu/Iśvara is the one who devours both pápa and puńya. Neither while giving happiness (by devouring puńya) does Iśvara feel happy nor does He feel sad when giving suffering. He is “Karmā-A:karmā phala pradata”, meaning He gives the fruits of both karmā and A:karmā. In the form (or concept) of Ghora, He punishes, as Aghora He gives happiness. Hence, in Sanātana Ḍharma, there are no two separate entities, one to punish and the other to give happiness. In sloka 89 of the Viṣṇusahasranāma Stotram from Śrī Maha:bharatam – composed by Maharśi Vedā Vyāsa – Bhisma Pitha:maha, during the final hours of his life, says:

“भयकृत्-भयनाशनः”

“Bhaya-kruth Bhaya-Nashana”

(Srichaganti. K.D.S, n.d., p.1-19, Indian Hindu Pooja. S.V.S.S. n.d.)

Meaning He who both frightens us and also takes away our fears.

Now, from the yogic standpoint, pápa is nothing but ignorance (avidya), which is a result of failed efforts in the past. If one doesn’t strive on the path of Yoga and in self-inquiry, and in the company of enlightened beings, this avidya continues and roots deeper. This Avidya itself is termed as pápa (in English it is translated as Sin). In the profound composition of his Yoga, Maharśi Vasista explains to Śrī Rama that:

“Sin is only ignorance and it is destroyed by enquiry; hence one should never abandon enquiry”

(Swami Venkatesananda. 

Śrī Chaganti Koteshwar Rao (Orator). (n.d.). Kanaka Dhara Stotram [Audio Part 1-19, Recorded by Srichaganti.net]. Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, India. Retrieved from http://www.english.srichaganti.net/KanakaDharaStrotram.aspx

Sri Bharati Tirta Swamy (Orator). (May 30, 2013). The Three Types of Paapa & Punya . Gajwal, Andhra Pradesh, India. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/m5LLuGjQE2Q

Indian Hindu Pooja. (n.d.). Śrī Vishnu Sahasranama Stotram. Retrieved from https://www.indianhindupuja.com/blank-p9ugf.

All Glory to Śrī Śrī Guru and Gauranga. (Nov 27, 2005). Srimad Bhagavad Gita. Retrieved from http://www.bhagavad-gita.org/Gita/verse-07-16.html

Gita Supersite. (n.d.). Developed and Maintained by IIT Kanpur. Retrieved from https://www.gitasupersite.iitk.ac.in

Shiva as Nataraj performing the cosmic dance as Parvati witnessing it.(n.d.). Pininterest, Śiva Nataraja – Lord of the Dance Sculpture Hindu Art statue. Retrieved from: https://goo.gl/images/4EkcgC

Bali donating to Vamana Murty, while Guru Shukracharya asking Bali not to (Sadhashiva temple Nuggehalli, Karnataka, India).(Dec 7, 2015). A rain-soaked trip to Nuggehalli. File: img_9606.jpg. Retrieved from: https://sujnaturelover.wordpress.com/tag/sadhashiva-temple/

Swami Venkatesananda. (1993). Vaśiṣṭha’s Yoga. New York,  Albany: State University of New York Press

Samsara: Often misinterpreted as a person entering gruhastu ashram(am) (married state of life), actually refers to the never ending loop of jiva performing kriya (action) with an associated karma and gaining its respective karma:phala (fruit of karma) and exhausting this karma:phala thought another actions which is also a karma with its own karma:phala. In this way a jiva hops through various upadhi (forms of existence) trying to exhaust its karma:phala, but, in-return gaining more. Since gruhastu ashram(am) involves various karma associated towards taking care of not just the self, but the entire family, created the notion that gruhastu ashram(am) posses a challenge towards walking towards gyana(m), which is not true. The only way this cycle is broken is to move towards gyana(m) though devotion and reach moksha. Its only in the path towards gyana(m) that human reaches a state of viragyam, at which point the ashram(am) and its associated karma are no more applicable. A jiva in such state, through its atma, realizes oneself to be an extension of Para:matma and detaches itself from its host body, yet operates through it treating it like a disposable shell or a cloth.

P & P

 very existence as a human is an opportunity to shed our pápa and puńya and exit this reality through jñana. This only happens through devotion, by means of which humility and compassion bloom within our hearts.

The statement “pápa-puńya getting exhausted” can be rephrased as Śiva (Śiva) devouring pápa-puńya from a Jīva by giving it its appropriate suffering and happiness (which is known as karmā phala, or fruit of Karmā). Śiva(Śiva) doesn’t just devour lokas (worlds) in His “Laya” process but also devours our pápa-puńya. He, as a father, bears witness to His children’s actions and disciplines them for dush:karmā, and compliments karmā in line with Ḍharma, but doesn’t overwrite their will.

In Sanātana Ḍharma, Śrī Viṣṇu/Iśvara is the one who devours both pápa and puńya. Neither while giving happiness (by devouring puńya) does Iśvara feel happy nor does He feel sad when giving suffering. He is “Karmā-A:karmā phala pradata”, meaning He gives the fruits of both karmā and A:karmā. In the form (or concept) of Ghora, He punishes, as Aghora He gives happiness. Hence, in Sanātana Ḍharma, there are no two separate entities, one to punish and the other to give happiness. In sloka 89 of the Viṣṇusahasranāma Stotram from Śrī Maha:bharatam – composed by Maharśi Vedā Vyāsa – Bhisma Pitha:maha, during the final hours of his life, says:

“भयकृत्-भयनाशनः”

“Bhaya-kruth Bhaya-Nashana”

(Srichaganti. K.D.S, n.d., p.1-19, Indian Hindu Pooja. S.V.S.S. n.d.)

Meaning He who both frightens us and also takes away our fears.

Now, from the yogic standpoint, pápa is nothing but ignorance (avidya), which is a result of failed efforts in the past. If one doesn’t strive on the path of Yoga and in self-inquiry, and in the company of enlightened beings, this avidya continues and roots deeper. This Avidya itself is termed as pápa (in English it is translated as Sin). In the profound composition of his Yoga, Maharśi Vasista explains to Śrī Rama that:

“Sin is only ignorance and it is destroyed by enquiry; hence one should never abandon enquiry”

2 songs.

 Song: smara sadA mAnasa

smara sadA mAnasa

raagam: bilahari

Aa:S R2 G3 P D2 S

Av: S N3 D2 P M1 G3 R2 S

taaLam: Adi

Composer: Swaati TirunaaL

Language:

pallavi

smara sadA mAnasa bAlagOpAlam

anupallavi

duritamaya dAruNa girikulisham

caraNam 1

yadukula tilakam yamijana vinutam parama gua vasatim vAridhi shayanam

caraNam 2

sarasija nayanam sAmaja varadam madana janakamiha madhumura daLanam

caraNam 3

garuDa turangam kanaka sucElamparama puruSam shrI pankaja nAbham

Oh mind!  always meditate upon Balagopala.

You are like a battle ae in destroying the mountain like miseries.

You are the gem of the Yadu dynasty; worshiped by those who controlled themself; the embodiment of great virtues and reclining on the ocean.

You have lotus-like eyes; protected the king elephant; progenitor of Cupid and annihilator of the demons like Madhu and Mura.

You have Garuda as your vehicle.  You are adorned with golden attires; oh the supreme one! You are Sri Pankjanabjha.

Song: raama bhakti saamraajyam -

raamabhakti saamrajya

raagam: sudda bangaaLa

22 kharaharapriya janya

Aa: S R2 M1 P D2 S

Av: S D2 P M1 R2 G2 R2 S

taaLam: aadi

Composer: Tyaagaraajaa

Language: Telugu

pallavi

rAma bhakti sAmrAjyam EmAnavula kabbenO manasA

anupallavi

AmAnavula sandarshana matyanta brahmANDamE

caraNam

ilAgani vivarimpa lEnu cAla svAnubhava vEdyamE

lIlA shrSTa jagatrayamE kOlAhala tyAgarAja nutuDaku

Meaning:s

O Mind! Who are the blessed souls who have attained the Kingdom of devotion for SrI RAma? The mere sight of those sublime souls who have been blessed with the kingdom of devotion to RAma is capable of conferring Supreme Bliss, here and hereafter. This Bliss is beyond words. It can only be experienced by those who endear themselves to Him by unswerving devotion to Him. He has created the three worlds for His diversion.

Banke bihari B.

 

म्हारो प्रणाम बांके बिहारी कोMharo Pranam Banke Bihari Ko

म्हारो प्रणाम बांके बिहारी को।

1. मोर मुकुट माथे तिलक बिराजे।

कुण्डल अलका कारीको म्हारो प्रणाम

2. अधर मधुर कर बंसी बजावै।

रीझ रीझौ राधाप्यारीको म्हारो प्रणाम

3. यह छबि देख मगन भई मीरा।

मोहन गिरवरधारीको म्हारो प्रणाम

Mhaaro pranaam baanke bihaaree ko

1. Mor mukut maathe tilak biraaje

Kundal alakaa kaareeko mhaaro pranaam

2. Adhar madhur kar bansee bajaavai

Reejh reejhau radhapyareko mhaaro pranaam

3. Yeh chhabi dekh magan bhaee meera

Mohan giravaradhariko mhaaro pranaam

======≈============

साजन घर आओनी मीठा बोलाSaajan Ghar Aaoni Meetha Bola

साजन घर आओनी मीठा बोला॥

1. कदकी ऊभी मैं पंथ निहारूं थारो, आयां होसी मेला॥

2. आओ निसंक, संक मत मानो, आयां ही सुक्ख रहेला॥

3. तन मन वार करूं न्यौछावर, दीज्यो स्याम मोय हेला॥

4. आतुर बहुत बिलम मत कीज्यो, आयां हो रंग रहेला॥

5. तुमरे कारण सब रंग त्याग्या, काजल तिलक तमोला॥

6. तुम देख्या बिन कल न पड़त है, कर धर रही कपोला॥

7. मीरा दासी जनम जनम की, दिल की घुंडी खोला॥

Saajan Ghar Aaoni Meetha Bola

1. Kadakee oobhee main panth nihaaroon thaaro, aayaan hosee melaa

2. aao nisank, sank mat maano, aayaan hee sukkh rahelaa

3. Tan man vaar karoon nyauchhaavar, deejyo syaam moy helaa

4. Aatur bahut bilam mat keejyo, aayaan ho rang rahelaa

5. Tumare kaaran sab rang tyaagyaa, kaajal tilak tamolaa

6. Tum dekhyaa bin kal na padat hai, kar dhar rahee kapolaa

7. Meera daasee janam janam kee, dil kee ghundee kholaa

man re tan kaagad kaa putlaa .

Laage boond binasi jaay chhin mein, garv kare kyaa itnaa .

maaṭee khod ke bheet usaare, andh kahe ghar meraa .

Aavai talab baandhi le chaale, bahuri na karihain feraa . 1

khoṭ kapaṭ kari bahu dhan jode, le dhartee mein gaade .

Ruke ghaṭ shvaas nahi jab nikase, ṭhaur ṭhaur sab chhaade . 2

kahain kabeer naṭ naaṭik thaake, madlaa kaun bajaavai .

Gaye paṣhaniyaa ujharee baajee, ko kaahoo ko aavai . 3

इक जोगी अलख जगायेEk Jogi Alakh Jagaaye

इक जोगी अलख जगाये इक जोगी, नाम प्रभु का गाये रे।

सुन लो सुन लो दुनिया वालो सच्ची राह बताये रे।।

1. जग में आ के जागो रे प्राणी, मोह ममता में न खोना,

शुभ कर्मों में लागो रे प्राणी, कभी यह अवसर न खोना,

सच्ची राह दिखाये रे।

2. साँझ-सवेरे राम जो बोले, अंतर पावन होये रे,

भव सागर से पार तरे वो, उसको कौन डुबोये रे,

सबको यह समझाये रे।

3. कोई विकार तुझे न छुये, तू रहना अविकारी,

जल में जैसे कमल रहे, तू बन वैसा संसारी,

शरण होये चित लाये रे।

"Ek jogi alakh jagaaye ek jogi, naam prabhu ka gaaye re

Sun lo sun lo duniya waalo sacchi raah bataye re

Jag mein aake jaago re prani, moh mamta mein na khona

Shubh karmon mein laago re prani, kabhi yeh avsar na khona

Sacchi raah dikhaye re

Saanjh-savere raam jo bole, antar paavan hoye re

Bhav saagar se paar tare wo, usko kaun duboye re

sabko yeh samjhaye re

Koi vikaar tujhe na chhuye, tu rehna avikaari

Jal mein jaise kamal rahe, tu ban vaisa sansaari

Sharan hoye chit laaye re"

ऐसी ही शक्ति मुझे देनाAisi Hii Shakti Mujhe Dena

ऐसी ही शक्ति मुझे देना हे दाता।

चलती रहूँ तेरी राहों पे दाता।

जीवन धारा तू है किनारा, बहती जाऊँ ले तेरा सहारा,

डूबने का क्यों डर हो दाता।

सुख की छाया तेरी ही माया, दुख की बदली में मन भरमाया,

रंग दोनों में तेरा ही पाया।

जाने कैसा खेल रचाया, मन मेरा कुछ समझ न पाया,

कौन तुझको समझ पाया।

ज्ञान की लौ का हुआ उजाला, सतगुरू मेरे ये क्या कर डाला,

मस्ती का रंग ऐसा डाला।

Aisi hii shakti mujhe dena he daata

Chalti rahun teri raahon pe daata

Jeevan dhaara tu hai kinaara, behti jaun le tera sahaara

Doobne ka kyon darr ho daata

Sukh ki chhaya teri hi maaya, dukh ki badli mein man bharmaya

Rang dono mein tera hi paaya

Jaane kaisa khel rachaaya, mann mera kuch samajh na paaya

Kaun tujhko samajh paaya

Gyaan ki lau ka hua ujala, satguru mere ye kya kar daala

Masti ka rang aisa daala

Narada.

 

Narada muni went to Vishnu’s abode at Vaikuntha and asked, “Why is Garuda’s (Vishnu’s eagle) statue outside your temple? Am I not your biggest devotee?”

Right then, they heard a loud crash outside. Vishnu said, “Narada, I’ve sent Garuda on an errand. Can you check what happened?”

Eager to prove himself, Narada rushed out. He returned and said, “A milkmaid slipped and fell and broke her pots.”

“What was her name?” Vishnu asked.

Narada went out, returned and said, “Sharada.”

“What caused her to fall?” Vishnu asked.

Narada started getting irritated. But he went out, returned and said, “A snake crossed her path.”

“Did she break all her pots?”

“Go find out yourself!” Narada snapped.

“Find out, Narada,” Vishnu said patiently.

“Why?” Narada asked.

“I might want to buy some milk,” Vishnu said.

Narada went out reluctantly. On returning, he said, “She broke two pots. But she’s willing to sell you milk from the others.”

“And the price of the milk?”

“Oh, I forgot to ask,” Narada said, rushing out.

Right then, Garuda swooped in, oblivious to what happened.

Vishnu stopped Narada and said to Garuda, “There was a crashing noise outside. Could you go and check what happened?”

Then Vishnu whispered to Narada, “Let’s see how he does.”

After a few minutes, Garuda returned and said, “A milkmaid named Sharada got startled by a snake and fell down. She broke two pots of milk and is wondering what to do. I suggested she sell some milk to you. You are the husband of the Goddess of Wealth, after all.”

“And the price of the milk?”

“Four copper coins,” Garuda responded immediately.

Vishnu laughed and his eyes met Narada’s, who realized why Garuda’s statue always stands outside a Vishnu temple.

Real value gets created when you anticipate what people need and give it to them. When you create value for others, you put yourself in a position to receive it too.

Narada  or Narada Muni, is a sage-divinity, famous in Hindu traditions as a travelling musician and storyteller, who carries news and enlightening wisdom. He is one of the mind-created children of Brahma, the creator god. He appears in a number of Hindu texts, notably the Mahabharata, telling Yudhishthira the story of Prahalada, and he also appears in the Ramayana and the Puranas. A common theme in Vaishnavism is the accompaniment of a number of deities such as Narada to offer aid to Vishnu upon his descent to earth to combat the forces of evil, or to enjoy a close view of epochal events. He is also referred to as Rishiraja, meaning the king of all sages. He was gifted with the boon of knowledge regarding the past, present, and the future.

In Indian texts, Narada travels to distant worlds and realms (Sanskrit: lokas). He is depicted carrying a khartal (musical instrument) and the veena, and is generally regarded as one of the great masters of the ancient musical instrument. This instrument is also known by the name "mahathi",  and he uses it to accompany his singing of hymns, prayers, and mantras. In the Vaishnava tradition, he is presented as a sage with devotion to the preserver deity Vishnu. Narada is described as both wise and mischievous in some humorous tales. He is notorious for being meddlesome, provoking conflict between both the gods and the demons for the sake of their wisdom as well as for his own entertainment. Vaishnavas depict him as a pure, elevated soul who glorifies Vishnu through his devotional songs, singing the names Hari and Narayana, and therein demonstrating bhakti yoga. The Narada Bhakti Sutra is attributed to him. He would usually make his presence known by vocally chanting "Narayana, Narayana" before appearing in a scene.

Other texts named after Narada include the Narada Purana and the Nāradasmṛti (pre 6th century CE text), the latter called the "juridical text par excellence" and representing the only Dharmaśāstra text that deals solely with juridical matters while ignoring those of righteous conduct and penance.

The name "Narada," referring to many different persons, appears in many Hindu legends.  It appears as an earlier birth of Sariputta in the Jataka tales of Buddhism, as well as among names of medieval Buddhist scholars, and in Jainism.

Mahabharata

In the Mahabharata, Narada is portrayed as being conversant with the Vedas and the Upanishads and as acquainted with history and Puranas. He has a mastery of the six Angas (limbs of knowledge): pronunciation, grammar, prosody, terms, religious rites and astronomy. All celestial beings worship him for his knowledge - he is supposed to be well-versed in all that occurred in ancient kalpas (time cycles) and is termed to be conversant with Nyaya (justice) and the truth of moral science. He is a perfect master in reconciliatory texts and good at differentiating in applying general principles to particular cases. He can swiftly interpret contraries by references to differences in situations. He is eloquent, resolute, intelligent and a possessor of powerful memory. He knows the science of morals, politics; he is skilled in drawing inferences from evidence and very proficient in distinguishing inferior things from superior ones. He is competent in judging the correctness and incorrectness of complex syllogistic statements consisting of 5 proponents. He is capable of arriving at definite conclusions about religion, wealth, pleasure and salvation. He possesses knowledge of this whole universe and everything surrounding it. He is capable of successfully answering Brihaspati himself while arguing. He is a master of the Sankhya and Yoga systems of philosophy, conversant with sciences of war and treaties and proficient in drawing conclusions by judging things, not within direct knowledge. He knows about the six sciences of a treaty, war, military campaigns, maintenance of posts against the enemy and strategies of ambushes and reserves. He is a thorough master of every branch of learning. He is fond of war and music and incapable of being repulsed by any science or any course of action.

The Bhagavata Purana describes the story of Narada's spiritual enlightenment: He was the primary source of information among the devas, and is believed to be the first cosmic messenger upon the earth. In his previous birth, Narada was a gandharva (a musical being) who had been cursed to be born on earth for singing glories to the "demigods" instead of Vishnu. He was born as the son of a maidservant of some particularly saintly priests. The priests, being pleased with both his and his mother's service, blessed him by allowing him to eat some of their food (prasada), previously offered to their deity, Vishnu.

Gradually, he received further blessings from these sages and heard them discussing many spiritual topics. During the four months of rainy seasons when the sages did not leave their hermitage and stayed together, they used to recite various deeds of Vishnu, and from there Narada used to hear these stories. After his mother died, he decided to roam the forest in search of enlightenment in understanding the 'Supreme Absolute Truth'.

Reaching a tranquil forest location, after quenching his thirst from a nearby stream, he sat under a tree in meditation (yoga), concentrating on the paramatma form of Vishnu within his heart as he had been taught by the priests he had served. After some time Narada experienced a vision wherein Narayana (Vishnu) appeared before him, smiling, and spoke: "that despite having the blessing of seeing Him at that very moment, Narada would not be able to see His (Vishnu's) divine form again until he died". Narayana further explained that the reason he had been given a chance to see his form was that his beauty and love would be a source of inspiration and would fuel his dormant desire to be with Vishnu again. After instructing Narada in this manner, Vishnu then disappeared from his sight. The boy awoke from his meditation, both thrilled and disappointed.

For the rest of his life, Narada focused on his devotion, meditation upon and worship to Vishnu. After his death, Vishnu then blessed him with the spiritual form of "Narada" as he eventually became known. In many Hindu scriptures, Narada is considered a shaktyavesha-avatara or partial-manifestation (avatar) of God, empowered to perform miraculous tasks on Vishnu's behalf.

The Shiva Purana describes a legend in which Narada's penance alarmed Indra, who sent Kamadeva to disturb his austerities. Due to the fact that the sage was meditating in the Himalayas and under Shiva's favour, he was protected by the deity's maya (illusory power) and hence remained undisturbed. When Narada learnt of this, still confounded by Shiva's maya, he falsely attributed this event to his own mental prowess and grew proud of his achievement. Heeding Shiva's suggestion to break the pride of the sage, Vishnu praised the qualities of Narada, but also warned him to not be delusional. The sage turned a deaf ear to this warning. Vishnu extended Shiva's maya to create a great and prosperous city in Narada's path. The king of the city, Shilanidhi, introduced his beautiful daughter, Shrimati (an incarnation of Lakshmi), to the sage, who grew desirous of marrying her. He travelled to Vaikuntha, requesting Vishnu to grant him the deity's form so that Shrimati would choose the sage as her husband during her svayamvara ceremony. Vishnu promised to grant Narada what would be beneficial for him, granting him his own form, but the face of a monkey. Believing his wish had been granted, Narada grew assured that Shrimati would choose him, but soon realised what had transpired. Vishnu attended the ceremony in the form of a king, and Shrimati chose him as her husband instead. Enraged, Narada cursed Vishnu to also be separated from the woman he loved and would only be saved by one with a monkey-face. When his maya was dispelled, Narada begged forgiveness from Vishnu. The deity instructed the sage to visit the abodes and praise the qualities of Shiva, and the latter journeyed to the deity's abode in Kashi.

In the Devi Bhagavata Purana and some other texts, Narada enquired Vishnu about the nature and greatness of maya. The deity guided him towards a lake, in which the sage took a bath. The sage was transformed into a woman. She married a king named Taladhvaja and was a mother to his many sons. After some time, Vishnu dispelled the illusion and restored Narada to his true male form. Narada came to understand the concept better, but concluded it was still mysterious to him.

Worship

Narada temples are few, most prominent being Sri Narada Muni Temple at Chigateri, Karnataka.

Some adherents believe that it was Narada who was reborn as Purandara Dasa as a Haridasa (servant of Vishnu). He emphasised his works on Vithala, another form of Vishnu and the presiding deity of the temple in Pandharpur.

In Jainism, there are a total of 9 Naradas in every cycle of Jain Cosmology; current cycle's Naradas were Bhima, Mahabhima, Rudra, Maharudra, Kala, Mahakala, Durmukha, Narakamukha and Adhomukha.

The Naradiya Purana (Sanskrit: नारदीय पुराण, Naradiya Purana) or Narada Purana (Sanskrit: नारद पुराण), are two Vaishnavism texts written in Sanskrit language. One of the texts is termed as a Major Purana, also called a Mahapurana, while the other is termed as a Minor Purana (Upapurana), also referred as Brihannaradiya Purana.

Unlike most Puranas that are encyclopedic, the Brihannaradiya text is focussed almost entirely on Vishnu worship, while the Naradiya text is a compilation of 41 chapters (20%) on Vishnu-worship and rest of the chapters (80%) cover a wide range of topics including a large compilation of Mahatmya (travel guides) to temples and places along the river Ganges and neighbouring regions.

The Naradiya Purana is notable for dedicating eighteen chapters on other Puranas, one entire chapter summarizing each Major Purana. It is also notable for its verses extolling Buddha in chapter

Manuscripts of nearly all the major puranas acknowledge the existence of a major purana named either Narada or Naradiya, suggesting it was an important text in Hindu history. Yet, unlike other Puranas which either appear in the major or minor purana lists, the Naradiya text appears in both lists. This caused significant confusion to 19th and early 20th century Indologists. The confusion was compounded by the fact that the content of the text manuscripts they found seemed to follow similar scope and focus, except that the Brihannaradiya Purana text with about 3,500 verses was slightly bigger than the other with about 3,000 verses.

Later discovered manuscripts and scholarship established that the Narada or Naradiya is the major purana, Brihannaradiya is the Upapurana. The Naradiya Purana consists of two bhagas (parts), with the first called Purvabhaga and second called Uttarabhaga. The Purvabhaga has four padas with the total of 125 chapters. The Uttarabhaga has 82 chapters, which embeds the Rukmangada-carita.

The Brihannaradiya Purana has no parts or padas, and a total of 38 adhyayas (chapters).

The Naradiya Purana texts, like other Puranas, exist in numerous versions, but with less variation than other Puranas. Wilson states that both texts are of likely recent composition, probably 16th or 17th century, because the five manuscripts he reviewed had verses mentioning certain events after Islamic invasion and control of the Indian subcontinent. The other unusual part of the manuscripts he examined, states Wilson, is that the descriptions of ritual worship of Vishnu in the text are "puerile inventions, wholly foreign to the more ancient" ideas in the Purana genre of Hindu texts.

Rajendra Hazra, in contrast, states that the core verses of the texts were likely first composed over various centuries, as follows: he dates the Vishnu-bhakti focussed text Brihannaradiya Purana to the 9th-century; he places the first 41 chapters of Purvabhaga and the first 37 chapters of Uttarabhaga to have been composed before the 11th century; and, the rest he states is of likely a comparatively later origin. The Naradiya Purana, states Hazra, was likely composed after the Brihannaradiya Purana.  It is unknown, adds Hazra, whether the extant manuscripts of the Naradiya Puranas are same as the 9th and 10th-century originals, but we know that the verses quoted in medieval Hindu Smriti texts with these texts cited as source, are missing from the currently surviving manuscripts.

Rocher states that the composition date of each Purana remains unclear. Dimmitt and van Buitenen state that it is difficult to ascertain when, where, why and by whom the major and minor Puranas were written:

As They Exist Today, The Puranas Are A Stratified Literature. Each Titled Work Consists Of Material That Has Grown By Numerous Accretions In Successive Historical Eras. Thus, No Purana Has A Single Date Of Composition.  It Is As If They Were Libraries To Which New Volumes Have Been Continuously Added, Not Necessarily At The End Of The Shelf, But Randomly.

The Padma Purana categorizes Naradiya Purana as a Sattva Purana (which represents goodness and purity). Scholars consider the Sattva-Rajas-Tamas classification as "entirely fanciful" and there is nothing in this text that actually justifies this classification.

The Brihannaradiya Purana (also Brihannarada Purana) is focussed on bhakti (devotion) towards Vishnu.  It describes the festivals and ritual ceremonies of Vaishnavism. Many chapters of the text are part of the Mahatmya, glorifying the river Ganges, pilgrimage and travel centers such as the Prayāga (the confluence of the rivers Yamuna and Ganges), and Kashi (a sacred city). The text also includes chapters on ethics and duties of members of various varnas and ashramas, vratas, and summaries on the samskaras.

Naradiya Purana

The Narada Purana (also Naradiya Purana) follows the style of the Brihannaradiya Purana in the first 41 chapters of Purvabhaga, but the rest of the first part and second part are encyclopedic covering a diverse range of topics. The encyclopedic sections discuss subjects such as the six Vedangas, moksha, dharma, adhyatma-jnana (monastic life), Pashupata philosophy, a secular guide with methods of worship of Ganesha, Narasimha, Hayagriva, Rama, Krishna, Hanuman, Shiva, and Lakshmi. The text also glorifies goddess Radha as the mulaprakriti, one whose soul and love manifests all other Hindu goddesses.

The text's secular description and verse of praises are not limited to different traditions of Hinduism, but also other traditions. For example, chapter 1.2 extols Buddha.  This contrasts with Kurma Purana which is disdainful of Buddhism without mentioning Buddha, but similar to the praise of Buddha in other major Puranas such as chapter 49 of the Agni Purana, chapter 2.5.16 of the Shiva Purana, chapter 54 of the Matsya Purana and various minor Puranas.

Chapters 92 through 109 of Purvabhaga are notable for summarizing the 18 major Puranas, one entire chapter dedicated to each.This has been an important benchmark in comparison studies, and as evidence that the Puranas were revised after the composition of Naradiya Purana, since the summary in these 18 chapters is significantly different from the extant manuscripts of the major Puranas. Other topics covered in the verses of Uttarabhaga include flora and fauna, food, music, dance, dress, jewellery, weapons, and theories on war.

The Naradiya Purana also contains Rukmangadacarita, a legend of king named Rukmangada, whose belief in Vishnu is repeatedly tested by an enchantress in the form of an apsara named Mohini, one that became subject of plays and dance arts in Indian culture. After Rukmangadacarita, the text predominantly is a compilation of geographic Mahatmyas or travel guides for pilgrimage along river Ganges starting with Haridwar, through Banaras (Kashi) towards Bengal, and nearby regions such as Gaya in Bihar and Nepal.

G A P

 Beautifully presented. 

https://youtu.be/Q3T2s9Iv8FI?si=9NA5DATxpnJ3RAYx

Ping

 

Are you alarmed by the number of corona cases in the country?

More alarmed at the predictions of numbers in future?

How do they predict the number of infections? How did the lockdown help?

These numbers are predicted by a Mathematical principle of Binary expansion. Before we go into details of the theory, let me tell you a story. We Indians are clever storytellers teaching so much, so varied through a story. 

There is this old Indian legend about a King who was challenged to a game of chess by a visiting Sage. The King asked, "What is the prize if you win?”

The Sage said he would simply like some grains of rice: one on the first square, two on the second, four on the third and so on, doubling on each square. The King was surprised by this humble request. Well, the Sage won the game. So, how many grains of rice should he receive?

18

,

446

,

744

,

073

,

709

,

551

,

615

 grains (460 billion tonnes of rice).

Much more rice than what was produced in his entire kingdom or the world for the next 2000 years!

Ancient Picture

In the legend the Sage reveals himself to be Lord Krishna and tells the King that he doesn't have to pay the debt at once, but can pay him over time, just serve rice to pilgrims every day until the debt is paid off). This story reveals the magic of numbers – Binary exponential expansion along with an essential life skill, humility. The story doesn’t quite end here. The discovery of Binary numbers was also quite by accident.

Who is Pingala?

Binary numbers

Acharya Pingala discovered the immense possibilities of Binary numbers quite by accident. He was working on the meter or Chandah of Vedas. Our Vedas were composed in meters or Chandah. Most Indian Languages have the dheerga or long swar and the laghu or short swar. This combination of long and short sounds is the basis of Sanskrit prosody or meter or chandah. In 

3

rd BCE, a work called Chandahsastra was authored by Pingala, the Mathematician. Chandaḥśāstra means the science of meters as used in poetry/ music in which it is recited. While studying chandah, he stumbled on the concept of the Binary number system.

The Chandahsastra or the study of composing poetry based on long and short syllables, i.e. Two syllables is the first known description of a binary numeral system.Pingala

Along with this, the discussion of the combinatorics of meter corresponds to the binomial theorem as well.

Though Pingala knew Binary numbers, he did not know the use of zero(

0

) Later mathematicians represented using 0 and 1 in, but Pingala used light (laghu) and heavy (guru) rather than 

0

 and 

1

 to describe syllables.

The Binary system of Pingala, starting at one (four short syllables—binary "

0000

"—is the first pattern) going to the nth pattern. It can be represented as 

n

−

1

 (with increasing positional values).

Acharya Pingala, by working on the algorithm of different possibilities of laghu and guru swar, unwittingly discovered the different patterns of Binary numbers; a notation similar to Morse code.

Works of Pingala

A verse in classical Sanskrit literature has a verse or a pada. The meter of a verse or pada is determined by the arrangement of the long and short swaras. The last syllable of a foot of a meter is taken to be a dheergha or Guru swara. So, let us refer to the long/ dheergha swara as Guru.

E.g., Let us look at the second stanza of Bhavani Ashtakam composed by Adi Shankaracharya

Na Taato Na Maataa Na Bandhur-Na Daataa

Na Putro Na Putrii Na Bhrtyo Na Bhartaa |

Na Jaayaa Na Vidyaa Na Vrttir-Mama-Iva

Gatis-Tvam Gatis-Tvam Tvam-Ekaa Bhavaani ||1||

This quarter has 

12

 letters. The arrangement of these letters are in the pattern:

Laghu+ Guru+ Guru or LGG. The pattern is LGG+ LGG+ LGG+ LGG….

This meter is called Bhujangaprayatam (like a snake advancing)

This stanza with 

12

 letters can be arranged in many different ways. How many different ways?

With just Laghu/ short and Guru/ long swar, and 

12

 letters we can calculate the number of arrangements as 

2

12

=

4096.

 This means you can arrange the letters in 

4096

 ways to create a stanza.

So, Pingala, the Mathematician began to index, analyse and repair the chandahs in the Vedas. He developed a technique of Pratyay or an algorithm, Prastaar for all possible combinations of a syllable for a quarter with “n” letters. In other words, he generated difference combinations of sequences

Let us try and recreate how Pingala, the Mathematician might have gone about it:

For 1 syllable

1

G

2

L

For 2 syllable:

1

G

G

2

L

G

3

G

L

4

L

L

For 3 syllable

1

G

G

 G

2

L

G

G

3

G

L

L

4

G

G

L

5

L

L

G

6

L

G

L

7

G

L

G

8

L

L

L

Let us compare decimal numbers with the Pingala, the Mathematician’s Binary system and Modern Binary system.

 

Decimal

 Pingala’s Binary system

*Observe that the Pingala’s Binary system is a mirror image of the Binary system

The Chandahsastra, written by Pingala, the Mathematician, has eight chapters, and these mathematical combinations and sequences are mentioned in the 8th chapter.

References to Pingala

‘Vrittaratnakara‘ by Kedara in the 8th century has references to

In the 12th Century AD, Trivikrama referred to Chandahsastra in, ‘Tatparyatika.‘

12th century AD and ‘Mritasanjivani‘ by Halayudha carries a commentary on Commentaries. It was Halayudha who used zero in the place of laghu. By this time, the use of zero was common in India and had travelled to many other parts of the world.

There is little historical reference available on Pingala; the Mathematician indicates that he was the younger brother of Pāṇini (4th century BCE), or of Patañjali, the author of the Mahabhashya (2nd century BCE).

It took many more centuries for this knowledge to reach Europe. In the town of Pisa in Italy, Leonardo, better known as Fibonacci, learnt the use of Binary numbers from Arabs. He was particular to mention that the Arabs had brought it from India. But his successors chose to call it as Arabic numerals.

Pingala Series

While exploring the number of possibilities of various combinations of the laghu and the guru, Pingala hit upon a series:

0

,

1

,

1

,

2

,

5

,

8

,

13

,

21

,

34

,

55

…

…

…

…

This was later called Fibonacci series.

This sequence is seen abundantly in nature: branching in trees, the arrangement of leaves on a stem etc.

The Fibonacci number was initially called mātrāmeru, by Pingala, the Mathematician. Now it is also known as the Gopala–Hemachandra number. Pingala is also credited with the binomial theorem for the index 2, i.e. for 

(

a

+

b

)

2

, like his contemporary Greek Euclid.

Summary

The ancient Vedic system in India depended on experiential learning and oral transmission. The rules of language, i.e. Sanskrit, was such that poetry became an easy medium to express and propagate learning. So, even the most complicated learnings and observations were written as verse or sutras, making it easy to memorise and propagate. So, elaborate learning went into the organising of the verse. The Sanskrit Language was much more than aesthetics.

The combination of syllables had to be in a definite pattern or meter so that it became easy to recite and repeat. That is how Pingala, the Mathematician stumbled on the Binary numbers with its unlimited possibilities. So, when we wonder with awe at the huge leaps made by digital technology, let us pause for a moment and think of Pingala who imagined and recorded the unlimited possibilities of using combinations of just two swars - laghu and guru and from a grammarian became Pingala, the Mathematician!

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

When was Pingala born?

He is said to have lived around 400-200 BC, maybe earlier.

When did Pingala die?

No clear documented information exists about the birth and death of Pingala, but it is believed that he lived around 400-200 BC.

Where was the Fibonacci sequence discovered?

While Fibonacci himself did not discover Fibonacci numbers (they were named after him), he did use them in Liber Abaci. The numbers originate back to ancient India and are credited to the Indian Mathematician Pingala.

Who is credited for the Binary System used by Computers?

While the modern binary number system goes back to Gottfried Leibniz, it can be noted that Chandahsastra presents the first known description of a binary numeral system which is credited to an Indian mathematician, Pingala.

What were the names that Pingala used for the binary numerals 

0

 and 

1

?

Pingala used light (laghu) and heavy (guru) rather than 0 and 1 to describe syllables.

Fibonacci.

 Eg. Sudarshan chakra. 

https://www.scribd.com/document/468769471/Sri-Chakra-and-Golden-Ratio

The Fibonacci sequence is a type series where each number is the sum of the two that precede it. It starts from 0 and 1 usually. The Fibonacci sequence is given by 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, and so on. The numbers in the Fibonacci sequence are also called Fibonacci numbers.

In Maths, the Fibonacci numbers are the numbers ordered in a distinct Fibonacci sequence. These numbers were introduced to represent the positive numbers in a sequence, which follows a defined pattern. The list of the numbers in the Fibonacci series is represented by the recurrence relation: 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, ……..,∞. 

The Fibonacci numbers were first described in Indian mathematics as early as 200 BC in work by Pingala on enumerating possible patterns of Sanskrit poetry formed from syllables of two lengths. They are named after the Italian mathematician Leonardo of Pisa, also known as Fibonacci, who introduced the sequence to Western European mathematics in his 1202 book Liber Abaci.

Fibonacci numbers appear unexpectedly often in mathematics, so much so that there is an entire journal dedicated to their study, the Fibonacci Quarterly. Applications of Fibonacci numbers include computer algorithms such as the Fibonacci search technique and the Fibonacci heap data structure, and graphs called Fibonacci cubes used for interconnecting parallel and distributed systems. They also appear in biological settings, such as branching in trees, the arrangement of leaves on a stem, the fruit sprouts of a pineapple, the flowering of an artichoke, and the arrangement of a pine cone's bracts, though they do not occur in all species.

Fibonacci numbers are also strongly related to the golden ratio: Binet's formula expresses the n-th Fibonacci number in terms of n and the golden ratio, and implies that the ratio of two consecutive Fibonacci numbers tends to the golden ratio as n increases. Fibonacci numbers are also closely related to Lucas numbers, which obey the same recurrence relation and with the Fibonacci numbers form a complementary pair of Lucas sequences.

https://youtube.com/shorts/7CngbcA1F5w?si=K8KO_zIOxGXHOkkY

Acharya Pingala (Sanskrit: पिङ्गल, romanized: Piṅgala; c. 3rd–2nd century BCE) was an ancient Indian poet and mathematician, and the author of the Chhandaḥśāstra (Sanskrit: छन्दःशास्त्र, lit. 'A Treatise on Prosody'), also called the Pingala-sutras (Sanskrit: पिङ्गलसूत्राः, romanized: Piṅgalasūtrāḥ, lit. 'Pingala's Threads of Knowledge'), the earliest known treatise on Sanskrit prosody.

The Chandaḥśāstra is a work of eight chapters in the late Sūtra style, not fully comprehensible without a commentary. It has been dated to the last few centuries BCE. In the 10th century CE, Halayudha wrote a commentary elaborating on the Chandaḥśāstra. According to some historians Maharshi Pingala was the brother of Pāṇini, the famous Sanskrit grammarian, considered the first descriptive linguist. Another think tank identifies him as Patanjali, the 2nd century CE scholar who authored Mahabhashya.

The Chandaḥśāstra presents a formula to generate systematic enumerations of metres, of all possible combinations of light (laghu) and heavy (guru) syllables, for a word of n syllables, using a recursive formula, that results in a partially ordered binary representation.  Pingala is credited with being the first to express the combinatorics of Sanskrit metre, eg.

Because of this, Pingala is sometimes also credited with the first use of zero, as he used the Sanskrit word śūnya to explicitly refer to the number. Pingala's binary representation increases towards the right, and not to the left as modern binary numbers usually do. In Pingala's system, the numbers start from number one, and not zero. Four short syllables "0000" is the first pattern and corresponds to the value one. The numerical value is obtained by adding one to the sum of place values. Pingala's work also includes material related to the Fibonacci numbers, called mātrāmeru.

To becontinued. 

Sage wisdom.

 ANCIENT INDIAN HEALTH TIPS IN SANSKRIT TRANSLATED IN ENGLISH

A MUST READ

1. अजीर्णे भोजनं विषम् ।

If previously taken Lunch is not digested..

Taking Dinner will be equivalent to taking Poison. 

Hunger is one signal that the previous food is digested 

2. अर्धरोगहरी निद्रा ।

Proper sleep cures half of the diseases..

3 मुद्गदाली गदव्याली ।

Of all the Pulses, Green grams are the best. 

It boosts Immunity. 

Other Pulses all have one or the other side effects. 

4. भग्नास्थि-संधानकरो लशुनः।

Garlic even joins broken Bones.. 

5. अति सर्वत्र वर्जयेत्।

Anything consumed in Excess, just because it tastes good, is not good for Health. Be moderate. 

6. नास्ति मूलमनौषधम् ।

There is No Vegetable that has no medicinal benefit to the body.. 

7.  न वैद्यः प्रभुरायुषः ।

No Doctor is capable of giving Longevity. 

8. चिंता व्याधि प्रकाशाय ।

Worry aggravates ill-health.. 

9. व्यायामश्च शनैः शनैः

Do any Exercise slowly.

(Speedy exercise is not good.) 

10. अजवत् चर्वणं  कुर्यात् ।

Chew your Food like a Goat.

(Never Swallow food in a hurry. 

Saliva aids first in digestion.) 

11.  स्नानं नाम मनःप्रसाधनकरंदुः स्वप्न-विध्वंसनम् ।

 Bath removes Depression.

 It drives away Bad Dreams.. 

12. न स्नानमाचरेद्  भुक्त्वा।

Never take Bath immediately after taking Food.  (Digestion is affected). 

13. नास्ति मेघसमं तोयम् ।

No water matches Rainwater in purity.. 

14.  अजीर्णे भेषजं वारि ।

When there is  indigestion taking plain water serves like medicine.

15. सर्वत्र नूतनं  शस्तं, सेवकान्ने पुरातने ।

Always prefer things that are Fresh.. 

Whereas Rice and Servant are good only when they are old.

16. नित्यं सर्वा रसा भक्ष्याः ।।

Take the food that has all six tastes.

(viz: Salt, Sweet, Bitter, Sour, Astringent and Pungent). 

17. जठरं पूरायेदर्धम् अन्नैर्, भागं जलेन च ।

वायोः संचरणार्थाय चतर्थमवशेषयेत् ।।

Fill your Stomach half with Solids, 

(a quarter with Water and rest leave it empty.)

18. भुक्त्वा शतपथं गच्छेद् यदिच्छेत् चिरजीवितम् ।

Never sit idle after taking Food.

Walk for at least half an hour. 

19. क्षुत्साधुतां जनयति ।

Hunger increases the taste of food..

In other words, eat only when hungry.. 

20. चिंता जरा नाम मनुष्याणाम्

Worrying speeds up ageing.. 

21. शतं विहाय भोक्तव्यं, सहस्रं स्नानमाचरेत् ।

When it is time for food, keep even 100 jobs aside. 

22. सर्वधर्मेषु मध्यमाम्।

Choose always the middle path. Avoid going for extremes in anything

Goldern words of wisdom in Sanskrit by our sages.

Gargi.

 

Gārgī 

Gargi Vachaknavi (Sans: गार्गी वाचक्नवी (Devanagari); Gargi Vacaknavi (HK)), was an ancient Indian sage and philosopher. In Vedic literature, she is honoured as a great natural philosopher,  renowned expounder of the Vedas, and known as Brahmavadini, a person with knowledge of Brahma Vidya. In the Sixth and the eighth Brahmana of Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, her name is prominent as she participates in the brahmayajna, a philosophic debate organized by King Janaka of Videha and she challenges the sage Yajnavalkya with perplexing questions on the issue of atman (soul). She is also said to have written many hymns in the Rigveda  She remained a celibate all her life and was held in veneration by the conventional Hindus.

Gargi was the daughter of sage Vachaknu in the lineage of sage Garga (c. 800-500 BCE) and hence named after her father as Gargi Vachaknavi.  Right from a young age, Vachaknavi was very intellectual. She acquired knowledge of the Vedas and scriptures and became renowned for her proficiency in these fields of philosophy.

Gargi, along with Vadava Pratitheyi and Sulabha Maitreyi are among the prominent females who figure in the Upanishads. She was as knowledgeable in Vedas and Upanishads as men of the Vedic times and could very well contest the male-philosophers in debates. Her name appears in the Grihya Sutras of Asvalayana. She was a leading scholar who also made rich contributions to propagate education.

According to Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, King Janaka of Videha Kingdom held a Rajasuya Yagna and invited all the learned sages, kings and princes of India to participate. The yagna lasted for many days. Large quantities of sandalwood, ghee (clarified butter) and barley (cereal grain) were offered to the Yagna fire creating an atmosphere of spiritual sanctity and aroma. Janaka himself being a scholar was impressed with the large gathering of learned sages. He thought of selecting a scholar from the assembled group of elite scholars, the most accomplished of them all who had maximum knowledge about Brahman. For this purpose, he evolved a plan and offered a prize of 1,000 cows with each cow dangled with 10 grams of gold on its horns. The galaxy of scholars, apart from others, included the renowned sage Yajnavalkya and Gargi Vachaknavi. Yajnavalkya, who was aware that he was the most spiritually knowledgeable among the assembled gathering, as he had mastered the art of Kundalini Yoga, ordered his disciple Samsrava to drive away the cow herd to his house. This infuriated the scholars as they felt that he was taking away the prize without contesting in a debate. Some of the local pundits (scholars) did not volunteer to debate with him as they were not sure of their knowledge. However, there were eight renowned sages who challenged him for a debate, which included Gargi, the only woman in the assembled gathering of the learned.

Sages like Asvala, the priest in Janaka's court, Artabhaga, Bhujyu, Ushasta, and Uddalaka debated with him and asked questions about philosophical subjects to which Yajnavalkya provided convincing replies and they lost the debate. It was then the turn of Gargi to take up the challenge.Gargi, as one of the disputants in the debate, questioned Yajnavalkya on his claim of superiority among the scholars. She held repeated arguments with him. Gargi and Yajnavalkya's exchange centred on the ultimate "warp" of reality ("warp" means "the basic foundation or material of a structure or entity). Her initial dialogue with Yajnavalkya tended to be too metaphysical, such as the unending status of the soul, away from practical situations. She then changed her approach and asked him pointed questions related to the environment existing in the world, the question of the very origin of all existence. Her question was specific when she asked him "since this whole world is woven back and forth on water, on what then is it woven back and forth", a question that related to the commonly known cosmological metaphor that expressed the unity of the world, its essential interconnectedness. In the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad  the sequence of her posing a bevy of questions to Yajnavalkya and his replies is narrated as:

On air, Gargi.

On What, then, is air woven back and forth? On the intermediate regions, Gargi.

On what, then, are the worlds of the intermediate regions woven back and forth?

On the worlds of the Gandharvas, Gargi

She continued with an array of questions such as what was the universe of the suns, what were the moon, the stars, the gods, Indra, and Prajapati. Gargi then pressed on with two more questions. Gargi urged Yajnavalkya to enlighten her on the weave of reality and asked:

That, O Yajnavalkya, which is above the sky, that which is beneath the earth, that which is between these two, sky and earth, that which people call the past and the present and the future - across what is woven, warp and woof?"

Yagnavalakaya answered "Space"

Gargi was not satisfied and then posed the next question:

Across what then pray, is space woven, warp and woof?

Yajnavalkya answered: Verily, O Gargi, if one performs sacrifices and worship and undergoes austerity in this world for many thousands of years, but without knowing that Imperishable, limited indeed is that [work] of his. Across this Imperishable is the unseen, O Gargi, is space woven, warp and woof.

Then she asked a final question, on what was Brahman (world of the imperishable)? Yagnavalakya put an end to the debate by telling Gargi not to proceed further as otherwise, she would lose her mental balance. This riposte put an end to their further dialogue at the conference of the learned. However, at the end of the debate she conceded to the superior knowledge of Yajnavalkya by saying: "venerable Brahmins, you may consider it a great thing if you get off bowing before him. No one, I believe, will defeat him in any argument concerning Brahman." 

Her philosophical views also find mention in the Chandogya Upanishad. Gargi, as Brahmavadini, composed several hymns in Rigveda  that questioned the origin of all existence. The Yoga Yajnavalkya, a classical text on Yoga is a dialogue between Gargi and sage Yajnavalkya. Gargi was honoured as one of the Navaratnas (nine gems) in the court of King Janaka of Mithila.

भारत में पुरुषों के साथ ही भारतीय महिला दार्शनिकों तथा साध्वियों की लम्बी परंपरा रही है। वेदों की ऋचाओं को गढ़ने में भारत की बहुत-सी स्त्रियों का योगदान रहा है उनमें से ही एक है गर्गवंश में वचक्नु नामक महर्षि की पुत्री 'वाचकन्वी गार्गी'। राजा जनक के काल में ऋषि याज्ञवल्क्य और ब्रह्मवादिनी कन्या गार्गी दोनों ही महान ज्ञानी थे। बृहदारण्यक उपनिषद् में दोनों के बीच हुए संवाद पर ही आधारित है।

माना जाता है कि राजा जनक प्रतिवर्ष अपने यहां शास्त्रार्थ करवाते थे। एक बार के आयोजन में याज्ञवल्क्यजी को भी निमंत्रण मिला था। जनक ने शास्त्रार्थ विजेता के लिए सोने की मुहरें जड़ित 1000 गायों को दान में देने की घोषणा कर रखी थी। उन्होंने कहा था कि शास्त्रार्थ के लिए जो भी पथारे हैं उनमें से जो भी श्रेष्ठ ज्ञानी विजेता बनेगा वह इन गायों को ले जा सकता है। निर्णय लेना अति दुविधाजनक था, क्योंकि अगर कोई ज्ञानी अपने को सबसे बड़ा ज्ञानी माने तो वह ज्ञानी कैसे कहलाएं?

 

ऐसी स्थिति में ऋषि याज्ञवल्क्य ने अति आत्मविश्वास से भरकर अपने शिष्यों से कहा, 'हे शिष्यो! इन गायों को हमारे आश्रम की और हांक ले चलो।' इतना सुनते ही सब ऋषि याज्ञवल्क्य से शास्त्रार्थ करने लगे। याज्ञवल्क्य ने सबके प्रश्नों का यथाविधि उत्तर दिया।

 

उस सभा में ब्रह्मवादिनी गार्गी भी बुलाई गयी थी। सबके पश्चात् याज्ञवल्क्यजी से शास्त्रार्थ करने वे उठी। दोनों के बीच जो शास्त्रार्थ हुआ। गार्गी ने याज्ञवल्क्यजी से कई प्रश्न किए।

 

दोनों के बीच हुए संवाद का वर्णन:-

याज्ञवल्क्य से शास्त्रार्थ करने के लिए गार्गी उठीं और पूछा कि हे ऋषिवर! क्या आप अपने को सबसे बड़ा ज्ञानी मानते हैं, जो आपने गायों को हांकने के लिए अपने शिष्यों को आदेश दे दिया?

 

याज्ञवल्क्य ने कहा कि मां! मैं स्वयं को ज्ञानी नहीं मानता परन्तु इन गायों को देख मेरे मन में मोह उत्पन्न हो गया है। गार्गी ने कहा कि आपको मोह हुआ, लेकिन यह इनाम प्राप्त करने के लिए योग्य कारण नहीं है। अगर सभी सभासदों की आज्ञा हो तो में आपसे कुछ प्रश्न पूछना चाहूंगी। अगर आप इनके संतोषजनक जवाब दे पाएं तो आप इन गायों को निश्चित ही ले जाएं।' 

 

सभी ने गार्गी को आज्ञा दे दी। गार्गी का प्रश्न था, 'हे ऋषिवर! जल के बारे में कहा जाता है कि हर पदार्थ इसमें घुलमिल जाता है तो यह जल किसमें जाकर मिल जाता है?'

 

गार्गी का यह पहला प्रश्न बहुत ही सरल था, लेकिन याज्ञवल्क्य प्रश्न में उलझकर क्रोधित हो गए। बाद में उन्होंने आराम से और ठीक ही कह दिया कि जल अन्तत: वायु में ओतप्रोत हो जाता है। फिर गार्गी ने पूछ लिया कि वायु किसमें जाकर मिल जाती है और याज्ञवल्क्य का उत्तर था कि अंतरिक्ष लोक में।

 

पर गार्गी याज्ञवल्क्य के हर उत्तर को प्रश्न में बदलती गई और इस तरह गंधर्व लोक, आदित्य लोक, चन्द्रलोक, नक्षत्र लोक, देवलोक, इन्द्रलोक, प्रजापति लोक और ब्रह्मलोक तक जा पहुंची और अन्त में गार्गी ने फिर वही प्रश्न पूछ लिया कि यह ब्रह्मलोक किसमें जाकर मिल जाता है?

 

इस पर गार्गी पर क्रोधित होकर याज्ञवक्ल्य ने कहा, 'गार्गी, माति प्राक्षीर्मा ते मूर्धा व्यापप्त्त्’। अर्थात गार्गी, इतने प्रश्न मत करो, कहीं ऐसा न हो कि इससे तुम्हारा मस्तक फट जाए। अच्छा वक्ता वही होता है जिसे पता होता है कि कब बोलना और कब चुप रहना है और गार्गी अच्छी वक्ता थी इसीलिए क्रोधित याज्ञवल्क्य की फटकार चुपचाप सुनती रही। 

 

दूसरे प्रश्न में गार्गी ने अपनी जीत की कील ठोंक दी। उन्होंने अपने प्रतिद्वन्द्वी यानी याज्ञवल्क्य से दो प्रश्न पूछने थे तो उन्होंने बड़ी ही लाजवाब भूमिका बांधी।

 

गार्गी ने पूछा, 'ऋषिवर सुनो। जिस प्रकार काशी या अयोध्या का राजा अपने एक साथ दो अचूक बाणों को धनुष पर चढ़ाकर अपने दुश्मन पर लक्ष्य साधता है, वैसे ही मैं आपसे दो प्रश्न पूछती हूं।' गार्गी बड़े ही आक्रामक मूड में आ गई।

 

याज्ञवल्क्य ने कहा- हे गार्गी, पूछो।

 

गार्गी ने पूछा, 'स्वर्गलोक से ऊपर जो कुछ भी है और पृथ्वी से नीचे जो कुछ भी है और इन दोनों के मध्य जो कुछ भी है, और जो हो चुका है और जो अभी होना है, ये दोनों किसमें ओतप्रोत हैं?'

 

गार्गी का पहला प्रश्न 'स्पेस' और दूसरा 'टाइम' के बारे था। स्पेस और टाइम के बाहर भी कुछ है क्या? नहीं है, इसलिए गार्गी ने बाण की तरह पैने इन दो प्रश्नों के जरिए यह पूछ लिया कि सारा ब्रह्माण्ड किसके अधीन है?

 

याज्ञवल्क्य ने कहा- एतस्य वा अक्षरस्य प्रशासने गार्गी।’ यानी कोई अक्षर, अविनाशी तत्व है जिसके प्रशासन में, अनुशासन में सभी कुछ ओतप्रोत है। गार्गी ने पूछा कि यह सारा ब्रह्माण्ड किसके अधीन है तो याज्ञवल्क्य का उत्तर था- अक्षरतत्व के! इस बार याज्ञवल्क्य ने अक्षरतत्व के बारे में विस्तार से समझाया।

 

इस बार गार्गी अपने प्रश्नों के जवाब से इतनी प्रभावित हुई कि जनक की राजसभा में उसने याज्ञवल्क्य को परम ब्रह्मिष्ठ मान लिया। इसके बाद गार्गी ने याज्ञवल्क्य की प्रशंसा कर अपनी बात खत्म की तो सभी ने माना कि गार्गी में जरा भी अहंकार नहीं है। गार्गी ने याज्ञवल्क्य को प्रणाम किया और सभा से विदा ली। गार्गी का उद्‍येश्य ऋषि याज्ञवल्क्य को हराना नहीं था। 

 

जैसे कि पहले ही कहा गया है कि गार्गी वेदज्ञ और ब्रह्माज्ञानी थी तो वे सभी प्रश्नों के जवाब जानती थी। यहां इस कहानी को बताने का तात्पर्य यह है कि अर्जुन की ही तरह गार्गी के प्रश्नों के कारण 'बृहदारण्यक उपनिषद्' की ऋचाओं का निर्माण हुआ।

 

अगले पन्ने पर संवाद का प्रश्नोत्तर स्वरूप

 

प्रस्तुत है गार्गी और याज्ञवल्क्य के मध्य हुई प्रश्न उत्तर संवाद रूप में।

*गार्गी : ऐसा माना जाता है, स्वयं को जानने के लिए आत्मविद्या के लिए ब्रह्मचर्य अनिवार्य है परन्तु आप ब्रह्मचारी तो नहीं। आपकी तो स्वयं दो दो पत्नियां हैं, ऐसे में नहीं लगता कि आप एक अनुचित उदाहरण प्रस्तुत कर रहे हैं?

याज्ञवल्क्य : ब्रह्मचारी कौन होता हैं गार्गी? (जवाब में यज्ञवल्क्य पूछते हैं)।

*गार्गी : जो परमसत्य की खोज में लीन रहे।

याज्ञवल्क्य : तो ये क्यों लगता हैं, गृहस्थ परम सत्य की खोज नहीं कर सकता।

*गार्गी : जो स्वतन्त्र हैं वही केवल सत्य की खोज कर सकता। विवाह तो बंधन हैं।

याज्ञवल्क्य : विवाह बन्धन हैं?

*गार्गी : निसंदेह।

याज्ञवल्क्य- कैसे?

*गार्गी : विवाह में व्यक्ति को औरों का ध्यान रखना पड़ता हैं। निरंतर मन किसी न किसी चिंता में लीन रहता हैं, और संतान होने पर उसकी चिंता अलग। ऐसे में मन सत्य को खोजने के लिए मुक्त कहां से हैं? तो निसंदेह विवाह बन्धन हैं महर्षि।

याज्ञवल्क्य : किसी की चिंता करना बन्धन हैं या प्रेम?

*गार्गी : प्रेम भी तो बन्धन हैं महर्षि?

याज्ञवल्क्य : प्रेम सच्चा हो तो मुक्त कर देता हैं। केवल जब प्रेम में स्वार्थ प्रबल होता हैं तो वह बन्धन बन जाता हैं। समस्या प्रेम नहीं स्वार्थ हैं।

*गार्गी : प्रेम सदा स्वार्थ ही होता हैं महर्षि।

याज्ञवल्क्य : प्रेम से आशाएं जुड़ने लगाती हैं, इच्छाएं जुड़ने लगती हैँ तब स्वार्थ का जन्म होता हैं। ऐसा प्रेम अवश्य बन्धन बन जाता हैं। जिस प्रेम में अपेक्षाएं न हो इच्छाएं न हों, जो प्रेम केवल देना जनता हो वही प्रेम मुक्त करता हैं।

*गार्गी : सुनने में तो आपके शब्द प्रभावित कर रहे हैं महर्षि। परन्तु क्या आप इस प्रेम का कोई उदहारण दे सकते हैं?

याज्ञवल्क्य : नेत्र खोलो और देखो समस्त जगत निःस्वार्थ प्रेम का प्रमाण हैं। ये प्रकृति निःस्वार्थता का सबसे महान उदहारण हैं। सूर्य की किरणें, ऊष्मा, उसका प्रकाश इस पृथ्वी पर पड़ता हैं तो जीवन उत्पन्न होता हैं। ये पृथ्वी सूर्य से कुछ नहीं मांगती हैं। वो तो केवल सूर्य के प्रेम में खिलना जानती हैं और सूर्य भी अपना इस पृथ्वी पर वर्चस्व स्थापित करने का प्रयत्न नहीं करता हैं। ना ही पृथ्वी से कुछ मांगता हैं। स्वयं को जलाकर समस्त संसार को जीवन देता हैं। ये निःस्वार्थ प्रेम हैं गार्गी! प्रकृति और पुरुष की लीला और जीवन उनके सच्चे प्रेम का फल हैं। हम सभी उसी निःस्वार्थता से उसी प्रेम से जन्मे हैँ और सत्य को खोजने में कैसी बाधा।

 

इन उत्तरों को सुन गार्गी पूर्णतः संतुष्ट हो जाती और कहती हैं, 'मैं पराजय स्वीकार करती हूं'। तब याज्ञवल्क्य कहते हैं गार्गी तुम इसी प्रकार प्रश्न पूछने से संकोच न करो, क्योंकि प्रश्न पूछे जाते हैँ तो ही उत्तर सामने आते हैं। जिनसे यह संसार लाभान्वित होता हैं।

p Vachaknavi (Sans: गार्गी वाचक्नवी (Devanagari); argi Vacaknavi (HK)), was an ancient Indian sage and philosopher. In Vedic literature, she is honoured as a great natural philosopher,[1][2] renowned expounder of the Vedas,[3] and known as Brahmavadini, a person with knowledge of Brahma Vidya.[4] In the Sixth and the eighth Brahmana of Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, her name is prominent as she participates in the brahmayajna, a philosophic debate organized by King Janaka of Videha and she challenges the sage Yajnavalkya with perplexing questions on the issue of atman (soul).[1][5] She is also said to have written many hymns in the Rigveda.[6] She remained a celibate all her life and was held in veneration by the conventional Hindus.[7][8]

Gargi, the daughter of sage Vachaknu in the lineage of sage Garga (c. 800-500 BCE) was named after her father Gargi Vachaknavi. From a young age, she evinced a keen interest in Vedic scriptures and became very proficient in fields of philosophy. She became highly knowledgeable in the Vedas and Upanishads in the Vedic times and held intellectual debates with other philosophers.0

Gargi was the daughter of sage Vachaknu in the lineage of sage Garga (c. 800-500 BCE) and hence named after her father as Gargi Vachaknavi.[2][9] Right from a young age, Vachaknavi was very intellectual. She acquired knowledge of the Vedas and scriptures and became renowned for her proficiency in these fields of philosophy.

Gargi, along with Vadava Pratitheyi and Sulabha Maitreyi are among the prominent females who figure in the Upanishads.[10] She was as knowledgeable in Vedas and Upanishads as men of the Vedic times and could very well contest the male-philosophers in debates.[11] Her name appears in the Grihya Sutras of Asvalayana.[12] She was a leading scholar who also made rich contributions to propagate education.[9]

She continued with an array of questions such as what was the universe of the suns, what were the moon, the stars, the gods, Indra, and Prajapati. Gargi then pressed on with two more questions. Gargi urged Yajnavalkya to enlighten her on the weave of reality and asked:[14]

That, O Yajnavalkya, which is above the sky, that which is beneath the earth, that which is between these two, sky and earth, that which people call the past and the present and the future - across what is woven, warp and woof?"

Yagnavalakaya answered "Space"

Gargi was not satisfied and then posed the next question:[14]

Across what then pray, is space woven, warp and woof?

Yajnavalkya answered: Verily, O Gargi, if one performs sacrifices and worship and undergoes austerity in this world for many thousands of years, but without knowing that Imperishable, limited indeed is that [work] of his. Across this Imperishable is the unseen, O Gargi, is space woven, warp and woof.

Then she asked a final question, on what was Brahman (world of the imperishable)? Yagnavalakya put an end to the debate by telling Gargi not to proceed further as otherwise, she would lose her mental balance. This riposte put an end to their further dialogue at the conference of the learned.[1][15] However, at the end of the debate she conceded to the superior knowledge of Yajnavalkya by saying: "venerable Brahmins, you may consider it a great thing if you get off bowing before him. No one, I believe, will defeat him in any argument concerning Brahman." [13]

Her philosophical views also find mention in the Chandogya Upanishad.[1] Gargi, as Brahmavadini, composed several hymns in Rigveda (in X 39. V.28) that questioned the origin of all existence.[6][16][17] The Yoga Yajnavalkya, a classical text on Yoga is a dialogue between Gargi and sage Yajnavalkya.[18] Gargi was honoured as one of the Navaratnas (nine gems) in the court of King Janaka of Mithila.[1]

भारत में पुरुषों के साथ ही भारतीय महिला दार्शनिकों तथा साध्वियों की लम्बी परंपरा रही है। वेदों की ऋचाओं को गढ़ने में भारत की बहुत-सी स्त्रियों का योगदान रहा है उनमें से ही एक है गर्गवंश में वचक्नु नामक महर्षि की पुत्री 'वाचकन्वी गार्गी'। राजा जनक के काल में ऋषि याज्ञवल्क्य और ब्रह्मवादिनी कन्या गार्गी दोनों ही महान ज्ञानी थे। बृहदारण्यक उपनिषद् में दोनों के बीच हुए संवाद पर ही आधारित है।

माना जाता है कि राजा जनक प्रतिवर्ष अपने यहां शास्त्रार्थ करवाते थे। एक बार के आयोजन में याज्ञवल्क्यजी को भी निमंत्रण मिला था। जनक ने शास्त्रार्थ विजेता के लिए सोने की मुहरें जड़ित 1000 गायों को दान में देने की घोषणा कर रखी थी। उन्होंने कहा था कि शास्त्रार्थ के लिए जो भी पथारे हैं उनमें से जो भी श्रेष्ठ ज्ञानी विजेता बनेगा वह इन गायों को ले जा सकता है। निर्णय लेना अति दुविधाजनक था, क्योंकि अगर कोई ज्ञानी अपने को सबसे बड़ा ज्ञानी माने तो वह ज्ञानी कैसे कहलाएं?

 

ऐसी स्थिति में ऋषि याज्ञवल्क्य ने अति आत्मविश्वास से भरकर अपने शिष्यों से कहा, 'हे शिष्यो! इन गायों को हमारे आश्रम की और हांक ले चलो।' इतना सुनते ही सब ऋषि याज्ञवल्क्य से शास्त्रार्थ करने लगे। याज्ञवल्क्य ने सबके प्रश्नों का यथाविधि उत्तर दिया।

 

उस सभा में ब्रह्मवादिनी गार्गी भी बुलाई गयी थी। सबके पश्चात् याज्ञवल्क्यजी से शास्त्रार्थ करने वे उठी। दोनों के बीच जो शास्त्रार्थ हुआ। गार्गी ने याज्ञवल्क्यजी से कई प्रश्न किए।

 

दोनों के बीच हुए संवाद का वर्णन:-

याज्ञवल्क्य से शास्त्रार्थ करने के लिए गार्गी उठीं और पूछा कि हे ऋषिवर! क्या आप अपने को सबसे बड़ा ज्ञानी मानते हैं, जो आपने गायों को हांकने के लिए अपने शिष्यों को आदेश दे दिया?

 

याज्ञवल्क्य ने कहा कि मां! मैं स्वयं को ज्ञानी नहीं मानता परन्तु इन गायों को देख मेरे मन में मोह उत्पन्न हो गया है। गार्गी ने कहा कि आपको मोह हुआ, लेकिन यह इनाम प्राप्त करने के लिए योग्य कारण नहीं है। अगर सभी सभासदों की आज्ञा हो तो में आपसे कुछ प्रश्न पूछना चाहूंगी। अगर आप इनके संतोषजनक जवाब दे पाएं तो आप इन गायों को निश्चित ही ले जाएं।' 

 

सभी ने गार्गी को आज्ञा दे दी। गार्गी का प्रश्न था, 'हे ऋषिवर! जल के बारे में कहा जाता है कि हर पदार्थ इसमें घुलमिल जाता है तो यह जल किसमें जाकर मिल जाता है?'

 

गार्गी का यह पहला प्रश्न बहुत ही सरल था, लेकिन याज्ञवल्क्य प्रश्न में उलझकर क्रोधित हो गए। बाद में उन्होंने आराम से और ठीक ही कह दिया कि जल अन्तत: वायु में ओतप्रोत हो जाता है। फिर गार्गी ने पूछ लिया कि वायु किसमें जाकर मिल जाती है और याज्ञवल्क्य का उत्तर था कि अंतरिक्ष लोक में।

 

पर गार्गी याज्ञवल्क्य के हर उत्तर को प्रश्न में बदलती गई और इस तरह गंधर्व लोक, आदित्य लोक, चन्द्रलोक, नक्षत्र लोक, देवलोक, इन्द्रलोक, प्रजापति लोक और ब्रह्मलोक तक जा पहुंची और अन्त में गार्गी ने फिर वही प्रश्न पूछ लिया कि यह ब्रह्मलोक किसमें जाकर मिल जाता है?

 

इस पर गार्गी पर क्रोधित होकर याज्ञवक्ल्य ने कहा, 'गार्गी, माति प्राक्षीर्मा ते मूर्धा व्यापप्त्त्’। अर्थात गार्गी, इतने प्रश्न मत करो, कहीं ऐसा न हो कि इससे तुम्हारा मस्तक फट जाए। अच्छा वक्ता वही होता है जिसे पता होता है कि कब बोलना और कब चुप रहना है और गार्गी अच्छी वक्ता थी इसीलिए क्रोधित याज्ञवल्क्य की फटकार चुपचाप सुनती रही। 

 

दूसरे प्रश्न में गार्गी ने अपनी जीत की कील ठोंक दी। उन्होंने अपने प्रतिद्वन्द्वी यानी याज्ञवल्क्य से दो प्रश्न पूछने थे तो उन्होंने बड़ी ही लाजवाब भूमिका बांधी।

 

गार्गी ने पूछा, 'ऋषिवर सुनो। जिस प्रकार काशी या अयोध्या का राजा अपने एक साथ दो अचूक बाणों को धनुष पर चढ़ाकर अपने दुश्मन पर लक्ष्य साधता है, वैसे ही मैं आपसे दो प्रश्न पूछती हूं।' गार्गी बड़े ही आक्रामक मूड में आ गई।

 

याज्ञवल्क्य ने कहा- हे गार्गी, पूछो।

 

गार्गी ने पूछा, 'स्वर्गलोक से ऊपर जो कुछ भी है और पृथ्वी से नीचे जो कुछ भी है और इन दोनों के मध्य जो कुछ भी है, और जो हो चुका है और जो अभी होना है, ये दोनों किसमें ओतप्रोत हैं?'

 

गार्गी का पहला प्रश्न 'स्पेस' और दूसरा 'टाइम' के बारे था। स्पेस और टाइम के बाहर भी कुछ है क्या? नहीं है, इसलिए गार्गी ने बाण की तरह पैने इन दो प्रश्नों के जरिए यह पूछ लिया कि सारा ब्रह्माण्ड किसके अधीन है?

 

याज्ञवल्क्य ने कहा- एतस्य वा अक्षरस्य प्रशासने गार्गी।’ यानी कोई अक्षर, अविनाशी तत्व है जिसके प्रशासन में, अनुशासन में सभी कुछ ओतप्रोत है। गार्गी ने पूछा कि यह सारा ब्रह्माण्ड किसके अधीन है तो याज्ञवल्क्य का उत्तर था- अक्षरतत्व के! इस बार याज्ञवल्क्य ने अक्षरतत्व के बारे में विस्तार से समझाया।

 

इस बार गार्गी अपने प्रश्नों के जवाब से इतनी प्रभावित हुई कि जनक की राजसभा में उसने याज्ञवल्क्य को परम ब्रह्मिष्ठ मान लिया। इसके बाद गार्गी ने याज्ञवल्क्य की प्रशंसा कर अपनी बात खत्म की तो सभी ने माना कि गार्गी में जरा भी अहंकार नहीं है। गार्गी ने याज्ञवल्क्य को प्रणाम किया और सभा से विदा ली। गार्गी का उद्‍येश्य ऋषि याज्ञवल्क्य को हराना नहीं था। 

 

जैसे कि पहले ही कहा गया है कि गार्गी वेदज्ञ और ब्रह्माज्ञानी थी तो वे सभी प्रश्नों के जवाब जानती थी। यहां इस कहानी को बताने का तात्पर्य यह है कि अर्जुन की ही तरह गार्गी के प्रश्नों के कारण 'बृहदारण्यक उपनिषद्' की ऋचाओं का निर्माण हुआ।

 

अगले पन्ने पर संवाद का प्रश्नोत्तर स्वरूप

 

प्रस्तुत है गार्गी और याज्ञवल्क्य के मध्य हुई प्रश्न उत्तर संवाद रूप में।

*गार्गी : ऐसा माना जाता है, स्वयं को जानने के लिए आत्मविद्या के लिए ब्रह्मचर्य अनिवार्य है परन्तु आप ब्रह्मचारी तो नहीं। आपकी तो स्वयं दो दो पत्नियां हैं, ऐसे में नहीं लगता कि आप एक अनुचित उदाहरण प्रस्तुत कर रहे हैं?

याज्ञवल्क्य : ब्रह्मचारी कौन होता हैं गार्गी? (जवाब में यज्ञवल्क्य पूछते हैं)।

*गार्गी : जो परमसत्य की खोज में लीन रहे।

याज्ञवल्क्य : तो ये क्यों लगता हैं, गृहस्थ परम सत्य की खोज नहीं कर सकता।

*गार्गी : जो स्वतन्त्र हैं वही केवल सत्य की खोज कर सकता। विवाह तो बंधन हैं।

याज्ञवल्क्य : विवाह बन्धन हैं?

*गार्गी : निसंदेह।

याज्ञवल्क्य- कैसे?

*गार्गी : विवाह में व्यक्ति को औरों का ध्यान रखना पड़ता हैं। निरंतर मन किसी न किसी चिंता में लीन रहता हैं, और संतान होने पर उसकी चिंता अलग। ऐसे में मन सत्य को खोजने के लिए मुक्त कहां से हैं? तो निसंदेह विवाह बन्धन हैं महर्षि।

याज्ञवल्क्य : किसी की चिंता करना बन्धन हैं या प्रेम?

*गार्गी : प्रेम भी तो बन्धन हैं महर्षि?

याज्ञवल्क्य : प्रेम सच्चा हो तो मुक्त कर देता हैं। केवल जब प्रेम में स्वार्थ प्रबल होता हैं तो वह बन्धन बन जाता हैं। समस्या प्रेम नहीं स्वार्थ हैं।

*गार्गी : प्रेम सदा स्वार्थ ही होता हैं महर्षि।

याज्ञवल्क्य : प्रेम से आशाएं जुड़ने लगाती हैं, इच्छाएं जुड़ने लगती हैँ तब स्वार्थ का जन्म होता हैं। ऐसा प्रेम अवश्य बन्धन बन जाता हैं। जिस प्रेम में अपेक्षाएं न हो इच्छाएं न हों, जो प्रेम केवल देना जनता हो वही प्रेम मुक्त करता हैं।

*गार्गी : सुनने में तो आपके शब्द प्रभावित कर रहे हैं महर्षि। परन्तु क्या आप इस प्रेम का कोई उदहारण दे सकते हैं?

याज्ञवल्क्य : नेत्र खोलो और देखो समस्त जगत निःस्वार्थ प्रेम का प्रमाण हैं। ये प्रकृति निःस्वार्थता का सबसे महान उदहारण हैं। सूर्य की किरणें, ऊष्मा, उसका प्रकाश इस पृथ्वी पर पड़ता हैं तो जीवन उत्पन्न होता हैं। ये पृथ्वी सूर्य से कुछ नहीं मांगती हैं। वो तो केवल सूर्य के प्रेम में खिलना जानती हैं और सूर्य भी अपना इस पृथ्वी पर वर्चस्व स्थापित करने का प्रयत्न नहीं करता हैं। ना ही पृथ्वी से कुछ मांगता हैं। स्वयं को जलाकर समस्त संसार को जीवन देता हैं। ये निःस्वार्थ प्रेम हैं गार्गी! प्रकृति और पुरुष की लीला और जीवन उनके सच्चे प्रेम का फल हैं। हम सभी उसी निःस्वार्थता से उसी प्रेम से जन्मे हैँ और सत्य को खोजने में कैसी बाधा।

 

इन उत्तरों को सुन गार्गी पूर्णतः संतुष्ट हो जाती और कहती हैं, 'मैं पराजय स्वीकार करती हूं'। तब याज्ञवल्क्य कहते हैं गार्गी तुम इसी प्रकार प्रश्न पूछने से संकोच न करो, क्योंकि प्रश्न पूछे जाते हैँ तो ही उत्तर सामने आते हैं। जिनसे यह संसार लाभान्वित होता हैं।