three precious gifts.

Scriptures have always perceived the holistic value pervading creation and speak of the close ties between human beings and nature, and of the need to live in harmony with the environment. Drawing from these and taking into account the body-mind complex that constitutes each human being, the wise have shown that the most precious gifts for an individual are water, food and good advice, pointed out Velukkudi Sri Krishnan in a discourse.
Water and food are for the upkeep of the body and good advice, ‘subhashitani,’ for the welfare of the atma. Good advice helps one to remain healthy in both mind and body. Indian schools of thought have given much thought to explain the nature and function of the human mind. It is seen as an instrument endowed with the functions to think, decide and act. The mind propels the actions of the body. But, all the jnanendriyas and the karmendriyas, the mind, intellect and ego sense or ahamkara, function owing to the atma within the body. So, when the mind derives strength from the good advice it learns to be at peace with the external world and in turn advises the body to act in ways that can reduce stress. The moral sayings provide practical tips for quality living, while calling for constant self-introspective analysis. For instance, one truth is to eschew the deep-rooted fallacy that gradations in birth, status and scholarship between individuals can make one superior or inferior and to understand that all beings ultimately owe allegiance to the Lord. Another truth is that all that is old is not necessarily good and that all that is new is not necessarily bad. The wise will examine the old and the new on their merits and accept good advice for moral and ethical living that can elevate human beings towards salvation, the highest Purushartha or goal.

Vedic science its context.

The Vedangas the auxillary sciences of the veda consists of phonetics, ritual, grammar, etymology, meters and astronomy. there are also references to a variety of occupations that include shipwork medicine agriculture metal working weaving animal husbandry which are all based on systematic study and in corresponding sciences. references to bhisaj physician, the Atarvaveda describes the anatomy of the human body in detail with a very good accuracy. these studies and sciences existed and were later lost. it was however discovered by Vysa  the son of Parasara. who rediscovered the alphabets. Vedic people were indegenous to India. the Indian tradition shows that it is the only tradition to have a continuity traced back to 7000BC. the most successful period being the Indus Sarasvathy tradition during the Harappan period 2600 to 1900 BC the settlements two thirds of it being along the Sarasvati river. recent studies have shown how this river dried up around 1900 B. C.
the catastrophic break with the drying up of the river. The Vedic system is a fully developed system based on the theory of the universe and consciousness. Life comes with its inner clock. Living organisms have rhythms that are matched to the periods of the sun or the moon. an example the potato has a variation in its metabolic process that is matched to the sidereal day, the 23 hour 56 minute period of rotation of the earth relative to the fixed stars. the cicadas come in many species including ones that appear yearly in mid summer. the best known amongst the others are the ones that have 13 year and seventeen year periods. the biological clocks are quiet precise the 24 hour according to the day, 24 hour 50 minutes according to the lunar day since the moon rises 50 minutes later every day or its half representing 29.5 days the period from one new moon to the next. ( common people to this day still believe in this system will not trim their hair when the moon is on the descent as they believe for progress and growth the ascending moon period are good times.) monthly rhythms averaging 29.5 days are reflected in the reproductive cycles of many marine plants and those of animals as well.some even correspond to the periods of the planets. where the biological periodicities are of longer duration. new reserch supports this biological clock for humans by tradition correspond to the moons motion infact menses means lunar month.
from the prespective of the ancient indians their emphasis on time bound rituals and the calendar, many of the biological periods were discovered by them, the menstrual cycle and its connections with the moon, the life cycle of various plants, the semimonthly estrus cycle of sheep, the three week cycles of cattle and pigs, the six month cycle of dogs etc. it is then quiet clear that the ancient calendar with its intercalary month every third year was a direct result of the lunar cycles.
the rhythms matched closely to the principal astronomical periods, also noticed might be the less obvious cycles matching other heavenly bodies. these equivalences were considered as manifestations of the motions of the body's inner planets developing a yoga system thus grew the importance given to astrology. certain animals were regarded as special owing to their gestation periods ass 365 days, baboon 183 days, cat 63 days, cow 280 days closest to man hence considered sacred. dog 61 days, elephant 645 days, goat 151 days, horse 337 days, man 267 days, rabbit 31 days, sheep 148 days etc.
its no wonder then the ass is used as a symbol for the year in the Satapata Brahmana. the horse with only a days difference for the Naksatra year336 days. the sacred baboon exactly half the solar year.

Astronomy of the fire altars.

*Agni is the vedic God it also represents time and in sacrifices it represents the year. The fire altar generally made of bricks is called an agni. Agnichayana or the building of a fire altar, is the symbolic creation of Agni-Prajapati-Purusa. The Rig veda has several references to fire altars   1.164.
/35;1.170.4;5.31.12;7.35.7;8.19.18; 10.61.2: are where vedi are mentioned.
Three places of Agni which are doubtless are GRAHAPATYA; AHAVANIYA and DAKSHINAGNI are mentioned in RV 5.11.2.
Taittiriya Samhita 5.2.3 speaks of the garhapatya beng made of 21 bricks. it is also stated if it is made for the first time it should be made in five layers, for the second time in three layers and for the third time in a single layer. Various shapes provide different benifits.  beneath the superficial association the logic of the altars was the representation of knowledge.
going deeper into the subject: Agnicayana is one of the Soma sacrifices. Bricks to be used in the altar construction are classified into two types ordinary lokamprna and special yajusmati. each yajusmati brick is consecrated in a special mannerand each brick is also marked in a special way. here bricks are built in different shapes to different measurements.
The total no of yajusmati bricks are 396 this is 360 days of the year and 36 additional (including one being the fillings between the bricks) as the days of the intercalary month. By layers the first has 98 the second has 41 the third 71 the fourth has 47 the fifth has 138. the sum of 4th and 5th 186 with one space filling. the number of bricks in the third and fourth layer equals the integer nearest to one third the number of days in the lunar year. The number of bricks in the third layer equals the integer nearest to one fifth the number of days in the lunar year. the number of bricks in the second and third layesr equals one third the number of days in a nakshatra year of 28*12*336 days. Once the basic number of 21 is subtracted from the number of bricks in the first layer, the sum of the remainder together with the number of bricks in the second layer are once again the integer nearest one third the number of days in the lunar year.

The altar can also be constructed symbolically by the metres. the altar is made with gayatri 24 syllables as the breath, usnih 28 syllables as the eye, anustubh 32 syllables as the voice, brhati 36 syllables as the mind, pankti 40 syllables as the ear, tristubh 44 syllables as the generative breath and the jagati 48 syllables as the downward breathing. this too equal to gayatri altar being upto the level of the knees the tristubh up to the level of navel and jagati the height of  the man.clearly there were correspondences acknowledged between the altars of metres and that of bricks.

The total number of lokamprna bricks is 10800 which equals the number of muhurtas in a year (1 day = 30 muhurtas) or equivalently the number of days in 30 years.Of these 21 go into the garhaptya, 78 into the eight dhisnya hearths and the rest go into the ahavaniya altra.
the fire altrs are surrounded by 360 enclosing stones parisrita, of these 21 are around garhapatya, 78 around dhisnya and 261 around ahavaniya. the ahavaniya include the dhisnya therefore the number of days assigned exclusively toahavaniya is 261-78=183, which is equal to the days in the uttarayana of a 366 day year. the choice of 21 days for the garhapatya is from the unique symbolism of this number. it is also the sum of the first six integers. once the number 21 and 183 are chosen the number 78 becomes the only choice for dhisnya. this number 78 is the sum of the first 12 integers.
so you see it is all scientific:

Adhikaris

Classification of a qualified person;
There are two types of adhikaris or qualified persons;
those who adopt prapatti as the sole and direct means and the other adopting it as an anga to bhakti;
the phala bakti means bhakti which arises as the fruit of prapatti. where as the second sadhana bhakti is bhakti that leads to moksha.

For reference:
1. tiruvoimolzi 3.9.5
2. Sharanagathi Gadya.
3. Athimanusha stava 61.
4. Varadaraja Stava 84;92
5. SriRangaraja stava 2-102'
     Sandilya smrithi 3-75
6. sandilya smriti 1-95
7. Bharadvaja smriti
8. Ramayana Aranyakanda.
9. Tiruvoimolzi 7-5-1
10. Perialwar thirumolzhi 5-1-3
11. Tiruvoimolzi 8-10-4
12. Tirumalai 2.\
13. Thirumangai alwar Siriya thirumadal
14. Ramayana Uttarakanda 40-15
15. Vishnu purana 1-12-16 Lord tells Dhruva.
16. Vishnu Purana 1-12-79 Dhruva tells Lord.
17. Vishnu Purana 1-17-91
18. Vishnu dharma 43-46
19. Vishnu purana 1-9-73.

Uttarakrityadhikara.

One of the finest chapters in the Rahasyatrayasara of V D.
It prescribes the kind of life a man should lead after the performance of prapatti. Bodily purity, freedom from evil thoughts, the performance of nithya and naimittika rites, without any desire for the fruits or cosequences, goodwill to all even to enemies who hate and revile, service to God and the devotees of God, contentment with whatever one has or with whatever comes in ones way without any effort for attaining it. this last is prompted by the mere love of it and not with a desire or expectation of reward.

to be continued.

Kainkarya Samrajyam;

Kainkarya Samrajyam is the crowning glory or bliss of mukti. the love felt by the self for bhagwan in moksha is so great that it overflows into service or kainkaryam to him.

Bhoga Samayam, the self attains in the state perfect happiness or bliss exactly like that of bhagwan himself. (There may be differences between the activities permited to the self in moksha and those of Bhagwans, but with respect to the enjoyment or bliss there is absolutely no difference.

wish upon a star. RC

Casually garbed in a lumber jacket and a green Tyrolean hat, Walt Disney stood with a group of his executives, talking excitedly. It was a brilliant October day in 1965, and the setting 16 miles south west of Orlando, was an undeveloped wilderness, twice the size of Manhattan, which Walt Disney productions had just purchased. Where the ordinary observer saw only swamps and cypress groves, WD could see the beckoning future an unparalleled vacation kingdom called Walt Disney world, which would encompass a massive amusement area, revolutionary new hotels, camp grounds, championship golf courses, monorail, lagoons, lakes and white sand beaches. what a fathoming he even asked "wouldn't it be something if we could build a city here, a community of tomorrow, where people could live without traffic or smog or slums?" he continued "The city would be free of pollution, completely enclosed for climate control" when he was interrupted by his vice president "that would cost hundreds and millions of dollars" WD immediately said "Joe can't you keep your mind on the subject and away from inessentials." WD indeed was a great dreamer who was so passionate that he was able to fantasize and build on that dream, what a great visionary. 
As a child he had live farm animals as his companions and toys:
Skinny the piglet squealed deliriously through games of hide and seek. all games were played according to rules and the animals seemed to understand them. Pete the farm terrier proved adept in tug of war, charley the buggy horse seemed to play a game of his own when ever WD climbed on his back he headed towards the vast five acre orchard. WD was a great artist discovered by chance when he used the side of the horse as his canvas using the melting tar from the barrels where they were storing rain water to draw a picture of a pig who seemed to be snoring with a satisfied contention. his aunt discovering his talent got him crayons and a tablet on which he spent many hours drawing all that he liked. he drew a mocking bird in a sycamore tree, a setter drowsing in shade etc. WD used to usually accompany a elderly physician on his rounds in the villages nearby. who one day requested him todo a portrait of Ruppert. the doctor was so impressed that he framed the work loading a lot of praise for the good work. 

workings of the lords grace in shaping lives.
his life is well known on the canvas of the world but how many of us wants to see what is behind all the fun one experiences in the kingdom of WD.
to be continued.