Refrain.

 Vidya phalam syad asato nivrttih

Pravrttir ajnana phalam tad iksitam

Tajn ajnayor Yan mrga trsnikadau

No ced vidam drsta phalam Kim asmat

This is the effect of wisdom  to refrain from taking unreal things or if taking to take them as a work of ignorance. Eg mirage.

one director.

 Lord Narayana’s abode, Paramapada, is a place beyond time, whereas the Earth is bound by time. And yet the Lord chose to come to this Earth on many occasions to save His devotees. He is not bound by karma, but we are, said Kidambi Narayanan in a discourse. When Dhritarashtra weeps for his dead sons, Lord Krishna tells him that everyone operates within the framework of time. Here what the Lord is indicating is that everyone is bound by karma. None can escape its consequences. This being so, how can any relationship be permanent? What use then all the grieving over death? Will the same persons be our relatives in subsequent births?

Imagine a flooded river. A twig happens to fall into it. Does the twig have control over which direction it moves in? The flood carries it along. As this twig is being dragged by the flood, another twig falls into the water, and briefly the two twigs move close to each other. After sometime, it is possible that one twig may be washed ashore, but the other may still keep moving. This is how people come together in life, not by their will, but because of their karma. They cannot choose their parents or other relatives. They cannot determine when they should be born or when they should die. We shower affection on our dear ones, only to have them separated from us at some point. We are like the twigs being pulled together by water, and then being separated.

It is Lord Narayana who directs our lives, in accordance with our karma. He gives us the results we deserve for our karma. That is why Brahma praises Vamana, who is in Aditi’s womb as the One who controls the world. The One without old age, without death, the One who need not be born, the One without karma — that Supreme One was born to Aditi as Vamana.

dance like a boy.

 They are known as Gotipuas (‘goti’ means single and ‘pua’ is boy in Odia), but they have to dance dressed as girls and in groups. Born out of the tradition of devotion, the struggle for survival over the years has reduced them to mere entertainers. A precursor of Odissi, Gotipua is now facing the biggest threat from Odissi itself.

“There was a time when Odissi followed the Gotipua dance style. Now it is the other way round — Gotipuas follow Odissi,” said Sangeet Natak Akademi awardee and well-known Gotipua guru Birabar Sahoo in an interview to this writer a few years ago. .

Ironically, on a recent trip to village Dimirisena, located about 35 km from Puri and known as the cradle of the 400-year-old Gotipua tradition, I attended a dance festival that featured mostly Odissi dancers.

Organised by Satyapira Palai, a well-known Gotipua exponent, the annual event was meant to showcase the village’s dance heritage. “It is here that Gotipua is practised as an offering to the divine, and in its most authentic form, without the modern acrobatic movements. We adhered to tradition even with costume, make-up and music. But this meant losing out on performance opportunities outside Dimirisena. Some 30 years ago, for the survival of our troupe, we gave in to the demands of festival organisers and brought about changes in our presentation. Yet, we have not completely lost touch with the tradition of dancing for the gods,” says Satyapira.

If Gotipua dance has survived and is being performed across the globe today, it is due to bandha (complex body postures) and the formation of human pyramids that has become the principal attraction of the dance style, say its exponents, including Satyapira.

“Gone are the days when kings and zamindars patronised Gotipua troupes. We are now entirely governed by market forces. So we have no choice but to cater to changing trends,” says Bhubaneswar-based Bijay Kumar Sahoo, an Odissi dancer, who grew up performing Gotipua at Balunkeswar temple in Dimirisena. He now owns a popular Gotipua troupe, Naxatra Gurukul, that gets several opportunities to perform and earn.

However, there is one exception. Gautam Mohapatra, who also used to perform at Balunkeswar temple, has been teaching at Nilakentheswar Gotipua gurukul near Dimirisena for the past 12 years. He still follows the tradition of the boys singing and dancing simultaneously. Gautam’s repertoire has more avinaya (expressional dance) pieces set to songs of medieval Odia literature and the choreography excludes gymnastic poses or human pyramids. In 2011, he surprised everyone with a solo presentation in the true tradition of ‘Gotipua’, at the first-ever Gotipua festival hosted by the State government in Bhubaneswar.

“When Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s Gaudiya Vaishnavism entered Odisha from Bengal, it influenced a panoply of religious and cultural practices. Its paratopic religiosity generated the Gotipua tradition. Gotipuas were celebrated for their artistic virtuosity and religious devotion,” says Anurima Banerji, associate professor of dance at the University of California-Los Angeles, who researched the Devadasi and Gotipua traditions for her recently published seminal book, Dancing Odissi. Unlike the Maharis, the devadasis of Odisha, whose role was confined to the temples, Gotipuas had the advantage of performing at both sacred and secular spaces, both for gods and for people. As a result, they have been the carriers of Odisha’s dance, music, literature and religious beliefs over centuries. Odissi thus owes more to the Gotipua tradition than the Mahari.

“Although Odissi imbibed a lot from Gotipua and gained global recognition as a classical dance form in a very short span of time, Gotipua was totally marginalised. While the child got recognition, the mother was ignored,” rues septuagenarian Guru Gobinda Pal, an exponent of both Gotipua and Odissi.

ramaya

 Adi Sankara’s Stotra granthas are capable of making a powerful impact on one who learns them with interest. While these hymns are noted for their extraordinary devotional quality, they are also packed with the profound Upanishad truths on Brahma Jnana. The devotee thus is inspired into a spiritual experience where bhakti and jnana get merged in a seamless manner.

For instance, in the Rama Bhujanga Stotra, the acharya while extolling the greatness of Rama avatar also indicates that Rama as the very Absolute Brahman is the ultimate end and goal, said Sri K. Srinivasan in a discourse. Even at the outset, he salutes Rama and addresses Him as the eternal form of Taraka Brahma when he draws from the purana beliefs in the power of Rama Nama. In the puranas such as the Skanda and Padma, it is stated that regardless of one’s spiritual attainment or one’s karma bondage, if one happens to die in Kasi, he gets liberated because Siva chants the Rama Taraka Mantra in his ears. A verse in this hymn alludes to Siva’s chanting the Rama Nama thrice to liberate the souls in Kasi to show the special value of the Rama Nama in helping people cross the ocean of samsara. It is also held that when Siva first revealed the efficacy of the Rama Taraka Mantra to Goddess Parvati, He mentioned that chanting the Rama Nama is equal to chanting the Sahasranama of the Lord. In the famous verse ‘Sri Rama Rama Ramethi Rame Rame Manorame,’ Rama Nama is repeated thrice. The acharya reinforces the truth that Rama is the manifestation of the Absolute Brahman. Hence, meditation on the form and qualities of Rama also leads to the realisation of Brahman. Rama has taught by example the way to lead a life of virtue, dharma, viveka and vairagya and thereby to strive for liberation.

Ramajogi mandu

 raamajOgi mandhu

raagam: vasantaa

17 sooryakaantam janya
Aa: S M1 G3 M1 D2 N3 S
Av: S N3 D2 M1 G3 R1 S

OR

kamaas

28 harikaambhOji janya
Aa: S M1 G3 M1 P D2 N2 S
Av: S N2 D2 P M1 G3 R2 S

taaLam: aadi
Composer: Badraacala Raamadaas
Language: Telugu

pallavi

rAmajOgi mandu konarE pAmaruvAra

anupallavi

rAmajOgi mandu mIru prEmatO pUjincapunaTE kAma krOdamula nella kaTagu pAradOlE mandu

caraNam 1

mada matsaramulanu mATalO nilipETimandu kudikonna karmamulanu gUDaga neDadolE mandu

caraNam 2

kADuga koNDala vaNTi karmamu leDabApe mundu sATivElu jagamulandu svAmi rAmajOgi mandu

caraNam 3

kOTi tanamula iccEdamani konapOyina dorakanimandu sATilEni bhAgavatulu smaraNa jEsi dalacE mandu

caraNam 4

badaraka shrI hari bhaktulu paTana kAvincETi mandu mudimuna mUrkha janulaku mOkSa mosagEDi mandu

caraNam 5

mudamutO bhadrAdriyandu muktini pondincE mandu sadayuDaina rAmadAsu sadbhaktitO golicE mandu.

Oh ignorant men, why don't you buy divine Rama's ascetic medicine?.

Rama jogi medicine eradicates lust and anger if you take it heartily. The medicine instantly eradicates arrogance, envy and avarice. It dispels accumulated sins.

This medicine is capable of dispelling even worst sins as huge as jet black mountains. This is unique medicine in this world.

This medicine can't be purchased even by spending crores of rupees. Ardent devotees only can obtain this incomparable medicine by meditating upon Rama.

This medicine bestows salvation easily at Bhadradri. Gentle Ramadasu takes this with pure devotion.

yeteeruga nanu

 sri raghunandana seeta ramanaa

stitajana poshaka ramaa
kaarunyalaya bhaktavarada ninu kannadi kaanupu rama
ye teeruga nanu daya juchedavo inavamshottama rama
na taramaa bhavasagarameedanu nalina dalekshana rama
vasava kamala bavaa sura vandita vaaradhi bandhana rama
bhasuravata sadgunamulu galgina bhadradreeshwara rama rama
ye teeruga nanu………

శ్రీ రఘునందన సీతా రమణా
శ్రితజన పోషక రామా
కారుణ్యాలయ భక్తవరద నిను కన్నది కానుపు రామా
ఏ తీరుగ నను దయ జూచెదవో ఇలవంశోత్తమ రామా
నా తరమా భవసాగరమీదను నళిన దళేక్షణ రామా
వాసవ కమల బావా సుర వందిత వారధి బంధన రామా
భాసురవత సద్గుణములు గల్గిన బధ్రాద్రీశ్వర రామా రామా
ఏ తీరుగ నను………

Rama Rama Namosthuthe, jaya Ramabhadra Namosthuthe,
Ramachandra Namosthuthe Jaya Raghavaya Namosthuthe,
Deva deva Namosthuthe, jaya Deva raja Namosthuthe,
Vasudeva Namosthuthe, Jaya Veera raja Namosthuthe || 1 ||

Raghavam, Karunakaram, Munisevitham, Sura vandhitham,
Janaki vadanaravinda divakaram, guna Bhajanam,
Vali soonu Hrudheekshanam, Hanumath priyam, Kamaleshanam,
Yathu Dhana Bhayangaram, Pranamami Raghava Kunjaram. || 2 ||

Maithili kucha bhooshanaa amala neelamoukthika meeswaram,
Ravananuja palanam, Raghu pungavam, mama daivatham,
Medhini thanayaa mukhaambuja bodhakari Divakaram,
Surya vamsa vivardhanam, Pranamami Raghava Kunjaram. || 3 ||

Hema kundala manditha amala ganda desamarindhamam,
Satha Kumbha mayura nethra vibhooshanena vibhooshitham,
Charu noopura hara kouusthubha karna bhooshana bhooshitham,
Bhanu vamsa vivardhanam, Pranamami Raghava Kunjaram. || 4 ||

Dandakakhya vane ratham, Sura sidha yogi ganasrayam,
Sishta palana thathparam, druthi saali Vali krutha sthuthim,
Kumbhakarna bujaa bujanga vikarthena suvisaradham,
Lakshmananuja vathsalam, Pranamami Raghava Kunjaram. || 5 ||

Kethaki karaveera jathi suganda malyaa shobhitham,
Sridharam, Mithilathmaja kucha kunkuma aruna vakshasam,
Deva devam asesha bhootha manoharam, jagatham pathim,
Dasa bhootha janaavanam, Pranamami Raghava Kunjaram. || 6 ||

Yaga dhana Samadhi yoga Japadhi karma karair dwijai,
Veda paragathairaharnisa maadharena supoojitham,
Thatakaa vadha dheera mangadha nadha vali nishoodhanam,
Paithrukoditha palakam, Pranamami Raghava Kunjaram. || 7 ||

Leelayaa Khara Dhooshanadhi nisachara suvinasanam,
Ravanathakam achyutham, hari yoodha koti samavritham,
Neerajanana ambujangri yugam harim, Buvanasrayam,
Deva Karya Vichakshanam, Pranamami Raghava Kunjaram. || 8 ||

Koushikena su sikshithastra kalapamayatha lochanam,
Charu hasam anadha bandhu masesha loka nivasinam,
Vasavadhi surari Ravana sasanam cha gathim,
Neela Megha nibhakruthim, Pranamami Raghava Kunjaram. || 9 ||

Raghavashtaka sidhidham achyuthalaya sadhakam,
Bukthi muthi phala pradham, Dhana dhanya putha vivardhanam,
Ramachandra krupa kadaksha madarena sada padeth,
Ramachandra Padambuja dwaya santhatharpitha Manasa. || 10 ||

Nigama sarasi rathnam, nithya masaktha rathnam,
Nikhila sukruthi rathnam, Janaki roopa rathnam,
Bhuvana valaya rathnam Bhoobruthameka rathnam,
Prakruthi sulabha rathnam, Maithili prana rathnam || 11 ||

Raghava Ashtakam Meaning:

Oh Rama, Rama, salutations, Victory to Ramabhadra, salutations,
Oh Ramachandra salutations, Victory to Raghava salutations,
Oh God of Gods salutations, Victory to king of Gods Salutations,
Oh Vasudeva salutations, Victory to valorous king, salutations.

I salute the elephant like Raghava, who is of the Raghu clan,
Who is doer of mercy, who is served by sages, who is saluted by devas,
Who is the sun which opens the lotus like face of daughter of Janaka,
Who is the vessel of good characters who is saluted by the son of Vali,
Who is liked by Hanuman, who has lotus like eyes and who is terrible looking to Rakshasas.

I salute the elephant like Raghava, who is the God who is,
The pure blue pearl which decorates the breasts of Maithili,
Who looks after Vibheeshana the brother of Ravana, Who is the great one of Raghu clan,
Who is my God, Who is sun who wakes up the lotus like face of daughter of earth,
And who is the one who furthers the clan of the Sun God.

I salute the elephant like Raghava, who wears the golden ear globes,
Who has a pure neck and is the killer of his enemies,
Who is ornamented with golden eye similar to pea cock,
Who has pretty anklets, Kausthubha necklace and also ornaments in hands,
And who is the one who furthers the clan of the Sun God.

I salute the elephant like Raghava, Who is pleased by the Dandaka forest,
Who is the support to devas and hoards of Yogis and Sidhas,
Who is interested in supporting people with discipline
Who was praised by Vali, who was speedy by nature,
Who was an expert in cutting the snake like hands of Kumbhakarna,
And who was greatly affectionate towards his younger brother Lakshmana.

I salute the elephant like Raghava, who shines wearing scented garlands,
Made of Ketaki, Karaveera and Jathi flowers, who caries Goddess Lakshmi,
Whose chest has a red Kumkum mark from the chest of the daughter of Mithila,
Who is God a of Gods, who is the most pretty among beings, Who is lord of the world,
Who is the protector of all beings who serve him.

I salute the elephant like Raghava, who is being worshipped day and night,
By great Brahmin experts in Vedas who do Yaga, Charity, Samadhi, Yoga and other rituals,
Who is the valorous one who killed Thataka, who killed Vali the lord of Angadha,
And who takes care of all that he inherited from his ancestors.

I salute the elephant like Raghava, who like a play completely killed,
The Rakshasas called Khara and Dhooshana, who is Lord Vishnu who killed Ravana,
Who is surrounded by millions of monkeys, who is Lord Vishnu,
Who is Lord Hari who has two lotus like feet, who is the support of the world,
And who is clear sighted in looking after the affairs of devas.

I salute the elephant like Raghava, who uses the arrows and quiver,
Given and taught by sage Viswamithra with a very keen eye,
Who has a pretty smile, who is friend of orphans,
Who lives among the entire people of earth,
Who punished Ravana who was the enemy of Indra and devas and gave him salvation,
And who has the form of blue water rich cloud.

This octet on Ravana would make it possible to reach the land of Achyutha,
Would result in pleasures and salvation, increase of wealth properties and sons,
If it is always read with devotion under the merciful look of God Ramachandra,
With the mind completely surrendered to the lotus like feet of Rama.

The gem from lake of Vedas, the gem we get for ever attached,
The gem of all virtues, the gem of the form of Janaki,
The gem that encircles the world, the only gem that carries the world,
The gem that is by nature easy and the life like gem of Maithili.

super moon.

 

The mild Lyrids meteor shower has been gracing our night sky without fanfare every April, for centuries. This year, it has to tussle with a supermoon for attention

It never hurts to look up at the night sky. Stars explode, comets careen, cosmic miracles take place at an inconceivable scale far beyond our line of sight, and the only indication we get is the lightest of twinkles above our heads. Every once in a while, however, one of these phenomena deigns to enter our humble fields of vision. And while the Lyrids meteor shower is not the most exciting of them, it is among the first meteor showers of the year — and one of two reasons for us to keep our eyes trained towards the sky this month.

The showers can be seen at their peak tonight (as well as a few days before and after), but their glow might be dimmed by the other phenomenon of the month: a supermoon on April 26.

“What would have happened is that a comet would have broken up, probably centuries ago. We [the Earth] will be passing through the tail of the comet, or through what is left of it. This particular one is what we pass every year, around the third week of April,” explains Jayant Murthy, a scientist and professor at the Bengaluru-based Indian Institute of Astrophysics, over the phone. He adds, “The comet itself came by our solar system in the mid-1800s, and won’t be coming back for a while.”

Neeraj Ladia, head of education organisation SPACE Chennai, explains further: “When the debris is left in space, it has a fixed space in the sky. Due to the Earth’s revolution it will cross the debris that lies in the path of its orbit.” The parts of debris that encounter our atmosphere begin to burn, creating the spectacle of bright, streaking meteors.

Murthy adds that this particular shower does have a few bright fragments, and can be best viewed after midnight on a dark sky, ideally one not lit up by bright city lights. “It will be brightest between April 21 and 23. Look towards the Lyra constellation to spot it,” he suggests.

The constellation, which the meteor shower has been named after, is considered the radiant point of the shower, explains Ladia. In simple terms, as the Earth nears this debris, that constellation is the point from where the shower appears to begin, to us.

Ladia calls this radiant point a meteor shower’s “address in the sky”. Whichever constellation it seems to be coming from, he says, is what the meteor shower is named after: Lyrids for Lyra, Geminids for Gemini, Perseid for Perseus and so on.

How powerful a meteor shower is, depends on a number of factors, such as how numerous the debris is, the size of each individual particle, its luminosity, and its rate per hour. The standard for measuring that last factor, says Ladia, “is zhr or zenithal hourly rate: how many meteors can one person see per hour on a clear night. It is the measure of the quality of a meteor shower.”

Lyrids has a zhr of 15 to 20 on dark skies, adds Ladia: “It isn’t very good, it is considered a fairly normal zhr. Geminids [in December] on the other hand has almost 120 zhr. Perseid, which is coming in August, will have around 80 meteors per hour.”

He further adds that Lyrids might be even less bright this year, because of its close proximity to the supermoon. “There is already a gibbous moon in the sky, which will only set around 1 am or 2 am each night,” he states, adding that post-1 am is the best time to make an attempt if you live close to dark skies.

The biggest danger of the meteor shower being drowned out by luminosity still stems from the supermoon, which also happens to be the first of its kind this year. Supermoons are generally the brightest and largest full moons of the year, and can occur two or three times a year if certain factors fall exactly into place.

Shweta Kulkarni, chief executive officer of Pune-based organisation Astron, which works to spread awareness of astronomy, explains the concept of a supermoon. “The lunar orbit around the Earth is elliptical. So the moon is sometimes very close to the Earth, and sometimes moves further away during its orbit. When it is very close to us and we happen to have a full moon at the same time, we call it a supermoon.”

For any satellite, the closest point of orbit to Earth is termed its perigee. According to NASA, both a new moon and a full moon can be termed a supermoon, as long as it is within 90% of perigee.

So what does this mean in visual terms? According to both Kulkarni and Ladia, it is difficult to gauge the difference between a usual full moon and a supermoon unless you put their photographs side by side.

“The difference in size is just about 10% to 14%, so there isn’t much to notice once it’s up in the sky,” adds Ladia, “You can tell it most drastically when the moon is still rising. Closer to the horizon, with buildings, trees or other structures for reference, it can look amazing.” Space Chennai is organising a photography contest, as well as a Facebook Live on April 26. “Anyone can join in and enjoy it,” adds Ladia.

So you can keep your cameras and telephoto lenses ready, or you can just sit back and watch the sky and all its miracles, letting it provide some of the succour we so desperately need.