Monday, July 11, 2022

Rajasuya

 


One day Narada visits Yudhishthira in his capital city of Indraprastha. Narada was capable of travelling in any of the worlds, and he had met Pandu, the dead father of the Pandavas. Pandu had told Narada to tell Yudhishthira that he should perform the Rajasuya yaga, for then he could conquer the world. Obeying his father’s instructions, Yudhishthira arranges for the yaga, said Kidambi Narayanan in a discourse. Invitations are sent to all kings, and scholars. All of them accept the invitation.


Yudhishthira has provided a magnificent feast for everyone. In the dining area, only two phrases are heard: “Have some more;” “Please serve some more.” Curd and ghee flow like rivers. Cooked rice is piled up like big hills. It has been arranged to blow a conch when one lakh people have eaten. This conch is heard many times a day, indicating how many people are served food every day.


Kings arrive with their retinue of servants and cooks. They bring many gifts. They get their cooks to cook excellent food, which they themselves serve to the visiting scholars. While the ritviks perform the rites of the yaga, grammarians have discussions on grammar. In another place, music, dance and drama provide the necessary entertainment to the people. Thus, the capital bears a festive look, even while the yaga is done according to the prescribed rules. There has been no yaga on this scale. Nor has any city looked so grand as Indraprastha. Dritarashtra and Duryodhana too attend the yaga. The kings tell Yudhishthira that with this yaga, he has now attained the status of samrat. When the yaga is completed, the invitees depart to their respective countries. Yudhishthira asks his brothers to accompany them up to the border of his kingdom to bid farewell.




Harivana

 https://youtu.be/7-FaJPeqbdY


Harivana seva is a special offering to Lord where the Bhakta places the tulasi harivana on his head, sings these devotional songs and offeres his Nartana Seva This seva is performed on the 8 ekadashis during chaturmasya beginning on shukla ekadashi of ashada masa up until shukla ekadashi of karteeka masa.



Sunday, July 10, 2022

kalpanika.

 Several Kaalpanika (imaginative) and Pauraanika (Puranic) Kavyas were composed during this period that formed the foundation for Riti Juga. The major works of this era other than those written by the Panchasakhas are Gopakeli and Parimalaa authored by Narasingha sena, contemporary of Gajapati emperor Prataprudra Deva, Chataa Ichaamati and Rasa by Banamali Das, Premalochana, Bada Shakuntala & Kalaabati by Vishnu Das, Nrushingha purana and Nirguna Mahatmya by Chaitanya Dash (born in Kalahandi), Lilaabati by Raghunatha Harichandan, Usha Bilasa by Shishu shankar Das, Sasisena by Pratap Rai, Rahashya Manjari by Devadurlava Das, Hiraabati by Ramachandra Chottaray, Deulatola by Nilambara Das, Prema Panchamruta by Bhupati Pandit, Rukmini Vivaha by Kartik Das, Goparasa by Danai Das and Kanchi Kaveri by Purushotama Das.In the 16th century three major poets translated Jayadeva's Gita Govinda into Odia. They are Dharanidhara Mishra, Brindavan Das (Rasabaridhi) and Trilochan Das (GovindaGita). Brundabati Dasi, a woman poet of great talent wrote Purnatama Chandrodaya Kavya towards the end of the 17th century.

Several Chautishas (a form of Odia poetry where 34 stanzas from "ka" to "Khsya" are placed at the starting of each composition) were composed during this time. The famous ones being Milana Chautisha, Mandakini Chautisha, Barshabharana Chautisha, Rasakulya Chautisha, "Manobodha Chautisha".

Muslim poet Salabega was one of the foremost devotional poets of this era who composed several poems dedicated to Lord Jagannath during Jahangir's reign in the 17th century.

Suvarna besha

 https://youtu.be/OzLMyRQ_iOk


Suna Besha, also known as Rajadhiraja besha. Raja Besha and Rajarajeshwara Besha, is an event when the Hindu deities Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra (the presiding deities of Jagannath Temple, Puri, India) are adorned with gold jewelry. Suna Bhesha is observed 5 times during a year. It is commonly observed on Magha Purnima (January), Bahuda Ekadashi (July), Dashahara (October), Kartik Purnima (November), and Pousa Purnima (December). The name Suna Bhesha is derived from two words, 'Suna' meaning "gold" and 'Bhesha' meaning "costume".


While one such Suna Bhesha event is observed on Bahuda Ekadashi during the Rath Yatra on the chariots placed at the lion's gate (also called Singhadwara. the other four Beshas' are observed inside the temple on the Ratna Singhasana (gem studded altar). On this occasion gold plates are decorated over the hands and feet of Jagannath and Balabhadra; Jagannath is also adorned with a Chakra (disc) made of gold on the right hand while a silver conch adorns the left hand. However, Balabhadra is decorated with a plough made of gold on the left hand while a golden mace adorns his right hand.


During the 10th bright day of the month of Aswin (October) on Bijayadasami or Dassahara day, Lord Jagannath is fully bedecked as an emperor with all gold jewelry.On the 12th Shukla paksha day of the month of Ashada, after returning from the Ratha Yatra to the main Jagannath Temple, also known as Srimandir, the three deities are adorned with gold ornaments. Again on the full moon day of the Kartika (November) the deities are decorated with gold ornaments. On the full moon day of Pausha (December) and Phalguna (March) also the deities are worshiped when gold ornamentation is done.



A day after the Suna Bhesha event Lord Jagannath and other deities are formally offered a concoction of a sweet juice, known in local usage as Adharapana, which is a mixture made of milk, cream, cottage cheese, plantain pulp, grated coconut, nabata (brown sugar spiced with camphor), nutmeg and black pepper and so forth. The juice is offered as a token to the lips of the deities deified in their individual chariots to break their fast or ekadasi. Following this ritual the terracotta vessel with its contents is broken which is done to appease guardian deities (demi-gods) of the three chariots and the gods deified therein. Devotees assembled at the venue jostle to collect a small quantity of this juice as prasada (gracious gift of god).


Suna Besha was introduced during the era of King Kapilendradeva in 1460 A.D. When the king Kapilendradeva returned home triumphant after winning wars over the rulers of the Deccan (Southern India) he brought a huge bounty which was carried in 16 cartloads. The trophies which he collected consisted of diamonds and gold. The day he arrived in Puri he donated all the booty to the Lord Jagannath. He instructed the temple priests to get ornaments crafted out of the gold and diamond he had donated to adorn the deities on the occasion of the Ratha Yatra festival. Since then the deities, Jagannatha, Balabharda and Subhadra are decorated with this jewellery after the Bahuda Yatra.


The gold ornaments of the Lords are stored at the temple’s treasury known as Bhitara Bhandara ghara. The bhandara nikap priests or the store in-charge, guarded by armed policemen and temple officials, bring the required amount of gold from the bhandara ghar before 1 hour and handed them over to the puspalaka and daitapati priests on the chariots. The daitapati priests are responsible to decorate the Deities’ body with gold jewellery. The three deities are dressed in glittering gold ornaments on their respective chariots.



The following ornaments are used to decorate the Deities in Suna Besha:


• Suna Hasta – Golden Hand


• Suna Payar – Golden feet


• Suna Mukuta – Golden Crown


• Suna Mayur Chandrika – A golden peacock feather used by Lord Jagannath as Sri Krishna headpiece


• Suna Chulapati – A golden ornament worn traditionally on the forehead to increase the beauty of the face


• Suna Kundal – Golden earring of hanging round ball type


• Suna Rahurekha – A half square shaped golden aura around the face of the deities


• Suna Mala – Necklaces with several designs made of gold. These include:


• Padma Mala – Lotus Shaped


• Sevati Mala – Shaped Like Small Sun Flower


• Agasti Mala – Moon Shaped flower design


• Kadamba Mala – Kadamba Flower Design (Round ball shape)


• Kante Mala – Big Gold Beads Design


• Mayur Mala – Shaped in Peacock feathers


• Champa Mala – Shaped liked Yellow champa Flower


• Suna Chakra – Golden Wheel


• Suna Gada – Golden bludgeon


• Suna Padma – Golden lotus


• Rupa Sankha – A silver conch



According to the “Records of Rights”, the treasury has 150 gold articles comprising of three necklaces of 120 tola or 1.4 kg weight each of the limbs of hands and feets. Lord Jagannath and Balabhadra made in gold of 818 tola or 9.54 kg and 710 tola or 8.28 kg of weight. Also recorded are decorative crowns of the deities Jagannatha, Balabhadra and Subhadra in the order of 610 tolas or 7.12 kg, 434 tola or 5 kg and 274 tola or 3.2 kg of weight respectively. According to the temple sources, in the past, the total weight of the gold ornaments used to adorn the deities weighed more than 208 kg initially made in 138 designs. It is believed that whoever sees the Lord in Suna Besha gets free of all his bad Karmas. A huge number of the crowd can be seen in front of the temple to feel the power of the Lord on this day






Saturday, July 9, 2022

Being blessed.

 Every day some thing happens in your life for which you have to thank the Lord.

If you start and review you will soon realize that there are so many things happening  in yours and the life's of people around you that you have to be thankful for.

Start today and you will never regret in life. 

Count your many blessings and joy and happiness will roll into your life.

You won't have time to thank him enough for all that's happening to you and  around you. 

Just do it.

Friday, July 8, 2022

They come in when so young

 Yesterday we were at the rotract installation where this girl was inducted as president. Impressive so thought of sharing.


This is where Tanvi Arvind, a 14-year-old student of Sishya School in Chennai, decided to step in with TechEdEn in 2019, a services startup that aims to Educate and Enable Technology for the “tech-challenged”. Starting from her own family The idea for TechEdEn came from her own experience. “My grandparents live alone in Bengaluru. Whenever I used to visit them, I saw them struggling with technology. They had two smartphones, two iPads, and a shared laptop,” she says. On every visit, she set about educating and enabling them with the help of simple steps on the use of technology, and how it could be used to its fullest potential. “Each time I taught them something new, they were awestruck and amazed at how life had changed for them forever, with tech,” she adds. When she saw the joy and happiness these simple tech lessons brought to her grandparents, she decided to start a venture to ensure many more senior citizens benefit from learning basic technology! Sign up for our exclusive newsletters. Subscribe to check out our popular newsletters. With EdTechEn, Tanvi teaches senior citizens basic uses of technology like booking a ride service like Uber or Ola, using Swiggy to order food, learning how to navigate Zoom and Facetime to connect with their loved ones, online travel booking, using Google Maps, and installing and using social media platforms like Instagram, Pinterest, etc.  “More now, than ever before, with an emerging ‘new-normal’ of everything moving online and social distancing, I believe these services will find a significant value with the target audience - people of the older generation who did not have the opportunity to learn and use digital technology while growing up. They will surely need ways to go about manoeuvring the fast-changing tech and digital world, swiftly. TechEdEn’s services enable their connection to the e-world, providing convenience at their fingertips,” she says. Helping overcome fear and inhibitions Tanvi started off with on-site services as planned for the first year, with a lean set-up. By going to clients’ place ‘in-person’ as a ‘tutor’, she has taught and hand-held 68 seniors, about 25 percent of whom were paranoid about getting started and connecting to the digital world, by helping them overcome their fear and inhibitions. She has also taught them basics like printing at home, connecting to the internet, using applications on device and internet, to about 30 of them transacting with service providers such as Uber, Swiggy, and Amazon from the comfort of their homes. She charges Rs 500 for a one-hour session and for a group session of four (in an apartment complex), Rs 300. The young entrepreneur feels happy to be a part of this transformation in people’s lives. TechEdEn has been a real boon in this day and age, remarks 70-year-old Ms Chitnis, one of Tanvi’s customers. With help from her sister and an associate who volunteered her time, Tanvi has clocked a top line of Rs 28,400 in the first year itself. She plans to introduce tele support in Year 2 and online support by Year 3, by hiring enthusiastic and tech-savvy school students, which is yet to take off.  


Read more at: https://yourstory.com/herstory/2020/07/chennai-student-senior-citizens-tech-savvy

Thursday, July 7, 2022

Mantra.


 Sudarshan Chakra is the chief weapon of Lord Mahavishnu, the protector of the universe among the Hindu triad. Known as discuss in English, this circular form of weapon has the glory of annihilating a large number of demons and therefore highly powerful. The epithet 'Sudarshan' carries a significant spiritual import in meaning good or auspicious vision. Thus, the ultimate benefit of worshipping Sudarshan Chakra is to be able to refine one's vision or perception thereby attaining a great amount of spiritual maturity.



Worship of Sudarshan Chakra is done by a large number of devout Hindus in a highly reverential way. In most Vishnu temples, we can find Sudarshan Chakra installed in separate shrines. The typical image of Sudarshan Chakra contains a circular ring inside which Lord Sudarshan is depicted with sixteen hands. Around the circle are found flames of fire in an iconographic representation. On the other side of the Sudarshan Chakra, an image of Lord Narasimha is found.



Sudarshan Chakra is found with innumerable sharp edges that can severe anything in this universe. The discuss gives rise to immense heat since it is an aspect of Agni or the Lord of Fire. Symbolically, Sudarshan Chakra represents the annihilation of the evil forces and victory of good over the evil. Sudarshan Mantra is popularly chanted for obtaining courage, fearlessness, confidence, and victory over enemies. Spiritually, Sudarshan Chakra is considered to remove the obstacles in the path of attaining the Lord.



Transliteration of Sudarshan Chakra Mantra:


Tvaṁ dharmas tvam ṛtaṁ satyaṁ


Tvaṁ yajño ’khila-yajña-bhuk


Tvaṁ loka-pālaḥ sarvātmā


Tvaṁ tejaḥ pauruṣaṁ param



Overall Translation of the Sudarshan Mantra:


O the wheel of Sudarshana, the divine weapon, you are verily the path followed by austere people; you are the ultimate truth and the receiver of the fruits of all sacrifices (yajna) done. You stand safeguarding the entire created universe. You are the ultimate transcendental power in the hands of Lord Maha Vishnu. Since you enable us visualize the ultimate godhead, you are Sudarshana. The whole of creation came forth by setting you to motion and therefore, you are all-pervading.


In the history, Maharaja Ambarish was the representative personality who brings to surface the supreme power of Sudarshana Chakra. Once Ambarish was observing the Ekadashi Vrat when sage Dhurvas joined him. During the conclusion of the Vrat, the renowned sage went to have a holy dip in the river to be able to participate in the concluding ceremony by partaking the food during Dwadashi.


The sage did not return for a long time and Ambarish had to conclude the Vrat by partaking food before the expiry of Dwadashi period. Since it was not a respectful act to take food leaving out the guest, Ambarish concluded the Vrat by sipping some Tulsi water used for the worship. The sage came to know of this and got terrific angry. He created a demonic force to swallow Ambarish.


When Ambarish surrendered in front of Sudarshan Chakra, the wheel started chasing the demon successfully annihilating it. Then it started chasing sage Dhurvas who expressed his unjustified anger towards the King. When all efforts to save himself failed, ultimately the sage fell at the feet of Ambarish asking for his pardon when the wheel spared the sage. This incident talks of the protective powers of Sudarshan Chakra. Chanting Sudarshan Mantra can bestow fearlessness, protection from evil and enhancing good perception.


Maha Sudarshana Mantra


The mantra works by cutting off all unnecessary elements from your life. It helps you identify the most important things and heals a person physically, mentally, and emotionally. This mantra provides the grace of Vishnu by which a person starts making the right life decisions that every decision leads him toward the path of success and prosperity.


In life, our actions define our future, and if we understand the power of every decision while making it, we can’t be defeated by any power. Such power is bestowed to us by Sudarshana Mantra.


The meaning of the mantra goes like this, “O Lord Krishna, you protect the universe, and you control it. You are the supreme power, and you are the beloved of the gopikas. Oh Lord, protect me from every evil power. You who has the entire world in his hands. You who holds the Sudarshana Chakra and destroys every injustice, I surrender myself to you.”


Chanting The Maha Sudarshana Mantra


To start the chanting of Maha Sudarshana Mantra, one should choose the day of Ekadashi as it is very auspicious. One can also choose the nakshatra birthdays. Devotees can chant the mantra every day to make it work. If not daily, chanting the mantra on Wednesday and Saturday also brings beneficial results.


While chanting the Maha Sudarshana Mantra, Sesame laddus can be offered to Lord Vishnu. You can also offer sweet items other than sesame laddoos.


Take a bath early in the morning and recite the mantra in front of Vishnu’s idol. You can recite the mantras 3, 9, 11, or 108 times as best suited.


Offering tulsi leaves and lotus flowers to Lord Vishnu brings additional benefits.


Use Japa Mala if you can while chanting the mantra. The Mala should be of tulsi or quartz crystals.