Bhakthadasi

1/10/09 This is another story about Vasishta's greatness. Vasishta Muni was a realized soul and never wasted his tapasshakthi or power of penance in taking revenge and cursing people. No wonder he became the Guru of even Lord Rama and advised Yogavaasisshtam to Lord Rama for our sake. Lord Rama did not need that advise and he took the advice in the form of Vasistha's most ardent disciple for the humanity's sake.   As mentioned in the previous post, Viswamitra was known as Rajarshi and he wanted to become Brahmarshi and he did lot of severe penance for that. But Vasishta, the most respected of all saptharshis did not accept Viswamitra as Brahmarshi because he knew that in spite of Viswamitra's power of penance he was arrogant and proud of his achievement. Vasishta wanted to remove that negative quality from his mind before accepting his greatness.   But Viswamitra did not understand Vasishta's good intention and was very angry at Vasishta for not accept...

1/9/09 Vasishta was one of the saptarshis (one of the seven great sages) and he was the maanasa putra of Brahma Devan. He was the respected Guru of several great kings including Lord Sri Rama and Lakshmana.   Viswamitra was a Kshathriya King who did severe penance and became a Rajarshi. When a Kshathriya becomes a  sanyasi he is called Rajarshi. Only Brahmin sanyasis were called Brahmarshi and in spite of Viswamitra's repeated and severe penance Vasishta did not give him the Brahamarshi padam or status. Viswamitra was upset with Vasishta and wanted to take revenge on Vasishta!!   There was a king called Kalmashapada and Vasishta was his royal priest. Viswamitra wanted the post of Rajaguru and was jealous of Vasishta. One day king Kalmashapada was walking through the forest and reached a narrow bridge. As soon as he stepped on one side, Vasishta's son Shakthi stepped on the other side of the bridge. Both did not want to retrace their steps and...

1/8/09 We are all jugglers juggling with several balls namely work, family, health, friends, spirit etc etc. Some balls stretch to some extent, some can probably withstand some force, but most of the balls are made of glass and if we drop them, it can chip the glass, make permanent marks on those or if dropped with force can even shatter the whole thing. So it is wise to balance all the balls very carefully in our life.   Now the question of how to effectively balance them arises and Scriptures repeatedly advise us to do the balancing by remembering God in every step of our life. Does that mean that God  micromanages our existence? Definitely not. While embracing the uncertainty of life, God helps us to feel His Universal presence and oneness. Faith gives us the comfort of walking in His shadow. It helps us to put an honest effort in to everything we do and leave the results to His grace. Awareness of the Infini...

1/7/09 Can we pray for material things and for solutions for our problems in our material life? The following sloka says that what ever be our desire, for example,  begetting children, acquiring wealth, power, curing of diseases, marriage of children etc; do naama sankeerthanam for the fulfilment of those desires. Bhagavan will bless and fulfill all our righteous desires and finally He gives us salvation.   Raajyam bhogaamscha vipulaan puthraanicchasi sampada: thadaayatthena manasaa kuru Govindakeertthanam. രാജ്യം ഭോഗാംശ്ച വിപുലാൻ  പുത്രാനിഛസി സമ്പദ: തദായത്തേന മനസാ  കുരു ഗോവിന്ദകീർത്തനം     Initially we will pray for specific purposes, but slowly the prayer itself becomes more important than the purposes. With time, Bhagavan blesses us to concentrate more on the prayer than the result of the prayer and finally we pray for Bhagavan Himself and for nothing else. When a devotee starts leaving hi...

1/6/09 Lord Sri Rama, who is the Naami could not cross the ocean to Lanka with out building a bridge. What about the Naamopaasakan Hanumanji? He effortlessly crossed the ocean by chanting Raama Naamam with absolute faith. It was as easy for him as chanting Raama Naamam. So Raama Naamam is more powerful than the Naami Himself.  Even in Threthayuga, when the atmosphere to perform yagnaas and other sacrifices were more conducive, Naama Sankeerthanam was so powerful. So we can imagine how powerful it will be in Kaliyuga when the prescribed form of worship is Naama sankeerthanam.   Harernaama Harernaama Harernaamaiva kaevalam Kalou naasthyaeva naasthyaeva naasthyaeva gathiranyadha. ഹരേർനാമ ഹരേർനാമ ഹരേർനാമൈവ കേവലം  കലൗ നാസ്ത്യേവ നാസ്ത്യേവ നാസ്ത്യേവ ഗതിരന്യഥാ   

1/5/09 The literal meaning of  Sravanam  is hearing. But in the language of the Vedas, this word means "experiencing God through sravnedriyam or the instrument of hearing or ears" . It is probably the most easy method to experience God for anybody. That is why Bhaktha Prahlad introduced Sravanam as the first one of the 9 types of Bhakthi (Navavidha Bhakthi).   Next is  Mananam  which means thinking. But again Vedas say that mananam is "experiencing God through our mind". When we analyze and reanalyze the principles we heard or read in the scriptures to enlighten our mind, then it is called mananam. It is well known that the word Manthram came from Mananam. "Mananat trayate iti mantra:" means  "constant thinking or remembering of which, one is released from the cycle of births and deaths is Mantra".  Realized souls did mananam repeatedly and came up with specific combinations of letters, repetition of which helped them to experi...

1/3/09 This is a story about incorporating God in our daily life.Once there was a rich man who owned 19 horses. He died suddenly and in his will he specified to whom the horses should go. Will indicated that half of the horses should be for his son, one fourth to the temple near his house and one fifth to his faithful servant. Since the total number was 19, an odd number, nobody knew how to divide the horses in the manner described in the will.   Then there appeared a wise, ardent devotee riding on a horse and he offered to help them. Elders agreed and the devotee arranged the 19 horses in a row and he left his own horse on one end to make the number of horses 20.  Then with confidence he removed half of the horses, that is , 10 horses from the row and gave them to the rich man's son. Then gave one fourth of the total number of horses, that is, 5 horses to the temple authorities, and after that one fifth of the total number of horses, that is, 4 horse...