Miscellaneous Topics discussion

08-17-2006, 02:18 AM

A Pluralist's encounter with a Missionary
Kalavai Venkat

Once, a Southern Baptist missionary was my co-passenger in a flight. Like every missionary out to seek a convert, he was pleasant. After learning that I am a Hindu he asked, "Is the caste system going away in India?" I quipped, "Why should it go away?" He was surprised by my response and remarked, "You are the first Hindu who responded this way. Most Hindus agree that caste must go away and say that it is slowly going away."

I decided to turn the tables on him. I asked him,

"What language do the African Americans speak?" He replied, "English." I asked, "What did their ancestors speak 500 years ago?" He began to contemplate. I thought that I might have to wait for eternity like the Christians have waited for the second coming of their messiah before the missionary would answer, so I prompted him, "Swahili? Hausa?" He agreed, "Yes." I asked, "Do the African Americans worship the animist deities of their ancestors? Do they wed and bury per their ancestral customs?" The missionary replied, "No."

I said that one could replace African Americans with any immigrant group: The Dutch, the Germans, the French or the Latinos. I added, "What you proudly advertise as the melting pot actually imposed the language, culture, religion and customs of the dominant ethnic group on all others. On the other hand, visit even a small village in India with just 300 families. The chances are that this population would be made up of 10 different castes and each of them retains its distinct religious, wedding, funerary, culinary and dialectic features. This is because, as a truly pluralistic society, the Hindu India allowed each ethnic group, regardless of how numerically small it was, to retain its identity."

"So," I added, "Caste is a result of this spirit of freedom and pluralism. It is something to be proud of. On the other hand, the so-called melting pot is actually a result of cultural, and often physical, extermination of diverse identities by one intolerant and powerful group."

I continued: "Like every other man made institution, caste too has been misused. Then, so has been every other man made institution like democracy or secularism. It was a democratically elected Hitler who exterminated 6 million Jews, Gypsies and mentally retarded patients. It was a democratically elected Jefferson who fixed the worth of every African

American child at $ 22.50 and proposed to forcibly snatch them away from their parents and ship them back to Africa after ensuring that the adult African American population does not procreate any further. It was a democratically elected Roosevelt who declared that the extermination at the hands of the Whites was the best thing that happened to the Native Americans. Stalin and Mao were secular but they mercilessly sent millions to death camps."

I asked him, "Is anyone demanding that democracy or secularism be abandoned because of a Jefferson, Roosevelt, Hitler, Stalin or Mao? Why should caste be abandoned just because it was misused? Hindus have systematically addressed caste inequities over the last 80 years or so. If we assume that we rid our society of all discriminations in the next 30 years, members of every caste, be it Brahmin, Kayastha,Maratha or Paraiyah could proudly say that they follow the millennia old religion, customs and dialects of their forefathers. Suppose the Christian West similarly resolves racial discriminations, could an African American, Dutch American or Latino make similar assertion?"

I pointed out that in the casteless Christian West, the minorities have been forced to abandon their identities and instead have been made to imitate the dominant group in every aspect of life such as religion, language, wedding and funeral customs. I cited the words of Nathan Katz and pointed out how Hindu pluralism, of which caste is an integral part, actually preserved minority customs. Katz, while discussing how the Jewish people flourished for centuries amidst the Hindus, writes: "A crucial distinction between India and the rest of the Diaspora, however, is that in India acculturation is not paid for in the currency of assimilation. By acculturation I mean fitting comfortably into a society while retaining one's own identity, whereas by assimilation I mean that the loss of that identity is a perceived condition for acceptance. The study of Indian Jewish communities demonstrates that in Indian culture an immigrant group gains status precisely by maintaining its own identity. Such is the experience not only of India's Jews, but also of local Christians, Zoroastrians, and recently, TibetanBuddhists. This striking feature of Indian civilization is reflected by each of these immigrant groups. Now let us forget the Southern Baptist missionary and ask the Hindus: Would this preservation have been possible without the spirit of pluralism, which was ensured by the caste system? Are the Hindus going to repeat the missionary propaganda and deny the strengths of their own civilization or are they going to understand the institution of caste dispassionately? The missionary and the imperialist know that the institution of caste must be obliterated if the Hindu society were to be weakened and converted. A Hindu should critically analyze his traditions instead of uncritically absorbing propaganda.

08-21-2006, 02:08 AM

Durgaâs idol 'consumes' milk in BareillyQUOTELucknow: Thousands of people in Bareilly were thronging a Durga temple following reports that the idol was having milk offered by devotees.
It all started on Sunday morning when a woman claimed that the milk she had offered to goddess Durga had been consumed. Following her claim, thousands of people thronged the temple carrying milk in buckets, bowls and spoons to appease the goddess.

Some people opened a milk 'piyau' outside the Durga temple to enable people make an offering to the goddess.

Soon, a similar occurrence was reported from a nearby Shiv temple.

08-21-2006, 07:51 AM

<!--emo&

--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='sad.gif' /> All this is done by handy vacuum cleaner!

08-30-2006, 12:59 PM

Hi All
I have a question regarding indian names - I found out that one name can be spelled in many different ways, and I was wondering which names are the "real" names.
Here is a list of some names:

ABHISEK
ABHISEKH
ABHISHEK
ABISHEK
ABHISHAK
ABHISHEKH

and

ABHIJIT
ABHIJEET
AVIJIT
ABHIJET
ABJEED

and

AFJAL
AFZAL
AFSAL
ABZAL

For each of these 3 "clusters" of names - which is the correct one?

Thank You
Technoyos

09-05-2006, 01:50 AM

QUOTE For each ofÂ these 3 "clusters" of names - which is the correct one?

First of all, the script used for European languages is fairly inconsistent. It is alphabetical as against the syllabic of the Indian. Positioning of consonants : Italian stracchiatella has the TÃ¢lavya or palatal sound influenced by the vowel -i-, while normally the -c- or -ch- with other vowels is a KaNThastha or velar.
The pronounciation is based upon internal Sandhi. The writing is inconsistent, using one letter for two sounds.

Indian words or names popularly transcribed give the long -i- as -ee- and the long -u- as -oo-. This explains diacritical abhijÃ®t as popular abhijeet, for which the neutral form is abhijit.

One has to know the form AbhiSheka to spell it correctly: abhi + seka give by internal Sandhi the endform: abhiSheka. In modern Hindi, the last (unaccented)vowel is not pronounced, and thus lost in writing too: AbhiShek. And in neutral writing it becomes Abhishek. Regionally the -sh- is pronounced as -s-, even though the name is written with an -sh-.

Hope this helps.

Afzal is a non-Indian name (Arabic from a root f-z-l). The -z- is not an indigenous sound, which is rendered in DevnÃ¢grÃ® script as the -ja- with a dot below. This gives the form Afjal without the dot.
Afsal is based upon the root f-s-l. (the -s- may be emphatic)

09-13-2006, 05:14 PM

Home Page http://www.binstitute.org/conference2006/

Second All India Students' Conference
on
Science and Spiritual Quest
(AISSQ-2006)
December 9 - 10, 2006
Puri, Orissa, India
<img src='http://www.binstitute.org/conference2006/AISSQ2006.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />

Introduction
Bhaktivedanta Institute is organizing a two-day conference on December 9 - 10, 2006 entitled "Second All India Students' Conference on Science and Spiritual Quest (AISSQ - 2006)". The conference will be held in Town Hall, Jagannath Puri, Orissa, India. Many scientists, students and faculties from well known universities, institutes and industrial organizations like University of Illinois, USA, Colorado State University, IITs (IIT Kharagpur, IIT Kanpur, IIT Guwahati), IISc Bangalore, Delhi College of Engineering, IT-BHU, BITS Pilani and Tata Technologies Ltd are in the organizing committee of this conference. Although this is an All India Students' conference, it is not limited to only students and scholars from India. Last year this conference is well attended by many scientists, students and faculties from various universities, institutes and industrial organizations around the world.

The center point of attraction of this conference is the scientific discussion on the most fundamental areas of modern science such as "Origin of Life", "Science of Happiness", "Big Bang and Cosmology", "Is Life beyond DNA", "Science and God", "A Critical Examination of Darwin's Evolutionary Theory in the context of Science and Spiritual Dialogue" and "India's Contribution in the Search for Ultimate Reality". Many renowned researchers will deliver the talks for understanding of the interesting developments in these areas in recent past. As this conference is meant to increase awareness about the recent scientific developments to understand the most fundamental questions in science, only the invited experts from around the world in the respective areas will deliver lectures.

Irrespective of age/background/nationality all are welcome to participate in this conference by registering to the conference on or before 5th November 2006. This conference has a nominal registration fee of Rs. 250. Post conference tour of Puri includes additional cost of Rs. 150, which is optional and interested participants can avail this opportunity. Interested participants are requested to send the duly filled registration form (see the registration form below) along with the registration fee to the organizers. The last date of registration is 5th November 2006. For any details you are welcome to contact the organizers through email address conference2006@binstitute.org .

Conference Theme and Background

The priceless wealth of knowledge provided by the self realized scholars of Vedanta in the form of revealed scriptures could provide many vital insights in expanding the scientific knowledge of life and origin of the universe. A synthetic approach between modern science and the vedantic knowledge could help the sincere seekers of truth to deeply investigate and bring breakthroughs in resolving the deeper reality. The 2nd All India Student's Conference on Science and Spiritual Quest (AISSQ-2006) is a humble attempt by the Bhaktivedanta Institute, Kolkata to bring together the intellectual minds from various scientific and philosophical backgrounds to discuss the topics related to some of the most fundamental aspects of science such as life and the universe and their origin, and the nature of ultimate reality. This is a yearly conference organized by Bhaktivedanta Institute. First conference was held at Vrindavan, UP, India on December 6, 2005. This conference is well attended by many scientists and scholars from both India and abroad.

About the Conference Venue

The conference will be held in Town Hall, Jagannath Puri, Orissa, India. Jagannath Puri is one of the most popular tourist destinations of India. It is famous for the pristine Jagannath temple, the grand Jagannath Rath Yatra, delicious mahaprasadam and beautiful sea beach. People from all over India flock to Jagannath Puri during the Ratha Yatra and winter season. The weather during the month of December is very pleasant.

Food, Accommodation and Tour

The organizers will arrange lunch and dinner for all the delegates and their spouses during the conference period. Delicious vegetarian specialties will be served. Accommodation will be arranged for all the participants who will register before the 5th November. The cost of food and accommodation is included in the registration fee (Rs. 250). Post conference tours will be arranged for interested delegates. Delegates interested in post-conference tour should inform the organizers before November 5 and additionally pay Rs. 150 per person.

About the Organizers
The Bhaktivedanta Institute, an international organization based in Calcutta, India, with offices in Denver, CO, has promoted and contributed to the field of Science and Spirituality for the past twenty-five years under the leadership of H. H. Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Swami (Dr. T. D. Singh). It has organized major Science and Spirituality conferences, bringing together a broad spectrum of religious and scientific leaders, and has published many groundbreaking books in the field. Working with the UN and collaborating with the major world religions, it has also been a force for interfaith understanding and world peace.

Advisory Committee

Shishir Kumar Dube, Director, IIT Kharagpur
Jagadish. N. Srivastava, Prof. Emeritus, Colorado State University
P. B. Sharma, Principal, Delhi College of Engineering
R. V. Raja Kumar, Dean of Academic Affairs, IIT Kharagpur

Organizing Committee

H. H. Bhaktiswarupa Damodara Swami (Dr. T. D. Singh), International Director, Bhaktivedanta Institute, Chairman
Varun Agarwal, Research Scholar, Bhaktivedanta Institute
Phalguni Banerjee, Research Scholar, IIT Kharagpur
Dr. Kanchan Chowdhury, Professor, Head of Cryogenic Centre, IIT Kharagpur
Dr. Sudipto Ghosh, Assistant Professor, IIT Kharagpur
Dr. P. K.Giri, Associate Professor, IIT Guwahati
Debashish Khan, Research Scholar, IIT Kharagpur
Bhaskar Kumar, Research Scholar, IIT Kanpur
P. Suresh Kumar, Research Scholar, IIT Kharagpur
Dr. Subhash C. Mishra, Professor, Dean of Academic Affairs, IIT Guwahati
Dr. Hare Krishna Mohanta, Assistant Professor, BITS Pilani
G. Tirupati Rao, Tata Technologies Ltd., Jamshedpur
K. Vasudeva Rao, Research Scholar, Bhaktivedanta Institute
Ramjee Repaka, Research Scholar, IIT Kharagpur
Gaurav Silwal, B.Tech., IIT Kharagpur
Dr. P. K. Singh, Reader, IT-BHU
Abinash Kumar Swain, Research Scholar, IISc Bangalore
Dr. Manoranjan Sinha, Assistant Professor, IIT Kharagpur
Abhishek Tewari, Research Scholar, University of Illinois, USA
Dr. Ram Gopal Uppaluri, Assistant Professor, IIT Guwahati

Conference Participation Details
Participation in this conference is open for all irrespective of age/background/nationality. All are welcome to participate in this conference by registering to the conference on or before 5th November 2006. A nominal registration fee of Rs. 250 without post conference tour and Rs. 400 with post conference tour is charged for this conference. Participants are requested to send the duly filled registration form (see the registration form below) along with the registration fee to the organizers on or before last date of registration (5th November 2006). For any details you are welcome to contact the organizers through email address conference2006@binstitute.org.

REGISTRATION FORM (Down Load at http://www.binstitute.org/conference2006...ce2006.pdf )

Fax to: +91-33-2500-6091
Mail to: BHAKTIVEDANTA INSTITUTE,
RC/8, Raghunathpur, Manasi Manjil Building,
Fourth Floor, VIP Road, Kolkata - 700 059, India
Email: conference2006@binstitute.org
Dial: 033-2500-9018

? Please Register me for AISSQ-2006
Participant Details
Title: Dr. / Miss / Mr. / Mrs / Ms / Prof.
First Name :
Surname :
Organisation / Institution Name :
Address :
Town : Post :
State : Country :
Tel : Fax :
Email :
Registration Fee
Participants : Rs. 250
Spouse : Rs. 250
Post Conference Tour : Rs. 150 per person (Optional)

Payment Details :
Payment can be made before 5th November 2006 through Money Order/Demand Draft drawn in favor of "Bhaktivedanta Institute" from any nationalized bank payable at Kolkata, India. Send the duly filled registration form along with Money Order/Demand Draft to the address mentioned at the top of the registration form.

Signed Date

The Registration Fee Includes :

Â· Herbal Tea Breaks
Â· Lunches (Saturday - Sunday)
Â· Dinners (Saturday - Sunday)
Â· Accommodation (Friday - Sunday)
Â· Sight Seeing Tour of Puri (optional, only for those registered in the Post Conference Tour of Puri)

Sponsorship

This conference is partly funded by the Metanexus Institute, USA under its Local Societies Initiative (LSI) program.

Program Overview

Saturday December 9, 2006

08:30 - 10:30 Invocation & Welcome Keynote Address (Dr. William
Grassie, Founder and Executive Director, Metanexus Institute, USA)
10:30 - 10:45 Herbal Tea Break
10:45 - 12:00 Process of Scientific and Spiritual Inquiry
12:15 - 13:30 Jagannath Puri Mahaprasadam
13:30 - 16:00 Scientific Exploration of God
16:00 - 19:00 Ranganiketan Dance & Kirtan, Movie Show
19:00 Mahaprasadam

Sunday December 10, 2006

08:30 - 10:30 Origin of Universe: Big Bang and Big Vision
10:30 - 10:45 Herbal Tea Break
10:45 - 12:00 Life & its Origin; Search for Spiritual Paradigm
12:15 - 13:30 Jagannath Puri Mahaprasadam
13:30 - 16:00 Jumping into the Ocean of Love at Jagannath Puri Dham
16:00 - 17:00 Return to Hotel
17:00 - 18:00 Visit of Jagannath Temple with Kirtan; Relish Khichdi and Special Jagannath Puri Dalma Mahaprasadam

Regards,
Bhaktivedanta Institute
RC/8, Raghunathpur
Manasi Manjil Building, VIP Road
Kolkata 700 059, India
Tel: +91-33-2500-9018

Fax: +91-33-2500-6835
Email: conference2006@binstitute.org
http://www.binstitute.org/conference2006...ce2006.pdf

All India Students' Essay Competition ( http://www.binstitute.org/conference2006/essay.pdf )

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Join the Forum For Vedanta & Science(FVS) launched by "IIT-Students" and "IIT-Faculties" to "Study Vedanta Scientifically" by sending email to Forum_For_Vedanta_And_Science-subscribe@yahoogroups.com .
Home Page: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/Forum_F...ta_And_Science/

Vedanta and Science Messages:
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09-14-2006, 07:20 PM

Temple and statue

Temple and statue are necessary for low level people as said in Sastra (Pratima Swalpa Buddhinaam). It is a teaching model for a school student. But for a college or university student it is not necessary. It is called as Pratika (Model). Veda says to meditate upon the Sun assuming Sun as the Lord. The Sun is not the Lord. The Lord is not in the Sun. Sun is only a servant of the Lord. All these points are told in Veda (Adityam Brahmeti, Nedam tat, Bheeshodeti Suryah). Veda says that the Lord is not in the statues (Natasya Pratima). Veda also says that no inert object and no human being is the Lord because the object or human being is an item in the creation (Neti, Neti). Gita says that the Lord comes only in human form (Manusheem Tanumaasritam). The statue, which is in the human form is a model teaching you the concept that the Lord comes only in human form for preaching the divine knowledge in every human generation, to avoid the partiality to a particular human generation as said in Gita (Yada Yadaahi). Once you understood this concept the temple and statue is not necessary for you but they should be protected and respected as the models of divine knowledge for the future ignorant devotees. Some people are telling that âKulluka Bhattâ says about worship of statues.

Kulluka Bhatt is a âPurva Mimaamsakaâ who is an atheist (Devo Na Kaschit). How can he contradict Veda, which says that the Lord does not exist in statues? Gita condemns severely that a person-worshipping statue will be born as a stone. Here the meditation upon the statue is not condemned. Only worship like offering the food is condemned because the statue does not eat the food. Some fellow behind the statue is eating the food. In Gita the word âBhutejyahâ means worshipping the inert object by offering food. Ijya means offering the food. Bhuta means inert substance, which is one of the five inert elements (Pancha Bhutas). Some people say that the word Bhuta means ghost and those who worship ghosts become ghosts. We do not object such meaning. But the word Bhuta also means the five inert elements.

Our meaning is in the same line of your meaning. A person worshipping ghosts becomes ghost. Similarly a person worshipping inert objects will become inert object. We are not contradicting your meaning. Our meaning is in the same line of your meaning and therefore you cannot contradict. Moreover the verse says that those who worship deities become deities etc., Therefore our meaning is in the line of the meaning of the verse. Yajna means feeding the guest after cooking the food and not burning the food in the fire. The guest is treated like fire. The hunger in his stomach is treated as âVysvanara fireâ. Krishna stopped burning the food in fire and ate the food stating that He was hungry. Kapila condemned such burning of food in Bhagavatam. The Yajna is only cooking the food and feeding the guest. In this true sense Yajna is essential and must be performed.

09-14-2006, 07:20 PM

World Religions:

If anyone says that his/her religion is the only path to God and that other paths lead to hell, I have one humble question. The question is for every religion without any trace of partiality. The simple question is: Today I have heard your Religion and if I follow that, I reach God and if I refuse I will go to the hell for my own fault. This is very much reasonable. But before your ancestors discovered our country, the literature or even the name of your religion was not known to our ancestor and he could not reach God for no fault of him. But your ancestor reached God through your religion at that time.

Even if I assume that my ancestor will take rebirth now and will follow your religion to reach God, such possibility is ruled out because you say that there is no rebirth for the soul. Thus my ancestor suffered forever for no fault of him and the responsibility for this falls on the partiality of God. Had the God been impartial, He could have revealed your religion to all the countries at a time. Had that happened, my ancestor might have also reached God as your ancestor. Therefore your statement proves your own God partial.

The only way left over to you to make your God impartial is that you must accept that your God appeared in all the countries at a time in various forms and preached your path in various languages. The same form did not appear everywhere and the same language does not exist everywhere. The syllabus and explanation are one and the same, though the media and teachers are different. Can you give any alternative reasonable answer to my question other than this? Certainly not! Any person of any religion to any other religion can pose this question.

Moreover every religion states that their God only created this world. Unfortunately this world is one only and every God cannot create the same world. There are no many worlds to justify that each God created His own world. Therefore any human being with an iota of commonsense has to agree that there is only one impartial God who created this one world and He came in different forms to different countries and preached the same path in all the languages simultaneously at one time.

Let this logic sword of the divine knowledge cut the rigid conservatism of the religious fans in this world to establish the Universal Peace. I need not beg all these religious followers to be united and harmonious to each other for the sake of world peace. Such begging appeals are made enough in the past. The religious fans feel that there is no unity really in the religions but they have to be united since their kind hearts melted by these appeals. Thus a temporary change was only brought. At the maximum one generation of the followers got united. The next generation fights with each other because they feel that there is no real unity in them due to lack of the real unity in their religious scriptures.

A permanent solution for this does not lie in the begging appeals, which may or may not unite the followers. Even if the appeals unite such unity is not permanent. If the real unity in all the religious scriptures is exposed through the logical divine knowledge, the followers have to be united for generations together. Therefore, My attack is not on the hearts of the followers through love and kindness. My attack is on all the religious scriptures through intellectual logical analysis of divine knowledge. The unity of hearts through love can be only temporary. The unity of brains through intellectual analytical divine knowledge will be permanent. Hearts agree but brains realize. Agreement is temporary, but realization is permanent. Thus this is My first blow of My divine Conch shell for the permanent unity of all the religions aiming at eternal Universal Peace.

09-15-2006, 07:41 AM

The inner meaning of the word 'Karma'

The Gita says that the meaning of the word Karma has very deep sense (Gahanaa Karmano Gatih). This world is called as creation. Creation means work like explanation etc. Karma means work. Therefore this world is a form of work only. Work is a form of energy. Energy is dynamism or action or work. Matter is energy. Heat, sound etc. are forms of energy. Therefore the world which consists of space, matter, light, heat, awareness etc. is essentially energy or work only. Space is a form of energy. Awareness is also a form of energy. Therefore all this creation is work only. Work needs the worker. The worker is God. God is the creator and creation is His work. This entire world is said to be the dance (work) of Shiva. This entire world is just a game (work) of God.

Therefore you should realize that any part of this creation is work or dance or game of God. The working material (matter) is also a form of His work only. The forces in this creation are again His works only. Thus you should realize that every part of His creation as the work of God and thus we should constantly remember God. When you see an object, the object is His work. The process of seeing is His work. The subject (yourself), who is also an object for others, is also work of God. If you analyse yourself, you can realize that you are entirely His work only. The matter of your body, working forces like heat, circulation force of blood etc. are also His works. Awareness is His work. The basic form of your awareness which is energy is also His work only. Knowledge is the work of intelligence. Devotion is the work of mind. Service is the work of your body. Sacrifice which is a process of leaving something is also a work.

Therefore whatever you understand is work and understanding itself is work. The word Karma is frequently repeated in the Gita. There is nothing like static condition. Even in a static stone, the molecules, atoms and subatomic particles are rotating, vibrating and spinning indicating essentially the work only. The Gita says that work should be found in static state (Akarmanichayah). The Gita also says that you should find no work in the work (karmanya karma yah pasyet). What does this mean? This means, you should not think that the work is the work of itself. You should find the worker who is doing the work. You should not think that the work is going on by itself. The work is done by somebody.

At the Lotus Feet of His Holiness Sri Dattaswami

Anil Antony

[edited - dattaji: you don't get it do you?]

09-16-2006, 12:47 AM

QUOTEAndhra beggar woman donates temple Rs. 3.5L
Publication: The Times of India
Date: September 11, 2006

Introduction: Lakshmamma, 75, has been seeking aims at the entrance of Venkateswara temple at Devunikadapa ever since her husband deserted her three decades ago. She saved every penny and donated the amount for improving amenities for devotees

Charity, they say, begins at home. For the homeless beggar Lakshmamma, charity begins at heart. The frail, septuagenarian woman ekes out a living by seeking alms. But she has redefined philanthropy in her own way.

This beggar in a small, nondescript town of Devunikadapa in Andhra Pradesh has so far donated Rs 3.50 lakh to a local temple. It was the money that she had earned during the last three decades through begging. The 75-yearold Lakshmamma has been seeking alms at the entrance of Venkateswara temple at Devunikadapa ever since her husband deserted her three decades ago.

She has saved every penny she received as alms from pilgrims and donated the amount for improving amenities for devotees thronging the temple.

The huge saving has been possible as she never spent a pie, not even on her food. She has been content with the prasadam given to beggars regularly by the temple authorities so that her entire savings could be donated to the Lord.

The temple authorities said the money would be used for constructing a polished stone platform near the gaali gopuram, erecting door frames at the main entrance, laying pipes for queue complex and fencing for a well on the temple premises.

Lakshmamma was an ordinary housewife in Kadiri in the neighbouring Anantapur district. Left to fend for herself after her husband deserted her, she took to begging near Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple in Kadiri. She donated all her earnings to the temple and organised discourses on Ramayan for three months.

She later moved to Devunikadapa and began begging near the Venkateswara Swamy temple. For several days, she went without food.

Then, she worked as maidservant for some time before going back to the temple seeking alms. Her daily routine includes sweeping the temple premises.

09-24-2006, 10:26 AM

Our belief in GOD
Indian culture and philosophy is very great. It is so vivid and virtuous in its role of civilization. Our people are so happiest to understand God in millions of visions and in millions of superficial actions/ exemplified occurrences.. We are not only having Bhagavadgeetha , we got so many books on Hinduism, to understand the GOD in differently in different ways, as the people find him in themselves, instead of simply putting question who is God, one should find him in oneself in his way of understandingsâ¦.I mean we are not simply worshiping the idle or in a name sake.
Who is God? Whether God exists? Whether in Hinduism we are worshiping millions of God? Or worshiping only one God in millions of visions and to understand the God in differently in different angles? As our ancient monk- sages are happiest to find him soulfully in themselves without any worldly wanting? Therefore, today if we put these questions to some body, each individual will give answer in his own way, instead why donât we put all such questions to our inner self... And, why donât we think that- whether I am in God, instead of where is God? Why donât we experience ourselves that- he can exist in our inner conscience- and directs us before putting our good/ bad ideas into actions?

Epic-Story- SAPTHAGIRI SAMPADA
Of Lord Sri Venkateshwara (also called as Balaji)
This is an Epic-story research work âSAPTHAGIRI SAMPADAâ about renowned pilgrimage place: "Tirupathi Tirumalai Devasthanam". In my writing career it has given me much and more self-satisfaction with regard to, not only realization of God, but also through which the highest peak of tranquility can be achieved by attaining Satviq guna in our culture and Hinduism.
It is said, The Lord Sri Venkateswara is Richest in Money. He may be blessed on our debt, tribute and returns only. But,actually, His Satviq Message is being transcendental for the benefit of Man kind, so thousands of pilgrims visit daily to take darshanm of Sri Venkateswara. His Satviq Shakthi(The Universal Ruling power of Gentleness) alone Prevails and Uplifts All Human Values for Everlasting on this Earth, as one of the uttermost human values I pointed out is that-

This is the WORLD of Threefold Waters

This is the world of three fold; the waters portion is treble around one portion of earth. You see, our country India having amazing geographic philosophy, physically a peninsular covered by sea waters at three sides, and again three fourth of its earth filled with full of misery by the cause of criminals and sinners. It was told in 15th century itself, by our sages -Hari Daasasâ people like that will be fruitful at all times on the path of committing sins and criminality as prima-facie note. As said actually, evidently only one fourth of this earth is filled up with humanity and generosity which is very much power full, and pep of it ruling the whole universe as indispensable at our lifeâs real times.
We are proud of the above ethic or Trigunathmaka tattva proclaimed by our ancient Mahrshisâ in their epics in respect of three gunas (satva,Rajasa,Tamasa). Especially we will find it in Sri Venkatesha Puranam. As mentioned above, three fourth of this earth is filled with Rajassu and Tamassu and only the one fourth of satviq guna and satviqshakthi prevails and the same message remain everlasting on this earth. Therefore, it is left to ourselves to select the route cause and group with which we have to be got associated in this merciless world!

And, I would like to mention here,in Venkatesha puranam the High Light of the Epic-story is about Sri Venkatesha Kalyanam only. In fact it contains the Sattviq Message as said above in each and every step of chapters in my story research work; already published in Kannada as âSapthagiri Sampadaâ. Right from examining Three Divinities; which gives contemporary human values for the generation of all times, beyond distinctions of race, caste, stage of each individual, as I had studied and took all care regarding the way of my presentation not to affect in any way the traditional story and resources.

-ShivaRam H
24th Sept, 2006

Click here to See The kannada version of this Epic story-
Sapthagiri Sampada Epic Story of Sri Venkateshwara

09-24-2006, 04:58 PM

Shivramji, Do you have an English translation of you work?

ramana · 09-25-2006, 10:44 AM

From Deccan Chronicle, 24 Sept. 2006 about the Brahmaotsavam. Starting today.

QUOTESound gong for Brahmotsav

Festival By Sri Seetharam Gurudev

The annual Brahmotsav of Lord Venkateswara of Tirumala-Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh is a spectacular event which is dear to all Hindu devotees who make it a point to witness it at least once in a lifetime to seek the Lordâs blessings. Though rituals are a common affair at this holy place, the annual Brahmotsav carries the significant spiritual message of equality, love for mankind and prohibition of animal sacrifice in order to attain peace in the world. In fact, Bhavishotara Purana says it was Lord Brahma who first started the sacred ritual of praying to the Lord with devotion.

The Brahmotsav â beginning on September 25 â ends on the day when Sravana Nakshatram, the birth star of Lord Venkateswara, falls according to the Hindu calendar. On all the nine-days of the Brahmotsav, the Lord is decorated in dazzling jewellery, and taken on gold and silver vahanas and palanquins, round the four main streets, called madas of Tirumala, with lakhs of devotees queuing up to catch a glimpse of the deity. For the devotees, it might appear to be an extravagant affair, but the essence of the message of the Brahmotsav that comes forth is to be spiritually inclined with the ultimate goal of achieving peace. It is only during Brahmotsav that the Lord Himself âcomes outâ of the sanctum sanctorum in the form of âutsav deityâ to give darshan and His blessings to all.

The Brahmotsav constitutes different rituals performed by strictly following the laid-out norms. The day before the commencement of the ritual, Ankurarpana is done by bringing Vishwaksena, the chief of Lordâs armed force, to Vasanta Mandap in order to monitor the arrangements. The archakas put navadhanyas (nine types of food grains) in earthen pots for sprouts with which the ritual commences.

On the first day, Dwajarohanam, a flag with the picture of Lord Garuda, flying atop the Dwajastambham is held basically as an invitation sent out to all Devathas, Rakshasas and Gandarvas to attend the festival. Peddasesha Vahanam, Chinasesha Vahanam, Hamsa Vahanam, Simha Vahanam, Mutyala Pandiri, Kalpavruksham, Sarvabhupala Vahanam, Garuda Vahanam, Mohini Avataram, Hanumadhya Vahanam, Gaja Vahanam, Suryaprabha Vahanam, Chandra Prabha Vahanam and Aswa Vahanam are the chariots pressed into the service of the Lord for all the nine days.

Peddasehsa Vahanam and Chinnasesha Vahanam are chariots for the Lord on the first two days. Simha Vahanam, the procession on Lion, tells us to kill the animal instinct within us and to place the Lord on our head in order to lead a peaceful life.Â Puranas say Kalpavruksham, that was found during Ksheerasagara Madhanam has the power to fulfil all desires and pleasures. The Lord, by taking out a procession on Kalpavruksham, sends a message, that by praying to Him with utmost devotion, He will shower all His blessings on us, besides leading us in the path of moksha.

Though we all pray to Lord Venkateswara with same kind of devotion, Lord Garuda is His main devotee. The procession on Garuda Vahanam is a sight to watch and the procession on Lord Hanuman also proves that He provided Lord Hanuman a chance to serve the Lord once again during Brahmotsav.Â The Chakrasnanam, on the final day is auspicious as the Lord, in the form of Sudarshanachakra, gets a holy dip in the Pushkarini.

(Sri Seetharam Gurudev is the Mahapeethadipathi of Mumukshu Jana Mahapeetham, AP)

09-25-2006, 10:46 AM

x-post
QUOTELive web casting of Tirumala Brahmotsavam from sept.25

TIRUPATI, SEPTEMBER 12 (TIRUPATITIMES.COM)

Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) which manages the famous hill shrine of Lord Venkateswara at Tirumala near here is all set conduct this year's nine-day annual Brahmotsvam festivals from September 25 to October 3, temple sources said.

According to TTD Hindu Dharma Prachara Parishad's Manager, Mr.Y.Sivasankara Reddy,arrangements are being made for live "web casting" of the sacred processions of the Lord daily in the morning and night during the festivals for the benefit of tens of millions of devotees all over the world and the sacred songs and other traditional musical programes performed on the hills during the festival too can be heard from morning to night daily on the web of the India's richest temple.

The hyderabad Doordashan Kendra would telecast live the sacred processions of festivals, the temple sources said. The most sacred event of the mega festivals â Garuda Seva Procession of Lord- would take place on September 29 at 9 pm while the Chariot procession be conducted on October 2, the sources said.

Unprecedented security arrangements and beautification preparations including dozens of very huge illuminated Hindu Mythological cutouts are also made on the hills.
http://www.tirupatitimes.com/ <http://www.tirupatitimes.com/>

09-28-2006, 06:54 PM

Dear friends do you know why india is treat a âTeacher of the worldâ the couse is only that the Bhagvat Geetathat is exact world from the god himself is spoken in only india http://spiritual-wisdom.blogspot.com/ and they provide the spiritual wisdom to their pupil in the war time you can think when ever some one give as much great knowledge in the time of the battle, this means that our war is also for the spiritual and before going to war we have to pay to maa durga and say jai mata di http://www.jaimatadi.org . my main theme is why india treated as âworld teacherâ if any one have knowledge then update me I know one these few that I share with you

ramana · 10-14-2006, 02:48 AM

Op-ed in The Telegraph, 13 Oct., 2006
QUOTEMOTHER FIXATION
- The history of a sectarian war cryÂ
Cutting corners - ASHOK MITRA

Uncertain nationalistÂ
Bankim Chandra Chatterjeeâs first publication in 1856, when he was barely eighteen, was a slim volume consisting of both prose and poetry. Twenty years later, he published a volume exclusively of verse. He gradually moved away and concentrated on works of fiction. That marked the beginning, really and truly, of modern Bengali literature.

The urge for poetry in him however refused to die down altogether. In some of his novels, he inserted songs of his own composition â a few in Sanskrit, others in Vrajabuli or Bengali â for either creating a mood or emphasizing a theme. The number of such songs hardly exceed a dozen. It was one such song, Vandemataram, occurring in the novel, Anandamath, published in 1882, which has been the cause of emotional frenzy across the nation in the course of the next century and a quarter. A remarkable thing about the song is the hybrid nature of its composition. Of the 26 lines in it, 20 are in elegant, grammatically taut Sanskrit; the other six though are in Bengali.

This linguistic juxtaposition is unique not only in Bankimâs works, but also in the entire corpus of Bengali literature. Rabindranath Tagore composed close to 3,000 songs, and poems at least ten times that number. Notwithstanding the heavy weightage given to tatsama words â pure derivatives from Sanskrit â in most of his compositions, they remain quintessentially Bengali in both form and flavour. Bhanusimher Padavali is an exception, but, again, it is in pure Vrajabuli, not characterized by the linguistic heterogeneity of Bankimâs Vandemataram. The mixture of languages does not detract as such from the grandeur of Vandemataram. It is, nonetheless, somewhat strange that there is no reference to this aspect of the composition in the thousands of discussion that have taken place on or about it.

What is of much greater significance, the mother hailed with such fervour in Vandemataram is, without a shred of doubt, not Mother India, but Mother Bengal. Consider, for instance, the 8th, 9th and 10th lines in the song: âsaptakotikantha-kala-kala-ninadakarale,/ dvisaptakotibhujairdhritakhrakalabale/ abala kano ma at baleâ. A rough translation would be: âseven crore voices roar their oath to you, seven crore pairs of arms with raised swords keep vigil for you, why should then one dare to call you powerless?â The population of Bharat, that is India, was surely a goodly number more than seven crore circa the 1880s, despite heinous oppression by foreign rulers, including denial of food to their subjects.

According to the census, organized in 1881, it was actually the number of Bengali-speaking people in the then Bengal Presidency (consisting of Bengal, Assam, Bihar and Orissa) which was in the neighbourhood of seven crore. Bankimâs concept of ânationâ and ânationhoodâ was a wee bit wobbly. Scan his works; he uses the expression ânationâ in a loose-limbed manner: Indians constitute a nation, the Muslims are a nation, the Bengalis too make up a nation, so too the Mundas, the Kols or the Arakanese. The reference to seven crore voices and twice that number of hands with swords thrust in the air clinches the issue as far as the intent of Vandemataram is concerned. The mother being hailed is Mother Bengal; the song reflects Bengali nationalism in full flow. The babble of seven crore Bengali voices praising the motherland is altogether believable; the far-fetchedness of the other proposition â seven crore Bengalis all jumping about with naked swords in their hands to defend the mother â is again a prize example of Bengali hyperbole.

The early nationalists who latched on to the song and wanted to project it as Indiaâs national anthem were not unaware of the restricted horizon Bankim had in mind. An embarrassment was involved in the assumption that the song as originally written was not a hosanna to Mother India. In the first decade of the 20th century, leaders of the Indian National Congress were advised by some zealots to do a smart piece of editing: just cross out the reference to âseven croreâ and substitute it with âthirty croreâ (trimsa koti) and, similarly, replace âtwice seven crore of armsâ by âtwice thirty croreâ (dwitrimsa koti).

The debate will persist on whether such substitution was a proper thing to do and an impurity was not involved in choosing a song to bring the nation together, a composition that was not written for that purpose and had relevance for only one segment of the nation. In contrast, the song finally chosen in post-independent India as the national anthem, Tagoreâs Janaganamana adhinayaka, has no ambiguity about it, it invokes the glory of India, the India consisting as much of Punjab, Sindhu, Gujarat and Maratha, as of Dravida, Utkal, Banga, as much of Ganga-Yamuna as of Vindhya-Himachal.

That apart, is there much point in retreading the ground gone over already as early as in 1937? Jawaharlal Nehru, as president of the Indian National Congress, had then sought the view of Tagore on the advisability of adopting Vande- mataram as the national song in the context of objections raised by leaders of the Muslim community. While responding to Nehruâs query, Tagore sympathized, unequivocally, with the reservations expressed by the Muslim leadership; as a non- believer in idol worship, he said, he always felt some discomfort with the lines 18 to 21 in the text of Vandemataram: âtomari pratima gadi mandire mandire./ twam hi durga dashapraharanadharini/ kamala kamala-dalabiharini/ vani vidyadayini namami twamâ (âWe build your image in temple after temple; you are Durga holding a weapon in each of your ten hands, you are Goddess Lakshmi floating in the lotus lake, you are Sarasvati, the Goddess of Learning, we bow to youâ).

Seven decades have elapsed since this correspondence between Nehru and Tagore; the relevant facts, however, remain unaltered. Those who do not believe in the worship of idols have every right to record their conscientious objection if asked to sing the song.

Nor is it possible to sidestep the other crucial issue: Vandemataram cannot be detached from Anandamath. The song is integrally linked to the novel; it cannot be considered without taking into account the central message the novel conveys. Bankim was one of the greatest writers this country has produced. His Bengali prose has an incomparable majesty. He deserves all the homage the nation is capable of offering to a writer of his stature. Even so, how does one tear oneself away from the horridness of the last chapter of Anandamath, where the messiah-like character commands the crusading sannyasi, Satyananda Thakur, along the following lines: âDo lay down you arms. Your deed is done, the musalman rule has been crushed. There is no particular hurry to establish a Hindu raj immediately; that task could wait. It is a good thing the British have taken over; the Enlightenment their rule would bring is bound to transcend us to a state of beatitude which in turn would assist us usher in the sanatan Hindu dharmaâ?

Indians will have to make up their mind. A song associated with a novel whose central message is so frighteningly obscurantist is ill suited to unite a nation that professes to take pride in its diversity. It was, therefore, plain silly on the part of the ministry of human resource development to issue the kind of circular it did, which has been responsible for exhuming a long-buried controversy.

This is not to dispute the fact that Vandemataram as an invocatory slogan did lift hundreds of thousands of our countrymen to the zenith of patriotic ardour during the freedom movement: it had a tremendous relevance in that phase. Unfortunately, sections of the Hindu community debased its sanctity by using Vandemataram as a sectarian war cry from the late Twenties onwards to counter the Muslim orison of Allah-ho-Akbar during the communal riots in different parts of the country. What was once deployed to divide the nation cannot possibly unify it.


I think this is a propoganda article. The last line says it all.
His first objection is that mataram referred to in the song is Mother Bengal and not Mother India. If we say thats OK as Mother Bengal is part of Mother India then he throws his secular arguement that Anandmath is an ode to the abolition of Muslim rule and VM is integral part of AM. And then he throws in a spurious arguement that VM is a counter to AhA.

10-16-2006, 10:55 AM

QUOTE(Viren @ Sep 24 2006, 04:58 PM)Shivramji, Do you have an English translation of you work?
[right][snapback]57831[/snapback][/right]


Thanks for your enquiry Virenji,
You can click here to see my English translation work
Sapthagiri Sandesha-Epic Story (English}

-Shiva Ram H
16/10/06

10-16-2006, 11:27 AM

SAPTHAGIRI SANDESHA
Sri Venkatesha purana(Bhavishyottara Purana)

Kalyanadbhtagatraya
Kamitartapradayeni
Srimad venkatanataya
Srinivasayatenamah

Generally it is opined that the big epics Ramayana and Mhabharatha are the mythologies representing the contemporary human values for all our life times. And most of our authors after attaining some years of experience in writings, would like to take one of these two myths and rewrite the characteristics therein, in search of lives human values nearing to the present situation for the gratification of eternal bliss and self satisfaction. My long desire was to find out some other epic story, apart from the above said main two epics, and to make research of such an epic story to the depth for the benefit of man kind in a new style of presentation; not affecting the original scriptures and resources.

So to say, the Sri Venkatesha puranam I had selected only by the innerforce of Lord Sri Venkateshwara, also written in our local language kannada as âSapthagiri Sampadaâ and already published at his divine grace. If this English version is up to the mark, I think it is also at his divine power showered upon me. It is evident that this epic had not a big canvas like Ramayana or Mahabharata, but in its own way it has some similarities. In Ramayana we find sattviq prabhu Sri Ramachandra, in Mahabharata the characters of Dharma raja, Vidhura, Vibheeshana are the examples for the same sattviq characters. Likewise, in this epic story also Mahavishnu descended to this earth planet for communicating mainly the Sattviq message.

Whereas in the available scripts high lights are about Sri Venkatesha kalyanam only. . In fact it contains the Sattviq Message as said above in each and every step of chapters, as I found in my study script work already published in Kannada as âSapthagiri Sampadaâ(1997). Right from examining Three Divinities; which gives such a divine massage not within the limits of abode of three divinities beyond that for the generation of earth planet of all times, without distinctions of race, caste, stage of each individual.

You might have visited this holy pilgrimage place Tirupathi. When I had visited at first time along with my family (1993), I fed up myself in deep thinking, why thousands of people are coming daily here to take darshanam of Sri Venkateshwara, and what they are carrying back at returns by worshiping, offering with their debts, tributes? Further, what is the power here which attracts so many people every day? Surprisingly, all those visitors standing on queue for entering inside the temple will raise up their two handâs palms set to for Namaskar, and shout together at a time as âGovindaaâ¦ Govindaaâ¦ Govindaaâ as immediately seeing the manifested big idle of Lord Sri Venkateshwara.

After I took darshanam of Swami Sri Venkateshwara with my wife and childrens, came out of the temple, as soon as I sat in the premises and started with my in taking the laddu prasadam, suddenly got a flash point about this sacred pilgrimage place. That is Sri Venkateshwara is standing on this serpent hill for annunciation of the sattviq message to the universe and as such his sattviq shakthi is so powerful, also transcendental in attracting the human beings all over the world from here.

Our ancient sages were knower and great orators. What they had delivered ontologically for man kind, all are not superstitious; but superficial to over come from nescience of materialistic trumps. Those maharishiâs or monks are creators of new era with foresight, for retaining the affection among humanity and devotion to unforeseen hand of the divinity beyond our sensual content- satisfaction. Unfortunately, our younger generation is going for away from those sacred scriptures- epic stories containing everlasting traditional values, instead of assimilating the same for their benefit of lives future.

On the point of view of God consciousness, why donât we understand the God consciousness and his live presence already shown by our passed away yogis, sages, haridasaâs without any fruitful expectation from Him in this era of civilization only? Therefore, I want to make it clear God is not greedy and corrupt like a man to become bestowed in a sense of illusion. Of course, some people immersed with delusions may pour plentiful money and jewelries on him, which they got by their ill earnings, so as to vanish their ironical and sinful contemptâs. So, it should not be a merely momentary self-repentance and satisfaction only.
2. Sri Venkateshwara Darshanam

Although, Srinivasa, also called as Sri Venkateshwara is not among the ten Godhead incarnations of Mahavishnu, for the people of this age of era so called as kaliyuga, He is Avatar Svarupi only that means the entire disciple people are particularly related with him eternally. Hence, there is no exaggeration all over the world it has foreseen, so He is attracting thousands of disciples every day, by standing inside the main temple situated on sapthagiri.

As I already told, the visiting pilgrimages standing on the queue while taking a turn from a corridor as soon as they see the magnificent idle of Sri Venkateshwara rise up their two handâs palms set for Namaskar shouting Govindaa. Goindaaâ¦. Let us take a picture, how Sri Venkateshwara is giving darshanam, standing in his gentleness elegant style- keeping two hands on his waist called sattviq sukh bhangi, showing his right palm downwards as a sign of abhaya hastam -assuring fearlessness. Left hand palm turned towards his lotus feet, as a sign of accepting those disciples, devotees coming not vacant hands, but along with so many problems, also brought with whole hearted consecrations to pour all such things at his lotus feet and surrender themselves.

The quantum of wealth and consecrations that is falling at his lotus feet of Sri Venkateshwara, and the disciples taking as returns from him while going back is the full of self-confidence for their next living remedies of life, could not be assessed elsewhere as it is considered certainly a very rare case in the universe.
In most of the cases worldly people think money only speaks, but still people are there who speaks with the God only. Disguising people are always there cheating innocents in the world making money in the name of God. But, if there is yards stick for measuring the humanity that is Divinity only nothing else, and the same basement stands for the world peace i.e. sattviq sakthi. Especially people of India suffering with poverty, diseases and in much and more difficulties can find God which is really wondrous for examples. Therefore, we cannot imagine the corers together populated India where no people live without belief in God.

Generally in our epic stories we can see bhakthi rasa as the main aspect. Whereas the other face of the same is jnana yajna as a resultant fruit for us. The references of previous births and rebirths are also common factor of all epics. In this Sri Venkatesha puranam such references of previous births and rebirths are coming, they are true as seen in this age of examples, say Sri Bhagavan budda had remembarence of 500 previous births. Even in this scientific world we are heard about the true incidents of rebirths.

Yashoda the mother of Sri Krishna (incarnation of Mahavishnu) asks- âHey, Krishna! I have not seen your marriage in this birth?â
Krishna says- âOh, my mother, in the next birth again I come down to earth as Srinivasa, then you can see happily my glorious marriage Srinivasa kalyanam.â

Yashode had to wait for one more age of era to see the glorious marriage of Srinivasa taking her rebirth as Bakuladevi.

And vedavati with her hard austerities to get the divinity-Sri Srinivasa himself as her husband had to wait and take rebirth as Padmavati after a lapse of two more age of era. So to say in this age of Kaliyuga to get the husband like divinity and similarly a son-in-law also, it is the real virtue of many previous births only.

When I had paid first time pious visit for darshanam of Lord Sri Venkateshwara I got inspired to write a Bhakti Geethe on his glorious mahima as follows-

Mahavishnu dharege banda
Maha punya namge tanda
Banni banni bhktare ille ide swargavu
Papa karma kaleyuva bhu vaikuntavu ||

Mahavishnu had descended to the earth
He brought great virtues to us
Come on come on devotees;
Here is heavenly Elysium earth
Wherein to vanish all the sinful contemptâs.

Rushi pungavrichheyante yajna phalavnarpisalu
Brahma Vishnu Maheswara ge sattva pariksheyaglu
Swamige apacharavage mahalakshimi munidalu
Bhagvanthana toredalu kollapura seridalu ||1||

On will of all sages to offer fruitfulness of sacrifice
Sattviq examination was there for three divinities-Brahma, Visnu, Maheswara
On occurrence of disgracefulness to Mahavisnu
Spouse Mahalakshmi got annoyed
As assumed her abode of the master polluted
She left away from the godhead divinity
Come to stay at earthâs place - Kollapur.

Gruha lakshmiye ta muniye santanamte Sri hariyu
Sheshagiri ge bandanu valmikadi kulitanu
Jagada chinte hottanu Ghora tapava gydanu
Dharma samrakshnege Srinivasa nadanu ||2||

On departure of his beloved spouse- Gruha lakshmi
The wealth divinity of the Elysium, Mahavisnu
Descended like a monk to the earth
And arrived at sheshagiri, i.e. one of the hill of Sapthagiri
Sat underneath the ant hill, had the agony of universe
Started austerities and got exists in the name of Srinivasa, Sri Venkateswara
To stood there for protecting the Dharma.

Sri lakshmiya amshajale padmavati bandalu
Srikantana varisutali sri nidhiye adalu
Jagada janara kalyani nema nishtegolivalu
Sattviqa samprite nitya vandeyadalu ||3||

Padmavati the inherent of Sri Lakshmi came to earth
Married lovingly Srinivasa and became his spouse Srinidhi
Being resourcefully wealth divinity she will be blessed
On her sattviq disciples, devotees principled worships
And, remain as dwelling divinity in their lives resort.

Sattvagunada hirimege rajogunad hiditake
Tamogunada alivige vaivahika jeevanake
Adarshada ulivige sarutihanu sandesha
Indriya kalyanadali loka kalyanake ||4||

On supremacy of sattvaguna, overpowering rajoguna,
On defying tamoguna, retaining moral principles
And becoming happily and lively on wedding life,
He is annunciating the message for worldly salvation and liberation.

Sankatagala kaleyuva Sri Venkateshanu
Nambikeya nakadali ellaranu kayuvanu
Kalki roopi karananu sapthagiriya odeyanu
Sampadava karunisuva sattviqa sampannanu ||5||

On divine faith Sri Venkateswara would weed out
All difficulties and save life of trouble some people
He is lord of seven hills so called kalki roopi in kaliyuga
Stands reasoning as enriched saffviq for bestowal of welfare.

-Shiva Ram H
16/10/06
Click here to see the continued Epic Story-Sapthagiri Sandesha

10-17-2006, 02:15 AM

I dont know where else to post this but does anybody have any citation for this ?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yadav

QUOTEYadavas mostly follow Hindu religion, and are located in different parts of India, Nepal, and Bangladesh. Yadavas are the single largest community in India, estimated to constitute more than 19% of the Indian population[citation needed]. Through numerous political parties such as the Samajwadi Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal, Janata Dal (United), Janata Dal (Secular) and Tamil Makkal Desam (Tamil Nadu), this group has considerable political influence, especially in the governments of India's most populous states, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Madhya Pradesh[3].

Yadavs, though being Kshatriyas, in certain parts of India are classified by the respective governments as Other Backward Classes, or OBCs. This classification stems from their prevailing general economic and educational condition. The Yadavas are linked to Krishna and several ruling families, such as the ancient kings of Prayag, the Seuna Yadavas of Devagiri, the Nandas, the Wodeyars of Mysore and more recently that of Rao Tula Ram of Haryana, one of the leading figures of the First War of Independence (1857) in India.

Bodhi · (This post was last modified: 10-17-2006, 04:14 AM by Bodhi.)

QUOTE(ramana @ Oct 13 2006, 05:18 PM)Op-ed in The Telegraph, 13 Oct., 2006
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTEMOTHER FIXATION
- The history of a sectarian war cryÂ
Cutting corners - ASHOK MITRA
....
Unfortunately, sections of the Hindu community debased its sanctity by using Vandemataram as a sectarian war cry from the late Twenties onwards to counter the Muslim orison of Allah-ho-Akbar during the communal riots in different parts of the country.
[right][snapback]59067[/snapback][/right]
</div>

This has made the writer's moorings amply clear.
1. vande matarm = sectarian war cry; while allah-o-akbar = orison (part of prayer)
2. While Hindus debased (he says) the sanctity of vande mataram, muslims were only uplifting allah-ho-akbar?

If sanctity of a national song depends upon the background of the song and its writer then, what abut Jana Gana Mana which was sung to welcome Emperor George V to India? 'Sare Jahan Se Achchha' is writen by Allama Iqbal who seeded the idea of partitioning India and creating Pakistan as the separate holy muslim land... so it should be rejected too...?

We have known to use the good parts from the bad. We have also known taking good thoughts from vilains too. Very famous rudra-strotram was written by Ravan, and so what, it still finds a very respected place in Shiv worship.

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