Hmm...Couldn't continue my last post..

I dont know why I could not complete my last post. I dont like to break it in the middle...but I cannot continue it at this time. Looks like Dwitheeya vighna has taken over me. As a come back I will continue with other things from now on....

It is 11:30 CST and I couldn't make it till now to write this down today. Last sunday, I was at an extraordinary cultural program - Harikatha, which was originated from telugu speaking people.We need to preserve our Culture and that is where our good lies. It has been so long that some of us haven't even heard that word. This skill requires a sense of humour, ability to dance and sing, good oral skills and moreover, a good presence of mind. Hence, we can imply that it needs a lot of effort to do it.

It was Mrs. Jayanthi Savithri, from TTD - India who performed here. It was really a fantastic program. Her topic for that day was - Parvathi Kalyanam. I would like to talk briefly about a few things I remember from her presentation.

Seking blessings from Lord Vinayaka - the remover of obstacles, she started her program. It went like this:

The king of Himalayas - Himavantha once makes tapas for the eternal Mother seeking a child. Appreciating his tapas, The Mother materialises infront of him and offers him to choose between Her taking birth as a girl or having a boy. He chooses to have a girl. The Mother takes birth as the daughter of Himavantha and was named Parvathi because her father is king of mountains - Parvatharaja. From early childhood, she used to sevre Lord Shiva and Shiva Linga with utmost devotion.

One day, when she was five years old, Narada maharshi walks by her and She seeks his blessings. He blesses Her such that she gets married soon ( sheegrahmeva kalyana prapthirastu). Himavantha watches it and asks narada maharshi why he blessed a 5 year old girl to get marries soon. Narada maharshi reminds Himavantha that it is none other than the ultimate power- the Mother. And he describes the reason for her birth as hi daughter. It goes as follows.

If we have read Lingashtakam, we come across this phrase - "dakshasu yagna vinasaka lingam." Thats right! We are about to get Daksha prajapathi into scene. King Daksha had many daughters (appx 27 - not sure if it is 28), and one of them was Sati devi (incarntation of the divine Mother). She was married to Lord Shiva. One day, in king Daksha's court, when everyone including Lord Shiva, Vishnu, Brahma and others were present, king Daksha enters the court. As he was old, everyone respected him and stood up, except Lord Shiva. He was meditating and didn't knew what was going on around him. Daksha was angry with Lord Shiva, his son-in-law's behaviour and was very upset.

Then, Daksha conducts a very big yagna and invites everyone except Lord Shiva and Sati devi. Sati devi finds everyone busily going to yagna and gets to know about it from Narada maharshi. She lets lord Shiva know about it and asks Him to come with her to yagna. Infact, Lord Shiva is any yagna. He is the one who distributes the fruits of yagna to each of devatas. Without Him, nothing can be done. Lord Shiva says, "We are not invited for this yagna and so we cant go." Sati devi says that She doesn't need any invitation to go to "her home". Lord Shiva replies that after marriage, Her home is with Lord Shiva. That is why we have a tradition of sending brides to bridegroom's home. Lord Shiva offers her to go to Daksha with a very firm meaning in His words.

She goes to Her parents home, but Her mother and sisters doesn't respond to Her. Then She directly goes to king Daksha and asks for a reason for the happenings. With his ignorance, king Daksha.......

It was a 3 and half hour program and there is plenty of information. I will continue it in the next post. There might be a few mistakes or even blunders. Forgive my ignorance and let me know if I have to correct anything.

Thought provoking story

Sri Sri Paripoornandagiri Swamiji, from Vyasa Ashramam, Yerpedu near Tirupati is visiting Memphis temple. He is known for his short thought provoking stories which help us understand our existense and our duties in this human form.
The story goes like this. A Swamiji used to give an hour pravachan everyday. One day, a person by name Raj came to pravachan and was about to leave half way along the pravachan. Swamiji stopped him and their conversation is as follows:

Swamiji: Son, why are you leaving in the middle of the pravachan? Is it boring or you dont like the way I talk?
Raj: Forgive me Guruji, but that's not the issue. My family members can'y stay without me for more than half an hour. And so I have to leave now.
Swamiji: Ok. I see that you love your family a lot. Let us see how much your family members love you.
By saying that, Swamiji started teaching Kumbhakam - a practice of holding breath still. And after a few days, Swamiji said " Son, now go to your home and say that you are about to die and lie down holding your breath for some time." Raj does the same. As soon as he lies down, his family members sit around him and start crying. They plead God to take them away instead of Raj. Swamiji enters the scene and asks to get a cup of water. He says a few few words as if uttering a mantra and offers that water to family members saying who ever drinks that water will die for Raj by saving him. All of them step back to the offer. Swamiji asks each of the family members to drink that water and their response to Swamiji is as follows. Raj's mother says, "Swamiji, I need to serve my husband. I am the only one for him and I have the responsibility."
His father says that for all these years, his wife is serving with utmost affection. Now I need to take care of her and I have the responsibility." His wife says that she is the only daughter to her parents who are heart patients. If they hear the news they will not remain here and hence I have the responsibility."
At the end, all the family members offer that water to Swamiji saying that he is a sanyasi and does not have any responsibilities. Than Raj wakes up and thanks Swamiji and from there on he listens to pravachan for one full hour everyday.
By this, I understood that - In the path of spirituality the effort should be from us no matter what.

My first experiences and a few thoughts

It is 10:30 CST, and I am sitting here to write my first blog post ever. I felt like its been a long day. But is it just a feeling? I think yes. Because, technically there are only 23hrs and 56 minutes(appx) in one day according our present measure of time. Time - which any monetary value cant get back should not be gifted away. This human form of our life is to be made use in a proper way as per our Sanatana dharma. Our Rishis have put together everything we need to get rid of this life cycles. But the so called younger generation is pushing all the information away.
I always wonder why do we have this universe in place. Why do we even exist. I am not thinking about any "scientific theories" of creation of universe. After all the present day researchers are "re-searching" all the truths which our Rishis have found it millions of "human-years" ago. Well, as this is my first blog, I am enthusiastic to put all my feelings and thoughts in this post. I will try to be more specific and to the point from next post onwards.