Showing posts with label Why this blog?. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Why this blog?. Show all posts

Sunday, January 7, 2018

Started Indology and Weather blogs

Dear Readers,

This is to bring to your notice that I have started two different blogs in wordpress.com for Indology related articles and astro-meteorology. From now onwards the weather related articles will appear only in the weather blog. So I request weather enthusiasts to follow that blog.

The articles on Indology will appear here and also in the Indology blog. The need for a separate blog on Indology was noticed by me when I found people trying to locate Indology and historical research based articles here. A separate blog would make reading easier. Interested ones may start following that blog. At the moment I will be concentrating on Aryan Invasion theory and Tamil sources in support of unified Indian culture.  Wordpress has an advantage of hosting recent comments in the front page. Hoping to have fruitful and thought provoking interaction with you all in those columns.

The links are

Indology blog :  https://jayasreesaranathan.wordpress.com/

Astro-meteorology blog : https://jayasreeweatherblog.wordpress.com/



Saturday, August 1, 2015

I am back! – My tribute to Dr Kalam.


Dr Kalam, the exalted Athman we are fortunate to have lived along with, is being remembered for having been an inspiration to many. My thoughts about him took me to the articles where I have written about him. One such article written soon after he became the President of India was lingering on my mind for long. It was about Karma and Destiny. Here I meant Karma in the meaning of action and destiny as the resultant action or Prarabdha Karma. Prarabdha Karma is what is going to happen whether we work towards it or not. But Karma is what we have to keep doing with our thoughts and decisions – which are of course motivated by our vasanas infused with the three gunas (sattwa, rajasa and tamasa). Under the spell of these gunas, and without being aware that we are indeed propelled by these gunas, we keep doing karma. (“na hi kaschit kshanamapi jaathu thishtatya karmakruth / kaaryathe hyavasha karma sarva prakruthi jair gunaihi//” BG – 3-5)


In that process, the kind of attitude that we develop – by the spell of gunas or by freewill – if it is there (!?) define how a person evolves. In a rejoinder to an article by Debarshi Sen highlighting the karmic angles in the lives of Dr Kalam and Mr Verghese Kurien, I wrote about the importance of attitude towards how an action needs to be done rather than the action (karma) itself. Reading those lines I thought – here lies the tribute that I have to offer to Dr Kalam!


I wrote, “These two (Dr Kalam and Mr Kurien) undoubtedly performed their karma in the new environs, but what fetched them rewards is their attitude — the mind to accept whatever comes in their way and perform with utmost commitment and dedication. Had they cast their eyes on the results of their karma, the disappointment from denial might have proved too much. They, instead, banked upon samathvam— treating failure and success alike — and went ahead with undiluted enthusiasm and dedication into what the Gita calls as karmasu kaushalam (dexterity in action). This attitude termed as samathvam, coupled with dexterity in action ensures that at no time failure bogs one down. A person with samathvam will care less about the results and instead start concentrating more on how to improve his performance.”


It is easier to write this and speak high about this virtue which is essentially the core of Sankhya yoga taught by Gitacharyan. But when we are actually facing a difficult situation – a crisis, this samathvam is just a word and not deed. When I myself faced tribulations in my life that put me offline for a year, I realized why Krishna specifically picked out King Janaka as an example for Karma yogi. It is easy to talk about karma and attitude, but to follow it when you are in the thick of the forest fire is something difficult.  May be you need a Divine help to regain your samathvam. The many thoughts on Dr Kalam that is around me at this moment of his departure made me think – should I allow my personal loss and pain derail my strive towards samathvam? This samathvam is not to do with results or expectations, but about how I am as always, in spite of the trials I am undergoing.


Most of the articles on Dr Kalam at this moment are about his connect with students or him as a People’s President. But not many seem to think how he had to wade through the aversion of the Sonia dispensation and Karunanidhis’ 'Kalam is kalagam' remark  that denied him a 2nd term.  Dr Kalam did not aspire for the position but he did want to become the President as that would give him another opportunity to make himself heard well and all around. When that opportunity was denied he did not get stuck, but instead found other ways to reach out to the youth – which he did till he breathed his last.


This is the message I read from him at this juncture in my life. As I go through the comments that have been piling up for a year – and numerous mails and phone calls that are asking me why I am silent, I am asking myself - Why am I silent? Am I lost into myself and in my pains? At the same time I know that nothing is going to be lost if a Jayasree does not write. Or can I allow myself to rust, or write whatever I know whether it is useful or not to others.


With these kinds of numerous thoughts, I thought of the remark of Dr Kalam as being on the God-synchronous orbit – a never ending travel that can only be stopped when God sucks you. Perhaps by getting back to writing till I am exhausted, I can pay him the best tribute that I can.




Sunday, January 23, 2011

Does Sanathana dharma prohibit me from commenting on politics?




The aim of this blog is spelt on top of this page. I have been thinking that I am adhering to this aim even though at times (frequently nowadays) I post articles on the ways of politicians and political analyses by others. Is this going against my set goal?  

When this question was raised by a reader recently, I was a little taken aback as I was thinking that dharma requires me to voice my concerns when some thing atrocious goes around me. (Dharma is defined as that which has to be sustained or that which has to be done in a given moment) It was around that time I received an article from a friend on how the Hindu religious leaders look away from the subversion happening to Hindu society and continue to preach spirituality for the self.

Are they (religious leaders) right in telling us to do meditation when Hinduism is getting severe beating from the powers that be?
What they preach is absolutely right when we think about the self.
Nothing is going to change by what we say or do.
There is an element of karmic angle in everything and what we do and experience is the result of what we did earlier.
Ultimately it is we who are going to experience.
So why not we make ourselves immune to all that which disturbs us? 

A similar situation can be cited from the Ithihasas. In Mahabharata Bheeshma narrates to Yudhishtira the incident involving King Janaka.
The king remained calm when there was a fire in Mithila.
Krishna also quotes Janaka in that situation, in Bhagavad Gita.
But that incident did not convey that Janaka remained passive or took no steps to prevent the fire and rescue the people. He did everything in his capacity as a king to restore the situation.
There was no dereliction of duty.
What actually happened was that he did not grieve.
He did not grieve that his possessions were lost, because there is nothing that can be called as one's possession.
Even if he were to be licked by fire, he would have told that his atman can not be licked by fire.
That is the ultimate Realization preached by Sanathana dharma.
That applies to one-self.
And that does not mean that he allowed his subjects to be devoured by the fire saying that their atman can not be devoured by the fire.
He did his duty as the King and restored order.


Janaka's episode shows that we have a duty in our capacity as what we are in the society on the one hand and also we have an inner side that shapes us to evolve with enlightenment.  
These two do not clash with each other.
Infact these two coexist together so that the duty does not hinder the mental evolution but helps in training the self unattached from what duty brings out.

Sanatana dharma defines duties on two levels, one as varna and the other as asrama dharma.
These two may not be exist now as it existed in olden days.
But we continue to be somewhere in these two structures even now.

In the present day varna system, those who are teachers and educate and counsel others are Brahmins.
Those who are in the job of safeguarding others' life and materials are Kshathriyas. Those who are engaged in supplying the goods needed by others are Vaisyas.
And those who are in service sector are Shudras.
All the people come under in any one of these categories.
What we see here is that no one is independent of some one else.
Each one depends on others or is influenced by someone from other category.
What happens to one category will have an impact on other categories.


Similarly the asrama dharma puts one under different stages of life.
Most people come under grahastha stage and stay there for very long.
The entire society is dependant on the people of grahastha stage.
Dharma, artha and kama are all taken care of in this stage only.
When we talk of these 3 issues, collectively known  as purusharthas, we are very much part of the society or country and whatever happens in the society or country will certainly have an impact on the way we live with our purusharthas.

These 3 are not just jargons but are real issues that stick to people of all ages. The way we earn or conduct ourselves must be in dharmic way (dharma).
What we earn must be safeguarded or used in the dharmic way (artha).
Our personal life must be of dharmic nature (kama).
If anyone deviates from dharmic way in any one of them, it means someone else's dharmic sense has been violated or some violation of dharma which is not justifiable has happened.

This kind of a situation is discussed in Shanthi parva by Bheeshma when he described Raj-dharma. In Chapter 67 Bheeshma describes the story of Manu who was installed as the Ruler to safeguard the people from violations and effects caused by violation by others. The ruler is rated superior among all the others because if he does not use the right sense of Danda neeti, dharma will break down.

The ruler is equated to 5 Godly entities namely, Agni, Adhithya, Mruthyu, Kubera and Yama.

( from chapter 68 of Shanti parva)
"When the ruler burns with his fierce energy the sinful offenders, he is then said to assume the form of Agni.

When he observes through his spies the acts of all persons and does what is for the general good, he is then said to assume the form of Aditya.

When he destroys in wrath hundreds of wicked men with their sons, grandsons, and relatives, he is then said to assume the form of the Mruthyu.

When he gratifies with profuse gifts of wealth those that have rendered him valuable services, and snatches away the wealth and precious stones of those that have offended him, indeed, when he bestows prosperity upon some and takes it away from others, he is then, O king, said to assume the form of Kubera on earth.

When he restrains the wicked by inflicting upon them severe punishments and favours the righteous by bestowing rewards upon them, he is then said to assume the form of Yama. "

When the Ruler does not discharge this duty in the right spirit and in all earnestness, dharma gets a beating.

Usually people think that Brahmins have been given the high status among the varnas. There is a discussion disputing this in Mahabharata. The King / ruler enjoys the high status in a society. It is because he only protects everyone including the Brahmins. If the king fails to be just, the entire society suffers.

It is on this basis, Bheeshma says that yugas are created by the rulers. He tells Yudhishtira "Whether it is the king that makes the age (yuga), or, it is the age (yuga) that makes the king, is a question about which thou shouldst not entertain any doubt. The truth is that the king makes the age". (chapter 69, Shanti parva).

The 4 yugas are made by the ruler depending on the way he delivers the Justice system. The Justice system is based on danda neeti from times of yore.
It is wrong to say that Manu neeti was the Justice system followed in this country. Danda neeti has been followed in Bharat for all times in the past.
When the British came to India it was in place.
Manu neeti was not the dharma book of Bharat.
Manu smruthi fulfilled the purpose of human resource development and optimum use of human resources.
It was not a book of dharma neeti.
But William Jones mistook it for dharma-book and propagated the idea that it was in vogue in this country.

According to the danda neeti, there was no discrimination among the varnas.
For example, this system specifies the combination of varnas in the council of ministers that the ruler must have. It says that the ministry must comprise of 4 Brahmins, 18 kshathriyas, 21 vaisyas, 3 shudras and one Sutha (charioteer).
The qualification stipulated for the charioteer far exceeds the collective capability of the 4 varnas.
It is also deduced that by including a separate entity as charioteer, the system was not varna based as we think today but based on the capability that persons of specific varnas exhibited.

Mahabharata clearly states that a system of Justice called as Danda neeti was in vogue at all times in the past and in future in this country.
From chapter 58 onwards, we can read about this Danda neeti and Rajadharma.
It covers everything under the sun.
It was originally given by Brahma deva to Lord Shiva.
He gave it in 16,000 chapters.
Indra received it from Shiva and rendered it in 5,000 chapters.
Brahaspati received it from Indra and rendered it in 3,000 chapters.
Shukracharya received it from Brihaspati and rendered it in 1,000 chapters.
This neeti sastra was prevalent throughout Bharat.
It covers varnas, asramas and every kind of act that people do.


The Danda neeti is in the hands of the ruler. This is similar to what our government and the justice system stand for.
Any deviation in the execution of Danda neeti will affect the people and the Sanathana dharma!
Only when the Ruler is just and carries out the Danda neeti in all earnestness, Sanathana dharma can survive.

Bheeshma takes the discussion on danda neeti further and says that Yugas are caused by the Ruler!

When the king carries out the Justice system (danda neeti) to the fullest, that is the period of Kritha yuga.

When he carries only ¾ of it, that is the period of Tretha yuga.

When he adheres to just half of the Justice system, that is the period of Dwapara yuga.

In the period of Kali yuga, the Justice system completely breaks down.


We in India, particularly in Tamilnadu are experiencing such a period of Kali in full swing.
The Rulers at the State and at the Centre are first rate robbers of the wealth of the country and protectors of wrong doers.
They do everything to subvert the Hinduism.
They are doing everything to undermine Hindu ways.
They are doing everything against danda neeti.
They are supposed to be the representatives of the people.
But they behave like despotic kings.

In these times of democracy of the kind followed in Bharat, Justice System does not remain with the rulers. We have to depend on Judiciary for getting remedy from the rulers. When rulers become thieves, the people have to do the policing. That is what we are doing. At times, even the Judiciary is not rendering Justice. So our fight has to continue relentlessly.

Just a couple of days ago, the Kerala High court wanted to investigate the makara jyothi miracle of Hindu belief. Would the court pass an order on the miracle of resurrection of Jesus or the miracles claimed by other religions? If the issue is around Hinduism, everyone has an interest in it. Perennially we have Asuras in various names to destroy Hindu systems.

Just a day ago the Union minister, Mr Jairam Ramesh spoke in his inaugural address of Saint Thygaraja aradhana that we Indians create myth around people whereas the westerners document the life of people properly. The minister wanted to highlight that a westerner has written a biography of Thyagaraja swamy, whereas we Indians are keen on spinning myths around Thyagaraja swamy.

We are not biography writers. But we take the message of the saints like him and see to it that it is carried on forever. Unless we or our ancestors had done that, no one would have known Thyagaraja swamy by now and this westerner would not have been anywhere near India to dig out the information about Thyagaraja swamy. We connect with Thyagaraja swamy through his music and the devotion his music has generated in us. His life history has stayed in our minds and that is why we remember him even now. But why does a minister say like that on the solemn occasion of Thyagaraja aaradhana? Why did he say that we spin myths around him?

On the same day I heard him speak like this, I received a mail that said that NASA'a spacecrafts suffer a black out when they cross Thiru nallaar, the abode of Lord Saneeswara. Some causes have been discussed about the phenomenon. What would Jairam call that - myth or science?

The current crop of politicians has no sense and sensitivity to what Hinduism does to the people.
 They see everything through western eye or vote bank.
The sad part is that the people are not aware that Hinduism is getting a beating due to their ways.
That is why we have to keep telling what is happening and how the rulers keep harming Hindu dharma.  
Gone were the days when the rulers protected the temples and maintained the temples by huge grants.
Today the temples are looted, the Hindu faith is ridiculed and the Hindu space is allowed to be exploited by evangelists.
The Justice system of the present day rulers work against Hinduism.

Hinduism is the life, breath and soul of this country.
If we remain quite in the face of increasing assault on Hinduism, it is like watching our own house burned to ashes.
In the immediate context, I find Karunanidhi and Sonia as the first rate enemies of Hinduism.
The danda neeti also says what kind of fate awaits persons like them.
But I must not sit quiet saying that they will be punished someday.
If there is something that I can do, I must do.
If I don't, I will not be spared by danda neeti which will see me as aiding and abetting the crime happening in front of me.
The bottom line is that I must do my best to protect this Dharma or else I won't be protected by it. .

So I will keep writing / posting issues or on persons whose acts are detrimental to Hinduism.
In the process of doing this as a duty, my inner self would learn to remain unperturbed – a feat that King Janaka achieved.  


Thursday, September 18, 2008

What is not there in Hinduism?



Someone asked me why, of late, I am posting articles on Christians, alleging a hidden agenda of conversion.


This is not against my goal of spreading awareness on Sanatana dharma.


The very birth of an intention to talk about the meaning of issues in sanatana dhrama happened in me as a result of a shocking and sad episode I witnessed from close quarters on what clever preaching by Christians could do even to the well educated ones.


It happened about a decade ago when I came across some educated Hindus embracing Christianity by influence of some preaching that made them think that practices in Hinduism are nothing but absurd, wasteful and even lacking in human touch.

While I was able to counter everyone of their accusations on Hinduism, they refused to listen to them - once having gone into a kind of mesmerized state of thought.


I found this as a kind of ‘invasion’ of your thoughts by preaching and wrote to The Hindu as a letter captioned “Thought Invasion” in July 2000.

Expectedly it generated a lot of heat – accusing Hindus for being intolerant and harboring a hate-agenda against Christians, while exonerating Christians on any hidden agenda and deliberate preaching. Until then I was writing on a spate of issues – with no specific goal of what I can do with my writing.


But events leading to ‘Thought invasion’ changed my perception and made me realize that I must go to the source –to sanatana dharma and

dig it out to show to others what it tells,

that I must address the Hindu individual directly, tell him what his religion is and practices are and make him realize that his religion is truly meaningful and universal and that he should never get any doubt about it – come whatever be the comparative rationale he hears from other religionists.


The Hindu’s faith in his religion must be total and

can not be shaken by any counter preaching.

This is my personal agenda.

I don’t want to say what other regions tell or not tell.

I want to say what your sanatana dharma says,

I want people to know it and stick to it.

When your coffers are full, why should you go to others asking for filling your coffers?

Know what your coffers keep in them.



Since then I started concentrating on writing on sanatana dharma and

finally settled to writing my own blog.




The issue of assault on Hinduism is happening at 2 levels.

One is what you see in places like Kandhamal.

The down-trodden sections of people are lured by proselytism with a promise of better livelihood and status.


Hinduism can not be blamed for the ills of these people as their ills are not propagated by Hinduism but by the people and an inert government which can not ensure a decent living to all its citizens.



At another level, the proselytors are targeting the educated ones by projecting the grossly mis-understood stories and concepts of Hinduism and showing their religion as more meaningful. This type of methodology was done in the episode I witnessed that I mentioned above and at Mangalore that witnessed clashes recently.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/6067105/Secular-Lie


The highly educated ones are lured by their preaching particularly on ‘service’ - thinking that it is missing in Hindu practices.

Lest they know that

- Hindusim tells you to pray every time “samstha loka sukhino bhavanthu” – (let everyone be happy).

- that Hinduism tells you to take your food only after offering it to 5 beings, Brahman, Gods, Pithrus, plant & animals and human beings

- that the goal of all homas or kriyas is ‘sukha’ (happiness) not just for you but for everyone including the 5 elements of Nature

- that you have to surrender even the fruits of your works and not think anything as yours.

We can go on saying numerous things – almost all things in the created world as being addressed by Sanatana dharma.



But that we have not imbibed them is our mistake.

Hinduism or Sanatana Dharma is an all encompassing dharma wherein man plays a pivotal role in safeguarding himself, his community and the world at large.

All these are ordained as ‘duties’- not as services.


When you say you do ‘service’, your hand goes up and the one who receives your services has to stretch his hand below your hand.

This is demeaning on the receiver.

But Hinduism tells you to do all good in the spirit of ‘duty’,


From a previous article in this blog http://jayasreesaranathan.blogspot.com/2008/02/pithru-yajna-yajna-is-to-restore.html


“ But in the present context, there is something else connected to this that we must know. Living in the midst of theologies and practices of different religions, we find many people getting influenced or attracted by the concept ‘service’- so popular in other religions.

This concept also has been picked up by Hindus.

But Sanatana dharma does not recognize service to others.

IT RECOGNIZES ONLY DUTY.


It says - help others in the spirit of duty.

Duty is a far superior word than service.

When we serve someone, our hand goes up

and the receiver has to stretch his hand below in humility.

But when the same is done as a duty,

the pride of the receiver is never put under stress.

The doer gives because it does him good

and the receiver takes because by so-doing he is helping the giver

receive some benefits (the rationale behind charity or dhaana in sanatana dharma is this).

The self-respect of the receiver is not hurt in this scenario.


So giving is done as a duty and Taittriya upanishad (chapter 1)

lays rules for how to give.

All karmas or actions are sacrifices

and all sacrifices include the component of giving as ‘na mama’ (not mine).

The giver has to give with complete detachment to the thing given and without any motives.”


-------------------------

Now tell me what is not there in this Sanatana Dharma?

Enaa illai Hindu dharmatthilE?


- jayasree



Related articles:-

http://www.hinduwisdom.info/Conversion.htm


http://www.hinduwisdom.info/ConversionII.htm


*********************************************************



http://newstodaynet.com/newsindex.php?id=10724%20&%20section=13


Conversion is terrorism!

(Editorial – News today, 17, Sep, 2008)


Recently there has been violence in areas of Orissa, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka and some places of worship of Christians have come under attack. On the face of it, they will look like concerted attacks on the minority community by the forces of Hindutva.

.

But it is a facile conclusion to arrive at. Without condoning the violence, it has to be remembered that all these areas which are in ferment have been hunting gorunds for predatory missionaries out to ‘harvest souls’ for their religion.

Particularly the tribal belt of Orissa was highly vulnerable to forceful and deceitful conversions. Swami Lakshmanananda Saraswathi, who had been manfully fighting the mercenary missionaries for decades, was killed (after several botched attempts before).

Though the Christians claim that the killing was carried out by Maoists, the fact of the matter is that the Maoists had no real enmity with the sadhu. The Christian community tried to play victims over the retaliatory attacks and closed down for a day Catholic educational institutions across the country.

It is an open secret that the Church and missionaries have been indulging in proselytisation ever since they set foot on Indian soil. The different denominations of the church have mushroomed to such a great extent that today’s thatched roof is tomorrow’s sprawling worship place.

And every time the issue of conversion is raised, the church conveniently hides behind the alibi of ‘freedom to practice religion’, which is enshrined in the Constitution. The dubious distinction here is conversions actulally hit at the freedom to practice one’s religion.

Christian organisations have different methods of operations in converting the gullible masses. Money, education, health, threat, allurement, force and enculturation are some of the tricks of the trade. The focus of attack is usally vulnerable individuals, indigent communities, riven caste groups, poor & downtrodden, sick patients and unskilled labourers depending upon the circumstances and environment.

The two main planks they operate on are education and health care. Again, the missionaries’ mendacity lie in the fact they have managed to make a case for seeing the failure of successive governments as the failure of the Hindu religion.

To be sure, if the masses remain downtrodden and rooted in backwardness, But Hindu religion is not to blame for that. That untouchability and caste discrmination is actually a failing of the State is lost on even the most honest liberal. For, true Hinduism, as it scriptures prove, has no place for discrimination.

In a sense, the missionaries have (mis)used the misundertanding on Hinduism. The claim of the churches is even more dubious in the light of casteism being rampant in Christianity itself (Dalit Christians are given a raw deal in every church).

The vaunted cry of Christians that they don’t indulge in conversions doesn’t square up with the reality obtaining in the streets. The talk of conversions being volitional in nature is also proved wrong by mass conversions. How can there be ‘mass’ change of mind?

Churches also play the dangerous game of provocation. In Mangalore, Udipi and Chickmagalur districts of Karnataka, where violence have been reported, the New Life Church has distributed pamphlets ‘portraying’ Brahmma, Vishnu And Shiva as ‘jokers’ consumed by lust and anger, Oorvashi as daughter of Vishnu and a prostitute and that Sage Vasishta was born to that prostitute, Krishna as a shady character wallowing in darkness of hell.

This has been going on for years throughout the country as the famed tolerance of the HIndus is taken as an advantage. What the Christians have failed to understand is that the awareness among the majority community has increased manifold and that they have started feeling ‘enough is enough’.

The pseudo-secular politicians and the mainstream media cannot attribute the retaliation to specific Hindu organisations anymore.

The Hindu majority itself has started rising against the illegal, arrogant and blatant conversions and the earlier a stringent central anti-conversion law is enacted, the better.




Thursday, January 10, 2008

Why this blog?

To my readers,

This blog 'Non-random-Thoughts' aims at
bringing out the past glory of this land of India,
previously known as Bharatha varsha
and digging out the lost and forgotten values and information
of this ancient land of wisdom.

In the process, the issues that catch our eyes around us
will be analysed,
and any question / doubt of importance of the day and of interest too
will be analysed
for
the inner meaning, import, message and nuances of the issues
from the angle / perspective of
of vedantha, jyothisha and Sanatana Dharma
which may be correct or incorrect,
but can be debated on
and must be available for the one
in search of it - with the necessary backing of pramanas.

The conviction is that
I must 'see' where people merely 'gaze'
and record it here
so that anyone who is in search of information on these issues
must be enabled to gather them and
improvise on them
so that
this ancient body of wisdom of Sanathana Dharma
can be preserved and passed on!