Art of Saying Thank You..! -3 (Post 4)

Namaste!

Why?!

Why, the one who could burn us up, drown us down should help us? Why should they be kind to us? Why should one be our cook, the other our life saver and the third rent us his space till our last breath?

This week I will talk about the three celestial elements- Fire (Agni), Water (Jala) and Space (Akasha).

Agni:

He is fierce! He can burn anything and everything in the matter of seconds so why should we worship Him and Thank Him? Obeying the orders of Lord Shankara, He is helping us every moment and being modest about it. 

We wake up every morning and think about coffee/tea the next second. It is from that moment we need His help. He becomes our home cook and cooks for us. Imagine what would we be if He would refuse to help us? Not only this but He also helps us in a deeper sense every day. Agni Deva obeys Lord's orders and satisfies our needs in four ways. 

Firstly, He acts as a courier to give the Gods what we offered as Haviss (offerings) during yagnam. Second- He delivers our offerings to our Pithru devathas dring pinda pradaan. Third- he works full time as our cook and cooks anything we want him to cook. Fourth- he stays inside us as Jatara Agni and helps us in digesting whatever we eat- clean our digestion system time to time working all day and entire night so that we can gain energy, discard the wastes and again eat fresh next day. Imagine what would our position be if he would not help us digest or clean for a week? We would see the hospital walls the next time we open our eyes! Won't we? 

Isn't he helping us beyond our imagination? It is our duty to thank him at least once a day and recognize his efforts. It is said that a woman should not cook before taking bath and doing a puja to Agni Deva. I agree we have modern stoves these days but honestly how many of us take bath before switching on our stoves? It is our duty to at least ask for His forgiveness in our hearts before we start cooking anything. 

Let us all fold our hands every morning before starting to cook and just say "Thank you Agni Deva for feeding me and my family, giving us energy and cleansing us every day"

Jalam:

What is left unsaid about him? Water is the essence of our lives, about 60-70% of our body is made up of water. Water is the life saving fluid. It would be a third grader essay if I start writing advantages of water but He has been kind to us to be in us, around us, help us in every way imaginable. There is a small sloka that our elders gave us to read before we take bath:

"Gange cha Yamune chaiva Godavari Saraswati

Narmada Sindhu Kaveri Jalesmin Sannidhim kuru"

(I pray to invoke the presence of the waters of Ganga, Yamuna, Godavari, Saraswati, Narmada, Sindhu and Kaveri thus cleanse me of my sins)

Reciting this sloka while taking bath invokes the presence of all those rivers' waters thus cleanse our sins. 

I have seen some of people argue- "All these mystic poems and slokas won't do any good, they do not have proof. It is only modern science that exists" and they talk about many modern scientists and inventions. How many of us know that there is a sloka in BhagavadGita which when analyzed gives the value of "pi (3.14)"? How many of us know that the First cosmetic surgery, in fact the first surgery was done in India and is described in our Shastras? The first aeroplane design description is given in our Vedas. I do not say science is false but I say the base of science is God and this spirituality. can you explain through science why, how and who makes our breathing happen in a timely manner? No! but it does happen. Just so that few things can't be explained we can't rule them out as myths, it is just that we are not ready to understand the deep inner meaning of it. Have faith, some day by His blessings, you might understand. Till then believe them.

Akasha:

Space. Space is every where. It is His kindness that He has given his property to us for a limited time and thus we enjoy till we leave. When we rent a house, we pay the owner some amount of money every month for letting us use his space. Then what should we pay the Lord for he let us use His space till we need? We have Akasha (space) around us and also inside us. We store our food, energy, thoughts memories in some place in our body and that is our space. No one else can use/ steal that space. Shouldn't we thank Him for that?

Today, why do we have Earth quakes (Bhumi), Tsunamis (Jalam), Storms (Vaayu), Pollution (Akasha), Fires (Agni)?

Why does one have Sensory disorders (Bhumi), Dehydrations (Jalam), Paralysis and heart attacks(Vaayu), Disorderly growth of body (Akasha) and acidity and heart burns (Agni)?

These are just a few that I know and there are many more. If you can read above all the natural disasters and human disorders are due to these five natural elements. Our grand parents never knew these diseases/ disasters until they were really aged but now we see these in our early stages of life. Why? Because they were always happy with what they had, thankful to whatever they had and were careful with what they used and paid gratitude in return which our generation has forgot. We use everything and forget. A mother waits for a certain time before she punishes the kids real hard for their mistakes. The same way God is waiting for us to realize our mistake and thank Him (Them) from the next time we use his properties. 

So better late than never, let us all from tomorrow pray and ask for forgiveness and say Thank You for what all he has done or is doing. One other easy way is to donate to the temples which do Yagas (like Rain Yaga) and Yagnas (like Sudarshana Yagnam) for the benefit of people. Donate generously wherever and whenever you can and don't forget to go to the temples and attend those yagas and yagnas whenever you can. That sacred smoke can heal you in ways you can ever imagine. Have Faith

Sai Ram

Vipanchi Krishna.

The Art of saying Thank you..! -2 (Post 3)

Namaste!


What is it?!

What is the life saver of a human being? Who is that tireless worker who does the same job not just every day but every minute and not get bored? Who is it that we should thank for not working too slow and not too fast because either of which would be a reason to panic?

Yes, I am talking about breathing- Air; in other words. This week I will talk about the Vaayu.

Vaayu- The life giving force, the life saving force. He, who has the power of bringing everything down and causing a disaster with just one breeze from this side to the other is obeying the order of Paramathma and helping us from the moment we take birth till the last moment of our life and expects nothing in return. Isn't it our duty to thank him for what all he does for us?

Vaayu Deva lives in us in ten different forms, namely:

1. Prana
2. Apaana
3. Vyaana
4. Udhaana (Vishwakarma)
5. Samaana
6. naaga
7. koorma
8. krukara
9. Dhananjaya
10. Devadatha

The Praana vaayu in us is the life giving force. With a rhythmic ingoing and out coming motion, this Vaayu supplies oxygen and removes carbon dioxide every moment helping us breathe. If this vaayu exists in us then we are Shivam (anything that has life) else we become Shavam.

The Apaana vaayu helps in digestion. If we consume any food item that is supposed to cause harm to the sensitve organs inside, this form of Vaayu helps in removing them and moving them out downwards from our body in the form of gas.

The Vyaana vaayu helps in bending our body organs. Different movements/ bending of the body parts is possible only if this vaayu exists in us. Paralysis or Pakshavaatha is a problem caused when this form of vaayu stops existing in that part of the body.

The Udhaana vaayu is also called Vishwakarma. This is the vaayu that helps in causing changes to certain body parts that are important in reproducing the exact same replica of him/her. A human being to a human being, a dog to a dog, a cat to a cat.

The Samaana vaayu helps in equal growth. This form of vaayu is the reason for equal (symmetric) growth of every part of the body. Who is making our hair grow in the same length? Our nails grow in the same length, our limbs grow in equal dimensions; what would happen if one our limbs would grow longer/ shorter than the other? With the aagna (order) of Lord Shankara, Vaayu takes this responsibility.

The Naaga vaayu is in an other form an alarm system for our body. Who tells us that you had enough food for the day? How would we measure the quantity of food that we should consume? The Naaga Vaayu in the form of a burp, tells the person that he/she had enough food for the day.

The Koorma vaayu is responsible for the reflexes. Who tells us that we have to close our eyes when we see some insect/ sand grain coming towards the eyes? Who tells us with what speed should we hit the mosquito that lands on our hand? Too slow- mosquito would cause the damage it intends, too quick- we hit ourselves and the mosquito happily flies away! Hence it is the Koorma vaayu in us that controls the reflexes.

The Krukara vaayu is the food alarm. When we wake up in the morning, who reminds us that we need food and we are hungry? Vaayu in the form of Krukara, alerts the mind that the body needs food in order to sustain.

The Dhananjaya vaayu is the form of air that is responsible for making sure that the body finally blends in the five elements of nature from which it was formed. This vaayu leaves the person after his last breath indicating that the person is no more mortal and the body should be returned to the Earth in the form of last rites (cremation).

The Devadatha vaayu is responsible for swalpa kaalika laya- the form of deep relaxation- sleep. This vaayu in the form of a yawn, alerts the body that it needs rest and should sleep for the day to rejuvenate for the next day.

Could we ever imagine that such a strong element of nature who can cause storms and tornadoes could also live in a simple form in the human body. Our vedas respect Vaayu as 

"Namasthey Vaayoh twamevam pratyaksham Bhramaasi"

(I salute to you, O Vaayu for you are the visible Brahma for us)

Let us all bow to this force and thank Him at least once a day for all the hard work he does for us; expecting nothing in return.

P.s: After the topic of natural elements, with His blessings, I plan to talk about great Valmiki Ramayana (based on Sri Chaganti's pravachanams) every week until the Lord allows me to. Stay tuned. Thank you!

Sai Ram

Vipanchi Krishna

The Art of Saying Thank you....! (Post 2)

Namaste!

We ladies work round the clock let we be working wives or proud home makers. There comes a time in our lives when we stop for a moment and think "I do all this every day and no one has thanked me at least once in return". We expect a small token of gratitude sometimes- let be it from our dear ones, friends or colleagues. Isn't that true? Then how many times did we turn back and did the same? Yeah we thank people who helped us. We remember and talk about a friend who helped in need but how many times did we thank our five best friends who have been there for us every moment and not expect anything in return but take what all we give?

Yes, I am talking about the five elements of nature! The Earth- Bhumi, The water- Jalam, The Air- Vayu, The Fire- Agni and The Space- Aakasha. Do we thank them enough? As we know Bhumi in our Hinduism (Sanathana Dharma) is considered to be our Mother. We celebrate mother's day and thank our birth mothers but did we thank the Universal mother?

This week I want to talk about Bhumi:

The first thing we do after we wake up is to step on her, we need food- we plough on her stomach, we need water- we dig on her heart, we need a shelter- we build on her, we are angry- we kick her in our anger, we are happy- we jump on her, we are sad- she takes in our tears, infact she even takes our waste! Finally she takes us into her at the end. When she does all this she never complains. So on the occasion of mother's day which just rolled by let us take a moment to thank her and apologize for what ever we did and will do in future.

This is the slokam that our elders gave us and reading this early in the morning just after we wake up gives mental peace and happiness throughout the day.

Samudra vasane Devi, parvatha sthana mandale |

Vishnu pathni Namasthubhyam, paada sparsham kshamasvame ||

(She who has oceans as her garments and mountains as her bosom, 

She who is the consort of Sri Maha Vishnu, Please forgive us for touching you with our feet)

I am sure that every one of us knows this slokam but those who find it tough to remember just ask for forgiveness in plain words. After all, she is The Mother- she will accept :-) 

Also let us make it a habit to teach our kids all this for we want to see them happy and pass on the knowledge that we have.

Disclaimer: All I write here is to satisfy the writer in me and just share what all I know; Please contribute to this blog with your articles (not just spirituality, it can be any topic- food, politics, tips, technology anything you like) and I will be more than happy to publish it with your name. Write to me at austinlalitha@gmail.com  Don't forget to comment if you like/dislike anything I write here.

Sai Ram

Vipanchi Krishna.

Welcome! (Post 1)

Shukla ambara dharam vishnum

shashi varnam chaturbhujam |

prasanna vadanam dhyayeth

sarva vighna upashanthaye ||

We meditate on Vishnu who is wearing white clothes, 

who is as white as the moon and who has four hands

who is having a compassionate face

who clears all our obstacles in whatever we do.

Sarva Mangala Mangalye

Shive Sarva ardha saadhake |

Sharanye Triyambake Gauri

Narayani Namostu- te ||

I salute to  her who is the standing form of auspiciousness, 

who is the wife of Shiva, who is the giver of refuge

I bow to her who is three eyed, who has the shiniest face

and is the sister of Narayana.

Namaste!

I feel good! This feels good! Bringing spirituality into one's life always feels good. Let me start this week with an introduction...!

Blog Name: I spent 3 nights thinking on what to name this blog. After finding no way out I finally surrendered myself to Her and started revising Lalitha Sahasranamam and then came this beautiful word "Suvasini". As you all know, suvasini is a married lady who is blessed by the Goddess with arogyam, dhanam, soubhagyam, santhanam and anandam (health, wealth, married life, kids and happiness). It is in this beautiful verse in Sahasranamam

" Suvasini suvasinyarchana preetha shobhana shudha maanasa "

(She who is ever- married and has an immortal husband and is always pleased by the adoration of married women and who is always beautiful and has a pure heart)

So I thought this would be an apt title since one of our main reasons of doing parayanam is to be a suvasini as long as we live. It is said in Devi Bhagavatam that we can pray/chant Lalitha Sahasranamam only if She wants  us to. It is Her Sankalpam (decision) and we are just following her instructions. If I am correct we started this as a group of five 

"Pancha yagna priya"

(She who likes five )

and now we are eight

"Ashta murthi aja jaitree"

(She who has eight forms and has won over ignorance)

we can relate it as she wants us to overcome our ignorance and surrender ourselves to her. So I wish this group grows like her sahasranama (uncountable number of names). Who knows...?!  one day we might :-)

Hoping that you would like this, as a closing note- Please feel free to correct/ object me wherever and whenever you think I should be corrected.

Sai Ram 

Vipanchi Krishna.