Monday, October 17, 2016
कराग्रे वसते लक्ष्मी, करमध्ये सरस्वती......!
This prayer is taught to us since childhood days. Watching our own palms before looking at something else avoids blaming others of showing his/her face that may result in auspicious or inauspicious day ahead !
In fact, saying the prayer while watching one’s own palms carries significance. One’s finger-tips engage in performing ceaseless activity that leads to acquiring wealth in plenty (Riddhi), while centre of the palm grants lot of learning or Knowledge (Siddhi), which is everyone’s rightful pursuit. Base of the hand is verily seat of Govinda the Lord.
Overall inner meaning of the prayer is that we are Masters of our own destiny. We work honestly, selflessly, doing only for good of the society and we reap fruit in equal measure, namely riches, wealth, name and fame !
Earning Knowledge is everybody’s natural pursuit, passion and goal in life. More often than not, one is inclined to earn worldly knowledge for his and his family’s welfare; however, spiritual knowledge grants him much more, as peace, contentment and therefore joy and happiness.
Thus, both worldly as well as spiritual knowledge is necessary for mankind in equal measure. There is likelihood of mistaking ‘religious’ knowledge with spiritual one ! Spiritual knowledge pertains to the Self, whereas religious knowledge and practice is simply a mode of worship directed towards gaining spiritual knowledge.
Now, everybody naturally wishes his/her entire day to roll joyfully and successfully and so he or she tries out certain rituals knowingly or unwittingly ! Here are some useful ‘tips’ to encourage that ‘ritual’ !!
You see , one can think of some great, magnanimous things early in the morning that expand our horizon . Just as an example, thinking of the Himalayas ( or even Alps !) or huge ocean, carefully listening to Omkar pervading the sky etc, provide to us something unique !
So, there are innumerable things that are “प्रात:स्मरणीय”, meaning worth remembering in the morning !
I shall try to elaborate upon a beautiful Sanskrit Hymn, which is regularly recited during morning Shakha in India.
The Hymn is named “एकात्मता स्तोत्रम्” , which narrates names of prominent mountains, major rivers, both seas, the Indian Ocean, holy pilgrim places and cities, renowned temples, universities, scriptures along with Veda Upanishads Puranas, religious sects, venerable ladies and men, rishis, deities, philosophers, poets, sculptors, painters, scientists, physicians, surgeons, warriors, social reformers, freedom fighters, revolutionaries, and entire group of venerable personalities in India that is Bharat !!
All of them are indeed “ प्रात: स्मरणीय “ and therefore worth venerating. I shall only name them here, although the original text of the Sanskrit Hymn is much more meaningful, phonetic and easy to memorise.
Indeed the Hymn begins by paying obeisance unto Truth, Conscience and Bliss personified Lord (सच्चिदानंद ), which is form of auspicious flame ‘ ज्योतिर्मय स्वरूप ‘.
It praises the five elements (पंचमहाभूत), the ten directions (दिशा), entire planets (ग्रह), entire times (काल), sound (Omkar) and prays for entire Auspiciousness .
It proceeds to praise India the Mother that wears Crown in the form of Himalayas and whose lotus feet are ever immersed and washed by the three oceans.
Besides Himalayas, great mountains Malayagiri, Sahyadri, Vindhya etc are remembered. Great and sacred Rivers Ganga, Yamuna, Saraswati, Sindhu, Brahmaputra, Gandaki, Cauveri, Reva (Narmada), Krishna, Godavari etc are remembered reverentially. Besides, sacred towns Ayodhya, Mathura, Maya, Kashi, Kanchi, Avantika (Ujjain), Vaishali, Dwaraka, Puri, Taxasheela and Gayaa are named as of nostalgia ! Moreover, holy confluence at Prayag, Pataliputra, Vijayanagar, Indraprastha (Delhi), Somnath, Amritsar the most sacred places too are remembered with devotion.
In addition, Veda Upanishads, Puranas, besides of course Ramayana, Mahabharata, Bhagwat Geeta , Guru Grantha Sahib, Jainagamastripitaka etc are extolled by virtue of highest spiritual knowledge professed therein.
Highly venerable ladies in Arundhati, Anusuya, Savitri, Janaki (Seeta), Droupadi, Gargee, Kannagi, Meera, Durgavati, Laxmi, Ahilya, Channamma, Rudramamba, Suvikrama, Nivedita, Sharada are treated as mother and therefore most praiseworthy.
Greatest of Purushas in Sri Ram, Sri Krishna, Bheeshmacharya, Bharata, Dharmaraj, Arjuna, Markandeya, Harishchandra, Prahlad, Narada and Dhruva besides Hanuman, Vyasa, Shuka, Vasishtha, Bali, Dadhichi, Vishvakarma Vishvamitra, Pruthu, Valmiki, Bhargava are remembered everyday while uttering their names.
In addition, Bhagirath, Eklavya, Manu, Dhanvantari, Zulelal, Chaitanya, Thiruvallur, Basaveshwar; moreover, Kabir, Guru Nanak, Narasi Mehta, Tulsidas are ever venerable.
Sri Dnyaneshwar, Tukaram, Samantha Ramdas, Purandhar Das have been extolled as towering Saints undoubtedly.
Among great poets are Mahakavi Kalidas, Soordas, Tyagraj, Rasakhan, Ravindranath Tagore are noteworthy and artistes in Raja Raviverma and the likes are famous.
Among Sovereigns Ashoka, Chandragupta, Vikramaditya, Shalivahan, Samudragupta, Bapparaval, Sri Krishnadevarai, are noteworthy.
Great warriors in Rana Pratap, Chhatrapati Shivaji, Ranjit Simha are famous.
Scientists and medical experts have been Kapil, Kanaad, Sushrut, Charaka, Bhaskaracharya, Varaha Mihir, Arya-Bratta are adorable so also Nagarjun, Bharadvaj, Venkatraman, Ramanujam.
Greatest of social reformers have been Raja Ram Mohan Rai, Dayananda Saraswati, Ramakrishna ParamHamsa, Ramateertha, Vivekananda, Sri Arvinda, Ramana Maharishi are indeed venerable. Dadabhai Navroji, Tilak, Mahatma Gandhi, Madam Mohan Malveeya, Sri Subramanian Bharati, Subhashchandra Bose, Vinayak Savarkar, Bheemrao Ambedkar, Jyotiba Phule, Keshav Balham Hedgewar and Guru Golvalkar have always remained great sources of inspiration.
Thus, there are hundreds of great souls worth remembering, adoring and venerating everyday, verily a grand legacy handed over to us all. Whichever land we may be residing, it is incumbent upon us not to forget our Motherland and the towering personalities she keeps breeding. All those keep enthusing and inspiring all along and perhaps the debt we owe to them is remembering them reverentially !
Jai Sairam.
London 17 October 2016 .
This prayer is taught to us since childhood days. Watching our own palms before looking at something else avoids blaming others of showing his/her face that may result in auspicious or inauspicious day ahead !
In fact, saying the prayer while watching one’s own palms carries significance. One’s finger-tips engage in performing ceaseless activity that leads to acquiring wealth in plenty (Riddhi), while centre of the palm grants lot of learning or Knowledge (Siddhi), which is everyone’s rightful pursuit. Base of the hand is verily seat of Govinda the Lord.
Overall inner meaning of the prayer is that we are Masters of our own destiny. We work honestly, selflessly, doing only for good of the society and we reap fruit in equal measure, namely riches, wealth, name and fame !
Earning Knowledge is everybody’s natural pursuit, passion and goal in life. More often than not, one is inclined to earn worldly knowledge for his and his family’s welfare; however, spiritual knowledge grants him much more, as peace, contentment and therefore joy and happiness.
Thus, both worldly as well as spiritual knowledge is necessary for mankind in equal measure. There is likelihood of mistaking ‘religious’ knowledge with spiritual one ! Spiritual knowledge pertains to the Self, whereas religious knowledge and practice is simply a mode of worship directed towards gaining spiritual knowledge.
Now, everybody naturally wishes his/her entire day to roll joyfully and successfully and so he or she tries out certain rituals knowingly or unwittingly ! Here are some useful ‘tips’ to encourage that ‘ritual’ !!
You see , one can think of some great, magnanimous things early in the morning that expand our horizon . Just as an example, thinking of the Himalayas ( or even Alps !) or huge ocean, carefully listening to Omkar pervading the sky etc, provide to us something unique !
So, there are innumerable things that are “प्रात:स्मरणीय”, meaning worth remembering in the morning !
I shall try to elaborate upon a beautiful Sanskrit Hymn, which is regularly recited during morning Shakha in India.
The Hymn is named “एकात्मता स्तोत्रम्” , which narrates names of prominent mountains, major rivers, both seas, the Indian Ocean, holy pilgrim places and cities, renowned temples, universities, scriptures along with Veda Upanishads Puranas, religious sects, venerable ladies and men, rishis, deities, philosophers, poets, sculptors, painters, scientists, physicians, surgeons, warriors, social reformers, freedom fighters, revolutionaries, and entire group of venerable personalities in India that is Bharat !!
All of them are indeed “ प्रात: स्मरणीय “ and therefore worth venerating. I shall only name them here, although the original text of the Sanskrit Hymn is much more meaningful, phonetic and easy to memorise.
Indeed the Hymn begins by paying obeisance unto Truth, Conscience and Bliss personified Lord (सच्चिदानंद ), which is form of auspicious flame ‘ ज्योतिर्मय स्वरूप ‘.
It praises the five elements (पंचमहाभूत), the ten directions (दिशा), entire planets (ग्रह), entire times (काल), sound (Omkar) and prays for entire Auspiciousness .
It proceeds to praise India the Mother that wears Crown in the form of Himalayas and whose lotus feet are ever immersed and washed by the three oceans.
Besides Himalayas, great mountains Malayagiri, Sahyadri, Vindhya etc are remembered. Great and sacred Rivers Ganga, Yamuna, Saraswati, Sindhu, Brahmaputra, Gandaki, Cauveri, Reva (Narmada), Krishna, Godavari etc are remembered reverentially. Besides, sacred towns Ayodhya, Mathura, Maya, Kashi, Kanchi, Avantika (Ujjain), Vaishali, Dwaraka, Puri, Taxasheela and Gayaa are named as of nostalgia ! Moreover, holy confluence at Prayag, Pataliputra, Vijayanagar, Indraprastha (Delhi), Somnath, Amritsar the most sacred places too are remembered with devotion.
In addition, Veda Upanishads, Puranas, besides of course Ramayana, Mahabharata, Bhagwat Geeta , Guru Grantha Sahib, Jainagamastripitaka etc are extolled by virtue of highest spiritual knowledge professed therein.
Highly venerable ladies in Arundhati, Anusuya, Savitri, Janaki (Seeta), Droupadi, Gargee, Kannagi, Meera, Durgavati, Laxmi, Ahilya, Channamma, Rudramamba, Suvikrama, Nivedita, Sharada are treated as mother and therefore most praiseworthy.
Greatest of Purushas in Sri Ram, Sri Krishna, Bheeshmacharya, Bharata, Dharmaraj, Arjuna, Markandeya, Harishchandra, Prahlad, Narada and Dhruva besides Hanuman, Vyasa, Shuka, Vasishtha, Bali, Dadhichi, Vishvakarma Vishvamitra, Pruthu, Valmiki, Bhargava are remembered everyday while uttering their names.
In addition, Bhagirath, Eklavya, Manu, Dhanvantari, Zulelal, Chaitanya, Thiruvallur, Basaveshwar; moreover, Kabir, Guru Nanak, Narasi Mehta, Tulsidas are ever venerable.
Sri Dnyaneshwar, Tukaram, Samantha Ramdas, Purandhar Das have been extolled as towering Saints undoubtedly.
Among great poets are Mahakavi Kalidas, Soordas, Tyagraj, Rasakhan, Ravindranath Tagore are noteworthy and artistes in Raja Raviverma and the likes are famous.
Among Sovereigns Ashoka, Chandragupta, Vikramaditya, Shalivahan, Samudragupta, Bapparaval, Sri Krishnadevarai, are noteworthy.
Great warriors in Rana Pratap, Chhatrapati Shivaji, Ranjit Simha are famous.
Scientists and medical experts have been Kapil, Kanaad, Sushrut, Charaka, Bhaskaracharya, Varaha Mihir, Arya-Bratta are adorable so also Nagarjun, Bharadvaj, Venkatraman, Ramanujam.
Greatest of social reformers have been Raja Ram Mohan Rai, Dayananda Saraswati, Ramakrishna ParamHamsa, Ramateertha, Vivekananda, Sri Arvinda, Ramana Maharishi are indeed venerable. Dadabhai Navroji, Tilak, Mahatma Gandhi, Madam Mohan Malveeya, Sri Subramanian Bharati, Subhashchandra Bose, Vinayak Savarkar, Bheemrao Ambedkar, Jyotiba Phule, Keshav Balham Hedgewar and Guru Golvalkar have always remained great sources of inspiration.
Thus, there are hundreds of great souls worth remembering, adoring and venerating everyday, verily a grand legacy handed over to us all. Whichever land we may be residing, it is incumbent upon us not to forget our Motherland and the towering personalities she keeps breeding. All those keep enthusing and inspiring all along and perhaps the debt we owe to them is remembering them reverentially !
Jai Sairam.
London 17 October 2016 .
