Shankara Bhashya of Bhagawadgita ? (Diwali Greetings)

[Guest guest]

I have a copy that includes Shankara's Commentry that was published

by Samata Books

10 Kamrajbhavan

573 Mount Road

Madras 600 006

 

 

Published in 1981

 

This is in English not in Telugu.

 

I was most disappointed to see the price. It is sold for Rs. 35/-

 

Such a priceless works not almost no value. Evev a corner store, or

a "chivdawala" vendor on the beach could make money by purchasing the

book and use it asa wrapping paper. When I expressed my amazement to

the publisher I was told no one really purchases these type of books

that is why that had to keep the price so low.

 

I was so depressed to hear that, I purchased about a dozen copies and

sent it to many libraries whereever I travelled in India.

 

Even some University libraries did not have a copy.

 

To me this meant we do not really value knowledge.

 

Good luck in finding the book you are looking for.

 

With this brief statement from my soap box, I take this opportunity

to wish

 

"All Advaitins List Members a happy Diwali and best wishes for the

New Year."

 

Regards,

 

Dr. Yadu

 

 

 

advaitin, "subra_k_20032003"

<subra_k_20032003> wrote:

> Could anyone tell me where to get the direct translation

> of "Shankara Bhashya of Bhagawadgita" to Telugu?

> I live in US but I can buy either from US or from India (through

> friends in India) whereever is available.

>

> I tried these web sites: "Gita press, gorakpur", "Sringeri shankara

> matt", "Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam", "ISKCON". I did not find

the

> book anywhere.

>

> Thanks in advance.

> Subra

[Guest guest]

Respected Sri Yaduji,

 

 

 

<<<I was most disappointed to see the price. It is sold for Rs. 35/-. Such a

priceless works not almost no value. Evev a>>>

 

Even at such cheap prices, there are not takers for Bhagavad Gita. It is a fact.

Gita Press publications are so cheap that you can get a bound copy of Gita, with

word meaning etc., for say Rs.10/-.

 

In most of the Hindu houses, Gita, like Ramayana, Bhagavata etc. is kept in Puja

Room. They are read mainly when someone dies. I even find, people keeping a copy

of Gita at the head of dead bodies, while the body is taken for cremation! When

questioned, some said, it would help the departed soul to reach heaven! What a

pity?

 

If a survey is taken, I can say more than 70% of Hindus will not be able to tell

you what exactly is Gita.

 

Poojya Swami Chinmayanandaji, did create a tremendous amount of awakening, with

regard to Self Knowledge, and in the context study of Gita, etc., in the minds

of people all over the world including India, but that is no where near what is

actually needed. Efforts are, no doubt, continuing in this direction by many

Sanyasis, etc.

 

People are more ritualists, and they give the least importance to the treasure

of knowledge available in our scriptures. Recently one of the Sanakarachayras

said “Ram Lala is now in a Kutia (a small hut), and we have to put Him in a

grand temple, which must be constructed.” This is the approach with some of our

pontiffs. I hope readers will not take that I am against temples etc., and I do

not respect the present Sankaracharyas. No body bothers what Sri Rama,

embodiment of Dharma, said, all are running after building temples for Him.

 

People value only that knowledge which will bring them “Preyas”. Even using a

Sanskrit word is taken as trying to

 

“safronizing” the country. This is the approach in India.

 

Hari Om.

 

 

 

 

 

ymoharir <ymoharir wrote:Discussion of Shankara's Advaita Vedanta Philosophy of nonseparablity of Atman

and Brahman.

Advaitin List Archives available at: http://www.eScribe.com/culture/advaitin/

To Post a message send an email to : advaitin

Messages Archived at: advaitin/messages

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[Guest guest]

--- "R.S.MANI" <r_s_mani wrote: >

>

>

> respected mani ji, yadu ji ,

swamy dayaananda

saraswati says that the paramount task now is to bring

the neutralised hindu back into the fold of hinduism,

and that they [neutralised hindus] constitute 70% of

the hindu population.

it is indeed true that swami

chinmayaananda , with his geeta gayan yajna,has

popularised the gita all ovet the world, and to back

up and sustain this awakening,has created a large

number of missionaries and educational institutions.

swamijis like sri sri ravi shankar and

swami parthasarathi of ramachandra mission, and most

other swamies try to wean away all religionists [

but of the followers, 99.9% are hindus] from idol

worship and rituals.

.. in this group itself we have said

repeatedly that hardly one person in a million become

realised souls. what about the other 9,99,999 ?.

shri aadi shankara attained nirvana

very early in his youth, and validated his experiences

thro discussions with realised souls all over india,;

travelled the length and breadth of this punya bhoomi,

prayed at most of the temples across the country,

and then established many new temples , and wrote

slokas and stotrams on most dieties for the benefit of

the rest of the 9,99,999 individuals, for whom there

was no nirvana in the near or far future.

bhagavat gita is distilled philosophy

of the highest order.

for the layman, it is the puraanas ,

raamayana, mahabharatha, bhagavatam, shivapuranam,

devi bhagavatam etc that constitute the path , though

not to immediate realization, but at least to help him

maintain a straight and narrow path , free of the

lust for fellow-men's blood .

yes. it is now a very sorry state where

most of the hindus are blindly after ritualism and

idol worship devoid of the spirit and devotion it

advocates.

however, is it not a fact that the only

path to the rejuvenation of our dharma is the bringing

of all our hoary temples to their past glory???

i am an ignoramus.

but this is my reading of the situation.

respectfully yours,

a.v.krshnan.

 

ENDARO MAHAANUBHAAVULU ANDARIKI VANDANAMU.

 

 

 

>

>

>

> Respected Sri Yaduji,

>

>

>

> <<<I was most disappointed to see the price. It is

> sold for Rs. 35/-. Such a priceless works not almost

> no value. Evev a>>>

>

> Even at such cheap prices, there are not takers for

> Bhagavad Gita. It is a fact. Gita Press publications

> are so cheap that you can get a bound copy of Gita,

> with word meaning etc., for say Rs.10/-.

>

> In most of the Hindu houses, Gita, like Ramayana,

> Bhagavata etc. is kept in Puja Room. They are read

> mainly when someone dies. I even find, people

> keeping a copy of Gita at the head of dead bodies,

> while the body is taken for cremation! When

> questioned, some said, it would help the departed

> soul to reach heaven! What a pity?

>

> If a survey is taken, I can say more than 70% of

> Hindus will not be able to tell you what exactly is

> Gita.

>

> Poojya Swami Chinmayanandaji, did create a

> tremendous amount of awakening, with regard to Self

> Knowledge, and in the context study of Gita, etc.,

> in the minds of people all over the world including

> India, but that is no where near what is actually

> needed. Efforts are, no doubt, continuing in this

> direction by many Sanyasis, etc.

>

> People are more ritualists, and they give the least

> importance to the treasure of knowledge available in

> our scriptures. Recently one of the Sanakarachayras

> said “Ram Lala is now in a Kutia (a small hut), and

> we have to put Him in a grand temple, which must be

> constructed.” This is the approach with some of our

> pontiffs. I hope readers will not take that I am

> against temples etc., and I do not respect the

> present Sankaracharyas. No body bothers what Sri

> Rama, embodiment of Dharma, said, all are running

> after building temples for Him.

>

> People value only that knowledge which will bring

> them “Preyas”. Even using a Sanskrit word is taken

> as trying to

>

> “safronizing” the country. This is the approach in

> India.

>

> Hari Om.

>

>

>

>

>

> ymoharir <ymoharir wrote:

> Sponsor

>

> Discussion of Shankara's Advaita Vedanta Philosophy

> of nonseparablity of Atman and Brahman.

> Advaitin List Archives available at:

> http://www.eScribe.com/culture/advaitin/

> To Post a message send an email to :

> advaitin

> Messages Archived at:

> advaitin/messages

>

>

>

>

> Terms of Service.

>

>

>

>

> The New with improved product

> search

>

> [Non-text portions of this message have been

> removed]

>

>

> ------------------------ Sponsor

>

> Discussion of Shankara's Advaita Vedanta Philosophy

> of nonseparablity of Atman and Brahman.

> Advaitin List Archives available at:

> http://www.eScribe.com/culture/advaitin/

> To Post a message send an email to :

> advaitin

> Messages Archived at:

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[Guest guest]

Regarding Bhagavad Gita, Chapter three of my recent eBook is devoted to it

that combines neo-technologies with older thoughts and ideas about Soul and

Mind.

 

-------

CHAPTER 3 Eastern Thoughts on the Subject of SOUL & Mind

 

BHAGAVAD GITA - The essence of India's Philosophy

 

A vast reservoir of philosophy, Bhagavad Gita contains close to seven hundred

verses. So dense are these verses that one must have a keen sense of analysis

to understand the many-fold meanings embedded in them. The verses reveal and

expand on the quintessence of life in general along with matters of soul,

self, and God.

 

Eastern religions such as - Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Jainism and others

have been profoundly influenced by Bhagavad Gita, and its essence appears in

many different forms in their respective holy books. No wonder most Indians

glorify it as containing invaluable treasures of wisdom while many non-Indians

also find Bhagavad Gita full of messages of eternal significance.

 

Bhagavad Gita is the philosophical discourse between lord-Krishna and Arjuna

(the Pandava warrior), on the battlefield where the Mahabharata story unfolds.

Mahabharata was the battle between the one hundred vicious sons of

Dhrtarastra (called Kauravas) and the five sons of Pandu (called Pandavas) for

the

recovery of their kingdom, given to Kauravas for care taking purposes but which

they later refused to give back to Pandavas. While the battle is waged by

thousands of warriors and characters, it is not important in the context of this

work

to get into neither the details of the war itself nor the influence of war on

the thought processes of Krishna and Arjuna, or their arguments and

counter-arguments. My interest in Bhagavad Gita is on the end result of that

discourse,

which is the principal philosophy that deals with issues of soul and mind.

 

Before getting into particulars of the philosophy, it is important to mention

what a few Indian philosophers (the Sivananda group) think about the

relationship between Krishna and Christ. Interestingly, the Sivananda group sees

the

two to be one and the same - the table below giving their reasons.

--------------------start of Table 3-1

--

Table 3-1: Why Krishna & Christ may be one and the same

- The two names sound quite similar.

- Christ was born in a manger, Krishna in a prison-cell.

- Both were taken away from their place of birth due to fear of being killed

by the country's ruler (Herod in the case of Christ and Kamsa in the case of

Krishna).

Both sought to effect far-reaching reforms through modes of worship very

early in their lives.

-Both exalted the power of faith - Christ believed faith could move

mountains, Krishna lifted a mountain with his little finger.

-Both taught the highest lessons in ethical and spiritual matters. The

"Sermon on the Mount" and the "Bhagavad Gita" contain the same gems of truth.

-Both were glorified by some as God, while others ridiculed them.

-Both were killed.

-Both blessed their tormentors and killers - Christ forgave them; Krishna

insisted that his killer should go to heaven first.

-Christ lived around two thousand years ago and Krishna over five thousand

years ago. But in cosmic calculations, these are not even hours apart,

suggesting that we are talking about the same person as far as cosmic

consciousness is

concerned - some call it Christ and others Krishna!

-There is a "missing period" in the life of Christ during which he may have

traveled east. Similarly, there is a missing period in Krishna's early life in

which he may have traveled west. (However, this is only speculation on the

part of a few, who want to equate the two. But if God were to make even a slight

revelation concerning this - it may unite Christians and Hindus in worship of

the same divinity or cosmic consciousness!)

-The 3-fold nature of God in the Christian religion as "Father, Son, and Holy

Ghost" maps into "SAT, TAT, OM" that defines God in Hinduism.

-God the Father is the Absolute Unmanifested, existing "beyond" vibratory

creation (SAT).

-God the Son is the Christ Consciousness (Krishna, Brahma, or Kutastha

Chaitanya) existing "within" vibratory creation; this Christ Consciousness is

the

sole reflection of the Uncreated Infinite (TAT).

-The outward manifestation of the omnipresent Christ Consciousness, its

"witness" (Revelation 3:14), is OM, the Word or Holy Ghost: invisible divine

power,

the only doer, the sole causative and activating force that upholds all

creation through vibration. OM, like the Holy Ghost, is the blissful Comforter

that

through meditation reveals the ultimate Truth.

------------------------------ End of Table

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

 

Returning to Bhagavad Gita -- during the battle, Arjuna develops a conflict

in his mind and a misgiving for all the killings that he thought would take

place if the war were carried through to its end. Since Arjuna desires no

victory, nor pleasure from the killings, he decides to quit, but Krishna

intervenes

to convince him to fight on. Bhagavad Gita says:

 

-A quarrel or conflict can occur only when two or more persons or forces are

involved and the same can be said of a union.

-there is no conflict or union where we have one person or one force

-A person can have a conflict within if there are two opposing ideas working

inside.

-If your idea about "what you should be" is in opposition to the idea you

have of "what you are" - then there is an inner conflict

-If in reality you are split between two opposing forces or ideas, you cannot

become reconciled or have a union within yourself until you "die" as only

then "I or self or atma" ceases to exist

 

The pivotal question that Bhagavad Gita addresses is - Is this split of the

self, real? If so, what are the two opposing ideas or forces that are causing

the inner conflict and splitting the self?

 

Central to Bhagavad Gita is the idea of "Soul (purusa)" and "Self (atma)"

which is the "I am" within us all. Purusa is the imperishable, individual "Soul"

that is distinct from the body and mind - it is immortal unlike the body,

which declines and dies. Death does not affect the "Soul" or the "I" for they do

not really die but simply pass on to another body in what Bhagavad Gita calls

the process of transmigration. The Self and Soul are not born nor do they ever

die. After having been, the "Soul" and the "Self" cannot cease to be, as they

are part of cosmic consciousness. Bhagavad Gita calls it sheer ignorance or

"Avidya" that prevents most Indians from seeing the "Self and Soul" in this

particular light.

 

Since there are numerous translations of Bhagavad Gita - the original was

written in the Sanskrit language (it is Greek to me) - I have tried to filter

the

essence of Bhagavad Gita and its important verses from several translated

sources and condensed them into Table 3-2.

-----------Start of Table 3-2

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

Table 3-2: Essence of Bhagavad Gita & Summary of its selected Verses

The truly wise grieve neither for the living nor for the dead as they know

all created things are subject to change and dissolution.

 

Just as in this body the embodied one passes through childhood, youth and old

age, so also does he pass into another body.

-The changes from childhood, youth, to old age do not affect the "I" and even

during that inevitable end called death, "I" does not really die - it simply

transfers into another body

-Comparing Life to a book - childhood, youth and old age are the commas,

semicolons, and dashes that take us to the end of one paragraph. The period at

the

end of one paragraph is analogous to death, which marks the end of one life

span. However, there are many paragraphs (or life spans in different bodies)

and chapters (new species and lives) to the book-story before we reach the last

paragraph (or the last life span) followed by the last period, representing

"Mukti" or "Nirvana"

 

The unreal has no being: there is no non-being of the real. The true

understanding about being/non-being and real/unreal comes only to those who are

close

to the truth.

-The "Jivanmukta" or the liberated being is aware of reality. Reality or God

alone exists; that, which always exists, is God

-To the unenlightened, the seeing of things is the experience of the real but

to the Jivanmukta it is the appearance of a shadow - its growing and

vanishing are not deceiving since he is aware of the substratum

 

Know that, every being is pervaded by God from inside and outside and

therefore is indestructible. None can cause the destruction of that being, the

imperishable.

-Think of this as a block of ice submerged in the ocean with nothing but

water on all sides and also inside, that is slowly fading away and becoming ONE

-Realization of this profound unity will easily free us from misery and

transmigration

-Nothing can be outside of the infinite God; everything is within him and can

not be apart. The world may be looked upon as God's dream, deriving its power

and intelligence from the dreamer (God). This is akin to when we dream and

create dream-objects imagined by us

-Therefore, there is nothing unsacred in this universe and to live with

spirit is "brahma-karma-samadhi" or egoless inner focus on the will of God

 

--

--

-- continues for 18 pages or so

--

 

-----

 

 

For more details, please visit the eBook site at:

 

<A

HREF="http://www.PeopleSuperHighway.com">http://www.PeopleSuperHighway.com</A>

 

Dave Anand

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

advaitin, av krshnan <avkrshnan> wrote:

> --- "R.S.MANI" <r_s_mani> wrote: >

> >

> >

> > respected mani ji, yadu ji ,

> yes. it is now a very sorry state where

> most of the hindus are blindly after ritualism and

> idol worship devoid of the spirit and devotion it

> advocates.

 

Namaste,

 

Such lamentations do not befit the practice of advaitic vision!

It even exposes it to a countercharge of blind ritualism of

metaphysical verbiage!

 

Gita has this in view, when Krishna says:

 

saktaaH karmaNyavidvaa.nso yathaa kurvanti bhaarata .

kuryaadvidvaa.nstathaasaktashchikiirshhurlokasa.ngraham.h .. 3\-25..

na buddhibheda.n janayedaGYaanaa.n karmasaN^ginaam.h .

joshhayetsarvakarmaaNi vidvaanyuktaH samaacharan.h .. 3\-26..

 

or again,

 

iishvaraH sarvabhuutaanaa.n hR^iddeshe.arjuna tishhThati .

bhraamayansarvabhuutaani yantraaruuDhaani maayayaa .. 18\-61..

 

May this Deepavali day remind us to contemplate fervently on

behalf of all,the vedic prayer: tamaso mA jyotirgamaya | and seek

Lakshmi's blessings!

 

 

Regards,

 

Sunder

[Guest guest]

Respected Krshnanji,

 

<<< swamijis like sri sri ravi shankar and

 

swami parthasarathi of ramachandra mission, and most other swamies try to wean

away all religionists but of the followers, 99.9% are hindus from idol worship

and rituals.>>>

 

I do not think they are trying to do that. They are trying to teach all, not

only Hindus, but everyone, who wants to listen to them, the Truth behind, nay in

and through all these, rituals, temple worship etc. For that matter I doubt, any

Swami, who knows what is what, will try to do it.

 

It seems the spirit of my posting is not properly understood. Rituals and

temple/idol worship, etc. have their own place. Let us forget the question of

realization or liberation etc. Bhagavad Gita is a book of knowledge, if properly

assimilated, which makes a human being perfect in every respect. It teaches one

how to live this life in the right way, i.e. how to remain peaceful and yet do

our duties in the best way we can, how to face the death, etc. No one knows what

happens after Moksha or liberation etc. What is important is what I should do

now to make my life happy, when I am living. The answer is there in the Bhagavad

Gita. All our suffering is due to ignorance, and because of that the

shad-uurmies, i.e. kama, krodha, moha, lobha, mada and matsarya, are taking away

our happiness every second. How to get rid of them? By rituals/even idol

worship, you cannot get rid of them, though you can definitely invoke the grace

of the Lord to help you in that. I know from my own personal

experience how devotees with great Bhakti during their pilgrimage interact with

co-devotees. They are all like Sadhus free from any reaction etc. The moment

they finish the pilgrimage they start fighting on trivial matters, like sharing

even the cost of a pot, which was auctioned at the end of the pilgrimage. Where

do we stand? I am not saying that we are all like that, but most of us are like

that. Are we not? We must be honest in these matters, at least to ourselves.

 

Further, I do not understand how <<< the only

 

path to the rejuvenation of our dharma is the bringing

 

of all our hoary temples to their past glory?>>>

 

To rejuvenate Dharma, people need not be educated much, as everyone has some

idea of his/her own dharma. But they do not follow the dharma? Why? They are

blinded by the shad-uurmies referred to above. A student knows his dharma is to

study and study alone. What happens? He does everything other than studying, a

minister knows his dharma, i.e. to mitigate the problems faced by those who

elected him, and he does everything other than that, why? Because driven by the

shad-uurmies, we are all running after immediate pleasures. Not that we do not

know what is our dharma.

 

Dhrutharashtra did know what was dharma, when his daughter-in-law was stripped

off by his sons, but why did he keep quite? Excessive love for his children

stood in the way of upholding his dharma. What did Bhishma Pitamaha did? He also

kept quite. Why? His too much attachment for Hastinapura. What about Ravana a

great devotee of Lord Shiva?

 

We are all Dhrutharastras and Bhishmas and even Duryodhanas and Ravanas in some

way or the other. Are we really happy in being so?

 

Do we learn anything from these Puranas? We enjoy the Drama Part and forget. How

to get out of this? The answer is in these puranas itself. But we don’t give

importance to that aspect.

 

Same is the position with reciting mantras etc. We do not bother to know what is

the meaning of the mantras, why should I chant etc. I do because others did. I

know we do all these because of our great faith, no doubt in that. Nothing wrong

in that, but is it not better that we also try to know the meaning/purpose of

these, so that when I do these with the knowledge, my doing becomes more

purposeful. After all we are human beings, with an enquiring mind.

 

We always say whatever happens is God’s will and we have to accept them. It is

our faith. But do we keep quite and do we not act always to better our lot?

Because we are not programmed to that extent like animals. We have

discrimination, we have a free will, or gnanshakti, ichashakti and kriyashakti.

I did not manufacture these. All given to me by the Almighty. For what, the

same Almighty expects me to make use of them to better my lot.

 

Swami Dayananda Saraswati used to say “People say they are God Fearing”, “Why

not God loving?”

 

Fear involves hatred, whereas love involves/results in true Bhakti. It makes a

big difference.

 

Hari Om.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

av krshnan <avkrshnan wrote: Sponsor

 

Discussion of Shankara's Advaita Vedanta Philosophy of nonseparablity of Atman

and Brahman.

Advaitin List Archives available at: http://www.eScribe.com/culture/advaitin/

To Post a message send an email to : advaitin

Messages Archived at: advaitin/messages

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[Guest guest]

dear mani ji,

i am in total agreemment with your

views stated so clearly and succinctly.

yes, i too am pained by the blind

following of rituals and worship by our fellow-beings.

 

i am more pained by the deterioration

of our nation and its political degradation.

we must all pray that our gurujis

will help restore our bharatha desam to its ancient

values and glory.

sorry if i had been presumptuous.

yrs, a.v.krshnan.

 

 

 

--- "R.S.MANI" <r_s_mani wrote: >

> Respected Krshnanji,

>

> <<< swamijis like sri sri ravi shankar and

>

> swami parthasarathi of ramachandra mission, and most

> other swamies try to wean away all religionists

> but of the followers, 99.9% are hindus from idol

> worship and rituals.>>>

>

> I do not think they are trying to do that. They are

> trying to teach all, not only Hindus, but everyone,

> who wants to listen to them, the Truth behind, nay

> in and through all these, rituals, temple worship

> etc. For that matter I doubt, any Swami, who knows

> what is what, will try to do it.

>

> It seems the spirit of my posting is not properly

> understood. Rituals and temple/idol worship, etc.

> have their own place. Let us forget the question of

> realization or liberation etc. Bhagavad Gita is a

> book of knowledge, if properly assimilated, which

> makes a human being perfect in every respect. It

> teaches one how to live this life in the right way,

> i.e. how to remain peaceful and yet do our duties in

> the best way we can, how to face the death, etc. No

> one knows what happens after Moksha or liberation

> etc. What is important is what I should do now to

> make my life happy, when I am living. The answer is

> there in the Bhagavad Gita. All our suffering is due

> to ignorance, and because of that the shad-uurmies,

> i.e. kama, krodha, moha, lobha, mada and matsarya,

> are taking away our happiness every second. How to

> get rid of them? By rituals/even idol worship, you

> cannot get rid of them, though you can definitely

> invoke the grace of the Lord to help you in that. I

> know from my own personal

> experience how devotees with great Bhakti during

> their pilgrimage interact with co-devotees. They are

> all like Sadhus free from any reaction etc. The

> moment they finish the pilgrimage they start

> fighting on trivial matters, like sharing even the

> cost of a pot, which was auctioned at the end of the

> pilgrimage. Where do we stand? I am not saying that

> we are all like that, but most of us are like that.

> Are we not? We must be honest in these matters, at

> least to ourselves.

>

> Further, I do not understand how <<< the only

>

> path to the rejuvenation of our dharma is the

> bringing

>

> of all our hoary temples to their past glory?>>>

>

> To rejuvenate Dharma, people need not be educated

> much, as everyone has some idea of his/her own

> dharma. But they do not follow the dharma? Why? They

> are blinded by the shad-uurmies referred to above. A

> student knows his dharma is to study and study

> alone. What happens? He does everything other than

> studying, a minister knows his dharma, i.e. to

> mitigate the problems faced by those who elected

> him, and he does everything other than that, why?

> Because driven by the shad-uurmies, we are all

> running after immediate pleasures. Not that we do

> not know what is our dharma.

>

> Dhrutharashtra did know what was dharma, when his

> daughter-in-law was stripped off by his sons, but

> why did he keep quite? Excessive love for his

> children stood in the way of upholding his dharma.

> What did Bhishma Pitamaha did? He also kept quite.

> Why? His too much attachment for Hastinapura. What

> about Ravana a great devotee of Lord Shiva?

>

> We are all Dhrutharastras and Bhishmas and even

> Duryodhanas and Ravanas in some way or the other.

> Are we really happy in being so?

>

> Do we learn anything from these Puranas? We enjoy

> the Drama Part and forget. How to get out of this?

> The answer is in these puranas itself. But we don’t

> give importance to that aspect.

>

> Same is the position with reciting mantras etc. We

> do not bother to know what is the meaning of the

> mantras, why should I chant etc. I do because others

> did. I know we do all these because of our great

> faith, no doubt in that. Nothing wrong in that, but

> is it not better that we also try to know the

> meaning/purpose of these, so that when I do these

> with the knowledge, my doing becomes more

> purposeful. After all we are human beings, with an

> enquiring mind.

>

> We always say whatever happens is God’s will and we

> have to accept them. It is our faith. But do we keep

> quite and do we not act always to better our lot?

> Because we are not programmed to that extent like

> animals. We have discrimination, we have a free

> will, or gnanshakti, ichashakti and kriyashakti. I

> did not manufacture these. All given to me by the

> Almighty. For what, the same Almighty expects me to

> make use of them to better my lot.

>

> Swami Dayananda Saraswati used to say “People say

> they are God Fearing”, “Why not God loving?”

>

> Fear involves hatred, whereas love involves/results

> in true Bhakti. It makes a big difference.

>

> Hari Om.

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

av krshnan <avkrshnan wrote:

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> Discussion of Shankara's Advaita Vedanta Philosophy

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[Guest guest]

dear sundar ji,

thank you for the correction.

sorry if i have been presumptuos.

thank you for the enlightened views.

avk.

 

 

 

 

--- Sunder Hattangadi <sunderh wrote: >

advaitin, av krshnan

> <avkrshnan> wrote:

> > --- "R.S.MANI" <r_s_mani> wrote: >

> > >

> > >

> > > respected mani ji, yadu ji ,

>

> > yes. it is now a very sorry state

> where

> > most of the hindus are blindly after ritualism and

>

> > idol worship devoid of the spirit and devotion it

> > advocates.

>

> Namaste,

>

> Such lamentations do not befit the practice

> of advaitic vision!

> It even exposes it to a countercharge of blind

> ritualism of

> metaphysical verbiage!

>

> Gita has this in view, when Krishna says:

>

> saktaaH karmaNyavidvaa.nso yathaa kurvanti bhaarata

> .

>

kuryaadvidvaa.nstathaasaktashchikiirshhurlokasa.ngraham.h

> .. 3\-25..

> na buddhibheda.n janayedaGYaanaa.n karmasaN^ginaam.h

> .

> joshhayetsarvakarmaaNi vidvaanyuktaH samaacharan.h

> .. 3\-26..

>

> or again,

>

> iishvaraH sarvabhuutaanaa.n hR^iddeshe.arjuna

> tishhThati .

> bhraamayansarvabhuutaani yantraaruuDhaani maayayaa

> .. 18\-61..

>

> May this Deepavali day remind us to

> contemplate fervently on

> behalf of all,the vedic prayer: tamaso mA

> jyotirgamaya | and seek

> Lakshmi's blessings!

>

>

> Regards,

>

> Sunder

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

 

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> --

> Table 3-1: Why Krishna & Christ may be one and the same

> - The two names sound quite similar.

> - Christ was born in a manger, Krishna in a prison-cell.

> - Both were taken away from their place of birth due to fear of being killed

> by the country's ruler (Herod in the case of Christ and Kamsa in the case of

> Krishna).

> Both sought to effect far-reaching reforms through modes of worship very

> early in their lives.

> -Both exalted the power of faith - Christ believed faith could move

> mountains, Krishna lifted a mountain with his little finger.

> -Both taught the highest lessons in ethical and spiritual matters. The

> "Sermon on the Mount" and the "Bhagavad Gita" contain the same gems of truth.

> -Both were glorified by some as God, while others ridiculed them.

> -Both were killed.

> -Both blessed their tormentors and killers - Christ forgave them; Krishna

> insisted that his killer should go to heaven first.

> -Christ lived around two thousand years ago and Krishna over five thousand

> years ago. But in cosmic calculations, these are not even hours apart,

> suggesting that we are talking about the same person as far as cosmic

consciousness is

> concerned - some call it Christ and others Krishna!

 

Very interesting posting. I can add a few more similarities between Krishna and

Christ, that I

have heard.

1. Both tended to livestock; Krishna, a cow heard and Christ a shepherd.

2. Both suffered leg wounds during their demise: Krishna was wounded in the leg

by an arrow

and nails were driven into Christ's legs during crucification. (Historians are

not quite clear

whether nails were driven into Christ's palms. There were two types of wooden

crosses in those

days, one of them being a T-Cross. If this was the type of cross that was used

then the arms

were tied to the T-section by ropes and no nails were used through the palms).

3. Both had long hair.

4. Both were of dark complexion. (In fact there is a theory that Christ was of

Ethiopian or

Egyptian ancestry. In fact the earliest Christianity took roots in these two

countries).

Thought this may an interesting add on.

Regards,

Ram