Bhagavathom teaches how to love and live'

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`Bhagavathom teaches how to love and live' BRAVING THE SUN: Devotees waiting in a queue at the venue of the Srimad Bhagavatha Sathram at Sreevallabha Temple in Thiruvalla on Thursday. PATHANAMTHITTA: "Srimad Bhagavathom is an ancient Hindu devotional treatise that teaches mankind how to love and live. The strength of Bhagvathom lies in its power to enlighten readers,'' according to T.G. Purushothaman Nair, Sanskrit scholar and president of the Kerala Hindu Mathapadhasala Adhyapaka Parishad. Prof. Nair

was delivering a discourse based on the Bhagavathom episodes, Kaaliyamardanom and Govardhanodharan, on the fifth day of the 23rd Srimad Bhagavatha Sathram at Sreevallabha Temple in Thiruvalla on Friday. Sree Krishna was the embodiment of love. Love was divine and was expressed in many forms. To Yasoda, the god of love was her own baby Krishna, to shepherd boys, Krishna was their beloved friend and playmate and to shepherd girls, he was their beloved friend, lover and companion, Prof. Nair said. In the Kaliyamardanom episode, the Kaalindi river symbolised knowledge, and the poisonous snake, Kaliyan, represented manifestation of the ego. He said the Bhagavathom preached how to raise our emotions from the sensual to the spiritual, adding that spirituality alone could refine the senses and direct them towards God. ``Krishna lifted the Govardhana Mountain to give shelter to the

cattle and the shepherds who have surrendered themselves to Him. The Govardhana represents the mountain of spiritual knowledge,'' he said. Delivering another discourse based on the Udhavadoothu in the ancient text, Acharya Chaitanyaji of Bangalore said that to devotees, Srimad Bhagavathom was a spiritual shield that protected them from evil forces. Senkalipuram Kesava Deekshithar delivered a discourse on Raasaleela and Gopikageetom and Venmony Krishnan Namboodiri spoke on Rugmini Swayamvarom at the Sathram on Friday. M. Sambasivan delivered the keynote address on Vishnusahasranamom in the evening session. Tantri Kaattumadom Eesanan Namboodiripad performed the Ashtadravya Ganapati homam at the Sathram venue, earlier in the morning. Wedding The wedding of four persons from Azheeckal in Alappuzha district, who were orphaned in the tsunami that lashed the coastal belt of Azheeckal, near Haripad, was another attraction on the fifth day of the Bhagavtha Sathram on Friday. Tantri Kalidasan Bhattathiri solemnised the marriage organised by the Sathra Nirvahana Samiti in the presence of Travancore Devaswom Board president G. Raman Nair and other dignitaries at the Sathram venue in the afternoon. Archana was wedded to Saji and Aswathi to Sumesh on the occasion. Regards, www.hindushakti.tk Send instant messages to your online friends http://in.messenger.