Ten Incarnation of Lord Vishnu - Part 3

VARAHA - The Boar

All glories to you, O Lord of the universe, who took the form of a boar.
When the earth fell into the ocean at the bottom of the universe you caught her on your tusk, 
where she looked like a spot on the moon.

Hiranyaksha was the first and greatest demon that ever walked this earth. His body was so big and strong that it blocked the view in all directions just like a mountain. The crest of his crown seemed to kiss the sky and cover the sun. When he walked the earth shook at his every step. Even the demigods hid themselves from him. Fearing death at the hands of no one, he wandered the earth searching for a suitable opponent to fight. He wore golden anklets, a golden girdle, golden bracelets on his arms, golden armour and a crown of gold. To obtain this gold he mined the earth. He considered the earth as his property to do with as he wished, and so he mined her deeper and deeper - so deep that she lost her inner balance and fell from her position in space. Plunging to the depths she came to rest in the primeval waters which lie at the very bottom of the universe. There she lay, lost and helpless in the darkness.

Vishnu saw the distress of the earth planet as she was lying in the dark ocean. He took the form of a gigantic boar, Varaha, and entered the universe to rescue the earth from the deep. It is said that he first appeared in a tiny form no larger than a thumb, and steadily grew until he seemed to fill the heavens. Although a boar is normally considered to be an ugly animal, Varaha was most beautiful. All the demogods and sages sung his glories as he dived into the ocean. Meanwhile Hiranyaksha, not caring for the earth's predicament, roamed about restlessly looking for someone with whom to do battle. As Varaha was picking up the earth on his tusks, the angry demon came upon him and eagerly challenged him to fight. There was a great battle, fought for the sake of the earth, in which the demon finally lost his life. Varaha picked up the earth and carefully restored her to her proper position in space.

Ten Incarnation of Lord Vishnu - Part 2

KURMA - The Tortoise

All glories to you, O Lord of the universe, who took the form of a tortoise. 
When the ocean of milk was churned you became the pivot beneath the churning rod of Mount Mandara leaving a beautiful impression on your back.

Once, the demigods and the demons both wanted to get the Nectar of Immortality. Whoever drank this nectar would be invincible. On the advice of Lord Vishnu, they made a pact and agreed to co-operate together to get it. Vishnu told them what to do. In the universe is a sacred ocean of milk. They should throw all kinds of vegetables, grass, creepers and herbs into that ocean and churn it. From this churning, he said, would come the Nectar of Immortality. To churn the ocean they would have to use the golden mountain, Mandara, as a churning rod. With great difficulty and Vishnu's help they managed to bring Mount Mandara to the Milk Ocean. They used Vasuki, the giant serpent, as a rope. Wrapping him round the mountain, the demons took hold of his head and the demigods took his tail.

They tried to churn, but the mountain sank into the ocean floor and they began to despair. Vishnu then took the form of a gigantic tortoise, Kurma, and supported the mountain on his back. Using Kurma as a pivot, the demons and the demigods started to churn again, back and forth. Kurma felt as though they were scratching an itch on his back and this gave him pleasure. The first thing the churning produced was a deadly poison which threatened the whole world. This was drunk by Lord Shiva to save everyone. As they continued churning many wonderful things came out of the ocean, but at last they got what they wanted - the Nectar of Immortality. Both groups wanted it, and a quarrel developed. Vishnu came to the aid of the demigods and helped them get the nectar for themselves. Seeing that they had lost the nectar, the demons attacked the demigods and after a terrible battle the demons were defeated.

In the form of a giant tortoise, Kurma balanced the opposing forces of the demons and the demigods about the churning rod of Mount Mandara in the Milk Ocean. In the end the demigods, who were his devotees, got immortal nectar. The demons, who had worked so hard, but who did not have the blessing of Vishnu, got only disappointment and poison. This is the fate of an atheistic society which works hard to aquire material success and comfort, but offers nothing to God - all its good work turns to poison and pollution and it ends up with nothing.

Shiv Devotee - Markandeya and God of Death

Mrikandu was a great rishi. Marudvati was his wife. For a long time they had no children.

The rishi prayed to lord Siva. Lord Siva appeared to him, and said, "I am pleased with you, Mrikandu. Tell me, do you want a hundred sons, who will live for a long time, but will all be foolish?

Or, do you want one very intelligent son, who will live for only sixteen years?"

The rishi at once said, "Lord, give me that one intelligent son."
Lord Siva said, "Good! You shall have him."


Soon the rishi got a son. He named him Markandeya. The boy grew to be very intelligent and handsome. The rishi invested him with the sacred thread. Markandeya learnt the Vedas and Sastras, easily. Everyone liked him.

As the boy was getting on to be sixteen, Rishi Mrikandu became sadder and sadder. One day Markandeya asked his father: "Father, why do you look so sad?"

The rishi said, "Son! What shall I say? When Lord Siva gave you to me, he said you would live only sixteen years. You are now about to reach that age. How can Iand your mother bear to lose you as we will at the end of this year?"

Markandeya said, "Father! Is that the reason? Lord Siva is very kind to His devo- tees. You yourself told me that. He has saved many from death before. I have read about it in the Puranas. I shall therefore worship Lord Siva day and night from today. I am sure, He will save -me too! "

RishiMrikandu was very happy to hear his son say this. He blessed his son.
Markandeya built a Siva-Linga at a spot on the sea-shore. He started worshipping Lord Siva morning, noon and night. He sang bhajans, and often danced in joy.

On the last day, Markandeya was about to sing bhajans, when Yama, the Lord of Death, came to him. Yama rode on a buffalo. He held a noose in his hand. He spoke to Markandeya, "Stop your bhajan! You boy! Your life in this world is over. Be ready to die."

Markandeya was not afraid. He clung to the Siva-Linga as one clings to one's mother.

Yama threw his noose round the boy's neck, and pulled him along with the Siva- Linga.

Then the Siva-Linga burst open and Lord Siva came out of it, Lord kicked Yama in the chest, and said, "Yama, begone! Don't touch this boy. He is my beloved devotee. He will live forever!"

Yama went away crest-fallen. Markandeya then prayed to Lord Siva more fervently than ever. This prayer says at the end of each line, "What can Death do to me?" Many people recite this prayer even now.

Markandeya came home, and fell at the feet of his parents. They embraced him, and wept with joy. Markandeya became a great rishi, and lived very long.

Believe...because, we walk by faith not by sight!

One day a 6 year old girl was sitting in a classroom. The teacher was going to explain evolution to the children. The teacher asked a little boy:

Tommy do you see the tree outside?
TOMMY: Yes.
TEACHER: Tommy, do you see the grass outside?
TOMMY: Yes.
TEACHER: Go outside and look up and see if you can see the sky.
TOMMY: Okay. (He returned a few minutes later) Yes, I saw the sky.
TEACHER: Did you see God?
TOMMY: No.
TEACHER: That's my point. We can't see God because he isn't there. He doesn’t exist.

A little girl spoke up and wanted to ask the boy some questions. The teacher agreed and the little girl asked the boy: Tommy, do you see the tree outside?

TOMMY: Yes.
LITTLE GIRL: Tommy do you see the grass outside?
TOMMY: Yessssss (getting tired of the questions by this time).
LITTLE GIRL: Did you see the sky?
TOMMY: Yessssss
LITTLE GIRL: Tommy, do you see the teacher?
TOMMY: Yes
LITTLE GIRL: Do you see her brain?
TOMMY: No
LITTLE GIRL: Then according to what we were taught today in school, she must not have one!

"FOR WE WALK BY FAITH, NOT BY SIGHT" -- II CORINTHIANS 4:7

Hinduism - Hindu Religion - a positive way of Life (part-2)

The history of religions illustrates the tragic effect of intolerant and exclusive faiths.

God has no special favourites.

God as a jealous one and there will be no peace in the religious world.

According to the भगवद गीता (Bhagavad Gita): "I am alike to all being."
"None is hateful or dear to me। But those who worship me with devotion are in me and I in them"

Hindu seer has no contempt for other religions. He does not believe that salvation is to be had only through any one particular religion. God does not refuse his truth, his love and his grace to any who, in sincerity, seek him, wherever they may be and whatever creeds they may profess. It is unfair to God's love and mercy to assume that he left millions of men to stagnate for thousands of years, practically without hope in the darkness of ignorance.

The word Hindu is a geographic rather than a religious term. Hindus call their religion सनातन धर्मं (Sanatana Dharma)- 'Eternal law'.

It is based on the practice of धर्मं (Dharma), the code of life. Since Hinduism has no founder, anyone who practices Dharma can call himself a Hindu.

Knowledge, vision, wisdom, is the goal of the Vedas/Upanishads. It is a new kind of thinking in which the whole man in implicated. The aim is not intellectual conformity to inherited doctrine, but one of attainment of knowledge. He can question the authority of any scripture, or even the existence of the Divine. Hinduism extends into every aspect of the believer's life.

Hindus have never been communal. They represent an ancient civilization not known either to draw a boundary between the faithful and the faithless, the blessed and the damned, or to engage in heresy hunting and its counterpart, persecution of other faiths.

J. Abbe Dubois, (1765-1848) French missionary, has said that India is:
"the only nation perhaps in the universe which has never sunk into barbarism, and which...may deserve to fix the attention of the philosopher."

To the Hindu, religion is an awareness of ultimate reality, not a theory about it; religion is psychology and method rather than theology and dogma. Hindus have been able to rise above their biological boundaries and roam at will in transcendental realms from which the intellect is forever barred.

Hinduism is life style, where human beings are exalted to God himself. Everyone is God - a minute God. All living beings, human, animals and plants do have an element of God, the soul and again a part of a kind of suzerainty.

हरे राम हरे कृष्ण , कृष्ण कृष्ण, हरे हरे
हरे कृष्ण हरे राम, राम राम, हरे हरे

Hare Rama Hare Krishna , Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare
Hare Krishna Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare

Hinduism is not a religion of the book: it is a 'heard' tradition. Its scriptures are recited, or sung not read. Though the Rig Veda is very ancient, it was not written down until almost 3,000 years later.

more to come in part-3 of this multi part series...

Where is my eternal home?

There was a very rich woman, who lived in a beautiful palatial mansion. She lacked nothing; she enjoyed all the comforts that money could buy.

However, she was a selfish soul; she had no thought for others. Her doors were always shut in the face of people who came to ask her for donations and help for good causes. Not a penny of her money would she give away to another.

Years passed. Her long, self-centered life was drawing to a close. Gradually, life after death began to haunt her.

One day, she had a strange dream in which she saw herself die, and mounted up to the heavenly world. It was a strange and fascinating place, and she felt quite lost, not knowing where to go. Meeting an angel, she enquired of him, "Can you please show me the way to my eternal home? I have come up to heaven after a long life. I am weary, and I would like to see the place where I shall live forever!"

"Come with me, I shall show you the way," said the Angel. And he led her through the beautiful territory of the heavenly world. Here she saw vast palaces, exquisite villas, beautiful mansions. But the Angel led her on until they entered a slum like territory. There were broken huts and humble cottages everywhere. The Angel stopped outside a poor, lowly hut, and said to her, "This is to be your eternal home."

The woman recoiled in horror at the sight of the hut. "How is this possible?" she Cried. "On earth God gave me a beautiful mansion to live in! How can my heavenly home be so poor and shabby?"
The Angel said to her, "Your eternal home is built with what you send to us here. This is the best we could do with what you sent to us."

The money that we give to the poor is deposited in our account in the Bank of Providence.

The rich woman awoke from her dream in a cold sweat. She resolved to turn over a new leaf, and to share what she had with those in need.

The power of prayer

There once was a wise sage who wandered the countryside. One day, as he passed near a village, he was approached by a woman who told him of a sick child nearby. She pressed him to help this child.

So the sage came to the village, and a crowd gathered around him, for such a man was a rare sight. One woman brought the sick child to him, and he said a prayer over her.

"Do you really think your prayer will help her, when medicine has failed?" yelled a man from the crowd.

"You know nothing of such things! You are a stupid fool!" said the sage to the man.

The man became very angry with these words and his face grew hot and red. He was about to say something, or perhaps strike out, when the sage walked over to him and said: "If one word has such power as to make you so angry and hot, may not another have the power to heal?"

Hut on fire?

The only survivor of a shipwreck was washed up on a small, uninhabited island. He prayed feverishly for God to rescue him, and every day he scanned the horizon for help, but none seemed forthcoming. Exhausted, he eventually managed to build a little hut out of driftwood to protect himself from the elements, and to store his few possessions.

One day, after scavenging for food, he arrived home to find his little hut in flames, the smoke rolling up to the sky. The worst had happened—everything was lost. He was stunned with grief and anger. “God, how could you do this to me?” He cried.

Early the next day, however, he was awakened by the sound of a ship that was approaching the island. It had come to rescue him. “How did you know I was here?” Asked the weary man of his rescuers. “We saw your smoke signal,” they replied.

It is easy to get discouraged when things are going bad. But we shouldn’t lose heart, because God is at work in our lives, even in the midst of pain and suffering. Remember, next time your little hut is burning to the ground, it just may be a smoke signal that summons the grace of God.
For all the negative things we have to say to ourselves, God has a positive answer for it:

Disadvantage can become your advantage...

Moral: Everything happens for good (we just do not have the vision to see it).

God does exists (liitle girl and the teacher)

One day a 6 year old girl was sitting in a classroom. The teacher was going to explain evolution to the children. The teacher asked a little boy: Tommy do you see the tree outside?

TOMMY: Yes.
TEACHER: Tommy, do you see the grass outside?
TOMMY: Yes.
TEACHER: Go outside and look up and see if you can see the sky.
TOMMY: Okay. (He returned a few minutes later) Yes, I saw the sky.
TEACHER: Did you see God?
TOMMY: No.
TEACHER: That's my point. We can't see God because he isn't there. He doesn’t exist.

A little girl spoke up and wanted to ask the boy some questions. The teacher agreed and the little girl asked the boy: Tommy, do you see the tree outside?

TOMMY: Yes.
LITTLE GIRL: Tommy do you see the grass outside?
TOMMY: Yessssss (getting tired of the questions by this time).
LITTLE GIRL: Did you see the sky?
TOMMY: Yessssss
LITTLE GIRL: Tommy, do you see the teacher?
TOMMY: Yes
LITTLE GIRL: Do you see her brain?
TOMMY: No
LITTLE GIRL: Then according to what we were taught today in school, she must not have one!

"FOR WE WALK BY FAITH, NOT BY SIGHT"
CORINTHIANS 4:7

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Mind Matter and Soul: Wake up to epiphany

Material nature is not independent. She is acting under the directions of the Supreme Lord. As Lord Shri Krishna says, "Prakti (nature) is working under My direction." When we see wonderful things happening in the cosmic nature, we should know that behind this cosmic manifestation there is a controller. Nothing could be manifested without being controlled. It is childish not to consider the controller.

For instance, a child may think that an automobile is quite wonderful to be able to run without a horse or other animal pulling it, but a sane man knows the nature of the automobile's engineering arrangement. He always knows that behind the machinery there is a man, a driver. Similarly, the Supreme Lord is a driver under whose direction everything is working. Now the the living have been accepted by the Lord as His parts and parcels.

A particle of gold is also gold, a drop of water from the ocean is also salty, and similarly, we the living entities, being part and parcel of the supreme controller- Supreme Lord Shri Krishna.

We have all the qualities of the Supreme Lord in minute quantity because we are minute isvaras (Immeasurably small Lord) or subordinate isvaras. We are trying to control nature, as presently we are trying to control space or planets, and this tendency to control is there because it is in Lord Krishna. But although we have a tendency to lord it over material nature, we should know that we are not the supreme controller.

credit: excerpts from Bhagavad Gita As It Is by A C Prabhupada

Where is GOD? Where I can find GOD?

Once an inquisitive devotee asked a realized saint, “What is the form of God? Where does he live and where can I find him?”

The saint said, “God is everywhere and is all pervading. He is blissful, omniscient and immortal and He is your own self”. The devotee asked, “If it is so, why do I not perceive and have an experience of Him?” The saint replied, “As the God is all pervading, He is within your own mind as well but your mind is not in Him. Your mind is engrossed in the world.”

The saint in many ways tried to make him understand the existence of God but the devotee could not comprehend and realize God. The saint then told him, “Go to Haridwar, there in Ganga (Holy River in India), there is a fish of a strange colour and it can speak in the voice of human beings. The fish will give you an appropriate answer to your question”.

The inquisitive devotee bowed to the saint, touched his feet and started on his way to Haridwar. There he sat down in a corner and began to wait for the arrival of the strange fish. Whenever he saw any fish he repeated his question and asked where God lived and how could he see Him?

After sometime the strange fish came and asked the devotee “where from have you come?” The devotee replied, “A saint asked me to see you and I want to know where does God live and how can I see Him?” The fish said to him, “I am thirsty for the last seven days. So tell me where I can get water from.”

On listening to the words of the fish, the devotee laughed and said, “Oh foolish one, water is above you, below you, it is on your right, on your left and there is water on all you sides”.
When the devotee spoke like this, the fish became serious and said, “Oh, you innocent devotee. You are also foolish like me. God whom you are searching is above you, below you, on your right, on your left, and in brief he is on all your sides.

The devotee was a bit satisfied and said, “If so, why am I unable to see the blissful God and why am I so miserable?” The fish said, “The same is my question. If water is on all my sides why is my thirst not quenched?

The devotee knew the construction of the body of the fish and knew that so long as the fish swam straight with its face upward, no water can enter its mouth. To quench its thirst the fish has to swim upside down. If the construction of the body of the fish is not been like this, water can enter its body freely and it will die. So the devotee advised the fish to take a turn upside down to quench its thirst.

The fish then said to the devotee, “As we have to take a turn to quench our thirst, you should also take a turn to see God. Turn away from the desires to see God. In other words, when you turn the flow of the thoughts of your mind from the world to the blissful omniscient God, then all your sorrows will come to an end. The devotee did accordingly and realized his real Self.

God Does Exist

A man went to a barber shop to have his hair and his beard cut as always.

He started to have a good conversation with the barber who attended him. They talked about so many things and various subjects. suddenly, they touched the subject of God.

The barber said: “Look man, I don’t believe that God exists as you say so.”

Why do you say that?” - asked the client.

Well, it’s so easy, you just have to go out in the street to realize that God does not exist. Oh, tell me, if God existed, would there be so many sick people? Would there be abandoned children? If God existed, there would be no suffering nor pain. I can’t think of a God who permits all of these things.”

The client stopped for a moment thinking but he didn’t want to respond so as to prevent an argument. The barber finished his job and the client went out of the shop. Just after he left the barber shop he saw a man in the street with a long hair and beard (it seems that it had been a long time since he had his cut and he looked so untidy).

Then the client again entered the barber shop and he said to the barber: know what? Barbers do not exist.”

“How come they don’t exist?”-asked the barber. “Well I am here and I am a barber.”

“No!” - the client exclaimed. “They don’t exist because if they did there would be no people with long hair and beard like that man who walks in the street.”

“Ah, barbers do exist, what happens is that people do not come to me.”

“Exactly!”- affirmed the client. “That’s the point. GOD does exist, what happens is people don’t go to Him and do not look for Him that’s why there’s so much pain and suffering in the world.”

Mind Matter and Soul: Bhagavad-Gita The Ultimate Truth

Here are some quote of the world's most famous personalities about Shri-Bhagavad-Gita:

"The Gita is one of the clearest and most comprehensive one, of the summaries and systematic spiritual statements of the perennial philosophy ever to have been done"

Aldous Huxley
(English Writer)

"When I read the Bhagavad-Gita and reflect about how God created this universe everything else seems so superfluous."

Albert Einstein
(Theoretical Physicist)

"When doubts haunt me, when disappointments stare me in the face, and I see not one ray of hope on the horizon, I turn to Bhagavad-Gita and find a verse to comfort me; and I immediately begin to smile in the midst of overwhelming sorrow. Those who meditate on the Gita will derive fresh joy and new meanings from it every day."

Mahatma Gandhi
(Major political and spiritual leader of India)

"In the morning I bathe my intellect in the stupendous and cosmogonal philosophy of the Bhagavad-Gita, in comparison with which our modern world and its literature seem puny and trivial."

Henry David Thoreau
(American author and philosopher)

"The Bhagavad-Gita is a true scripture of the human race a living creation rather than a book, with a new message for every age and a new meaning for every civilization."

Sri Aurobindo
(Scholar, poet, mystic, evolutionary philosopher, yogi and guru)

"The idea that man is like unto an inverted tree seems to have been current in by gone ages. The link with Vedic conceptions is provided by Plato in his Timaeus in which it states 'behold we are not an earthly but a heavenly plant.' This correlation can be discerned by what Krishna expresses in chapter 15 of Bhagavad-Gita."

Carl Jung
(Swiss psychiatrist, influential thinker, and founder of analytical psychology)

"The Bhagavad-Gita deals essentially with the spiritual foundation of human existence. It is a call of action to meet the obligations and duties of life; yet keeping in view the spiritual nature and grander purpose of the universe."

Jawahar Lal Nehru
(Former Prime Minister of India)

"The marvel of the Bhagavad-Gita is its truly beautiful revelation of life's wisdom which enables philosophy to blossom into religion."

Herman Hesse
(German-Swiss poet, novelist, and painter)

"I owed a magnificent day to the Bhagavad-Gita. It was the first of books; it was as if an empire spoke to us, nothing small or unworthy, but large, serene, consistent, the voice of an old intelligence which in another age and climate had pondered and thus disposed of the same questions which exercise us."

Ralph Waldo Emerson
(American essayist, poet, and leader of the Transcendentalist movement)

"In order to approach a creation as sublime as the Bhagavad-Gita with full understanding it is necessary to attune our soul to it."

Rudolph Steiner
(founder of Anthroposophy)

"From a clear knowledge of the Bhagavad-Gita all the goals of human existence become fulfilled. Bhagavad-Gita is the manifest quintessence of all the teachings of the Vedic scriptures."

Adi Shankara
(Philosopher)

"The Bhagavad-Gita is the most systematic statement of spiritual evolution of endowing value to mankind. It is one of the most clear and comprehensive summaries of perennial philosophy ever revealed; hence its enduring value is subject not only to India but to all of humanity."

Aldous Huxley
(English writer)

"The Bhagavad-Gita was spoken by Lord Krishna to reveal the science of devotion to God which is the essence of all spiritual knowledge. The Supreme Lord Krishna's primary purpose for descending and incarnating is to relieve the world of any demoniac and negative, undesirable influences that are opposed to spiritual development, yet simultaneously it is His incomparable intention to be perpetually within reach of all humanity."

Ramanuja
(Indian theologian, philosopher)

Karma, Bhakti, and Jnana are but three paths to this end. And common to all the three is renunciation. Renounce the desires, even of going to heaven, for every desire related with body and mind creates bondage. Our focus of action is neither to save the humanity nor to engage in social reforms, not to seek personal gains, but to realize the indwelling Self itself.

Swami Vivekananda
(Influential spiritual leaders of the philosophy)

"Science describes the structures and processes; philosophy attempts at their explanation. When such a perfect combination of both science and philosophy is sung to perfection that Krishna was, we have in this piece of work an appeal both to the head and heart."

Swami Chinmayanand
(former union minister state of India)

I seek that Divine Knowledge by knowing which nothing remains to be known!' For such a person knowledge and ignorance has only one meaning: Have you knowledge of God? If yes, you a Jnani! If not, you are ignorant. As said in the Gita, chapter XIII/11, knowledge of Self, observing everywhere the object of true Knowledge i.e. God, all this is declared to be true Knowledge (wisdom); what is contrary to this is ignorance."

Sri Ramakrishna
(Hindu religious teacher and an influential figure in the Bengal Renaissance)

Maharishi calls the Bhagavad-Gita the essence of Vedic Literature and a complete guide to practical life. It provides "all that is needed to raise the consciousness of man to the highest possible level." Maharishi reveals the deep, universal truths of life that speak to the needs and aspirations of everyone.

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
(founder of Transcendental Meditation technique - schools and university with campuses in the US and China)

The Gita was preached as a preparatory lesson for living worldly life with an eye to Release, Nirvana. My last prayer to everyone, therefore, is that one should not fail to thoroughly understand this ancient science of worldly life as early as possible in one's life.

Lokmanya Tilak
(Popular social reformer and freedom fighter)

I believe that in all the living languages of the world, there is no book so full of true knowledge, and yet so handy. It teaches self-control, austerity, non-violence, compassion, obedience to the call of duty for the sake of duty, and putting up a fight against unrighteousness (Adharma). To my knowledge, there is no book in the whole range of the world's literature as high above as the Bhagavad-Gita, which is the treasure-house of Dharma nor only for the Hindus but foe all mankind.

Madan Mohan Malaviya
(Popular social reformer and freedom fighter)