Immersion of Ganesh idols in water bodies during Ganesh Chaturthi.

    When we analyse the immersing of idols in water during Ganesha Chaturthi, it can be seen from different dimensions or angles such as spiritually, constitutionally, economically, etc.

The spiritual point of view

    The practice of immersing Ganesha idols in water has a beautiful significance. Traditionally, the idol was made up of clay, and when immersed in water, it disintegrates - from form to formless. This symbolises the temporary nature of all worldly forms. Our bodies too will one day be burned or buried. 

Thus, immersing the clay idol of Ganesha in a river or lake reminds us not to be attached to form, and instead turn our minds towards the essence or substance of things. This is the idea behind immersing Ganesha Idols in water.

However, modernisation brought the Plaster-of-Paris(POP) idols to replace the clay idols and decorated them with paint containing harmful lead instead of natural dyes, as a cause of concern for our environment.

Polity's point of view

    The environmental concern while celebrating Ganesh Chaturthi is an ongoing debate among Indians. The arguments are taken from the Fundamental right (Article 25) and Fundamental Duties of the Indian Constitution to the Vedas as well.

1) As per Article 25, all persons are equally entitled to freedom of conscience and free profession, practice and propagation of religion.

2)  Fundamental Duties tells (f) to value and preserve the rich cultural heritage of our composite culture.

(g) to protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers and wildlife, and to have compassion for living creatures.

Celebrating Ganesh Chaturthi with the idol of Ganesha is the freedom to conscience and practice the Hindu religion. Preservation of rivers lakes and wildlife is our Fundamental duty. 

When the conflict arises between Fundamental Right and Fundamental Duty, Fundamental Rights wins.

But our Fundamental duty to preserve the forests, rivers, lakes and wildlife is not fulfilled through this Ganesh Chaturthi celebration.

    If we don't do our duty properly or do it in the wrong way, we have to face the consequence. This is the Law of the Nature.

Vedas on water conservation

    In Vedic times also, sages have given high priority to the conservation of rivers, lakes and wildlife. We have Varuna Sukta in praise of the deity of water. He is present in all the water bodies.

Waters are to be freed from defilement - Atharva Veda Samhita x-5-24

Offerings are dedicated to waters of wells, pools, clefts, holes, lakes, morasses, ponds, tanks, marshes, rains, rime, streams, rivers and ocean.- Taittiriya Samhita vii-4-13

Water was worshipped as a deity during Vedic times.

Economic concern

    Making idols and selling them is a way of earning for many people across India. Doing pooja for these big idols on the roadside also makes some earnings for the place. Garland makers, Painters, Paint sellers, and stage builders are benefitted from this. If no idols are made every year, their small earnings will be stopped.

Way Forward

    Despite these concerns about the practice of immersing Ganesh idols in rivers or lakes, we need to think about some alternatives.

• Make eco-friendly idols of clay to be immersed in water.

• Virtual Ganesha immersing in the virtual Ganges - 

    To conclude, the spiritual significance of immersing the Ganesha idol in water remains the same. Practice can be modified according to the advancement of technology. There is always room for addition, deletion, correction and modification, as far as Hindu customs are concerned.

ഉയരെ... ...

ഉയരത്തിൽ നിന്നുയർത്തിയാലും കൈകൾ,

അറിവതുണ്ടോ ഉയിരിനെ ഉടലെരിയും വരെ..!

ഉള്ളത്തിൻ ഉരകല്ലിൽ ഉയിരുള്ള ചിന്തകൾ

ഉരയ്ക്കപ്പെടട്ടെ ഉണർവ്വറിയാനായ്...

New Blog and Post

 Do and Develop

A section dedicated to Nobel Laureates of India.

Links:

1) Do and Develop

2) NOBEL LAUREATES OF INDIA

2.1) Sir Ronald Ross

2.2)  Sir C V Raman

2.3) Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar

2.4) Dr. Har Govind Khurana

Excerpt-Summary

Short Summary of "Consequences of time and location" in "MIND Can it be tamed?" reflections by Swami Swaroopananda

Introduction

    The seekers of India have considered human mind as a monkey. Even though man has progressed in the outer world, his inner world needs to be improved to transcend the self=limiting tendencies. Like the same key can be used to lock and unlock the door, the mind is the instrument which becomes friend if it is under-control and helps to unfold the self, or else, the monkey-mind becomes the worst enemy that locks us inside the worldly troubles. Swami Swaroopananda ji presents an investigation into the nature of the mind, and offers the reader some tips and tools to tame the monkey mind. 

    The table of contents in this book titled -"MIND; Can it be tamed?"-were: MIND; Your best friend or Your Deadliest Enemy; What is the Mind?; Mastering the mind; Influence of media; Importance of right company; Impact of diet; Consequences of time and location; Attention to actions; Contemplation; Two Strategies- Vairāgya and Abhyāsa; Attach to the Higher; Develop Contentment; No matter, Never mind. 

    In this short write-up, a small portion of this book is summarized for the reflection of the concept, i.e., 

Consequences of time and location

Different time periods of the day influenced the mind. Identification of the active Guṇa of mind (sattva, rajas and tamas) on various time periods of the day is very important in progressing of the spiritual journey. For instance, when the mind is in a sāttvika frame, encourage it to read spiritual books. Avoid worldly affairs during sāttvika hours of the mind. 

Ask yourself : what can you possibly gain from allowing yourself into the worldly affairs, which will go on- and continue going on- and continue going on. (MIND; Can it be tamed?. pp no: 17)

Instead, use these sāttvika hours to study scriptures or books that uplift for meditation, worship and so on. Use the early morning sāttvika hours to train and tame your mind. Try to regulate, give focus and direction and purify it. 

Later, you can navigate the world of activity more efficiently and effectively with a sākṣi attitude. 

Please note that 'avoid worldly activities in sāttvika hours' as mentioned before does not mean those activities should be ignored at all. The idea indicated is to find quiet time for oneself. Go to sleep early and rise before the rest of the household, and use sāttvika hours in the morning with a goal of developing oneself. 

    Prefer locations that evoke a sense of peace, harmony, mental quietude, places that engender a feeling of at-oneness. These are sāttvika. On the other hand, places that stroke your passions or deaden your sensitivity toward your fellow human beings or even animals are rājasika and tāmasika.

Opinion

Our mind is also depended on the three Guṇas namely- sattva, rajas and tamas. To perform our duties on the world, these are essential. But they should be handled with care. Our one day, credited with 24 hours, is also divided into these three Guṇas. i.e., 4a.m- 8a.m-sāttvika hours; 8a.m-4p.m-rājasika hours; 4 p.m-8p.m-sāttvika hours; 8 p.m-4 a.m-tāmasika hours.

Tāmasika hours is the time for resting our instruments- body, mind and intellect.

Rājasika hours are the time for recharging our instruments with necessary food and exercise. Now-a-days, we can do our livelihood working actions during those rājasika hours. 

Sāttvika hours morning 4-8 and evening 4-8, these hours are very important for studying the scriptures, reflection on the meaning of the Vedas indicate, for meditation on the Supreme Reality, and discussions on Supreme with wise people. For this, the location that we choose is also important. Therefore, let's choose locations that encourages us to use our precious sāttvika hours which lead to spiritual growth. 

May we improve and encourage our inner efforts to tame and uplift the mind!

Reference

Swaroopananda, Swami. (2016) "Consequences of time and location", MIND Can it be tamed?, ISBN: 978-81-7597-682-5, Reprint edition, pp:17-21

Om Tatsat Brahmārpaṇamastu

Learning for today

 Practice, Performance and Perfection; these three P-s that I learnt today which can be taken forward in my life. How? In the sense of Practice only teaches you how to perform an action perfectly. By practice only, you can make improvements in whatever action you do. It is a continuous process. So, don't be afraid to perform today for pursuing your dreams. Today is the good day to start, tell yourself. EVERY JOURNEY STARTS WITH A SINGLE STEP. Start your journey with that single step of performance. Practices as further steps. You can reach perfection.

Company of good people

 Satsang or the company of good people, what is it? what is the need of it? Many students may have this question. Mind is like a tank. ten pipes which are the 10 Indriyas are connected with that tank. When the water reaches via the pipes to the tank is pure, the tank contain pure water. Though the muddy water transferred via one pipe and reached the tank, entire tank gets polluted by impure water. The water becomes waste. Similarly, good thoughts should enter our mind and disseminate joy for all. Even one Indriya is polluted by not positive thought, the entire mind becomes polluted. So, the company of good people, reading scriptures, service to Guru, selfless deed, helping needy without any expectations; these are some of the activities that everybody who dream to develop can do. Satsang is one of those activities to be done for developing yourself. In a deeper sense the activity which provide maximum happiness to maximum people for maximum time can be considered as satsang. sataam sangah satsangah, the group of good people. this include thinking your Istadevata, meditation of form, listening to glory of mahatmas , everything is satsang only. The benifit of the association with good people is the purification of mind. Satsang is needed untill the mind becomes purified. How many time required to have a purified mind, can't say exactly, so, nirantara satsang like the continues flow of taila is better to have cittashuddhi. So we need 24*7 satsang via diverse ways.

Those who read this post, please have further explorations on satsang from Subhashitas, talks from wise people and research by your own maarga. 

Thank you. 

തീ

 തൊട്ടാൽ പൊള്ളുന്ന തീയാകണം.

The nature of everything

 It is quite easy to handle things that we met in our day to day life if we could understand the nature of those things. The basic questions on a particular subject- what, why, how, who ,which, where, when etc.- these are just keywords to get to know the nature of the subject matter. 

    Life, for me, it is just a training that should be undertaken for understanding the nature of me. Training for self-improvement at home has been paused for a while; continued at CVV from 08-Feb-2021, Monday onwards . Awaiting for the surprises as part of the training of self-improvement of life.

गणतन्त्रदिवसोत्सवः

 हृदुर्व्यामभिव्यज्यते सदा ज्ञानदीपप्रकाशेन।

मातृध्वजस्य नित्यदर्शनं मूल्यस्थापितसूत्रेण।।

DO AND DEVELOP

 Reading is an activity which we depend upon, at least some of us , to escape temporarily from our stressed sorrowful life. When this activity becomes a motivation booster which encourage you to overcome the sorrows by focusing on your actions which give maximum happiness to maximum people for maximum time, then you will find meaning in your life.

So, dear reader who reads this post, I would like to suggest you to include the book – “TRANSFORMING INDIANS TO TRANSFORM INDIA”- in your reading book-list. And those who have already read the book to read it again.

There is a small story that I would like to tell you behind why I am recommending this book to everyone. When I was doing Higher Secondary Education , I saw this book for the first time. The tri-color rubix cube cover page has been catched the attention of my eyes. One of the classmates was holding the book. Then I was able to see the title-‘ TRANSFORMING INDIANS TO TRANSFORM INDIA’ . Very impressive title! The next doubtful question in my mind was – ‘should I ask the classmate for giving me the book to read’. At last decided, whatever happened once ask, if you don’t get the book for reading, at least, you come to experience how to request orally for getting the necessities.

I got the book, that was the stepping stone for the journey of reaching out from the shell of comfort zone.

This book has seven stories of different people. Through these stories the transformation of individual happen. Dear reader, please note- Transformation is a process, by practice of self-evaluation, this becomes reality. You won’t be transformed once you finished the reading of this book. That’s why, for those who have read this book, I recommended them to go through this book again.

After completing the first reading, to face the separation from this book was quiet difficult for me. But understood that stories and this book is not important , what is there to practice in one’s life- is important. The message of this book is important. So to remember this book ever, I took some images; cover page and book-blurb page, then some ‘Transformation tool-kit’ pages which should be practiced in my life. But this had some limitation because I can’t capture all the photos of the sentences below each pages of the book about how a transformed India would be like. Somehow prepared my mind to return the book.

Then, after joining the Chinmaya University, again my eyes were captured by the same tri-color rubix-cube cover page and the headline at Chinmayavani book shop in the campus. This time, I don’t want to miss the book again. Bought it. Started reading it again. That was a refreshment. And the wonder is : the things that I didn’t understand completely become easier to understand now. Because at Chinmaya University, I was able to find people who are practicing those words in that book as their daily habits. For instance, In “(Fr)agility – Physical transformation" part, the importance of health and what we should do to ‘make regular deposits into our health bank’ has given. The practical way for positive health has explained in detail.

• “To maintain physical health, we need to exercise regularly, eat right and stay active. Design an exercise routine for yourself, be sensible in your food consumption, and fill your day with an assortment f activities
• Invest in your emotional health by extending love and concern for those around you. Consciously cultivate an optimistic attitude to face the ups and downs of everyday life. Believe in the best and work towards it, but be prepared for the worst. Learn to bounce back quickly from a low moment, realizing that “Even this will pass away”.
• Social health is developed by learning the art of making right contact with people around us. Surround yourself with energetic, happy people who help you grow and become a better person. Think! Do the people in your life lift you up, or drag you down?
•  Last, but not least, spiritual health is achieved by grounding oneself in the core of peace within. We can improve our spiritual well-being through regular meditation and contemplation. Spiritual exercises align the body, mind and intellect so that we develop the clarity and composure to face the joys and sorrows of life with equanimity. “

(excerpts from Transforming Indians to Transform India )

Here, at CVV, what I could see and learn was for physical health development, a zero-credit Yoga and Meditation course has been added in the even semester curriculum. By this course, students come to learn the basic practice of yoga like PrANAyAmA-s, sUryanamaskAr etc. As a result of this course, the interested one will start practicing yoga and meditation as a routine.

At campus Annakshetra (mess), students, faculty and technical staff come together to take food. Happy time you get everyday at campus to be spent with friends, colleagues and so on. Walking and talking with people at campus after dinner fill your mind full of optimistic ideas.

Coming into the style of the book , apart from the seven interactive stories, compilations of knowledge about transformed Indians, ‘tool-kit transformations’, “Quote…Unquote” and many more packages for automatic transformations.

Motivational quotations from the book(only from Emotional transformation, since I felt that is very much important at the present scenario)

 "It is only through study, reflection and self-effort that one can transform a weak mind into a strong mind."

"Know that tragedy can strike you at any moment. Do not be surprised when misfortune comes into  your life."

"The real yardstick of growth is not when we are doing a well or better than others, but its about how much we’ve improved from before."

"Learn from others around and work on bettering yourself."

"Whatever our mind entertains, it becomes that."

"He who sees all beings in his own self, and his own self in all beings, LOSES ALL FEAR- Ishavasyopanishad."

"Life is nothing but an array of choices that we make. Happiness is enhanced when we choose a higher goal over a lower goal. The family is higher than the individual, the community is higher than the family, the country is higher than the community, and the world is higher than the country. We must expand from ‘me’ to ‘family’ to community to ‘country’ and eventually to a state where we identify with the whole universe. With this expansion in vision, we grow as an individual when we dedicate our work or life to a higher purpose, the best in us is expressed and we find fulfillment."

PLAN, PREPARE AND PRACTICE

The question word "How" has a significant role to build your life. It is not so easy to make a better standard of living. Every one of us is goal-oriented persons. So we need to do some activities to lead our life. to make that possible we should be aware of 'how to do an activity in a better way'. i.e, within a short span of time how to complete an activity with efficiency. some experts will point out the term "smart work". Anyway "to give the best to take up rest", what we have to do? Practice! that is the answer. To Practice, firstly plan, then prepare for working out your plan. if you have a fixed planning strategy in any doing, try to stick into that, never be deviated from "external stimulus".

never make satisfaction with your plan. Keep on checking your progress and according to your progress, little changes should be made also. Practice makes man perfect.