Hinduism is like an ocean of the combined knowledge of various rishis, sages, and saints. It was they who gave the religion the depth and complexity for which it is known today. Because of them Hinduism became more or less like an ocean that would absorb every thing that flowed into it from all directions.
There are wide misconceptions about the Hindu religion. According to my understanding, the following facts are realities in an effort to clarify such misconceptions.
1. Who is Hindu? Anybody who practices a little of and believes in the above listed tenets of Hinduism is a Hindu. There is no baptism, no fixed gods, and going to the temple is not compulsory.
2. Idol Worship: Hinduism does not promote idol worship. To the contrary, Hinduism urges to transcend all physical aids to worship, in our spiritual progress. Realizing that it is impossible for the mortal human to visualize the Infinite and instead of sustaining false hopes of such achievements, the religion urges us to slowly and steadily continue our progress in pursuit of the Truth. For such steady progress, it asks to start with physical aids such as temples and idols, and through practice and devotion, ultimately succeed in visualizing God without the aid of temples and idols.
3. Habits: There are no specifically laid out rules constricting a person’s eating/drinking habits, or clothing style or anything like that. In fact, Hinduism deals with concepts on a much higher platform, where such things are insignificant. It deals with the spiritual aspects of trying to understand God and to approach Him through many varied means (principal of which is love). As natural fallout, it also shows how to lead a meaningful life full of bliss, peace and love.
4. Conversion: Since Hinduism is a way of life, there is no formal conversion process. In fact, there is no fixed name for Hinduism; some call it Sanatana Dharma, some call it just Dharma, some call it Bhagawat Dharma, etc. There was no name “Hindu” in old scriptures but later invaders of India named people here as Hindu because they used to live on the banks of the river Sindhu.
5. Unity: This feature of Hindu religion has been unique. Some call the religion broadminded because Hindus believe in ‘Vasudhev Kutumbakam,’ meaning that all the world’s people are one family.
6. Rituals or superstitions: Hinduism runs on value education and some rituals. These rituals are added from time to time and changeable. But these rituals convey a lot of meaning when deeply thought and understood. They are not compulsory for Hinduism; some follow, some don’t.
7. Criticism: Another feature of Hinduism is there is no blasphemy clause; you may criticize openly some features you don’t like and may not follow or change them still you will be a good Hindu. I think it’s democracy like.
8. Food: Though many Hindus are vegetarian, still many Hindus are not. The rationale behind a vegetarian diet is to promote a physically, mentally and spiritually healthy lifestyle. However, there are no rigid rules concerning vegetarianism.
9. Caste System: The caste system, originally described in the Vedas, but much abused and maligned over the years, is nothing but a representation of an efficient human society. The four castes described in the scriptures are - the Brahmins, the Kshatriyas, the Vaishyas, and the Shudras. According to the Vedas, an efficient human society is based on the strength of its educational/knowledge-pursuit system (Brahmin), its military and defense system (Kshatriya), its economical and business system (Vaishya), and a strong, happy, productive workforce (Shudras).
This noble representation was misinterpreted, exploited, and abused by a few in the Indian society, leading to the indiscriminate creation of thousands of castes and sub-castes, including the so-called “upper” castes. It can be seen as a means of maintaining the status quo to the benefit of those in power. However, in ancient times, castes were not rigid (one could move from one caste to another). They were based on one’s karma (actions), not birth.
Fortunately, the distorted caste system has been more or less abolished since Indian independence and the distinctions are beginning to disappear.
10. Hindu Women: The role of women in Hinduism is often misunderstood. In Vedic times women and men were equal as far as education and religion was concerned. In ancient India, women occupied a very important position, in fact in some ways, a superior position to men. It is a culture whose only words for strength and power are feminine -”Shakti” means “power” and “strength.” All male power comes from the feminine.
Articles in this blog are copied and pasted from various other sites. I want to create at least a minimum awareness among people to understand our politicians and religion. This will help our nation to weed-out corruption at all level
Friday, June 25, 2010
Why do we fast?
We often hear this statement from the elders of our traditional Hindu family “I can’t eat today I am keeping a fast”. If someone doesn’t believe in fasting, then he or she is not a Hindu, right?
While most of the Hindus fast at least once in a week or any particular religious day that merit a fast. It is an accepted fact that fasting is good and it is associated with religion. Fine, but what is the outcome?
The Sanskrit word for a fast is “Upavaas” which is the amalgamation of the words “Upa” meaning near and “Vaas” meaning to stay. So the word “Upavaas” would literally mean staying near God. So what does not eating have to do with that? Surely you can stay near God even if you do eat three full meals during the day? Apparently the old school of thought disagreed.
You see a lot of time was spent each day in preparing the meals. There were a large number of chores involved in procuring, cooking, eating, and digesting food. Also eating too much rich food can dull a man’s senses, just see what happens after a lunch of tandoori naan and butter chicken if you don’t believe me. So basically food took your focus off God. That’s why a conscious decision was made to eat light food on certain more religious days.
So when you fast you eat fruits and uncooked vegetables. This also gave your digestive system an off day. Plus you remained alert and full of energy. Also, you were trained to overcome your desire to eat specific food on a daily basis, again helping you in overcoming your “vasana” or desire for food. After all gluttony was amongst the deadly sins in the Hindu religion as well as in Christianity,
While most of the Hindus fast at least once in a week or any particular religious day that merit a fast. It is an accepted fact that fasting is good and it is associated with religion. Fine, but what is the outcome?
The Sanskrit word for a fast is “Upavaas” which is the amalgamation of the words “Upa” meaning near and “Vaas” meaning to stay. So the word “Upavaas” would literally mean staying near God. So what does not eating have to do with that? Surely you can stay near God even if you do eat three full meals during the day? Apparently the old school of thought disagreed.
You see a lot of time was spent each day in preparing the meals. There were a large number of chores involved in procuring, cooking, eating, and digesting food. Also eating too much rich food can dull a man’s senses, just see what happens after a lunch of tandoori naan and butter chicken if you don’t believe me. So basically food took your focus off God. That’s why a conscious decision was made to eat light food on certain more religious days.
So when you fast you eat fruits and uncooked vegetables. This also gave your digestive system an off day. Plus you remained alert and full of energy. Also, you were trained to overcome your desire to eat specific food on a daily basis, again helping you in overcoming your “vasana” or desire for food. After all gluttony was amongst the deadly sins in the Hindu religion as well as in Christianity,
Why do Hindus prefer Temple worship?
God exists everywhere. So, a question may be asked why there should be any temples built for Him. We know that God exists everywhere, but still the idea does not get firmly established in our mind. It does not get reflected in our daily actions. If one remembers God all the time, how can one utter any falsehood or commit evil acts?
If God is merely omnipresent, how can He help us? We all long for His grace somehow. So, we have to worship Him and get His grace. But the agama-shastras tell us how this should be done. The sun's rays contain a lot of heat energy. If we keep a piece of cloth in the sun, it does not catch fire by itself. But if we place a lens and focus the sun's heat rays on that piece of cloth, after some time, we find that the cloth catches fire.
Similarly, electrical energy is everywhere, but in order to bring it to our daily use, we need to have generators to channel that energy and transmission systems to distribute it at the places where we need it. In the same way, in order to get the grace of the Omnipresent Lord, we have to build temples, where we can focus the power of the Lord in a consecrated idol for our benefit in an easy way.
So, in our country, we find that there are many temples; of course, in other countries also, there are many places of worship, but there will be no idols, as in the case of our temples. They have just a big prayer hall where people assemble and offer some prayers or do some silent meditation and then disperse after getting some peace of mind. But in our temples, the idols are installed and they have divinity infused into them and, as such, they have certain sanctity about them.
Until a particular day, the sculptor goes on chiseling that piece of stone, but after a certain day, it becomes invested with divinity, and we start performing abhisheka, archana, deepaharati etc. for that deity; it acquires divine power and it obtains chaitanya. We see divinity in our idols and, therefore, we do abhisheka, alankara or decoration, naivedyam, haarati and many other upacharas.
Some people say that the places of worship, which belong to other religions, are quiet, but our Hindu temples are full of noise. Of course, this is true. Actually, there are two types of noises in our temples. One is the desirable type of noise such as ringing of bells, the sounding of musical instruments like nadaswaram and the shahnai; the recitation of namavalli archana, recitation of mantras and so on.
Of course, there is also the undesirable type of noise in the form of people indulging in idle gossip and purposeless talk. It is our duty to see that this idle talk, which results in undesirable noise, is totally eliminated from our temples. In other places of worship, this type of fanfare that we have in our temples is not there, because they do not recognize idol worship or worship of God in the saguna form and they believe in worship of God in his attributeless and shapeless form only.
In our temple, a huge temple bell is rung at the time of puja. This is done so that the evil spirits may go away from temple premises, and all abuses or other bad sounds may be stifled from being heard. In our houses, we do not have such a huge bell, but we ring only a small bell at the time of puja. But we do not offer musical instruments and other upacharas to the deity, but only akshata or unbroken rice.
The puja that we do in our houses is for our own welfare. We do it according to our convenience and, according to our mental frame of mind. But the puja done in the temples is for the whole of society and therefore, there is so much of fanfare, and sounding of musical instruments and singing of auspicious tunes; the deity is taken out in a procession during festival days and there is display of fireworks.
The reason for quietness and silence in the temples of other religions is this. In other religions, they just have a big prayer hall. People assemble at appointed times, and they offer prayers. They sing some hymns, mentally or in chorus. After that, everything is over, and people disperse. They just close their eyes for a few minutes, pray for some time, get some peace of mind and then disperse. There is no such thing as abhisheka of the idol, alankara or decoration of the idol, karpuraharati, dhupa, deepaharati, naivedyam, distribution of prasadam, etc. in other temples. There are various upacharas, which are also offerings to the deity. There is also scope for singing of prayers, hymns, silent meditation and so on.
We consider God as Rajadiraja or the king of all kings and so we offer him many upacharas such as umbrella, chamara, musical instruments, vahana and so on, which are all due to a king. The divine presence in our idols, when we worship them, helps us to banish poverty as well as evil. Thus, the idol with divinity which we see in our temples is an object of beauty for us, and worthy of meditation.
If our thoughts are of a high order, then we worship the deity in the above manner, so that we may get supreme happiness. It is with this idea that we perform abhisheka and decorate the idol with ornaments etc. Thus we worship God in these various ways by doing so many upacharas. This kind of worship is possible only in the Hindu religion.
Idol worship is very important in our religion, for the ordinary people. When we bow before an idol or pray before the deity consecrated in the idol, we never think that it is only a piece of stone, but we think that the deity in the idol is the protector and the root cause of the whole world. Thus, temples help to increase the devotion of a person to God and this devotion helps him to overcome or reduce his sufferings.
Ordinary people may not have the capacity, and strength of mind to bear their sufferings. But with bhakti or devotion to Ishwara, they can face them, and get also the mental strength to bear them. It is for this purpose that an ordinary person goes to the temple. He goes there, offers some prayers and then he feels all right. If one person talks about his sufferings to another, the other man will listen to him for some time, but after some time he will start narrating his own sufferings and say that he is having more sufferings than other individuals. So, sharing one's sufferings with another person, who is also suffering, will not result in the removal of the sufferings.
Therefore, we go to temple and pray to Him, and we pour out before Him our tale of woe and sufferings. If we go and narrate our sufferings to another man for a long time he will start abusing us after some time, and he may even slap us if we persist with the narration of our tale of woe and suffering. But when we go to a temple, we can tell God whatever we like, Have you not ears to listen to my prayers? Have you no eyes to see my suffering? And we may ask Him why He is not giving His grace immediately to us. After this prayer, when we come out, we shall have some peace of mind. The more we address God, the more is the peace that we get in our mind.
Saguna worship has got this capacity to give peace of mind because there is chaitanya in the idol installed in the temple and after pouring out our suffering before God in the temple, we get some peace of mind. That is why we have the habit of going to the temples.
Of course, some people do not go to a temple at all, but they go to a river or a lonely place and weep there for some time and they then come back with peace of mind. People get peace of mind wherever there is no reaction to what they say. So, a suffering man goes only to those places where there is no reaction to what he says.
When one prays to Ishwara, one gets mental peace, because Ishwara does not talk at all. If Ishwara starts replying, then we shall start talking something more, After all, Ishwara knows everything and He will give us whatever we want. Of course, this does not mean that God will give us exactly what we ask for. He will give us only that much which will give us peace of mind, though He has the capacity to give everything that we want.
God knows everything that we want to tell Him. Yet why is it that we go and narrate our sufferings before Him? It is just to get peace of mind by emptying our mind before Him. As Nilakanta Dikshita says:
"What is it that you do not know? You know everything. And yet I feel like speaking out things before you, because my mind is restless; it is only when I empty the contents of my mind that I can secure peace. That is why I am narrating all this before you."
There is another thing that we notice in the case of our temples, as compared with the places of worship or prayer halls of other religions. In other religions, the prayer hall is built according to the size of the audience. After they collect the statistics of the audience, they build the prayer hall to accommodate the audience, and all the people can assemble in that prayer hall, at appointed hours.
But in our temples, we have to go one by one near the sanctum sanctorum. Whatever be the size of the crowd, each one has to go in a disciplined manner and offer worship. Our temples have all been built with some sanctity. In fact, each temple has got a history behind it. Our temples are places where there are idols with shakti or power and divinity.
The puja that we do in our houses is for the welfare of ourselves and our families. But the puja done in the temples is for the welfare of the whole society, and therefore there is no scope for the puja being done in the temples according to one's personal likes. There is thus no scope for importing our individual methods of worship in the temples.
The deity in the temple has to be installed and worshipped according to the religious texts on the basis of which the idol has been installed. Further, the puja has to be done by the priests appointed for the purpose. These rules hold good right from the village deities to the big deities like Vinayaka, Subrahmanya, Vishnu, and Shiva.
Since a temple is a place of divine presence, we do many things as our expression of devotion to God. We have abhisheka on a grand scale, decorate the idol with ornaments and so on. We also have paintings and sculptures in temple mandapams to enhance the beauty of the place. We also take out processions during festivals, and have fireworks etc.
These temples are the great heritage of our country. Our country being a poor country, the needs of our people were very small, and therefore, they had built great structures like temples and temple gopurams to help people in their spiritual development.
But nowadays, things have taken a different shape. Instead, we have social service institutions, schools, and hospitals. But the benefits are not being realized to the fullest extent. On the other hand, these have led to corruption. At least the tribal people have been unaffected by all this and they are still preserving their good traits and habits. Instead of solving the main problem, the banks etc., have only increased our wants; when a bank goes into liquidation, we know what an amount of poverty it causes, among the depositors. By increasing our wants, we get into trouble. Happiness can be had only by leading a simple life. Our temples were the centers for social welfare in the olden days. At the time of festivals, food used to be distributed at concessional rates to the needy people.
Mass feeding of people was also done on those occasions. Of course, the State is doing certain things to the people through their social welfare agencies. In fact, the tax that we are paying to Government is just a token of our acknowledgment of the service done to the people by the State. But it is a fact that in spite of the existence of banks, hospitals and social welfare agencies, their objects are not being fulfilled to the extent required.
The best medicine for removing human misery and suffering and sorrow is to have unshakable faith in the grace of God. Bhakti alone is capable of giving that strength of mind which is needed to overcome and reduce our sufferings. Temples are but the agencies to nurture and develop this bhakti towards God. This is why temples have to be constructed at every place.
In the olden days, they used to build the temple first and then the township grew around them. But nowadays, we build the township first and then only start thinking of constructing the temple. The offering of naivedyam to God and the offering of money into the hundis kept at the temples are all but a token of our gratitude to God for what he has done to us.
We cannot create even a blade of grass. Therefore, if we offer anything to God, it is just for our own peace of mind and satisfaction. It is God who has given everything to us. So, if we eat food without offering it to Him, it is the greatest sign of ingratitude. We have to offer the best to God and then take it. All may not be able to do puja and other things in their houses and offer all upacharas to God. Therefore, temples have been constructed for this purpose.
Some people have a doubt whether they should go to temples daily, or not. Of course, it is absolutely necessary to do so. In the olden days, people never used to have their food in their houses unless they heard the temple bell ringing at the time of the morning, noon, evening and night pujas to the Lord.
It is up to us therefore to nurture the divinity in the temples by ensuring that the pujas are performed properly and that the temple rituals are observed with diligence. We should see that the temple premises are kept clean and the deepa is lit every day. We should also see that the cloth that we offer to Lord is washed daily. If only we could ensure these things, automatically we shall be able to derive as much benefit, if not more, than what we get by the establishment of hospitals and other social welfare institutions.
Since a temple is a place of divinity, of course we have to observe certain rules while we are in the precincts of the temple. For instance, we should not use anything meant for God for ourselves.
We should not go to the temple in a purposeless manner. One should not pass urine or spit or excrete fecal matter within the temple premises and within the vicinity of the temples. Nor should one blow his nose or sneeze or chew pan in the temple, or eat fruits or food, or sleep or sit with stretched legs, or comb the hair or tie the hair after combing, wear cloth over the head and over the shoulders, tread over nirmalya or tread over the shadows of the flag staff, idols etc, nor should one touch the idols or those who do puja to the idols. No one should gossip, laugh loudly, or play games or go between the idol and the bali peetha.
As for pradakshina or going round the temple, one should not stop with just one or two rounds only but should go round at least thrice. One should not have darshan of the Lord at odd hours or at the time of abhisheka or naivedyam. One should not enter into the temple and worship when the deity is not in the straight position. One should not enter a temple by any passage other than the main gate.
One should not go empty-handed to a temple merely for seeing the karpura-harati. One should offer what one has brought to the priest, have darshan and return without showing his back to the Lord. With folded hands, and reciting stotras, one should perform pradakshinas ranging between 3 and 21 times, preferably in odd numbers. As for namaskarams, one should do it an odd number of times for Ishwara, ranging from 3 to 21, and for Devi four times. After namaskara, one should do pradakshina and then return home.
All these rules have been prescribed only for our welfare and to preserve the sanctity of the temples. It is up to us all to observe these rules, protect and nurture the sanctity of our temples, which have been the greatest heritage.
If God is merely omnipresent, how can He help us? We all long for His grace somehow. So, we have to worship Him and get His grace. But the agama-shastras tell us how this should be done. The sun's rays contain a lot of heat energy. If we keep a piece of cloth in the sun, it does not catch fire by itself. But if we place a lens and focus the sun's heat rays on that piece of cloth, after some time, we find that the cloth catches fire.
Similarly, electrical energy is everywhere, but in order to bring it to our daily use, we need to have generators to channel that energy and transmission systems to distribute it at the places where we need it. In the same way, in order to get the grace of the Omnipresent Lord, we have to build temples, where we can focus the power of the Lord in a consecrated idol for our benefit in an easy way.
So, in our country, we find that there are many temples; of course, in other countries also, there are many places of worship, but there will be no idols, as in the case of our temples. They have just a big prayer hall where people assemble and offer some prayers or do some silent meditation and then disperse after getting some peace of mind. But in our temples, the idols are installed and they have divinity infused into them and, as such, they have certain sanctity about them.
Until a particular day, the sculptor goes on chiseling that piece of stone, but after a certain day, it becomes invested with divinity, and we start performing abhisheka, archana, deepaharati etc. for that deity; it acquires divine power and it obtains chaitanya. We see divinity in our idols and, therefore, we do abhisheka, alankara or decoration, naivedyam, haarati and many other upacharas.
Some people say that the places of worship, which belong to other religions, are quiet, but our Hindu temples are full of noise. Of course, this is true. Actually, there are two types of noises in our temples. One is the desirable type of noise such as ringing of bells, the sounding of musical instruments like nadaswaram and the shahnai; the recitation of namavalli archana, recitation of mantras and so on.
Of course, there is also the undesirable type of noise in the form of people indulging in idle gossip and purposeless talk. It is our duty to see that this idle talk, which results in undesirable noise, is totally eliminated from our temples. In other places of worship, this type of fanfare that we have in our temples is not there, because they do not recognize idol worship or worship of God in the saguna form and they believe in worship of God in his attributeless and shapeless form only.
In our temple, a huge temple bell is rung at the time of puja. This is done so that the evil spirits may go away from temple premises, and all abuses or other bad sounds may be stifled from being heard. In our houses, we do not have such a huge bell, but we ring only a small bell at the time of puja. But we do not offer musical instruments and other upacharas to the deity, but only akshata or unbroken rice.
The puja that we do in our houses is for our own welfare. We do it according to our convenience and, according to our mental frame of mind. But the puja done in the temples is for the whole of society and therefore, there is so much of fanfare, and sounding of musical instruments and singing of auspicious tunes; the deity is taken out in a procession during festival days and there is display of fireworks.
The reason for quietness and silence in the temples of other religions is this. In other religions, they just have a big prayer hall. People assemble at appointed times, and they offer prayers. They sing some hymns, mentally or in chorus. After that, everything is over, and people disperse. They just close their eyes for a few minutes, pray for some time, get some peace of mind and then disperse. There is no such thing as abhisheka of the idol, alankara or decoration of the idol, karpuraharati, dhupa, deepaharati, naivedyam, distribution of prasadam, etc. in other temples. There are various upacharas, which are also offerings to the deity. There is also scope for singing of prayers, hymns, silent meditation and so on.
We consider God as Rajadiraja or the king of all kings and so we offer him many upacharas such as umbrella, chamara, musical instruments, vahana and so on, which are all due to a king. The divine presence in our idols, when we worship them, helps us to banish poverty as well as evil. Thus, the idol with divinity which we see in our temples is an object of beauty for us, and worthy of meditation.
If our thoughts are of a high order, then we worship the deity in the above manner, so that we may get supreme happiness. It is with this idea that we perform abhisheka and decorate the idol with ornaments etc. Thus we worship God in these various ways by doing so many upacharas. This kind of worship is possible only in the Hindu religion.
Idol worship is very important in our religion, for the ordinary people. When we bow before an idol or pray before the deity consecrated in the idol, we never think that it is only a piece of stone, but we think that the deity in the idol is the protector and the root cause of the whole world. Thus, temples help to increase the devotion of a person to God and this devotion helps him to overcome or reduce his sufferings.
Ordinary people may not have the capacity, and strength of mind to bear their sufferings. But with bhakti or devotion to Ishwara, they can face them, and get also the mental strength to bear them. It is for this purpose that an ordinary person goes to the temple. He goes there, offers some prayers and then he feels all right. If one person talks about his sufferings to another, the other man will listen to him for some time, but after some time he will start narrating his own sufferings and say that he is having more sufferings than other individuals. So, sharing one's sufferings with another person, who is also suffering, will not result in the removal of the sufferings.
Therefore, we go to temple and pray to Him, and we pour out before Him our tale of woe and sufferings. If we go and narrate our sufferings to another man for a long time he will start abusing us after some time, and he may even slap us if we persist with the narration of our tale of woe and suffering. But when we go to a temple, we can tell God whatever we like, Have you not ears to listen to my prayers? Have you no eyes to see my suffering? And we may ask Him why He is not giving His grace immediately to us. After this prayer, when we come out, we shall have some peace of mind. The more we address God, the more is the peace that we get in our mind.
Saguna worship has got this capacity to give peace of mind because there is chaitanya in the idol installed in the temple and after pouring out our suffering before God in the temple, we get some peace of mind. That is why we have the habit of going to the temples.
Of course, some people do not go to a temple at all, but they go to a river or a lonely place and weep there for some time and they then come back with peace of mind. People get peace of mind wherever there is no reaction to what they say. So, a suffering man goes only to those places where there is no reaction to what he says.
When one prays to Ishwara, one gets mental peace, because Ishwara does not talk at all. If Ishwara starts replying, then we shall start talking something more, After all, Ishwara knows everything and He will give us whatever we want. Of course, this does not mean that God will give us exactly what we ask for. He will give us only that much which will give us peace of mind, though He has the capacity to give everything that we want.
God knows everything that we want to tell Him. Yet why is it that we go and narrate our sufferings before Him? It is just to get peace of mind by emptying our mind before Him. As Nilakanta Dikshita says:
"What is it that you do not know? You know everything. And yet I feel like speaking out things before you, because my mind is restless; it is only when I empty the contents of my mind that I can secure peace. That is why I am narrating all this before you."
There is another thing that we notice in the case of our temples, as compared with the places of worship or prayer halls of other religions. In other religions, the prayer hall is built according to the size of the audience. After they collect the statistics of the audience, they build the prayer hall to accommodate the audience, and all the people can assemble in that prayer hall, at appointed hours.
But in our temples, we have to go one by one near the sanctum sanctorum. Whatever be the size of the crowd, each one has to go in a disciplined manner and offer worship. Our temples have all been built with some sanctity. In fact, each temple has got a history behind it. Our temples are places where there are idols with shakti or power and divinity.
The puja that we do in our houses is for the welfare of ourselves and our families. But the puja done in the temples is for the welfare of the whole society, and therefore there is no scope for the puja being done in the temples according to one's personal likes. There is thus no scope for importing our individual methods of worship in the temples.
The deity in the temple has to be installed and worshipped according to the religious texts on the basis of which the idol has been installed. Further, the puja has to be done by the priests appointed for the purpose. These rules hold good right from the village deities to the big deities like Vinayaka, Subrahmanya, Vishnu, and Shiva.
Since a temple is a place of divine presence, we do many things as our expression of devotion to God. We have abhisheka on a grand scale, decorate the idol with ornaments and so on. We also have paintings and sculptures in temple mandapams to enhance the beauty of the place. We also take out processions during festivals, and have fireworks etc.
These temples are the great heritage of our country. Our country being a poor country, the needs of our people were very small, and therefore, they had built great structures like temples and temple gopurams to help people in their spiritual development.
But nowadays, things have taken a different shape. Instead, we have social service institutions, schools, and hospitals. But the benefits are not being realized to the fullest extent. On the other hand, these have led to corruption. At least the tribal people have been unaffected by all this and they are still preserving their good traits and habits. Instead of solving the main problem, the banks etc., have only increased our wants; when a bank goes into liquidation, we know what an amount of poverty it causes, among the depositors. By increasing our wants, we get into trouble. Happiness can be had only by leading a simple life. Our temples were the centers for social welfare in the olden days. At the time of festivals, food used to be distributed at concessional rates to the needy people.
Mass feeding of people was also done on those occasions. Of course, the State is doing certain things to the people through their social welfare agencies. In fact, the tax that we are paying to Government is just a token of our acknowledgment of the service done to the people by the State. But it is a fact that in spite of the existence of banks, hospitals and social welfare agencies, their objects are not being fulfilled to the extent required.
The best medicine for removing human misery and suffering and sorrow is to have unshakable faith in the grace of God. Bhakti alone is capable of giving that strength of mind which is needed to overcome and reduce our sufferings. Temples are but the agencies to nurture and develop this bhakti towards God. This is why temples have to be constructed at every place.
In the olden days, they used to build the temple first and then the township grew around them. But nowadays, we build the township first and then only start thinking of constructing the temple. The offering of naivedyam to God and the offering of money into the hundis kept at the temples are all but a token of our gratitude to God for what he has done to us.
We cannot create even a blade of grass. Therefore, if we offer anything to God, it is just for our own peace of mind and satisfaction. It is God who has given everything to us. So, if we eat food without offering it to Him, it is the greatest sign of ingratitude. We have to offer the best to God and then take it. All may not be able to do puja and other things in their houses and offer all upacharas to God. Therefore, temples have been constructed for this purpose.
Some people have a doubt whether they should go to temples daily, or not. Of course, it is absolutely necessary to do so. In the olden days, people never used to have their food in their houses unless they heard the temple bell ringing at the time of the morning, noon, evening and night pujas to the Lord.
It is up to us therefore to nurture the divinity in the temples by ensuring that the pujas are performed properly and that the temple rituals are observed with diligence. We should see that the temple premises are kept clean and the deepa is lit every day. We should also see that the cloth that we offer to Lord is washed daily. If only we could ensure these things, automatically we shall be able to derive as much benefit, if not more, than what we get by the establishment of hospitals and other social welfare institutions.
Since a temple is a place of divinity, of course we have to observe certain rules while we are in the precincts of the temple. For instance, we should not use anything meant for God for ourselves.
We should not go to the temple in a purposeless manner. One should not pass urine or spit or excrete fecal matter within the temple premises and within the vicinity of the temples. Nor should one blow his nose or sneeze or chew pan in the temple, or eat fruits or food, or sleep or sit with stretched legs, or comb the hair or tie the hair after combing, wear cloth over the head and over the shoulders, tread over nirmalya or tread over the shadows of the flag staff, idols etc, nor should one touch the idols or those who do puja to the idols. No one should gossip, laugh loudly, or play games or go between the idol and the bali peetha.
As for pradakshina or going round the temple, one should not stop with just one or two rounds only but should go round at least thrice. One should not have darshan of the Lord at odd hours or at the time of abhisheka or naivedyam. One should not enter into the temple and worship when the deity is not in the straight position. One should not enter a temple by any passage other than the main gate.
One should not go empty-handed to a temple merely for seeing the karpura-harati. One should offer what one has brought to the priest, have darshan and return without showing his back to the Lord. With folded hands, and reciting stotras, one should perform pradakshinas ranging between 3 and 21 times, preferably in odd numbers. As for namaskarams, one should do it an odd number of times for Ishwara, ranging from 3 to 21, and for Devi four times. After namaskara, one should do pradakshina and then return home.
All these rules have been prescribed only for our welfare and to preserve the sanctity of the temples. It is up to us all to observe these rules, protect and nurture the sanctity of our temples, which have been the greatest heritage.
Ram Sethu & DMK Chief
Here is a nice article by Gurumurthy In The New Indian Express, Chennai:
“Sethu critics are anti-national says MK.” This is how a newspaper front-paged Dr M Karunanidhi’s address at a public meeting in Chennai held in defense of the Sethu Samudram Project. The Chief Minister said that “those opposing the Sethu Samudram Ship Canal Project in the name of God, religion, epic and mythology are anti-national,” added the report.
His speech was widely reported yesterday (May 17). A related news item titled “Top Hindu leaders plan Sethu stir” also appeared the same day. Who are the Hindu leaders? Not Ashok Singhal and Pravin Togadia.
They are Shankaracharyas of Puri, Dwaraka, Badrinath and Sringeri, four high seats of spirituality in India. These Hindu seers have decided on a nationwide agitation against the Sethu Samudram Project, said the print medium report. The Shankaracharyas will never come on the streets to agitate. What is it that drives these noble souls to cross their limits of tolerance?
It is the Sethu Samudram project _ in the cause of which Dr MK addressed the public on May 16 _ that agitates them. Sethu, a Sanskrit word, means ‘bridge’. The seers believe, with long standing tradition to support that belief, that the Sethu is the one built for Sri Rama to cross the ocean from the mainland that is now India to go to Sri Lanka. The Rama Sethu is a land link between India and Sri Lanka even now.
The NASA satellite has captured on its camera this link millions of years old. There is a lot of historical evidence to say that centuries ago people used to walk on Rama Sethu. This ancient bridge is in danger of being broken and dismantled if the Sethu Samudram Project is implemented.
The project is intended to create a shipping route along the sea coast of India from the Bay of Bengal to the Arabian Sea without having to go around Sri Lanka. The advocates of the project say this makes eminent commercial sense. There is political opposition to the project, from Jayalalithaa and AIADMK to Advani and BJP. The VHP and RSS have also strongly opposed the project. Their opposition may be viewed as mobilisational. But the objection of the seers is founded on faith which a secular state is bound to respect.
These seers are pained that after the project is implemented, as Swami Dayanada Saraswati has said, there will be only Samudram and no Sethu, even though the project is named Sethu Samudram project! Political opposition to the Sethu Samudram project may be dismissed as motivated. But can the government ignore the voice of men of high spiritual standing like the Shankaracharyas who have no political motive at all? Can the government dismiss the concerns of the Hindu Dharma Acharya Sabha representing almost the entire Hindu religious spectrum which has no political agenda at all?
The government is questioning the beliefs of these seers and millions of faithfuls about the Rama Sethu. Dr MK says that the opposition is in the name of God, religion, epic and mythology. This logic is dangerous. That he would never have said it had the issue concerned Muslims or Christians is besides the point. A secular state should never make its relation with faith of the majority or a minority so adversarial.
Again the opposition to the project is not just an issue of faith. Experts like S Badrinarayanan, Retd Director General of Geological Survey of India, and V Srinivasan, consultant geologist, have said that the Rama Sethu is not a natural formation but man made. There is trans-religious opposition to the project. Eminent, secular intellectuals like Justice VR Krishna Iyer and Justice KT Thomas have also voiced concern about the project from the geo-political and security view point.
Dr Tad Murthy of Canada, one of world’s most respected tsunami experts, has said that Kerala which was saved by the Rama Sethu from the killer tsunami of 2004, will be exposed to tsunamis in future. This is not an exhaustive list of those outside the religious and political spectrum who are against the project. Why even the Prime Minister’s Office yes, the Dr Manmohan Singh’s office has raised 16 queries which were answered by the Tuticorin Port Trust two days after yes after commencement of the project, so as to make it a fait accompli!
Would Dr MK say that these experts and intellectuals who are against the Sethu Samudram project are also anti-nationals? Does he also accuse that the Sankaracharyas of Puri, Dwaraka, Badrinath and Sringeri as anti-nationals? In fact those concerned at the destruction of the Rama Sethu do not oppose the Sethu Samudram Project itself. They only want the Sethu canal constructed with the ancient Sethu the bridge intact. It is possible, say experts. This is what the government needs to examine. And that is precisely what it is unwilling to do.
An eminent leader like Dr MK, who just celebrated 50 years of legislative service, should have avoided using such abusive language against men of high standing in science and religion. On the other hand, he should order a review of the project in the light of the reasoned opposition to it. A government that does not listen to wise counsel invariably faces mobs on the streets.
http://www.ambimama.com/2007/05/23/ram-hanuman-sethu-bridge-is-real-says-nasa-and-karunanidhi-does-not-listen-to-science-facts-or-seers/
“Sethu critics are anti-national says MK.” This is how a newspaper front-paged Dr M Karunanidhi’s address at a public meeting in Chennai held in defense of the Sethu Samudram Project. The Chief Minister said that “those opposing the Sethu Samudram Ship Canal Project in the name of God, religion, epic and mythology are anti-national,” added the report.
His speech was widely reported yesterday (May 17). A related news item titled “Top Hindu leaders plan Sethu stir” also appeared the same day. Who are the Hindu leaders? Not Ashok Singhal and Pravin Togadia.
They are Shankaracharyas of Puri, Dwaraka, Badrinath and Sringeri, four high seats of spirituality in India. These Hindu seers have decided on a nationwide agitation against the Sethu Samudram Project, said the print medium report. The Shankaracharyas will never come on the streets to agitate. What is it that drives these noble souls to cross their limits of tolerance?
It is the Sethu Samudram project _ in the cause of which Dr MK addressed the public on May 16 _ that agitates them. Sethu, a Sanskrit word, means ‘bridge’. The seers believe, with long standing tradition to support that belief, that the Sethu is the one built for Sri Rama to cross the ocean from the mainland that is now India to go to Sri Lanka. The Rama Sethu is a land link between India and Sri Lanka even now.
The NASA satellite has captured on its camera this link millions of years old. There is a lot of historical evidence to say that centuries ago people used to walk on Rama Sethu. This ancient bridge is in danger of being broken and dismantled if the Sethu Samudram Project is implemented.
The project is intended to create a shipping route along the sea coast of India from the Bay of Bengal to the Arabian Sea without having to go around Sri Lanka. The advocates of the project say this makes eminent commercial sense. There is political opposition to the project, from Jayalalithaa and AIADMK to Advani and BJP. The VHP and RSS have also strongly opposed the project. Their opposition may be viewed as mobilisational. But the objection of the seers is founded on faith which a secular state is bound to respect.
These seers are pained that after the project is implemented, as Swami Dayanada Saraswati has said, there will be only Samudram and no Sethu, even though the project is named Sethu Samudram project! Political opposition to the Sethu Samudram project may be dismissed as motivated. But can the government ignore the voice of men of high spiritual standing like the Shankaracharyas who have no political motive at all? Can the government dismiss the concerns of the Hindu Dharma Acharya Sabha representing almost the entire Hindu religious spectrum which has no political agenda at all?
The government is questioning the beliefs of these seers and millions of faithfuls about the Rama Sethu. Dr MK says that the opposition is in the name of God, religion, epic and mythology. This logic is dangerous. That he would never have said it had the issue concerned Muslims or Christians is besides the point. A secular state should never make its relation with faith of the majority or a minority so adversarial.
Again the opposition to the project is not just an issue of faith. Experts like S Badrinarayanan, Retd Director General of Geological Survey of India, and V Srinivasan, consultant geologist, have said that the Rama Sethu is not a natural formation but man made. There is trans-religious opposition to the project. Eminent, secular intellectuals like Justice VR Krishna Iyer and Justice KT Thomas have also voiced concern about the project from the geo-political and security view point.
Dr Tad Murthy of Canada, one of world’s most respected tsunami experts, has said that Kerala which was saved by the Rama Sethu from the killer tsunami of 2004, will be exposed to tsunamis in future. This is not an exhaustive list of those outside the religious and political spectrum who are against the project. Why even the Prime Minister’s Office yes, the Dr Manmohan Singh’s office has raised 16 queries which were answered by the Tuticorin Port Trust two days after yes after commencement of the project, so as to make it a fait accompli!
Would Dr MK say that these experts and intellectuals who are against the Sethu Samudram project are also anti-nationals? Does he also accuse that the Sankaracharyas of Puri, Dwaraka, Badrinath and Sringeri as anti-nationals? In fact those concerned at the destruction of the Rama Sethu do not oppose the Sethu Samudram Project itself. They only want the Sethu canal constructed with the ancient Sethu the bridge intact. It is possible, say experts. This is what the government needs to examine. And that is precisely what it is unwilling to do.
An eminent leader like Dr MK, who just celebrated 50 years of legislative service, should have avoided using such abusive language against men of high standing in science and religion. On the other hand, he should order a review of the project in the light of the reasoned opposition to it. A government that does not listen to wise counsel invariably faces mobs on the streets.
http://www.ambimama.com/2007/05/23/ram-hanuman-sethu-bridge-is-real-says-nasa-and-karunanidhi-does-not-listen-to-science-facts-or-seers/
The 7 vows of Hindu Wedding ceremony
The Seven Vows:
Groom: You will offer me food and be helpful in every way. I will cherish you and provide welfare and happiness for you and our children.
Bride: I am responsible for the home and all household responsibilities.
Groom: Together we will protect our house and children.
Bride: I will be by your side as your courage and strength. I will rejoice in your happiness. In return, you will love me solely.
Groom: May we grow wealthy and prosperous and strive for the education of our children. May our children live long.
Bride: I will love you solely for the rest of my life, as you are my husband. Every other man in my life will be secondary. I vow to remain chaste.
Groom: You have brought sacredness into my life, and have completed me. May we be blessed with noble and obedient children.
Bride: I will shower you with joy, from head to toe. I will strive to please you in every way I can.
Groom: You are my best friend, and staunchest well-wisher. You have come into my life, enriching it. God bless you.
Bride: I promise to love and cherish you for as long as I live. Your happiness is my happiness, and your sorrow is my sorrow. I will trust and honor you, and will strive to fulfill all your wishes.
Groom: May you be filled with joy and peace.
Bride: I will always be by your side.
Groom: We are now husband and wife, and are one. You are mine and I am yours for eternity.
Bride: As God is witness, I am now your wife. We will love, honor and cherish each other forever.
Let us examine our hearts that how far every one of us is true to the aforesaid promises we made at the time of our wedding. The sad part is nobody has ever taught us the Mantras before we got married. Had we known already two things would have happened - either we wouldn't have dared to take vows or we would have taken the vows with the pretext of cheating of one another.
http://www.online-forum.co.uk/index.php?topic=35.0
Groom: You will offer me food and be helpful in every way. I will cherish you and provide welfare and happiness for you and our children.
Bride: I am responsible for the home and all household responsibilities.
Groom: Together we will protect our house and children.
Bride: I will be by your side as your courage and strength. I will rejoice in your happiness. In return, you will love me solely.
Groom: May we grow wealthy and prosperous and strive for the education of our children. May our children live long.
Bride: I will love you solely for the rest of my life, as you are my husband. Every other man in my life will be secondary. I vow to remain chaste.
Groom: You have brought sacredness into my life, and have completed me. May we be blessed with noble and obedient children.
Bride: I will shower you with joy, from head to toe. I will strive to please you in every way I can.
Groom: You are my best friend, and staunchest well-wisher. You have come into my life, enriching it. God bless you.
Bride: I promise to love and cherish you for as long as I live. Your happiness is my happiness, and your sorrow is my sorrow. I will trust and honor you, and will strive to fulfill all your wishes.
Groom: May you be filled with joy and peace.
Bride: I will always be by your side.
Groom: We are now husband and wife, and are one. You are mine and I am yours for eternity.
Bride: As God is witness, I am now your wife. We will love, honor and cherish each other forever.
Let us examine our hearts that how far every one of us is true to the aforesaid promises we made at the time of our wedding. The sad part is nobody has ever taught us the Mantras before we got married. Had we known already two things would have happened - either we wouldn't have dared to take vows or we would have taken the vows with the pretext of cheating of one another.
http://www.online-forum.co.uk/index.php?topic=35.0
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Show Love to Your beloved Wife
Start discussing the below quoted list with your wife. Allow her to pick the one meaningful to her, and then have her arrange them in the order she considers important. You can use this list to learn what speaks “love” to her. It’s most likely very different from what speaks “love” to you.
1. Start and/or end each day by holding hands and praying together with your wife.
2. Pray for her every day and make it a point to pray with her when she is troubled.
3. Communicate with her instead of talking AT her or shutting her out emotionally.
4. Talk to her respectfully without demeaning her or hurting her feelings.
5. Compliment her for the uniqueness you see in her. Be specific.
6. Show interest in her friends and give her time to be with them.
7. Do something active together to lift her spirit —even taking a walk hand-in-hand.
8. Express to her that you need and value her.
9. Show enthusiasm for the things that she’s excited about—let your actions show it.
10. Find something that makes you laugh together.
11. Put your arms around her when she needs comfort, holding her silently.
12. Surprise her by doing something you think she would want done before she asks.
13. Try not to make sudden changes without discussing them with her first.
14. Show interest in that which she values as important in her life.
15. Allow your wife to teach you things without being defensive.
16. When you feel you must correct her, be gentle —speaking the truth in LOVE. Allow her to teach you things without being defensive.
17. Let go of the small stuff. We all have annoying habits and preferences that are different from our spouse’s. (Dave Ramsey)
18. Show her that she matters more to you than any activity you could do, or any one you could be with, that somehow threatens her sense of security in your marriage.
19. Be a good listener. Show her you value what she says.
20. Plan a mini-honeymoon, where the two of you can spend quality time together.
21. Go shopping with her and don’t sigh or look at what time it is even once.
22. Take her out to breakfast or make her breakfast (cleaning up afterward).
23. Make the time to set specific goals with her to achieve together for each year.
24. Give her grace when she offends you and forgive (even as you want to be forgiven).
25. Find ways to help her know you are her partner in all areas life.
26. Be polite, courteous, and mannerly with her—not taking her for granted.
27. Exhibit humility, admit your mistakes, and ask for forgiveness. She’ll appreciate that!
28. Defend her to others—especially to your family.
29. Don’t belittle her intelligence.
30. Scratch her back, rub her feet, or her rub her neck—whatever she’d prefer.
31. Get up in the middle of the night (letting her stay in bed) to take care of your upset child.
32. Be especially helpful when she is not feeling well.
33. When you’ve been apart for a time and she asks how your day went, don’t just say “fine” — actually give her details.
34. Thank God for her by name when the two of you are praying together.
35. Try not to argue over money. Peacefully discuss future expenditures instead.
36. Don’t embarrass her by arguing with her in front of others.
37. Lead your family in their spiritual relationship with God. This is important to her.
38. Make eye contact when she is talking to you and when you are talking with her.
39. Show her that you prefer her to others—give her your attention whenever possible.
40. Relate what happened at work or whatever you did apart from her.
41. Stay away from web sites, chat rooms or anything that gives you sexual gratification from anyone other than your wife.
42. Be helpful and cooperative, both before, and during the time you have other people over to your home. (If you’re not sure what to do, just say to your wife “What can I do that would help the most?”)
43. Brag about her to others, both in front of her and when she is not with you.
44. Surprise her from time-to-time with a card and flowers or a little gift.
45. Remember to tell her or call her as soon as you know you are going to be late.
46. Give her your undivided attention when she wants to talk.
47. Guard your tongue from saying “unwholesome words” or down-grading her.
48. Refuse to compare her unfavorably with others.
49. Encourage her to relax in some way while you clean up after dinner.
50. Be an involved partner and father in helping her with the children and spending time together.
51. Maintain good grooming habits so you look and smell good. It shows you care.
52. Be supportive. Help her to finish her education and goals that are important to her.
53. View and treat her as if God put a sign over her that said, “Make me feel special.”
54. Run errands without complaining.
55. Give her the love gift of being thoughtful and considerate to her relatives.
56. Don’t negatively compare her relatives with yours.
57. Sit close to her —even when you are just watching television.
58. Be verbally supportive and honor her in front of the children.
59. Show her you are her marital partner by not making plans without her knowing and agreeing with them (unless it’s a surprise for her).
60. Pro-actively do things that makes her feel cherished as a woman and as a wife.
61. Keep her trust at all costs. Leave no gray area when it comes to other female relationships, money and your word. (Dave Ramsey)
62. Surprise her by asking her to give you a list of 3 things she’d like done around the house within the next month. And then make it your goal to do them.
63. Ask her and then listen to what makes her fearful and insecure (without judging).
64. Pray about and act upon what you can do to alleviate those fears.
65. Find out what her sexual needs are (and then try to fulfill them).
66. Surprise her with a 15 second kiss (with no expectations to go any further).
67. Keep yourself in as good of shape as is reasonable so she’s proud to be with you.
68. Make it a point to write a mission statement together for your marriage and family.
69. Take the time to touch every day—even if it’s only for a minute or two.
70. Be polite and kind. (Often we’re kinder to strangers than we are to our spouse.)
71. Be sensitive enough to ask her if you offend or hurt her sexually in any way.
72. Go out of your way to help her feel valued over everyone else.
73. Consider her as your marital partner in how you spend money.
74. Continue to court her. You dated her before you married which helped you to fall in love, now date her to STAY in love.
75. Be careful to choose your words, especially when angry.
76. Show affection for her in front of friends.
77. Make sure your children speak to her and treat her in respectful ways.
78. Make a point of honoring anniversaries, birthdays, and other special occasions.
79. Make sure she has money each paycheck to spend any way she would choose.
80. Hold her close and vocally express your love and care for her when she is hurt, discouraged, or burdened.
81. Surprise her by giving her a special gift from time to time.
82. Share the responsibilities around the house (without looking for special recognition).
83. Don’t tease and belittle her, saying “I was just joking” when she doesn’t find it funny.
84. Allow her to express herself freely, without fear of being called illogical or dumb.
85. Don’t forget to hold her hand in public like you used to when you dated her.
86. Don’t criticize her in front of others—keeping her dignity in tact.
87. Don’t focus on the physical features of another woman (because, whether you understand her reasoning or not, that can make your wife feel dishonored).
88. Be sensitive to her needs—looking for ways to bless her.
89. Let her know you want to spend special time with her and the children.
90. Fix dinner for her sometimes.
91. Be sympathetic when she’s sick—and help her however you can.
92. Let her sleep in once in a while and you get the children ready for the day.
93. Honor her by not disagreeing with her in front of the children.
94. Don’t ignore the small things that bother her and let them build into bigger issues.
95. Surprise her by doing some things around the house that she’s wanted done.
96. Tell her (and show her) you love her often.
97. Call, email or text her during the day when you are apart from each other so she knows you are thinking of her.
98. Surprise her by suggesting you go to a marriage seminar or weekend retreat together to draw even closer in your marital relationship.
99. Express your love and appreciation for her in a love note which you give to her.
100. Show her affection without sexual intentions.
http://www.marriagemissions.com/100-ways-you-can-love-your-wife-her-way/
Grounds For Divorce Under Hindu Marriage Act
GROUNDS FOR DIVORCE
A petition for divorce may be presented by either the husband or wife for dissolving the marriage on the following grounds:
That the other party
1. has after the marriage had voluntary sexual intercourse with any other person; or
2. has after the marriage treated the petitioner with cruelty
3. has deserted the petitioner for a continuous period of not less than two years immediately preceding the presentation of the petition,
4. has ceased to be a Hindu by conversion to another religion,
5. has been incurably of unsound mind or has been continuously or intermittently from a mental disorder that the petitioner cannot reasonably be expected to live with such a person,
6. has been suffering from a virulent and incurable form of leprosy,
7. has been suffering from venereal disease in a communicable form
8. has renounced the world by entering any religious order.
9. Has not been heard of as being alive for a period of seven years or more by persons who would have naturally heard of it, had that party been alive.
- A word of advice on dealing with divorce lawyers. This is the female perspective: http://indiandivorce.blogspot.com/2007/11/on-your-guard-when-dealing-with-divorce.html
- Collection of judgments: SC /HC Judgments On Divorce/498A/Bail/DV
- The 498A Survival Guide: This is a must as a divorce leads to an automatic 498A in quite a few cases.
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