The key to good health

In keeping with the views of the renowned Ayurvedic physician Charaka , World Health Organization also defines that a perfect good health is the state where there is a harmony of the vibrations of body, mind and soul . Disease is the state where this harmony gets disturbed. All healthcare attempts to preserve these vibrations undisturbed.

Of all the stimuli like sound, music, colors of light, heat ,electricity and magnetism the most effective is music which is able to restore the harmony among the vibrations of body , mind, and soul because it can affect function at a basic level of sensory response. A proper music is enriched not only with cosmic energy for the purpose of healing our body and mind but also with divine and spiritual power.

The great healers have existed in the past who worshipped gods and believed the efficacy of prayers along with medical treatment. Among them were Hippocrates, the legendary Greek father of western medicine and the great Persian physician Avicenna. Charaka also recommended the recitation of Vishnu Sahasranama in addition to medicines for alleviation of diseases especially fever. It was Plato who said “ No attempt should be made to cure the body without treating the soul”.

The ancient art of chanting is recognized as a path to healing and enlightenment as sound can unfurl the inmost petals of feeling and transport the mind to calmness. Now the modern medical science also recognizes its therapeutic effects on the body and mind. It highlights the co-relation between science and spirituality. In the words of Dr. Norman Vincent Peale,”God inspired inner peace produces well-being mentally and physically and is thereby the greatest boon to health     ‘.

Life is to be enjoyed , live it qualitatively .

    

Dhammapada, a hand book of Buddhism provides an exhaustive science of better living and complete techniques of Self-development culminating in the experience of complete Freedom or Nibbana.

  Decay and death are universal. As with a stick the herdsman drives his kine to pasture even so do old age and death drive out the lives of beings.

        Craving, anger, hatred are all the clingings which are the root cause of man’s miseries. There is no fire like lust, no grip like hate, no net like delusion, no river like craving. The remedies for these evils lie in the values and virtues to be followed in life. They are Self-control, Non-injury, Truthfulness, Love and Compassion.

          Self-control means living in self-control with respect to all our sense-enjoyments and does not mean their total denial. Non-injury doing no harm is understood as a mental attitude to our relationship with others in life. Truthfulness is a value of life to be lived at the intellectual plane. The intellectual honesty to live truly to our convictions in full dedication to our chosen ideals adds a serene beauty to an individual’s life. The success and beauty of the individual life contribute to the glory and greatness of the nation. Love and compassion are helpful in overcoming and sublimating the negative tendencies in man and are the cementing forces for living harmoniously in Society. Company of the good helps one to cultivate good habits and values and shed negative ones.

                    Action is the Sine-qua non of life. Any living organism if it is to live must necessarily act in the world .One should work in such a thoughtful manner that he should not repent afterwards. The secret of success lies in the quality of action and it depends on the ideals which guide and inspire an individual. The loftier and nobler the ideal, the greater will be the beauty of his actions and efficiency.

            The material growth and prosperity raise the standard of living where as the spiritual inner rehabilitation improve the standard of life One should earn in youth to save for a comfortable life in old age. One who does not earn pine away like old herons in a pond without fish.

       Both the standard of living and standard of life have to be equally developed and balanced in order that one may sail through life’s different challenges with ease, poise, comfort and cheer.

   When life is dear to all, why not live it qualitatively ?

Politics and principles

Politics and principles

Mahatma Ghandhi regarded these seven as deadly sins. They are commerce without ethics, pleasure without conscience, politics without principle, knowledge without character, science without humanity, wealth without work, and worship without sacrifice.
All great writers subordinate politics to morality. Shukra, a great writer on politics in his text ' Shukra niti ', explicitly lays down that a king is appointed as a servant of the people by being given his share of people's income for his maintenance. His duty is to take care of the people and people have the power to banish him if he is found unworthy. Kautilya's Artha shastra is also a book of authority on politics. And Kautilya himself was a great politician and administrator and established the kingdom of Maurya. His greatness lies in his practical mindedness, the more thorough way in which he welded theory and practice on fundamental moral principles. It is said that when Megasthanes came to India and heard about Chanakya ( Kautilya ), he wanted to meet him. He sent words and was allowed to go the hut in which Chanakya was living. When Megasthanes reached there, it was evening. Chanakya was writing something under the dim light of an earthen lamp. He welcomed the guest and asked him the purpose of his visit.
The foreigner replied that he had come to see him and talk to him about himself and on different topics. Chanakya asked him to wait. Then he took another lamp and after lighting it, he put off the first lamp. Then he invited Megasthanes to sit on a mat. Megasthanes sat down but could not hide his curiosity. He asked Chanakya, " I feel there must be a reason that you have put off the first lamp and lighted another one, but I don't find any difference in them, neither in the make and size nor the light that is coming out. Please tell me why you changed the lamp? ".
" Before changing it, I asked you about your purpose. I came to know that it is a personal meeting. So I put off the official lamp whose oil comes from the government treasury and I lighted the lamp for which I purchase oil from my salary. While doing a personal work, I can't misuse the government's money, " Chanakya gave a simple reply.
It was really unbelievable for the visitor. He knew Chanakya all-powerful in the Mauryan kingdom, yet he was behaving in such an honest way. He bowed before Chanakya and said, " This is the reason of your immense power ".
How many Chanakyas are there now a days !

Healthy tips

Simple tips for good health


Drinking a glass of warm water before going to bed and a glass on empty stomach in the morning will cleanse the body of its toxins.

Acidity - Eating a clove after lunch and dinner is always helpful.
A little jaggery taken after meals prevents acidity formation.
Flatulence( gas)- Drinking a cup of butter milk with little aniseed (ajwain) and black salt is beneficial.

For immediate relief of the same, taking one or two pods of garlic with big raisin (munakka) is useful.

Animals and birds as vehicle of gods and goddesses-A glimpse

Part-3

Saraswati - The goddess of learning.

She is supposed to have sprung from the Almighty's mouth. This may be the reason behind her being the goddess of learning. Saraswati, the consort of Brahma, the creator represents his power and intelligence without which organized creation is not possible. Swan is her vehicle. In popular mythological literature, peacock is also associated with her.

The peacock with its beautiful plumage stands for the world in all its glory or the sciences and arts of the world and symbolizes Avidya or Apara vidya. The sound of peacock is called keka. Among the seven notes of classical music ( Sa, Ri, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha, Ni ), Sa known by the term shadja which is the basis of all swaras is said to have emanated from the sound of peacock. On the other hand, the swan which flies to the lake in the Himalaya mountains ( Manasarover ) at the on set of rainy season due to its aversion to muddy water on the earth is supposed to possess the peculiar power of separating milk ( essence ) from water( non- essence ). This quality of swan stands for discrimination and hence for Vidya or the highest knowledge. In the Upanishads, the worldly or secular sciences and arts are denoted by the term Apara vidya or Avidya and spiritual science is called Para vidya or Vidya. Both are essential for man. We transcend hunger and thirst ( livelihood ) through the secular sciences and obtain immortality through the spiritual science or knowledge of the self. It is to teach this great truth that the two vehicles the peacock and swan are associated with the goddess of learning.

Animals and birds as vehicle of gods and goddesses-A glimpse

Part-2

Lakshmi- The goddess of beauty, fortune and wealth is said to have sprung from the ocean during its churning and she is the wife of Vishnu, the preserver of the universe. The owl is shown as her carrier vehicle. It looks rather odd and strange that the goddess of fortune and beauty should have an ugly bird.
If we look at the character of owl, it gives a different picture altogether. All birds jump towards their food but owl remains calm. Two owls sit on the same tree, yet will be indifferent to each other. It is like a sage among the birds. It is a nocturnal bird and avoids sunlight. Owls generally live near the fields and granaries and feed on the rats, squirrels which damage the crops. In fact in some countries they are reared for this purpose. They are called barn-owls. In olden days since agriculture was the main occupation, crop was the financial base of a country. So as a protector of crop-wealth, this bird might have got associated with the goddess of wealth. Even now in places like Bengal( India), Japan, it is considered auspicious. The English poet Richard says,
' A wise old owl sat on an Oak,
The more he sat the less he spoke,
The less he spoke the more he heard,
Why are n't we like that wise old bird?.
The owl is an appropriate vehicle for Lakshmi. It is said that the bird is blind to sun light. The symbolic meaning can be that people are blinded by wealth. They forget the good aspect of the riches such as proper use, charity etc which are supposed to be the real aim of wealth.
In the light of owl being recognised as the symbol of wisdom, it can be explained that without wisdom wealth cannot serve its lofty and useful purpose.

Animals and birds as vehicle of gods and goddesses- A glimpse

Part- 1

Vahana is vehicle, stands for animals and birds who serve as the carriers of gods in Hindu mythology.
Accepted as a part of our cultural heritage from the ancient times, the concept of vahanas has helped to create a sympathetic understanding of the animal world and their part as inseparable from the nature,the selfless service,ideals the animals stand for,have inspired the human beings through the ages to connect a particular animal with a particular deity.
Each god represents a particular potency.The vahana is suggestive of the nature of the power that is expressed through him in order to discharge the particular function or it can indicate a wrong quality which has been controlled by riding over it or a right quality that is to be cultivated by the devotees. A close study of the gods and goddesses and their vahanas will give us the depth of meaning hidden in the seemingly simple descriptions.

Ganesha
The first son of Lord Shiva and Parvati is the god of wisdom and remover of obstacles. Hence he is invoked and worshipped at the commencement of every undertaking. He is usually represented in a sitting posture,short and fat with a protuberant belly and four hands,with the head of an elephant and riding a mouse.

Symbol of the mouse- The mouse is associated with the earth. According to the Brahmavaivarta Purana when all the gods presented different gifts to Ganesha in his name-giving ceremony( namakarana samskar), the goddess earth gave him a rat to serve as his vehicle.
According to the scriptures, rats,mice and moles must be propitiated with sacrificial offerings of boiled rice placed on a mole hill. Moles were were believed to be the very essence of the earth and the mounds thrown up by them represents this essence and brought about good fortune.
Mouse is called mushaka in Sanskrit. It is derived from the root' Mush' meaning to steal. A mouse stealthily enters the things and destroys them. Similarly egoism enters unnoticed into our minds and destroys all our undertakings. Only when it is controlled by divine wisdom which Ganesha stands for,it can be harnessed to fruitful channels.
The mouse that steals can represent love that steals the human heart. As long as human love is kept at the low level, it creates havoc. Once it is directed towards the divine, it elevates.
A mouse, a small animal with sharp tiny teeth and yet in a barn of grain, a single mouse can bring disaster by continuously gnawing and nibbling at the grains. This mouse in human beings is the power of desire. A man of wisdom alone can master this.
Mouse's nibbling can be symbolic of hair-splitting argument, perverse argumentation's. Ganesha's riding this shows wisdom putting an end to this.
The mouse can creep through small holes and see through the inside of all things. this symbolises the incisive intellect. Since Ganesha is the lord of wisdom, his vehicle appropriately represents intellect for wisdom the function of the intellect. Ganesha as the lord of wisdom is proved in the competition held by his parents for winning the fruit to go round the world. His younger brother Kartikkeya left for touring the universe on his vehicle peacock where as Ganesha simply went round his parents proving it be equivalent to his going around the world. Even in the Hitopadesha(moral stories) there are stories where a lion caught in a net was freed by a mouse, where all the pigeons caught in the net were freed by a single mouse. This points to the eternal truth that intellect along with wisdom alone can cut asunder the bonds of ignorance and lead to liberation.