Everyday Geeta

June 27, 2011 I have just enrolled for this online course on the Bhagavad Geeta. If you're interested, please join too. I have always found Guruji's talks invaluable in gaining the correct perspective and understanding of the Gita. You cannot lose on this small investment for your life. For other posts where I reference Guruji or his teaching click here . As I come across something of interest in the course, I will be sure to post. I have also updated the ' Studying the Geeta ' page on this blog. Hari Om and Namaskaar until the next post.

June 18, 2011 The train is a nice metaphor for the journey of life. A nice example is the Hindi movie, दोस्त (Dost) . This was the first full length Hindi film that I remember seing in a theatre thanks to my chitthi, now living somewhere in Australia. It starred Dharmendra and Shatrughan Sinha and is a watchable film to this day. There is nice song in it, गाडी बुला रही है (Gaadi bulaa rahi hai). Lyrics in Hindi and transliterated English here. Anand Bakshi's lyrics, Laxmikant-Pyarelal's music and the incomparable Kishore Kumar's voice make this song a real pleasure. The second verse goes: आगे तूफ़ान, पीछे बरसात, ऊपर गगन में बिजली सोचे न बात, दिन हो के रात, सिगनल हुआ के निकली देखो वो आ रही है, देखो वो जा रही है | aage tuufaan, piichhe barasaat, uupar gagan me.n bijalii soche na baat, din ho ke raat, siganal huaa ke nikalii dekho vo aa rahii hai, dekho vo jaa rahii hai . My free translation for this would be as follows: Stormy ahead, whistling through rain, lightning in th...

June 16, 2011 The Popular Science website had an amazing video a few days ago. This reminded me of Geeta 11-12, Sañjaya's description of the Lord's vishwaroopa darṣanam - vision of the Lord's cosmic form. दिवि सूर्यसहस्रस्य भवेद्युगपदुत्थिता यदि भाः सदृशी सा स्याद्भासस्तस्य महात्मनः ||११-१२|| divi suuryasahasrasya bhavedyugapadutthitaa . yadi bhaaH sadR^ishii saa syaadbhaasastasya mahaatmanaH .. 11-12.. If the splendour of a thousand Suns was to blaze all at once (simultaneously) in the sky, that would be like the splendour of that Mighty Being (great soul)..11-12 The splendour of the Lord being described in this manner is a common motif in hindu prayer. It occurs in the common invocation Gaṇeṣā, वक्रतुण्ड महाकाय सूर्यकोटी समप्रभ  (vakratuNDa mahaakaaya sUryakoTI samaprabha), referring to Gaṇeṣā's brilliance being equivalent to a million suns; likewise, we praise Lord Ṣiva in the Lingaśṭakaṁ as दिनकर कोटी प्रभाकर लिंगं (dinakara koTI prabhaakara lingam), again one who...

June 9, 2011 Most of us buy into the story of the two giant engines of growth in Asia, China and India. China is already the second largest economy in the world, and India is straining to catch up. As Indians, we're thrilled that the best amongst us are running corporations that are creating enormous wealth. We cheer along with the economists and the businessmen that this growth is unstoppable. Chandran Nair, CEO of GIFT puts this growth in a very dramatic perspective. "To have four to five billion Asians over the next two to three decades consuming like Americans, or even Europeans, is simply a very bad idea as the consequences will be catastrophic. It urges Asian governments to not have such blinkered views. But three years on little has in fact changed: Western economic models have not taken a radical shift to question their economic policies and have instead taken to talking about temporary austerity measures with the promise that the good times will be back. Asian gover...

In Bhagavad Geeta 3-9, Śrī Kṛṣṇa says: नियतं कुरु कर्म त्वं कर्म ज्यायो ह्यकर्मणः। शरीरयात्रापि च ते न प्रसिद्ध्येदकर्मणः।।3.8।। niyata.n kuru karma tvaM karma jyaayo hyakarmaNaH . shariirayaatraapi cha te na prasid.hdhyedakarmaNaH .. 3-8.. You perform (your) bounden duty; for, action is superior to inaction. Even the maintenance of the body would not be possible for you by inaction. 3-8 This came to me when I was at the dentist yesterday. The gist of the shloka is very clear and specially relevant in a dentist's chair. Putting off obligatory actions NEVER helps, only hurts me. Dentists expect us to brush at least twice a day, floss every night and otherwise take good care of our teeth. If we don't, the problem signs are clear. First the teeth stain, then there is tartar and plaque build up, followed by cavities, gingivitis in no particular order. In the last 5 years, I have had fillings, crowns, root canal… the whole works. Thank God, I have not lost a tooth yet. Yesterday...