I don't recall the exact time, but I do remember being asked by somebody - "Why are you South Indians named after Gods?"
At that time I didnt have any answer. I knew I was named after my paternal grandmother and my sister named after my maternal grandmother. My mother was named after her grandmother and so on....
May be today I have a better answer. The following is a story that I came across in the Bhagavatham (ok that happens to my favorite book! :) )
There was once a very noble brahmin called Ajamila. He lived his life very piously. He was a good husband, good father and good son.
One day when Ajamila went to the forest to collect fuel wood, he saw a women of low morals and fell in love with her. Taken up by her, Ajamila abandoned his family and his righteous life and went to live with her. He made a living by theft, fraud and gambling. He had ten sons with her. The last one was named "Narayana". Ajamila was very fond of his son, Narayana. He only thought of Narayana, day in and day out, while eating and sleeping.
This way he passed many years of his life. Finally one day, he saw two hideous looking creatures with nooses in their hands. They were coming towards him with great speed to cast their nooses around him. These were the messengers of Lord Yama - the God of death. They had come to take Ajamila. Ajamila did not realise that he was about to die, he was so scared that he called out to his son Narayana. That very moment there appeared two beautiful godly figures, with mace and discus in their hands. They were the messengers of Lord Narayana himself. They heard Ajamila call Narayana and immediately came to his aid.
Then there was a great debate between the messengers of Lord Yama and Lord Narayana. Finally, the messengers of Lord Narayana declared, that though Ajamila had forgotten his divine nature, he had uttered the holy name of the Lord at the time of his death. The mere uttering of the Lord's name is enough to absolve one of all sins. Hence, Ajamila had been rid of all his sins. The messengers of the Lord of Death did not have any answer to this. So, they left Ajamila. Now, Ajamila realized what happened and led the rest of his life piously, in the constant thought of the Lord.
When I read this story I understood why we have God's name. Parents are most attached to their children. So, naming their children after God at least makes them repeat the name (Nama Japam) which itself is enough to purify one's mind.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Astrology
Should I or should I not believe?
For starters I must admit that I do believe astrology is a science. I know many people will disagree. But, if you consider predicting weather to be scientific, then astrology is science too.
Weather "scientists" predict weather based on wind and pressure patterns. There are a fixed set of rules that say that if there is high pressure over an area, then the weather would be sunny and clear (a prediction). If there is low pressure over an area it could rain depending on the moisture in the air (again a prediction). It is not always that the weatherman is right. Now you could take the risk of not taking you umbrella when the weather "scientist" says its going to rain.
To me astrology is similar. Astrology has a fixed set rules. Predictions about a person's life are made based on interpretation of the placement of the planets. Of all the basic components in a birth chart, only the houses or bhavas in a birth chart were "created" by ancient astrologers. The rest is a map of the sky at the moment of birth. That is astronomy another "science" !
I have seen three types of views towards astrology.
The first is the cynic view(an extreme). The cynic says "Lets see how it happens" (challenging the prediction) and sits back. For example, the birth chart indicates that the person will attain a high administrative position. Now, the cynic sits back and tries to see if a miracle happens - testing the prediction. Obviously not! Unless you put in the effort, the prediction is not going to come true. "As you sow so you reap". So the cynic usually declares that astrology is a waste of time.
Then there is the weak minded. He thinks everything that happens to him is because of astrology. He needs something to put the blame on - something other than himself. So whats better that blame the poor planets and they won't even complain!
The third and the most practical person is he that accepts that certain things happen in life due to some strange force. But this doesnt stop him from working hard. This is the middle approach. Yes, astrology does provide some insight into hte future but it is not everything. There is still the unknown. If everything could be predicted why should we live our lives?
So as with the weather, if astrology predicts tough time, prepare yourself mentally, may be it won't be so tough in the end. Like if the weather man says its going to rain, take your umbrella!
For starters I must admit that I do believe astrology is a science. I know many people will disagree. But, if you consider predicting weather to be scientific, then astrology is science too.
Weather "scientists" predict weather based on wind and pressure patterns. There are a fixed set of rules that say that if there is high pressure over an area, then the weather would be sunny and clear (a prediction). If there is low pressure over an area it could rain depending on the moisture in the air (again a prediction). It is not always that the weatherman is right. Now you could take the risk of not taking you umbrella when the weather "scientist" says its going to rain.
To me astrology is similar. Astrology has a fixed set rules. Predictions about a person's life are made based on interpretation of the placement of the planets. Of all the basic components in a birth chart, only the houses or bhavas in a birth chart were "created" by ancient astrologers. The rest is a map of the sky at the moment of birth. That is astronomy another "science" !
I have seen three types of views towards astrology.
The first is the cynic view(an extreme). The cynic says "Lets see how it happens" (challenging the prediction) and sits back. For example, the birth chart indicates that the person will attain a high administrative position. Now, the cynic sits back and tries to see if a miracle happens - testing the prediction. Obviously not! Unless you put in the effort, the prediction is not going to come true. "As you sow so you reap". So the cynic usually declares that astrology is a waste of time.
Then there is the weak minded. He thinks everything that happens to him is because of astrology. He needs something to put the blame on - something other than himself. So whats better that blame the poor planets and they won't even complain!
The third and the most practical person is he that accepts that certain things happen in life due to some strange force. But this doesnt stop him from working hard. This is the middle approach. Yes, astrology does provide some insight into hte future but it is not everything. There is still the unknown. If everything could be predicted why should we live our lives?
So as with the weather, if astrology predicts tough time, prepare yourself mentally, may be it won't be so tough in the end. Like if the weather man says its going to rain, take your umbrella!
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Rebirth
Can we really control what we are born to be?
I had this discussion with my mother. There are a few people in this world who think the grass is always greener on the other side. So, all they do day and night is talk about people who are sucessful. You and I may be their favorite topic of discussion. "Oh, she is so lucky to have her daughters settled!", "That girl is so lucky to have such a husband", "They live in the USA, so life must be really good!", "She earns so much money for no work", "She has a grandson!!(Her greatest achievement in life!)"..... a few things you might hear from such people. Lets call these people "mongers".
These mongers get into our skins to such an extent that we cannot but help think of them day and night. So, now we have mongers thinking about us and we thinking about them.
The Vedas say that a man will be born as that thing in his next birth about which he was thinking most at the time of his death. Therefore wise men advise people to think about God as much as possible during their daily life, so that the mind gets conditioned enough to think about God at the time of death.
The following story appears in the Bhagavatam (Bhagavat Mahapuranam):
There was a King Bharat, who was the son of King Rishabh of the Solar dynasty. King Bharat ruled the earth for a long time in a just manner. The country India or "Bharatvarsha" is named after this king. The king had five sons. When the time came, the king divided the kingdom among his sons and retired to the forest to perform tapas.
One day when the king went to the riverside for his prayers, he saw a pregnant doe that had come to quench its thirst. Suddenly, there was a huge roar. The doe got frightened and jumped into the river to get to the other side. But, because of shock, the doe gave birth to a fawn in midstream and itself reached the other side of the river and died. King Bharat was moved to pity at the plight of this fawn and rescued it from the river. He started taking care of this fawn like his own child. He was so attached to the fawn that he forgot his spiritual pursuit. Day and night he was absorbed in the thoughts of this fawn, now a deer. Even so when King Bharat was about to die he was thinking about the deer. As a result, as soon as the soul left King Bharat's body, it was born as a deer in a nearby forest.
The story goes on to say how the deer(King Bharat in his previous birth) had to earn a human birth and then in the human birth (as Jadabharat) had to live without any attachment to any material thing in order to attain moksha.
Now, back to my discussion about the mongers....So if the mongers think about us day in and day out, they will be reborn as somebody like us. The world surely will be a better place to live in.
Having said that, if we keep thinking about them, we may have to be reborn as them. This won't make the world a good place. So for the good of this world, we have to shut out such people in life. Whenever the mind wanders to them, "switch off", think about God. You then at least have a chance to think about God at the time of death!
I had this discussion with my mother. There are a few people in this world who think the grass is always greener on the other side. So, all they do day and night is talk about people who are sucessful. You and I may be their favorite topic of discussion. "Oh, she is so lucky to have her daughters settled!", "That girl is so lucky to have such a husband", "They live in the USA, so life must be really good!", "She earns so much money for no work", "She has a grandson!!(Her greatest achievement in life!)"..... a few things you might hear from such people. Lets call these people "mongers".
These mongers get into our skins to such an extent that we cannot but help think of them day and night. So, now we have mongers thinking about us and we thinking about them.
The Vedas say that a man will be born as that thing in his next birth about which he was thinking most at the time of his death. Therefore wise men advise people to think about God as much as possible during their daily life, so that the mind gets conditioned enough to think about God at the time of death.
The following story appears in the Bhagavatam (Bhagavat Mahapuranam):
There was a King Bharat, who was the son of King Rishabh of the Solar dynasty. King Bharat ruled the earth for a long time in a just manner. The country India or "Bharatvarsha" is named after this king. The king had five sons. When the time came, the king divided the kingdom among his sons and retired to the forest to perform tapas.
One day when the king went to the riverside for his prayers, he saw a pregnant doe that had come to quench its thirst. Suddenly, there was a huge roar. The doe got frightened and jumped into the river to get to the other side. But, because of shock, the doe gave birth to a fawn in midstream and itself reached the other side of the river and died. King Bharat was moved to pity at the plight of this fawn and rescued it from the river. He started taking care of this fawn like his own child. He was so attached to the fawn that he forgot his spiritual pursuit. Day and night he was absorbed in the thoughts of this fawn, now a deer. Even so when King Bharat was about to die he was thinking about the deer. As a result, as soon as the soul left King Bharat's body, it was born as a deer in a nearby forest.
The story goes on to say how the deer(King Bharat in his previous birth) had to earn a human birth and then in the human birth (as Jadabharat) had to live without any attachment to any material thing in order to attain moksha.
Now, back to my discussion about the mongers....So if the mongers think about us day in and day out, they will be reborn as somebody like us. The world surely will be a better place to live in.
Having said that, if we keep thinking about them, we may have to be reborn as them. This won't make the world a good place. So for the good of this world, we have to shut out such people in life. Whenever the mind wanders to them, "switch off", think about God. You then at least have a chance to think about God at the time of death!
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