Time : What It Is?? - Excerpts From The Bhagavadha!!

The "Tidbits" section of my blog is specifically for sharing good and thought provoking information from various Sanathan Dharma scriptures and lectures by scholars/gurus. These are not my works. I am presenting the information as it is by mentioning from which source it is taken. The information which I thought of sharing today is taken from "Bhagavadha Purana" (Skandha III - Chapter 29 - Verses 36-45) and it is all about "Time". Let us read :

"He who is called Bhagavan, Brahman and Paramatman has an aspect called providence (Daiva) which, though connected with his aspects as Purusha and Prakriti, is distinct from them. It is what sets in motion the cycle of the Jiva's involvement in repeated births and deaths".

"It is the unique power of the Lord, causing the transformation of Kala (Time). It gives rise to the fear of death in beings who identify themselves with the evolutes of Prakriti and see a clear-cut difference between themselves and others".

"Supporting all and permeating all, it causes the destruction of one combination of elements by another combination. It is none other than Vishnu, the all-pervading being, the master of all worship and the one who draws everything into himself".

"He is impartial to all, there being none dear, inimical or related to him. The unceasing movement of Time consumes all beings who are heedless of the process and are engrossed in their enjoyments and activities".

"Out of fear of him, the wind blows ; the sun emits heat and light ; the stars shine ; clouds rain ; trees, plants and creepers yield flowers and fruits in proper season ; rivers flow downstream ; the oceans maintain their level ; fire burns ; the earth with its mountains remains firm ; the sky provides space for life-giving breath to breath".

"Prakrithi evolves the worlds with seven layers constituting the universal body, and the Trimurti (Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva in charge of creation, preservation and destruction), performs its cosmic function".

"Thus "Time" is limitless. Though itself without beginning or end, it provides a beginning and an end for all entities. It gives origin to all creatures through their parents and determines also their end, including the end of Antaka (King of Death) himself".

How does breath function in the body? Questions & Answers from Prashna Upanishad

The "Tidbits" section of my blog is specifically for sharing good and thought provoking information from various Sanathan Dharma scriptures and lectures by scholars/gurus. These are not my works. I am presenting the information as it is by mentioning from which source it is taken. The information which I thought of sharing today is taken from "Prashna Upanishad". It contains six chapters, each one containing a question and answers to that question. What we are going to see today is the third chapter of this Upanishad, which involves questions and answers about "Life and Life Breath"

PRASHNA UPANISHAD

The Third Question

Kousalya : "O Sage" How is life born? How does it enter the body? How does this breath of life divide itself and reside in the body? How does it control external objects and how does it control the senses of the body?

Pippalada : "It is because you know about the Brahman that you are asking these questions. I will therefore tell you the answers".

"The breath of life is created from the Brahman. Just as the body has a shadow, the breath of life is the shadow of the Brahman. It is like a shadow that the breath of life resides in the body in order to perform acts that are desired".

"An emperor appoints officials to rule over villages. Like that, the breath of life appoints the other senses to rule over various parts of the body. Within the body, the breath of life divides itself into various parts. In the lower regions, it is known as Apana. In the upper regions of the nose, the eyes and the ears, it is known as Prana. It is there in the stomach and the digestive system as Samana. Samana is like a seven-tongued flame that digests the food".

"The soul resides in the heart. From the heart, there lead out one hundred and one main veins (mula nadi), Each of these is divided into one hundred branches (shakha nadi). Each of the branches is divided into seventy-two thousand sub branches (prashaka nadi). Vyana moves along these.".

(Vyana is that part of the breath of life which flows in the heart and the surrounding regions. There are 101 main veins. 101*100 = 10100 branches and 10100 * 72000 = 727200000 sub branches. This adds up to a total of 727210201  veins. (101+10100+727200000)

"There is a vein known as Sushumna. This leads up to the crown of the head and along this flows that part of the breath of life known as Udana. It is along this vein that the performers of righteous deeds go to righteous lands and the performers of evil deeds go to evil lands. Those who perform both good and evil are born in the land of men" (Death comes when udana penetrates the crown of the head).

"Living beings have different types of desires. It is these desires that pervade the breath of life at the time of death. The udana and the atman take the being to the abode beyond death".

"He who worships the breath of life, is never separated from his sons and grandsons. He unites with the breath of life and becomes immortal. The following shloka is about the breath of life".

"Know of the origin, arrival and existence of the breath of life. Know of its lordship over the five elements. these are the spiritual and natural manifestations of the breath of life. Worship the breath of life and become immortal".

Some Experiences About My Recent Temple Visits In India

Just came back after India vacation feeling refreshed. Missed my blog writing though I manged to post couple of updates in Vishnu Sahasranama sloka. This is again a very quick post about my recent temple visits in India, We had been to Kanchipuram, Thirupathi, Vaitheeswaran Kovil and our Kuladeivam temple in Mayavaram, Tamilnadu. We had very good darshan. But I felt little bad and sad to see certain happenings and the business tactics played in some of such sacred places. Let me quickly share my experience.

The moment we arrived at Vaitheeswaran Kovil, one person tried to redirect us to a specific shop (located outside the temple) to get the Archana items . We silently walked away and went inside the temple. There are lots of shops inside the temple and indeed lots of competition too, among themselves. We bought Archana items from one such shops, priced at about 200 rs. and proceeded further. Next comes the sales of salt and pepper (that we use to offer in a specific place in that temple as a form of prayer) for about 20 rs. They try to sell it somehow to you even if you do not have such kind of prayer. We had to buy one packet each and then finally went inside. By the time we arrived at the temple it was about 3.30 p.m.and the Sannadhis were closed. So we waited till 4 (that's when they open for evening darshan) and went around the temple. Since it was the first darshan in the evening, we faced extreme crowd. It was like mini Thirupathi to be more specific. We got the Archana tickets and proceeded to a Gurukkal who performed the Archana, for which, we again gave him some dakshinai. (we could not take a closer look though, due to the huge crowd) and completed our darshan. 

The following points really disturbed me:

• Except Thirupathi, all the other temples I visited, lack in cleanliness. People even spit near temple areas.
• Priests definitely show two faces to people who offer money in their trays and who do not.
• In Kanchipuram, we received Sankaracharya's photo by one person, and while we started to take it as a blessing, the same person came with a pen and a paper to note down our address for getting money for some cause. This disappointed me a lot.
• Crowd is unmanageable at times. We need to certainly push others (while we are pushed by others) to have darshan. Or else it is impossible to see the deity.
• The salt and pepper area (in vaitheeswaran koil) is always overflowing. I just wish and pray that they do not recycle (sell) the same salt and pepper to new people.

I do understand that priests make their living by the offerings people give them. But what disturbs me is the way they behave to others who do not give any offerings. They even yell and shout when there is extreme crowd, and sometimes skip giving prashad like holy ash, kumkum, thirtha, etc. Their frustration could be due to many factors, but people visit temples mainly to get mind peace and if that itself is affected, then whom should we blame for it? Is it right to bring business inside temples? What can we , as common people, do to improve such conditions? Please share your suggestions.

Utterances of Sankaracharya - Maha Periyava

How do heavenly bodies remain in the skies? How is it that they do not fall? Everybody thinks that it was Newton who found the answer to such questions. The very first stanza in the Suryasiddhanta, which is a very ancient treatise, states that it is the  force of attraction that keeps the earth from falling.

In Sankara's commentary on the Upanisads there is a reference to the earth's force of attraction. If we throw up an object it falls to the ground. This is not due to the nature of object but due to the earth's force of attraction. "Akarsana-sakti" is force of attraction, the power of drawing or pulling something. The breath called "prana" goes up, "apana" pulls it down. So the force that pulls something downward is apana. The Acarya says the earth has apana-sakti. The Prasnopanisad (3. 8) states: 

"The deity of the earth inspires the human body with apana". 

In his commentary on this, Sankara observes that, just as an object thrown up is attracted by the earth, so prana that goes up is pulled down by apana. This means that our Upanisads contain a reference to the law of gravitation. There are many such precious  truths embedded in our ancient sastras. Because of our ignorance of  them we show inordinate respect for ideas propounded by foreigners, ideas known to us many centuries before their discovery by them. Our Jyotisa is also some thousands of years old. Even so it foresaw the mathematical systems prevalent in the world today.

At the beginning of the kalpa, all grahas were in alignment. But over  the ages they have changed their courses. When another kalpa commences, they will again remain in alignment. The "samkalpa" we make before the performance of any ritual contains a description of the cosmos, a reference to the time cycle, and so on. 

                                

                                                                                                              ----- Maha Periyava

http://www.kamakoti.org/hindudharma/part10/chap7.htm