Nov 12 2020

Significance of Dhanteras (धनतेरस)

Dhanteras is the first day of Diwali or deepavali Festival as celebrated in India. The festival is basically known as “Dhanatrayodashi” where the word Dhana means wealth and Trayodashi means 13th day of the month as per Hindu calendar. On Dhanteras Hindus consider it auspicious to purchase gold or silver articles or at least one or two new utensils. It is believed that new “Dhan” or some form of precious metal is a sign of good luck.

Hindus also worship Lord Kuber as the treasurer of wealth and bestower of riches, along with Goddess Lakshmi on Dhanteras. This custom of worshiping Lakshmi and Kuber together is in prospect of doubling the benefits of such prayers.

Lighting diyas on Dhanteras

This day is also known as “Dhanvantari Trayodashi”. Dhanvantari is an avatar of Vishnu in Hinduism. He appears in the Vedas and Puranas as the physician of the Gods (Devas), and the God of Ayurveda. People  pray to Dhanvantari seeking his blessings for sound health for themselves and/or others, especially on Dhanteras. Dhanvantari emerged from the Ocean of Milk and appeared with the pot of nectar during the story of the Samudra as stated in Bhagavata Purana.  It is also believed that Dhanvantari promulgated the practise of Ayurveda.

Nov 12 2020

For One More Day

“But there’s a story behind everything. How a picture got on a wall. How a scar got on your face.

Sometimes the stories are simple, and sometimes they are hard and heartbreaking.

But behind all your stories is always your mother’s story, because hers is where yours begin.”

For one more day : By Mitch Albom

More about Mitch : https://www.mitchalbom.com/

Book Review by my good friend Varun Mehta

Nov 11 2020

Sister of My Heart

“Every person has a heart, but we’re not always lucky enough to get a glimpse of it. And every heart, even the hardest, has a fragile spot. If you hit it there, it shatters.”

My favourite author and wonderful human being. Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni is an Indian-American author, poet, and the Betty and Gene McDavid Professor of Writing at the University of Houston Creative Writing Program

More about her : http://www.chitradivakaruni.com/

Nov 10 2020

Born Fighters

The thing about learning how to fight is that— some of us are not born with that desire. They say some are born fighters; but they don’t usually point out that others just aren’t. Some of us are forced by life to take up arms and fight. Many of us are. The art lies in knowing when to wield those arms and when to put them down.

I don’t think it’s a matter of pretending to be ideally unharmed by life and untouched by darkness; because that is hypocrisy. Rather, I think it is a matter of being true to your truth and learning when to fight and learning when to be soft. Hopefully, our soft moments in life will largely outweigh, outrank, and outrun our fighting.

C. JoyBell C. has authored books of poetry and literature that delve mainly into the mysterious, the philosophical and the esoteric.

More about Her : http://www.cjoybellc.com/

Nov 8 2020

Secret Sister of Lord Rama

The Vasistha Ramayana, which is written by Valmiki, reveals only ancestry of Dasharatha, his birth and how he became king of Ayodhya. It doesn’t say anything about Shanta an elder sister of Lord Rama. But Ved Vyasa reveals unknown story about Dasharatha’s daughter. This story highlights that Shanta was first female child of Dasharatha and elder sister of Rama.

Birth of Shanta

Dasharatha at the age of 18, he became the powerful ruler of Ayodhya. He was the gallant king of South Kosala who could drive a chariot in ten directions (hence his name)He wanted to marry Kausalya, daughter of northern kosala king, Maharaj Sukausha. Sukausha agreed to the marriage without knowing that he and Dasharatha were closely related coming from the same clan.

After the marriage Kausalya gave birth to a female child, Shanta. Unfortunately she was born with handicap in her leg.  Once he consulted Sage Vashistha. He said that handicap was due to the marriage between close cousins and suggested that she would become normal if she given in adoption to some others.

Dasaratha and Kausalya gave the child in adoption to the childless couple Vershini (Kausalya’s sister) and King Lompad of Angadesh. Later Shanta became normal and her beauty was unmatched. As Shanta grew, the legends of her beauty, valour and intelligence spread far and wide in the land, and many came to ask for her hand in marriage, but she had resolved to only marry a learned and pure man

After Shanta was given in adoption, Dashratha wasn’t blessed with any child. He wanted to perform “Putra Kameshthi Yaga” to compel the Gods to give him a child. Shanta’s husband, Rishyasringa helps Dashratha in performing a Putra Kameshthi Yajna. As a result of this Yajna, Rama, Bharata, and the twins Lakshmana and Shatrughna were born. So, this is quite evident that Rama and his brothers were born after the marriage of his elder sister Shanta.

Many few know that there are two temples where Lord Rama’s elder sister Shanta is worshiped. One is in Kullu (Himachal Pradesh) and the other one is at Sringeri in Karnataka.

In South India, especially in Karnataka and some areas of Kerala, Lord Ram’s sister is recognized. There is a similar belief in some other areas including Chhattisgarh that before the birth of Lord Rama, there was a child of Dasharatha and Kaushalya.

Nov 7 2020

Travel like Captain Cook

The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be loved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never get bored or say ordinary thing. But travel, travel, travel like famous CAPTAIN JAMES COOK (1728-1779), who discovered more of the earth’s surface than any other man and excelled as a scientist, cartographer and surveyor. He was bad-tempered – but He circumnavigated the globe twice, visited all seven continents and crossed the Arctic and Antarctic circles.

Nov 7 2020

Oblivion

Those who travel to mountain-tops are half in love with themselves, and half in love with oblivion. And if these mountains had eyes, they would wake to find two strangers in their fences.

Somewhere in Himalayas on my motorcycle
Nov 6 2020

Show Good Will to All


Be fearless and pure;
never waiver in your determination or
your dedication to the spiritual life.
Give freely. Be self-controlled,
sincere, truthful, loving,
and full of the desire to serve.

Realize the truth of the scriptures;
learn to be detached and to
take joy in renunciation.
Do not get angry or
harm any living creature,
but be compassionate and gentle;
show good will to all.

Cultivate vigor, patience, will purity;
avoid malice and pride
Then, Arjuna, you will achieve
your divine destiny.”
― Bhagavad Gita