Sambhavami Yuge Yuge.

People often ask where is God? Especially during this time when humankind is facing and fighting  with  the strange Corona virus, the God is often remembered through this famous shlok of Bhagwad  Geeta- either for seeking protection or out of curiosity due to unending adversity:

 

यदा यदा हि धर्मस्य ग्लानिर्भवति भारत |

अभ्युत्थानमधर्मस्य तदात्मानं सृजाम्यहम् ||

परित्राणाय साधूनां विनाशाय च दुष्कृताम् |

धर्मसंस्थापनार्थाय सम्भवामि युगे युगे || 

   Bhagavad Gita:4-7,8

Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj says, "HE is waiting for us with wide, open arms."

So, why is He delaying His descendance on the earth when we are facing so many challenges simultaneously?

This is the time when we need to go beyond our selective memory and remember Shree Krishna's words once again. He also said, "I will come to annihilate adharm and to protect dharm". He stated that He will be on the side of Dharma!!

Now these words suggest the need of introspection!

Are we on the path of Dharma? Once we have reflected on this question, our curiosity to seek clarification on His apparent absence or the so called unending adversity will get answered.

Knowingly unknowingly, to attain small gains, to fulfill our mundane desires many times we deviate from the principles of dharma. As soon as we face the consequences of these deviations, we seek God to redeem us.

Not only that, many times we ignore the unrighteous approach just out of our preferences! And how we find leeways! We call it duty, need, helplessness and what not and end up victimizing ourselves for siding Adharma. Bhaishma Pitamah, Dronacharya and Kripacharya are the examples of this. They knew that Kauravas had malicious intentions and that Pandavas were virtuous and deserving. But under the pressure of their respective duties, they knowingly or unknowingly, happily or unhappily supported, encouraged and pampered Kauravas. And it is also known that these are the reasons why Shree Krishna was not in that side! 

On the other side, Pandavas who were entitled to a kingdom, continued to stick to Dharma even in the face of grave adversities. They were enough capable, powerful and intelligent to respond back to each act of injustice done by Kauravas, but they chose not to leave their Dharma.

 Looking to the straightforwardness and  righteousness, humility and God-seeking attitude, Shree   Krishna came to support them. At that stage also He gave them choice to select God or His mighty   army. But The Krishna-loving Pandavas chose Shree KRISHNA against His mighty army.Their love   for God, their righteousness attract God's grace.And we know that Shree Krishna didn't even redeem   them, but worked with them like their Sakha...parabhrama Parmeshwar became a charioteer of Arjun's   chariot!

Shree Krishna is kind. He is Dayanidhi.He is Karunasindhu. He cannot wait for a moment to rush to help His devotees but the need is to purify ourselves. 

 Here the role of Bhagavad Gita comes.
 It is not merely a book on which you put your hand in the courts and take the vows! 
 It is not merely a book to put on the altar and to offer incense sticks to. 
 It is not a thing to highlight as your favorite book on your facebook page alone to show how religious minded you are.

 Bhagavad Gita is DIVINE WORDS of SHREE KRISHNA HIMSELF!
 It is divine guidance.
 It is for a person to live his day-to-day life fulfilling and for the soul to decide its journey further.
 It is a complete package for physical, mental, emotional and spiritual wellness.

 It teaches to have a candid dialogue with God regarding the problems. If you do not talk to God then who else can guide you? It teaches that in dilemma or difficult conditions, seek divine guidance from God instead of doing gymnastic according to own limited intellect.

It teaches Bhaktiyog, Karma yog and Gyan yog. 

It reveals the opulence of Shree Krishna and though we do not have that divine vision to see God's cosmic form, through this Holy scripture and its words, we can visualize the great opulence of ShreeKrishna's cosmic form!!

It shows the karmic connection and the journey of a soul according to those karma.

In this holy scripture Shree Krishna has clearly shown the way to reach Him.

Finally, it teaches the ultimate lesson...."सर्वधर्मान्परित्यज्य मामेकं शरणं व्रज" - Surrender to Shree Krishna only!!  The ultimate Dharma of jeev as well as the soul!!

These are the lessons of Bhagavad Gita and we need to absorb them in our life.

Swami Mukundananda has nicely put this by giving an example in his lectures.."somebody came to me and shared, "Swamiji! not a day passes without me chanting the verses of Gita. Swamiji responded, "It is Good. but what do you chant?" "mamekam sharanam vraj?? Swamiji then shared that when we only chant without understanding the meaning, we do not get the essence. The devotee was chanting surrender to me only", which originally were the words spoken by Shree Krishna.

So, according to Gita, 

Stay on the path of Dharma,

Do not be on the side of Adharma 

In a dilemma,  seek the divine guidance of God,

Know His wish.

Completely surrender unto Him and ACT according to HIS Guideline.

God is all ready to meet, but He will definitely see the receiving capacity!! He is continuously waiting to reach us, receive HIM by following and implementing HIS Teachings.

Does God Eat the offered food?

An Annakoot Mahotsav was going on in the revered presence of Guru. A Variety of food was being offered to Lord Shree Krishna. Everyone was engaged in devotion with great sentiments. A college-going young boy- a novice on the path of devotion with his intellect yet weighing the divinity, was also observing everything. The ceremony was going on very well.

After the Puja was over, the pujari announced that all the devotees must accept the prasadam and only then leave. That young boy saw that not a single thing was consumed by God and even then everyone was accepting the prasadam with great sentiments. His intellect started itching. He could not resist and went straight to His Guru. He asked his Guru, "This is something that I cannot digest. We keep offering food to God and nothing is consumed by Him. Does God really eat? or are we just doing a drama in the name of traditions?"

The enlightened Guru understood the plight of the intellectual beginners and responded to the devotee with compassion.

He told him to bring a rose garland and a weighing scale. He couldn’t understand the purpose but did it never the less. He brought a garland and weighing scale.

The Guru told him to weigh the garland. He did so and told the exact weight of rose garland. It was exactly 700 gms.

Then the Guru told him to smell the garland. He did so. The Guru told him to smell it as much as possible, again and again. He followed the words of Guru. It seemed like his entire existence was filled with the aroma of roses!

Now the Guru told him to weigh the garland again. He weighed it.

The Guru asked him, "Is there any difference in the weight?"

He said, "No, it is the same."

Now his Guru explained the answer, "You smelled so much of the fragrance of these roses but not a bit of its weight is reduced by that. Similarly, God does eat the offered food- not physically, but he accepts the sentiments poured in them. He is omniscient. Right from the stage of mere thought when you wish to offer something to God, He starts accepting your sentiments. The varieties you choose, the quality of ingredients you buy, the way you prepare varieties, the way you present food, the way you offer them and the way you keep faith in this entire ceremony- everything is observed by God and He starts relishing your offerings right from the time when you conceived the thought of those offerings. So, apparently, nothing is consumed by Him but yet the entire food becomes divine prasadam. and when you eat that prasadam, it spreads devotion in your entire inner system. The more sensitive you are to these, the more divinity you would experience within.”

Important Lessons From Kurma Avatar

Happy Kurma Jayanti!

Kurma Avatar is the second incarnation of Shree Hari. Kurma means Tortoise. It is a tortoise form of Shree Hari; greatly revered by the devotees. During the great celestial event of Samudra Manthan, Mount Mandara was used as the pivot for churning the oceans. But when it began to sink, Shree Hari appeared as a giant tortoise that held the mountain up on His back.

Thus without the help of Lord Kurma , the milk-ocean or ‘Kshirsagara’ would not have been churned; and the demigods wouldn’t have found the 14 sacred ratnas or divine gifts. The day of Kurma Jayanti thus holds special religious significance.

Message of Kurma Jayanti:

1.There is duality everywhere in the world. Day and Night, right and wrong, good and bad, pain and pleasure, etc....and both the factors pulling us at their sides. Due to these continuous churning, we loose our balance and stability. In this condition only Shree Hari, His name or remembrance can provide the stability and balance in our life.

2.God appeared and sat as Kurma under Mt. Mandarachal. The foundation always remains at the bottom. In every structure foundation is of prime importance. If the foundation is weak or shaky the structure collapses. Thus Kurma avatar teaches us the virtues of stability and balance.

3.The foundation always remains at the bottom. Lord Kurma teaches us the importance of humbleness by remaining at the bottom.

4. The foundation can never be seen, and that is its great and silent contribution to any buildings. We used to praise the buildings but the foundation always remain under the cover.

Let us pray to Lord Kurma on Kurma Jayanti day and seek His blessings.

Important Teachings of Matsya Avatar

Matsya, (Sanskrit: “Fish”) is one of the ten Avatars (incarnations) of Bhagavan Shree Hari.

In MATSYA Avatar, Lord Vishnu incarnates himself as a fish in this world. In the earliest yuga (era) of Sata-yuga, a king named Manu was performing severe penance for thousands of years. 

One day as he was performing ablutions with river water, a small fish came into his hands and just as he was about to throw the fish back into the river, the fish requested the king to save its life. Heeding its request, the king put the fish into a jar of water but the fish started growing and the jar was not big enough for it. Then the king threw it into the river, but it soon it outgrew the river and the king then threw it into Ganges and then into the ocean. 

The king realized that it was Lord Vishnu himself and then the lord made an appearance and made a special request to the king. It predicted that the world would come to an end by a huge flood in seven days and requested the king to build a huge boat and take the seven sages(hermits), seeds of all plants, one animal of each type and told him that he would appear as a fish to propel the boat to Mt Himavan for surviving the flood to the next yuga(eon). 

True to his word, after seven days the Lord appeared and the king tied the boat to the fish by using the royal serpent Vasuki and the fish took all of them to Mt Himavan and kept them there till the flood was over and in the new era, the king started procreation for the new era.

"Whenever Dharma, or the situation of law and order, is endangered on this world, I shall incarnate onto this world to re-establish Dharma, law and order, and to protect the good people and to destroy the evil elements of the society."

The teachings of Matsyavatar are as below:

1. God keeps His promises.

2. God can assume any form to keep His promise and to save His devotees.

3. In a chaotic circumstances, we can find grace in God.

4. Keep your account of karma clean, at the final time that only will be helpful.

5. Keep your vessel (build your future by intense sadhana) ready, He will bestow His grace when the right time will come.

6. In this avatar, Lord saved the knowledge and law, thus he had given us moral that law and knowledge are mandatory to make and run a society. 

  7. Follow the instruction of God, He can see and feel everything - your past, present and future - and keen to help You. Trust Him and act as He wishes.