HOLY BOOK

I like this story holy book from Akbar and birbal.

Akbar once called Birbal and said to him, "Birbal it is said in one of your Hindu Holy Books that Lord Vishnu one day heard the agonised cry of one of His elephants and rushed to his aid. Why would a God with so many servants at his disposal, himself rush to the succour of the elephant?"

Birbal replied, "Your Majesty, give me few days to answer your question."

The Emperor granted him the request.

Birbal made a wax model of the Emperor's grandson and dressed him up in the grandson's clothes. He then told the servant in charge of the grandson to carry the doll out where the Emperor could see him and pretend to fall to the ground and throw the doll into the pond nearby, uttering a cry to draw the Emperor's attention. "If you do so, I shall reward you greatly."

The servant followed Birbal's instruction threw the doll into the pond and himself pretended to fall to the ground, uttering a plaintive cry.

When the Emperor heard the cry and saw his grandson fall into the pond, he rushed and jumped into the pond to rescue him.

Birbal stepped out of the bushes and lent a helping hand to the Emperor as he came out of the pond, asking him, "How did Your Majesty jump to the rescue of your grandson when you have so many servants to do this job for you? For the same reason Lord Vishnu rushes to save whoever seeks His help, because in his eyes all creatures are equally precious."

MAHASHIVRATHRI ON 27TH FEBRUARY 2014

Maha shivaratri is a Hindu festival celebrated in an austere manner-fasting and remaining awake the whole night in remembrance of God. Sivaratri, dedicated to Lord Shiva, is celebrated on the moonless night of the month of Maagh masam of Telugu and kumba masam of malayalam calender, which is the fourteenth day in the krishnapaksha or dark half. Owing to a special planetary conjunction, spiritual practices done on this day are considered to be especially auspicious and beneficial. The Pradosham pooja on February 27, 2014 is also highly meritorious as Pradosham and Mahashivratri coincides on the day. There is a reference to this in one of the Puranas, where Shiva himself tells Parvati Devi that this day is particularly dear to him, and that those who perform the prescribed austerities on this day will be freed from all sins.

Many stories are there about the shivrathri. Some says that the first Shivaling originated in the night of Shivaraatri. Some says that it on this night that Lord Shiva married Goddess Parvati. This is why the day is also called Shiv Gouri Divas. Its a day that Shiva married Parvathi. Parvathi who was the most ardent devotee of Shiva and wanted to marry him. Her earlier efforts to win him over with her physical beauty failed as Shiva simply reduced Lord Kamadeva (who assisted her) to ashes and simply turned his back on her without seeing at  second look. In doing so he made her understand that it takes more than physical beauty and passion to win him. She then finally won him not by her tremendous physical beauty but by her austerity, love and devotion and the intense spiritual longing to unite with her Lord.

My Amma says that Shivaratri does not mean just keeping awake the whole night. Many people wish to keep a night long vigil, and spend the nights merely by playing cards the whole night and some people Keeping awake by watching three to four movies but my amma says that it cannot amount to Vigil. Shivarathri means spending the whole night by chanting Lord shiva’s name keeping vigil.According to the Shiva Purana, the Mahashivaratri worship should incorporate six items: offering bilva leaves to the deity after giving it a ceremonial bath, which represents purification of the soul; applying vermilion paste on the linga after bathing it, which represents virtue; offering food, which is conducive to longevity and the gratification of desires; lighting incense, which yields wealth; lighting an oil lamp, which signifies the attainment of knowledge; and offering betel leaves, which marks satisfaction with worldly pleasures. These six items form an indispensable part of the Mahashivaratri worship, be it a simple ceremony at home or grand temple worship.

Lord Shiva is the god, to whom most Hindus turn to for good spouse and for a harmonious family life; especially women worship him for the welfare of the family. It is said that Shiva showers all his blessings on people, who remember him with an honest and true heart. There is a story that old timers nar­rate. In the olden days if you went to a vil­lage and asked anyone to direct to the house where daily shiva puja takes place the bystanders will tell you to look for the house in front of which an ele­phant is tied. Lord Shiva is known to be very generous giving away boons, although, he would test his devotees to the core. Shiva not only finds no faults with oth­ers, but if some­one has even a lit­tle good qual­ity, he mag­ni­fies it greatly.That is why Shiva is glo­ri­fied as one who imme­di­ately ful­fils every ones desires.

It is in fact to be noted that Lord shiva is worshipped by the devas like Vishnu, Brahma, Indra, by asuras like bana, ravana, tripura, surapadma, by humans like shankara bhagavatpada, by other creatures like eagles, monkey, snakes and the list goes on and on. One finds in the puranas the variety of people of different backgrounds and qualities worship the Lord shiva. There are many histories of temples which talk of the cranes, bees, elephants, spiders, snakes worshipping the Lord and getting blessed. So the Lord as the Supreme blesses anyone who worships in sincere devotion. There is no discrimination on who the seeker is. The Lord is so merciful that He showers the boons one look for when there is a determination to seek Him. It is evident from the history of asura bana who attained a great fame of his valor and got the place in the abode of Lord shiva all due to his determined worship of the Lord. So anybody who worships the Lord sincerely could get blessed with Its Grace irrespective of the caste, creed, race, power, status and qualities.

Mahashivratri has immense significance in Hindu religion. While there are many festivals in India celebrated with great pomp and gaiety shivarathri is a festival celebrated by fasting and vigil. It is a night of vigil – vigil over our thoughts, words and actions. It is a night where in we should try to awaken the divinity within us.Its a day that celebrates these three qualities of austerity devotion and love. These are of immense importance in our lives, be it family life or spiritual progress. Anyone who cutivates these qualities is bound to suceed.

Dedicating this post to my Amma Redhi Vallikatri Bhaskaran.

WHAT DO WE ASK GOD

I asked God to send me a friend - He sent you.

I asked God to take away my pain - God said NO.
It is not for me to take away, but for you to give it up.

I asked God to grant me patience - God said NO.
Patience is a by-product of tribulations; it is not granted, it is earned.

I asked God to give me happiness. God said NO.
I give you blessings, happiness is up to you.

I asked God to spare me suffering - God said NO.
Suffering draws you apart from worldly cares and brings you closer to me.

I asked God to make my spirit grow - God said NO.
You must grow on your own, but I will prune you to make you fruitful.

I asked for all things that I might enjoy life - God said NO.
I will give you life so that you may enjoy all things.

I asked God to help me LOVE others as much as He loves me.
God said - Ahhh, finally, you have the idea.

A Simple Prayer to God:

Lord, when my soul is weary and my heart is tired and sore, and I have that failing feeling that I cannot take anymore, then let me know the freshening found in the childlike prayer, when the kneeling soul knows surely that the Listening Lord is there !

GREATER THAN GOD

One day, two poets from a faraway kingdom arrived at Akbar's Court. They delighted everyone with their songs and poems. The Emperor, who was always generous, rewarded them well. The poets had never seen so much gold before. They were overwhelmed. Then the Emperor ordered that they be given a set of princely clothes each.

Then one of the poets begged permission to offer a poem of thanks. Emperor Akbar nodded and the poet began his recitation. He spoke of the Emperor's bravery and kindness. He praised the Emperor's learning and wisdom.

He ended by saying that Emperor Akbar was the greatest king that had ever ruled. "Over this world or any other, He is greater than God Himself." With that, the poet bowed and left the hall.

There was a moment of silence. Many of those in the hall were shocked that the poet had compared a mortal to God.

Emperor Akbar looked around and his eyes began to twinkle mischievously. "So," he said, "it appears that I am now even greater than God."

All the people in the hall looked at their Emperor in horror. Had he really believed the poet's words" Surely not! And yet, they were not entirely sure. Emperor Akbar looked at his ministers and commanders, his nobles and his counsellors. He wondered if any of them would have the courage to speak the truth. The ministers, commanders, nobles and counsellors looked back at him. Nobody stirred.

"So," said the Emperor, beginning to feel irritated, "everyone present agrees that your Emperor is greater than God."

Nobody dared to disagree. Slowly, one by one, the courtiers bowed to show that they agreed. A low, shamed murmur of "Yes, Your Majesty," "It is so, Your Majesty," filled the hall.

Emperor Akbar thought that the courtiers were acting very foolishly. He turned to Birbal with a frown. "And you, Birbal. Do you agree too?" he asked.

"Oh,yes," Birbal replied immediately.

The Emperor's frown grew.

"Your Majesty, you can do something even God cannot!" Birbal said. "If any of your subjects displeases you, Your Majesty, you can send him on a pilgrimage or banish him from your empire, never to return. But God cannot. For God rules over the entire earth ant the sky and the heavens. There is no place in this world or any other that does not belong to God. So he cannot banish any of His creature."

Emperor Akbar's frown vanished. "Well said, Birbal!" he cried delightedly. And, from every corner of the Court, relieved courtiers began to smile weakly and then laugh. Birbal had done it again!

FLEXIBILITY

Sometimes in life we face a difficult situation. Imagine, we have given an opinion about something or have taken a decision. Then, we are confronted by an alternate view or course of action. On top of it, the alternative looks logical or is backed by someone influential. Some of us will readily consider the option and change our stance. Many of us, worry about the consequences of changing our position. We feel that we will end up looking hasty or not intelligent enough if we change our minds.

Flexibility is something that most of us advocate or recommend but when it comes to ourselves, we prefer to be otherwise. What we call as firm mind is seen as and branded as 'stubborn' by others. Inflexible people are seen as closed minded people who have a difficulty in accepting fresh thoughts or ideas. To avoid this, some people (esp. politicians) cleverly refuse to reveal their thoughts till everyone's thoughts are known.

When we are flexible and accomodative, people find it comfortable to deal with us. We have better relationship with our family and friends. Our circle of influence increases and we tend to attract more open communication. We tend to listen with empathy and do not get into 'positions' from where we cannot extract ourselves. Flexible people are solution oriented and want to move forward rather than getting stuck with issues.

There are some situations where flexibility ceases to be a virtue. When we have made a commitment or a promise, we cannot show flexibility in the performance. When it come to a question of values, one should never show flexibility even if it results in us losing out in the short term. 

A lot of pressure and stress is generated when values are upheld. Lot of people avoid this and try to take the easy way out. Rather than fight for the truth and pay the price for it, people tend to compromise and dilute standards. Such an approach might look easy and positive in the short term but will have significant impact on the longer term. The sub-prime crisis that hit the world economy in 2008 is a clear and recent example of this.

Flexibility is a virtue except on questions of values.

COURTESY:VALUES FOR LIFE

ONAM KOLAM

RATHASAPTHAMI KOLAM