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Friday, January 13, 2012

MAKARA SHANKRANTI




(Taken from “HINDU FASTS & FESTIVALS ”
By
SRI SWAMI SIVANANDA )


SALUTATIONS and adorations to the Supreme Lord, the primordial power that divided the year into the four seasons. Salutations to Surya, the Sun-God, who on this great day embarks on his northward journey.

The Sanskrit term “Shankramana” means “to begin to move”. The day on which the sun begins to move northwards is called Makara Shankranti. It usually falls in the middle of January. Among the Tamilians in South India this festival is called the Pongal.

To many people, especially the Tamilians, Makara Shankranti ushers in the New Year. The corn that is newly-harvested is cooked for the first time on that day. Joyous festivities mark the celebration in every home. Servants, farmers and the poor are fed and clothed and given presents of money. On the next day, the cow, which is regarded as the symbol of the Holy Mother, is worshipped. Then there is the feeding of birds and animals.

In this manner the devotee’s heart expands slowly during the course of the celebrations, first embracing with its long arms of love the entire household and neighbours, then the servants and the poor, then the cow, and then all other living creatures. Without even being aware of it, one develops the heart and expands it to such proportions that the whole universe finds a place in it.

As Shankranti is also the beginning of the month, Brahmins offer oblations to departed ancestors. Thus, all the great sacrifices enjoined upon man find their due place in this grand celebration. The worship of the Cosmic Form of the Lord is so well introduced into this, that every man and woman in India is delightfully led to partake of it without even being aware of it.

To the spiritual aspirants this day has a special significance. The six-month period during which the sun travels northwards is highly favourable to them in their march towards the goal of life. It is as though they are flowing easily with the current towards the Lord. Paramahamsa Sannyasins roam about freely during this period, dispelling gloom from the hearts of all. The Devas and Rishis rejoice at the advent of the new season, and readily come to the aid of the aspirant.

The great Bhishma, the grandfather of the Pandavas, was fatally wounded during the war of the Mahabharata, waited on his deathbed of nails for the onset of this season before finally departing from the earth-plane. Let us on this great day pay our homage to him and strive to become men of firm resolve ourselves!

As already mentioned, this is the Pongal festival in South India. It is closely connected with agriculture. To the agriculturalist, it is a day of triumph. He would have by then brought home the fruits of his patient toil. Symbolically, the first harvest is offered to the Almighty—and that is Pongal. To toil was his task, his duty, but the fruit is now offered to Him—that is the spirit of Karma Yoga.

The master is not allowed to grab all the harvest for himself either. Pongal is the festival during which the landlord distributes food, clothes and money among the labourers who work for him. What a noble act!—It is an ideal you should constantly keep before you, not only ceremoniously on the Pongal day, but at all times.

Be charitable. Be generous. Treat your servants as your bosom-friends and brother workers. This is the keynote of the Pongal festival. You will then earn their loyalty and enduring love.
The day prior to the Makara Shankranti is called the Bhogi festival. On this day, old, worn-out and dirty things are discarded and burnt. Homes are cleaned and white-washed. Even the roads are swept clean and lovely designs are drawn with rice-flour. These practices have their own significance from the point of view of health. But, here I remind you that it will not do to attend to these external things alone. Cleaning the mind of its old dirty habits of thought and feeling is more urgently needed. Burn them up, with a wise and firm resolve to tread the path of truth, love and purity from this holy day onwards. This is the significance of Pongal in the life of the spiritual aspirant.

If you do this, then the Makara Shankranti has a special significance for you. The sun, symbolising wisdom, divine knowledge and spiritual light, which receded from you when you revelled in the darkness of ignorance, delusion and sensuality, now joyously turns on its northward course and moves towards you to shed its light and warmth in greater abundance, and to infuse into you more life and energy.

In fact, the sun itself symbolises all that the Pongal festival stands for. The message of the sun is the message of light, the message of unity, of impartiality, of true selflessness, of the perfection of the elements of Karma Yoga. The sun shines on all equally. It is the true benefactor of all beings. Without the sun, life would perish on earth. It is extremely regular and punctual in its duties, and never claims a reward or craves for recognition. If you imbibe these virtues of the sun, what doubt is there that you will shine with equal divine lustre!

He who dwells in the sun, whom the sun does not know, whose body the sun is, and by whose power the sun shines—He is the Supreme Self, the Indweller, the immortal Essence. Tat Twam Asi—“That thou art”. Realise this and be free here and now on this holy Pongal or Makara Shankranti day. This is my humble Pongal prayer to you all.

On the Shankranti day, sweets, puddings and sweet rice are prepared in every home, especially in South India. The pot in which the rice is cooked is beautifully adorned with tumeric leaves and roots, the symbols of auspiciousness. The cooking is done by the women of the household with great faith and devotion, feeling from the bottom of their hearts that it is an offering unto the Lord. When the milk in which the rice is being cooked boils over, the ladies and the children assemble round the pot and shout “Pongalo Pongal!” with great joy and devotion. Special prayers are offered in temples and houses. Then the people of the household gather together and partake of the offerings in an atmosphere of love and festivity.

There is family re-union in all homes. Brothers renew their contacts with their married
sisters by giving them presents. The farmer is lovingly greeted by the landlord and is given presents of grain, clothes and money.

On the next day, the herds of cows are adorned beautifully, fed and worshipped. In some villages the youth demonstrate their valour by taking “the bull by the horn” (and often win their brides thereby!). It is a great day for the cattle.

On the same day, young girls prepare various special dishes—sweet rice, sour rice, rice with coconut—and take them to the bank of a river or tank. They lay some leaves on the ground and place on them balls of the various preparations for the fish, birds, and other creatures. It is an extremely colourful ceremony. The crows come down in large numbers and partake of the food. All the time a valuable lesson is driven into our minds—“Share what you have with all”. The crow will call others before beginning to eat.

Both these days, which are family re-union days, are regarded as being inauspicious for travel. This is to prevent us from going away from home on those days. When you celebrate the Shankranti or Pongal in this manner, your sense of value changes. You begin to understand that your real wealth is the goodwill and friendship of your relatives, friends, neighbours and servants; that your wealth is the land on which your food grows, the cattle which help you in agriculture, and the cow which gives you milk. You begin to have greater love and respect for them and for all living beings—the crows, the fish and all other creatures.

In Maharashtra and in North India, spiritual aspirants attach much importance to Makara Shankranti. It is the season chosen by the Guru for bestowing his Grace on the disciple. In the South, too, it should be noted that it was about this time that Mahadeva favoured several of the Rishis by blessing them with His beatific vision.

Thursday, January 12, 2012

150th Birth Anniversary of Swami Vivekananda





Swami Vivekananda needs no introduction, for his is a household name in India. Swamiji was one of the greatest spiritual leaders of the modern world, a great lover of humanity whose unconditional love extended to all people without any distinctions of caste, class, creed, race, region or religion. Swami Vivekananda is also remembered as a great patriot, the first cultural ambassador of India to the West, who raised the prestige of India in the eyes of Western people and changed their views about India with the compelling force to truth.
Swamiji was the first great leader of India to diagnose the cause of India’s downfall as the neglect of the poor, downtrodden masses of India, and to declare boldly, “No amount of politics will be of any avail until the masses of India are once more well educated, well fed and well cared for.” Indeed, he was the first spokesman for the poor in India and coined the word “Daridranarayana” which was given currency later on by Mahatma Gandhi.
Swami Vivekananda was the great awakener of the Soul of India in Modern times, whose magnificent personality and electrifying words infused faith and courage, love and sympathy, service and sacrifice in the hearts of millions of Indians. Swamiji was one of one of the builders of Modern India whose words and deeds profoundly influenced the lives and thinking of the great founding fathers of Indian Independence like Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Subhash Chandra Bose, Rajagopalachari and others.
Swami Vivekananda made important contributions to the modern world. First comes his contributions to Hinduism. Formerly the deep truths lying in ancient Hindu scriptures like the Upanishads were beyond the reach of ordinary people. It was Swami Vivekananda who interpreted those sacred scriptures in the modern idiom and made them available to common people. Before Swamiji came, Hindu sects were quarrelling among themselves. Swamiji showed that all Hindu sects have certain common principles and, on that basis, Swamiji brought about unity among Hindus. Swamiji’s contributions to the creation of modern India has been acknowledged by the great political leaders of pre-independent India.
Swami Vivekananda was one of the great thinkers of the modern world, and has made important contributions to the world thought also. Swamiji’s message of potential Divinity of the soul, faith in man’s inner Self as the source of infinite strength, morality, freedom and joy; his message of seeing God in all, work as worship, service to man as service to God; his

message of synthesis of yogas and all-round development of human personality; his message of harmony of religions, harmony of religion science, harmony of the East and the West—this is precisely the message that the present world, especially the youth of our country needs.
Above all, Swami Vivekananda, in spite of his own individual greatness, in spite of the fame and adoration that he received in India and in the West, regarded himself only as a humble messenger of his Guru and Master, known to the world as Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. This humility, this utter faith in the Guru, and his devotion to God, his love for India, love for humanity and dedication of his life to the service of suffering people, have set a shining example for modern man to emulate.
Needless to say, the 150th birth anniversary of such a great personage as Swami Vivekananda needs to be celebrated in a fit and proper manner appropriate to his universally respected stature as a world teacher, thinker, leader, prophet, pathfinder and benefactor of humanity. The Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission are gearing up for this.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

BK Shivani





BK Shivani is a Rajyoga Meditation Teacher and has been studying spiritual knowledge and practicing the ancient technique of Rajyoga Meditation, as taught by the Prajapita Brahma Kumaris Ishwariya Vishwa Vidyalaya, Mount Abu, for the past 14 years.
BK Shivani completed her Electronics Engineering from Pune University in 1994 and also served for two years as lecturer in Bhartiya Vidyapeeth College of Engineering, Pune.
Since 2007, she has been on-screen in India and abroad through the presentation of practical spiritual understanding on the TV programme ‘*Awakening with Brahma Kumaris*’, which is currently being aired on, Aastha and Sanskar channels in India, and Star Plus in USA, UK, Asia, Australia and Middle East.
Her TV programmes and interactive training programmes and workshops present a logical yet natural and comfortable way of adopting spirituality in life, all are offered as community service.
She speaks on a wide spectrum of themes such as: Stress Free Lifestyle, Leadership Skills, Emotional Intelligence, Exploring Inner Powers, Self Realisation, Harmony in Relationships and the Practical Technique of Rajyoga Meditation.
These workshops, seminars and TV programmes have inspired thousands of professionals, youth and even children to change their attitude towards religion, spirituality and way of living. Her interactions have encouraged people to overcome circumstances of depression, mental stress, addictions, low self-esteem and disturbing relationships.