Saturday, September 5, 2009

Akshaya Patra - Post Script

Just a quick note to let you know that a close Parsi friend called Rumy Kanga ( we had lunch with him yesterday) - told us he did exactly what we did with Madhav's birthday - when he called his large Parsi clan to celebrate his son's birthday. He had mentioned to us at Madhav's bday lunch that he thought it was a splendid idea and he would do it himself. And he actually did. Of course Parsis are pioneers in the field of charity anyway - so obviously the positive mindset already existed.

So NO gifts, but donations please !

He collected SGD 850 approx Rs. 27,000 and has donated the money to Akshaya Patra.

Its delightful to see the cascading effect setting in........

10 comments:

  1. Hi Madhuri

    As seekers of "life's purpose" we should all welcome your parsee friend into the exclusive club of " souls seeking liberation".

    Thanks for bolstering my pleas for elevating these souls to be on par with people seeking mukhthi, by our accepted paths.

    "I do not know" kind of humility, seems much more appealing to me than a pretense of "I know" pardigm. (?)

    To understand life's purpose, is not so very easy, and the more one hears of such stories, the more one is humbled. The only regret is that there is very little that I can contribute in alleviating the pains/shortcomings of others except pious platitudes.

    Love

    Vichu

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  2. Dear Chittappa

    At the risk of not having much to back my argument, let me still state the following. You have said that you feel disappointed that there is nothing you can do to alleviate the suffering of others. I feel there is no need to despair. I think a heart-felt prayer also works. How the heart-felt prayer translates into someone providing the material aid needed is something I cannot explain, but I have no doubt about it. (That is not an excuse for not providing the material aid yourself if you are in a position to do so.)

    The upasana and anushtaanam anyone performs does contribute some mite to collective welfare. I do not know much Sanskrit, but in the Gayatri Mantram, it is dhiyo-yo-nah prachodayaat. Meaning "may the Sun God inspire 'our' intellects as opposed to 'my' intellect."

    Regards
    Shankar

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  3. Shankar,
    I have always been in awe of the kaushika clan for it was with the tapas of vishwamitra rishi that the gayatri mantra came forth to enable peace in this world.
    With a desire to put in place a half baked understanding of the mantra, I write these lines -
    Three words bhuhoo, bhuvah and suvah refer to, shall we say, three worlds/states as it were.
    'tad' is a very great padartham, 'that' has been expounded at many places. Savitah , the sun. Varenyam - is one word I am not feeling confident about, could be, rays (some of the elders can fill in I am sure). Bhargah (again, tentatively) refer to the quarters or directions. Devasya refer to the god's and Dhimahi to the buddhi of the gods.
    Thus, it says that,the way in which the three states of the gods are spread in all the quarters exemplified by the rays of the sun, so may the rays of (my) dhi (buddhi)yo, yonah (that which is born of many yonis, called causal wombs in some texts), prachodayat, (again I am tentative here) go forth in the world of human beings.
    A prayer made to the Pratyaksham Brahman(sun), by every brahmin, three times a day, so that he may be blessed with the bare necessities of life consistent with the society of his times.
    Meena manni at a very crucial juncture recently asked me to do an avritti of the gayatri mantra, for reasons best known to her.
    It strengthens my concept of aneka yoni janmaasu, anekada , punah ,punah words used in our sankalp during the yagnopavita dharanam on avani avittam.
    The old man from Madras once said -
    "Ahaaraartham Karma Kuryat Anindyam,
    Kuryat Ahaaram, Prana Sandhaaranartham,
    Paranaa-sandhaaryah tatvajignyaasanaartham,
    Tatvam jignyaasam, yena bhuyoh dukham."
    Do you think it is ever possible for me to be depressed that I am born in such a family?
    We of the next gen have be slipped a great dummy, in terms of responsibility by the elders. It doesn't matter that we studied Sanskrit possibly only in the eight and ninth stds, at most in the tenth std(vichu athan can put in a word on the significance of these houses in a horoscope, we should be jointly able to live upto the expectations of our elders if we slog at it.

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  4. Hi Naresh

    Yes, indeed, we are privileged to belong to such an illustrious clan, and all is not lost - as we are still able to have these conversations around our spiritual heritage.

    Your attempt at the meanings of the gayatri mantra is most praise-worthy. I googled just now and this was the top link thrown up -

    http://www.eaglespace.com/spirit/gayatribywords.php

    The link seems a good one.

    Regards
    Shankar

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  5. The Gayathri mantra's bhashyam by Naresh, and the link suggested by Umashankar, somehow left me in a "not fully satisfied" kind of mood. With the hope that the gen-next will find it appealing, let me attempt a "brief".

    First the word "manthra" ( Manthaaram thrayathe ithi mantraha) means one which protects the meditator. There are I believe 7 crore mantras. It is also said that there is not a single word which is not a mantra, not a single herb which is not medicinal, and not a single person without merit. But it is indeed rare to get a man capable of combining these three.

    Out of these countless mantras, Gayathri is considered a "gem". Let me come to individual padams and meanings to the best of my ability

    1. Bhuhu, Bhuvaha, Suvaha, are 3 of the 7 lokas (refer pranayamam..janaha tapaha etc), with the prefix "Aum" we get the meaning. Bhuhu, bhuvaha and suvaha are 3 lokas, represented by "aum" which is just a manifestation of "brahmn"

    2. "Thath" again representing the Brahmn as in "thathwam asi"

    3. Savithuhu: one who gives fruits of one's actions, or the creator

    4. Varenyam : The word mumukshu means persons deirous of moksham, varenyam is the ultimate object of the desire of the mumukshus

    5. Bhargaha : the light which removes darkness.

    6. Devasya: the one who is "prakasha swaroopa" his,

    7. Dhheemahi: meditating with the consciousness of "I Am Him"

    8. Dhiyaha : (For want of a better word) the functioner of our anthakaran ( Chith, manas, budhi, and ahankaram)

    9. Yaha: that inner self or athma,

    10. Naha : our

    11. Prachodayaath : inspires .

    "the one who inspires our anthakaranam, the creator, or the one who gives fruits of our actions, the remover of darkness, the prakasha swaroopa, the ultimate object of the desirous mumukshu, we meditate on that universal brahmn with a consciousness of "I am Him". - Gayathri Mantram.

    Hope you will all like it.

    Love Vichu

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  6. Brilliant. What an exposition! My sandhyavandanam is done.

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  7. Hi Chittappa

    I am glad that the conversation trail led you to elaborate on the Gayatri mantram in your own unique way. It was very enjoyable reading it.

    Regards
    Shankar

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  8. I do hope you will not be surprised if I tell you that my piece is based on our Guru Sri Vidyatherretha Swamigal's "Gita Mahima" in Tamil.

    The uniqueness is Acharyals' and I have this weakness for accepting our scriptures, and Acharyal's vyakhyaanams much more readily, rather than the current day philosophers, mathematicians, and the modern secular peethadeesh's, especially if it is a "hatke" kind, and more profound (to me).

    Love Vichu

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  9. Inspiration indeed to perform Sandhya and Gayathri meditation regularly and well!

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  10. Yes Sir

    Having developed a kind of "ashraddha" towards sandhyavandhanam, this new unique intrepretaion, comes as a wake up call, and does inspire a keenness to take this more religiously.

    Love

    Vichu

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