svaamii vidyaaranya muni seminar: was it chance in chennai !

i was in chennai to participate in a national seminar by the dept of philosophy in univ. of madras during 27-29 november 2015, sponsored by the vishvamohan trust blessed by sadguru svaamii gnaanaananda a lady saint with true jnaana n vairaagya. it rained earlier heavily, i once doubted whether to go or not. but my friend assured me that he was driving around n there was nothing to panic about. i reached chennai by a flight from delhi n by a cab the univ. guest house on the marina beach. another friend came from bhubaneswar by train n he reached a few hours before me. we stayed in the same room n talked on panchadas'ii, vidyaaranya, mysticism n a lot. very little drizzles were there but no heavy rain to affect the smooth flow of traffic.

we enjoyed the south indian meals n snacks n were glued to the seminar proceedings listening to the great masters of advaita n other s'aastra-s gathered for the purpose. vidyaaranya was a man of encyclopaedic knowledge, a king- maker n sustainer of state-craft, the builder of the vijaynagar capital city which was greater than the earstwhile constantinople in grandeur, a man of religion, spirituality n mysticism. he wrote on astrology n astronomy, architecture, philosophy, dialectics, comm. on the veda-s, on music n so on. i presented a paper on his concept of jiivanmukti or the ideal of being liberated while still one is alive in body.

 it was a rare treat to listen to pandit swaminath shastrigal who is conferred with the title of vedaantasamraat, a towering traditional scholar of advaita vedanta n other shastra-s, he was equally at ease in chaste sanskrit n felicitous english. we had no chance of listening to him in his mother tongue tamil which we couldn't understand ! another scholar of eminence was dr nagaswami, a former director of madras museum who is convinced that 80 per cent of tamil is from samskrit only a fact that the tamil-chauvinists won't like ! the relatively young mani dravid, a profound scholar of puurva n uttara-miimaamsaa, who has been recently anointed with the coveted title of 'mahaamahopaadhyaaya' was felicitated. i was asked to compose a few verses in sanskrit which i did.on 30th nov. 

my friend delivered a talk on ' s'rii vidyaa ' at the ashram of the sadguru in presence of svaamii s'riihariprakaas'a n a limited number of saadhaka devotees congregating for the purpose. i made a few remarks telling about the naturally obtaining s'riiyantra on the mount called hariparvata on the outskirts of srinagar in kashmir. we were felicitated by s'rii hariprakas'a with a few articles n fruits n sweets. we were then fed with good south snacks which was sufficient for the dinner.coming back we talked about the pontiff of the ashram who did not see people due to ill health n was in maunam inside. we prayed for her good health n desired to see her the next time we're chanced to visit chennai ! 

the night we passed after returning from our friend's house after a cup of tea. it then started raining n with an auto-rickshaw we backed to the guest house for rest. getting up in the morning we realised that the rains are on n it was difficult for the caretaker to move out to get us cups of morning tea n snacks. the dept student who is blessed by nature with a rare curiosity to know n know reached as promised n booked a vehicle with difficulty immediately so that i could reach the airport on time. i was away n then he helped my friend to get to the rly station. my flight time n his train time was the same: 8.45 am. 

after my flight took off n his train left, suddenly it rained so torrentially that the airport was closed as the tarmac n runways were heavily flooded n so also were the rly tracks at the station forcing to cancel all the trains after that !all channels are beaming the plight of chennai today throughout ! it comes naturally to our mind as to whether this was a coincidence that the 3-4 days in between some power held back the showers that the seminar n our visit to the spiritually vibrant ashram in chennai should be over without any trouble ! very difficult to justify but very natural it is to feel n talk to oneself ! there're things beyond our small terrestrial powers which we think as everything ! one never knows ! 

my friend phoned up, he is alright: i think of the helpless people, seeing their plight on the tv screen i think if it is they who're responsible or are they suffering to compensate for others' causes ! god certainly should know ! or nobody knows indeed ! pray, let's pray !
 

SAMSKRIT AS FIRST LANGUAGE OF HARYANA !

a few years back uttarakhand accepted n declared samskrit as it's second language n it created more than a wave of exuberance among the linguist fraternity in the world ! letters of congratulations n adulation reached the erstwhile leaders of uttarakhand. it was a sort of inviting goddess ganga from the heights to the plains to bless our lives. although symbolic it has silently worked out n certainly this fact was proof that samskrit is highly live around n if she is beckoned to guide n lead the indian, european n other languages, she is eternally capable of rediscovering n reinventing her self to affirmatively further the mundane n divine destinies of india n the world at large !

haryana is mother to the celestial language as much as it is home to the celestial song gita whose 5151 years we r set to celebrate a couple of weeks ahead. according to manu n other sources haryana has the rare fortune of having the land called brahmaavarta, the epicenter n pivot of the vedic culture that spread cultural n civilizational moorings to distant destinations on the globe. kurukshetra, the tirtha now comprising of about 5 districts, is the chief among the brahmarshidesha-s - the others being matsya(surrounding alwar in rajasthan), panchala( surrounding kannauj in u.p.) n shurasena(now mathura). thus now the sarasvati river valley civilization having been established as the largest n most important,, has certainly brought credit to the glory of haryana. the veda-s n the prasthaanatrayii of the advaita of s'ankara can be seen as chiefly a contribution of kurukshetra. along with the bhagavadgita, the vishnusahasranamastotra told by bhishma to yudhisthira while reclining on the bed of arrows,was also born in kurukshetra. before rajarshi kuru n after him, before buddha n after him, kurukshetra n haryana have been in the forefront in creation n dissemination of knowledge, both divine, sacred n secular. according to legends kurukshetra is credited with the first appearance of  the human race which gradually migrated to near n distant corners of the earth.

in this respect it may be a subject of discussion to have  the conviction n will to declare samskrit as the first language of haryana. then samskrit can take care of hindi, haryanvi n punjabi etc languages n dialects contributing to their development n freeing them from borrowing from foreign sources idioms to cope up with contemporay needs of expression. samskrit is the soul and breath of indian culture and foundational framework. whenever india speaks, she speaks from the core of her millenium-ancient experience n certainly without samskrit coming up to whisper in indian ears their unity, spiritual strength n vitality, the oldest nation of the world can not discharge her historic task n can't play her mother's role in transformimg humanity for a greater tomorrow.

with samskrit coming up as the first language, haryana will loose nothing, the other languages will too loose nothing, but haryana will claim back what is just to her pride n position, as the cradle of the human story which looks up to our perennial values much more than ever ! om.

SAMSKRITAM IN AUDIO-VISUAL MEDIA !!!

the electronic media is ruling contemporary minds: it creates recreates n executes ideas in our global society turning it in to a shared-knowledge-village ! india has been always in the fore- front in knowledge creation n dissemination ! we gave to the world the idea of broadcasting knowledge that is mundane n that is perennial. samskrit is the major storehouse of such knowledge, traditions of goodness n greatness, of elevated individual n society, of fearlessness, of pleasure, happiness, joy n bliss ! when the electronic n print media are emitting n vomiting dividing n debilitating ideas of corruption, criminality n hedonism to the plight of young minds, why can't we put up our  mega culture that shaped us through the centuries n millenniums in a just perspective to offer a positive alternative ? knowledge is food for the soul to thrive n visualize course of decisive action to shape present n future ! this can be largely addressed to by putting up in the air a global samskritam channel to offer to humanity yajna-prasaada, the godly and all-humane gift that is immediately or a little remotely indigenous for all ! the channel may survive on ads of good healthy and positive ides and objects that help the environment internal n external. when so much wealth is squandered in so many ways, why can this not be possible?this will instill samskrit in people's consciousness, benefit all with benign mantrik: psycho-neuro- logical benign effects, deliver to people first-hand indian perennial ideas in their original idioms !industrialists, men of wealth, religious organizations, men of great means n will abroad: the list can be endless, or even a fakir with divine blessings may come forward !!
om aanandamayi ! caitanyamayi ! satyamayi ! parame ! aavirbhava !! om...
  

Tolerance & Intolerance

tolerance and intolerance both are negative. normally tolerant and intolerant one happens to be. mundane affairs push one to that end. not willing even one can't help. to tolerate is to tolerate the intolerable which is painful. not to tolerate is to think, speak or act against something or someone that one fails to tolerate. this also is painful. thinking, speaking and acting to get rid of that which is intolerable may entail further kinds of repurcussions and challenges which may be even worse. this is the predicament of arjuna in the mahabharata. he neither could tolerate pandavas' plight nor could he initially stand the challenges of the battle !

what then may be the solution to see some better light in our day to day unpleasant situation ? everyday at the day's end you may be carrying home tolerances and intolerances of various kinds ! the baggage may empty your possibilities of domestic happiness or happiness in office the following day. you certainly can't leave home or leave office. suppose you do so, where you go next, there too the same things will follow.

here the lord meets the situation by turning to tolerance and intolerance with a dose of equanimity which simply smiles in the face of all odds. na dainyam na palaayanam: neither self-pity nor flight !  then should one fall idle, lie down and show the other cheek to the tormentor ? no, one should act in the present but without acrimony, unrest and unruliness. negative forces provoke you to take to war in mind, speech and sudden burst of action, but positive force approaches you with calm fortitude and conviction and gently leads you to righteous action. this is dharma which is an outcome of the power of goodness. and certainly this culminates in goodness all around. but it's difficult to tolerate the apparently intolerable and more hazardous it may be to go intolerant and hasten to think, speak and act under satans of all kinds !

SAMSKRITAARCANAM !

!अयि सुहृन्नवसत्रमिदं पुरो नवनवा वटव: पथिका गुरो: /
भरतभूवरसंस्कृतिसंगमे स्नपय संस्कृतपथ्यसुपाथसा //

भव सुधास्य उदारदिवौकसामिव सुसंस्कृतसत्पदकौतुकी /
सुखमुपास्स्व यथेष्टवशम्वदप्रियशास्त्रं ज्ञपयन्मनोहरम, //

यदि गुरुर्न वदेत्सुखं वच: सहजं संस्कृतमत्र लीलया /
कथमिहैतु  स उत्तमवृद्धतां कथमिहास्त्वपरोपि स मध्यम: //

शिशुरुदेतु  कथं नवभाषया व्यवहृतिं युगलस्य पश्यतु /
न युगले यदि तच्च वचो भवेत्कथमिदं वटुरस्तु  शिक्षित: //

किमु मुनिर्जननी यदि बाळक: सुख मुवाच  ह  मातृभाषया /
न यदि तत्किळ सत्यमुपाहर सुरगिरा वचनं हितं वटो: //

त्रि: कोटिर्माणवास्ते प्रतिदिनमिह ये  भारते श्रद्दधाना
गैर्वाणी* हन्त वाणी* गुरुकुलमुखत: शिक्षितुं चक्षते भो: /
तेषां चेत्पंक्तिमात्रानुवदनविधिना भाषया चान्ययासौ
शास्ता किं वाक्प्रसन्ना भवति शिशुमतौ ब्रूहि मित्र प्रसन्नः //
                            ............................

WHEN WE THINK OF INDIA !




     " When indeed we think of India in totality or we go back a few centuries to speak something on India with definite information,this is not possible without an acquaintance of Samskrit and her pervasive literature.Everyday we may come across responsible well-meaning people trying to articulate their views on different aspects of Indian life,culture or society,but they more often than not falter and fail,in spite of the fact that they do their best to convince themselves and others.


        In the VAlmIki RAmAyaNa,in the Ki.skindhyA kANDa,RAma and Lak.smaNa get the first acquaintance of HanumAn and mark him out as one who knew what to speak and how to speak as he had mastered the four Veda-s and grammar that ensured in handling a language with dexterity.HanumAn was a national hero,one who could champion a national cause and so was dependable and worthy of trust,surmised the brothers in their distress of having missed SItA who symbolized their pride and self-esteem.


       HanumAn accepted RAma as his master and wanted to render him selfless service.Thus master and servant were well-poised as they had the best of knowledge and resultant conviction.In statecraft or in social life to conceive the befitting ideas,to articulate them logically and meaningfully and then to implement them selflessly for a definite cause,one needs to be as RAma or HanumAn.One was a king for forty four years for his perception of the ideals of a welfare state and HanumAn as a true devotee and servant was always at the beck and call of that just order ! It was an era of knowledge and selfless action which we look back upon to mend our ways,to know where have we gone wrong and to take to certain correctives to live better and wiser ! 
  
       Samskrit and her glorious literature can certainly be a great asset to infuse that indigenous sense and conscience to visualize and act definitively.She is witness to the wisest human experiences of at least ten thousand years !"


                                                                              - s m mishra

" This seems to be a dream now that the Samskrit text books in schools and colleges will ever be rid of their non-Samskrit explanatory glosses occupying more than three-fourth of a book.The students are averse to do any commentary in Samskrit old or new.The teaching and exams also don't help the Samskrit speech to grow as a contemporary language.

Samskrit is loved at NASA and such other stories,the Samskrit pundits speak to audiences quoting newspaper details,but they fail the very cause of Samskrit at home.This census must be an eye-opener in many ways including our number of Samskrit speakers.

Will the Samskrit-lovers and teachers/students behave responsibly with an eye on the future of the divine language in redefining the Indian paradigm ? "