BrahmaSutra -I

Jai Bharateesha !
Brahma Sutra !!!
This used to be one of the most coveted topics during my youth, we would attend Bannanje’s lectures and many more Swamiji’s too trying to understand. So with Badarayana’s blessings here goes !!!
The loss of Sanskrit literate people has hit our culture at it’s very core. We have to rely on English Translations by foreign authors to learn our own culture. The beauty of BrahmaSutras is minimum syllables expand into so many Vedic texts; really can be appreciated.
I, myself am not Sanskrit literate, but recently I’ve been getting more and more material and with Vyasarayaru placing his hand on my head I’ve been able to read some material.

Introduction

 Vedas are apourusheya, anant; infinte. Vedas are called the mind of God ! The Vedas are eternal. In kaliyuga, the capacity of the people diminishes, due to the effect of kali. So Supreme  God Narayana himself took the incarnation of Sri VedaVyasa; grouped the Vedas into four, twenty four, hundred and one, one thousand etc.
There are various interpretation for each verse, its the vedanta which interpretes according to the seer who professes a precis of Vedas.
To get a more expanded meaning of Vedas; Veda Vyasa composed the Brahma Sutras. So the Vedas now become an interpretation of Brahma Sutra. The central objective of the BrahmaSturas is to describe the GunaPariPurna Brahman.
 Atharvana Upanishad says: If same body of literature for ex. RigVed is AparVidya when it is comprehended in the ritualistic sense and ParaVidya when “Akshara or Brahman or Vishnu is comprehended as it’s main import.
 Brahmasutra therefore is  ParaVidya.
 Vedas are the Nirnaya and BrahmaSutras are the Nirnayaka.
 For  ex. I’st sutra : Om Om aTHato brahhma jignyaasaa Om
Translation :  The translation you will find by english authors/translators will be
One should enquire about God.?
 The actual number of questions sprout from this sutra.
SriMadAcharya mentions the following categories:
 Jignyasa - Who should enquire about God? Why should one enquire about God? What is the subject of enquiry? Who is the subject ? What does the subject represent? What is the mode of enquiry ?
 Anubandha – Is it binding? What is the binding?
chatushtaya

adhikarana vishaya – Who has the right to ask?
Sambhanda – Whom does the question pertain to ?
prayojana etc – What is justification of the result? What is the use?
 Etc….so on and so forth.
 Next each of these questions, will be answered across multiple references across Vedanta which do not dispute among themselves. Each of those meanings then can have similar references.  In this way, entire Vedanta become Vyakhana for BrahmaSutras and Vedas should be understood based on Brahmasutras only.
 The BrahmaSutra is divided in to four chapters each having sections.
 Adhyaya 1# Samanvaya Adhyaya
Adhyaya 2#Avirodha Adhyaya
Adhyaya 3#Sadhana Adhyaya
Adhyaya 4#Phala Adhyaya
 What does Brahma Sutra contain?
Brahma Sutra is collection of 564 sutras. (others combine some sutras: Sri Ramanuja counts 545 and shankara 555). Each Sutra is very small
For  ex. I’st sutra : Om Om aTHato brahhma jignyaasaa Om
 What is a Sutra ?
A sutra can compared to a thread. This is how the word “suture” is derived. Threads which can be used to stitch.
 What is the definition for a Sutra?
SriMadAcharya gives a compact definition of Sutras.
 Alpa aksharam snigdgandam saarvadvishvatomukham
Astobamanavadam cha sutram sutravido viduhu !
 A Sutra should have minimum letters. Should clear all doubts, should make a special point, it should cover the point concerned noting it’s occurances in all branches of  Veda, it should not contain meaningless syllables and should not have corrupt expressions.

Jai Bharateesha,
Hrishikesh

Aparoksha Gynana

Jai VijayaRaya !!!
Jai VyasaRaya !!!
Jai Bedi Anjaneya !!!
HARE SRINIVASA !!!


There are a lot of abstract concepts and technical terms, which can be illustrated with help of example. I’m limiting the scope to the concept of “Aparoksha Gynana” only.
I want to take the worldly example of Music for this illustration
1) What is Paroksha Gynana?
Let’s say a senior AIR Class I singer is Paroksha Gyana;
i.e. a person who knows all the raagas; one who can sing effortlessly; one who conciously hits every note in the raaga in sur, etc. Technically perfect singer.
2) What is Aparoksha Gynana?
A “Pandit” or “Ustad” level is Aparoksha Gynana; one can experience God in their performance. It just mesemerizes you and transports you somewhere.
Both are established, well trained and perfect singers; but there is a difference between them. One has to conciously maintain his sur, taal, pronounciation etc.
Whereas the other even when he is overcome with emotion; his singing is perfect.
Purundara Dasa, Vijay Dasarau and the Dasa Parampara are all Aproksha Gynani’s all their songs are compositions are instantaneous; on the spot overflow of emotions.
Their structures however are extremely complex. There has to be a x number vowels, y number of consonants, z number of letters per line. It has to be in meter, in raga etc.
All this while maintaining the meaning, referencing scriptures and conveying the emotion. This type and calibre of compositions are possible only with Aparoksha Gynana.
Now let us take practical examples; for Aparoksha Gynana Sadhana.
Let us say I’m a pathetic besura singer; aspiring to be an Ustad, what is my roadmap ?
First step is daily practice or riaz (Sandhyavandana)
Develop an ear for music (Listening to Shastras)
Making sure I practice more and more (Increasing japa, tapa, vrata, dharma)
Never leave daily riaz. (Sandhyavandana)
Take care of the following things
- not eating outside food that will harm my throat (eating only Satvik food)
- making sure I don’t expose my throat (taking care of health)
- not showing off (niyama)
- until the voice gets accustomed to a specific style of singing. Not trying too many things (Maintaining discipline)
- Hear lots of high quality songs
- Maintain contact with other aspirants in music ( Satsang )
- Increasing practice hours
- Learning new ragas (more Gynana gives more range, more ananda, more confidence )
After years and years of practice, a stage comes when Paroksha Gynana is achieved. But practice does not stop; the intensity increases.
Now nothing else matters, just being immersed and surrounded by music is sufficient.
[ With Gynana, all material desires are cut down, vairagya and bhakti increase tremendously. ]
Now during a performance, if a few notes are missed; people will accept it saying the overall performance is good, minor things don’t matter.
[ While doing a dharma karya, minor lopas are ignored ]
But these small mistakes should not be tolerated while learning; learning has to be practiced with perfection.
If we hear some besura on tv, what do we do? Change channel immidiately.
When we don’t tolerate imperfections in singing, why we should we tolerate in pooja?
When we are inviting God, why be lethargic and anything goes attitude.
I hope this clears the concept of Sadhane and Aparoksha Gnana. I have maintained a very general and broad outlook for this explaination.
More technical details to follow. I want to close this article with the statement.
Paroksha Gynana sadhane is in our hands, keep doing this sadhane.
Aparoksha Gynana is the fruit which is granted by Shri Hari alone.

Bedi Anjaneya antargata Sri Krishnarpanamastu,
Hrishikesh

How To Eat ? Pancha Prana Ahuti

Jai Vijayraya !
Jai Vyasaraya !
Jai Bedi Anjaneya !
HARE SRINIVASA !!!!

I've started implementing this only recently; thought of sharing this with the readers.

Every person has Vaishwanara roopa parmatma in them. All their lusture, shine and superirority is seen in the body is because of Vaishwanara only.

Nowadays diets are extremely popular. Nutrition, health food, salads, counting calories, list goes on and on.

Not one method talks about Sri Hari dhyana. Sri Hari responsible for the sun, rain, grain, fire, food, money, occasion, health, state of mind, time, company, etc.
In every party, we thank the host for organizing the party. If this can be done, how can we forget Sri Hari while eating ? He is providing us everything for countless of births. How can we forget him?

SriMadacharaya Tattvavada's Eating guidelines

Meat/Fish/Eggs to be strictly avoided, maybe obvious to some, maybe not :) KaliYuga all these are banned.
Onion, Garlic - Strictly avoided
Tomato, Carrot, BeetRoot, Drumsticks - To be avoided

Eating Procedure

Because of effect of kaliyuga, people have to eat wherever possible.
The dhyana mentioned below, each morsel reaches Vaishwanara through Mukhya Prana; so maintain satvik food to the best of your abilities.
Sri Hari will overlook lopas and helplessness(not for banned items); but don't make that an excuse.

Bhojana is to treated like a Yagna !!! Whatever you put in mouth, offer to bimba Sri Hari; let Sri Hari assimilate it and supply you with the energy.
Naham Karta Hari Karta !!! If Sri Hari process the food, you will get back only the best Sattva nutrition.

If your meal has rice, eat five morsels of plain rice as mentioned below. If your meal does not have rice; eat five morsels of whatever you have in your plate.

Pancha Prana Ahuti

Morsel 1# Om Pranaya Swaha
i) Security Guard for East is satisfied
ii ) Abhimana Devata for Prana Vayu is satisfied
iii) Then Surya is satisfied
iv) Then Presiding Devata for eyes is satisfied
v) Then Diety for Surya Mandala is satisfied
Like this Sri Hari roopas in Surya are satisfied
vi) Then 'dyu' namaka Bharati Devi is satisfied
vii) Then Mukhya Prana is satisfied
viii) Then MahaLakshmi is satisfied
ix) Then SatChitAnanda VaishwaNara roopa of Sri Hari is satisfied

Morsel 2# Om Apanaya Swaha
i) Security Guard for West is satisfied
ii ) Abhimana Devata for Apana Vayu is satisfied
iii) Presiding Deity for Agni is satisfied
Like this Sri Hari present in 3 forms in Agni is satisfied
v)    "Dhara Devi" influenced by Sri MahaLaxmi is satisfied
vi) Akasa Abhmimanini Bharati Devi is satisfied
vii) Then Mukhya Prana is satisfied
viii) Then MahaLakshmi is satisfied
ix) Then ChiDAnanda VaishwaNara roopa of Sri Hari is satisfied

Morsel 3# Om Vyanaya Swaha
i) Security Guard for South is satisfied
ii ) Abhimana Devata for Vyanaya Vayu is satisfied
iii) Presiding deity for hearing
iv)     Mandalas presiding deity
v) Presiding Deity for Chandra is satisfied
Like this Sri Hari present in 3 forms in Chandra is satisfied
vii) "Din" namaka Bharati Devi is satisfied
viii) Then Mukhya Prana is satisfied
ix) Then MahaLakshmi is satisfied
x) Then ChiDAnanda VaishwaNara roopa of Sri Hari is satisfied

Morsel 4# Om Udanaya Swaha
i) Security Guard for Upper Direction is satisfied
ii ) Abhimana Devata for Bhuta Vayu is satisfied
iii) Presiding deity for Akasha is satisfied
iv) Then Mukhya Prana in three roopas is satisfied
v) Then MahaLakshmi is satisfied
vi) Then ChiDAnanda VaishwaNara roopa of Sri Hari is satisfied

Morsel 5# Om Samanaya Swaha
i) Security Guard for Northern Direction is satisfied
ii ) Abhimana Devata for Udana Vayu is satisfied
iii) Presiding Deity for Parjanya Abhmani is satisfied
 Like this Sri Hari present in 3 forms in Indra is satisfied
iv) Vidytu Abhmimanini Bharati Devi is satisfied
v) Then Mukhya Prana is satisfied
vi) Then MahaLakshmi is satisfied
vii) Then ChiDAnanda VaishwaNara roopa of Sri Hari is satisfied

Then Sri Hari present in 72,000 nadi's is pleased.

Tato Yajmana Truptihi !!!
Like this the Master is pleased

Narayna and Annirudha roopas remain in others to supply shakti,
Sankarshana and Pradyumna roopas are present in the body to supply shakti to eat
Vasudeva roopi Paramatma supplies avakasha or intervals

Vayu with all vedas always extols Vaishwanara !

Whoever understands Vaishwanara, even if he offers food to Chandala he gets phala because it is like a direct homa being performed in the Vaishwanara roopi

Everyday Vaishwanar roopi Paramatma should be remembered in the stomach and then Ahutis should be submitted !

How true is "Naham Karta, Hari Karta" !!!

Jai Bharateesha,
Hrishikesh

Sri Vishnu Sahasra Nama

Jai Vijayaraya,
Jai VyasaRaya,
Jai Bedi Anjaneya,
Hare Srinivasa !!!
Since the topic of Sri Vishnu SahasraNama has been raised. Few pointers on this
Learned readers please point out any mistakes, I'm ever ready to learn.
SriMadAchaya mentions that there are at least a 100 meanings for each word in Sri Vishnu Sahasranama, when challanged; he demonstrates 100 meanings of 1st word Vishvam. He asks the scholars to repeat whatever he said, they fall at his feet. This was a revolutionary discovery at that time ! People were shocked to see the depth of knowledge !!!
Each word of Sahasranama has immense depth.
Vishvam
- Pranava first part (out of eight ) "Aa"kar roopa is Vishwa
- Bimba moorthy of Sri Ganesh
- This is the first word of Sahasranama
- the pratibimba i.e. Sri Ganesh is worshiped first ( Because of above reasons )
- Roopa of Sri Hari present in right eye.
- Central head of Elephant (pratibimba Sri Ganesh has Elephant head); 9 human heads to left and 9 human heads to right.
- Protects jiva during jagrat avasta or waking state.
-  One who pervades the Universe   Vis- to enter ; one who enters the universe and prevades it. [Purusha evedam vishvam]
-  PariPoorna - Vishvam  means krthsnam in amarkosha ; Sri Hari is poorna in every aspect
- Vishwam means transendence and imminence - Transendence - Trivikrama avataar and imminence - Narasimha avataara, similarly means Vamana Avataara as well
- Matsya avataara -  Mundaka Upanishad says, ‘ brahma vedam visvam varishtam,’  hence visvam means Veda; one who rescued the Vedas from hyagrivasura
- Varaha Avataara - Varaha avataara is described as mahaavaraaho visvaathma
- Koorma Avataara - reference through AadiKoorma who bears the VayuKoorma and Aadishesha who in turns bears the universe.
- Parshuram Avataara - as he travelled the whole world conquering kings during his DigVijaya
- Sri RamaAvataara - Vishvam - Veda - which is authority on Dharma - Sri Rama - Vigrahavan Dharma - embodiment of Dharma
- Sri Krishna Avataara - Poorna and All Prevailing - Sri Krishna has displayed Vishwaroopa avataaras to show that he is PariPoorna and also lilas of All Pervasiveness



This is just a sample  imagine each word in the Sahasranama having such depth. Hence Rudra Devaru says - Soham ekana shlokena - Understanding and reciting even one shloka with devotion will grant all results.
In TantraSaraSangraha SriMadAcharya explains each and every alphabet and sound has a paramatma roopa associated with it. So I'll just give an example.
Splitting of words -
#1 ) Vishwam = Va + ee + sh + va + am = Varaha + eKAtma + shadguNa+Varaha+antaH
With these roopas you can explain each roopa , explain their position and explain different permutations and combinations.
Varaha is Yagna roopa, ....
#2) Vishwam = Vi + sh + Vam = Vishnu (Vi is abbreviation for Vishnu) + shadguNa + Veda Vyasa (Vam is beeja mantra for Sri Hari Veda Vyasa roopa. Vam VedaVysaya Namaha, Vam is beeja mantra for amrutha)
Each way you split it gives many meanings for each split.
HariPrasad has with great earnest compiled a wonderful website dedicated to Sri Vishnu Sahasra Nama.  Please visit this site as well, it has a lot of material for learning Sri Vishnu Sahasra Nama.
http://vishnusahasranama.wordpress.com

BharatiRamanaMukhyaPranaAntarGata SriKrishnarpanamastu,
Hrishikesh

Boons

Jai VijayaRaya !
Jai Bedi Anjaneya !
Hare Srinivasa !!!!

People in the debates, have often quoted this warrior had this boon, that boon and therefore he was invincible etc. I'll try to simply the concept of boons.



This is where the concept of Taratamya comes into play. A boon by a lesser deity can be overtaken by a higher deity. Sometimes they take over, sometimes they don't; depending on the situation.

Taratamya
************
*******************
Sri Hari - MahaLaxmi
********************
====================
Brahma - Saraswathi
Vayu Bharati Devi
+++ParaShukla Trayaru+++++
====================
Garuda
Sesha
Rudra
====================
Indra

Now coming to the practical example, if a district court passes a judgement to imprison someone the police have to arrest. The law says so; officers are under law and have to according to it. But if High Court orders his release, inspite of District Court orders, High Court orders will be carried out. No one in the whole state can oppose the decision. But if SUpreme Court decides to dismiss case without any prejudice; then even High Court has to obey.

All orders, same person, different judgements which one is obeyed ?

Now coming back to the boons.

It's not enough if someone has a boon, it's also important to see who has given the boon. If a Police Commisioner wants to inspect a place, you cannot wave a inspectors no entry order. The Commisoner will just override the order.

Similarly crores of rakshasas had boons of immortality from Rudra Devaru, but when Vayu encounters them as Hanuman or Bheema he can overtake them thus proving his superirority over Rudra Devaru.

He overtakes even Brahma Devaru's vara of immortality to rakshasas; because he is the same kaksha [same department]

If this is the case for Vayu; then what needs to be said for the sarva-tantra-swatantra Sri Hari !!! It is a henious sin to think Sri Hari is affected by curses of Rishi's or anyone else.

Out of his mercy for his devotees, Sri Hari "acts" out the curses of his devotees with a much bigger agenda. Ex. Sri Hari enacted Brighu Maharishi's curse and today we a kshetra like Tirumala.

This should also clear up why smaller people should not curser bigger people. What will happen if a Thalisdar issues a transfer order of a District Commisioner ? He will get a dismiss letter back, which he will have to obey.

Just because they can override, does'nt mean the devatas will override every boon. They override whenever necessary; that does'nt mean that they can't everytime.  If they override every boon of lower devatas/rishi's, then people will not respect their sayings. So a balance is maintained and overriding is done whenever essential.

Mahabharata is full of clash of boons, whose boon prevails why? can be explained only through Taratamya and Sri Hari Sankalpa which gives a crystal clear explaination, gives true Gynana and removes all doubt.

The last concept is the scope of boons. Boons are like garuntees; for example, Prahalad's aunt gets a boon from Brahma to be fireproof. When enters the fire with Prahalad, Prahlad is saved, but she is burnt. Brahma Devaru explains that the vara was for her protection and not a destructive use.

Let's say you buy a watch which comes with a garuntee; if you take the watch out and throw the watch down in front of the store counter and demand a replacement because of the guarantee will you get it ? The guarantee is for regular wear and tear and in cases of accidents. Same for insurance claims; if it's delibrate they are void.

Boons are validate and upheld, only if they are inline with Sri Hari sankalpa.

Any Mistakes are solely mine.

Jai Bharateesha,
Hrishikesh

Hari Vayu Stuti

By the grace of Sri Hari Vayu.

I have started a blog for Sri Hari Vayu Stuti

http://harivayustuti.wordpress.com

Five Elements

The 5 elements Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Ether

The base 3 chakras represent earth water and fire.

Let's take an example of plants, it has roots. The roots "ground" the plant, provide support and nutrition. It absorbs its nutrients and water, through the earth elements. Here earth represents the grounding and nutritional aspect.

The nutrition absorbed by the earth element is then absorbed and distributed throughout the plant body by the water element i.e. the capillary system. Water here represents the flow of nutrition and the system of dissemination.

Fire, is the symbol of transformation. The fire element here represents the conversion of the nutrition into fruits, flowers, leaves, thorns, roots etc.

Fire in humans, is the energy that generates blood and flesh and strengthens the body based on the food we eat.

In humans earth represents grounding.

Good Grounding -> Down to earth, at ease at any part of the world, wants to draw energy from the universe, not dependent on others,

Publish Post

provides help to others

Bad Grounding -> head in 9th cloud :) , tries to hang onto others, draws energy from others



Water

Good Water Element -> Free flowing ideas, moves on quickly, channalizes energy and organized

Bad Water Element -> Could mean too much earth element, doesn't move on quickly Or

Could mean too much fire element, burns up energy before has chance to use it

Fire

Good Fire Element ->

1) Extrovert, loud mouthed, wants ppl to notice them, talks a lot, universe rotates around them attitude, always creates a disturbance in surroundings, revengful.
OR
2) Introvert, results producing, strong personality, wants to go in one direction, even if the universe wants to go the other way.

Bad Fire Element -> Indigestion, meek, easily swayed, will give a lot of importance to ppl with good fire element.


All these elements should be in balance. Too much earth in water creates potholes, too much water on earth makes it swampy, too much fire in water will evaporate it, too much fire on earth dry up the earth, too much water will put out fire, too much earth and the fire cannot burn properly.

Each element should be developed and not interfere with the working of the other elements and work in symposium.


If the fire element is too strong and earth and water elements are not fully developed. People will tend to keep their fires burning by taking from other peoples fires i.e. they cannot take nutrition from earth and assimilate it. Ex. Robbers

To be continued ....