Finding Nemo

The following work is my own. this is my attempt at understanding self and one's identity! अस्तित्व की खोज में निकला था मैं, अस्तित्व ही खो कर आ गया मैं। सुना, देखा पर पाया नहीं, उसे तो कोई समझा ही नहीं।                वन में वृक्ष का अस्तित्व,                वृक्ष में पत्तों का अस्तित्व,                क्या पाया है कोई?                समझ पाया है कोई? सागर में जल का अस्तित्व, जल में बूँद का अस्तित्व, प्रेम में प्रेमियों का अस्तित्व, क्या समझा है कोई?                 अस्तित्व तो समर्पण है,                 अस्तित्व तो रचना है,                 अस्तित्व तो प्रेम है, ना ईर्ष्या है,                 देखा, पाया और समझा बस इतना ही। 

The book of Exodus tells the story of the Promised Land – the land promised to Abraham by God. God promised Abraham and later his descendants a land full of milk, honey and bread for them and all of their followers. This is a very well-known story and am sure many of us must have heard it as well. One must note that there is only one Promised Land where a person gets all that he wants or rather promised by God, provided he fulfils all the duties and complies by the rules laid out for him. In the Hindu way of thinking, we have not one but 3 promised lands – Swarga, Kailasha and Vaikuntha. Let’s examine and understand! Swarga or Heaven Swarga or the pinnacle of all human wants is ruled by Indra. Full of all riches and dancing damsels, it is the dream of all humans. Asuras fight all their life gain control of the Swarga. Indra is the protector of Swarga and keeps both Asuras and Humans away. There are three main things which make the swarga – Kamadhenu (an all-giving cow), Kalpavriks...

Arjuna asked Sri Krishna – “O Janardana, O Kesava, why do you urge me to engage in this ghastly warfare, if you think that intelligence is better than furtive work?” – Why should I engage in fighting with the people I I grew up up with? Why should I fight the teacher, who taught me the art of war? Why should I kill the cousins that I played with? Why should I kill so many innocents who have nothing to do with me or Duryodhana? Why should I fight with my elders, who always taught me the way to lead my life?” I ask the same question – When Shiva closes his eyes to the Maya and realizes that the Maya is the cause of grief, why should we go on the path of Maya? Sri Krishna answered Arjuna – “Partha, the prakriti or the nature is supposed to recreate itself. Its nature is to procreate and move on continuously. This is the way Brahma created the universe. This is the way I engage with the world.” For the cycle of nature to keep moving, we all need to play our part and keep performing...

Pravritti –personality –behavioral traits – is often considered as someone’s nature. This explains how a person reacts to a situation. The key in this scenarios is the external stimulus. Nivritti on the other hand defines abstinence or denial of acts that have no meaning. All acts in Nivritti state comes from the internal stimulus. The hindu scriptures have very well laid out the two paths of life as Pravritti and Nivritti and have as usual left it to us to decide the way. External stimuli or the desire is abundant all around us. The more you satisfy it, the more it grows. Knowing the purpose of your actions will help performing the actions better. This is where we can combine the external and internal stimuli. Vishnu on one hand, indulges himself with the creation and helps the worldly creatures to lead their life meaningfully. In his acts, not only he desires he also plays along with the humans. Shiva on the other hand, meditates and turns his back on Brahma’s creation k...

Long time since my last post. Actually I have been reading less these days and watching more television. I have been looking at the news channels too sometimes and watched how the media has been covering the so called crime stories. More or less every time a crime is reported, the reporters use the word “animal like behavior” to depict the criminals acts. Along with the same, the media is full of developmental stories displaying the progress the mankind is making today. The question is what progress have we made? What instinct have we understood and how have we conquered? As the story of the Hindu Trinity goes, Brahma had multiple sons who were born of his thoughts. Each of the son was born with a purpose. Narada, Sanaatan Kumars were amongst the glorious ones. And also was Daksa Prajapati. Many would remember Daksha as the arrogant father who did not relent to acknowledge the love of her daughter Sati. Due to which, Sati had to jump into fire causing Shiva to take the Rudr...