Thursday 24 October 2013

Names of Arjuna



If we have to benefit from the Bhagavad Gita, we have to ‘become’ Arjuna.  To ‘become’ Arjuna is to have the noble qualities that Arjuna had.  Then we will be ‘tuned’ to Sri Krishna and we would feel that Gita is directly talking to us.  
In the Bhagavad Gita, Arjuna has been addressed by Sri Krishna with different names.  Each name has a beautiful meaning and it is apt and appropriate for the situation.  Some of these names are mentioned below.   Each name serves to remind us about the qualities that are required to ‘become’ Arjuna and be a winner in life.

  1. Arjuna
    1. Rju means Straightforward.  Arjuna was honest & straightforward. He did not pretend. There was integrity in thought, word and deed. 
    2. Arjuna also means ‘fair colored one.’  Arjuna was fair and just.

  1. Dhananjaya
    1. One who has won and acquired wealth. 
    2. Dhananjaya is one of the names of fire also. 
      Arjuna was bright & brilliant like fire.  He was not dull as charcoal
      Fire always moves upwards. Arjuna always looked-ahead in life, to evolve. (Sadhak)
    3. One who has the wealth of virtues and values

  1. Gudakesha
    1. Gudaka means Senses, Sleep & Shiva
    2. Gudakesha - Master of sleep. 
    3. One who had controlled the senses.(Samyam)
    4. One who worships Lord Shiva.   (Bhakti)
      Arjuna worshipped Lord Shiva to obtain the Pashupata-Missile
    5. Guda – beautiful. Kesha – hair.  One who has beautiful curled up hair


  1. Paartha
    1. The son of Prthaa (Another name of Kunti.)
    2. Mother earth is called prthaa.  The son of Mother Earth is ‘Paartha’  All living beings on earth, including each of us can be called Paartha
    3. Paa – protector.  Artha – to desire.  One whose goal is the Supreme Protector.  Arjuna was a  Mumukshu.

  1. Kaunteya
    1. The Son of Kunti
    2. One who has very fine hair(kuntala)
    3. Kunt means - sharp & single-pointed.  Arjuna’s intellect was sharp.He was a viveki.  He was extremely single-pointed and focused in life on his priorities.


  1. Bhaarat
    1. Born in the dynasty of King Bharat.
    2. Bhaa – Effulgence, brilliance.  Rata – To revel.
      One who revels in Excellence, Knowledge & Brilliance

  1. Parantapa
    1. Paran – Enemies.  Tapa – scorch.  Scorcher of foes/enemies.  Arjuna was the best Archerer of his times.  Single handedly had defeated Kaurava Army in Ajnatvasa.
    2. Param – Supreme  Tapas – Austerity.  One whose austerity(Tapas) is supreme.
    3. Paran – Others(duality).  One who burns duality into ashes to realize the Non-Dual Truth.

  1. Savyasachin
    1. One who is adept in using the bow with both the hands

  1. Anagha
    1. Agha – Sin.  Anagha - One who has no sins, is pure and sinless.  Arjuna was simple and pure-hearted.


  1. Gatasandeh
    1. One whose doubts have vanished and whose delusion is destroyed. 
      Through ‘Reflection’(Mananam) on Truth, one’s doubts are removed.

Facing Challenges - Part 2

In the previous blog we saw that Dhritarashtra acted out of tamas. He did not perform his duty and this made him helpless, regretful and he was guilty.  Duryodhana acted out of rajas. He had fear but did not want to show. He put on a false-mask of bravery and behaved arrogantly.  This caused stress, anxiety and fear to him.  Now let us see how Arjuna faced the same challenge.
Arujna

a.     Arjuna was confident at the beginning of the war and with authority he said to Sri Krishna – “Place the chariot between the two armies. I want to see who have assembled to fight against me.”  His faith in his own strength was evident.  He had been preparing himself thoroughly for this day to avenge the insult. 
b.     Yet, when Sri Krishna placed the chariot between the two armies, Arjuna’s Vision was clouded by his emotions and attachment to the relatives.  He forgot that the war was not personal.  It was a war to protect Dharma.  He was a kshatriya and it was his duty to protect Dharma.  Instead of performing duties his focus shifted to external factors like –the result of the war, enjoyment after the war,  what will society think etc.  Very often when we face situations we lose objectivity and take it personally.  Our ego gets hurt or we feel insecure and our mind starts assuming and imagining negatively. 
c.     Ego(i) and Ego-centric desires(my) made a mighty invincible soldier into a helpless & weak victim of circumstances.  As a result he did not want to fight and he thought it is better to withdraw.    We find that influenced by Tamoguna and rajoguna Arjuna felt helplessness and stress. 
d.     Arjuna gives many reasons for not fighting the war. Justifies it from all standpoints – external, physical, emotional, social and spiritual.  Finally he throws away the bow and arrows and is at the feet of Sri Krishna completely dejected and depressed with tears in his eyes.  Rajoguna always makes us justify our behavior and tamoguna wants us to escape from the situation. 
e.     The Intellect gets clouded by attachments of the mind and this incapacitates him physically. 
f.      Thus, Arjuna also was influenced by Rajo-guna but finally due to Sattva guna he could surrender to Sri Krishna and ask for guidance.  Sattva is true strength.  Hence we must cultivate as much Sattva as we can.  Sattva alone can take us higher in our evolution.  Sri Krishna says – Nityasattvasthah bhava arjuna.  
g.     Etymologically Arjuna means – Straightforward.  Unlike Duryodhana, Arjuna did not hide his feelings and confusion.  He was straightforward.  When he was overwhelmed and he felt like crying, he did.  A seeker can progress only when there is straightforwardness.  Hiding, putting up a false mask, resistance etc. are obstacles. 
To summarise, if we have the following qualities then we can face life as situations and not allow them to become problems and crisis: 
a.     Face the Challenge. Don’t try to avoid or escape.
b.     Be focused on duties and swadharma.
c.     Cultivate Inner Strength – Clarity in Thinking & Purity in Feeling
d.     Be Straightforward
e.     Invoke more and more of Sattva-Guna
f.      Surrender to the Higher

All the three – Dhritarashtra, Duryodhana and Arjuna are facing the same situation.  All of them are deluded by attachment.  Each one seeks a refuge.  Dhritarashtra goes to Sanjaya. Duryodhana to Dronacharya and Arjuna to Sri Krishna.  Yet Arjuna alone could get over the attachment and delusion because he had the above qualities. 

Let us invoke the Arjuna in us, be straightforward and surrender.  Sri Krishna shall surely guide us all out of delusion.  Jai Sri Krishna!  Jai Gurudev! 

Facing Challenges – Part 1



To a devotee who would continuously crib and complain, Poojya Gurudev Swami Chinmayanandaji roared – “There are no problems in life!  Stop crying and complaining.”  The devotee was puzzled.  After a pause Gurudev whispered – “There are no problems in life! Only situations.”

Life only brings situations to us.  Our mind interprets it as a problem, challenge or crisis.  For a strong mind even the toughest of challenges is merely a situation. For a weak mind even the simplest of situations is a mighty crisis.  Given the same situation different people respond to it according to the texture of their mind.

The first chapter of Srimad Bhagavad Geeta beautifully demonstrates the human response to any challenge and establishes the need for clarity and strength in life.  Dhritarashtra, Duryodhana and Arjuna are faced with the same situation – the fratricidal war.  Let us see the response of each one of them

  1. Dhritarashtra
    1. Being the king, it was his duty to give atleast some share(if not the entire kingdom) of the Kingdom to the Pandavas.  But his vision was blinded by the attachment to his son.  He did not exercise the powers that he had as a king.  As a result, though he could have prevented the war, he did not.  This made him helpless.  He asks Sanjaya helplessly – ‘What did my children and Pandu’s children do, having assembled in the holy Kurukshetra?’
    2. In life, when we don’t perform our duties and allow our mind to enslave us we become helpless.  Alas! We regret after the damage is done.  We continuously suffer from guilt after that. 
    3. Thus, Dhritarashtra acted out of Tamas.  When we meet any challenge with Tamas in mind we never take a decision which needs to be taken.  Laziness, indulgence, procrastination and inalertness are the qualities of a tamasic mind. 
    4. Etymologically Dhritarashtra means – ‘Dhritam rashtram yena saha.’  Symbolically it means, one who holds-on to what does not belong to him.  Let us introspect – what is that which we are holding on to, we are attached to, which prevents us from doing our duty and clouds our thinking.  What is that on which my happiness and security depends? Without which I feel incomplete and insecure.  This world is created by the Lord and nothing here belongs to us including our body. Yet we are blinded by attachment and we hold on to the body, to the people to things and to situations. 
    5. If we live a life of attachments and don’t act objectively - guilt, regret and helplessness shall be our lot in life. 

  1. Duryodhana
    1. Duryodhana was blinded by greed and inferiority.  He was thirsty for power and at the same time did not want Pandavas to have any power.  He always wanted to prove that he was superior and stronger.  Due to jealousy, he made several attempts on the lives of the Pandavas – Poisoned Bhima, attempted setting fire to the wax-house, attacked the pandavas in the year of incognito etc. 
    2. Since he was on the side of Adharma(unrighteousness), he was feeling scared and there was fear in his mind.  But due to false pride, he not only did not want to show his fear but he also acted arrogantly when he went to Dronacharya and taunted his own teacher.  Inferiority and fear was inside but outside he was putting up a show of strength.  This disintegration caused a lot of stress, worry and anxiety in Duryodhana. 
    3. Etymologically Duryodhana means – Invincible in war & Unconquerable.  Sadly, though he was supposed to be strong and invincible, though he had a much bigger army(11 akshauhini) than pandavas(7 akshauhini), still he felt that his army is insufficient and incapable of winning over the pandava army.  Adharma robs away inner strength and makes us feel inadequate to face challenges of life. 
    4. Thus, Duryodhana acted under the influence of Rajas. 
    5. When our mind is filled with Rajas and greed takes over the mind, we will do adharma.  That will lead to fear.  Trying to hide the true feelings inside and putting-up a false mask causes disintegration.  Stress, worry and anxiety is a natural outcome of these. 
    6. If we live a life of disintegration & adharma – stress, fear, anxiety, insecurity and worry will be our experience. 


How Arjuna responds to the same situation we shall see in the next blog

Wednesday 23 October 2013

SHE is God!



India is a feminine country. …A country whose very identity is in womanliness! The word “India” alone may not always strike a chord in every heart. But, every Indian’s heart swells with pride and love and gratitude and devotion by the very mention of the words “Mother India”. Her motherliness makes her so dear to all of us! India, as a country and a culture, is a great, grand celebration of womanhood, and so are the lives of the women of this great land.
Many a historian will tell us the glory of the highly commendable contribution of women towards the civilization and the people.
She is not just the hand that has rocked the cradle of phenomenal men like Rama, Krishna, Vivekananda, Shivaji, Gandhi and Kalam, but also the catalytic force behind many significant spiritual and cultural leaps in the life of this country.
The Rig Veda, the earliest literature in the world, contains as many as twenty-seven hymn composed by women-seers found in Sarvaanukramanikaa. 
The knowledge and understanding of these women have very often been so empowering that contemplation on their experiences alone has proved to be a highly uplifting experience for many seekers.
In fact, in the later age, teaching by woman scholars became very common and many sages and seekers of those times are known to have great women-Gurus.
In fact, in the Vedic age, we have evidence that women shared in the intellectual interests of the day, as is exemplified by Yajnavalkya’s two wives, one of whom was deeply interested in his philosophical discussions.
Women in the Vedic times had exactly the same privileges about Vedic initiation and Vedic studies as men. Women in Vedic India, as those in Homeric Greece, were actively cooperating men in their work by manufacturing bows, arrows and cloth and participating in agriculture. Women in the Vedic age were useful and wealth-producing members of the society; their cooperation was valuable in securing prosperity in peace and victory in war. Dance, music, poetry and the arts were developed extensively by the women of this age,  and they excelled in many performing and literary art forms. Except actual warfare and political administration, which in those days required physical strength, women were equal contributors in all fields of work. Since women were following all outdoor professions as well, there was naturally no purdah in the society. Women were given utmost freedom to the extent that some of the hymns contributed by them, which have even found place in the Vedic canons, have been frank and honest expressions of womanly passion and desire. Women also had the rights of inheritance, financial rights and all legal rights in their favour. 
We are told in the Atharva Samhita that “by Vedic studentship a girl wins a young husband.”  This shows that high education was regarded as a necessary accomplishment for being well placed in life.  Even in the later Vedic age we hear of two classes of educated women: 1. Sadyodwaahaas, who pursued their studies till their marriage and 2. Brahmavaadiniis, who did not marry and pursued their studies throughout life.   
Women were also keen to make their contribution to the literary and religious life. They did not lag behind men in anything. Women performed Vedic sacrifices and participated in philosophical discussions. In fact many women were regarded as rishis or seers, i.e., composers of hymns, and some of the hymns in the Rig Samhita are also attributed to women. It is interesting to note in this connection that the list of great Vedic teachers to whom tribute of respect had to be paid at the time of Brahmayajna, includes the names of some ladies viz. Gaargii, Vaachaknavii, Vadavaa Praathitheyii, Sulabhaa Maitreyi.

The Devi Sukta which forms the basis of the devotion of the devotees of the Mother Goddess is said to have been composed by the woman seer Vach in a highly exalted state, whose lofty inspiration has, thus, given it a high place in the history of Indian thought.
Lopamudra, Apala, Vishwavara, Sikata, Nivavari and Ghosha are some of the other famous women whose names have been preserved in Vedic literature.
These women stand as equal partners with men in gifting to the world the great Vedic revelations, which form the very basis of the philosophical and cultural thought of the country.
These facts indeed have great value by way of showing how far the Indian culture had marched forward in its progressive career since the primitive days.  It may be stated without any hesitation that the general position and status of Indian women in the Vedic age was much higher than in any other ancient society that we know of, those Greece and Rome not excluded. 

If the women in the Vedas and Upanishads studied complex metaphysical principles, contemplated on the Highest Truth and revealed supreme theories of life to the world, women in the great epics of India personified the ideal and practical implications of these revelations.
As Sita, she exemplified devotion and chastity. As Radha, she epitomized love and determination. As Shabari, she became the goddess of patience and surrender. As Yashoda, she showed the largeness of a Mother’s heart. As Draupadi, she became the embodiment of courage and sensibility.
The Ramayana, the Mahabharata and the Bhagvadam are resplendent with a galaxy of great women of strength, substance and sense. Whether it was Tara and Mandodari or the simple Gopis of Brindavan…volumes and volumes can be learnt from the mere depth of maturity and wisdom out of which these great women of India lived and thought.

Here, we are not even elaborating the immense contribution of that these women have towards the lives of the great men of their age as their mothers, wives, sisters and even as friends. That immeasurable contribution set apart, on their own rights alone, these women have practiced a graceful balance of emotions and practicality, pleasure and spirituality, love and knowledge.
These are no insignificant contributions. Even today, the stories of these people are narrated as part of the cultural education of our children in many homes of India. The entire social fabric of India is intact only because of the values and principles lived and taught by the men and women of these times.
From 600 AD to 1800 AD the Pauranika religion prescribing a number of vratas(religious rites) and shanties(palliative rites) rose in ascendancy during this period. It is pleasing to note that women were regarded as fully qualified for it.  As a matter of fact, the new vratas that became popular at this time were more common among women who were its real custodians.  Classical Sanskrit in which Puranas and Smritis were written, ceased to be intelligible by 1000 AD. Vernaculars gradually rose into prominence and the epics and puranas, translated into them used to be expounded every morning in the village temples from 1500AD. The audience was overwhelmingly that of women.  Women thus became the real custodians of the religion which had pronounced them to be outcastes as far as Vedic privileges were concerned.  The Bhakti(Devotion) school became very popular by 1500 AD and women became its ardent admirers and followers.  Owing to the absence of higher intellectual training, women became remarkably credulous by temperament.  Among the saints of the new Bhakti Marga several women occupy a high position: Mirabai of Rajputana and Janabai of Maharashtra will long continue to cast a charm on us by their songs of intense devotion.   
In Modern times, to streamline the flow of this knowledge in the right direction, our great land has been blessed with women saints and scholars like Anusuya, Lilavati, Kshanavati, Tilakavati, Andal, Hemalata, Sharada Devi, Maa Amritanandamayee and many more. These women saints and scholars have from time to time contributed immensely in bringing a fresh feel to the entire culture and reviving it to a new glory altogether. Such great work has been initiated and taken forward by these women-saints, who are today regarded as some of the significant cultural leaders of their regions and the country as whole.
Had it not been for their contribution, their love and compassion, perhaps we would be witnesses to a different face of our culture today.
Vedanta is the great science, which talks about the Oneness of all beings irrespective of all gender and sex differences. This supreme science of life clearly states that both the man and the women are essentially the same life-force, which may be called God. They may appear different at physical and emotional levels, but spiritually there is no difference at all.
From the stand point of Vedanta, a woman too is essentially the same God-principle as a man. Vedanta proudly declares that SHE is God. This is supreme equality.
How rightly is it said,
“Yatra Pujyate Naari, Tatra Ramate Devata”
Where women are worshipped, there dwells God.
Indeed, if womanhood is not given its due respect, all goodness and Godliness will be extinct.

What is the surprise then that India is the land where women are worshipped as Goddesses?