Nature's way of self-protection!

Had gone upstairs to get my books to go into the garden when my eyes caught a fluorescent, big and beautiful beetle crawling on the dark floor.

As I had left my phone outside on the garden bench, I gently lifted the beetle onto a piece of paper to take it outside to photograph it.

Placing the beetle on the stone table, I found it to be still and lifeless. Poor little insect, I thought! 

Saddened by the sight of the beetle lying still, I started to sketch the garden view when suddenly a buzzing sound distracted me and I caught sight of the beetle coming alive to fly away leaving me to my solitude outside under the shade of the arbour.

How cleverly it had camouflaged itself appearing to be lifeless! 

How wonderful nature is!

My dear father (a botanist by training and a born nature lover ) had told me when I was just a little girl, very many long years ago that every creature from the minutest to the most gargantuan, protects itself in myriads of astonishingly clever ways! Survival at any cost! 

My father had introduced me to the famous Jean-Henri Casimir Fabre  a French naturalist, entomologist and author known for the lively style of his popular books on the lives of insects. We had a book in our home titled :The Insect Man. 

Fabre used to go out into Nature to learn about insects by lying on the forest floor for hours on end. Such was his passion and interest for studying Nature and insects that he was called the insect man! 

The more we learn we realise how much there is to know! 

Today the chance sighting of the 'little big beetle' stirred my mind and took me back in time ! 

It had the power to make me travel into the past, stir memories of my dear father and connected me to Jean-Henri Casimir Fabre who was born nearly 2 centuries ago 21st December 1823.

As my son would say as a little boy :I want to invent a Time travelling machine! 

And yes, we have our own individual, magical, travelling machine - our Mind that more than often takes us on rides! 

Thank you little beetle for making me fly into the past with your beautiful flight out into Nature from the bondage of being trapped inside the house!

Have you also ever wondered?

As a child i saw my maternal grandmother lighting the Pooja Lamp in our Pooja room. Then i saw my paternal grandmother doing the same. Then i saw my dear aunt and mother too following the same daily morning - evening traditions. Then while growing up I took on the role of lighting the lamp being the eldest daughter of our home.

I took great pride in washing the Pooja 'samaan' consisting of small 'vigrahams' of Ganapati, Sri Mahalakshmi, little toddler baby Krishna on his fours, the silver Shaligram and of course the beautiful lamp, Arati lamp, brass bell and agarbatti stand. 

This washing was a weekly ritual after which I would call my dear mother to see the brillantly shining silver, copper and brass Pooja samaan.

Then my mother would take cotton and roll out the wicks to be put into the lamp for lighting.

It is ordained in our Sanatana Samskaras that for auspicious times the lamp wick should always be in pairs never single. 

Single wick is used during times of sorrow after someone passes away. 

The use of two wicks symbolises the harmony and balance of the two forms of existing energies. Perhaps scientifically this explains the stability needed just like the positive proton needs negative electron. 

In our Sanatana Dharmic tradition, Shiva the male energy and Shakti the female energy are powerless without one another.

Shiva and Shakti are integral for one another.

Each day morning and evening the lamp is refilled with sesame oil or ghee and lighted for prayers and meditation. 

Much time has passed but this tradition continues in our homes.Each time i light the Pooja lamp, i connect with my mother,my grandmothersvand their sweet memories. I hear them chanting Shlokams. 

My daughter too follows this same beautiful generational tradition passed down through the ages and i hope that it will continue... 

Now let me not digress from the pivotal point of the title. 

I have noticed that the two wicks despite being being lighted together do not burn at the same rate! 

One remains longer and the other one gets burnt out faster. 

It is not just a one time happening. 

Have observed this happening perennially and  has made me wonder why! 

Each wick has a life of its own and its own individual burnout time. Is this a subtle lesson that the lamp is teaching? 

We all have a life span despite being together! 

This is exactly what i ask myself so many times. 

In the season of autumn I have watched falling leaves. Some fall earlier, some later and yet at the same time there are some leaves that are stuck to the branch refusing to fall despite violent autumnal winds and rain! 

There is a time exclusive for everything in creation. 

But yes they do fall finally reiterating the truth that after we come we have to go! 

Any thoughts??? 

When William became Vilvam......

It just happened recently that I was in the company of my summer holiday childhood  friends in Ooty.

This childhood friend has a lovely house in the sylvan green Ooty Hills.
Her elder sister along with another friend and I travelled by road to her place.
Bharat is such a wonderful land. People are so warm hearted everywhere and as we passed through rural areas we also stopped at eating houses to have tea, coffee accompanied by speciality eats of the region.

Vijayam knowing the place like the back of her hand knew where to stop for such eating breaks.

With my newly found 'freedom' of being in भारत भूमि  I could wag my tongue (not tail) with one and sundry!
At one place I met two young men from Odisha employed in the south in one such tea house.
Out of curiosity I put forward a query as to which city they were coming?
One of them said Bhubaneshvar (भुवनेश्वर in chaste Samskrit). So again I just asked him as to who was Bhvaneshvar after whom this city got this name. The answer I got was so disappointing.
He told me : O no no..... This is not a person but a place.
Yes I replied and then explained that Bhvaneshvar was the name of Surya the Sun with whose energy and light this planet
enlivened.
Then at Ooty we visited the Mysore Maharaja's Fernhill Palace which has been turned into a lucrative place of hospitality.
Our hostess treated us to some fresh fruit juices that were delicious indeed but turned sour by the price I observed she paid.
There the man who was at our service was exceptionally civil and courteous. Knowing my friend by face, he was proposing different snacks to partake. So finally we ordered some hot 'pakodas' of chillies, onion and potatoes.
The platter of freshly hot pakodas arrived. Just to make light conversation, I asked the man his name. And he said Vilvam. Now this name has great significance it is sacred to Hindus for the Vilvam leaves are offered to the Great God Shiva!
Pleasantly surprised, I congratulated the man on his name. He countered my statement and said - No no Madam, it is William.
O I said with innocent candour. He continued with great pride and said he was RC.
My questioning look made him clarify this term RC. I am a Roman Catholic.
This conversion expansionist tirade against Hindus of Bharat has been going on for a very very long time.
It is still being conducted in a war-like fashion. There was a Catholic of Italian decent called Robert de Nobili who came to Goa. He used to wear the clothes worn by sanyasis. He even kept the 'kudumi'. He studied Samskrit, Telugu and Tamil. In order to covert he used inculturation methods. He called the church as Matha kovil. The Bible was Vedam and he even wore the Rudraksha mala.
Such were the tactics employed.

To my mind came the thought of telling this man as to what pit he had fallen due to the weakness of his grandfather.
Conversion causes 'Breaching of the Sacred'. Original devotion, faith and respect of the converted victim is forcibly destroyed. The victim is forced to accept alien thought and philosophy and so becomes an alienated person in the very soil of his birth.
His places of worship are far away and his mind is occupied by thinking that is not akin to his origins.
So I went up to him and told him about the ravages of conversion. It is not a pleasant subject and neither easy to deal.
The West from where conversion continues do this not out of love or compassion. It is for getting followers so as to get numbers and numbers mean power.
In their own lands hardly are people taking to 'religious' life
They 'buy' people into Christianity by giving them money. Such people are increasing by the day and are called Rice Christians.
Was it not Bishop Desmond Tutu who said:When the white man came, we had the land and they had the book.
When he left, we had the book and they our land.
It is this that happens.
Moreover, there is a more sinister game at play. The West produces high grade weapons but at the same time preaches peace. One does wonder as to why this action is in exact antipodal position of the preaching !
Weapons get them money and conversion breaks nations. And then they get the opportunity of re-building war-torn nations with the advantage of greater financial power and better re-building technology.
So it is a win-win situation for them despite being the villains of this perennial on-going drama.
Mr. William nodded his head and heard me out solemnly and seriously.  I do hope he understood what really caused him to become Mr. William whereas he could have remained Shri Vilvam in this beautiful land of Bharatavarsham!
And so beware of these 'do-good' conversion organisations!
Saying this I folded my palms in Namaste and he followed suit in the manner, I do fervently hope, of an awakened Shri Vilvam!

We get what we seek not, we seek what we get not!

This is a touching story based on a real life experience!
I recall once some years ago I was in a taxi in Mumbai with my sister-in-law.

We had bought some stuff and also some vegetables and red tomatoes.
At a crossing, the traffic light was red and so the taxi halted.
Three children came running with open hands begging. As usual my mind had different thoughts to give or not to give.
But the milk of human kindness prevailed and I opened my purse to look for some money to give.
My anxiety that the traffic lights would soon  change to green made me fumble and as I did not find any cash I took out some tomatoes and handed it to the children.
They looked at me with surprise and said they wanted only money.
So a bit irritated I told them that after all they would not be able to eat money.
It was better to get tomatoes.
So they left with the tomatoes.

We had hardly inched a few yards forward in that super- crowded area when again the taxi stopped.
This time two women beggars came with open hands. By this time I had retrieved cash from my purse and so I offered them money.
And what do you think they said? We want tomatoes.
I was amused no end.
Perhaps they were the mothers of those beggar children who got tomatoes from me a little while ago or had seen me giving them tomatoes.

It made me wonder at the eternal human predicament.
  We seek what we get not and get what we seek not!
Life is like this.
Man is ever on a quest...... chasing shadows and never content!

What is in that sad and soulful bird-call that I hear everyday pulling at my heart and soul?

Why does this bird call out so soulfully and to whom?

Everyday when I slide open the glass veranda door I hear the sad soulful call of this bird.

It never comes in view but remains hidden within the branches camouflaged by leaves that have just sprouted on trees and plants.
What is the sorrow of this little bird?

घुघूति....... बासूति.....

आज अनेक वर्ष पर्यन्त मैंने पुनः उसी पक्षी के मार्मिक व करुणा भरे स्वर सुने....... लेकिन एकदम दूसरे वातावरण में......... पश्चिमी भू़खण्ड़ में।
मेघाच्छादित गगन ..... उदास वातावरण जैसे मेरा मन और यकायक इस पक्षी के बोलने ने मन को उड़ाकर जन्मभूमि पहुंचा दिया!
अनेक वर्षों पूर्व जब जीवन में बहार थी और जब हम सपरिवार मालौंज, रानीखेत हमारे पिताजी के पूर्वजों के गांव गए थे तब यही बोली पहाड़ों में देवदार व चीड़ के वृक्षों तले सुनाई दी थी..... परन्तु तब मन पर कुछ और ही प्रभाव पड़ा था।
मुझे याद है कि हम बच्चों ने भी इसी बोली की बहुत जोश के साथ नकल उतारी थी । तब हमारे पिताजी ने इस पक्षी के सम्बन्ध में एक प्रसिद्ध कुमाउनी लोकप्रिय कविता सुनाई थी।

घघूति बासूती,
माम कां छू,
मालकोटी,
के ल्यालो,
दूधभाती,
को खालो .......

और एक और लोक कविता.......

घुघूति बासूती,
भाइ आलो,
मैं सूति,

कहां गए वे दिन........?

बस पक्षी समान उड़ गए.......

जीवन में धूप-छाँव हमेशा ही रहे हैं!
हमारे निजि परिस्थितियों में परिवर्तन आने के कारण जीवन के संगीत में सुर बेसुरे हो जाते हैं - उदासी, अन्धकार व दुःख प्रवेश कर जाते हैं।

काश हम इन बेसुरे स्वरों को सुमधुर स्वरों में परिवर्तित कर पाते........क्या अपनी जीवनधारा में पुनः आनन्दमय श्रुति प्रवाहित कर पाएंगे?

लेकिन ओ री घुघूति..... तू तो अपनी ड़ाल पर से चुपचाप उड़ चली उत्तर दिए ही बिना..........!

SRI RAMA JAYAM.

The great Rishis and Munis of our Bharatavarsham studied Nature.It encompassed holistic observation, meditation and filtration of this knowledge through the ages metamorphosing all this study into wisdom.  The resulting  essence was scientific,logical and well-researched. It was then bequeathed to us and is our Samskriti. We are thus the inheritors of their sacred spiritual contemplation,wisdom, devotion and dedication.
However, through the ages, many other thoughts and beliefs were added on  which were extraneous and unnecessary. But the core structure of our Dharma retains the truth. We cannot and need not question the authority of our Vedas and Puranams. They are fundamental truths. If we follow them we will never falter and go wrong.
About 50-60 years ago we in our Bharatavarsham had never heard of terms such as depression and emotional problems. It was because we had a certain way of life.....of including the spirit that ensured healthy mind and body. We used our mind, emotions and thoughts, body and soul for harmonious living.
Shravanam that was a great way to imbibe wisdom.
Even I remember as a child going to the Asthika Samaj and listening to Katha-Kathakalakshepam by very knowledgeable Pandits who sang, chanted and explained Srimad Bhagavatham, Sri Ramayanam and our Puranams. Elderly men and women used to throng these places to do Shravanam of such sacred Kathas and Pravachanams.
As an aside, all our dance forms too originated from our great epics which form the basis of our Ithihasam.
Kathak, Kathakali, Manipuri, Bharatanatyam,Kuchipudi and Mohiniattam all have spiritual and sacred origins.
And let us remember and never repeat the inappropriate word myth. Ithihasam is history. Myth is imagined and untrue.
Shravanam makes great impact on minds. As we listen our minds carve images on the screen of our inner eyes.

श्री गणेशाय नमः

The Sri Ramayanam.

The main character is Sri Ramachandra who is Maryaada Purushottham.
Every problem encountered in this life has a solution exemplified by the life of Sri Rama.
Buddhi is superior to everything and listening to the right knowledge is most important. We have to learn to deal with emotions in a positive way.
Ramakatha shows us the way to live life. Krishna katha is for listening not for living life.
Guruji first dealt with the topic of Sri Rama Jayam.
After 'Ravana vadham' and conclusion of Rama-Ravana Yuddham was the task of giving this auspicious news to Sri Seeta Devi. The sacred task could have been done by Sri Lakshmana, Sri Anjaneya or Vibheeshana brother of Ravana.
Sri Hanuman ji was chosen due to his intelligence, clarity of Buddhi and word precision ..... he is called 'vaakapatu'one who knows how to converse with logic, correct expression and wisdom.
Sri Hanumanji goes to Sri Seeta Devi and says - SRI RAMA JAYAM and the message is delivered precisely and perfectly.
Now as a child I saw my aunt (Periyamma) making  beautiful 'kolam' in the Pooja medai and then writing Sri Rama Jayam. I was taught the art of kolam by my maternal grandmother and followed the same in our home at Prayag - Allahabad. Have also seen as Sri Guruji pointed out that at the beginning of a letter one always began with the sacred ॐ or Sri Rama Jayam.
These 'sacred rituals' go back into the immemorial history of our sacred nation.
It is believed that to repeatedly say Rama, Rama, Rama will usher in the auspicious and remove all negativities and sorrows. 
Ramanaamam is 'tarakanaam' - janma rakshaka mantram that will deliver us across this ocean of life,give us Moksham.
Shiva tells Parvati Devi that just to chant 3 times Rama is equivalent to taking 1000 names of Vishnu.
श्री राम राम रामेती रमे रामे मनोरमे,
सहस्र नाम तत्तुल्यम् श्री राम नाम वरानने!
So if we can achieve so much just by chanting this name how much more power meditating on Sri Rama will have !
VATSALYA RAMA -
Sri Rama was the son of Kaushalya and was born after 12 months. And so too were Lakshmana, Bharata and Shatrughna. When he was just 11 Vishvamitra Muni took him to destroy the Rakshasas for the purpose of याग संरक्षणम।
Then Sri Rama goes on to break the Shiva Dhanush at the court of Raja Janaka. Janaka Maharaja gladly gives him the hand of Seeta but Sri Rama says he needs his father's consent before accepting Seeta.
Sri Rama was extremely obedient and respectful to his parents. Each day would begin with obeisance to them..... and this reminds me of my Mama whom I never ever saw but who was an ideal son to my grandparents.
Dasharatha Raja built a palace so safe and secure to safeguard the infant Sri Rama in every way.
It is said that Raja Dasharatha had 60,000 wives. It was because Parashurama in rage was killing off Kshathriya kings. In order to escape death every year King Dasharatha would marry one wife in order to avoid death at the hands of Parashuram who refrained from killing a newly married person for one year.
Again this took me to a recent fact where Sri Lankan L.T.T.E. recruits were not asked to go to war if they were married.
Thus granting marriage a sacred and secure state. Perhaps this has something to do with historicity because after all Sri Lanka is where the Rama-Ravana Yuddham took place.

PATIENCE

Sri Rama by character was obedient, kind and patient and most of all with his parents.
He goes on exile for 14 years and when brother Bharat gives him the news of his father's passing and requests him to return as King, he refuses as the sanctioned period was not yet over. He was Kartavyaparayan and would not waive his duty at any cost.

SAHODARATTVAM

Affection for brothers and sisters was beyond everything......
Bharat is the son of Kaikeyi whom she wished to become king after Dasharatha.
During the exile period, Bharat comes to take back Sri Rama to Ayodhya with a  grand retinue of people and soldiers. Lakshman misconstrues and thinks that Bharat wishes to fight Sri Rama and so warns him.However,Sri Rama is so unselfish and affectionate towards Bharat that he declares that if Bharat has that mindset, he would gladly spend the rest of his life in exile.
Sri Rama says that for his brother Bharat he would stay permanently in the Dandakaaranya forest.
He was so proud of his brothers and loved them beyond his very life.
These days people fight for property. And yet what an ideal and model brother Sri Rama was!
Sri Rama knew how to handle people and situations with wisdom and control while showing respect to each and everyone without belittling anyone . he never hurt or harmed anyone and yet warded off harm most wisely.
It was like using the vine called 'raajathaali' that deters snakes without causing harm to anyone.
He used his inborn wisdom.

SAKHYABHAAVAM

At Shringavelpur, Guha a poor tribal welcomes Sri Rama with open arms and tells him to stay with him.
Sri Rama comforts him as a precious friend and shows great love and respect and asks him to ferry him across the river to go into the deep forest.
Very gently he tells him that his staying there would cause worry to the people of Ayodhya as they would keep on visiting him if he stayed on in Shringavelpur.
Later on during his PATTAABHISHEKAM friend Guha is given great importance again demonstrating his innate 'saakhyabhaavam'.
His friendship for Sugreeva also demonstrates his sincerity.
Sri Rama promises Sugreeva that he would get back his wife for him and takes an oath in front of Agni. He indeed kept his word.
Sri Ramachandra Bhagavan has been 'maligned and accused' unfairly for certain actions he took during his life time.
The incident of Vali-vadha is when Sri Rama shoots and kills Vali by hiding behind a tree. Sri Rama has been much maligned for this killing by people who do not know the context.
The dying Vali asks Sri Rama to explain his actions. He wonders as to the reason. Did he lose his mind because of his separation from Seeta?
There are many reasons.
Firstly, Vali had kidnapped Sugreeva's wife which was Adharmic.
Sri Rama goes on to explain that as a Kshathriya King he had the right to hunt animals. This right entailed him to hide. So it was fair.
In addition, there was a boon given to Vali. This boon empowered Vale to get 50% of the strength of the rival fighting against him. So Sri Rama had to hide from being seen by Vali to prevent this loss of strength.
The dying Vali agrees in the end and tells Sri Rama that he is Dharmavaan and Neethivaan and that he had questioned him as he wished to hear these truth from Sri Rama himself.

SEETARAMAN (SRIRAMA of SEETA)

The pure and sacred love Sri Rama had for Seeta is undeniably exclusive and exemplary.
In the Kamba Ramayanam, Sri Rama's love for Seeta is shown to be so great that  people started gossiping, ridiculing and questioning as to whether Sri Rama had gone to Vashishtha Muni's ashram to study the Vedas or to learn how to maintain a wife!
Sri Rama was a man of one word,one determination and one action, never ever wavering.
His inner and outer radiance and beauty were beyond description. His love and affection for Seeta was so great that he indulged her beyond everything. His love for her was beyond self and ego.
Once in a small ego clash he lost and Seeta won. But he tells her that losing to her is his joy, his comfort. He had so much love for her!

AGNIPRAVESHAM

Sri Rama tells Seeta after he brings her back from Sri Lanka that he feels strange to look at her after she has lived in someone else's house.
The people of Ayodhya too look at Seeta with suspicion.
But he being an ideal husband knowing her to be a Pativrata realises his Dharma to protect her Maryaada.
So he says - When 'painful' eyes look at a flame it hurts....... And by saying so he turns the people against himself as he faults his own vision.
All the people now side with the innocent Seeta.
Thus Sri Rama protects Seeta's impeccable reputation which was known to all.
So again Sri Rama puts himself second and takes the blame on himself.
Thus the Srimad Ramayanam is like the sun lighting our lives through every situation...... with Sri Rama at the core.

We are alive today.....and in comparison to so many we are more than fortunate.
My advice to you all is -
Live life as it comes to you.
Everything happens for good.
Sri Rama's charitram teaches us this.
See Bhagavan in everything, live like Sri Rama.
Accept, face life.

Rama, Rama, Rama, Rama, Rama, Rama, Rama,
Rama, Rama, Rama-Seeta, Rama, Rama, Rama !

EESVARORAKSHA, SARVAMEVASHUBHAAYA !

This was Sri Guruji Gopalvallidasar's Upanyasam on Sri Ramachandra Charitram.
Sri Gurubhyo Namaha!
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