Day 92. Realisation -2

Jagad Guru Adi Shankaracharya played the most significant role in the revival of Hinduism in the 8^th century. His efforts, if pondered , will bewilder any thinking individual.

1.First and foremost, being born in the Southern part of the country, he  travelled on foot all over the country- North,East , West and South, not once but, three times. Can we even visualize this feat? At a time when people need a transport for even going half a kilometer, Adi Shankaracharya’s efforts are simply ethereal. In a brief span of 32 years what all he achieved  is another marvel!

2.     His name is associated with almost all major temples in India, a few of them were covered in this blog earlier. I had seen a special segment dedicated to Adi Guru, in the Pasupatinath Temple,Nepal. How he would have gone by foot there defies one’s imagination? Then he had visited Badrinath, Kedarnath, Mukaambika , Dwarka ---the list is endless.

3.     Through such visits, he could bring back the lost glory to Hinduism. 4 Maths he set up in all  4 parts of India—Puri in East, Sringeri in South ,Badri in North, Dwaraka in West - what a visionary!  All these Maths are  working with great glory over the past 12 hundred years—read 1200 years with Guru parampara/ lineage--- and  subsequent Mathathipathis- called Shankaracharyas- have done great contribution to the survival/renaissance  of Hinduism despite the attacks on it for almost 8 centuries during foreign rule!!

4.     Then comes, the writings of Adi Shankaracharya and the Philosophy he puts forth with such conviction and logic that even today few will be able to dispute it…..that is intellect of the highest order. Some 162 works/kritis are attributed to him!!

5.     A brief on Adwaita Sindhanta  re-iterated by him, quoting from Vedo-Upanishads- Bhagavad Gita extensively will be apt. He did not create any new philosophy, but brought to the fore the hidden, forgotten and neglected teachings of Hinduism with such  force/conviction that today, we can hold our head high with Pride among all the religions in the world.

It is a fact that none of the religions have come forward for an open debate on the comparative merits of Hindu teachings- as  the Vedo Upanishad contents are logical and difficult to dispute in an open examination. That is why so many foreign nationals during the 19 and 20^th centuries have recorded their appreciation for the Vedo Upanishads, the most prominent being Max Muller. There are many others. See blog 91 too.

But the issue here is whether the Hindus of today are sufficiently aware of the contributions of Adi Shankaracharya . Should we not make efforts to reach them to each and every Hindu, post haste, is the question?

A massive effort is  currently taking place in Kerala- birth place of Shankaracharya. Soundarya Lahiri is being taught across the state on online mode , under the directions of Sringeri Shankara Math and it is planned to have a joint recital by over 100,000 persons on 19.11.2021 at Thiruvanathapuramand all over the world. 

Similar exercise was done in Karnatake for over a decade and in 2017 our Hon. PM participated in the said function.

Hopefully other states will  also follow, and probably all Hindus will have a national level chanting, say in 2022- when we  will be celebrating our 75 year of independence!

That will be a true  and befitting tribute to Jagadguru Adi Shankaracharya.

Above merits a serious consideration. Don’t  you think?

***ASK NOT WHAT HINDUISM WILL DO FOR YOU,

      BUT WHAT YOU CAN DO FOR HINDUISM***

Be happy. Be safe.

 ॐ तत् सत्

8 AM

Day 91. Realisation 1

***ASK NOT WHAT HINDUISM WILL DO FOR YOU,

                                BUT WHAT YOU CAN DO FOR HINDUISM***

 Perennial relevance of Vedo- Upanishad Teachings-I saw a WhatsApp meassage recently with the following-

‘WHENEVER I GIVE A LECTURE ON QUANTUM PHYSICS, I FEEL AS IF I AM TALKING  ON VEDANTA”. I studied  matter for 35 years ,only to find out that it doesn’t exist! I have been studying something that doe not exist’- exactly what Adi Shankara said long back from the Upanishads-  “ALL THAT YOU SEE DOESN’T EXIST”. (Hans-Peter Duerr)

 Thereafter my research on the said professor took me to the following-

“Matter and energy are the two sides of the same coin; they are not two distinct entities at the subtlest level, opines a great physicist, Hans-Peter Duerr, Emeritus President of the Max Planck Institute in Munich, who succeeded Albert Einstein and Werner Heisenberg. Trying to look at matter at its subtlest level for the last 55 years, Hans-Peter recently realised that there is no matter distinct from energy at that level. That vast omnipotent energy is the universal consciousness (or God) and we humans are but a tiny bit of that consciousness, the individual consciousness.

One need not go in search of God in all temples, churches and mosques, while our own God resides within all of us as universal compassion and friendship. Why not try and develop that God who is attainable to each and everyone of us? One need not even be literate to do that, one has to be educated though, to know that God resides inside each of us. We need to transform ourselves from the manliness of “getting and forgetting to the godliness of giving and forgiving.” One could attain godhood easily by meditation and praanaayaamaa not overnight but by constant practice.. (Prof. BM Hegde, The God within ( The Hindu,9.9 2012

• The import of the above findings by Prof. Duer is that what our Upanishads declared thousands of years ago, and re-iterated by Adi Shankaracharya so emphatically, are now verifiable with scientific temper. 
• Of course this will call for an open mind and will to admit like above.
• Today many are afraid of such an open inquiry, lest it comes out that Hinduism is far ahead of all others in theory and substance. People seem afraid of facing the truth.
• An intelligent/intellectual/open/neutral dialogue- SAMVAD- as Adi Shankaracharya did with his opponents -which led to his coronation as Jagad Guru in the 8 century by the then scholars- is the need of the hour.
• I hope one day an open discussion on comparative merits of current religions will take place like an OLYMYAD ON RELIGION -say under the auspices of UN. 
• Unless such a debate and  a broad consensus on LIVE AND LET LIVE is attempted,  future of the world looks indeed bleak. 
• Hopefully something will happen on those lines. Umid pe kayam hai Duniya.

Be happy. Be safe.

  ॐ तत् सत्

8 45 AM

Day 90. Legacy- 27

Shall  we take a quick reality check ?

1. Why Hindus should be proud of Angar Wat, though not in India? (  blog 88)

2.Which are the 12 Jyotir Lingas? (  blog.87)

3. Why Kailash Nath temple should be projected as one of the wonders of the world? (  blog.75  )

4.What is unique about Bhojeswar Shiva Lingam? (  blog 72)

5. Where is Lord Guruvayurappan Temple located(state)? What is very, very unique to this temple? ( blog71)

6. At the Lingaraj Temple of Bhubhaneswar  Lord Shiva  and Lord Vishnu  are worshipped . True or False?(blog 86)

 Dharmo Rakshati Rakshita- धर्मो रक्षति रक्षित  is an immortal Sanskrit phrase mentioned in Mahabharata and Manusmriti (verse 8.15).It can be loosely translated as“those who protect the Dharma are protected by the Dharma”.

It is highly relevant in a blog dedicated to spiritualism. 

v  How one will become religious? By following the  laid down religious practices will be the simple and brief reply.

v   How that can be developed/followed? One method is through temple worship/visit. 

v  All those rituals look not -cool for  many today. 

v   Why our temples are so Quiet? Take the case of temples per se, most of them are so quiet, you don’t  even think a temple exists there even in villages. Contrast with the past. Each temple plays some beautiful hymns from 5 AM, hearing that villagers get up and start the day. What a wonderful/nostalgic feeling, even thinking about it. Now… loud chanting is not seen, bhajan over loudspeaker is hardly heard.

v  Then how the young Hindu lads will have attractions to their religion? Through, online programmes and chats, religious feeling cannot be nurtured among children. 

Mainly Devi, Vishnu and Shiva temples are included in the list covered in blog 89.Many have a  mistaken belief that  Hindus have many deities/Gods and are idol worshippers .  

I)The following Sloka will dismiss that  fallacy/wrong notion  once for all…

Devi, Vishnu, Shiva aadinam

Ekatvam parichintayed

Bhedakrit Narakam yadi

Rouravam na atra samsayah.( Kular Mantram)

This I had read many, many years back. That helped me to rise above the usual confusion due to many gods and goddess professed in Hindu religion. This Sloka says that there is only one God and if any one tries to talk about different Gods, he /she will land in Hell.

II) Second fallacy is that Hindus are idol worshippers. But many seem not to know the root of Hindu scriptures viz. Ekam Sat Viprah Bahudha Vadanti- stated in Vedo -Upanishads- is emphasized in different blogs earlier. And what is that Ekam Sat—that is Brahman-which is formless. So through focusing on the Idols kept in the temples or depicted on photos, the wandering/restless mind of the devotee is made/restrained to focus on the one truth and with further efforts, he/she reaches the supreme truth- Parama Satyam… AHAM BRAHMASMI.  At least theoretically each Hindu should know this and able to convey to any one.

First, the  Hindu adults should be  firmly aware/convinced of this fact, truth, reality—then children can be taught easily.

• I always wondered on the great similarities in the teachings between Veda-Upanishads and  the Western Religions. Then during this week  I came  across a  detailed video presented by Jeffery Armstrong- titled ANCIENT GREECE AND ROME WERE CIVILIZED BY INDIA (UNDER VEDIC VIDYA SERIES). https://youtu.be/_48of2bcHbM. 
• There is a need for an open debate on religion preferably under the aegis of UN to arrive at religious harmony at least in future.  Hopefully such a debate may happen, Hopefully.

Hence the import of the following …..

Dharmo Rakshati Rakshita- has to be  learned, repeated and remembered- ETERNALLY. 

ASK NOT WHAT HINDUISM WILL DO FOR YOU,

BUT WHAT YOU CAN DO FOR HINDUISM --- 

 should  become the new  mantra.

Be happy. Be safe.

ॐ तत् सत

8 AM

Day 89. Legacy- 26

We have covered thus far  22 temples  here, out  of which I had occasions to visited 13 of them. Mere writing about them has given me immense  thrill, JOY and limitless PRIDE,  considering the great vision, planning, execution and sacrifice of probably millions of people to keep them in tact even today… that thought gave me immense joy…. That I tried to covey through those blogs. Since I have visited  half of them, it added to my joy and satisfaction in recalling.

There are many other temples to cite. The limited purpose here is to indicate the rich religious culture and heritage our ancestors tried to preserve very, very painfully, with much sacrifice and at great  human cost. It is necessary for the new generation to be aware of them and preserve them for posterity.

Parents should help in this endeavor ( None else may do so). Missing that will be costly in the long run.

Temple name	Blog no	Dedicated to-
1. Kashi Viswanath Temple	64	Lord Shiva, Varanasi, UP
2. Rameswaram Temple	65	Lord Shiva.. Tamil Nadu
3 Padmanabha Swami Temple,	66	Lord Vishnu at Thiruvanathapuram, Kerala
4 Somanath Temple	67	Lord Shiva, Gujarat
5 Meenakshi Temple	68	Goddess Parvati, Madurai, TN
6 Sri Krishna Temple	71	Lord Vishnu, Guruvayur, Kerala
7 Bhojeswar Temple	72	Lord Shiva, Near Bhopal, MP
8 Brigadareswara Temple	73	Lord Shiva, TN
9 Dwarakadheesh temple	74	Lord Vishnu/Krishna, Gujarat
10 Kailashnath temple	75	Lord Shiva, Aurangabad, Maharashtra
11 Ranganathananda Swamy  temple	76	Lord Vishnu, TN
12 Virupekesha Temple	77	Lord Shiva, Hampi, Karnataka
13  Jagannath Temple	78	Lord Vishnu/Krishna, Puri, Orissa
14 Chamundeswari Temple	79	Goddess Chamundeswari /Parvati
15 Dakshineswar Temple	80	Goddess Kali/Parvati, Kolkata, WB
16 Venketeswara Temple	81	Lord Vishnu, Tirupati, AP
17 Mathura Sri Krishna Temple	83	Lord Vishnu/Krishna, UP
18 Vithala Temple	84	Lord Vishnu/Krishna, Maharashtra
19 Vaishnodevi Temple	85	Goddess Durga/Parvati, Jammu
20 Lingaraja Temple	86	Lord Shiva and Vishnu, Bhubhaneswar
21 Kedarnath Temple	87	Lord Shiva Uttarakhandand
22 Angkor Wat Temple,                            Cambodia	88	Originally built as Vishnu temple,  later converted to Buddhist Shrine over  centuries.

·         While studying modern subjects, these temple heritage also should be taught to the kids by the parents without fail, then only the culture and traditions will survive.

 Each  Hindu owes that responsibility to the society and his religion.

·          What is your take on this? Do you concur?

Be happy. Be safe.

ॐ तत् सत

8 AM