Body & Soul

How many of you see your face & body in the mirror?
How many of you have sometimes closed your eyes & tried to be peaceful?

Now what is the link between the above two questions? When you see your body in the mirror, you are seeing & relating yourself to this body of flesh & bones. When you try to close your eyes & try to be peaceful, you are trying not to link yourself to this body but to something inward inside you where you can find peace. What is that inward thing that you are trying to find where you find yourself to be more peaceful? Yes, It's your Soul. In Soul, there is peace & you are trying to delve into that only in times of closing your eyes or in meditation.

I am remembering an old English song whose two lines are here;

"Faces.......all around different faces I see,
Some are happy, some in misery.............."

On this earth there are more than 7 billion people & each one is having a unique face. In fact God has created a vast variety of human bodies (to create illusion) & it seems that these all people are different only. But if we see closely then we shall find that all the bodies are made of similar nature elements & at Soul level all these are same only. Variety of bodies is external only but on deep analysis it is not so & are the same consequence of few nature elements. As per Bhagwat Gita, at soul level all these people are one only as one all pervasive soul pervades through all these bodies.

"Sri Krishna said:
There is nothing else besides Me,
Like clusters of Yarn-Beeds,
Formed by knots on a thread,
All this world is threaded on Me (universal soul)."
(Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Seven verse 7)

So a person should not consider himself/herself limited to this body of flesh & bones but should consider himself/herself to be that universal soul only. In fact a person's soul is infinite, omnipresent and is diffused everywhere throughout the space. A person's soul is as much same in London or New York as in Bombay, although it can only apprehend and feel and act where the body is. As the soul is subtle so it is not the object of physical perception.

Human body is made of Eight constituents of material nature. These elements are Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence and false ego. At death when the body perishes it is dissolved in these elements only but the soul which is indestructible survives. So it's up to you, if you perceive yourself to be a body then one day you shall die but if you consider yourself to be indestructible, infinite, omnipresent universal soul, then there is no death for you & you are immortal.

Radhe....Radhe....Radhe....Radhe....

Radhe.... Radhe....Radhe.... Radhe....is a beautiful chant sung in the praise of Goddess Radha Rani, the true devotee of Lord Krishna. In this devotional video the singer "Sh. Vinod Aggawal Ji" & "Sh. Balram Krishan Ji" are showing their divine love to Sri Radha Rani .

Sri Radha Rani is the greatest devotee of Lord Shri Krishna. It is said that Sri Radha is herself the "Devotional energy" of Lord Shri Krishna who is the Lord of the universe. Her name always comes before the name of Lord Krishna that is why God's one name is "Radha Krishna" also. Just take out only one "R" from "Radha Krishna" & it becomes just "half Krishna" & that is the power of the name "Radha".

"Shyama" is another name of Shri Radha.

"Meri bhav badha haro, Radha nagari soey,
Ja tan ki jhaien parat, Shyam Harit duti hoey."

Hey, Goddess Shri Radha, You take care of my life of all troubles, Who's body shadow is enough to make Lord Krishna happy.

Love Krishna, Adore Krishna

In "Bhagwat Gita" Lord Krishna is saying to Arjuna:

Be aware of me always,
adore me, make every
act an offering to me,
and you shall come to me;
this I (Krishna) promise,
for you are dear to me.

(Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Eighteen verse 65)

Abandon all supports and
look to me for protection.
I shall purify you from the
sins of the past; do not grieve.

(Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Eighteen verse 66)

Lord Krishna is assuring Arjuna in Bhagwat Gita that He shall always be with him in all circumstances if he is always in devotion to Him. Same thing applies to every human being also. If a person remains devoted to Lord Krishna then Lord promises that He shall deliver that person of all the sins of the past & purify that person. By doing such loving service to the Lord, certainly that person shall be in the eyes of God always & God shall always protect that person.

So let's be devoted to Lord Krishna always. Let's sing His Glories, read literature regarding Him & also do loving service to humanity (charity etc.) in His name. Jai Sri Krishna.

Attain Krishna

Irrespective of all religions, people do have faith in God. Some call Him by the name of Rama, Krishna while others call Him Allah, God, Jesus etc. Faith in God make people have confidence in a supernatural power whom they call their protector. He is the divine force who manages this whole world on a macro scale. In Hindu philosophy it is the ultimate goal of a person to attain God. For that ascetics do penances & devotees perform rituals in the name of God so that they can come closer to God & finally attain Him.

To attain God the easiest way is to have love & devotion to Lord Krishna. Meaning of the name of Krishna is the one who attracts a soul easily & puts him/her in His devotion. Krishna is all attractive, that's why He attracts the soul of a person. Below is the translation of Mira Bai's devotional song 'Payoji Maine Shyaam Rattan Dhan Paayo...' which shows her love & devotion for Krishna.

Mira Bai says,

"Krishna, the precious
I have attained,
Now I am free of the
birth & death cycle,
Worldly pursuits,
do not exist for me
O, Krishna, the precious
I have attained,

No expenses have I
Nor fear of looting
With Krishna's Name
on my lips
Krishna, the precious
I have attained.

By following the
boat of truth,
Krishna has
accepted me
In infinite Grace
Krishna, the precious
I have attained.

Giridhar Nagar,
Beloved of Mira Bai
Let's all sing His Glory
Krishna, the precious
I have attained.

Trust in God

Trusting in God will not make the mountain smaller, but will make climbing easier.

Do not ask Him for a lighter load, ask for stronger back.

Moon Of My Heart

This article is dedicated to Lord of Supreme Love, Sri Krishna.

"Sweet Heart" is a word used for someone who is really very sweet & close to your heart. Any person who is so dear & so close to your heart is called "Sweet Heart". In poetry many times a lover is compared to the Moon. Of course, in the full dark night, Moon looks so beautiful & pleasing to the eyes that it has been compared to one's Sweet Heart, one's lover.

Though God is almighty, all powerful & everyone prays to Him but there is a cult of devotion in which a person falls in Love with the God & there is a burning desire in that person's mind to meet the God. Gopis of Vrindavan, including Radha were of that cult only who fell in Love with the God, Lord Krishna. Meerabai in recent times also considered Lord Krishna like that only. Here below described is the state of mind of a person (Gopi) who has fallen in love with God. This is the state of the highest devotion to God in which a person always yearns to meet the God.

Gopis & Radha's love for Lord Krishna is so strong that in His absence their mind always yearns for Him. In such pangs of separation one Gopi is thinking in her mind about Krishna & saying:

"O Lord, You are my life. I am sweet to You & so is my Lord sweet to me. O Krishna, You are the only one close to my heart. Whom else I need to seek for besides you. Whenever you come into my heart my heart rejoices. You are the Moon of the inner space of my heart. You are always on my mind.

O Krishna! You are Lord of my life. You always remain so in my life. O Lord, don't keep me out of your mind. O Lord, pl. don't forget me.

O Lord, dust of your feet is so pure that if I put it in my eyes, then my vision becomes divine & I can see anything. I want only that your image remains always in my eyes as I do not want to see anyone else besides You.

O Lord, when shall you come to meet me? Hey Krishna, My heart is parching like a desert which is waiting for the drops of rain to come onto it. On the inner space of my heart You never came & burst like a cloud. So many years have gone by but you never came to fulfill my desire to meet you.

O Krishna! My heart is crying for you, pl. do come. My soul is crying for you, pl. do come. O God, there is burning desire in my heart to meet you, pl. do come. Now pangs of separation are unbearable. Now even if I die Krishna but even after death, my desire to meet you shall not die, as all my such desires are indestructible like You only. It shall live on forever till You meet me.

O Lord, I am yours & You are mine, then how come You are not coming to meet me!!! Pl. do come, pl. do come."

Basically God is our own Soul only & lives within our own heart. So when a person turns towards God, then he/she is actually turning towards his own self only. More & more one turns inward & becomes spiritual, he/she actually yearns for God more & more. He/She actually becomes like that "Gopi" only who always yearns to meet the God.

Previous Births of Lord Krishna

This article is about "Ten Avatars of Lord Vishnu" or "Previous Births of Lord Krishna".

In Hindu mythology God is depicted as Trinity, i.e. Brahma - The Creator, Vishnu - The Preservator & Mahesh or Shiva - The Destroyer. God in the form of Brahma does creation at the start of this world, God in the form of Vishnu does preservation or maintenance of this world, while Shiva finally annihilates this whole world at the end. So in this aspect while Lord Vishnu is responsible for the preservation or maintenance of this world, so He comes on this earth from His celestial abode (Vaikuntha) from time to time for the establishment of Dharma (righteousness). In such a role He puts law & order in it's place on earth & kills the evil elements in the society. So such a coming on this earth of Lord Vishnu is called descending of an Avatar of Lord Vishnu.

Avatar or Avatara (अवतार, Avatāra), is incarnation of God on earth. It literally means descent (avatarati) and usually implies a deliberate descent from higher spiritual realms to lower realms of existence for special purposes. Lord Sri Krishna was one of those Avatars of Lord Vishnu. In the past there had been so many Avatars of Lord Vishnu. In Lord Sri Krishna's case you can call these as His previous births but with a special purpose to establish Dharma (righteousness) on this earth. Below are verses from Bhagwat Gita which explain that only:

"yada yada hi dharmasya
glanir bhavati bharata
abhyutthanam adharmasya
tadatmanam srjamy aham" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Four verse 7)

"paritranaya sadhunam
vinasaya cha duskritam
dharma-samsthapanarthaya
sambhavami yuge yuge" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Four verse 8)

"Sri Krishna said to Arjuna: Whenever Dharma, or the situation of law and order, is endangered on this world, I incarnate onto this world to re establish Dharma, law and order, and to protect the Sadhus or saints and to destroy the evil elements of the society. I do so appear, millennium after millennium."

So here below are 10 Avatars of Lord Vishnu in which He had descended on earth (In Kalki Avatar's case shall descend) in different forms to establish Dharma (righteousness) & Lord Sri Krishna was one of these Avatars.

1) Matsya Avatar (Fish): Lord Vishnu appeared in this form during "Satya Yuga". In this Avatar He had taken the form of a fish during a deluge that submerged the earth. Lord Vishnu commanded a 'Rishi' to gather together all samples of species and wait in a boat. The gigantic golden fish then dragged the boat through the deluge and then enabled Bhrama to start the act of creation all over again. Yet another legend has it that a demon once stole the four Vedas (Hindu religious texts) and hid them under the sea. Lord Vishnu assumed the Matsya (Fish) form and retrieved them and then restored them to their original shape. This legend is held at the Parimalaranganathar temple at Mayiladuturai, near Thanjavur in Tamilnadu state of India.

2) Kurma Avatar (Tortoise): Lord Vishnu appeared in this form during "Satya Yuga" only. In KURMA Avatar, Lord Vishnu incarnated himself as a tortoise & helped in churning of the ocean of milk after adding medicines into the ocean (Samudra Manthan) to get the nectar for the gods (Devtas).

3) Varaha Avatar (Boar): Lord Vishnu appeared in this form during "Satya Yuga" only. Vishnu took the form of a huge wild boar - the Varaaha Avatara, dived into the ocean, and saved Bhoomi Devi (Earth) who had sunk into the bottom of the ocean. Vishnu as Varahamurthy is enshrined at Tiruvidandai near Chennai in Tamilnadu state of India, and also at the Kanchipuram Kamakshiamman temple.

4) Narasimha Avatar ( Half lion half human): Lord Vishnu appeared in this form during "Satya Yuga" only. In this Avatar, Vishnu destroyed the demon king Hiranyakashipu and demonstrated his omnipresence in a powerful way.

5) Vamana Avatar (the dwarf or midget): Lord Vishnu appeared in this form during "Treta Yuga". In this form Vishnu took the form of Vamana the midget to destroy the demon Bali. He visited Bali during a sacrifice where the latter was arrogantly distributing gifts of the seeker's choice, to show his power of wealth. Vamana meekly asked for three feet of land measured by his small feet to which Bali agreed. All on a sudden Vamana the midget assumed the massive form of Trivikrama, dominating the whole of the universe. With his first foot He covered the earth, with the second the heavens. When there was no room for the third, Bali, who never went back on his word offered his head, and Vishnu sent him to the netherworld. Trivikrama is enshrined at Tirukkovilur, kanchipuram and Sirkazhi in Tamilnadu state of India.

6) Parasurama Avatar (Rama with the axe): Lord Vishnu appeared in this form during "Treta Yuga" only. In this form Vishnu quelled the arrogance of the Kshatriya (warriors) rulers who harmed the sages and unprotected mortals.

7) Rama Avatar (king of Ayodhya): Lord Vishnu appeared in this form during "Treta Yuga" only. In this form Vishnu appeared as Ramachandra, the prince and king of Ayodhya who killed demon king Ravana. The great epic Ramayana speaks of the glory of the Rama Avatar of Lord Vishnu.

8) Krishna Avatar (meaning "dark coloured" or "all attractive"): Lord Vishnu appeared in this form during "Dwapara Yuga along with his brother Balarama" Mahabharata speaks of Balarama and Krishna in detail.

9) Balarama Avatar: Some of the texts call Balarama only as the ninth Avatar of Lord Vishnu, while many others call "Gautama Buddha" as the ninth Avatar of Lord Vishnu. Such believers say that Lord Vishnu took up the Avatar of Buddha to purify Hinduism of excessive ritualism. He preached detachment, and the middle path consisting of eight fold virtues of right views, right resolve, right speech, right conduct, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness and right meditation.

10) Kalki Avatar ("Eternity", or "time", or "The Destroyer of foulness"): Lord Vishnu is expected to appear in future in Kalki Avatar at the end of Kali Yuga, the time period in which we currently exist. It is believed that at the end of the current Kali Yuga, there will be a deluge when Kalki - the tenth and the last Avatar of Vishnu, will ride forth on a horse to redeem humankind and re-establish righteousness.

Mirja Ghalib & God

Mirja Ghalib was a great Urdu & Persian Poet of India. He wrote many Ghazals in Urdu during his life time. Though he was a great poet but he seems like a great philosopher too in his lifetime. At times, in his pensive mood he had written few verses which explain that he was deeply in touch with God. Not only that he felt God around him but also that he touched the greatest philosophical essence, in which a person sees God all around him. To him this whole creation seems to be woven within the all pervasive Universal Soul. Just take few lines written here below by him which explain that only.

" जब की तुज बिन नहीं कोई मोजूद,
तो फिर ये हंगामा ऐ ख़ुदा कया है"

"Jab Ki Tujh Bin Nahin Koi Mojud,
To Phir Ye Hungama Aey Khuda Kya Hai"

The meaning of above lines is that: O God, If there is nobody else present in this world except You, then what is this visibly seen creation / world that I see all around me.

In fact Ghalib had true belief that God is the only reality in this world & in this whole creation it is the God only who is present everywhere & all else does not exist. So as per Ghalib, this whole creation itself is God only, so are all the creatures of the world including all human beings, who too are God only. Nothing exists except God in this world. We all are not separate entities but are one only, as part & parcel of that Universal Soul. In fact we get so many verses in Bhagwat Gita also which say the same thing.

"mattah parataram nanyat
kincid asti dhananjaya
mayi sarvam idam protam
sutre mani-gana iva" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Seven verse 7)

"Sri Krishna said: O Arjuna, there is nothing else besides Me, Like clusters of Yarn-beeds formed by knots on a thread, all this world is threaded on Me."

"athakasa-sthito nityam
vayuh sarvatra-go mahan
tatha sarvani bhutani
mat-sthanity upadharaya" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Nine verse 6)

"Sri Krishna said: O Arjuna, Just as the extensive and all-pervading Air always remains in Space, likewise know that all creation & beings reside in Me."

So Mirja Ghalib had attained the heights of mysticism in his life time as he was able to feel God all around him & was able to feel His existence in every moment of his life. We too should feel the God all around ourselves as then only we shall be able to see every human being & every creature of this existence as part & parcel of God & ourself too.