Sunday, October 23, 2011

Which type of Devotee You are?

There are two types of people in this world. One are those who believe in God & are called faithful ones, i.e. they have firm faith, belief in God. Others are those who do not believe in God & are called atheists. We here shall talk about believers in God who are also called devotees of God.

Devotees are of different types. Some remember God when they are in distress & want to get rid of their grief. Some want to know God due to their inquisitiveness about Him. Some pray God to attain wealth in life while some wise men want to have true knowledge of God. As per Bhagwat Gita there are 4 types of devotees of God.

1) First one are those people who are in distress. In our bad times when we are in distress or when we are going through physical or mental agony, at that time we generally remember & pray to God. Such people devote themselves to God because they wish to be liberated from grief.

2) Second one are those people who want to know about the God. Such people have faith in God & want to know more about Him. Such people due to their inquisitiveness, debate about the God, read books etc. to know more about the God.

3) Third one are those people who want to gain wealth in life. There is no end to such people in this world. You can find such people generally in temples etc. asking God to give them wealth, money etc. Such people are those one's who do their appointed task for money because doing it will bring good fortune to them. So such people are the doers of selfish action in life.

4) Fourth one are those people who are people of True knowledge. Such people are really the wise men.They have true knowledge to God. They are the realized sages, who have attained to the stage of reaching the supreme goal.

Below are the verses of Bhagwat Gita which explain about the above said 4 types of devotees.

"chatur-vidha bhajante mam
janah sukritino ’rjuna
arto jijnasur artharthi
jnani cha bharatarsabha" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Seven verse 16)

"Sri Krishna said: O Arjuna, four kinds of pious men begin to render devotional service unto Me—the distressed, the inquisitive, the desirer of wealth, and the one who is searching for knowledge of the Absolute."

"udarah sarva evaite
jnani tv atmaiva me matam
asthitah sa hi yuktatma
mam evanuttamam gatim" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Seven verse 18)

"Sri Krishna said: All these devotees are undoubtedly magnanimous souls, but he who is situated in knowledge of Me, I consider to be just like My own self. Being engaged in My transcendental service, he/she is sure to attain Me, the highest and most perfect goal."

So just check, which type of devotee of God are you? If you are not the fourth one i.e. a person of True knowledge, a really wise person, then just strive to be the one. Just devote yourself to God, read religious literature, join the company of saintly people, give charities, alms to the people. Doing all such good works & having a yearning for God, you shall certainly become a wise person, a true devotee of God & shall ultimately attain to Him.



Jai Sri Krishna.

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Praying When Angry Helps to Manage Anger


We all get angry at some point of time in life.
As per one research report it has been found that praying when you are angry could help you manage your anger. The researchers identified that praying when you have been left really angry could also help prevent one from becoming aggressive.


The authors of the research said the findings applied to even non-religious people. A co-author of the study, Brad Bushman who is also the professor of communication and psychology at Ohio State University, said that, “We found that prayer really can help people cope with their anger, probably by helping them change how they view the events that angered them and helping them take it less personally.” Also during one exercise with participants, it was realized that those who prayed showed the lowest level of anger.

Prayer is basically an act of addressing the God with devotion. Prayer can be done during the worship or can be done just silently in our mind. Through prayer we have a personal experience & an intimate connection with our loving God. If we pray to God with sincerity then He shall answer to our prayers immediately. In Bhagwat Gita also Lord says that "Praying the God is the best form of rememberance of God".

"man-mana bhava mad-bhakto
mad-yaji mam namaskuru
mam evaishyasi satyam te
pratijane priyo ’si me" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Eighteen verse 65)

"Lord Sri Krishna said: O Arjuna, Always think of Me, become My devotee, worship Me and offer your homage unto Me. Thus you will come to Me without fail. I promise you this because you are My very dear friend."

So if you daily do regular prayers to God then your anger shall always remain in your control. But if you get angry then you should do some prayer to God as by doing so you shall be able to manage your anger. So let's daily do the worship of God. By chanting the "Divine Mantras" we shall get peace of mind. Let's make it a practice to invoke the God daily through the prayer. By doing so God shall be happy with us & shall bless us always through His mercy & compassion.

Jai Shri Krishna

Sunday, October 09, 2011

Bhagwat Gita: Chapter One (1) to Chapter Eighteen (18)


On the battle field of Kurukshetra, when Arjuna, the disciple of Lord Krishna got infatuated & forgot his duty to fight, then Lord Krishna reminded Arjuna of his duty to fight a lawful, justful war & gave him the teachings of Bhagwat Gita. Arjuna after having been taught in the path of knowledge by Lord Krishna came back to his path of duty & fought a lawful battle against the Kauravas (his enemies) & won the battle with the grace of Lord Krishna. Bhagwat Gita has Eighteen chapters which you can read at below given links.

Chapter One of Bhagwat Gita is entitled "The Yoga of Dejection of Arjuna."

Chapter Two of Bhagwat Gita is entitled "Sankhyayoga or the Yoga of Knowledge."

Chapter Three of Bhagwat Gita is entitled "Karmayoga, or the Yoga of Action."

Chapter Four of Bhagwat Gita is entitled "The Yoga of Knowledge ,as well as, the disciplines of Action & Knowledge."

Chapter Five of Bhagwat Gita is entitled "The Yoga of Action & Knowledge."

Chapter Six of Bhagwat Gita is entitled "The Yoga of Self control."

Chapter Seven of Bhagwat Gita is entitled "The Yoga of Jnana (Knowledge of Nirguna Brahma) and Vijnana (Knowledge of Manifest Divinity)."

Chapter Eight of Bhagwat Gita is entitled "The Yoga of the Indestructible Brahma."

Chapter Nine of Bhagwat Gita is entitled "The Yoga of the Sovereign Science and the Sovereign Secret."

Chapter Ten of Bhagwat Gita is entitled "The Yoga of Divine Glories."

Chapter Eleven of Bhagwat Gita is entitled "The Yoga of the Vision of the Universal Form."

Chapter Twelve of Bhagwat Gita is entitled "The Yoga of Devotion."

Chapter Thirteen of Bhagwat Gita is entitled "The Yoga of Discrimination between the Field and the Knower of the Field."

Chapter Fourteen of Bhagwat Gita is entitled "The Yoga of Classification of the three Gunas."

Chapter Fifteen of Bhagwat Gita is entitled "The Yoga of the Supreme Person."

Chapter Sixteen of Bhagwat Gita is entitled "The Yoga of Discrimination between the Divine and the Demoniacal Properties."

Chapter Seventeen of Bhagwat Gita is entitled "The Yoga of Classification of the Threefold Faith."

Chapter Eighteen of Bhagwat Gita is entitled "The Yoga of Liberation through the Path of Knowledge and Self-Surrender."



Jai Shri Krishna

Sunday, October 02, 2011

Soul Strength

What is Soul Strength? What is Inner Strength? Is Soul Strength, Inner Strength & Mental Strength, one & the same thing?

When we are depressed, sad & are in distress; in all such times, where from we find our inner strength so as to come out of all such negative symptoms? Is there any God on whom we can rely in all such times? If yes, then where is that God & how can He help us in all such troubled times?

Inner Strength is our Soul strength, Mental strength or Personal Strength which comes into action in our hard times to defeat all such negative symptoms of sadness, depression etc. in one's life. In hard times it helps in building our low esteem and loss of confidence. When we are passing through bad times, we have a feeling of self dejection & a feeling that we will not succeed in life. In all such times, our Inner Strength comes into play.

Inner Strength is basically an exploration to find our authentic self. Now how we can peep into & explore our original inner self? Here is a great book "Bhagwat Gita" which is a reservoir of all such questions. "Bhagwat Gita", time & again tells us that we have a Soul inside our human body & this Soul has infinite potential. As this Soul of ours is a spark of the Infinite all powerful, all pervasive Universal Soul, so it's powers are also limit less. This Soul present inside our human body, in fact gives strength to our mind to carry out all difficult tasks. Believing in oneself is nothing but believing in one's inner Soul. All fountains of knowledge & strength come out of this inner Soul only.

In Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Thirteen verse 18, God himself tells that :

"jyotisam api taj jyotis
tamasah param ucyate
jnanam jneyam jnana-gamyam
hridi sarvasya visthitam" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Thirteen verse 18)

"Sri Krishna said: O Arjuna, He is the source of light in all luminous objects. He is beyond the darkness of matter and is un-manifested. He is knowledge, He is the object of knowledge, and He is the goal of knowledge. He is situated in everyone’s heart."

So God is situated in everyone’s heart & gives strength, knowledge & guidance to every human being. So if we have faith in God, faith in our inner Soul then we shall get all the power & Inner Strength to get out of all our adversities.

So let's look inside ourselves so that we can come in touch with our real self (Soul) from where emerges all our Inner Strength. Be yourself & be proud of yourself, as your original self is part & parcel of the Universal Self (God) & with His grace you shall come out of all the adverse circumstances. So have devotion in God & it shall strengthen your mind to face all the challenges of Life.