Vedanta Sandesh_Jan 2020

Monthly eMagazine of Vedanta Mission

Vedanta Sandesh Jan 2020

Year - 25

Issue-7

Cover Page

The cover page of the Jan 2020 issue of Vedanta Sandesh is yet another beautiful bird of Indian sub-continent - the Painted Stork (Mycteria leucocephala). Painted Stork is a large wading bird in the stork family. It is found in the wetlands of the plains of tropical Asia south of the Himalayas in South Asia and extending into Southeast Asia. Their distinctive pink tertial (flight) feathers of the wing are pink giving them their name. They forage in flocks in shallow waters along rivers or lakes. They immerse their half open beaks in water and sweep them from side to side and snap up their prey of small fish that are sensed by touch. As they wade along they also stir the water with their feet to flush hiding fish. They nest colonially in trees, often along with other waterbirds.

This beautiful cover page pic was clicked by Poojya Guruji Swami Atmanandaji at a Lake on the outskirts of Bhavnagar (Gujarat). This city is unique, because these Storks roost in the middle of city on huge trees, and the people obviously take them as part of their lives. Om Namah Shivaya.

Om Tat Sat

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CONTENTS

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Vedanta Sandesh Jan 2020 1.

Shloka 5

2.

Message of P. Guruji

7-8

3.

Sadhana Panchakam

9-13

4.

Letter 14-15

5.

Gita Reflections 16-21

6.

The Art of Man Making

7.

Jivanmukta 27-30

8.

Story Section 31-33

9.

Mission / Ashram News

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34-52

10.

Forthcoming Progs 53

11.

Links 54 3

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Monthly eMagazine of Vedanta Mission Jan 2020 : Year 25 / Issue 7

Published by

Vedanta Mission Vedanta Ashram, E/2948, Sudama Nagar, Indore-452009 (M.P.) India http://www.vmission.org.in / vmission@gmail.com

Editor:

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Swamini Samatananda Saraswati

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;n~n`"V~ok ukija n`';a ;n~HkwRok u iquHkZo%A ;TKkRok ukija Ks;a rn~czĂŁsR;o/kkj;sr~AA

Know that to be Brahman - seeing which there is no further desire to see anything else; having become that there is no further wish to become anything else; and knowing which there is nothing more to know.

Atma Bodha - 55

Message from Poojya Guruji

Importance of Good Sleep

Ultimately everyone has to wake up - fully. Gita says that a man of

knowledge is awake to that in which the samsaris are still unaware. Waking up to the truth of life and ourself is the real goal of human life, everything else is just a means. This waking up is basically realizition, a direct awakening to our own truth. This is what knowledge is all about.

The crux of the sampradaya of self-knowledge is to facilitate people

to wake up to their truth. This is a slow process, and both the teachers and the students have to be very patient. All knowledge is in the mind and by the mind. No knowledge is given to an empty mind. Everyone already has so much knowledge - valid or unvalid, and this knowledge keeps driving us to things we value. All desires represent that which we value. So the mind is busy. Not only busy more often we are stressed, disappointed & dejected. Obviously something is wrong somewhere, either we do not know what V edanta Sandes h

we are seeking or do not know the right means to achieve what we wish to achieve. However we seem to know the end and the means. The mind which already knows that it knows is not an open mind to something new.

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This is called a conditioned mind. Our conditionings make us very reactive, and our energies are wasted in these reactions of joys & sorrow. All joys & sorrows are ego-centric and thus do not lead us to anything substantial & permanent. The wise call such a mind as an impure mind. It is not ready for the knowledge. What is required is a mind which is not only inquisitive, but also quiet, thoughtful & sensitive to everything. An open & alert mind alone is on the highway to learn something new. So the first stage of knowledge is not study or meditation, but somehow making the mind open and knowledge-friendly. This is the toughest part of the journey. We have a mind which is worked up, and tired. Unfortunately a conditioned & stressed mind can neither remain fully awake, nor can it have a nice sleep. Good sleep has become dear to so many. Many people have come to such a pass that they can’t sleep properly. All intoxicants are means to somehow relax it, even though momentarily. This is the truth of life today. Drinks and drugs have become an acceptable & necessary needs of society - all just because people want a relaxed mind.

The objective of sleep is just to relax & refresh the mind. Sleep is a

blessing given by God to de-stress the mind and recharge it to work our way to the portals of awakening. Sleep is important and the first step is to assure that you have a nice sleep. Real nice sleep - a sleep in which there are no dreams and we literally transcend time & space. There is no better refresher like sleep. Take sleep seriously and learn to sleep properly. If you dive into deep sleep then you dont need long sleep. Whenever someone wishes to sleep for longer time, then know for certain that the person is revelling in some dreams. Dreams are also fine, but obviously dream-sleep is not deep sleep. Aim for dreamless sleep, where the mind is truly quiet.

Those who have a good sleep wake up to an alert state, in which they can learn & experience things in a much better way. If you wish for an alert & V edanta Sandes h

wakeful day then first learn to take sleep seriously.

Sarve bhavantu sukhinah! Sarve santu niramayah ! Sarve bhadrani

pashyantu. Ma kaschit dukhbhak bhavet!

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Sadhana Panchakam

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- : 5: -

Swamini Samatananda 9

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Sadhana Panchakam T

he first sloka of the very interesting Sadha-

na Panchakam begins with some fundamental tips towards the

journey of Self-knowledge. Just as we take up any kind of journey with a decent amount of preparation so that the journey is smooth and also culminates in the fulfillment of the goal so also self-knowledge requires a preparation of the mind, which the scriptures call as a sattvik mind or a purified mind. If the mind is not pure and free from various conditionings, likes and dislikes, if the mind has not been sharpened then no amount of vedantic knowledge will ever benefit the student. Even if a person avails the knowledge, it will only end up being an intellectual information rather than a subjective realization. Therefore not only a preparation is very important but even the awareness of the journey of preparation is important. A pure and integrated mind enters the portals of knowledge like duck takes to water. So in the first sloka the Acharya speaks of various preparatory sadhanas like chanting the Vedic mantras, getting aquainted with the Vedas, making all actions an offering to the Lord etc. Now in this sixth step the Acharya says Bhava sukhe doshonusandheeyataam... Reflect upon the inherent limitations of worldly pleasures.

Hkolq[ks nks"kks¡uqlU/kh;rke~%

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Reflect upon the inherent limitations of worldly pleasures..

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Sadhana Panchakam

Our spiritual goal as shown in the scriptures is liberation,

wherein Liberation does not mean freeing one’self physically from the objects of the world, our relationships and our various requirements, but liberation is desired from the bondages of a sense of limitation and eternal seeking. This liberation is a case of realization. Realization of the limitations of worldly objects and it’s so called pleasures. The entire case study of bondage reveals Jiva’s ignorance and wrong notion of being limited and thus seeking fulfillment from outside. Whereas the entire gamut of worldly objects and all its experiences are as momentary as a bubble, putting us on a merry go round of seeking. Thus cracking this misconception that the objective world can give us fulfillment and discovering the blissful nature of the Self is liberation.

The Acharya guides us in taking the first step into the discovery of the truth of the world as he says-See the limitations of worldly pleasures.

The whole idea behind seeing the limitations of the world

is because we are so empowered by the pleasurable side of the world that we refuse to see its limitations and the fact that it is not leading us anywhere. We are so attached to the world that it has become the be all and end all for almost everyone. It is the rare ones who question the entire play of the world. Rest all are blind followers. Such is our attachment to external pleasures that there is hardly any scope of service, devotion and knowledge.

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Even our relationship with God is based on worldly transac-

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Sadhana Panchakam tions. The world by itself is a beautiful manifestation of Ishvara.

There is no doubt that one can get some divine experiences but the scriptures and the Acharyas are revealing the truth that the entire world is like a beautiful dream, Its beautiful but it can never give us true satisfaction. We need not run away from the world but what is meant here in this sloka is that one needs to stand apart, and analyse the objective world and all its experiences very objectively. One needs to see the reality of the world and at the same time question one’s sense of attachment to everything. One needs to be available for reflection on the truth of everything.

The scriptures speak of a technique called ‘Pratipaksha

Bhavana’, which means that when there is a strong attachment to something then to overcome the attachment one should see its limitations and when there is an extreme dislike for something then one should work to see the positive side of it. The Acharya here is inspiring us to see the limitations of worldly attachments to neutralize it. Every object has the aspect of Brahma which is the substratum and every object has the aspect of Maya which appears to be there but its like a dream which can never give us fulfillment. Therefore one has to do the viveka between the Real and the Unreal. Come to see that there is a limitation in worldly pleasures. We experience joy of something directly in proportion to the amount of importance we have given to it. When ever out of ignorance we impose a sense of happiness on external objects V edanta Sandes h

and it’s experiences we will desire it, we will think of it, dream

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Sadhana Panchakam of it and work for it. If money is important to me money will give me pleasure but money is neither important for everyone nor does it give pleasure to one and all. It is a very relative thing.

Constant attachment and seeking only results in ego satisfaction.

Therefore discover the reality of the world by seeing things very objectively and by questioning ones own understanding of the

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world.Do not follow the world blindly, thus say the Mahatmas.

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Mail from Poojya Guruji Happy New Year Hari om.

Thanks a lot for the kind & loving new year greetings with your ‘Happy New Year’ wishes. It is so good & overwhelming to see people having such a caring & loving heart which prays for the well-bing of their near & dear ones and the world at large. Yes, the wheel of time rotates and we come to the doorsteps of yet another year 2020. We always pray for the well-bing of all with our prayers and - Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinah, May all be happy always.

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Many a time it seems that we have become ritualistic to wish something on occasions. Do we wonder whether my last year’s sincere wishes had any effect or not. Good wishes are good for exuding the lovely fragrance of love & well-being but we need to wonder whether we need to add something more to our prayers to make them give better results. Otherwise it is all so mechanical and also useless. Let us pause for a while and think as to what really makes a person happy. Are our prayers enough and rest is all in the hands of fate, situations and wishes of God? When we go into the intricacies of happiness then we realize that the happiness is something very subjective. That which makes one person happy does not bring any joy to another person. It is like dishes on th dining table. Everyone is happy by their own likes and not necessarily by any one particular dish. First we all have our own unique likes & dislikes and then depending on our likes & dislikes and their intensities we get our pieces of cakes. Only the stupid

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and arrogant superimpose their fancies on others and think that others will also become happy. Further joys brought about by satiating our likes and dislikes are all so momentary that even after satisfying our likes once, our cup never becomes truly full. The journey keeps on & on. This is obviously not the way to true happiness. So we cant even pray that - May God fulfill all your Wishes.

We have been fulfilling our wishes from childhood yet the seeking is going on & on. So merely wishing that the others fulfill their desires amounts to saying that May you keep on seeking endlessly.

So what do we do?

The secret of happiness needs to be explored more seriously. The moments of joys are moments when we are with ourselves. All dualities of seeker & sought temporarily end when we are just with ourselves. Every moment of joy is the joy of being in the state of non-duality. It is the moment of Atma-Ananda. It is all about waking up to our truth, ending all process of becoming and just being.

Do we see this fact clearly. Do we see it so clearly that we see the need to re-edit our felicitations. May you all be happy is fine, and something more needs to be added - May you wake up to the truth of yourself. That is why in our traditional prayers we say: Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinah, and this is followed by another statement that - Sarve Bhadrani Pashyantu, meaning May we realize the auspicious truth. So I also pray that May you all finally awake in this ultimate truth in this coming year.

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Lots of love & om,

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Gita Reflections

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cgquka tUeukeUrs KkuokUeka izi|rsA oklqnso% loZfefr

l egkRek lqnqyZHk%AA (Gita 7/19) 16

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Vaasudeva is all that exists (cgwuka

tUeukeUrs------)

Swamini Samatananda

After many births of spiritual practice, one who is endowed with knowledge surrenders unto me, knowing me to be all that is. Such a great soul is indeed very rare.

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(Gita : Ch-7 / Sh-19) 17

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Gita Reflections

T

he seventh chapter of the Bhagwad Geeta

has in it a very interesting topic wherein Bhagwan Sri Krishna speaks of the four kinds of Bhaktas namely the Arta bhakta, the Artharthi, Jigyasu and the Gyani bhakta. Having explained the nature of all the four types of devotees Bhagwan praises all the devotees by saying the first three kinds of devotees are exalted, they are dear to me, but Sri Krishna distinguishes the Gyani Bhakta from the first three by saying ‘Gyani tu atma eva me matam’ i.e. the Gyani Bhakta is ‘My very own Self ’, He is not seperate from me. This statement of the Lord does not mean that Bhagwan is partial to the Gyani Bhakta but it reveals the fact that a Gyani Bhakta has awakened to the state of oneness with Paramatma which is the nature of Bhagwan Krishna and all beings. When Sri Krishna says , Gyani is my atma he does not mean Sri Krishna in the avatar form but it implies the Paramatma which is the atma of all beings. What distinguishes the Gyani Bhakta is that he has discovered this oneness with the Lord. For him Ishvara is not a seperate entity who is mightier than him and who can fulfill all his worldly deisres. He has become one with Ishvara and has awakened in a state of total fulfillment unlike the other three bhaktas who still live at the level of seeking various blessings from the Lord. Thus Bhagwan praises the Gyani Bhakta by showing the oneness with him. With this backgound we can uderstand

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the present sloka too.

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Gita Reflections In this sloka Lord Sri Krishna once again reveals the glory of a Gyani Bhakta. Bhagwan says that at the end of many births the knowledgable one seeks me, surrenders unto me and comes to discover his oneness with me. He comes to discover that I alone am, rest all is a play of Maya. When Bhagwan says, that at the end of many births, it does not mean that if I begin my spiritual journey in this birth I will be a wise person after many births.

It implies that the knowledge I seek, acquire and awaken into in this birth is a blessing of all the punya karmas, the merits that I have earned by my good actions in my previous births. Gaining Knowledge is not just a matter of intellectual information which I may acquire in this birth but it is a state of realization and conviction which is brought about by a purified mind, an integrated body, mind and intellect. Having a purified mind is by itself a punya. The purification and maturity of the mind accompanied by the desire to seek knowledge is a journey which passes through a number of births. Thus Bhagwan says that desire for knowledge and knowledge is a blessing attained at the end of many births.

This is the reason why the scriptures and all the Rishis and Mahatmas sing the glories of a human birth and further if a person is a devotee and seeker of knowledge.

Vasudevaha sarvam iti sa Mahatma sudurlabhaha: As one gains the knowledge he discovers the oneness between Jiva and Ishvara. As long as one is only a devotee of Ishvara V edanta Sandes h

there is still a state of duality that I am a bhakta and Ishvara is

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Gita Reflections the divine existence seperate from me. But a Gyaanavaan, a man of wisdom has awakened into the state of Aham Brahmasmi. For him Brahma alone is the truth of himself and everything else. He sees the existence of the entire jagat as a play of Maya, a dream which has no real existence, which is mithya. Yet as he lives in the manifestation of this body his vision is divine as he sees -Vaasudeva sarvam iti. Everything that exists living and non-living is Vaasudeva-Siyaram maya sab jag jaani. He lives as a jivan mukta with universal love and compassion, with the spirit of sarve bhavantu sukhinaha. May all live in peace.

Bhagwan culminates the statement by saying such a man of wisdom is a Mahatma-one who has discovered his glorious nature as Sachidananda Paramatma the limitless state of pure existence, self effulgece and blissfulness. Such a Mahatma is extremely hard

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to come by.

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- 22-

The Art Of Man Making

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Blessings of Self-Control

P.P. Gurudev Swami Chinmayanandaji 21

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The Art of Man Making

B

y lack of self-control we can unwit-

tingly slip and fall psychologically away from our own merits and efficiencies. Naturally, a young man brimming with ambitions of success, preparing for life’s march to win achievements does not want his pottentialities snatched away from him.

But how exactly is self-control helpful? What really are the benefits of a life of self-control? On the surface it is foolish not to do exactly as you feel. To curb the urges of the mind, to deny the free thinking of the intellect; to abide by any law, to conform to any norms of life- all are indeed painful strains, unwelcome curbs, meaningless onslaughts upon individual freedom. See the animals of the jungle; they do what they feel; why not we also?

This is a valid doubt in the boisterous mind of a loose-thinking, wild-feeling, fast acting teenager. He is so full of the awareness of all his political freedom, social privilges, communal rights and individual daring that to him to think is to act and fulfill.

He would challenge the Law and justify himself in the name of Revolution. He feels that rules are laid down by intellectual Rishis and prophets, who were themselves men of restraint-and

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had perhaps grown sour in their own disappointments!

Krishna here gives a set of scientific arguments, logical and

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The Art of Man Making reasonable, and explains how through self-control we bless ourselves, and grow in our inner personality vitality. A person becomes a more matured thinker, more balanced in his emotions, putting out better performances in his field of activity, be he a research scholar or a rickshaw puller, a politician, or a priest, a mill worker or an agricultural labourer.

On the other had, a man of self-control moves freely among the objects, with his senses under control and ever free from both ‘attraction’ and ‘aversion’. He gains in himself a deep sense of tranquility.

One of the questions of Arjuna was, “How does a Man of Perfection move”(vrajeta kim)?. How can a man of God freely move among the objects of pleasure in this world, and yet escape temptations? Here is the answer.

One who has self-control can easily move among the tempting sense-objects, when his senses are perfectly under his own control. But how?

Let us take an example. A drunkard and a teetotaller walking along the same road, see a full whisky bottle lying on the sidewalk. The teetotaller is unaffected and passes by. The drunkard immediately stoops down, snatches it, and embracing it to his V edanta Sandes h

bosom runs home. Now the bottle remaining the same, both of

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The Art of Man Making them reacted differently; the teetotaller was repelled, while the drunkard was attracted towards the bottle. Why? In the mental make-up of the drunkard there was something-the Vasana to drink-and so his senses ran out to hug it.

One in whom Vasanas are trained and purified, in him the senses will be controlled. To restrain the senses does not mean physical violence against the sense-organs. A re-education of the mind brings about the necessary sense-control-noble and enduring, rewarding and creative.

When Vasanas are with us there will be in us an attraction (raaga) for conducive objects, and a repulsion (dvesha) for unconducive one. Thus let us say a father, mother and child go to an exhibition sales. In the saree shop, the mother is attracted but father and child remain unmoved. in the doll department the child gets anxious, but father and mother remain balanced, and in the gents-wear stall the father is restless, while mother and child are both unaffected. Indeed, attraction and repulsion (raaga-dvesha) can be in us only when we have powerful Vasanas.

A Man of Perfection moves in the world of objects as unaffected as the mother in the doll house and among gents-wear, or as unattached as father in the doll house and among the saree, or

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as careless as the child among the sarees and suits.

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The Art of Man Making When one comes to live freely, moving in this world among its objects, with sense organs perfectly under control and free from both attraction and repulsion (raaga and dvesha), what does one gain? One’s life may be an empty joyless monotony; a bothersome burden, a wasteland of boredom. This can be our doubt. Krishna clearly says how such an individual alone discovers a deep sense of peace , a tremulous calm and a restful tranquility (prasad).

In tranquility, all sorrows are destroyed. Indeed a tranquil mind alone can keep the intellect steady in application. Sorrow, subjectively, is nothing but mental oscillation. greater the agitations of the mind, greater the sorrow. When the mind is peaceful, there is joy always. When the bosom is tranquil, all sorrows end.

When the mind is agitated the intellect has no steady wisdom-its discrimination power gets reduced and it is rendered incapable of rightly comprehending the problem and coming to correct judgements. In short, buddhi gets lost. When the mind is disturbed a man’s intellectual efficiency gets lost.

Glorifying this tranquility that arises from self-control, Krishna exclaims, In the uncontrolled, and therefore the unsteady, there V edanta Sandes h

is no consistent intellect. To the inconsistent intellect there is

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The Art of Man Making no Vision (bhavana). He who has no vision has no peace. And he who knows no peace, how can he ever have happiness? What had been already asserted is now explained in a negative dialects of happiness. Krishna directs the student’s attention to what has been already indicated: “To the uncontrolled, and therefore unsteady (ayuktasya), there is no consistent intellect” (naasti buddhi). “To such an uncontrolled personality” (ayuktah), there is no “Vision” (bhavna). Our intellect perceives a great ideal, a mighty possibility, and keeping it steadily before us to lift our thoughts and actions towards its higher perfections is called “Vision” (bhavna). To one who has no such “Vision” there is no peace. For such an individual will have no pole-star to guide the flow of his life’s energies, and without any inspiring purpose, thoughts run amuck and the mind aimlessly wanders from object to object. They can remain but in a constant state of restlessness and agitations. There is no peace of creative self-application known to the uncontrolled (ayuktah). “And to

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the restless (ashantasya) where is happiness (kutah sukham)?”

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Jivanmukta Wandering In Himalayas

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Trilokeenath

Excerpts from the Travel Memoirs of Param Poojya 27 Swami Tapovanji Maharaj

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Jivanmukta M

y host’s regard for Hindu sadhus, in

spite of his being a Moslem, filled me with agreeable surprise.

Of course, there is no rule granting the monopoly of virtues like devoutness, humaneness and generosity to the followers of one particular religion or to one particular individual, while denying it to others.

After my meal I started again. Lo! there flows the sacred Jumna in front of me. I ran to her banks as eagerly as a child that runs to the lap of its mother from whom it had parted a long while ago. The July sun was blazing like fire. I threw myself down at the feet of mother Jumna, the spouse of Vasudeva. At places she appeared as a slender, deep blue, stream, just a foot deep and quite narrow, zigzagging her way between heaps of rocky boulders.

As I stood watching her winding gently along in her course, my heart danced with joy and my mind filled with elevated ideas. The broad and beautiful sand banks formed in the river at Vrindavan, Mathura, Indra Prastha and Prayag, are world famous. But the Jumna, is not always so gentle nor does she leave enough space for one to sit on as she makes her way down the Himalayas, through narrow clefts in the rocks and through tunnels bored through hills of earth. At the very sight of the holy river my mind was raised to a higher plane. I make no attempt here to describe that V edanta Sandes h

state of mind, even briefly. First, I eagerly drank her water until my belly was full. Then I seated myself on a rock in the shade of

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Jivanmukta a tree growing on her bank. At a short distance, the children of mountain cowherds were sporting in the waters of the river.

Lost in my love for the beautiful Jumna I sat there entranced for a long time, unaware of my surroundings. Indeed, even the austerest sanyasins are susceptible to the beauty of creation.

At 3 o’clock I resumed my solitary journey along the bank of the Jumna and reached a village called Vatukotta, six or seven miles away. There were at that time certain Government officials camping at the village. I too rested there during the night.

Next day I walked to Gangani, a spot three miles up the river.

I was, of course, familiar with the place and with other places on the way from there to Uttarkasi. It is from there that people bound for Jamnotri begin their climb. The source of the Jumna (Jamnotri) is only thirty miles away. From Vatukotta we could get a glimpse of the magnificent snow-mountains of Jamnotri.

Gangani is the site of the famous sage, Jamadagni’s hermitage.

At Gangani I had my bath and a meal prepared by a Brahmin acquaintance. After a day’s rest and the usual morning bath 1 set out for Uttarkasi, the very next day. Now my destination was only 18 miles away. But I passed one or two days at a hermitage on the bank of the Ganga in the company of a mahatma, who was a dear, old friend of mine. I re-entered Uttarkasi, V edanta Sandes h

the tranquil abode of Sri Viswanath and the residence of many sadhus enjoying supreme peace, three or four days before the

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Jivanmukta Ashadha Purnima. It had taken twcnty-five days in all for me to cover a distance of 195 miles, from Kullu to Uttarkashi. Having brought my rambles in the Western Himalayas to a happy conclusion, I started on the observance of Chaturmasa. It may be mentioned here that it was during this Chaturmasa that I composed the Sree Saumya Kasheesha Stotram and dedicated it

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to Sri Viswanath.

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STORY Section 31

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Nageshwara L

ocated on the route between Dwarka city

and Beyt Dwarka Island on the coast of Saurashtra in Gujarat is this important Lord Shiva Temple. It is enshrined by one of the 12 swayambhu (self-existent) jyotirlingas in the world, in an underground sanctum. A 25 m. tall statue of a sitting Lord Shiva and a large garden with a pond are major attractions of this rather serene place. Some archaeological excavations claim five earlier cities at the site.

Nageshwar was believed to be known as ‘Darukavana’, which is an ancient epic name of a forest in India. Below are two wellknown legends attached to this mystical temple: According to the first legend, ‘Balakhilyas’, a group of dwarf sages worshipped Lord Shiva in Darukavana for a long time.

To test their devotion and patience, Shiva came to them as a nude ascetic wearing only nagas [serpants] on his body. Wives of sages got attracted to the saint and went after him, leaving their husbands behind. Sages got very disturbed and outraged by this.They lost their patience and cursed the ascetic to loose his linga [one of the limited meanings is Phallus, but it has V edanta Sandes h

has a deeper theistic symbolism]. Shiva linga fell on the earth

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Nageshwara and the whole world trembled. Lord Brahma and Lord Vishnu came to Lord Shiva, requesting him to save the earth from destruction and take back his linga. Shiva consoled them and took back his linga. Lord Shiva promised his divine presence in Darukavana as ‘jyotirlinga’ for ever.

Another story goes hundreds of years ago in the Shiv Purana, about a demon couple named Daruka and Daruki, after whom was named Daruka Van (forest), later known as Dwarka. Daruki was a devotee of Parvati and was blessed by her. He misused her blessings and tryranized the local folks. One day he captured a Shiva devotee called Supriya who was one of the pilgrims on a boat. The demon imprisoned her along with several others at his capital Darukavana. Supriya advised all prisoners to recite the Shiva mantra ‘Aum Namaha Shivayay’ to protect them. When Daruka came to know about this he ran to kill Supriya. Instantly Lord Shiva appeared in the form of a jyotirlinga from the earth. He could not kill the demon who was blessed by his own wife, Parvati, but he assured Supriya that he would protect him in the form of a linga. The linga here thus came to

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be revered.

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Mission & Ashram News

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Bringing Love & Light in the lives of all with the Knowledge of Self

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Mission News Gita Gyana Yagna, Mumbai

by Poojya Guruji Swami Atmanandaji

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Gita Chapter-2 / Mandukya Karika Ch-3

22nd-28th Dec2019

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Mission News Gita Gyana Yagna, Mumbai

by Poojya Guruji Swami Atmanandaji

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at Vivekananda Auditorium, RK Math, Khar

Inauguration: 22nd Dec 2019

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Mission News Gita Gyana Yagna, Mumbai

by Poojya Guruji Swami Atmanandaji

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Sankhya Yoga (2nd Chapter)

22-28 Dec 2019

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Mission News Gita Gyana Yagna, Mumbai

Sharanagati to Sthitha Pragnya

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Ramakrishna Math Campus

22-28 Dec 2019

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Mission News Gita Gyana Yagna, Mumbai

Poojya Guruji Swami Atmanandaji

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Chanting: Swamini Samatanandaji

22-28th Dec 2019

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Mission News Gita Jayanti Celebrations

Agrasen Dham-Indore

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Deep-Prajwalan

6th Dec 2019

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Mission News Gita Jayanti Celebrations

Pravachan by Poojya Guruji

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Yato dharmaha tato jayaha

6th Dec 2019

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Mission News Gita Jayanti Celebrations

Pravachan by Poojya Swaminiji

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Symbolism of Arjuna Rath

6th Dec 2019

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Mission News Gita Jayanti Celebrations

Gita Bhawan-Indore

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Pravachan by Poojya Swami Atmanandaji

7th Dec 2019

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Mission News Gita Jayanti Celebrations

Yagya daana tapah karma

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Paavanaani maneeshinaam

7th Dec 2019

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Mission News Gita Jayanti Celebrations

Vedanta Ashram-Indore

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Gita Paath by Ashram Mahatmas

8th Dec 2019

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Mission News Hanuman Chalisa Satsang-Samapan

Bhajans & HC Paath

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Pravachans by Poojya Guruji

15th Dec 2019

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Mission News Hanuman Chalisa Satsang-Samapan

Offering reverance on the samapan divas

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Conclusion of six year long Hanuman Chalisa

15th Dec 2019

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Mission News Poojya Guruji’s Birthday Celebrations

Shodash upachaar Pooja & Abhishek

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Gangeshwar Mahadev temple at Ashram

15th Dec 2019

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Mission News Poojya Guruji’s Birthday Celebrations

Ashram Mahatmas offer their reverances

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Devotees also take blessings

15th Dec 2019

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Mission News Anand-Lahari 2019

Balgandharwa Rang Mandir, Bandra

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Classical Dance & Music Program

29th Dec 2019

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Mission News Anand-Lahari 2019

Dance by Samyukta Wagh

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Music Program by Shruti Viswanath

29th Dec 2019

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Mission News Anand-Lahari 2019

by Indian Cultural Foundation

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Blessings by Poojya Guruji

29th Dec 2019

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Forthcoming VM Programs 5th - 12th Jan 2020 GITA GYANA YAGNA @ Vadodara Gita Chap 10 / Mundakopanishad 1-1 P. Swamini Amitanandaji 6th - 12th Jan 2020 GITA GYANA YAGNA @ Lucknow Gita Chap 5 / Drg-Dryshya Vivek P. Swamini Samatanandaji 16 th - 21th Feb 2020 VEDANTA CAMP @ Indore P. Guruji / Ashram Mahatmas 2nd - 8th Mar 2020 GITA GYANA YAGNA @ Lucknow

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Gita Chap 11 / Mundaka Upa 3-1 P. Guruji Swami Atmanandaji

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Visit us online : International Vedanta Mission

Check out earlier issues of : Vedanta Sandesh

Visit the IVM Blog at : Vedanta Mission Blog Published by: International Vedanta Mission

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Editor: Swamini Samatananda Saraswati

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