Vedanta Sandesh - Feb 2011

Monthly eMagazine of the International Vedanta Mission Year 16

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Issue 8

In This Issue

1.

Vedanta Section:

Atma Bodha - Shloka-27

2.

Letter Section:

Is Buddha a Vishnu Avatar

3.

Devata Section:

Narmada Jayanti

4.

Katha Section:

Kubera’s Feast

5.

VM Programs:

Mission / Ashram Progs

From Poojya Guruji

Vedanta Sandesh

Hari om!

Spreading Love & Light

Monthly eMagazine of the International Vedanta Mission Sharing the message of Vedanta and Sanatan Dharma

Feb 2011 On the Net since 1995

Started by:

Poojya Guruji Sri Swami Atmanandaji

Editor:

Swamini Samatananda

Published from:

Vedanta Ashram E/2948-50, Sudama Nagar Indore-452 009, India

Web:

www.vmission.org.in Email:

vmission@gmail.com

Yagna-bhava is highly glorified in Gita. Orginally revealed in Vedas, yagnabhava is that art of doing karma which not only helps to invoke the best in us, but also therefore assures the best returns in terms of getting the desired fruits of action. It is not merely getting the desired fruits of actions but more importantly getting that fruit with the love, pleasure & resolve of the giver. Whenever actions are performed with yagna-bhava the priority is the happiness of some reverential one with all the love & respect they deserve. From the point of view of the devotee it is an act of getting a place in their heart rather than anything else, rest is the natural & inevitable consequence of this. So the devotee just serves in the best way they can, keeping aside their likes or dislikes, and working simply as per the pleasure of their master. When the ignorant and incompetent ones ‘want’ something then the anxiety is inevitable, because the fruit of action is not assured, and it is burden all the way; but when the knowledgable and competent ones ‘resolve to give’ something, then not only the result is assured but the whole exercise is not a burden to any of the two concerned, the reciever is rather blessed & gratified by the showering love of someone great. Bhagwan Sri Krishna compares this art of karma with a wish-fulfilling cow, wherein nothing shall ever remain impossible.

A student goes to a teacher and serves him so as to just get a place in his heart by his sincerity, sraddha and service. Thats all. Thereafter the teacher expresses his love & feelings for his own beloved in the best way he can - by giving that which is his true love & tapasya, his knowledge. The student is already tuned to him, and respects all what the teacher stands for. There is no worry in the student, he is at the masters disposal, and the master looks upon the need of the student as his own need, and gives out his heart & soul to the student, rather than the student worrying about it. So in yagna-bhava one has some inspiring & glorious person or devata in his/her life, and just has to serve him so as to become a recipient of his love. He aspires for a place in his heart rather than anything else. What follows is the expression of the blessings of the master, in his own way so as to efface the vacuum of something in the life of his dear student. One can inculcate the spirit of yagna-bhava in any sphere of life. No wonder Bhagwan Krishna in Gita Chapter 4, suggests incorporation and application of yagna-bhava in all ‘actions’, whether it is invoking the blessings of god, studying, meditating, eating, drinking, yoga etc. This needs to be basis of every healthy relationship too, you give out your best for the well-being of others, and let it be the freedom & discretion of the other to give you the best they can, in the way they can. Relationships of self-centered expectations and compulsions are the very anti-thesis of Yagna-bhava.

Love & om,

Swami Atmananda

Atma Bodha - Shloka 27 Vedanta Section

Fear a product of baseless Self-Perception In the previous sloka the Acharya explained that the Atman is of the nature of pure consciousness and that there is no sense of doership in the Atman. The intellect being inert also has no independent pottential to become conscious of anything. Yet the Jiva(the individual self), ignorantly conceives itself to be the doer, seer etc.

In the following sloka the Acharya explains the grave consequences one faces by imagining the Self to be a Jiva, a limited being. All the sufferings of Samsara, fear and anxiety are born once we see ourselves as a limited Jivah with a sense of doership and enjoyership. But knowing the Self to be a Jiva is only born ot of ignorance and imagination and can be effaced with the right knowledge is explained in the following sloka.

27 Rajju sarpavadatmanam Jivo gyatva bhayam vahet Naham Jiavah Paramatmeti gyatashchet nirbhayo bhavet Rajjusarpavat: Like in the case of Rope & Snake example; Atmanam: the Self; Jivo Gyatva: taking it as a limited individual; Bhayam Vahet: carries the burden of Fear; Naham Jivah: I am not this individuality; Paramatmeti: but Paramatma; Gyatah chet: If someone knows like this; Abhayo Bhavet: He shall become fearless.

Mistaking oneself to be a mere individual, like taking a rope as serpent, one is subject to fear. Gaining the knowledge that ‘I am not a Jiva, but Paramatman, one becomes fearless.

Rajju sarpavat atmanam: The Acharya explains that just as sometimes in the absence of full light one mistakes a rope to

be a snake so too in the absence of real knowledge of the Atman(Self) the Atman is superimposed with the identity of the Jiva and this Jiva thus becomes subject to various fears and insecurities. Let us analyse this example: A man is walking at night through a jungle.

There is some light of the moon, making the place vaguely visible. In such a situation when it is neither totally dark nor it is fully lit up, it is an ideal situation for imagination or misunderstanding. As the man walks in the dim light he cannot clearly see what lies ahead of him, this ignorance of what lies in front of him makes him imagine the rope to be a snake. Once he imagines Vedanta Sandesh - Feb 2011

that there is a snake, immediately fear takes over. Fear of being bitten by the snake, fear of dying, further fear and imagination of his family being orphaned and so on and so forth. One wrong and imagined notion of seeing the rope as a snake leads to a chain of wrong and imaginary notions leading to fear and anxiety. The Master explains that similar is the situation in case of the Atman. Ignorance of the true nature of the Self brings about imagined and superimposed identity of the Self as being the Jiva i.e. the limited Individual Self.

Jivo gyatva bhayam vahet: The wrong notion of knowing the Atman to be a Jiva brings about fear. Jiva is a limited and individualistic state of existence. When we

see ourselves as a limited being, identified with the Body, Mind and Intellect it gives birth to a seeker with a sense of doership and enjoyership.

This entity with an individualistic identity is known as a Jiva. A Jiva’s biography is all about constant seeking of happiness in worldly experiences outside him. Life becomes a constant struggle to work for and attain joyful moments which are not only dependant on constantly doing something but also gaining experiences which are very momentary. It is a journey of ups and downs, of joys and sorrows as one sometimes successfully gets what one wishes for and at times fails to fulfill his desires. Life is a constant struggle to gain and sustain. Such a mindset obviously invites fear, pain, insecurity, and attachment. A Jiva pays a heavy price for his wrong convictions about himself and the world. But the silver lining in this scenario is that the existence of a jiva is imaginary since it is brought about by ignorance. Therefore once a person unveils this curtain of ignorance and gets the true vision of himself he is liberated from this bondage of ignorance-desire and constant seeking to fulfill these desires. This is explained in the following part of the sloka.

Naham jivah paramatmeti: I am not the Jiva but the Supreme, eternal, pure consciousness and blissful Self is the realisation that dawns having gained knowledge.

The Jiva is an imaginary entity born out of ignorance. It is a reflection of this Supreme Consciousness, the identity of which is super-imposed on the Real Self. The Real Self is Parmatma that which is ‘Param’. The scriptures explain Param as that which is free of the limita-

tions of Time, Space and Objectivity.

Gyatashchennirbhayo bhavet: As light dispels darkness and along with it the mistaken notion of a rope to be a serpent, so too knowledge dispels ignorance and the mistaken notion of seeing the Self as a limited Jiva.

Knowledge alone frees oneself of the shackles of seeking. No amount of action and its consequent achievements, can liberate us from the sense of limitation. Shabda alone is the means to liberation. Once a person realises the limitations of acquiring happiness through worldly actions and achievements then alone such a person becomes qualified for knowledge. Right knowledge is then brought about by an authentic Preceptor and the teachings of Vedanta. The study of vedanta alone reveals one is not the Jiva but the ominipresent, omnipotent and the omniscient one. As long as one sees himeself to be the Body, mind and intellect one will be constantly subject to fear and insecurity, but when this limited being is seen to be the immaculate Supreme, then one is free from all fear and entanglements. The knowledge of Vedanta effaces all misapprehensions, dropping the identity of the Jiva and illumines the self as the limitless and blissful being.

Such an awakened one also lives in this same world, amidst the same play of the objective world, amidst the highs and lows of situations but he lives as Lord Krishna says in the Gita as ‘Atmani eve atman tushtah-He lives satisfied within his ownself. He does not fear being a part of the magnanimous play of objects, situations and people nor does he get hooked on to anything with attachemnt. There is nothing for him that is unattained because he has discovered the joy of all experiences within is ownself.

Heaven & Hell Defined What is swarg?

American salary, British house, Chinese food, Indian wife.

What is narak?

American wife, British food, Chinese house, Indian salary.

Page # 5

Letter of the Month

Is Buddha an Avatar?

Hari Om. Thanks for the New Year Greeting. My blessings to you all too for a happy and enlightening year ahead.

Knowledge is all about being aware of the of what Astruth per our is, while Yoga and understanding the Bhakti aimofto such resolving change the mind for contention is as the better, so it is follows: While technically fall right thattheythe in the category Puranas do referofto karma,as working to Buddha one of the changeofsomething. avatars Bhagwan For knowledge even Vishnu, but ‘Gautam’ a sankalpa to was Buddha change anything is apparently not that an impediment, avatar, he did some because our very goodthen & great priorities things in hischange lifetime, from but wasknowing certainlywhat not to working for of a isspokesman what should be.

Sanatan Dharma.

- Poojya Guruji

Vedanta Sandesh - Feb 2011

Regarding your query about Buddha, I discussed the matter with Poojya Guruji, and as per our understanding the resolving of such an issue is as follows: While it is right that the Puranas do refer to Buddha as one of the avatars of Bhagwan Vishnu, but ‘Gautam’ Buddha was apparently not that avatar, he did some very good & great things in his lifetime, but was certainly not a spokesman of Sanatan Dharma, on the contrary he was a founder of non-vedic Dharma, now known as Buddhism.

In order to understand this issue properly it is necessary to appreciate two points nicely: 1. The Principle of Avatar 2. Some facts about Buddha.

1. Regarding the first issue of Avatar please understand that an avatar is that divine manifestation of God which, one, ‘destroys adharma’, and two, re-establishes Dharma (Ref. Gita Chap-4). However all avataras do not necessarily accomplish both these tasks. Most of them are very short lived manifestations who by their divine intervention just destroy some extremely powerful forces of adharma. This is specially true in cases like Narsimha avatar etc. The avataras which not only destroy Adharma but also establish Dharma are called 'Poorna Avatars' - like Bhagavan Ram and Krishna. So the shastras use this Avatar word in a very broad manner. Buddha avatar was also one of those avatars which merely helped in the negation of adharma at some point in time. The first Buddha avatar did negate thoughtless, mechanical & blind ritualism, and thus indirectly facilitated the establishment of Vedic Dharma. As that earlier Buddha did not negate Vedic dharma but just negated adharma, he very well qualified to be called as one of the avatars of Bhagwan Vishnu. The word ‘Buddha’ literally means the 'Awakened-One' and it is more of a generic word which has been used many times in the Vedas, much before ‘Gautam’ Buddha came on the scene. It is basically a sanskrit word which was apparently borrowed by later Buddhist scholars etc to refer to their Master also.

2. The Buddhist people themselves accept & declare that there have been many manifestations of Buddha before ‘Gautam’ Buddha was born. Obviously Gautam Buddha was also a very inspired, dynamic, compassionate & enlightened Master, and incidentally he also raised his voice against mechanical, thoughtless ritualism which also included animal sacrifices. While this aspect was common in earlier Buddhas also, but Gautam Buddha did something different also, he started negating and condemning the Vedic religion. Not only Vedic religion but he was against any kind of Philosophy as such. In his eight fold noble path he focuses more on ethical values and mental purity, he did not encourage intellectual deliberations. The present day Buddhism more often traces its antecedents to Gautam Buddha, rather than any of their earlier Masters. Buddhism as a philosophy is indeed fundamentally different from the Vedic Philosophy and therefore even at the time of Sri Adi Shankaracharya there were big debates amongst scholars of Sanatan Dharma and Buddhism. A few years back there was a big conference here in India between the Hindu and Buddhist Scholars and both of them later said that Gautam Buddha was not the avatara which is referred to in the Puranas.

So in short please understand that the Buddha avatar referred to in the Puranas and which was much earlier than Gautam Buddha was a different manifestation; but he also did not directly establish the rule of Dharma but just worked to remove some of the negativities which had cropped up in our religion. This helped a lot to again re-establish the rule of Vedic Dharma by the existing Masters & Mahatmas of that time. So while we do respect any person with compassion, magnanimity, austerity etc., but this by itself doesn’t qualify anyone to be called as an Avatara – as per our tradition. I hope this additional information will help you to resolve the issue.

Best wishes and love to all at home.

Love & om

Ten Avatara’s of Bhagwan Vishnu 1. Matsya (the fish) 2. Koorma (the tortoise) 3. Varaha (the boar) 4. Narasimha (the human-lion) 5. Vamana (the dwarf) 6. Parasurama (the angry man, Rama with an axe) 7. Lord Rama (the perfect man, king of Ayodha) 8. Lord Krishna (the divine statesman) 9. Buddha or Balarama (brother of Krishna) 10. Kalki (the mighty worrior) Page # 7

Narmada Jayanti

Narmada, daughter of Shivji

Narmada Jayanti

Narmada Jayanti is a religious festival marking the birthday of river Narmada. It is celebrated with spectacular extravagance in Amarkantak and also in the bathing ghats of Hoshangabad in Madhya Pradesh. This great festival is observed during the month of February.

The celebrations at Amarkantak continue through the day. At Hoshangabad, the devotees float traditional oil lamps on the waters of the Narmada, from the sprawling bathing ghats. Thousands of people attend the festival. This year Narmada Jayanti will be celebrated on 10th of Feb 2011.

On the occassion of this pious festival let us see the glories of Maa Narmada: The Narmada happens to be one of the most sacred of the five holy rivers of India; the other four being Ganges, Yamuna, Godavari and Kaveri. It is believed that a dip in any of these five rivers washes ones sins away. According to a legend, the river Ganges is polluted by millions of people bathing in it. To cleanse herself, Ganges acquires the form of a black cow and comes to the Narmada to bathe in its holy waters.

Legends also mention that the Narmada River is older than the river Ganges.

The Rewa Khand of Vayu Purana and the Rewa Khand of Skanda Purana are entirely devoted to the story of the birth and the importance of the river and hence Narmada is also called Rewa. According to the Puranas, the Narmada is also called the Rewa, from its leaping motion (from the root 'rev') through its rocky bed.

There are many fables about the origin of the Narmada. According to one of them, once Lord Shiva, the Destroyer of the Universe, meditated so hard that he started perspiring. Shiva’s sweat accumulated in a tank and started flowing in the form of a river – the Narmada. Another legend has it that two teardrops that fell from the eyes of Lord Brahma, the Creator (*of the Universe, yielded two rivers – the Narmada and the Son. Legends also say that for Lord Shiva, the Hindu God, the river is especially sacred on account of its origin, and it is often called Shankari, i.e., daughter of Shankar (Lord Shiva). All the pebbles rolling on its bed are said to take the shape of his emblem with the saying, "Narmada Ke Kanker utte Sankar" (a popular saying in the Hindi belt of India), which means that ‘pebble stones of Narmada gets a personified form of Shiva’.

VedantaSandesh Sandesh- -Feb April2011 2009 Vedanta

Page # 10

These lingam shaped stones (cryptocrytalline quartz), called Banalinga also called (Banashivalingas) are much sought after for daily worship by the Hindus. The Brihadeeswara Temple in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, constructed by Rajaraja Chola, has one of the biggest Banalingas. Adi Shankara met his guru Govinda Bhagavatpada on the banks of river Narmada.

Important religious places and Ghats along the course of the river, starting with its origin at Narmadakhund at Amarkantak hill, are: a) the Amarkantak (in Sanskrit: Neck of Shiva) or Teerathraj (the King of Pilgrimages), b) Omkareshwar, Maheshwar, and Mahadeo temples, Nemawar Siddeshwar Mandir in the middle reach of the river – all named after Shiva, c) Chausath Yogini (sixty four yoginis) temple, d) Chaubis Avatar temple, e) Bhojpur Shiva temple and Bhrigu Rishi temple in Bharuch. The Narmada River is also worshipped as mother goddess by Narmadeeya Brahmins.

The importance of the Narmada River as sacred is testified by the fact that the pilgrims perform a holy pilgrimage of a Parikrama or Circumbulation of the river. The Narmada Parikrama, as it is called, is considered to be a meritorious act that a pilgrim can undertake. Many sadhus (saints) and pilgrims walk on foot from the Arabian Sea at Bharuch in Gujarat, along the river, to the source in Maikal Mountains (Amarkantak hills) in Madhya Pradesh and back along the opposite bank of the river. It is a 2,600-kilometre (1,600 miles) walk. Important towns of interest in the valley are Jabalpur, Barwani, Hoshangabad, Harda, Narmada Nagar, Omkareshwar, Dewas (Nemavar, Kity, Pipri), Mandla and Maheshwar in Madhya Pradesh, and Rajpipla and Bharuch in Gujarat. Some places of historical interest are Joga Ka Quilla, Chhatri of Baji Rao Peshwa and Bhimbetka, and among the falls are – Dugdhdhara, Dhardi falls, Bheraghat, Dhuandhara, Kapiladhara and Sahastradhara.

Conversion Blues - Santa style During Lent, even in the locality of strict Catholics, Santa continued to cook wonderful aromatic tandoori Chicken. His neighbours got very distracted and finally approached the Church Priest, who decided to come over to Santa to convert him to Christianity, and after few sittings he was successful to convert him. Finally Santa attended the Mass. Sprinkling holy water on him, the priest said, “You were born a Sikh, and raised a Sikh, but now dear, you are a Catholic.”

Come Friday, Santa was back to his delicious cooking, and the neighbours were surprised. They peeped inside his house and were utterly amazed when they saw Santa standing with a bottle of holy water, sprinkling the water on the grilled chicken he was saying: “Oye, you waz born a chicken, you were raised a chicken, but now dear…. you are a potato”!

Page # 9

Wise Sage There once was a wise sage who wandered the countryside. One day, as he passed near a village, he was approached by a woman who told him of a sick child nearby. She beseeched him to help this child.

So the sage came to the village, and a crowd gathered around him, for such a man was a rare sight. One woman brought the sick child to him, and he said a prayer over her.

“Do you really think your prayer will help her, when medicine has failed?” yelled a man from the crowd.

“You know nothing of such things! You are a stupid fool!” said the sage to the man.

The man became very angry with these words and his face grew hot and red. He was about to say something, or perhaps strike out, when the sage walked over to him and said: “If one word has such power as to make you so angry and hot, may not another have the power to heal?”

And thus, the sage healed two people that day.

Vedanta Sandesh - Feb 2011

Stories from Purana’s n o p e u .. c n .

O e m a ti

Kubera’s Feast Kubera, god of wealth, had become arrogant. One day he decided to host an extravagant feast for the gods, such a feast as never had been hosted before.

It would increase his prestige and show all men and gods the extent of his wealth and influence.

Accordingly, he went to Mount Kailash to invite Lord Shiva. Shiva was his patron.

Kubera owed all his wealth to Shiva who, pleased with his devotion had given him the boon that his wealth would never diminish, no matter how much he spent.

Shiva declined to come but said he would send his son, Ganesha. Kubera was disappointed. Shiva’s presence would have been a feather in his cap. But at least he was sending Ganesha. It would have been a terrible snub if no one from the family were to come. Kubera resolved to make the feast so grand that Shiva’s absence would not be felt.

The guests were many, thousands of them, both gods and men. They were accommodated in a huge hall built especially for the purpose. The chief guest, Ganesha, was the last to come. The moment he entered, he began to ask for food.

He was shown to a seat of honour and tantalising dishes were set before him. He gulped them down and asked for more. He was given a second helping and then a third but his appetite remained undiminished.

Kubera ordered his army of cooks to produce more food but they could not keep pace with Ganesha’s eating frenzy. The elephant-god was eating food meant for thousands. When he had finished all the food set before him, he began to shout, “Give me more, give me more!” and then getting impatiently to his feet, rushed to the enormous kitchen and devoured all the food there.

Kubera was aghast. All the food was gone and the guests had not been fed. Worse, Ganesha was still hungry. “You call this a feast?” Ganesha admonished Kubera.

“There’s no food here. I’m going home.” Kubera pleaded with him to stay, promising him more food in a little while but his young guest was in no mood to listen. He got on his mount and sped away. Kubera, fearing Shiva’s wrath, followed in his own vehicle.

When he arrived at Kailash, he found Ganesha complaining loudly to his father about the lack of food at his feast. “What’s this I hear, Kubera?” asked Shiva, turning to the god. “No food at your feast?” “I....I....,” mumbled Kubera. “Go in and ask your mother for some food,” said Shiva to his son. “I’m sure Kubera did his best.”

“I did, I did, my lord,” said Kubera, feeling miserable. His feast had turned into a farce. Instead of adding to his prestige it had made him a laughing stock. But he was relieved to see that Shiva did not appear to be angry.

He fell at his patron’s feet and begged forgiveness for his pride.

Vedanta Sandesh - April 2009

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Jan’11 VM / VA Programs Sadhana Camp, Vedanta Ashram - Indore:

Vedanta Mission / Ashram Programs

A five days Sadhana Camp started at Vedanta Ashram, Indore on the morning of 22nd Jan 2011. The Camp was full house, the entire capacity which Ashram can comfortably acccomodate.

The subject matter of the discourses of the camp were, Laghu-Vakya Vritti, and Gita Chapter-16. Laghu Vakya Vritti is a beautiful and very thoughtful text, and is basically a free commentary on the Mahavakya ‘Aham Brahmasmi’. Composed by Sri Adi Sankara, this eighteen shloka text is indeed like an ocean in a pot. There were two classes per day for this. The other text was Gita, whose 16th chapter was explained. It is the DaivasurSampat Vibhaga Yoga. It enumerates the positive and negative qualities.

Bhagwan tells that all the posiitive qualities are that which facilitate freeedom, while the negative ones bind us.

Chanting Class at Camp: Apart from two above main discourse series, the Sadhana Camp is a package various things, including chanting. Poojya Swamini Amitanandaji taught the campers two beautiful sanskrit stotras. One was Lingashtakam and the other was also a Lord Shiva’s Dakshinamurhty Roopa Sanskrit bhajan.

Sanskrit Chanting is a simple yet effective inspirer & elevator. It creates a great ambiance for deeper contemplation. It not only removes all the various problems of diction & audition but makes the mind alert too. No wonder the Upanishads too say that ‘Swadhyaya-Pravachanabhyam na Pramaditavyam’, never ignore this sadhana. As Vedanta Ashram has a Shiva Temple, so the devotees used these new chants to best use, chanting them morning & evening after the Aarti.

New Dining Hall at Ashram: A new Dining was finally & formally inaugurated for use during the Camp. Made on war-footing in record time, it has come out to be a great modern and desperately required facility. Various devotees liberally gave donations for its construction, and it had jade-blue polycarbonate translucent walls, profile-sheet roof, glass walled doors, and a big granite serving table. There is a separate table for Ashram Mahatmas, and tables & chairs for campers.

There was a small puja on the first day as a mark of its formal inauguration. With kitchen also on top floor, serving hot food was convenient. With new serving bowls & plates complementing the new facilities, the devotees did self-service like buffets and later washed their utensils too, in the newly made wash-basins outside.

Vedanta Sandesh - Feb 2011

Jan’11 VM / VA Programs

Vedanta Mission / Ashram Programs

Camp Fire at Camp, Indore: One of the days there was a Camp Fire organized after dinner. Everyone gathered around the fire, which was lit in the open hall on the ground floor, so that all the young & old, healthy and not-so-healthy could enjoy the event.

First there was the Corn & Gram Party, where fresh corn, greengram and sweet-beet were baked directly in the camp fire by sewaks & kitchen staff. Then there was Hanuman Chalisa chanting, bhajans and then Antakshari. It was surprising to see how much stock the campers had of songs, bhajans, shlokas and verses. It kept spontaneously flowing & flowing and finally it was a tie. The weather was great, a slight lovely chill in the air, made everyone wrap light wollens around and enjoy the evening fully.

Cultural Program at Camp: Every evening there were lovely bhajans during the Camp. On the second last day Poojya Guruji dealt with the qeries of the campers on various subjects.

During the Camp Fire, there were three special programs after the Antakshari. One was a group bhajan prepared by the campers ‘Om japa kar’ based on the tune of an old & famous Kawali. Then there were dances & mono-acting presentations by children. Anagh Sharma presented a nice dance on the bhajan ‘Amar Atma Satchitananda Main Hoon’, and she won lot of applauses and blessings. Finally there was a Jokes Program by Manohar Agarwal. His lovely style in hindi mixed with the sweet Malwi language made it all the more beautiful. He overall presented three sessions and everyone enjoyed them to the utmost - bursting in loud laughters.

Pada Puja at Camp, Indore: The Sadhana Camp concluded on 26th Jan. First there was the flag hoisting of the tricolor by Poojya Guruji. The Ashram flag was changed that day to the tricolor and all the campers sang the National Anthem.

Both the discourses completed on 26th morning and after lunch there was the concluding program of the Camp - the Pada Puja and sharing of Camp experiences by the devotees. This year the honor of doing the Pada Puja went to Savitri Jethmalani. The puja was got done by Poojya Swamini Amitanandaji. The campers later shared their experiences of the camp. It was great joy to see that everyone enjoyed the camp to the fullest. The discourses, ashram facilities, silent sewa by all the sewaks and Mahatmas touched one & all. Everyone went drenched in gratitude & wisdom.

Check out the detailed Photo Albums of the various functions on VM News Blog at : http://vmissionews.blogspot.com/ Page # 13

Quotes Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we're here we should DANCE - Anony The best things in life aren't things.

- Art Buchwald It all depends on whether you have things, or they have you.

- Robert A. Cook "Laughter is the closest distance between two people."

- Victor Borge RICHNESS is not Earning More, Spending More Or Saving More, but "RICHNESS IS WHEN YOU NEED NO MORE" When we always worry and hurry through the day, it is more like an unopened gift thrown away.

“We first make our habits, and Then our habits make us.”

- John Dryden No man was ever wise by chance.

- Lucius Annaeus Seneca “Life like a mirror, never gives back more than what we put into it” "Spoon feeding in the long run teaches us nothing but the shape of the spoon." - Edward Morgan Forster

Vedanta Sandesh - Feb 2011

Forthcoming Programs

Gita Gyana Yagna, Lucknow: A Gita Gyana Yagna will be organized at Hari om Mandir, from 10th to 17th Mar, a week before Holi, which is on 19th March.

The subject matters of the discourse series will be Gita Chapter 2, and continuity of the Kathopanishad.

Mahashivratri Camp, Indore: A three days Mahashivratri Camp will be organized at the Vedanta Ashram from 28th Feb to 2nd Mar. The subject matters of the discourse series will be announced later.

Mahashivratri Celebrations 2011: Mahashivratri will be celebrated at Vedanta Ashram, Indore on 3rd March 2011. There will be Rudrabhisheka three times a day, early morning, afternoon and night. As usual the top Shivlinga will be opened for public on that day too.

Gita Gyana Yagna, Ahmedabad: A Gita Gyana Yagna will be organized at Ramkrishna Kendra, Ahmedabad in the first week of April by Poojya Guruji. The subject matters of the discourse series will be Gita Chapter 2, and continuity of the Kathopanishad.

Gita Gyana Yagna, Mumbai: A Gita Gyana Yagna will be organized at BHA Hall Mumbai in the first week of May. The subject matters of the discourse series will be Gita Chapter 4, and continuity of the Kathopanishad.

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Hari om !

Web Site of the International Vedanta Mission: http://www.vmission.org.in/

International Vedanta Mission News Blog: http://vmissionews.blogspot.com/

Checkout the new ‘Gita Section’ of VMission Web Site at: http://www.vmission.org.in/vedanta/shastras/gita/index.htm

This is a Net Publication of the International Vedanta Mission

Om Tat Sat