जीत-हार

जीत-हार

हार के कगार पे

बैठे जो मन हार के

आगे कुछ दिखता नहीं

अश्रु धार थमता  नहीं

शत्रु जो सब कुछ लूट गया

स्वजनों का संग भी छूट गया

ह्रदय वेदना से भरी हुई जो

खुद की बोझ भी सहती नहीं वो

याद रहे हरदम

ज़िंदा हो अभी , मरे न तुम

वह कल भी था बीत गया 

यह पल भी बीत जाएगा

एक संघर्ष में हार से

युद्ध हारा नहीं कहलायेगा

सत्य धर्म के मार्ग चलो

हार से तुम किंचित  न डरो

सत्य धर्म जहाँ  होता है

वहीं जनार्दन होते हैं

जहाँ जनार्दन होते है

वहीं विजयश्री पग धोती है

……अभय…..

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स्मरण

स्मरण

आशंकाओं से घिरे पहर में ,

   दुविधाओं के बीच भंवर में,

     दर्द भरी आहों में,

      या सूनी राहों में

         मरुभूमि के टीलों में

           नेत्र बनी जो झीलों में

             या बंजर मैदानों में

             सूखे खेत खलिहानो में

                स्वजनित विपदाओं में

                 या प्राकृतिक आपदाओं में

जब जब हम खुद को

   हारा हुआ पाते हैं

     नेत्र स्वतः बंद हो जाते हैं

       वंदन को हाथ जुड़ जाता है

         कभी अहम् से था जो मस्तक ऊँचा

          वह  भी झुक जाता है

            दुःख की घड़ी में तो अनायास ही

              ध्यान प्रभु का आता है

                पर सुख के पहर में स्मरण ईश्वर को

                     शायद ही कोई कर पाता है

                                                                                 ~अभय

सूक्ति (Beautiful Thought)

Sanskrit is world’s oldest language. They say “Old is Gold”. But the decline in Sanskrit suggests that we have not valued the Gold. There may be many reasons of its decline. One of the foremost reason was that we remained under the control of foreign rulers for way too long period (nearly 1000 years, isn’t it a very long period ?). Whenever any foreign power reins its subject, their first attack is on the cultural aspects of their occupation and to promote their own culture to the natives.

Anyway I am not going in to the details of the apathy of Sanskrit, because reflection in past never fetches any substantial gain but the present action can, however past can be a chaperone.

Today I am starting a new series in my blog, named “सूक्ति/ Beautiful Thought”

“सू+उक्ति; सू =अच्छा, सुन्दर ; उक्ति = विचार “.

It will consist texts, verses, thoughts, quotes, anecdotes etc. from Sanskrit language with its translation. I will try to write those episodes which will be relevant to our day to day life. The source of my quote will be multiple. Texts may be from Srimad Bhagavad Gita, Bhagwat Puran, Vedas, Upanishad, Quotes from various personalities such as Chanakya.

My purpose is that through this small initiative readers will feel proud about our great heritage and can develop some interest in knowing them. India was known as “Golden Bird” at the time, when Sanskrit was rife. I am not saying that there is some connection between it, but I also believe that it can not be a mere coincident.

Here is the first one ..

text1

संस्कृत दुनिया की सबसे पुरानी भाषा है. लोग कहते हैं “ओल्ड इस गोल्ड “. लेकिन संस्कृत में गिरावट से पता चलता है कि हमने “गोल्ड” को महत्व नहीं दिया है. इसकी गिरावट के कई कारण हो सकते हैं. सबसे महत्वपूर्ण कारण यह था कि हम विदेशी शासकों के नियंत्रण में बहुत लंबे समय तक रहे (लगभग 1000 साल, क्या यह बहुत लंबी अवधि नहीं है?)। जब भी किसी भी विदेशी शक्ति ने अपने अधीन पर शाशन करती है तो उनका पहला हमला अधीन के सांस्कृतिक पहलुओं को नाश्ता करना और अपने सांस्कृतिक पहलुओं को उनपर थोपना होता है.

फिर भी मैं संस्कृत की उदासीनता का ब्यौरा में नहीं देने जा रहा हूं, क्योंकि सिर्फ अतीत झाँकने से किसी भी महत्वपूर्ण लक्ष्य की पूर्ति नहीं करता है, लेकिन वर्तमान में काम करने से यह प्राप्त किया जा सकता है, हालांकि अतीत एक सीख का काम कर सकती है

आज मैं अपने ब्लॉग में एक नई श्रृंखला शुरू कर रहा हूं, जिसका नाम रखा है “सूक्ति ” . इसमें संस्कृत भाषा से पाठ, छंद, विचार, उद्धरण, उपाख्यानों आदि शामिल होंगे। मैं उन लेखों को लिखने का प्रयास करूंगा जो हमारे दिन-प्रतिदिन जीवन के लिए प्रासंगिक होंगे। मेरे उद्धरण का स्रोत एकाधिक होगा. ग्रंथों में श्रीमद् भगवद गीता, भागवत पुराण, वेद, उपनिषद, चाणक्य जैसे विभिन्न व्यक्तित्वों से उद्धरण भी हो सकते हैं।

मेरा उद्देश्य यह है कि इस छोटी सी पहल के माध्यम से पाठकों को हमारी महान विरासत के बारे में पढ़कर गर्व महसूस होगा और उन्हें जानने में कुछ रुचि पैदा हो होगी। भारत को “सोने की चिड़िया” कहा जाता था, जब संस्कृत व्यापक थी। मैं यह नहीं कह रहा हूं कि इसके बीच कुछ संबंध हैं, लेकिन मेरा यह भी मानना है कि यह एक संयोगमात्र नहीं हो सकता।

 

Qualities of Lord

Namaste to readers and fellow bloggers,

Today I chose to write something different than my usual content. Let me know, if you enjoyed reading.

There is hardly any doubt that whenever anyone in India would be asked to recite some verse from Bhagavad Gita, majority of them would land up in mentioning below two verses

yada yada hi dharmasya
glanir bhavati bharata
abhyutthanam adharmasya
tadatmanam srjamy aham

 paritranaya sadhunam
vinasaya ca duskrtam
dharma-samsthapanarthaya
sambhavami yuge yuge

I am not sure that how many of them will know the real meaning of these verses. For that matter, even I was oblivious of the meanings till few years back. But somehow got to know  and on this auspicious day of Ramnavami, when Lord Ramchandra manifested himself in this world, I thought of writing about it.

In these two slokas (verses) Lord mentions the reason why he appears in this material creation. The reasons why He came can be concluded from the verse as..

Lord comes,

  1. Whenever there is decline in religiousness and irreligion rises
  2. To deliver those who are pious and
  3. To annihilate the miscreants

So in Hinduism, we are aware that Lord had ten incarnations called as Dashavatar. If we would study a bit it about these incarnations, then we will surely find that every time when he came,  above three criterion were satisfied.

Lord Ramchandra came in Treta Yuga, and whatever happened after that, is an epic and known to all Indians (not only Hindus), at least the overall story. So I am not going to tell you about the story of Ramayan. My purpose of this writing is to remember the qualities that Lord had displayed during his stay on this planet. He was an ideal as He was Lord himself. So we cannot imitate or emulate him, but by knowing his qualities, surely we can try to follow his footstep. So today is Ramnaumi and taking the cue from the Ninth day of the Chaitra Month, I tried to write nine out of innumerable qualities of Lord in short. However I am not competent to describe the glory of him, yet I gave it a try.

ram ji
Credit: ISKCON
  1. A Perfect Son: Nowhere in the world you wouldcome across a story where a son in his youthful stage left all his lavishness and luxuries of kingdom and spent 14 years in exile, faced innumerable hardship as Ram did and that too just for the sake of keeping his father’s word. Even though he knew his stepmother is the culprit for all his adversity, yet no where we come across an incident where he has raised a voice of disrespect against her.
  1. A Perfect Brother: When Lord Ram got to know that her stepmother wanted to coronate his son Bharat as Crown prince of Ayodhya, even though Lord had exclusive right over throne. Yet, he readily agreed to the proposal and left for the forest as if he was relinquishing a blade of grass. The same love was from the other side too. All three younger brothers were so attached to Ram that they were even ready to accept death but not the separation from him. Till today the brother’s relationship between Ram and Bharat is revered in India.
  1. A Perfect Student: Ram had formal education in ashram of Vashishta and Vishwamitra. Both the teachers taught the intricacies of diplomacy, weaponry, politics etc. Lord Ram excelled in all the discipline and was revered by them as well.
  1. A perfect Husband: Lord Ram is known as Maryada Purushottam, a supreme in Virtue. When polygamy was prevalent in that era especially among the Kings and Kshatriya (warrior class), he vowed and later observed that he will have only one wife in his life. When Mother Sita was taken away to Lanka by Ravana, Ram was so tormented and agonized that he saw her in trees, in stones, in rivers etc. As her presence was unknown, he was helpless and asked about her from birds and the animals of Dandakaranya. Later when he got to know that Ravan has kidnapped her, with meager of resources and army of Monkeys and Bears he attacked mighty Ravan(from whom even Indra, king of Demigods, was affraid) and defeated him in war and brought back Maa Sita home
  1. A perfect Friend: His friendship was conspicuous when he assisted Sugriva, who was on the weaker side and made him the King of Kiskindha. The story of his friendship with the King of Nishad is well known and highly revered.
  1. A perfect Enemy: As we know that he was a perfect friend, at the same time he was a perfect enemy of the devils and miscreants since the childhood. As stated earlier one of the reasons that he came to the earth was to destroy the evil force. So he killed many demons who used to trouble the Sadhus or the Saints . Some of them were so powerful that they had even defeated Demigods. Ram killed many demons during his stay.
  1. A perfect warrior: Ram was a perfect Kshatriya and a valiant warrior. On one hand Ravan had well equipped with all the mysterious weaponry, yet Lord defeated him with handful of army which manly comprised of Monkeys and Bears.
  1. A Perfect Master: There is a very interesting past time of Lord Ram, when he eat the berry given by Sabari, a lower caste women in her old age, who herself has tasted them before giving to Lord. In Indian context, it is an offence to give something to the master after first consuming or defiling it. But she was so engrossed in the love of lord that she did not wanted to give a sour berry to Him. And Lord was so generous that he accepted and consumed all the berries.
  1. A perfect King: In Ramayan we come across an ideal world, where a king used to go in disguise to see the wellbeing of his countrymen. It is said that in his state no person was in distress. His reign was so celebrated that till today politicians cutting across the party lines claims before the election that they will bring Ramrajya, yet they had no intention to follow the footsteps of him.

Although, my words will not do justice to the describe the qualities of Lord, yet I am hoping that you have enjoyed it.

Thank you for reading.

भोर की खोज..

आज कल के भागा दौड़ी वाले समय में मुझे संदेह है कि बहुत कम व्यक्ति होंगे जो रोज सूर्योदय देखते हैं. खासकर युवा वर्ग की नींद तो सूर्योदय के बाद ही खुलती है, ऐसा मैं  मानता हूँ. पर मैं यह नहीं कह रहा कि सभी युवा सूर्योदय के बाद ही उठते हैं .

आज सुबह सुबह का अनुभव आप सब से साझा कर रहा हूँ. वैसे तो बसंत का मौषम ही बड़ा सुहावना होता है. सुबह में तो कुछ और ही ज़्यादा. जब ठंडी ठंडी पवन शरीर को छूती है, आम के मंज़र की खुशबु से मन प्रशन्न हो जाता है, कोयल की कुहू, और जब आप उसके स्वर की नक़ल करो तो उसका लगातार दुहराना, मन को मोहित कर जाता है.

तो आज जब मैं उठा तो सोचा कि कुछ टहल लिया जाये. अभी सूरज निकला  नहीं थी तो वातावरण में अँधेरा व्यप्त था. मुझे नदी, तालाब या झील का तट बहुत अच्छा लगता है. और एक नदी घर के कुछ ही दूरी पर है तो उधर हो चला. साथ में फ़ोन और ईयरफ़ोन भी ले लिया. मेरे म्यूजिक प्लेयर में कुछ गीत थे, पर रिलायंस जिओ ने एक काम अच्छा किया है की डेटा की अब चिंता नहीं करनी पड़ती है और आप गाना ऑनलाइन सुन सकते हो. जितनी मर्जी उतनी.

तो मैंने ganna.com पर क्लासिकल भजन टाइप किया और कान में ईयरफ़ोन लगा कर घर से निकला. फिर जो भजन मैंने सुना उससे मंत्रमुग्ध हो गया. वह भजन पंडित भीम सेन जोशी ने गायी थी. उनके स्वर में जादू था. मैं आपको बताऊँ तो मैंने वह भजन सुबह से अब तक १५-२० बार से ज़्यादा सुनी पर फिर भी मेरा मन नहीं भरा. इस भजन की सबसे अच्छी बात मुझे इसकी बोल लगी, हरेक शब्द में भाव, हरेक शब्द का अर्थ. आज कल के गीत की तरह नहीं, बिना मतलब का, फूहर…

तो सोचा की आप सब तक भी पहुंचा दूं. हो सकता है आप में से कइयों ने सुनी होगी, और यदि नहीं सुनी तो आप जरूर सुनियेगा. हो सके तो सुबह सुबह सूर्योदय से पहले, खुले में, ईयरफ़ोन लगा के, तेज स्वर में.
मैंने थोड़ी खोज-बीन की तो YouTube पर मुझे मिला, लिंक शेयर कर रहा हूँ. एल्बम का नाम है “कृष्ण कहिये  राम  जपिये” . इस एल्बम की हरेक गीत बहुत मधुर र और सुन्दर हैं पर “कृष्ण कृष्णा कहिये उठी भोर”  का जवाब नहीं , पर यहाँ यह दो भाग में है .एक साथ सुनियेगा तो और भी मज़ा आएगा
मैं इस भजन का transcript भी ब्लॉग पर शेयर कर रहा हूँ जिससे बोल समझने में आसानी होगी.

 

कृष्ण कृष्ण कहिये उठी भोर…

कृष्ण कृष्ण कहिये उठी भोर
भोर किरण के साथ कृष्णा कह
वन में नाचे मोर

पक्षी के कलरव में वंदन
वंदन लहरें करती
वंदन करती बहे समीरें
गायें हैं पग भरतीं
कृष्ण कृष्ण कह पुत्र जग के माता होये विभोर

गुन गुन कर के कृष्ण कृष्ण कहे
भँवरे डोल रहे हैं
कृष्ण कृष्ण कह कमल पुष्प सब
पंखुड़ी खोल रहे हैं
वंदन की आभा फैली हैं
देखो चारो ओर

फूल टूट के धरा पे बिखरे
इसी भांति है वंदन
दूब के मुख पर ओस पड़ी है
महक उठा है चन्दन
कोयल कूक के वंदन करती
हंस करे किलोर .

 

 

बताना मत भूलियेगा की कैसी लगी 🙂

अनन्त नामों में से कुछ..

krishna
Credit: ISKCON

सनातन धर्म में चार युग बताये गए हैं. सतयुग, त्रेतायुग, द्वापरयुग और कलयुग. अलग-अलग युगों में ईश्वर प्राप्ति की अलग अलग विधियों का वर्णन है. सतयुग में ध्यान, त्रेता में यज्ञ, द्वापर में अरचा विग्रह(मूर्ति पूजा) और इस कलयुग में यदि भव सागर को पार करना है, तो भगवान का नाम ही एक मात्र उपाय है.

भगवान के अनन्त नाम हैं, और हर नाम का कोई अर्थ. मैं उन नामों को देख रहा था और सोचा कि क्यों न इनको एक स्वर दिया जाये. पढ़िए और भगवान का स्मरण कीजिये.

अनन्त नामों में से कुछ…

केशव माधव मदन मुरारी
दयानिधि द्वारकाधीश बिहारी

यशोदानंदन मदनमोहन
देवकीनंदन घनश्याम

मुरलीधर श्याम मनोहर
मधुसूदन बलराम

विश्वरूप वासुदेव विश्वनाथ
जगद्गुरु जयन्ताह श्रीजगन्नाथ

लक्ष्मीकांत कंजलोचन
कमलनयन श्रीराम

अचल अजन्मा आदिदेव
पद्महस्ता परमपुरुष हिरण्यगर्भ

कृष्ण कन्हैया गोवर्धनधारी
मधुसूदन हरी मुरलीधारी

 

……….अभय………..

Why most Hindus are cremated but some are buried?

Why most Hindus are cremated but some are buried?

Recently when Jayalalitha, a very popular leader of South Indian state Tamilnadu, died, it produced unprecedented shock waves across the country. After her demise, unlike most of the Hindus, she was buried and not cremated. It was baffling for me as well as for many others that why there are two pronged approach in same religion. Then I searched for the reason of this exception. Whatever the understanding I got, presenting it in the blog. But you are also entitled to get differed from my opinion

Why Hindus are cremated?

It is important to know that in Hinduism, saints and sages came to conclusion that Jivas (Humans are one of the Jivas) are not their body but the eternal Soul and Soul never dies. It just changes the body. This concept is known as Transmigration of the Soul.

immm

This is substantiated in one of the most revered scripture of Hinduism,

Bhgavad Gita 2.13

 dehino ‘smin yatha dehe
kaumaram yauvanam jara
tatha dehantara-praptir
dhiras tatra na muhyati

As the embodied soul continually passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. The self-realized soul is not bewildered by such a change.

One more essential pillar of the Hindu doctrine is “Moksha”, along with “Dharma”, “Artha”and “Kaam”. Moksha in it’s literal sense means “to be free”. Now the question will be Freedom for whom and from what? So this freedom is for the Soul and from this material conditioning that is from perishable body.

According to Vedic injunction, when a person attains Moksha, then he/she doesn’t come in this material world again and either merges with Bramhan (Super Soul) or resides with the Lord in his abode which is permanent unlike this world.

So when a person dies, he has to leaves his body, but since he has spent a long time with this body, he develops attachment for it. When anyone is attached with any person or object then a desire to associate with it for longer duration of time, remains inside him. But the desire to be in this perishable body is conflicting with the real objective i.e. to be free and attain Moksha. Hence by burning the body, soul can witness and realise the temporary nature of the body and hence the will ultimately crave for Moksha.

But saints and children are cremated

There are some exceptions to it. Saints and Children, when they die, there is a Provision for them to buried. The reason for it, which I have understood after reading some text and hearing from some specialists in this subject, is as follows.

Saints and sages (I am talking about real ones which are few in number yet existing, not the bogus which has proliferated and made religion a business), in their whole life time goes through severe penances, meditations, rituals, sacrifices, association with the pious personality etc. By going through all these process they not only knows but become self realized that the body which they got is perishable and ultimate objective is to attain Moksha. Hence after this realization, the body which they got becomes purified from the material contamination such as lust, greed, anger, enviousness, attachments etc. Since they have no attachment for the body, hence they are buried.

One more consideration which I came across is that, the real Gurus, sages or the pious personality come to this material planet just to relieve the ones which are suffering in this world due to the ignorance that they are soul, not the body. So even though they appear like ordinary human beings, yet they are the direct messenger of the Lord, hence they are not having any longing for their body. They just finish their duty and leave their body.

There is also a provision to bury the children. The reason for this, which I have read is that since they die at very young age and hence they don’t develop so much longing and attachment for themselves. Hence they are buried.

Now coming to the point of why Jayalalitha is buried, I am not able to figure out the real reason other than the whims of her follower, as she was not and ascetic personality and of course, neither a child.

The uniqueness of Hinduism lies in the fact that it is a very liberal. If you are worshiping idol still you are Hindu, not worshiping it makes no difference, even if you are atheist you can accommodate in Hinduism. That’s why Indian Supreme Court termed, Hinduism as a “Way of Life”. This also very much true for the last right. When majority cremates the body, yet you will find exceptions to it.