GANESHA

    The antiquity of Hindu Gods goes back to the times of the very beginning of the beginning-less date of Creation. In fact, there is a saying, "God created Man and Man created Gods". How true? The 'power that be' that created the universe is 'God'. At the beginning of the creation comes the Lord of all the Ganas, Ganapati, Ganesha, who is adored by all the learned sages and the gods and goddesses. The Ganas are the elements, the building blocks! The origin of the primeval God is itself a mystery, so also, our own creation and existence here and now!  

  As far as the story goes, according to Shiva Purana, Parvati, Devi daughter of King Himavan, symbolically meaning the Land and its soil, created 'Ganesha' from the dust /clay! This applies to all the living beings, too, created and supported by soil and food! The story apart,  Ganapati is a Vedic God who is praised by the learned sages as the Lord of the Impediments, obstacles! There is this tradition of invoking the blessings, anugraha, of the Lord Ganapati before any activity is undertaken. It is a request to god, to boost our self-confidence, get the blessings for success in all our ventures.

   In the strict sense of the term 'Gana' means the elements and these are held by Gravity, Lord Ganapati. Ganapati is the deity of muladhara prajnya, the support of our existence, the power of basal plexus that holds us! It is the consciousness, the basis of our very existence!

   The Veda invoked and praise Lord Ganapati as the Deity of Learning, Vidya adhipati. Ganapati is the all-knowing, a poet, and a powerful God. He is kavinaam kavih! This supreme power, the Lord , resides in us as the basis of our existence. It is this Ganapati that writes the epics as dictated by Lord Shree Krishna, Dvaipayana. Ganapati as the muladhara adhipati takes dictation from the Purna Prajnya, the highest level of sahasrara prajnya. All this within us!   

Hindu Gods as Depicted in Scriptures

   Each and every race, religion, caste and creed have developed its own faith and belief system developed over a period of time and, they differ due to geography, history, and culture. The Greeks and the Romans, the Spaniards and the Mexicans, the Egyptians- all have their own mythology and Gods- like the God of Fire (Vulcan), God of Beauty (Venus), God of Underworld (Vulcan), God of Firs (Ignus), etc. some have the Stars, the Sun and the Moon as Gods. India, as 'bharata varsha' has the Sun and the Moon as gods; this may not be the sun and the moon that we see, but the power that be behind them that give the power to shine, support life! Moon is the deity of the Mind. There is no doubt as to the antiquity of the Hindu Gods and Sages. The Rk Veda eulogizes Agni, the God of Fire. We worship the deity that wards of impediments Ganapati, in fact,made of clay! We have the God of Fire (Agni), literally the one whom we praise and worship in Yajnya, havan and homa rituals. There is God of Air (Marut/Vayu), God of Rains (Varuna), God of Health (Ashvins), and God Rudra. Rudra Deva is praised in the Rk Veda. Rudra is there in every cell of our body! The beauty (sundaram) and truth (satyam) of Hindu Gods and goddesses are that they occupy strategic positions in our body (nadi) and not elsewhere. The Veda declares that the supreme Lord who created entered His creation! The heart is the seat of the Lord!  It is the hrut-kamala on which the God Narayana and His Creative power Lakshmi is seated!
   The Hindu scriptures are, initially, the spoken words of Gods and the learned sages. Each and every sound (shabda), the alphabet (akshara), manifest from the supreme as the shakti, mantra. The three manifest forms of power (shakti/Devata) are the chit, jnyan, and kriya called Raja-Rajeshvari or Mahalskshmi, Saraswati, and Lakshmi. Lakshmi Tantra gives detailed conversation bewteen Lakshmi and Indra about these and gives details of mantra, bijakshara, etc.
   Mantra shastra is a compendium of all sacred sounds, words and the powers inherent in them. There is no doubt as to the origin of all these in our own body. But, it requires extraordinary purity to manifest these powers! There are scripture giving all the details with no authorship and the copyright restrictions. In fact all wrote their thoughts ideas in the name of their teachers and mentors! Many have come to be known as 'Upanishads'! Thus we have 108 Upanishads, 230 Agama shastra samhita, the Veda and its branches such as Vedanga, Veda upanga, Veda pratishakhyas, etc. numbering 40 (Mahrishi Mahesh Yogi), 18 Puranas, and the like. All these unwritten texts (scriptures?) were initially realized by the Rishis, drushtaras, (envisioned) not written but transmitted by teacher by word of mouth to their trusted disciples over thousand of years! Accordingly we have the narratives about our Gods, Goddesses and Sages and Rishis.

     We have the Rk Veda Samhita which is almost a handbook of history and geography! There are beautiful descriptions of origin of the universe, origin of the earth, manifest forms of Gods and Goddesses, elemental gods, origin of life and the way the life-forms have manifested! There are almost a hundred meanings to each and every word of the Vedic verses. Of them at least forty are very important and six of them are extremely important! There are dummy, and meaningless sounds, alphabets and words introduced in the verses in order to keep the reader guessing! There are words which convey opposite meanings, or even negative meanings! Some of these are open to endless discussions even today.
   Initially, there is only One supreme Almighty who manifests in different forms and functions due to His desire and will! Thus, we have Narayana, who manifests Himself as Lakshmi, who in turn manifests as Vasudeva, who manifests as Sankarshana, Aniruddha, Pradyumna and each of these manifest as shakti (the forces and powers of creation, sustenance and dissolution). All the great sages like the Sapta Rishis, and Atharva, Sanaka, skanda, Narada and others manifest from pure creation, Sankarshana, The elemental gods emanate from the powers of Pradyumnaand all the manes or pitrus and living beings from Aniruddha! One should not mistake the Gods of epics and mythology as compared to initial creation of forces, the desire and will of the Lord!
   The Sun is one (in our solar system) and his twelve positions during the year of earth's revolution are given twelve names of Gods. So also, the Moon is one (satellite of the earth) and each of the day and night of the fortnights from Full Moon to Full Moon is given names of Goddesses! Some time each thought force is given a name and we call it a deity, god or goddess! Hence, we have millions and millions of these forces (like the electromagnetic waves, magnetic waves, sounds, and the like) as gods! Each one is given a name and thus, our Gods and Goddesses appear as desire, thoughts, images and imagination, creative energy, and sustaining forces!
  Much of symbolism and imagination is involved in all these.

   One has to study the the puranas like the Brahmanda Purana, the Vishnu Purana, the Kurma Purana, Padma Purana, the Shiva Purana, the Markandeya purana and others to  understand these enigmatic origin of gods and goddesses/ 

Why Some People Talk Ill of Hindu Scriptures and Gods and Goddesses?

   We hear some perverted minds talk ill of Hindu scriptures and Hindu Gods and Goddesses. Recently, a person was asked to leave Malaysia for his hate speech. There are many people who hate Hindus and talk ill of their Gods, scriptures and rituals. These lewd mouths do not hesitate to go to any extent to denigrate Hindu faith and belief system, the scriptures and the Gods and Goddesses. The reason is very simple. Those who hate Hindus and their faith belief system are the barbarians who have invaded India, destroyed Temples and built masjids and churches. However, there are many who have realized that they are the progeny of forcibly converted by the rulers of the time and, these people still practice Hindu festivals and  participate in social gatherings with Hindus in India and abroad.
   The reason for hatred is due to ignorance on the one hand, and lack of proper explanation of the scriptures. This has led to denigration of Gods and the sages! Indra, Naradamuni, Agastya and Vishva Mitra Rishi, and even Brahma are shown in bad light. Chaturmukha Brahma, the Creator, is said to have a wife in Saraswati, not knowing that the real meaning of a wife is the first manifestation of such as kampana (vibration) and waves of sound (shabda and Vani), and the alphabets of the Creator. In fact it is the breath, the vital airs, the life-force that accompanies the jiva!! Our epics are all full of characters of doubtful nature for these ignorant lots of commentators? None of these knows how the Veda, the Upanishads, the Bhagavad-Gita explain the secret of creation, the true nature of the world we live in, and the mystery of birth and death! The characters that appear in the great epics are on the verge of fiction on the one hand, and mythology on the other. There is also some in ancient Indian history such as Ayodhya Ram and Krishna of Mathura and Brindavan and Dwaraka! No one for sure knows what he talks when Krishna of the Bhagavata, Mahabharata, and the Gita are concerned! Krishna, an avatar of Vishnu, is called a coward, thief, and described as a womanizer? The Blessed Lord Himself makes it very clear as to "Who He is" in the Vibhuti Yoga, Ch.X of the Gita and no body pays heed to this. None can understand what He means when He, the Lord says that "He is the nirakara parabrahman" and has no beginning or end, neither born or die, and always exists? Nobody knows the truth? Thus, no wonder people have a low esteem of our Gods? 
 Thus, the real problem is one of lack of  proper understanding of the Hindu way of life. In fact, it is the duty of the teachers to educate the people as to the true nature of Indian way of life, the scriptures, faith and belief systems, Hindu system (Bharatiya paddhati) of worship should be properly explained. But there are no learned people to educate the ignorant people. The present published texts of scriptures are full of mistakes, wrong explanations and mostly vague and ambiguous! Most of the writers do not know the differences between the characters such as Indra, Ganesha, Shiva or Brahma in mythology, epics, ancient history and fiction. Nobody knows the real authors of most of the scriptures! Under these circumstances, it is no wonder that the outsiders make fun of Hindu scriptures. 

India's Cultural Heritage

     The history, culture and spirituality of India knows no limits! The very fact that India is an ancient land of Rishis, it is enough to state it is a land of knowledge of the highest order. It is the land of Universities like Nalanda, Takshashila, and a host of them that attracted students from all over the world. It is said even Jesus Christ and Mohammad Paigamabar had studied here. The subjects taught here included khagola (astronomy), arthashastra (economics), rajaneeti (political science), armoury and warfare, philosophy, ethics, philology, etc. The scientists of the modern days are still searching for many things in the material world while the ancient Rishis were visionaries who darshan and write elaborately on everything ranging from origin of sun, stars, galaxies to origin life and extinction of the universe! we have six great epochs of manvantaras that ended with catastrophic effect and the present new manvantara Vaivasvata is born. We have a Map of ancient India dated back 500 000 years! A copy can be had from me by sending e-mail add. The Himalaya Mountain Ranges were gradually rising from the Sea floor of Tethys and had reached only 8- 10000 MSL at that time and there were kings named Shiva (kailasa), Vishnu (Trivishtap/Tibet), Brahma (Present Myanmar/China region), Kubera (Meru Pl.) and Narasimha deva (Mongolia), Hiranyaksha (Sea of Caspus / Caspian Sea) and Kings were treated as Gods! But, the modern youth have no idea about any of these! These are all subject matter of Palaeo-geography. More details are posted in my blogs <divine grace foundation.blogspot.in>  or <divinegracefoundation@gmail.com>.

    Some of the of the scriptures are still available (manuscripts and unpublished) in many universities libraries although the more ancient ones were destroyed by the invaders during the early part of the first cent, The libraries of Nalanada, takshashila and the scriptures kept in temples were burnt or destroyed by invaders- Ghazni Mohammad, Lodhi and Khiljis. Some rare scriptures in ms. have been quoted by Surendranath Dasgupta in his "A History of Indian Philosophy" (5 vols.), MLBD. He has quoted from some rare manuscripts and some published works available in personal libraries of some scholars and the Libraries and Oriental Research Institutes at Mysore, Kashi, Tirupati, Nepal, Jammu and Srinagar. Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkatta, and BHU. The British have taken away a large number of valuable scriptures and have kept in London.
  It is heartening to note that there are many Universities started by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (Vedic Science) in USA and Russia and Yogada Ashrams started by Swami Yogananda in USA, There are many students doing research in the fields of epics and the Veda.

   The Hindu scriptures are of such esoteric and mystic nature that the real meaning of words is not easily discernible by ordinary teachers and students (in Samskruta and Philosophy Depts). Sayana, the Amatya (Minister) of Krishnadeva raja who, as Chief editor of the Veda says, that he does not know the meaning of almost 400 words! The scripture are of highly spiritual nature and only the Rishi munis can understand. A Rishi is one who gets vision of at lest one sacred word mantra as a divine source as anahata dhvani (may be in his savikalpa samadhi). So far, none has reached this state of yogic trance these days to proclaim himself /herself as a Rishi and, as such, there is none who can explain the true meaning and purport of the words of the sacred scriptures. Many scriptures are treated as sacred and not revealed to public. The Veda is apourusheya and the Upanishads are conveyed only to trusted students by an attained teacher. Much of 'Srividya' and 'Lakshmi Tantra', 'Ahirbudhnya samhita', 'Jayakhya' and other three or four Agama shastra samhitas are now published. The Agamashastra Samhitas, numbering about 250, are not even well known to public!

"KRISHNA"

We have a number scriptures that speak volumes of Krishna's childhood, valor, intelligent mediation,Kingship and ultimate deification. But none will ever help us to clearly know the real 'Krish-na'. This real 'krish (diminish) na (not) is the one that is never diminishing, unborn, immortal, and eternal- pure 'Consciousness'. This is the all pervasive one, 'vishnu'. Krishna first appears in the Rk Veda as Angirasa Krishna (8.85). Vasudeva is mentioned in the Taittiriya Aranyaka I. 10.1.6. Krishna and Balarama and subhadra are the deities in the Jagannath Puri. We have  Krishna followed is depicted as the one born to Vasudeva-Devaki in the prison at Mathura. This is a story from Bhagavatam, may be a fiction or epic, the author of which is itself a mystery!  The epic depicts Krishna as a chld, a Vrishni King, Yadava, a cowherd boy, etc. and later on Counsellor of the Pandavas, an intelligent mediator between the Kourava and the Pandava kings, and finally as Bhagavan in the Bhagavad-Gita, The Bhagavad-Gits is a mystic verse that comes as an interlude in the Bhishma Parva of  the great epic Mahabharata. The beauty is that He has given a beautiful account of Himself as to Who He is and how no body including the revered jnyanis, gods and goddesses or the great Rishis fail to know Him! Thus, Krishna remains an enigma!

    Now, we are celebrating this Krishna Jnamashtami, not knowing Who this Krishna is and we take for granted that he is the eighth child born in the prison! Krishna's mother Devaki, the sister of King Kamsa was kept in the prison along with her newly-wed husbnad Vasudeva. Infact he was rejoicing in the celebration and marriage procession. He heard a voice that warned him not to be so joyful and rejoice since he would be killed by his sister's son (due to his misdeeds killing his uncle and usurping the kingdom?). He actually went to kill both the newly-wed, but was advised to restrain. Thus, he kept them in prison and went on to kill newly-born children. This eighth child Krishna was shifted to Nanda Gokula and the female child yogamaya born there was replaced! This is the story of Krishna's birth and we have the Bhagavatam narrating the child-hood pranks, leela and people rejoice hearing these again and again and celebrate His birthday!

   However, it is absolutely essential for us to grow and be mature enough to understand His advise to Arjuna. Bhagavan Shree Krishna is nirakara parabrahman, the maha purusha, the One Who manifests as All that we see, hear and experience as the phenomenal multifarious objective world. He only creates this magical world from His magical powers yogamaishvaram! He only exists and nothing else besides Him. He has created and entered His creation.He is breath of our breath, pranic energy of our prana, and the consciousness! We must realize this and constantly meditate on Him, as nirakara parabrahman and attain to Him! Here comes the unity consciousness, the perceiver and the perceived are One!

   Krishna as an avatar of Vishnu in the Dvapara Yuga is actually a narrative of how anybody can attain to the divine state and the Buddha is one these glaring examples! One should clearly understand what is found in history, fiction, epic and mythology properly! The Mahabharata, the Bhagavatam, Vishnu Purana, and the Bhagavad-Gita depict the manifest forms of Vishnu in different ways.   

'Jnyan' (Knowledge)

    The 'samskruta bhasha' is said to be the language of the Gods. However, the present samskruta bhasha is the corrupt of the age-old original one! The original samskrutam, it is held, as derived from jharbhari, turfari, and the pali bhasha. The pali is prevailing in Tibet, Nepal, and is taught in many of our Colleges even today. The origin and development of a language make a very interesting study. 'Srividya' is one of the agama samhitas where much detail about the origin of the sound, alphabets and words are available. In brief, it is the Deity of Knowledge, Saraswati or Sharada who breathes unto us the breath and the sound of breath that becomes the speaking power of the humans. the alphabets consisting of the vowels and the consonants from 'a' to 'ksha' as 'akshara' give us the powers of speech, such as, the noun and pronoun, adjective, verb and adverb, conjunction and interjection and exclamation signs and symbols! The real power and strength of a language lie in the purity of the sound! The first alphabet 'a' is the brahmn that manifest as everything subsequently, upto the last alphabet 'ksha' giving them the powers and support. The consonants ka (k+a) to ksha (k+sh+a) will be powerless without the 'a' added to them! The brahmn as pure consciousness (pra + jnya) descends to the last as akshara 'ksha' making the whole lot of alphabets akshara, kshara of a!  This, all this creation comes to our awareness only with the prajnya and jnyana.

    The Deity of the alphabets, 'akshara', is 'akshara malini', Devi wearing the garland of alphabets. She is the Divine Mother. She breathes within and the sounds originate within us. Different sounds emanate from different parts of our body, within. The beginning of the sound uttered comes with 'a' opening our mouth and  closes with 'm', closing the lips! These vowels a, aa, i, ee,  u, ye, lru, ou, am (.) ah (:) are the root-sounds that support the consonants 'ka' to 'ksha'. Together, these are 51 (16 vowels and 35 consonants). Each one of these alphabets are powerful sounds that possess creative energy, power, force, creativity and ability to create the phenomenal objective world. This is Srividya, the knowledge ('vid') of the Devi Shreem, Mahalaskhmi manifesting in varied forms and names with powers of creation, sustenance and dissolution. Devi Saraswati is the Deva Mata, Gayatree, Veda Mata, and known by many more!

   Now, the  power of creation that rests with the alphabet 'ja' (j+a) is  the most beautiful one! Everything originates with 'ja' , 'jaayate iti' (that which manifests) is 'janyate' (manifests). It is the 'janaka', who gives birth or manifests or produces!. There is need  for knowledge to manifest. This inherent knowledge is the 'vid' and it is the one that manifests, 'vidyate' . Now, that which manifests  is the janya (ja and nya), with full knowledge and ability to manifest in varied forms and functionsas  the phenomenal objective world- 'prapancha'. This prapancha (Objetive world) is the one comes within the grasp of our jnyanendriyas (senses).

    Now, this entire universe is just the manifest forms of the 'brahmn'. Brahmn only manifests as everything- sarvam khaluvidam brahma | This is the ultimate knowledge- 'brahmavidya' (knowledge of the brahmn) imparted to Arjuna in the Gita. The Gita emphatically asserts: nahin jnyanena sadrusham | Meaning, there is nothing more superior to Knowledge (of brahmn).

   Now, everything is jnyan, knowledge. Knowledge only prevails when everything else perish! 

Samkhya Yoga

The Bhagavad-Gita starts with 'samkhya yoga' that gives us the gist of the Text of the Gita. Sankhya is 'jnyan', Knowledge.  The curiosity "To Know' is inherent nature of the jiva. Since the jiva is perplexed as to what is its nature of existence, purpose or goal it is but natural to go on an endless quest till the answer is obtained. And, here the Lord Shree Krishna is explaining how the creation, its sustenance, its dissolution and final merger takes place as His magical powers, yogamaya,

  The term 'sankhya' means numbers as well as knowledge. The need for sankhya yoga arises in the Gita in order to enlighten the confused mind, characterized as Arjuna. First, it is enumeration of the unfolding of the creation and then it is its true nature. As the creation unfolds, the supreme ord, parama purusha manifests Himself as the Purusha and Prakruti- His nature (sva-bhava). Thus, we have the cosmic entity, the universe and its driving 'force'!

   The first emanation of prakruti is space and time, manifest from nothing and nowhere that divides into 'no' and 'thing' and 'now' (Time) and 'here' (space)! This division and multiplication, addition and subtractions are the endless mathematical procedures that present a myriad of forms and functions spread over time and space. All these are obejects in space and time that do not exist in any strict sense of the terms! There is neither Time nor space and objects fill the space over time! This is the yoga maya, the magical powers of the supreme Lord Shree Krishna.

    The Five elements- space, air,fire, water and the earth manifest from the desire and will of the Lord in a sequential order, one manifesting the other. I fact one only becomes many! These five great elements display their inherent qualities such as the sound, touch, form, taste and smell, making these ten buta and tanmatras. To experience these manifest the ten sense organs (jnyan and karma indriya). Thus twenty entities are formed from the magical powers of the Lord. Then come the ego, buddhi, manas that make the creation a complex system of Twenty Five principles.

   The supreme Lord has unbridled powers such as powers of creation (srushti), sustenance (sthiti), dissolution (laya), power of appearance and disappearance (tirodhana) and grace (anugraha)!

   These are the principles of and processes of creation called the sankhya yoga. This knowledge is enough to render the  jiva both susceptible to  karma  and mukti!  Thus, making a beautiful life of the the jiva and also attaining to the self are revealed here! This is the ultimate knowledge and there is nothing beyond this. One is unfoldment and the other is revert to pristine state! 

Prakruti and Purusha

       purushah prakrutibhyo hi bhukte prakrutijangunan |

  Meaning, the purusha and prakruti are the constituents of everything like the seed and its tree! The jiva is occupied by the Atman; in other words, the 'Atman' has created its shell, body. The body experiences the quality of nature. The jiva is made of nature (the elemental prakruti) and, thus, experiences the quality of nature. In other words, the humans exhibit the quality of nature, prakrutijan gunan, the qualities born out of its food, air, and water. It is not the quality of the purusha, but it is the quality of the nature.

   the terms 'purusha' and 'prakruti' are the attributes of a single entity, a mass of energy in some form and function, that too the qualities attributed by our intelligence! there is neither a 'purusha' nor a separate prakruti apart from purusha in the strict sense of the terms! It may be stated that the 'purusha's inherent energy only manifests as ''.  ''purusha' (person) is the one who enters the 'pura' (body). The Vedic doctrine is tat srushtva tadevanprvishat |  meaning, "Having created creation, the Creator entered it". The Creator is none other than the 'purusha'  and the creation is the 'pura'. It is the same as the core of the substance and the 'Atman' in the 'jiva! The jiva is made of flesh and blood in a skeletal body and the prana inheres it!

    The entire universe consisting of galaxies, stars and their planets and satellites, some of the stars producing their planets and satellites, the basic building blocks are primarily the gaseous elements. The elements and compounds, minerals and rocks (soil) and water go to make all that we see as the earth and its myriads of life forms, as well! Thus, the 'pura' is the universe and the core of the substance is the purusha aspect 'Energy' (particle of hydrogen/oxygen?), for us for all practical purposes here. Thus, there is nothing but hydrogen, oxygen,carbon and their compounds such as carbohydrates and hydro-carbons that go to make the life forms, as well! 

   The entire universe is nothing but 'Energy'.  All that we know here is nothing but 'Energy'.  Energy is basis of all that exists. This aspect of 'Energy' is the central theme of all scientific studies. may it be a biological, chemical or physical constituent it is the energy at the core of the substance that gives it some existence. It is the Sun at the center of the solar system and it is the solar radiation as energy that creates the paraphernalia of all this earthly existence. It all starts with hydrogen, helium, oxygen nitrogen, carbon and the like that go to make the building bricks here.

    

Desire, Fulfillment or Disillusionment

  The Buddha arrived at the conclusion that 'Desire' is at the root of all unhappiness. But he did not elaborate on the aspect of desire, its origin and fulfillment or disillusionment. The mute point is "Whose desire is it, after all?" The scriptures make these points explicitly very clear and explain the concept of creation and narrates the process of creation in great detail. Let there be no confusion as to the source of creation. It is the desire of the supreme Lord, His will. He desired. He willed. He thought, "He thought, He is One, and decided (desired, willed) to become many!" eko'ham, bahusyam | Thus, the entire universe, the cosmic entity is the product of the desire, will, decision of the Lord. One may ask who is this Lord? The supreme Lord, the 'One' is variously described by the jnyanis, the learned saints, Rishis, the knowledgeable ones as 'That' (tyat), brahmn. It is clearly stated as: tad brahmaa, tad vishnu, tad sarvam, tat paramam padam | Everything is 'tat' (That) inexplicable One! sarvam khaluvidam brahma |

   Bhagavan Shree Krishna sates in the Gita Creation is His will, magical powers, His prakruti and it is His yoga maya and even tells Arjuna; Look at my yogamaishvaram! pashya me yogamiashvaram |    There is no doubt that everything we see, hear, experience here is the yogamaishvaram of the Lord! But, then the question arises as to 'what this karma is and why this suffering of the jiva? It is the misconception that the jiva undergoes karma and the sufferings or joys and miseries of life. The jiva does not have anything of its own since everything is 'His' and 'Him'? The Lord goes on to make it clear that "He only exists and nothing exists besides Him!" He, the Lord, promises to take care of us if we realize this truth and surrender to Him, see yogaksemam vahamyaham | But, we do not know Him, His ways, or His will and our ego will not permit us to surrender to Him. Here again, this ego, our ahamkar is also not ours! It is 'ahanta', the Self-ness! It is the Rudra Shatiya (Rk Veda Mandala VII) who resides in us. His own divine plan, the purpose of life, is to make us realize the truth! 

   Now, what all are this life's trouble and turmoils are of our own making due to lack of knowledge and will to surrender to Him. It seems as though the supreme Lord has taken a journey in different forms and functions to experience His creation here. tat srishtva tadevanupravishat | It is His will, He takes different forms and experiences as the enjoyer (bhoktru), as also, the enjoyed (bhogya). He is the sacrificial Fire and He only is the havis, offered to the Fire. 'Agni' and 'svaha' |

   Now, as to the main questions, "whose karma" and "who suffers", the answer is: "it is the jiva and not the jivatman that suffers!" The jiva is a biological, physical entity of flesh and bones, and the jivatman is the spiritual entity of 'pranic energy' derived from the subtler-most source, almost invisible, as if a non-existent entity! The spiritual entity manifests as the physical entity in the form of radiation, vibration, waves and sounds. Thus, the joys and sufferings are that of neither the physical body nor the soul. It is the creation of adjuncts such as the mind, the intellect, the ego, and the senses that act and react with the brain cells. Although the joy and sufferings are not that of the Atman, or the Soul, it is stated that the Soul is experiencer, bhoktru, in the Gita! However, it cannot be denied here that the Soul is an embedded spiritual entity, and it is this Soul, Atman, that gets itself embodied due to ignorance, avidya, as per the scriptures. This ignorance, avidya, is not actually lack of knowledge, but it is the knowledge covered by attachment, ego, desires, anger, pride and prejudices, greed, selfishness, etc. like the bright light covered by a, ornamental cover or sunshine overshadowed by a passing chunk of cloud. The knowledge dawns when ignorance is shed off, the light shines when the cover is removed, or the sun shines as soon as the cloud passes! So also, the jivatman becomes happy and blissful as soon as it realizes its true nature.
   The jiva, as a physical entity, seems to suffer due to its actions driven by the desires. It is the unbridled freedom given to it by the Lord that prompts it to act ignorantly, senselessly, whimsically, and suffer the consequences of its action. The jiva has absolute freedom to think and act since He, the Lord only is seated within it and gives it the freedom! The Supreme Lord is free and, so also, is the jiva embodied by the Atman. So whom do you attribute all these karma, action and reaction, and the consequent joys and miseries? These are beautifully explained in the Gita- Ch. 13 verse 21.

   Hence, the jiva should realize its true nature of existence and evolve into a divine state of existence! There is no blame game here, as it is karma that one suffers or enjoys as a result of the frivolous mind, and its attitude and behavior. It is ultimately dharma that prevails. It (dharma) is the right way of living- right thoughts, right action, and right way of life. It is all about sadguna, sadvichara, sadachara and sat-sanga that help us. 

   Fulfillment lies in the attainment to the truth, realization of the 'Self', Atma sakhatkara. Disillusionment lies in worldly aspirations and the futility that accompanies it even when the desires are fulfilled! There is no end to our desire or its satiation. There is a gap between the time one aspires, desires, works hard for it, and the time the desire is fulfilled. Time eats away the fervor, the joy of attainment. Hence no worldly attainment is joyful permanently. At best, it may give some satisfaction, joy or happiness momentarily. No permanent happiness ensues from worldly attainments. Permanent bliss is attained from the realization of the Self.  The Gita says, "One who is established in the Self is equanimous, the happiest!" Atmanyevaatmano thishthah ... ...tasya prajnya pratisthitaa|

Rashtra Dharma

The great epics of India highlight the principles of Rashtra dharma, the fundamental principle of national interests and the rights and duties of citizens. The Court that sentenced the fmr CM Lallu Prasad  remarked that he did not discharge his national duty well! Now it has become a fashion (a passion) for some pseudo-intellectuals to denigrate the nation where they live. These people think it is progressive to find fault with everything the ruling party does and say that it is prerogative to oppose since the Constitution gives freedom of speech? The Parliamentarians in the Opposition are the worst lot who forget that they are the citizens of the Country first and the Government is a legally elected one! They even forget that the right to frame the policies and programs and to govern the country rests with the majority party? They do not hesitate to call a group of people as such and such if they do not support their line of thinking, particularly when they are anti-national in thoughts, words and action?

    Hence, it is important to define the principle of nationalism. First, the land we have inherited is more important than the land where we go in search of livelihood. Second we owe a duty to land where we earn our livelihood and necessarily we should obey the laws of that land. It is needless to say that we must obey the laws of the land where we are born and where we live. Dharma lies in respecting others right, as good as our own? So there is no place for dissension whatsoever when it comes to the laws of the land! It is heretic amounting to treason to think and act against the laws of the land, the rulers of the land and the lawful citizens of the land where we live? Rights are subject to duties and there are no specific exclusive rights to anybody, any group when it comes to dharma, Dharma is divine law and all the subjects are expected to follow it. Dharma protects only those who abide by dharma. Others perish. 

   There are fools who say people and their rights are more important. There can be no people without land and land can be there without people. So obey the natural law. It is the basic understanding that the people of the land are subject to the laws of the land (framed by the locals, not the invaders?).

   Hence, the scripture of Manu or, no Manu's dictates, it is necessary for every citizen to obey the laws enacted by the Parliament.

FREEDOM

   'Freedom' is a very sacred precious word.Every living or non-living being loves freedom so much that one's freedom becomes a bondage of the other! A river seeks freedom from its banks, so also, a tiny creature seeks freedom from capture and enslavement. Even a tree bleeds when somebody cuts it! What is this 'freedom' that is so precious, so sanctified and enshrined in all constitutions or dharma shastra. No one shall cross his/her limits, maryada, to restrict the freedom of others. One's freedom is bound by the Rule- 'that far and no further' . One can stretch his hands or legs only to such extent that it does not touch others! Hence one must know that there is no such thing as 'unbridled freedom'.

   There are three important types of freedom one can exercise. One, the freedom of the physical existence. The body has its own limitations and it works within that. Second, the mind is almost always free, but certainly it works within certain limits. Third, the soul is totally free and never gets entangled in any sort of existence! This third freedom is the one that every jiva relishes,aspires, and wants to enjoy not knowing that it is already 'free' due to avidya, nescience.

   As long as the jiva is apart of the cosmic existence it has no freedom whatsoever! Anything happening anywhere in the cosmos affects it! This is how the jiva is a product of nature and has no free existence on its own. Social contract theory explains how "Man is born free and everywhere he is in chains!" There is no absolute freedom in the social, economic, political spheres of life and one can never hope to enjoy that. freedom is limited in all these spheres.

  When it comes to the mind, there is no such thing as freedom here at all! Only a yogi, who controls the mind is free. He is the master and all his senses, mind, intellect, ego surrender to him and he rules it from the seat of the soul! This is real freedom. There are many examples like Ashtavakra, Avadhoota, Raikva, etc who have demonstrated what freedom is! This level of understanding is necessary to live free and die free!
    Now, as to the means of attaining absolute freedom, the ancient scriptures give us detailed description about all these.  the fundamental basis of freedom is sacrifice. sacrifice, tyaga,  is very important. freedom lies in sacrifice. the entire universe runs on the basis of sacrifice, yajnya, tyaga. Be free by getting rid of all thos that bind you. these include attachment, ego, greed, avarice, jealous, etc. It is stated that knowledge brings freedom. But knowledge also brings bondage. One has to give up what all that is acquired since birth in order to be free as the jiva was before its embodiment and embedded state. Hence freedom lies in sacrifice.
   Whoever is established in the Self is free. A person of equanimous mind 'sthitaprajnya', the one unperturbed by the external happenings is really free, happy and joyful for ever. 

Secularism

   Hindu dharma knows only one thing. It is all-inclusive and follows the doctrine of the entire world as one family- vasudhaiva kutumakam. Further, the Hindu dharma advocates equality, fraternity, justice and oneness. Those who landed in Malabar, Kerala, Goa, Orissa, or Bengal coast have stayed here due to this 'dharma', kindness of our people. India offered food and shelter to all those who came here as refugees, sharanarthi. But the perverted ones misused the goodness of our people and made some of our own natives as refugees!. This is the bane of India. Too much of goodness is bad. But, we still follow our dharma and pay for  it?

  The term 'secularism' has become a convenient tool in the hands of some mischievous politicians, They neither know the meaning of the term, nor do they practice it. What is important here is to know that the term 'secularism' is used by those who are not born in Bharata. These secularists are the grand children of the invading tribes,foreigners who ruled India for several hundreds of years coming from Western Countries! It is this 20 per cent of Indian citizens who are not native born who talk of secularism. We the hundred crore Hindu population never use this word. It is the ploy of the pseudo-Gandhis who wanted to stay in power despite their minority in the country. So, beware of these tricks played by dirty Congress???   

Happiness

Human evolution is clearly explained in all the shruti and smruti Texts.The very idea of creation itself is a joy. The supreme Lord Himself explained: 'eko'ham, bahusyam | meaning, "I am One and shall become many." Thus, He manifests in multifarious forms. Now, the problem of happiness, joy or misery has to be exclaimed in the light of the scriptural sayings. Human form is not the ultimate in the evolution. It is almost the middle one- starting from the lower germs and worms, viruses, insects, and the like to the fish, frog, and monkey and man, to higher and higher manes or pitrus, devi devata, Rishis, and the trinity- Hari, Hara, Brahma! (see Ch. XV Verse 1- 'urdhvamula ashvatham...'). All these creations come within the clutches of time, space, causality and will not give any enduring happiness. There is always a change involved here. This is what is explicitly stated in the Gita by none else than Bhagavan Shree Krishna. He Himself manifests in different forms as per vibhuti yoga!

   Thus, the state of human evolution is one of gross, mundane existence. There are subtler aspects that are to be clearly understood. Now, the question of happiness is one of the mind and the senses. The body is a gross entity and has no intelligence and experience on its own. Happiness is not that of the hand while eating, or of the legs while walking to a concert or cinema hall. The senses and limbs work as per the direction of the mind and the ego. Unless the mind shows any interest there is no action on the part of the body. Hence the Gita lays emphasis on mind control, yoga.

   It is also stated that the joy or happiness experienced by the jiva at human level with the gross body may be one as compared to 100 of the manes/pitrus who have been promoted from gross to subtler (body-less but anthahkarana- mind and feelings intact!) state. This is the reason why we perform certain rites regularly for the departed souls of elders to get their blessings! The happiness of the devi devata is also a hundred times more than the pitrus since they too have anthahkarana towards the jiva rashi. The happiness of the jnyani, Rishis and saints and sadhu who revel in higher conscious devoid of human aspirations and worldly sensuous joy is said to be a million times more! Most of the learned spiritual aspirants take to yoga and stay in samadhi to experience this bliss as much as possible. These jnyani have realized that no permanent joy, happiness, or bliss can be experienced in a fleeting world of time! All relations are mere ploy! No happiness can come from worldly relationships. So, Bhagavan advises us to keep away from desires, withdraw mind and senses from worldly joys and go to a solitary place and meditate on me, regularly. This will give immense happiness.

  Hence, one should aspire to reach the state of mahat ananda or Brahmananda experience the eternal happiness, instead of the sensuous, whimsical temporal joys invariably accompanied by its opposite of misery!