Srivatsavaksha

Narayana has a mole on his chest on the right side ,this is known as Srivatsa chinha. This is Laxmi Devi on his chest sitting as close to his heart. Laxmi Devi does not leave her Husband even for a second. She is in complete embrace to HIM forever. Hence these two are nityaaviyogi. They share two qualities which are equal that is equality in space and time. Desha kala samavyapti.  Thus  Narayana is called SRIDHAR because he is in tight embrace to His wife. His wife is called AMBHRANI because she never ever is separated from her. Meditating on the Lord thus as sridhar gives immense marital bliss. Girls get married to their beloved.This meditation on AMbhrani-Sridhar gives quick marriages to the eligible. Srivatsa vaksha(vaksha =chest).

krishnarpana.

Narayana and His Avataras are one and same!

There is no difference between Rama , Krishna and Parshurama and other incarnation of the Narayana. All of them have same capacity and qualities as moolaroopa. There is no difference between Narayana and his avayavas(attributes/limbs). There is no organic difference in God and body. His nail is as powerful as his arms. Both can exhibit similar qualities equivalent to moolarupa. Krishna though is krishna keshi(shakti) of Narayana it is still Narayana roop only. All avataras are poorna as much as Narayana.Thinking Rama krishna,Parshurama,other avataras as different leads to Hell . Thinking avataras as full and some incomplete also leads to hell. Thinking defects in God leads to hell. Thinking about incapacity in God leads to hell. Imagining limitation in God leads to hell. Mentioning qualities of arrogance, partiality,anger,sorrow in God leads to complete hell. Men should refrain from all these acts to gain grace of the GOD.

Bhagavan

Bhagavan means one who has six qualities of Srishti Stithi Laya Niyaman, Bandha Moksha.Srishti to create,stithi,to protect,laya,to destroy,niyaman,to maintain,Bandha,to bind people in samsara.Moksha to give salvation. These exists only in Krishna.We all take birth and die. Both of which are caused by God. God also kills demons,what is the difference in these two killings. He kills us as kala (the time) and He kills demon physically. So what is the purpose of killing demons and what benefit does it give to society?

God kills demon but this killing sends demons to nityanarak from where they dont return. our killing on account of age  grinds us back into samsara. Nobody can be happy on this earth. It is full of miseries of death,separation,old age and diseases. Nothing here is permanent.Everything has to end. Everyone wants permanent happiness. This permanency is what known as Moksha. Moksha is grace of  Mukunda.

krishnarpana

Krishna and 16108 wives

God has only auspicious qualities. So if Rama exhibited quality of Ekpatnivrata so was this quality absent inKrishna .No. Then how did Krishna have 16108 wives , and how despite that He is still having same qualities as Rama.

God is swarata ie he does not require  anyone help or assistance to enjoy. HE is both male and female .His female form is Narayani. which is always present in Laxmidevi. HE enjoys his own NArayani rupa and gives enjoyment to Laxmi devi as well . Laxmi is dependant on him for her joys. Hence to reiterate this Narayana Procreates Bramha from his Navel not from Laxmi .

Also God touches only those females who have vishesha Laxmi Sannidhi else not. There 16100 Agniputra(son of Agni) who once wished to be extreme close company of God. They took very severe penace God asked them to be born as women so that they can embrace him and it would look proper too. Hence these 16100 rishis took birth as girls and married Krishna. They all had vishesha Laxmi sannidhi.

Hence Krishna always accompanied Laxmi only.Hence there is no difference in qualities between Ram and Krihsna.

krishnarpana

Flowers most dear to God

Ahimsa prathamam pushpam :- Flower named Nonviolence

pushpamindriyanigraha             :- flower namely control of senses

sarvabhutadaya pushpam          :-flower of treating all as thyself

satyampushpam visheshtah       :-Flower of truth

gnyananthi pushpam                      :- flower of peace

tapah pushpam                                  :-flower of penace

Kriya pushpam                                   :-flower of forgiveness

Dhyanameastamam pushpam       :-flower of meditation ,the eigth

vishnupriyakarah Bhavet                :-these when offered to God  becomes highest pooja according to Vedas to get Vishnu's grace .

MukhyaPrana-1

Ana means to work,Prana means ,one who continuously works.The chief amoung such is Known as Mukhyaprana.Vayu is Mukhyaprana.Mukhyaprana inspires the sould according to his prarabdha to complete his sadhana. All the actions of the human are primarily carried out by Mukhyaparana. The other vayus are parana apana vyana,udana,samana.They are all other roopas of Mukhyaprana.God regulates everyone. He should be meditated as present in Mukhyaprana.those who are devotees of \hanuman(mukhyaprana) only those gain grace of Lord Krishna. Vali had dumped hanuman and befriended Ravan , Sugreeva took shelter of Hanuman, Ram sided with Sugreeva and did not even show his face to Vali and killed him from behind. Had he befronted Vali ,there were chances that vali would have repented his acts and fell on feet of Rama as it was natural of Vali. But Ram chose not to give him this chance ,since he had ignored hanuman. Instead finished him . In the next life realising his mistake Vali took birth as Arjun , this time he sided with Bheema(Mukhyaprana) , Sugreeva was born as Karna against Bheema. Karna though brilliant lost all his charm at the critical moment. Krishna never allowed him to prosper before Arjuna.
God only graces those who are devotees of Mukhyaprana and ignores others even if they pray him madly. So never pray God alone ,instead pray God as present in MukhyaPrana to recieve his blessings.

krishnarpana

Shistarakshana ,Dushtashikshana

Shri Rama avatar and Krishnavatara are the only avatar where Lord has enacted an entire Life .In these two incarnations Lord protected  his devotees and destroyed evil as well.In all other incarnations he has  either saved his subjects or destroyed his enemies. Lord Rama saved the rishis from the troubles of rakshasas , purified Ahalya,blessed shabari,helped Sugreeva,Gave shelter to Vibheeshana,established RamRajya ,where no one was unhappy,children never died prematurely, wife and husband died simultaneously, women never faced widowhood, men never missed their wives. Everyone was engaged in just occupations. crop grew eight times a year.People used only gold utensils,and ate sumptuous meals.Rama killed tadaki ,subahu,khara dushana,many other Rakshasas . Finally He killed Ravana who had become menace to the world.

whats so special about God killing Demons, as God is the great time, we all are  consumed by this time as we age and eventually die. we also die , God kills us as Time . And we lose our bodies, so does evil , what is the great difference.(it would be foolish to assume our death takes place without God's wish) .

we will answer this in the next post........

krishnarpana

Bhaktavatsala

Technorati Tags: ajameedha,ahalya,dhritarashtra,dhruva,prahalad,dhrishtadhyumna

Vishnu is very kind towards his devotees. Atyantdayalu. He forgives all the sins of the devotee and helps him reach moksha. Purana are full of incidents which reaffirm his quality of forgivingness. Bhagavata shows :

1. even though Prahalada was  a Rakshasa  , a race known for misdeeds,terror,and antiGod activities, Yet Lord mercifully bestowed him with boons and immense grace.
2. Dhruva was  a small boy of five years ,ventures into jungle , should have been consumed by lions or wild animals but Lord Vasudeva full of mercy protects him , accepts his prayers and grants him stardom and immense fortune. All he wanted was to sit on the lap of his father , God made him sit on the lap of universe as pole star for eternity.
3. Draupadi went against her husband in coming to sabha of kauravas , yet Krishna showed mercy on her ,saved her from insult ,granting her yards of saree as protection .
4. With all his mercy Lord Rama brought Ahalya back to human form from a stone and united her with her husband Gautam.Rama made Gautam love his wife even more than before , at the request of Indra.
5. Dhrstadhyumna Killed his Guru ,a Bramhin Dronacharya , yet attained heaven by the grace of Krishna.
6. Dhritarashtra ( His position was critical , His father was Lord Vedavyasa God himself, and son was the evil satan kali,-It was God's mercy that he was blind else it would have been difficult to cope with his position.) for all his sidings with Suyodhana , the most evil , yet attained heaven.
7. Ajamidha , a bramhin leads life full of sins , what a mercy even He attained Moksha by the grace of God

oh lord it seems you are tolerant of all these , then why make an exception of me , Please oh Bhaktavatsala, pardon all my sins done uptill now, and protect me through sins to be done in future . Kindly take care of me as a Father would do to his Child , like how you took care of Dhritrashtra ,let me not be any exception irrespective of my actions.

||nanena madedano, rangayaranga  nee enna kayabeko.||

krishnarpana

Nirguna Bramha

Bramha is Vishnu , infact all names like rudra , indra,vayu ,surya etc primarily means Vishnu and secondarily these beings. Vishnu is the greatest .No one was ever equal or greater than HIm in the past , present and in future. Vishnu is like the eight taste . world knows only six tastes ,sweet sour, sorrow,bitter,salty,chillly,astringent. there is no seventh taste but God is eighth taste , unimaginable beyond comprehension . He is full of auspicious qualities.Gunapoorna.

Then why do vedas say He is nirguna, Is nirguna means qualityless. If we accept this meaning then Vishnu becomes on with no form shape and size,no happiness ,sorrow,because all these are gunas, and he is nirguna. But other parts of veda say he is sahasra shirsa ,( infinite heads, body,eyes,etc) He is narayana( suporter of all) , and all these are qualities. How can vedas say two opposite things both of which can be correct?

To address this issue , we look into the word Nirguna. Guna means anything that is comprised of satva rajas tamas(triguna =prakriti).God is different from prakriti , He is not made up of  elements from Prakriti. Hence he is Aprakruta ( He does not have gunas of prakriti like satva rajas tamas ) thus he is Nirguna -one without gunas of prakriti. - Trigunaateeta (Aprakruta means Nirguna -that which is not found in nature)

Lord in Tirupati is also Aprakruta ad hence it is wrong to meditate Lord Balaji  at Tirupathi as shila (stone idol/murthy) He is standing in Aprakruta Nirguna form.

krishnarpanmastu

Bhakti of Prahalad

Prahalad was a devotee of Vishnu. He is Bhaktouttama.His bhakti was exemplary because it did not seek any favours from God. Prahalad was born to Hiranyakashyap , a  rakshas . Yet his son was a great devotee . Rakshasa become as adult as 18 years of age ,as soon as they take birth. No childhood for them relieving their mothers from nursing them( a quality not found in Rakshas women).When lord appeared from a pillar and killed Hiranyakashyap , It was a highly fearsome scene enacted by Lord Narsimha, every being celestial and others were afraid of approaching this half lion and half human form of God ,highly ferocious and roaring with anger. so Bramha asked Prahlada to approach the lord and ask him to glance on others present.As prahlad approached Lord Narsimha licking him alike a usual lion , asked Prahlad to ask for a boon.Prahalad refuses to ask one. Lord insists , prahalad again refuses to ask any boons, God says all pray me to attain the Moksha , i shall grant you Moksha. Prahalad says "oh Lord there are many a soul who do not even Know how to reach you , I need to educate them , so I don't need Moksha now, as that would be selfish of me. Lord says " oh Prahalad , let there be Moksha to you undoubtedly and let there be moksha to all those whom you bring along". Prahalad says " oh lord difficult is in this world to reach you , facing many difficulties and distractions, yet studying the shastras to reach you. I shall brig my followers in a unique manner without difficulties and escaping the grind of samsara ( and its tapatraya) , please be kind enough accept this" Lord affirms " you can devise your own simplistic ways i shall oblige, but this is all for others , i want to give you something why dont' you ask a boon for yourself". Prahalad replies," this whole world is under your control. vene I am under your control, Externally you are urging me for a boon, internally you refusing one, such anamalous behaviour only you can enact and none-else ,since you insist I shall ask you thus ' You have killed my Father ,let him earn a place in your heart. Hence forth none in my lineage be killed by you. You can tolerate all the sins of a human but not a insult to Bramhins, hence let my progeny never involve in insult of Bramhins. let all the merits of my good deeds be enjoyed by my followers and let every enjoyments lead to your divine knowledge and finally when I come along with these in whatever no and form , please accept them fit for Moksha".

Even in this boon Prahalad has thought all others and not himself. His bhakti was pure and unselfish , all we need to do is ask this great souls' blessings , so he can lead us to MOKSHA.

" Oh Shri Prahalad , consider me as a child , when a child cries , one gives a sweet condiment(chocolate) to quiten him and then tech him good things, like wise with little boons showered on me please teach me about the Lord , I like a child , would like to catch hold of your little finger , please lead me to your place , Place of Shri Narsimha." (MOKSHA)

Krishnarpanamastu

Gyan Bhakti Vairagya-4

Bhakti should be uninterrupted ,like a flow of oil (tayildhara) ;oil flows without breaks and cuts into a jar via the funnel. Bhakti is something concerned with mind. Mind in english does not completely describe the manas of sanskrit. Manas is present at four places in the body.

1. In the brain
2. in the neck
3. in the heart
4. in the navel

Again mind has four types

• smara
• buddhi
• chitta
• ahankara

chitta  grasps the objects of desire into our minds. chitta has to be still to grasp correctly the objects. Like a water in the pond ,if it is still you can see your reflection , else it is distorted.colored water gives colored image. So also disturbed chitta gives bhrama, colored with prejudice it gives distorted perception. (chittonmada).

if chitta is ok,object percieved is analysed by the buddhi , the reason.Analysis is w.r.t memory Smara, it recalls smara, if it had any such earlier experience. Smara records varies from recent to past to past janmas/births  too. if smara okays budhhi ,then his experience is registered as "I did, I felt  "etc in Ahankara.

when all these elements act in resonance with affection towards Lord it is bhakti. When there is uninterrupted perception about Lords presence it is amala bhakti. Rudradev is the chief devata for Manas ,hence his grace is supremely required for Bhakti towards Krishna.

Manasu karanavalla  papa punyakkella |

Analaksheya (shiva )ninna prerane illade|| ........Vijayadasara

krishnarpanamastu

note: Anala means fire ,aksha means eye , Shiva is the one with three eyes , sun ,moon and fire in the forehead. Eyes of fire. Shiva also Rudra

Gyan Bhakti Vairagya-3

Bhakti is deep affection towards Lord with a  sense of respect towards  His superiority .Sneha with gaurav  is Bhakti. Bhakti also gives rise to surrender. What is surrender , it means complete knowledge of the fact that Lord Krishna is supreme ,we all are completely dependent upon Him.Our actions are on account of his inspiration and will. With this sense when we perform our duties , it augments bhakti.Duty as ordained by the God. Bhakti is different with different people/jeeva/soul. This difference is what determines the gradation of souls.

Bramha and vayu have superior bhakti than shiva.Shiva has higher  bhakti than Indra.Indra has more bhakti than Surya and so on.we humans have very ordinary bhakti on the Lord.

Since vayu has highest bhakti ,he is called jeevottam. He never ever goes against the wishes of Lord. others' have their bhakti intermittently cease ,in this period devotee goes against Lord and subsequently gets punished. example Vali is Indra. Sugreeva is Surya .so technically vali is greater bhakta than sugreeva. but as his bhakti is temporarily eclipsed , he sides with Ravana , and antagonizes Sugreeva , a bhakta. Lord Rama does not come before Vali , instead kills him without appearing before him. One who sides with Hanuman his bhakti will always be intact. one who goes against Hanuman , his bhakti may lapse. for such people Rama does not show himself.

Bhakti also means voicing your resent against those who are against Rama. Rama always bestows them with HIS grace : example ; jatayu, sugreeva,vibheeshana etc. another example is Vidura . He voiced his protest in cheeraharan , He shouted "Adharmam yesh vartate" and walks away . Krishna preferred to stay in his house though Born to Sudra , rather than  other elite Kshatriyas like Bheeshma etc, though they were equally good bhaktas ,but failed to voice against Adharma.

to be continued....................................

krishnarpanamastu

Gyan bhakti vairagya- 2

Aproksha Gyana is seeing God everywhere in everything. Whatever a person does through mind(in thoughts) ,body(action) and in speech, is termed as karma. thos karma that has been already performed in previous births is sanchita karma. A boy of 14 years does a karma in a single day enough to have ten more births to exhaust it. And in every birth he does karma every day .hence everyone has a sanchita karma as huge as mountains. it is foolish to imagine that we would exhaust our karma and get rid of this birth and death cycle. Nor can we say i shall remain karmaless . No one can sit quite without thinking even for a moment , and that is karma.

The karma that we are doing now and in future births as a result of reaction to various circumstances in life is AGAMI karma.

That we are now enjoying or suffering in this birth is prarabdha karma.

Till we assume we are the doers of karma independently , we are responsible for our karma . we reap its good and bad.effects in many births. Once we realise that it GOD who is supreme and we do everything as per his inspiration. we get freed from the clutches of that Karma. This action gives rise to yathartha gyan, and detachment from karma.Such repeated actions leads to aproksha gyan . here sanchita and agami are reduced to zero.They stop bothering the soul.what remains is prarabdha only.This prarabdha , one has to undergo , you cannot escape from it even after attaining enlightenment(aproksha gyana).After this prarabdha is exhausted , one attains Moksha.

next blogs we shall see about bhakti vis a vis gyana..............

srikrishnarpanamastu

Gyana Bhakti Vairagya

Shravana manana Dhyana definitely increases Gyana.

Gyana is of many types viz

1. Agyana
   
2. Mishra gyana
   
3. Mithya gyana
   
4. Anyatha gyana
   
5. Vipareeta gyana
   
6. Yathartha gyana
   
7. Vigyana
   
8. Pragyan
   
9. Paroksha gyana
   
10. Aparokshagyana
    

    Let us understand each one by one
    

• When you do not know about anything you have agyana . This state is main cause of fear in this world due to absence of gyana.
  
• When you inquire about something you get to know something about it though not perfect, neither sure whether it is correct or not .mishra gyana leads to bhrama , delusion.
  
• Inadvertently being conclusive while still being in the state of mishrita gyana is Mithya gyana. (believing in one that is not there)
  
• When aquiring knowledge we have lots of doubts and due to some inabilities we accept this state of imperfection in the knowledge as the character of the very knowledge ,like accepting theory of probability , Is what anyatha gyana ( far from truth).(believing in otherwise , may be, may not be ,or perhaps something else )
  
• Totally believing in exactly opposite(it is like saying a white looking thing is actually black) is vipareeth gyana .
  
• Knowing things as it exists is yathartha gyana
  
• Knowing the cause and effects of a yathartha gyana is vigyana
  
• Finally when your vigyana is visble to you it is pragyan
  
• Having pragyana about all the worldy knowledge is paroksha gyan
  
• When your eyes turn inwards to see the God within you it is aproksha.
  

  
  

  Lets take example , you buy a tv in your house.
  

• You don't know anything about it you have agyana about TV .
  
• Tvwala says take this plug switch it on, you will get pictures to see,
  

  You do it but are unsucessful you have mishrita gyana , you think this all tv thing is foolishness .bhrama
  

• Someone else says you need to have antenna or cable to view TV you do it as said take a cable connection. Wow its fulllength movie . Then your messiah says infact your cable wala is all and mighty with respect to TV . Only he can give you connection or he can mercilessly cutoff your viewing pleasure. So your TV actually works because of cablewala; Mithya gyana.
  
• Your neighbour buys a dish TV he gets TV pleasure without cable guy; your reverence on cable guy diminishes , but you think anything is possible in this world .you don't have to depend on anybody. Anyathagyana
  
• Someday you understand it is star zee sony who are actual entertainers not just equipment suppliers. But how does the programs actually come to your box. A wise man says its all magic , magic of science, there is a jin named science who can capture anything , convert it into air , transmit into air, enters your dish and converts back to your image on TV . Wow ,what a science , what a scientific explanation.Science is everything-No space for GOD in entertainment business. ( Vipareet gyan ), just pay money and enjoy, Movie Masti and Magic.
  

  Neighbour's envy owner's pride.Look at this invention , TV ,it is for all of us to see ,
  

  What we have got to to do with your shastra, can you show anything like this ,our sceintific bend of mind is supreme, throw away your traditional wisdom (vipareet -dogmatism) get modern and enjoy.
  

  
  

• Now yathartha gyana Tv is just an instrument/gadget .A gadget need to have power , and some input source . Here it is images sound , media. These are all input source they can come either from antenna , dish,cable or any other means.
  

  Somebody has to transmit this input. Input gets transformed from one form to another. Natural elements like crystals , semiconductors ,other materials are used to get this transformation , after this it is carried(transmitted) from one place to other and is converted back to original image again with some transducers.(a natural element).
  

  Everything is happening due to this naturally available elements , not by any magic, and who has created these natural elements , who makes them exhibit these qualities.GOD . God does things in an organised manner . Anything that is organised is shastra science.
  

  Yathartha gyana.
  

  
  

• Vigyana : when with the above gyana you study deeply as to how this images actually get transmitted , you have two views ;one assigning all the events to movement of electrons , electromagnetic waves in the air, theory of antenna , graphics ,chips in TV etc etc. again mithyavigyana
  
• Vigyana says there are four crore hari rupa in a human body. They function variously to sustain various organs. Similarly there are many exclusive rupas unfolding from Vasudev, sankarshana pradyumna aniruddha rupa of narayana , alternating to convert one form into another and causing functions of various nature.
  

  God chooses to exhibit one particular type of conversion in one era and others in another era hence sceince changes from era to era. Like astras( bramhastra , agneyastra etc) are not effective in this era ,simply it is not operative ,sometimes doubting whether it existed.
  

  Similarly valves are not seen anymore .slowly semiconductors will be outdated ,bionics may take over , but what remains same is Lords' act in these materials, which he reveals from time to time. Call it great Tantra .
  

  
  

  Vigyana is about tantra behind the yantra.
  

  
  

• when you actually see this all action happening ,you have pragnya.
  

  
  

  Lets take a \tv mechanic . Whence you have a problem , usually mechanic will check step by step and after long time declare what is wrong and may not be able to repair without any proper instruments.
  

  
  

  Pragyan man will give a look at the TV and say yeah here's the problem, he effortlessly puts it right . Genius .\ its always difficult to say how genius works.
  

  
  

  When you have pragyan about everything, Why talk only of TV , there is computer,
  

  Satellite, law, arts, cricket, medicine., commerce, dance,fight,music,list is endless…
  

  Can you master all this , well paroksha means that.
  

  When you have paroksha you still don't know the real. What is it, Soul has two curtains(acchadika) , one on itself, one between itself and GOD ) . When the first one is removed you are a parokshi , when the second one is removed you are aparokshgnyani. You see GOD everywhere in everything .
  

  
  

  To be continued ………….
  

What is meditation?

Narsimha purana mentions meditation as dhyana (nidhidhyasana) : continuous flow of thought towards an object. Note the term flow of thought.

The popular conception is : meditation is onepointedness on a particular object(more often a scene ).The method usually prescribed is :

• Calm your mind
  
• Focus on your favorite object
  
• Try to hold on to it.
  
• Make use of props like symbol OM
  
• Or some serene music
  
• Or some preach think as to all negative energy flow out of your system like smoke
  
• Many more such concepts which are not in sync with Purana.
  

  let us analyze these before arriving at correct meaning of meditation.
  

  Can our minds be calmed through effort ?
  

  According to upanishads :
  

  Mind is everwandering ,it is chanchal by nature. It keeps switching between thoughts sometimes without link.
  

  Consider a monkey , a restless creature. What if this monkey has drunk loads of wine.it becomes unstable , its actions are unpredictable.And if this monkey is bit by scorpion , it is going to jump from pillar to post without any control ,creating havoc in the neighborhood.
  

  Mind is like this monkey which has drunk the wine of ego(ahankara /mada) upon that it is bit by the scorpion of jealousy(asuya).it jumps from pillar to post to acquire the objects of its desire.(moha). This monkey called mind is additionally caught in greed(lobha).
  

  Is it really possible to bring such a monkey under control ?virtually impossible without the help of other agencies.If we say we can bring ourselves out of this mind delusion ,then this monkey should be able to calm himself without external help. This is unimaginable.
  

  So the first point itself seems dizzy (calm your mind /de-stress ).
  

  Focus, on what ? can u hold a static scene in my mind ? It is against the nature of mind.
  Hold on to it , what purpose is it going to solve ,well holding on to object of desire gives control over object of desire. But is that the goal of meditation.
  Make use of OM , does this calm the mind , definitely not. Music is a definite disturbance , moreover if I am restless over a issue in the office or my business , no props are going to calm my mind except solution to my issue.
  Drive out negative energy : in a happy frame of mind , especially when I am riding a horse named success, temporarily I feel I can control my mind and feel as though driving away unwanted thoughts. This is not meditation.
  So what is meditation.
  Ashtanga Yoga starts with
  

• Yama : discipline like getting up early ,cleanliness
  

• niyama : satya (speaking truth), asteya,(not stealing),tushti(being satisfied)
  
• asana :posture padmasana , veerasana,sukhasana.
  
• pratyahara : turning your mind away ,
  
• pranayama: breathing techniques. Rechaka ,puraka, kumbhaka,
  
• dharana :
  
• dhyana
  
• samadhi .
  

  The first five are preparatory towards the meditation. It helps in bringing the person to a state of mind to practise anything that he wants to? Whether he can sustain with his markata mind.!
  To sustain he should undertake Pranayama.
  Two types of pranayama. :keval and sagarbha,
  Kevala is without any mantra and sagarbha is with mantra like dasha pranava gayatri with bramhashirasa etc.
  Remembering Hari and vayu in kumbhaka is what the secret behind sustaining the concentration.This ignites narsimha jwala in the hrudaya that burns away all the sins.
  The hrudaya that we are talking about is one found in sushumna and not the heart organ.
  When the mind is pure , sense organs satisfied , chitta is still ,the mind can contemplate on the known issues. Known through sense organs . Nothing new can be contemplated of which we do not have knowledge. Hence to contemplate , we need knowledge about GOD. This is obtained by shravana , ie. Listening to the Guru.
  Guru teaches as various qualities of GOD. Student has to contemplate, manana
  Manana gives rise to doubts. Doubts have to be cleared by Guru.
  Once doubts are cleared ,the topic on which we have contemplated becomes steadfast,it cannot disappear from mind. When we repeatedly contemplate on this steadfast knowledge , we experience difficulty in holding on to this contemplation, this phase is known as Dharana.
  When this contemplation is continuous without break it is called Dhyana.
  

  When in dhyana if we are not able to hear external sounds then it is Samadhi.
  

  However in the astanga , each one is superior to the previous eg niyama is superior to yama , pranayama is superior to asana pratyahara. Dhyana is superior to pranayama etc.
  Dhyana can be done only on few qualities of God that we know of; but swadhyaya gives more knowledge of the God. Hence once should ever engage in the study of sashtras (swadhyaya) . It yields more punya than dhyana. Above all Adhyaapan , teaching the shastras , leads even more punya than swadhyaya, because it spreads the message of the GOD. Lord loves those more who speak about him.
  Thus Sage Mudgal says, "with two hands raised above shoulders , I declare that there is nothing in this world greater than Narayana(earlier now or in the future), knowing which nothing in this three worlds is impossible to achieve."
  

  " Alodya shastrani cha punah punaha ,nasti narayana samo devo ,
  

  na bhuto na bhavishyati Yetena satyavakyena sarvarthan sadhyamyaham"
  

  
  

  srikrishnarpanamastu
  

Nav vidh Bhakti -Types of Devotion

what is devotion? is blind faith devotion? can ecstatic trans like hsyteric activities be termed as devotion?

NO!

Shastra has clearly laid down the definition of Bhakti. Bhakti is of nine types.

1 shravanam kirtanam vishnuh smaranam vandanam

archanam padasevanam dasyam sakhyam atmarpanam

shravanam - listening to shastras which tell the glory of the Lord from a relevant Guru.

kirtanam - chanting lord's name ,naming children by Lord's name.

vishnu's smaranam - remembering Lord in every aspects of Life.

vandanam - paying respects to images of Lord through namaskar. here animate inanimate things represent a particular image of God. knowing and behaving thus need knowledge.

archanam - Doing Pooja of Lords' vigraha in a vedic way as prescribed to pefection.

padasevanam - doing dhyana of lord's feet in the solar chakra or sahasrar.

dasyam - declaring oneself as servant/slave of God and acting thus as though completely serving him in every form HE exists befittingly as liked by HIM .(again point of thorough knowledge)

sakhyam - treating Lord as one our close associates like Friend, Brother,Father,Child,Lover etc.(Not all are eligible for this kind of devotion).

Atmarpanam - completely devoting oneself to the servitude of Lord , with even daily chores also to be taken care by Lord himself .Such should be the conviction that everything about self is giverned by Lord. it is upto him to look after you.(Again a case of extreme knowledge , not eligible for every one);

So it is clearly seen that devotion is a clear knowledgeable affair and not one of histrionics. You cannot neglect studies and say i am devoted and God will take care. You cannot say i am more devoted alhough less knowledgeable and hence i will not abide by learned.Knowledge increases devotion , devotion increases knowledge. Gnyanmay Bhakti (Devotion coupled with knowledge) is what appeals to GOD.

Say you love your Father. why ? if you say" i dont know, i just love him. " you are lying or you dont completely love your Father . But when you understand that your father had taken lots of pain in protecting you all through your childhood , in raisng you, in giving you education etc.Finally when you understand that he is chief instrument to have brought you into this world to carry forward your sadhana . Your love towards your Father increases manyfold. Your love (increased ) leads you to follow your Father in many more ways , with each success of Father you finally decide , i would become like my father ,then i cannot be as great as him . But definitely i shall emulate him to the extent He shall appreciate me.
Similarly when you are more knowledgeable about GOD you start loving him with devotion. When you listen to Bhagavat , you understan how lord protects his devotees through stories of Prahlad, dhruva, ajamidha,madhava,arjuna etc you develop faith in HIM. also your own experiences consolidate above faith. Finally you understand it is GOD alone who is pervading all over ,with entire universe at HIS command yet he exclusively takes vare about you . You lose interest in everything other than HIM . because every other thing is only because of HIM .You start seeing HIM everywhere in every being. (Aprokshagnyana). You yearn nothing but his presence and His grace, like a Father mad about bringing his wayward son into his FOLD , like a lovestruck man helplessly longing for a loving glance of a beloved,like a miser ever looking after his wealth ; One seeks GOD everywhere successfully traeting Gold and mortar equally , unaffected by sorrows and pleasure , heat and cold, onepointed towards LORD .Lord takes him to his abode granting him mukti of four types sayujya ,samipya ,salokya and sarupya in VAIKUNTHA.

srikrishnarpanamastu

To Create is the very nature of the God

Upanishads say God creates ,
just as spider spins its web . Just like a child plays by the sea with the mounds of sand .
its natural of God to create ie. it is in his nature . svabhava. Like we all have some unique(repetitive) characteristics defining us. and people confronting us says," oh well, that's his nature". similarly it is the nature of God to create. And to create again and again and again.
Just as web springs out of the spider , this world springs out of HIM.(Kamalanabh)
Like a child He creates and at the end of the day destroys it all.
He does not exert himself due to creation. There is no exhaustion. He does it playfully.
He has no purpose of his accomplished by creation . ie. there is no swartha. He is not achieving any selfish motto in creating this world. He creates this world to uplift the souls ,which are in deep slumber ,to achieve infinite bliss. His creation is varied and not monotonous.He is highly imaginative and beyond comprehension with his Creations. He creates to give immense pleasure, of having a great family, to his wife LaxmiDevi. She time and again feels proud about her Husband's abilities. Sometimes as maya she poses many difficult puzzles with humans /souls as subject , which Lord solves, showing his many marvelous auspicious qualities hitherto unknown , without breaking the laws set upon by himself. It is HIS achintya adbhut shakti that brings more dynamism into creation, much to surprise of Brahma ,shiva ,shakra, who rejoice in a meditative mood over these incidents.
God is not dependent on anybody for his pleasures. He is both Male as well as female. His female form Narayani is always present in Laxmi Devi. She is always under his Control.He creates only to pleasure others. Others rejoice in HIM. Souls achieve salvation by HIS grace .Salvation is realization of self for a soul. Self means souls own attributes(different from GOD) consisting of happiness and infinite bliss . This self ,a soul is ignorant of . God through his creation and by putting a soul in a series of birth and death cycles; and in the process, makes Atman realize his own qualities and bliss (whuch is always covered by MAYA (linga deha)). This self realization W is resisted ,obstructed,blocked by the SHRI BHU DURGA forms of LAxmi Devi.This is a cosmic game played by the Celestial Couple. And the reward is infinite bliss (MOKSHA -Unending happiness)for being part of this game , for a soul.
Bliss is obtained by the grace of the LORD . hence he is known as MUKUNDA.( one who grants moksha by HIS Grace). Grace can be obtained by pure devotion. Devotion comes by Knowledge and knowledge increases due to Devotion.Knowledge can be obtained by listening to shastras from a GURU and contemplating on it with deep devotion to GOD.
in the next post we shall see what is DEVOTION.

Srikrishnarpanamastu

What is universe according to Vedas;

Vyam Vedvyasaya Namaha

universe created by God consists of fourteen worlds.

1.satyaloka 2.tapoloka 3.janolok 4.maharloka 5.swargaloka 6.bhuvarloka 7.bhuloka 8.atal 9.vital 10.sutal 11.talatal 12mahatal 13.rasatal 14.patal.

It consists of souls (jivas) various types of species living in these worlds.

jada-various types of mountains rivers , plains ,desert, oceans ,space, stars, planets ,houses, mansions, palaces, gardens, markets ,utensils ,minerals, light, water, air, soil etc

Narayana(GOD) rules and regulates the entire universe.

satyaloka tapoloka janoloka are ruled by chaturmukha Bramha.

People here do not have to physically eat or sense to satisfy themselves .

Maharloka is ruled by Shiva . Mount kailash is present in this loka.

Swarga is ruled by Indra in Amravati capital. here we can find heavens and apsaras entertaining meritorious.

Bhuvarloka consists of stars with Dhruva as pivot . Various planets and zodiac find their place in this loka. Also many Gandharva , vidhyadhars , yaksha have floating cities in this loka. they are illuminated brightly and happy land.

Bhuloka consists of many vast lands and our earth(prithvi) is just a small portion of this loka. earlier kings ruled entire Bhuloka not just prithvi.

Atal etc till rasatal are inhabited by nagalokas , rakshasas and daityas. they contain enormous wealth. There is no sunshine in these worlds. People here have bright light emanating from them to see around.Most of them have only water base below oceans( not the oceans of prithvi). each is ruled by Maya , vasuki ,karkotak,etc

sutal is ruled by Raja bali.

Patal has shesha carrying entire universe on its head which is akin to a mustard on our head. so huge is shesha. this shesha is carried by lord vayu on the edge of his tail . in turn vayu is resting on a great tortoise namely \kurma. lord himself.

This universe is 100 crore yojana in width. one yojana is eight miles .

Difference exists between jivas and jada.

Difference exists between jivas and other jivas ( among themselves)

Difference exists between jadas and other jada(among themselves)

God Ishvara (Narayana) is diffrent from jivas

Difference exists between Isha and jada

hence there is five fold difference it is beginingless.

because there is five(panch) differences seen again & again everywhere , this world is known as Pra-panch.This difference is real. Only ignorant feel otherwise.

in the next post we shall see why there is evil in this world?

srikrishnarpana

Definition of Narayana in Shruti

Vyam Vedvyasaya Namaha
Sri Gurubhyo namaha
Sadagamaikvignyeyam samateetksharaksharam
Narayanam sada vande nirdoshasheshasadgunam

Samateetksharaksharam:

In the previous post we have dealt with Sadagamaikvignyeyam.

here we will elaborate samateetksharaksharam.

It means there is nothing greater than Narayana in this world of sentient and non sentient.

kshara means that which is perishable. it also means jiva and jada . the bodies of all the jeeva /souls are perishable.jada is ofcourse undergoes all kinds of deformation and alteration. at the end of the universe/kalpa pralaya all these perish .

Akshara refers to prakriti . the trigunas ie. chitprakriti satva rajas tamas. it also means Laxmidevi.

Narayana is infinitely above and different from kshara and akshara ie. jiva jada and laxmidevi.

In other words these jiva jada and prkriti are neither equal nor above Narayana.

Samateetksharaksharam is a definition of Narayana in Vedas.

Bramha shivaha suradyashcha shariraksharanat ksharaha

laxmiraksharadehatvadakshara tatparo hari (paramashruti)

srikrishnarpana.

in the next post we shall see what vedas say about this world: