Temples near New Jersey

Recently I had the opportunity of visiting two temples in the New Jersey area. The first one is Sri Ranganatha temple at Pamona, New York. I got the nice feeling when I had the darshan of Sri Ranganatha Perumal. Inside the temple , I felt as though I was in a Tamilnadu temple. All idols (moola murthis) are of black granite and look very grand.It being the markazhi month, there was chanting of Thiruppavai. Another unique thing in this temple is that there is no ticket for anything, whether it is an archanai or kalyana utsavam. Everything is donation  as one likes (yatha sakti). The temple gives typical prasadams of Venpongal, akkaravatisal and curd rice. There is no cafeteria food, as in most of the N.American temples. Of course you can have more details in their website http://www.ranganatha.org/ .

 

 

 The second one is Srinathji temple at Vraj, Schuylkill Haven, PA. The temple is managed by Pushti Margiya Vaishnav Samaj Of North America. This temple replicates the traditions followed by the temple at Srinathdwara. The idol of Srinathji is small but the temple provides binoculars to the devotees to have a close look of the idol.Again this temple does not have cafeteria but all are provided with Maha Prasad - conventional Gujarati food with puri, shak, bath, kadi and sweet. They entertain second helping. If you are going as a big group ,they want advance information for providing you the Prasad! More details can be had http://vraj.org/ .

 

 

 

Avudaiyar Koil

I went to Avudaiyar koil some months ago and I am sharing the impressions.

 

This temple is unique, as the lingam( Athmanathar) does not have the top portion and only the base (avudai) is there. The lingam at sanctum sanctorum is shown with a metallic cylinder which is hollow, This represents the all prevading Atma , hence the presiding deity is known as Atmanathar.This top cylinder is removed once in a year, when the public can see the formless.

The temple was built by Manickavasakar, who was the minister of  Arimardhana Pandyan.

 

The temple is renowned for its special architecture and sculptures. The temple is famous for its stone canopies, which appears to be made of timber, with its tie-bars and nails. One can see the damage caused by the Englishman , who did not believe that the canopy is carved out of granite. There are two holes caused by the bullets.

 

 

 

 

In one of the mandapams, there are sculptures of horsemen, each of them attired in different costumes, including an Arab dress. One should know the story behind the temple to appreciate this feature. Manikavasakar was asked to get high breed horses by the king . But being devotee of Shiva,   he  built the  temple with the money given for the purchase of horses.

               

All the temple festivals are mainly for Manikavasakar and Atmanathar is included. The temple is near Aranthangi, in Pudukottai district of Tamilnadu.

Sadhana chatushya Sampati- Pramanam

All spiritual persons know that to get the Jnanam, one should be a sadhaka. Just wishing to become a Jnani, one cannot get the Jnanam. He should have the requisite qualifications, to be a sadhaka. These qualifications are listed by various Acharyas, which is known as Sadhana chatushtaya sampati. The four qualifications for a sadhaka are 1) viveka 2) Vairagyam 3) shamadi shatka Sampati 4) Mumukshutvam.

These are given very clearly in Tattva Bodha.  What is the base reference (pramanam) in sruti?  These are referred in Brhadaranyaka Upanishad. This Upanishad occurs in Yajur Veda at two places 1) in Kaanva Shaka and 2) in Maadyaandika Shaka. There are small differences in slokas of the Upanishad in the two shakas. The sloka, which refers to the Sadhana chatushtaya sampati, gives only five of the shatka sampati (3^rd qualification). In one shaka it refers to shama, dama, uparati, titiksha, and sraddha. In the other shaka, the reference is made to shama, dama, uparati, titiksha and samadhanam. The acharyas have taken both sraddha and samadhanam and given six sadhanas

Classifications in Sanatana Dharma (Hindu Philosophy) Part 3

Let us see the classifications of the human beings. The entire population has been classified into four groups (varnas) based on their nature of work. They are Brahmana, Kshtriya, Vysya and Shutra. Brahmanas study the scriptures and take care of the religious functions. They pass on their knowledge to their disciples and preserve the tradition. Kshtriyas are the leaders of the society and they offer protection to the community. Vysyas are the backbone of the society’s economy. They engage themselves in producing, buying, transporting and selling of goods. Shutras are the group of people who help all of them in their activities. These classifications were made in order to have a smooth functioning of the society and all groups were considered equal and essential.

The qualities in each individual are classified into three- Sattva, Rajas and Tamas. In simple terms, sattva guna binds a person to knowledge and humble nature, rajas binds one to passion and action and tamas binds to inaction and submissiveness.  All gunas are present in each and every person in varying degrees.  Predominantly, Brahmanas have sattvic guna, Kshtriyas and Vysyas have rajasic guna and Shutras are with tamasic guna. In present day world, A Brahmin by birth may have rajasic nature in helping others  (Kshtriya nature) but he may be doing business (Vysya by profession). Similarly it can be in any combination! In a single day,  for some hours one can be sattvic, after that he can become tamasic, and again his nature may be ruled by rajasic.

Raghurajpur-Centre of Odissi traditional art

Recently I visited Odisha with my friends. We had a memorable trip, thanks to the excellent arrangement done by Odisha tourism.

We were cautioned by my friends that Puri Jagannath temple is infested with pestering pundits. But Odisha tourism had arranged with the head priest of the temple. We (8 members) had no problem in having the darshan of the Lord. We spent more than 20 minutes in the sanctum sanctorum. They also showed us the great kitchen, containing nearly 600 chulas, for the preparation of prasadam. Puri is considered to be the Bhog place for Lord. There is no offering of prasadam by individuals here, but can contribute for the bhog in the temple. We were given lots of Khaja (sweet prasadam) from the temple.

 While going to Bhubaneswar from Puri, we had the opportunity of visiting Raghurajpur, the village that is still preserving the traditional odissi art of palm leaf painting. Our driver took us to the house of master craftsman. He demonstrated to us the art of drawing on palm leaf. He took less than a minute to draw the image of Ganesha.

Then he applied black dye prepared from some leaf. He told that this dye is water- resistant and the picture on the palm leaf can be wiped with wet cloth. There were a number of paintings on palm leaves, which are stitched together and can be folded. He was teaching this art to some students. He also paints on tussar silk cloth and the dyes for this are made from various coloured rocks available in that region. We all purchased few art pieces.

 Anyone visiting Puri, should visit Raghurajpur

Rebirth

Many religions of the world do not believe in rebirth. Simply they preach to be good in the present life and join the Almighty after the mortal death or suffer for the evils done, in hell.   The idiom “ join the majority” indicates the philosophy of Christianity.

How do the vedic scriptures deal this? They tell that Atma  only has to be considered  and the body is described as its temporary abode .When a body falls dead, the Atma departs  that body only to acquire another. The type of body , that Atma will get, depends on the karma.

People having faith in other religion may say that this is only a theory.  The following is the explanation, I have gathered from the various discourses.

New born baby has no life experience and it sleeps for most of the time in a day. Also the doctors agree that the new born baby has very limited visibility. But it is observed that the baby smiles suddenly and also switches to crying in few seconds, while sleeping. At this period of life ( before the baby is able to focus and see),the baby is reacting to the dreams. The dreams are accepted to be reproduction of earlier experience in one’s subconscious mind. The reaction of the baby is only due to the experiences it had earlier ( in his previous births).

All living beings have the fear of death. Till one does not know that fire will burn his hand, he has no fear. Only an experience of fire, will give him fear. Unless one had an experience of death, why does the living being get scared? The answer is in its (his /her) earlier birth.

Mitya

Mitya  is one of concepts in Hindu philosophy. What is existing always , is satyam. What is not there, is termed as “Asat”. What is really non-existing , but appears to exist, is termed as “mitya”.

Satyam and Asat are easily understood by many , but not mitya. In real life, we experience many things, but Vedanta negates  and declares them as mitya. Here comes the classical example of rope appearing to be snake, till it is clarified.

Satyam is so much real, it cannot be negated. Asat is not there and is unknown, it is not necessary to negate. Mitya is negated as it gives a false reality.

The word “mitya” has not been used in any of the Upanishads. To explain this aspect, the word used is either “iva” or “artham”,which can be translated as “ similar to”. This implies that it is not real (satyam).

But the word “mitya “ has been used by many acharyas, who had written commentaries.

Perhaps English dictionary has got the word “myth” from this.

Classifications in Sanatana Dharma (Hindu Philosophy) Part 2

Now let us try to understand the creation.  In the very beginning there is only,repeat only, Brahman.Brahman which is ever existing ( beyond time) and beyond space. For any creation , there are two causes-  material cause (upadana  karana) and instrumental cause(Nimitta karana). Brahman is the material cause as well as the instrumental cause for the creation.  Brahman created five elements from itself.which are termed as bhootas. They are akash(space),vayu (air),agni (fire),apah(water) and prithvi (earth). This classification is very interesting. According to scriptures, the first one akash has only one property (guna) of sound. From the space, vayu has formed which has two properties of sound and feeling. The third one formed is Agni which has three gunas of sound, feeling and visibility. From agni emerged water with four properties of sound, feeling, visibility and taste. The last one is earth with five properties of sound, feel, visibility, taste and smell. All the five bhootas are inanimate (jatam) and the entire universe  along with the things like planets, earth and all living beings (jivas) are made of these five bhootas .Jiva is enlivened by Brahman which is present in each and every jiva.

By jiva, it includes all living things, animals, birds and human beings. This jiva is created in four ways. The lowest level of jiva comes out by breaking the surface (Plants). The next level gets the life under humid and other suitable conditions (worms and insects from closed container of food). The next one is by hatching out of eggs (birds) and the last one is born by mammals. The highest level of Jiva is the human being, who has the option of choosing his wish and action. The other jivas do not have this option. The corollary is that human being can improve or degrade himself, while other jivas complete their life as they are destined.

A jiva gets its body depending on its karma. The karma is classified into three-a) Sanchita Karma b) prarabta Karma  and  c) Agaami Karma. Sanchita Karma is the repository of the Jiva form which it takes various janmas(birth).Prarabta Karma is that part of Sanchitam, which makes the jiva to experience the happiness(Sukham) and sadness (Dukham) in one janma. Agaami Karma is the accumulation of results (Punyam or Paavam) due to the actions in one’s janma. It is also told that only human beings have the choice of doing good or evil actions .Depending on one’s actions he  /she accumulates Punyam or Paavam . So Aagami Karma applies only to human beings.

Classifications in Sanatana Dharma (Hindu Philosophy) Part 1

The basis of this philosophy is that there is only One existed, exists and will continue to exist, and that One is called Brahman. The entire universe with all its contents and variations is the One (Brahman) only, which is real.

To understand this, there are three main texts, known as Prasthana Thrayam. These texts are Bhagavad Gita, Upanishads and Brahma Sutra. Upanishads are known as Sruti Prasthanam and Brahma Sutra is known as Nyaya Prasthanam. Bhagavad Gita is known as Smruti Prasthanam. Bhagavad Gita consists of 700 verses as discussion between Lord Krishna and Arjuna.   In this, the entire philosophy is explained to the common man, who may not be able to study the other texts (Upanishads) in detail. 

In order to get deeper knowledge, one has to study the Upanishads. The Upanishads are part of vedas, which is the basic text. Veda, which means knowledge is considered as (Apurushya) not written by any man(Rishi). Vedas were classified by Sage Vyasa into four. The four vedas are, Rig, Yajur, Sama and Atharvana. All these vedas contain Upanishads. These vedas are generally divided into two parts- the first is Karma Khanda or Purva  Khanda and the second part is Uttara Khanda.  Generally the word  ”Vedanta”refers to upanishads , which are found in vedas  but not in the end. "Vedanta" can be translated as end (goal) of Vedas

All will have different types of goals in their life. These are classified as Artha (material), Kama (wishes), Dharma (right way of living), and Moksha (self-knowledge). The ways to achieve the first three are covered in Purva Khanda of the vedas and Vedanta or Uttara khanda shows the way for moksha.

There are many Upanishads (in all about 108) and ten are considered as important , for which Shankarachaya  had written commentaries. All Upanishads contain Maha Vakhyam. Maha Vakhyam literally means big sentence, but in Vedanta , any sentence which gives the relation between Jiva and Paramatma is called Maha Vakhyam. The most popular maha vakhyams are four , one from each Veda.

There are commentaries on both parts of Veda. These are known as Mimamsas, the commentary on Purva khanda is written by Sage Jaimini, disciple of Sage Vyasa and it is called Purva Mimamsa. This work consists of 12000 slokas. The commentary on Upanishads, (Uttara Mimamsa) written by Sage Vyasa is called Brahma Sutra –third prasthanam. Brahma sutra consists of 555 slokas, Bhagavad Gita consists of 700 slokas and Upanishads contain many slokas. But studying Brahma sutra should be undertaken after going through Bhagavad Gita and Upanishads.

All these vedic texts are in Samskrit. Even a person who has studied Samskrit language in depth, cannot understand these texts without the teaching and guidance of an Acharya. The reason for this is that the same word gives opposite meaning at different places of these texts. A Samskrit scholar cannot correctly understand these scriptures from the  meaning of the words from the dictionary. Only a teacher (Acharya) who has learnt the scriptures from a Guru with tradition ( Parampara) can explain.

Brahman

Upanishads give the definition of Brahman in different methods. The methods fall in two categories

1) positive way (vidhi mukham)  2) negative way (Nisheda mukham).

Taittriya Upanishad follows the first method. “Satyam  Jnanam  Anatam  Brahma” is positive way of explaining Brahman. In simple translation, Brahman is pure existence (satyam), ultimate knowledge (jnanam), and infinite (anantam).

Brahma-vid apnoti param, tad eshabhyukta,
Satyam jnanam anantam brahma           (Tait. 2.1.1)

Brhadaranyaka Upanishad follows the second method of negating the different attributes as that of Brahman. In chapter 3 ,section8, sloka 8 Brahman is explained as Akshram. It is further clarified by nisheda mukha way.

Brahman is not big , not small ( if one thinks it as small), not gross, not subtle, nor short, not tall, not dark, not coloured, not attachable, not a shadow, not a reflection, not related to anything, neither gas nor gas dependent, neither space nor space dependent, neither has taste nor can be tasted, neither has smell nor can be smelled, neither has sight nor can be seen, neither has hearing nor can be heard, neither has speech nor can be spoken, not a mind , not having thoughts, not a subtle body (sukshama sareeram),no gates  or openings, neither can be measured nor weighed, no ends ,nothing outside of this. What remains is Brahman.

Finally Brahman does not enjoy anything  and nothing can enjoy Brahman.

“na tat ashnadi kinchana, na tat ashnadi kashchana”

Even though, Brahman is explained in Vidhi mukham some places, it is better defined by nishedam, because Brahman is nirguna. No attribute  can really describe. The only way to understand  is to negate all we know and experience.