renounce smaller selfish interests for the bigger good - त्यजेत् कुलार्थे पुरुषं

renounce one person for the sake of the family,
a family for the sake of village;
village for the sake of country and
even the [kingdom of] earth for one's own sake.

tyajet kulArthe puruSham grAmasyArthe kulam tyajet |
grAmam janapadasyArthe AtmArthe pRithivIm tyajet ||

त्यजेत् कुलार्थे पुरुषं ग्रामस्यार्थे कुलं त्यजेत् |
ग्रामं जनपदस्यार्थे आत्मार्थे पृथिवीं त्यजेत् ||

this is a very much misunderstood shloka, and the misunderstanding comes from not taking in account the context, the speaker and the essence of the statement. this shloka appears in many shloka collections, including panchatantra and hitopadesha. the earliest reference seems to be in vidura neeti 5-17, which is part of the larger mega-epic mahAbhArata.

the wise minister vidura, of the kuru super-empire, is advising the emperor dhRitarAShTra to follow the path of dharma, right conduct, and not to let unfair things happen due to power intoxication or familial attachment. the emperor was literally blind, but metaphorically blind in parental attachment to his son duryodhana, and lets him get away with some of the most blatant and unfair thing he does out of jealousy and ego. duryodhana, the son was not ignorant of the right conduct, but he accepted he had a natural liking for a-dharma, even though knowing well he was doing wrong.

there are three common misunderstanding regarding this shloka -
#1. that the sacrifice of the [good of] smaller unit SHOULD be done to be able to get the good of the larger unit. this makes it a prerequisite to the greater good, which is not so.

#2. that this justifies mass killing like that done by Mao, Stalin, Naxal insurgents of india in the name of greater good. even eminent thinker like gurcharan das got this one wrong.

#3. giving it a spiritual spin, the last part is translated as 'abandon the [attachment to this material] world for your own moksha, nirvana.' i.e. leave worldly attachment, only then you will be able to liberate yourself.

the six pleasures of life - अर्थागमो नित्यमरोगिता

incoming wealth, always good health, friends,
sweet spoken wife, obedient children, fruitful knowledge
- these are the six comfort/pleasures of this mortal world, o king!
--
arthAgamo nityamarogitA cha priyashcha bhAryA priya-vAdinI cha |
vashyashcha putro'rthakarI cha vidyA ShaD jIvalokasya sukhAni rAjan ||
--
अर्थागमो नित्यमरोगिता च प्रियश्च भार्या प्रियवादिनी च ।
वश्यश्च पुत्रोऽर्थकरी च विद्या षड् जीवलोकस्य सुखानि राजन् ॥ ०-१०

continuing the discussion in hitopadesh, the king after hearing the two shlokas on the morning walk - recipe for disaster and two types of knowledge - started to think about his children and their education or lack of it, future of his kingdom etc. and he remembers this shloka. this was originally said by vidura in mahAbhArata (vidur neeti) to emperor dhRitarAShTra .

in this mortal world, where we live and die, and all the experiences are within this short span what are the sources of comfort/pleasure? let us see how the wise vidur lists them out, and how the rest all follow from these! remember, this is not about the next world, or spirituality. sometimes we have to talk of the present and real as per our limited senses. specially, the people of action (rajas)!

Hindu Prayer Book

Hindu Prayer Book - 2003

Hindu Prayer Book - English translation and transliteration. Compilation of most common prayers. This was in response to an article published in Cleveland Plain Dealer in January 2003 that Kirtans are becoming very popular in Cleveland, but not (m)any knew the meaning. Then some 'experts' commented that words are not important and even that words can be an obstruction to real realization.

The question then comes - why then sing a kirtan, bhajan, and that too in Sanskrit? Words are important, when they convey an idea. So this humble collection of important and common mantras, shlokas, and artis.

DO NOT USE THE CONTACT INFO IN THE BOOK. that is old. use this blog to communicate.

Hindu Prayer Book in English

View more documents from Shashi Joshi.

diligently made sure of correct words, transliteration, meanings.
any error is mine,
all glory to the divine.

happy diwali and prosperous new year.

hindu prayers in english
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Happy Diwali to all!

Happy Diwali to all!

 

i had written an article in 2003 on Diwali that i have as a PDF, so instead of extracting text out of that, i thought of uploading the PDF itself.

click on the small icon on bottom right of the document (Fullscreen) to read comfortably.
or you can also read that as GIF by clicking on the pics below.

Diwali Article in Tarang Oct 2003

View more documents from Shashi Joshi.

god helps them who help themselves - न देवा दण्डमादाय

the gods don't protect like a shepherd with a stick.
whom they want to protect, they give them intelligence.

न देवा दण्डमादाय रक्षन्ति पशुपालवत् ।
यं तु रक्षितुमिच्छन्ति बुद्ध्या संविभजन्ति तम् ॥
विदुरनीति ३-४०

na devA daNDamAdAya rakShanti pashupAlavat ।
yaM tu rakShitumichchhanti buddhyA saMvibhajanti tam ॥
viduraneeti 3-40


as described in an earlier post on smart goals, the wise minister and brother vidura gives the emperor dhRitarAShTra, a sermon of eight chapters in the epic mahAbhArata.

after two chapters of some of the best advice on leadership and management and politics and friendship and social responsibility, the emperor says - tell me more, your interesting and varied talks entice me and i don't get tired of listening to them.

smile, for you are worth it! - अमंत्रमक्षरं नास्ति

there is no sound that is not a mantra, no plant that is not medicinal |
there is no person unworthy, what is lacking is an 'enabler' ||

अमंत्रमक्षरं नास्ति नास्ति मूलमनौषधम्‌ ।
अयोग्यः पुरुषो नास्ति योजकस्तत्र दुर्लभः॥

amantramakSharaM nAsti, nAsti moolamanauShdhaM |
ayogyaH puruSho nAsti, yojakastatra durlabhaH ||


each and every sound can be a mantraM, to be meditated upon. but for that one needs to understand the acoustics of the mouth, vibrations of sounds, meaning of the letters of the language. specially in sanskrit each letter sound has a meaning.
e.g. the first consonants

• क (ka) means - brahmA, viShNu, kAmadeva, agni (fire), vAyu (wind), sUrya (sun) etc.
• ख (kha) means - sky (khaga = those that move in the sky = birds), heaven, senses of perception, field (farm), void
• ग (ga) means - gandharva (celestial singers, dancers), adjective for gaNesha (gaN gaNapataye namaH)

every plant has some medicinal use. even the poisonous ones have use in fighting venom. a pharmaceutical company would be better testimony of it even for modern medicines, what to say of ayurvedic medicines which were prepared from plants directly, and were heavily plant based.

terror and non-violence - नाततायिवधे दोषो

one who kills a terrorist overtly or covertly gets no blame,
for [it is nothing but] anger killing anger.

नाततायिवधे दोषो हन्तुर्भवति कश्चन ।
प्रकाशं वाप्रकाशं वा मन्युस्तं मन्युमृच्छति ॥

nAtatAyivadhe doSho hanturbhavati kashchana |
prakAshaM vAprakAshaM vA, manyustaM manyumRichchhati ||
manusmRiti 8-351


this is the confusing part about ethics - what to do? is the terrorist right in using force to get his/her way? are we right in using violence against a terrorist?

it is all in the intention.

the word AtatAyin mean "one who is in a stretched posture of attack - with a stretched out sword or a stretched bowstring, ready to kill."

vasiShTha-smRiti defines 6 acts of terror - one who sets fire (arson), one who poisons, one who is ready to kill with a drawn weapon, one who takes money by force, one who takes over land, one who kidnaps woman.


(september 11, 2001, new york)

arjuna asks kRiShNa in gItA (1-36) what he will gain by killing these terrorists, the kauravas. now, look at what all duryodhana did to pANDavas - setting fire to the house of lac (in which they were made to stay as guests), gave bhIma poison, took their land and money by deceitful force (winning the dice game my deceit), even took draupadI away (as part of the bet). even then arjuna has the moha - illusion - that the kaurava were his family, cousin etc.