tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-67708752024-03-23T23:16:02.088+05:30Girish's BlogUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger125125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6770875.post-70092025456600782642024-01-22T21:46:00.013+05:302024-01-22T22:38:25.465+05:30Learnings from the Ramayana: Ethics vs DutyThe one vital duty incumbent on you, if you really love your religion, if you really love your country, is that you must struggle hard to be up and doing, with this one great idea of bringing out the treasures from your closed books and delivering them over to their rightful heirs.- Swami Vivekananda, Lectures from Colombo to AlmoraThe occasion of the re-establishment of the Sri Rama temple at Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6770875.post-53741048009006870022023-10-02T12:41:00.006+05:302024-01-10T10:22:58.879+05:30Sri Vishnu SahasranAmam - the forms of the LordThe Vishnu SahasranAmam describes the 1000 names of Lord Vishnu. Some of them describe the Lord, some his attributes and some his powers. As many spiritual masters have said, there is no difference between the name of the Lord and the Lord Himself. Sri Ramakrishna said, “There is infinite glory in God’s Name. The Name is the seed; the Name is the tree; and the Name is the fruit. God dwells in HisUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6770875.post-79882400383149440272022-03-13T16:12:00.007+05:302022-03-16T20:42:42.378+05:30Book Review: Savarkar (Part 1): Echoes from a Forgotten Past, 1883–1924 For me, as part of a generation which had its education in the last quarter of the 20th century, Savarkar was not mentioned in any of the official study materials except for the insinuation that he was involved in the murder of Mohandas Gandhi. In the absence of viable alternatives to arrive at one’s own conclusion, the official position on Savarkar was the only one. Now with the arrival ofUnknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6770875.post-7619992208059444362022-02-13T00:27:00.013+05:302022-02-26T22:13:07.265+05:30Lectures from Colombo To Almora: #2 Jaffna, 24 Jan 1897Swami Vivekananda proceeded to Jaffna from Colombo. He had to shelve his plan of sailing for Madras (Chennai) from Colombo as he was receiving numerous telegrams from various Tamil-inhabited towns of Sri Lanka to visit them. On January 19, he took the train to Kandy — the hill station inhabited by tea plantation workers from Tamil Nadu. He was welcomed at the Kandy railway station by a Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6770875.post-19027969838189336052022-01-16T18:41:00.006+05:302022-02-13T16:28:57.342+05:30Lecures From Colombo to Almora: #1 Colombo, 16 January 1897One hundred and twenty five years ago, to the day, on the evening of the 16th January 1897, Swami Vivekananda gave a public lecture on "India, the Holy Land" in the Floral Hall, Colombo, Sri Lanka.Swami Vivekananda had arrived in Colombo by the German steamer 'Prince Regent Leopold' on 15 January 1897. He was met on board by the reception committee comprising Swami Niranjanananda, Kanakasabai, Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6770875.post-43388279288319567482021-11-17T21:49:00.003+05:302021-11-18T13:25:02.489+05:30An afternoon at the Chennakeshava Temple, SomanathapuraThe Hoysala Empire ruled most of what is now the state of Karnataka between the 10th and the 14th centuries. The capital of the Hoysalas was initially located at Belur but was later moved to Halebidu, both of which still have the remnants of the magnificent temples that were constructed.In the year 1258 CE, Somanatha Dandanayaka, a general of the Hoysala King Narasimha III built a temple to Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6770875.post-48585628556040017612021-09-30T19:21:00.009+05:302021-09-30T19:24:07.991+05:30Book Review: Mahabharata UnravelledThe outlines of the Mahabharta and the life trajectories of the major characters are well known to every Indian, whether or not they have read the epic. We've been exposed to it since our childhoods and B.R.Chopra's fantastic TV series influenced the entire nation - cities and towns across the nations would virtually go into what we now call lockdown when the series aired on Sunday mornings on Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6770875.post-28939486574421295182021-09-07T18:55:00.002+05:302023-02-26T17:59:23.325+05:30Preparing for DeathIn a letter that he wrote in 1789, Ben Franklin, one of the leaders of the American Revolution, wrote: Our new Constitution is now established, and has an appearance that promises permanency; but in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.In spite of this, tax avoidance, tax deferral and tax evasion are common occurrences in today's world. However, there is no Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6770875.post-59727843179982314142021-08-12T23:23:00.004+05:302021-08-13T17:00:30.466+05:30The Temples of Mookuthala, KeralaThe village of Mookuthala, in Kerala's Malappuram district, is home to three powerful temples of the Divine Mother: The Mookkuthala Bhagavathy Temple (also known as Melekkavu), the Durga Temple (also known as Keezhkavu), and the Kannenkavu Bhagavathy Temple, the abode of Goddess Bhadrakali.Most of the content below is from a brochure published by the temple in the 1980s:The legendary and Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6770875.post-55286522757482590312021-04-02T14:53:00.002+05:302022-03-16T19:31:11.249+05:30Democracy EverywhereDemocracy has spread into most aspects in our lives. What I mean by democracy is not just the form of government, but equal rights for all, no special treatment for anybody and equal access to opportunities. While this is not seen throughout the world and in all aspects of life, it is definitely a state towards which people everywhere are aspiring.The first change we have seen is of course in theUnknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6770875.post-82229011411771865992021-02-08T23:22:00.009+05:302021-12-05T07:53:38.986+05:30The Art of GivingThe Art of Giving is based on knowledge compiled from the Gita, the Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, the Ramayana and the Upanishads.Why giveSri Krishna says: They are verily thieves who enjoy their gifts without giving their share in return.What to giveSwami Vivekananda: In the world take always the position of the giver. Give everything and look for no return. Give love, give help, Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6770875.post-87975310061439932852021-01-10T15:56:00.006+05:302021-01-12T20:48:41.809+05:30The Mind - An Owner's Manual: Sitting DownIn the 17th century, Blaise Pascal, the French philosopher and scientist, wrote: "All of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone." One of my goals for 2021 is the ability to sit down in a room and examine myself, for (continuing the European philosopher theme) as the Greek philosopher Socrates said, "The unexamined life is not worth living".As I set down,Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6770875.post-21940771422073738032020-11-14T14:58:00.004+05:302020-11-14T14:58:42.816+05:30Pep TalksThe greatest of all pep talks in India are the words Krishna tells Arjuna when he is dispirited about engaging in a civil war against his own relatives.Arjuna, is this hour of battle the time for scruples and fancies? Are they worthy of you? Any brave man who merely hopes for fame or heaven would despise them. What is this weakness? It is beneath you. Is it for nothing men call you the scorcher Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6770875.post-50871692584131234272020-08-21T22:17:00.005+05:302021-01-10T15:56:43.710+05:30The Mind - An Owner's ManualIn recent months, as the pandemic spreads and we have been forced to spend more time at home, with ourselves. It's given us a chance to get to know ourselves, our minds and it's innate wandering nature.The importance of the mind has been recognized from classical times. The Roman emperor, Marcus Aurelius, in his Meditations, says "The mind, unconquered by violent passions, is a citadel, for a manUnknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6770875.post-38281320510977667632020-07-01T23:19:00.003+05:302020-07-02T12:26:15.359+05:30Eleven Years LaterIn 2009 I posted about what had changed in Bangalore in 10 years.
It's now 2020 and
time to write again about what has changed in the last 11 years.
So where are we in 2020?
Let me compare with
my expectations of 2009.
I had written: Where
will be in 2019 ? In Bangalore, I expect we will have better public transport,
more disputes about water, children demanding better education, Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6770875.post-62659026541041178522020-06-29T15:26:00.007+05:302022-03-26T19:22:32.417+05:30Hunting for Happiness Searching for happiness in an e-commerce website returns a never-ending series of books with views from businessmen, journalists, lawyers, academics, and monks. Many of them have been #1 bestsellers and then dropped into the long tail of the the cavernous warehouses waiting for someone to rediscover them.People not only want to read about finding happiness, they want to hear about it Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6770875.post-43694439948187510652020-06-08T15:22:00.029+05:302020-06-19T22:56:21.968+05:30The Most Important Verses From The GitaThe Bhagavad Gita, or the Song of the Lord, comprises of 700 verses from the Bhisma Parva section of the Mahabharata, which has around 100,000 verses - 0.7% of the great epic. To choose THE MOST IMPORTANT verses from this is an even tougher task, given that the entire scripture is the advice of Sri Krishna. The best place to start is Sankara's masterly introduction to the Gita:Having createdUnknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6770875.post-56782941561874418112020-04-25T23:05:00.000+05:302020-05-15T10:57:37.785+05:30By the numbers
The Hindu scriptures abound in lists, starting with the six changes that apply to every living being:
1. Birth
2. Subsistence
3. Growth
4. Maturity
5. Decline
6. Death
The fourteen qualities of a good character
1. Knowing about time and place
2. Fortitude
3. Endurance
4. Capacity to think of all consequences
5. Skill
6. Self-defence
7. Keeping one's counsel secret
8. Avoidance of pointless Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6770875.post-89016635596687958122020-04-19T18:06:00.002+05:302020-05-15T10:58:06.235+05:30The Lockdown Studies: The Yoga of Knowledge
The lockdown due to the Covid-19 virus has meant that I've had some time to study some of the foundational texts of Indian philosophy. I started with the Bhagavad Gita, the text which was buried in the depths of the Mahabharata, until Sankaracharya, in the 8th century CE, extracted it and wrote a commentary on it in the light of the non-dualism of Advaita Vedanta.
Chapter 2, the Yoga of Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6770875.post-64338721595273182732019-06-10T21:37:00.003+05:302020-05-15T10:58:33.091+05:30The Devbhoomi Diaries - Day 1
Unlike the marketing minds who were behind Kerala being called God's Own Country, Uttarakhand, which became the 27th state of India in 2000, was always known Devbhoomi - the land of the Gods. Some of the holiest places associated with Hinduism are located here. Badrinath and Kedarnath - places so ancient that even at the time of Adi Sankara they were well established as holy spots, the origins Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6770875.post-45049885155685101982019-05-06T09:31:00.004+05:302020-05-15T10:59:18.643+05:30Musings on Mortality on a Monday Morning
My 8 km drive to work takes between 25 - 45 minutes based on the traffic and I typically spend this time listening to podcasts. This Monday morning commute had one of the most unusual podcasts I've listened to in recent times - Kara Swisher, who is known more for her tech pieces, talking to Hansa Bergwall, the co-founder of the WeCroak app on how reflecting on death five times a day results in Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6770875.post-33936596062701925962019-04-30T09:23:00.003+05:302020-05-15T10:59:53.078+05:30Rules Don't Apply to Us
Just been listening to Michael Lewis's new podcast, Against The Rules. The
first episode is about basketball referees and how although the quality of refereeing
has increased over the last few years with the addition of video replays and an
off-court referee providing a call in less than 30 seconds, player
dissatisfaction against the referees has increased. Further analysis shows
that, while Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6770875.post-6102917802700640062018-09-10T18:31:00.000+05:302020-05-15T11:00:32.777+05:30The Big Questions
A technology or a civilization is judged based on the problems it is trying to solve. The Western world sought to address the big challenges of science which led to breakthroughs such as the Theory of Relativity and also double-edged technologies such as nuclear science.
The big questions that originated in India were related to us, what happens to us in the universe we exist in and how we canUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6770875.post-32636841795447284642016-09-11T14:17:00.002+05:302016-09-11T14:17:56.562+05:30The Perfect Man
From the first poem in the world, Valmik's Ramayana, comes a template for what he defines as a perfect human being. Valmiki asks the following question to Narada
Who, in this world, is a person:
1) of great qualities,
2) of great valor,
3) of acute discernment about right and wrong,
4) that appreciates, remembers and is grateful for the help received from everyone,
5) that stands by his word Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6770875.post-65654142544393070592016-05-30T23:30:00.000+05:302016-05-30T23:33:06.078+05:30Sikkim - A State of Mind: Day 3
Day 3: 19 April 2016
We're woken up at 4:45 AM by a cacophony of bird calls outside our room. I step out and am struck by the glorious view of the Kanchenjunga with the morning sunlight falling on it.
There are times when the camera and words cannot capture the enormity of what you're seeing and this was one of those moments. We clicked dozens of photos of the mountain emerging over the Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0