Tuesday, April 21, 2026

  Yatra naryastu pujyante ramante tatra Devata,

yatraitaastu na pujyante sarvaastatrafalaah kriyaah
Where Women are honoured, divinity blossoms there, and where ever women are dishonoured, all action no matter how noble it may be, remains unfruitful.

Thursday, April 2, 2026

   bhoge rogabhayaü kule cyutibhayaü vitte nçpàlàdbhayaü | 

màne dainyabhayaü bale ripubhayaü råpe jaràyà bhayam || 

÷àstre vàdibhayaü guõe khalabhayaü kàye kçtàntàdbhayaü | 

sarvaü vastu bhayànvitaü bhuvi nçõàü vairàgyamevàbhayam ||

In enjoyment, there is fear of disease;

in social position, there is fear of falling off;

in wealth, there is the fear of (hostile) kings;

in honour, there is the fear of humiliation;

in power, there is the fear of foes;

in beauty, there is the fear of old age;

in scriptural erudition, there is the fear of opponents;

in virtue, there is the fear of traducers;

in body, there is the fear of death;

everything in this world pertaining to men is attended with fear;

renunciation alone leads to fearlessness.

(Vairagya-Shatakam, bharthruhari )

Tags : Fear


   Jagannātha Aṣṭakam Blog by Swamini Atmaprajnananda SaraswatiWe need not be particular on ''who'' is the composer, let's focus on ''what'' the content, and its beauty and it's effect on the readers.

in shankaras expression i find mostly abundance of ''unmanifest'' in his stuthis on devi devathas, a freedom, a relief from the ''manifest'', a liberation, and a finality, nothing more to aspire..... all in the state of advaitic , kaivalya, union 

in this jagannath astakam i find the proportion of ''manifest'' is more than the ''unmanifest'', and leads us to be in the glories of manifest , rather , in a sweet bondage in the rasa aspect, tyet wanting to be in the quest of ''object'' as per this prayer ''Oh! Lord! Jagannātha! May you be (bhavatu) the object of my (‘me’) vision (nayanapathagāmī), indicative that he is yet to reach him 

and the followers, like ISKCON are more intent on the nama roopa guna s , where as lord has said one has to reach his transcendental divinity, not be on the relative level, in the duality of '' me and thou '' however glorious the duality may be 

that is how i perceive that this astakam is from chaitanya only 

this is just my feeling, truth remains what ever it is , god knows

Thanks on details, on sunanda,and chaitanya 

i liked this rag , even from child hod, '' vande mataram'', and later the national song desha raga, ''miley sur..mera tumhara....''

''//He reportedly composed it instantly when He first saw Lord Jagannātha in the Temple//

rather he must have sung it too spontaneously in some appropriate raga , overflowing in bhakthi.towards the beloved lord

this feature of saints choosing the medium of sangeeth , and krishna with his venu gana , and saraswathi being veena pani might be due to the power of sangeeth ,

"Shishurvethi, Pasurvethi, vethi Ganarasm Phani ''., who said this,/ when/ not known, but it has a healing power, it can even help in growth of crops , it must be working deep in the being at their gandharva level

krishna swayed the cows became the gopala , and swayed the gopis, became the gopijana vallabha 

Dance, drawing and sculpturing are all forms of art. 

However these forms do not possess the power to entertain all the living beings equally. 

Sad people forget their sorrow on hearing music and babies calm down and sleep on hearing lullaby. due to the mystical power music has. The birds becoming still on hearing to music is also due to the power of music.

apart from reading, the importance of reciting / listening aspect of vedas must be due to this power of music 

other art forms take the aalabana of form / movement/ postures/ color etc

but music is just sound beyond these aalambanas

//He reportedly composed it instantly when He first saw Lord Jagannātha in the Temple//

rather he must have sung it spontaneously in some appropriate raga , overflowing in bhakthi.towards the beloved lord

this feature of saints choosing the medium of sangeeth , and krishna with his venu gana , and saraswathi being eena pani might me due to the power of sangeeth ,"Shishurvethi, Pasurvethi, vethi Ganarasm Phani hi" (From animals to kids anything on this earth can enjoy music.)., who said this when not known, but it has a healing power, it can even help in growth of  crops , it must be working deep in the being at their gandharva level

krishna swayed the cows became the gopala , and swayed the gopi jana, became the gopijana vallabha 

Dance, drawing and sculpturing are all forms of simple art. 

However these forms do not possess the power to entertain all the living beings equally. 

Sad people forget their sorrow on hearing music and babies calm down and sleep on hearing lullaby. due to  the mystical power music has. The birds becoming still on hearing to music is also due to the power of music.

reminds me  “reportedly”. kalidasa , though earlier was a illiterate moorkha,  he by the grace  of kali sang ''manikya veena mupalaalayantheem ....'' his first stuti on saraswathi reportedly”. kalidasa , though earlier was a illiterate moorkha, he by the grace of kali sang ''manikya veena mupalaalayantheem ....'' his first stuti on saraswathi extempore, 

//not an oral tradition unlike the Vedas (Samhita).// i understand

in classical renderings , lyric is just a thin minimum fabric , and most of the time is'' left '' and music flows in aalaap , taane etc 

a song stays with us more by its enchanting flow of raaga and relevant rasa than by lyric 

in fact lyric gets enriched greatly by them

yes, lyric helps in recalling the flow o sa re ga ma 's

also we remember certain songs by the tune, and certain tunes by by lyric, 

power of words is limited, hence support of sageeth is taken 

//Whose feet are worshipped by Ramā (Lakṣmī), Śambhu (Śiva), Brahmā, Amarapati (Indra), and Ganeśa, Oh! Lord! Jagannātha!//

yes, no doubt , here, chaithanya has gone deeper in his krishna to the level of jagannatha , jagadguru, the supreme , brahman , before whom/ which all devi devathas ,''yadwaare nikhilaanilimpa parishath sidhim vidhaththenisham srimath sri lasitham jagadguru padam nathaathma thrupthim gathah '

for every bhaktha, his istadevatha is the door'passage to go beyond and reach that supreme brahman 

the nam roopa mahimas of istadevatha , here krishna, are just initial steps, an he soon ascended and transcended, and so his astakam has endured decades and centuries , will stay on'//He, who sometimes out of great joy fervently plays His flute on the banks of the Kālindi (Yamunā),//

it's pure sangeeth , ''venu'' gopal's , he did not choose to sing, a lyric'/ sahithya 

thanks, shortly i shall read the blog on sidhartha in odissi

incidentally, we must learn more languages , each language opens the relevant culture'/ethos of that area

//not an oral tradition unlike the Vedas (Samhita).// i understand

in classical rendeings , lyric is just a  thin minimum fabric , and most of the time is''  left '' and music flows in aalaap , taane etc 

a song stays with us more by its enchanting flow of raaga and relevant rasa than by lyric 

in fact lyric gets enriched greatly by them 

yes, lyric helps in recalling the flow o sa re ga ma 's

also we remember certain songs by the tune, and certain tunes by  by lyric, 

power of words is limited, hence support of sageeth is taken 

//Whose feet are worshipped by Ramā (Lakṣmī), Śambhu (Śiva), Brahmā, Amarapati (Indra), and Ganeśa, Oh! Lord! Jagannātha!//


yes, no doubt , here, chaithanya has gone deeper in his krishna to the level of jagannatha , jagadguru, the supreme , brahman , before whom/ which   all devi devathas ,''yadwaare nikhilaanilimpa parishath sidhim vidhaththenisham srimath sri lasitham jagadguru padam nathaathma thrupthim gathah ''  


for every bhaktha, his istadevatha is the door'passage to go beyond and reach that supreme brahman 

the nam roopa mahimas of istadevatha , here krishna, are just initial steps,  an he soon ascended and transcended, and so his astakam  has endured decades and centuries , will stay on 



nice to read and understand thru translation 


 it's a great joy added listening to sunanda patnayak's rendering set to  basic teen tal 

Nice to read and understand thru translation , good effort 

it's a great joy added listening to sunanda patnayak's may be from puri, rendering set to basic teen tal in raag desh 

divine glories in sanskrit and in sangeeth bring in a greater feel , in addition to reading and knowing .

chaitanya has brought krishna down on earth and made him to stay in puri for ever

Posted by vd views at 06:07 


   Upanishads On Fearlessness

dvitãyàdvai bhayaü bhavati ||

"There is fear from duality." (Non-duality alone is fearless). (Brih. Up. 1. 4.2). ..

abayaü vai janaka pràpto.asãti hovàca yàj¤avalkyaþ ||

"Yajnavalkya said: O Janaka! You have attained the fearless (Brahman)." (Brih. Up. IV. 2..4).

abhayaü vai brahmàbhayaü hi vai brahma bhavati ya evaü veda ||

"Brahman is fearless; one who knows this, becomes the fearless Brahman." (Brih. Up. IV. 4. 25).

yato vàco nivata^^rnte apràpya manasà saha | 

ànandaü brahmaõo vidvàn na bibheti kuta÷cana ||

"Not reaching It, the speech and the mind return back. One who knows this Bliss of Brahman, fears not from anything at all." (Taitt. Up. II. 9)



Tuesday, March 10, 2026

   na guror adhikaṃ tattvaṃ 

na guror adhikaṃ tapaḥ

tattva jñānāt paraṃ nāsti 

tasmai śrī gurave namaḥ 


There is no higher truth than the Guru,

no higher penance than (service to) the Guru, 

there is nothing higher than Realization of the Knowledge of the truth imparted by the Guru. 

My salutations to such a Gurudev, who is himself that very timeless truth (and who has taken up a form to bless his disciples like us with real knowledge).

-----------------------------

this sthothra, is a flow of heart ,

the shishya,  having had the glimpse of all-fulfilling absolute within , 

ie, his internal guru having been lit


----as a result of practicing the instruction taught by his guru,----

----and  having accessed the source of every thing worthwhile,within, ---

 ,

has become  immersed in the ecstasy,  is now seeing the  transcendental reality of his external guru 

as nothing but the same as the internal guru, the gyan jyothi 

and singing the glory of both together , the plane of reference becoming transparent, non existent 


Tattvam, tat tvam , that you 

ie, the essence, what that exists basically, fundamentally,and really, 

ie truth of existence of you / truth of existence of individual ,

or simply the truth 


when shishya experiences this truth, and since he could experience only with the help of guru , and comes to know that himself, and external guru are nothing but truth , he simply utters what he felt 

that is guru himself is the truth

hence there is no greater thing as guru 

so no greater thing than guru guidance 

so na guror adhikam tattvam 


applicable for external guru and internal guru both , they both merged, merged with his own self in essence, the truth 


hence 

My salutations to such a Guru, who is himself that very timeless truth (and who has taken up a form to bless his disciples like us with real knowledge. 


Devotee goes from form to formless, 

from visible to invisible, 

from relative to absolute, 

from earthly to heavenly 

from apara to para 


we see this transparent walk in the devotional songs of saints , 

and---- the reader too ----experiences such ecstasy 

in reading/ listening such expressions from great souls

Monday, January 5, 2026

  Dashame yuge yatinam Brahma bhavati sarathih

(Rk Veda, 1.158.6)
...
For those established in self-referral consciousness, the infinite organizing power of the Creator becomes the charioteer of all action.
This phrase expresses the behavioral quality of the supreme level of evolution of consciousness. When consciousness is free from any limitation—when individual consciousness is fully awake in its unbounded self-sufficiency—it is wide awake in its supreme, royal, cosmic dignity such that the awareness is a lively field of total silence and total dynamism —the unbounded, infinite field of total Natural Law awake in itself in the state of complete fulfillment. At the same time, all the specific Laws of Nature are fully awake—all the holistic and specific values of the infinite organizing power of Natural Law are fully awake within this state of consciousness, or intelligence.’
—Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Celebrating Perfection in Education

Saturday, January 3, 2026

  

All scriptures, all religious principles, are meant to elevate man from the animal platform to the human platform.. That is the verdict of the Vedic literature:

 

āhāra-nidrā-bhaya-maithunaṁ chasāmānyam etat paśubhir narāṇāmdharmo hi teṣām adhiko viśeṣodharmeṇa hīnāḥ paśubhiḥ samānāḥ

 

desires for Eating, sleeping, procreation, and security— are common to both human beings and animals. The distinction between human life and animal life is that a man can search after God but an animal cannot. . Therefore a man without that urge for searching after God is no better than an animal. Unfortunately, people forget God

   Yatra naryastu pujyante ramante tatra Devata, yatraitaastu na pujyante sarvaastatrafalaah kriyaah Where Women are honoured, divinity blos...