Warrier's Collage 01072020 : Endless Beginning

Warrier's Collage 01072020 : Endless Beginning

Prayer

Watch "Bala Mukundashtakam with Lyrics | Kararavindena Padaravindam | Meditation on Lord Sri Krishna"

https://youtu.be/_dAB6tlvtuc 

Mythology is full of symbols and signals. One is lucky, if one is able to stumble upon the right ones and is able to interpret them to one's advantage. Here, one has to approach stories and even "history" with an open mind. Perhaps, the clue given by Shankaracharya may be useful :

"Remove ignorance (Avidya), knowledge will emerge"

Man is the only animal wasting time and resources to find out beginning and end. In the process he forgets to live the present. The tiniest insect and the smallest flower enjoys the life given to it. Man alone wastes his life searching for the creator and chasing the "enemies".

Today's subject inspired by Vathsala Jayaraman (See D below)

M G Warrier

A. Big Bang Theory

Comparing Hindu Cosmology with the Big Bang Theory - 

https://medium.com/@rahulyadavca/comparing-hindu-cosmology-with-the-big-bang-theory-cbd2cab7dc1a 

B. The beginning of creation

Watch "Hindu Creation Stories" 

https://youtu.be/MZ6hVl84sjg 

Creation simplified!

C. Book Review : "A Brief History of Time"

What made Hawking’s ‘A Brief History of Time’ so immensely popular? 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2018/03/14/what-made-hawkings-a-brief-history-of-time-so-immensely-popular/ 

I was curious. My search for getting a reliable review of a book ended up in reading the obituary of the author of the book (Hawkings died at 76 in 2018) which was more than what I found in other reviews. One cannot stop time by writing it's history, brief or comprehensive!

D. Vatapatra Sayee*

Vatapatra  Sayee                              --------------------------    Before  the beginning  there was an end.Black    clouds     obstructed the sun and hurled      lightning in every direction.Unrelenting rains lashed the ground.     All the rivers and oceans started swelling and      overflowing. There was deluge or pralaya.The     sole witness to this was Markandeya Rishi,      a great saint. It seemed to him that the sea      was rising on  all sides coming towards him.      He saw the whole world submerged  in water.He was seeing      this  tamasha for thousands of years.      Suddenly  among all the confusions,     Markandeya  saw a banyan leaf floating      on the ocean tossed by the waves.      On this unlikely  raft lay  a beautiful       adorable  child suckling his right toe       unperturbed  by the calamity that had       befallen the world.       It was Krishna, the new born Cosmic Child.       The infant's heavenly smile negated the         brutality of pralaya. His  compassioante         glances  reassured Markandeya that life          would go on and the world never ends,                 but only changes.        Perhaps the baby was sucking the toe to         check whether it has got the sweetness       which makes the people drink the water      touched by its feet.        When Markandeya went close to the babe          he was sucked in with the air when the baby         inhale. Inside Markandeya could see         hundreds of universes consumed by         floods-the skys, seas, earths, gods, demons,devas, humans,  plants and animals . He could       have a glimpse of  his own Ashrama and         himself doing meditation.       Markandeya realised that the child was       none other  than Narayana who had        withdrawn the world into  himself.        The Lord was pleased with Markandeya       and was  prepared to grant any boon.     Though Markandeya  had no material desire ,he expressed his     desire to have the grace of glimpse of Lord's     Maya.  The Lord was surprised to learn of this  desire.        Markandeya came out when the baby        exhaled.        When Markandeya bowed down to              prostrate  before the baby, he realized       that there was no baby  at all. He found       himself sitting in his Ashram .        Now Markandeya realised that  whatever        he  saw was was Lord's maya . The maya         exhibited  a magic show which never       existed.         Markandeya was wonder struck.He           realised that  one could never understand             God but could only sing his glories.         He became engrossed in          meditation  and prayers.          Markandeya was the only one who had          darshan of Lord Krishna on banian leaf,         floating on the ocean.         This beautiful manifestation also is a        viswaroopa, totally different from the        magnificent Viswaroopa  Darshan  Arjuna         had in the battle field.        The smile of the baby displaying a couple of baby          teeth,plays on his lips.One sees  a tender          loveable  child, with naughty eyes.Dense         curly locks adore  his beautiful face.          The strings of pearls that adorn         his locks along with the feather of          peacock tucked  on the knotted hair.         The tilak adds to the beauty of        halo around his face. With one hand        occupied with the flute,the other hand is        used to direct his toe  into his mouth.      The yellow cloth which has wrapped        him, has been kicked away.       Water in the head side is calm.But on the         other  side water is rising to touch the       holy feet of Krishna.       One wonders whether the small leaf is the      aadhar  ( which bears) or Aadheya which is        borne. How can  a small leaf bear   baby       Krishna who has consumed        the entire world? Krishna has blessed        the tiny leaf  with a prestigious status      higher than Himself of bearing the entire   universe which the baby was holding within Himself.  What a great blessing!        *Received via Group email from Smt Vathsala Jayaraman, Ex-RBI, Chennai E. Leisure 1) Watch "Magic Act 1" https://youtu.be/rHUoLP-NMFM  I think magicians do not get the support and encouragement they deserve. 2) Work From Home Discipline Work from home discipline Really a very good piece of advice. (Received by email from Prabha Ramadurai) Good article I read.. sharing for all. 😊 *Granny’s Message On Work From Home* A youngster was attending a video conference with his Manager and his Manager was upset over the background noises, the Youngster turned around and told his grandmother to keep quiet.  She walked towards the youngster to take a look into what he was doing, she saw a person on the Monitor & asked “who is he?” The youngster muted his audio and video by stating that “he is my Manager” She said “I want to talk to your Manager”, But the youngster denied by the time the Manager started pinging the youngster and the youngster unmuted to talk and his grandmother shouted “Manager I want to talk to you" The Manager agreed and the youngster unmuted the video, the grandmother with a smile said “Namaste & she introduced herself” and the Manager also greeted her She said “you look upset” The Manager said “yeah, some kind of work tension, a lot of noise around and we are not able complete the meeting in time” The Grand Mother asked, “can I solve your problem?” The youngster was stopping her and he was telling her to keep quiet The Manager said “It’s ok, let her speak” The Grand Mother Narrated “ Once there was an Youngman who sat under a  tree for taking rest, he was continuously hearing a bird’s sound and lifted his head up and started chasing the bird, so that he can peacefully take some rest, the bird came closer to him and said *“ You are taking rest under my nest, I  will not ask you to leave the place, you should learn to  co-exist with us”* The Grandmother looked at both of them and said *“ Your Home is your nest”* where you are supposed to take rest and bond with your dear and near ones. I do understand the COVID19 situation, but you should also understand that a home is not your office. When we come to visit our family members at your office, we are expected to behave professionally or maintain decorum, similarly when you are using our home, you should understand the situation at the home. There is nothing wrong with working from home, but remember, it is the family members benevolent nature, that is keeping the corporate functioning today and economy running She looked at the manager and asked “Am I correct, the Manager’s mother peeped and said you are absolutely right” *Be Safe At Home, But Maintain The Sanctity Of Home While Working At Home* F.  Response Shri V Babusenan, Ex-RBI, Thiruvananthapuram responded to Warrier's Collage 29062020 : Where there is an occasion to represent the three great religions, the practice is mostly  to keep the Gita as representing Hinduism along  with the Bible and the Quaran. This does not seem to be the right thing to do as the Gita  is not a religious text. If at all it is one, it represents  only one of the philosophic schools in Hinduism viz. the  Advaita school. It is also not a book of original thoughts as it is a condensation of the  many Upanishadic thoughts.These two facts are evident in  the vandana slokas: the expression 'Advaitamrithavarshineem' and the sloka 'Sarvopanishado gavo...' Nobody will disagree that life is a battle field.The Gita is conceived as a book of  advices, derived from the Upanishadic wisdom, to equip one to face life's battle. Hence its universal appeal. It is a mistake to confine it to a particular religion. Even an atheist can find valuable advice in it. Its discussion  on non-fearing of death, non-attachment to karma, it's definition of a Sthithaprajna and it's final observation' Yatra Yogeswara Krishno...' meaning where careful thought and action combine, there will be prosperity, victory, progress and justice will surely  be appealing even to a strictly logical mind. We owe a great debt to Swami Chinmayananda for popularizing the Gita. Regards. Babusenan"