Warrier's Collage 12032021

Welcome to Warrier's Daily COLLAGE Friday March 12, 2021 Good Morning πŸ™ Nice Day M G Warrier M 134 A Interaction 1) C A Jacob Bangalore Could not finish reading the profile of Sreerekha Muraleedharan (Collage March 11) in one stretch, as tears were rolling down. 2) T V Janardhana Warrier Thalassery Tears came through my eyes while remembering Sreerekha, who left us, this world. (Warrier's Collage March 11). March 15, 2017 was a very sad day for all of us πŸ™πŸ½ ( Yes. I was also in two minds about including the write up in Collage considering the mix of readers. But Jyothy's was a spontaneous outflow of memory when she saw the name of the College. She said, when she started writing it, she forgot the "context". I thought "Shivaratri" can go down/wait...πŸ™-Warrier) 3) A P Ramadurai The untimely, sudden departure of such brilliant and young lady is extremely distressing. How can any one fathom why this happened. If the processes of aging and death can be halted or eliminated, science will have nothing more to conquer" 4) Vathsala Jayaraman Chennai Of late we have been receiving articles on Ashtami, Navami. Ashtami and Navami are considered inauspicious. But the incarnation of both Rama and Krishna commenced on Navami and Ashtami respectively. Though we normally combine Ashtami and Navami together in our normal talks, Ashtami is always an auspicious day. Many marriages are celebrated on Ashtami. As for Navami, it is not considered good for travel purposes only. Now a days travel and touring have become so common that it is impossible for looking to Navami, soolam etc. Ashtami & Navami are the 8th & 9th days after the full/new moon day. The number 8 is associated with Saturn which is a planet with "tamasic" qualities. The number 9 is associated with Mars, a Ferocious planet. Hence perhaps these days are considered inauspicious.. Why Lord Krishna and Rama were born on these days? This also has a mythological link. The devathaas for both thithis, Shani and Mars went to Sriman Narayana and requested that they be relieved of the bad name to them. So, Sriman Narayana considered their request and told them that at the time of incarnation as Rama and Krishna, he would be born on these thithis so that people celebrate the thithis. So there seems to be an ancilliary motive also for these two avatars. In olden days there were no calendars. In the Gurukulam period they had two holidays in the middle of every paksha. So they would have chosen Ashtamy and Navami as study break. This Gurukula holidays would have later on been transformed into an impression that the days are not meant for Vidya and and as such not good for any auspicious venture." Vathsala Jayaraman 5) Vivek Amin Nagpur Shivaji No.3 (Interaction, March 11, 2021) by Shri Kelkar was inspiring knowledge about Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.πŸ™ Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj (1630-1680) was a great king who never believed in Religion but definitely cared for Hindu Religion. Once during Surat episode, his men gave 3 warnings to rich businessmen there to shell out a sum of money but they did not heed to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj letters, to money demand and there by save lives. At last one day his men attacked Surat and took the desired amount, but while returning the soldiers took a beautiful Muslim girl and presented her as gift to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. On this action of some soldiers he showed his total displeasure and told his wife to make sure that the young Muslim girl is kept safe and asked to return by gifting her with full of Jewellery and precious stones thereby asked some trusted solders to return her today itself to her parents. He properly gave ΰ€¦ंΰ€‘ to those soldiers who did this shameful act. Incidentally it can be added here that Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj fought more wars against Hindu kings than Mughal once. Secondly he had equal number of Muslim bodyguars as trusted ones. Thirdly he had Navy of his own and had set up a Committee to enrich Marathi language. 6) Dr Prabha Ramadurai CheΓ±nai I wish a very good morning to all. As usual the Collage is in full swing with lots of new, known or forgotten subject and areas. As I have mentioned in my previous messages, I don’t go through fully on the lengthy and very deep subjects. In today’s Readers‘ Contribution, the most liked article for me was Sri V.N.Kelkar’s contribution on Chatrapati Shivaji – listening kirtan of Tukaram. I thank Shri Kelkar for this beautiful article. At least twice a week ‘Manache Shloka’ beautifully rendered by Lata Mangeshkar is part of our daily mornings musical feast which starts with Vishnu Sahasranamam, Venkatesha Suprabhatam and ends with soothing bhajans or Bhagavat Geetha by Lata, Abhangs by Shankar Mahadevan, Parween Sultana’s inimitable Bhavani dayani etc Even as our Collage is managed by Sri Warrier, the selection is handled by my husband who has a vast collection of music. Sorry for the deviation. I have read many stories about Shivaji Maharaj but this one is new to me. It shows that there were and are many unsung heroes all the time who work behind the stage. The lady’s silent contribution and commitment in Shivaji Maharaj’s ruling period and her strength of mind which she could maintain by not coming before Samartha Ramdas but having his darshan by walking parallel on the other side of bank are all really praiseworthy. Prabha Ramadurai B Current Affairs Chief Statistician* https://www.livemint.com/news/india/govt-appoints-rbi-s-advisor-g-p-samanta-as-new-chief-statistician-of-india-11615368647321.html This is indicative of GOI intention to infuse professionalism in crucial work areas. Excerpts: "The Indian government on Wednesday appointed Dr G P Samanta as the new Chief Statistician of India (CSI). Dr Samanta was currently deputed as an advisor in the RBI's Department of Statistics and Information Management, the Department of Personnel and Training stated." (*Information Courtesy: Sitendra Kumar New Delhi) C Lead Story God gives without asking Vathsala Jayaraman Mostly all religions have places where it is said that if you do this here, all your wishes will be fulfilled. If you light a candle in this church or tie a dhaaga on this tree or put a chaddar (sheet) on this dargah or throw a coin in this well, etc your wishes will be fulfilled. Basically meaning that we need to inform God to give us what we want. There seems to be no need to ask God. Why? Firstly, God gives without asking. Don't believe it? Yes, God gives without asking. Have you ever seen anyone going to temple or to God and praying, "God give me cholestrol" or "God give me high/low BP" or "God give me diabetes" etc. Give me grey hair, bald head, senility or forgetfulness? Yet God gives them to people without asking. It is home delivered with direct name on it. Who asked for Coronaa? Even if one is Atheist, it is home delivered without asking. So if God gives unpleasant things without asking,it has to be assumed that God also gives happiness without asking. But we give credit to ourselves for our success and blame destiny or God for our misfortunes. We all know about Khumbakarna wanting to ask Indraasan and getting Nidrasan. Yes, it was planned by Vishnu. But if this is the case with Kumbakarna, who had done great tapasya, what to talk of ordinary mortals like us.We may ask for green on the other side and we may land up from frying pan to fire. Third, we don't know when and in which form the wish could come true. In Vamana avatar, King MahaBali had a daughter. She saw the child avatar and was amazed by the beautiful child. She wished that if she gets such a child, she will breastfeed him. God accepted her wish. When the child went from Vamana to Virata and took all the possessions of her father, she got angry and said, for such a child, she would poison him. God accepted her wish. These two wishes of the daughter got fulfilled, many births later, in Krishna avatar when she was born as Putana. So we never know when and how our wishes will be fulfilled. But if God appears before us what we should ask? We may perhaps ask for his Identity card first. It is only a fictitious situation under which God appears before us and we submit our memorandum.We need not worry as to what to ask. Yajurveda comes to our help. The mid portion of Yajurveda gives a long list of things to be asked -A part of Chamakam,which is recited along with Rudram. There are people who argue that they won't ask for any favour and they are prepared to accept happiness and sufferings as the gift of God.Born as human beings, we may not have wants, but we have responsibilities, Though we may not need wealth, we need moral values, strength of mind to face the crisis . All these are described in the form of Numbers in Chamakam. Can we simply keep quiet?Will god come to help us of his own accord?Not at all. There is no second opinion that God helps in crisis- Draupathis vastrapaharana , being a classic example. Uddhava, the great friend of Krishna had the liberty to ask many questions to Krishna. Uddhava asked Krishna:" krishna, you should have helped Draupathi when she was dragged into the court hall by her hair and prevented Dussaasan from committing the atrocity of disrobing. Krishna" Friend Uddhava, Draupathi was too confident in herself. She raised so many questions to Bhishma, Dhrita Rashtra and all elders quoting extensively from scriptures and tried to convince them by her intelligent arguments.As nothing worked out, she ultimately called me and I came for help. uddhava:-That means you won't help people without their requesting or asking. You would help when they beg for your help. Krishna: Definitely I won't come to anyone's help voluntarily. When they have more confidence in themselves, I leave it to them. If they seek my help, even at the eleventh hour, I do help. In the same way I was just waiting to help Yudhishtira when the dice game was to commence. Duryodhana said that his uncle Shakuni would play on his behalf. Had Yudhishtira told that Krishna would play on his behalf, He would have gone to play and nobody would have objected. No Mahabharatha war would have taken place. Yudhishtira was over-confident and ego- centred and he had to suffer the consequences. Krishna made it very clear that He would never give any boon or help unless specifically requested. It is a specific application and not a haphazard wish. Here is the importance of Total Surrender or Sharanagathi Tatva. Having been provided with Free Will and intelligence human attitude is to try one's best and leave the rest To God. Whether we accept or not, karmic influences prevail, and one is forced to go with the flow of destiny. One may describe this as his own merit of accepting what God gives or lament over his destiny or extend accusations about God. Even Sanyasis are known as Mumukshus since they are desirous of Moksha. There is no one in the world who doesn't wish something good to happen either to himself/family/relatives/friends. There is nothing degrading if we pray for something as long as we don't make a bargain and make God a party to our contract. A trader was amidst violent storm in a ship. The ship was about to overturn. He prayed to God, "O God, if you save me from this crisis, I shall sell my big bangalow and remit the sale proceeds to the temple. As though listening to the prayer, storm subsided, and the merchant reached safe along with his entire merchandise. Now he thought of fulfilling his vow. He gave an advt in the newspaper that his bangalow is for sale. He put one condition. The Bangalow costs Rs 100 only, but the buyer has to buy his cat valued at Rs ten lakhs.( in those days one could buy a mansion for Rs 10 lacs) Everybody was surprised. But as the house was worth more than ten lakhs, a person was prepared to buy along with the cat. The so called shrewd merchant put Rs 100 in the Hundi and pocketed the balance. His vow was to remit the sale proceeds of the house only. His vow was fulfilled. There are many more strange bargains and prathanas, because we are so spiritual minded and engrossed in 'Aham Brahmasmi' that we treat God as one among ourselves. Is it not appreciable? D Indian Philosophy: Back to Basics https://www.speakingtree.in/blog/salient-features-of-indian-philosophy Excerpts: "Ignorance as root cause of suffering Avidya, maya, delusion, ignorance are considered as the root causes of suffering according to the Indic philosophy. Vedanta says that this world is just like a movie projected on screen, the movie is not real but the screen on which it is projected is real. That screen or Brahman is the substratum of all creation, the creation is a reflection of Brahman but Brahman is not ‘just’ its creation. We often get so engrossed in the movie that we forget it’s not our reality. Buddhism’s four noble truths revolve around suffering, its nature and ways to attain to nirvana to mitigate suffering. Buddha said, “No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path.” Liberation as the goal of human life The foremost aim of man according to Indian systems of philosophy is liberation or freedom from all forms of identity. This freedom is referred to as moksha, nirvana or Jina. Jainism refers the one who conquers himself as Jina or the victor. The Buddhists consider attaining the Buddha Mind — full of compassion for all living beings — as imperative to mitigating suffering. Sense liberation hints at selflessness, at letting go of our anger and ego, acknowledging the broader reality that exists beyond name and form, as Brahman in Vedanta and as Shunayata in Buddhism and Kaivlya Jnana in Jainism. Indian philosophical systems are based on robust thought rather than eminent personalities These robust systems of thought have been around from centuries, individuals have added to different streams of thought but unlike Greek philosophy, Indian philosophers come into the picture to sum up prevalent philosophical thoughts of their time and having done their bit recede into the background, not much is known about their personal lives, their choices or their contemporaries." E Readers Contribution Koorma and Longevity* Yada samharate cayam Kurmo'nganiva sarvasah Indriyanindriyarthebhyas Tasya prajna pratisthita ( Gita 2:58) One who is able to withdraw his senses from sense objects, as the tortoise draws his limbs within the shell, is to be understood as truly situated in knowledge. Right breathing techniques are for optimum health. We breathe 20 per cent less oxygen as we grow older or when we are sedentary in our activities. Yoga gurus look at the role of breath, known as the koorma nadi in yoga, and explain that it is more than just the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide. Breath is not just the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide. For different levels of thought and emotion that you go through, your breath takes on different types of patterns. When you are angry, peaceful, happy or sad, your breathe goes through subtle changes. Whichever way you breathe, that is the way you think. Whichever way you think, that is the way you breathe. The breath can be used as a tool to do many things with the body and the mind. Pranayam is the science where, by consciously breathing in a particular way, the very way you think, feel, understand and experience life can be changed. Breath is like the hand of the Divine. You don’t feel it. It is not the sensations caused by the air. This breath that you do not experience is referred to as Koorma Nadi. It is a string which ties you with this body – an unbroken string that goes on and on. "If you travel through the breath, deep into yourself, to the deepest core of the breath, it will take you to that point where you are actually tied to the body. Once you know where and how you are tied, you can untie it at will. Consciously, you can shed the body as effortlessly as you would shed your clothes. When you know where your clothes are tied, it is easy to drop them. When you don’t know where it is tied, whichever way you pull, it does not come off. You have to tear them apart. Similarly, if you do not know where your body is tied to you, if you want to drop it, you have to damage or break it in some way. But if you know where it is tied, you can very clearly hold it at a distance. When you want to drop it, you can just drop it consciously. Life becomes very different."-says Satguru. When somebody willfully sheds the body completely, we say this is 'mahasamadhi' We believe that we can live for 100 years by breathing 15 times a minute. If one breathes 18 times a minute one’s age will decrease to 83 1/3 years. If a person breathes only 2 times every minute one can live for 750 years. If one breaths only once every minute, one can live for 1500 years. We read about bears, and other animals going in to hibernation for six months during winter. In short they temporarily become “Yogis “. Our ancient literature talk about devas and demons doing penance for thousands of years. Though we may think that it was an exaggeration, we knew that ant hills grew around the saints during their meditation implying the passage of time. The famous saint who wrote Ramayana was ‘Valmiki’ meaning ’ant hill’. There was another poet with the same name in Sangam Tamil literature. Incidentally, Koormaavatar of Mahavishnu is associated with churning of ocean and bringing of amrit. *Article received from Vathsala Jayaraman (In Yoga Praanaayaamam is an important chapter. There are various types, of which Bhastrika, Anulom Vilom and Kapaal Bhaathi are important which improve the lung power, keep the BP under control and prevent heart problems. -C V Subbaraman) F Leisure Interpreting Colours https://www.corbencolourtheory.com/meanings-and-interpretations.html Excerpts: We interpret colour in three different ways: 1. Impression - our visual response Most of us have a favourite colour or prefer some colours over others. This is because can affect our moods so we surround ourselves in the colours that have a positive impact on our mood. Red can boost your energy, yellow often makes people feel happier, and blue is proven to bring down blood pressure and slow your heart rate which is why it is often associated with being relaxing. If you combine the happiness of yellow and the relaxing feel of blue you get green, a very pleasing colour for many people. Hospitals are known to use pastel tones on their walls so that patients feel calm, happy, and relaxed. Walls that are beige with a pink tint combined with mint green floors are a popular combination as it is said to create a soothing, harmonious and calm area. At the other end of the spectrum, literally, schools tend to user bright colours that appeal to children. 2. Expression - our emotional response Wassily Kandinsky was one of the first pioneers of colour theory. A renowned Russian painter and art theorist, he is often considered the founder of abstract art. Kandinsky believed that particular colours communicated certain qualities. 3. Construction - our cultural and religious response Different colours mean different things in different places and to people belonging to different religions. Purple for example is a colour of mourning in Thailand. In western culture however, it is associated with royalty, luxury, wealth and sometimes magic. In the same way, Green is considered the holy colour of Islam and Judaism is represented by the colour Yellow. G Indian Philosophy https://youtu.be/3EDhq4k07c8 An interesting introduction to Philosophy.

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