Shubh Janmashtami ( slightly belated!!)

A  post  on the occassion  of Janmashtami last  week





Shubh Janmashtami. On this auspicious occassion , let us salute Lord Krishna, the divine Guru and the creator of the Gita, the centrestone of Hindu philosophy.

It is said that imitation is the best form of appreciation. If we imbibe a few characteristics from Sri Krishna's life and philosophy, I think we will be doing a real service to the Lord rather than simply carrying out rituals. These are:
1. Love for mankind ( vasudaiva kutumbakam ) What have we done if we haven't touched peoples' lives?
2. Devotion to duty and work ( Karma Yoga). This one is pretty self evident.
3. Equanimity and nonattachment ( karmanyavadhikaraste maa faleshu kadachan).
4. Benign happiness ( we have never seen a frowning Sri Krishna, have we? That doesn't mean his life had no challenges).
5. Freedom from materialism ( dridh vairagya). You don't really need material possessions beyond a certain point. Doesn't add to your internal happiness.But, doing something worthwhile with what you already have, does .
6. Freedom from the vices of Greed, Jealousy, Anger( Kama krodh rahit)
7. Stand up against wrongdoing ( yada yada hi dharmasya glanirbhavati bharata, avyuthanam adharmasya tadatmanam srijamyaham)
In the Gita, we find Lord Sri Krishna egging on a reluctant Arjuna to fight the ultimate battle of his life. Point to be noted- sometimes we fight against our own. We aren't doing it for ourselves. We are doing it because we refuse to bow down to wrongdoing. We don't actually fight against our own people . We fight against the darkness that's present in all of us.
Let us look at His life and lessons as an unique form of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy( CBT). Divine CBT, if you will.
Need proof? Listen to this bhajan composed by the poet Narsinh Mehta in 15th Century Gujarat,which was played at Gandhiji 's ashram everyday: 

I can vouch for its efficacy. It has helped me in controlling my negative emotions to a large extent.

Jai Sri Krishna. May he visit the world in his various avatars again and again.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Lord Shiva- the first bipolar

Image
  Bipolar. A person who is maniac and depressive alternately. Happy at one time, sad at another. The APA ( American Psychiatric Association) of USA, the imposing grand daddy of the global " mental healthcare system “ ,who decide arbitrarily via their network of psychiatrists worldwide as to what constitutes a mental disorder and what does not ( with gentle and not so gentle prodding from Pharma companies) ,says that people with bipolar disorder , " have extreme and emotional mental states that occur at distinct times, called mood episodes." And going by standard psychiatric literature, the occurrence of bipolar disorder is around 3% in the community (again, based on arbitrary and questionable criteria decided by psychiatrists ). Is that the case, really ? To critically examine this issue, let's look at the "case" of Lord Shiva, whom many of us worship daily, in all his glory.Lord Shiva is silent,medit...
Read more

The Spirit-what is it actually

Image
x The spirit does not die. Simple statement of Hindu philosophy, the core of the Advaita tradition. As   said in the Bhagavad Gita, Samkhya Yoga “ Na hanyam, na hanyate ( the spirit does not kill or let kill).”Even while you kill your enemies, your kill their body (and their mind), but never the spirit or soul ( Atman). Bhagwan Maharishi Ramana defines this spirit   as the “ I”,   that which is unique to us all, thus has to be perceived by us uniquely. He defines “ I” as the sole phenomenon that drives the world, the Shiva tattva that is present inside us all , and I wholeheartedly agree with him. The Bhagwan would know- it was this “I “phenomenon which helped him to battle cancer undaunted till his death in 1950 . It was the same spirit which allowed my late father to battle lung cancer undaunted till his end . It is the same spirit that allows all of us to face life’s multiple problems everyday. Without “I”, there ...
Read more

Auld lang syne

Image
Another year is about to start. For some, probably a fresh new beginning; for some, the continuation of an old story; for others, a perfectly legitimate excuse to let their hairs down! Whatever the story , the music is going to come blaring on, the DJs are going to line up their numbers, the parties are going to begin, the wine is going to flow, and all are going to enjoy- the pediatric ( child),geriatric (old),) and psychiatric ( wacko) populace included. I remember the year we had spent New Year’s Eve dancing around the bonfire, non-alcohol induced, with family friends, at a forest in Jhargram, West Bengal, where probably the only lights today during New Year’s Eve would be that from the Maoist lanterns. It was perfectly safe and normal to spend holidays there in those parts during those days, just as it is unsafe today. I had told my wife (then-fiancée) that I would have rather spent the night in the company of “ spirits”, and had got an earful on the virtues of not drinking. Today,...
Read more