tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-46338251242958426152010-09-05T12:35:03.834+05:30A blog on Indian spirituality and Vedic cultureM. Shrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12894931275191748342noreply@blogger.comBlogger9815tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4633825124295842615.post-31472414043220394612010-09-01T09:32:00.000+05:302010-09-01T09:32:23.188+05:302010-09-01T09:32:23.188+05:30

Millenniums ago, a lot happened in Mathura and Gokul at midnight on Janmashtami. A child who was radiating divine light, wearing celestial jewelry and a pitambar, and holding a conch, chakra, mace, and lotus was born to Devaki and Vasudev in a prison in Mathura. After offering praise to Bhagavan Krishna, the cause of the universe, mother Devaki requested him to hide his divine form, for she was

M. Shrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12894931275191748342noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4633825124295842615.post-78515620327277940752010-08-18T00:34:00.000+05:302010-08-18T00:34:35.451+05:302010-08-18T00:34:35.451+05:30

I met an acquaintance last week who discussed when selected Bhakti Saints were born in North India. At one point, he informed me that some academics have a hard time believing that Sant Ravidas was the guru of Mirabai or that Sri Ramananda was the guru of Ravidas. Such a disagreement with popular notions may arise when the dates of a saint’s presence on earth do not overlap with that of his or

M. Shrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12894931275191748342noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4633825124295842615.post-79914897266373451672010-08-01T22:06:00.000+05:302010-08-01T22:06:07.025+05:302010-08-01T22:06:07.025+05:30

In a story written by Munshi Premchand, an Indian peasant has to sell his cow, his sole possession, for money. In spite of financial hardship, he sells it to a Hindu at a lower price, not to a butcher. It appears true that if God gave cows a choice, they would choose to be brought up in a Hindu household or shelter. Even if they end up with a poor cowherd in India and have to sustain on leftover

M. Shrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12894931275191748342noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4633825124295842615.post-79399421422907694202010-07-17T20:02:00.000+05:302010-07-17T20:02:25.656+05:302010-07-17T20:02:25.656+05:30

It is believed that during the Samudra Manthan, a mythological tale where the great ocean was churned by the shared labor of the divine and evil forces to gain divine riches from nature, Dhanvantari, the physician of the gods, appeared from the ocean holding a pot containing ambrosia, which could confer immortality. Though the recipe for immortality could be consumed by the gods alone, as per

M. Shrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12894931275191748342noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4633825124295842615.post-53600127223185212972010-06-28T01:35:00.000+05:302010-06-28T01:35:25.592+05:302010-06-28T01:35:25.592+05:30

Because Kalki has not visited us yet, we can not say much about him. Like the other nine incarnations of Lord Vishnu, he is expected to incarnate when our ethical condition becomes deplorable — too low to be improved by saints. Scriptures say that in the last phase of kaliyuga, which may be a few hundred thousand years away, people stop engaging in good karma altogether, hypocrisy defeats God’s

M. Shrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12894931275191748342noreply@blogger.com2