Saligram - A Holy Stone

In the Padma Purana Lord Siva declares the greatness of Saligrama Shila as follows:

Mallinga Kotibhi Drsthi Yad Phalam Pujiti
Saligrama Sila Yamtu Ekasyam Iva Tad Bhaved

The merit obtained by seeing and worshipping hundreds of thousands of My Lingams, is equivalent to that obtained by worshipping one single Salagram shila (stones).



This stone is worshipped as an iconic representation Lord Vishnu, just as Lingam is worshipped as an iconic Lord Shiva. The marks on the Shaligram are natural with the pattern often representing that of Sudarshan Chakra, the Discus of Lord Vishnu.

Shaligram is also Known as Shaligram shila . 'Shila' is usually spoken by Vaisnava devotee.'Shila' refers to  Form and Murti of God in sanskrit. Shaligram Shila is only One Scared  murti of god vishnu in Universe which is worshipped in every home and temple to please god vishnu from ancient Puranic Period.Shaligram is one of the name and incarnation of god vishnu himself for welfare of human.

If this is what Lord Shiva says, lets know where the Saligrama are found, what they are, their legend, types, Pooja and benefits etc.
Many types of Saligramas:

Saligrams are classified on the basis of its size shape, color, openings, chakras (natural carving), lines, weight etc. those popular types are as follows.

A. Lakshminarayana Saligram: Little dark in color, one mouth, four chakras and in one line.

B. Praddhyumna Saligram: Very little, one chakra on the top, and with crooked mouth.

C.Aniruddah Saligrama: Like a round ball, slightly yellow color, smooth and soft glasslike. It is believed it will brings peace and happiness.

D.Vasudeva Saligrama:  It is equivalent to worshipping Krishna himself. It is rounding, shiny, with one opening   mouth. It is surrounded by two chakras. It fulfills devotees’   wishes.

5. Sankarshana Saligrama: Two chakras facing each other. Narrow in the frontand wider at the back. For Brahmacharis, it brings knowledge.

6. Narasimha Saligrama: Worshipped with great devotion. Contains two chakrasand shape is varied. The devotee of this Saligrama becomes a sarva sangatyagi (renunciate) and a jitendria.

7. Lakshmi Narasimha Saligrama: Not a sugra as the Narasimha Saligrama. This Saligrama is thus an embodiment of pleasantness. This has a wide opening, has two chakra an also has a garland type of line .This brings to the devotees peace and solace.

8. Hayagriva Saligrama: Horse faced with two chakras. Not so appealing in appearance. Especially for gnanam (education).

9. Sudarshana Saligrama: Has an ordinary form with one Chakra.

10. Gadadhara Saligrama: Very ordinary with one chakra.

11. Madhusudana Saligrama: Dark cloud color and wheel shape. Has the sign similar to foot print of a calf. Very Holy.

12. Lakshminarayana Saligrama: One opening with a garland like line. color of dark clouds, four chakras. Very rare and special. Fulfils all desires of Bhaktas.

13. Lakshmijanardhana Saligrama: Same as above (12) but without garland shapeline.

14. Vamana Saligrama: Small in size, lighter shade of black colour, two chakras with no opening.

15. Sridhara Saligrama: Same as above(14) but with a garland like line.Brings good luck and progress to the devotees.

16. Raghunatha Saligrama: Two openings, four chakras and a sign similar tofoot print of a calf.

17. Damodara Saligrama: Huge, found commonly in temples. Has two chakras.

18. RaNa Rama Saligrama: Round, moderate size, with two chakras, baby feet sign, bow and arrow signs.

19. Rajarajeshwara Saligrama: Same shape as above (17), but with seven chakras and the sign of an umbrella(Chatri). Brings Raja Yoga and RajaSanmanam to the devotees.

20. Anantha Saligrama: Pitch black with 14 chakras. Holiest of the Saligramas. Very rare.  

मुझे रास आ गया है, तेरे दर पे सर झुकाना

मुझे रास आ गया है, तेरे दर पे सर झुकाना
तुझे मिल गई पुजारिन मुझे मिल गया ठिकाना

मुझे कौन जानता था तेरी बन्दगी से पहले
तेरी याद में बना दी मेरी जिन्दगी फसाना मुझे रास ....

मुझे इसका गम नहीं है, की बदल गया जमाना
मेरी जिन्दगी के मालिक कही तुम बदल न जानामुझे रास ....

तेरी सावरी से सूरत मेरे मन में बस गई है
ए सावरे सलोने अब और ना सताना
मुझे रास ....

मेरी आरजू येही है दम निकले तेरे दर पे
अभी सांस चल रही है कही तुम चले ना जाना
मुझे रास ....

WHAT IS LIFE?

WHAT IS LIFE? 

THEY SAY ITS FROM B TO D,

FROM BIRTH TO DEATH,

BUT WHAT'S BETWEEN B & D ?

IT'S A "C"

SO WHAT'S A "C"?

IT IS A 

CHOICE

SO LIFE IS A MATTER OF CHOICES

LIVE WELL AND IT WILL NEVER GO WRONG!

मैं तो वृन्दावन को जाऊं सखी

मैं तो वृन्दावन को जाऊं सखी,
मेरे नैना लगे बिहारी से।
घर में खाऊन रूखी सूखी,
मोहे माखन मिले बिहारी से।
मोरे नयना लगे बिहारी से॥

घर में पहनू फटे पुराने,
मोहे रेशम मिले बिहारी से।
मोरे नयना लगे बिहारी से॥
घर में होए निज कीच-कीच-बाजी,
मोहे आनंद मिले बिहारी से।
मोरे नयना लगे बिहारी से॥
घर में सास ननदिया लड़े हैं,
मोहे सत्संग मिले बिहारी से।
मोरे नयना लड़े बिहारी से॥

Celebration of Lord Krishna's Chatti Mahotsav

The celebration of 'Chatti' i.e the sixt day after the birth of Bhagwan Shri Krishna!

This very important ceremony is performed to appease Mother Shashti.

By performing the Chatti ceremony one is acknowledging to Shashti Devi/Mother Earth of Her elevated position and seeking Her blessings for the new born, that this child will grow up to be a Putra/Putri (a spiritual child) with divine qualities.

Nand ke anand bhayo, jai kanhaiya lal ki. 

Jai Shri Krishna!

Gopi Talab (Gopi Pond) - Dwarka

 It is 21 km from Dwarka and 5 km from Nageshwar Jyotirlinga temple. 

Story is related with Arjuna. After the battle at Kurukshetra, Arjuna thought himself to be the best warrior of the world. To show him his place, Lord Krishna asked him to escort his queens to Bet Dwarka. On the way, just near this pond, Arjuna was attacked by people of Kaba community, and Arjuna was defeated. The queens were shocked at this and died in this pond. So it is called Gopi Talav. The famous phrase ‘Kabe Arjun luntiyo,vohi dhanush vohi ban’ reflects this incident.

Gopi Talab is a small pond and the sandal like yellow sand is known as Gopi Chandan. The devotees take Gopi Chandan, believing it to be very good for skin diseases. 

According to Vaishnava tradition, gopi-chandana, or the sacred soil from Dwaraka or Vrnadavan, is applied on the body in twelve places while reciting mantras to Lord Vishnu. This process purifies one's body, designating it as a temple of the Lord. Besides purification, the tilak also offers the wearer protection from ghosts, evil influences, bad dreams, accidents and many other things. It keeps one's mind calm and allows one to constantly remember Lord Krishna. The sacred dust of vrndavan is said to have touched the lotus feet of Sri Krishna's exclusive devotees and is worship able even by Sri Krishna himself. 

The following story from the Garga Samhita describes the wonderful glories of the sacred mud known as gopi-chandana.

(From Garga Samhita, Canto Six, Chapter Fifteen ) 

Simply by hearing about Gopi-bhumi, which is so named because the gopis resided there, one become free from the bondage of karma.In Gopi-bhumi gopi-chandana was manifested from the gopis' cosmetics. A person who marks his limbs with gopi-chandana tilaka attains the result of bathing in the Ganga. 

A person who daily wears gopi-chandana tilaka attains the pious result of daily bathing in all sacred rivers.A person who daily wears gopi-chandana tilaka attains the result of performing a thousand asvamedha-yajnas and a hundred rajasuya-yajnas. He attains the reusult of giving charity and following vows at all holy places. He attains the goal of life. Of this there is no doubt. 

Twice as sacred as the mud of the Ganga is the dust of Chitrakuta. Ten times more sacred than that is the dust of Panchavati-tirtha.A hundred times more sacred is the dust of gopi-chandana. Please know that gopi-chandana is equal to the dust of Vrindavana. 

Even if in the past he has committed hundreds of sins, if a person wears gopi-chandana tilaka, then Yamaraja cannot take him away. How, then, can Yamaraja's messengers touch him?

A sinner who daily wears gopi-chandana tilaka goes to Lord Krishna supreme abode, Goloka, which is beyond the world of matter.

In Sindhu-desa there was a king named Dirghabahu. He was cruel and sinful and he was addicted to visiting prostitutes.While he was on the earth this cruel sinner murdered a hundred brahmanas and ten pregnant women.One day he mounted a sindhu horse and went hunting. With a flood of arrows he accidentally killed with a brown cow in that hunt.One day, greedy to get his kingdom, with a sharp sword his angry minister killed him in the forest.

Seeing him fallen to the ground and dead, the Yamadutas came, bound him, and, joking as they went, took him to the city of Yamaraja.Seeing this sinner brought before him, powerful Yamaraja said to his scribe Chitragupta, "What is the proper punishment for him?"

Sri Chitragupta said: O great king, he should be thrown into eight million four hundred thousand hells for as long as the sun and the moon shine in the sky.On the earth he did not perform a single pious deed. He killed ten pregnant women. He killed a brown cow.

He killed thousands of deer in the forest. He offended the demigods and the brahmanas. He is a great sinner.Sri Narada said: Then, by Yamaraja's order, the Yamadutas took that sinner and threw him into a terrible, eight-thousand mile wide cauldron of bubbling boiling oil in the hell of Kumbhipaka. The moment that sinner came to it, the boiling oil, which was as hot as the great fires at the time of cosmic devastation, suddenly became cool.

O king of Videha, as Prahlada was unhurt in the same situation, that sinner was not hurt by the boiling oil. Then the Yamadutas described that great wonder to noble-hearted Yamaraja.

Yamaraja and Chitragupta carefully reviewed the sinner's case and concluded that while he was on the earth the sinner had not for a moment performed even a single pious deed.Then Vyasadeva arrived in that assembly. Bowing down before Him, and carefully worshiping Him, saintly and noble-hearted Yamaraja asked Vyasadeva the following question.

Sri Yamaraja said: When a certain sinner, who had never performed even a single pious deed, was thrown into the terrible boiling oil of Kumbhipaka, the oil suddenly became cool. Because of this my mind is now tortured with doubts.

Sri Vyasadeva said: O great king, the intelligent sages, who have studied all the scriptures, know that the ways of piety, sin, and spiritual progress are very subtle and difficult to understand.Somehow or other, by destiny, this sinner did perform a pious deed, and by that deed he became purified. O noble-hearted one, please hear the story of this.That sinner died in a place where from someone's hand some gopi-chandana from Dvaraka had accidentally fallen. Dying in gopi-chandana, that sinner became purified.

A person who wears gopi-chandana tilaka attains a spiritual form like that of Lord Narayana. Simply by seeing him one becomes free of the sin of killing a brahmana.Sri Narada said: Hearing this, Yamaraja, who understands the glories of gopi-chandana, took the sinner, placed him a an airplane that goes anywhere one wishes, and sent him to Vaikuntha, which is above the worlds of matter. O king, thus I have described to you the glories of gopi-chandana.

One who hears this account of gopi-chandana's glories becomes exalted. He goes to the supreme abode of Lord Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
 

Sant Kabir - Death is a Bliss!

 

जिस मरने से जग डरे, मेरे मन में आनंद |
कब मरू कब पाऊ, पूरण परमानन्द

The whole world fears death, but death will be full of bliss for me
I am waiting for death which will merge me, into absolute bliss

Sant Kabir

Shri Veneshwar Mahadev: Mahashivratri Special!

Shri Veneshwar Mahadev : On our visit to Shri Dwarkadheesh and Shri Somnath ji , by god grace we got the opportunity to visit Shri Veneshwar Mahadev.

It has a very amazing story which goes like :

Shri Veneshwar Mahadev Temple dedicated to Lord Shiva is located just opposite the Somnath Trust Dharamshala Gate. As the legend goes, when Mahmud of Ghazni invaded Somnath in 1025 AD, the local king of Somnath gave a tough fight against his army. As the king was not surrendering, Mahmud of Ghazni had to hatch a new plan. He found out that the king had a daughter named Veni who used to pay a visit to a certain Shiva Temple stationed outside the fort wall of Prabhaspatan everyday. Mahmud of Ghazni decided that he would kidnap Veni and then force the king to yield. 

 
As per the plan when Veni was offering homage at the feet of Lord Shiva, the soldiers of Mahmud of Ghazni attacked the temple. Veni immediately submitted herself to Lord Shiva and appealed the God to save her from the calamity. At that moment a miracle occurred and the Shiva Lingam was opened into two from the middle. The princess Veni was accumulated inside and the Lingam was closed. At that time a ‘Veni’ i.e. a strand of her hair was left out. Veni acquired the eternal salvation and Mahmud of Ghazni failed in his scheme. 

The prints of the Veni as well as the marks of the Shiva Lingam being split open can still be seen on the Lingam of Shri Veneshwar Mahadev. The Lord Shiva of this temple receives its appellation Veneshwar after the name of Princess Veni. 




Happy Mahashivratri !

How Lucky Peacock Feathers are!

Lord Krishna always wear a peacock feather on his head!

There are many stories behind this but I am just amazed ;How Lucky Peacock Feathers are!

The first reason is the belief that, the peacock is the only creature in nature that observes complete chastity in life. When he is happy, he dances with his wings and his eyes are filled with tears, Peahen drink these tears & conceives. Peacock does not have, even a tinge of lust in his heart.

The peacock feather contains all the seven colors in it. The entire universe is covered by akasha(ether) which appears blue in day times and black in night. So lord Krishna is identified by both the colors 'Blue' (neela) & 'Black' (shyaama). Krishna paksha in Indian calender means the days that follow after Full-moon day till the New-moon day i.e, the darker phase of 14 days of the moon. Further, he wears the peacock feather which signifies that the entire range of colors (we mortal beings) is in him. In virtue he is colorless but in the day he appears blue, black in the night to our vision and in between make us discuss all this mulch-coloured multi-perceptional views. 

The peacock feather signifies the exuberance of nature. Sri Krishna wears a peacock feather that reminds us of his play with the gopas and gopis of Sri Vrindavana. The male peacock especially has long been a symbol of romantic love, and the rasalila episode of Sri Krishna's life teaches us how this kind of love may be directed to God.

Poem by Sant Surdas: Krishna Approaches Radha

Krishna Approaches Radha

 

Krishna said, 'O fair beauty, who are you?
Where do you live? Whose daughter are you?
I never yet saw you in the lanes of Braj.'

Radha said, 'What need have I to come this way?
I keep playing by my door.
But I hear that some son of Nanda
is in the habit of stealing butter and curds.'

Krishna said, 'Look, why should I appropriate
anything that's yours? Come, let's play together.'

Suradasa says: By his honied words,
Krishna, the crafty prince of amorists,
beguiled Radha and put her at ease.

 

Sant Surdas

My all time favorite Surdas bhajan with its meaning in English!

 Deenan dukh haran dev santan hitkari

ajamil geedh byadh inme kah kaun saadh
panchhi ko pad padhaat ganika si taari
deenan dukh haran dev ...
dhruva ke sar chhatra det
prahalad ko ubari det
bhakta hetu bandhyo setu
lankpuri jaayi
deenan dukh haran dev .....
gaj ko jab grah grasyo
duhshashan cheer khasyo
sabha beech krishna krishna draupati pukari
deenan dukh haran dev .....
itne hari aaye gaye
basnan aaroorh bhaye
surdas dware khado aanadhro bhikhari
deenan dukh haran dev santan hitkari
deenan dukh haran dev .....

Meaning :

 

The Lord who removes the pain of the sufferers and is well doer of the saints
Azamil , the vulture , the hunter ,, say who was perfect among them ,
Who gave a higher destination to a bird and made the Ganika (a man who lives with a prostitute. -here Azamil )to move accross this bhavasagar...
Who versed Druva's head with canopy, and saved Prahalad
For the sake of devotee who constructed the bridge by going to Lanka puri .
When the alligator grabbed the Gajraj (the elephant) in his jaws ...who came to save him ..
When Duhshashan unwinded the clothes (of Draupadi) ,
Draupadi called up "Krihsna Krishna " in the Hall ..
Just then ,( you) Hari reached there and adjointed Himself in the clothes .
Surdas , a blind begger , is standing on Your doorsteps -
When You can do so much and show your grace upon these people ,
Please be kind towards me too .

Prem Mandir-Vrindavan Part 2

Continued from last post....

 Few more beautiful pictures of Prem Mandir - Vrindavan!

  More to follow!

Prem Mandir - Vrindavan

Few Exclusive pictures of  Prem Mandir - Vrindavan !

 More to follow in next blog, keep watching !

Life In The World- Mirabai

                        Life In The World

Life in the world is short,
Why shoulder an unnecessary load
Of worldly relationships?
Thy parents gave thee birth in the world,
But the Lord ordained thy fate.
Life passes in getting and spending,
No merit is earned by virtuous deeds.

I will sing the praises of Hari
In the company of the holy men,
Nothing else concerns me.
Mira's Lord is the courtly Giridhara,
She says: Only by Thy power
Have I crossed to the further shore.

                                                                           

                                                                          Mirabai