Every human being has four birthdays.
The first is when he emerges from his mother's womb and, being neither holy nor unholy, craves only for food and shelter;
the second Is when he begins his spiritual study to lead him from darkness to light;
the third is when he has gained wisdom, having mastered the disciplines propounded by the rishis for achieving self-realisation;
the fourth and last is when he realises his true identity and merges with Brahman.
Every man is burdened with one body and four births!
He is born a Sudra; for, as a child he has no sense of cleanliness or definite ideas of right and wrong.
By the rite of initiation into spiritual life, that is to say, when he is taken as a pupil by a guru, who takes up the responsibility of leading him to the Goal of Human Life, he becomes dwija, twice-born, entering into the second chapter of his human career.
When he has finished the spiritual disciplines and studied the scriptures, he becomes a Vipra (the wise);
at last, when as a result of those practices and experiences, he visualises Brahman as immanent in all, he is a Brahmana. A Vipra attains Brahmajnanam and becomes a Brahmana. This is therefore the first step, but the most important step, in the process of self-realisation.
Vedaham etham Purusham MahanthamAdithyavarnam thamsah parasthath (Purusha Shuktham).
IN ANCIENT days the sages, who were doing Thapas and finally had a vision of the Reality, declared that they had realised the Divine, whose effulgence was that of the sun, beyond the darkness of ignorance. They also taught that God is the embodiment of Truth and had to be experienced as such. They declared that one who does not see this truth is akin to an animal. That is why there is the saying that one who is revelling in untruth is only an animal. Truth issues from Prema. In this world there is nothing greater than prema. The more you love, the more blissful you become. Divinity is the embodiment of love. Love shines as the eternal truth in every one's heart. However, it will be dormant in the heart of the selfish. Prema shines only in the heart of the person who is selfless. Love cannot co-exist with ego and pomp. Love is the royal path that can take you to the highest state of the Divine. Thi...
The samskara (purifying ritual) of Upanayanam (investiture of sacred thread) is beneficial not only to the boys who were initiated, but, for every one of you, who witnessed it and drew inspiration from it. The learned Pandit from Delhi spoke to you now of the meaning of this samskara; it has made all these lads "twice born", "dwithiyam mounji bandhanath" he said. The belt of munja grass has given them that status, he said. The Upanayanam - the ceremony of leading the lad to the teacher - and the recital by the initiate of the Gayathri manthra (sacred formula) which prays for clear intellect, are the first steps towards the ultimate Realisation of the Reality. Pandit Ramasaran explained how the Gayathri is the essence of the Rig, Yajur and Sama Vedas and how the traditional conception of the Gayathri Devatha embodies a harmonious blending of the five divinities - Vishnu, Surya, Maheshwari, Ganapathy and Ishwara, representing the Five Elements - and how prayer to Gayathri confers the mat...
Dear Boys!
THIS is the most auspicious moment of your life. Human life can be compared to a four-storeyed mansion. The four storeys correspond to four stages of man’s life, namely, Brahmacharya , Grihastha , Vanaprastha and Sanyasa (celibate, householder, recluse and renunciant). Today you are laying the foundation of the mansion of your life. The safety and security of the mansion is assured once you make the foundation strong and sturdy.
Man has four births.
His first birth takes place from his mother’s womb.
He gets a second life when he is initiated into the Gayatri mantra.
His third birth occurs when he studies the Vedas.
He becomes a Brahmin when he recongnises the principle of Brahman. This is his fourth birth. One becomes a Brahmin not merely by birth, but by knowing the nature of Brahman. For this, chanting of Gayatri Mantra is very essential.
Man is the embodiment of all gods. In fact, the gross form of the food that man consumes refers to the principle of Brahma. On t...
Om Bhoor Bhuvaha Swaha
Thath Savithur Varenyam
Bhargo Devasya Dheemahi
Dhiyo Yonaha Prachodhayath
THE Gayathri (Vedhic prayer to illuminate the intellect) is the Universal prayer enshrined in the Vedas (Divine Knowledge), the most ancient scriptures of man. It is addressed to the Immanent and Transcendent Divine which has been given the name 'Savitha ,' meaning 'that from which all this is born.' The Gayathri may be considered as having three parts - (i) Praise, (11) Meditation, (iii) Prayer. First the Divine is praised, then It is meditated upon in reverence and finally an appeal is made to the Divine to awaken and strengthen the intellect, the discriminating faculty of man.
The Gayathri is considered as Vedasara - "the essence of the Vedas." Veda means knowledge, and this prayer fosters and sharpens the knowledge-yielding faculty. As a matter of fact the four Mahavakyas or 'core-declarations' enshrined in the four Vedas are implied in this Gayathri manthra.
Every human...
EMBODIMENTS of love!
Man today spends his life fully preoccupied with worldly concerns. Owing to attachment to the body; he forgets his true nature, is immersed in the affairs of the body as permanent and. makes bodily comforts his goal in life. These are the things which every individual experiences in daily life. If anybody accosts a person and asks him, "Who are you?", out of his identification with the body he gives his name in reply. In answer to further questions he introduces himself as a doctor, a farmer, or student, or the like. When the enquiry goes further, he identifies himself with his nationality as an American, an Indian, a Pakistani or so on.
When you examine these answers deeply, you will find that none of them gives the truth. He got his name from his parents. It did not belong to him at birth. His identification with one or other of his professions is not true because he is not the profession. What, then, is the truth about him?
"I am the Atma. That is my ...
GAAYATHRI is the mother of Vedas and also of all creations, Gayathri principle can be sub-divided into the following four components. Sathyavathi: The all-pervasive Truth which pervades the entire creation just as butter is present in every drop of milk. Angavathi: Every person is made up of the five elements. Differences are only in the outer forms. Divinity behind the five elements is the same in all. Anyavathi: Different forms of the Divine are indicated by corresponding symbols - Rama by the bow, Krishna by the flute or the peacock feather, Sarasvathi by the Veena, Shiva by the damaru (hand-held drum) and Vishnu-by Shankha (Conch), Chakra (Wheel), Gadha (mace) and Padhma (the Lotus Flower). Divine forms have various characteristic symbols but Divinity is the same in all.
Nidhanavathi: Nidhanavathi is represented by the nine paths of devotion, namely - listening, singing, chanting the name of the Lord, service, seva to the Lord's feet, adoration, prayer, friendship with God...
