October, the month of festivals

October is a month of festivals for Hindus. First comes Navrathri, then Dushera and finally Diwali. Many mythological stories are invoked during this time: Slaying of Asura Mahishasura, Victory of Ram, and Krishna defeats Narakasura. But there is a common theme in all of them, that is the victory of good over evil, dharma over adharma. Ever wondered why Hindu festivals keep conveying this message so very often. Because we believe this duality of good and evil exists at all times. Because good and evil are relative to each other. If one exists, the other will too. And this war is never ending. These myths are presented repeatedly so as to convey the message of HOPE for everyone who fight this battle everyday so that they are not tired and lost in this everlasting war. And why mythology, because stories are powerful tools that convey messages very effectively. However, one must remember that in real life, to discriminate between good and evil is more difficult than it is presented in the myths where they are black and white. And finally, to be relieved of this war is Moksha (liberation). These myths are relevant today as they were ages ago as we constantly battle in our lives for good and these myths serve us with hope every time we need a boost.

Happy Navarathri, Dushera and Diwali to all!

Aum tat sat.

(Image: www.indianmythology.com)

Discovery of Dwaraka

Dwaraka is an ancient city in India and is believed to have been ruled by Lord Krishna himself. It was a port city on the gulf of Cambay in Gujarat. It is believed to have been submerged and the modern city of Dvaraka is only said to be built later. Archaeologist Graham Hancock goes in search of the submerged city and hypothesizes that the city could have been flooded at the end of the last ice age (around 10000 years ago) and that the people could have moved up and settled along river Saraswathi giving rise to the Indus-Saraswat civilization. These people had the knowledge of urban planning that can be observed from the ruins of the cities belonging to the civilisation. This discovery questions the date of orgin of the Vedas. Did they exist even before 1500 BC (which is widely accepted now) with the civilisation in Dwaraka?? Watch the documentary on YouTube.



Also see.. BBC news article

Srimad Bhagavad Gita chants by Swami Brahmananda

Srimad Bhagavad Gita is the summary of all Vedic teachings and is a part of the epic Mahabharata. It clearly teaches us the teachings of all the Upanishads in a neatly laid out situated context of the Kurushetra war between the Pandavas and the Kauravas, where the mighty warrior Arjuna hates the idea of killing his gurus and elders for earthy possessions. His chariot, Lord Krishna, advises him to go ahead and do his duty as a warrior and not worry about other things.


The following is a playlist of all the chapters chanted by Swami Brahmananda of Chinmaya Mission.






Thanks to Shri. Rupesh Bhayani for pointing to this source.

Angkor Wat - documentary

Lectures on Hinduism

Here is a link to lectures on Hinduism and Gospels of Sri Ramakrishna from Vedanta UK.

http://www.vedantauk.com/Audio%20Files.htm

Swami Vivekananda's Chicago address - audio

I found the following videos (actually not videos but running scrolls of the transcript) of Swami Vivekananda's Chicago address. I thought I should share it with u.

Playlist

What is soul made up of?

I was just reading about the Hindu concepts of Atman and Paramatman and this question hit me. In some philosophies of Hinduism, like Dvaita, there is a distinction between Atman (the individual soul) and Paramatman (the Supreme soul). In that case, the Atman is what manifests as us, people, by taking a body. They say that this atman is trapped inside the body and is waiting to be liberated (called Moksha). Now my question is what is this atman made up of? They say its not physical. Its not the mind either. Then how is it trapped inside a physical body? How can something non-physical be trapped inside a physical body? What is it then made up of?