Vedanta Sandesh - July 2019 by Vedanta Mission

Monthly eMagazine of the International Vedanta Mission

Vedanta Sandesh July 2019

Year - 25

Issue 1

Cover Page

The cover pages of the July 2019 issue of Vedanta Sandesh is yet another awesome avian creation of God, and that also from the lovely & divine state of Uttarakhand - called the Great Barbet. This photo was clicked at Sattal by Poojya Guruji Swami Atmananda Saraswatiji in Mar 2019. The Great Barbet (Psilopogon virens) is a resident breeder in the lower-to-middle altitudes of the Himalayas. They are typically found in broadleaf evergreen forests between about 2,000 - 8,500 feet. This is the largest of all barbets. The name 'Barbet' is derived from the French word 'barbe', which means 'beard,' and in this context refers to the bristles which fringe their heavy bills. The adult has a blue head, large yellow bill, brown back and breast, green-streaked yellow belly and red vent. The rest of the plumage is green. Both sexes and immature birds are similar.

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The very sight of this bird in the wild is literally awesome. One keeps on looking at the besuty & vivid colors of this bird. They have a dominating presence. Looking at these birds one wonders how the great artist-like creator has intricately designed each and every being of his awesome creation. Om Tat Sat

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CONTENTS

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Vedanta Sandesh July 2019 1.

Shloka 5

Message of P. Guruji

7-8

Sadhana Panchakam

9-14

Letter 15-16

Gita Reflections 17-22

The Art of Man Making

Jivanmukta 29-32

Story Section 33-35

Mission / Ashram News

23-28

36-51

10.

Forthcoming Progs 52

11.

Internat News 53

12.

Links 54 3

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Monthly eMagazine of the International Vedanta Mission July 2019 : Year 25 / Issue 1

Published by

International Vedanta Mission Vedanta Ashram, E/2948, Sudama Nagar, Indore-452009 (M.P.) India http://www.vmission.org.in / vmission@gmail.com

Editor:

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Swamini Samatananda Saraswati

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vkReSosna txRloZa vkReuksU;ĂŠ fo|rsA e`nkS ;}n~?kVknhfu LokRekua loZeh{krsAA Nothing whatever exists other than the Atman: the tangible universe is verily Atman. As pots and jars are verily made of clay and cannot be said to be anything but clay, so too, to the enlightened soul and that is perceived is the Self. Atma Bodha - 47

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Message from Poojya Guruji

25th Year of Vedanta Sandesh

It is a matter of great joy and satisfaction that from July 2019 issue of

Vedanta Sandesh, we are entering the 25th year of unhindered publication of Vedanta Sandesh - the monthly e-magazine of the International Vedanta Mission. This electronic monthly has been publishing inspiring articles on Vedanta and Sanatan Dharma, along with news of the activities of Vedanta Mission and Vedanta Ashram. Unlike other publications this is an advertisement and sponsorship-free magazine. This is because it is not only an electronic magazine not requiring any paper or posting charges, but also reveals our selfless & charitable intentions of taking the message of Vedanta freely to all sections of the society and the world.

The articles, layout, setting, designing and the subsequent posting

all have been an in-house effort by the tech-savvy Mahatmas of Vedanta V edanta Sandes h

Ashram who just love to revel in the principles of Vedanta in one way or the other. Technical challenges pertaining to Desktop Publishing or Internet have been there, but they are taken as any other challenges and neces-

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sary study of these matters is also done and used appropriately. Getting softwares and then learning them is certainly a challenge, but thanks to some of our devotees who help us get organized.

As we reach this milestone we experience the profound blessings

of Bhagwan Sri Gangeshwar Mahadev and I also commend the hard-work and perseverance of our Ashram Mahatmas. It has not been a cakewalk and for twenty five years is a long time. The magazine has been dot on time, and the e-magazine is sent to all the subscribed members on 1st of every month - freely. It has indeed been commendable and a matter of great satisfaction.

I wish & pray that this spirit of sharing the tenets of Vedanta and

bringing about awareness of our activities continues unhindered in this same creative way. We appeal to all our members to share this lovely, free and inspiring publication with all their friends & relatives as much as they can.

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Sarve bhadrani pashyantu. Om Tat Sat.

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Sadhana Panchakam

Introduction

Swamini Samatananda

Sadhana Panchakam I n the last edition we concluded with a fundamental and yet very important text for all beginners of

Vedanta called ‘Tattva Bodha’. This was given to us by Bhagwadpaada Sri Adi Shankaracharyaji. Having concluded Tattva Bodha we will go on to study yet another very important Prakaran Grantha called ‘Sadhana Panchakam’, which is also known as ‘Sopana Panchakam’. The beauty of this text is that even though it is very brief, crisp and precise yet it paints in front of us a complete journey from a Sadhaka to a Sidha. From a student to a realized Man of wisdom.

This text is also gifted to us by the Revered Acharya

Shankara. In fact, this text was given to a group of Vedantic Sadhakas during a very sensitive moment of Sri Adi Shankaracharyaji. It is said that when the Acharya was at the last stage of his mortal body, his disciples requested him to give an upadesha which summarised all Vedantic learning. The Acharya had so far during his lifetime blessed all his disciples and the world with a piece of very profound knowledge and commentary on the Upanishads in depth, Srimad Bhagwat Geeta, and a great number of Prakaran Granthas sharing the beautiful knowledge of Vedanta. During his last moments, he sum-

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marised the whole spiritual journey by explaining the role of

Sadhana Panchakam all the sadhanas and their connection with the ultimate goal of life which is awakening in the state of pure existence and blissful Self. This was explained in compact 5 slokas with each sloka explaining eight steps each of the various sadhanas leading to Self realization. These Sadhanas are in perfect sequence and order of rising from one level to another level of spiritual growth. The Goal of Life and the Means:

In Sanatan Dharma Vedas are the only valid means of

knowledge. The Vedas reveal to us a goal that awakens us in a state of Self-fulfillment. This, in fact, is our most naturally desirous state and this is where every human being should be reveling in an effortless way, but unfortunately, due to our own ignorance and wrong notions, we are looking for it in the external world. It is the unbound compassion of our Scriptures that introduce us not only to the ultimate goal of life but they are also like a guiding light showing us the path that leads to self-discovery. For any human being who wishes to tread the path of spiritual evolution, the Vedas give us a wide and complete spectrum of the entire spiritual journey which includes fulfilling the four purusharthas (Dharma, Artha, Kama, and Moksha). In this journey Moksha is discovering that blissful nature of the Self which is complete, fulfilled, devoid of any

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limitations of time and space and objects. Moksha is Self-Real-

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Sadhana Panchakam ization alone.

Self-realization or Moksha is realization of our funda-

mental nature and thereby as per that truth. Initially this is veiled for every Jiva due to ignorance and misapprehension. It is just like not knowing a rope as a rope and instead see it as a non-exstent snake. The Jiva too is ignorant that he/she is fundamentally pure infinite existence therefore goes on to impose the dharmas of body, mind, and intellect on the Self. He thus comes to see himself as a body, a mind, and an intellect. Our gross and subtle body is a great gift of God, highly potent yet it is just our limited faculty & instrument, not the real me. Our identification with the body and its associated objects in the world outside baselessly makes us feel limited and thus puts us on an endless trip of seeking. Thus the scriptures are a guiding lighthouse to show us the art of maneuvering amidst the worldly objects and in and through this travel also come to discover the Self. Our life progresses on the path of religion and spirituality even as we live as a part of this world but this is possible only when our guiding source of light are the scriptures and the revered Acharyas who are a living embodiment of knowledge.

The scriptures provide us a complete guideline of reli-

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gious and spiritual evolution which is a journey through various

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Sadhana Panchakam sadhanas. These sadhanas and their connection with the ultimate goal is thus the subject matter of this text called ‘Sadhana Panchakam’. These sadhanas can’t be pursued as per one’s own likes and dislikes. They have to be practiced under the guidance of a Sadguru. Our spiritual journey involves two stages one is preparing the mind for knowledge which involves various sadhanas like karma yoga, japa, chanting, etc. and the second is Shravan, manan, and nididhyasan which is a journey of pure knowledge. It does not include any action or action-oriented sadhanas. Thus this journey of spiritual evolution requires an integrated approach where every sadhana has a specific role to play in preparing the mind for knowledge. Therefore sadhanas are not preference-oriented. It is only the Guru who can reconcile the role of a particular sadhana with the goal and as per the compatibility of the sadhaka. Thus all sadhanas are highly respectable. Shankaracharyaji was obviously able to see this and thus gave us this beautiful text which comprises of an integrated approach involving all the sadhanas for our spiritual upliftment.

‘Sadhana’ is a means which leads to the fulfillment of a

goal. Therefore although a sadhana plays a very important role yet it is not the ultimate goal. There is a time when a sadhana is pursued and there is also a time when we have to get off this

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train and take up another means until we are ready to pursue

Sadhana Panchakam the express highway of pure knowledge.

In this process, it is highly important that there is dis-

crimination, viveka of sadhya and sadhana. One should be clear about the goal and the means to attain that goal, otherwise we will end up just being a wanderer. Our goal is liberation here and now. To realize a state of existence that is of complete fulfillment within. To realize that karma is limited in time and space and everything attained by karma is so momentary. For such a sadhaka is written the ‘Sadhana Panchakam’.

With this introduction we can understand that the sub-

ject matter of Sadhana Panchakam is a complete overview of the means leading to this goal. The Adhikari (the deserving student) for this text is one who has this goal of knowing the true nature of the Self that is Brahman and thus getting liberated from eternal seeking. The Prayojan (Objective) of studying the text is moksha. The Sambandh (connection of means to achieve the goal)is the practise of various sadhanas in the first stage to purify the mind. Once the mind is pure and ready for knowledge then there is no role of action thereafter. After that knowledge alone is the only means to awaken into V edanta Sandes h

the state of the Supreme Self.

Mail from Poojya Guruji Ultimate Goal of all - Aptakamata Hari om !

Someone asked as to what is the ultimate goal of we human beings? Well, I will try to answer this with reference to a mantra of Mundaka Upanishad whose discourses are currently going on at Vedanta Ashram, Indore.

Angira Rishi in his discourse to his student Shaunaka says in the third chapter that every person is aspiring to attain a state he refers to as Aptakamata, meaning a state wherein all ones desires have been as though been taken care of and now there are obviously no desires what so ever.

Even though every person is basically aspiring to attain that state of total fulfillment indicated by the word ‘Aptakamata’, however it is such a tragedy that very rarely we are aware of such a goal, and even if we are, then we are not aware of the ways & means of handling and fulfilling our desires. No educational institutes enlighten us about these extremely V edanta Sandes h

important & fundamental matters.

Broadly there are two prevalent means of handling the total fulfillment and thus redundence of desires. One, lets fulfill all our desires and then hopefully, one day they will not be there; two, dont let them raise their heads and if they still do then just suppress them. Any serious observation will reveal that both these approaches are not effective & are thus unvalid.

What Upanishad reveals is an altogether different approach. That approach is one of first trying to understand the various component involved with the fulfillment of desires. There is me - a desirer, there is the object of desire, and then comes about the so called desire. Existence of desire presupposes various notions about both the desirer and the object of desire. It is these notions which are the root cause of desires. The nature of our pre-suppositions about the desirer and the object of desires is the root cause of our so called desires. To our surprise we discover that our notions about these two fundamental components are unvalid, and the resultant effect is an effortless absence of desires - and the awakening into the state of Aptakamata. Think.

Lots of love & om,

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Gita Reflections

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rf}f) izf.kikrsu ifjiz’usu lso;kA mins{;fUr rs Kkua KkfuuLrÙonf’kZu%AA (Gita 4/34) 17

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Guru-Upasadana (rf}f)

izf.kikrsu)

Swamini Samatananda

Understand that (which is to be known)by prostrating, by asking proper questions, (and) by service. Those who are wise, have the vision of the truth, V edanta Sandes h

will teach you (this) knowledge. (Gita : Ch-4 / Sh-34) 18

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Gita Reflections

yas Poornima or Sri Guru Poornima is the most significant day in the life of every spiritual student. This pious day most often falls in the month of July as per the English calendar. As per the Hindu calendar, it falls on the full moon day of the month of Ashaadh. With this pious occasion just around the corner let us take an opportunity to understand the glory of this revered and divine relationship.

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The ultimate goal of life is transcending the limitations of time, space and object and awakening into that nature of the real self which is limitless, self-effulgent and blissful. This goal is realized only by means of knowledge because it is only due to ignorance that one comes to see the self as a limited being who is constantly in search of fulfillment outside himself in the objective world. In the fourth chapter, Bhagwan Krishna gives a whole list of actions and religious practices one can take up with an attitude of yagya bhava in order to evolve spiritually. But at the same time, Bhagwan concludes the session by saying that ultimately all actions and religious practices and sadhanas culminate in knowledge. This implies that although different sadhanas have an important role to play in our spiritual evolution, their role is limited to only bringing about a pure mind. A mind that becomes free of various conditioning, individual likes, and dislikes, is subtle and at peace with

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Gita Reflections the self. The scriptures strongly emphasize on mental purity if in case one wishes to enter the portals of Vedantic knowledge. But ultimately at the end of the day, it is only knowledge and knowledge alone that opens the doors to liberation. In this sloka which is taken from the fourth chapter of SrimadBhagwadgeeta Lord Krishna says that having purified the mind by practicing yagya bhava in and through every action and sadhana one must then be inspired for Gyan yagya. The fire of curiosity needs no other means except a one to one in-depth relationship between a teacher and his disciple. Therefore once there is a burning desire for knowledge then one must go in search of a Sadguru to attain that knowledge, knowing which everything is known.

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Having gone to a Sadguru Bhagwan Sri Krishna specifies three very important means that form the platform of communication between a teacher and his disciple. In Vedic culture communication between the Guru and his disciple is based upon a very intimate one to one relationship. It is not a superficial relationship as in todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s schools and colleges but it is the bonding of two hearts where a very divine and in-depth communication will take place. A Guru is like a sculptor who chisels on the raw stone of the disciple bringing out in him the divine nature of Paramatma. But the roots of this beautiful relation-

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Gita Reflections ship is sowed and nourished by the surrender, service and an intense desire to learn on the part of the disciple, who is then blessed by the Guru with the sublime knowledge. Therefore in this sloka, Sri Krishna very clearly gives three qualities which a disciple must have in order to invoke knowledge from the teacher’s heart. Sri Krishna says-’Go in search of a Shrotriya Brahma nishtha Guru and prostrate at the Lotus Feet of the Teacher, by prostrating (Pranipaten), by asking proper questions (Pariprashnena)and by serving the Teacher. Seeing these qualities, the men of wisdom, who have a vision of the truth shall teach you this knowledge. Prostrating: Prostration literally means doing namaskar by bowing down at the Holy Feet of the Guru. But the implications of this word is far more subtle than just a physical gesture. It implies an attitude of surrender. I have found a Guru and now I am ready to surrender my ego and do all that it requires to gain this knowledge.

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Pariprashnena: By asking the appropriate questions at the appropriate time with the right attitude. Knowledge in Sanatan Dharma is not imposed as do’s and dont’s, but it is the only unique religion where knowledge is imparted through question & answers, reasoning, and logical understanding. No Upanishad is sighted without any questions humbly raised by

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Gita Reflections a curious student. But one must keep in mind that questions should never be an attempt of ego satisfaction but they should be a desire to sincerely enquire into the truth. Sewaya: By serving the Guru. As discussed spiritual knowledge is imparted from one heart to another. It is a communication between the teacher and taught. Communication is fruitful only when there is a mental and intellectual bond between two people. And ‘Sewa’ Service of the teacher is the best means to build this bond. Sewa involves keeping aside one’s individual likes and dislikes and doing everything that the Teacher appreciates. It is a means of knowing one another. The teacher gets to know the student and the student to feels a sense of compassion of the Divine one leading someone from darkness to light. In this manner having won the heart of the Teacher by dedicated service and sincere desire to learn then any Guru will thus be more than happy to bless the student with this subtle knowledge.

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Thus Sri Krishna says the Guru will give you Upadesha-knowledge. He is a Tattva Darshi. He not only has the knowledge of the scriptures but also knows the art, the methodology of passing on the knowledge to his disciples. Such wise men are what the scriptures call as Shrotriya Brahmanishtha Acharyas.

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The Art Of Man Making

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How to Act ?

P.P. Gurudev Swami Chinmayanandaji 23

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The Art of Man Making

hen

once we have accepted the

logic that for self-improvement, for Vasana-purgation , we must plunge into activity, there is the question, ‘What is the right activity?’ According to the Geeta, all activities are noble and great if we act in the right mental attitude. If the attitude is wrong even the most ennobling divine act of devotion or charity is of no consequence. When the attitude is correct, even the act of killing is noble and divine (tasmaat uttishtha kaunteya yuddhaaya kritanishchaya) This is rational and logical. Even our secular law books accept this principle. It is the motive that decides whether one is guilty of murder or culpable homicide not amounting to murder. After giving the mystical and material arguments for the unavoidable necessity for action. Krishna feels that Arjuna is getting ready to accept the advice. ‘Therefore, arise, O son of Kunti, determined to fight.’ There must be right mental adjustments to bring out the best efficiencies in the man of action and also to bring about his Vasana-purgation. Then alone can a sense of peace come to well up in his heart. This is the true reward of all right activiV edanta Sandes h

ty-else man will feel smothered by the weight of work and its

The Art of Man Making endless, soulless drudgery of mundane activities. The fatigue of activities, the monotony in doing things, the boredom in serving great undertakings is some of the tearless sorrows against which modern youth is revolting today all over the world. Any work will have its weariness, exhaustion, monotony, and boredom anywhere and at any time under any circumstances. Our age seems to be experimenting with the kind of environmental circumstances under which work can endanger a joy, a satisfaction, an uplifting exhilaration in man. This is a false pursuit, a wrong line of investigation. Krishna advises Arjuna, *In perfect physical, mental and intellectual equipoise, not upset by pleasure or pain (intellectual), gain or loss (mental), success or failure (physical), you must engage in battle. Why so? For then you will incur no sin. ‘Sin’ is the negative Vasana that is left over by wrong thought or action, which later on expresses to give the sinner his sorrows. Thus all Vasanas are ‘sis’. If the doer has rendered himself impervious to all physical, mental and intellectual onslaughts, if he is no more conditioned by them and so has risen above them,

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t such an individual his actions can create no Vasanas. To act

The Art of Man Making with such inner poise is to invoke within us a cleaning light of joy-a benign grace of fulfillment. The moment Krishna talks of Karma, Arjuna, a student of Vedic texts, understands it as the ritualistic ‘service’ of the Lord. To make it clear that this is not what he means, Krishna employs almost a new term: Buddhi-Yoga. Communication of ideas is difficult because the listener interprets the words of the speaker according to what the listening mind has heard before. By this Buddhi-Yoga, one can snap the Vasana bondages and release oneself to be supremely free. And when you act thereafter, it is but a play’; a motiveless ‘sport’; mere self-expression in sheer gay abandon. Since we are in present condition are whipped up by our passions and desires and must necessarily act, the Lord advises us how we should act in the world and discharge our worldly duties. To work alone is your privilege; never to the fruits thereof. May you not be a mere producer of fruits of action-nor be you tied to inaction. Let us work; let us discover the joy in performing them for itself. Let our actions be inspired activities. To act is a right divinely-bestowed uppon us, but nature has not made us masters of the rewards we seek. Surely we are

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free to undertake great endeavors and pour out our best efforts

The Art of Man Making into them, seeking and discovering the joy in the actions themselves, a satisfaction that we are striving in the right direction. But whether we gain our goal immediately or afterward, or at all, is not within us or our control. These musings should not be our anxiety-they are idle dissipations that will puncture our efficiencies and flatten our abilities to serve in our chosen field. If we are not to be anxious for the reward, then shall we remain idle and inert, decaying in inactivity? Krishna anxiously warns against it. Let us choose an inspiring goal and â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;be up an doingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; with a spirit of dedication to our goal in life. In his inspired enthusiasm, Krishna cries out (samatvam yoga uchyate) Equanimity within is the highest spiritual Yoga. *Renouncing attachment, keeping yourself in balance both in success and in failure, act diligently in all fields-this poise inaction itself is Yoga. Thus in the Geta, Yoga is an integrated healthy living, including in it all the passions and lusts for life-well regulated. **Far more ignoble is desire prompted action than desireless and selfless activity; seek your refuge in mental peace; those who seek rewards are l indeed ever wretched. For why should one worry over the unborn future and become inefficient in the present?

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People assume that Yoga-spiritual seeking-means renounc-

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The Art of Man Making ing all contacts with the world, retiring into some forest hilltop, subsisting upon roots and berries, spending one’s time in self-abnegation and physical torture. In the Geeta, however, mental tranquility towards all the varied happening around is ‘Yoga’ (samatvam yoga uchyate) nay, Yoga is dexterity in action (Yogah karmasu kaushalam) The young are always full of energy is ambitions, plans, and visions, which are prompted by their own individual vasanas. To act accordingly without mental agitations, efficiently, allowing no fears of failure to dissipate their vitality is in itself Yoga. For an integrated mind-intellect sees clearly, judges rightly, consequently achieves the most. Young man! the Geeta is not meant for the old, the decaying and the dying; it is meant for you who are on the threshold of life, bubbling with enthusiasm to plunge into the field of achievement, to struggle to strive, to sweat, to succeed. At least for three years learn to live serving all, in a spirit of honest and full dedication, and in all your activities-even as insignificant as eating or bathing-bring all your efficiencies, to make them better, and always beautiful. Such a life is the true preparation for a dynamic spiritual life. This itself is Yoga (samatvam yoga

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uchyate).

Jivanmukta Wandering In Himalayas

78 Trilokeenath

Excerpts from the Travel Memoirs of Param Poojya Swami Tapovanji Maharaj

Jivanmukta T he

priest of the temple was a Buddhist

Lama. He was a married householder. It was his wife who took us around and helped us to conduct the worship in the proper way. The form of the beautiful image, the things used for worship, and the mode of worship were exactly like those in Tibetan temples. There was only one difference: in Tibet, along the route to Kailas, the images of Buddha were usually made of bronze; here it was of marble. The Lama and his wife conduct the worship and perform the circumambulation here without taking off their curious footwear made of leather and woolen cloth and reaching up to their knees. Such customs may appear to us rather odd, if not despicable, but they are universal in Buddhist countries in the upper regions of the Himalayas. The temple of Trilokeenath is situated within the Himalayan state called Champa. I was lodging on the first floor of the priestâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s house, in solitude, apart from the other sadhus. Sadhus were permitted to stop at the house for any number of days, but householders were allowed to do so only for a day or two. Only a small number of sadhus from Buddhist countries like China and Tibet, and a still smaller number of Hindu monks from India, visit this almost inaccessible temple. At the time of our arrival, a few Buddhists Lamas V edanta Sandes h

were camping on one side of the temple. The Buddhist Lamas

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Jivanmukta conducting their bhajan on one side to the accompaniment of the damru and the drum, and the Hindu sadhus singing their hymns and blowing their conch shells on the other, inspired me with deep devotion. Near the temple was situated a small village consisting of a few houses. It was the seat of a local potentate called Rakur Sahib. I was told that he enjoyed certain rights, not only over the temple but also over the outlying areas. The local people, therefore, styled him â&#x20AC;&#x153;Kingâ&#x20AC;?. At the time of my visit to the temple, he was laid up with rheumatism. One evening I visited him in the company of a sadhu, as he had indicated an eagerness to see me. He was resting on the upper floor of his palace. Being unable to raise himself from where he lay, he greeted us with folded hands and asked us to sit near him. His servants were engaged at that time in manufacturing a sort of wine from rice that was a popular drink among the local people. A pious man devoted to sadhus, the king spoke to me at length from his bed in idiomatic Hindi. He told me that he was, like his ancestors, a Hindu by faith, and a Kshatriya by birth. His forefathers had immigrated into the region, about 150-200 years ago. Then the land was inhabited by a race of man-eating giants. It

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was his ancestors who got rid of them from the region.

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Then the king expressed his satisfaction at meeting me. He explained how the grace of Trilokeenath used to draw Mahatmas to the spot, and the inhabitants of that remote mountain region were thus blessed from time to time by the visits of Holy men. It was clear that the local population was at one time Hindu, but by long contact with Buddhists, they had come to adopt the Buddhist way of life. We were provided with the necessary provisions from the palace and other sources. The sadhus cooked their food and fed me too. I passed three or four pleasant days here in the contemplation of the Lord. My heart was charmed by the natural beauty of the Trilokeenath plateau, surrounded by bare or snow-cov-

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ered peaks and deep blue deodar forests.

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STORY Section 33

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Mahakaleshwara

ord Shiva’s Swayambhu (Self- Generated)

Linga as Mahakaal on the banks of River Kshipra is a unique specimen of Jyotirlingas maintained on Tantrik Principles. The mythological background of the Temple related to a pious Brahmana well versed in Vedas and Sciptures who gave birth to four highly learned sons named Deva Priya, Priyamedha, Survita and Suvrata. A demon called named Dushana lived on a nearby hill Ratnamala who could not tolerate the very concept of Vedas and their applications and particularly hated the Brahmana brothers and on one day along with his co-demons encountered the brothers while they were engrossed in an ‘Abhisheka’ to the Mahakaala Linga. As the demons surrounded the Brahmana brothers and were about to kill them, there was a frightful and reverberating roar of ‘Humkaara’which instantly exterminated the killer demons. The Brahmana brothers prostrated gratefully before the Linga and recited soulful stotras and Maha Kaala made his unique appearance and intensified their Tri-Kaala pujas which were continued from generation to generation. The experience of early morning ‘Bhasmabhishekas’ with the bhasma / ash of the first dead body of Ujjain as purified appropriate Mantras with the Sacred waters of River V edanta Sandes h

Ksdhipra continues to be awe-inspiring till date! Ujjain, the

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Mahakaleshwara erstwhile Capital of Avanti has a glorious past as it was ruled by Mauryas and Guptas, especially by Vikramaditya and his renowned ‘Nava- Ratnas’ or the Nine Gems of Poets especially of Kalidaasaa, Vetala Bhatta and Varahamihira; his step brother Saint Bhartuhari who spurned on Kingship is still reputed for Bhartruhari caves as one went inside beyond a point would never return! Kala Bhairava Idol in the Temple in the vicinity of the Caves accepts half of any intoxicating liquor and leaves behind as a ‘Prashad ‘ or return of the Offerings. Ujjain is one of the Seven Illustrious ‘Mukti Sthalaas’ or Salvation Places in Bharat, besides Ayodhya, Mathura, Haridwar, Varanasi, Kan-

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chipuram and Dwaraka.

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Mission & Ashram News

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Bringing Love & Light in the lives of all with the Knowledge of Self

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