Hindutoday Magazine

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HINDU TODAY May 2013 Issue 60 Editorial

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EDITOR-IN-CHIEF : ARJAN VEKARIA

PUBLISHER : PANNA VEKARIA

LEGAL CONSULTANT : VIJAY GOELUSA EDITOR

VRNDAVAN PARKER

AFRICA EDITOR

MULJIBHAI PINDOLIA

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the author and do not necessarily represent thoseof Hindu Today Group.

Issues, debates and controversies surrounding environmentalconcerns are certainly not new. But equally, at every pass-ing moment there is a new urgency and a growing rangeof environmental concerns all over the world. The very fact

that it is a growing range of concern is enough cause for alarm.So it is that today, loss of forest and green cover ora and fauna,pollution in several forms and at different levels be it the water,air, the food we consume, the consumer products we use, global

climate change, harmful waste disposal, construction in the nameof development on rivers and on land, and more threatens ourfuture. Not only this, it is a dire threat to those precious links toour ancient and priceless cultural heritage. It will be the greatesttragedy if these invaluable natural resources that have been nur-tured by the farsighted civilizations of our ancestors are destroyed.

It is there in India where perhaps the worlds richest culture,traditions, literature, unique spirituality, diverse ecosystems andstunning natural beauty have ourished since ancient times thatthe threat of destruction is now more real than ever. This scenariois quite obvious in relation to those efforts to save the holy Gangafrom further desecration. To millions of Hindus, the Ganga is not

just a river: she is a revered Goddess, a Mother Ganga Ma.Almost every Hindu from the most rustic to the most sophisticatedtreasures bathing in the Ganga. To take home a container full ofGangajal the holy water, that remains fresh even after beingstored for many years - is a matter of faith and pride. But all thismay change, the unthinkable may happen and the Ganga may rundry in the very near future. This threat in fact endangers our entireHindu civilization. The recent Kumbha Mela is a case in point.

It is no small matter that this same Ganga is at the epicenter ofhumanity's largest religious gathering. The entire event is centredupon bathing oneself in the waters of the Ganga. Thus to destroythe River Ganga is to destroy our religion. An article in this issue

of Hindu Today features a pilgrim's rst-hand experience at theKumbha Mela and the central role of the River Ganga to this event.All over the world countries are trying to preserve and restore theirrivers. In Canada, for instance, the Heritage Rivers Program seeksto promote, protect and enhance Canadas river heritage, and en-sures that rivers are managed in a sustainable manner. It is time,in my opinion, for Hindus to unite solidly on this issue and ensurethat the Ganga is accorded a heritage status time is running outand we are already running behind the clock. n

Arjan Vekaria

Editor-in-Chief

Mother Ganga


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Content

In This EditionFrom the Desk of Editor ...................................................................................................................... 1

Letter to Editor.......................................................................................................................................

To The Editor................................................................................................................................. 3

Cover story...............................................................................................................................................

Jagannath The Universal Lord.................................................................................................. 4

Management...........................................................................................................................................

Chanakya The Eternal Management Guru................................................................................ 11

Vastu.........................................................................................................................................................

Vastu Guidelines for Bedroom.................................................................................................... 12Dharmic Champions...........................................................................................................................

Guyana's Hindu Renaissance.................................................................................................... 14

Demystifying Hinduism......................................................................................................................

Hinduism : A Colorful Orange.................................................................................................. 18

Philosophy...............................................................................................................................................

Life and Death............................................................................................................................. 20

Culture......................................................................................................................................................

Hindu Mudras in Egyptian and Sumerian Statues................................................................... 22

Holy Quote...............................................................................................................................................

Karmanye Vadhikaraste Ma Phaleshu Kadachana................................................................. 24

Panchang............................................................................................................................................... 25

Tradition...................................................................................................................................................

American Indian Finds His Indian Heart................................................................................. 26

Travel.........................................................................................................................................................

Witnessing The Largest Act of Faith!........................................................................................ 34

Religion.....................................................................................................................................................

Sri Sri Balarama Revati............................................................................................................. 38

Darshan.....................................................................................................................................................

Charwaka Darshana.................................................................................................................. 42

Meditation.................................................................................................................................................

Are You Blessed?....................................................................................................................... 47

News..............................................................................................................................................................

New York Citys Sikh Day Parade 2013................................................................................... 48


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Letter to Editor

To The EditorI would really like to appreciatethe team of Hindu Today and the

author of the article "Seeing Vishnuin all beings - examining our treatof sex and gender minorities" forbringing in the view of the genderminorities. The world is one family.As the isha Upanishad says "That isperfect, This is perfect, Perfect comesfrom perfect, Take perfect from perfect,The remainder is perfect." With this inmind, who are we to judge or criti-cise anyone.

K Gheerawo, London, UK

I would like to thank you andapplaud you for publishing thebeautiful article "Seeing Vishnuin all beings - examining our treatof sex and gender minorities".Thearticle was very thoughtful, inter-esting to read and above all basedon Sastra, unlike so many popularopinions these days. I hope we canread many more open minded ar-ticles like this.

Bernd MeuwissenAmsterdam, Netherlands

I was interested to see the articleon LGBT issues in your publication.I think it is nice to see such relevantissues being brought to the fore-front where they can benet fromthe light of intelligent and rationaldiscussion. Modern society is trulystruggling with this issue and wesee religion on both different sidesof it. We know our Hindu tradition

is the oldest in the world. Unfortu-nately our culture is beset by super-stition and backwardness as well. Ican only hope that the discussionis not limited to simple cultural bi-ases but is truly based a spiritualoutlook which the world knows isthe hallmark of Hindu thought. Ithink it is the same for Christianswhere their leader, Jesus Christ,was the most revolutionary liberaland inclusive leader they had seen,but many modern adherents make

it a point to be close minded and ex-clusive. I hope our Hindu commu-

nity and it's leaders can rise abovethat.Ankur Sethi, Washington DC

I read the article "Seeing Vishnuin all beings". I think that article iscertainly applaudable, speciallyin context of the fact that I havebeen once associated with ISKCONclose enough to consider initiation,as well as with LGBT communi-ties and groups. I have had judg-mental devotee friends as well as

judgmental LGBT friends as well.And I think the article in questionis a healthy approach to encourageboth groups of people to be moreaccepting of each other.

Anupama Garg, New Delhi, India

We live in a world where Hin-dus follow culture or tradition morethan the actual religion, and veryoften they seem to confuse both asone and the same which is errone-ous of course. The caste system, the

killing and/or rejection of widows,the disrespect towards women, allthese kinds of discrimination is notendorsed by Dharma! Neither is thediscrimination towards the LGBTIpeople. And pointing it out usingvalid reference from the shastrasmight not please everyone speciallythose who aren't shastris or whovoluntarily want to perpetuate thiskind of himsa, but ultimately theycannot quote to defend their big-oted views. Everybody talks of Sati

to show how backward Hindus arebut no one quote the story whereKrishna married thousands of wid-ows to stop this new alien idea ofwidows as polluted. Everybodytalks of caste but nobody bothersto mention Rama eating the rem-nants of a low caste woman or us-ing the boat of a low caste person.Dharma is said to be subtle some-times but on those cases it is obvi-ous that there is absolutely nothingDharmic about discrimination...

at all!||Dharmo Rakshati Rakshi-tah||. I applaud this gentleman

for having the courage to show thetruth to the world.||SatyamevaJayate||

Amit Parsad, Dublin, Ireland

To act on these sexual proclivi-ties is considered demonic. Evensex between a husband and wife isto be abstained from unless for pro-creation. We cannot ignore whatSrila Prabhupada said on this sub-ject and supporting same sex mar-riage and promoting it does just

that. It is true all can come to Krs-na but they have to give up thesethings. Without giving it up thestandards are not there. Srila Prab-hupada did not condone same sexmarriage in any way anywhere andspoke against such actions. He gaveus the highest standards and to giveanything less is just cheating. Justread Srila Prabhupadas books onall matters and everything becomesclear. Putting material designationson ones self will only entangle us

further. I nd Amara prabhu to be anice devotee but some of his viewson this matter go against Srila Prab-hupadas teachings.

Zoltan Balarama Das Corbett

Honolulu, Hawaii

Thank you so much for your beauti-

ful tribute to Kula. I never knew about

his early days in the Krishna movement

nor how much of an impact he had on

so many people. The guy was a genius

in more ways than one. Its sad we dont

live in a society that values such talentabove and beyond money. From what

he told me even his own Krishna group

never really facilitated people accord-

ing to their natural inclinations. Either

way for better or worse I was lucky to

know him during his days in Eugene.

He told me more about food, music, the

Beatles and religion in 3 months than I

ever knew in a lifetime. He had a great

sense of humor as well. Reading your

tribute has given me a sense of closure

and if what he told me about Krishna is

true then Im sure thats where he went.John W. Nannell, Eugene, Oregon


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JAGANNATH

THE UNIVERSAL LORD

Oh Lord Jagan-natha Kindly be visible to me.Jagannthah svm nayana-patha-gm bhavatu me

May that Jagannatha Svami be the object of my vision

Evidence of Ancient Jagannath Worship in India, Egypt and the Middle East

The Tribal Peoples of Odisha (Orissa) India claim thatsince time immemorial they have worshiped their for-est's World Tree Brahman-Daru (daru=tree) Form ofLord Jagannatha, who is also the great Lord Jagannatha

of the Holy City of Puri. Factually, in addition to the Tribals ofOdisha, every major Tradition of Hinduism, including the ortho-dox and heterodox sects of the Vaishnavas, Shaivas and ShaktiWorshipers, the sattvic bhakti yogins, and ritualistically purecaste brahmanas, the rajarshic hereditary royal kshatriyas, thetamasic so called left hand tantrists, and even the non HinduBuddhists and Jains have famously worshiped Lord Jagannatha,

the Purushottama of Puri, at one time or another.So, we should ask historically and theologically who is thisstrange-looking aniconic pillar like Form of the Supreme Lord,Whose worship has out lasted the rise and fall of great Indianand regional empires and the conicts of their patronizing reli-gions, for thousands of years? We should ask ourselves Who isThis God, Whose aniconic Form and cartoon-like Face as PatitaPavana (Savior of the Fallen Souls) is so simple that a little childcan remember and draw Him. Equally adored by the greatestsaints and thinkers, the most powerful rulers and little childrenas well, the original identity of Lord Jagannatha is certainly theSupreme Enigma. We know Who He was to His earliest OdishanTribal Peoples, and to His subsequent Tribal worshipers in Puri,but to so many others, we can only ask if He was a Jain, the Bud-dha, the Vedic AdiPurusha as the Puranic Rama or Krishna, oreven the Agamic Shiva. But, why should our questioning stopthere?

If we study the many local and regional Indian Traditions re-lated to Lord Jagannatha of Puri, there are countless oral andwritten (shastric) lila/ pastime stories, and local versions ofthese sacred traditions, there are the documentable histories andsystematized theologies, the esoteric 'mysteries' and the publicdoctrines, the vedic, dakshinamarga and the vamamarga tantricpractices, the countless saints, scriptures, commentaries, litanies,hymns and cult centers associated with Him. He is worshiped by

the Monists, the Advaiti Non Dualists and the Dvaiti Dualists.He is the Supreme Lord of the Universe, and His universal cha-


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risma/ attractiveness is evidentin His most widespread and ecu-menical appeal. This is why somany millions of pilgrims fromso many Indian religious tradi-tions, tribes, occupational varnasand religious ashrams come tosee Him during His Rath YatraFestival each year.

But is Lord Jagannatha onlythe Lord of the Universe to 'Hin-

dus', or to the traditionally up-per class or caste of the suppos-edly 'Aryan' Peoples of India?What about the Tribal Peoples'claims that they worshiped theDaru Brahman 'Tree' or 'Pillar'Form of Jaganata, along withHis Chakra and Lion-HeadedForm (of Nara-Hari) before any socalled invasion of racial 'Aryans'?The Telugu Language is as impor-tant as Hindi and Bengali in India,

and the Telugu speakers also wor-ship Krishna or Vishnu, Shiva andDevi in Their Multiforms. LordJagannatha is thus as popularwith the Tribal Peoples and theso called 'Dravidians' and TeluguSpeakers of India as He is with theSanskrit using so called 'Aryans'.In addition to the Sanskrit of thenow discredited racist 'Aryan In-vasion Theory' of Indian Civiliza-tion, hundreds of other languag-es and dialects are used by therich diversity of Mother India'sPeoples, who are to this day still

united in their worship of Lord Ja-gannnatha of Puri. Factually theastoundingly rich diversity of thedifferent Peoples who are unitedin their love of Lord Jagannatha,

and in the Divine Love of Lord Ja-gannatha, is hardly equalled any-where else on Earth.

We should understand by thisprofound diversity of His wor-shipers, and the general mobil-ity of ancient peoples and thecontinual transplantation of theirreligions and cultures, that LordJagannatha's worship was neverthe exclusive property of any oneethnic or linguistic group, social

class or caste within the India ofthe ancient World. Rather thanassuming that Lord Jagannatha's

worship was somehow (impos-sibly) conned to the Indian sub-continent, we should consider thewhole of Bharata, the ancient Fer-tile Earth, which was once uniedunder the rule of the righteous

Emperor Bharata. We should askif Lord Jagannatha's ancient wor-ship was once a global phenom-enon, which crossed all kinds ofethnic, linguistic and social classbarriers, just as it does today.

Is the compelling evidence ofHis Daru Brahman worship by theso called 'primitive' Tribal Peoplesof India proof that He was the Su-preme Lord of earliest humanity?If we study the religious beliefs,

the sacramental social organiza-tion and practices of such 'primi-tive' peoples world wide, willwe nd evidence of Lord Jagan-natha's worship among them? Toanswer this question, we need toconsider the totality of the leg-ends and the essential beliefsand practices of Lord Jagannathaof Puri, and to summarize themost essential elements of thesefor comparison with other veryancient traditions world wide.

Taken together the most es-sential elements of the pan Hin-du Legend of Lord Jagannathainclude His appearance in, oras, a great Tree or a gigantic Logthat oats up and/or grows onthe shore of a pious King's do-main. At the point of the King's

possession of the Brahman DaruLog/Tree, the many Stories of Ja-ganata/Jagannatha and NarahariRupa crossover or become con-

founded with each other. Thusfrom within a cruel King's throneroom Pillar, the Man Lion (Nara-Hari) Form of Jagannatha Puru-shottama reveals Himself otothe impious demon King Hiran-yakasipu, and punishes the kingfor his cruelty to his 5 year oldson, Prahlad. This Revelation ofGod from inside the Pillar is in-stigated by His Devotee, the childPrahlad. Returning to the Jagan-natha of Puri legend, the Form ofJagannatha is revealed to His pi-ous King Devotee, Indradyumna,

We should ask ifLord Jagannatha'sancient worship wasonce a global phe-nomenon, whichcrossed all kinds of

ethnic, linguisticand social class bar-riers, just as it doestoday


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after the King's impatience to seethe Lord instigates Jagannatha toappear before His impatient Dev-otee, from 'within' His BrahmanDaru Tree or Log Form.

It should be noted that the

worship of God as the World Treeor Universal Axis Mundi, Pillar orStambha of Heaven was commonthroughout the ancient World.In this context one can study theDruids of Europe, who were Treeworshipers (the Sanskrit worddaru = tree), and compare thepractices of the Druids with theSun Dance World Tree related rit-uals of the Native Americans.

Another essential and persis-

tent element of the Mega Storyof Jagannatha is related to howHis Body was enclosed inside ofthe Daru Brahman Tree or Log.Here are excerpts regarding thisstrange but important Mahab-harata related Tradition.

"The Skanda Purana andBrahma Purana have attrib-uted the creation of the Jagan-nath puri during the reign ofIndradyumna, a pious king andan ascetic who ruled from Ujj-

ain. According to the second leg-end, associated with the Vaish-nava's, when Krishna was killedby a Jara and his mortal remainswere left to decay, some piouspeople saw the body, collectedthe bones and preserved them in

a box. They remained in the boxtill it was brought to the attentionof Indradyumna by Lord Vishnuhimself who directed him to cre-ate the image or a murti of Jagan-nath from a log and consecrate the

bones of Krishna in its belly. ThenKing Indradyumna, appointedVishwakarma, the architect ofgods, a Brahmin carpenter tocarve a murti of the deity from alog which would eventually washup on the shore at Puri. Indrady-umna commissioned Vishwakar-ma (also said to be the divine godhimself in disguise) who acceptedthe commission on the condition

that he would not be disturbed tillthe carving of the image of the de-ity was completed, and the kingagreed to this condition. He then

began his work in complete isola-tion behind closed doors." Desh-pande, Aruna (2005). India: A Di-vine Destination.

"Sarala Dasa, the great Oriyapoet of the 15th century C.E whilepraising Jagannath as the saviorof mankind considered him bothas a form of Buddha as well as amanifestation of Krishna.Das,

Suryanarayan (2010). Lord Jagan-nath: Through the Ages

According to Sarala Dasa's Ma-habharata, the mortal remains ofKrishna transformed into a wood-en form and oated up to the Purisea shore. Jara Savara, an aborig-ine, picked it and worshiped it.Subsequently, Indradyumna, theking of Somavamsa, had threewooden images made out of thelog and established a grand tem-

ple for the images."The profound signicance ofthis seemingly incongruous butpersistent part of the pan HinduLegend of Krishna Jagannatha asDaru Brahman becomes readilyapparent when we compare theIndic Traditions of Jagannatha tothose of Heru Ausu Atum (HariVasu Atman) as DjedDjedNouti(Jagannatha) of the ancient Afro-Helleno Semitic Heliopolitan Asy-la Federations. The Supreme Lordof most ancient Egypt was HeruThe Elder, the original Helios of

He creates, maintainsand destroys all com-posite 'material' things.Thus Arjuna saw Himas Kalah devouring theWorlds. To the Shavites,Jagannatha and/ or

Baladeva of Puri isShiva.


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Cover Story

the Sacred Lotus, Rose or Star Is-land of Rhodes and the EgyptianCity of Heliopolis. Heru (Hari,the Eli of the Jews) was alwaysworshiped with His Alter-Formor 'Brother' Ausu (the Bal Yahu ofthe Jews), and Their All PervasiveHoly Spirit Hidden Form as Atum(the much later omnipresent Aten

of the Amarna Period). Ausu/Wasu-Theos (Vasu-Deva) wasthe Per-Ausu/ Pharaoh/ Puru-sha (Greek Polieus) Who presid-ed over every sacred City Nomedistrict of Egypt. His mysticalsocial-body as the sacriced Cos-mic Per-Ausu was thus the Sourceof all of the so called 'gods' of theHeliopolitan-Alliance Asyla Tem-ples of the ancient World. Factu-ally these 'gods' were all Forms of

the One God, Per-Ausu, the AdiPurusha Purushottama, the Lordof the Universe, Jagannatha.

Did Heru Ausu Atum as Per-Ausu have a giant Log, Pillar orTree Form? Yes. Here is a sum-mary of some of the countlessvariations of His Story.

Donald Alexander Mackenziewrites in his book Egyptian Mythand Legend: With Historical Nar-rative, Notes on Race Problems,Comparative Beliefs, "In themyth of Osiris and Isis, Osiris waskilled by Set by being tricked into

a cofn made to t Osiris exactly.Set then had the cofn with thenow deceased Osiris ung intothe Nile. The cofn was carriedby the Nile to the ocean and on tothe city of Byblos in Syria. It ranaground and a sacred tree tookroot and rapidly grew around thecofn, enclosing the cofn within

its trunk. The king of the land, in-trigued by the tree's quick growth,ordered the tree cut down andinstalled as a pillar in his palace,unaware that the tree containedOsiris's body. Meanwhile, Isissearched for Osiris aided by An-ubis, and came to know of Osiris'slocation in Byblos. Isis maneu-vered herself into the favor of theking and queen and was granteda boon. She asked for the pillar

in the palace hall, and upon be-ing granted it, extracted the cofnfrom the pillar. She then conse-crated the pillar, anointing it withmyrrh and wrapping it in linen.This pillar came to be known asthe pillar of Djed.

In this version of the Greco-Egyptian and Near Eastern Storyof Brahman Daru Jagannatha, theLord's Body has been enclosedin His great sacred Tree or Log(Daru) and in this Form He hasoated up on the shore of theKingdom of Byblos, where the pi-

ous King makes Him into a Pillarin his Throne Room. However,the pious God loving King doesnot know that the Lord is withinthe Pillar, until God, Ausu Theos(Vasu Deva) is revealed there by

His Devotee, in this version of theStory, by His Beloved Wife, Isis.

The worship of the EgyptianDjed Pillar or Tree, which wasalso common throughout the Re-gion among the Semites, is ex-plained in these Egyptian OsirianLegends as related to this BiblicalHoly Land Byblos Story. In theabove version, Isis Herself inau-gurates the worship of the DjedPillar/ Tree in memory of Her

the Lord. In other versions of theStory of Isis and Osiris, while Isisis lamenting the loss of Her Lord,the cruel Adversary of God andthe Theoi/Devas, Setu (Ketu)shows Her a wax head of Osiris.This is reminiscent of Mother Sitabeing shown a wax head of Rama.When Per-Ausu's, Purusha's (Po-lieus's) Body Parts are divided-upamong the sacred Cities of Egyptand the Region, His Body Partsbecome the Polieus Theoi/ Devas

presiding over those PR/L cities.Thus the religiopolitical Helio-politan Alliances of the Egyptian


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Cover Story

Per, Greek pol, Semitic Yir andSanskrit Pura sacred City-Statesformed and reformed over thou-sands of years, unifying the verydiverse and widespread Devoteesof the Supreme Lord, DjedDjed-

Neter/Nouti/Jagannatha.The Pharaoh/kings of the vari-

ous Nomes or Temple Districtswere the anointed empoweredPurushas/Per-Ausu Pharaohs,and the Supreme Emperor Pha-raoh was the empowered Earth-ly King of Kings, but these wereproperly All empowered rulers,only sanctied and anointed toserve God in His Name, and withHis crowns, thrones, weapons, ve-

hicles and miscellaneous regalia.Expert Egyptologists understandthat the Pharaohs were conse-crated Sacred Kings and were notborn as gods hereditary semidi-vine rulers. Thus God's favorcould be bestowed upon a king orofcial, or withdrawn from him ifhe was unworthy. All, even thegreatest Pharaohs, who were notGod Himself, were just servantsof the same Lord. This was a fea-ture common to both the earliest

Heliopolitan and Vedic traditions.This is of course why the King ofPuri sweeps the street before LordJagannatha's Chariot during theRathaYatra Festival.

However, forgetting this prin-ciple of the necessary humilityof the anointed ruler before God,as Kali Yuga progressed, the de-graded mode of passion rajarshicidolatry of merely fallible humankings arose, and suffering the arro-

gant cruelty and unworthiness ofthese self proclaimed semidivinetyrannical false kings, the peopleof the World gradually overthrewthem, thus now very few remain.Unfortunately though, such un-worthy leaders still do exist to-day, behaving like self appointedgods on Earth by denying the Godgiven freedom and dignity of themany millions of their severelyoppressed and exploited subjects,who continue to live under theirabominable systems of inhuman'laws', especially those 'laws' cru

elly exploiting and oppressingwomen and children.

This brings us to the ques-tion of the ancient confounding

of the Forms of Jagannatha andNrsimhadeva or Nara Hari Rupa,the Lion-Headed Form of the Su-preme Lord Purushottama Jagan-natha. In the ancient World, theLion headed Form of the SupremeLord was especially consideredthe Protector of women and chil-dren, the inrm, elderly and anyother helpless oppressed or en-dangered beings. Thus He wasalso the Patron Deity of protec-tors everywhere. His Hero/Suraarmies fought to liberate the en-slaved and oppressed. They werenot oppressors and exploitingrapists, enslavers and plunderers.The Heroes of the One True Godwere Saviours of all those in need.They ventured into the World tond and rescue all those in needof their help. Thus the Lord'svarious sanctuaries or Asyla shel-tered women and their children,orphans, runaway slaves, the in-

jured, ill and elderly, and even re-deemed criminals. The Sanctuar-

ies of the One True God were HisAsyla and Cities of Refuge andHospitals. Much evidence is avail-able in this regard by a study of

the Heliopolitan Cults of Bes, As-clepios and Serapis and the AyurVedic AnantaCharaka. LordHari Vasu Atman's/Heru AusuAtum's Sanctuaries, Sabbaths,Ekadasis and Jubilees created sa-cred spaces and times of rescue,redemption, rest and respite forall those in need.

His worthy Raja Rishi RoyalRaya Rulers defeated those selfappointed idolatrous false god

kings (like Vasudeva Paundraka)who abused their dependent sub-jects and were thus unworthy oftheir rule. The True God's realanointed Raja kings (Roman RE-Gents, Greek Rex Kings, JewishRosh, Razan Chieftains) caredfor their dependents, as a LovingFather cares for his own children.The real representatives of Godon Earth were not despots; theyliberated those in the bondage ofdespots. As the All God, the One

True God was (and is) the LovingFather of All, and the Promoter of

(Above: Egyptian Jagannath - DjedDjedNeter / Nouti/ Jagannatha)


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peace and the common good ofall. He is not just the Patron De-ity of one gender, ethnicity, socialclass or religious congregation.

As both the Universal Destroy-er and Protector, Lord Narahari isthe wrathful Lion Headed Form ofLord Jagannatha. He is also calledby the Names of Lord Baladevaand Shiva, such as Kalah/ Time,

Mahadeva and Bairava. He is Ka-lah Purusha the Lord of the KalahCakra Time Cycle/ Cakra. As Ka-lah/ Time He creates, maintainsand destroys all composite 'mate-rial' things. Thus Arjuna saw Himas Kalah devouring the Worlds.To the Shavites, Jagannatha and/or Baladeva of Puri is Shiva. Tothe Mahayana Buddhists, Tantricand Pure Land Buddhists, Jagan-natha of Puri is Kala Bairab, or

Mahadeva the wrathful Trans-formation of Narasingha Lokesh-vara. Thus the Lion Headed Formof Sri Hari or Bhagavan Krishna,the Adi Purusha, is worshiped inall of these ways within the cultusof Jagannatha Narasimha of Puri.

At Puri and elsewhere, there isa clear and consistent confound-ing or crossing-over in the Leg-ends of Jagannatha Daru Brah-man, in which the Lord's Log orTree Form oats up on some pious

king's shoreline, and the Nara-Hari Story, in which the Man-Li-

on Form of the Lord appears fromwithin a great wooden Pillar inthe atheistic King Hiranyakasipu'sthrone room. Again in Egypt andthe Ancient Mediterranean, andin many other lokas/ locales/ lo-cations around the World, we cannd vestiges of Lord Jagannatha'sworship connected to the wor-ship of God as Time in the form

of the Lion-Headed Nara Hari orconfounded with the worship ofthe Leontocephalos Lion HeadedTime/Kalah Form of Lord NaraHari. Thus in ancient Africa andEgypt, among the Europeans, andthe Biblical Semites, the wrathfulLion Headed Form of God was of-ten worshiped in connection withthe Pillar Cultus of DjedDjedNe-ter/Nouti/ Natha. In EgyptianBiblical Coptic Nouti means 'Lord'

and it is clearly cognate with theSanskrit Divine Title Natha 'Lord'.On the top of the famous EgyptianMetternich Stele, the Lion HeadedForm of the Supreme Lord HeruAusu Atum is depicted holdingHis various Scepters, which in-clude the Scepter of Wasu Theos/Vasudeva, the Scepter of Ausar/Osiris/Ahura Mazda the VedicVishnu-Ashura, and the Scepterof DjedDjedNouti/Jagannatha.

So to answer our original ques-

tion about the mysterious identityof Jaga-nata of the forest-realms

and the Indigenous Tribal Peoplesof Odisha, and the Jagannatha ofthe Vedic Religionists of Jagan-natha Puri, and why this Deityseems to be worshiped by everymajor Tradition in India in some

way or another, we can safely con-clude from the very ancient Medi-terranean Regional evidence thatthe Tribal Jaganata is also the Ve-dic (Greek Oida = Biblical Yeda)or 'Aryan' Jagannatha, and thatHis worship has the same featuresin the Mediterranean Region as itdoes in the Indian constellationof Religious Traditions. This evi-dence shows that in the beginningthere was No Racial distinction

between the Devotees of the Lord.They all worked and worshipedcooperatively together for thepleasure of the Lord and for theircommon good. Thus such alli-ances or Leagues of Devotees ofLord Jagannatha Purushottama,the One True God, created longlasting eras of Purusha worshipbased Varnashrama Dharma so-cial stability and peace, and pros-perous high civilizations.

May Lord Nara Hari again

raise-up righteous Raya RoyalRulers of true Heroic Aryan No-ble Character, to serve and protectHumanity and the Earth. AndMay the World-wide unity ofthe Devotees of this Loving andLiberating Universal Father Godbring us mutual protection, peaceand prosperity once again. JayaJagannatha! n

Bhakti Ananda Goswami

The author of thisarticle is a Vedic Monkin the Brahma-Mad-hvaGaudiya Vaish-nava Lineage TridandaSannyasi and Siksha(Instructing) Master.Retired Head of In-terfaith Research andCommunications for the World VaishnavaAssociation, Vrindavan India. B.A. 1983,With Three Years of Accredited GraduateLevel Interdisciplinary Research, (includingan Independent Research South East Asianand Indian Field Study Course Contract) inHistory of Religion, Comparative Religionand Theology, Marylhurst University, LakeOswego, Oregon.


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11

Management

High attrition rates area major problem inthe IT, ITeS, BPO, and

other sectors. The reasons whypeople leave a job cloud be any-thing the lack of incentives, orbetter offers from rival compa-nies who are luring away theemployees to deal with theirown shortage of manpower.

But regardless of such exter-nal conditions that the currentemployers can hardly anythingabout, the fact remains that em-ployees are motivated or de-motivated by the way their em-ployers treat them.

There are three ways ofgetting work done from your

subordinates instigation, mo-tivation, and motivation. Insti-gation is the way terrorist aremade to work. Motivation in-volves incentives and promo-tions, whereas inspiration comesfrom within the self, which is eter-nal and everlasting.

The real change for an em-ployer is to take his employeesfrom Motivation to Inspiration.Chanakya outlines the reasons

that demoralise employees, Rea-sons for dissatisfaction of subjects:By ruining human exertions, byspoiling the excellence of workdone. (7.5.19-26)

Employees work hard and ex-ert themselves. If their efforts arenot recognised and are destroyedinstead, the rst seed of attritionis sown. Secondly, when the em-ployees create or produce some-thing better for the company, he

or she deserves rewards. So, howdoes on inspire ones employees?

8Money Is The PriorityDo employees work for mon-

ey? Yes, they do. That is the rstand the most important require-ment. No organisation can keepa person inspired, if the salariesare not paid on time. Also offer options beyond their salaries em-

ployee stock options, incentives,share in prots, and other schemescan be worked out by the manage-ment to keep the employees nan-cially secure.8Work Hard, Rest Well

The employer has to believethat optimum productivity isachieved by giving space andpeace of mind to the employee.In some developed countries,employees work very hard for

ten months to take a two monthsholiday. We may have a problem

with this model, but the impor-tant fact is that the thought of atwo-month vacation has madeemployee work hard for tenmonths. The balance betweenwork and rest has to be main-tained for better results.8 A Higher Purpose

Employees want somethingbeyond money and that is re-spect and challenge. They alsowant a purpose for their lives.If the leader is able to nd thatpurpose for the employeesthen phenomenal success isguaranteed. This is a spiritualrequirement. The Spiritual Quo-tient (SQ) of the employee has tobe developed for this to happen.

A recruitment advertisementof a well-known IT companycarried a caption under an em-ployees photograph: I found apurpose to live for in this organ-

isation. A Best Employer surveyhas also found higher purpose tobe essential for employees. n

Chanakya The Eternal

Management Guru

Dr. Radhakrishnan Pillai

Radhakrishnan Pillaifrom the university of

mumbai, department ofPhilosophy is the foun-derdirector of Chanakyainstitute of Public leader-ship (CiPl) a research based organisa-tion that is working to promote indianconcepts in management. he has donean extensive research on kautilyasArthashastra, the well known bookon management written in 4th bCfrom Chinmaya international founda-tion (Cif), kerala under the guidanceof dr gangadharan nair, the dean ofAdi shankara samskrit university. helater proceeded to do his MA in san-skrit and a Phd. in the subject. he is a

certied management consultant fromthe international institute of manage-ment consultants.


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12

Vastu

Vastu Guidelines for Bedroom

Something that everyone hasin common is sleeping. Ittakes up approximately onethird of your life and there-

fore is an extremely important factorin your overall health. The Bedroomis the private place, where you canunwind, relax and sleep. It is also thespace where you get dressed, readand study. The Bedroom is usuallyaccessed from the dining room if it ison the Ground Floor or the staircaseif it is on the Upper Floors. Since

Vastu is a science, every guideline isbased on reasoning and logic.

Scholarly king Bhojdev remarksthe importance of the Vastu princi-ples in the rst chapter of his historictreatise Samarangana Sutradharas....

Sukhamdhanani iddhishcha San-

tati Sarvada Nanam I Priyas-

hyesham Tu Sansiddhayai Sar-

vam Syachchhubhalakshanam

II Yachcha Nindita Lakshmatra

Tadetesham Vighatakrat I Ata Sar-

vamupadeyam Yad Bhavechchhub-

halakshanam II

It implies that the house com-plying with the Vastu specications

would bring happiness, prosperityand health to the owner and his fam-ily residing in it; the family will beblessed with noble-souled childrenwho will brighten the name of theirparents. The house designed againstVastu principles might, however,prove to be the reverse that is, maybring misery, poverty, ill health, in-harmony and other negative effects.

Some other scriptures also cite:Shastramanen Yo Ramyo Sa Ra-myo Nanya Eva Hi. It means that

any creation or construction, howso-ever outwardly beautiful it may be,


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Vastu

is complete and fullling only whenit is in accordance with the laws andguidelines of the concerned Shastras(Vedic scriptures).

As such all the rooms in the houseare important for the occupants, how-

ever, like the kitchen, the bedroomattains special signicance for them.Whether it is a palatial mansion or abig or small at, the bedroom hap-pens to be the only place where onerelaxes and sleeps for a few hoursafter the hectic, stressful or busyschedule of the day. In most cases,one spends about one-third of thewhole day in taking rest or sleepinghere. If we consider the active age ofa person to be around 70 years on an

average, and let his average hours ofsleep/rest per day to be about 7 to 8hours, we nd that we would havespent about 23 to 24 years of our ac-tive life span in the bedroom!

Sound sleep and proper rest isimportant for sound health. It istherefore of obvious priority thatour bedrooms bear a soothing ambi-ence where we could relax and sleepwithout disturbance and irritation.Location of the bedroom relative tothe other room(s) and with respect to

the geo-magnetic effects and naturalenergy elds is therefore very impor-tant. Vastu plays a key role in opti-mizing its position and design in ourhomes.

As per the Vastu Shastra, Southand West are supposed to be the suit-able directions for construction ofthe bedroom. Of these, South is saidto be the best. Maharshi Vashishthasguidelines in this regard, as quoted inthe Vastu Ratnawali, are...

Aindrayam SnanagrahamKaryamagneyam Pachanalaya |

Yamyayam Shayanam Veshma Na-

iatyam Shastramandiram ||

Maharshi Kashyap also states thesame in an independent context,

Prachyam Dishi Snanagrahamag-

neyam Pachanalaya| Shayanam

Yamyadigbhage Naiatyam Shastra-

mandiram||

Both the shlokas mean Bathroomshould be placed in the East, Kitchenin the Southeast. Bedroom should belocated in the Yamya (South) direc-tion and weaponry (security-related

storage and safe) in the Southwest.Muhurtamartand and MuhurtaChintamani also specify south asthe best direction for construction ofthe bedrooms.

The 150th Shloka of

the"Vrahadvastumala" also saysPurvasyam Shrigraham Prokta-

magneyyam Syanmahanasam |

Shayanam Dakshinasyam Ca Na-

iatyamayudhashrayam ||

The Shloka indicates that thewealth should be safeguarded in theeastern corner of the house. South-east direction is best for the con-struction of the kitchen, south forthe bedrooms and southwest for theweaponry.

The 154th Shloka of the samescripture indicates another possibledirection for the master bedroomof the house as somewhere in theNorthwestern side of the house Ka-mopabhogashamanam Vayavyotta-rayorgaham (The room for amourof the husband and wife owning thehouse, should be somewhere be-tween the Northwest and the Northdirections).

Because of being the most privatepart in the house, bedroom is also

referred as antahpur in the scrip-tures. It should obviously be awayfrom the main entrance of the houseto prevent disturbances by the visi-tors.

Depending upon the size of thefamily, more than one bedroom mightalso be required in some houses.In such cases, the scriptural guide-lines on Vastu suggest bedroomscould be (in the order of suitability)in the South and Southwest direc-

tions. Putting bedroom in the southis supposed to be the best choice.The geomagnetic effects are mostsoothing here for mental and bodilyrelaxation. One gets good sleep hereand regains energy and freshness forthe next day. This way, his/her pro-ductivity and mental peace and cre-ativity also increase. Thus, havingthe master bedroom in this directiongenerally results in happiness andprosperity for the family.

Having bedroom in the Northeast(Ishana) Direction is supposed to beagainst the principles of Vastu. Hav-

ing bedroom in this direction is notsuitable because, as the name sug-gests (Isha = God; Ishana = place ofGod), this direction is most suited forthe worship-, prayer- and meditationroom. If the master bedroom hap-

pens to be in this corner and is beingused by the head of the family, he/she might suffer physical and mentalproblems and often face economicconstraints.

Apart from these, if necessary,the portions between the West andSouthwest or, with lesser positiveeffects, in-between West and North-west, or Northwest and North couldalso be selected for this purpose. Ifonly two bedrooms are required, the

best combination would be one inthe South and the other in the North-west. The directions East, North,Southeast and Northeast are said tobe unsuitable for the construction ofa bedroom.

If needed, the house could havethe following arrangements: themaster bedroom in the South orSouthwest corner of the house; thebedroom for the youngsters or thechildren should in the east or north ofthis room; the bedroom for grownup

girls in the family in the Northwest.For the newly married younger cou-ples, it could be in-between the Northand the Northwest; and towards theNorth (or Northwest, if there is freespace available) for the guests.

If it is feasible, the bedroomscould be designed (successively)in the L-shaped portion around thesouthwest (from Southwest up toNorthwest and from Southwest up tojust before Southeast).n

Coralie Felicitas Srivastava

M.Phil, Ph.D, honoriscausa

Coralie Felicitas Srivastava is aLondon-based researcher, writerand a VastuShastra consultantwho has received her Ph. D de-gree from the Zoroastrian Col-lege on the importance of using the UniversalScanner and VasatiYantras to obtain optimumhealth and create a stress free environmentand life. She is an expert at counter balancingGeopathic stress and negative energy eldsin a property using metal rods and Yantras.She has received an Honorary Doctoratefrom the Indian Institute of ComplementaryMedicine and is the Vastu consulting editorfor the Hindu Today.


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Dharmic Champions

Pandit Mohanlal Sa-

hadeo Ji was borninto a Hindu family inGuyana on September

9th, 1939. He attended St. Peter'sRoman Catholic school in the nextvillage. As was the norm then,the Catholic Church that ownedthe school was next door and thestudents had to attend Mass everySunday. Mohanlal Ji did so, andsoon became an altar boy. He wasbaptized and given the name Je-rome. He stayed Christian until hegot married at age 23 years.

His wife Phulmati was froma very traditional Hindu family.Her father and uncles were all Ra-mayana exponents and there waseven a mandir (Hindu temple) intheir yard. (In Guyana and otherCaribbean nations, devotion toLord Ram through chanting of theRamayana (Ram-carit-manas) of

Tulsidas is central for many Hin-dus.) From the moment the youngcouple started their new life to-gether, Mohanlal Ji started takingan intense interest in Hinduism.He joined the youth arm of whatwas then the only major Hindu or-ganization in Guyana at that time,the Maha Sabha. He also begantaking an active role in the mandirin his village.

Both before and after gaining

independence, Guyana was divid-ed into two major political partiesand their leaders played on theinsecurities of the two most popu-lous races. Politicians inltratedthe Maha Sabha: the ruling partytook control of the leadership andthrew out those who didnt sup-port their party. One such personwas Pandit Reepu Daman Per-saud, an executive member of theopposition party. He said that after

being kicked out of the Maha Sab-ha, he was at home one day when

he received a call from Mohanlal

Ji. Pandit Persaud said that Mo-hanlal Ji asked him what he wasnow doing and he replied that hewas at home most of the time withlittle to do. Mohanlal Ji then saidto him,Pandit, why don't we startour own Hindu organization?"And the Pandit said that his wordsin reply were, Jer*, do you think

it will work? to which Mohanlal

Ji replied, We will make it work!Pandit Persaud then invited Mo-hanlal Ji to come to his home anddiscuss this groundbreaking idea.Thus was born the biggest Hin-du organization in Guyana: theGuyana Hindu Dharmic Sabha,and was inaugurated on January8, 1974. Pandit Mohanlal Ji was

Guyana's Hindu Renaissance


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Dharmic Champions

made the Junior Vice President ofthe Sabha.

These details were revealed tothe public exactly 3 weeks beforethe passing of Pandit Mohanlal Sa-hadeo: on the March 6, 1992. There

was a Bhagwat Puran Yagna at hisMandir and Pandit Reepu DamanPersaud was the presiding priest.At the Sampoorn/nal session ofthe Yagna, Pandit Persaud spokeabout his long relationship withSri Mohanlal Sahadeo and sharedthis story, which was corroboratedby Sri Harry Persaud Ramdass Ji,

the rst general secretary of theDharmic Sabha. He came to attendthe shraddha (Hindu funeral/me-morial service) of Mohanlal and herelated further that when PanditPersaud invited Mohanlal Ji to his

home, he had also asked Harry Jito attend.

The Dharmic Sabha becamethe largest Hindu organization inGuyana, with Praants/branchesin the different regions of country.The rst of these was the East De-merara Praant that was launchedafter the Sampoorn of a yagna

held at the opening of the newMandir in his village. Mohanlal Jihad been instrumental in its con-struction.

The original temple in his vil-lage was one of the oldest in the

country and it had become difcultto maintain, so a new building wassorely needed. By this time, Mo-hanlal Ji had become the Presidentof the mandir. It was his greatestdesire to see a new mandir built.On the night after the cornerstone-laying ceremony, Mohanlal Ji wasalready planning the program forthe Mandir's opening, which hescheduled for the following Janu-ary. There was no room for doubtin his mind and sure enough,within 6 months of laying its cor-nerstone, the mandir was declaredopen at a grand yagna on January14, 1980. This was a most remark-able achievement, as in those daysGuyana was going through someof its darkest days where Indians/Hindus felt as if their very exis-tence was at risk. During that peri-od, basic food items, including and

especially the staples of the Hindudiet were only available as blackmarket contraband. Furthermore,basic construction materials suchas cement, etc, were also scarce.Despite these obstacles, MohanlalJi used his vast contacts and per-sonal nances as a businessman tomake his dream of a new mandira reality.

During the early 70's, most ofthe temples paid Pujaris (a kind

of Hindu priest) to conduct thesatsanghas (religious meetings).When the Pujaris had to performprivate pujas (Hindu rituals) atpeople's homes at the same timeas temple services, the devotees inthe temple were left without anypuja. This happened a few timesat his temple and Mohanlal Ji de-cided that this was unacceptable.He was closely associated withSwami Purnananda Ji Maharaj of

the Guyana branch of the BharatSevashrama Sangha. Mohanlal


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Dharmic Champions

Ji formulated a Hinduprayer book, based onthe Hindutwam ofthe latter's organization,which he introduced tohis temple. This book

was later used as theprototype to be intro-duced to all the othertemples in the DharmicSabha with some addi-tions by Pandit ReepuDaman Persaud. Nolonger were the templesdependent on the Pu-jaris to conduct theirsatsanghas. MohanlalJi also trained in andbegan doing the for-mal pujas at his temple.His Guru Ji was a di-rect shishya (disciple)of Swami Sivananda JiMaharaj of the The Di-vine Life Society. Swa-mi Chinmayananda JiMaharaj visited Guyanain 1967 and MohanlalJi was one of fortunate

ones to meet Swami Ji.After Swami Ji returnedto India, he started tosend his books to Mohanlal Ji andwould also words of encourage-ment and wisdom for him.

Mohanlal Ji was elected thePresident of the East DemeraraPraant and remained in that po-sition until his passing. He wasalways interested in creating av-enues to propagate and promote

his Dharma. As mentioned ear-lier, Hindus were under tremen-dous political pressure. To helpstrengthen the community againstsuch pressures, he was instrumen-tal in the creation of many initia-tives. For example, Mohanlal Jidevised several youth programsthat included inter temple sport-ing activities. There were separateannual Youth Camps for boys andgirls. The boys' camp was hosted

at the Cane Grove temple everyyear at that time, while the girls'

camp was hosted at his temple inTriumph. Every month, there wasan activity at the Praant level. Heinitiated an annual Chowtaal (tra-ditional songs sung for the Hinduspring festival/Holi) Samelaans(gatherings) to herald in the Holiseason. Kirtan samelaans werealso started. He organized trainingsessions for the Executives of theapproximately fty temples underhis leadership. The Motorcade (anannual parade) was another of hismajor activities. The wife of thethen-Organizing Secretary saidthat she will miss seeing him at herhome early every Diwali morningas he would make sure that allthe supplies used for the Motor-cade were safely back in place asearly as possible at their home and

then he would sit and have coffeewith her...the Motorcade was al-ways hosted on the eve of Diwali.

Because of such initia-tives during his tenure,the East Coast Praantbecame the model forthe other praants of theDharmic Sabha to fol-

low.The Triumph temple

was a landmark in Guy-ana when it opened andmany came to visit. Swa-mi Chidananda Ji Maha-raj of The Divine Life So-ciety was one of its rstvisitors. This Mandirwas the pride and joy ofMohanlal Ji. There wasarti every evening atthe mandir. Hindi, mu-sic, and home economicclasses were held. De-bating and sports wereencouraged. He had abody building machineand table tennis tableput in at the mandir.There was also a libraryand home economicscentre that was later

constructed with assis-tance from the Americanand Canadian Govern-

ments and the Indian Governmentsupplied books to the library anddonated musical instruments. Hewas also very much interested inthe welfare of children and startedone of the rst Bacchon/kids classat his Mandir in the late 1960's andcontinued this class up until hepassed away. His students came

and sang through his service andmarched along with the proces-sion that followed his bodily re-mains to the cremation ground1 mile away from his home. Hestarted honoring children on thebirth anniversary of Pandit Nehruas the latter was very keen on thewelfare of children. This day isstill being observed by the Dhar-mic Sabha.

Many Hindu groups from other

countries, like the Sai Baba organi-zation and ISKCON/Hare Krsna,

(Pandit Mohanlal Sahadeo (L.) felicitates the President of Guyana Cheddi Jagan (R.))


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Dharmic Champions

were helped to get established inGuyana by Mohanlal Ji. When theHare Krsnas wanted to expand toGuyana they came to Mohanlal Ji.There was nowhere to even housetheir leaders/pujaris when they

came to visit so he had them stay athis home. He even hosted satsang-has and lm shows to educate thelocals on their mission. Many oth-er Swamijis and Hindu missionar-ies that visited Guyana wouldalso stay at Mohanlal Ji's homewhere they were assured of sat-tvika/pure vegetarian food andcompany. Mohanlal Ji raised hischildren in Sanatana Dharma/Hinduism in all its purity. Theirvery earliest memories are lledwith visits of spiritual personali-ties and places. Whether it wasvisiting the temple or ashram,he always had his young familywith him. Srimati Sahadeo (hiswife) recalls an incident whenPandit Reepu Daman Persaudwas visiting one evening whenthey were at their mandir. Shesaid Pandit Ji was chatting with

her and her husband and helooked over to where the older3 siblings (the youngest was notborn as yet) were playing in themandir's yard and he remarkedthat when they grew up, no matterwhat anyone may try to do, theyare never ever going to be able totake Dharma/spirituality awayfrom these children.

It has now been 20 years sincehis Lord took him back at the age

of 51 years. Even today, peoplestill remember him for his humil-

ity, kindness and dedication to hisdharma. Many of the practisingPujari/pandits today rememberhis helping them in their forma-tive years. At a fund raising cer-emony in New York City held at

the end of March, for the buildingof a new temple, Pandit MahendraDoobay spoke about Sri Mohan-lal Ji. He was one of the studentsof Sri Mohanlal Ji's bacchon class

when it was rst started.Mohanlal Ji never took himself

too seriously, and was not obsessedwith his own importance. Fromthe smallest child to the oldest el-der, no one was afraid to approachhim. He promoted the usage of theSanskrit greeting using the wordPranaam. This word literallymeans "I bow to you". Mohanlal Ji

would not wait for anyone to tellhim Pranaam when they see him;

he would automatically say Pra-naam. Mohanlal Ji was not only adevotee, he was also a karma yogiin its purest form. He used his in-uence as a business man to helpmany people in many ways, from

getting them scholarships to Indiaand North America, to nancingsuch trips, to paying for the funer-als of people who couldnt affordthe expenses. Many still rememberhow he helped them to constructor repair many mandirs and henever asked for any recognition.After his passing, our family wasregaled with many a story of whathe did for people. In one case, wewere told the story of when hesaw his photograph on the altarof a mandir because he had paidfor its construction, but as soonas he walked into the mandir andsaw his photograph there, he de-manded that they remove it. Simi-larly, he never allowed himself tobe praised. He was deeply pas-sionate about his dharma and hispeople. Then-incumbent PresidentDr.Cheddi Jagan left aside prepa-

rations for the upcoming electionsto attend his cremation. Dr. Jaganexplained that it was his duty to bethere, and he helped to carry thearti/Hindu funeral, and he wel-comed and thanked the peoplethat turned out in the thousandsto pay tribute to Pandit Mohan-lal Ji. It was a tting send off fora soul who came from humble be-ginnings, yet left such an immenseimpact on the lives of all whom he

came in contact with. n

Nanda Sahadeo

Daughter of Pandit Mohanlal Sahadeo, who was a founding member of the Guyana Hindu Dharmic Sabha and President of the Tri-umph Mandir. She and her siblings grew up in the Sabha and Mandir. She was given Diksha when she was 5 years old and receivedDiksha again from a direct shishya of Swami Chinmayananda Ji Maharaja and Swami Dayanananda Ji Maharaja. She is trained inIndian Classical Vocal Music, Dance, Yoga, Hindi and Sanskrit from the Indian Cultural Center in Georgetown and studied Vedanta.She is a qualied Writer and Journalist and also paints. Nanda became the Pujari of the Triumph Mandir, Triumph Village, after thepassing of her youngest Brother Pandit Maheshwar Sahadeo. Nanda was the rst woman in Guyana to serve as a MandirPujari; afterinjury prevented her from sitting down, her younger sister is now serving as the Pujari. She is a fervent Hindu Rights Activist who frequently defendsanything pertaining to and educating others about Sanatana Dharma especially in the newspapers in Guyana and online. One of her most successfulactions was getting promoters in Guyana to desist from hosting the Miss Diwali Pageant and stopping them from using the name and festival of Diwali

when holding any activity that does not uphold the sanctity of the sacred occasion of Diwali which is Maha Lakshmi Puja. Her present interests lie inthe rights of Hindu women and children and social problems facing the Hindu home especially with regards to abuse.

Mohanlal Ji raised hischildren in SanatanaDharma/Hinduism inall its purity. Theirvery earliest memoriesare lled with visits ofspiritual personalitiesand places. Whetherit was visiting thetemple or ashram, healways had his youngfamily with him.


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18

Demystifying Hinduism

Hinduism can be com-pared to an Orangefruit. Everyone iden-ties the religion

with the color orange. But notjust any ordinary orange, it is anorange with each of its peel dis-tinctly different in color, tastesmell and texture. For a thinkingmind it is a garden of thoughts.Hinduism has profound philoso-

phy embedded within. It has init all the branches identied inwestern philosophy and more.Hinduism stands out not onlyas a guide for rituals, beliefs andpractices; but also acts as a riverwhich quenches the thirst of ev-ery human mind.

In my subsequent articles, Ishall attempt to substantiate myclaims with examples pickedfrom various writings of several

great thinkers of the religion. Ev-ery thinker enjoys the freedom ofthought and expression and it isa treat to study these thinkers ex-ploring every possible interpreta-tion of even the nest details ofthe observable world around us.

Let us consider an epistemo-logical question: The validity ofknowledge. Different schools ofIndian philosophy take differentstands with reference to the dis-tinction of true knowledge fromfallacious one.

We see many things all aroundus. While we believe most ofthem, we also reject a few as in-correct. The objects around us, thebook you hold in your hand now,the table youre perhaps sittingby, etc., are taken to be true. Webelieve in our perception of theseobjects. On the other hand, weare also prone to misconceptions,we mistake a rope lying in dark

to be a snake, which we initiallybelieve and then disregard. Once

we realize that it is actually a ropeand not a snake, we disregard theearlier perception that told us itwas actually a snake and acceptthe latter perception, the correctone. We are aware of two kinds of

perceptions, one which is correct,like the perception of the book in

your hand; and the other whichis wrong, like the rope which ismistaken to be a snake. How dowe make out which perceptionto believe and which not to? Andshould we disregard one kind of

perception completely?No, says Sri Ramanujacha-

A Colorful Orange

Hinduism


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19

Demystifying Hinduism

rya, a philosopher who lived inthe10th and 11th century CE.All knowledge has some degreeof truthfulness to it. He explainsthat every object has componentsof every other object. All the ob-

jects in the universe are made of afew basic ingredients like air, wa-ter, re, earth and space. It is theproportion of each of these build-ing materials that decide whatthe end product is. It can be seenlike the formation of different col-ors from three basic colors: red,blue, green; or cyan, magenta andyellow. Just the way all colors aremerely combinations of these ba-sic colors, we get different objects

like a mango, a rock and othersby varied combinations of thebasic elements. So, essentially,though very small in quantity,the proportions of other ob-jects exist in all objects. Butthey are overridden by onedominant proportion andwe identify that object dis-tinctly on general accord.When we see an object asthe other, we are actuallyseeing the minor fraction

of the whole. The perceptionwhich grasps the dominantproportion is to be believedfor practical purposes and theperception which only shows youthe minority proportions, thoughin some sense correct, should notbe accepted in practice.

The rope has in it the propor-tions of the basic elements thatmake a snake, but more than theproportions of a snake; it has the

ones of a rope, making it distinctfrom the snake. It is due to thissimilarity that both the snake andthe rope have a few common fea-tures, like the softness, color etc.

Another school of thoughtholds a completely different viewon the same subject matter. In therst place it rejects two kinds ofknowledge. The Prabhakara tra-dition believes that all knowledgeis true and correct. There existsno misconception as such. Wemight wonder then, what aboutthe popular misconception of the

rope and the snake? The explana-tion given is that when you seea rope, two things happen. Yousee the rope and actuated by thesimilarity seen you rememberthe snake. The cognition, it is a

snake is not just one, but a groupof two different kinds of percep-tions. One kind is that of sensualperception and the other kind isrecollection. We do not mistakethe rope as snake but fail to rec-ognize the difference betweenthese two cognitions which comein package of a single sentence,the way it would be, if it were a

single perception.Another school of thought

called the Vaisheshika, builds

upon the previous conceptual-ization. It is the existence of theobject of cognition that decideswhether it is a misconception ornot. When you see an existent ob-ject, its considered correct cogni-tion. And when you see an inex-istent one, it is a misconception.But since an inexistent object can-not be seen, the snake cannot becompletely inexistent (it must ex-ist somewhere, if not where yousee the rope). So a misconcep-tion cannot exist. The snake-ropemystery is explained as a com-

posite of two cognitions. Firstly,the cognition of the object lying infront of the viewer (the rope) andsecondly, the perception of thesnake which is true elsewhere.

These schools of thought reject

the existence of any misconcep-tion by providing different expla-nations of the concept.

Hinduism also has thinkerswho maintain a completely op-posite view.

The Dwaita school of thought,popularized by Sri Madhwacha-rya of the twelfth century CE,contradicts the previous notionsof the snake-rope quandary. It ac-cepts that there are two kinds of

knowledge, correct and incorrect.By employing reason and logicit suggests that untrue objects

can be seen because of defects;defects in the instrument ofperception, and in the ob-jects perceived. It believesthat we misconceive real-ity. We often mistake therope to be a snake, andhence feel fear, a very realemotion and an accurateresponse to seeing a snake.

We have seen diverseviews regarding the di na-

ture of perception and cogni-tion. , Such diversity is reect-

ed by the metaphor of Hinduismas an Orange. Indeed Hinduismhas produced a variety of think-ers with widely different world-views, yet the religion stands outunited. This elegance unique toHinduism. n

To be continued

Pandit Lakshmeeshacharya

Pandit Lakshmee-shacharya is a studentof HH Sri Satyatma-teertha Swamiji, hewent to JayatirthaVidyapitha and stud-ied Vyakarana, Tarkaand Vedanta, and wastaught higher texts byHH. He also has the distinction of being astudent of science. This young scholar fromBangalore, has dedicated his life for researchin philosophy, quantum theory and evolu-tionary biology.


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Management

Philosophy

Man the world over hassought to discover thepurpose and meaning of

life and death. In pursuit of know-ing, he has created mythology, as-trology, philosophy, religion, god,worship, Tantra, Samadhi and lib-eration. The yogis desire to knowthe nature of the Self led themto experience the Divine withinthemselves. The experience of Di-vinity caused their behavior to beethical by nature.

They realized we have not justone lifetime, but many in a con-tinuing chain of evolution. Eachlifetime we take birth in order tosatisfy particular desires and to re-solve certain chakra drives.

It has been said that the causeof life is ignorance, the purpose oflife is to be free, the tool of life isknowledge, the method of life isperseverance, the joy of life is blissand the height of life is in stillness.

We can briey discuss theseconcepts. The cause of life is ig-norance; ignorance of ones past,of the karmic seeds that are re-sulting in our present experience;ignorance of the forces that areoperating at this present momenton earth and throughout the uni-verse; ignorance of what makesus feel the emotions the way wedo, what makes us feel the painswe do, what gives us the lovedones we have and then takes them

away; ignorance of how to live ina human body and survive, love,accomplish, give and evolve spiri-tually in an often times difcultworld.

The purpose of life is to be free.Not the pseudo freedom to simplybe able to act out ones desires asthey bubble up in the mind oneafter another, but the genuineand lasting freedom of being ableto transcend personal wants and

desires. Mother Earth producesenough for her sons and daugh-ters but fails to provide all one hu-

man being can desire.

To achieve an objective aware-ness to witness how the forcespush and pull ourselves as they

push and pull those around us; to

be free to accept and tolerate thepassing waves of emotions andenergies and x ones mind on the

Life and Death


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Meditation

Philosophy

absolute, to be free to let go of at-tachments to youth, to pleasures,to the body, to life itself. For theancient yogis, the highest of allhuman virtues was the virtue ofabsolute un-attachment.

If a man be thoroughly un-at-tached, all other virtues will neces-sarily nd a place in him. He will,thus by nature, be truthful, honest,just, upright, generous and chari-table, for there is nothing to whichhe is attached. There is no interestuppermost in his mind, he willnaturally be thoroughly selessand absolutely disinterested in hisaction and conduct towards oth-ers. No joy can elate him, no sor-

row can depress him, no sufferingor despair can overwhelm. He isabove all earthly joys and suffer-ings above all attachments toworldly things. Nothing canswerve him from the path ofuprightness and virtue; no in-terest can distract his mind. Heis thus far above all others. Thegreat god Shiva is the highestpersonication of the virtue ofunattachment. He is the high-est ideal of all yogins and san-

nyasins.To be free is to also be free

of the fear of dying, not strug-gling to survive just a few mo-ments longer. Rather than dy-ing in a state of fear of whatis beyond, or dying while re-gretting all the things one wasnot able to accomplish, onemay die in a peaceful, accept-ing way. One is able to expe-rience faith in the divine and

full awareness of the transitionprocess as it occurs out of thebody into subtler realms of con-sciousness.

The tool of life is knowledge.Knowledge of what is required ateach age and stage in life. Knowl-edge of what is the dharmic rolefor which one is best suited in thislife. Knowledge of what kind offood should be eaten for healthand clarity of awareness. How touse sex, how to relate to people,how to rear children, how to doSadhana (spiritual work), to expe-

rience higher states of awareness.The method of how to attain

this knowledge is perseverance;following daily disciplines for re-training, developing and recondi-tioning old habit patterns of the

mind and body to sensitize it andallow unfoldment of its vast po-tentials.

And what is the result of suchspiritual perseverancethe joyof life. It is a feeling of deepercontentment and bliss than canbe attained through any victory,achievement, vacation, sex ordrug. Everyone seeks that state ofinner peace and harmony whetherconsciously or not. The most plea-

surable things are done again andagain to get a brief glimpse or ex-perience of that feeling of Ahh!

Hhaa!. In that wonderful instantone feels satised and content.But quickly it passes and the nextdesire wells upand we are offagain to satisfy it.

Microchakra Psychology

does not encourage renunciationfrom the world. In fact, the op-posite is true. It is one of the mostsophisticated and elaborately de-tailed systems for explaining howto optimize and enrich living inthe world, in order to fulll allof ones duties to parents, to chil-dren, to friends, to society and tothe planet as a whole.

Working in the world butmaintaining a non attached at-

titude and following a regularspiritual discipline brings content-ment. When one reaches old age,

the remaining years of life canbe a very extraordinary expe-rience. Instead of ending oneslife in loneliness and senil-ity and fear of the approach-ing death, one is able to elevateand expand ones awareness toplanes of bliss detached fromphysical and emotional suffer-ing. In India such persons are

not uncommon and are soughtout with the greatest respectand reverence for guidance andadvice. By fullling all of onesworldly responsibilities andduties while young, one has aclear conscience to sustain thehighest awareness possible forthe remainder of ones years.For the height of life lies in thestillness of meditation, return-ing to the source within. n

Working in the world

but maintaining a non

attached attitude and

following a regular

spiritual disciplinebrings contentment.

When one reaches

old age, the remaining

years of life can be

a very extraordinary

experience.

Sri Shyamji Bhatnagar

Shyam Bhatnagar Shyamji met his guru at twelve years of age in the hills ofDehradun, India. A year later he learned to play tambura from the great artistsPran Nath and later with Jagdish Mohan. In 1965, Shyamji was using chant andtambura to treat clients and students spiritually and psychologically. Ravi Shan-kar heard one of Shyamjis recordings and asked him to play tambura on hisrst American tour in the late 1960s, which included historic performances atCarnegie Hall and Lincoln Center in New York. Currently, as head of the ChakraInstitute, Shyamji maintains a vigorous teaching schedule from his base in theNew York metro area. In addition, he regularly conducts classes, consultationsand workshops in Belgium, France and the Netherlands. His authoritative book on Microchakras, co-authored with David Isaacs, PhD., is a landmark in the study of chakras in the subtle body. Shyamjis

reputation rests on his insight into the action of microchakra blockages on the physical body, and theeffect of chanted sound on the dissolution of those blocks. Many who have participated in his classesreport that they have experienced true meditation for the rst time.


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Vastu

Culture

What is a Mudra? Mu-dra is the hand gestureor the nger position.

Gods or saintly persons who prac-tise meditation or Yoga use Mu-dras. The Mudras are sacred,mysterious and magical. They

can attract or distract people.They express lot of things.They are meaningful. They cangive you certain powers.

The word Mudra is de-rived from two Sanskrit words:

MODHANATH and DRAVA-NATH. The meaning is that

which makes the Devas happyand that which gets rid of thesins. More over it fulls the de-sires of the people who practisethem. The Sanskrit sloka says:

ModhanathsarvadevanamDravanath papa santhathe:Thasmathmudrethisakyatha

SarvakamarthasadhaniMudra Vidhanam, a book

published by Ramakrishna Muttlists 137 Mudras practised by

the Hindus. Buddhists andJains have added some

more. So there are at least150 recognised Mudras.

But naturally the per-

mutation and combi-nation of hand

and nger positions can give ushundreds of different Mudras. Ifone notices the hand and ngerpositions of Hindu Gods and God-desses or the statues of the Bud-dha, one can easily learn aboutthem. Why did the Hindu Gods or

the Buddha who was born a Hinduuse them? The reason is they cangive the practisers some power.Even in the modern culture, show-ing middle nger in western coun-tries is rude. Recently a singer anda foot ball player were condemnedfor the rude gestures. So hand ges-tures are powerful.

In the classical dance calledBharatanatyam, there are lot ofMudras called Karanas. They areused to express feelings and givedifferent messages. The booksabout Mudras are in Sanskrit.There are 108 different Mudrasshown on the tower of Chidam-baram temple where the Lord ofDance Nataraja/Shiva appears inhis dancing form. The dance Mu-dras are different from Yoga Mu-dras. The Tantric Mudras are dif-ferent from these two categories.

Mudras have been used by theHindus for thousands of years.

Egyptians and Sumerians havelearnt them from the Hindus. Themost famous Mudra is the ChinMudra of Lord Dakshinamurthy(Shiva). Abhaya Mudra shownby all the Hindu Gods and saintsis also famous. Chin Mudra givesone the divine wisdom. AbhayaMudra gives us the message,Why fear when I am here?.Though Hindus invented them,Buddha was the one who mas-

tered them. Every Buddha statueshows a different type of Mudra.Now the Buddhists have been

Hindu Mudras in Egyptian

and Sumerian Statues


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Vastu

Culture

talking about them in the medita-tion classes more than the Hindus.

Mudras in Egypt and Babylonia

If anyone has an eye for dif-ferent gestures, one can noticethe Egyptian and Sumerian Godsshow different gestures. Babylo-nian gods touches their shoulderswith crossed hands. This is calledKavacham Mudra. This protectsone like a shield. Other gods and

goddesses show one hand touch-ing the heart (chest). It is calledJnana Mudra. We are told thatLord Rama liked this very much.

Lower hand facing up, usuallyon one lap is called Vara (boon)mudra. Hindu gods show AbhayaMudra with one hand and VaraMudra with another hand mean-ing You dont need to fear, I willgive you the boons you ask for.

Mudras affect the ow of en-ergy in the body. By positioning

the hands and ngers in a particu-lar position one can channelize the

energy. Jain Thirthankaras , Indusvalley Statues and Egyptian Pha-raohs keep their hanging handsstraight. They resemble one anoth-er establishing some connection inthe past. This Mudra is called Kay-otsarga Mudra.

Hand on hand on the lap iscalled Buddha Mudra. We nd itin Jain and Buddha statues.

Hindus use Mudras in the Puja,Meditation, Yoga Sadhana (Prac-

tice), Yagas (Fire Ceremonies)and Naivedhyam (food offerings).There are different types of Mu-dras for different Gods. Anna, agreat Sanskrit scholar, has listed137 Mudras under 12 different cat-egories in his book Mudra Vidha-nam (Ramakrishna Mutt Publica-tion) .This is authentic. But severalwebsites give us different typesof Mudras with different inter-pretations without attributing thesources. So one wonders whether

there is any basis for such inter-pretations.

Brahmins who do the daily rit-ual of Sandhyavandhana use Mu-dras and Nyasam. Brahmins dosee the sun though the nger hole(not to damage the eye). Nyasamis touching different parts of bodylike head, mouth and heart withthe right hand. Priests who do SivaPuja use lot of Mudras. Those whowant to learn about the Mudrasshould learn it from those whopractise it instead of the websites

and books. Websites and Booksare only guides, and not Gurus. n

Santanam Swaminathan

Santanam Swaminathan wasborn in Nagappattinam inTamil Nadu. He is workingas a tutor at the University ofLondon and a Health Advo-cate in a London hospital. Hehails from a journalist family.His father Santanam was the News Editor ofDinamani in Madurai. He translated Anna

Karenina of Leo Tolstoy in 1940s whichruns to 1500 pages. It was considered a greatachievement at that time.


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Vastu

Holy Quote

Karmanye Vadhikaraste

Ma Phaleshu KadachanaUS

U sS

(Bhagavad Gita, Chapter II, Verse 47)

In English transliteration:

Karmanye vadhikaraste ma phaleshu kadachnaKarmaphalehtur bhurma te sangostvakarmani.

In English translation:

Your right is to work only,But never to its fruits;

Let not the fruits of action be thy motive,Nor let thy attachment be to inaction.

Commentary

This famous verse from BhagavadGita contains the essential principle ofdetachment in the actions that people

perform. It cautions that the naturaltendency of people while doing workis to be deected from disinterested-ness - particularly thinking of fame orfortune along the way. The will of Godis supreme, and the fulllment of thatwill is all that matters. Success or fail-ure does not depend on the individu-al, but on many other factors as well.

The core principle of this verseprompts you to work with a perfectserenity, steadfast in inner composure,and being indifferent to the results. Hewho acts by virtue of an inner law ison a higher level than the one whose action is dictatedby his whims and emotions. It is the true inner poise(samatvam) and self-mastery. It is the true conquest ofanger, sensitiveness, pride and ambition. It is the trueyoga. Those who purse this wisdom go the region ofthe Gods.

Symbiotic Relations

Well, here is a simple instance to bring out the dif-ference in understanding the real essence of karma.

When people take debts, as per law of any land, theyhave to payback it with due interest. Isn't it? There is

no way of turning down the responsibility of payingback.

While you perform duty, the nature of the conse-quence that follows from the performance of duty isnot clear to your mind. So to expect a particular re-sult to follow from a particular action would be likea blind man groping in the dark and catching hold ofwhat he does not know is there, for example how seven

blind people describe the elephant differently becausethey don't have the physical vision to see the reality.While under the given circumstance of your existenceyou have an obligation towards things, which has tobe clear to your mind, you cannot clearly perceive theresult that will follow from that action because results

are conditioned by innite factors; notnecessarily the thing that you do fromthe point of view of your only limitedunderstanding. There are other factorswhich conditions things.

You can sow seeds in a eld and

expect a harvest. You may be justiedin expecting a large harvest to followthe fact of your sowing a seed, put-ting the manure, watering it, fencingit, guarding it. But do you believe thatthis is the only thing that determinesthe harvest? There are other conditionsnecessary for the harvest to be reapedapart from your tending it, and apartfrom all that you have done for it - therainfall, the seasons, and the othernatural conditions necessary may begreater conditioning factors than yourneed to sow the seed and pour manure

and water into it; and many other invisible factors alsoare involved. Since you are not omniscient, you can-not know all the things in the world, you cannot knowwhat result will follow from what action. Hence, it isnot proper on the part of the person to expect a par-ticular fruit from any action because the fruit is not inyour hands, while the duty is your obligation. You canpresent a case before a court, but you cannot decide thecase yourself - that has to be done by the judge. If youalready decided the case, there is no need of presentingthe case at all. So, the performance of duty is some-

thing like presenting a case, and the judgment is not inyour hands, so don't expect the fruits. n


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Vastu

Medition


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26

Tradition

Have you ever beenlooking for some-thing specic andrather than nding

what you were looking for foundsomething else which totally cap-tivated you? Perhaps there wasthe forgetting of that thing which

was originally sought. Howeverthat which was found contained

a key to a door. There is a choiceto either step through or to passit by. There is no right or wrong.But when one gives up the idea ofbeing in control, moving throughthis period in faith and trust, it isthan that the journey can transi-tion from mundane to ethereal.

This is the story of such a journeyand it began with four people. For

me these four people representthe sacred medicine wheel. Eachhas a direction. Each has a placeat any particular time, but thereis constant movement. Today onemight be here in the east and thenin a few seconds be in the north.Never the less, these four people

have ridden with me, whether ornot they are aware of this is uncer-

American Indian Finds

His Indian Heart


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Tradition

tain. To not mention them wouldbe equal to saying that this was alldone by the self and that there isno divine inspiration. Tools, thatis what each and every one of usare, tools of the Divine. These four

very beautiful people have beenso important and inspiring in thisleg of my journey into the Hindutraditions. They are RashikaDasi,Vijay Krishna, SarasvatiDasi andNitai Gaur Prem. Together theyare the Kirtaniyas. Hearing theirBhajan invoked my journey to-wards Krishna. It is actually notthat startling for when we openourselves to God, Keshava in bothSanskrit and in the American Na-tive Dakota dialect, then the tal-ents which we possess become thetools of God.

In the American Indian Da-kota dialect, Na means And orHere as in something is here orrecognizing something is here, orin making an offering of some-thing. Maste means warmthwhich comes from the Sun. Thusthe word Namaste means 'Here is

warmth, here is light, here is re,here is love'. The three primary di-alects of my people are Dakota orIna Iyaku kinthe mother's speak.Lakota of the Plains and Nakotaof the West. The Dhegiha spot-ted esh or rusty hair (both are

correct) this includes the Osageand all of the 21 res (nations) aswell as MdewakantonDwellersof Spirit Lake. Our people have abeautiful phrase in our language.According to my research the

word appears to be ro

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