Month: April 2022

रामो द्विर्नाभिभाषते…

द्विः शरं नाभिसन्धत्ते द्विः स्थापयति नाश्रितान् ।द्विर्ददाति न चार्थिभ्यो, रामो द्विर्नाभिभाषते ॥ Rāma doesn’t aim twice, he doesn’t give refuge twice, Rāma does not give twice to a seeker, he doesn’t speak the same thing twice. He does it perfectly the very first time. लक्ष्मीश्चन्द्रादपेयाद्वा हिमवान्वा हिमं त्यजेत्।अतीयात्सागरो वेलां न प्रतिज्ञामहं पितुः॥ lakṣmīścandrādapeyādvā himavānvā himaṃ …

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Of weekends and rest…

Today’s the weekend. Or what we have been calling (largely) Saturday and Sunday from the past 90-odd years. A gift from the factory-based economy. A 9-5 working day being the other. But have you wondered how it was before that? Did people have a weekend? Did they look forward to two days of rest (or …

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When is a good time to start?

So when is a good time to start? I spoke about Tithis in my past two posts. It is said that certain tithis are not conducive for study or beginning new efforts. In gurukulams (schools) and aadheenams (monasteries) these are times of retreat. As they occur in pairs four times per moon, they are roughly …

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Of 31 and 30, and 28 as well…

Yesterday I had written about how to read a Panchāngam, or Hindu calendar. Today, we look at a few more interesting concepts. While we normally follow the Gregorian calendar in our daily lives, the Panchāngam holds a special significance. The Gregorian is quite arbitrary, with months having 30 or 31 days with no apparent logic, …

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Of tubes and you…

A deviation today, from the usual Navratri talk. I have been watching various “village cooking” channels over the past few months. First, there was one from Tamil Nadu – a grandpa with his grandsons – an energetic take on cooking a monstrous amount of food and then distributing it to the needy. Entertaining, and I’ve …

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When fasting is starvation…

Fasting without feeding your spirituality is starvation. All it does is make you feel hungry the whole day and crave for food, when you should be working on developing your spiritual capabilities instead. Navratri fasts are a bit different from other fasts. Depending on where you come from in India, the rules vary. Some days …

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The dawn of a new age…

Friday, April 1, 2022 Sunrise: 06:15 AMSunset: 06:39 PM Tithi: Amavasya upto 10:23 AMNakshatra: Uttara Bhadrapada upto 09:10 AMYoga: Brahma upto 08:07 AMKarana: Nagava upto 10:23 AMKarana: Kinstughna upto 10:21 PMPaksha: Krishna Paksha Weekday: ShukrawaraAmanta Month: PhalgunaPurnimanta Month: ChaitraMoonsign: MeenaSunsign: Meena Shaka Samvat: 1943 PlavaVikram Samvat: 2079 RakshasaGujarati Samvat: 2078 Pramadi Twice in a year, followers of Sanatana Dharma observe unique festivities in the name of the great Mother of the universe, these two occasions of worship being called Vasanta Navaratri and Sharada Navaratri.  Tomorrow is the first …

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