विद्या ददाति विनयं विनयाद्याति पात्रताम् । पात्रत्वाद्धनमाप्नोति धनाद्धर्मं ततः सुखम् ॥ vidyā dadāti vinayam, vinayādyāti pātratām | pātratvāddhanamāpnoti, dhanāddharmam tatah sukham || Hitopadeśa Knowledge makes one humble, humility leads to worthiness,worthiness creates wealth and enrichment,enrichment leads to right conduct, right conduct brings joy and contentment. Vidya – this term loosely translates into knowledge. The issue with …
Main jhukega nahi! Sher ko pakadne ke liye shikari chahiye… I hate violence…but violence likes me! Three movies have changed the game. Actually four. The first was Bāhubali, that showed the power of Telugu cinema to India and the world. Then came Pushpa – a low-key affair in the North but ended up shattering many …
क्षणशः कणशश्चैव विद्यामर्थं च साधयेत् |क्षणत्यागे कुतो विद्या कणत्यागे कुतो धनम् || kṣaṇaśaḥ kaṇaśaḥ ca eva vidyām arthaṃ ca sādhayet । kṣaṇa-tyāge kutaḥ vidyā kaṇa-tyāge kutaḥ dhanam ॥ Subhashita Knowledge and wealth are procured with every moment and grain (respectively). If a moment is wasted, how can knowledge be accrued? If a grain is wasted, how can wealth …
50 years. That’s how long my parents have been married to each other. We sometimes cannot wrap our heads around such numbers. You know, when you realize that some actors have been in the profession since six decades, or when you realize that Warren Buffet is 91 years old and still going strong – that …
Today is Ekādashi – the 11th day of a fortnight in a lunar month, as per the Hindu calendar. Since there are two fortnights, Ekādashi is celebrated twice a month. It is typically characterized by observance of a fast. And the fast can be of many types. From Nirjala Ekādashi – where one does not …
The Germans call it milchreis, the Spaniards call it arroz con leche, Malaysians pulut hitam and the Greeks call it rizogalo…any guesses? How about ‘eight treasures’? or Shola-e-zard ? Still no? Kheer, payesh, phirini, payasam? The first mentions of payasam were recorded in the epics of Mahabharata and Ramayana, as ksheer or kshirika in Sanskrit, which translated to a dish made …
Why do we pray? Today, on the occasion of Ram Navami, I booked a new temple for my house. I was running out of space to keep temple-related items, and Rohāmrta was having a field day reaching out for the agarbattis after they had been spent. These daily disruptions prompted me to lookout for options …
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 …
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 …
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 …
