Vedanta Sandesh - Jul 2016

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Entering the 23rd Year of Publication

MonthlyeM

agazineoftheI

nternationalVedantaMission

NewForm

at

Year - 23 Issue 1

July 2016

Tattva Bodha

Gita Reflections

We Must

Wandering in Himalayas

Pauranic Stories

Guru Para mpara Pics

Incredible India Pics

Mission / Ashram News


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Earlier Issues
http://issuu.com/vmission/docs/vedantasandesh_june2016http://issuu.com/vmission/docs/vedantasandesh_may2016/1https://issuu.com/vmission/docs/vedantasandesh_april2016


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1. Shloka 5

2. Message of P. Guruji 7

3. Tattva Bodha 9-11

4. Letter 13

5. Gita Reflections 17-19

6. We Must 21-237. Jivanmukta 25-27

8. Incredible India Pics 28-29

9. Story Section 30-3110. Ashram News 33

11. Mission News 34-37

12. Forthcoming Progs 38-39

13. Links 40

Vedanta Sandesh - July 2016

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Published byInternational Vedanta Mission

Vedanta Ashram, E/2948, Sudama Nagar,

Indore-452009 (M.P.) India

http://www.vmission.org.in / [email protected]

Monthly eMagazine of the International Vedanta Mission

July 2016 : Year 22 / Issue 1

Editor:

Swamini

Samatananda

Saraswati


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lqrsf/krscgq/kk Hkorks

Hkfork len'kZuykylrkA

vfrnhufeeaifjiky; eka

Hko 'kadj nsf'kd es'kj.ke~AA

OSankara!Irealizethat eventhedesiretohaveyourdar-

shanisaneffectofsomanypunyakarmas.Realizingmypro-

foundignorance&incapacities, Iamhumbled,andIjust pray

toyoutohelpmeout.OSankara,youalonearemyresort.

Totakashtakam- 5

5


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Message

from

Poojya Guruji

Vande Guru Parampaparam

Guru is one who -

lovingly brings the light of knowledge in our lives descends down to the level of student

is passionate about making everyone enlightened

effaces ignorance & delusion and thus reveals the truth

doesnt impose, but facilitates direct realization

has just one prayer: Tamaso ma jyotir gamaya

is the best & highest blessing of God

is verily a manifestation of God appears to be an individual, but is not

is basically innite, manifested as nite

Guru is one without whom no knowledge is possible.

My Blessings & Best Wishes to all my disciples, devotees &

friends on the pious & auspicious occasion of Guru Poornima.

Love & om

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Anew section of the FiveKosas was introduced in the last edi-

tion. We will now take up this subject

and try and understand each kosa in

some details. The five kosas beingthe Annamaya, the Pranamaya, the

Manomaya, the Vigyanamaya & the

Anandamaya Kosas. In this section

we will try and understand the An-namaya Kosa.T

ATT

VA

BO

DH

A


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vjlsuSo HkwRok vjlsuSo o`f)a izkI;

v:ii`fFkO;ka ;f}yh;rs rne;% dks'k%

LFkwy'kjhje~A

9

What is the Annamaya Kosha?

Annamaya Kosha is our Gross Body, that

which is borne out of the Rasa of Anna

(the essence of food), by this Anna-Rasa

alone it grows, and finally it goes back into

the Earth - the source of all Anna.


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The Annamaya Kosha is the r

layer of our personalitys ve koshas. It

is also known as the gross body. Being

gross it is composed of the ve elements

which have undergone the process of

grossication. This layer of our person-

ality is made up of Anna Rasa, and itgrows because of this Anna Rasa, and in

the end it goes back into this Anna Rasa

alone. Anna Rasa means that essence

of our food which the body retains & as-

similates. It is living and has the capacity

to reproduce.

Blessings of a human body:

In the entire cosmos there are count-

less living beings but the physical body of a

human being is the mo unique and highly

privileged. When we are blessed with the

human body then alone we can bring about

self awareness. A human body alone has

the freedom to act, to not act or to act ina dierent manner. It is therefore said that

a human body is acquired with great pun-

ya karmas. Not only does the human body

have the privilege of freedom in action

but only a human being has the privilege

to bring about self awareness. A human

being can dive deep into knowledge and

discover the reality of the Self as a con-

scious, ever exient and self contented

being. The human body by itself is never a

medium of sorrow but it is the wrong iden-

tication of the self with the physical body

that eablishes a wrong relationship and

wrong expectations out of it, thus making

it a house of pain and sorrow. Having the

right perceptions of the physical self and

thus eablishing the right relationship

makes it a house of great blessing.

Modifcations in The Annamaya:

The physical body goes through

various changes which are described as

shad vikar-the six modications of the

gross body. Coming into exience in the

mothers womb, taking birth, growth, un-

dergoing changes, decaying and death.These are the six modications inevitable

in any birth. It is important to lay empha-

sis on this aspect of the annamaya as

this reveals to us the objectivity and ever

changing nature of the physical body.

Erroneous presumptions:

The Annamaya Kosha being gross

and hence the mo visible it is mo easy

to identify with as the Self. This is the

house of all our experiences, imuli and

responses thus making it a very impor-

tant layer of our personality. It requires

great value and care but unfortunately

one comes to identify with it as the Selfthe I. Identifying with the physical body

as I is seeing the Self as limited and con-

sequently agging o a life of wrong rela-

tionships, wrong expectations and contin-

uous seeking. Fir of all identifying with

the physical body as the I prints an Iden-

tity card, wherein we are connected to the

body. I am thin, I am fat, I am a man or a

woman, I am healthy I am ill, and above

all I am born and I will die. This is identi-

cation with the Annamaya kosa. By itself

our physical body is annamaya that is it is

made up of the food we eat which is not

a problem at all, but this annamaya body

becomes a kosa when the identicationwith it is so rong that it veils our pow-

er of discrimination to look beyound it, as

our Self. Thus making the body a kosa.


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\

lnkf'ko lekjEHkka 'kadjkpk;Ze/;eke~A vLenkpk;Zi;ZUrka oUnsxq#ijEijke~AA

The great teaching

tradition of Vedanta which

was star ted by Lord Shiva

himself; in whose middlewere great luminaries like

Sri Adi Sankaracharya;

and which continues

unhindered right till my

reverential Gurudev, tothat entire Guru Parapara

my reverential salutations.

\ rRlr~


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Hari om!

The truth is indeed beyond words, but the beauty of our

scriptures & also the teaching sampradaya is all about the

dexterous usage of words alone. We call such a capacity as

Shrotriyatvam - the art & science of using words to reveal

that which is technically beyond words. All our pramana

granthas and also the commentaries on them - ancient or

even modern, are all a living example of this - that is why

they are so enlightening, inspiring & effective - and thusso valuable to us.

You can see this even in verbal talks of various teachers -

some talks are so enlightening & captivating while others

are a drag.

There are various factors which makes a person a Shrotri-

ya. Great command on language, motivation of dharma, rath-er than personal likes, having great clarity about that

which you wish to communicate - both with head & heart,

being compassionately conscious of the state of mind of

the adhikari for whom the work is being written, and fi-

nally using the discipline of Shad-Lingas while writing

something. When a work is written or taught while keeping

these factors in mind then it shall become highly effec-tive, captivating & beneficial, otherwise it will lack the

necessary punch.

Think.

Love & om

Mail from Poojya Guruji

Shrotriyatvam

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In

spiring

SOCIALMEDIA

Posti

ngs


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Inspirin

g

SOCIAL

MEDI

APostin

gs

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fde~ rn~cz fde/;kRea

fde deZ iq#"kksRreA

vf/kHkwra p fda izksDre~vf/knSoa fdeqP;rs AA


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What is that Brahman?

(fde~rn~cz)

Arjuna said: O Krishna, What isthat Brahman? What is Self-Knowl-edge? What is Karma? What is the truthof this manifest world? And please also

tell me about Devatas?

Swamini Samatananda

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Gita Reflections

the light that illumines everything. "At the

command of the imperishable-O Gargi! the

heaven and earth are held in their proper

places." Brihadaranyak Upanishad.

Akshar Brahman is the subratum of all

manifeations and change. Anything that

manifes in the frame of time goes through

the six-fold modications. It goes through

a wave like pattern of birth, growth, changeand death. Brahman is aksharam-it does

not go through any modications. In the

dream ate a multifaceted world is created

where I see my self going through various

experiences and modications yet when

I wake up I am untouched by the various

happenings in the dream ate. I am the

one who illumines and gives exience to

the entire creation in the dream ate. The

dream ate and its various experiences

come and go but the 'I' the subratum of

the dream sequence does not decline at

any time. I am the imperishable Brahman.

Paramam Brahma:

Paramam is that which transcends

the limitations of time, space and objects.

All forms, living or non living are born at a

particular time, can be available only at a

The seventh chapter concluded

with Lord Krishna speaking of a wise

man at the time of his death. He also

introduced some new words which

invoked a number of queions in Arjuna's

mind. The 8th chapter thus goes on to

begin with Arjuna's queions which are

the subject matter of this chapter. Arjuna

goes on to ask a series of queions likeWhat is Brahman? What is centred on the

Self? What is karma? This was ulimately

followed by a queion about how a eady

minded person knows Paramatma at the

time of death. This goes on to become a

subject of elaborate discussion in the 8th

chapter. As we look into the 8th chapter

we will take up these various queions

one by one.

The r queion asked by Arjuna

is 'Kim tad Brahma'- What is Brahman?

Sri Krishna says Aksharam Brahma

paramam. Imperishable is the Supreme

Brahman. That which does not perish

or decline. Brahman is the changeless

and imperishable essence that pervades

the entire creation. It is the life principle

through which everything manifes and


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Gita Reflections

Paramatma is to know the Self as free

of these three limitations of time, space

and objects. Seeing this limitless nature

alone is the nature of liberation. Bondage

is nothing but limiting one's self in the

realms of time and space. This erroneous

presumption brings about identication

with the body, mind and intellect. This

innocent presumption happens to be themo tragic development which binds us

with various changing and impermanent

identities and consequently bringing

about seeking, attachments, fear,

insecurities and the like. Hence the only

goal that is worth aiming for as a human

being is discovering the limitless nature

particular space and are charecterised by

diinguished features making it limited at

the level of attributes and utility. A glass

has been manufactured at a point of time

and will break some day and the very

utility of the object can also be dened.

So also the human body appears at one

point of time and then dies o. Thus goes

on the cycle of birth and death. This goeson untill we discover through knowledge

our limitless nature.

Nothing ands sepeate from

Brahman. Even the objective world that

appears to be seperate from the Brahman

is ju as seperate from the world as is

the illusory snake from the rope. To know

The knowledge of Bhagwad Gita is amazing. It helpsto bring about the equanimity and meditative quieti-tude experienced in a serene & quiet Meadow to ones

Karma-kshetra - the so called Marketplace. Such peo-ple are very hard-working, creative, yet always at peace,very thoughtful & contemplative. Week-ends are need-ed by weak ones who first get disturbed and then need abreak. - Swami Atmananda


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- 2 -

We MustL e t o u r W o r k

Speak for Itself

P.P.GurudevSwami

Chinmayanandaji

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We Must

We have no choice; work we all mu. That liberty to work or not to work does

not belong to man. Our luxurious freedom is in choosing to work rightly in the spirit

of love, dedication sacrice and joy. And with no anxiety, no fear, no excite ment for

the results. These are already His, as much as our own actions are even now His

alone. Diligently, consiently shall we work and undertake daringly even upendous

programmes. Whenever a piece of work comes our way, we shall accept it as from

Him, and do it for Narayan, oering its results, be it success or failure, entirely unto the

Great Parameshwar.

Let our work Speak for itself. No covering it with an excuse! Excuses are ju the

expressions of our weakness in the eld of action. Revelling in our tiredness!; joyous in

our exhauion!; blissful with our fatigue!; we shall ill work on inspiredly in our endless

love for Him who is thrilling us into performance from within. He tickles, and our giggles

per colate in suocating laughter through our daily actions.

Let our work Stand by itself. We shall have no ears! Lei the world eimate oursuccess, criticise our failures, laugh al our hopes, smile at our visions we shall work on

for Him, in Him, with Him, as He commands us. We will always dc lovingly our be. We

have no explanations to give, no report to draft, nc atements to make. We are what

we are. In fact explanation* seldom, if at all, explain; they simply burden our day-to-da)

activities. Act on, we shall. Work dedicatedly, we mu. While thus working we mu

cultivate in ourselves a special brand of independence-spirit which shall suain us,

both in the busy market-place and in the meditation-seat. In the mid of the contending

crowd or in the peaceful solitude, this daring spirit of freedom and fearlessness alone

should spring forth from our consciousness that we are upright and pure, diligent and

clean both in our thoughts and actions.

Together, in this knowledge, we shall merge into a team of workers, ever riving

to gather and develop a noble, chae, and high character based upon divine thoughts


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We Must

and polished conduct. In all these the te lies in ourselves. Let us live in a sense of

Greatness; we are the children of the inimitable Rishis.

Shun doing in secret what we would not do openly. Let us come to merit our

own respect and reverence; natur ally, such people will be respected and revered by

all others. Deep in the depths of all of us there is a secret longing, a silent impulse,

a soaring ambition to do something beautifully great, spectacularly noble, and surely

enduring. This is a divine summons from the deeper Presence in us, to take o from

the decaying levels of mediocrity into Voiceless Heights of spontaneity and perfection.

We mu hark to these indispu table intimations divine, too sacred to ignore; too cruel,

if we should reject. These are the calls of the 'Panchajanya' commanding us to marshal

all our faculties and powers and march out to con quer. When so enlarged in our

outlook on life and in our vision of God, we learn to obey its biddings there then comes

that experience - that miraculous unfoldment in our selves.

Thereafter, we are no more satised with our common-place living and its routine

activities, but mu then demand from ourselves nobler exertions, greater achieve

ments. We shall thir for some sublime endeavor as our sights soar igher, gazing into

possibilities of a greater and a loftier purpose in life. It is then we glide into the richness

of the treasures that are already within us. We mu bring out these wonderful powers

that are placed now in our keeping and pour them forth for the benet of the world

around. Not only the Lord has given us each an explosive magazine of power, but also

in us are the faculties to wield it rightly. In fact, if we are Ready, we can accomplish, this

moment great things. We mu. If we are Willing, we can perform ill greater actions.

We mu. If we are Available, the greate achievements are possible. We mu. Let us

be Ready, Willing and Available. We Mu.

Let us accomplish the Great Things, perform the Greater Actions . . . and make

possible the Greate Achievements. We Mu.


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fu%lax fueqZfDr inaizi|

czkRekosu fojkftrks;%

Jh lkSE;dk'kh'k egs'ojk; rLeSue% Lokfe riksouk;AA


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Wandering

InHimalayas

The

Temple of

Sharada

Excerpts from

the

Travel Memoirs ofParam Poojya Swami Tapovanji Maharaj

46

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Jivanmukta

The Ancient Sharda TempleOnce a seat of Learning, now in ruins in

Pak Occupied Kashmir


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Jivanmukta

In the heart of Kashmir is a beautiful valley, 84 miles long, 25 miles broad, and

5,300 feet above sea level. It lies within the Himalayan ranges and extends eawards

from the weern extremities of the Himalayas. Few countries in the world can rival

Kashmir in natural beauty. According to the Puranas, Maharshi Kashyap performed

his penance here. With lakes and rivers and mountains, it was once almo inacces-

sible. But gradually it developed into a popular ate, full of densely inhabited villages

and rich elds. Poets described the land as a heaven on earth; poets of today speak

of it as the Switzerland of India.

Through the centre of the wide plain sorrounded by snow-clad mountains ows

the Jhelum, known in the Puranas as Vitaa. Srinagar the capital of Kashmir, is sit-

uated on her bank, in the very centre of the plain. The city and the sorroundings are

famous for the ravishing beauty of the lakes where the red lotus and other lovely

owers bloom, and the gardens where rare types of trees and owers grow in plenty.

In ancient times Srinagar was almo inaacessible, but now on account of conant

vehicular trac, communication has become easy . the city is 196 miles from rawal-

pindi and 206 miles from Jambu (Jammu). Jambu is the capital of a small ate ruled

by the Mahrajas of Kashmir.

It is said that the place derived its name from Jambavan, who performed his

penance here. What seperates kashmir from India is the Himalayan range called Pir

Panchal. In summer, hundreds of sadhus from India make their way to Kashmir. In

fact, no part of India, diant or near, is inaccessible to sadhus. While the wealthy

travel to Kashmir for pleasure, sadhus go there on pilgrimages. In April-May 1927, I

too travelled to Kashmir, to visit the Holy places and spend some there in penance.


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Incredi

Naturescapes of India


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Naturescapes of India29

le India


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Birth ofSri Veda Vyasa


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31

Veda Vyasa was born to Sage Parashara and Kali, the sherwoman. Kali is

also known as Satyavati, who later married King Shantanu. Legend has it that Sage

Parashara was once attempting cross Yamuna and took the help of a young beautiful

woman named Kali, who was the daughter of a sherman.

The beautiful young Kali aroused passion in Sage Parashara. The beautiful

nature and the surroundings acted as a cataly. Sage Parashara created a thick fog

around the boat and created an articial island. The couple had sexual union on theisland.

Sage Parashara said to young Kali that as soon as he leaves, a son will be

born to her who will become the teacher of the world and divide the Vedas. He also

blessed her that even after the birth of a son she will remain a virgin.

Soon on that articial island, young Kali gave birth to a male child. As soon as

the child was born, he grew up and told his mother that she had played her part in the

divine mission by giving birth to him and need not worry about him. He also said that

he will come to her aid whenever she needs it.

As a child, Vyasa was referred as Krishna and as he was born on an island

he was also known as Krishnadvaipayana. After compiling the Four Vedas, he was

known as Veda Vyasa.

He is the celebrated author of Brahma Sutra, Mahabharata (which includes

Bhagwad Gita), Eighteen Puranas & also various upa-puranas. His birth day is cele-

bratd as Guru Poornima, which is also known as Vyasa Poornima. While the heritage

&knowledge of Vedas is almo timeless but he was the one who assured that the

poerity is also blessed by this knowledge.

Once upon a time


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International Vedanta Mission

Bringing Love & Lightin the lives of all with the

Knowledge of Self

Advaita Gurukula:Vedanta Ashram, Indore


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Ashram News

At Vedanta Ashram, Poojya

Guruji Sri Swami Atmanandaji Maharaj

is conducting very intensive & elaborate

discourses on the Mundaka Upanishad.

This session is basically for the Ash-

ram inmates, and is based on Shankar

Bhashya. These elaborate discourses

on the Upanishad have been going on

for la 20 months (from Oct 2013), dur-ing period the r Mundaka has been

completed. Now in the second Munda-

ka, the current topic is about how to di-

rectly realize that which is formless, permanent & imperishable. (2-1-1) -v:ia ln{kja dsuizdkja.k foKa;e~\

Apart from this session, special classes were organized for some visiting udents.

Poojya Swamini Amitanandaji has been taking classes on Sanskrit and Chanting, while P.

Swamini Samatanandaji has been taking classes on Atma Bodha.

Ashram Pravachans :

Swami Sreenivasanandaji of Di-

vine Life Society, Bhubaneswar, Odis-

ha came over to Vedanta Ashram for

a month long ay. His trip was organ-

ized courtesy Sh Rajesh Kumar. The

recent Gita Gyana Yagna of P.Swamini

Samatanandaji at Bhubaneshwar was

organized in the Satsang Hall of Siva-

nanda Saskrutik Kendra - a DLS center

there.

A devoted & sincere Mahatma,

he arted his ay at Ashram with abhisheka of Bhagwan Sri Gangeshwar Mahadev,and later Poojya Guruji organized special one-to-one sessions for him to facilitate bet-

ter acquaintance with our Vedantic heritage. He gelled with the Ashram ambiance very

nicely. He has since returned back to Bhubaneshwar.

Ashram Visitors :

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Mission NewsGita Gyana Yagna, Vadodara

Sub

Gita C

Kathopa

6-12 J

June


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2016

Atmajyoti Ashram, Vadodara

cts:

pter 5

shad 1-1

e 2016

in Pics

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Mission NewsDistribution of Copy-Books to Studious Children - in Vadodara


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in PicsMonthly Hanuman Chalisa Satsang at Ashram


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Forthcoming

Guru Poornima Celebration

@ Vedanta Ashram, Indore

at the Lotus feet of

P. P. Guruji

Swami Atmanandaji

On 19th July 2016

Hanuman Chalisa Satsang


By : P. P. Guruji

Swami Atmanandaji

On 31st July 2016


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Programs

Vedanta (Janmashtami) Camp


By : P. P. Guruji

Swami Atmanandaji

From 20th to 25th Aug 2016

Gita Gyana Yagna

@ Pritam Society, Bharuch

By :

P. Swamini Amitanandaji

From 1st to 7th Aug 2016

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Visit us online :


Check out earlier issues of :

Vedanta Sandesh

Visit the IVM Blog at :

Vedanta Mission Blog

Published by:


Editor:

Swamini Samatananda
http://www.vmission.org.in/https://issuu.com/vmission/stacks/2f02ad4247324882bd1cc5687892a03ahttp://www.blog.vmission.org.in/http://www.blog.vmission.org.in/https://issuu.com/vmission/stacks/2f02ad4247324882bd1cc5687892a03ahttp://www.vmission.org.in/

Vedanta Sandesh - Jul 2016

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