DADAJI

The sub-stance isOne and

that alone is theeternal substance.There is no vanish-

ing, no destruction of it. It is thesupreme integral existence.We are theeternal substance of that unfragmentedSupreme Being. Still you think, atdeath, a person has gone somewhere.One does not go anywhere. There issomething called death as we describeit. But it is God who leaves the bodyand He doesn’t go anywhere. His vi-bration stops in the body. But until theindividual mind function is over, themind remains dissatisfied. Unless thismind is fully satisfied, it will continue tocome into this world.People who weretogether, come together again.

Infinite WithinIn the vacuous region of the heart,

which is the Infinite within,two soundsare constantly chanting.When these twosounds of Mahanaam,or God’s name gooff, the mind shrinks, a person dies andgets merged in pervasive existence.Whenthe mind can resort to another body, itbuds forth again.

Life has no death. It is eternal.Whatwe call death or end of life is actually aphase and is concerned only with thebody. Body consists of matters whichdissolve in time to their original form.But the Self has no dissolution.You have

come for a few days, not forever.Whyshould you bother for anything?

No one has a right to put a violentend to one’s own life.Live a normal lifedoing your work,without coveting thewealth of others and enjoying Him.

When God leaves the body,He doesnot go anywhere.And we, a bunch offools,do all kinds of funeral ceremoniesfor His benefit! Such rites are only formercenary interest.The deceased forwhom we perform rites receives noth-ing.Funeral rituals are meaningless andfull of superstition.

It is a business for priests and it takes usaway from Truth. How many days wecan or do live is not important.How welived or live is important.Keep it in mind.We have come to another’s house.Wemust leave it someday.He will come andtake you off.

The Divine play is intrinsically bipo-lar,having positive and negative,ups anddowns, good and bad. Oscillations be-tween them provide the basis for all cre-ative possibilities of His play.When the

game is over,the two poles coalesce intomere existence,all existents having dis-appeared.Action and reaction hold thestage.When the reaction gathers mag-nitude,one cries for succour.Then comesdeath.But the reaction persists and thatleads to rebirth.

Just A ChangeReincarnation? What do you mean

by that? When we give up the body,then and there He catches the mind.After that it is a question of time,maybejust now, maybe one day, maybe a fewyears later, you come back in a differ-ent body.Unless and until one’s prarab-dha — destined unfolding process ofone’s life — is full, until one is mergedwith God,one’s mind will have to comeback in a body in this world.

The elements of the body transformand change.The combination of hy-drogen and oxygen form water, againunder certain conditions, oxygen andhydrogen separate and go back to theirformer condition.We feel nothing foroxygen or hydrogen, so we feel noth-ing about their transformation or change.We feel sorry for the death of our moth-er,father,or whoever it may be,becauseof an attachment.Death is nothing buta change or transformation.Try to un-derstand the origin. If you catch holdof the root, then you will understandthe branches. ■

Today is Dadaji’s birthday. His name as ahouseholder was Amiya Roy Chowdhury,

www.dadaji.info

T H E S P E A K I N G T R E EN E W D E L H I , J A N U A R Y 1 3 , 2 0 1 3

As my artist’s statement explains, my work is utterlyincomprehensible and therefore full of deep significance— Calvin to Hobbes

It was 4.30 am. Signs of dawnwere just emerging. Somewomen had just begun theirday — sprinkling water ontheir front courtyards andsweeping them clean. In a

while, the whole street would bedecked up with beautiful white drawings on the floor.

I picked up my own little contain-er of kolam powder and began draw-ing in front of my apartment. As thegeometrical pattern unfolded, I knewmy day had begun on a positive note.

Welcome to the world of kolams,a traditional passion that almost everyTamil household indulges in all throughthe year — but specifically during theTamil month of Margazhi: December15 to January 14.

Margazhi SpecialKolams are line drawings done with

rice powder.The idea is to feed birds,insects and ants with the rice powder,besides beautifying your doorstep withdecorative lines.Although kolam is gen-erally drawn in the morning — somedo it in the evenings also — they arespecial during the month of Margazhi,when pumpkin flowers perched on cowdung balls are placed on the kolams toenhance the beauty of the intricate de-signs.Next morning,they are removed,made into cow dung pies and left to bedried in the sun.

After Margazhi, the next month inthe Tamil calendar is Thai: January15 toFebruary 15.Tamils celebrate the firstday of this month as Pongal, a harvestfestival.On this day,the 30 days’collec-tion of dried cow dung pies with pump-kin flowers are used as fuel to cook thespecial delicacy,pongal in an earthen potin a clay oven.

The smoke from cow dung piekeeps off bad bacteria from the atmos-phere.Though the tradition of usingcow dung pie as fuel has almost disap-peared,the kolams have survived,adopt-ing notes from different cultures alongthe way. Kolams today have shades ofcolours — literally — with flower petalsand colour powder.

An integral part of any celebra-tion, kolam symbolises happiness andprosperity. It is also a sign of welcome.Perhaps, the belief that kolam invitesLakshmi — the goddess of wealth —into your home is one main reasonwhy this tradition continues with somuch fervour!

Today,kolams have cut across socialmilieus,becoming an occasion for pri-vate and public participation.There arekolam competitions in almost every

neighbourhood in Chennai and othercities of Tamil Nadu. Kolam today hasmany male enthusiasts as well.

Even as Chennaites take a dip in theriver of music during the annual musicfestival, their mornings heraldthe joy of creativity with ko-lams — often done with light-hearted competitiveness wheneach household competes withthe other to draw the best andbiggest kolams. So much so,many would try to upstage theirneighbours by waking up ear-ly and filling a major chunk ofthe street with their kolams. Somesmarter ones would finish the drawingthe previous night itself!

Exercise For The BrainAnd on special occasions like festi-

vals, the white lines would be high-lighted with red borders, called kaavior chemman — a powder made fromred soil.The red border is not only asign of cheer and prosperity, it is alsobelieved that the red-bordered kolamkeeps evil forces away.

On special occasions, the design ofthe kolam gets special too — there arekalyanakolam, or wedding kolam, andpandikaikolam or festival kolam. An-other variation is izhaikolam,drawn onsome festival days like Janmashtamiand Karthigai Deepam — the festivalof lights in the Tamil month of Karthi-gai. Instead of dried powder, wet rice

paste would be used to draw patterns.For Janmashtami,drawing the toddlerKrishna’s tiny footsteps with wet ricepaste is a delight for many.Certain ko-lam designs like Hrudhayakamalam,Ku-

berakolam and the seven differ-ent kolams of the week havespiritual value.On another sideof the spectrum, kolams arebrain teasers like Sudoku.Andthe kolams drawn by joiningdots are excellent exercise forthe brain.

Although kolam is seenmore as a Hindu tradition,

modern kolams have no caste barri-ers.Modern motifs and themes couldinclude Christmas, Independence Dayand New Year.You have kolams high-

lighting noble causes too — like AIDSor education.The themes vary de-pending on individual creativity.

It is believed that a bare door en-trance without any kolam symbolis-es negative energy or mourning.Don’t worry if you are caught up inthe pressures of hectic schedules andhave no time.Kolam stencils in a widerange of designs are available in themarket.All you have to do is dust ko-lam powder on the stencil sheet toget a beautiful design at yourdoorstep. Easier still, you can trycolourful sticker kolams.You have tojust stick them on the floor at theentrance to make sure that Lakshmistays with you! ■

arunas@gmail.com

Magical White LinesKolam, an integral part of all celebrations, symbolises happiness and prosperity, says ARUNA SRINIVASAN

LemongrassAccording to an ancient Malaysian

legend, warriors believed that ifthey rubbed lemongrass on theirbodies, while reciting a special

prayer, they would be shielded byan impregnable magical cloak.According to another south-eastAsian belief, planting lemongrass

around the house protects residentsfrom dragons and serpents. It is alsobelieved that drinking lemongrass-

infused tea develops psychicabilities and divination. Myths

apart, the plant is a super-herb andhas been used for thousands of

years for both culinary andmedicinal purposes. Lemongrass is

a tropical grass that smells likelemon.A native of southern India,the plant grows in abundance inother south-east Asian countries

like Thailand,Vietnam andMalaysia. Lemongrass contains

many compounds, oils, minerals andvitamins that are known to have

anti-oxidant and disease preventingproperties.The leaves and stems arehigh in folic acid, vitamins A, B1,B5, B6 and C, besides potassium,

zinc, calcium, iron, manganese,copper, and magnesium.

Lemongrass helps reduce pitta andkapha doshas and neutralises vata

dosha. Some medical journals claimthat lemongrass even kills cancer

cells without harming normal cells.

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A KOLAM COMPETITION IN PROGRESS ON THE STREETS OF CHENNAI (FILE PHOTO)

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EVENTS

Sangeet-Nritya MahotsavaSwami Haridas and Tansen music

programme followed by dance recitalat Sri Sathya Sai International

Centre, Pragati Vihar, Lodhi RoadJanuary 13, 6.30 pm

Satsang Ramesh Bijlani to talk on Swami Vivekananda at

Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Hauz KhasJanuary 13,10 am to 11.30 am

Call 26567863

Cultural RenaissanceInternational conference and

exhibition on the life of AtishaDipankara Jnanashri at

Indira Gandhi National Centre forthe Arts, 11, Man Singh RoadJanuary 16-18, 11 am onwards

Call 23388155

Inner Engineering Isha Yoga programme with Sadhguruat Thyagaraj Sports Complex, INA January 18-20; call 9650092100

Osho Sanyaas Day Swami Ravindra Bharti to organiseOsho Sanyaas Day at Oshodham

44, Jhatikra Road, PandwalaKhurd, January 19, all day

Call 25319026

This WeekJanuary 13: Lohri, Bogi PandigaiJanuary 14: Makara Sankranti

Pongal, Makaradi Snana Tila Sankranti, Magha BihuBirthday of Sant Parmanand

Purna Kumbh begins in PrayagJanuary 15: Mattu Pongal

January 18: Guru Gobind SinghJayanti (Gurpurab)

Where To After Death?