Gita-God-Hinduism

A friend said something that many people have told me in the past "Why study Bhagawad Gita now? It is for old age". I always smile at that statement and I ask do we ever get old in that sense? Because, I have found that those who make that statement never seem to get "old", i.e. they will probably never touch Bhagawad Gita in their lives. Many people express pity that I am encouraging my kids to learn Gita now. They are supposedly "too young" for that. All I do is smile and chuckle :) I am not saying that they or anyone should read Gita but I am just amused by their statement or a stereotype as to when one should or should not study something. If one is inclined, age does not matter. My kids are naturally curious because they have seen me taking it quite seriously. And, I do not FORCE it on them but I want them to be exposed just as my father exposed it to me. I was a near atheist or agnostic for a majority of my life (and I confess that I went to temples ...

[ Through "arghya", we have invited / invoked auspiciousness inside us.  "agni" lightens the world outside and the keep the body alive, 'surya' lightens everything and gives the energy for us to perform duties, and 'Saraswati' illuminates the mind and the intellect.  We now seek the blessings of Goddess Saraswati and Gayatri devi, and all the deities to enable us to be enlightened. ] आयातु वरदादेवि अक्षरं ब्रह्म सम्मितम् । छन्दसां मातेदं ब्रह्म जुषस्वमे । यदहन्नात्कुरुते पापं तदहन्नात्प्रतिमुच्च्यते । यद्रात्र्यात्कुरुतेपापं तद्रात्र्यात्प्रतिमुच्च्यते । सर्ववर्णे महदेवि संध्यविद्ये सरस्वति । May the boon-bestowing ( benefactor, Goddess of benediction; Saraswati devi in this case ), who resembles ( same as, corresponding to, incessantly, perpetually ) the imperishable ( immutable, word ) 'brahma' ( supreme spirit, the Lord, absolute ), enter ( come near, approach ) us | May you, the mother of the vedas ( brahma, spirit, soul, absolute ) f...

अर्घ्य प्रदान (respectful offering to something valuable; water offered at the respectful reception of a guest) [Sun is an important part of human existence. The Sun that lightens the world outside, enlightens the world within. This is the process of inviting and invoking the Sun within. The water that is being offered is sanctified with the energy of the same Lord who energizes the sun. In the previous section we saw how the fire is visualized in the water, and here we offer water to the supreme fire; the source of both is the same pundarikAksha anyway] <keshavAya swaha .....> मम उपात्त समस्त दुरितक्षय द्वार श्रीपरमेश्वर प्रीत्यर्थे अर्घ्य प्रदानं करिष्ये । I engage in the arghya process ( respectable welcome to Sun in the horizon and into our hearts ) for the pleasure of the Supreme Lord so as to remove all my accumulated impediments (sins, evil, discomfort). ॐ भूर्भुवस्सुवः । ॐ तत्सवितुर्वरॆण्यं भर्गो दॆवस्य धीमहि । धियो यो नः प्रचोदयात् । भास्कराय नमः । इदमर्घ्यम् ...

In this we will continue on the previous partial discussion around punarmArjanam: Sandhyavandana - Part 3 यासां देवा दिवि कृण्वन्ति भक्षंया अन्तरिक्षे बहुदा भवन्ति । या पृथ्वीं पयसॊऽन्दन्ति शुक्रस्तान अपःशग् स्योना भवन्तु । [It is this water - the nArAyaNa udaka] through which the "gods" in the heavens know to nurture, to make the rain waters much giving (munificent) that makes the earth fertile (strong) to spring out and enable the seed [giving ability] of animals, May this water be the bed of auspiciousness. शिवेनमा चक्षुषा पश्यतापश्यिवया तन्वोऽप स्पृशत् त्वचं मे । सर्वाग्ं अग्नीग्ं रप्सुषदॊ हुवेवो मयि वर्चो बलमोजो निधत्त ॥ [Its beautiful how Sanskrit verses manifest different meanings depending on the arrangement of words and their meanings. One of the many meanings of chakshus  is "eye of mitra and God of Water" that I will use in this context, however it can also mean the very faculty of seeing, or it could mean light or the very act of seeing. So, we c...

Continued from the previous 2 posts: Sandhyavanadana - Part - 2   Sandhyavanadana - Part - 1 ------------------------------------------------------------------- [After the initial purification, we keep water in our palm and chant these prayers pleading deities to destroy the sins; which is an internal cleansing process] ॐ सूर्यश्च मा मन्युश्च मन्युपतयश्च मन्युकृतेभ्यः पापेभ्यो रक्षन्ताम् ।  यद्रात्र्या पापमकार्षं मनसा वाचा हस्ताभ्यां पद्भया्मुदरेण शिश्ना रात्रिस्तदवलुम्पतु।  यत्किञ्च दुरितं मयि इदमहं माममृतयोनौ सूर्ये ज्योतिषि जुहोमि स्वाहा ।। Om! May Surya, pride, and the faculties that preside over emotions (i.e. "gods of emotions") protect (save, guard) me from "rage" (resentment, meanness, anger, distress, grief, wrath, passion, mood), and from the all the sins perpetrated out of "rage". May rAtri/"night" (the presiding deities of darkness; "one of the forms of Brahma") crush (devour, swallow, suppress) whatever sins th...