Grihastha (Married) - Care of Brahmachari (Bachelors) - VanaPrastha(Old People) - Sanyasi (Renounced)
Monday, January 13, 2014
Monday, December 30, 2013
krishna conscious child
"It is the duty of all parents to make every child Krishna conscious, so that the fortunate child born of Krishna conscious parents may not have any more to take birth in this material world."
His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
In his letter to Nandarani, 9th June, 1967.
Sunday, November 3, 2013
Sunday, September 15, 2013
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Grihamedhi vs Grhastha
What is the difference between the asrama and ordinary home?
Asrama means - the place where the spiritual culture is cultivated. And one who follows the regulative principles; he is situated in a asrama. Either it is grhastha asrama or sannyasa asrama, the same thing.
Ordinary home means the..., without any regulative principles,
Asrama means real purpose is self-realization, development of Krsna consciousness. But if one is unable to accept sannyasa asrama or brahmacari asrama, that is grhastha asrama. Not that animal asrama. (Srimad-Bhagavatam 5.5.8, Vrndavana, October 30, 1976)
Objective of the grhamedhi and grhastha:
kapila uvaca
atha yo grha-medhiyan ; dharman evavasan grhe
kamam artham ca dharman svan ; dogdhi bhüyah piparti tan
Translation: The Personality of Godhead said: The person who lives in the center of household life derives material benefits by performing religious rituals, and thereby he fulfills his desire for economic development and sense gratification. Again and again he acts the same way. (Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.32.1)
There are two kinds of householders. One is called the grhamedhi, and the other is called the grhastha. The objective of the grhamedhi is sense gratification, and the objective of the grhastha is self-realization.
Grhamedhi:
Grhamedhi means he has made his center the wife and family. The grhamedhis, live only for the benefit of the family members, extended or centralized, and thus are envious of others. The word medhi indicates jealousy of others because they are blind to the knowledge of ultimate truth. The grhamedhis, being interested in family affairs only, are certainly envious of others.
Therefore, one grhamedhi is not on good terms with another grhamedhi, and in the extended form, one community, society or nation is not on good terms with another counterpart of selfish interest.
They have many subject matters for hearing—political, scientific, social, economic and so on—but due to a poor fund of knowledge, they set aside the question of the ultimate miseries of life, namely miseries of birth, death, old age and disease.
Grhamedhis, being illusioned by the material nature, forget everything about self-realization. This person wants to remain in this material world. His activity is to enjoy material benefits by performing religious rituals for economic development and thereby ultimately satisfy the senses. He does not want anything more
Just like one cow is, I mean, tied with the rope and with a fixed up wood, and he is going round this way, and he is thinking that he is going round the world. Yes.
So grhamedhi means he has fixed up his center, the wife and children, and going round throughout the whole life, no ending. Grhamedhi-asrama nei.
Lord Kapiladeva is speaking about the grhamedhis, who have made their aim the materialistically prosperous life, which they achieve by sacrificial ceremonies, by charities and by good work. They are posted in good positions, and since they know that they are using up their assets of pious activities, they again and again perform activities of sense gratification.
Such a person works very hard throughout his life to become very rich and eat very nicely and drink. By giving some charity for pious activity he can go to a higher planetary atmosphere in the heavenly planets in his next life, but he does not want to stop the repetition of birth and death and finish with the concomitant miserable factors of material existence
It is said by Prahlada Maharaja, punah punas carvita-carvananam: [Srimad-Bhagavatam 7.5.30] they prefer to chew the already chewed. Again and again they experience the material pangs, even if they are rich and prosperous, but they do not want to give up this kind of life.
The grhamedhi, however, who is interested only in sense gratification, does not follow any Vedic instruction. The grhamedhi engages himself as an advocate of sex life and also allows his sons and daughters to engage in sex and to be deprived of any glorious end in life.
Grhastha:
Grhastha means grhastha-asrama. The grhastha is who lives together with wife and children but has no attachment for them He lives transcendentally according to the regulative principle for realizing the ultimate truth.
Grhastha works to find the ultimate solution to the problems of life that is to go back home, back to Godhead, and thus, as stated in the Bhagavad-gita (8.16), the miseries of material existence—birth, death, old age and disease—are removed.
So how householder can be a mahatma that is also described here?
ye va mayise krta-sauhrdartha ; janesu dehambhara-vartikesu
grhesu jayatmaja-ratimatsu ; na priti-yukta yavad-arthas ca loke
Translation: Those who are interested in reviving Krsna consciousness and increasing their love of Godhead do not like to do anything that is not related to Krsna. They are not interested in mingling with people who are busy maintaining their bodies, eating, sleeping, mating and defending. They are not attached to their homes, although they may be householders. Nor are they attached to wives, children, friends or wealth. At the same time, they are not indifferent to the execution of their duties. Such people are interested in collecting only enough money to keep the body and soul together.
Ye va mayi ise, their aim of life. They are living with... All mahatma means their idea is how to attain spiritual perfection. How to attain spiritual perfection. That is mahatma. So a householder, a gentleman or a person living with family, wife and children, his real aim is how to achieve the lost relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Ye va mayise krta-sauhrdarthah. His only aim is how to achieve that perfection. And for that, janesu dehambhara-vartikesu na priti-yuktah. Ye va mayise krta-sauhrdartha janesu dehambhara... Therefore he’s not attached at all to persons who are simply interested in material advancement of life.
He prefers to live in family life rather than as a mendicant or sannyasi, but his chief aim is that of relevant inquiries to achieve self-realization i.e. to revive their relationship with God or to come to the standard of Krsna consciousness. That is the first qualification.
The grhastha asrama, or the shelter of spiritual family life, is as good as the life of a sannyasi, a member of the renounced order.
Grhastha-asrama is as good as other asrama, sannyasa-asrama. That is also not for all the time, only for twenty-five years.
(Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.1.2 purport, Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.32.1 purport, Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.25.39, purport, Srimad-Bhagavatam 7.6.6, lecture, Vrndavana, December 8, 1975, Srimad-Bhagavatam 5.5.3, Boston, May 4, 1968)
Role of wife in respect to grhamedhi and grhastha:
A wife should not only be equal to her husband in age, character and qualities, but must be helpful to him in his household duties.
The household duty of a man is not to satisfy his sense gratification, but to remain with a wife and children and at the same time attain advancement in spiritual life.
For a grhastha a qualified wife is an assistant in every respect for advancement in spiritual activities.
It is the duty of the wife to take charge of household affairs and not to compete with the husband. One who does not do so is not a grhastha householder but a grhamedhi.
For a grhamedhi, to accept a wife means to satisfy the senses. (Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.22.11)
Family life - a prison for the living entity:
Family life within the kingdom of illusory energy, maya, is just like a prison for the eternal living entity. Iron chains and iron bars in a prison shackle prisoner.
Similarly, a conditioned soul is shackled by the charming beauty of a woman, by her solitary embraces and talks of so-called love, and by the sweet words of his small children. Thus he forgets his real identity.
Actually, in the material world there is no love. Both the woman and the man are interested in their sense gratification. For sense gratification a woman creates an illusory love, and the man becomes enchanted by such false love and forgets his real duty. When there are children as the result of such a combination, the next attraction is to the sweet words of the children. The love of the woman at home and the talk of the children make one a secure prisoner, and thus he cannot leave his home. Such a person is termed, in Vedic language, a grhamedhi, which means “one whose center of attraction is home.”
Grhastha refers to one who lives with family, wife and children, but whose real purpose of living is to develop Krsna consciousness.
The grhastha’s concern is to get out of the family life created by illusion and enters into real family life with Krsna, whereas the grhamedhi s business is to repeatedly chain him to so-called family life, in one life after another, and perpetually remain in the darkness of maya.
One is therefore advised to become a grhastha and not a grhamedhi. (Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.30.8)
Pravrtti-marga, and Nivrtti-marga:
According to Vedic instructions, there are two paths for human activities. One is called pravrtti-marga, and the other is called nivrtti-marga. The basic principle for either of these paths is religious life. In animal life there is only pravrtti-marga.
Pravrtti-marga means sense enjoyment, and nivrtti-marga means spiritual advancement. In the life of animals and demons, there is no conception of nivrtti-marga, nor is there any actual conception of pravrtti-marga.
Pravrtti-marga maintains that even though one has the propensity for sense gratification, he can gratify his senses according to the directions of the Vedic injunctions. For example, everyone has the propensity for sex life, but in demoniac civilization sex is enjoyed without restriction. According to Vedic culture, sex is enjoyed under Vedic instructions. Thus the Vedas give direction to civilized human beings to enable them to satisfy their propensities for sense gratification.
Factually, however, pravrtti-marga is based on sex life. As stated in Srimad-Bhagavatam (7.9.45), yan maithunadi-grhamedhi-sukham hi tuccham. A householder who is too much addicted to pravrtti-marga is actually called a grhamedhi, not a grhastha. Although the grhastha desires sense gratification, he acts according to Vedic instructions. A grhastha enjoys sex life in this life as well as in the next, but a grhamedhi does not know what the next life is about because he is simply interested in sex in this life.
In the nivrtti-marga, however, on the path of transcendental realization, sex is completely forbidden. The social orders are divided into four parts—brahmacarya, grhastha, vanaprastha and sannyasa—and only in the householder life can the pravrtti-marga be encouraged or accepted according to Vedic instructions. In the orders of brahmacarya, vanaprastha and sannyasa, there are no facilities for sex. (Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.25.39)
Fate of grhamedhi and grhastha - Yamaraja instructs his messengers:
Paramahamsas are exalted persons who have no taste for material enjoyment and who drink the honey of the Lord’s lotus feet. My dear servants bring to me for punishment only persons who are averse to the taste of that honey, who do not associate with paramahamsas and who are attached to family life and worldly enjoyment, which form the path to hell.
After warning the Yamadütas not to approach the devotees, Yamaraja now indicates who is to be brought before him. He specifically advises the Yamadütas to bring him the materialistic persons who are attached to household life merely for sex. As stated in Srimad-Bhagavatam, yan maithunadi-grhamedhi-sukham hi tuccham: [Srimad-Bhagavatam 7.9.45] people are attached to household life for sex only. They are always harassed in many ways by their material engagements, and their only happiness is that after working very hard all day, at night they sleep and indulge in sex. (Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.3.28)
Asrama means - the place where the spiritual culture is cultivated. And one who follows the regulative principles; he is situated in a asrama. Either it is grhastha asrama or sannyasa asrama, the same thing.
Ordinary home means the..., without any regulative principles,
Asrama means real purpose is self-realization, development of Krsna consciousness. But if one is unable to accept sannyasa asrama or brahmacari asrama, that is grhastha asrama. Not that animal asrama. (Srimad-Bhagavatam 5.5.8, Vrndavana, October 30, 1976)
Objective of the grhamedhi and grhastha:
kapila uvaca
atha yo grha-medhiyan ; dharman evavasan grhe
kamam artham ca dharman svan ; dogdhi bhüyah piparti tan
Translation: The Personality of Godhead said: The person who lives in the center of household life derives material benefits by performing religious rituals, and thereby he fulfills his desire for economic development and sense gratification. Again and again he acts the same way. (Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.32.1)
There are two kinds of householders. One is called the grhamedhi, and the other is called the grhastha. The objective of the grhamedhi is sense gratification, and the objective of the grhastha is self-realization.
Grhamedhi:
Grhamedhi means he has made his center the wife and family. The grhamedhis, live only for the benefit of the family members, extended or centralized, and thus are envious of others. The word medhi indicates jealousy of others because they are blind to the knowledge of ultimate truth. The grhamedhis, being interested in family affairs only, are certainly envious of others.
Therefore, one grhamedhi is not on good terms with another grhamedhi, and in the extended form, one community, society or nation is not on good terms with another counterpart of selfish interest.
They have many subject matters for hearing—political, scientific, social, economic and so on—but due to a poor fund of knowledge, they set aside the question of the ultimate miseries of life, namely miseries of birth, death, old age and disease.
Grhamedhis, being illusioned by the material nature, forget everything about self-realization. This person wants to remain in this material world. His activity is to enjoy material benefits by performing religious rituals for economic development and thereby ultimately satisfy the senses. He does not want anything more
Just like one cow is, I mean, tied with the rope and with a fixed up wood, and he is going round this way, and he is thinking that he is going round the world. Yes.
So grhamedhi means he has fixed up his center, the wife and children, and going round throughout the whole life, no ending. Grhamedhi-asrama nei.
Lord Kapiladeva is speaking about the grhamedhis, who have made their aim the materialistically prosperous life, which they achieve by sacrificial ceremonies, by charities and by good work. They are posted in good positions, and since they know that they are using up their assets of pious activities, they again and again perform activities of sense gratification.
Such a person works very hard throughout his life to become very rich and eat very nicely and drink. By giving some charity for pious activity he can go to a higher planetary atmosphere in the heavenly planets in his next life, but he does not want to stop the repetition of birth and death and finish with the concomitant miserable factors of material existence
It is said by Prahlada Maharaja, punah punas carvita-carvananam: [Srimad-Bhagavatam 7.5.30] they prefer to chew the already chewed. Again and again they experience the material pangs, even if they are rich and prosperous, but they do not want to give up this kind of life.
The grhamedhi, however, who is interested only in sense gratification, does not follow any Vedic instruction. The grhamedhi engages himself as an advocate of sex life and also allows his sons and daughters to engage in sex and to be deprived of any glorious end in life.
Grhastha:
Grhastha means grhastha-asrama. The grhastha is who lives together with wife and children but has no attachment for them He lives transcendentally according to the regulative principle for realizing the ultimate truth.
Grhastha works to find the ultimate solution to the problems of life that is to go back home, back to Godhead, and thus, as stated in the Bhagavad-gita (8.16), the miseries of material existence—birth, death, old age and disease—are removed.
So how householder can be a mahatma that is also described here?
ye va mayise krta-sauhrdartha ; janesu dehambhara-vartikesu
grhesu jayatmaja-ratimatsu ; na priti-yukta yavad-arthas ca loke
Translation: Those who are interested in reviving Krsna consciousness and increasing their love of Godhead do not like to do anything that is not related to Krsna. They are not interested in mingling with people who are busy maintaining their bodies, eating, sleeping, mating and defending. They are not attached to their homes, although they may be householders. Nor are they attached to wives, children, friends or wealth. At the same time, they are not indifferent to the execution of their duties. Such people are interested in collecting only enough money to keep the body and soul together.
Ye va mayi ise, their aim of life. They are living with... All mahatma means their idea is how to attain spiritual perfection. How to attain spiritual perfection. That is mahatma. So a householder, a gentleman or a person living with family, wife and children, his real aim is how to achieve the lost relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Ye va mayise krta-sauhrdarthah. His only aim is how to achieve that perfection. And for that, janesu dehambhara-vartikesu na priti-yuktah. Ye va mayise krta-sauhrdartha janesu dehambhara... Therefore he’s not attached at all to persons who are simply interested in material advancement of life.
He prefers to live in family life rather than as a mendicant or sannyasi, but his chief aim is that of relevant inquiries to achieve self-realization i.e. to revive their relationship with God or to come to the standard of Krsna consciousness. That is the first qualification.
The grhastha asrama, or the shelter of spiritual family life, is as good as the life of a sannyasi, a member of the renounced order.
Grhastha-asrama is as good as other asrama, sannyasa-asrama. That is also not for all the time, only for twenty-five years.
(Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.1.2 purport, Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.32.1 purport, Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.25.39, purport, Srimad-Bhagavatam 7.6.6, lecture, Vrndavana, December 8, 1975, Srimad-Bhagavatam 5.5.3, Boston, May 4, 1968)
Role of wife in respect to grhamedhi and grhastha:
A wife should not only be equal to her husband in age, character and qualities, but must be helpful to him in his household duties.
The household duty of a man is not to satisfy his sense gratification, but to remain with a wife and children and at the same time attain advancement in spiritual life.
For a grhastha a qualified wife is an assistant in every respect for advancement in spiritual activities.
It is the duty of the wife to take charge of household affairs and not to compete with the husband. One who does not do so is not a grhastha householder but a grhamedhi.
For a grhamedhi, to accept a wife means to satisfy the senses. (Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.22.11)
Family life - a prison for the living entity:
Family life within the kingdom of illusory energy, maya, is just like a prison for the eternal living entity. Iron chains and iron bars in a prison shackle prisoner.
Similarly, a conditioned soul is shackled by the charming beauty of a woman, by her solitary embraces and talks of so-called love, and by the sweet words of his small children. Thus he forgets his real identity.
Actually, in the material world there is no love. Both the woman and the man are interested in their sense gratification. For sense gratification a woman creates an illusory love, and the man becomes enchanted by such false love and forgets his real duty. When there are children as the result of such a combination, the next attraction is to the sweet words of the children. The love of the woman at home and the talk of the children make one a secure prisoner, and thus he cannot leave his home. Such a person is termed, in Vedic language, a grhamedhi, which means “one whose center of attraction is home.”
Grhastha refers to one who lives with family, wife and children, but whose real purpose of living is to develop Krsna consciousness.
The grhastha’s concern is to get out of the family life created by illusion and enters into real family life with Krsna, whereas the grhamedhi s business is to repeatedly chain him to so-called family life, in one life after another, and perpetually remain in the darkness of maya.
One is therefore advised to become a grhastha and not a grhamedhi. (Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.30.8)
Pravrtti-marga, and Nivrtti-marga:
According to Vedic instructions, there are two paths for human activities. One is called pravrtti-marga, and the other is called nivrtti-marga. The basic principle for either of these paths is religious life. In animal life there is only pravrtti-marga.
Pravrtti-marga means sense enjoyment, and nivrtti-marga means spiritual advancement. In the life of animals and demons, there is no conception of nivrtti-marga, nor is there any actual conception of pravrtti-marga.
Pravrtti-marga maintains that even though one has the propensity for sense gratification, he can gratify his senses according to the directions of the Vedic injunctions. For example, everyone has the propensity for sex life, but in demoniac civilization sex is enjoyed without restriction. According to Vedic culture, sex is enjoyed under Vedic instructions. Thus the Vedas give direction to civilized human beings to enable them to satisfy their propensities for sense gratification.
Factually, however, pravrtti-marga is based on sex life. As stated in Srimad-Bhagavatam (7.9.45), yan maithunadi-grhamedhi-sukham hi tuccham. A householder who is too much addicted to pravrtti-marga is actually called a grhamedhi, not a grhastha. Although the grhastha desires sense gratification, he acts according to Vedic instructions. A grhastha enjoys sex life in this life as well as in the next, but a grhamedhi does not know what the next life is about because he is simply interested in sex in this life.
In the nivrtti-marga, however, on the path of transcendental realization, sex is completely forbidden. The social orders are divided into four parts—brahmacarya, grhastha, vanaprastha and sannyasa—and only in the householder life can the pravrtti-marga be encouraged or accepted according to Vedic instructions. In the orders of brahmacarya, vanaprastha and sannyasa, there are no facilities for sex. (Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.25.39)
Fate of grhamedhi and grhastha - Yamaraja instructs his messengers:
Paramahamsas are exalted persons who have no taste for material enjoyment and who drink the honey of the Lord’s lotus feet. My dear servants bring to me for punishment only persons who are averse to the taste of that honey, who do not associate with paramahamsas and who are attached to family life and worldly enjoyment, which form the path to hell.
After warning the Yamadütas not to approach the devotees, Yamaraja now indicates who is to be brought before him. He specifically advises the Yamadütas to bring him the materialistic persons who are attached to household life merely for sex. As stated in Srimad-Bhagavatam, yan maithunadi-grhamedhi-sukham hi tuccham: [Srimad-Bhagavatam 7.9.45] people are attached to household life for sex only. They are always harassed in many ways by their material engagements, and their only happiness is that after working very hard all day, at night they sleep and indulge in sex. (Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.3.28)
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Thursday, March 28, 2013
Matrimonial Sites
- http://connecthearts.com/
- http://iskconmatrimonials.com/freeseva/index.php
- http://www.jeevansathi.com/matrimonials/vaishnav-matrimonial/
- http://www.marryadevotee.com/
- http://www.kinchitkaramtrust.org/matrimony.home.action
- http://krishnaconnection.com/
- http://www.grihasta.com/
- http://www.krishnamarriage.com/
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Saturday, January 19, 2013
Vow
1.Always remember the Divine, and have firm faith in God.
2.Always look upon each other with love, sympathy and compassion.
3.Help each other in all good and noble deeds.
4.Keep their minds pure and virtuous.
5.Be strong and righteous.
6.Show goodwill and affection to their parents, and other family members.
7.Bring up their children in such a manner that they are strong in mind and body and play a meaningful life in the
community.
8.Always welcome and respect their guests and visitors.
With each vow made, an obligation is offered into the sacred fire.
2.Always look upon each other with love, sympathy and compassion.
3.Help each other in all good and noble deeds.
4.Keep their minds pure and virtuous.
5.Be strong and righteous.
6.Show goodwill and affection to their parents, and other family members.
7.Bring up their children in such a manner that they are strong in mind and body and play a meaningful life in the
community.
8.Always welcome and respect their guests and visitors.
With each vow made, an obligation is offered into the sacred fire.
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Friday, May 25, 2012
Friday, July 29, 2011
Choices Given to Boy and Girl
The Vedic Tradition Gave Following Choices to Boy and Girl
For Girl - Swamyvar - In Which She Choose the Boy of Her Choice
For Boy - Choice to Marry or Remain Bachelor
For Girl - Swamyvar - In Which She Choose the Boy of Her Choice
For Boy - Choice to Marry or Remain Bachelor
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Do it for Krsna
The reading of Bhagavad-gita and chanting Hare Krsna doesn't mean you have to abandon professional life, it doesn't mean you have to abandon professional ambitions. No, you can go ahead and go for your education as high as you want. You can go ahead and be as ambitious in your professional career. But do it for the pleasure of Krsna. If we work for the pleasure of the lord, even if we be in the material world, we will be free from the ill-effects of the illusory energy.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
When Sannyasi - Family Incident
When Gour Govinda Swami became a sannyasi, he left his home, his wife and seven children. He was 45 years old and his children were still young. After he left, his wife and children were in great difficulty to maintain their lives. Because he had been teaching in a school, he was entitled to receive a pension. The government told his wife, “If your husband will sign a document, you can receive his pension. All he has to do is sign this paper.” One government minister came to him when he was staying in his bhajana kutira and told him that his wife and children from his purva asrama were in great financial difficulty and that they could receive his pension if he would sign for them. Srila Gaura Govinda Maharaja answered, “I have no family members.” He was really sannyasi. Sannyasa means social death. He maintained no connection at all with his past life. He refused to sign that paper. Why? Because he was cruel? No, because he had faith in Krsna. “I should not compromise my sannyasa vrata.” He knew that Krsna would take care of everything.
So he went to preach in a village where he organized a big pandal program. One young man from a very wealthy family attended that program. He was very impressed when he heard Gaura Govinda Maharaja’s hari katha. After he asked some of the devotees who knew Gaura Govinda Maharaja, “This sadhu is a great personality. If he was previously in household life, then I want to marry his daughter because if he is so qualified, then his daughter must also be highly qualified.” He found out about Gaura Govinda Maharaja’s family and went to their village and proposed marriage to his eldest daughter. She was married to him and he maintained the whole family very luxuriously. Hari katha is so powerful—it fulfills all material desires, what to speak of all spiritual desires. Govinda Maharaja had many pastimes like this. His character was astonishing.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
two halves of the divine body
In Marriage, man and woman represent the two halves of the divine body. There is no question of superiority or inferiority between them. The duties include
1. Maintaining domestic peace,
2. Adjustment of social relations and
3. Attainment of spiritual perfection
Relativity Theory
Life is a relativity theory. A man lived a peaceful, contented life with his wife and children. His parents-in-law came to stay with him. After a few days time, this person was annoyed with the number of persons in the small dwelling. He sought the advice of a sage, complaining that he had lost his peace because his household had grown larger. The sage advised the man to bring in 6 hens into his dwelling for a month and then seek further advice. When the man visited the sage a month later, the wise man asked him, ‘So how are things now?’ to which the man complained that life had gone worse, because of the stink from the hens. The sage advised the man to buy a pair of oxen and two goats, and have them as pets in his dwelling, and return to him after a month for further advice. The man had no other option but to comply. He returned to the sage after a month and cried, ‘O Holy one! Life has become awful. The place is too crowded and stinks of garbage always.’ The sage advised him to shift the pets elsewhere and return to update him after a month. The man returned to thank the sage for restoring peace into his life. To which the sage smiled and said, ‘Son! If you recollect, you have as many occupants as you had when you came to me. It is your perspective that has changed, because of your experiences.’
That is life. It is when you wearily find your way through a hot summer day, that you understand the bliss that shade is.You count the blessings of life, only when you are thrust deep into problems. Till you encounter sorrow, you never understand the joys that God has blessed you with.
That is life. It is when you wearily find your way through a hot summer day, that you understand the bliss that shade is.You count the blessings of life, only when you are thrust deep into problems. Till you encounter sorrow, you never understand the joys that God has blessed you with.
Monday, January 3, 2011
7 Blessings Given on Wedding
An important aspect of the Marriage ceremony is to light a sacred fire, created from 'ghee' (clarified butter) and woolen wicks, to evoke the God, Agni (Fire God), to bear witness to the ceremony.The highlight is 'Saptapadi', also called the 'Seven Steps'.
Here, traditionally the bride’s sari is tied to the groom’s kurta, or a sari shawl might be draped from his shoulder to her sari. He leads, her pinky linked with his pinky, in seven steps around the fire, as the priest chants the seven blessings or vows for a strong union.
1. May this couple be blessed with an abundance of resources and comforts, and be helpful to one another in all ways.
2. May this couple be strong and complement one another.
3. May this couple be blessed with prosperity and riches on all levels.
4. May this couple be eternally happy.
5. May this couple be blessed with a happy family life.
6. May this couple live in perfect harmony… true to their personal values and their joint promises.
7. May this couple always be the best of friends.
By walking around the fire they are agreeing to these. With each step, they throw small bits of puffed rice into the fire, representing prosperity in their new life together. This is considered the most important part of the ceremony, it seals the bond forever.
Bride and groom come to the altar as God and Goddess, in human form. In many parts of India the bride is considered Lakshmi, Goddess of Fortune, and groom is her consort Vishnu, the Great Preserver.
Here, traditionally the bride’s sari is tied to the groom’s kurta, or a sari shawl might be draped from his shoulder to her sari. He leads, her pinky linked with his pinky, in seven steps around the fire, as the priest chants the seven blessings or vows for a strong union.
1. May this couple be blessed with an abundance of resources and comforts, and be helpful to one another in all ways.
2. May this couple be strong and complement one another.
3. May this couple be blessed with prosperity and riches on all levels.
4. May this couple be eternally happy.
5. May this couple be blessed with a happy family life.
6. May this couple live in perfect harmony… true to their personal values and their joint promises.
7. May this couple always be the best of friends.
By walking around the fire they are agreeing to these. With each step, they throw small bits of puffed rice into the fire, representing prosperity in their new life together. This is considered the most important part of the ceremony, it seals the bond forever.
Bride and groom come to the altar as God and Goddess, in human form. In many parts of India the bride is considered Lakshmi, Goddess of Fortune, and groom is her consort Vishnu, the Great Preserver.
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