Akhilanda Koti Full Video Song | Om Namo Venkatesaya – Nagarjuna, Anushka Shetty, M M Keeravani

Janmashtami 2018 special song

Kalki avatar (10th avatar of Bhagavan Vishnu)

Base image by : Molee on DeviantArt (Anirudh Sainath Krishnamani), with some embellishments by me

Source of image : https://molee.deviantart.com

Yada yada hi dharmasya
Glanir bhavati bharata
Abhyutthanam adharmasya
Tadatmanam srjamy aham
Paritranaya saadhunam
Vinashaya ca dushkrtam
Dharma-samsthapanarthaya
Sambhavami yuge yuge!!

Whenever and wherever there is a decline in dharma, O descendant of Bharata, and a rise of adharma – at that time I manifest my-self…
To protect the innocent and to punish the guilty…to reestablish dharma,
I manifest era after era!!

As per the Kalki Purana… Kalki is prophesized to take birth in the home of a well known brahmana by the name Vishnuyasa and his wife Sumati in the village of Shambhala. He will train extensively in martial arts and weaponry under guru Parashurama-the warrior worshipped by all warriors.
After doing immense penance for over ten years in the mountains for Rudra, he will receive the sword, Ratnamaru and also his vehicle, Devadatta – the white horse.
Kalki will then annihilate all evil in this age of darkness and lead humanity to the age of truth, Satya Yuga…

True Friendship

Source: https://www.ramakrishna.org/activities/message/message4.htm

WHO IS OUR TRUE FRIEND  ?

True Friendship Is Rare

In his last message, Sri Krishna says: “Brothers, wives, fathers, and friends, who were very near and dear to the heart, are all instantly alienated and turned into foes by even an insignificant sum of money. Even the least amount of money upsets them and inflames their anger, so that they immediately part company, and all at once abandoning cordiality they rival and even kill one another.”  The Bhagavad Gita (VI.5) tells us that a person’s “own self, endowed with discriminative knowledge, is the only friend. So-called friends and relatives are in reality the enemies of the aspirant; for, being objects of his affection and attachment, they create bondage.” In the light of that knowledge, as Sri Ramakrishna says: “When a man is seized with the spirit of intense renunciation he regards the world as a deep well and his relatives as venomous cobras.” The same message is repeated by the Master in a song: “Remember this, O mind! Nobody is your own; vain is your wandering in this world. Trapped in the subtle snare of maya as you are, do not forget the Mother,’s name. Only a day or two men honour you on earth as lord and master; all too soon that form, so honoured now, must needs be cast away, when Death, the Master, seizes you. Even your beloved wife, for whom, while yet you live, you fret yourself almost to death, will not go with you then. She too will say farewell, and shun your corpse as an evil thing.”

A true friend is a person who inspires us in the path of God, shields us from all vices and temptations, intercedes on our behalf with God, and prays for our spiritual welfare. On the other hand, the friend whose company makes us forget God, and arouses in our mind worldly propensities, can never be called a true friend, however pleasant or likable he may be. There is hardly anything more ruinous to the soul than the company of such a friend. The downfall of a person, in all countries and all ages, is caused by the company of such bad friends. Bad company is the breeding ground of all sins and vices. This is so, as Narada says in his Aphorism 44: ” Because it causes lust, wrath, delusion, loss of memory, loss of reason and finally, total wreck of the man.” The Mahabharata points out: “You have no desire for a thing till you know what it is like. It is only after you have seen it, or heard of it, or touched it, that you get a liking for it. Therefore, the safest rule of human conduct is not to take, touch, or see whatever is likely to taint the imagination.” So Narada says, “By all means, avoid bad company.” Bad company fans the flames of passion: “These propensities, though at first like ripples, acquire the proportions of a sea, by reason of bad company.” Sri Krishna in his last message says: “A mental wave is never produced by anything that has not been seen or heard. So the mind of a man who controls his senses is gradually stilled and is perfectly at peace….Thus the wise man should shun evil company and associate with the holy. It is these who by their words take away the attachment of the mind.”

The Three Friends of Man

The wisdom of Vedanta says: Never trust a friend who has not been tested. The following story, The Three Friends of Man, beautifully describes who can be trusted as our true friend. In a small village there lived a pious man, virtuous and honest. One day he received a summons from the king to appear before him for judgement. The king was known for his eccentricity, unpredictability, and cruelty.   The pious man became very much disturbed and afraid. He had never done anything wrong or unjust, so how could he receive a summons like this, he wondered.

The pious man had three friends: his best friend, his next best friend, and his least intimate friend. He went to his best friend, explained his fear and distress to him, and asked him to come with him to the king’s court. His best friend, standing inside the front door of his house, heard the whole matter and said: “I am afraid I cannot accompany you to the king’s court. I can only say good luck to you, my friend,” and he closed the door in his friend’s face. The pious man became terribly disappointed to realize that one whom he had always regarded as his best friend would desert him and leave him out in the cold.

He then went to see his next best friend, told him the whole problem, and made the same request of him. This friend said: “I know you to be a good man and I could never imagine your doing anything wrong. I’ll accompany you up to the palace gate, but I do not intend to enter the palace and stand before the king, because he is unpredictable and eccentric and may decide to put me in jail along with you.” The pious man became disappointed for the second time.

Sad at heart and disillusioned about human goodness, he went to his least intimate friend, from whom he never expected any help. When this third friend heard of his problem, he said to him: “I do know you to be an honest man and also I am certain that you are incapable of doing anything wrong. Don’t worry, my friend, but go home and come leisurely to the court of the king. I am going ahead to testify to the king about your honesty and goodness.” The pious man was greatly surprised at this pledge of support from a friend to whom he had never paid much attention.

The pious man in the story represents a human individual in distress, the king, death and the summons, the call of death. The palace gate stands for the graveyard. The “best friend” represents money and possessions, which say goodbye to person at death and never come out of his house to accompany him. The “next best friend” represents relatives and friends, who accompany him only up to the graveyard and then leave his dead body there. The “least intimate friend,” to whom he never paid much attention, is the memory of his good deeds, performed with selflessness for the benefit of others. The memory of his good deeds becomes his sole support in his fearful, solitary journey hereafter. Such a memory is his only true and trusted friend. The Bhagavad Gita (II.40) solemnly declares this fact and says: “in this [selfless action] no effort is ever lost and no harm is ever done. Even very little of this dharma [selfless action] saves a man from the Great Fear.” The memory of a good deed is like the messenger of Truth that escorts the soul to the realm of Truth. (Concluded)

– Swami Adiswarananda

Maharaas Leela

Swami Sarvapriyananda’s excellent speech on how to purify and control our thoughts at IIT Kanpur

Effect of past karma

Source : The Hindu

The Kapilopadesa explains in detail the full sweep of the sway of samsara. The greatest wonder is that though the jivatma is endowed with the senses, mind, intellect and an inherent sense of good and evil, he is unable to transcend the cycle of births.

Sastras say that each one’s experiences of joy and sorrow are the result of past deeds good and bad and that heaven and hell are in this world, said Sri Kesava Dikshitar in a discourse.

The degree of experiences caused by old age, sickness, death, etc, varies in people but is unavoidable for all who are born in this world. Human nature is such that no one desires the fruits of bad deeds and all want only the fruits of good deeds.

But they do bad deeds easily and are not keen to do good deeds.

Yet all wish to live comfortably without sorrows and are quick to wonder why they experience sorrows and tend to think it is not what they deserve.

The Lord, who is not bound by any karma, empathises with human sorrow, in the Aranya Kanda when, as Ram, He cries out in despair on losing Sita: “I think there can be none in this world who is a greater sinner than me; that is why I am facing this kind of sorrow and grief that overpowers my mind and intellect easily. I am sure that in my past births I must have followed my desires and not abided by the rules of sastras. The effect of that is now being felt by me now. Sorrow after sorrow follows me.”

Ram does not highlight His commitment to dharma and truth, nor His devoted worship of Lord Ranganatha. This is to enable the jivatma understand and accept that his suffering is the result of past karma and that he should learn to seek to rid himself of this bondage.