Happy Vacations

It is the dream of every family to spend the vacations to some luxurious places or hill stations. But rarely one pay attention towards going to sacred places called Teeraths of India. Soul of India resides in teeraths. Hindu philosophy is based upon rebirth. Only in India it is possible get clear the debt of past life bad karmas because it is “Karma-bhoomi”. Visiting to teeraths is one of the way to accumulate “Punyas”(पुण्य ). Generally people visit these places once they get old or abandoned by their children. Parents sacrifice their every single comfort to their children. But this does not help them in any ways because children hardly left with the memory of childhood once they grow adult. Every year I always take my children to religious as well as adventurous trip to maintain the balance . I believe that the Punyas earned by the children in their childhood will help them in their old age. Eventhough they forgot the memories of trip still the punyas earned by them will act as a guardian in the future life. All the things we suffer in this life is due to bad past life karmas. If we have good balance of punyas then it surly helps to combat with miseries. The same ways good deeds performed at teeraths has multifold effect. Utmost care has to be taken while behaving in teeraths. Secondly, In Jyotish 5th house indicates children as well throws lot of information on past life where as 9th house denotes religion as well as father. So when parents visits teerath along with kids then it is like giving vital energies to 5th as well as 9th house of horoscope of each other.

Tulsi-Ek Shakti

In the Hinduism, Tulsi(a plant,basil) is very dear to Lord Vishnu. It is believe that one who worship lord Vishnu with Tulsi leaves, is dear to lord Vishnu. That is why Tulsi is also known as “Vishnu priya”.The month of Kaartik is very important for tulsi pooja. On ekadashi tithi of kaartik shukal paksh devotees celebrates the marriage ceremony of Tulsi with lord Vishnu. This is called Tulsi vivah. Lord Vishnu granted boon to Tulsi that a place is considered to be the most sacred pilgrimage where exists the holy Tulsi plant. It is believed that the lord of death does not dare to enter a place, where exists a holy basil plant. If one take bath with water, in which basil leaves have been mixed, gives virtues similar to that of all the pilgrimage. The deities and all the places of pilgrimages have their dwelling places in whole of the basil-plant. Even the soil underneath the holy basil plant is of such great importance, that if it is applied on the forehead, all the sins of a man gets destroyed. Wearing a string of beads consisting of basil-seeds makes a man free from the fears of death. Medically it is proved that the Tulsi plant is helpful in curing many diseases. Some important consideration has to be kept in mind while doing Tulsi pooja.There are some days during which it is prohibited to pluck or water Tulsi leaves. They are Sundays,Amavasya,Dwadashi,Sakraanti(Transit of sun into new sign). The leaves should be collected before the prohibited time.

Boon to Saraswati

It was the most awaited moment for the universe when the marriage between Lord Shiva and Goddess Sati was performed. It was the ritual that after the marriage couple had to perform   ‘Nadi Pooja’ in which pooja of river was to be done.  Lord Shiva and Goddess Sati went to the bank of river Saraswati  As per ritual the couple had to look into the river and the outcome of the marriage could be seen from the image form on the river water. The moment both looked into the river, violent waves started to come to the bank. Mother of Goddess Sati was very worried to see this supernatural phenomenon as it was ill omen as no image could be seen due to turbulent water. Lord Shiva guessed the anxiety of Goddess Sati too. HE put his foot in the river water. The moment the river water touched the foot of Lord Shiva, all the waves disappeared. River Goddess Saraswati   appeared and greeted Lord Shiva. Pleased with the devotion of river Saraswati, Lord Shiva blessed her that one day she would meet river Ganaga and that place would be called as “TeerthRaj”(the king of all Pilgrimage) and bathing at that place would free a persons from sins and it would be the gateway to heaven

Arjun and Hanuman

Once Arjun was on pilgrimage and reached Rameshwaram. When he saw the setu(bridge), he wondered that why Lord Rama needed the help of  vanar sena(troops of monkeys) though he himself was a great archer. This was the time when Arjun’s thought was governed by his ego and boast of him to be great archer. He found that one monkey was following him. The monkey tried to answer his doubt and said that it was not practical to built the bridge of arrows by Lord Rama  because it would not able to bear the weight of huge monkey army. On hearing this Arjun laughed and challenged monkey that the bridge made by him could have bear the weight easily and if it failed to do so then he would jumped into the fire. The monkey agreed the challenge and asked Arjun to build a bridge from his arrows.Arjun with his great skills built a very strong bridge. But the moment the monkey stepped on to the bridge , it collapsed.Arjuna accepted the defeat and made a fire ready jumped into.at the very moment one Brahman who was none other than Lord Krishna visited and enquired the matter. The Brahman offered his shoulder at the foundation of bridge and asked Arjun to repeat the task. Again the bridge was built by Arjun with his arrows and when monkey set his foot , the bridge did not collapsed. Arjun was stunned. The monkey appeared in his original form of Hanuman and greet the Brahman who was Lord Krishna(an incarnation of Lord Rama).

Lord Krishna said “ Dear Hanuman!! In previous yuga you have done so much for me and carried me on your shoulder.In this yuga I came to carry you on my shoulder. Also I wanted to teach Arjun a lesson who was living with a false ego”

Arjuna went into tears and asked for forgiveness as the Lord has to came to rescue him. Lord Krishna also honoured his disciple claim of building the bridge second time.God never let HIS children down.

Panch Teerath

Kashi, is the amongst the oldest city of the world. It is the abode of 330 million gods and goddesses.As per mytholology, this city stands on the trident(trishul) of Lord Shiva. Just to meet Lord Shiva, the river Ganga changes its direction of flow for this city only. The spiritual life of kashi present around the ghaats(banks) of river Ganga. There are nearly 84 ghaats in varanasi. But to begin the spiritual journey, 5 ghaats are considered as most sacred.It is a ritual to bath in these ghaat first. This ritual is called “Panch-teerath” yaatra.

Assi Ghaat is the southern most bank of the river Ganga from where this yaatra commences. The order of yaatra is as follows

1) Assi ghaat

2) Dashashwamedh ghaat

3) Adi-keshav ghaat

4) Panch ganga ghaat

5) Manikarnika ghaat

But in modern days, adi-keshav ghaat is replaced by Kedar ghaat in yaatra. Bathing in these 5 ghaats bring salvation. This journey is conducted in a boat. Only after bathing in these sacred ghaat, one should visit the Lord Kaashi Vishwanath temple, the most sacred jyotirlinga form of Lord Shiva. Even amongst the above 5, the Dashashwamedh ghaat, Panch ganga ghaat and Manikarnika ghaat are the most sacred one constituting the “tri-teerath” yaatra.

This picture was clicked when I was doing Panch-teerath yaatra

काशी यात्रा का महत्व

काशी भगवान् शिव की नगरी है।इस का उल्लेख पुरानो में वर्णित है। यह सप्त पवित्रतम क्षेत्रों में से एक है जो कि मोक्षदायक है। ऐसी मान्यता है कि प्रलय काल के दौरान सिर्फ काशी ही ऐसा क्षेत्र है जो उस के प्रभाव से बच पाया था। काशी रहस्य के अनुसार भगवान् शिव ने कहा था कि यह मेरा सब से प्रिये निवास स्थान है। यहाँ का हर कण शिवमय है। उन्हों ने इस स्थान का नाम आनंदवन दिया था। यह क्षेत्र भगवान् शिव को बहुत ही प्रमोददायक है। शिव् पुराण के अनुसार इश्वार कि शक्तियां किसी भी क्षण और किसी भी स्थिति में इस स्थान कि नहीं त्यागती। इसी लिए काशी को अविमुक्त भी कहा गया है। काशी ही एक ऐसा क्षेत्र है जहाँ पर यम का भय नहीं होता। काशी में मृत्यु विशेष रूप से मोक्ष्दाय्नी है । शिव पुराण में स्पष्ट रूप से लिखा है कि काशी में मृत्यु के लिए न तो ज्ञान क़ी अपेक्षा है और न ही भक्ति क, न कर्म की आवश्यकता है और न ही दान की,न संस्कृति की अपेक्षा है और न ही धर्म की, यहाँ तक की पूजन की भी अपेक्षा नहीं है। ठीक इसी तरह यदि इस पावन और पवित्र नगरी में यदि पाप हो जाए तो वे अत्यंत कठिन यम की यातना भोगनी पड़ती है। गंगा नदी के तट पर स्थित इस शहर की पवित्रता इस बात से स्पष्ट हो जाती है कि केवल यहीं पर गंगा नदी जो कि हिमालय से उत्तर दिशा से दक्षिण कि तरफ (अपने से ) बहती है, अपना मार्ग बदल कर दक्षिण दिशा से काशी में प्रवेश करती है और उत्तर दिशा कि तरफ से बहार निकल जाती है। इस विचित्र मार्ग परिवर्तन इस बात का प्रतिक है कि जिस प्रकार शिवलिंग में जल हमेशा उत्तर दिशा कि तरफ ही गिरता है उसी तरह इस शिवमय नगरी में गंगा अपना मार्ग परिवर्तन कर के उत्तर कि तरफ से नगर से बाहर निकल जाती है.अपनी यात्रा के दौरान गंगा काशी में दो नदियों से संगम करती है-वरुणा और अस्सी। इसी कारण काशी अब वाराणसी नाम से भी प्रसिद्धहै। शायद यही कारण है कि काशी यात्रा ने मेरी ज़िंदगी बदल दी है.

Ashta-Vinayaka

In Maharashtra state there is a pilgrimage known as “Ashta-Vinayaka” which is considered as very sacred. It is believe that a person who undertake this journey get librated from the problems related to materialistic world.The word “Ashta” means "eight" and the word “ Vinayaka” is another name of lord Ganesh. This spiritual journey involves the journey to 8 temples of lord Ganesha that are spread around the radius of 120 km around Pune. The importance of these temples confirms from the fact that the idols of the Lord Ganesha are not man made.The idols are “Swayambhu” which means they appear on its own(self-begotten).All the idols appeared at different period of time. It is very auspicious to perform the yaatra in a specific order in accordance with the chronological order of appearance of idols.It is believe that after completion of the journey of 8 temples , one must visit the first temple of Moreshwar(the starting point) again which signifies the completion of journey.
Following is the order in which the journey should be performed.
1. The Moreshwar Temple, Moregaon
2. The Siddhivinayaka Temple, Siddhatek
3. The Balleshwar Temple, Pali
4. The Varadavinayaka Temple, Maha
5. The Chintamani Temple, Theur
6. The Girijatmaj Temple, Lenyandri
7. The Vighnahar Temple, Ozar
8. The Mahaganpati Temple, Rajnangaon

रामेश्वरम- एक दुर्लभ संगम

जब श्री राम लंका मैं विजय प्राप्त कर अयोध्या लौट रहे थे , तब उन्होंने गंध्मान पर्वत पर कुछ समय बिताया था ।परन्तु उन का मन काफी विचलित था । कारण स्पष्ट था । उन्हें ब्रह्म हत्या का दोष था क्यों कि रावन एक ब्रह्मिण थाजिस का वध उन्हों ने किया था। अपने गुरुजनों से आज्ञा प्राप्त कर के श्री राम ने भगवान् शिव कि आराधना करनेका निर्णय किया । पूजा का एक विशेष मुहूर्त निकाला गया। श्री राम ने हनुमान जी को शिवलिंग लाने को कहा ।हनुमानजी बिना समय गवाए काशी की और चल पड़े । काफी समय बीत जाने के बाद जब हनुमान जी नही लौटेतब श्री राम चिंतित हो गए क्योंकि मुहूर्त का समय निकट था। तभी सीताजी ने अपने हाथ से एक शिवलिंग कानिर्माण किया गया और उस मैं प्राण प्रतिष्ठा की। इस शिवलिंग को रामलिंगम कहते हैं . इस प्रकार उस शुभ मुहूर्तमैं पूजा संपन्न हुई। कुछ देर बाद जब हनुमान जी शिवलिंग ले कर लौटे तो वोह बहुत निराश हुए की उन् का प्रयासविफल हुआ क्योंकि पूजा संपन्न हो चुकी थी । श्री राम जी हनुमान जी कि निराशा तुंरत भांप गए। उन् कि आज्ञा सेदूसरा शिवलिंग भी वहीँ स्थापित किया गया जिस का नाम विश्वलिंगम रखा गया और कहा कि आज के बाद सबसेपहले विश्वलिंगम , lकि पूजा होगी और उस के बाद रामलिंगम की । आज तक यह प्रथा जारी है । इस मन्दिर कीएक विशेषता और है कि यहाँ पर २२ तीर्थो का अनोखा संगम है। मन्दिर मैं प्रवेश से पहले समुद्र मैं स्नान करनाआवश्यक है जिसे "अग्नि तीरथ" कहते हैं । इस के पश्चात् मन्दिर मैं २२ कुएं हैं जिन मैं अलग अलग तीर्थो कापवित्र जल विद्यमान है। सभी कुओं मैं स्नान करने के पश्चात् ही इश्वर के दर्शन होते हैं। ऐसी अनोखी और पवित्रप्रथा संसार मैं किसी भी मन्दिर में नहीं है। निम्नलिखित २२ पवित्र तीर्थ मन्दिर मैं स्थित हैं--
1)लक्ष्मी तीर्थ

2)चक्र तीर्थ

3)शिव तीर्थ

4)शंख तीर्थ

5)यमुना तीर्थ

6)गंगा तीर्थ

7)गया तीर्थ

8)कोटि तीर्थ

9)सध्यम्रित तीर्थ

10 सर्व तीर्थ

11 चंद्र तीरथ

12) सूर्य तीर्थ

१३ब्रह्महत्यविमोचन

१४माधव तीर्थ

१५नल तीर्थ

१६ नील तीरथ

१७ गव्य

१८ गवाक्षा तीरथ

१९गंध्मान तीर्थ

२०सवित्रि तीर्थ

21 सरस्वती तीरथ

२२ गायत्री तीरथ

"अग्नि-तीर्थ"- जहाँ पर मैंने अपने पूर्वजो के लिए तर्पण किया

२२ तीर्थो का संपूर्ण स्नान-एक अद्वित्य अनुभव

The Aquatic Navagrehas

As per the concept of Hinduism, we get all the happiness and sufferings in our lives because of our past life karmas. The nava-grehas or the nine planets in our horoscope are the key controller of our destiny. Even Lord Rama was not spared from the effects of navagrehas. Before proceeding for Lanka , Lord Rama needed the help of nature to overcome the powerful enemy, Ravana. The reason behind that was Ravana was himself acquired many divine powers. Once Goddess Durga appeared in the dream of Lord Rama and guided Lord Rama to perform navagreha pooja in order to overcome the adverse effects planets.So after consulting sages, Lord Rama decided to perform special pooja of nava-grehas. He placed nine stones pillars which symbolically represented the 9 planets and do praan-pratishtha(invoking divine powers). Only after performing the pooja Lord Rama proceed towards to Lanka. This confirms the importance of Navagrehas . So every human being on this earth is under the influence of 9 planets. During my teerath-yaatra to Tamil Nadu I got a chance to witness these magical navagrehas, which are still there. These pillars are half submerged in the sea. They are located in a place called Navapaashanam in Devipattinam . It is 14 km North-east of Ramnathpuram in Tamilnadu. This place is considered as very powerful place to perform the tarpan for our ancesters. The unique thing about Devipattinam is that it is the only place in the world where the Navagrahas are located inside the sea.




I performed the pooja in Navapaashanam