Holashtak-Time to be Careful

Eight day prior to the festival Holi are collectively known as "Holashtak". The word 'ashtak' means 'eight'. This period commence from the lunar month of Phalgun and on ashtami tithi and it ends on Phalgun Poornima. This period of eight days is considered as highly inauspicious , specially in north India.No auspicious work is commence during this period.This period is considered is very important for Taantriks as this is the most favourable period for fulfilling their goals through 'Saadhna'.They attain special powers during this time which can be used in a desired way.At the begining of Holashtak,on day 1, the place where Holika dahan has to be performed after 8 days is cleaned with Ganga Jal.Then pyre is created specifically with a wood which are collected from the broken branches of trees.All the 16 sanskaars of hindu are not performed during this period. In case of a death, the last rites are performed only after special prayer to ward off the evil effect of Holashtak.It is believe that on day one of Holashtak, Lord Shiva burned the Kaam dev with HIS fire of anger.

Legend of Sankata Chaturthi

Once   Indra was returning  from sage Bhrushundi’s ashram..While passing over the kingdom  of  king Shursen  Indra found that his vimaan(plane) had stopped working and it landed in Shursen’s kingdom. He found that this happened because one person(who has done many sins in his life) saw his vimaan  in the sky. With his sinful look the plane landed on the ground. This news spread like a fire in the city. All the efforts to restart the plane were failed. Indra told the secret to restart the plane to King .He said that yesterday was the Chaturthi tithi and if a any person who kept fast yesterday gave his virtue then the plane would start. King ordered his soldiers to search for such person who kept fast on chaturthi date. But there he found no one in the city. At the same time the soldiers of the king noticed that the attendant of Lord Ganesha was taking away the dead body of a woman who died on that day. With surprise soldiers asked the attendant of Lord Ganesha  that the lady was a sinner and why they are taking her to Ganesh Lok.  He replied that yesterday the woman remained hungry through out the (though unintentionally) and ate very late night. So accidently she kept the fast of Chaturthi tithi.But she died today. So she was going to Ganesh Lokam due to her virtues acquired on chaturthi tithi.

All of a sudden strong wind started to blew which reached from the dead body of the woman till  the vimaan of Indra and the vimaan had started. So the wind became virtuous even with the touch of that woman.

Such is an importanceof sankata chaturthi which is dedicated to Lord Ganesha who is the ruler deity of Chaturthi tithi.

Sankata Chaturthi

 In the month of Magh as per lunar calendar, the 4th tithi(date) of the dark half(Krishna paksha) is celebrated as “Sankata Chauth”. The ruler deity of the chaturthi(fourth) date is Lord Ganesha. So, Sankata Chauth festival is very auspicious to worship Lord Ganesha. This fast is for removal of obstacles in the life. Its importance was told by Lord Krishna to Yudhisthir.

Procedure

1)Wake up before sunrise and after bathing “sankalp” has to be done in front of Lord Ganesha’s idol.

2) Observe nirjala fast(without water) from the sunrise till the appearance of moon in the evening,  , If the health doesnot permit then fruits and milk can be consumed. But no cereals has to be taken.

3)  Pooja of Lord Ganesha has to be performed by offering 21 Durvas(a kind of grass).

4) As a prasadam, Laddu has to be offered.

5) Offer water to the moon(argya) 3 times.If moon is not visible then its image can be drawn on the outer wall.

On this day Lord Ganesha blessed planet Mars(mangal). So if the horoscope has some malefic influence of Mars called Mangal dosham, then this day is the best day in a year to get rid of that ill effect by worshiping Lord Ganesha

  

Trijata- The Sita's saviour

 'Trijata'  was one of the demoness in King Ravana’s court. She was appointed to have an eye on Sita and convinced her to marry King. Due to her past lives good deeds,Trijata, was devotee of Lord Rama despite born in demon community. Instead of threatening Sita, she was the only one there in Ashok Vatika where Sita was kept who treated Sita like her daughter. She even freed Sita from the fear by disclosing the secret that Ravana could not marry her due to involvement of previous curses to him. One night she had a dream in which she saw that Lord Rama defeated Ravana. After the dream she even tried her best to persuade King to set Sita free from his captivity.She was sure the Ravanas act of keeping Sita in his kingdom would bring destruction to the whole family. Trijata clearly understood the powers of Sita at once. Even during the war she kept the hopes of Sita alive when Ravana spread the rumors about his victory.She morally supported Sita all the way during the war. Trijata's role can never be underestimated. Actually Trijata was a niece of Ravana,the daughter of Vibhishan.

Nav Bhakti

The word 'Bhakti' means devotion towards god.According to hindu classics there are 9 forms of bhakti called "Navdha Bhakti". These 9 forms are as follows-
1) Shravan- listening the glory of Lord.is called "shravan"
2) Kirtan- singing bahajans called "Kirtan"
3) Smaran-remebering the god through mantras and japam called "smaran"
4) Pada Sewa-worship of lord's feet is called "Paad Sewa"
5) Archana-offering to god is called "archana"
6) Vandana-bowing before Lord and paying obeisance is called "vandana"
7) Dasya bhakti-when a devotee always consider himself as lord's servant
8) Sakhya-devotee considere god as his friend
9) Samarpan-is a complete surrender.

Ek Shloki Ramayana

Ramayana , the hindu epic,consist of   24000 shlokas in 7 books.Reading a Ramayana has a power to wash off all the sins of a human. But in modern era where time is always in scarcity, the benefits of reading a whole Ramayana can be obtain by reading "Ek shloki Ramayana" in which the context of whole epic is reduced into one shloka(verse).

Mantra as follows

आदि राम तपोवनादि गमनं, हत्वा मृगं कांचनम्।

वैदीहीहरणं जटायुमरणं, सुग्रीवसंभाषणम्।।

बालीनिर्दलनं समुद्रतरणं, लंकापुरीदाहनम्।

पश्चाद् रावण कुम्भकर्ण हननम्, एतद्धि रामायणम्।।

Meaning

Once Rama went to forest,

He chased the deer,

Sita was kidnapped,

Jatayu was killed, There were talks with Sugreeva,

Bali was killed,

The sea was crossed,

Lanka was burnt,

And later Ravana and Kumbhakarna,

were also killed.

This in short is the story of Ramayanam

Procedure

-consistency is required

-after the morning bath ,start chanting the mantra in front of idol of Lord Rama

-atleast recitation of 108 times is necessary everyday

 -try to recite at the same time and at the same place everyday.

Ek Shloki Bhagwat

When i was on a trip to Braj bhoomi, one of the pandit of the temple told me the shlok(stanza) in which the whole Bhagwat puraan was described. The stanza was as follows-

"Adhou devaki devi garbha jananam, Gopi gruhe paalanam,
Mayaa pootana jeevithaa apaharanam, govardhanodharanam,
Kansa chedana, kauravadi hananam, kunhi suta palanam,
Etad bhagawatham purana kaditam Shri Krishna leelamrutam"

It means -

'Born to devi Devaki,
Brought up by Gopis,
killed the deomness Pootana,
Lifted the Govardhana parvat,
Beheaded his uncle Kansa,
Helped in killing the Kauravas,
And looked after the children of Kunti.
This is   short   story of Bhagawatam,