Vanity and Ego

"Vanity & ego take away the sanity in human beings! They become arrogant & belittle others! It is no exception even in the case of famous heroes like Bhima & Arjuna! Bhima's search for the Saugandhika flower leads him to Hanuman waiting to test him! In his ignorance Bhima taunts Hanuman when he asks him to move the tail a little away & proceed on his way! Failing to move it even to a little bit Bhima realizes it is some great soul that is testing him! Hanuman reveals himself, blesses Bhima & shows him the way to get the desired flower! Hanuman' obsession for RAMA & Arjuna's pride in his archery are both removed by Krishna, when the Bridge of arrows collapses twice! A third bridge is built & Hanuman is unable to break it! Turning back Arjuna sees Krishna & Hanuman sees his Rama! The Lord admonishes both & blesses them! Hanuman, pleased with Arjuna for his valour says that he will remain in the flag of his chariot during the Kurukshetra war! That is the reason why Arjuna is called " kapidhwaja" the one with the Monkey ( Hanuman) Flag! Arjuna was saved because of the presence of Hanuman & Krishna soon after the war! Immediately after Hanuman left the flag & krishna got down from the chariot, the chariot of Arjuna burst into flames & was reduced to ashes! Such was the power of the asthras aimed at Arjuna! These incidents show that where there is god's Grace there is always safety & success!ll"

Sri Varasiddhi Vinayaka Pancharathnam

                                                               Composed by Krishnamurthy yayavaram 

  SRI GANESWARA SRI GANESWARA SRI GANEAWARA PAHIMAM

                                           HEI GANADHIPA HEI GANADHIPA HEI GANADHIPA RAKSHAMAM

                                           AADIDEVA BHAVADI SANNUTHA AARTHA RAKSHAKA HEI PRABHO

                                           PAHIMAM VARASIDDHIDAYAKA DESIKOTHTHAMA NAYAKAM!

Oh Lord Ganapathi! shower your benign Grace on me and protect me! You are praised by Lord Brahma and all other gods! You are the protector of the suffering! You are the bestower of boons and the chief of all mentors!

                                          SANKARAATMAJA VIGHNARAAJA VISAALAKARNA GAJAANANAM

                                          SANKA PANKA VIMAGNA MAANASA BHRAANTHI DARPA VINASAKAM

                                          PANKA KUMKUMA BHURI LOCHANA SPURTHI DEEPTI VIBHASITAM

                                          SANKATOGRA NIVARANAM PRANAMAMI SIDDHI VINAYAKAM

I bow down to the son of Sankara,the lord of all obstacles,the one with large ears and the elephant faced God! He is the destroyer of all the arrogance and illusion of people drowned in the slush of samsara! He shines with bright eyes and is anointed with the red colored sindhura on His body!

                                          RAVANESWARA DARPANAASAKA VAMANAARBHAKA MOHANAM

                                          DEVA RAKSHANA BADDHA KANKANA DHIMANIM BHAVA BHANJANAM 

                                          PAAVANAANGHRI SUPALLAVAM BHAVA THARAKAM GUHA SODARAM

                                          BHAVAYAMI SADAA VISISHTA MAHODARAM DURITAPAHAM

You destroyed the arrogance of Ravana by assuming the small enchanting form! You are dedicated to the protection of all Devas! You are extremely smart and help devotees cross the sea of earthly existence! Your tender feet destroy all sins! You are the brother of Lord Subrahmanya! You are Lambodara with the special tummy! I meditate on you always!

                                         VAKRATHUNDA MANOGNA BHUSHANA MALYA RAJITHA VAKSHASAM

                                         SAKRA DHARMA DHANANJAYAADI SURAARCHITHANGHRI SARORUHAM

                                         SUKRA JIVA BUDHAARKA BHUMIJA CHANDRA SAURI VIDHYAKAM

                                         VIKRAMAUJASA KAARANAM PRANAMAAMI VIGHNA NIVAARANAM                      

you are the God with the twisted Trunk! you are adorned with jewels and garlands! Your Lotus Feet are worshiped by Indra, Yama and Agni! You command even Sukra,Guru,Budha,Surya, Kuja, Chandra and sanaischara! I bow down to you, the remover of all obstacles!!

                                         JNANA KAARANA VEDA VEDYA VINAAYAKAM NAVA NAAYAKAM

                                         BHAKTI MUKTI PRADAAYAKAM SAKALAARTHA SAADHAKA VIGRAHAM

                                         NITHYA NIRMALA VASTHU THATHWA VIRAAJITHAM PRABHU MAVYAYAM

                                         AAKHU VAAHANA MAASRAYE MAHANIYA THEJA GANESWARAM 

You are the cause for all Jnana or knowledge! You are realized through the Vedas! There is no leader other than you! You grant devotion as well as salvation or Mukti! You radiate the principle of pure Eternal Brahman! I beseech you, the rider on the Mouse, Oh Ganeswara! with the only tusk!

DESIRE

Krishnamurthy Yayavaram posted a response on Thought of the daySadhguru Jaggi Vasudev

"Desire is the root cause of all our troubles & sufferings!! But at the same time it is the basis of human existence!! Without desire there is no progress in life!! The question is as to what we should desire! As mortals we desire power, pelf, position, wealth,health & renown!!These are needed for all in material existence!! These are all ephemeral & are likely to vanish sooner or later!! When man's life itself is so short why talk of these things??Desires should not be limited to these trivial & small things!! Our desires must be ideal & aim at very great & grand things! Man is finite whereas God is infinite!! It should be his endeavor & wish to reach God ultimately!! in other words, he should wish to become god himself!! Desire should not be limited for limited things in this world!The motto should be to aim very high in whatever you attempt to do! if you aim at cent percent you may get 80%!! But if you want just a pass you may fail!! Swami Vivekananda said that if he were to be a burglar he would break in to the house of a Millionaire rather than a Beggar as he may not find much in the beggar's house!Every thing about MAN is limited & hence he goes after limited things!!We pray to God for material benefits! we seldom pray for liberation from the terrible cycle of samsara--that of Birth & Death!! When the Creator Brahma came to Kumbhakarna & asked what he wanted as a boon, poor kumbhakarna wanted SLEEP as the boon!!That is human nature! We ask for silly things & miss the great things though God is willing to give whatever we want!! Our ultimate Nature is DIVINITY! The desire for self realization should be in every individual! We must realize that " I" the Atma is different from the physical BODY!!"

"Let Nature be your Teacher"

"Nature is the manifestation of God! In every object of nature our ancestors saw the Almighty in one form or other! They worshiped nature as none did! but today Man's atrocities against Nature are manifold! He has blasted the mountains, felled trees, polluted all rivers beyond redemption! and has not left even the free air without polluting it! The earth has been dug out for some purpose or other! Is there any limit for his selfish nature? But on the other hand Nature has been forgiving him for all his lapses! We do not know when Nature will , in its anger, retaliate! It has been very, very patient for a very long time! God has causeless love for his children! In the same way, Nature too has been too very lenient to men! All trees, specially the sandalwood tree offers its fragrance to the axe that cuts it! When burnt it wafts fragrance in the air & rubbed, it produces sandal paste that is fragrant! It does not mind the fellow who has cut it but its fragrance is given to the very axe that has cut it! All trees & other objects of Nature are forgiving and treat man indulgently!! Nature teaches us many lessons! " let nature be your teacher" said Wordsworth the famous Nature poet! We should remember that it it is to our own peril that we destroy Nature! The floods, tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions & other calamities are the signs of nature's anger against man! After all Man is insignificantly small before the forces of Nature! Let him realize this factor & behave properly lest he will be ruined!"

 

See GOD in Every object

"The entire Universe is the manifestation of God or Divinity! As such every individual and every thing is the reflection of divinity! Man, in his ignorance looks at the exterior only and does not care to delve deep and try to recognize the enshrined God principle ,namely the Atma! The same Soul or atma embedded in one's heart, is also there in every living being as well as in all objects in the world! " Ekah paratma bahudeha varthi" say our scriptures!The most important quality of a Jnani or Wise man is to recognize this fact and look at others with this insight! That is why people say  "Panditha samadarsiniha" The wise look at others equally! When we look at others' indwelling atma, all differences of caste, community, religion,language, creed, nationality and other differences dissolve and we realize the self same Spirit or soul residing in them! In other words we recognize the God in him! We illuminate him with our Love and affection which is pure and unalloyed! Entire Nature is also seen as the personification of divinity! The magnificent mountains, the brooks & the flowing rivers, astounding scenes of greenery satisfy us as the very essence of divinity! That is the reason why we worship trees, mountains, rivers and other objects of nature!!Hence, the essence of spiritualism and Jnana consists in recognizing the divinity in other human beings and Nature!! Adi Sankara, in one of his walks meets a chandala, a repulsive figure, who engages him in a philosophic dialogue! Sankara, recognizing him as a great Jnani, prostrates to him, to the surprise of all his disciples! He did not hesitate for a second thinking that the person was of a very low caste! That is the unique nature of Jnanis!!"