The good things, The bad things and You (Part 1)

In this part I talk about Pushti Bhakti to give you a better idea of what is the pushtimarg's version of love. Once we clear that, we will talk about what role it plays in the Paris Attacks.

aadmi bohot chota hai, lekin kaam sab bade bade karta hai

Meet the Bade Mukhiyaji at Motamandir often enough and you will hear him proclaim this with a snarky smile and a finger directed towards Thakurji. What does it imply? To me, it implies that bhakti as defined by Naradji in his bhakti shastra and approved by Shri Mahaprabhuji has a rather tricky meaning to it. 

The definition goes - 

which is, pure and greatest love for bhagawān along with a realisation of his true identity. It is tricky because the qualities of love mentioned do not go along with each other. Just like a hungry person will find it difficult to reject good food offered to him, māhātmya gyān may interfere with sneha if not understood properly. Here is a word by word break up of this definition which is more precise than the one line explanation I did before:

• माहात्म्यग्यान - full knowledge of his greatness
• पूर्वक - with
• सुद्रढ - unshakable, strong
• सर्वतोधिक - more than anything else
• स्नेह - love

There are two distinct features to this kind of love.

माहात्म्यग्यान & स्नेह

This is because, each one of them, arouses different and contrasting emotions in us.

Māhātmyagyān arouses immense respect, humbles us towards the mighty all powerful bhagwān and reminds us of how different a single being and bhagawān are.

Sheh arouses bonding and closeness. It makes us feel closer to him, makes us feel like we are his intimate beings.


So confusing is this definition of love that even the Gopis of Vraj could not strike a balance sometime. The story of Gopi Geet in the raas leela episode reveals to us how Thakurji disappeared when he sensed that Gopis have developed a pride about Thakurji being with them in the raas. This goes to show how particular Shri Krishna is in bhakti. Even the gopis, one of those for whom Krishna came to vraja in the first place, were not spared when their bhakti went wrong. Although I must clear that the case with Gopis, pushti devotion was broken because of Pride (Aham - अहम) and not an imbalance of mahatmyagyan and sneh in their bhakti but I mention this just to remind how difficult it is to always maintain pure pushti devotion.

Coming back to the Mukhiaji's statement;

aadmi bohot chota hai, lekin kaam sab bade bade karta hai

Does this statement stand valid in the kind of bhakti as defined by Nāradji?

Post what do you think and why in the comments below.

In part two I will discuss all the possible correct answers to this. 
The more answers I get the more interesting the discussion will become, so do not shy away with your opinion. We are here to discuss and learn together, we are not ranking as to who is right or wrong. 

Krishna Seva in Adhik Maas - This time; for reals (Part 3 of the Adhik mās series)

So, finally we come up the the conclusion of the series of Adhik maas. Finally - I talk directly about Pushtimarg & Krishna seva in Adhik mās.

(This post is part 3 of an existing blog series on Adhik mās, I highly recommend that you read part 1 and part 2 before you start reading this; otherwise you may not be able to grasp entirely, my opinions and views on Adhik mās.)

In my previous posts, we concluded that Bhagawan wants Adhik mās to act like a catalyst to us in our efforts to better ourselves and the community and achieve Moksha.

<<<<>>>><<<<>>>><<<<>>>>SEVA IS THE FAL SEVA IS MOKSHA<<<>>><<<>>><<<>>>

Here, it is said that in Pushtimarg, the seva which we do is our whole and sole objective, the pleasure and happiness which we get from Krishna seva is all that a Pushti Jeev wants and living a life with bhagwat seva as a part of it is how pushti jeev wants to live. The idea of moksha is nothing more than doing better or more Krishna seva. Having more ways to be with Krishna.

Any kind of a work or an activity or a task has two stages. First stage is when you work towards it and put in efforts or the 'Sadhana' avastha and the second is when you enjoy the benefits of that work or the 'Fal' avastha. Acharyacharan Shri Mahaprabhuji states that the same applies to prabhu seva too, but only here - The sadhan and the fal are the same! You are doing seva of your Thakurji to earn his love, the sadhan here is seva. But, the fact that you get to do seva is fruit enough to you! So it is also the fal at the same time!

    

How to do Krishna seva during Adhik mās (Part 2 of the Adhik mās series) #Adhikmaasisawesome!

A simple Google search on Adhik maas these days gives you more results on what to do and what not to rather than what adhik maas is. This just goes to show that people have decided to stop thinking altogether. They want others to tell them what to do and they will happily oblige! Some critical thinking, some questioning can lead you to a long and interesting path of knowledge and fulfillment about the topic you choose to want to know about.

Typical Google search results for 'Adhik mās'

But why!? I ask!

I will first reinforce my point with a few examples of vedic practices which people do during adhik maas. Then of course, we will come to the main topic - Krishna seva in Adhik maas!

What the maryada margiya shastras ask you to do during Adhik maas:

A lot of things! But all of it can be condensed into three;

1. Become more pious (Do more Pujas, Japas, Satsang, etc.)

2. Fast (Daily or selected days of 'Falaar' (eating fruits and water only)

3. Daan (Charity, All sorts of charity from directly giving things and money to feeding the needful)

That's basically it! That's all what shastra ask us to do. There's no denying that it's not the right thing either! This especially holds true for the holier than thou 'shastra knowing' pushtimargiya crowd who would deny and belittle every aspect of maryada marga at every opportunity they get. Let us find out why, what the maryada shastra ask from us, even as pushti jeevs is just alright and not anyashray as long as you know what you are doing and do it in a limit, after all Bhagwad seva must be your highest priority and nothing else.

Before I start explaining why the three things mentioned above are justified and can be done by us vaishnavas during adhik maas, read this quick snippet from part one of this #adhikmaasisawesome series.

recalling on what adhik maas is,

The Lunar year is 11 days short of the Solar year. As years go by, this gap increases by 11 days every new year. In three solar years, the the Lunar year is roughly 33 days behind the Solar year. To match the two cycles again, an Adhik mās is added in this year so that the 'lag' between the two systems can be rectified. Pretty awesome how Adhik mās works isn't it?

and also read the conclusion of the article.

The Adhik mās is that important correction which prevents time tracking from going haywire. It is that key which lets the sun and the moon run in harmony. 

It is a necessary void!

Adhik mās has a lot of philosophical implications. Conceptually speaking, Adhik mās does not have an identity of its own. It is in a state of existential crisis but also an equally necessary component of time keeping harmony. Think of it as 'space'. It is just 'nothingness'. But that nothingness singlehandedly is responsible for current state of the universe. Space defines everything that is not space, space does not react with the universe at all but all the universe lives in space. Space is that nurturing home which lets stars and planets grow.  A universe without space will quickly become unstable and possibly die! At least, it won't be fit for human habitation. Similarly, timekeeping without Adhik mās will quickly go unstable and definitely won't be fit for human observations as our calculations will become more and more inaccurate at every passing year!


So then, what implications does this adhk mās have on us practically? I mean, considering the Indian calendar (vikram samvat) , This year is gonna have 13 months.. so will I have to do an extra ekadashi fast? will I get paid an extra month's salary? Will I have to work one month extra? Will I have to pay one extra credit card bill? These are all the practical aspects of Adhik mās. This is what will really affect us in our day to day life.

Now considering the exotic and special status of Adhik mās, Bhagwan prescribed something equally exotic - befitting its special case.

How Bhagwaan Made Adhik mās:

Adhik mās is that nothing which improves everything. Adhik mās does not have its own identity, but it improves and perfects the identities of all the other months and years. Similarly we must also do to us, what adhik mās does to timekeeping - Improve and perfect ourselves!

The maryada man must improve and perfect his karma. A good karma score will lead him to his moksha. A maryada man and improve his karma by pleasuring the devas and schmoozing them by various havanas and poojas. Along with that, a man is already entangled in the 'laukik' irrespective of his pushti or maryada inclination, so effort must be done to clean this laukik part of our life as well.

When we do charity, we feel good, we feel happy. The people enjoying the charity will definately get a chance improve their lives for better. Hence you will not only make yourself happy from this act, but also improve the lives of others around you, this action will lead to a better community.

Fasting purifies and cleanses the body and also gives you more time to do the above mentioned two activities. A day of Fasting provides you with more energy to do more positive things at one go. Therefore fasting is also a very essential aspect of improving yourself.

This way, all the three commands of Bhagwan are justified and make total sense to all the people.

BUT! The Pushti way is a little different!

While the objective of the maryada man is to relieve himself from the cycle of birth and death via moksha, the Pushti man's moksha is right in front of his life - in the satisfaction he gets from prabhu seva. So working more towards the 'pushti' version of moksha is essentially doing more prabhu seva! 

Nothing so complicated after all isn't it?

So that is why friends,

Adhik maas is a month of spiritual cleansing for all, but for us Krishna bhaktas, just one more excuse to celebrate our Krishna!

- Goswami Vatsal (Mumbai)

Adhika Mās - The Extra month with extra special importance. #Adhikmaasisawesome!

Adhika Maas (अधिक मास) or the extra month as it is called is actually just an adjustment in our calendar so that it runs more perfectly. Just like our present international calendar (the Gregorian calendar) has leap years for the technical fine tuning of the years' time period, we have the Adhik mās.

When I was first got to know about all these hitherto useless complexities in an otherwise streamlined calendar, 'leap year' and 'adhik mās' were quite up in the list of things I hated about life. Why should these 'extra' months and days exist? Can't the astrologists and calendar makers just do it all systematically and in order just once?  But as I understood them much more properly, I thoroughly flipped my opinion. 

Now I will try to enlighten my readers with the science behind the adhik mās and also try to convince them why #adhikmaasisawesome! If you think the same way about the anomalies in our calendar, this is a must read for you. Or if you know about the leap year but not about the adhika mās, it is even more important that you read this.

The science behind Adhik mās

Once, in every three years an extra month or Adhika Mās takes place. In the hindu calendar, Adhik mās will take place this year, (greg. - 2015; वि. सं. २०७२) on the 18th of June. This adhika mās is known as Adhik Ashad Maas, because it falls before Ashad mās. It is a convention to name the Adhik month the same as the regular month following the Adhik mās.

In my previous blog post, I talked about the Indian calendar.  I like talking about the Indian calendar not just because it is Indian. It is also a display of the technical understanding of the heavenly bodies our sages had at that time. The indian calendar is a masterpiece of timekeeping skills. This is because, unlike the gregorian calendar, which only keeps track of the Sun's place in the sky while totally ignoring the moon, the Indian calendar system takes into account the positions of both the Sun and the Moon. It is a complex system which tracks the positions of both of these heavenly bodies and concludes days (तिथि - tithi) , phases of the moon (पक्ष - paksha), months (मास - maas) & years (वर्ष - varsh). 

Well actually there are so many more units of time measurement based on lots of different observations from around the universe. Here is a list of all the divisions of time our shastras have revealed to us. (link to be added soon) Just a teaser, the list is very, very long, so long that it units of time start becoming units of space-time!

Why am I explaining about the role of the Sun and the Moon in our calendar? It is because this interplay between the Sun and the Moon are the primary cause of Adhik mās. 

Before you start reading further, for a moment forget anything you know of the current english calendar because it is solar based. You must not confuse the english months with indian months to be able to understand the explanation given below.

The indian calendar is primarily based on the cycles of the Moon (phases of moon). It takes around 29.5 days for the moon to complete one whole cycle of waxing and waning. Thus a lunar month is of 29.5 days only. 

How an Indian Lunar Month works

We know a year has 12 months even in the Indian calendar. So 12 lunar months will make up an Indian year or 354 days will make up an IndianYear.

Here's the math,

One lunar month = 29.5 days

Since one year has 12 months, 

12 lunar months = 29.5 x 12 = 354 days

Or simply put,

One year = 354 days

Not too hard, isn't it? 

 Now this was all for the Indian calendar. Remember I told you to forget the English calendar for a while? Now recall it. The English calendar, the present calendar in use globally, has 365 days in one year. This is because it takes the Earth around 365 days to complete one revolution around the Sun.

The Solar Year (English / Gregorian Year)

In short:

One Lunar Year (Indian Year) = 354 days
One Solar Year (Grego. Year) = 365 days

It is quite clear that there is a difference of 11 days between the two years. The Lunar year is 11 days short of the Solar year. As years go by, this gap increases by 11 days every new year. In three solar years, the the Lunar year is roughly 33 days behind the Solar year. To match the two cycles again, an Adhik mās is added in this year so that the 'lag' between the two systems can be rectified. Pretty awesome how Adhik mās works isn't it?

Now a new doubt may come to your mind. The British introduced the Gregorian calendar to the Indian subcontinent, so does that mean there were no Adhik mās before that? Logically speaking, an Adhik maas just corrects the gap between an Indian year and a Gregorian year, doesn't it?

Well.. yes and no..

Here's why.


The Gregorian Calendar works only on the Solar cycles. It totally Ignores the Lunar Cycles.

As I made it very clear, Indian calendar works in such a way that it has to take into account both the Sun and the Moon. It is pretty clear that if a single calendar can incorporate the cycles of the Sun and the Moon in itself, it has to be the most precise. The Indian calendar takes the best from both the systems like this.

The Solar Cycle

The solar cycles are important because they are the actual real cycles! The earth does not complete one revolution around the Sun in one lunar Year or 354 days, it actually takes 365 days for that. So the true year is of 365 days only. It is important to record and maintain this cycle because the seasons are based off this cycle. However, once you start dividing the year into units smaller than seasons, there is no natural cue for us which can mark the progress of time. Here, the importance of the Lunar cycle kicks in!

The Lunar Cycle

The Lunar cycles are important because you don't have to manually keep a track of which day of the month you are in every day. You can simply look at the position of the moon and know which day of the lunar month it is! So easy! Just a glance at the night and nothing more. So it clearly makes sense to use Lunar months instead of the arbitrarily decided Solar months of 30 or 31 days each.

Hence, the Indian calendar independently keeps track of the Solar and the Lunar Cycles. Even if there were no Gregorian Calendar. So Adhik mās is a requirement irrespective of whether or not a Solar only calendar like the Gregorian Calendar exists. So Adhik mās was there even before the introduction of the Gregorian calendar by the British. Adhik mās was there since the inception of the present form of Indian calendar system itself!


I hope to have made you clear, the logic of Adhik mās. 

In the part two of this Adhik mās blog series, I will talk about how it affects us, as pushtimargiya vaishnavs. What changes should we do in our lifestyle during Adhik Mās and also how seva prakār changes. 

The Adhik mās is that important correction which prevents time tracking from going haywire. It is that key which lets the sun and the moon run in harmony. Without Adhik mās, it would be impossible to run a calendar where both the sun and the moon can be taken into account.

So tell me now in the comments below! #Adhikmaasisawesome, do you agree?

Samvatsar (Gudi Padwa) - The beginning of a new year

Happy Vikram Samvat 2072!!!

I started tinkering with the idea of beginning this blog close to the tithi of the new Samvatsar. New year marks the beginning of new things - new stuff, new ideas, new mentality, new everything. New year resolutions, a common western phenomena is actually a great concept which has a very positive impact on you life; provided you choose the right resolutions.

"Every time you tear a leaf off a calendar, you present a new place for new ideas and progress."

Charles Kettering - 

Keeping in line with this fresh and new attitude, a new idea for the new year, I have decided to talk about New year itself (oh so meta! -_-) or the Samvatsar as the first topic of this new blog.

Naye Samvatsar ki Badhai!

Samvatsar - Simply is the sanskrit word for Year. So the popular greeting 'Samvatsar ki badhai'  is not wrong but actually an incomplete sentence. It translates to 'Happy Year'. The proper way is to say 'Naye Samvatsar ki badhai' so you actually greet for the new year, not just an year. I hope you correct the person who texts you Samvatsar ki badhai' the next time.

2071 was not a typo, the Hindu New year is 2072!

The most widely accepted calendar of Hinduism is Vikram Samvat. The calendar of 'all things Hindu'. The Vikram Samvat calendar was initiated by King Vikramāditya and the Hindus all over still use this calendar out of respect for him and his righteous ways of running a kingdom. He is the same Vikram from the stories of 'Vikram and Vetaal'. These are very famous and almost all Indians know of these personalities, either through the famous TV series, through Amar Chitra Katha comics or of course! though our grandparents! The stories reveal the wisdom and wit of this great king as he works his way out of the impossible to solve riddles and unanswerable questions imposed on him by Vetaal (Betaal). If you know even a few of these stories, you won't doubt the eligibility of this man as worthy of an entire calendar system on his name! 

If you have not read the stories, I highly recommend that you read about the stories of Vikram & Vetaal. They have entertained generations of Indians and imparted tremendous wisdom to its readers.

An artist's impression of the great Raja Vikramāditya

My Calendar!

2071 years and 14 days have elapsed as of today, Chaitra Shukla Paksha 14, fourteen days after the beginning of this new year, since the day Raja Vikramāditya officially started this calendar, marking his victory over the enemy king Shaka. Don't you feel proud to be a part of a cultural tradition so old and so close to our lands!? The lands of India have been celebrating this historical calendar, our calendar, our own calendar. 

For me, it's a matter of great pride and a part of my identity, to celebrate the new Samvatsara - The Indian Calendar, to celebrate the Indian way of life, to celebrate everything I find as my own!



I found this Hindi line somewhere on the internet.

भरतपुत्र रात के अँधेरे में नव-वर्ष का स्वागत नहीं करते ...

...अपितु सूर्य की पहली किरण का अभिवादन करके नव वर्ष का स्वागत करते हैं ।

Don't take the literal meaning, understand what this suryakiran is? What is being lit by this suryakiran. To me, on this auspicious occasion of the new year, suryakiran has fell on Pushtimarg, has fell on Hinduism & myself. Thus the title of this blog series - Pushtiprakāsh

So welcome this new year with enlightenment, with knowledge - about your own culture, your own self. With your own culture, your own self - for your culture is not just Vikramaditya's stories, but the combined wisdom of Vedas, Vedantas, Maharishis collected since infinitely long time back!

Welcome to Pushtiprakāsh - A blog on Shudhdhādwait Pushtimarg (Vaishnavism)

INTRODUCTION

A blog on Pushtimarg, focusing on core concepts & seva prakār.

In this introductory blog post, let us get acquainted with how this blog in going to work. The objective of this blog is to focus on fundamental concepts on which Pushtimarg is based upon.  All concepts essential in understanding Pushtimarg - The path of Grace will be discussed in great detail & the posts will be written in a way which assume minimum knowledge on the reader's part. Although, if a topic has already been covered in an earlier blog post, it shall be assumed that the reader is aware of it.

Keeping in line with the objective, there is a natural transition to application of the concepts once you learn them, therefore practical aspects of Pushtimarg, such as seva prakār and seva praṇali will also be covered.