Paush Purnima Vik Samvat 2070. Yugabda 5115: January 16, 2014 (top)


 FESTIVALS: Magh Purnima GSLV WITH INDIGENOUS CRYOGENIC ENGINE       
MAKAR SANKRANTI CELEBRATED Common man only can bring to nation its pristine glory
RSS has done good work towards promoting the values of dedication GO-HOME LIBRARY - An Appeal
Krishna Leela spellbind audience at Kirchi Kirchi Karachi event Reunion Initiates Major Training Project in BHARATIYA Art and Architecture
Bharatiya-American named member of Chinese Academy of Sciences Century-Old Temple Conflict Ends
LARGEST SOLAR COOKING SESSION PRAVASI BHARATIYA SAMMAN FOR KURIEN FROM BAHRAIN
Hindus laud Albuquerque Public Schools for offering yoga Hindu Munnani welcomes the stand of TN Government on Ram Sethu
SHRI VISHWA NIKETAN FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Articles: 
Relevance of  the institute of Joint Family MISSIONARIES IN INDIA: CONVERSION OR COERCION?

1. FESTIVALS: Magh Purnima, also known as Maghi Purnima, the full moon day of the month of Magh falls on February 14 this year. According to Brahma Vaivarta Purana, Bhagwan Vishnu resides in the water of Ganga on this day. Magha Purnima is a bathing day as sacred as Kartik Purnima. A bath at Sangam at Prayag is considered the most auspicious on this day. Grand festivities take place along the banks of holy rivers like Ganga, Yamuna, Sarayu, Narmada, Tapti, Kaveri, Krishna and Godavari etc. Taking a holy dip on this day in Kumbakonam, Kanyakumari and Rameshwaram in Tamilnadu and Pushkar in Rajasthan is also considered to be very auspicious.

The 'float' festival is celebrated at Madurai in Tamil Nadu, on this day. The ornately decorated idols and images of Lord Sundeshwara and Meenakshi are mounted on the floats and are taken to Mariamman Teppakulam Sarovar which is a large sacred tank in Madurai. The procession is accompanied by music and chanting devotional songs. Magh Purnima is the birthday of King Tirumala Nayak who constructed the Mariamman Teppakulam, a few kilometres to the East of Madurai.
There is a special significance of this day in Buddhism as well. It is believed that Gautam Buddha announced his impending nirvana on this day. There are religious ceremonies held at Viharas, prayers are dedicated to the Buddha. Back

2. SUCCESSFULL LAUNCHING OF GSLV WITH INDIGENOUS CRYOGENIC ENGINE: Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully launched GSLV-D5 rocket on 5th January, which is powered by an indigenous cryogenic engine, from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.

Seventeen minutes after liftoff at 4.18pm, the rocket successfully injected GSAT-14 communication satellite into geosynchronous transfer orbit.
"The launch has been so precise that the satellite was put just 40 metres within the 179km perigee and only 50km of the 36,000km apogee," mission director K Sivan said.
ISRO achieved the feat after two failures earlier. While Bharat has mastered the PSLV range of rockets with a string of 25 consecutive successes, GSLV, which can carry heavier payloads including humans to space, has remained a challenge.
Cryogenics, the science of extremely low temperatures, has posed a challenge to rocket scientists across the world. With this GSLV-D5, Bharat is joining countries like the US, Russia, Japan, France and China which have successfully developed their own cryogenic engines. Back


3. MAKAR SANKRANTI CELEBRATED: Tens of thousands of faithfuls on January 14 took holy dip in rivers and ponds and offered prayers in temples on the auspicious occasion of Makar Sankranti which was celebrated across the country with gaiety and fervour. Braving early morning winter chill, devotees in North Bharat bathed in sacred rivers and ponds and made a beeline to temples to offer prayers.

The devout offered goods made of "til" (sesame) to the poor, an act of charity believed to bring spiritual benefit on Makar Sankranti when the Sun enters the Tropic of Capricorn.
In Allahabad, thousands converged at the Sangam, the confluence of Ganga, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati, to take a holy dip.
In Kanpur, Makar Sankranti, also known as Khichdi, was celebrated amid religious fervour. People distributed khichdi among homeless and poor as a mark of charity. Around 10-12 lakh devotees took a holy dip in the Ganga on the occasion of Makar Sankranti in Sagar, a West Bengal island considered auspicious by Hindus.
Colourful kites dotted the skyline of many towns on the occasion with children, young and old camping themselves on rooftops to enjoy the festival. In Pink City Jaipur, where Makar Sakranti is celebrated as a festival of kites, enthusiasts perched themselves on the roof of their houses at the break of dawn to fly kites.
Variously hailed as "Tamilar Thirunal,"(festival of Tamils), "Uzhavar Thirunal" (farmers' carnival), and "Aruvadai Thirunal," (harvest festival)" the Pongal celebrations got off to a colourful start early in the morning in Tamilnadu. In both urban and rural regions, streets in residential localities were decked up with colourful ornate drawings out of flour (Kolam in Tamil). In several towns like Agastheeswaram in Kanyakumari district, "Community Pongal" was celebrated in which people cutting across social strata come together to observe the festival. Special prayers were held in temples on the occasion. Temple elephants, now at a rejuvenation camp in Thekkampatti on the foothills of Nilgiris district, prostrated before Ganesha, the elephant-headed God, and they were offered Pongal.
Lakhs Witness 'Makara Jyothi': In an atmosphere of gaiety and religious fervour, lakhs of pilgrims witnessed Makara Jyothi when deeparadhana was conducted after adorning the Thiruvabharanam on the idol of Lord Ayyappa at 6.40 pm on January 14. While waiting for the appearance of Makara Jyothi on the eastern sky above the hill shrine, lakhs of pilgrims were overwhelmed by the darsan of Lord Ayyappa at the Sopanam and the atmosphere was filled with chants of ‘Swamiye Saranamayyappa’.
The Sannidhanam and the surrounding areas of the temple, especially Pandithavalam, Saramkuthi and Malikappuram, were thronged by the devotees.
Malikappuram Procession: The customary Malikappuram procession, carrying the Thidambu of Malikappuram Devi on a caparisoned elephant, was taken out at 7 pm. The procession went near the Holy Steps at the Lower Thirumuttam.
Magh Bihu or Bhogali Bihu in North-East: The entire northeastern region is a land of festivals. All the janjatis, people inhabiting the plains and the hills rejoice in their festivals all around the year. Magh Bihu or Bhogali Bihu is a harvest festival which is celebrated in the month of January. Bhogali bihu is celebrated at a time when all the cultivation works get over and everyone has plenty to eat and enjoy. 'Uruka' is the first day of the festival and is devoted to the God of fire, Agni.
As the name ‘Bhogali' suggests feasting, this Bihu is a celebration of food after a good harvest and a variety of sweets are prepared from rice, coconut and til. On the ‘Uruka' night, community feasts are arranged by people preparing local delicacies with fish and meat. The Gaan-Ngai festival: Similar to Magh Bihu of Assam, the Zeliongrong tribes of Manipur and Nagaland celebrate the festival of Gaan-Ngai on the same days. This is the biggest post harvest festival which was opened on January 13 this year by the Deputy Chief Minister of Manipur Gaikhangam.  Back


4.   Common man only can bring to nation its pristine glory: Bhagwat: RSS Sarasanghachalak Dr. Mohan Bhagwat on January 5 made a candid statement that only and only common man in this country can bring to the nation its pristine glory. Dr. Bhagwat was speaking at the concluding ceremony of the ‘Sankalp Mahashivir’ of the Mahakoshal Prant of RSS at Jabalpur, where about 40,000 RSS activists had gathered for 3 days. He said, “Nations cannot be built on behest of one person, or a political party or an organization. The nation needs a motivated, dedicated, organized society for that. The electrifying power of such an organized common man only can bring the desired change in the society. And that is the very reason why RSS has dedicated itself to the cause of organizing the society for the last 88 years.” RSS Sarkaryavah  Shri Bhaiyaji Joshi inaugurated the Shvir on January 3 at Vivekananda Puram Parisar located at Vijay Nagar.  Sarsanghachalak Dr. Mohan Bhagwat, senior functionaries Dr Kailash Gupta, and others were also present on the occasion.Back

 
5. RSS has done good work towards promoting the values of dedication: Dalai Lama: Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama on  January 10 praised the RSS for its support to the Tibetan cause and said it has done good work towards promoting the values of discipline and dedication. Dalai Lama was talking to mediapersons at the RSS Smruti Mandir premises after paying tributes to RSS founder late K B Hedgewar and his successor Guruji Golwalkar at their memorials in Nagpur.
 “RSS has always supported the cause of Tibet and hence I always had love for it,” Dalai Lama said, adding, “RSS thinks not just for Bharat but for the entire world.” RSS paschim kshetra sahkaryavaha Ravi Joshi and Nagpur mahanagar Sanghchalak Dilip Gupta accompanied him during the visit. Back
 
6. GO-HOME LIBRARY - An Appeal: Having 10 years experience in working with youth library movement in Arunachal Pradesh, where there is no facilitation for supplementary books for extra reading or libraries for joyful reading for school going children in particular and the educated people in general, RIWATCH is launching a massive programme called ‘Go-Home Library’. Sathyanarayanan Mundayoor who has done pioneering work in popularizing good reading habits among children through the Lohit Youth Library Network will be leading the programme.
“If the people don’t go to libraries, the libraries should go to people,” with this objective RIWATCH proposes to pack a bag of 20 books and make it reach to the doors of the reader. It proposes to launch 100 such bags initially in two selected districts and later spread to other districts, making it a gigantic movement to make reach stimulating, knowledge-building and joyful reading books at the door level of the reader. For more details please contact: vijayarunachal@gmail.com Back

7. Krishna Leela spellbind audience at Kirchi Kirchi Karachi event: It was an unique opportunity for artists from minority Hindu community in Pakistan when they showcased their talent at Kirchi Kirchi Karachi event. Krishna Leela performed by Ajay Salok Jagarnath and his team was a showstopper at the event. Tehrik e Niswan had this unique event of dance performance and theatre play on January 5 in Karachi. Tehrik E Niswan is one of the prominent groups of theatre play and Kathak Dance in Pakistan. The group is mentored by Sheema Karmani. Many artists from Hindu community showcased their talent in the event.
Ajay Salok Jagannath from Pakistan Hindu Seva and his team presented Krishna Leela which received big applause from the audience in the auditorium full with more than 2000 families and youngsters. Majority of the audience had come from slum areas of Karachi like Lyari, Korangi, Lines Areas, orange town, kutti pahaddhi etc. Back

8.  Reunion Initiates Major Training Project in BHARATIYA Art and Architecture: Reunion is a department (like a state) of France located off the African coast with a substantial Tamil population brought years ago to the island. This training project is a major innovation as parts of the Tamil population work to re-establish their Hindu faith, earlier generations having converted to Catholicism.
On December 23, a training agreement concerning Bharatiya crafts was signed by Daniel Minienpoulle, president of the Reunion Tamil Federation and Bernard Picardo, president of the government Chamber of Trades and Crafts in Reunion. It was signed at a conference in the presence of the Consul General of  Bharat, Raju George, the director of the government office of employment and the director of the Reunion Island Chamber of Commerce. Daniel Minienpoulle reported that "over the past 30 years, major renovations of Hindu temples have been made in Reunion. In an effort to transfer the Bharatiya know-how, given the demand in Reunion and high unemployment, it is important for us to provide the establishment of a training facility for Reunion artisans to learn how to do Bharatiya temple art (sculpture, painting and decorating) in terms of maintenance and renovation."
In the early 1990's the services of sthapatis (architects) and shilpis (skilled workers,) experts in the art of Bharatiya temple construction, was obtained from South Bharat. Their mission was to renovate the Indo-Creole style wood and concrete temples and transform them as much as possible to the South Bharatiya style.The first two temples to see this renovation were the Colossus Kovil, inaugurated in 1995, and the Saint-Denis temple in 1996. Nearly twenty temples have since been rebuilt or renovated, and the process is still ongoing with a potential further fifty places of worship planned. Private cultural venues have also benefited from this renovation initiative.Back
 
9. Bharatiya-American named member of Chinese Academy of Sciences: An eminent Bharatiya-American scientist and president of the prestigious Carnegie Mellon University in the US has been named a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Subra Suresh has been recognised for his scientific contributions in materials science and engineering, including his work connecting nano-mechanical cell structure to disease states, the university said. Back

10. Century-Old Temple Conflict Ends: Supreme Court ruled on January 6, 2014 that the famous Nataraja temple in the town of Chidambaram in Tamil Nadu will continue to be managed by priests and not taken over the state government. Back

11. LARGEST SOLAR COOKING SESSION: As many as 3,484 children from over 80 schools participated in the largest solar cooking initiative Suryakumbh in Uttan village near Bhayander, Mumbai on January 4. The event has qualified as an entry to the Guinness Book of World Records.Back
The emergence of renewable sources of energy as an answer to the imminent exhaustion of conventional energy sources pushed a Bhayander NGO, Keshav Srushti, to start with the most influential members of society, children.
“We provided each child with his own solar cooker to assemble and, later, take home to share the knowledge with his family and friends. This activity will help them understand the importance of solar energy and also how it works,” said Satish Sinnarkar, vice-president of Keshav Srushti, who claims they got more applications than the number they had allotted for the activity. The earlier record was set last year at Jalna in Maharashtra, where 2,200 students took part in a solar cooking session. The children were amazed by the construction and working of these solar cookers and were surprisingly well informed.
Back

12. PRAVASI BHARATIYA SAMMAN FOR KURIEN FROM BAHRAIN: A top Bahrain businessman has been awarded the highest civilian honour for non-resident Bharatiyas. Varghese Kurian, chairman and managing director of Al Namal and VKL Group, was honoured by the government of Bharat with the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman award at a glittering ceremony in New Delhi on January 9.
Kurian, who is the largest Bharatiya investor in Bahrain, received his award from Rashtrapati Pranab Mukherjee in the presence of more than 1,000 members of the Bharatiya diaspora from more than 50 countries. He is the only Bharatiya from Bahrain to win the award this year and was one of the 14 global Bharatiyas to be honoured.
Addressing the gathering, Rashtrapatiji reiterated that overseas Bharatiyas could play an important role in the growth and development of Bharat. He said they had within them the experience, expertise and knowledge gained as a result of their life abroad, which could be of immense benefit to Bharat.Kurian was singled out for his bold business initiatives that have cemented the already strong ties between Bahrain and Bharat, and his philanthropy.
Mahatma Gandhi's grand-daughter Ela Gandhi, Australian senator of Bharatiya origin Lisa Maria Singh, Canada-based entrepreneur and philanthropist Vasdev Chanchlani, France-based educationist Bikas Chandra Sanyal and Ramkrishna Mission in Fiji were among the other 13 recipients of the award.Back

13. Hindus laud Albuquerque Public Schools for offering yoga: Hindus have applauded Albuquerque Public Schools (APS) in New Mexico (USA) for reportedly offering yoga in its various schools, and have urged all New Mexico school districts to do the same for their pupils. According to USA’s National Institutes of Health, yoga may help one to feel more relaxed, be more flexible, improve posture, breathe deeply, and get rid of stress. About 21 million Americans, including many celebrities, now practice yoga. Yoga was the repository of something basic in the human soul and psyche, Rajan Zed distinguished Hindu statesman said.
APS, largest school district in New Mexico and 30th largest in USA, has about 90,000 students, including over 5,000 homeless, in its 140 schools. Over a third of its students come from homes where the primary language is not English; and one of its schools has its own film studio. Martin Esquivel is President of APS Board of Education.Back

14.   Hindu Munnani welcomes the stand of TN Government on Ram Sethu: The Tamilnadu government has reiterated the Supreme Court should direct the Centre not to implement the Sethusamudram project. Sri Ramagopalan, Hindu Munnani, in a press release, has welcomed the stand of Tamilnadu Government to scrap the Sethusamudram Project and regard the bridge as a national monument. He also cautioned that the Hindus will not tolerate if any action taken by the Central Government against their sentiments.  Back

15. SHRI VISHWA NIKETAN: Pravas: Shri Saumitra Gokhale samyojak Vishwa Vibhag is on a pravas to Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. Visitors: Jagdish Sehwani - USA, Vinoo Vadher, Subodh Thacker - UK, Vimal Chadha – Kenya, Balesh – Australia,  Abhinandan - Botswana  Back

FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Let us all work hard, my brethren; this is no time for sleep. On our work depends the coming of the Bharat of the future. She is there ready waiting. She is only sleeping. Arise and awake, and see her seated here, more glorious than she ever was, this motherland of ours. – Swami Vivekajanda.Back
JAI SHREE RAM
 
Dr Ashok Modak
The institution of joint family is an asset in Bharat as obvious as the sunlight. Tragedy however lies in the fact that elite in Bharat who are enamored by the modern life pattern in the Euro-American world rush to deprecate this institution. They think that elderly people dominate joint families and the members of young generations naturally come across several impediments in the march towards modernity. The clashes between old style and modern ways generally result in the victory of the former, because protagonists of the ancient ethos easily curb the aspiration of young boys and girls. We cannot of course deny that whenever and wherever fathers and grandfathers happen to be dogmatic and extremists, young members do find their stay in the joint family as quite uncomfortable. And that’s why beautiful balance between old and new is a must for the healthy atmosphere in the joint family. Overall assessment, of course leads one to state that phase of the joint family do overcome minuses.
As the elites in India do impress common masses, their imitation of the life patterns prevalent in the Euro-American world has generated remarkable craze among ordinary souls for rampant consumerism. Such a craze encourages naked selfishness and equally stark pursuit to raise living standards at a fast speed. One may here refer to the interesting comment made by Alan Greenspan, former chief of the Federal Reserve System of the Limited States, as it epitomizes the American mood, reflective of the gilded age. The comment runs as follows: “The propensity to save is a sign of backwardness”. The Americans’ rush to implement this comment is practice has caused a great damage to the environment. It has moreover led people there to opt for subprime loans and to indulge in shameless corrupt transactions.
Indian elites, prone to be Xerox copies of Americans appear to be busy in accomplishing greed, least bothering for their relatives’ well being and for their own rainy season. They are tempted to outsource several family obligations and responsibilities to market institutions. Thus, cooking has been entrusted to restaurants, child bearing has been put into surrogate mothers, care and the parents have been sent to old mens’ houses! Here we feel that the institution of joint family which imbibes invaluable samskaras or imprint on the minds of family-members to thumb of others! Indian family fully implements the Marxian dream: “From each according to his ability to each according to his needs”. An earning member of each family accordingly accepts the claims of all relatives over his or her income. Thus an infant in the cradle as well as an unfortunate aunt who has lost her husband are treated as honorable claimants over the earning of working members. The very claimant similarly keeps aside his or her greed and feels satisfied in accomplishing bare needs!
A genuine family-man gladly abandons or sacrifices his personal interests for the sake of the family. In the epic Mahabharata, Vidura rightly advised Dhritarashtra to give a share of the kingdom to the Pandavas and to ignore the admand demand of Doryodhana on the ground that Pandavas and Kauravas belong to the same family and one person must be abandoned for protecting the family. Vidura here quoted the following shloka for justifying his stand:
त्यजेदेकं कुलस्यार्थे, ग्रामस्यार्थे कुलं त्यजेत।
ग्रामं जनपदस्यार्थे, ह्यात्मार्थे पृथिवीं त्यजेत॥
(One person may be abandoned for protecting a family, the family may be abandoned for protecting s town, the town may be abandoned for the protection of the society and even the earth may be abandoned for the protection of the Atman)
This shloka thus, convey to us that in the human life the family imparts basis lessons of sacrifice for the society. The family condemns that fellow who being inspired by the desire of enjoying the objects of pleasure or by avarice causes pains to others. Our Hindu ethos no doubt, asks us to treat the whole world as family. One should not, however, forget that the abandonment on my part of selfishness for the sake of my family is the forst basic step necessary for climbing the ladder for reaching the ultimate goal of  वसुधैव कुटुम्बकम ।
How can we forget the golden advice given by Kunti to Yudhishtir when the latter ascended the throne after the Bharati War that his mind should always be great! मनस्ते महदस्तुच ! “O my son, may your mind be always great, be always broad”.
The role played by the mother in the joint family is indeed basic! If we want to do away with the cruel speed of consumerism, permissivism and philistinism if we want to create calm, quiet and secure surrounding around us with a view to enjoying healthy, fruitful life we must strengthen the institution of a joint family. 
Author is former member of Maharashtra's legislative assembly. -- News Bharati English, Back

 
Philip Goldberg
Imagine you're poor and living in a rural area. Your child gets sick. You manage to transport her to a hospital or clinic. To your relief, the condition is treatable. But the cost of treatment is not just beyond your means, it's beyond your imagining. However, says the kindly health care worker, you can get the treatment free of charge. All you have to do is renounce the centuries-old traditions of your people and convert to a foreign religion.
Such offers are being made to desperate people in the villages and tribal areas of Bharat.
I just returned from a month in that country, to mark the Bharatiya publication of my book, American Veda. In the 18 cities I visited, the most frequently mentioned topic was the shady tactics of certain missionaries.
Not all of them, mind you. Not the intrepid souls who work selflessly to help the poor, the afflicted, and the illiterate, in the spirit of their savior's exhortation to serve "the least of these." Such missionaries have been welcome in Bharat for centuries, and the Hindus I spoke to are grateful for their good works.
What is causing consternation and anger is a new breed of zealots, heavily financed by American fundamentalists, who seem driven to pile up numbers like door-to-door salesmen racking up commissions. Determined, fervent, and creative in pursuit of souls to save, they sound more like the snake-oil hucksters of legend than servants of Christ.
Targeting mainly the impoverished and uneducated, some of their tactics make the hospital bargain I described earlier look as reputable as ordering a book from Amazon. I was told of missionaries giving people temporary jobs in return for converting, and then threatening them with job loss -- not to mention eternal damnation -- if they reconvert to Hinduism. Families have apparently been torn apart because the converts are made to disassociate from the heathen.
I heard about missionaries who dress in orange robes to look like swamis. Gullible and desperate villagers are told that their traditional gods are actually corrupted versions of Christ; that the venerable saints and sages of Bharat's past were really Christians; that the three horizontal stripes traditionally drawn on the foreheads of Shiva devotees stand for the Holy Trinity; that the Upanishadic prayer that includes "Lead us from darkness to light" was meant as a cry for Jesus to save them.
A mother is sick? A father loses his source of income and can't feed his family? The bus filled with youngsters suddenly "stalls" on a dangerous mountain road? Well, say the missionaries, try praying to your Hindu gods. Hmmm, imagine that: nothing changes. Well then, see what happens if you pray to Jesus.
Wow! Lo and behold! The mother receives medicine. The father gets a one-day job that puts rice on the table. The bus engine starts again! If one prayer to Jesus produces miracles like those, imagine what converting will do!
I heard about people being told that their misfortune derives from their worship of Hindu deities, because the idols are really forms of the Devil; about village strongmen being paid to coerce conversions from other villagers; about women given a choice of walking a mile to haul water from their usual source or using the new well conveniently dug in front of a church. The price? Conversion, of course.
I don't know if these egregious actions are commonplace or rarities. I do know that they are dishonorable. They're about coercion, not spiritual conversion; extortion, not the exchange of ideas. And, if I may say so as a non-Christian, they are an affront to Jesus, whom every Hindu I've ever met regards as a holy man of the highest order if not an incarnation of God. I can't help thinking that he would be as outraged by the deception being perpetrated in his name as he was about the moneylenders in the temple.
I told people in Bharat that most American Christians would be appalled if they knew what was being done by their overly aggressive brethren. I was tempted to wait until after Christmas to test that thesis, but I decided that this season of goodwill might be the ideal time. So, what do you think, my Christian sisters and brothers? Is there some cosmic war for souls going on, in which anything goes? Or are there rules of engagement that civilized people should observe? What would Jesus say? – Huffington Post, 20.12.2013. Back
ON BASIS OF RELIGION
Arun Jaitley
The founding fathers of our Constitution envisaged the Directive Principles of State Policy in Part IV of the Constitution. Article 44 of the Constitution states, “The state shall endeavour to ensure for the citizens a uniform civil code throughout the territory of India”. Uniform Civil Code can only deal with rights of the citizens and not religious rituals. However, some people misguided themselves to believe that a uniform civil code would be an interference in their religious rights. The framers of our laws while still permitting separate personal laws dealing with civil rights did not make any exception with regard to criminal law. A crime is a crime irrespective of the birth marks of the criminal. His religious beliefs cannot determine his guilt or innocence.
The Union Home Minister, Shri Sushilkumar Shinde, has announced that he would be writing to all Chief Ministers to review terrorism cases against members of the minority communities. Obviously, he has only religious minority and not linguistic minority in his mind. He expects the State Government to set up Review Committees to deal with cases against a category of citizens and not all persons who have been charged for terrorism offences. This raises certain fundamental questions with regard to the propriety and the legality of the move initiated by the Home Minister.
The move is clearly political. There are several persons charged with offences of terror in Bharat. The provisions have been invoked against those associated with certain radical Islamic groups. In the last few years there are a few members of the majority community also who were charged in a set of cases. Maoists have been charged in terror offences in several parts of the country. The provisions of the anti-terror laws have been invoked against some persons in the North-East and Jammu & Kashmir. There are pre-2004 cases pending under POTA. Subsequent cases are predominantly under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. A move that only a certain category of cases would be reviewed on the eve of elections is intended to link the otherwise uniform application of criminal law with vote bank politics.
Such a move is clearly unconstitutional. Article 14 guarantees to every citizen a right to equality. There can be a reasonable classification based on an intelligible and distinctive criteria. The criteria that the facility of reviewing terror cases would be extended to persons depending on which faith they believe in or are born into is clearly unconstitutional. A crime does not cease to be a crime because a criminal practices in a particular faith. States are now being mandated by the Union Home Ministry to review cases of only persons belonging to a certain faith. An atheist, agnostic and believers in the Hindu faith would admittedly be kept out. A contradiction would also be there. The believers of Hindu faith would constitute a minority in Jammu & Kashmir and certain States of North-East. Would they be eligible for review in these States or would the majority in these States be treated as national minority and be eligible for review of cases? What would happen to cases (say against the Maoists) where some of the co-accused belong to one religion and others belong to a different community. There can be no doubt that the criteria adopted by the Union Home Minister is clearly violative of the constitutional guarantee of equality since it is not based on rationale or intelligible criteria.
The power to withdraw a prosecution is circumscribed by section 321 of the Criminal Procedure Code. It is only a Public Prosecutor who after application of mind for ‘good reason has the power to move the court seeking withdrawal of a case. The judge has to apply his mind to allow the withdrawal of a case. Criminal law does not provide for any review Committee for withdrawal of pending cases where charge sheets have been filed. Whenever law makers have felt the need, they have specifically provided for such a Review Committee. An extra legal review committee which substitutes the discretion of the public prosecutor and the judge follows a procedure unknown to law. The same is clearly violative of even the provisions of criminal law.
The directive/advisory of the Union Home Minister to the States to discriminate between criminals on basis of religion is based on an improper policy. It violates the constitutional guarantee of equality. It is violative of the fundamental principles and provisions of criminal law. The States are not bound by such unconstitutional directives of the Home Minister. (Writer is Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha) — The Pioneer, Bhopal, January 12, 2014.Back

Paush Amavasya Vik Samvat 2070. Yugabda 5115: Janunary 1, 2014

1.   FESTIVALS: If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind—P.B.Shelley. Vasant Panchami, the initiator of spring in Bharat, falls on 5th day of Magha Shukla corresponding to 4th February this year. The festival is more commonly associated with Maa Saraswati, the goddess of learning, wisdom, knowledge, fine arts, refinement, science and technology. The day is celebrated as Saraswati Puja in eastern parts of Bharat and as Sri Panchami in other parts of Bengal. The ritual of initiating education to children, known as Akshar-Abhyasam or Vidya-Arambham/Praasana, is one of the famous rituals of Vasant Panchami. The color yellow plays an important role in Vasant Panchami as it is related to the bloom of mustard flowers during this period. Celebrants usually wear yellow garments, Saraswati is worshiped in a yellow dress, and sweet saffron rice and yellow sweets are consumed within the families. The festival is celebrated by the Bharatiya diaspora all over the world.

2.  Dwindling number of Parsis a concern: rashtrapatiji: Expressing concern over the population of Parsis worldwide shrinking to about 1.4 lakh, Rashtrapati Pranab Mukherjee on December 27  urged the community to address the issue "pragmatically and sensitively". Inaugurating the 10th World Zoroastrian Congress, he lauded Parsis for their immense contribution to Mumbai in particular and Bharat as a whole. He referred to the contributions of Dr Homi Bhabha, Homi Sethna, JRD Tata, Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw, Admiral Jal Cursetji and Air Marshal Aspy Engineer, and named Ratan Tata, Fali Nariman and Zubin Mehta among the 25 greatest Bharatiya living legends.

3. VAIDYARATNAM AYURVEDA MUSEUM: Showcasing the richness, the variety and the evolution of the Ayurveda heritage of Bharat, the museum was established and is maintained as one of a group of institutions collectively known as the Ashtavaidyan Thaikkattu Mooss Vaidyaratnam group of institutions, located in Thaikkattussery, near Ollur in Thrissur District in Kerala.
The museum was inaugurated by Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, former Rashtrapati, on 27 December 2013. The exhibits in the museum include diorama presentation of the history of Ayurveda from mythological period to modern times, a library of texts on Ayurveda, descriptions of various branches of Ayurveda, an exclusive section on Susrutha, a picture gallery, a 3-D gallery, and a digital library.

4.  My Take, Rashtra Sarvopari, and Drishtikon, by LK Advani released: "Whatever Advaniji speaks or writes is pramanik and the national interest is always above everything for him. There are very few political leaders in the country like Advaniji, who follow extraordinary transparency in their life,” said Rashtriya Swyamsevak Sangh Sarsanghachalak Mohan Bhagwat, while releasing three books based on the blogs of octogenarian BJP leader  LK Advani in New Delhi on December 17. The three books— My Take is in English, while Rashtra Sarvopari and Drishtikon are in Hindi. Yoga guru Baba Ramdev and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Smt Sushma Swaraj were also present on the occasion.
 “I have worked as per my conscience and my inner voice even though at times I have had to hear criticism from my opponents as well as from my own people,” Advani said. The 86-year-old former deputy PM credited his frugal eating habits and clean conscience for his excellent health. 

5. THEY SWAM IN THE PATH OF SWAMIJI: Under Swami Vivekananda 150th Jayanti Celebrations, an ‘All Bharat Swimming Rally’ was conducted at Kanyakumari recently. Swimmers hailing from fishermen community residing along the coastal areas of the country participated in the rally and swam the distance from the shore to the Vivekananda Rock. They did dhyana at the Swaami Vivekananda Rock Memorial situated in mid sea at the southern tip of Bharat. Bula Chowdhry, MLA (CPM) and former national women’s swimming champion was the Chief Guest of the event. 
She observed: ‘Swami Vivekananda is the only answer for the present day problems,’ recalling how Swamiji swam across the turbulent waters and reached the Rock. He drew inspiration from this land and shook the whole world by his powerful speech at Chicago, she added.
Kshetra Samparka Pramukh Mohananji, Kshetra Pracharak Stanumalayan, Prantha Sanghachalak Dr. M L Raja and other adhikaris graced the event.  Earlier a Samudra Pooja was also performed.

6.  RSS calls for debate on Article 370: Alleging that the parties in power in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) are misusing Article 370 ‘to accomplish their personal agenda’, RSS Akhil Bharatiya Sah-sampark Pramukh Arun Kumar called for a debate on it while addressing a seminar, "Article 370: Reality and Myths", organized by Jammu and Kashmir Study Centre in Jammu on December 25.
Maintaining that J&K has been "mis-quoted", "mis-handled" and "mis-carried", Kumar said nationalist forces all over the country have decided to take political discourse of the state by highlighting issues, which remained unheard due to vicious campaign of some forces of the Kashmir Valley.
Former Law department head of Jammu University K L Bhatia said, "Article 370 was not part of the draft constitution prepared by the drafting committee headed by B R Ambedkar."
"...it was introduced in the Constituent Assembly of Bharat by Gopalaswamy Ayyengar after persistent persuasion by the representatives from J&K, that is National Conference headed by late Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah."

7.  The psychological barrier between people of J&K and rest of the country must go: Jammu & Kashmir unit of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) organised a seminar on ‘Benefits and Harms of Article 370’ in Jammu on December 18. Former Justice of J&K High Court Justice GD Sharma presided over the seminar. The speakers were of the unanimous opinion that the Article is a psychological barrier between people of J&K and rest of the country and it must go.
Initiating the discussion, eminent columnist Daya Sagar said Article 370 is a barrier in the total constitutional integration of J&K with Bharat. Eminent historian Prof Hari Om demanded abrogation of Article 370 and full constitutional integration of the State with the rest of Bharat. Prof Varinder Gupta said Article 370 gives special status only to those who are already enjoying power.
Dr Jatinder Singh, Sunil Ambardar and others also spoke on the occasion. Justice G D Sharma also supported the demand of abrogation of Article 370 and said this Article is harmful for the common masses of J&K. National vice president of ABVP Dr Narinder Singh said since 1990 ABVP has been holding debates all over the country on Article 370.

8.  Don’t ignore repeated Chinese intrusion: A high level delegation of Janjati leaders from Arunachal Pradesh under the banner of Arunachal Vikas Parishad urged the policy makers, top political leaders including Up-Rashtrapati Hamid Ansari, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Smt Sushma Swaraj and Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley, and the Army Chief General Vikram Singh to create a sense of responsibility among the political and bureaucratic elites of the state to overcome the Chinese menace. The delegation stressed the need to strengthen the remotest border area of the state.
The delegation included Arunachal Vikas Parishad Chairman Pratik Potom, and other officials, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad activist Smt Joram Aniya Tana, Gyati Rana from IFCSAP, Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram president Jagdeo Ramji, Adhyaksh Purbanchal Kalyan Ashram Ranjit Bhattacharya, and NE Convener of Faith & Culture forum of ABVKA Ramesh Babu.

9.  Memorable Pravas to Bogota, Paipa and Duitama in Colombia: Abhimanyu -- Nov 23rd - 30th, I accompanied Saumitraji for pravas to Colombia in South America. At the airport, Edwin and Carlos, the translator, received us along with few people from Vaishnava community, who are followers of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math (SCSM) from Navadeep, West Bengal. We were taken to a home in Bogota city, which also works as makeshift temple. During the evening, we participated in Kirtan sessions at the home in Bogota. Next day, Sunday, we drove to city of Duitama, where we stayed at the home of a doctor, Anandamoy, who had recently traveled to Bharat with his wife Erica. Over the course of week we came to realize that this Vaishnava community has very sincerely transformed themselves into complete devotees of Sri Krishna, despite having very little physical contact with people of Bharat.
The men in the community wear dhoti or kurta-pajama and women wear Saris as much as possible! Surprisingly, they wear Bharatiya clothes even when they go outside of their home. All the initiated men keep a Shikha, and many of them would even wear dhotis during the kirtan sessions. All of the devotees have adopted a Hindu name such as Radharani Devi Dasi, Dwija Hari Das, Lakshmi Rani Devi Das etc. They do daily Sri Krishna kirtan in morning and evening, with special services on weekends and fast on all Ekadashis too. At the moment, devotees are looking to build a big Sri Krishna temple in Paipa to help expand their efforts.
We were extremely well treated by folks in Vaishnava community. It appeared that the people had not only learned about Atithi Devo Bhava but have fully imbibed it. We were always served before anyone else and that too in larger quantity than the rest! We received vegetarian meals all the seven days, and every meal was different. The food was mix of Bharatiya and Colombian, and was always followed by a different sweet item e.g., Halwa, Malpua etc. We were served freshly cut Colombian fruits every morning, along with coffee and large different variety of teas and fruit juices throughout our stay. Although we all met for the first time, we pretty soon got along as though we know each other for a long time. When we departed Paipa on Tuesday evening to come back to Bogota, there were many teary eyes during the farewell. One kid Kesavananda, about 3 years old, didn’t wanna let go of Saumitraji. He was fine with leaving his mom behind and coming with us in the car!
During our stay, we met heads of various section of Dharmic society in Colombia. Amazingly, working like a true Gatanayak, Edwin has already been in contact with various Mathas, Sampradays and organizations in Colombia. Among many people, we met a Governor of Native-Colombian Muisca group in Paipa, a professor who is studying Native-Colombian tribes and culture, a Shaivite devotee, a catholic woman who runs the yoga and meditation practice. Notably, we had a skype call with a swamiji called Ashram Maharaj from Mexico. He is native mexican and part of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math. He is a very good English speaker and travels to various places in South America. Additionally, we visited very well run Sai Baba Center in Bogota. There are multiple such centers in Colombia and they exist throughout all South American countries.
Additionally, we met a Brazilian devotee who lives in Colombia and has traveled to Bharat 45 times and donated money for building various guest-houses for religions tourism in Bharat. He does his best to promote Vedic philosophy throughout South America by giving talks at various places.
We also visited an Ayurvedic Treatment / Spa center in Paipa. This center has been created by a Colombian doctor, with training from Bharat.
We met only 3 people from Bharat in our week-long stay in Colombia. We met Chitransh, a Pratham Varsh Shikshit swayamsevak, who has lived in Colombia for last 1.5 year. He speaks very well Spanish! Other 2 Bharatiyas were Chitransh’s roommates. There are only few hundred people of Bharatiya origin in all of Colombia, and most of them work for companies like TCS, Wipro and Infosys on small projects.

10.  NON-CITIZEN SHOULDN’T BECOME EDITOR: HC – Delhi High Court on December 17 observed that it was desirable that non-citizens should not be the editors of any publication in Bharat. A bench comprising Justices Pradeep Nandrajog and VK Rao said that since the Parliament was set to consider the new Bill on the related issue, the court was not intended to pass any order in this regard.
“If being a citizen of Bharat is the pre-requisite of the three pillars of democracy: The Legislature, The Executive and The Judiciary; no person can be elected to a legislature unless he is a citizen of India, no person can hold a public post if he is not a citizen of India, no person can hold the office as a judge if he is not citizen of Bharat, it would be illogical that a person who is the pivot of the Fourth Estate is not a citizen of India,” said the judgement highlighting the role of Fourth Estate in Bharat. The court observed that “citizenship kindles a sense of patriotism and loyalty and thus it may be desirable that a person who is not a citizen of Bharat should not be an editor of a publication in Bharat”.
The order came on a petition filed by BJP leader Subramanian’s Swamy against The Hindu newspaper for appointing a US citizen as its editor in 2011. Swamy challenged the appointment of Siddarth Varadarajan as The Hindu’s Editor, citing that he was a US national.

11.  Flawless mission: The Strategic Forces Command (SFC), fired the long range Agni 3 missile with a range capability of over 3,000 km from Wheelers Island, off the Odisha coast on December 26.
Agni 3 missile is equipped with advanced high accuracy navigation system and guided by an innovative guidance scheme.Quoting an SFC spokesman, “Such successful training launches clearly indicate our operational readiness to meet any eventuality as also establishes the reliability of this deterrent component of Bharat’s Strategic arsenal”.

12.  Malviya Jayanti at BHU: Banaras Hindu University organised several programmes to mark the birth anniversary of its founder Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya on December 25. BHU vice-chancellor’s prayers and rituals at Vishwanath temple were followed by the completion of week-long Shreemad Bhagwat Parayan. More than 11,000 diyas were lit at (RGSC). Several cultural and fine arts events were also organised to mark the occasion.

13.  Yoga Room at Chicago's O'Hare Airport: "The yoga room (opened on December 11) provides a space for yoga practice as well as a place to relax or meditate," said Rosemarie Andolini, Chicago Department of Aviation commissioner. "This is yet another amenity to help make the travel experience at O'Hare 'best-in-class.’" O'Hare's yoga room has a sustainable bamboo wood floor, floor-to-ceiling mirrors along one wall, exercise mats and an area to store personal articles and garments.
A wall-mounted video monitor plays soothing sounds and displays yoga exercise techniques and images of nature. And to provide privacy and let in natural light, there are frosted windows along one side of the room. The yoga room at Chicago's O'Hare airport continues a trend begun by San Francisco International Airport in January 2012, when it opened the world's first yoga room at an airport. Located in the refurbished Terminal 2. Yoga rooms can also be found at airports in Dallas, San Francisco and Burlington, Vt.

14.  Bharatiya Population Up By 48% In New Zealand: The population of Bharatiya ethnic group in New Zealand has risen by 48 percent to 155,000, latest census statistics show. The five largest ethnic groups were New Zealand European, Maori, Chinese, Samoan and Bharatiya. New Zealand's resident population grew 5 percent to 4.24 million between 2006 and 2013.

15. SHRI VISHWA NIKETAN: Pravas: Saumitra Gokhale, Samyojak Vishwa Vibhag is on a tour to Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania. Dr. Sadanand Sapre sahsamyojak returned from his tour to Mauritius and South Africa.
Visitors: Nitin Deeal and family -- Mauritius, Shivkumar – Sydney, Australia, Vinay Sharda – Toronto, Canada.   

FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Politics should be in accord with the Dharma i.e., that which sustains the society, with the eternal laws that govern human relationships, and should maintain harmonious concord in all such fields. — Shri Guruji.
JAI SHREE RAM

The legend called
Balasaheb Deshpande

Virag Pachpore

The late Ramakant Keshav alias Balasaheb Deshpande, founder of Akhil Bharatiya Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram, was a top ranker legendary personality in modern Bharat. Born in a traditional Brahmin family on December 26, 1913 at Amaravati in Vidarbha, he became an RSS swayamsevak in his teen age and received indelible impressions in patriotism, discipline and Hindutva.
A graduate from Hislop College, Nagpur, Balasaheb was appointed by the then Ravi Shankar Shukla Government to work in tribal dominated Jashpur area as ‘Regional Officer’ of the ‘Tribal Development Scheme’.
In this area, Christian missionaries were those days converting the simple tribal people to their religion by using all means fair and foul. The entire education system was controlled by these missionaries there.
No other agency was allowed to work without the permission of the missionaries. Balasaheb opened 100 government schools in 1948 in just one go in the tribal areas to counter the missionaries work, overruling all objections and difficulties. Surprised at this achievement, Thakkar Bappa visited Jashpur and as a token of appreciation, gave him Rs 251/- as prize for his accomplishment. But the goverenment machinery was not in a mood to give free hand to Balasaheb in his mission in Jashpur. Shri Guruji advised him to give up the government job and start an independent mission for the welfare of the tribal brethrens.
The Christian missionaries had been working in Bharat since 1793 with a mission to convert the people here to Christianity. These missionaries concentrated in Bastar, Chhota Nagpur, Assam and North-eastern areas and other tribal areas of the country. Balasaheb vowed to change this situation and with a firm resolve he resigned from government job and started the Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram in 1951.
He was assisted by Morubhau Ketkar, a senior Pracharak of RSS on the instructions of Shri Guruji. The Jashpur principality and its royal family always supported the activities of Kalyan Ashram.
The work was two-fold: To bring back those tribals who were converted to Christianity by fraud, allurement or some other means and to inculcate in them a strong sense of belonging to the Bharatiya culture and religion. At the same time, the Niyogi Commission, appointed by the Madhya Pradesh Government exposed the anti-national character of these Christian missions and their missionaries.
Balasaheb accepted the challenge of the tribal areas and with his undaunted courage, untiring zeal and uncompromising commitment plunged into the mission of his life. Education was his basic instrument to reach to the tribal people and once he made a place for himself, he served them treating them as his ‘god’. He gave them love and affection which they wanted very much and in turn realised the highest satisfaction of his life- both mundane and spiritual.
Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram is a mission of national renaissance. It has been the most difficult and daunting task. Balasaheb pioneered this seemingly difficult mission and achieved success. –
(Abridged)
Satyameva Jayate
Truth Alone Triumphs

Narendra Modi

My dear sisters and brothers, The law of nature is that Truth alone triumphs — Satyameva Jayate. Our judiciary having spoken, I felt it important to share my inner thoughts and feelings with the nation at large.
The end brings back memories of the beginning. The devastating earthquake of 2001 had plunged Gujarat into the gloom of death, destruction and sheer helplessness. Hundreds of lives were lost. Lakhs were rendered homeless. Entire livelihoods were destroyed. In such traumatic times of unimaginable suffering, I was given the responsibility to soothe and rebuild. And we had wholeheartedly plunged ourselves into the challenge at hand.
Within a mere five months however, the mindless violence of 2002 had dealt us another unexpected blow. Innocents were killed. Families rendered helpless. Property built through years of toil destroyed. Still struggling to get back on its feet from the natural devastation, this was a crippling blow to an already shattered and hurting Gujarat.
I was shaken to the core. ‘Grief’, ‘Sadness’, ‘Misery’, ‘Pain’, ‘Anguish’, ‘Agony’ - mere words could not capture the absolute emptiness one felt on witnessing such inhumanity.
On one side was the pain of the victims of the earthquake, and on the other the pain of the victims of the riots. In decisively confronting this great turmoil, I had to single-mindedly focus all the strength given to me by the Almighty, on the task of peace, justice and rehabilitation; burying the pain and agony I was personally wracked with.
During those challenging times, I often recollected the wisdom in our scriptures; explaining how those sitting in positions of power did not have the right to share their own pain and anguish. They had to suffer it in solitude. I lived through the same, experiencing this anguish in searingly sharp intensity. In fact, whenever I remember those agonising days, I have only one earnest prayer to God. That never again should such cruelly unfortunate days come in the lives of any other person, society, State or nation.
This is the first time I am sharing the harrowing ordeal I had gone through in those days at a personal level.
However, it was from these very built up emotions that I had appealed to the people of Gujarat on the day of the Godhra train burning itself; fervently urging for peace and restraint to ensure lives of innocents were not put at risk. I had repeatedly reiterated the same principles in my daily interactions with the media in those fateful days of February-March 2002 as well; publically underlining the political will as well as moral responsibility of the Government to ensure peace, deliver justice and punish all guilty of violence. You will also find these deep emotions in my recent words at my Sadbhavana fasts, where I had emphasised how such deplorable incidents did not behove a civilised society and had pained me deeply.
In fact, my emphasis has always been on developing and emphasising a spirit of unity; with the now widely used concept of ‘my five crore Gujarati brothers and sisters’ having crystallised right at the beginning of my tenure as CM itself from this very space.
However, as if all the suffering was not enough, I was also accused of the death and misery of my own loved ones, my Gujarati brothers and sisters. Can you imagine the inner turmoil and shock of being blamed for the very events that have shattered you!
For so many years, they incessantly kept up their attack, leaving no stone unturned. What pained even more was that in their overzealousness to hit at me for their narrow personal and political ends, they ended up maligning my entire State and country. This heartlessly kept reopening the wounds that we were sincerely trying to heal. It ironically also delayed the very justice that these people claimed to be fighting for. Maybe they did not realise how much suffering they were adding to an already pained people.
Gujarat however had decided its own path. We chose peace over violence. We chose unity over divisiveness. We chose goodwill over hatred. This was not easy, but we were determined to commit for the long haul. From a life of daily uncertainty and fear; my Gujarat transformed into one of Shanti, Ekta and Sadbhavana. I stand a satisfied and reassured man today. And for this, I credit each and every Gujarati.
The Gujarat Government had responded to the violence more swiftly and decisively than ever done before in any previous riots in the country. Yesterday’s judgement culminated a process of unprecedented scrutiny closely monitored by the highest court of the land, the Honourable Supreme Court of India. Gujarat’s 12 years of trial by the fire have finally drawn to an end. I feel liberated and at peace.
I am truly grateful to all those who stood by me in these trying times; seeing through the facade of lies and deceit. With this cloud of misinformation firmly dispelled, I will now also hope that the many others out there trying to understand and connect with the real Narendra Modi would feel more empowered to do so.
Those who derive satisfaction by perpetuating pain in others will probably not stop their tirade against me. I do not expect them to. But, I pray in all humility, that they at least now stop irresponsibly maligning the six crore people of Gujarat.
Emerging from this journey of pain and agony; I pray to God that no bitterness seeps into my heart. I sincerely do not see this judgement as a personal victory or defeat, and urge all - my friends and especially my opponents - to not do so as well. I was driven by this same principle at the time of the Honourable Supreme Court’s 2011 judgement on this matter. I fasted 37 days for Sadbhavana, choosing to translate the positive judgement into constructive action, reinforcing Unity and Sadbhavana in society at large.
I am deeply convinced that the future of any society, State or country lies in harmony. This is the only foundation on which progress and prosperity can be built. Therefore, I urge one and all to join hands in working towards the same, ensuring smiles on each and every face.
Once again, Satyameva Jayate!
Vande Mataram!
-- Written on Blog, 27 December 2013

The secret of existence

MP Ajith Kumar

The metaphor of cosmic dance is quite beautifully expressed in the bronze image of the dancing Siva. It is not just art but also science par excellence, says MP Ajith Kumar
All things... are aggregations of atoms and by their movements produce sounds. When the rhythm of the dance changes, the sound it produces also changes... Each atom perpetually sings its song, and the sound, at every moment, creates dense and subtle forms.”
This dance as described by Alexandra David-Néel in Tibetan Journey offered a mystic and spiritual experience to Fritjof Capra, a leading scientist of our times. It inspired him to write his classic work, Tao of Physics. Sitting by the ocean one late summer afternoon, he saw all his former experiences snowballing into an unbearable ecstasy.
“I saw the cascades of energy coming down from outer space in which particles were created and destroyed in rhythmic pulse. I ‘saw’ the atoms of the elements and those of my body participating in this cosmic dance of energy; I felt its rhythm and I ‘heard’ its sound and at that moment I knew that this was the dance of Siva, the lord of dancers”, he said.
The metaphor of cosmic dance is beautifully and profoundly expressed in the bronze image of the dancing Siva — Nataraja. Created during the 10th century or earlier in south India, the citadel of Indian art and philosophy, the image of the dancing Siva is the most excellent creation of the Chola art (an age of refinement of Dravidian art and architecture under the imperial rule of the Chola dynasty from 850 CE to 1250 CE).
Marked with classic grace, grandeur and perfect taste for creativity, the image of the dancing god has attained worldwide recognition and is an esteemed sanctum of classical art. With its complexity that baffles a philosophical explanation, the Nataraja image has infused the scientists as well as artists with awe and inspiration. For, it is art at its best; it is science par excellence as well.
Symbolically representing the cycles of creation and annihilation, the king of dance upholds rhythm and exaltation. He is surrounded by the flaming aureole of the prabhamandala, the circle of the world which he both fills and exceeds. Playing the tambourine with one of his right hands, he draws all beings into his rhythmic motion and exhorts them to take part in the dance which represents the merciless act of universal annihilation.
His flying locks and the blown scarves depict the speed of this universal movement, which crystallises matter and reduces it to powder in turn. In one of his left hands, he holds the fire which annihilates and devours the world in this cosmic whirl. He is also crushing a demon with one of his feet; he dances on the bodies of the dead. It is the dance of total annihilation — samhara — but it is the dance of creation too, symbolising the divine mercy. Like Shelley’s West Wind which is a juxtaposition of creation and annihilation, the God of dance too executes many steps sending vibration into the potential elements lying dormant, and exhorts them to dance to life.
Are creation and annihilation separate entities? The Bhagavad Gita refutes the notion. What one sees is only the world that is visible, but its end remains invisible. In between this beginning and end, one locates the cosmic dance in its camouflaging speed. Speed, as both philosophy and science say, forms visibility. The word jagat then represents world that is always in the process of rapid movements. It is this swiftness that makes the world loka and the subject to the eye, lochana.
The world (or loka) is visible because it is jagat (the one that moves in speed). The lord of dance thus combines in him all the three aspects — creation, preservation and destruction — which in their final fusion result in creative unity. Aspects of ananda and samhara thus embrace in perfect harmony where the ostensible opposites cease to differ from each other and samhara leads to the final bliss, ananda. Everything the Taittiriya Upanishad says is the expression of ananda. Born of ananda, they return to ananda. Shiva is the infinite time, Mahakala, with no beginning and end and the infinite space with circumference everywhere and centre nowhere. Time and space are mere constructs of mind which vanish when the ultimate bliss (ananda or shivam) is attained. His dance is thus symbolic of the dynamic universe which dances its way to the infinite ecstasy.
One of the Lord’s right hands is making the gesture of reassurance — abhayamudra — that creation is within destruction and vice versa. That the merciless nature of this universal determinism has in it the touch of mercy is the generative principle of future. He bears a broad smile, both at death and life, at pain and joy alike, as he combines in himself the pain of annihilation and joy of creation. It is the sport of life and death in which all things fall in their proper stead finding their explanation and logical conclusion.
Finally comes the backside view of the statue. The steadiness of shoulders upholding the world and the majesty of the torso symbolise the stability and immutability of the substance, while the leg’s gyration in whirling speed speaks of the vortex of phenomena. Also, the dance stirs up the psychic planes.
Shiva dances in tillai, the centre of the universe. It takes place at Chidambaram, the mental horizon. The idea behind the cosmic dance brings modern physics, ancient mythology, and religious art in unity. It is philosophy at its best. It is, as Ananda Coomaraswamy said, “poetry but nonetheless science”.
(The author is Associate Professor, Sanatana Dharma College, Alappuzha, Kerala)

-- 29 December 2013 | The Pioneer