\SAMVAD श्री विश्व निकेतन SHRI VISHWA NIKETAN
Ashwin Krishna 2, Vik. Samvat 2076 Yugabda 5121: 16 September 2019
1. FESTIVALS: PAPANKUSHA EKADASHI:
Papankusha Ekadashi falls on Aashwin Shukla 11, (October 9 this year) and is
dedicated to Bhagwan Padmanabha, an incarnation of Bhagwan Vishnu. On this day
devotees worship Bhagwan Padmanabha with total dedication and zeal. By keeping
the Papankusha
Ekadashi vrat, the observer will be bestowed with his and will enjoy all the
luxuries of this world.It is also the dat when Bharat Milap – Reunion of Bhagwan
Ram and Bharat after the 14 year exile in forests is celebrated. It is mainly
celebrated at Varanasi and other places on the next day of alongwith Dussehra
celebrations. --GotTop
2. DR. MOHAN JI BHAGWAT AT BHAGYANAGAR GANESH IMMERSION:
The annual grand Ganesh immersion procession at Bhagaynagar – Hyderabad started
on 12th September culminating the 10 day festivities. RSS chief Dr Mohan Bhagwat
was the Chief Guest for the immersion ceremony and welcomed the procession and
devotees at the historic Charminar. Hundreds of decorated Ganesh Murtis passed
through the Charminar where thousands gathered to get a glimpse of the colorful
procession. Dr Mohan Bhagwat in his speech, appealed to the devotees to emulate
the great qualities of Sri Ganesh. “Through these Ganesh festivities, we should
inculcate devotion and care towards Bharat mata. Sri Ganesh is a symbol of
Shakthi, he’s the son of Shakthi, and he is also the God of Wisdom and
Intelligence.” he added. --GotTop
3. KENYA RAKSHA BANDHAN UTSAV: Parklands Nagar, Nairobi
celebrated the Raksha Bandhan Utsav on 25th August with a total of 56
Swayamsevaks. Kenya Sanghchalak, Navin Ji Shah tied the Rakhi to the Dhwaj.
Prakash Parmar spoke about Raksha Bandhan and its importance to Swayamsevaks.
Langata Nagar, Nairobi celebrated the Utsav on 25 Aug, at the Langata Campus
with a total of 71 Sevikas and Swayamsevaks. Shrimati Janakiji Agastyaraju tied
the Rakhi to the Dhwaj.
Alpaji Dudhiya spoke about Raksha Bandhan and its social importance. The Coast
Vibhag celebrated Raksha Bandhan Utsav at Mombasa on August 31. Mitulji Gohil,
said in his Bauddhik that Raksha doesn’t entail only the Sister Brother
relationship, but encompasses our duties towards the Samaj and Prakruti (Nature)
as a whole. After tying Rakhi to the Dhwaj, the Sevikas & Swayamsevaks tied
Rakhi to each other. --GotTop
4. SHRI KRISHNA JANMASTHAMI CELEBRATED AT TEMPLES AROUND
CALIFORNIA IN USA: In Norwalk, over 400 devotees, young and old, men and
women celebrated Shri Krishna Janmashtami at Radha Mandir in Norwak on August 24
from early evening singing bhajans and participating in the puja. After
midnight, the birth of Bhagwan Shri Krishna was celebrated with a baby in a
basket. Shri Laxminarayan Mandir in the Riverside saw over 400 devotees join in
the celebrations on the same evening. At Sri Siva Kameswari temple in Costa Mesa
many children dressed up as Krishna and Gopikas took part in the chanting of the
Vishnu Sahasranamam and enjoyed themselves thoroughly in the breaking of the
dahihandi. --GotTop
5. ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY APOLOGIZES FOR JALLIANWALA BAGH
MASSACRE: Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby on September 10 visited
Jallianwala Bagh memorial and said that he was both "ashamed and sorry" for the
crime which was committed at that site in 1919. Welby lied on the floor of the
memorial after reading out a prayer to God to seek forgiveness. While paying
homage, Welby said, "It is a place for sin and redemption. You have remembered
what they have done and their memory will live. I am ashamed and sorry for the
impact of the crime committed. As a religious leader, I mourn the tragedy in the
name of the Christ", Welby said."Here I come only seeking in sorrow and
repentance before the people who have suffered in the hands of British bullets.
The Jallianwala Bagh massacre happened on April 13, 1919, when troops of the
British Indian Army under the command of Colonel Reginald Dyer fired machine
guns into a crowd of unarmed protesters and pilgrims who had gathered in
Jallianwala Bagh in Punjab's Amritsar on the occasion of Baisakhi. The crowd had
assembled peacefully at the venue to condemn the arrest of two national leaders
- Satya Pal and Saifuddin Kitchlew -- when they were fired at indiscriminately
by General Dyer and his men.--GotTop
6. HINDU MIGRANTS IN GUJARAT GET CITIZENSHIP: 46
applicants have been issued citizenship certificates by office of District
Collector Ahmedabad on 26th August. Six sisters Mona, Lakita, Uljhan, Heena,
Lubna & Rasna told that they are on seventh sky today. With getting Bharatiya
citizenship, Heena said, “We will be able to get Bharatiya passports & will try
for getting admission in good university abroad. In Pakistan, we were confined
to homes & studied at home. We went to school only for exam. Here in Bharat
girls have all opportunity & equality for education.” Ahmedabad district is
first in issuing Bharatiya citizenship certificates to Hindu migrants in Bharat,
from the date of notification by Home Ministry.
--GotTop
7. EKAL VIDYALAYA FOUNDATION RAPIDLY APPROACHING 100,000
SCHOOLS TARGET: As of this moment, Ekal already has 93,000 schools in the
same number of villages that are grooming 2.55 million children & youth each
year for life’s major challenges. The most remarkable thing about these
staggering numbers is, more than half of them are girls. ‘United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) confirmed that,
defying global trend, Bharat is likely to meet 100% child enrolment and school
completion target set by them, in 2030.--GotTop
8. SHRI HINGLAJ TEMPLE FACILITIES TO BE UPGRADED: Shri
Hinglaj Mata temple, situated in Baluchistan province of Pakistan, is to be
developed and facilities for the pilgrims will be increased. Baluchistan Chief
Minister Jam Kamal Khan met a delegation of Shri Hinglaj Mata temple to discuss
the facilities available at the temple, particularly during April when thousands
of pilgrims throng the revered site. The committee, led by Mukhi Shiva Ram,
apprised the CM of the facilities currently available en route to and at the
pilgrimage site.--GotTop
9. PAKISTAN'S SINDH GETS FIRST HINDU WOMAN POLICE OFFICER:
For the first time, a Hindu girl has been inducted into Sindh Police after
passing the provincial competitive examinations. Pushpa Kolhi has been posted as
the Assistant Sub Inspector (ASI) in the province. "Pushpa Kolhi has become the
first girl from #Hindu community who has qualified provincial competitive
examination through Sindh Public Service Commission and become Assistant Sub
Inspector in Sindh Police." --GotTop
10. SEWA INTERNATIONAL TURNING ON THE LIGHTS FOR COLOMBIAN
TRIBAL CHILDREN: Sewa International’s Colombia team distributed solar lamps
and panels to two indigenous communities –hw Huitorá and Aguas Negras - in the
Amazon basin in June bringing light into the homes of people and enabling
children to pursue their education without hindrance. The project, funded by
Sewa, was carried out with the support of the Colombian government. About 250
people (45 families) in remote areas benefited from this gift: 148 LED outdoor
waterproof lamps and two solar panel lighting systems with FM radio. Four
leaders of Aguas Negras traveled to Huitorá to receive the donation on behalf
of their community.--GotTop
11. ARYANS NEVER INVADED BHARAT, SAYEXPERTS: An inter-
continental team of genome experts and archaeologists conclusively proved beyond
any doubt that there was never any Aryan invasion on the subcontinent from
across the border.The scientists were drawn from Deccan College Post Graduate
and Research Institute, Pune, Harvard Medical School, Broad Institute of Harvard
and MIT, Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences, Lucknow, Centre for Cellular
and Molecular Biology under the CSIR (Hyderabad) , Max Planck Institute
,Leipzig, Germany and University of California, USA.
The title of the scientific findings, which is described by genome scientists
like Prof Kumarasamy Thangaraj of CCMB, Hyderabad and Prof Gyaneshwar Chaubey of
Banaras Hindu University as the last nail on the coffin of the Dravidian theory
is “Ancient Harappan genome lacks ancestry from Steppe Pastoralists or Iranian
Farmers”.
The research which focussed on human genomes as well as archaeological studies
found that the Indus Valley population has no detectable ancestry from Steppe
pastoralists or from Anatolian and Iranian farmers, suggesting farming in South
Asia arose from local foragers rather than from large-scale migration from the
West, Prof Vasant Shinde, director, Deccan College said during a program at
Delhi.
The Indus Valley Civilization is one of the first large scale urban societies in
the ancient world believed to have existed during the period 2600 to 1900 BCE.
“But the DNA samples we collected from a Harappan cemetery in Rakhigarhi in
Haryana proves that there is no trace of any foreign genetic presence in them
which proves that people belonging to the Indus Valley Civilization had distinct
genetic lineage,” said Prof Thangaraj of CCMB, Hyderabad. Prof Shinde explained
that had there been traces of genome from other sources like Iran or Steppe
region in the samples collected from Rakhigarhi it could have been argued that
there was annexation and cross breeding. “But the results negate the theory of
Aryan-Dravidian divide and Aryan attacks of any kind,” said Prof Shinde.
--GotTop
12. RESERVATION SHOULD CONTINUE TILL BENEFICIARIES NEED IT:
DATTATREYA HOSABALE: “There is social and economic disparity in our society
and therefore reservation is required...we totally support the reservation as
mandated by the Constitution,” said RSS Sahasarakaryavah Dattatreya Hosbale at a
press conference on the last day of the Sangh’s three-day coordination meeting
in Pushkar, Rajasthan on September 8. The RSS strongly feels and has been
working towards the belief that temples, cremation grounds and water reservoirs
should be open for all, he added.--GotTop
13. OVER $100K GANDHI SCHOLARSHIPS GIVEN TO STUDENTS BY SAN
DIEGO INDIAN AMERICAN SOCIETY: The San Diego Indian American Society’s
Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Lecture Series was held at the Atkinson Auditorium in
the University of California, San Diego, August 17. In his opening remarks, Dr.
M.C. “Madhu” Madhavan, the 87-year-old Bharatiya American founder and executive
director, traced the history of SDIAS and its growth from recognizing 10
outstanding students with awards of about $5,000 in 1984 to 54 students this
year with scholarship awards of $110,000. Brother Chidananda discussed the
special relationship between Paramahansa Yogananda, the founder of SRF, and
Gandhiji and their mutual interest in bringing peace to the world. He said from
1923, and after Yogananda came to the U.S., he began to spread the yoga science
of meditation and began telling audiences all over the country about the
profound spiritual movement that Gandhiji was creating. Chidananda said, as
Gandhiji had put, “yoga philosophy to work on an unprecedented level, and by
doing so, literally changed the history of the modern world.”--GotTop
14. SSV 2019 - KISUMU, KENYA: The Sangh Shiksha Varg
(SSV2019) was held in Kisumu, from 10t—18 August. 56 Swayamsevaks and 31 Sevikas
got together in a Gurukul like environment, for 9 Days, to get trained further
in Sangh activities over the SSV. From Day 1 all the Shiksharthis were very
serious and paid full attention to grab all knowledge taught to them. The
Sharirik focus was on Samata and Yogasana. The Bauddhik was focused on personal
skills and character building. The Shiksharthis were treated to very delicious
meals, cooked by the Mothers of Kisumu Sevikas and Swayamsevaks.--GotTop
15. HISTORIC SIKH ITEMS DISPLAYED AT KHALSA CARE
FOUNDATION: Historical artifacts associated with Guru Nanak Dev and the Sikh
empire were the focus of an interesting exhibition held at the Khalsa Care
Foundation at Pacoima, California, USA, on August 24. Some of the items from the
era included a brass jug with a handle (kamandal), a brass tumbler, a jug (gagaar)
and a hand-written story of birth (janamsakhi) of Guru Nanak Dev, in flowing
Gurmukhi, by Bhai Mani Singh, the 18th-century Sikh scholar and martyr. They
also included a Puratan Panj Granth Pothi, or a small book containing five
chosen texts, from the Guru Granth Sahib, written in Gurumukhi in the flowing
style of the time. Also on view were coins from the 15th century. Guru Nanak Dev
traveled extensively and when in Nepal he was honored with coins. Armaments used
in the reign of Maharaja Ranjit Singh – swords and daggers – were part of the
display of historical items. The traveling exhibition made history come alive
for all those who were able to view it.--GotTop
16. HINDU MANDIR EXECUTIVE CONFERENCE OF SOUTHERN
CALIFORNIA: Nearly 100 delegates including 19 youth from 18 temples and 15
organizations of Southern California participated in the fourth Regional Hindu
Mandir Executive Conference of Southern California that was held on August 18 at
the Sanatan Dharma Temple in Norwalk. The aim of the conference was to bring
together religions that have their origins in Bharat – Hindu, Sikh, Jain and
Buddhists – with the purpose of sharing, in a spirit of unity, their experience
and knowledge.
Representatives from several religious organizations brainstormed and provided
ideas to work toward their stated goal. Pandit Chandrashekaran, Sri Siva
Kameswari Temple; Ma Mukthikanada, Nithyanandeshwera Hindu Temple; Swami
Muktatmananda, Bharat Seva Sangh were among those who participated. Several
youths participated in the conference. Children from VYASA-LA explained the
benefits of yoga.
Another young girl from the Gurudwara at Norco spoke on ‘Guru Nanak’s principles
of Sikh Dharma.’ There was also a dance performance by students of Savithri
Dance Academy.--GotTop
17. SEWA’S SUPPORT HAILED CRUCIAL IN BANNING ‘SINGLE USE’
PLASTIC BAGS AT TROY HILLS USA: Parsippany-Troy Hills is the largest
community by population in Morris county, and the first in the county to pass a
resolution banning single-use plastic bags. City Council Vice President Janice
McCarthy said, “I am thankful for the great support this effort received from
the Environmental Advisory Committee, ANJEC, Sewa International, their
volunteers, and hundreds of residents that recognize the importance of this
issue and understand that the ever increasing use of plastic is out of control
as well as how it impacts our environment and health.”
--GotTop
18. CROSS BORDER PETROLEUM PIPELINE BETWEEN BHARAT & NEPAL:
Asserted as a game changer by enhancing relation between two neighbouring
countries, Bharat and Nepal, the Motihari- Amlekhganj petroleum product pipeline
was inaugurated by Pradhan Mantri Narendra Modi and Nepal PM K P Sharma Oli on
10th
September via video conferencing. The over 60 km-long pipeline is the first-ever
cross-border petroleum product pipeline in the South Asian region, according to
a video presentation made before the inauguration. As of now, tankers carry
petroleum products from Bharat to Nepal as part of an arrangement which is in
place since 1973. Bharat has invested Rs. 3.5 billion to install the pipeline.
PM
Modi and Nepal PM Oli had jointly laid the foundation stone for the project at
the Hyderabad House in New Delhi during Oli's visit to Bharat last year.--GotTop
19. IN 4 YEARS, BHARAT JUMPS 18 SPOTS ON WORLD TOURISM
INDEX: Bharat clocked the biggest improvement among the top performers in
global tourism, jumping from 40th in 2017 to 34th in the Travel & Tourism
Competitiveness Report 2019 published by the World Economic Forum. The only
lower middle income country in the top-35 ranked countries, a look at where it
scores and where it lags as a major tourist destination. According to World
Bank, a whopping 1.5 crore international tourists visited Bharat in 2017.
--GotTop
20. BHARAT TO OFFER 1,000 PHD FELLOWSHIPS TO ASEAN
STUDENTS: The Government of Bharat is launching a programme commencing on
Sepember 16 that will allow and offer 1,000 PhD fellowships to students of
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) at the Institute of Information
Technology (IITs) in Bharat. External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar
and Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal will jointly
inaugurate the programme. Head of missions of ASEAN countries, senior officials
of ministries of External Affairs and Human Resource Development, Directors of
all 23 IITs, Chairman of UGC and Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog would attend the
event.--GotTop
21. Shri Vishwa
Niketan: Pravas: Shri Vadla Bhagaiah ji sahsarkaryavaha, RSS
is on tour of USA and Canada.Visitors: Rajiv Issar, USA.
Food For Thought: Bharat
is proud of our scientists! They’ve given their best and have always made Bharat
proud. These are moments to be courageous, and courageous we will be! —
Pradhan Mantri Narendra Modi after the snapping of contact from Chandrayaan-2
just before 2.1 km from the Moon.
--GotTop
Jai Shree Ram
---
WHEN CHINA LOVED INDIA
Kashmiri Buddhist scholar KUMARAJIVA sparked a cultural renaissance in the East 1,600 years ago, when the Chinese, eager to learn from India, became his avid students. MONA MEHTA reports from an exhibition on this exchange in the Capital recently
The
‘Hindi Chini Bhai Bhai’ chant may no longer resound along the Indo-China border
today. But it’s a good time to relive the great relationship India had with
China more than a millennium ago. India’s most significant export to the East —
Buddhism — reached China via the Silk Route, sparking a cultural renaissance.
Indic cultural emissaries were no diplomats; they were Buddhist scholars like
Kumarajiva who journeyed from India to China 1,600 years ago, and whet the
Chinese appetite for Indic knowledge. This and other details were revealed at an
exhibition titled Legacy and Life of Kumarajiva in New Delhi recently.It was
curated by Prof Shashibala, research professor at the International Academy of
Indian Culture, Delhi. “China has the maximum number of Buddhist treasures,
temples, monasteries, and cave complexes in the world,” informs Shashibala. “All
of this was facilitated via the Silk Route, & this was not easy”.
Recently, when the curating team travelled via this route into China, for three
whole days they had to drive a gruelling 800 km per day because there were no
facilities available on the route. So nothing much has changed,it seems, since
the days of Hiuen Tsang whose travel accounts have disseminated a wealth of
information on both India and China. He wrote that people would starve,die of
thirst,or lose their way, yet great masters and monks travelled to China
carrying Sanskrit scriptures with them.Why? Because they were welcomed warmly
and eagerly by Chinese emperors and their subjects, enthusiastic to learn from
the rich knowledge of Indian scholars.
Shashibala cites an ancient Sanskrit- Khotanese book of conversation from
Central Asia,Vartalap Pustika, the kind you carry when visiting a country where
they don’t speak your language. It had four questions. After the usual
pleasantries, ‘where are you from’ and ‘how are you’ one monk asks the other,‘So
what Sanskrit scriptures have you brought with you?’ ‘Have you met the emperor?’
Kumarajiva stands out in an array of Indian scholars who went east also because
he had a family history of such scholarship, points out Shashibala.
His father, Kumarayana, was a Kashmiri Brahmin noblemanturned- Buddhist monk who
travelled along the Silk Route to disseminate Buddha’s teachings. His mother,
Jiva, was a princess of Kucha kingdom, which lay en route. As a young prince,
Kumarajiva, a child prodigy, studied Buddhist scriptures of the Mahayana
tradition and also the vedas, at the behest of his mother, who became a Buddhist
nun when he was seven.
Well-versed in Sanskrit and Chinese, Kumarajiva was asked by his guru to travel
to China to share knowledge, but the ruler of Kucha resisted as he did not wish
to lose a scholar of such repute.
Meanwhile, Kumarajiva’s fame reached far and wide. When the Chinese invitations
were ignored, the emperor sent an army of 70,000 soldiers to capture Kumarajiva
and bring him to his kingdom. He was made the royal guru.Monasteries were built
to house him where Buddhist scholars from across the kingdom would come to
study,understand and translate Buddhist texts in Sanskrit
into Chinese. “Kumarajiva had a unique style of translating the texts. Being a
poet himself, he did it poetically, making them reader-friendly. Of the 54
scriptures he worked on, the Lotus Sutra, Sukhavati Vyuha Sutra and the
Vimalakirtinirdesha Sutra stand out. His
translations enabled many Buddhist sects to get formed further east, in Japan.
‘Nippon,’ another name for Japan, meaning ‘land of the rising sun’, is derived
from his translations, and the Soka Gakkai and Pureland sects of Buddhism too
are based on them.Japanese prince Shotoku Taishi was so reverential towards
Kumarajiva that his
constitution — Asia’s first constitution — was based on Buddhist teachings:
Bahujan Hitaye, Bahujan Sukhai and the Panchashila. There are 65,000 Buddhist
temples today in Japan, thanks to Kumarajiva’s teahings,” says Shashibala.
The east’s quest for Indic knowledge has been overwhelming.There is evidence that Chinese rulers at one point sent an army to Champa,Vietnam, to acquire 1,300 Sanskrit scriptures there. And, a section of the Great Wall of China has the words ‘Supreme Victory’ written on it, in Sanskrit. “Today, too, scores of Chinese and international scholars are all looking towards India to explain the philosophical meaning behind this invaluable heritage,” says Shashibala. Even as governments spar over border issues and China opposes India’s bid for NSG membership, it is people-to-people knowledge exchanges and philosophical scholarship that have the potential to take Indo-Chinese relationship to more evolved heights. (Editorial by Mona Mehta, Speaking Tree Times of India, 1st July 2016) --GotTop
Shri Vishwa Niketan vishwav@bol.net.in http://shrivishwaniketan.blogspot.com/
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