Holy Pilgrimage - Hindu temples in USA
Bharatiya
Mandir, New York, Ny
Middletown, New York, 10940
WEEKLY POOJA
SCHEDULE
MONDAY SRI RUDRAASHTAKAM, SRI LINGAASHTKAM,
SHIV CHALEESA 6:30 P.M. TUESDAY SUNDAR KANDAA 5:00 P.M TUESDAY SRI RAM STUTI,HANUMAN CHALEESA,
SANKAT MOCHAN,HANUMAN ASHTAK 6:30 P.M. WEDNESDAY SRI VISHNU SAHASRANAMA,
SRI ASHTA LAKSHMI STOTRAM 6:30 P.M. THURSDAY SAI BHAJAN 6.30 P.M. FRIDAY SRI DURGA SAPTASHATI STOTRAM
SRI LAKSHMI SAHASRANAMA 6:30 P.M.
Saturday & Sunday Weekend special Programs
SATURDAY VENKATESHWARA SUPRABHATAM 10:30 A.M. SATURDAY AARATI 12:00 P.M
&
7:00 P.M SUNDAY SRI GANAPATHI ABHISHEKA & PUJA (ON EVERY SUNDAY) 10:30 A.M. SUNDAY AARATI 12:00 P.M
&
7:00 P.M 1STSUNDAY OF MONTH VEDIC HOMA & BHAJAN 11:00 A.M 2NDSUNDAY OF MONTH SRI RAMA ABHISHEKA & PUJA 11:00 A.M 3RDSUNDAY OF MONTH SRI KRISHNA ABHISHEKA & PUJA 11:00 A.M 4THSUNDAY OF MONTH NAVAGRAHA HOMA 11:00 A.M
MONTHLY POOJA
PURNIMA: EVERY FULL MOON DAY - SATYA NARAYANA POOJA AND KATHA: SHIVRATREE (MONTHLY):SHIV ABHISHEK 6 P.M.
COMMUNITY MEMBERS CAN REACH PUNDITJI BY CALLING THE FOLLOWING
PHONE # 733-8170 (R) or 591-4510 (Cell) or 361-3055 (Mandir) FOR SPECIAL POOJA
Volunteers needed
for Classes.
Please call Omji Bhai at 845-692-0467 to volunteer
Please call Omji Bhai at 845-692-0467 to volunteer
Dharma
Sandesh Volume 4 Issue 4 Mar2013-May2013 Page-1
Dharma Sandesh
a
quarterly newsletter of Bharatiya Mandir, Middletown, NY
Namaste
Subhaashitaa
Baba’s
Teachings
| Let
noble thoughts come to us from everywhere. RigVeda 1.89.1
Winter is dancing its icy cold and windy dance
amidst us. The cold winds and the barren trees signal to us that although
things look bleak now, a new Spring is making its advent, bringing with its
lots of colors and tender shoots.
Speaking of colors, we will be celebrating Holi –
the Festival of Colors soon. We are all excited to splash the red, orange,
blue, yellow, green and purple colors all around us and enjoy the festivities.
We will also be remembering the story of brave, young Prahlad as we perform a
symbolic Holika Dahan.
We will be worshipping Lord Shiva and keeping vigil
all night long as we celebrate Maha Shivaratri on Sunday, March 10. We will
also be keeping an all-night vigil for the Divine Mother as we celebrate Mata
ka Jagaran in April. We will pray to Goddess Durga with bhajans, songs, Vedic
mantras and shlokas.
We also will enjoy performing the wedding
celebrations of Lord Srinivasa (also known as Lord Venkateshwara or Lord
Balaji) in May. This wedding will be performed in a traditional Vedic style.
All are invited to this divine wedding, replete with music and dance.
We will usher in the New Year in April. Ugadi and
Gudi Padwa will be celebrated on April 10, and Tamil New Year and Vishu will be
celebrated on April 14.
In this issue, Jai Kumar writes about the concept
of free will as represented in Hinduism. Dr. Padma Sundaram writes about the
different vahanas (vehicles) of the Gods. I write about the 24 Gurus of Lord
Dattatreya as revealed by the Lord Himself.
We hope that readers will continue to enjoy reading
these articles and gain some insight into our Sanatana Dharma. Let us all pray
to Paramaatma (mÉUqÉÉiqÉÉ) to shower His blessings upon all His children!!
Sincerely,
Your Editorial Board
Web: www.bharatiyamandir.org
In this section, we present a Sanskrit quotation
and its interpretation/meaning.
na-chora-haaryam-na-ca-raajahaaryam-na-bhraatrubhaajyam-
na-ca-bhaarakaari |
vyaye-krute-vardhata-eva-nityam-vidyaa-dhanam-sarvadhana-
pradhaanam ||
Education is the greatest asset (wealth) among all
types of wealth. It cannot be stolen by thieves. It cannot be taken away by the
king (or government) in terms of taxes. It cannot be divided or split among
brothers like other property. Unlike other wealth or property, it is never a
burden. It also has this unusual characteristic that the more you spend it
every day, the more it grows every day. We should strive to get more and more
of this wealth called education.
Contributed by Dr. Narasim Banavara
In this section, we present a teaching of Sri Sai
Baba.
Sri Satya Sai Baba spoke thus – “the green gourd
sinks in water, but a dry one floats. Become dry - rid
Dharma Sandesh Volume 4 Issue 4 Mar2013-May2013
Page-2
JnanaVihara
yourselves of attachments, desires, and avoid
anxieties and worries. Then you can float unaffected on the waters of change
and chance. Even water, when it becomes steam, can rise into the sky. Be free
from the desires that drag you down; have only the yearning to come face to
face with the Truth. The truth is shining inside you, waiting to be discovered.
God is your Indweller and so when you seek Him outside, He cannot be caught.
Look for Him within you. Love Him with no other thought, and feel that without
Him, nothing is worth anything. Feel that He is all. Then you become His and He
becomes yours. There is no kinship nearer than that!”
- Divine Discourse, Oct 17, 1966
Contributed by Dr. Vijaya Dasari
In this section, we present articles on Hinduism,
Vedas, Puranas, Upanishads, and related philosophy.
Free Will in Hinduism
by Jay Kumar
The concept of free will is a significant
philosophical and theological issue that has been intensely debated for
centuries in both western and eastern philosophical traditions. In Hinduism,
the idea of free will is viewed with some ambivalence. With respect to the
concept of karma, various schools of Hinduism differ in their perceptions of
free will. Two salient schools who do are the Mimamsa (qÉÏqÉÉÇxÉ) and Vedanta (uÉåSÉliÉ)
schools.
Free will is the apparent human ability to make
choices that are not determined by an external force. In Hinduism, the premise
of free will is based on the concept of karma. In essence, karma is the concept
that every action causes an equal reaction. There are primarily three
categories of karma. The first category of karma is Sanchita karma (xÉÎlcÉiÉMüqÉï), which is the karma accumulated throughout one's
past lives. As one cannot experience all their karma in one lifetime, one
endures a fraction of the Sanchita karma during a lifetime. Once this karma has
materialized in one's life, it is known as Prarabdha karma (mÉëÉUokÉ MüqÉï). The third type of karma is Kriyamana karma (Ì¢ürÉÉqÉÉlÉ MüqÉï) which is the karma that humans create in the
present. All Kriyamana karma becomes Sanchita karma, and both shape our future
and our next lives. The ability to change one's destiny is unique to human
life. After the loss of kriya shakti (Ì¢ürÉÉzÉÌ£üthe ability to act), and transitively, Kriyamana
karma, the soul is reincarnated in another body.
Karma is accrued in three ways: thought, intent and
action. Through these, humans incite a response contingent on the nature of
their thoughts, intents or actions. A malicious thought could manifest in the
thought occurring to an intended individual or back at the thinker. Similarly,
a moral action or one in accordance with dharma (kÉqÉï)
would cause a positive event to the actor. One’s dharma is paramount in
accruing karma. In the most rudimentary sense, dharma is one's duty; one's
guide to act as per one's filial, moral and social duties/obligations. The
mythological figures of Bhishma and Dhritharashtra exemplify the workings of
karma in relation to dharma. Both were royalty who suffered greatly for their
past actions, yet, more so in the former’s case, lived a life in full
accordance with dharma, which manifested itself when they both obtained
salvation. In essence the accumulation of karma is inherently dynamic and can best
be understood as an oscillating function that varies between two values: the
value of good and bad merit.
The law of karma offers the provision that one's
present karma can alter the fruits of past karma and change the actor's future.
Logically, one's present and past action should determine the theoretical
framework of the future. Hinduism does not state that our life is predetermined
as fatalism does or that free will is absolute. More rather, Hinduism states
free will is compatible with fate and believes that people’s actions create
their future. Under this notion, fate does not entirely place obstacles in the
way of free will and people are solely responsible for their suffering, not
God.
The Vedanta school of Hinduism agrees with the
notion that man is able to act independently of any
Dharma Sandesh Volume 4 Issue 4 Mar2013-May2013
Page-3
external factors, but cannot escape the
karma that his actions beget. In this process, the Vedanta school proclaims
that God is an arbitrator who dispenses the fruits of the actions man chooses,
surmising that “God does not make one suffer for no reason nor does He makes
one happy for no reason. God is very fair and gives you exactly what you
deserve.” The Vedanta school reconciles the problem of evil with this notion of
free will; that ultimately, the soul is responsible for its actions on the
physical plane and must either reap benefits of dharmic actions and must suffer
for adharmic actions.
Conversely, the Mimamsa school of Hinduism rejects
the notion that God dispenses the fruits of one's actions and views karma as
acting independent of God. It believes that the law of causation is adequate in
explaining the effects of karma, surmising that the results of an action are
attributable solely to that action. For this reason, the Mimamsa school
believes that it is useless to set an Ishvara for the purpose of Karma since
the results of an action can be witnessed at any time.
Both schools of Hinduism state that man is
ultimately responsible for his own actions. The overview of God within both
schools is pantheistic: that God is interwoven with nature and is synonymous
with the fundamental principles that govern the universe. Both schools maintain
God is not, in the Western or contemporary Eastern sense, a benevolent
anthropomorphic being that is biased towards men. More rather, God is a neutral
figure within whose hierarchy people hold a relatively coveted position, and
who, through the unique ability of sentience, can better understand its nature.
References:
http://www.hinduwebsite.com/hinduism/h_fatalism.asp
http://www.shraddhananda.com/Fate_Free_Will_and_the_Laws_of_Karma.html
http://www.hinduwebsite.com/hinduism/essays/fateandfreewill.asp
http://www.beliefnet.com/Faiths/Hinduism/2006/03/Ask-The-Swami-Do-Animals-Have-Karma.aspx
http://www.hinduism.co.za/natureof.htm
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/fate
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/free+will
http://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/Historical_Introduction_to_Philosophy/Determinism_and_the_Problem_of_Free-Will
http://www.eubios.info/EJ102/EJ102H.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karma_in_Hinduism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_will_in_theology#In_Hinduism
Vehicles of the Gods
In Hindu mythology several Gods have vehicles or
vahanas (uÉÉWûlÉ) that are very specific to each one of them.
Vahana means “that which carries” or “that which pulls.” The Gods travel on
these vahanas wherever they go. The vahana is typically an animal or a mythical
entity. It is also called “a mount,” around which is woven much iconography and
mythology. The vahana usually symbolizes the evil force that the Deity
dominates. Though the vahana may act independently, it is still functionally
emblemati of the rider. This becomes the positive aspect of the vahana. The
vahanas also act as assistants to the Gods and, thus, double their power. Each
God or Goddess has a unique vahana, and the God or Goddess is usually depicted
as either sitting on the vahana or standing next to it.
There are a lot of stories about the origins of
these vahanas. If I write about all of them it will become a book in itself!!
So I will try, as best as possible, to write about a few major vahanas.
Mooshika – is the mouse which is Lord Ganapati’s mount. There
are a couple of theories as to how Mooshika became His mount. One of them is
that when Ganesha was a child, a giant mouse used to terrorize all His friends.
So Ganesha used a lasso to rein in the mouse and made it His vehicle.
Om Tat Sat
(Continued...)
(My humble salutations to the great devotees , wikisources
and Pilgrimage tourist guide for the collection )
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