Annadhana Mahathmiyam

A tale goes that Once
Upon a time there lived a Rich man lived, he used to perform 
Annadhanam/poor feeding every day. Slowly his wealth started depleting 
but still he continued his Annadhanam. He was on his death bed, So he 
called his wife and took a promise that even after his death she will 
continue the Annadhanam. Then the old man died and his wife continued 
the good work, but her teenaged son got wild started asking why she is 
doing Annadhanam and squandering the little wealth they had.  He asked 
his mother what is the Thatparya of Annadhanam. Mother advises her son 
to go to a forest and meet the wise sage over there and find out the 
things which he wants to know. Then the Boy starts his journey to the 
forest. 

It
is afternoon and he meets a man near a mango tree. They both introduce 
themselves and the man in forest tells he is also going to meet the 
sage, But unfortunately he cannot move even a single step and he is 
trying to move since so many decades and he is not able to do so. He 
requests our boy to find out the Parihara from the sage. They were under
a beautiful Mango tree which had lot of fruits. Since it was afternoon 
and boy was hungry. He plucks one Mango and was about to eat then his 
newly acquainted friend warns that these fruits are Poisonous and not to
eat them. The tree felt very bad and started crying that nobody eats 
the fruit and like a true mother she is feeling bad that none of her 
child partake the fruit because it is poisonous.  She request the boy to
find out the reason from sage. 

He
starts walking towards the sages hermitage and the night befalls, 
meanwhile the boy meet's a hunter and and hunter asks the boy to stay 
for night with him and then proceeds to hermits hermitage later on. Boy 
agrees and hunter takes to his house on top of the tree. Hunters wife 
chides him for bring in a guest to house and says there is only meals 
for two persons and place for two persons to sleep and she tells she 
will not sacrifice her luxury of meals and good place to sleep. Then 
Hunter gives the food to the boy and also asks him to sleep in the 
house. Hunter sleeps out side the house without having the food. But 
unfortunately hunter falls down and he is eaten by a tiger. 

Next
day boy gets up and proceeds to the forest and he is able to reach the 
hermit. As the sage is a trikala Gnaani he tells to him that he cannot 
answer his questions, but a son born to the ruler of this Place will 
answer his questions and He instructs the boy to go to Ruler and tell 
him that the ruler is going to be blessed with a Male Child and raja 
asks the Boy what does he wants in return as a boon. Boy tells that once
his son is born let him be brought in golden Plate and he will ask 
three questions to the new born. Then After ten months, the queen gives 
birth to a beautiful Male child. then the Child is brought to the court 
in a Golden plate as desired by the Boy. 

The boy tells to the Prince that he want, to get three questions 
clarified including the personal one, but first let the prince answer to
the queries of the others first, this shows the boy is not selfish 
person.  First question he asks regarding the man who was unable to 
walk. For that prince tells that man is too learned and he has not done 
Vidya Dhannam to other then tells if does Dhannam, he will be able to 
move. 

For
the second question about the Tree Prince tells that there was a rich 
man who was greedy and a miser and he did not give it to the needy and 
he has buried the wealth under the tree and since is it sinful money the
fruits are becoming Poisonous, If the tree donates it to someone the 
fruits will become eatable. 

Then
Boy asks the Prince the Mahatmiyam of Annadhanam, for that Prince asks 
him to see him properly, but boy says he could not recognise him, for 
that prince tells he is the same hunter whom he met on the way and since
he did Annadhanam of his share of food he is born as a prince, and at 
the same time a Pig out side the palace has given birth to a piglet and 
it is his wife who was selfish and because of her deed in past birth she
is born as Pig and by virtue of doing Annadhanam one time he attained 
the birth at Rajas Palace. Such is the power of Annadhanam. 

Boy
thanks the Prince and proceeds back to tree he repeats what Prince has 
told and tree asks the boy to dig the Treasure and take it. Then he 
repeats to the man what Prince has told for him and immediately the man 
says that he will gladly accept the Boy as disciple and teaches and does
Vidya Dhannam. Now the boy is a scholar and wealthy man. He goes back 
to his mother and continues the Annadhanam which his father did. 

 The Moral is We should distribute our Vidya,Wealth and Anna. Then only Punya will come.

ANT PHILOSOPHY

                                        
One morning I wasted nearly an hour watching a tiny ant carry a huge feather cross my back 
terrace. Several times it was confronted by obstacles in its path and after a momentary pause 
it would make the necessary detour.
At one point the ant had to negotiate a crack in the concrete about 10mm wide. After brief 
contemplation the ant laid the feather over the crack, walked across it and picked up the 
feather on the other side then continued on its way.
I was fascinated by the ingenuity of this ant, one of God's smallest creatures. It served to 
reinforce the miracle of creation. Here was a minute insect, lacking in size yet equipped with a 
brain to reason, explore, discover and overcome. But this ant, like the two-legged co-residents 
of this planet, also shares human failings.
After some time the ant finally reached its destination - a flower bed at the end of the terrace 
and a small hole that was the entrance to its underground home. And it was here that the ant 
finally met its match. How could that large feather possibly fit down small hole?
Of course it couldn't. So the ant, after all this trouble and exercising great ingenuity, 
overcoming problems all along the way, just abandoned the feather and went home.
The ant had not thought the problem through before it began its epic journey and in the end 
the feather was nothing more than a burden.
Isn't our life like that?
We worry about our family; we worry about money or the lack of it, we worry about work, about 
where we live, about all sorts of things. These are all burdens - the things we pick up along 
life's path and lug them around the obstacles and over the crevasses that life will bring, only to 
find that at the destination they are useless and we can't take them with us......
I thought I wasted my time by watching the ants but now I think I learned a lesson from the 
ants. Now let us see what we learn from this story. I think everybody should study ants. They 
have an amazing four-part philosophy.
Here is the first part: Ants never quit. That's a good philosophy. If they're headed somewhere 
and you try to stop them; they'll look for another way. They'll climb over, they'll climb under, 
they'll climb around. They keep looking for another way. What a neat philosophy, to never quit 
looking for a way to get where you're supposed to go.
Second,ants think winter all summer. That's an important perspective. You can't be so naive as 
to think summer will last forever. So ants are gathering in their winter food in the middle of 
summer.
An ancient story says, "Don't build your house on the sand in the summer." Why do we need 
that advice? Because it is important to be realistic. In the summer, you've got to think storm. 
You've got to think rocks as you enjoy the sand and sun. Think ahead.
The third part of the ant philosophy is that ants think summer all winter. That is so important. 
During the winter, ants remind themselves, "This won't last long; we'll soon be out of here." 
And the first warm day, the ants are out. If it turns cold again, they'll dive back down, but then 
they come out the first warm day. They can't wait to get out.
And here's the last part of the ant philosophy. How much will an ant gather during the summer 
to prepare for the winter? All that he possibly can. What an incredible philosophy, the "all-that-
you-possibly- can" philosophy.
So that's what the ant philosophy covers - 
 
Never give up, look ahead, stay positive and 
do all you can and trust god to fill the blank.

Hospitality

This happened on an airlines.

A 50-something year old white woman arrived at her seat and saw that the pass...
enger next to her was a black man.

Visibly furious, she called the air hostess.

"What's the problem, ma?" the hostess asked her

"Can't you see?" the lady said - "I was given a seat next to a black man. I can't seat here next to him. You have to change my seat"

- "Please, calm down, ma" - said the hostess
"Unfortunately, all the seats are occupied, but I'm still going to check if we have any."

The hostess left and returned some minutes later.

"Madam, as I told you, there isn't any empty seat in this class- economy class.
But I spoke to the captain and he confirmed that there isn't any empty seats in the economy class. We only have seats in the first class."

And before the woman said anything, the hostess continued

"Look, it is unusual for our company to allow a passenger from the economy class change to the first class.
However, given the circumstances, the commandant thinks that it would be a scandal to make a passenger travel sat next to an unpleasant person."

And turning to the black man, the hostess said:

"Which means, Sir, if you would be so nice to pack your handbag, we have reserved you a seat in the first class..."

And all the passengers nearby, who were shocked to see the scene started applauding, some standing on their feet."

ACCEPT YOUR DESTINY......

Death came to a guy and said, "My friend, today is your day!"

The guy said, "But I'm not ready!"

Then death said, "Well, your name is the next on my list...."
Guy: "Okay, then why don't you take a seat and I will get you something to eat before we go?"

Death: "All right.... "
The guy gave death some food with sleeping pills in it. Death finished eating and fell into a deep sleep.....
The guy took the list & removed his name from top of the list and put it in the bottom of the list.

When death woke up, he said to the guy, "Because you have been so very nice to me, I will start from the BOTTOM of the list...."

Lesson for the day: Accept whatever is written in the destiny.
Destiny will never change, no matter how much you try......

The Goat And The Horse !!!

There was a farmer who had a horse and a goat….. 
One day, the horse became ill and he called the veterinarian, 
who said: 

- Well, your horse has a virus.
He must take this medicine for three days.
I'll come back on the 3rd day and if he's not better, we're going to have to put him down.
Nearby, the goat listened closely to their conversation.
The next day, they gave him the medicine and left.
The goat approached the horse and said:
- Be strong, my friend.
Get up or else they're going to put you to sleep!
On the second day, they gave him the medicine and left.
The goat came back and said:
- Come on buddy, get up or else you're going to die!
Come on, I'll help you get up.
Let's go! One, two, three...
On the third day, they came to give him the medicine
and the vet said:
- Unfortunately, we're going to have to put him down tomorrow.
Otherwise, the virus might spread and infect the other horses.
After they left, the goat approached the horse and said:
- Listen pal, it's now or never!
Get up, come on! Have courage!
Come on! Get up! Get up!
That's it, slowly! Great!
Come on, one, two, three... Good, good.
Now faster, come on...... Fantastic! Run, run more!
Yes! Yay! Yes! You did it, you're a champion!!!
All of a sudden, the owner came back, saw the horse running in the
field and began shouting:
- It's a miracle! My horse is cured.
We must have a grand party.
Let's kill the goat!!!!
The Lesson: this often happens in the workplace.
Nobody truly knows which employee actually deserves the merit of success,
or who's actually contributing the necessary support to make things happen.
Remember………
LEARNING TO LIVE WITHOUT RECOGNITION IS A SKILL!!!!
If anyone ever tells you that your work is unprofessional, remember:
Amateurs built the Ark
[which saved all the species]
and professionals built the Titanic
[all died tragically]

The Day The Earth Turned Gold

 
 
The story is about a King and a Mendicant. The king was famous for his charity. People said, “To the hungry he gives food; to scholars he gives rewards; to noblemen he gives titles and honours. In fact, he is never tired of giving.”
 
But he had in fact, already tired of giving. He thought, “All my life I have been giving alms and awards. Where is the end? Are the people really needy or they continue to flock simply because I give? Don’t I see the same faces coming to me again and again wearing a standard mask of gratitude?”
 
He thought a lot and decided to stop the practice. “If give I must, it should be only to those who are really needy. It is high time I know who are really needy and, to begin with, I must find out the poorest man in my kingdom,” he decided.
Accordingly he sent his minister to find out the poorest man.
 
A week later the minister returned and announced in the tone of a successful explorer, “My Lord, not far from here, inside the forest, there is a small mountain. On top of that sits the poorest man of our land – a mendicant. He had no roof on his head, nothing on his body except a yard of bark; he lives on whatever fruits some wood-cutters leave beside him on their way home from the forest.”
 
“Is there really such a man in my kingdom? I must see him,” said the king and rode into the forest and then climbed the mountain and found out the mendicant sitting still, his eyes closed.
 
The king had to wait for a long time. When the mendicant opened his eyes, he said, “I am the king of this land. I am sad to see the miserable condition in which you are living. I want you to dress well! Tell me, which dress will you like? Dhoti or gown?” The mendicant smiled, but kept quiet.
 
The king said again, “I would like to build a house for you; tell me, what kind of house would you like to own?” The mendicant smiled again; yet he did not speak.
 
A little later the king again said, “I will arrange to send some food for you everyday. Tell me your preference in matters of food.” The mendicant smiled but still kept mum.
 
The king began losing patience and cried out, “I appeal to you, do speak!”
 
Slowly but sweetly the mendicant said, “My dear king, you are mistaken. I am not the poorest man. There is another man in the kingdom who is poorer than myself. So far as I am concerned, although I look poor; I am very rich, for I can change the earth into gold.”
 
The king gaped with amazement for some time and asked, “Will you kindly tell me who is poorer than you? And will you kindly reveal to me the secret of transforming the earth into gold?”
 
The mendicant said, “To know these things you have to follow a certain discipline.”
“I will follow,’ said the king enthusiastically.
 
“For one year, everyday, you must come here once before the sunrise and once again before the sunset and spend some time with me,” said the mendicant.
 
“I will do so,” said the joyous king, bowing to the mendicant.
 
And he came there twice every day without fail. The mendicant seldom uttered any word, but his charming smile always spoke of his affection for the king. He made the king sit down and meditate for some time. For the king, the discipline was a bit awkward experience for the first few weeks. But soon he realised that it was a most welcome change from the dry or anxious hours in the court where he was always surrounded by diplomats and flatterers and discontented people. After a few months he grew so fond of his visits to the mendicant that he eagerly looked forward to the twilights.
 
The silence of the mountain, the sunrise and sunset which coloured the landscape, the breeze which embraced him with the message of freedom, the songs of the birds in the wood and above all the quiet yet overwhelming presence of the mendicant slowly made the king a different man. The little time he spent there everyday had its sure effect on the rest of his time and routine.
 
The king did not remember when a year passed. He even did not know when several years passed. At the end of the third year, one day the mendicant suddenly asked the king, “Well, it seems we have forgotten about the two things you wanted to know – about the man poorer than myself and about the secret of transforming the earth into gold! Would you not like to know about them?”
The king smiled and replied, “But haven’t I known them already? I was the poorer man because I was anxious to possess more gold as I was begging to know the secret of changing the earth into gold. And secondly, I believe, by now I know the secret of changing the earth into gold.When I sit here and marvel at the splendour of nature all around, at the sunsets and the sunrise when the colours of heaven are sprinkled on earth, at the diamond-fringed clouds, at all God’s creation—all appear to me a thousand times more wonderful than gold.”
 
The mendicant smiled and said, “You have got it – and that is because you have turned gold within”.

 

Eating with your hands

 

Eating food with the hands in today's Western society can sometimes be perceived as being unhygienic, bad mannered and primitive. However within Indian culture there is an old saying that,
Eating food with your hands feeds not only the body but also the mind and the spirit .
In the Big Brother series some years back, an English participant complained about an Indian participants use of her hands during food preparations and her eating habits, They eat with their hands in India, don't they? Or is that China? You don't know where those hands have been. Within many Indian households nowadays, the practice of eating food with the hands has been replaced with the use of cutlery.

Have you ever thought of why previous generations in India ate with the hands? There is a reason for their this. The practice of eating with the hands originated within Ayurvedic teachings. The Vedic people knew the power held in the hand.
The ancient native tradition of eating food with the hands is derived from the mudra practice, which is prevalent in many aspects within Hinduism. Mudras are used during mediation and are very prominent within the many classical forms of dance, such as Bharatnatyam

The hands are considered the most precious organ of action. This is linked to the Vedic prayer of
Karagre vasate Laksmih karamule Sarasvati Karamadhye tu Govindah prabhate karadarsanam
(On the tip of your fingers is Goddess Lakshmi, on the base of your fingers is Goddess Saraswati; in the middle of your fingers is Lord Govinda), which we recite whilst looking at our palms. Thus, this shloka suggests that all the divinity lies in human effort.

Our hands and feet are said to be the conduits of the five elements. The Ayurvedic texts teach that each finger is an extension of one of the five elements. The thumb is agni (fire) (you might have seen children sucking their thumb, this is nature's way of aiding the digestion in children at an age when they are unable to do an physical activity to aid the digestion), the forefinger is vayu (air), the middle finger is akash (ether - the tiny intercellular spaces in the human body), the ring finger is prithvi (earth) and the little finger is jal (water).

Each finger aids in the transformation of food, before it passes on to internal digestion. Gathering the fingertips as they touch the food stimulates the five elements and invites Agni to bring forth the digestive juices. As well as improving digestion the person becomes more conscious of the tastes, textures and smells of the foods they are eating, which all adds to the pleasure of eating.

This is a prime example of how many things within Hindu culture may seem weird and unusual at first glance, but once a closer look is taken it is surprising, but a vast amount of knowledge is revealed. 

 

World is a transit lounge

*Q: In the fifteenth chapter of the Gita, there is a description of a tree
which is upside down. The branches are in the ground and the roots are in
the sky. What could be the significance of this?*
A: This is a symbol to signify that your origin is the Divinity; the
consciousness. That is your root. The mind and all its paraphernalia are
like the branches. And all the different types of rhythms in life, all the
different emotions, are like the leaves. They don’t stay permanently, they
wither away. If you are focusing on the leaves, and you forget to water
the roots, then the tree will not remain.

So, it says, ‘Asvattham enam su-virudha-mulam asanga-sastrena drdhena
chittva’ (BG 15:3). Notice that you are not these different emotions, these
different aspects of life. Feel the distance from all these branches and
retrieve back. That is what it is saying.

Otherwise we get so immersed in the outer, that we forget the main root.
You need to prune the tree otherwise it goes here and there. So prune all
that, and know that your origin is somewhere up. Adi Shankaracharya has
said this beautifully, - ‘My original place is in heaven, I have come here
just for few days; just to have fun. Today I have just come for the purpose
of relaxing, but this is not my original place, it is somewhere else.’

The thought itself - My home is somewhere else, I have just come to visit -
creates a distance inside you. This world is a transit lounge.

You know, in airports and railway stations there are lounges, and in a
lounge what do you do? You keep your luggage and start eating. You use the
bathroom and everything, but you don’t open your suitcase and hang your
clothes all over the place. You don’t do that in a transit lounge. You keep
your things packed.

So this world is just a transit lounge. Don’t mistake it to be your home.

*Q: The Ashtavakra Gita says, ‘You can go on reading scriptures, but you
will get liberation only when you forget the scriptures.’ So then what is
the purpose of reading the scriptures?*
A: See, you get into a bus, but then you also need to get out of the bus.
Now if you argue with me that, ‘If I have to get out of the bus then why
should I get into the bus?’ What can I say? You get into the bus from
somewhere else and you get out from somewhere else. If you have to get out
of the bus, why should you get into the bus in the first place - this
argument doesn’t hold.

So, the scriptures are to make you understand your nature, the nature of
the universe, the nature of this mind which is stuck in small things, and
to give it a bigger vision.

Knowledge is like detergent. See, you put soap on your body but at some
point you wash it off as well, isn’t it? Similarly, you have this desire,
’I want to be liberated’, and that desire takes you away from all other
small desires. But if you keep holding on to that thought, then it will
also become a problem at some point. You have to wash that off as well and
become free. A point comes when you say, ‘If I have to get liberation let
it be, otherwise let thy will be done.’ In that moment you are already free.