The Bond of Love-Raksha Bandhan

Everyone loves a good story, and if the story concerns something which we have been living with, or have been celebrating, or have been cherishing all our lives, it certainly notches up greater interest.
While I strongly believe, adding reasons to certain customs or rituals, trying to understand the rationale behind them adds intent and motive to our acts, some festivals, certain practices, certain celebrations have an innocent and old word charm attached to them, and certainly dont need to add meaning to actually why are they practised.  Most certainly, Raksha Bandhan is one of those festivals which have this innocent and old-world charm to it.
Still remember those innocent days, when your popularity was measured more by having as many Rakhis on your wrist as possible. The girls would bring in Rakhis for the entire class, while the boys would wear them out till the last string. The more flashy the Rakhi, what with all the flowers, superheroes, sponge-based cartoons, the better attention would it grasp among the friends. Though as the boys grew up, the bigger and flashier Rakhis would be a major source of embarrassment and they would always prefer the simpler ones, the charm of Rakhi never really wore out.

Today, in this blog post, I would like to revisit certain stories and legends related to the celebration of Raksha Bandhan. I hope while going through this post you ponder upon some tales, which you havent come across till date, and were not entirely aware about.

The first seeds in Vedic Period: During the Vedic Period, a war was being fought between the devils and the deities on a Shravan Poornima, or the full moon day in the month of Shravan. Unfortunately, the demons were stronger and were winning easily. The leader of the deities, was worried that they may lose the battles to the demons and earth may see dark days forever. His wife Indrani, was worried about the outcome of the war and for her husband's unavoidable loss. She, being a religious lady, prepared an amulet and tied it around her husband's wrist.
Needless to say, the deities won the battle and Indra remained unhurt. Since that day, the amulet came to be known as Raksha Sutra and came to be celebrated on the full moon of Shravan month.
Interestingly, the first ever Raksha Sutra was tied by a wife on her husband's wrist. That, however changed, in Vedic period itself

From Raksha Sutra to Rakha Bandhan: Surya is said to have three children: Manu, Yama and Yamuna, As Surya was much powerful and his radiations very powerful, his wife, Samjna, was not able to bear his radiations and flee to her maternal home, leaving her shadow behind, known as Chhaya, so that Surya would never know.
Later, Surya and Chhaya had a son and she used to mistreat her step-sons and step-daughter. Yama could not bear the ill-treatment of her sister Yamuna, as both of them loved each other a lot, and revolted against Chhaya. He evidently learnt about Chhaya's truth and Chhaya cursed him with death and his body's mutilation thereafter. As during Vedic times, no one would die and they were considered immortals, this terrified Yama and Yamuna a lot.
It was then, that Yamuna tied a Raksha Sutra, or Rakhi on Yama's wrist and they both requested their father to take back the curse. When Surya came to know of the truth of Chhaya, he became very angry and brought her wife back, reducing his radiations.
Because of the curse, Yama had to meet his unfortunate mutilation, but the Rakhi on his wrist saved him from death. As a result, Yama became the first man to die(in the form of mutilation), and thus the God of death .
The sorrowful separation of the brother and sister duo who loved each other a lot, came to be celebrated as Raksha Bandhan between brothers and sisters

Lakshmi and Bali: Once when Raja Bali had gained much ascendancy amongst his subjects and was being considered powerful enough to rule even the heavens, Indra feared he may lose his kingdom forever. He requested Vishnu to help him retain his Kingdom as Bali was a demon king. Vishnu, in his very famous Vamana avatar pushed Bali into the underworld, but made him the emperor of the underworld. Bali being a very pious king, Vishnu asked him for a boon, when Bali asked him to bless and protect his kingdom forever. Vishnu, as a result left his abode of Vaikunth Dham and left for the underworld.
Lakshmi, worried that Vishnu may never come back, disguised herself as a poor lady, and visited Bali on Shravan Poornima. She requested him to tie a Rakhi on his wrist, to which Bali obliged and requested her to ask for a gift. Lakshmi then revealed her true identity and asked for Vishnu back. Bali immediately requested Vishnu to return back to Vaikunth Dham acknowledging the importance of Raksha Bandhan

A step beyond mythology-Porus and Alexander: When Alexander invaded India around 329 BC, his wife was aware of how brave and valiant a warrior Porus was and she sent a Rakhi to Porus and asked for her husband's life in the battlefield. Porus acknowledged the Rakhi and vowed not to kill Alexander on the battlefield.
Legend has it, that once Alexander did fall in front of Porus and he could have made a final blow killing Alexander off, when Porus saw the Rakhi on his wrist and refrained from killing Alexander. Porus lost the battle eventually, but gained much respect in the eyes of Alexander

Maharani Karnvati and Emperor Humayun: During the medieval period, the Rajputs were fighting Mughal invasions. When Rani Karnvati, the widowed queen of the King of Chittor realized she may no longer be able to defend her palace and her subjects from the invasion of the Sultan of Gujarat, Bahadur Shah, she sent a Rakhi to Emperor Humayun requesting him to defend her honour. Humayun, being aware the importance of Rakhi, started off with his troops to save the queen. Unfortunately, he reached Chittor a bit late and the Rani had already committed suicide by then, fearing Humayun may never reach them. This incident proved to be one of the most significant in recent history of the festival and made Rakhi a festival beyond religions and boundaries

Rakhi and Tagore: Interestingly, Rabindranath Tagore linked Raksha Bandhan not merely to brother and sister, but to the entire humankind as such through his poems and works. He invoked Rakhi to inspire love, respect and solidarity amongst Indians under the British rule. Tagore started celebrating Rakhi Mahotsavas in erstwhile Bengal, which came to be identified as a symbol of unity of Bengal.
In certain pockets of Bengal, people still tie Rakhis on the wrists of their neighbours and friends

Raksha Bandhan Mantra: Though many may not be aware about it, there is a certain Raksha Bandhan mantra which sisters chant while tying Rakhi on the wrists of their brothers. The mantra goes as follows:

येन बद्धो वली राजा दानवेन्द्रो महाबलः ।
तेन त्वा प्रतिबध्नामि रक्षे माचल माचल ॥

The mantra means
I am tying on your hand this Raksha, with which the most powerful and generous King Bali himself was bound; O Raksha, don't go away; don’t go away.
Needless to stay, the Mantra is dedicated to the Bali and Lakshmi episode related to Raksha Bandhan.

Is Raksha Bandhan a symbol of male patriarchal system in society? And thus makes women inferior to men? Is it a threat to feminism? Dont get me wrong! I am not putting up these questions, rather consider these questions illogical. These were certain sets of questions I found people asking on Quora under the garbs of misplaced feminism.
If you think about it, the meanings and the rationale of a lot of customs have changed over time, without changing the customs themselves.
The architects of Hinduism were so smart and forward-looking, they created Hindusim in such a way, that the rules could be able to reinterpret, logic redefined with each changing society and times. What would be the rationale of a custom, say, 100 years ago, would not hold true now, but some other rationale would fit in perfectly.

Unfortunately, most of the leaders and Gurus at the top holding the helm of Hinduism, haven't been able to upgrade or translate the rationale as per changing times, and thus, many customs appear outdated or rigid.
Raksha Bandhan was not always meant to be a "tying Rakhi on brother's hands so that he may protect the sister". Atleast the first few stories associated with Rakhi dont talk in such undertones. The story of Yama and Yamuna, which actually brought in the practice of sisters tying Rakhis on the wrists of brothers was more about the love between the siblings, and sister caring for her brother, than the brother committing to protect her.

Let the misplaced sets of rules of modern times not confuse you or berate your belief in these customs. Raksha Bandhan is a festival where selfless love between brothers and sisters is celebrated, and personally, I would any day find much more depth and meaning to it than some random Archies-sponsored Sister's Day or Brother's day.

With that I would like to bring this post to an end
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Bappa Morya

Once Parvati wanted to take a bath, and none of her attendants or Shiva-Gana were around to guard the house while she baths. Out of necessity, she created a human boy like image from the turmeric she used to take bath with, and infused life into the image.

Parvati ordered the now alive boy to look after the house and guard it while she was having a bath. She asked him not to let anyone enter the house without her permission.

Soon, Shiva returned to the house, and tried to enter it when the boy in front of him stopped him from entering. Shiva argued that he was the master of the house and Parvati's husband, but the boy who had not heard any other voice than Parvati was determined not to let anyone enter the house without her permission.

Infuriated at the young boy's stubbornness, Shiva chopped off the head of the little boy with his trishula.

Parvati, when came out, saw the lifeless body of her "son". She demanded her son to be made alive again.

The power with which Shiva had hit the boy, out of fury, had made the head being hurled away very far off to some distant place.

Parvati was enraged and her fury beyond control. Shiva asked his Ganas to set out in all directions and get the head of any dying animal which they could first set their eyes on. The Ganas found a dying elephant first, and brought its head back to Shiva, who affixed it on the head of the boy and infused life into it, naming him Ganesha, or the Lord(Ish) of Ganas.

To talk something about Ganesha, cannot surely be covered by one singular blog post, and to think of it, most of the legends and stories associated with him have already been doing rounds of animated series, cartoon books, and grannies' stories since our childhood, so I will stick to the symbolism in this particular post, and will try to explain the attributes of Ganesha.

The elephant head: Spectacular indeed that Ganesha has the head of an elephant, an animal mostly known for its patience, peacefulness, and also a symbol of Dharma  and knowledge across many religions like Buddhism. The elephant head, most striking attribute of Ganesha, represents great wisdom and effortlessness. Whenever an obstacle comes in front of an elephant, it neither is affected by it nor it tries to move around it. The elephant calmly removes the obstacle and moves ahead. Similarly, Ganesha represents Gyan Shakti  and Karma shakti.

Large Ears: I personally believe that conversation is an art, and it take nothing less than absolute dedication in learning this art to qualify as a successful conversationalist.

Successful managers and great conversationalists around the world know for a fact that a proper conversation comprises of two equally important parts. As much emphasis is put on improving communication skills, to be a patient listener is equally important, something which Ganesha heavily puts emphasis on.

The large ears signify the listening patiently and listening as much as possible in the pursuit of intellectual growth and wisdom. The ears of Ganesha symbolize his capabilities of listening more and very patiently. The reason why when Ved Vyasa asked him to write Mahabharat ] down, and Ganesha agreed on condition that Ved Vyasa would never stop narrating and that Ganesha would write down each word only when the meaning of the word is clear to him.

As is known famously, Ganesha stopped only for half a second , the only time when Ved Vyasa could take a rest.

The enormous potbelly: So, if you have witnessed any of the animated movies or comic strips on Ganesha, they imply heavily on one attribute, how Ganesha would eat up all the Laddoos kept in front of him and would still feel hungry, thanks to his enormous pot belly.

The Laddoos, in turn symbolize all the simple as well as precious elements of the world which would help a person love a life of comfort and ease. It signifies that whatever element one would crave for in the world, are at the feet of Ganesha. This signifies that he is the giver of all such worldly comforts and the devotee needs to ask for it.

The enormous belly signifies that the devotee should be able to digest, whether some good or some bad knowledge is imparted to him. The devotee shall be open to accept any kind of knowledge and receive it gracefully, whether to his liking or not. The enormous belly also signifies that Ganesha is the holder of great Vedic knowledge and one possesses great wisdom. 

The Trunk: Perhaps the most distinguishing feature of an elephant, the trunk is used by the elephant to perform the extreme nature of tasks, both noble and gross, as per the elphant's needs. It would not only help the animal feed itself, but would also be used to clean itself. It not only has the power to uproot a tree or thump any huge structure in front of itself, it can also be used to clean the path of branches and leaves and other smaller obstacles.

Ganesha's tusk sends the strong message of being adaptable and highly efficient in whatever we endeavour we set our focus and energies on. 

Ekdant(The Tusk): Interestingly, though legends say that the other tusk of Ganesha was broken by his brother Kartikeya in a fit of jealousy, the single tusk of Ganesha symbolizes we ought to keep off the good while be able to discard the evil at our own will and conviction. One shall be open to accepting criticism and learn his way through it to improve himself but shall not hold on to it forever.

On another interesting note, Ganesha used his broken tusk to write down Mahabharat.

The legs: A comparatively lesser acknowledged attribute of Ganesha, one leg of Ganesha is always resting on ground while the other is always raised. While this not only symbolizes mobility and consistent movement of life, it also symbolizes that while living his life, one should always be rooted to his surroudnings and material world, he should also strive for meditation and spiritual upliftment of his soul. One should peform his wordly duties while also being devoted to God

The hidden symbolism in the story: While the story appears simple and quite an interesting tale on the birth of Ganesha, there is a lot of hidden symbolism in the story itself which take it to some another level.

Parvati in the story symbolizes Shakti, or Supreme power that resides in our body. Shiva represents the Lord himself, while Ganesha, with his human head represents our ego. Without the ego, if one realizes his Supreme power, he embraces the Lord. But, the ego would not let Lord meet with inner Supreme power.

The Lord kicks the head of the ego, and replaces it with a bigger, higher ego. This higher ego relates to the universe beyond self. 

Meditation and devotion may help one kill his ego and relate more with the supreme or universal ego

.

 One of the most revered, worshipped, widely respected and shall I say, famous(around the world) Gods of Hinduism, Ganesha is someone who becomes the part of any Hindu believer since childhood. The images, the symbolism, the attributes not only become a part of the entire devotional imagery for the child, be it Diwali, or Ganesh Chaturthi, or pious ceremonies like "Grah Pravesh" or marriage, modern artists and scriptures and entertainers have added yet another dimension to the overall divinity, imagery and "charisma" of Ganesha.

The first to be worshipped before all the deities in a ceremony, Ganesha is for everyone. On one hand he is the Vighna-Vinashaka for those who sincerely understand and believe in him, on the other hand, he is the "friend" or the cool dude amongst the youths and the kids(thanks to modern day movie makers.) 

 Ganpati Bappa Morya

Sacred Feminism

"Lord you are greater than my father but just equal to my mother"
-Sage Kanva, Mandala 8, Rig Veda

Personally, I have always been a huge admirer of the intellect and wisdom of the ancient Vedic men, and if you have been following my posts on a regular basis, that would hardly come as a surprise to you.

The customs they set up, the beliefs they held and the ideas they formulated, particularly, of science and logistics combined with Dharma, is even hard to contemplate in these modern times, let alone implement it.

Each and every small concept of ancient India encapsulated a something bigger and huge within itself.
The Sanskrit word for Geography is Bhugol(Round Earth), and the term is in use much before the scientists were actually able to declare that the earth is spherical in shape.

However, no ideology, or society, or civilization, in history or in times modern enough not to be a part of history, could ever be completely perfect and spotless. I wont say that Vedic male folks treated women exactly equal to themselves, and that I believe has been the trend of every ancient civilization, be it Greece or Rome. If you have more physical power, you are superior. Add to that certain instances where women were compared to menial objects in texts like Manusmriti, which says that if a woman loses her virginity before marriage, her fingers shall be chopped and head shaved and she shall be made to ride a donkey.

The same text, Manusmriti, interestingly also says that a household where women are treated with respect, Gods come and reside in them. Or, that when a girl attains a marriageable age, she is free to choose her life partner. Or that women have equal rights to Vedic education and equal share in parental property

Maybe Manu wrote the derogatory lines falling prey to the semantics and ills of the society of those times, which certainly dont stand true in modern perspective. What's baffling. however, is that the same text at places uplifts the cause and salutes the status of women, but a majority of the later generations comfortably ignored those specific pieces of text, and decided to only follow the derogatory ones. Many people wouldnt even know that Manusmriti even talks of love marriages.

The point of this post, however, is not to discuss on women empowerment or women rights. There are people and organizations better suited than me to do it. With this post, I wish to bring up five names, mostly unheard and unknown, which made a mark in ancient Vedic times, and their acts, which deserve to be iterated time and again, but are mostly lost in the pages of time.

Thanks to the exposure to Vedic education, and a comparatively free and open society, women of Vedic times were epitomes of spirituality and knowledge. The Vedas primarily talk about 27 women-seers in totality. Out of these 27, five names stand out compared to others:

Lopamudra: The wife of Sage Agastya, finds mentions in parts of Rig Veda, where she interacts with her husband and displays her intelligence and caring nature.
Lopamudra was the daughter of King of Vidarbha, and after Agastya married her, she left her luxurious life to live the life of a seer with him. Agastya, however didnt pay much attention to his home and marriage life. Lopamudra created a hymn of two stanzas through which she made Agastya realize his duties.
Mahabharat mentions Agastya performing a penance at Haridwar with the help of his wife, and River Kaveri is her reincarnation.

Ghosha: Vedas often talk about Ashwin brothers, who are also known as the doctors of the Gods. The Vedas claim them to be the source of all Ayurvedic knowledge and that they had the powers to cure any disease. The daughter of creator of these hymns of Vedas, was Ghosha.
Ghosha has been mentioned to be suffering from a disfiguring disease, leprosy in the most probability, as per the descriptions. She finds her mention when she composes two separate hymns in the Vedas.
It is believed that Ghosha, in her interactions with Ashwins helped them grow spiritually and they in turn, cured her disease and allowed her wedding bliss. She is known to be a master of Madhu Vidya or secret learning as per the Vedas and the hymns she has composed.

Gargi: Probably the most enigmatic and the most effervescent of all the female seers of the Vedas, she composed certain hymns which questioned the very origin of all existences. When Kings of those times, like King Janak of Videha performed  righteous obligations or Yagna, she would be a part of the dignified participants.
She would often hold discussions and debates with various sages of her times over the existence and concepts of origin and very ideologies of how the entire living and dead world is situated within the realms of earth itself. Such smart were her talks that many a great Vedic men used to fall silence in front of her.
She would often ask that every realm is part of earth itself, but Aakash and Paatal are known to be beyond earth, then where exactly are they situated.
She was one of the Navratnas in the court of King Janaka of Mithila and composed Gargi Samhita

Maitreyi: The brother of Gargi, Mitra of Maithili had a very wise and proficient daughter by the name of Maitreyi. Being in close contact with Gargi since her childhood, she developed an acute thirst for knowledge and wisdom.of the Shastras. The hymns she has composed talks highly of concepts such as introspection and the materialistic needs of the humans.
Maitreyi was well versed in scriptures, and like her aunt, questioned the very setup of the entire society where people spent much time on luxuries and services not helping them to grow spiritually. When her husband, Yajnavalkya, learned sage himself, announced that he would give up all worldly possessions and leave for an acetic life, and that Maitreyi could have his belongings, she decided to accompany him herself.

Saraswati: Interestingly, though Ganga is today the most respected and pious of all the rivers in Hinduism, it never finds a clear and complete reference in the Rig Veda, the oldest of all the 4 Vedas. The river, which actually finds a reference is Saraswati.
It is believed that a majority of discoveries and marvels of ancient technology were devised and conceptualized on the banks of Saraswati, from where it gained a prominent place in Vedas. Saraswati, in female, but without a complete human form, does find its place in Rig Veda, and is said to be a River Goddess and a source of inspiration to the sages and seers.

Apart from these 5, there is a mention of Surya, Ushas, Vagambhrani, but more then often they are either fictional or without a complete human form, like Surya with wings of fire flying in the skies.
Women, in ancient India were even trained physically and were admitted to military and army. They were taught sword fighting and other basic fighting skills and they were never afraid to join ranks with male soldiers in the times of crisis.
Women were given equality in education, choosing their partners for life(swayamvars), even they were allowed to choose not to marry, if they wished to do so. They could become seers, saints and live their life the acsetic way. The position of women only deteriorated during the middle and modern times, and it has taken more than a Herculean effort to reach to a better position where we are today.

With hopes, that the effort would yield results bettering the prospects for future, I would like to bring this post to an end.

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Bidding Adieu for now.

Namaste

The Shiva Sigma

"Leadership cannot really be taught. It can only be learned."
-Harold Geneen, Leading American businessman

"A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way."
-John C. Maxwell, famous author

So, who are the greatest and most famous villains of Indian mythology?
Ravana, for sure would make it to the list. There will be Hiranyakashyap, Kansa, Hiranyaksha, Jarasangha...
I know I have deliberately skipped a few names, but kept the above ones because they all share a common bonding with each other. Know what?
Interestingly, they were all devotees of Shiva.
So, here is a group of most dreaded villains of Indian mythology. Yet, they get all pious, religious and respectful, when it comes to Shiva. These men, who would not flinch to take any dreaded step, be it killing their own family, to imprisoning them, to removing every single object of worship from their kingdom on the slightest hint of a threat to their power, were ready to loose it all for Shiva. What command or 'enchantment' did Shiva cast over these men? What qualities did Shiva possess that made followers out of them?

When the famous Sagar Manthan took place, all the deities and demons were expecting the Amrit, sooner than later from the sea. That the sea would eject Halahal poison, no one had expected and were unprepared to face the challenges it threw. Once the Halahal poison came out every one got in a fix. No one, including the deities present there had a solution to the problem in front of them, and the poison gradually started poisoning the air and killing humans.
I dont know which scripture to believe, as some claim that Shiva knew he would be able to stop it in his throat using Yoga, while some claim that Parvati's love for Shiva stopped the poison in his throat. Nevertheless, Shiva attempted what the other deities did not, for the sake of the living world. He drank the most poisonous substance the world had seen and saved millions of lives with his act.
And to think, he wasn't even waiting for the Amrita, a clear quality of a powerful, and efficient leader.
Let's see what other qualities he possessed to become one of the greatest leaders of mythology.

The Trusted Aide: So out of all the aides(gana) of Shiva, who do you think is his most favourite aide? An easy guess would be Nandi. So much so, that Nandi forms an integral part of every Shiva temple. Is it because Nandi is also his Vahana? Maybe, but Nandi is known as the principle Gana of Shiva. Not only his Vahana, Nandi is also a door-keeper to Shiva's abode Mount Kailash. He also is the commander-in-chief of all the Shiva-ganas, and when Ravana attempted to move Shiva from his abode to Lanka, he fought Ravana  and even cursed him for his attempts.
Clearly, Nandi is Shiva's favourite gana. But think of it, did Shiva, as per any of the scriptures say it to Nandi that "you are my favourite"? Or did he say this to anyone else? The answer is no.
There is a management term called "Job Enrichment", where an individual is delegated more decision making powers and responsibilities. A good leader should never pick up and declare a favourite of his or her out of his team or followers, but rather, keep on delegating more responsibilities on his most efficient men. He should not let others feel the neglect of his favouritism, but let the work of his most efficient aides speak for them. He should thus, in a way, keep a team of most trusted aides, where the employees also feel valued.

Doing the right thing: Ravana was one of the biggest devotees of Lord Shiva. So much so, that he even sacrificed his head not once but ten times when performing an obligation for Shiva(Shiva would give his head back each time, as per legends). Ravana loved and respected Shiva, and Shiva acknowledged the respect that Ravana showed for him. He even asked Ravana to master all the Vedas and spread the message of the Vedas on earth, clearly delegating more responsibilities on him.
Ravana, however, once became adamant to take Shiva from Kailash to Lanka, as he knew that Lanka would be all powerful with Shiva being there. He became adamant and even fought Nandi for the same. When Nandi didnt let him enter, he attempted to lift the mountain itself and take it to Lanka. Clearly, an arrogant attempt by him.
What did Shiva do? The right thing! He didnt hesitate to punish Ravana for the same, and put the toe of his feet on the mountain firmly. Ravana's hands got stuck beneath the mountains, and if legends are to be believed, Ravana stayed the same way for some thousand years, pleading for forgiveness all the time.
Though a leader should not openly declare his set of favourites, there may be a few followers or employees who would openly acknowledge the credibility of their leader and would place their utmost trust and respect in their leader.What if some decision or attitude of these employees become a deterrent in the overall roadmap of the company or the leader himself? Well, deal it with the Shiva way. Do the right thing.

Attachment to the cause: When Ravana comes to pursue Shiva to move his abode from Kailash to Lanka, lets put in perspective what Shiva had and what Ravana offered. Shiva lived on Mountain Kailash not in any palace or constructed house, but under open nature. Though there are ganas who love and respect Shiva, he treats them more as followers and friends, rather than servants(again an important quality of leaders). The food they must be having would rather be natural fruits and vegetables(though tough to say if Shiva would even need food, he is Mahadev).
Ravana on the other hand, wanted to take Shiva to the Golden Lanka. So, Ravana offered a huge and magnificent palace, hordes of servants, the most delicious of foods and festivities, and all the luxuries which Ravana could give(though Ravana misinterpreted Shiva probably, he is much above the worldly desires).
The point however is, Shiva not only refused Ravana's repeated attempts, he even punished him, as explained in the aforementioned point.
How many MBA degrees you pursue, whatever management courses you complete successfully and whichever corporate trainings you attend, there is a certain human factor which comes into play when you are leading an organization. Though all these courses and trainings and programs and seminars would teach you to be professional to the core, a leader simply cannot succeed, unless he is attached emotionally to the organization, or the cause which he is supporting. If you are not attached to your organization, and are ready to move to a better organization because it could offer better facilities(or salary?) to you, chances are, you wont be able to attach to your second organization as well(what if a third organization offers even more), and thus would not ever be a good leader

Byproducts of success: Referencing the Sagar Manthan and the Halahal poison once again. all the deities wanted to get hold of Amrit which was due to come out of the sea, and every deva wanted to be a part of it. However, no one wanted to be a part of the poison. If Indra was ready for Amrit, he should have been equally willing of poison as well.
Everybody loves success, there is no two way about it. Every leader and the people or followers under him are bind together by one simple cause and effort, to succeed. There is no truer a fact than this.
However, at times this success doesnt come so easily. At times it takes a lot of sacrifices and efforts from the seekers of this success. Everyone wants to be a part of success, however a true leader is one, who is equally willing to be a part of the toxic products of success, or the sacrifices which are made in the process.

Value proposition: What exactly is value proposition?
The simplest definition of Value proposition could be "a promise of value to be delivered and a belief from the customer that value will be experienced"
For a leader to believe in a simple notion as above, it would start from his very basic nature. For this, a leader should be able to value even the most basic of stuff around him. He should be able to judge and evaluate every single resource or asset available to him and try to use its value to the maximum.
Once Sati asked if Shiva is Mahadev, why did he live devoid of all luxuries. She asked him to show her his house where they would live after marriage. As Shiva didnt have any, she asked him what protects him from sun in summers. Shiva showed her the valley full of Deodar trees. Then she asked what protects him from rains, Shiva took her to a cave. When she asked where would he keep fire, Shiva showed her the burning pyres.
Imagination is value, and value is imagination. Shiva being a Mahadev never really thought of worldly comforts. Caves or even Deodar trees are not of much value in terms of worldly luxuries, but Shiva found and valued all the resources available to him.

Partners in Equality: One of the most distinct legends attributed to Shiva is that of Ardha-Narishwar.
A composite androgynous form of Shiva and Parvati, the form is depicted as half male and half female, split down the middle.
Symbolically, the form represents that male and female are inseparable from each other. It also represents the law of duality. It also represents the equality of male and female. That both are incomplete without each other, a concept which many legends of Shiva very clearly point to and acknowledge. As per legends, this form has primarily been associated with fertility and growth.
A leader, similarly, no doubt shall treat his subordinates with respect and equality, he shall also have mutual trust and understanding with fellow partners in business. They shall understand that for the cause to be successful or the company to be a success, they all need to work together with one goal in mind. The purpose would be incomplete in the absence of any of them.

That Shiva and Krishna are two of the most divine figures of Hindu mythology, there is certainly no denying the fact. And that people could actually learn a lot from their lives and their legends, there is no denying this either.
At times when I am done with writing a blog on Krishna or Shiva, I end up physically exhausted and mentally drained. I feel as if I have done a decent work and covered what all I intended to when I started.
However, when I come back the next day to review the same blog, I see how little I have written about them and what all I could have covered further.
Krishna, Shiva,  their legends and their tales have a lot to teach and learn from, in the modern concepts of the world. Then why is it that some people have a problem accepting the divinity of Krishna or Shiva? People claim a lack of ideals and figures to look up to in current times. Why it gets so tough for them to look up and learn from probably the most accessible and most ideal sources of inspiration?

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Human Evolution

Evolution is the change in the inherited characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. Evolutionary processes give rise to diversity at every level of biological organisation, including species, individual organisms and molecules such as DNA and proteins
-Evolution,Wikipedia

In the realms of the infinite pages of history, within the magnificent premises of ancient and modern temples, inside the impressive giant laboratories where scientific marvels are put to engineering processes, in the lavish conference rooms of offices and even within the four walls of a simple home, there has always been a recurrent emotion, a persistent thought, since a little later than the advent of time.
Science and Religion dont get along very well.
Where on one hand Science believes in proofs, religion believes in faith.
The problem Science has with Religion is that science wants proofs, analysis, experiments and results. It cant just let religion base every answer on some myth without a sound proof or physical viability of that myth. "Shiva cannot hold up mighty Ganga in his hairs because thats not at all possible. So, stop throwing food and polluting it", science would say

The problem Religion has with Science is that Religion thinks the world needs Science but Science is a bit immature at this stage to understand every possible attribute of the world. Religion says what Science claims as "discoveries" and "inventions" are actually "realizations", as the concepts, the findings were very much there since the beginning of time, its only later that scientists found it out or realized its existence. Religion says it has answers to all things which science currently doesnt have.
"Ganga is our Goddess and offering obligations to it would bring prosperity in life and taking a dip would rid you of diseases.", religion would say

At times through this blog, I have brought forward ideas which completely prove the existence of some or the other scientific concept in various symbols and notions of religion through visible and proven facts. At times, there have been no visible facts, but the scientific concepts perfectly match the religious corollaries.

With this post I wish to put forward a religious concept which exists in perfect tandem with a scientific theory. The difference? The proof, in this case, would be the religious concept itself.

It is believed that the cryptic language in which the Vedas are written, turn out to be different for each of its readers. It is also believed that a true seeker of knowledge would get in Vedas what he or she seeks to find and attain.
On one hand the Vedas are known to be the words of God, on the other hand, a certain Nasadiya Shukta of Rig Veda states that maybe the world got formed first and then God came into existence.

The beginning of it all: What science claims as the beginning of earth is the "Big Bang Theory". Interestingly, Hinduism has a similar concept where a primordial sound is known to be the source of all life on earth when a higher state of Consciousness, OM is believed to have given birth to all of the world. While in Hinduism, Brahma takes care of all evolution and creation processes, science claims it to be Higgs Boson, or the "God particle", the particle responsible for the Big Bang itself.

Dual Nature of Matter: As per the Brihadranayak Upanishad, there only was the soul. Then, the soul divided itself into male(pati) and female(patni), the soul-mates. The Upanishad mentions that the female turned itself into a cow, so the male turned itself into a bull. In a similar way, everything that exists in pairs was created. If there is Shiva, there is Sati. If there is light, there is darkness.
The above concept closely resembles the law of duality in particles. For every negative, there is a positive. For every south pole, there is a north pole. If there is black, there is white. There are protons, and there are electrons. Even for neutrons, there are anti-neutrons.

Bhagvad Geeta talks of duality of pain and pleasure, of desire and hate, of life and death.

Dashavatar: The very elements of Dashavatars are viable proofs of the belief of Hinduism in the theory of evolution. Modern theory of evolution claims that humans have evolved as a gradual process, which resulted in the unfolding of this evolution, forming a chain of species where organisms purely based in water, ie fish, were the first link of that chain.

Matsya: As per the theory of evolution, Proto-Amphibians that primarily lived in water can be seen as the first stage of life. These creatures first appeared some 540 million years ago.
A starking resemblance is the first Avatar of Vishnu, Matsya Avatar, which was actually a fish that helped Manu save the world. the literal meaning of Matsya is fish.

Image Credits

Kurma: The second step of evolution of life, were creatures that could live on land as well as in water, like
the tortoise. The reptiles appeared almost 385 million years ago on earth.
Kurma Avatar is in form of a tortoise. It becomes a part of the legendary Amrut Manthan where Halahal poison was also churned out, drinking which, Shiva became Neelkanth.

Varaha: Reptiles gradually evolved to form the semi-amphibians, which later evolved to form first complete animals, which could exist purely on land. They could bear children and walk on land.
Varaha, or the boar was the third Avatar of Vishnu. Interestingly, boar was the first mammal to have whose teeth were at the front, and so didnt swallow food but eat more like humans.

Ironically, Vishnu in this Avatar took earth out of water and placed it in the solar system.

Image Credits

Narsimha: The mammals or semi-amphibians gradually evolved to become human-like creatures, which could walk on two legs, used their hands to hold things, but the brain was still not that developed. They had a human like lower body and animal like upper body.
Though not exactly apes, Narsimha Avatar fits into the above description pretty well. Though not a direct reference, it would certainly mean an ape man.
An interesting point here is that those who are aware of the story of Narsimha, he appears at a time, place and setting, where each attribute is in the middle of two things(neither human nor animal, neither at home nor outside, neither day nor night)

Vamana: Some 5 million years ago, Homo Erectus got evolved. The organisms of this species were much more like humans. They walked on two legs, had lesser facial hairs, and had an upper body like a human. However, they were dwarves
The Vamana avatar of Vishnu could also relate to Neanderthals, which are known to be quite shorter than humans.

Parsuram: The Rama with the Axe. Finally the first Homo-sapiens arrived and they were hunters and nomads. They were tall, could talk and had tools to hunt down their food.
Parsuram was the first complete human Avatar of Vishnu, the attributes fitting perfectly with that of an early man which could hunt and use tools for his own needs. Parsuram is known for his anger and rage, much like the early man which existed without a proper society in place.

Rama: Finally, a society is evolved out of needs of humans to live, eat and co-exist. The society has rules, and is God-fearing and abiding. It is important to follow rules, rage and unsocial behaviour is cut down. Fellow humans are respected and people abide to law and order.
Rama, the complete man would be the Avatar that could be called as the perfect social human being. Rama respected and followed rules of the society. He would also respect the saints and kill those who would torment the sages and the oppressed ones.

Krishna:  A close friend prompts Krishna as the complete modern man. The theory of survival of fittest comes into play and now humans have become much smarter and has started enjoying music, dance and festivals. There have been war around and feuds within the family. Society has become shrewd and a devious attribute is the need of the time.
It would feel like I am giving a description of Krishna himself. He was smart, devious and a skillfull manager. More like a modern day man.

Buddha: More like futuristic, a stage which we have not yet encountered. Theory of evolution would suggest a drop in the restlessness of the world after some stage, as it could not go on forever, and peace would be restored back in the world. Maybe the avatar of Gautam Buddha, would be Hinduism's futuristic vision to tell the world what it has in store in the coming times.

The critics of the Dashavatar-evolution analogy claim that Dashavatar were not strictly in the order in which they are famously drawn out. The legends in which they appear do not follow a strict ordering. Also, maybe the relation to theory of evolution is a far fetched theory out of a simple concept of Avatars being there. to defeat evil and sustain life on the earth. Even if this indeed is a far-fetched theory, the analogy is quite fascinating. If Vishnu had indeed decided to take these Avatars, he took them in accordance with the various stages of evolution, which was much later discovered, or shall I say, realized, by Charles Darwin. Gives me one more reason to say, as I did in The Matrix Reloaded, maybe the concepts of Hinduism are such scientific, they apply to every modern and logical concept of the world.

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References:

1.) http://thegreaterindia.blogspot.in/2013/02/darwins-theory-of-evolution-in-hindu.html.

2.) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindu_views_on_evolution

3.( http://www.speakingtree.in/public/spiritual-blogs/seekers/philosophy/vishnus-dashavtaras-in-correlation-to-human-evolution

The Flaw in the Plan

“Do you see, Harry? Do you see the flaw in my brilliant plan now? I had fallen into the trap I had 
foreseen, that I had told myself I could avoid, that I must avoid. I cared about you too much,” said Dumbledore simply.

-The Last Prophecy, Chapter 37, Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix

“Is Draco alive? Is he in the castle?”
The whisper was barely audible; her lips were an inch from his ear, her head bent so low that her long hair shielded his face from the onlookers.
“Yes,” Harry breathed back.
He felt the hand on his chest contract; her nails pierced him. Then it was withdrawn. She had sat up.
“He is dead!” Narcissa Malfoy called to the watchers.

-The Flaw in the Plan, Chapter 36, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Rama needed a bridge to be built across the ocean to reach Lanka, in order to defeat Ravana. The night before they started their preparations, he decided to conduct a Yagna to worship Shiva at Rameshwaram. As he was going to fight one of his most powerful adversaries, he needed the most scholarly priest to conduct the Yagna for him. He was informed that Ravana himself is the most learned scholar of all times. An invitation was sent to Ravana, who accepted it, arrived at Rameshwaram and conducted a Yagna with all holy rites.
Interestingly, the Yagna could be considered successfully completed only when Rama would sit with his wife Sita in the ceremony, who was held captive by Ravana in Lanka. Ravana not only brought Sita to the Yagna, he presided over the proper arrangements and completion of the Yagna.
After the Yagna got over, Rama sought Ravana's blessings in defeating him, to which Ravana replied, Tathastu.

The great Shiva devotee that Ravana was, he wanted Shiva to move his abode from Kailash to Lanka. When Shiva didnt oblige, he even attempted to lift the entire Kailash mountain with his hands. This was one distinct attribute of Ravana, the arrogance.
When Shiva pressed his toe on Kailash, Ravana's fingers got stuck beneath the mountains, and he sang an entire Stotram, Shiva-Tandava-Strotram to appease him. This was a contrasting, yet another distinct attribute of the same person, his knowledge, his wisdom. On Shiva's insistence, he had even mastered all the Vedas and their knowledge.

From the face of it, Ravana was all set to become one of the greatest and divine figures of Indian mythology. Inspite of his arrogance and ego, his knowledge and wisdom could eventually have placed him as one of the most revered names of Hindu mythology. And though, he is still worshipped at a number of places in India for the same reason, he never did really reach a position and stature that he deserved.
Why a wise man like Ravana was doomed to meet such a fate in the hands of Rama. What was the flaw in the plan?

Illusion of Immortality: Ravana performed one of the most difficult penances of all times to Brahma standing on one feet for hundreds of years, and after the penance got successful, Brahma granted him Amrut which he placed in his navel. He had asked Brahma to be superior to devas,other Rakshasas, serpents, beasts, celestial beings, as he disrespected  mortals .
This illusion of immortality sowed the first seeds of arrogance in Ravana

Image Credits

The Return of the King: Lanka was built by Vishwakarma and was acquired by Kubera, Ravana's half brother. When Ravana returned from his penance, he won the complete control over Lanka from Kuber and the kingdom flourished under his rule. It is believed that even the poorest of houses had vessels made up of gold and hunger vanished from the country. The rise of Lanka speaks volumes about him being a wise and a just ruler.

The Absolute Devotee: After being granted Amrut by Brahma, Ravana started a penance to Shiva where he sacrificed his head 10 times, Shiva each time replacing his head. After the penance, Shiva blessed Ravana with 10 heads, after which he was known as Dashanan.
On a separate note, the 10 heads of Ravana represented the 4 Vedas and 6 Shastras which he had mastered, the heads symbolically representing his knowledge in all the 10 directions.

By now, Ravana had become so powerful, that he defeated all the deities of heaven, and gained control over the setting and rising of sun

The multi-faceted Ravana: Nadi Shastra talk about Ravana being an expert in Ayurvedic texts. He also attended medical conferences held in those days.
Ravana was a great musician. As per legends, when he started playing his Veena, even Gods would appear to listen to his music. He was an equally fierce warrior and a great administrator. While he was moments away from his inevitable death, Rama had asked Laxman to pay respect to Ravana and learn the methods of proper governance and administration, when Ravana eventually obliges Laxman with his knowledge.

Tirthankar: As per Jains, a Tirthankars are human beings who achieve enlightenment and show the world the right path. Some souls are never released from the cycle of birth and death, and in repetitions, these 24 Tirthankars are born as humans and show the world the path to liberation.
Ravana, as per Jainism, is one of the 24 Tirthankars, a list which includes Krishna and Mahaveer themselves. Jains, however, do not worship Ravana, because before he could have realized his destiny and given up on war, he was killed. They believe that in the next cycle of Tirthnankaras, Ravana will be born and lead humans this time.
Had Ravana not been killed by Rama, maybe he could have realized his evils and shown the path or liberation to the world.

The Divine Figure: In many places in South India and South-east Asia, Ravana is still worshipped in temples, and devotees flock in large numbers to pay homage to him. Kailash Temple in Kanpur opens its gates only for one day of the year, i.e. Dusshehra, and is worshipped on the day. Apart from this, Ravana is also worshipped in Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh; Alwar, Rajasthan among other places.

In spite of him being a bona-fide villain in Hindu mythology, his effigies being burnt in almost every part of India on Dusshehra, his name being equivalent to evil, the divinity and respect he still enjoys, albeit concentrated to a few specific places and sects, is worth mentioning.

The chink in the armour: Be it his son, his wife, his brothers or his sister, Ravana loved his family the most in the world. Though he placed his duties as a Brahmin and a king above his family, when Kumbhkarna was tricked by Brahma in receiving an eternal sleep as boon, Ravana performed some further penance and pleaded Brahma to amend the boon, which he then changed to 6 months of continuous sleep.
He loved and respected his wife Mandodari and also used to take her advises on matters of high importance.  And though, people may claim he didnt love Vibhishana as much, he loved him until he asked Ravana to give up war against Rama, when Ravana considered his kingdom the greatest of all.

It was his love for Surpanakha, that caused his inevitable downfall. Though he had previously murdered her husband as well, when he had tried to overthrow Ravana in greed for power, he loved and adored his sister. Add to that his arrogance, which forced him to seek some revenge against the men had who insulted his sister, formed the ingredients of his fall.

What would have happened had Surpanakha not proposed to Laxman, or had Laxman not cut her nose? Had Ravana not reacted strongly and had decided to negotiate with Rama and Laxman? Had Ravana accepted the peace proposals sent by Rama in the form of Angad, Hanuman? Had Ravana listened to Mandodari like he always did, when she asked him to let Sita go back to Rama? The epic would have been written differently, or we would have had another divine figure in the Hindu mythology to look up to.

Born in the lineage of one of the most learned and wise sages of all times, Rishi Pulatsya, Ravana had all the bearings which could make him a legend. That said, Ravana had his own share of sins that he committed, and before he could have had realized his sins(maybe he would have never had), he met his inevitable death when Rama's arrow pierced his navel. Not exactly a hero which he could have been, he definitely had the knowledge to be one. But, his ego, his illusion of immortality, and the belief that he would never be punished for his sins made him fall in the battle of Ramayana. Certainly an interesting character, where on one hand he stopped any kind of animal sacrifice in his kingdom and was pious and ascetic, on the other hand he had a long list of curses received from many celestial figures including Nandi

Ending the post with an interesting trivia: Do you know that the famous "Laxman Rekha" finds no reference in the Ramayana? Ramayana does not mention any Laxman Rekha when Sita is abducted or later on. Laxman Rekha finds its mention only in Ramncharit Manas by Tulsidas

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Khoj-In Search of Lost Signs