Amarnath atrocities, Hurt Hindus

‘Indha naadum nattu makkalum naasamaai pogattum’(Let this country and its citizens go to hell) – This was one famous Tamil dialog uttered by yesteryear villain actor P.S.Veerappa in one of his movies. This is what I said when I heard about Gulam Nabi Azad’s decision on the Amarnath land row. If you are fuddled with what I am talking about, please check any news channel or ‘Google’ it. One of the holy pilgrimages of Hindus, the Amarnath Yatra is popular this year for very bad reasons.

It all started when Jammu & Kashmir government has decided to allot 40 hectares of forest land that falls on the pilgrimage route to the Amarnath shrine board to make temporary accommodation facilities for the pilgrims. When Indian government spends hundreds of crores of rupees every year on the Haj pilgrims no Hindu has ever said a word of protest in this country (including Bajrang Dhal, VHP, Shiv Sena, RSS and groups of such sort). But this petty act in favor of Hindus by the J&K government has kindled the monopoly Muslims of Kashmir. The result is excessive protests, loss of precious lives and more than 500 injured souls.

Now the government has decided to countermand the decision and above all, has decided to transfer the complete control of Amarnath Yatra to the tourism department. In a country which has Hindus as majority, even ‘basic’ facilities are restrained to them and no one bothers about that.

If they are not able to control the insurgents, no point in having a government. It would be better if army takes over and controls the situation. I have a strong feeling that Kashmir has never belonged to India. It has and it will belong to Muslims and only to them. Even our constitution has been written in favor of them. And the politicians, who don’t even bother to lick their boots to get votes always held their lips zipped in these kind of issues. Even ‘Mahatma’ Gandhi was not an exception when innocent Kashmiri Pandits were expelled from Kashmir.

What ever said and done, this act is nothing but a shame on the Congress government. BJP sure will make this as an election issue. With inflation already causing jerks at the center, hurting the Hindu majority will give Congress a jolt from which they can never recuperate. No Congress person, including Dr. Manmohan Singh and our ‘most secular’ communist leaders have said a word about this issue so far. In fact, some communist parties support the act of Muslim parties like PDP. I feel BJP was far far better ‘secular’ than this Congress government which keeps hurting Hindus every now and then.

Having said about the government, I should mention about the ruthless acts of our fellow Muslim brothers (especially PDP). I don’t have any second thoughts in calling those who protested as ‘Desh Drogis’ as said by Baba Ramdev. Like how billions of Hindus respect the sentiments of Muslims throughout the country, Muslims should learn to respect the religious sentiments of Hindus and ask the Jammu and Kashmir government to transfer the land back to the SASB. But, it will never happen in this ‘secular’ country.

‘Indha naadum nattu makkalum naasamaai pogattum’

Dr. Zakir (Joker) Naik and his comic statements

Happened to see one of the speeches of this so-called scholar(?) in Youtube which instigated me to search and see some of his speeches. Most of what I have seen were the comparisons between Hinduism and Islam. In the following video, he goes to the extreme and says that Prophet Muhamad was the 24th avatar of Vishnu which is the Kalki avatar. Watch this funniest video and how he corroborates his statement.

In another video he quotes a verse from Bhavishya Purana where it was mentioned that ‘a rebel called Muhamad will be born and he will wipe off all the nonbelievers’. When I traced the roots of this verse I shockingly found that Bhavishya Purana was crippled during the mughal period and it has been rejected by most of the Hindu scholars. And originally what is mentioned in Bhavishya Purana can be found here:
Bhavishya-Purana-The-Prediction-of-Islam

The only good thing about this guy is he has read most of the Hindu scriptures but the worst thing is he misinterprets (non-sense interpretation actually) everything in his favor. And it was blatantly evident in the video that I have included above. He is a man of controversies and contradictions. He is running a television channel called ‘Peace TV’ (Holy crap) but he says he supports terrorism and every Muslim should be a terrorist. He says if some one gets converted to Islam from other religions that is totally acceptable but if it happens the other way around, the person is a Kaafir and has to be killed as per Quran, double-standard. Zakir Naik doesn’t stop it there. In another video I have seen him saying Brahma is just a little changed version of Abraham and this proves his level of intelligence.

He talks about similarities between Hinduism and Islam and says he does so to strengthen the belief of Islam in Muslims! But he ends up hurting the feelings of billions of Hindus and profaning our Sacred scriptures. I still wonder how Hindu organizations and leaders allow this guy to continue his misleading non-sense interpretations.

Now lets come to some facts. Vedas date back to 3000 B.C but Islam is in existence only for the past 1800 years (the newest in the major religions in India). Major research done by many people provide evidences for trade between India and Arabia before the existence of Islam. This has paved the way for cultural transfer and lot of Arabs did learn Hindu scriptures and way of life. Even Prophet Muhamad’s uncle was said to have worshiped Lord Shiva. This must clear most of the doubts raised by Joker Naik and prove him who copied what.

Now, if you are really interested in learning the origin of Islam please visit :

Pre-Islamic Arabia
History of Islam

Kali Yuga

If you are a Hindu who is somewhat conversant with the Hindu epics or puranas or vedhas, you are bound to know the concept of ‘Yuga’ and especially ‘Kali Yuga’. Even today, when some extreme illicit crime is committed by someone, old people say ‘its all due to Kali Yuga’. As per Bhagavata Puranam, we are all living in ‘kali Yuga’ now which has a life of 4,32,000 years. It is quite astounding to see the kind of clairvoyance ancient Hindus have had about the Kali Yuga. I am sharing here some of the predictions prognosticated in Srimad Bhagavatam which we are already seeing or we(or our descendants) are going to see in future.

* Humans taking birth in this era will usually be radiant, bad tempered, greedy and untruthful. The personality will be plagued by flaws such as jealousy, ego, anger, pleasure, instinct, desires and greed.

* All types of problems such as ailments, lethargy, anger, mental diseases and hunger, thirst tend to aggravate. Gradually even happiness and comforts of humans become decadent and morbid.

* Religion, truthfulness, cleanliness, tolerance, mercy, duration of life, physical strength and memory will all diminish day by day because of the powerful influence of the age of Kali.

* Wealth alone will be considered the sign of a man’s good birth, proper behavior and fine qualities. And law and justice will be applied only on the basis of one’s power.

* Men and women will live together merely because of superficial attraction, and success in business will depend on deceit. Womanliness and manliness will be judged according to one’s expertise in sex, and a man will be known as a brahmana just by his wearing a thread.

* A person’s spiritual position will be ascertained merely according to external symbols, and on that same basis people will change from one spiritual order to the next. A person’s propriety will be seriously questioned if he does not earn a good living. And one who is very clever at juggling words will be considered a learned scholar.

* As the earth thus becomes crowded with a corrupt population, whoever among any of the social classes shows himself to be the strongest will gain political power.

* The citizens will suffer greatly from cold, wind, heat, rain and snow. They will be further tormented by quarrels, hunger, thirst, disease and severe anxiety.

* The maximum duration of life for human beings in Kali-yuga will become fifty years.

* Although the foolish accept the body made of earth, water and fire as “me” and this earth as “mine,” in every case they have ultimately abandoned both their body and the earth and passed away into oblivion.

* Religion, truth, thoughts, pity, age, energy, memory all shall get gradually emaciated and drained.

* People will love only their own children and family and will not hesitate to deceive their own friends, benefactors.Judges of events shall favor the wealthy and the impoverished shall be denied justice.

* Any lake or reservoir situated far away will be referred as a holy shrine. Growing hair will be an indication of beauty. People will take interest in religious actions so as to become prosperous and successful.

* Girls, 8-10 years old shall become pregnant while boys of the age of 10-12 years shall have children. On the sixteenth year itself the hair will turn white. Youth shall become alike old men and old men shall become energetic and youthful.

* Women will engage in sex with inferior men, servants and animals inspite of having a good husband.

* Lord Kalki will appear in the home of the most eminent brahmana of Sambhala village, the great soul Vishnuyasa. Lord Kalki, the Lord of the universe, will mount His swift horse Devadatta and, sword in hand, travel over the earth exhibiting His eight mystic opulences and eight special qualities of Godhead.

* When the Supreme Lord has appeared on earth as Kalki, the maintainer of religion, Satya-yuga will begin, and human society will bring forth progeny in the mode of goodness.

Hinduism for Agnostic – Part 4

You can get the previous articles from this series from here: Part1, Part2, Part3

Religion is all about believing. I strongly believe that almost every Hindu custom has a scientific, logical, historical or spiritual meaning and significance. I also feel that by knowing these we can better follow the customs rather than getting habituated to them mechanically without knowing the importance. I want to reiterate that Hinduism is a way of life and it has changed its shape according to the people, without losing its roots. Thats why some of the customs like Sati and Animal sacrifice in a large extent have become obsolete with the time. Hinduism modernizes (rejuvenates would be an apt word) itself along with the world.

We will see some instances of what we follow today and its implicit significance in this and next parts:

1) Applying Vibhuti (Bhasma – The Holy ash):

Bhasma means ‘thing which destroys our sins and makes us remember the Lord’. Bha stands for bhartsanam (to destroy) and sma stands for smaranam (to remember). Therefore, the application of Bhasma portrays the destruction of evil and the remembrance of the divine. It is also called as ‘Vibhuti‘ (which means ‘glory’) as it gives glory to the one who applies it and ‘raksha‘ as it protects the person from evil and ill health. The ash also indicates that the body is perishable and one day we will end up as ashes. We should therefore not get too attached to it.

Bhasma is specially attached with Lord Shiva who applies ash all over His body. Thats why Shiva devotees apply tripundra (Bhasma applied as 3 lines). With a red spot in the centre, it symbolizes Shiva-Shakti (the unity of energy and matter that creates the entire seen and unseen universe).

It can also be seen as ‘Ash is what remains when the wood is burnt completely. Ash does not decay. Similarly, the Lord is the only imperishable truth that remains forever’. Bhasma also has medicinal value and it is used in many Ayurvedic medicines. It absorbs the excess moisture from the body and prevents cold and headaches.

2) Breaking coconuts

Offering of animals to God (Bali) was quite common in ancient days. Offering an animal symbolizes offering of our animal like tendencies to God. This slowly got faded away and replaced with offering a coconut. Coconut is one of the most common offering in all the temples. We also offer coconuts in all occasions. What does this symbolize?

The covering of the coconut is removed except for a tuft on the top making it look like a human head. By breaking this we break our ego. Along with the white kernel of the coconut (our pure mind) we offer the God the coconut juice (our inner tendencies). The three marks on the coconut are even thought to represent the three-eyed Lord Shiva.

3) Worshiping Kalasha

Before the creation came into being, Lord Vishnu was recumbing on His snake-bed in the milky ocean. The water in the Kalasha symbolizes the primordial water from which the entire creation emerged. Thus it is considered to be a life giver to all. The mango leaves and coconut kept in the Kalasha represent the process of creation. The red or white color thread tied around its neck or all around in an intricate diamond pattern represent the ‘love’ that ‘binds’ all in creation. It is also said that ‘When the pot is filled with water or rice it is known as Purnakumbha representing the inert body which when filled with the divine life force gains the power to do all the wonderful things that makes life what it is’. The Kalasha is therefore considered auspicious and worshiped.

That is why even during the Kumbabhishekam (Holy consecration) of a temple, holy water is brought in Kalashas and poured. It is believed that the energy that is created by the chant of Slokas is absorbed by the water and it is distributed to the devotees by sprinkling on them.

The enlightenment will continue in the next part…

References:
1) Why do we – Swamini Vimalanandha & Radhika Krishnakumar
2) Hindu Rituals & Customs – Rajaram

One of the best weekends…

It’s a biiiig gap of 4 days since I blogged. There are 2 reasons for the delay. First is, I was out of Chennai to Madurai, my hometown. Second is, I wanted most of you to take time and read my post on Hinduism (hope you did so). This weekend has been quite enjoyable (an understatement, it was awesome) for me. I went to Madurai on Thursday itself as we were having some annual rituals at our home. Thursday and Friday went quite usually without anything special.

On Friday, at night 11’O clock, just before going to bed, I just thought about going to Sri rangam on Saturday, a place near Trichy where a BIG and famous temple for Maha Vishnu is there. I was always planning to visit Sri rangam since I passed out of my college (May 2004). The trip has been pending for such a long time for quite a few reasons. Nearly 4 times I planned quite seriously but some how it didn’t get materialized. I remember reading these Sujatha’s words in his ‘Katradhum Petradhum’ in Anantha Vikatan “There are few temples where your plans never workout unless and otherwise the deity decides that you should get a darshan. Sri rangam is one amongst them”. But this time, I think Aranganathar has decided to give me a darshan.

I setup alarm for 4:15 AM and asked my mom to give a shout if I snooze the alarm and sleep again (I mostly do ). Surprisingly, I woke up for the first beep itself (Rather I would say He woke me up). I have taken bath and rushed to the bus stand from where I can catch the bus to Trichy. When I reached Sri rangam, it was 9:45 AM. A tranquil, divine feeling filled in my mind when I entered the temple. There are so many shrines and deities inside the temple. But since the main shrine will be shut by 1 PM, I decided to get darshan of ‘Aranganathar’ before I could see other shrines.

On a normal Saturday, it was quite a huge crowd at Sri rangam. I stood in the queue for almost an hour to get the darshan. It was worth the wait. I had also visited Thaayar Shrine, Ramanujar Shrine, Nammazhvar Shrine and Chakkarathaazhvar shrine. When I looked at my wrist watch, it shown me 12:30. So, I had a quick look at the other shrines and got out of Sri rangam at 1’O clock.

When I reached my home at Madurai, it was 5:45 PM. I was relaxing myself watching TV. By 7’O clock I was able to hear some Bajans being peformed within our vicinity. My mom told me that a ‘Radha Kalyanam(wedding)’ is being organized at the nearby Bajan Matt. My affinity towards Bajans dates since my childhood. I have been a regular spectator, participant in Bajans from the age of 7 in my village. But after I came to Madurai, I never got a chance to attend any Bajan. Though I was fatigued, I least bothered about that and left my house immediately.

Watching and listening Bajans is an enchanting experience. One can feel it only by experiencing it. The Bajan went on till 1 AM. On Sunday morning, all the Hindu marriage rituals were performed and Bajans went on till 11AM before Lord Krishna tied the knots to Radha.

Radha and Krishna after marriage

In my childhood, I used to play Ganjira (one of the percussion instruments) in Bajans. So, I just tried my hands at Mrudhangam yesterday. Though I was able to manage, I realized that I badly need a formal training…

Though my sudden decision to go to Sri rangam and attending the Bajan have affected my other plans, the satisfaction and euphoria I got from these is immensurable. The ‘Radhe Govinda’ & ‘Vittala Vittala Panduranga’ incantations are still reverberating in my mind. I think it will take a couple of days to come out of that state

Mother Teresa– some polemical facts — Part I

I admit that this could well become a very, very controversial topic. But, if I stop myself from writing about this, I feel that I am doing injustice to all my readers out there.

Like you all, till some time back, I was also having much reverence to Teresa. The things I read about her as part of my curriculum and outside inculcated a deep veneration on her and her services to humanity and the less-abled people. At one point of time after her demise, she was even raised to the level of a divine messenger and was called a saint. Does she really deserve all these? Was she really a selfless philanthropist? Like me, if you have had a profound respect for Teresa, it is worth reconsidering your assumptions now. I am just presenting here the information collected from various sources across the web. The objective of my post is to clarify people that she is just another person like us and no way near sainthood because of some of the activities she and her MoC claimed to have done as per the articles linked here.

(Mother) Teresa was a bit more fanatic about her religion than the service to humanity. There’s nothing wrong about this as at times even I am very religious. But to what extent? Teresa Speaks about herself When, for instance, Edward Le Joly, first wanted to write a book on her, she erupted:
Do it, do it. We are misunderstood, we are misrepresented, we are misreported. We are not nurses, we are not doctors, we are not teachers, we are not social workers. We are religious, we are religious, we are religious.

(Mother) Teresa’s homes, shocked the professional world by saying that any systematic operation was foreign to the running of the homes in India: TB patients were not isolated, and syringes were washed in lukewarm water before being used again. Even patients in unbearable pain were refused strong painkillers, not because the order did not have them, but on principle. “The most beautiful gift for a person is that he can participate in the suffering of Christ,” said (Mother) Teresa.
Once she had tried to comfort a screaming sufferer, “You are suffering, that means Jesus is kissing you” .The sufferer screamed back, furious, “Then tell your Jesus to stop kissing me”.

Source: http://www.geocities.com/willdirne/mo.html

OK, then was she at least true to her religion? This article raises serious questions on her religious stability and the funds she had raised.

Here’s one more, which debunks (Mother) Teresa’s activities and principles.

Here’s the experience of a poor foreigner who came to work in MoC (Missionaries of Charity).
“I went to India – specifically, Kolkata (Calcutta) – to spend a week working with Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity. It was nothing at all like I expected, but it had a strong effect on me and changed me for the better in ways I never thought it would. I was assigned to work in an orphanage, and circumstances resulted in me being assigned to a job that is usually reserved for volunteers staying no less than a month. I got to be an assistant teacher for a small class of toddlers, all of them older than 12 months but younger than 3 years. I witnessed the smiles of children who have nothing. I saw their gratefulness for the smallest of things, including the exuberance of a boy who happened to find a small, soggy scrap of cardboard that he could pick up and claim for his very own. I saw frightening neglect. I saw what I can only describe as abuse – physical, psychological, and possibly even sexual – that I was powerless to prevent, stop, or respond to in any way. My inability to do anything about what I saw is perhaps the most shaking experience of my life. A few weeks ago, I stumbled upon an article written by another former volunteer at the orphanage where I was stationed. This writer verbalized all the thoughts I hadn’t be able to put together into words: the Missionaries of Charity are among the least charitable people I have ever met. They would – do – keep millions of dollars in funds locked away in bank accounts while the orphans under their care are dressed in little more than rags.
The nuns sit humbly, silently, meekly in the corners of classrooms, statue-like, while the Indian nannies they employ slam toddlers into chairs, scream into babies’ faces, whip them around by their bony arms, and banish them into dark rooms as punishment. The international volunteers seem honestly dedicated to improving the lives of these children, but they are powerless to do anything but the tasks in front of them (teach, feed, bathe, dress, repeat), and many of them are diluded into thinking that these conditions are normal, acceptable, and inevitable. The truth, I have since discovered, is that the conditions in that orphanage are NOT considered acceptable or normal in India, and that they are NOT inevitable! The Missionaries of Charity have the funds to bring their orphanages up to international standards of cleanliness, safety, and care. Instead, they leave infants to writhe in soiled rags for hours before changing them, and they force feed children in such a rough way that some wards with trouble swallowing have been known to develop pneumonia as a result. I watched the brighest little girl in my group, a 2 and a half year old, lick another child’s urine off her desk because the temperatures were record-breaking and the children weren’t to be given water for another few hours. Horrifying. I will never think of Mother Teresa, her nuns, or her zealous worshippers in the same way again.”
Source: http://www.43places.com/places/view/102955

PS: Don’t call me an ‘Obnoxious weed ’ of being overzealous about religion and disdaining the services of (Mother) Teresa. All the articles presented here are written by Westerners which I feel increases the credibility of the information presented.

MORE to come on what (Mother) Teresa did with the millions of funds she received from benevolent donors and the luxurious life lead by the nuns of MoC.