Bhaja Govindam : ( 23/11/2012. )

01/09/2018 3. Spontaneous Poetry :- The truths of the Bhagavad Gita, and the truths which Shankaracharya expounds in his beautiful lyric Dvadasha Manjanka — popularly known as Bhaja Govindam — are not different from each other. But the style in which it is given and the way in which it is expounded to the layman are different. Bhagavad Gita, Brahma-Sutra and the Upanishads are for a Sanskrit scholar, who has already got some background of philosophy; but for Bhaja Govindam no such background is necessary, because it tells you what you already know. It tells you home truths within the range of your own bitter and sweet experiences of this world of human nature and of the state of things that prevail in human society. The great compassionate Jagad-guru Adi Shankaracharya might have thought, ‘If these people, who are the children of Bharatavarsha, who are the descendants of those great illumined sages, who are the heirs to this wonderful cultural treasure of knowledge, are to b...

11/08/2018 2. Introduction: Bhagavad-pad-acharya, Jagad-guru Adi Shankaracharya, one of the greatest philosophers the world has ever produced, unparalleled in his Realisation, as well as in his exposition of the nature of the ultimate Reality, has commented upon all the three great scriptures that form the source of our religion Sanatana Vaidika Dharma. Vedas are the mother scriptures of those who follow the Sanatana Dharma or Hinduism. Therefore, we call it Veda-Mata (Veda, the mother) and our Dharma the Vaidika Dharma. Upanishads are that portion of the Vedas, which expounds the nature of the ultimate Reality, and thus, is one of the most important parts of these scriptures. The quintessence of the Upanishads is propounded in Srimad Bhagavad Gita in a brief, concise, aphoristic yet complete form by Bhagavan Veda-Vyasa, Bhagavan Badarayana, an amsha avatar (a partial incarnation) of Lord Vishnu. They say of him : - [Prostrations to Vyasa, the whole universe is whose manif...