Jai Maata di!Om Nama Shivaya!
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Samudra Manthan
This very popular Shivaratri legend from Puranas explains why people stay awake all night on Shivaratri. Besides, it also tells us why Lord Shiva is also known as Neelakantha.
Legend Behind Samudra Manthan
Once Indra - the King of Gods, while riding on an elephant came across Durvasa Muni who offered him a special garland. Indra accepted the garland but put in on the trunk of the elephant. The elephant was irritated by the smell and it threw the garland on the floor. This enraged the sage as the garland was a dwelling of Sri (fortune) and was to be treated as prasada. Durvasa Muni cursed Indra and all devas to be bereft of all strength, energy, and fortune.In battles that followed this incident, devas were defeated and asuras (demons) led by Bali gained control of the universe. Devas sought help from Lord Vishnu who advised them to treat asuras in a diplomatic manner. Devas formed an alliance with asuras to jointly churn the ocean for the nectar of immortality and to share it among them. Lord Vishu told Devas that we would arrange that they alone obtain the nectar.
The Churning of the Ocean
The churning of the milk - ocean was an elaborate process. Mount Mandara was used as churning rod and Vasuki, the King of Serpents, became the churning rope. Lord Vishnu himself had to intercede in so many ways to aid the Devas. All kinds of herbs were cast into the ocean and many great beings and objects were produced from the ocean and were divided between asuras and gods. It is said that following things emerged from the Samudra Manthan:
Sura or Varuni - Goddess and creator of wine
Apsaras - various divine nymphs
Kaustubha - a rare diamond said to be the most valuable jewel in the world
Uchhaishravas - the divine white horse
Kalpavriksha - the wish-granting tree
Kamadhenu - the wish fulfilling cow
Airavata - the white elephant
Lakshmi - the Goddess of Fortune and Wealth. Vishnu and Her were reunited after having been separated for many ages.
During the Sagar Manthan by the gods and demons, haalaa-hala, a pot of poison also came out of the ocean. This terrified the Gods and demons as the poison was so toxic that it effects would have wiped out the entire creation. On the advice of Lord Vishnu, Gods approached Lord Shiva for help and protection as only he could swallow it without being affected. On the request of gods and out of compassion for living beings, Lord Shiva drank the poison. However, Parvati - Lord Shiva’s consort pressed his neck so that the poison does not reach his stomach. Thus, it stayed in his throat neither going up nor going down and Shiva remained unharmed. The poison was so potent that it changed the color of Lord Mahadeva’s neck to blue. For this reason, Lord Shiva is also called Neelakantha (the blue-necked one) where ‘Neela’ means blue and ‘Kantha’ means neck or throat.As part of the therapy, doctors advised gods to keep Lord Shiva awake during the night. Thus, Gods kept a vigil in contemplation of Lord Shiva. To amuse Shiva and to keep him awake, the gods took turn performing various dances and playing music. As the day broke out, Lord Shiva, pleased with their devotion blessed them all. Shivaratri is the celebration of this event by which Shiva saved the world. Since then, on this day and night - devotees fast, keep vigil, sing glories of Lord and meditate.
At last, Dhanvantari - the Divine Physician appeared with a pot of Amrita (nectar of immortality) in his skilful hands. Fierce fighting ensued between devas and asuras for the nectar. To protect the nectar from asuras, devas hid the pot of nectar at four places on the earth - Prayag (Allahabad), Haridwar, Ujjain and Nasik. At each of these places, a drop of the nectar spilled from the pot and since then, it is believed that these places acquired mystical power. Grand Kumbh Mela is celebrated at the four places after every 12 year for this reason. Eventually, Lord Vishnu took the form of a beautiful woman, Mohini. While her beauty bewildered the asuras, Mohini seized the nectar and returned it to the Devas, who drank it immediately.
This story can be applied to ourselves. We start out as the Heaven ruled by the devs. We have been graced by God with good qualities. But as we (mind - Indra) gets into pride and ego, it leads into our downfall and we get ruled by the daityas (anger, greed, lust, etc). During some time in our life, our soul turns to God for help. God then says, OK, I will help, by showing you the path, but you will also have to do some work. Hence the churning. Through prayers, meditations, etc., we churn our mind. We get pulled by both sides of our mind. Initially, in any detoxification process, the toxins come out. This is where God comes to our help by giving us the strength to overcome these problems.
Eventually, we get back to our God like state. The bad qualities which are left over, for us to keep on remembering God as we should not let the ego overtake us.
Eventually, we get back to our God like state. The bad qualities which are left over, for us to keep on remembering God as we should not let the ego overtake us.
[Interpretation by Suneel]
In Bangkok, Thailand, there is new international airport called Suvarn-bhoomi. Very interesting to know that country surrounded by other major religion has such a huge display from the scripture of Devi Bhagavat and Vishnu Puran.
As is well known - majority of the population in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, etc., are not Hindus - but they have the culture of respecting their forefathers who were Hindus - and also the Hindu Sanatan Dharma which is unique and has no comparison.
This wonderful sculpture, depicting 'Samudra Manthan' at Bangkok's new airport, took several years to build.
May all the Gods and Godesses help us in killing the ego, pride, greed , lust, and all the evil with in us.
Message from the teachings of Sai baba for 23rd November
May the Merciful Sri Sai Baba always shower His grace on us and our families and remove our problems and anxieties by giving us all - strength , goodluck, success and happiness with peace of mind.
Sai bhakt,
Deepa H
Blog dedicated to Shri Shirdi Saibaba : http://debu7366.blogspot.com/
Listen to Radio Shirdi Sai : http://sairadio.blogspot.com/
For free Sai Satcharitra books: http://www.saiseva.omsrisai.net/store/index.php
Saibaba temple directory: http://www.omsrisai.net/saitemples.php
Love can melt Even the Stone-Hearted
Every person in this world pines for love. We search for such pure love which sincerely seeks the goodness of all. But, it is not so easy to get such love. Love is like a lyre (Veena) that pulls the strings of two hearts. Love is God. It could be grasped only when we realize that it is a divine form and commune with it in love. It is enough to contemplate with love on Sai, the Divine Incarnation who descended on the earth with love for humanity. Divine love is the master-key to free us from the bondage of troubles and release us from the prison of sufferings. We can experience pleasure, peace, solace and immense joy through such love. We could love and help all universal beings and share the words of hope and Baba's teachings with all.Our service coupled with God's love will not only make the sick healthier and the agitated minds rest at peace. It wipes away all evil thoughts and takes us closer to Baba. Not content with love we get, we should long for the opportunity to get delighted by the sweet experience of sharing our love with all, in our words and deeds. With the key of love, we can unlock even the toughest heart of an individual. Love has the power to tame even cruel animals. When mortal love has so much power, the Cosmic Love-Power of Baba has no limit in melting millions of stone-hearted ones.
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I firmly believe that I have no say or do in choosing the time and the matter of these messages. They are all inspired by Sai himself and I am simply the media to share these wonderful pictures of teerth Yatra with all of you..May Sai show us all His presence and His leelas by taking us around the world to visit all the sacred shrines thru these teerth Yatras.
Gurur Brahma Gurur Vishnu Gurur Devoh Maheshwar;
Gurur Shakshat Parambramha Tashmai Shri Gurur Veh Namah"
Gurur Shakshat Parambramha Tashmai Shri Gurur Veh Namah"
May the Merciful Sri Sai Baba always shower His grace on us and our families and remove our problems and anxieties by giving us all - strength , goodluck, success and happiness with peace of mind.
Sai bhakt,
Deepa H
Blog dedicated to Shri Shirdi Saibaba : http://debu7366.blogspot.com/
Listen to Radio Shirdi Sai : http://sairadio.blogspot.com/
For free Sai Satcharitra books: http://www.saiseva.omsrisai.net/store/index.php
Saibaba temple directory: http://www.omsrisai.net/saitemples.php
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