Tattva

M.S. Subbalakshmi was a woman who dedicated her whole life to music. Her singing spread divine happiness and peace to millions of hearts around the world. Her melodious voice and devotion were praised by many people, including ones with high fame like Mahatma Gandhi and Helen Keller. All throughout her life, she was given titles, such as “queen of music,” “nightingale of India,” “songbird of springtime,” “a musical genius,” and “a divine being.”

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In the last two issue of Tattva, we began a series on The Bhagavad Gita. This article is a continuation of the series.

The gist of what Krishna preached was that no matter what the result of an action is, we should do our duty without bothering about the reward. Arjuna had the right and control only over the action and not on its subsequent fruit. The right action is bound to bring about the right result, but one should not run after rewards. A person with the right mind renounces the fruits of action and reaches the highest goal called moksha, liberation, which is free from all evil. One who does not understand this loses happiness, as desires give rise to anger, and anger destroys reason—the intelligence to discriminate between right and wrong. Happiness and peace of mind come to those who do not think of themselves and thereby attain God and nirvana.

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Sanskrit is oldest language in the world which has retained its structure and vocabulary in the pristine form. Sanskrit is very much a spoken language today and it is spoken by an increasing number of people. Below is the sixth lesson in Spoken Sanskrit.

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Christmas of the year 2007 is fast approaching. There will be festive mood all around. The shops will be filled to the brim with wares, inviting customers, luring children pestering their parents to buy things for them. This is the season of “give and take.” The parents “give” and the children “take!”

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Can you name all the rishis (sages) below?

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Padmasana is a yoga classic and is one of the most recognized poses. Famous depictions of the lotus-posture include Shiva, the meditating ascetic god and Buddha. Padma means lotus in Sanskrit, in this asana the legs look like blooming lotus.

This asana has been given a great importance in the Yogashastra as it is best suited for Pranayam & Dhyana. BKS Iyengar has a 22-page chapter titled “The Art of Sitting in Pranayama” in his book Light on Pranayama. Of the 22 pages nearly 12 are devoted for explaining Padmasana. His instruction for doing Padmasana is excruciatingly detailed. Some of the details he highlights are as follows.

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