Tattva

Namaste,

The second anniversary edition of Tattva released last month received a great response. 3000 printed copies of the issue are being distributed in college campuses throughout the country. If you would like copies of the first anniversary issue to be distributed at your campus, please send an e-mail with your name and the name of your college to tattva-editor@hinduyuva.org.

This month is full of festivals. From Navaratri to Vijay Dashami to Diwali, nearly every day this month has some auspicious significance. As we move into Tattva’s third year, we encourage all of you to get involved by telling your friends  about the magazine, giving your feedback to the editorial team and contributing your own knowledge and talent to Tattva. Please e-mail your suggestions, articles and feedback to tattva-editor@hinduyuva.org.

Please visit http://www.hinduyuva.org/tattva-blog/2008/10 to read the October 2008 edition of Tattva.

Tour group

When I first envisioned going to India, many thoughts would rush to my head. It was a mix of different ideas and feelings about India, what will it look like, what it will be like to live there for an extended period of time, anticipation about the food, and so on. With all these different ideas and expectations, there were some emotions that also ran through my body during the few days before I left: excitement, anticipation, anxiety were the main ones. I had seen India before on T.V. and in pictures, but it’s never the same as being there in person. Read the rest of this entry »

News about the turmoil in the financial system has occupied the headlines for the past few weeks. America is facing the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression and it is getting worse by the day. So far, as a result of a rapid succession of events, the Investment Banking business in the US has come to an end, the world’s largest Insurance company needed a bailout and several commercial banks have filed for Bankruptcy. The day I am writing this article (29th Sep), the Dow Jones Industrials Index had the biggest fall in its history and just a day earlier, Washington Mutual was the largest bank to fail in the nation’s history. When we are inundated with such news on a daily basis, we are distracted by the details and miss the big picture. In this article, I attempt to describe the financial crisis in simple terms and outline a plan to brace ourselves for the future. In an attempt to make the article understood by majority of the audience, I have abstracted out the details and minimized the use of finance jargon. I hope everyone, from novices to finance pundits find some useful information from what follows. Read the rest of this entry »

Vijay Dashami, also known as Dussehra, falls on October 9th this year. In Sanskrit, “Vijay” means “victory” and “Dashami” refers to the tenth day of the bright half of the lunar month of Aashwayuja. Thus, Vijay Dashami is a festival of victory, the triumph of Dharma over Adharma. This day is marked by many inspiring episodes from history that reflect the victorious tradition of our ancestors. It was on Vijay Dashami that Shri Ram defeated Ravan after ten days of battle, thus liberating the city of Lanka from its adharmic ruler. Vijay Dashami is also the finale of the nine-day festival of Navaratri. During the days of Navratri, we worship Saraswati, the goddess of learning; Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth; and Durga, the goddess of strength. There are countless names of the goddess of strength—Durga, Maha Kaali, Mahishasura Mardini. Time and time again, she has defeated the demonic forces and established the supremacy of the righteous. Read the rest of this entry »

Vishwa Samiti Shiksha Varg 2008, a 15-day international training camp, was held in Bhagyanagar (Hyderabad), India this past summer. It started off with a graceful welcome ceremony where all participants were welcome with Tilak, flowers and Aarti, followed by a blissful Yajna. Vishwa Mangal Shanti Sukhado Hindu Dharma Vijayatam was the theme of the camp. 64 girls from 11 countries were fully energized and enthusiastic to spend the next 15 days under hard core training and discipline. The countries represented were USA, UK, Kenya, Guyana, Trinidad, Mauritius, Malaysia, Holland, Denmark, Sri Lanka and Dubai. Read the rest of this entry »

This is the final article in the Bhagavad Gita series.

We have seen that the Gita sets out a system of practices, yogas, for bringing us into union with Brahman. And when those practices work, as they did in the case of Arjun, then comes the mystic vision. In the eleventh chapter Krishna gives him “divine sight” so he can see Krishna’s cosmic form. Arjun sees the whole universe there in front of him, all around him, with the radiance of a thousand suns – all creation coming and going to Krishna. Read the rest of this entry »

Sanatana Dharma is more misunderstood than otherwise. It means an eternal system which owed its durability to its rationalism and not, as is often supposed, to any divine origin. It defined four major goals of life to be accomplished by means of eight secondary observances. The major objectives are evolutionary ethics, creativity and harmony with instincts and finally liberation from the human constraints. In Samskrit these were called Dharma, Artha, Kaama and Moksha. Read the rest of this entry »