Tattva

Namaste,

Best wishes to everyone on the auspicious occasion of Maha Shivaratri. Sewa, or selfless service, is an integral part of Hindu Dharma. Swami Vivekananda said, “They who see Shiva in the poor, in the weak, and in the diseased, really worship Shiva. They who want to serve Shiva must serve His children — must serve all creatures in this world first.” This month’s theme is “sewa” and we invite everyone to reflect on how we can all incorporate sewa in our daily lives.

Sewa International provides a unique opportunity for youth to volunteer their time and talent for the less fortunate, through the Yuva for Sewa fellowship program. Please be sure to read the Yuva for Sewa article in this edition. We encourage all Tattva readers to consider giving some time as a Yuva for Sewa volunteer this summer. Please also pass the information about Yuva for Sewa to anyone who may be interested. 

As always, if you would like to contribute an article or have any suggestions for Tattva, you can contact the Tattva team at tattva-editor@hinduyuva.org. Please visit www.hinduyuva.org/tattva-blog/2009/03/ to read the March 2009 edition of Tattva.

For the past three years, Yuva for Sewa (YFS), a service internship of Sewa International USA, has attracted youth from various backgrounds to spend their summer vacations helping people in need. YFS encourages young adults to volunteer their time and effort, while using their area of expertise and interest to help the disadvantaged. Projects throughout the US and India are designed for personality development, building leadership and team work, empowering visionaries and providing first-hand experience in helping the community.

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Sri Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita addresses his beloved devotee Arjuna: “With a vision of affecting the liberation of men/women, I have inculcated three yogas or methods, namely, that of knowledge, selfless work, and total surrender or devotion. There is no other means anywhere.”

As two armies confront one another and clash on a battlefield where Arjuna passes through a dreadful phase of melancholy and regret, Duryodhana is not ready for any compromises. Read the rest of this entry »

Children at Adarsha colony, Bangalore

After graduating from college last May, I decided to take a year off because I wanted to pursue medicine and needed time to apply to schools for the next year. I also strongly believe in social responsibility and taking action to improve society. Therefore, I applied for a fellowship with the Youth for Seva NGO in Bangalore, India hoping for an experience to broaden my perspective, to apply all the knowledge I’ve learned in school, and of course to affect positive changes in people’s lives. I chose Bangalore because I’m already familiar with the language and culture and therefore I could affect more direct change with spending minimal time adjusting to the atmosphere. Read the rest of this entry »

Shobhit Mathur spent time volunteering through the Yuva for Sewa fellowship program. He traveled to Suriname and taught computer science to people there. In this video interview, he shares his experiences during his time as a volunteer.

Sewa, by definition, is any physical act one performs for the benefit of others in need.  In Sanskrit, it is described in the shloka Paropakaraya Punyaya, Papaya Parapeedanam, i.e. any action resulting in the good of others is noble and should be followed.  Sewa is essentially selfless service toward humans, animals, nature, and even the self.  For every service done for  others is a service done for the self and, in effect, a service done for God, as illustrated in the shloka, “Iswarah Sarva Bhutanam Itruddesha Arjuna Tishtati,” which means that the same God who is present in me is also present in other human beings.

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