Vinayaga Chaturti (Ganesh Chaturthi) - Is he the Supreme Personality?

Again it has been a really really long time since I have written a blog. Vinayaga Chaturthi and its recent fervorous celebration that is associated with it compelled me to write this article.

Note: For people who don't believe in religion, please skip, this is for people who believe in religion and want to think rationally.

Let me get straight to the point. Who is Ganesha? Many people know him to be the son of Shiva and Parvathi. On a more specific level, who is Ganesha? Is he the ultimate GOD, the supreme personality? Why do we worship Vinayaka, or Shiva or the one or the other of the 33 crore devas specified in the hindu shastras? Who are the 33 crore devas? Is it humanely possible to worship each and everyone of them or rather is it necessary to worship each and every one of them?

In order to understand this we need to look at the shastras. To any religion, it is the reference point. In Hinduism, vedas are considered the ultimate authority and they are the breath of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. They are eternal. Vyasa deva is the literary incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and has compiled all the shastras. The amount of literature that he has written is unimaginable.

In this time of kali yuga, it is not possible to read all the literature due to the time constraints and also we don't have most if it. Vyasadeva wrote the vedanta sutra in order to give the essence of vedas and wrote the commentary for vedanta sutra as Srimad Bhagavatam. If one reads Srimad Bhagavatam, it is equivalent to reading the vedas. In order to understand the supremacy of Srimad Bhagavatam over vedas, please read the article on the below link. One of the most intellectual articles I have ever read.

http://gosai.com/writings/the-supremacy-of-srimad-bhagavatam-over-the-vedas

The other important literature is the Mahabarata, part of which is the Srimad Bhagavad Gita, which is the essence of all Upanishads. This is where Lord Ganesha comes into the picture. Lord Ganesha wrote the Mahabarata as Vyasadeva dictated it. But Lord Ganesha was too quick for Vyasadeva. So Vyasadeva told Lord Ganesha to understand what he said and then write it. Lord Ganesha understood whatever was said in Bhagavad Gita. In essence, he understood the below verses.

In Bhagavad Gita, The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna says that 

aham sarvasya prabhavo

mattah sarvam pravartate

iti matva bhajante mam

budha bhava-samanvitah

I am the source of all spiritual and material worlds. Everything emanates from Me. The wise who perfectly know this engage in My devotional service and worship Me with all their hearts.

Every other being in the universe is from Krishna and is not independent of him. He reiterates this in Bhagavad Gita 7.20 - 7.22

"Those whose intelligence has been stolen by material desires surrender unto demigods and follow the particular rules and regulations of worship according to their own natures. I am in everyone's heart as the Supersoul. As soon as one desires to worship some demigod, I make his faith steady so that he can devote himself to that particular deity. Endowed with such a faith, he endeavors to worship a particular demigod and obtains his desires. But in actuality these benefits are bestowed by Me alone."

Even if one worships a particular demigod, the demigod is not independent to grant anything. They are in turn dependent on Krishna.

The main question that arises is why should we worship Krishna, the supreme personality of godhead when we are getting the benefits though indirectly by the worship of a demigod. The answer is again in Bhagavad Gita 7.23

Men of small intelligence worship the demigods, and their fruits are limited and temporary. Those who worship the demigods go to the planets of the demigods, but My devotees ultimately reach My supreme planet.

The problem is the results are temporary as the demigods themselves are temporary. They have a lifetime and once the lifetime is completed, another person occupies their chair. Bhagavad Gita 8.17 states the lifetime of Brahma who is the first jeevathma.

By human calculation, a thousand ages taken together form the duration of Brahmā's one day. And such also is the duration of his night.

When Brahma has a lifetime, all the jeevathmas created by him also come into to concept of time, which means Lord Ganesh has a life time and will be replace by another jeevathma depending upon one's karma.

The vedanta sutra's first verse is athatho brahma jignasa which says that the primary duty of a human is to know who the absolute truth is. The importance of human birth is that the consciousness is far developed than that of other living beings. If a human being does not ponder about the absolute truth, there is no difference between him and animals. They both eat, sleep, mate and defend. The food chain  is also not affected of humans removed from it.

We know from Bhagavad Gita and various other verses from the scriptures that Krishna is the supreme personality of godhead, So that brings us to the final verse.

sarva-dharmān parityajya

mām ekaḿ śaraṇaḿ vraja

ahaḿ tvāḿ sarva-pāpebhyo

mokṣayiṣyāmi mā śucaḥ

Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not fear. 

How do we surrender? The answer again is there in Bhagavad Gita 18.55

bhaktyā mām abhijānāti

yāvān yaś cāsmi tattvataḥ

tato māḿ tattvato jñātvā

viśate tad-anantaram

One can understand Me as I am, as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, only by devotional service. And when one is in full consciousness of Me by such devotion, he can enter into the kingdom of God.

Lord Ganesha understood the above verse and surrendered to Lord Krishna through devotional service. The greatest form of flattery is imitation. If we really want to celebrate Vinayaka Chaturthi, the best way is to read the Bhagavad Gita and understand what Lord Ganesha understood and followed.

The Largest Democracy in the World

We have just had elections in 5 states and every South Indian knows what 'Poriborthon' means by now. Thanks to Didi, who not only won a land slide victory over 34 year old Communist rule in West Bengal, but also drawing comparisons with the fall of the USSR. and the fall of Communism. In Tamil Nadu, it was business as usual. The incumbent government was out and the opposition took its place. I want to talk about these two states in particular, because these wins were significant to the future of the states.

Both the then Incumbent governments in these states were becoming monsters which were ruthless in their actions as long as their objective was achieved. They never really cared about what the people who elected them wanted.In the case of West Bengal, the govt was politely going about their business by arming their party carders, whom the Home Minister eloquently put as 'Harmad'. In Tamil Nadu, it was family politics. The state was split into regions and was taken control by the various heirs of the Chief Minister. It was becoming totally intolerable. It was my way or the high way. In this case, the high way was the direct route to hell or heaven, where ever you are destined to go.

People couldn't publicly show their dissatisfaction, and hence a silent wave was being built up.The various scams that were exposed gave momentum to the rolling stone giving it lots of mass and speed to steam roll the  opposition. Elections came and a clear mandate was given by the people. Both the partys were pummeled. So much so that DMK were not even the major opposition party and CPM were totally confused on whom to appoint as the opposition leader as no senior party leader won (The Chief minister lost by 25k votes to a first time contestant!!!). The unsung hero was the Election Commission of India which conducted the election with great elan.

This is where the importance of a beautiful tool called Democracy comes into picture. People have the power to change the government, but the pressing point is, are there better choices? In Tamil Nadu, Jayalalitha won not because she was the messiah, but because she was the only other alternative. Same is the case everywhere in India not only in the states, but also in the center. So how do you protect yourself? speak up when you are being oppressed? pinpoint  if something is not right? Well history told us what to do. 

The most peaceful way of protest had resurfaced. The Satyagraha.First it was Anna Hazare and now it is Baba Ramdev.Their agenda is very laudable but is their means laudable? Does that mean anybody and everybody who wants something can go on a fast and get his things done?

 But how to you put things across, when the government you have elected is not bothered about you? These are very important questions that have to be answered. I strongly believe in Rationality and the Ayn Rand quote which says "When I disagree with a rational man, I let reality be our final arbiter; if I am right, he will learn; if I am wrong, I will; one of us will win, but both will profit." comes to my mind.

We might be the world's largest democracy, but we are also a young democracy, which has made about 95  odd amendments to its Constitution and is still in the process of stabilising it. Majority of us don't know the power that the constitution has vested upon us. We are learning and we are evolving and an evolution will only mean the survival of the fittest. The fittest should be decided by means of rationality and not by anything else, which will give us a clear picture of what is right and what is wrong.

Let rationality prevail

Metro!!!

Metro was always a fascination for me. When I first heard from my father that there were trains in Calcutta that would travel underground, it really caught my imagination. It was preposterous for me at that time. I had always since then wanted to experience travelling underground in a Metro.

My first chance came when I went to Delhi. I was so excited travelling in the Metro. It was getting rave reviews for the way it was. It bettered the oldest metro.Me and my friend wanted to travel around the city all by ourselves. So we prepared an impeccable itinerary with the nearest metro stations and the cost of tickets!!!

Everything was set and the D-day came where we travelled from Patel Nagar to Rajiv Chowk (previously Connaught Place). The dream became true. There was a moment of abberation when the train came over ground from underground. It was love at first sight. I was so fascinated by the metro that on the last day of our tour, we came from Amritsar to Delhi. We had our train to Chennai in the evening. So we had come to our guest house in Patel Nagar to rest instead of waiting in the station's waiting room. I travelled alone to Chandini Chowk from Patel Nagar just to travel in the metro one last time (though the Dhahi Balla and Aloo tikki we had in Chandini Chowk was lingering in my mind). I dint know when I would travel in the metro once again. It was June 2010.

I never expected I would travel in a metro so soon. I was deputed to Kolkata in December 2010. The moment my manager asked me if I would go, the first thing that came to my mind was Metro (and of course the Rasagola). Without a second thought, I said yes.

It was only in my second day at Kolkata, I had the opportunity to travel in a metro. On the first day, I directly went to my office from the airport and I was dropped at my guest house in the evening by a colleague of mine.

My love-hate relationship with metro started as i had the chance to take a closer look after my love at first sight. The morning travel to my office at Middleton Street was by the famous yellow taxi through the crooked lanes. In the evening, I was to take a metro from Maidan station which is just 2 blocks away from my office.

It was the real experience of travelling in a metro. Delhi was all cozy, the trains were air conditioned new ones. The time in which I travelled was not the busiest of times. This was the reality. My manager was there waiting to get into a train after missing three trains due to its heavy rush. He was born and brought up in this city and he had missed 3 trains before getting into the next train which required great physical effort. He had a laptop in one hand and shoved others on the way to get into the sea of people into which he vanished.

I was terrified. I dint know how I would travel everyday in such crowded trains. My experience with travelling in a public transport was very minimal. Then I missed 3 more trains to get into a train where I didn't have to shove people with my elbow to get in  but it was by no means empty.

The metro at peak hours is not for the faint hearted. Though you get help on one side, youl'll get the same volume of opposition from the other side.  A tide will try to get you in to the coach, but at the same time another tide will try to get out of the coach. Its really amazing to see so many people cram into such a small place. The beauty of the human body getting into a position of equilibrium is amazing. The way the head positions itself between two arms clinging on to the bar on top, the way the body aligns itself into a optimum pressure zone between bodies which pressurizes it from all sides and the way the hands cling on to whatever it can get hold off or in some cases it believes on the surrounding bodies for its stability. This is where we can fully realize and experience the adage 'United we stand, Divided we fall!!'.

The preparation that the locals do for a metro travel is surreal. I have seen girls bring flat shoes in their bags, change their heels before they get into the metro and then they get back to their heels when they are out again. I really have to salute the males who wear coolers and come out unscathed. I can only relate it to a famous Rajini scene where he gets a ticket for a movie with his shirt  fully drenched in sweat and with his coolers half naked. 

It was difficult in the first week. But then you get accustomed to  new conditions. Another beautiful human trait to adapt to its new conditions with minimum fuss once it knows it does not have any other better means. Once I got accustomed, I started enjoy my metro rides again. 

The way the trains gallops into the station and the way it tries to blow you away with the wind it generates with its speed and the resistance we give by gallantly standing beside with our hair flying, for it to stop and get in is a great feeling. The feeling of taming a violent horse creeps in when you get into the train, but when you see your fellow passengers you are grounded with a feeling that you are one among them and are no hero and life moves on......

IPL Auctions

I wanted to write about the mother of all auctions on the same weekend as it happened, but it just didn't happen. So here goes the IPL auctions in my point of view.

I have been an ardent follower and have been associated with the sport (It is by default that you are a cricket fan if you are born in India) for a long time. So when the new format of T20 came it was good but didn't take the world by storm. The ECB brought in this format to revive the drastically falling attendance for it county matches. It was taken up by ICC and as soon as the format became a great hit globally with the first edition of the ICC T20 world cup, the BCCI was shrewd enough to take the chocolate cake with a cherry on top by bringing the Indian Premier League without much difficulty as it could easily muscle out ICC and also had a ready made business framework.

Though there was a similar format in India called the Indian Cricket League(ICL), it didn't get the approval of ICC (which in itself is a debatable topic). The same format was taken up by BCCI and they just filled the missing blocks in ICL, namely the publicy it couldn't draw and the good will it couldn't achieve. 

The IPL was born and the first auction was the first of its kind in the world of cricket. Nobody knew how it worked, for that matter it is still unclear on how the system works. Thats always been the case with BCCI. It has never been transparent, which by the way has also been its strength.

After three years, two more teams were inducted and the auction was all set to happen after all the drama surrounding the two teams that were scrapped ( were again brought back into the IPL) and the famous IPL gate where the bhakra was Lalit Modi. The stage was set for the mother of all auctions to commence. The was already enough buzz. The tone of the auction was set right away in the first player to be auctioned. Gautam Gambhir would have been the happiest man on earth when his value rocketed from a meager base price of 200k to 2.4 mil in a matter of minutes.

The franchises this time had come really prepared. They didn't hold back for the player they wanted and never bothered to even consider a player who didn't feature in their plans even if he came for a really cheap price. The glaring evidence was in the way in which three franchises picked their teams. The Chennai Super Kings, the Kolkata Knight Riders and the Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Each  had a strategy cut out and each team stuck to what it wanted. The KKR wanted a new team as they were the most under performing team in the past 3 editions of IPL. To add to these they were dragged into controversy in the 3rd edition where a player allegedly gave away insider information in his blogs. They didn't want a single player from their previous squad even if it meant leaving out DADA. What more does a team require when it has Whatmore by its side.

The strategy of RCB was also clear. They wanted to shrug off their test team tag and went in for a young side. The CSK's strategy was simple. It wanted to retain as many players as it could from its double winning side.

The most intriguing part of the auction was how the franchises came into the bidding just to increase a players value and decrease the purse money of the bidding franchises. It was done rather well by CSK and RCB. Though the ultimate benefactors were the players. The lack of good Indian players in the pool made almost every capped Indian player in the auction rich by significant amount.

The two new comers were starting with a disadvantage as the other teams were allowed to retain players. The  potential at their disposal were few and they didn't have the experience. The case with RR and KP were different. The didn't have the money at their disposal as most of it was spent on legal fees.

Though there are strong teams and weak teams, cricket is a funny game and more so is a T20 game. Who thought that the Rajastan Royals would win the IPL. Though it may be clichéd, Anything is possible in cricket.

No One Killed Jessica

Me and my colleagues were really wanting to go to this movie. But we din't decide on a date. When I came back from office, on of my colleagues asked me if we could go to the movie this day and we booked tickets in a multiplex nearby for the night show.

Though I had been hearing about the Jessica Lal case in the media and all attention it was seeking, I was really curious to know what the real matter of concern was. At that time I just got the gist of the case and didn't proceed further. So when the movie was releasing, I wanted to watch it. Though our Bollywood films are too filmy, I though it would at least touch the main core of the issue. But the most important deal clinchers were Rani Mukherjee and Vidya Balan.

I am not going to give any spoilers or describe about the movie. I wanted to write about the two things in the movie which I found really gripping and which I couldn't simply leave without writing considering the current situation in India and the emotions I go through in a period where we are facing some of the biggest scams the country has ever seen.

The two things are the Power of Media and the Will of the people. In the beginning of the movie  Rani says that Delhi is ruled by people who have power and in the end says that power is restore to where it should rightly be.

The part media played in unearthing the injustice meted to Jessica Lal was very significant in delivering justice and at the same time the reaction of the Indian public was the catalyst which made the government reopen the case after a 10 year gap.

The situation now is in fact of greater magnitude. Though the media has done its part in trying to create a spark by bringing to the world the scams of unbelievable magnitude, I don't think we, as a public, have done our part in forcing the corrupt politicians to account for their incomparable loot . The power is now in the hands of wrong people and they are holding the country to ransom by making our highest investigating agencies and our justice system dance to their tunes. 

Every political party is trying to get its 10 minutes of fame by appearing in the news channels buy throwing cheap shots at each other and accusing each other of corruption. There has never been a constructive debate and the parliament has been stalled totally. The situation is going no where.

Nothing will happen unless we take up the mantle. There has to be a revolt or atleast a sign of protest from our side. The 'chalega' attitude has to go and some sense has to prevail so that governments will take the public seriously. I pray and hope that sensibility prevails and the power be restored in the right hands.

New Year

This thought has been lingering in my mind for a long time now. Every new year there are two types of people you can see. The once who go all out and celebrate the day and the once who are skeptical about the specialty of the day and claim that it is just another day.

I have grown up celebrating the new year, both at school and at home. My school celebrated Christmas and New Year which I haven't seen any where else. We used to sing carols and go to every teacher's house in our school bus with Santa. This would continue till new year. I grew up in a place where we used to celebrate a new year for two days. On the 30th and the 31st (Though 30th was Christmas celebrations!!!). We kids then used to have great fun though we did not attach any significance to that day.

As I grew up, many people moved away and the association disintegrated. We didn't have any more new year celebrations, but me and my friends started celebrating New Year by going out for dinner and then to beach where we could find lots of like minded people coming there to celebrate. A dawn of a New Year was definitely something to cherish. That is why we have occasions. To get off from our daily chores. To just unwind ourselves with our near and dear ones. I have been on the side which goes and celebrates every occasion.

Those who call it just another day may be of two types again. People who are spiritual and don't get into materialistic activities or people who are negative and don't find any inspiration to live life. In the former case, they don't go about giving scathing statements in public. So its is all in one's perception. If anyone wants to celebrate, they will go about and do it. People who keep bantering will be there forever. They are the one who are the 'in between' people. They are not mature enough to keep to themselves their views and practice their principle, but instead go on in search for cheap publicity. Though my words would seem a bit strong, it is the ground reality.

So if you feel the day is special, go out and celebrate the special occasion. If you don't, for God-sake please keep you views to yourself as it has been really tiring to hear those words every year.

Wish you all a Healthy, Wealthy and a Prosperous New Year

Srinath

First Anniversary!!!

Its been a year since I started blogging and exactly a year since I posted my first post!!! I still can believe that I haven't written anything for a year. 2010 has been a great year which can never be forgotten by me. The year kick started with me failing to clear the aptitude test of the first company that came to recruit us on campus. The same day I missed XAT for which I had been preparing for a year. Two days later i got my first arrear. Then came a second company for which I cleared the aptitude test but was rejected in the HR rounds because of my arrear. My feeling at that point of time is inexplicable. I was totally dejected. If at all for my friends and family I would never have crossed this phase of my life. Then came the much awaited CAT results and I got about 92 percentile. This gave me a boost. I had a chance of getting into the colleges I applied. Then I got recruited into a company. I still don't know how they ignored my arrear as the company had a policy of recruiting students having no history of arrears let alone standing arrears. The almighty had shown some grace to this poor fellow. In the mean time the revaluation results came and I still didn't clear the paper. I couldn't take it and applied for a challenge. The result finally came a week before the arrear exam and I had cleared the paper! I was simply ecstatic. The most important thing I got out of 2010 is the insight to spirituality, the world of spirituality and what spirituality exactly was. Then I completed my B.E and the company into which I got recruited was one of the first companies to give call letters and I joined the company in July, just about a month after i had got my final semester results. At this moment I am in Kolkata, on site, in my first ever project. This year has been a roller coaster ride and a ride which i will cherish for a long time to come.

Merry Christmas!!