Cooking for Avantika

"Gurur Brahma Gurur Vishnuhu Guru Devo Maheswaraha Guru Saakshaat Parabhrahma Tasmai Sri Gurave Namaha” So, its the first Thurday of the Shravan Maas today. The tithi is called Shukla Panchmi. Both the day and the tithi are said to be ruled by the deity Brihaspati who is also called the Guru or teacher of all the other deities or demi-gods. This deity is none other than the biggest planet in our solar system called Jupiter, also known as Brihaspati, the teacher of all other planets. The ancients probably understood a bit about Jupiter's influence over life on earth and thus coded this information in stories based on the life of a master priest and scholar named Brihaspati who embodied the similar characteristics and position so had the planet named after him. You can read these mythological stories in many places but the significance of Jupiter as the highest planet (named after Brihaspati, the highest order priest) is mentioned in the Geeta when Krishna says: pur...

What follows Mangalvaar, a day ruled by Tama guna is Buddhvaar, the day ruled by rajo guna or rajasic energy while following Buddhvaar is Guruvaar, the day ruled by Sattva guna. While Tama represents dullness and ignorance at one extreme and anger and destruction at the other, Rajo represents passion at one and arrogant superiority at the other extreme. Sattva is purity, it represents Expansion, Understanding, Optimism and Enthusiasm at one end and Extravagance, Indulgence, Bigotry and Fanaticism at the other end. There is a beautiful story to illustrate how and why mercury was born. And if you understand this story, it has a lot of answers to questions about our existence. Once upon a celestial time, the  Moon had conquered the three worlds and performed the Rajsu yagna, the sacrifice which gives lordship. Many gods and goddesses served him; having achieved this glory he became arrogant. The Moon was the chief disciple of Jupiter, the guru of the celestials, and was also th...

In the last post I explained how the Asus or Asuras sometimes possess your father's mind, I also told you about this verse from the Bhagwat Geeta: 27. prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ ahaṅkāra-vimūḍhātmā kartāham iti manyate which roughly translates to: The bewildered spirit soul, under the influence of the three modes of material nature, thinks himself to be the doer of activities, which are in actuality carried out by nature   So I think it is fair enough I explain myself here.  Today is Tuesday (mangalvaar), a day said to be ruled by Mars. And the season Grishma or Summer is also governed by Mangal Graha. The word Graha in Sanskrit means 'Seizure' or 'to hold'. According to Vedic Astrology, Grahas are those which capture and influence the mind and body plus its activities like the decision making ability for example of all earthlings.  Mars is the closest Graha to earth after the moon and is said to be a malefic graha but as with all thin...

Some people will tell you that the Bhagwat Geeta is not a Hindu scripture while some others will tell the opposite. The confusion arises because the meanings attached to the word Hindu has changed over time. It started as a word which represented people who lived in Hindusthan, a place across the Hindukush river. Then there were foreigners who came to this place as traders, some made it their home and the culture of its inhabitants expanded. There were invasions and divisions of land and what we have left now is a multicultural country called India where some citizen organizations call themselves Hindus while others don't, some have even hijacked the teachings of the belief system and established ownership of it redefining it in their own terms. Now, I was probably lucky my mother never gave importance to religion when I was young so I grew up to question the belief systems of the world and see them in a different light than accept the oneness of an omnipotent, omnipresent being...

In the previous verse Krśņa talks about Buddhi Yoga which he mentions again in the next verse. 2-50. buddhi-yukto jahātīha ubhe sukṛta-duṣkṛte tasmād yogāya yujyasva yogaḥ karmasu kauśalam Meaning: United with the spiritual intelligence, one who is born can cast off these both pious and the evil deeds that is thus the one who has attained yoga (balanced mind) without attachment such yoga (maintaining a balanced mind) in all activities is a clever skill This Buddhi Yoga is Spiritual Intelligence that is talked about in these verses. But what exactly spiritual intelligence means is rather difficult to understand or explain with words. Because it is not a voice inside me that I can hear, nor any form I can see, none of my other senses can identify with it. I just know it is something that exists and surfaces (at what seems like random will) but hard to master. According to the Bhagwat Geeta: indriyāṇi parāṇy āhur indriyebhyaḥ paraṁ manaḥ manasas tu parā buddhir yo buddheḥ parat...