Panchanga Daanam

Panchanga Daanam

Tamil New Year is approaching on April 14. The coming new year is called Vyaya, in Tamil. Since the New Year starts in the start of summer in South India, in olden days, where there were no fans, cool drinks etc, people used to donate hand-fans, buttermilk etc to others.  Particularly, offering Panchangams, which are otherwise known as almanacs had been considered very sacred since it used to guide people regarding the festival periods, good and bad times, eclipses and so on and so forth.

This year, one of our neighbor website, based in West Mambalam, have pioneered to circulate at least 20000 Panchangam based on the collections previous year.  Let us try to participate in this and help them so that this number gets increased and to get the blessings of Lord Sriman Narayana.

For more details on Panchangam Danam at Ahobilam.com, check out their page at: http://www.ahobilam.com/articles/panjangadhanam.htm  

Nirbal key bal Ram

Nirbal key bal Ram

Perhaps I think you would have got astonished by this Hindi slogan called Nirbal key bal Ram. This actually symbolises for complete refuge into the Lord, without any ego or other attachments to mundane worldly affairs.

I think this is better explained in the Gajendra Moksham posting. Check it out.

Gajendra Moksham

Gajendra Moksham

Here goes the story of Gajendra Moksham, which explains the greatness of Saranagathy in Sri Vaishnavism.

Gajendra was the king of elephants. While roaming in the jungles, the elephants were drinking water from a forest lake, when a crocodile caught hold of Gajendra's legs. The kith and kin of him realised that Gajendra is going to be no more since crocodiles are invincible in water as elephants in the terrestrial area. So they left him abandoned and started away.

For a few hours, Gajendra was trying to fight the crocodile by kicking it but the valour of the crocodile was so high that Gajendra's energy started dwindling. Most of us cry out to the God in hopeless (nis-sahaya sthiti) situations and so did Gajendra. It took a Lotus from the pond and prayed to the Lord.

No sooner did the Lord realize that the little elephant had surrendered itself to Him, relinquishing the ego and his over-self-confidence, that he started on His Garuda Vahana and equipped with Sri Sudharsana Azhwar.

Now the wind direction changed. The crocodile has to see its death and Gajendra got freed up.

Well. This is not just a story. There is a tight linking of this story to mankind. Here goes the linkage.

1. The human is Gajendra.
2. The world is the lake, where human plays with his kith and kin.
3. The crocodile symbolizes the Death and Difficulties that attack man.

The lesson that is being learnt from here is that nobody can liberate a human from the clutches of death. God alone answers the prayers. Hence there is also a Hindi saying 'Nirbal key bal Ram', which indicates that the God is the strenght of the weak.

Here goes the Gajendra Moksha Stuthi:

AUM NAMO BHAGAWATE TASMAY YAT ETCCHIDATMAKAM

PURUSHAAYAA DIBIJAAY PARESHAAYAABHI DHEEMAHEE

YASMINNIDUM YETASCCHEDUM YENEDUM EEDUM SWAYAM

YOSMAAT PARASMAASCH PARAH TUMPRAPADYE SWAYAMBHOOWAM

Gajendra Moksham and Sharanagathi

Gajendra Moksham and Sharanagathi

The doctrine of Sharanagathi forms the most essential and significant crux of Sri Vaishnavism. This emphasizes seeking a complete and total refuge on the Lord Sriman Narayana.  Perhaps, this weblog, would start discussing the greatness of Sharanathi and then discuss more topics in the service of the Lord Sriman Narayana.

For a quick discussion on Sharanagathi, I would like to suggest the following URLs:

1. IBiblio Knowledgebase.
2. Mani's Bhakthi discussion groups.

The essence of complete surrender unto the Lord and His divine rescue service has been demonstrated by Him several times. To cite a few instances, we can explain it with Gajendra Moksham and Draupadi who was abused by Duschasana in the Kaurava palace.

Welcome to Sri Vaishnava Network

Welcome to Sri Vaishnava Network
Welcome to Sri Vaishnava Network -- your one stop consultation resource for queries on Sri Vaishnavism, temple events and utsavams (festivals). You can also feel free to contact the eminent scholars who are enlisted in the specified pages.

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