Vishnu

SACRIFICE

Sadhana, Shakti, VishnuAugust 20, 20244KViews 24Likes 4Comments

Akal Bodhan, or the untimely awakening, while not originating from the Valmiki Ramayana, has had such a powerful impact on the consciousness of the Hindu people that even today the celebration of Durga carries on unabated and continues to grow year after year during this particular period. The Shakta texts have a retelling of this episode.…

WISDOM OF VARAHA

Articles, Tantra, VishnuMay 10, 2019389Views 2Likes 0Comments

The Varaha Upanishad was composed during the 13th century and considered as one of the minor Upanishads. Here Lord Vishnu's Varaha Avatara is shown speaking to Ribhu on topics of spirituality, the non-dual truth of the Brahman, power of Kundalini, various Yogas that can liberate man etc. Lord Varaha states that what one aspires to,…

The Avatāra

Articles, VishnuAugust 27, 2018225Views 0Likes 0Comments

śhrī bhagavān uvācha bahūni me vyatītāni janmāni tava chārjuna tānyahaṁ veda sarvāṇi na tvaṁ vettha parantapa ajo ’pi sannavyayātmā bhūtānām īśhvaro ’pi san prakṛitiṁ svām adhiṣhṭhāya sambhavāmyātma-māyayā yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavati bhārata abhyutthānam adharmasya tadātmānaṁ sṛijāmyaham paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ vināśhāya cha duṣhkṛitām dharma-sansthāpanārthāya sambhavāmi yuge yuge janma karma cha me divyam evaṁ yo vetti tattvataḥ tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti so ’rjuna vīta-rāga-bhaya-krodhā…

Krshna Subdues Kaliya

Articles, VishnuAugust 15, 2018354Views 1Like 0Comments

The episode in the Bhagwatam where Sri Krshna subdues Kaliya is of tremendous spiritual importance in the sadhana of Vaishnavism. While there is a historical significance to the stories, for a sadhaka the spiritual metaphors in each of these stories are of greater importance in the fullfilment of sadhana. Yamuna is the river of Bhakti…

Jagannatha svami nayana-patha-gami bhavatu me

Articles, Shakti, VishnuJuly 14, 2018451Views 0Likes 1Comment

Jagannath is the Lord of the Kali Yuga - the form Lord Visnu takes to govern the last of the four Yugas in popular conception. But there is a mystery associated with true identity of Jagannath which has intrigued scholars for a long time. Some have speculated that the temple was originally a Baudha temple…

Yoga-Vāsiṣṭha: On the Spiritual Heart

Articles, Vedanta, VishnuJuly 9, 2018266Views 0Likes 0Comments

When Rama asked, "Which is the greatest mirror in which we see these images of things? What is it that is called the Heart of all the beings in the world?" Vasistha answered, "When we reflect we see that all the beings in the world have two hearts." "One of these is worth…

Readings from Vibhuti Yoga

Articles, VishnuJune 10, 2018204Views 0Likes 1Comment

न मे विदुः सुरगणाः प्रभवं न महर्षयः । अहमादिर्हि देवानां महर्षीणां च सर्वशः ॥ Neither the gods nor the great Rishis know any birth of Me, for I am altogether and in every way the origin of the gods and the great Rishis. यो मामजमनादिं च वेत्ति लोकमहेश्वरम् । असंमूढः स मर्त्येषु सर्वपापैः प्रमुच्यते ॥ Whosoever knows Me as the…

Yogis who don’t Succeed in One Lifetime

Articles, Sadhana, VishnuMay 21, 2018330Views 3Likes 0Comments

What happens to a Yogi who does not attain to the highest condition in one birth? We have the words of Sri Krshna in the Gita resolving this query from Arjuna. * * * अर्जुन उवाच: अयतिः श्रद्धयोपेतो योगाच्चलितमानसः । अप्राप्य योगसंसिद्धिं कां गतिं कृष्ण गच्छति ॥ Arjuna said: He who takes up Yoga with faith, but cannot control…

Parikshit

Articles, VishnuMay 21, 2018280Views 0Likes 0Comments

The Varaha Purana mentions an interesting story about Raja Parikshit (परिक्षित्). Parikshit is popularly regarded as the posthumous son of Abhimanyu of the Kuru clan who inherited the throne of Hastinapur from Yudhisthira. At the end of the Mahabharata war, Aswathama, who was the son of Dronacharya and himself born from the blessings of Rudra,…

kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam

Articles, VishnuApril 22, 2018238Views 1Like 0Comments

In the later day Vaishnava schools Lord Krishna is considered the supreme form of the Lord. This idea is supported by a verse from the Srimad Bhagwatam . The Bhagwatam while describing 24 different Avatar-s of the Lord mentions, when it comes to Krishna, ete cāṁśa-kalāḥ puṁsaḥ kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam indrāri-vyākulaṁ lokaṁ mṛḍayanti yuge yuge …

Maha Vishnu

Articles, VishnuApril 21, 2018386Views 0Likes 0Comments

ādyo ’vatāraḥ puruṣaḥ parasya kālaḥ svabhāvaḥ sad-asan-manaś ca dravyaṁ vikāro guṇa indriyāṇi virāṭ svarāṭ sthāsnu cariṣṇu bhūmnaḥ ādyaḥ — first; avatāraḥ — incarnation; puruṣaḥ — Kāraṇārṇavaśāyī Viṣṇu; parasya — of the Lord; kālaḥ — time; svabhāvaḥ — space; sat — result; asat — cause; manaḥ — mind; ca — also; dravyam — elements; vikāraḥ — material ego; guṇaḥ —…