Akshaya Tritiya

April 24th of this year is an astrologically significant and important festival for wealth called Akshaya Tritiyai. It is the 3rd moon in the house of Aries. Akshaya means "not decreasing". This is a time when you nurture and cultivate the concept of non-declining or non-decreasing wealth. This is a fantastic concept, because people don't usually think about it in terms of not decreasing wealth. 

 

 

On this day, we are undergoing a massive undertaking here in India to bring you the opportunity to participate in the majestic Elephant “Gaja" Pooja and Grand Lakshmi Kubera homa. If you are able to actively engage in this moment and capture it in your own body mind and soul, it will be very useful to help you gather wealth and keep wealth. Taking the right action at the right time gives you maximum positive results.

The word Akshaya means that which never diminishes - hence beginnings made or valuables bought on this day are considered certain to bring luck and success. This day is specially important as on this day any thing you donate is Akshaya or never ending.

Hindus believe in the theory of "mahurats" or auspicious timings in every step in life - be it to begin a new venture or making an important purchase. Akshaya Tritiya is one such momentous occasion, which is considered one of the most auspicious days of the Hindu Calendar. It is believed, any meaningful activity started on this day would be fruitful.

Once a Year
Akshaya Tritiya falls on the third day of the bright half of Vaishakh month (April-May), when the Sun and Moon are in exaltation; they are simultaneously at their peak of brightness, which happens only once every year.

Holy Day
Akshaya Tritiya, also known as "Akha Teej", is traditionally the birthday of Lord Parasurama, the sixth incarnation of Lord Vishnu. People conduct special Pujas on this day, bathe in holy rivers, make a charity, offer barley in a sacred fire, and worship Lord Ganesha & Devi Lakshmi on this day.

The Golden Link
The word "Akshaya" means imperishable or eternal - that which never diminishes. Initiations made or valuables bought on this day are considered to bring success or good fortune. Buying gold is a popular activity on Akshaya Tritiya, as it is the ultimate symbol of wealth and prosperity. Gold and gold jewelry bought and worn on this day signify never diminishing good fortune. Indians celebrate weddings, begin new business ventures, and even plan long journeys on this day.

Myths Around Akshaya Tritiya

The day also marks the beginning of the "SatyaYug" or the Golden Age - the first of the four Yugas. In the Puranas, the holy Hindu scriptures, there is a story that says that on this day of Akshay Tritiya, Veda Vyasa along with Ganesha started writing the great epic Mahabharata. Ganga Devi or Mother Ganges also descended on earth on this day.

According to another legend, during the time of the Mahabhrata, when the Pandavas were in exile, Lord Krishna, on this day, presented them an 'Akshaya Patra,' a bowl which would never go empty and produce an unlimited supply of food on demand.

The Krishna-Sudama Legend

Perhaps, the most famous of the Akshaya Tritiya stories is the legend of Lord Krishna and Sudama, his poor Brahmin childhood friend. On this day, as the tale goes, Sudama came over to Krishna's palace to request him for some financial help. As a gift for his friend, Sudama had nothing more than a handful of beaten rice or 'poha'. So, he was utterly ashamed to give it to Krishna, but Krishna took the pouch of 'poha' from him and relished having it. Krishna followed the principle of 'Atithi Devo Bhava' or 'the guest is like God' and treated Sudama like a king. His poor friend was so overwhelmed by the warmth and hospitality shown by Krishna, that he could not ask for the financial favor and came home empty handed. Lo and behold! When he reached his place, Sudama's old hut was transformed into a palace! He found his family dressed in royal attire and everything around was new and expensive. Sudama knew that it was a boon from Krishna, who blessed him with more than the wealth he actually intended to ask for. Therefore, Akshaya Tritiya is associated with material gains and wealth acquisition.

Radhastami : 25 Qualities of Sri Radhaji

Janmashtami Celebration : 22 August 2011

Nand Ghar Aanand Bhayo,

 
Jai kaniyaa Lal ki,

 
Haathi Ghoda Paalki,

 
Jai Kaniyaa Lal ki..

Janmāṣṭamīstotram

Bhadra krishna ki ashtami, ardhrati budhwar!

Nakshatra rohini tha jab hua krishna avtar!!

Bharat me vikhyat he, mathura nagar mahan!

Jahan kansh ki jail me pragte shree bhagwan!!

Om shree krishnay vashudevaya harye parmatmne, 

pranatkleshanashay govindaye namonamh!

KRISHNA : - The Center of Attraction

Janmashtami Ki Bahut Bahut Shubhkaamnaye!

Janmashtami

श्रीमद्भागवत , भविष्यपुराण, अग्नि आदि पुराणों के अनुसार भगवान् श्रीकृष्ण (Lord Krishna) का जन्म भाद्रपद कृष्ण अष्टमी , बुधवार , रोहिणी नक्षत्र एवं वृष के चन्द्रमा कालीन अर्धरात्रि के समय हुआ था | वैष्णव संप्रदाय के अधिकाँश लोग उदयकालिक नवमी युता श्रीकृष्ण जन्माष्टमी को ग्रहण करते हैं | (i.e Mon, 22 August 2011)

Why Krishna takes AVATAR ???

Without favoring one religion over another, Lord Krishna appears among us to teach the essence of all religion.

yada yada hi dharmasya
glanir bhavati bharata
abhyutthanam adharmasya
tadatmanam srjamy aham

"Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice, O descendant of Bharata, and a predominant rise of irreligion -- at that time I manifest Myself."

This is a very important verse in the Bhagavad-gita. The Sanskrit word dharma in this verse is usually translated into English as "religion," and religion is defined in the dictionary as "a particular type of faith." But actually dharma does not mean a particular type of faith, because while there is one universal dharma, there are many faiths. You may accept one faith, I may accept a different faith, and someone else may accept another faith. And if everyone's faith were equally satisfactory, then there would be no need for Krishna to descend to this planet.

Many people say, "I may not like your religion and you may not like my religion, but everyone's religion is right." But if everyone's religion is right, what is the use of Krishna's coming here to rectify adharma, irreligion? Just try to understand. If religion is just a question of liking, then there is no question of irreligion. For example, some people think killing animals is approved by their religion, and others think killing animals is irreligious. Who is right? Only Krishna can decide.

So, you cannot manufacture dharma -- it is not something you can concoct at home or some resolution passed in an assembly. In the Western countries, and here in India also, a resolution passed in the government assembly is accepted as dharma, or law. But Krishna is not speaking of that kind of dharma. No. As stated in the Srimad-Bhagavatam, dharmam tu saksad bhagavat-pranitam: dharma means "the orders given by the Supreme Lord, or Supreme Being, God."

In the state, the laws are given by the government. You cannot manufacture laws at home. That is not possible. For example, in some countries the law for driving is "Keep to the right," and in others it is "Keep to the left." Now, which is correct -- "Keep to the right" or "Keep to the left"? They are both correct, depending on which government is ruling. If the government says, "Keep to the right," that is correct, and you have to accept it. And if the government says, "Keep to the left," then that is correct. We cannot say, "In my country I keep to the left, so why should I keep to the right here?" No. That argument will not be allowed. Similarly, whatever God says -- that constitutes the laws of religion, and we must accept them.

In the next verse Krishna says,

paritranaya sadhunam
vinasaya ca duskrtam
dharma-samsthapanarthaya
sambhavami yuge yuge

"In every age, whenever there are discrepancies in the execution of dharma, I come to protect the devotees and punish the demons." This is just like the government's duty of giving protection to the law-abiding citizens and punishing the outlaws. These are the two main duties of the government. And where has this idea come from? From the supreme government, Krishna.

Now, another meaning of dharma is "natural characteristic." For example, sugar is sweet; so the dharma of sugar is sweetness. A chili is very hot; so the dharma of chilies is hotness. If sugar somehow becomes hot or chilies become sweet, that is adharma. And the dharma, or natural characteristic, of the living entity is to surrender. If you analyze, you will see that every one of us has surrendered to somebody or something -- whether it be his wife, his family, his community, his society, his political party, his government, or whatever. Wherever you go, the characteristic of the living being is to surrender. He cannot avoid it.

In my talk with Professor Kotovsky in Moscow, I said to him, "Now, you have your Communist philosophy and we have our Krishna philosophy, but both of us have surrendered to a superior authority. You have surrendered to Marx and Lenin, and we have surrendered to Krishna. That's all."

So, everyone has to surrender. If one surrenders to the right person, then things will go nicely. But if one surrenders to the wrong person, there will be so many troubles. Who is the right person? As Caitanya Mahaprabhu* [*Caitanya Mahaprabhu is Krishna Himself in the role of His own devotee. He appeared in India five hundred years ago to teach love of God through the chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra.] has explained, jivera svarupa haya krsnera nitya-dasa: "We are all eternally servants of Krishna." Therefore we should all surrender to Him.

Unfortunately, although we are all surrendering, we are not surrendering to Krishna. This is the disease. The Krishna consciousness movement is trying to cure this disease. When people do not surrender to Lord Krishna, they concoct so many "Gods," so many rascals, to surrender to. That is adharma, irreligion. Dharma means to surrender to Krishna, but instead of surrendering to Krishna, people want to surrender to cats, dogs, this, that -- so many things. That is adharma, which Krishna came to rectify five thousand years ago.

Krishna did not come to establish the so-called Hindu religion. Real religion means surrendering to the supreme person, Krishna. Now we do not know where to surrender. That is the difficulty. And because the surrender is misplaced, the whole world is in a chaotic condition.

We change from one object of surrender to another: "No more Congress party; now Communist party." This party, that party... What is the use of changing parties? Whether you surrender to this party or that party, you are not surrendering to Krishna, and unless you come to the point of surrendering to Krishna, you cannot have any peace. That is the point. Simply changing from the frying pan to the fire will not save you.

Therefore, Krishna's last instruction in the Bhagavad-gita is,

sarva-dharman parityajya
mam ekam saranam vraja
aham tvam sarva-papebhyo
moksayisyami ma sucah

"Just give up all this nonsense and surrender to Me. I will protect you; do not fear." This is the perfection of dharma. Also, as stated in the Srimad-Bhagavatam [1.2.6], sa vai pumsam paro dharmo yato bhaktir adhoksaje: "First-class, or superior, dharma is to surrender to Adhoksaja." The name Adhoksaja means "the Supreme Transcendence," or Krishna. Then the Bhagavatam says this surrender must be ahaituki and apratihata. Ahaituki means "without any personal motivation." We shouldn't think, "If Krishna will give me such-and-such, I will surrender." No, our surrender must be unmotivated. And then, apratihata -- our surrender must also be undeviating. It cannot be checked. If you actually want to surrender to Krishna, there can be no hindrance. You can do it in any condition. Then, yenatma suprasidati: "If you surrender to Krishna in this way, your soul, your mind, and your body will become satisfied." This is Krishna consciousness.

Unfortunately, instead of surrendering to Krishna for His satisfaction, we are surrendering to many others for our own satisfaction. We join some political party so we can get the opportunity to become a minister or to capture some power. This is our real aim -- not to serve our country. Maybe one or two have this idea. But usually our purpose is to get some power and position. So we are not serving the party; we are serving our ambition.

As one learned scholar has said, kamadinam kati na katidha palita durnidesah. Our so-called service is service to kamadinam -- lust, anger, greed, illusion, intoxication, and envy. All these things are our masters. Somebody is serving his lust, another is serving his anger, another is serving his greediness, and so on. In this way, we are serving our senses, not any particular person. When we go to the office, we supposedly serve the proprietor. But actually we serve not the proprietor but the money he pays us. As soon as he says, "From tomorrow I cannot pay you," we say, "Good-bye." So we are serving the money. And why do we serve the money? Because money will help us satisfy our senses. Therefore, ultimately we are serving our senses.

Everyone is serving his senses, and this is what Krishna here calls dharmasya glanih, irreligion. When we serve our senses, that is irreligion, adharma, and as soon as we agree to serve Krishna's senses, that is dharma, religion. This is Krishna's instruction in the Bhagavad-gita.

At the beginning of the Bhagavad-gita, Arjuna was trying to justify serving his senses: "My dear Krishna, if I kill my relatives and my guru, Dronacarya, I'll be entangled in sinful activities. I'll go to hell." So he concluded, "I shall not fight." But Arjuna was trying to satisfy his own senses. He thought, "By killing the other party, I'll be very much aggrieved." That means he was serving his own senses.

So, Krishna instructed him, "You are a ksatriya [warrior]. It is your duty to fight. You should not consider whether you have to kill your relatives or your grandfather or your guru. When there is an opponent, you must fight." This is how they were talking.

Krishna wanted Arjuna to satisfy His senses, and Arjuna wanted to satisfy his own senses. This was the argument. But since Krishna is the Supreme Lord, His senses should be satisfied. This is the whole purport of the Bhagavad-gita. At first, Arjuna refused to serve Krishna. Then Krishna told him, "This Kuruksetra War has been arranged by Me. You simply be My instrument [nimitta-matram bhava savyasacin]." 

Krishna's purpose was paritranaya sadhunam vinasaya ca duskrtam -- to protect the devotees and annihilate the demons. Krishna wanted to install dharma personified, Maharaja Yudhisthira, on the throne, and He wanted to kill adharma personified, Duryodhana and company. That was Krishna's plan. Therefore Krishna arranged the Kuruksetra War, and He wanted Arjuna's help, because Arjuna was His friend and devotee.

Krishna wanted Arjuna to get the credit for the victory. Just as the devotee wants to glorify Krishna, Krishna wants His devotee to be glorified. This is the relationship between the Lord and His devotee. Krishna could have done everything Himself; He was fully competent. But He wanted to give Arjuna the credit. That was His plan.

In the Bhagavad-gita, for our benefit Arjuna plays the role of the common man. Actually, Arjuna knew, "Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead; it is my duty to serve Him." Arjuna was a bhakta, a devotee. In other words, he had dedicated his life to serving Krishna. And at the end of the Bhagavad-gita, he accepts Krishna's instruction: "Yes," says Arjuna, "I will give up all my false designations and fight." This is real bhakti, devotion.

sarvopadhi-vinirmuktam
tat-paratvena nirmalam
hrsikena hrsikesa-
sevanam bhaktir ucyate

"Bhakti means to serve Krishna with our senses, giving up all false designations." One must become free of all false designations -- "I am American," "I am Indian," "I am a brahmana," "I am a ksatriya," and so on. One has to become free of all these designations, because they all pertain to the body. We must know, "I'm not the body; I'm a spirit soul [aham brahmasmi}." And when one understands, "I am not this body; I am a spirit soul', part and parcel of the Supreme," that is self-realization. As long as one is in the bodily conception, he is no better than the animals. For animals there is no question of religion. Therefore, as long as we are in the bodily conception of life, we are in ignorance of our real religion, and whatever we do has no benefit either for us or for anyone else.

So, at the present moment practically everyone in the whole world is laboring under this bodily concept of life, adopting false designations -- "I am Indian," "I am American," "I am this," "I am that." And on the basis of these false designations they create so many "dharmas." But these dharmas are not real dharma. Therefore, at the end of the Bhagavad-gita Krishna says, sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja: "Just give up all these nonsense dharmas and surrender to Me."

The religion of the Bhagavad-gita is not Hindu religion or Christian religion or Muhammadan religion. It is the essence of religion -- the reciprocation, the exchange of dealings, between God and the soul, the Supreme and the subordinate living entity. To accept Krishna as our Lord, to surrender to the lotus feet of Krishna -- this is bhakti, or real religion.

When this religion is forgotten in human society, people become averse to God, or Krishna. They become godless and think they can enjoy like God. That is dharmasya glanih, perverted religion. Naturally, every one of us has come to this material world to enjoy. But material enjoyment is not real enjoyment. Real enjoyment is spiritual enjoyment, which comes from surrendering to Krishna. When there is dharmasya glanih, a discrepancy in the understanding of our spiritual identity, people forget this real enjoyment, and Krishna comes to revive it.

The beginning of Krishna's teachings in the Bhagavad-gita is "I am not this body but rather a spirit soul." This is the spiritual understanding. When one understands this, his devotional service begins and he becomes joyful (brahma-bhutah prasannatma). Because we are in darkness, we are not joyful; we are always morose. Although we are serving our family, our community, our government, and so forth, we are not happy, because that is not our real religion. When we direct this same service attitude toward the lotus feet of Krishna, we'll be satisfied.

Krishna and Krishna's instructions are identical. Don't think that Krishna is no longer present. He is present by His words, the Bhagavad-gita. Take His instructions, apply them in your life, and you will be happy.