Monthly eMagazine of the International Vedanta Mission

Year 21 Issue 6

Monthly eMagazine of the International Vedanta MissionDec 2015 : Year 21 / Issue 6

Editor: Swamini Samatananda Saraswati

Published byInternational Vedanta Mission

http://www.vmission.org.in / vmission@gmail.com

Just as ghee is inherent in the milk and has to be churnedout, so also the truth of everything is inherent in everything, andhas to be realized by deep churning like enquiry & meditation.

?k`rfeo i;fl fuxw<a Hkwrs Hkwrs p olfr foKkue~ A lrra eUFkf;rO;a eulk eUFkku Hkwrsu AA

Amrutbindu Upanishad -20

Section Index

1. Message of P. Guruji - 52. Tattva Bodha - 6-74. Letter - 95. Gita Reflections - 10-116. Jivanmukta - 137. Yoga Vasistha - 14-157. Story Section - 178. VM News - 189. VM Activities - 1910. Album - 20-2111. VM Programs - 23

Arjuna asks Krishna as to What is it because of which a person compromises and commitssin? We know the consequences of sin or evil work on our mind and also its effect on the people,other living beings and also the world at large. Is it because of the ‘Will of God’ as so many peoplebelieve in? or, Is it something to do with the devatas? or Is it the effect of our times & the world inwhich we live in? Maybe our wrong education or maybe our karmas? Is it our natural instincts &impulses versus impractical injunctions? The very question implies all the various possibilitieswhich the people of the world believe in. Not knowing the truth we know there are people whokeep exploiting the ignorant, and we on our part will keep on compromising & therefore also keepon suffering endlessly.

Negating the existing of any extraneous factor whatsoever, Lord unequivocally says thatthe cause of people commiting compromises or sin is simply subjective. One should never getinto the trap of anyone who very intensely tries to prove that it is the powers outside who aremaking a mess of our lives, or maybe some devatas or disha (directions) as the Vastu people tellus. It has just something to do with our minds alone. Motivated by our self-centered concerns it isour ‘desires’ which are responsible for us to propel in other directions. Desires are very strongforces. They dont come in us by powers or even people outside, unless we are open to them. Weourselves slowly & steadily cultivate them. It is our innocent salkalpa which starts the wholeprocess. ‘May this be like this’, ‘May I be blessed with so & so thing’, this is sankalpa, the beginningof our journey, or ley us say the birth of a powerful ‘driving force’ in us. Initially it is very innocent,but as we keep deliberating on our wish, we then tend to get atached to that ‘thing’, and as wecontinue our thinking continously & even intensely we ‘empower’ our thoughts with intensity whichcan make us cry or joyful. Just as we sow a seed and reap a crop, so also we sow a sankalpa andreap a thought & subsequently a ‘desire‘. Thought is a very powerful entity. It veils our wisdom,creates a limited entity, brings about duality, and is the ground in which the crop of desires israised. We know that when desires raise their head we just have to follow the wish - many a timeseven helplessly. So one should realize the power of desires & even thoughts. They are borne outof ignorance and have baseless aspirations, and are therefore insatiable. However much wisdomwe may accrue they have the capacity to wash everything off.

There itself, Bhagwan says that to handle ‘desires’, one should initially aim for finer &nobler & subtler desires, and then ‘see’ the fact that as our identification with our grosser bodyfades off so also does our desires of that level. We have our gross body, then our emotionaldimension, then comes the intellectual level and finally our real self - waking unto which there isno need for any desires whatsoever, and then alone - the compromise-demon is effaced completely.

What makes us do Sin?

from Poojya Guruji Swami Atmanandaji

Vedanta Sandesh

Tattva BodhaWhat is the Subtle Body?

The word Sookshma means ‘Subtle'. The Subtlebody is the data bank of actions, sanskars, emotions,pranas, senses etc. The Jiva in the Subtle Body trav-els with its baggage from one birth to another by meansof the subtle body. The subtle body basically carriesforward the impressions in the mind which lead to thecycle of birth and death. It is like the earth which hasunlimited pottential but what we get out of it totally de-pends on what we invoke out of it by our ownactions.But as soon as one gains knowledge and isliberated from the various desires the subtle body toodissolves. Hence it is called Shareera. This body iscalled ‘Subtle’ or Sookshma because it is not physi-cally seen or felt by the sense organs. All experienceslike happiness and sorrow, knowledge and ignorance,all emotions and values etc are experienced in thesubtle body. It is a very important body born of igno-

rance, yet knowledge too can be acquired only in thesubtle domain of the mind and the intellect. As bond-age & liberation are only because of mind, so thesetoo become aspects of our subtle body. The Atma isever-free. Our mind has to just realize this and be free.It is the subtle body which acts as a medium for con-sciousness to manifest itself.

Apanchikrita ... kritam:The Subtle body too is made of the five great

elements but in their subtle state called as theTanmatras. The whole world is nothing but a combi-nation of these five elements.

Satkarmajanyam:As we saw in case of Gross body that this body

is acquired due to our meritorious actions. When the

Having discussed about the Gross body the Acharya now goes on to speak about the Subtle body. Weshall go ahead with this discussion keeping in mind the connection of this discussion. The Acharya is explainingthe three bodies etc to reveal to the student what the Atma is not, negating which the real nature of the Atma isrevealed. Just as in the discussion about the Gross Body here too the teacher speaks about the various facetsof the Subtle body, what it is made up of, it’s objective, it’s components and its features.

What is the Sukshma Sarira (the subtle body)?That which is composed of five Mahabhutas (elements) prior to their undergoing the pro-

cess of Panchikarana, born of good actions of the past the instruments for experiences of plea-sure, pain etc. constituted of the seventeen items namely: the five Jnanendriyas, (sense organs)the five karmendriyas, (the organs of action) the five Prans (Prana, Apana, Udana, Samana andVyana) the mind and the intellect is the Subtle body.

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meritorious actions are predominant then we get aheavenly body. When there is a predominance of im-pure actions we go into lower births, but when boththese are balanced then we are born as a human be-ing. As a human being we have the freedom to per-form meritorious actions or walk the path of demerits.A human being is blessed with a mind and intellect soGod has given us the freedom too to perform eithergood actions are bad ones. Each individual's actionsdiffer so the subtle body of each individual is also dif-ferent from the other.

Sukhadukhaadi Bhogasadhanam:It is the mind and the intellect in the subtle body

that experiences joys and sorrows, pain and pleasureetc. It is only in deep sleep state when the mind andthe intellect temporarily stop functioning that we donot experience anything.

Saptadashakalabhih:The Subtle body or the Sukshma Sharira com-

All Indore Devotees are invited for a grandSALIL SANDHYA

being organized at Vedanta Ashramon 15th Dec (Tuesday)from 7.00 PM onwards

There will be Bhandara for all after theFlute Program

Hari om!

prises of seventeen components. Five sense organsof perception, five sense organs of action, five Prana's,Mind & the Intellect. By sense organs is meant thepower with which the sense organs can perceive theirrespective objects, and not the physical organ as such.If the gross body is the house or office of functioningthen the subtle body is the officer or boss who func-tions through this office.

If we know the subtle body as the subtle bodythen we will not misapprehend it as the atma. This is agreat sign of liberation because either we take the grossbody as the self or the subtle body as the self. I am theseer of the gross and the subtle body. Although I havethe pottential to identify with something and so I canexperience pleasure and pain as I wish. If I identifywith the child then I can feel the joys and sorrows ofthe child. I also have the power of detachment. If Iwish to experience something then I should identifywith it. But if I wish to gain knowledge then I should getdetached from it. The Subtle Body is thus the driver ofour manifested existence.

Vedanta Sandesh

There was an unusually hot summer prevailing inSouth India and Sage Agastya went to mount Kailas toask Lord Shiva for water. Kaveri happened to be worship-ping Shiva at that time.Shiva picked her up and put her in Agastya's kamandalu.

The sage thanked his benefactor and set out for home.Indra did not approve of what Shiva had done and re-quested Ganpati to somehow overturn Agastya'skamandalu.

Ganpati took the form of a crow and when Agastya keptthe vessel down swooped down, and sat on its rim. Thevessel overturned and Kaveri flowed out.Agastya was very angry but calmed down when Ganpatirevealed his true form.Ganpati refilled Agastya's kamandalu, but Kaveri flowedon and continues to flow to this day.

Ganapati Swoops Down

Analysis of Bondage

Planning forfuture is no problem,but to think that all thejoys & fulfillment lie inthe womb of future isincorrect and in factbaseless. The real artof living is in initiatingevery work 'withf u l f i l l m e n t ,enthusiasm & love'rather than with adeep sense of lack &insecurity. - PoojyaGuruji

Analysis of our Bondage - excerpt from Tattva Bodha Lesson Course___________________________________________________________________Hari om !Bondage doesn’t really come from the activities we undertake, butcertainly manifests in our activities. The source is basically in the mind,and even here the roots lie deep in our perceptions about ourselves,and also in our understanding as to how best we can go about ingetting what we wish. As the problem is basically one of improperunderstanding so it is logical that right insight & knowledge redeemsa person from various baseless & imaginary issues.Planning for future is no problem, but to think that all the joys &fulfillment lie in the womb of future is incorrect and in fact baseless.The real art of living is in initiating every work 'with fulfillment,enthusiasm & love' rather than with a deep sense of lack & insecurity.It is this mind set which is the real problem, in fact the whole life ofsuch people becomes a problem. Work will be a problem, money willbe a problem, and even relationships will be a problem. At the end ofthe day your health & mind will be a problem. So please identify thereal issue.It is the present moment which is important, not the future. Presentalone is the real living moment, past is dead and future is unborn, andthis future too will come to you as a present moment. Think why thepresent moment is called a 'present'? I would also suggest you toread an interesting book called the 'Power of Now' apart from Vedanta,which alone reveals our glorious truth. The former book throws goodlight on the importance of living properly & fully in the present moment.Love & omSwami Atmananda

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bySwaminiSamatananda

In the seveth chapter of the Gita Sri Krishna speaks of his divine power ofmaya using which he as Ishwara creates and sustains this world. The world cre-ated out of his Maya shakti is so mesmerising that the mind and intellect of anindividual jiva is veiled by it and at times he even fails to see the presence of Godand his compassion in creating the world and sustaining it. Such is the power ofMaya. Sri Krishna says that a person deluded by the power of maya and its cre-ation becomes in capable of even seeing the existence of God. In this contextBhagwan speaks of two kinds of people-The Sukriti and the Dushkriti. Peoplewho are known to be a Sukriti are the ones who live a God-centric life and theDushkriti are the ones who live an individual cenric life.Sukriti:

The Sukritis are the ones whose actions are pure and righteous havingGod as the nucleus of their life. They see themselves as the ambassadors orinstruments in the divine hand. They are motivated by the fact that they are bornto serve god in what ever kind of situations that come to them. They live a selflessyet dynamic, deliberate, fearless and creative life all in order to serve God. Theyhave no complaints towards the shortcomings of life and are neither elated at thelevel of their ego in case of great achievements. They are a beautiful combinationin setting the example of karma and upasana together.Dushkriti:

Dushkritis are the type of people who are individual centric. Their persuitsare for themselves and see themselves as the doers of all achievements. Theyreflect an extremely limited existence seeking superficial pleasures in the mate-rial world. These deluded kind can never see their identity with God nor can theyever cross the ocean of Maya or this delusory world. They are sooner or laterbound to face the pangs of fear & insecurity. Sri Krishna cautions us against thismental state of illness and inspires us to take the path of the righteous performer-the Sukriti if one aims to see the truth beyond the illusory world created by Maya.The four types of Devotees:

As Sri Krishna speaks of the Sukriti-the righteous one, he speaks of fourtypes of devotees in this category. Bhagwan says even though all these can beseen as Sukritis yet based upon their identification with God, their level of surren-der of their individuality and worldly goals their attitudes in the field of action, ttheirprayers, they can be categorised as four types of devotees. They are the Artabhaktas (Grief-stricken), the Arthaarthi (desirous of material wealth), theJigyaasu(desirous of knowledge) and the Gyaani Bhaktas (the knowledgable ones).Arta Devotee:

‘Arti’ means extreme grief or distress. An ‘Artah’ is one who is siezed by akind of extreme grief or distress. The prayer of an Arta devotee is very very in-

(Chatu

rvidha B

hajant

e Mam)

Vedanta Sandesh

The GyaniBhakta is unlike thefirst three types. Thiscategory of devoteesis a class apart. Theyare the real devoteeswho are devoted toGod unconditionallyand at all times. Hehas no worldly ac-complishments to befulfilled.

tense. It is a situation of a drowing person gasping for breath. Having hit theirhands and legs in every way they can, their only resort now is God himself. Asituation of great extremity invokes in them the most intense prayer one can imag-ine. It is a case of complete surrender.The Arthaarthi Devotee

This kind include the majority of people. Such devotees are hard workingand believe in their efforts to make great achievements in life. They take work asworship. In extreme situations when all their efforts fail and they become helpless,having no other worldly source of help or protection they then call for god. Suchdevotees although they believe in the existence of God and his power to do any-thing, they only look up to him only in times of some requirements in life. They areseasonal devotees who pray to God when they are in dire need of something anddon’t see any other source pf fulfillment. The only positive thing about such devo-tees is that even though God is not in their priority list, nor are they interested inknowing about God and his nature or the secrets of life, but they at least seeIshwara as the most potent one who is capable of doing the impos-sible. These are the amateur kind, who are blessed by Godin all situations yet they don’t forget to pat their ownbacks in case of achievements in life, butyet Bhagwan Sri Krishna appreciatesthem in taking the first step in their connectionwith God.Jigyasu Devotee:

They are only motivated to know thetruth and do not desire any worldly fulfillments. Allspiritual students are in this category. They wish toknow the truth of Isvara, bhagavat-tattvam. He isnot invoking Isvara’s grace for simple accomplishments. He wants to know thetruth of Isvara, the ultimate cause of everything. Knowledge of Ishwara is nothingbut knowledge of atma. Ishwara, the cause of everything happens to be theessence, oneself. A Jigyasu is a great devotee. As a bhakta he invokes Isvara’sgrace for this. All his actions, his devotional persuits of puja, japa and meditationare all aimed only to ultimately gain the knowledge of the truth. A jigyasu is akarma yogi who’se pwer of discrimination, his detachment and aother mental quali-ties are nicely directed towards being a good student of knowledge.Gyani Devotee:

This knowledgable devotee is unlike the first three types. This category ofdevotees is a class apart. They are the real devotees who are devoted to Godunconditionally and at all times. He has no worldly accomplishments to be ful-filled. He sings the glories of god because he can see the beauty of God. Hebelieves God is the only one worth loving. He has seen his complete union withGod. He sees Ishwara as his very own atma.

Culminating this topic Sri Krishna says all the devotees are nice but theyhav not reached their goal of being one with god, but the gyani has seen himselfas one with ishwara so he is his very own self.

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Vedanta Sandesh

During my second month of nursing school, ourprofessor gave us a pop quiz. I was a conscientious studentand had breezed through the questions, until I read thelast one: "What is the first name of the woman who cleansthe school?" Surely this was some kind of joke. I had seenthe cleaning woman several times. She was tall, dark-hairedand in her 50s, but how would I know her name? I handedin my paper, leaving the last question blank. Before classended, one student asked if the last question would counttoward our quiz grade. "Absolutely," said the professor. "Inyour careers you will meet many people. All are significant.They deserve your attention and care, even if all you do issmile and say 'Hello'."

I've never forgotten that lesson. I also learned hername was Dorothy.

- Joanne C. Jones

The Cleaning Lady

Wanderingin HimalayasDifficultRoutes,Blissful

Contemplations

Excerpts fromthe

Travel Memoirsof

Param PoojyaSwami

TapovanjiMaharaj

When we have travelled four or five miles up along the difficult routefrom Lakshmivanam, we reach a small, pretty lake calledChakrateertha. A mile or two beyond is another lake calledSatyapatha. We then reach two pools called Suryakunda andChandrakunda. The lakes are on a plain covered with rocks andsnow and sorrounded by mountains over 23,000 feet i height. Now ashort trip over the snow brings us to the famous Swargarohini. Theheroic Yudhishthira, who no longer thought of his body and who hadvowed not to look back or turn back, might have climbed up into thatterrible expanse of snow in benumbing cold, but it remains inacces-sible to all ordinary mortals. It is said that, in ancient days, peopledetermined to enter Heaven used to ascend into these regions andrelinquish their bodies here.Today people may laugh at such queer notions as Heaven, ascentinto Heaven, a visit to the Holy place as an act of merit, and death atthe spot as a passport to the realm of the Gods. They may deride allthat is said about such things as the ravings of fools. Yet even theycannot deny the natural attractions of the sorrounding landscape.The snow-clad peaks shining like silver or gold in the sunshine andthe noise of the avalanches resembling the bursts of cannon convertthe region into a wonderland, and fill the hearts of theists and athe-ists with astonishment and admiration. As for me, my heart was danc-ing with joy at the divine splendour all around me. My mind wasintoxicated with the glory of God. God himself shines here as thismass of spotless snow, as lakes and springs, as these tall peaksand these powerful cold blasts and these crystalline streams.All I see is God. The HImalayas are God, the entire earth is God.Everything exisits in him. Everything shines because of his bright-ness. All beauty is His. I enjoyed the natural beauty of that divineregion, realizing His presence everywhere, whether in the snow orsnow-mountain, in lakes or rivers, in stone or soil, in sunshine orwind, in pleasure or sorrow. But I could not prolong my pleasant staythere, and so I returned to Badrinath with a sense of disappoint-ment. The best season for a journey to Swargarohini is from themiddle of July to the middle of September. But my journey was inJune and I had no guide. In the circumstances, I had to return satis-fied with a distant vision of Swargarohini, Glory to Thee, ohSwargarohini! May the epic story of Yudhishthira continue to inspireman to the end of the world!

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To illustrate his narration, Shri Vasishtha tells a wonderful story of the hugedemoness named Karkati. She lived in a remote region of the Himalaya mountainand was huge, black and terrible-looking. She fed upon living beings and neverhad enough to eat, so she was ever hungry. So, naturally, all her thoughts wereabout how to find more food. Once, she thought - “If I could eat all people at once,my hunger would subside! But people living here are good ones, and so it is notappropriate to eat them. I don’t know what to do. I should do penance, for this wayI can attain that which would be otherwise very difficult to attain”. And so sheperformed penance on a mountain peak for one thousand years. She becamethin as a skeleton clothed in transparent skin.

The creator Brahma was pleased with her penance, and appeared in frontof her. She bowed to him mentally andstarted to think what to ask as herboon. And she requested to become atiny needle, which would enter into heartsand bodies of many living beings, feedon them and torment them! Shedecided to give up her huge body andbecome tiny and subtle, somethinganalogous to bacteria or a virus asscience tells us now. And Brahmagranted her wish. Now she could enter thebodies of the ones who eat wrong food, orlive in dirty places, or don’t keep up withtheir hygiene, who are sick already, agedand demented. Also he gave mantra,which would be able to cure thisdisease. Now the demoness Karkati was called Visucika, disease.

Immediately the huge body of Karkati started to shrink and she became sosubtle what her existence could be only imagined. She gained the boon of herchoice and was able to enter many bodies at once but still she could not fulfill herdesire to devour all beings! Do you think her request was intelligent one or ignorant?I think it was not well-thought of, and the result was matching it. If you are not clearabout your desires and goals, the methods you use will not be appropriate, youractions will reflect this non-clarity, and result of non-appropriate actions will alsobe strange and confusing. Anyway, she got what she wanted so intensively, at thecost of the death of her previous body.

Vedanta Sandesh

AdhyatmicTeachings

ofGuru

Vasishthato

Sri Ramji

bySwaminiVidyananda

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Now, as she became tiny, she roamed the world with winds and dust, enteringvarious bodies and leaving them freely, feasting on them from inside, making themsuffer and die, remaining unseen, and she enjoyed this life on the earth for manymany years. She had many houses and hiding places beside bodies - she wouldlive in dirt and dead bodies, on dirty hands and between treads of a cloth, in stalewater and in puddles, in caves and tree stumps, in trash and rotten things. No onesaw her and no one could harm her, and she was silently working for the deathand destruction of others, drinking their blood and eating on their flesh.

After many years she became disillusioned with this kind of life. Shediscovered this glorious life of a powerful disease was not satisfactory! No onenoticed her, and so no one appreciated her power. No one saw her, and so shewas so lonely and had no friends. No one would ever even think about her! Shewanted to devour everyone, but she was lying under people’s feet in dust. And soshe bewailed of her degraded existence - “Oh, where is my huge luminous body?I fall into mud and I am trampled upon by people. I have no friends and no onetakes pity on me! I don’t have a stable house or even a body worth the name. Iwanted to be free and rule others, but I am at their mercy, and do that they wantme to do. I wanted to appease my hunger, but that has led to a remedy worse thanthe disease! Surely, I am a brainless fool, as I deliberately chose this despicablebody of a needle and this miserable existence worse than that of a worm! No onewill ever pray for me, for the thought of me will never arise in the heart of sages.When will I again be as large as a mountain and drink the blood of large beings?I want to become an ascetic again and perform penances as I did before”. And soshe did. And this is not yet the end of the story.

Who is Karkati? Karkati is the thick dark ignorant mind, full of desires andinsatiable hunger at the expense of suffering of other beings. If it tries, it canachieve almost anything. But if it is ignorant, it will have only ignorant desires, andthe ways it chooses to achieve its ends will also be stupid. Its ignorance takesupon gross or subtle forms, and causing harm to others, it also harms itself. Itnever feels happy and satisfied, it is ever upset with life and its choices, it is agitatedand disbalanced. Driven by the ignorance, one endlessly continues in this andmany other lives, driven as dust by accidental winds of desires and passions,flying up high and falling down low. Overcome by ignorance, one is unable toaspire for the good, he is beaten up by the situations, his desires are lowly anddegrading. What can help him? He goes through numerous sufferings, takes manybeatings, he is afflicted and in pain a lot. He runs after his desires, and obtainingthem, he sees their folly. He does it many many times and finally may becomedisillusioned, he discovers he was always running after mirages.

What does he do next? If he is lucky, he may turn to the God, if not, hissufferings continue in the endless circle.

Vedanta Sandesh

When you love what you have, you have everything you need.Wise men are not always silent, but they know when to be.Simplicity is not a simple thing.Be faithful in small things because it is in them that yourstrength lies.For attractive lips, speak word of kindness. For lovely eyes seekout the good in people.You are confined only to the walls you build yourself.Respect yourself enough to walk away from anything that nolonger grows you.If you desire to make a difference in the world, you must bedifferent from the world.Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by thethings that you did’nt do than by the things you did do.If your always racing to the next moment what happens to theone your in.Patience is not the ability to wait, but how you act while yourwaiting.

Quotes

Once upona time ...

StorySectionYudhisthira was planning to make a Rajasuya yagna or Ashwameda Yagna

in order to become an emperor. On the advise of Krishna he learnt that Jarasandhais the only obstacle who will oppose Yudhisthira from becoming an emperor. Onthe other hand, Jarasandha who got defeated from Krishna and Balarama re-peatedly on 17 earlier occasions, imprisoned 95 kings so far. He was in need of5 more kings, after which Jarasandha could perform an Yagna to Lord Shiva. Ifhe sacrificed these 100 kings in this yagna, then Jarasandha would becomeinvincible by the grace of lord Shiva. So, Jarasandha was planning to make onelast attack on Dwaraka after this Yagna. This would in turn make Jarasandha anemperor.

Thus, Krishna advised Yudhisthira that Jarasandha must be killed beforeYudhisthira starts performing the Rajasuya yagna. Krishna further stated that itwas not possible for Yudhisthira to defeat Jarasandha in a war as he had a boonof not being killed through any weapons. To find a way out, Krishna suggested towage a Mallayudda (one on one battle / wrestling) with Jarasandha. So, Krishna,Bhima and Arjuna disguised as Brahmins and went to the capital of Jarasandha.

Like Karna, Jarasandha was also very good in giving charity donations.After performing his Shiva pooja, he used to give whatever the Brahmins askedfor. On one such occasion Krishna, Arjuna and Bheema in the guise of Brahminsmet Jarasandha. Krishna asked Jarasandha to choose any one of them for aMallayudda. Jarasandha choose Bheema to wrestle. Both of them fought for 27days. Bheema did not know how to defeat Jarasandha. So, he sought the help ofKrishna. Krishna knew the secret by which Jarasandha could be killed. Since,Jarasandha was brought to life when the two lifeless halves joined together,conversely, he can be killed only when these his body was torn into two halvesand find a way as how these two don't merge. Krishna took a stick, he broke itinto two and threw them in both directions. Bheema got the hint. He toreJarasandha's body into two and threw the pieces in two directions. But, thesetwo pieces came together and Jarasandha was able to battle Bheema again.Bheema got tired after several such futile attempts. He again sought the help ofKrishna. This time, Lord Krishna took a stick, broke it into two and threw the leftpiece on right side and the right piece on the left side. Bheema followed preciselythe same. Now, he tore Jarasandha's body into two and threw them in oppositedirections. Thus, Jarasandha was killed as the two pieces could not merge intoone.

After his death, the Pandavas released all the 95 kings who were impris-oned by Jarasandha and made the Son of Jarasandha (Sahdeva) as the king ofMagadha. Thus, these 95 kings along with the Sahdeva ruler of Magadha be-came an ally of Pandavas who took part in the great Mahabharat war later.

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The Death of Jarasandh

Vedanta Sandesh

During this Diwali two families came over to Ashram from Ahmedabad to celebrateDiwali along with Ashram members. They were Sh Ramakant & Smt Ushaben Trivedi, andSh Kaileshbhai & Smt Tarunaben Oza, alongwith their daughter Palak.

Diwali is celebrated at Indore with great fervour & enthusiasm. Every house isdecorated with lights every tastefully, and it is a joy to see all this by any outsider. TheLaxmi puja was done by Oza couple this year.

The Nov edition of the Hanuman Chalisa Satsang was organized on 15th, becauseof the preoccupations of Poojya Guruji on the last Sunday. On 15th was also the birthdayof Swamini Samatanandaji. So both the programs were nicely celebrated on that day.

In the Hanuman Chalisa Satsang Poojya Guruji talked about the word Maha-Jagvandan. He said that while this is a fact that Hanumanji was highly respected & reveredby one & all, but interestingly this is also a fact that he had no aspirations for being revered.Reverence in fact followed him effortlessly. That is why this word is interesting. He dideverything very nicely & selflessly, and it is the beauty of such selfless, dedicated & lovingwork that we get the respects of one & all.

The Bhandara that followed was nicely attended, and many devotees got togetherto prepare the dishes.

Poojya Guruji conducted the annual Gita Gyana Yagna at Hindi Sahitya Samiti Hall,at RNT Marg Indore from 23rd to 29th Nov. The subject matter was Chapter-3. There wereseven sponsors for the sven days program, and this year we also had various heads ofvarious Samaj of the city as special guests. While the marraige season was on in fullswing, but overall the program was satisfactory.

P. Swamini Samatanandaji is conducting a Gita Gyana Yagna in a new locality inLucknow, this is the ‘Ram’Naam Bank Hall, in the SBI Colony on the Sitapur Road. She istaking Tattva Bodha and Gita Chapter-1 there. Response is good.

On Sunday she conducted a Vishnu Sahasranama Archana in the Mandir Hall.Every devotee brought their own puja material and P.Swaminiji conducted the entire grandritual. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the archana.

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Vedanta Sandesh

Birthday of P.Swamini Samatanandaji was celebrated with HC Satsang and Bhandara

This year the Diwali festival was on the 11th NovAll Ashram Mahatmas & various devotees were present

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by Poojya Guruji at Hindi Sahitya Samiti Hall, Indore - 23-29th Nov. Gita-3

Gita Gyana Yagna by P. Swamini Samatanandaji at SBI Colony, Lucknow - 27/11 to 3/12

Vedanta Sandesh

What love is all aboutIt was a busy morning, approximately 8:30 am, when

an elderly gentleman, in his 80s arrived to have stitchesremoved from his thumb. He stated that he was in a hurryand that he had an appointment at 9:00 am. I took his vitalsigns, and had him take a seat, knowing it would be over anhour before someone would be able to see him. I saw himlooking at his watch and decided, since I was not busy withanother patient, I would evaluate his wound.

On exam it was well healed, so I talked to one of thedoctors, got the needed supplies to remove his sutures andredressed his wound. While taking care of him, we began toengage in conversation. I asked him if he had a doctor'sappointment this morning, as he was in such a hurry. Thegentleman told me no, that he needed to go to the nursinghome to eat breakfast with his wife. I then inquired as to herhealth. He told me that she had been there for awhile andwas a victim of Alzheimer's Disease.

As we talked and I finished dressing his wound, Iasked if she would be worried if he was a bit late. He repliedthat she no longer knew who he was, and hadn't recognizedhim in five years. I was surprised, and asked him, "And youstill go every morning, even though she doesn't know whoyou are?" He smiled and patted my hand and said, "Shedoesn't know me, but I still know who she is."

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Anand-Lahari Musical Program:The annual musical program ‘Anand-Lahari’ organized by the Indian Cultural

Foundation, Mumbai will be organized on 6th Dec, this time at the Vivekananda Hall inthe RK Math Campus.

Hanuman Chalisa Satsang - Dec’15:The Dec edition of monthly‘Hanuman Chalisa Satsang’ will be organized on 27th

Dec. There will be lovely bhajans, chanting of Hanuman Chalisa, followed by Talk ofPoojya Guruji on Hanuman Chalisa. Open to all Indore devotees.

Salil Sandhya, Indore :On 15th Dec, the birthday of Poojya Guruji, the annual Salil Sandhya will be

organized. Apart from the Flute recital, there will be Bhandara for all.

Gita Jayanti, Indore :On 21st Dec is the Mokshada Ekadashi - the Gita Jayanti. The Ashramites and its

devotees shall chant the entire Bhagwad Gita on that day.

Gita Gyana Yagna, Mumbai :A six days long Gita Gyana Yagna by Poojya Guruji Swami Atmanandaji will be

organized at Ramkrishna Math Campus in Khar, Mumbai from 7th to 12th Dec. Thesubject matter of the proposed discourses will be Gita-13 / Mundakopanishad 3-1.

Gita Gyana Yagna, Vadodara :A week-long Gita Gyana Yagna by Poojya Swamini Amitanandaji will be organized

at Atmajyoti Ashram, Vadodara from 4th to 10th Jan 2016. The subject matter of theproposed discourses will be Gita-4 / Kaivalyopanishad.

International Vedanta Missionhttp://www.vmission.org.in/

Vedanta Mission Blog:http://blog.vmission.org.in/

Indian Cultural Foundationhttp://icf.vmission.org.in/

Earlier ‘Vedanta Sandesh’ issueshttp://bit.ly/1oGD4TK

Om Tat Sat