guru

WHAT’S INSIDE?

CONTENTS

❖ Namadwaar News

❖ Creative Corner

❖ The Synonymy of Bhakthi and Carnatic Music

❖ Know our Temples

❖ Nutritious Nibbles

❖ The Significance of Aditya Hrudayam

“He who opens your heart and gives you knowledge of God, he is Guru. Don't use intellect but use only heart to heart feelings to know who Guru is. Believe in your heart”

- HH Sri Sri Muralidhara Swamiji

Melbourne Edition

May – July 2018

Quarterly Release from G.O.D

-

Namadwaar News

Nama Sankeertanam and bhajans were held on Ashada Ekadasi day (23rd July 2018).

Satsang was held on 27th July 2018 evening to celebrate Guru Purnima. With a range of vocalists and

percussionists, it was very blissful. By the end of the evening, Bhagavan nama was ringing in everyone’s ears.

A member of the Gopakuteeram youth team delivered a short and sweet discourse on Guru Mahima and the

celebrations came to an end with a mass prayer and dolotsavam.

Namadwaar opening hours

Address: Unit 12, 7, Samantha Court, Knoxfield – 3180, Contact +61-425 770971

Weekdays – 7:00 to 8:00 a.m. and 7.30 to 8.30 p.m.

Weekends – 7:00 to 9:00 a.m. and 6.30 to 8.30 p.m.

(Daily Namasankeertanam, Bhajan, Prabodhanam and Dolotsavam)

Other Activities

• Weekly Bhagavatha Parayanam recital held on Thursdays at Namadwaar from 11.00 a.m. to 12.00

p.m.

• Fortnightly Gopakuteeram classes held on Saturdays at Mount Street Neighborhood House, 6, Mount

Street, Glen Waverley during the school term (refer to GK calendar for exact dates) and on the last

Sunday of every month at Point cook, Melbourne.

• Fortnightly Madhurageetham classes and bhajans held on Saturdays (Non-Gopakuteeram class day)

at Namadwaar during the school term.

WARLI PAINTING

Warli Painting is India’s beautiful art created by tribal women. It is popular globally, and is

seen as paintings on wall arts, mugs, linen, crockery etc. When this tribal art was first

created, it was painted on white or mud walls. This art was created around 2500 or 3000

B.C. and came from a place called Maharashtra in India. These extremely brilliant paintings

are mostly formed of circles, triangles and squares. Originally rice flour was used to make

a paste and create the paintings. The name ‘Warli’ comes from a tribe in the Thane district

in Maharashtra. Warlis were originally hunters but in modern days they mostly do farming.

Hence these paintings depict activities of a typical village life like hunting, dancing, sowing,

and harvesting. Warli people believe in harmony between humans and nature, and the art

makes us think about conserving the environment and finding joy in doing simple things of

life.

By Sricharan Karthik, Level 2 student

THE REASON I DO FASTING…

Fasting is an auspicious way to celebrate religious days.

My mum and dad fast on special occasions like

Navaratri, Janmashtami, Shivaratri and Ekadasi. Since

the beginning of this year, I have also started fasting

on Ekadasi and Navratri. Ekadasi is celebrated twice

a month to please Krishna. On Ekadasi, we chant

Krishna’s name and my mum tells me various stories

from the scriptures which has good morals and values.

A person can fast for the whole day or half a day. I

enjoy fasting full day because my mum makes delicious

food like Kuttu atta potato pokhara, Sabudana tikki,

potato wedges which is specially cooked on this

auspicious day. She also makes kheer out of special

rice. There are some basic rules to be followed on this

day. We cannot eat anything outside and cannot share

food with anyone. I am allowed to eat as many times as

I want however my Grandmother only eats only once.

We cannot do any naughty things and the whole day is

dedicated to Lord Krishna.

By Saniya Mittal, Level 2 student

Add photos or writing or if you don’t need it delete it

GURU PURNIMA

Guru Purnima (also known as Vyasa Purnima) is a very auspicious day on which the devotees

offer their humble prostrations to their guru. It is a very special day on which we show

our gratitude to our Guru for guiding us in the path of spirituality. In addition to having

religious importance, Guru Purnima is also celebrated by Indian academicians and scholars.

Indian academicians celebrate this day by offering their respect to both past and present

teachers and scholars. This festival is celebrated during the Hindu month of Aashaadha

June-July every year. It was celebrated on 27th July 2018 this year.

Here are some facts about Guru Purnima:

1. It was the day when Lord Shiva became the first Adi guru.

2. It was the day when Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa was born to Satyavati.

3. Guru is divided into two Sanskrit words where ‘gu’ means darkness and ‘ru’ means remover

of the darkness.

By Vishal Srinivasan, Level 2 Student

THE IMPORTANCE OF TEACHER

We all know that teachers work at schools and teach us subjects like Math and English.

They give us homework, mark our tests and assignments and set some rules that we

are required to follow. Besides all these do we really know what they do? Do we really

know how patient and hardworking they are? Teaching is an art which requires

perseverance, compassion, love and patience. Some of us get frustrated easily and can

forget these fundamental values.

The special thing about the teacher is that they actually put virtues into action and

they show us how to be loving and caring. If we were not taught kindness, compassion

and love, we would be rude and arrogant people. The teacher guides us by placing us

on the right path and helping us when we are in distress.

We can also be a teacher to ourselves. Some people may work things out with ease

when self-taught and we can teach other people too. In order to be a teacher, a

University degree alone is not enough. Good intentions and values are more important.

Mata, Pita, Guru, Deivam are the four pillars of our life. We need to be grateful to

them at all times.

By Harshitaa Nandakumar, Level 3 Student

The Synonymy of Bhakti & Carnatic Music Sri Gurubhyo Namaha

The inadequacies of the English language become apparent to me, when I find it rather difficult to aptly translate and do justice to the true meaning of Sanskrit words such as ‘Bhakti’. It might be easy enough to define it as ‘devotion’, but there is a much deeper rooted spiritual significance behind it that simply cannot be articulated in words.

Mahatmas such as Saint Thyagaraja, Purandaradasa, Sant Tulsidas and Sant Eknath, just to name a few, stood as the epitome and personification of this Bhakti. Their devotion towards Bhagavan was overflowing to the point where it cascaded down as a waterfall of exquisitely beautiful musical compositions; in the today’s world, we categorise these musical gems under the broad umbrella of Indian Classical Music.

It is rather noteworthy here that this ancient art form, be it in any of its variants (Carnatic, Hindustani, Bhajana Sampradayam) is so heavily intertwined with this concept of Bhakti, that till this day we are still able to feel and experience the divinity of this music – something that has truly stood the test of time.

In one of his well-known compositions, Saint Thyagaraja sings:

yAga yOga tyAga bhOga phalamOsangE

rAga sudhA rasa pAnamu jEsi

which means, ‘That which can be achieved by religious sacrifices, yoga sadhana, worldly renunciation and other pleasures, can most easily be conquered by drinking this sweet nectar that is music’.

In other words, Thyagaraja was referring to the path of Nadopasana. This can be broken down into the words nAda (in this context, music), and upAsana (worship). Thus, Nadopasana is the means of musically praising the Lord through melodic compositions – the very same path propagated by our Bhagavatha Dharma, emphasised by our scriptures as the easiest path to attaining Mukthi in this day and age of Kali.

Add photos or writing or if you don’t need it delete it

.

As a student and Rasika of Carnatic Music, I, as many others do, actively seek to appreciate the skillful artistry and aesthetic appeal of these masterful pieces, from a musical standpoint. At times, however, I find that my mind is in a constantly calculative state of determining which Ragam a particular composition is in, pre-occupied with demonstrating to everyone else how technically sound my own knowledge and skill is, to the point where I am not able to appreciate the lyrical beauty and Bhakti behind this music. This begs the question – am I inadvertently losing my way, straying from the composer’s original intent?

To answer this, we need to look no further than our very own Madhurageetham; songs and bhajans composed by our beloved Guru Maharaj, HH Maharanyam Sri Muralidhara Swamiji. Sri Guruji sings,

bhAvamillAda bhajanai EnO – sAtvIka

bhakthi illAda bhajanai vINE

Sri Guruji addresses here, that if I do not at the very least try to feel the Bhavam and Bhakti of the composition, is the purpose not lost? In the following verse Sri Guruji further states that if I sing with an egotistic sense of pride, considering myself to be a great musician unparalleled in skill, there is no point whatsoever. While it is of paramount importance to be able to savor the sweetness of our music’s ‘drAkshA-rasa’ as Thyagaraja beautifully calls it, it is just as imperative to ensure that we as performers and Rasikas are able to appreciate the Bhavam and Bhakti behind the composition’s lyrics.

As musicians we will find it easier to emulate and feel the original emotional intent of the composer, if we understand the meaning of the lyrics as well. At the end of the day, regardless of whether we sing with Bhakti towards the Lord, or purely towards the Ragam and Talam, the Lord is ever so compassionate to cleanse our sins.

Carnatic Music, after all, is a divinely blissful blend of Sangeetham and Sahithyam, so masterfully brought together by

musical greats such as our very own Saint Thyagaraja, forever dwelling in Rama’s Bhakti Samrajya.

By Siddharth Murali

Drawn by Pranav Balasubramanian

RESPECT

Respect means to be courteous to everyone and not hurt other

people’s feelings. Respect is the kindest feeling you could have

towards others. My elders in the house always tell me stories. I

would like to share one of the stories with you all which relates

to respect. THE BIRTHDAY OF RAMANI: There was a boy at

school named Ramani. Nobody liked him because he used to

tease his friends and call them double names. Ramani did that

because he was pampered by his parents. His parents got him

whatever he wanted. One day he was sitting on the wall while

a man was passing by. Ramani called the man “Hey fat guy

come here”. I would never do that to anyone. The man walked

angrily towards Ramani. Ramani jumped out of the wall and

bumped into a bicycle and broke his leg. He received his

punishment for behaving badly to the old man. Ramani went

back to school after a week. Seeing Ramani limping, the

classmates started to tease him. Ramani felt bad and soon

realised that he had hurt everyone’s feelings through his sharp

tongue. Next day Ramani brought sweets and distributed it to

the classmates. This act showed the new and kind Ramani. The

moral of the story is that “treat everybody with respect,

especially elders”.

By Akshara Vasudevan, Level 2 Student

Know Our Temples Veera Anjaneyar temple, Pudupakkam

Sri Veera Anjaneya temple in the village of Pudupakkam is 5 km from Kelambakkam, on

the road towards Vandalur. This beautiful small temple is situated on top of a hill called

Gajagiri hills. The temple has a strong connection with the Nithya Kalyana Perumal

temple in Thiruvidanthai, next to Kovalam in ECR. Every year they follow a custom of

carrying certain things in the procession from the Anjaneyar temple to Nithya Kalyana

Perumal temple during the festival.

The temple pillars are beautifully sculpted with the history of Ramayana. The temple is

on a hill with 108 steps and the 6 feet tall Sri Veera Anjaneyar appears majestically in

standing posture right at the bottom of the hill. Lord Rama, Sita Mata and Lakshmana

reside in front of the main Anjaneyar inside the temple. The right hand of Anjaneyar

shows the “Abhaya mudra” - ensuring protection to the devotee. The left hand is placed

on his hip. There is a bell at the end of the tail which is sweetly raised above his head. A

lotus is kept on his navel, representing his purity and divinity.

By Vandana Padmanabhan

Crackers

Ingredients:

• 150g sunflower seeds • 100g flax seeds • 100g sesame seeds • 2 Tbsp. Psyllium husk • 500ml water • 1 tsp. Himalayan sea salt

Method:

7. Preheat oven to 160°C. Line 2 baking sheets with lightly oiled parchment paper.

8. In a mixing bowl, combine all ingredients and leave the mixture to stand until thick and pliable (about 10 minutes).

9. Spread the mixture as thinly as possible on the lined baking sheet (may require 2). The mixture should have no holes or gaps.

10. Bake for 1 hour, turning trays after 30 minutes if browning more on one side. They may need another 15 to 20 minutes until they are nice and really crispy.

11. Remove from oven and leave to cool. 12. Once cool, break into any size you like and

store in an airtight container.

Nutritious Nibbles

Vegan Pesto dip

Ingredients:

• 1 cup nutritional yeast • 3/4 cups roasted almonds • 1/2 cup olive oil • 1 bunch basil • 100 gms baby spinach • salt to taste

Method:

3. Grind almonds and then add all other ingredients

4. Grind everything together to form a coarse mixture.

Vegan Beetroot dip

Ingredients:

• 2 large beetroots • 1/2 cup olive oil • juice of a small lemon • salt to taste • 1/2 cup roasted almonds

Method:

4. Cut beets to cubes 5. Roast beets at 160 degree fan forced

for 20 - 30 mins depends on your oven

6. Grind beets with all other ingredients to form a coarse mixture.

Note: Roast almonds along with crackers

By Suchitra Baliga

Photo from nourisheveryday.com

Crackers

Ingredients:

• 150g sunflower seeds • 100g flax seeds • 100g sesame seeds • 2 Tbsp. Psyllium husk • 500ml water • 1 tsp. Himalayan sea salt

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 160°C. Line 2 baking sheets with lightly oiled parchment paper.

2. In a mixing bowl, combine all ingredients and leave the mixture to stand until thick and pliable (about 10 minutes).

3. Spread the mixture as thinly as possible on the lined baking sheet (may require 2). The mixture should have no holes or gaps.

4. Bake for 1 hour, turning trays after 30 minutes if browning more on one side. They may need another 15 to 20 minutes until they are nice and really crispy.

5. Remove from oven and leave to cool. 6. Once cool, break into any size you like and

store in an airtight container.

Vegan Pesto dip

Ingredients:

• 1 cup nutritional yeast • 3/4 cups roasted almonds • 1/2 cup olive oil • 1 bunch basil • 100 gms baby spinach • salt to taste

Method:

1. Grind almonds and then add all other ingredients

2. Grind everything together to form a coarse mixture.

Vegan Beetroot dip

Ingredients:

• 2 large beetroots • 1/2 cup olive oil • juice of a small lemon • salt to taste • 1/2 cup roasted almonds

Method:

1. Cut beets to cubes 2. Roast beets at 160 degree fan forced

for 20 - 30 mins depends on your oven

3. Grind beets with all other ingredients to form a coarse mixture.

Note: Roast almonds along with crackers

By Suchitra Baliga

DISCLAIMER: The views expressed in articles,

columns and works of art, are solely of the

contributor. G.O.D does not endorse these views.

Photo from nourisheveryday.com

What is the meaning of Aditya hrudayam sloka?

Aditya Hridayam is a hymn associated with the Sun or Surya and was recited by the great sage Agastya to Rama on the battlefield before fighting with Ravana. This historic hymn started at the beginning of the duel between Shri Rama with Ravana himself. Sage Agastya taught Lord Rama, who was fatigued after a long battle with various fighters of Lanka, this procedure of worshiping Surya for strength to defeat Ravana.

Who composed Aditya Hrudayam sloka?

Aditya Hrudayam was composed by Agastya Maharishi. This is a sloka which praises the Sun God. Everything that is around us in the universe is within us as well. That is how every atom is connected.

What are the benefits of chanting the Aditya Hrudayam stotram?

Within us the Sun God is none other than our soul. The benefit of chanting Aditya Hrudayam is that it will strengthen our soul and provide us power in difficult circumstances. Soul in turn will get charged up and will control our mind to act in a way that gives us extra strength and similarly it gives us an aura that attracts positive energy and success.

How did chanting the Aditya Hrudayam sloka help Lord Rama win over Ravana?

That’s what happened to Sri Rama during the war with Ravana. Sri Rama almost lost the war and he wanted extra support to win the enemy. That’s the time Agastya Maharishi helped Sri Rama by giving him Aditya Hrudayam and asking him to chant thrice and face the war. After Rama chanted this he had got back his full power and energy to win over Ravana in the battle. Having found Ráma weary with fighting and buried in deep thought, and Rávana standing before him ready to engage in battle, the holy Agastya, who had come to see the battle, approached Ráma and spoke to him, “O mighty Ráma, listen to the old mystery by which thou wilt conquer all thy foes in the battle. Having daily repeated the Ádityahridaya (the delighter of the mind of the Sun) the holy prayer which destroys all enemies (of him who repeats it) gives victory, removes all sins, sorrows and distress, increases life, and which is the blessing of worship the rising and splendid sun who is respected by both the Gods and demons, who gives light to all bodies and who is the rich lord of all the worlds.

Who is Aditya?

Aditya is the son of Aditi, Savitha (bright), Soorya (supreme light), Khaga (bird, travels on the sky) and he is also known as the Sun God. He has green horses (green is a symbol of victory). He has thousands of rays (infinite), he is dispeller of darkness. He has seven horses (symbol of seven lokas). He removes sufferings and gives a pleasant life. He pervades all with immeasurable number of rays.

By Ananya Rengan, Level 2 Student

The Significance of Aditya Hrudayam

Photo credits to exoticindianart.com

DISCLAIMER: The views expressed in articles,

columns and works of art, are solely of the

contributor. G.O.D does not endorse these views.