NANDI THIMMANA INTRODUCTION Nandi Thimmana (15th century AD) was a Telugu poet and one of famous poets in the court of the king Krishnadevaraya. Thimmana was born in Anantapur in a Telugu family. He occupied an important place in the court of the great king Krishnadevaraya. The poet dedicated his famous work, Parijatapaharanamu, to king Krishnadevaraya. He was praised for his beautiful poems, by Tirumaladevi, wife of Krishnadevaraya. He was a Shaivite and an ardent devotee of Lord Shiva. He had written poems on Lord Vishnu also. He used only simple Telugu words in his works. His works are easily understandable even to the non-educated people. His famous work, Parijatapaharanamu is still popular…
Author: hinduscriptures
KRISHNA AND RAMA INTRODUCTION Both Lord Krishna and Lord Rama are considered as the favourite gods among the Hindu householders, and most of the parents would tell stories about Rama and Krishna to their children during their night time, and also during the time of eating their food. The names of the divine avatars would be recited by the Hindus regularly, whenever they get up from their bed, while taking food and even while doing their office work. People would find some sort of mental peace by uttering the names of Rama and Krishna, and they would be able to…
THE DIVINE DEATH GOD, LORD YAMA DHARMA MAHARAJA INTRODUCTION Lord Yama is the god of death, and it is his duty to remove our life during the time of our death. Lord Yama is a Vedic god, and whoever performs the fire sacrifices, and chants his mantra, he receives the oblations from the fire sacrifices, and used to bless them. Lord Yama would always follow the path of righteousness and he would give great respect to the devotees of Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu. According to the legend, once Rishi Mandavya was captured by the soldiers of a king, since…
THE GREATNESS OF LORD CHITRAGUPTA INTRODUCTION Lord Chitragupta is serving as a divine accountant under Lord Yama Dharma, and he is considered as the son of Mata Parvati, since he has emerged from the Chitra (Picture) drawn by Mata Parvati. He is giving the correct calculations of the activities done by the humans, to his master Lord Yama, and discharging his duties wonderfully. Apart from praising the divine deities, it is a must for us to chant the Chitragupta Mantra, “OM SRI CHITRAGUPTAYA NAMAHA”, in order to get goodness in our life, and also to attain a suitable position in…
GREATNESS OF LORD SANEESWARA BHAGAVAN INTRODUCTION Lord Saneeswara is the god of justice, and he is the son of Lord Surya and Mata Chaya Devi. The powers of Lord Saneeswara are unlimited. He is the brother of Lord Yama Dharma Maharaja, and both of them are living their life as per the path of Dharma. When we refer to Puranas, we cannot find any fault with both Lord Saneeswara and Yama. Even both them possess great powers, they would never cause any harm to the mortals as well as to the immortals. In TV Channels also, the life history and…
SWAMI ADGADANANDJI MAHARAJ INTRODUCTION Swami Adgadanand Ji Maharaj, is a most popular Hindu religious saint, and he had written the “Yatharth Geeta” in a simplified manner, and it contains about the details of Lord Krishna’s Bhagavat Gita. Swami Adgadanad Ji Maharaj is the disciple of “Sri Paramanand Ji”, and Swami Parmanand Ji Ashram is located in the dense forest of Madhya Pradesh. He lived in the Forest Ashram along with his guru for many years, without any basic facilities, and without eating proper food. Swamiji had healed the diseases of his devotees, and shown them the spiritual path. He is…
SWAMI SHRADDHANAND INTRODUCTION Swami Shraddhanand (1856–1926) was an Arya Samaj saint who preached the teachings of Swami Dayananda Saraswati. He established educational institutions, and Hindu reform movement. His birth name was Mahatma Munshi Ram Vij. At his teenage he had married with a good natured girl, and through their marriage they had three children. He was born in the year 1856 in a village in Punjab. His father was serving in the police department in the present day Uttar Pradesh. He was also called as Lala Munshi Ram and Mahatma Munshi Ram. He has become a saint after he has seen the bad things in the society like…
SWAMI UMANAND SARASWATI INTRODUCTION SWAMI UMANAND SARASWATI was born in the year 1916 in a village in Nagpur, and she was interested in carrying out spiritual activities from her young age itself, and used to converse about devotional matters with her neighbours, friends and relatives. Her spiritual journey had fetched lot of followers, and she was popularly known as “Ma” amongst the devotees. Her birth name was Kusumeshwari. During the year 1961, Mata Uma studied Vedanta and other holy scriptures from Swami Chinmayananda, and she also met Gurudev Muktanand Baba of Ganeshpuri and performed meditation at his ashram. Gurudev Muktanand Baba had given…
SWAMI ASHESHANANDA INTRODUCTION Swami Aseshananda(1899-1996), was the direct disciple of Mata Sarada Devi, and he served as the head of the Vedanta Society in Oregon for many years. Swami had performed his level best towards spreading the Sanatana Dharma teachings amongst the people. He used to give lectures on Vedanta on a weekly basis, and he was an ardent devotee and disciple of Mata Sarada Devi, and once he had seen Mata Sarada Devi in the form of Mata Shakti Devi. He lived a pure life, and he considered Sri Ramakrishna and Sri Sarada Devi as his divine gurus. Swami Aseshananda was born…
SWAMI KUVALAYANANDA INTRODUCTION Swami Kuvalayananda (1883–1966) was a yoga master, and he started doing research on yoga and published the yoga journal named as Yoga Mimamsa, and he founded the Yoga Research Center at Pune in the year 1924. His birth name was Jagannatha Ganesa Gune. Swami Kuvalayananda was born in a poor Brahmin family in a village in Gujarat in the year 1883, and his father was a teacher and his mother was a housewife. Due to the poor family condition, Kuvalayananda had struggled a lot and finished his graduation in the year 1910. During his schooling, he was inspired by the teachings of Sri Aurobindo…
SWAMI DURGANANDA INTRODUCTION Mata Durgananda also called as Swami Durgananda attained SALVATION in the year 2013. She was healthy and spent her last days with her children in Cambridge. Her birth name was Margaret White. Swami Durgananda served actively in the day to day affairs of the Yasodhara Ashram. She travelled to many holy places along with Swami Radha. Swami Durgananda was born and brought up in Philadelphia, and she has completed her post- graduation in arts. In 1989, she has become a saint and took formal initiation. Swami Durgananda was a good artist, writer and a story teller to…
SHUDDHANANDA BHARATI INTRODUCTION Dr. Shuddhananda Bharati (1897–1990) was a great saint and a poet. His teachings are focused mainly on the realization of the god in our inner self, and doing meditation and yoga. Bharati was born in Sivaganga and attained Jeeva Samadhi in Sholapuram. He was the founder of the Shuddhananda Bharati Desiya Vidyalayam. He spent several years in the Pondicherry Ashram, and after that, he lived alone in Adyar, Chennai. Bharati had received awards from the universities in recognition for his great service in the field of education. He was honoured with various titles by Jnana Siddhar and…
VEDESA TIRTHA INTRODUCTION Vedesa Tirtha (1570 – 1620) was a Madhwa saint and a great scholar. He was the disciple of Sri Raghuttama Tirtha. He has not served as a pontiff in Dwaita mutts, and remained as a wandering saint throughout in his life. He learned the Vedas and Shastras at his young age, and he was considered as an obedient disciple of his Guru Sri Raghuttama Tirtha. He was an ardent devotee of Lord Rama and Lord Hanuman, and once he got the vision of Lord Hanuman, and he was blessed by him. He controlled his senses, and concentrated his entire attention on…
JAYAPATAKA SWAMI INTRODUCTION Jayapataka Swami was born in the year 1949 in USA, is a saint and the spiritual leader for the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON). He is the direct disciple of Sri Prabhupada, and he is a trustee for the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust. His birth name was Gordon John. He has studied his graduation in Brown University, and while studying his college education, he was inspired by the devotional lectures, and decided to travel in the spiritual path. He met some Hare Krishna devotees, and due to that, he visited the San Francisco ISKCON centre, and participated in the spiritual activities of the ISKCON Centre. After some time, he went…
SALAGRAMA INTRODUCTION Salagrama or Shaligram refers to a type of shell used in South Asia as the divine power of Lord Vishnu and worshipped by the devotees of Lord Vishnu. Shaligrams are usually available in the holy rivers such as the Gandaki River in Nepal. It is considered as a sacred object, and Vishnu devotees would prefer keeping it in their puja rooms at their homes, and used to worship it as a daily practice. As per ancient puranas, it is also believed that the great kings like Bhakta Prahalad, used to worship the Shaligrams during the time of the puja, and due to that,…
THIRUVOD INTRODUCTION Thiruvod is a part of a certain type of palm tree found in the islands of the Seychelles, Africa, and the object Thiruvod would be mostly found in the hands of the Hindu Saints. This is called as Cocodimer in English. It is the world’s largest seed, which contains half a meter in length and weighing up to 25 kg. It is used by the Hindu saints while taking alms. The Thiruvod is considered as a sacred object, and donating Thiruvod to Hindu saints is considered as a noble act. The history of Thiruvod is found in ancient Hindu texts,…
UNNAYI VARIYAR INTRODUCTION Unnayi Variyar was a poet and a devotional writer who lived in Kerala, during the 18th century. He is best known for his rich contribution in Kathakali dance, and won the hearts of thousands of Keralites. At his teenage, he used to produce beautiful garlands at the Irinjalakkuda Koodalmanikyam Temple. His famous work Nalacharitham was published during the year 1749 AD. He was the guru of Sri Ramapurathu Variyar and he taught the Hindu devotional subjects to him. He was an ardent devotee of Lord Guruvayurappan, and he used to sing bhakti songs in the Guruvayur Temple. WORKS Nalacharitham Ramapanchashati Girijakalyanam Bhakta Dhuruva and Prahalada Mahatmyam…
DALPATRAM INTRODUCTION Dalpatram Dahyabhai Travadi (1820–1898) was a Gujarati poet lived during the 19th century. He was a social reformer and conducted lectures for improving the standard of living of the poor people. He was against caste discrimination and child marriage, and encouraged in the remarriage of widows. Dalpatram was born in the year 1820 at a city of Surendranagar district in a Brahmin family. At his young age itself he used to chant the Mantras and studied the religious scriptures. He was a child genius and showed his extraordinary literary skills by composing bhakti songs on Lord Krishna at the age of 12. He had trained in…
BHAKTA DAYARAM INTRODUCTION Dayaram (1777–1853) was a Gujarati poet and he was well known in Gujarati literature and he was a strict follower of Vaishnavism. Similar to the great Vittal devotees, Narsi Mehta, Thukaram and Meera, he is considered as a main person in the Krishna Bhakti movement in Gujarat. Dayaram was born in the year 1777 in Chanod, Gujarat on the banks of the Holy Narmada River in a pious Gujarati Brahmin family. Though he has not completed his school education, he was interested in singing devotional songs on Lord Krishna in the Vishnu temples. Due to the death of his parents, he lived with his relatives in a village at Gujarat.…
DWAJASTHAMBAM AND BALI PEETAM INTRODUCTION A Dwajasthambham also called as kodi maram is a flagstaff, which is found in most of the Hindu temples. When we enter into the temple we can find the Bali Peetam situated near the Dwajasthambham. The word Bali means “Sacrifice”. Unfortunately, the meaning has been misunderstood and people used to sacrifice the animals inside the temple on the Bali Peetam. But the main purpose of having a Bali Peetam in the temple is entirely different. According to the Agama Sastra, when we enter into the temple we should Surrender our Ego and Bad Thoughts in front of the Bali Peetam and enter…