Tag Archives: agni

STORY: PARMESHWAR VS THE PRIDE OF DEVTAS

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Copyright@shravancharitymission

By Kamlesh Tripathi

 

Once there was a war between Devtas (Demigods) and Asurs (Demons). And in that war by the grace of Supreme God Almighty Devtas achieved victory. Asurs who perpetuated in destroying the decorum of God Almighty and the religious scriptures lost in this war. Albeit, this great victory was because of the blessings of God Almighty, Devatas could somehow not comprehend the real reason for their victory. They thought it was purely because of their own power and might, and that no one else had anything to do with it. But Supreme God Almighty did not lose time in understanding the arrogance of Devtas. And, to put down their false pride he soon appeared in the form of a supercalifragilisticexpialidocious Yaksha (broad class of nature-spirits, usually benevolent, who are caretakers of the natural treasures hidden in the earth and tree roots.)

Devtas could not understand this quaint form of God, looking like a Yaksha and were awe struck. They sent Agni-Devta (Fire-demigod) to find out about Yaksha. When Agni reached there, Yaksharoop (God in form of Yaksha) asked him, ‘who are you?’ Agni said—‘you don’t know me. I’m famously known in the world as ‘Agni-Devta.’ Yaksharoop then asked—‘You call yourself famous and powerful—but what kind of power do you yield?’ Agni replied, ‘I have the power to burn the entire universe into ashes.’ Upon hearing such arrogant words from Agni Yaksharoop kept a small straw in front of him and said—‘kindly burn this.’ Agni tried but couldn’t. He tried again and again but failed each time. And finally in anger he burst into flames from his toe to his head, yet he couldn’t burn the straw. In the end he got extremely frustrated and embarrassed and returned where he came from and told the Devtas, ‘I couldn’t find anything God like in that Yaksha.’ It was a blatant lie.

Thereafter, Devtas decided to send Vayu-Devta immediately to check on Yakshaswaroop. But he again asked, ‘who are you and what kind of power do you possess? Vayu-Devta replied, ‘In this entire universe I’m known as Vayu-Devta. I’m almighty and with my power I can make anything in this universe fly.’ At this Yakshaawaroop pointed towards the same straw lying on the ground and asked him to fly it. Vayu-Devta utilized all his strength but could not even move it by an inch and in the end filled with shame he too returned to the Devtas. When devtas enquired, ‘what happened, could you find out who this Yaksha is?’ he sadly replied, ‘I couldn’t?’

Finally Devtas politely requested Devraj Indra, ‘God! You alone can delve deep in this matter regarding Yaksha?’ Indra-Devta acceded to their request and said, ‘very well’ and left to meet Yakshaswaroop but before he could even reach him he had disappeared from there. But noticing the devotion and inquisition with which Devraj Indra had come, Bhagwati Goddess Uma suddenly appeared in front of him. Indra asked, ‘Mother! Who is this Yaksha?’ Bhagwati Uma replied, ‘This Yakshaswaroop is the Supreme God Almighty. You may not know, but only with his blessings and lilashakti (divine mesmerization) Asurs were defeated in that great war that you fought, and let me tell you, Devtas only had a minimal contribution in that great victory, but you all were not aware of this and dwelled in false pride and arrogance. And, therefore, only to smash the destructive pride in you Devatas, Supreme God Almighty has emerged in the form of Yaksharoop. You all need to understand that in this universe the might of the warriors, the strength of the mighty, the enlightenment of the litterateurs, the meditation of tapasawis (Sages in deep meditation) and the energy of the energetic; all of this comes only from only one source and that is the Supreme God. And through his divine plays emerges the righteous powers of which you get only few droplets. He is the nerve centre of all the happenings in the universe and he alone is the ruler of the universe in the real sense. And therefore priding about oneself is only misleading.’

Bhagwati Uma’s words were an eye-opener for Indra-Devta. He was embarrassed on his mistake and the mistake of other Devtas. And after returning he narrated the actual reason of their victory and that made all the Devtas realize their false pride and that in turn made them happy.

*****

THE BLISS OF AYURVEDA

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Copyright@shravancharitymission

 Posted by: Kamlesh Tripathi

ayurveda

According to Ayurveda everything in this universe comprises of various proportions of five basic elements (The panch mahabhutas): Space—Akasha, Air—Vayu, Fire—Agni, Water—Jal and Earth—Prithvi.

    The boundless combination of five elements gives rise to our staked individuality. And once there is a comprehensive knowledge of this ethereal combination in ourselves, we’ll be able to maintain a beneficial balance and harmony within ourselves. And wherever this balance is there; vibrant health is there.

Our natural constitution, more precisely the qualities we are born with, is called Prakriti. Qualities are important, not their statisitics. In Ayurveda, there is no generalised criteria, for maintaining health, individuality and individual constitution is more important. Some people need warm atmosphere, others prefer cooler atmospheres. Each one is a different individual. Ayurveda works with individual qualities of the person. Mind, body, and behaviour are consistently packaged together in subtle ways that are revealed only by knowledge of the five elements as dosas and gunas.

The predominance of elements (space, air, fire, water and earth) gunas (sattva, rajas, tamas) and dosas (vata, pitta and kapha) at the time of conception and during gestation decides the natural constitution of that individual. Prakriti is formed from the subtle qualities of the five elements. Vata is a combination of the subtle elements of air and space, pitta of fire and water and kapha of earth and water. Once this proportion is set, generally it remains permanent for the lifespan of the individual, but the best out of a person can be brought out through spiritual practice, like meditation, breathing and good association.

“Pra” refers to before, beginning, commencement, source or origin, in different contexts. “Kriti” means creation or to do. Therefore, Prakriti on the whole means ‘the first formed nature’ or ‘the original form of the being.’

If we understand the subtle qualities of air and space we will find qualities which are light, dry, cold, clear and moving. These are the main qualities found in a person with vata constitution, or Prakriti. In the same way, we find the subtle qualities of fire and water are hot, sharp, oily and liquid. These are the main qualities of a person with pitta constitution or Prakriti. A person of Kapha Prakriti has the subtle elements of earth and water and gives them qualities that are solid, cool, slow, liquid and dense.

Benefits of knowing Prakriti

By understanding the qualities of our natural constitution, or Prakriti, we are able to understand ourselves, how to live our life and to understand people around us, with awareness. Unlike western medicine, that aims, at only, physical, and mental health. Ayurveda, wants to lift every aspect of life to a higher level. Personal relationships, work satisfaction, spiritual growth and social harmony are all linked to mind and body very intimately. Therefore, they can be influenced through Ayurveda if its knowledge goes deep enough.

Prakriti plays an important role in understanding our health and how we function in the world and our relationship to others as well as ourselves. We become aware what health problems may occur based on knowing our Prakriti, or natural constitution. We become aware of certain like types of food, situations and seasons that affect our well being and are able to effectively manage these factors and promote health. One can take proper care, change or adjust diet and adopt daily and seasonal routines.

Additionally, prognosis of disease with respect to Prakriti is possible. In this way, knowledge of Prakriti is useful and helpful to maintain health.

And knowing your Prakriti can help you live a better life through a suitable diet, appropriate lifestyle, assessing your strengths and weaknesses, anticipating disease and preventing it, healthy interaction with friends and family.

A person is normally a combination of three constitutions. Few people can say their constitution is pure vata, pure pitta or pure kapha. And usually a person is a combination of vata, pitta, or kapha playing a dominant role, while the other two play secondary roles.

So you may find you are a P-K person, that is, pitta is dominant, while kapha is secondary and so on. Or a V-P person, with vata dominant and pitta secondary, and likewise all combinations are possible.

(Excerpts from a book on Ayurveda)