Janardana: Book 3 of the Krishna series

Hari Aum.

Just to say that I have published the third book out of a series of four that describes the life of Lord Krishna as told in the sacred scripture known as the Srimad Bhagavatam.

The coming Sunday, September 2, is Krishna's birthday (Janmashtami).

In celebration of this auspicious occasion, all three Kindle books published my me on the Amazon website will be available for FREE DOWNLOAD on September 2 and 3.

The free download period will run from 00.00 h on September 2 until 23.59 h on September 3 (Pacific Daylight Time).

You will need to download the FREE Kindle app onto your electronic device (phone/tablet/computer etc) to be able to download the books.

The three books available for free download on Sept 2 and 3 are:

1. 'Balakrishna', book 1- describes the childhood of Lord Krishna

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B077Y4Z3RM/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0


2. 'Dwarakanatha', book 2- describes the adolescence of Krishna and His becoming King of Dwaraka

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07B73YHBV/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i1


3. 'Janardana', book 3- describes the life of Krishna as a householder and King engaged in establishing dharma (righteousness) on Earth

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07GY9YR32/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i2


Each of these books contains beautiful interactions between Krishna and His devotees, and some wonderful spiritual teachings.

The fourth and last book of this series will be published in the next few months and will contain Krishna's great teaching, known as the 'Uddhava Gita' (similar to His great Bhagavad Gita, that is explained in Vyasa's work, the Mahabharata).

Happy Janmashtami, may Lord Krishna bless us all.

Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya.
Om Namo Bhagavate Sivanandaya.

Hari Aum Tat Sat.

Guruvayurappan, Kerala and ahimsa

Hari Aum.

Guruvayur temple is a beautiful and famous Vishnu (Krishna) temple in the town of Guruvayur in Kerala. It is said to be very ancient, possibly at least 5000 years old. The deity of temple, known as Guruvayurappan by the people of Kerala, is a four-armed form of Vishnu holding the conch, discus, mace and lotus in His hands.

It is said that the idol of Vishnu in this temple was originally installed in Dwaraka, Krishna's kingdom, during His avatar on Earth. At the time that He left Earth and returned to His celestial realm, He gave it to the guru of the demi-gods (Brihaspati) and the demi-god of the wind, Vayu, and advised them to install it at its current location. The name of the temple is based on the two divine beings who created it, i.e. Guru and Vayu.  The mantra 'Om Namo Narayanaya' is propagated by the temple.

The temple attracts many devotees throughout the year. I have been fortunate enough to visit it a few times with my family. Many Hindus from Kerala keep a picture of Guruvayurappan in their homes, even if they move outside Kerala and live in various places in India and around the world. I was born in Kerala but grew up in Delhi. My parents always had a picture of Guruvayurappan at home. And now that I have my own home, I keep a picture of Him on my altar.

Kerala is facing the wrath of nature today. There are terrible floods all over. I was due to visit Kerala soon to spend time with some of my close family members who live there (by the grace of God they are all safe) but will very likely postpone the trip due to the natural disaster.

I know Kerala well although I have never lived there for any length of time. I used to visit often during my school holidays while I lived in India. It is such a beautiful place with lush greenery and fertile land. It was always an incredible sight to see so many coconut trees clustered together as the plane approached Kerala. Today, much of this beautiful land is under water.

The highest priority now for the people of Kerala is of course to save lives and rebuild cities and villages that have suffered great damage. But reflection is needed as to the underlying cause of such events to prevent them from happening again. The whole world is facing increasing natural disasters. As a species, we have to reflect on why this is happening.

The scientists and the yogis effectively provide the same explanation for the natural calamities we face but in different language. The scientists say this is due to our actions. They say we are all being careless in terms of how we treat nature. We create so much plastic and other waste everyday. Global warming is said to be occurring at an alarming rate.

The yogis say the same thing but use different words- they call it karma (meaning the reaction produced by our action). It we treat nature kindly, she treats us kindly. If we are harsh, she also becomes harsh to make us change our ways.

It pains me to see Kerala, the land where my roots are, experience so much suffering and distress (it is painful to see any part of the world in distress, however, when you know the place well, it is particularly difficult). Aside from making a donation towards the relief efforts and offering prayers, there is not much else I can do.

May Guruvayurappan bless and protect Keralites and give them strength to cope with this calamity. May He help them to walk the path of dharma, of goodness so that they may be blessed. May He remove all adharma from the land so that such misery does not happen again. May this troubled time be over soon.

I would also like to say something about diet. In Britain, which prides itself as a country of dog-lovers, buying or selling dog meat is illegal. Although, some other countries allow the killing of dogs and selling of dog meat (such as China and South Korea), Britain does not allow this. This is not taking away anyone's right to eat what they want- it's just that the majority of Brits love dogs and don't want to see them eaten. I would say that is fine.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-45085514

I am, however, unable to understand why India is unable to take a similar approach towards cow-meat or beef. The majority of people living in India love cows- they are gentle animals that give so much to humanity in the form of milk and dairy products. It is also a fact that, while yogis consider all animals sacred (not just the cow), the cow has a special place.

If the majority of Indians are unhappy at the idea of cows being killed, why do the media in India, and that of other countries (including Britain!) mock India when they want to ban the killing of cows and selling of cow meat (when countries such as the UK have laws on dog meat)! It is a hypocritical attitude that I find completely bizarre.

Kerala unfortunately seems to be particularly passionate about killing cows and eating beef. I can understand this phenomenon amongst non-Hindus, but I cannot help finding it sad that several Hindus too now eat beef in Kerala. This was rare among Hindus of my grandparents generation (most were strict vegetarians including in my family). Things seem to have changed in my parents generation unfortunately (however, I am glad that even those in my family who now eat meat, do at least seem to avoid beef!). As spirituality is reviving in Kerala under the influence of yoga teachers/Gurus, many are turning vegetarian once again.

Nothing good can ever result from the deliberate killing of another living being, be it an animal, human or other. Every living being is a manifestation of God according to the yogis and there will be a negative karmic reaction towards one if one chooses to harm other creatures made by God. We cannot give life to animals, God gave them life. He only has the right to take their life away- it is not our right to take away from other living beings the gift of life given to them by God.

While I am in favour of people having the right to eat what they like, I do also feel that (as in the UK), the sentiments of the majority, especially when it comes to abstaining from violence, must be respected.

Humans do not need to eat dogs or cows to live. There is also increasing medical research that shows red meat, including beef and pork, is linked with a higher incidence of colorectal cancer. https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/eat-well/red-meat-and-the-risk-of-bowel-cancer/

As a yogi, I hope and pray that one day, India will live in the spirit of the great Sanskrit saying: "Ahimsa paramo dharma", i.e. non-violence is the highest virtue.

It would be good to see humans treating each other kindly (no lynchings, mob-violence etc), and also treating animals kindly (not killing and eating them).

May Guruvayurappan make India, the land on which Krishna and Buddha walked, the land of ahimsa or non-violence.

Beautiful song in Malayalam (the language of Kerala) to Guruvayurappan:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsMTW4EdZEY

Hari Aum Tat Sat

Yoga of synthesis of Sivananda

Hari Aum.

Sivananda was of the opinion that the head (intellect), heart (emotions) and hand (actions) of a human being need to be simultaneously developed for spiritual progress.

For this, he advised the 'yoga of synthesis', a harmonious blend of the three main paths of yoga, namely:

1. Jnana yoga- the path of knowledge. This cultivates the intellect.
2. Bhakti yoga- the path of devotion. This cultivates the heart.
3. Karma yoga- the path of action (serving living beings). This cultivates the 'hand'.

Further, he says there are three main defects in the mind that stand in the way of self-realisation. These are:

1. Mala, impurity- this is removed by karma yoga
2. Vikshepa, restlesness- this is removed by bhakti yoga
3. Avarana, ignorance- this is removed by jnana yoga.

This is Sivananda's song of "A little" which describes the yoga of synthesis:

"Eat a little, drink a little
Talk a little, sleep a little
Mix a little, move a little
Serve a little, rest a little
Work a little, relax a little
Study a little, worship a little
Do Asana a little, Pranayama a little
Reflect a little, meditate a little
Do Japa a little, do Kirtan a little
Write Mantra a little, have Satsang a little
Serve, Love, Give, Purify, Meditate, Realize
Be good, Do good; Be kind, Be compassionate
Enquire 'Who am I ?', Know the Self and be Free"


The mind likes variety. At the same time, it often has a favourite practice. Therefore, it is a good idea to select one path of yoga as the main practice and combine a bit of the others too for all-rounded development.

For example, as I like the bhakti yoga path, I have chosen this approach as my main yoga. I combine this approach with karma yoga (work as doctor etc), jnana yoga (reading spiritual books) and a bit of hatha yoga (asana and pranayama).

This is a link to one of Sivananda's articles on the yoga of synthesis:

http://www.sivanandaonline.org/public_html/?cmd=displaysection&section_id=637&format=html

Hari Aum Tat Sat

Dakshina and charity

Hari Aum.

I just want to say thank you to the hundred and fifty or so people who have contacted me via this site and the vedic astrology site for various reasons, material and spiritual. Thank you for giving me an opportunity to do some spiritual/astrological 'karma yoga' in addition to my medical work.

Some of you have kindly offered to give a 'dakshina' or gift in return for the vedic astrology service (although the website clearly says this is meant to be a free service) and I have politely declined this and advised you to make a donation of any amount to a charity of your choice instead.

While I greatly appreciate your kind offer, there are two reasons for the above suggestion:

1. I aspire for a very expensive 'dakshina' that only God can give me (and which no human being can). It is the dakshina of God-realisation, of true devotion to Him, of the highest spiritual attainment in this very lifetime. My Guru says this is the birthright of every human being (and therefore, yours and mine too). And, karma yoga (service of humanity as a manifestation of God), which you are kindly helping me to do, is an important method to attain this.

I would like to clarify that this service that I do is an offering to the God within you. And as you are a part of God, I would be most grateful for your blessings if you feel you would like to bestow these, even if I am not in need any material dakshina.

2. If you are a seeker, then donating in charity will help you move closer to realisation of your own God-nature.

As my Guru Sivananda says, "I have learnt that it is the foremost duty of man to learn to give - give in charity, give in plenty, give with love, give without any expectation. Charity is incomplete without charity of disposition, charity of feeling, charity of understanding."

Saints say the more one gives, the more one receives. This is the eternal spiritual law. The greatest thing we can receive is realisation of our own immortal, infinitely peaceful and blissful nature. May God bless us all with attainment of this.

Hari Aum Tat Sat