Karma, tapas and Kartika

 Hari Aum.

As spiritual seekers, we know that the law of karma forms the basis for everything in life. It is the basis of our fortunes and misfortunes, for health, wealth, family, friends, peace and joy. It forms the basis for all material happiness and success.

From a spiritual perspective, success or progress depends upon the extent to which we are able to free ourselves from the shackles of our karma. Our Gurus tell us that spiritual progress requires us to stop creating new karma (both 'good' and 'bad'). This is because, as long as we keep creating new karma, we will have to be reborn in the material realm to experience their results. Furthermore, we need to pay off the karmic debts that we have already created. 

As karma is so important in spiritual life, our Gurus tell us that it is vital for us to have a proper understanding of this subject. So, let us look at the subject in a bit more detail. 

What is the law of karma? What is its origin and why does it exist? What are the three types of karma? What do we need to do with regard to them in order to progress spiritually? I would like to delve into this a little in this post.

The law of karma states that every action produces a result. Its basis is our free will. As individual souls, we each have free will given to us by God. We each have a choice as to how we act at every moment in our lives. 

Once we act, however, the law of karma takes over. This divine law requires us to be prepared to face the consequences of our own actions-- and these may or may not turn out quite as we intended. In general, good actions produce happiness, and bad actions produce sorrow according to this law. 

What is good and what is bad? The answer lies in the yama and niyama, or yogic ethics. That which involves non-violence, truthfulness, control of the senses and worship of the Divine is good; this will bring joy both materially and spiritually. That which involves the reverse is bad; this will bring us sorrow both in material and spiritual life.

So, God gives us the freedom to weigh up our choices and act as we see fit. We can choose to adhere to dharma/righteousness or adharma/unrighteousness when we make decisions in life and act. However, He/She then gives us the just and proper results of our own actions. 

The wheel of karma may turn slowly, but it turns surely. There is no escaping this divine law. One day or another, in one lifetime or another, the results of our actions, both positive and negative, will come to us.

What is the origin of the law of karma and why does it exist? The origin of the law of karma is God. They may be various reasons for its existence but a key one is that it ensures justice within the universe, it ensures righteousness or dharma is upheld. It allows the material realm to function in accordance with the will of God. (Note: there are also names of Narayana or Vishnu in the famous prayer, the Vishnu Sahasranama, that praise Him as the Creator and upholder of the law of karma e.g. "Vidhata" and "Bhavanah". https://www.swami-krishnananda.org/vishnu/vishnu_1.html)

What is the origin of karma itself; what compels us to create karma? The yogis would say that the root cause of karma or actions that bind us to samsara (the eternal cycle of birth and death in the material world) is kama or desire. Kama includes every type of material desire that can be thought of; it is the desire for anything other than God. 

Therefore kama or desire needs to be overcome for us to be able to transcend karma. It is the intention or thought behind our actions that differentiates karmas as good or bad, and as material or spiritual. We will come back to this point again later when we discuss the technique to transcend karma, the method to avoid creating new karma.

What are the three types of karmas that are said to exist? And what must we do to transcend these in order to attain our spiritual goal which is realisation of our divine nature as one with God?

The three types of karma are:

1. Those karmas created in the past that are not to produce results in this lifetime (these are reserved for future lifetimes)-- this is known as 'sanchita karma' in Sanskrit.

The yogis tell us that we have each been born many times on Earth. This is the realm where karma is created, and the only one where it can be completely transcended to attain God. Thus, we each have vast number of past karmas, both good and bad. 

To use an example to understand the various types of karma, imagine a farmer with a large number of seeds lying hidden within the soil of his field. Some of these seeds will produce sweet fruits (these are good karmas that will give happiness) and some will produce bitter fruits (these are bad karmas that will give sorrow in the future). The seeds are in the field ready to germinate but they have not yet done so-- they are presently in a dormant state. 

This is sanchita karma. This type of karma can be prevented from fructifying through spiritual practice (we will come back to this a bit later).

2. Those karmas created in the past that are in the process of producing results in this lifetime-- this is known as 'prarabdha karma'.

Prarabdha karma is the portion of past karma that is meant to bear fruit or give results in this specific lifetime. This type of karma cannot be escaped; it must bear fruit. 

However, through spiritual practice, through the grace of God and Guru, we can acquire the mental strength to bear it with equanimity. That is the approach advised by the yogis for this type of karma.

To continue the analogy of the farmer above, imagine that a section of the seeds in his field are now germinating, growing and bearing fruit-- both sweet and bitter. He is compelled to pluck the sweet and bitter fruits from the plants and eat these (he must accept the results of his past actions). This is the unavoidable prarabdha karma of this lifetime-- the allocated portion of joy and sorrow that must be experienced as a result of our own past actions.

3. That karma that is currently being created-- this is known as 'agami karma'.

This is the karma that we have the most control over. This is the karma or actions we are creating in this lifetime-- today, now, at this very moment in our lives. These are our actions that will produce results in the future (potentially in this and other lifetimes).

To use the analogy of the farmer again, these are the new seeds that he is sowing in his field. Like the previous seeds, these too will yield a mixture of sweet and bitter fruits, and he will need to eat them in the future. 

As spiritual aspirants, our Gurus firmly tell us to stop sowing new karmas or seeds (in the field of our 'causal body' or 'karmic storehouse'). This is vitally important as spiritual liberation can only be attained when all karma has been paid off or exhausted. Along with dealing with past karma, therefore, we must stop creating new karma.

But how? How can we achieve this challenging aim of not creating new karma for ourselves in this lifetime?

The Gurus say the answer is simple. They tell us that, as long as we feel that we are the doer of our actions, as long as we perform actions with selfish intent, we will create karma and have to reap the results.

The technique to overcome karma, according to them, is therefore to:

1. Perform actions without a sense of egoistic doership, perform actions with the feeling that it is 'not I but God' who is the ultimate doer. It is He/She alone who is ultimately the true doer of all actions. 

As the yogis say, "Without the will of God, not even a leaf can move". Therefore, we need to keep reminding ourselves that it is "not I but God" who is the real doer and dedicate all actions to Him/Her as a form of worship. Then our actions become 'karma yoga' not karma, and become an important spiritual practice.

2. Perform actions without selfishness as far as possible, i.e. perform actions in accordance with dharma or yama/niyama. This includes having a healthy balance between our needs and those of others-- the guiding principle here is 'do as you would be done by'. Such actions become fit to offer as worship of God. 

On a practical level, for most of us, it takes time (a great deal of time, may be a lifetime or more) to really learn the art of 'karma yoga'. It takes much time and a truly heroic effort to overcome the lower mind and develop the art of performing actions as a form of worship of God. 

And we may fail many a time. But that is ok, say our Gurus. 'Failures are the stepping stones to success' says Swami Sivananda encouragingly. We need not despair, therefore, we just need to keep at it, keep trying day after day after day.

Let us come back again briefly to 'sanchita karma', the giant storehouse of our past karmas of innumerable lifetimes. The yogis tell us we need to destroy these karmas to prevent having to take birth over and over again to experience the results associated with them.

How shall we destroy our vast storehouse of good and bad past karmas, our sanchita karma? The answer is spiritual practice-- known as sadhana, or tapas in Sanskrit.

The word 'taapa' in Sanskrit means 'pain' (mental or physical)-- this forms the basis of the word 'tapas'. The word 'tapa' in Sanskrit means to be 'heated' or to burn. It is no coincidence that the root of the verb meaning to perform spiritual practice or austerities involves an element of burning and pain.

Fire is said to be a great purifier in the yogic tradition. The yogis say we need to burn away all internal impurities in the fire of tapas in order to attain realisation of our true divine nature. "No pain, no gain" they say when it comes to spiritual life. 

Tapas therefore includes the active performance of spiritual activities, including mantra japa, homam, puja, selfless service of other living beings and so on and so forth. It includes the development of devotion. 

And a very important aspect of tapas, which the mind generally does not like at all, is the development of an element of tolerance towards pain (especially that is given unasked for, maybe even apparently undeservingly) by life. 

This pain may be mental or physical or both; it may include trouble from within and without. The three sources of pain according to the yogis are ourselves (our own mind and body), other living beings (people, animals, birds, insects etc) and the forces of nature (floods/famines/fires/earthquakes etc).

Developing a serene tolerance towards pain takes time, and certainly does not mean foolishly and deliberately inflicting pain upon ourselves (and most certainly not upon others; being sadistic/masochistic in any form is against yogic ethics and only creates more bad karma which significantly hinders our spiritual progress). What it does mean, according to our Gurus, is being as gracious and accepting as we can be when things do not go the way we want in life. 

It involves a gradual development of a serene acceptance of life as it is, in all aspects, both spiritual and material. It involves a firm conviction that whatever happens is for the highest good as ordained by God because of the understanding that "Not even a leaf moves without the will of God".

This attitude of tapas comes to us gradually by the grace of God as we continue with various spiritual practices. Again it can take years or a lifetime or more to fully develop this quality and we just need to patiently keep at it. Mantra japa is a particularly helpful technique in developing this attitude according to Sivananda and other Gurus.

The Gurus tell us "You came alone, and you will go alone". "Only your sadhana and karmas will follow you". "Therefore do sadhana and perform good deeds" they say, "Only then can you expect any happiness". The mind may not like this very much as it requires effort, herculean effort in fact, to go against the lower self. But this is the price we must be willing to pay if we wish to progress spiritually. 

And the good news is that our Gurus and yogis are with us every step of the way, their blessings are always with us as we trudge along the arduous spiritual path.

This why the yogis sing the song "Jis haal mein, jis desh mein, jis vesh mein raho, Radha-Raman, Radha-Raman, Radha-Raman kaho" -- which essentially means, whatever condition or situation you find yourself in, repeat the name of God and thus obtain His blessings.

On that note, we are currently in another very auspicious month from a spiritual perspective-- this is the lunar month known as 'Kartika'. This month, the eighth of the Vedic lunar calendar, is regarded as being sacred to Narayana and contains a number of important spiritual festivals including Diwali and Govardhan puja. The full moon day of this month, known as 'Kartika purnima', is especially significant as a day for spiritual practice.

Please see below for a link explaining these in a bit more detail and with the relevant dates: 

https://www.drikpanchang.com/festivals/festivals-kartik.html

This month is a very good time to renew spiritual vows and commitments, take up new spiritual practices and worship God and Guru. It is a particularly auspicious time to worship the Krishna avatara of Narayana, to remember His Lilas and perform mantra japa, pujas and homams to Him.

In other words, it is a time that is most conducive to the overcoming of past karmas, both good and bad, and to perform tapas to obtain the blessings of God and Guru.

As this month is dedicated to the worship of Lord Krishna in particular, I will conclude this post with the very popular devotional prayer addressed to Him known as the "Madhura-ashtakam" or "song of sweetness" ('madhura' means 'sweet' in Sanskrit). 

This consists of eight slokas ('ashtakam') and was composed by the famous saint, Sri Vallabha acharya, who lived in India in the fifteenth century. He was a great devotee of Lord Krishna and composed many beautiful hymns and prayers in His praise-- this goes as follows:

Madhurashtakam: the song of sweetness in praise of Sri Krishna

(This has many references to Lord Krishna's childhood Lilas as a cowherd boy in Vrindavana)

1.

Adharam madhuram, vadanam madhuram,    (Sweet are His lips and sweet is His face,)

Nayanam madhuram, hasitam madhuram,       (Sweet are His eyes and sweet is His laugh)

Hridayam madhuram, gamanam madhuram,   (Sweet is His heart and sweet is His walk)

Madhur-adhipater-akhilam madhuram.           (The Lord of sweetness is perfectly sweet)

2.

Vachanam madhuram, charitam madhuram,     (Sweet are His words and sweet is His nature)

Vasanam madhuram, valitam madhuram,         (Sweet are His clothes and sweet is His stance)

Chalitam madhuram, bhramitam madhuram,    (Sweet is His walk, and sweet is His wandering)

Madhur-adhipater-akhilam madhuram.            (The Lord of sweetness is perfectly sweet)

3. 

Venur madhuro, renur madhurah,                 (Sweet is His flute and sweet is the dust of His feet)

Panir madhurah, padau madhurau,                 (Sweet are His hands and sweet are His feet)

Nrityam madhuram, sakhyam madhuram,    (Sweet is His dance and sweet is His friendship)

Madhur-adhipater-akhilam madhuram.            (The Lord of sweetness is perfectly sweet)

4. 

Gitam madhuram, pitam madhuram,             (Sweet is His singing and sweet is His drinking)

Bhuktam madhuram, suptam madhuram,      (Sweet is His eating and sweet is His sleeping)

Rupam madhuram, tilakam madhuram,    (Sweet is His form, and sweet is His forehead-mark)

Madhur-adhipater-akhilam madhuram.         (The Lord of sweetness is perfectly sweet)

5. 

Karanam madhuram, taranam madhuram,       (Sweet are His deeds and sweet is His sport)

Haranam madhuram, ramanam madhuram,     (Sweet is His taking and sweet is His love)

Vamitam madhuram, shamitam mahuram,       (Sweet is His sickness and sweet is His healing)

Madhur-adhipater-akhilam madhuram.            (The Lord of sweetness is perfectly sweet)

6. 

Gunja madhura, mala madhura,                   (Sweet are His flowers and sweet is His garland)

Yamuna madhura, vichi madhura,               (Sweet is the river Yamuna and sweet are Her waves)

Salilam madhuram, kamalam madhuram,   (Sweet are Her waters and sweet is the lotus)

Madhur-adhipater-akhilam madhuram.       (The Lord of sweetness is perfectly sweet)

7. 

Gopi madhura, Lila madhura,            (Sweet are the cowherd girls and sweet is the Divine play)

Yuktam madhuram, muktam madhuram,  (Sweet is the union and sweet is the Liberation)

Drishtam madhuram, shishtam madhuram, (Sweet is His gaze and sweet is His conduct)

Madhur-adhipater-akhilam madhuram        (The Lord of sweetness is perfectly sweet)

8. 

Gopa madhura, gavo madhura,         (Sweet are the cowherd boys and sweet are the cows)

Yashtir madhura, srishtir madhura,   (Sweet is His staff and sweet is His Creation)

Dalitam madhuram, phalitam madhuram, (Sweet is His destruction and sweet is His grace)

Madhur-adhipater-akhilam madhuram      (The Lord of sweetness is perfectly sweet)

(Note- the same Sanskrit word can sometimes have more than one meaning and the context needs to be considered to select the correct one. I have provided the translation above based on my best understanding and use of my Sanskrit English dictionary. You may find subtly different translations of the above slokas elsewhere).

This is a lovely rendition of this prayer by a well-known singer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Whl6Q0hY-A

I wish all of you a very happy and spiritually successful month of Kartika.

Om Shri Krishnaya Namah.

Om Namo Narayanaya.

Hari Aum Tat Sat.

Importance of the smallest act

Hari Aum.

One of the challenges of spiritual life is that the seeker has to learn to perfect even the smallest act. This is very hard work. One has to train the eye to see God even in the most ungodly people and things. No matter how severe the provocation, one has to train the mind not to react. This is a terrible task, a tremendous challenge. Every experience of anger, jealousy, greed, craving, pride in the mind is a failing. To fail is ok, it is a step towards success. To make a mistake is ok, but one should acknowledge it and take responsibility (and not blame others).

I want to be perfectly frank here and state that my mind, like that of most others, has two sides. There is the noble, the spiritual, the aspiring side. And there is the other side- that gets grumpy, irritable, negative. There is a Mahabharata (great war) going on in my mind, like in the mind of all spiritual seekers. There is a war between the positive, divine, sattvic forces and the negative, undivine, tamasic energies. The daily recitation of mantra helps to empower the divine energies in the mind and weaken and remove the negative, undivine energies. Reciting a mantra or meditating daily is like having a mental bath. It is necessary for mental hygiene.

The smallest act matters in spiritual life. No progress can be made if one does not pay attention to these. I would like to share an example here of a recent mistake that I made- when I failed to pay attention in a small act and what I learnt from this. It is a rather sad story in some ways.

In the winter here, it gets quite cold and my husband and I had put some seeds out in the garden in a feeder for the birds. We enjoyed watching various birds come and feed - it was a mutually beneficial experience, the birds got food and we enjoyed watching them (some are very cute).

One day, sometime in January this year, a small mouse appeared in the garden and began to eat a lot of the bird food with great energy. We were both rather concerned and wondered what to do. We did not want to stop feeding the birds but did not wish to encourage the mouse due to the risk of causing an infestation that could have affected both our house and the neighbourhood.

On one occasion, I became annoyed and alarmed watching the mouse eat continuously from the feeder - my mind imagined large numbers of mice in the garden and the house. This would not have been good from a health perspective, as mice, although cute, do carry some serious diseases.

I therefore went out into the garden and loudly clapped my hands to scare off the mouse. It looked at me in some surprise (as if wondering why I would try to scare it) and then continued eating. Again, I went closer and clapped more energetically- this made it run away.

After scaring it off, I went indoors. For a few moments I felt satisfied that I had accomplished my task. Soon after though, I began to experience a very uncomfortable feeling. I realised that I had caused fear in another creature- that too, an innocent animal which was only eating because it was hungry like any other (it was simply trying to survive on a cold winter's day).

I had a strange conviction that this act of mine was ignoble, cruel and would not be pleasing to God and Guru- after all, God and Guru are present everywhere including inside the mouse. In the Gita, Krishna says He resides in the heart of all beings. He does not say, only human beings. He says all beings- that includes animals and birds.

In other words, I felt that I had been cruel to a living form of Narayana in the form of the mouse. This act I felt was not befitting one who was trying to develop devotion to Narayana. I felt remorse and regret for my unkind behaviour.

After a while, I noticed the mouse returned to the garden and was cheerfully eating plenty of seeds from the feeder. This time, I did not go and frighten it away. I decided to let it eat as much as it liked. However, from a health perspective, the next day, I decided to close off the entrance to the feeder that the mouse was using and let it eat only the limited seeds on the ground (to reduce the risk of mice infestation). I decided that, while I would not actively hurt the mouse in any way in future (including causing it any fear), I would take sensible steps from a health perspective.

However, the nagging feeling that I had done something wrong and that I had not properly atoned for this did not leave me. I then decided that, to become free of the feeling of guilt from having carelessly hurt a harmless creature, I would dedicate a portion of my mantra chanting tapas to the mouse's spiritual welfare.

I told Narayana, that whatever tapas I had done during the week of the eclipse in February this year (which was the previous week from when I made this prayer), including several rounds of japa during the actual eclipse, should be dedicated towards the spiritual welfare of the soul which currently inhabited the body of the mouse. Mantra done during an eclipse is said to be several hundred thousand times more effective than at other times, so I hoped that this would be a decent attempt at atoning for my negative act.

I also apologised for harming any souls in the form of animals, birds or other species, knowingly or unknowingly, in this and all previous lifetimes and dedicated that week of mantra chanting to all of them. After this, I gave the mouse a name, and enjoyed watching it come and eat seeds in the garden from time to time. There was no mouse infestation - only one mouse (I assume it was the same one) would appear daily to eat a few seeds and then go away.

Spring began a few weeks ago and one day, my husband and I happened to be sitting on the sofa and looking out into the garden. Suddenly, we saw the mouse. By this time, we had come to recognise it rather well and were pleased to see it (my husband had even taken some close-up photographs as it was rather cute and quite fearless).

It was an idyllic sight. The sun glinted on the leaves, flowers bloomed in the bushes and the mouse played on the grass. Suddenly, to our horror, a large magpie swooped down and grasped the mouse by the neck and began to viciously peck at it. The mouse went limp and did not appear to fight back. I looked away in shock, and the bird flew off with the mouse. We have not seen the mouse since and can only assume that it has died. We chanted the Maha-mrityunjaya mantra for the peace of the soul of the mouse (as it was a rather unpleasant way to die) and to make ourselves feel better (we were rather traumatised at the horrible sight).

Nature has an incredibly beautiful and an incredibly terrible side. The episode reminded me again that things can change so quickly. One moment, the mouse was playing cheerfully in the garden. The next minute it was in the vicious grip of a bird, breathing its last. Life changes in seconds.

Cruel though this world is, I suppose it goads us to seek a realm where such cruelty does not exist. One feel shocked at the murderous brutality that abounds everywhere on Earth, and most of all, among human beings (who can behave with a cruelty that animals lack). Seeing the viciousness and cruelty all around- under the beauty of Nature lies such terrible cruelty - one cannot help but agree with Lord Krishna as He says in the Gita- this world is an impermanent world of suffering ('dukhalaya'), seek a way out O Arjuna.

And that is what I guess we are all trying to do as spiritual seekers. Seek a way out. Seeking freedom from the cruelty within and without. I hope the tapas dedicated to the mouse will help it have a better rebirth and that it may quickly attain eternal peace at the feet of Narayana. I am glad I made my apologies to it before it died (would have felt worse otherwise). This episode also reminded me to take care in terms of how I behave towards other species on Earth as these are also manifestations of God.

May God and Guru bless us all to continue on the spiritual path to find a way out of this dukhalaya (abode of sorrow).

Hari Aum Tat Sat

The divine law of karma

Hari Aum.

The law of karma is the law of action and reaction. A good deed produces happiness, a bad deed produces sorrow. The law of karma ensures dharma, justice, fairness and righteousness. Those who walk the path of dharma create good karma and get favourable, positive results. Those who break the rules of dharma, who act unethically, get unfavourable, negative results.

The law of karma therefore ensures justice in the world. We sometimes look around and feel the world is unjust. We see cruel deeds being performed all around us. In despair some of us declare that the world is unfair and cruel.

We would be reassured if we could have confidence in the law of karma, that supports dharma. It is true that the results of karma can take time to be seen. Those doing unjust actions may seem to enjoy and prosper for a while, while good people seem to suffer. But, in the long run, those who do evil actions reap an appropriate negative reward while those who adhere to ethics and dharma benefit.

We see this in the ancient Puranas. In the 'Mahabharata', Duryodhana and Dusshasana enjoy themselves by insulting and manhandling Draupadi, by pulling her hair and trying to disrobe her. In the end, their karma catches up with them, and they have a miserable death in the war.

Repentence may reduce the burden of one's negative karma, as may tapas (penance). We all make mistakes. The problem is when we refuse to acknowledge we have made them and even worse, when we try to blame others for them.

The saints say one should be forgiving. But to forgive, there needs to be repentance in the one who commits the crime. A murderer, thief or similar criminal who shows no remorse for the evil acts done, deserves no forgiveness. The law of karma ensures that such persons receive appropriate suffering for their wicked deeds. However, those who realise their mistake and repent, those who are sorry for their past mistakes and resolve to change and not repeat these mistakes, such persons may be forgiven by God. We see this in the case of the sage Valmiki (who told the story of Rama in the form of the great epic, the 'Ramayana'). He was a nasty criminal who robbed and killed people. One day he realised his mistake after meeting the sage Narada, and repented his foolish acts. He gave up his wicked ways and took to intense japa of the name of Rama (in reverse order 'Mara' as he could not pronounce 'Rama' being so impure!). After years of penance, his sins were all washed away, and he shone as the sage Valmiki.

We live on the Earth with several billion people. We may sometimes feel that we are victims of other people's unethical behaviour. We may feel wronged. As a result, we may brood over what has occurred- it is the nature of the mind to brood over negative events. At times like this, it is useful to remind ourselves that whatever has happened to us is the result of our own karma. And that others will also face their own karma as decreed by God. Knowing this, we can rest assured that justice will be done.

Many people strut about the surface of the Earth acting in any way they like as if they own the planet. They harm others in thought, word and deed, without any fear of the consequences. They feel that they can get away with anything, that they will never be brought to justice.

Human justice may indeed fail on many occasions, but divine justice never does. In this lifetime or another, those who commit crimes against others, those who lie, steal from and cheat others, will certainly reap the unpleasant painful rewards of their own unrighteous, adharmic actions.

We should also think about the solution and not the problem, beyond a point. There is no point in repeatedly brooding over the negative words and deeds of others as this is ultimately a waste of our mental space, and will get us nowhere. We are effectively meditating on these negative people. What a waste of our mental energy and resources!

Instead of this, it would be far more useful and beneficial for us to turn our minds towards God, towards the mantra which is none other than God. The mantra is the solution to all problems, both material and spiritual. Repeating the mantra will bring relief to these problems- so say the sages since time immemorial.

So when troubled by the unpleasant acts of others, let us seek refuge in the mantra which alone has the capacity to protect and uplift us. The trishul of Shiva undoubtedly protects His devotee who chants Om Namah Shivaya. The chakra of Narayana undoubtedly protects His devotee who takes His names, and the sword of the Divine Mother, Jagadamba, protects those who take refuge in Her.

As one Swami of Sivananda Ashram in Rishikesh is fond of saying, "Remember Hari (God), don't worry and be merry". He is quite right. This is not always easy to practice but is a very sensible approach. Let us try our best then to remember Hari, not worry and be merry!

Om Namo Narayanaya
May Hari bless us all.