India! Her Glorious Spiritual Heritage!!

Bhava Shankara Deshika me Sharanam! Around the beginning of the middle ages (1,500 years back), India was witnessing a near collapse of the glorious and ancient Vedic civilisation. The utility of the Vedas was reduced to just performance of a wide range of rituals with the narrow objective of fulfillment of desires - in other words only the Karma Kanda portion was being practiced. The magnificent Jnana Kanda portion (the Upanishads ) - the cream and actual essence of the Vedas which deals with solutions for the ultimate mysteries, was completely overlooked and almost forgotten.  Buddhism and Jainism took birth as a reaction against the excess emphasis on rituals. However in their opposition to Karma Kanda, they made the great mistake of outright rejection of the Vedas. In this way, they were devoid of the most beautiful message of the Upanishads - Oneness of Consciousness - the source of Infinite Bliss and Wisdom. One of the fundamental principles of Buddhism is that there ...

Jai Jai Raghuveer Samarth Samarth Swami Ramdas was a  glorious patriot sage during 17th century Maharashtra. He was the  magnificent spiritual power behind  Chhattrapati Shivaji Maharaj, the founder of the powerful Maratha empire which resisted the onslaughts of the Mughal empire. The birth name of Samarth Swami Ramdas was Narayan Suryaji Thosar. He was born on Ramnavami (in the month of Chaitra) in 1608, in Jamb village, Ambad taluk, Jalna district of Maharashtra on the banks of the river Godavari.  During childhood, Narayan was fond of vigorous physical activity. He loved to exercise and was well built and intelligent. He felt compassion for the common people. From his childhood itself, he was thinking about how to relieve the masses of their misery. Marriage and family were not his priorities, preferring the life of a monk. His persona shone with devotion for Hanumanji and Lord Rama.  He had Darshan of Lord Rama even when he was a boy. Lord...

Satnam Shri Waheguru Ji Human history is full of instances of great men laying down their lives in defence of their faith and their country. But there is probably only one instance in entire history of a great man who gave his head for protecting a faith different from his own! This is the glorious sacrifice of Guru Tegh Bahadur, the 9th Guru of the Sikhs, in defence of Hinduism. The magnificent aspect of Guruji's sacrifice is that he represented a faith (Sikhism) which denounced certain Hindu practices like idol worship, casteism and purdah, but still he offered his life for ensuring that Hindus get to practice their faith! Guruji was born in Amritsar, Punjab on 1 April, 1621 to the 6th Sikh guru Guru Hargobind. His childhood name was Tyag Mal (Master of Renunciation). He was brought up in Sikh culture and trained in archery and horsemanship. He was also taught the old classics such as the Vedas, the Upanishads and the Puranas. Only 13 years old, he asked his fathe...