Shiva: A name of God meaning “One Who is all Bliss and the giver of happiness to all.” Although classically applied to the Absolute Brahman, Shiva can also refer to God (Ishwara) in His aspect of Dissolver and Liberator (often mistakenly thought of as “destroyer”).

During Shivaratri, we do japa in the name of Lord Shiva. Click here for an article on how to do Japam during this auspicious night. In essence, chant “Om Namah Shivaya” for 108 times with devotion and focus on Lord Shiva.

Here is a prayer for Shivaratri…

Meaning:
O! the divine couple Shiva Parvati! Thee, the protectors of this universe along with Lords Brahma and Vishnu. We pray to you for our well-being, prosperity and the enlightenment of our souls.

Some Links of interest:

1. Slokas on Lord Shiva
2. Download Shiva Bhajan Lingashtakam MP3 for Free
3. Sri Sri Ravishankar on Shivratri
4. Myths of Shivaratri
5. What to do on Shivaratri day?

Meaning:
He who is attired in a white garment
Who is all-pervading and has the complexion of the moon
Who has four arms and a bright and gracious countenance
On him we meditate for the removal of obstacles

This prayer is offered to lord Ganesh and is usually the first one among the daily morning prayers. Also, this prayer is recited at the beginning of any hindu ceremony. It is to request the lord for an auspicious start and remove any obstacles on the way.

Meaning: Let God bless every one. Best wishes for the New Year

This non-profit effort to revive Sanskrit to the modern age has now been acknowledged by NDTV. On Dec 7 ’07, NDTV profiled this website SanskritVoice.com along with the viewpoints of a few people in Sanskrit Vidyapeetha. Thanks to NDTV for featuring this website, and I’m honored to be of service to the country.

You can read the full article, or watch this video on NDTV. Here is a snippet on YouTube.

References:
Cover Story on NDTV
Video coverage on NDTV
YouTube video snippet

The translation runs as:
May the Deepawali (Diwali) take the humanity towards Eternal Light! This light is the physical light created by the earthen Lamp, for seeing around, where I do exist. May it lead me to Eternal flame and to provide me meaningful Long life, the higher Yoga of Supreme realization and grant me the boon of Spiritual illumination!

All the phonemes of the word Deepawali have been explained in the Sanskrit Sloka. The three lines are the sound structures of the term Deepawali, signifying the quintessence of the effulgence of the clay lamps ,The fourth line of the Shloka is prayer for all.

The Sanskrit word Deepavali means an array of lights that stands for victory of brightness over darkness. The festival marks the victory of good over evil, and uplifting of spiritual darkness. Symbolically it marks the homecoming of goodwill and faith after an absence, as suggested by the story of Ramayana.

Ref: KashmirGroup

Meaning: Liberation of oneself and service to humanity

This is also the Motto of Ramakrishna Mission which is based on the philosophy of Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa. The main aim in the life of an individual is the liberation of oneself as well as to serve others. Each human being is gifted with enormous moral and spiritual potential. The only thing one has to do is work towards the discovery and development of that potential.

“When total freedom (liberation) is kept as our goal, and attempts made accordingly, values of pure love and selflessness are generated as positive side-effects of this sadhana. Welfare of the world, though not an aim in itself, is a natural fragrance of this endeavour. Seeking liberation is not ‘all or none’ phenomenon; it is a gradual process of realizing the blissful essence of everything in and around us.”

Meaning: One has to work for one’s own upliftment.
This should be your approach to understanding spiritual philosophy. Always do your duty and perform sacred acts. Your spiritual evolution is your own responsibility.

Though this word is used in the context of spirituality, it can be applied to our material world as well. Only with self-will can one accomplish his goal. Through this self-effort, one can make even the weirdest of his dreams come true. But it requires a display of courage, discipline, perseverance and hard work to be a winner. Help yourself!

Below is an abstract from The Gita to provide context to the word Uddharedatmanatmanam…

“Let a man lift himself by his own Self alone, let him not lower himself;
for this self alone is the friend of one self and this self alone is the enemy of oneself”
(Ch-VI-5 from The Gita)

For many, God is a magician who grants boons on request. But, thats not true! We have read about the great Kurukshetra, where Sri Krishna demonstrated the essence of Life. He delivered the Bhagavad Gita, and showed the way to Arjuna. He never took up arms, but gave the required clarity and stood by the side of righteous effort.

Sri Krishna makes it very clear that we are the ones who should perform the action, and the fruits will bear in time. There can be no results if there is no effort!

‘Santana Dharma’ means The Eternal Law

Santana Dharma is the traditional name for the Hindu religion. Santana means eternal, and the word Dharma is one that holds society together from disruption and disintegration.

The Hindu religion is traditionally referred as ‘Santana Dharma’ – The eternal religion. Here is an excerpt from ‘Hindu Blog‘…

It must be noted that the term ‘Hindu’ and ‘Hinduism’ is not found in any of the important ancient religious texts associated with Hinduism. The word ‘Hindu’ came into being with the arrival of Muslims invaders. They called the people who lived along the Sindhu River as ‘Hindu’ and the place ‘Hindustan.’ The term Hindu and Hinduism was first widely used by the British.

An impressive article on why we should thank Sanskrit has been well written on LifeDivine. Check it out sometime…

Meaning:
Oh God! Thou art the Giver of Life,
Remover of pain and sorrow,
The Bestower of happiness,
Oh! Creator of the Universe,
May we receive thy supreme sin-destroying light,
May Thou guide our intellect in the right direction.

This is a Rig Vedic mantra in the gayatri meter invoking the solar powers of evolution and enlightenment.

The Vedic concept of Saraswati was three-fold: First, she is like the sacred river which gave birth to the Aryan civilisation. Second, she was vak or speech personified, as expressed in the Rig Veda’s Vak Sukta . ‘Speech’ basically refers to the sacred-word or the Vedas themselves.

The third and most important aspect is Saraswati’s identification with Gayatri, although the Gayatri mantra is worship of the Sun-god, Suryanarayana. The Sun-god symbolises three female deities: Gayatri, Savitri and Saraswati, to be invoked in the morning, noon and evening respectively.

Ref: Experience Festival

# Andhra Pradesh: Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeetha, Tirupati.

# Bihar: Kameshwar Singh Darbhanga Sanskrit University, Kameshwar Nagar, Darbhanga.

# Delhi:
– Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan (Deemed University), 56-57, Institutional Area, Janakpuri, New Delhi.
– Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeetha, Katwaria Sarai, New Delhi.

# Gujarat: Somnath Sanskrit University, Somnath Trust, BITCO Building, Prabas Patan, Somnath, Junagarh.

# Kerala: Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, Sree Sankarapuram, Kalady, Ernakulam.

# Maharashtra: Kavikulaguru Kalidas Sanskrit Vishwavidyalaya,Baghela Bhawan, Sitalwadi, Mouda Road, Ramtek.

# Orissa: Shri Jagannath Sanskrit Vishvavidyalaya, Srivihar, Puri.

# Rajasthan: Jagadguru Ramanandacharya Rajasthan Sanskrit University, Vill – Madau (Muhana), Bhankrota, Jaipur.

# Uttar Pradesh: Sampurnanand Sanskrit Vishwavidyalaya, Varanasi.

A page on “Academic Sanskrit Studies around the World” is available at myweb.uiowa.edu/pjai/Sanskrit/SanskritStudies.htm . It has been posted by Pankaj Jain.

Ref: Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan