Meaning:
Happiness be unto all,
Perfect health be unto all.
May all see good in everyone,
May all be free from suffering.

This is a prayer for the prosperity and welfare of humanity. There is an adage that says we will be happy only if people around us are happy. Pray for welfare to all, and you will be blessed.

Ref: Wikipedia

(Source: Sri Vishnu Sahasranama Stotram)

The essense: The one who takes long strides is called Mahakramah. It is essential to take long strides in order to achieve anything note-worthy in life. But, many fear to take even the first step towards the goal. Risks are a part of the journey to reach the destiny. So, leap ahead with enthusiasm, determination and the required skill to accomplish your dream.

A Mahakarma is one who performs great deeds. We should always set our goal very high, and strive to reach it. There is no fun in setting low goals in order to give no chance for failure.

He who sets his goals very high, and succeeds in achieving it becomes Mahateja, shining with the brilliance of success. Maha-Uragah means the great snake, referring to the entity that can empower others.

So, when you take long strides and perform great deeds, you become brilliant and a great leader who can motivate and empower others. When such a person performs great yajnas, he becomes Mahakratuh. The two aspects of yajna are sacrifice and worship.

The greatest sacrifice is when you offer yourself in self-sacrifice – Mahahavih. Only with sacrifice, things are achieved in this world. A person when he meets all the above qualification, he is GREAT.

Ref: Tapovan Prasad

Here is the last mantra of Rigveda… A verse which is dedicated to the human world and is a prayer for harmony and peace among us.

(Source: Concluding part of Rigveda)

Meaning: Let there be oneness in your resolutions, hearts and minds. Let the strength to live with mutual co-operation be firm in you all.

This mantra comes back to the simplicity of the fact of being human: a union of hearts and a oneness of spirit, the overcoming of isolating individualisms by harmonious living together, because Man as person is always society and yet not plural.

Ref: Last Mantra

Since “annam” (Food), is recognized to be the ultimate source of all Energy, the Upanishad exhorts us to take great care in conserving and using it wisely. There are 3 great commandments that have been issued in this regard:

(Source: Taittiriya Upanishad – brghuvalli)
Meaning:
“Do not abuse Food!”
“Do not discard Food!”
“Grow Food in abundance!”

Food is what drives existence, and restores energy. Don’t ever abuse food. Its proved by research that Food prepared and consumed with contentment keeps you more healthy, and brings good thoughts.

Food being the most important element for survival, its our dharma (duty) to make sure everyone gets enough of it. Serving food (anna-dhaana) to fight starvation is supposedly the greatest form of charity.

By Mr. Vardharajan | Ref: A Thought for Food

The State Government in Indore will distribute scholarship worth Rs 60 lakh among students of Indore division to promote their interest in Sanskrit.

Ref: Hindustan Times

(Source: Satyopanishad)
Meaning:
Discard the company of bad people,
Get in touch with noble company,
Bear in mind what is impermanent or transitory,
Do meritorious deeds day and night.

It was said by Einstein, “Tell me your company. I shall tell you what you are.” You imbibe the qualities of the company you keep. We should not get into bad company. Then we get bad thoughts. Run away from bad company. By living in the company of noble people, we raise our thought level, and get inspired to do good deeds naturally.

We should also distinguish that which is divine from the one that is temporal. We are gifted with intellect for discrimination and judgment to distinguish between what is transient, perishable and dual and what is eternal, immortal and nondual.

Ref: Sai Darshan

These are the preachings handed down to us by Taittirīya Upanishad. It means “Regard the mother as God, the father as God, the teacher as God, and the guest as God”.

We should show love & respect to our parents, and take care of them as much as we take care of our children. Any amount of prayer to Lord will not please him if we forget our parents. We should have the same gratitude for the teacher(acharya) as we have for the god. The importance and the role of a teacher is well emphasized in many of the sanskrit verses (see my earlier posts). Taking good care of our guests and honoring them has been a part of our ancient culture, and is well expressed in this verse.

To our dismay, we often find people fight with the mother, argue with the father, look down upon the teacher, and insult the guest. Lets try to educate them, and make sure we are not one among such people.

By Mr. Vardharajan

Speak truth in such a way that it should be pleasing to others. Never speak truth, which is unpleasant to others. Never speak untruth, which might be pleasant. This is the path of eternal morality, sanatana dharma.

To speak truth is an eternal value irrespective of time and place. But the expression of truth should be accompanied by two conditions. Firstly, it should be presented in a loving manner and secondly it should be spoken for the betterment of others. How you speak is as important as what is said. Priyam means speech that does not hurt others. Hitam is something that is said for the good or betterment of others. One should be careful of speaking truth but not hurting others.

We should be careful in speaking the truth. The purpose should be good and the words used and the manners in which they are spoken are important. So the value of truthfulness is relative to a situation. According to the Indian scriptures while living in the world of relativity truth can be interpreted in many ways.

Ref: Prajnanvani

Himalayan Academy, publisher of Hinduism Today and HPI, is proud to announce their new on-line lexicon of Hindu and related philosophic terms in Sanskrit, Tamil and English. The dictionary is programmed with AJAX, and contains definitions of over 3,600 words. A valuable resource containing many thorough definitions of complex concepts.

Ref: Hinduism Today

According to the theories of the ancient seers, evolution and perfection equal satyam – truth, shivam – auspiciousness, and sundaram – beauty. These are the three components that we need to attain in our lives to complete the journey. Once you attain a nature which is full of truthfulness, auspiciousness and beauty, then you attain what is known as realization, completeness in life, moksha or nirvana.

The words sound nice but the process of attaining them is a sadhana. Sadhana is a conscious, ongoing effort which you make to experience the transformation of your nature. It is not something that you do for one hour. Sadhana is continuous awareness, being in the present moment. The entire process of yoga is based on the principle of sadhana.

Ref: Yoga Magazine