Venkat's Random Thoughts

Without fail- Your bi-weekly dose of Ritual. 9. Why do offer food to the Gods before eating it? Hindus make an offering of food to the Lord and later partake of it as prasaada - a holy gift from the Lord. In our daily ritualistic worship (pooja) too we offer naivedyam (food) to the Lord. The Lord is omnipotent and omniscient. Man is a part, while the Lord is the totality. All that we do is by His strength and knowledge alone. Hence what we receive in life as a result of our actions is really His alone. We acknowledge this through the act of offering food to Him. This is exemplified by the Hindi words "tera tujko arpan"– I offer what is Yours to You. Thereafter it is akin to His gift to us, graced by His divine touch. Knowing this, our entire attitude to food and the act of eating changes. The food offered will naturally be pure and the best. We share what we get with others before consuming it. We do not demand, complain or criticise the quality of the food we

Today I am combining two rituals as Ritual number 7 is quite short. 7. To touch another person with the feet is considered an act of misdemeanor. Why is this so? Man is regarded as the most beautiful, living breathing temple of the Lord! Therefore touching another with the feet is akin to disrespecting the divinity within him or her. This calls for an immediate apology, which is offered with reverence and humility. We have  seen earlier that touching books, paper etc. is considered as unholy and we immediately touch them by hand and touch our eyes as a gesture of apology. Now, people are placed on the higher level than books and papers since they have life. We should respect them and by mistake, if our foot touches somebody, we should apologize immediately as it considered to be an act of disrespect. Similar examples we can see when we enter into a Temple, Gurudwara, Mosque or a Church. We place our shoes outside these holy places. This so because we considered th

The morning begins with the Hindu Rituals : 6. Why do we not touch papers, books and people with the feet? In our Hindu Religion, it is believed that books and papers are considered as the gifts from Goddess Saraswati,who bestows us with intelligence, and memory power,etc. So if we happen to step on it even by mistake, we touch it and and our hands automitically goes to our eyes as a gesture of apology to Goddess Saraswati. Goddess Saraswati To Indians, knowledge is sacred and divine. So it must be given respect at all times. Nowadays we separate subjects as sacred and secular. But in ancient India every subject - academic or spiritual - was considered divine and taught by the guru in the "gurukula". The custom of not stepping on educational tools is a frequent reminder of the high position accorded to knowledge in Indian culture. From an early age, this wisdom fosters in us a deep reverence for books and education. This is also the reason why we

I know that all of you are waiting for this post. Today being Monday, I have but no option but to post this to keep up my promise to publish on Mondays and Thursdays. So your wait is over!!!. Various Types Of Tilaks Some More Types of Tilak After a bath, apply  tilak  or a  mudra  (Symbol or a sign) as per sectarian norms. For example, followers of  Vaishnav  (A sect that worships Shrivishnu) sect apply a vertical  tilak , whereas those of  Shaiva  (A sect that worships  Shiva ) sect apply three horizontal stripes called ‘ tripundra ’ to the forehead. 1 .  Reason for applying tilak to the forehead and tilak meaning A. Tilak meaning – So long as we are attached to Maya (The Great Illusion), it is advisable to worship the sagun (Materialised) form of Parameshwar (The Supreme God) The human body is considered to be a temple of God. The Sahasrar  chakra  is situated on the crown of the head in the region where a choti (Tuft of hair retained while rest of the sca