Staying Single Is Not A Curse
August 29, 2009
Being single is not a personal choice for many but life’s circumstances create situations where one is forced to make certain choices. Many give in to those choices and later regret their decision. Some fear these regrets and decide never to venture into them. Others take lessons from friend’s relationship and marital problems. This is a circle where you want to get in and once you are in, you want to get out.
There is still a stigma in certain societies where a woman is looked down upon for staying single. Gossipers think that she may have been heartbroken and too depressed to find a companion. Others believe, she is secretly married and her husband has left her. Fingers are always pointed at but not realizing the emotional wellbeing of that most talked about individual.
Staying in relationships that do not have a future is the worst relationship that one can get into. There is a ray of hope that maybe someday everything will be perfect but it rarely does. Emotional relationships are the most difficult ones to manage because the feelings are embedded deep and digging out the love, affection for that person even with a shovel and pickaxe never work.
Emotional scars rarely heal and even if they do, the marks always remain. It depends on an individual’s inner strength and willingness to forgive and forget. Another hurdle in a relationship is when one of the partners detaches and prefers to move on. Breaking up is easy for them because they have made up their mind what they want from their life partner and the current one, doesn’t fit the bill.
Strange but true, today’s world consists of individuals who follow the principle of “use and throw.” It is similar to that of a tissue. When you are done with the person, you dump him/her with some reason and move on to a new tissue. And yes, tissues come in varieties too. Some are with softer ply, scented, wet ones and so on.
Some women are adventurous who have tried out all the options of relationships and after experiencing them, have decided to stay single. Whether you are a man or a woman staying single is a personal choice. If you are a woman, certain societies do want to know why. If you are well supported by friends and family then the emotional stability is better. But then, do we always reveal what we genuinely feel inside?
But the reality-there is no prince charming, no true soul mate and no living happily ever after. These terms look appropriate in romance and fiction stories. Such fairy tale concepts look nice in Disney animation movies.
Staying single is not a curse. It is choice from staying away from cheating spouses, demanding and controlling mother-in-laws, and loveless relationships. Self sacrifice, adjustments should be done only for those who you think do deserve. The rest are out there just for some fun who steal away your self-worth and dignity and never look back.
©Nayna, 2007-2009. All Rights Reserved.
Popular Ganapati Aarti
August 19, 2009
With the advent of any festival, several music and audio companies come out with a large collection of devotional songs, kathas, aarti, stutis and strotras sung for a particular deity by popular singers. Ganesh Chaturthi is one such festival where there are new devotional songs released every year. These songs are sung by well-known and renouned artists. All the singers do an exceptional job and they are highly promoted. But they add a bit of confusion to their listeners. It is impossible to hear all the songs and chose the best ones.
Many people purchase five to six Cds and get confused as to which one they should play when they perform aarti of Lord Ganesh. People at times feel guiltly and worry over ganapati aarti. They wonder if they have done the rituals correctly especially when Lord Ganesh’s idol is conscreated at home.
To make life easier for devotees during Ganesh Chaturhi here is a list of common Ganesh aarti/ Ganapati Aarti- Jai Ganesh Jai Ganesh Deva, Sukhart Dukharta Varta Vighnachi, Ganesh Gayatri, Ganesh Moola Mantra and there are many more variations to these. Our post on how to perform aarti of Lord Ganesh gives an indepth understanding of what are the things needed to perform an aarti at home and including the words of the well-known aartis so that our readers can sing along.
But of all the aartis that are played during Ganesh Chaturthi, especially at Ganesh pandals, my personal favorite is Shendur lal chadhayo. Here is the video of this aarti.
I am sure listening to theses beats most people will start tapping their feet, the youngsters will be dancing and there will be tears in the eyes of the devotees. Devotees get very emotional when they hear the praises of their Lord and that feeling of closeness and meanings of the words in the aarti or strotras fills their heart and soul with overwhelming joy. The only way they know how to express it, is with tears. I am sure the Lord understands what goes in the hearts of such devotees and how much they want to serve Him without asking for anything in return.
To make it easier for our readers we are adding the words of this aarti here so that they can sing along and pronounce the syllables correctly.
Shendur lal chadhayo achchha gajmukhko || Dondil lal biraje sut gauriharko ||
Hath liye gudladdu sai survarko || Mahima kahe na jay lagat hoo padko || 1 ||
Jai jai shri ganraj vidhyasukhdata || Dhanya tumara darshan mera man ramata ||
Bhavbhagat se koi sharanagat ave || Santat santat sabhi bharpur pave || Aise tum Maharaj moko ati bhave || Gosavinandan nishidin gun gave || 3 || Jai jai shri ganraj vidhyasukhdata || Dhanya tumara darshan mera man ramata ||
Ghalin lotangan vandin charan|| Dolyani pahin rup tujhe || Deva preme alingan anande pujin || Bhave ovaleen mhane nama ||1|| Twameva mata pita twameva || Twameva bandhusch sakha twameva || Twameva vidhya dravinam twameva || Twameva sarvam mam dev dev ||2||
Kayena vacha manasendriyenva || Buddhayatmna va prakreetiswabhavat || Karomi yadhyat sakalam parasmai || Narayanayeti samarpayami ||3|| Achyhtam keshvam ramnarayanam|| Krushanadamodaram vasudevam bhaje || Shridharam madhavam gopikavallabham || Janaki nayakam ramchandra bhaje ||4||
Hare Ram Hare Ram Ram Ram Hare Hare Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare || Hare Ram Hare Ram Ram Ram Hare Hare || Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare ||
©Nayna, 2007-2009. All Rights Reserved.
Lord Ganesh And The Legend Of The Cauvery River
August 15, 2009
This legend is of the river Cauvery and how it started flowing in southern India. To celebrate the glorious and auspicious marriage of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati, all the gods, goddesses and sages (Rishis) gathered at Mount Kailash, Himalayas. This mammoth gather caused the northern land to dip.
Lord Shiva asked the renouned sage Agastya (Agastya transliterated as Agathiar, Agasthiar and Agastyar. He is one of the Saptarishis) to travel to the south to stabilize this imbalance. He was told travel to Podhigai ranges in the southern parts of India to complete this task.
Sage Agastya was deeply saddened because he would not be able to witness Lord Shiva’s union. Lord Shiva, known for his gentleness and understanding towards his devotees knew what was in the divine’s sages mind. He told him that he would still be able to see the wedding celebrations from the south. Then from his matted locks, Lord Shiva took the river Cauvery and filled it in the sage’s kamandal (a metal pot with a handle, always carried by sages). The Lord told the river Cauvery to flow where ever the sage pointed. Bidding farewell to the Lord, sage Agastya travelled to the south and went to various pilgrimage sites of Lord Shiva.
Unknown to the sage, there were other events taking place in the south. A demon named Surapaduman had terrorized the gods, especially Lord Indra, the king of gods. Lord Indra was forced to leave his kingdom, Indralok and took refuge in a place called Sirgazhi where he prayed to Lord Shiva for help. He created a maginificent garden and worshipped him with the flowers from his garden.
The god of wind, Lord Varun too was frightened with the power of the evil Surapaduman and didn’t bring the clouds to shower rains in this region. There was drought and the flowers of Lord Indra’s garden wilted away. Helpless, Lord Indra was deeply distressed that his prayer to please Lord Shiva was interrupted. Sage Narada couldn’t see Lord Indra’s despair and told him about how the river Cauvery was in sage Agastya’s kamandal.
Lord Indra didn’t know how to seek the sage and get him to release the Cauvery River so he prayed to Lord Ganesh. Lord Ganesh, ever so loving, took the form of a crow and flew to sage Agastya and sat on his kamandal and toppled it. The sage raised his hands to shoo the crow and river Cauvery thought that it was a signal to start flowing and she did.
The crow then took the form of a small boy. The sage didn’t know it was Lord Ganesh and tried to strike him on his head with his knuckles. Suddenly, the boy changed his form and the sage came face to face with Lord Ganesh. He realized what a sin he was committing; he was trying to strike the Lord. In repent, he began striking his forehead with his knuckles. Lord Ganesh stopped him and said whoever prayed to him in this manner would be blessed with wisdom.
Another version of this story is that river Cauvery previously known as Ponni was disrespectful to sage Agastya and he punished her by trapping her in his kamandal. Sage Narada requested Lord Ganesh to free the river and so he took the form of a crow and toppled the kamandal. After this incident, the river Ponni was given a new name Cauvery also spelled as Kaveri.
To bring joy to the soul and expand devotion to Lord Ganesh, we encourage our readers to see the section of similar posts at the end of this article and read the Legends of Lord Ganesh. Alternately, they can also search in the search box of this blog and read over ten stories of Lord Ganesh. These stories are filled with devotion and helps us understand the divine Lila’s (divine pastimes) of the Lord.
©Nayna, 2007-2009. All Rights Reserved.
