Mahatma Gandhi had a significant influence on our family and my childhood. My paternal grandfather stayed at Sabarmati Ashram and served Mahatma Gandhi there for twenty years. My grandmother took her children to her parents’ home and willingly gave away all ten and a half kilos of her gold jewelry saying, “I will take care of the children. You go and serve the country.”
My teacher Pt. Sudhakar Chaturvedi was also a teacher to Mahatma Gandhi whom he taught the Bhagavad Gita. He is still alive...
The beauty in our ancient stories is that they were never made location-specific or time-specific. Ramayana or Mahabharata are not just events that happened a long time ago, they are happening everyday in our lives. The essence of these stories is eternal.
There is a deeper meaning to the story of Krishna’s birth too. Devaki symbolizes the body and Vasudev symbolizes the life force (prana). When prana rises in the body, joy (Krishna) is born. But the ego (Kamsa) tries to eliminate joy. Kamsa...
Once upon a time, a Guru was giving darshan to a congregation. People were coming and bowing down, seeking blessings. Gurudev was silent most of the time and when somebody would come and share their troubles, looking for a response, he would say only one thing - "You are very lucky". One person came to him and said, “I failed in my exam.” Gurudev said, “Well, you are very lucky.” Another came and said,
“My wife has left me.”
“You are very lucky.”
No matter what problems people...
I have been receiving reports of what our volunteers have been doing to bring relief to the tragedy-struck region of Uttarakhand. I wanted to share an overview of the tremendous work being done.
100 trucks of relief material from various parts of the country have been sent to Uttarakhand
A team of about 300 volunteers has been working in different areas of the region.
They have been working with the para-military forces and the Disaster Management Team assisting them in rescue operations.
Apart...
To move towards growth in life, we require faith in three things - in oneself, in the goodness in society and in God. However, looking at the recent incident in Kedarnath, where so many innocent lives were lost, one wonders if God exists. If He does, why would He do such things to His own devotees? It is on these occasions that faith becomes fragile and one tends to lose it. However, it is also on these occasions that faith is most needed too. We must remember that God is impartial; He is present...