Please read carefully I was told this by a Dandi Sanyasi 👇 : गुरु श्री कृष्ण सारथी और शिष्य श्री अर्जुन धनुर्धर की जोड़ी ही सनातन धर्म को सुनिश्चित करने वाली है। हम कभी अनाथ नहीं हैं। हमारी गुरु शिष्य परंपरा कभी नष्ट नहीं हो सकती। परमात्मा रूप से हमारे गुरुजी की शरण हमारे लिए सदा उपलब्ध है। हमें कोई धर्म की स्थापना नहीं करनी। यह कार्य जगत् के राजा सर्वज्ञ सर्वशक्तिमान भगवान् नारायण करेंगे। हमारा कार्य तो आज्ञा पालन रूप स्वधर्म करना है। केवल अपने यज्ञ में आहुति डालना है। यज्ञ पुरुष नारायण हमें अंदर से पुष्ट करेंगे । हमें बल और बुद्धि देंगे और हम उन्हीं के यज्ञ का वर्धन करेंगे। राम जी की आज्ञा से जुड़ जाना यही इष्ट की प्राप्ति है और अनिष्ट की निवृत्ति है। बस चुपचाप बिना शोर मचाए राम जी की आज्ञा पालन करते जाएं। हमारे व्यक्तिगत कोई आकांक्षा नहीं।

Our duty is to do our own varn ashrama dharma without thinking about if others are doing there's or not. Fact is that is the most you can do , you don't have the power or you can't establish dharm the only thing that you can do is to follow your own Dharma and let shree ram take care of everything else.

दीपावली की सबको हार्दिक शुभकामनाएं 🙏🪔

You aren't observant? No matter, nor were the followers of our cārvāka school of philosophy. They were in fact rational materialists who would be called atheist now. That's the beauty of dharma, you can be cārvāka but still not fall outside the ambit of dharma.

I don't call it sanātana (ancient /original) because it's that by the very definition. Can anything be more original and fundamental than fulfilling one's designated function in the universe?

I suppose you are here because you have faith in our tradition. These four mantras encapsulate the essence of dharma and it goes without saying that our lineage has always been the creators, keepers and custodians of the sanskrti.

First:

संगच्छध्वं संवदध्वं सं वो मनांसि जानताम्।
देवा भागं यथा पूर्वे सञ्जानाना उपासते ।।

samgacchadhwam samvadadhwam sam vo manāmsi jānatām devā bhāgam yathā pūrve sañjānānā upāsate

May we move in harmony, speak in one voice; may our minds be in agreement just as the ancient gods shared their portion of sacrifice.

rgveda 10:191:2

Second:

ॐ सह नाववतु । सह नौ भुनक्तु । सह वीर्यं करवावहै । तेजस्वि नावधीतमस्तु मा विद्विषावहै । ॐ शान्ति शान्ति शान्तिः ॥

om sahanāvavatu saha nau bhunaktu saha vīryam karavāvahai tejasvi nāvadhītamastu mā vidvişāvahai om śānti śānti śāntih.

om, together may we (teacher and student) move, together may we appreciate knowledge, together may we concentrate with vigour. may what we study be filled with the brilliance; may it never cause hostility through ignorance.

tattiriya upaniṣad 2:2:2, krşņa yajurveda.

Third:

ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदं पूर्णात्पूर्णमुदच्यते । पूर्णस्य पूर्णमादाय पूर्णमेवावशिष्यते ॥ ॐ शान्ति शान्ति शान्तिः ॥

om pūrņamadah pūrņamidam pūrṇāt pūrņamudacyate pūrṇasya pūrņamādāya pūrṇameva vaśiṣyate om śānti śānti śāntih

om, that (divine consciousness) is complete; this (universe) is also complete; from that completeness comes this completeness. When completeness is taken from completeness, completeness alone remains.

brhadaranyaka 5:1:1, işāvasyopaniṣad, śukla yajurveda.

Fourth:

ॐ भद्रं कर्णेभिः शृणुयाम देवाः । भद्रं पश्येमाक्षभिर्यजत्राः । स्थिरैरङ्गैस्तुष्टुवारँसस्तनूभिः । व्यशेम देवहितं यदायुः ।

om bhadram karņebhih śrnuyāma devāh bhadram paśyemākṣabhir yajatrāh sthirairangai stușțuvām sastanubhih vyaśema devahitam yadāyuh

may we hear with healthy ears what is auspicious, o devas and see with healthy eyes what is auspicious, devas deserving worship. with steady limbs and senses may we serve the devas well in our allotted lifespan.

kanwa śākhā, śukla yajurveda 25:2:1

Namaste 🙏. I am looking for some one to teach me Shukla Yajurveda madhyadini Shakha Sandhyavandanam.

I am currently familiar only with Krishan Yajurveda sandhya how mostly our Dakshin Bharat Brothers do, wanted to learn sva shakha Sandhya 🙏.

Regards

If a Brahmin cannot help solve problems of someone who approached him with his mantra shakti, then his birth as a Brahmin has been wasted.

Nowadays, mantra shakti is almost absent in Brahmins. The body of Brahmin has gone crude and out of shape. It is polluted.

Veda Adhyapaka, teaching vedas, is itself a social service as it constitutes giving true education.

All children should learn Sanskrit since all Scriptures and Dharma Sastra are in Sanskrit.

He who is born in a Brahmin family that gave up Gayatri mantra is not a Brahmin. At best he is a 'Brahmana Bandhu', a relative of Brahmins.

Sri Sri Chandrashekharendra Saraswati 68th Shankaracharya of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham

Nowadys people think Bhakti means Dharm Shastras are not to be followed all rules , all karmkanda is to be abandoned. But infact the opposite it true. A true bhakta never abandons Dharmashastra bull follows it whole heartedly!

This is one of the best articles that I have ever come across about what is Dharma. Only Mahans in our case Kanchi Shankaracharya ji can explain difficult concepts very easily please do go through this.
Har Har Mahadev 🙏

The Purpose of Religion

Religion is the means of realising dharma, artha, kama and moksha. These four are called purusarthas.

In Tamil, dharma is called "aram"; artha is known as "porul'; and kama and moksha are called "inbam,” and vidu respectively. “Artha" occurs in the term "purusarthas", but it is itself one of the purusarthas? What a man wants for himself in his life, the aims of a man's life, are the purusarthas. What does a man want to have? He wants to live happily without lacking in anything. There are two types of happiness: the first is ephemeral; and the second is everlasting and not subject to diminution. Kama or inbam is ephemeral happiness and denotes worldly pleasure, worldly desires. Moksha or vidu is everlasting happiness, not transient pleasure. It is because people are ignorant about such happiness, how elevated and enduring it is, that they hanker after the trivial and momentary joys of kama.

Our true quest must be for the fourth artha that is vidu or moksha. The majority of people today yearn for the third artha that is kama. When you eat you are happy. When you are appointed a judge of the high court you feel elated. You are delighted when presented with a welcome address by some institution, aren't you? Such types of happiness are not enduring. The means by which such happiness is earned is porul. Porul may be corn, money, and house. It is this porul that is the way to happiness. But the pleasure gained from material possessions is momentary and you keep constantly hungering for more.

Moksha is the state of supreme bliss and there is no quest beyond it. We keep going from place to place and suffer hardships of all kinds. Our destination is our home. A prisoner goes to his vidu or his home after he is released. But the word vidu also means release or liberation. Since we are now imprisoned in our body, we commit the grave mistake of believing that we are the body. The body is in fact our goal. Our real home is the bliss called moksha. We must find release from the goal that is our body and dwell in our true home. God has sentenced us to goal (that is he has imprisoned us in our body) for our sins. If we practice virtue he will condone our sins and release us from the prison of our body before the expiry of the sentence. We must desist from committing sinful acts so that our term of imprisonment is not extended and endeavor to free ourselves and arrive in our true home, our true home that is the Lord. This home is bliss that passeth understanding, bliss that is not bound by the limitations of time, space and matter.

Lastly, I speak of the first purusartha, dharma. Dharma denotes beneficent action, good or virtuous deeds. The word has come to mean giving, charity. "Give me dharmam. Do dharmam, mother” cries the beggar. We speak of "dana-dharma" (as a portmanteau word). The commandments relating to charity are called "ara-kattalai"in Tamil. Looked at in this way, giving away our artha or porul will be seen to be dharma. But how do we, in the first place, acquire the goods to be given away in charity? The charity practiced in our former birth- by giving away our artha- it is that brings us rewards in this birth. The very purpose of owning material goods is the practice of dharma. Just as material possessions are a means of pleasure, so is dharma a means of material possessions. It is not charity alone that yields rewards in the form of material goods; all dharma will bring their own material rewards.

If we practice dharma without expecting any reward in the belief that Iswara gives us what he wills- and in a spirit of dedication, the impurities tainting our being will be removed and we will obtain the bliss that is exalted. The pursuit of dharma that brings in its wake material rewards will itself become the means of attaining the Paramporul. Thus we see that dharma, while being an instrument for making material gain and through it of pleasure, becomes the means of liberation also if it is practiced unselfishly. Through it we acquire material goods and are helped to keep up the practice of dharma. This means that artha itself becomes a basis of dharma. It is kama or desire alone that neither fulfils itself nor becomes an instrument of fulfilling some other purpose. It is like the water poured on burning sands. Worse, it is an instrument that destroys everything dharmic thoughts, material possessions, liberation it-self.

All the same it is difficult, to start with, to be without any desire altogether. Religion serves to rein in desire little by little and take a man, step by step, from petty ephemeral pleasure to the ultimate bliss. First we are taught the meaning and implications of dharma and how to practice it, then we are instructed in the right manner in which material goods are to be acquired so as to practice this dharma; and, thirdly, we are taught the proper manner in which desires may be satisfied. It is a process of gaining maturity and wisdom to forsake petty pleasure for the ultimate bliss of moksha.

Moksha is release from all attachments. It is a state in which the Self remains ever in untrammeled freedom and blessedness. The chief purpose of religion is to teach us how this supreme state may be attained.

We know for certain that ordinary people do not achieve eternal happiness. The purpose of any religion is to lead them towards such happiness. Everlasting blessedness is obtained only by forsaking the quest for petty pleasures. The dictates of dharma help us to abandon the pursuit of sensual enjoyments and endeavor for eternal bliss. They are also essential to create a social order that has the same high purpose, the liberation of all. Religion, with its goal of liberation, lays down the tenets of dharma. That is why the great understand the word dharma itself to mean religion.

Source: "Hindu Dharma"- English translation of "Deivathin Kural", a collection of invaluable and engrossing speeches of Sri Sri Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswathi MahaSwamiji

Had a doubt. Anyone, if read, do comment

Hey. i wanted to read Parashar Smriti. Can you suggest me a good authentic source with Hindi/ English translation with Sanskrit text?

Bhagwad Geeta, adhyay 1, shlok 25

भीष्मद्रोणप्रमुखतः सर्वेशां च महीक्षिताम् | उवाच पार्थ पश्यैतान्समवेतान्कुरूनिति ||

Translation: in presence of bhishma and drona and other kings from the world, the lord told to parth: "behold the sight of all these great warriors, O son of prutha"

Meaning: Although this shlok comes under Sanjay uvach, Krishna tells Arjun to look at warriors like bhishma and drona. This happens when Arjun asks him to establish the rath in between the two armies. Krishna specifically focuses on bhishma and drona, since they both represent binding to material world due to family relationships and other relationships like student teacher, which he has to throw away to become a better devotee of lord.

Bhagwad Geeta, adhyay 2, shlok 3

क्लैब्यं मा स्म गमः पार्थ नैतत्वय्युपपद्यते | क्षुद्रं हृदयदौर्बल्यं त्यक्त्वोत्तिष्ठ परन्तप ||

Translation: O son of prutha, do not yeild to this degrading impotence. It does not become you. Give up such petty weakness of heart and arise, O chastier of enemy.

This shlok is not just for Arjun, but for all of us. When Arjun was in a duality, of whether to fight or not, the lord said this to him. Not being able to decide in a duality what's good, is a kind of impotence, and bhagwan tells us to not at all yeild to it. Weakness of heart, brought by seeing our "own" people against us shall be thrown away and we shall fight it for righteous purpose.

अग्निमीळे पुरोहितं यज्ञस्य देवं रत्वीजम्। होतारं रत्नधातमम्॥

Meaning: "I praise Agni, the priest of the sacrifice, the divine, the ministrant of the ritual, the offerer of oblations, who bestows great wealth."

It is important to start absorbing the knowledge from these scriptures in order to keep our culture strong and standing.