Guest guest Report post Posted April 19, 2002 Pop star (rock star) lady Madonna releaed an album with a sanskrit sloka ! she came in for a lot of crticism for her 'pronounciation' of sanskrit. now, folks, if we can bend our body as madonna does and be flexible like a ;pretzel' and do ashtanga yoga like her, doe it really matter how she pronounces the 'om shanti' mantra... ? as you all know, all fashions, fads and fetishes srart in hollywood and end in bollywood. (bombay).. so, now some of the famous rock and pop stars like Sting, Jebnnifer Lopez and Madonna have taken to ashtanga yoga. The bindi (red dot or variations of it) and mehendi (hand painting with henna) are also becoming popular in hollywood. well, folks Maonna certainly made history with her rendering of this sanskrit sloka here is how it goes... Astanga Yoga Mantram OM Vande Gurunam Caranaravinde Sandarsita Svatma Sukhava Bodhe Nih Sreyase Jangalikayamane Samsara Halahala Mohasantyai Abahu Purusakaram Sankhacakrasi Dharinam Sahasra Sirasam Svetam Pranamami Patanjalim OM In English: I pray to the Lotus feet of the Supreme Guru who teaches the good knowledge, showing the way to knowing the self awakening great happiness; who is the doctor of the jungle, able to remove the poison of the ignorance of conditioned existence. To Patanjali, an incarmation of Adisesa, white in color with 1000 radiant heads (in his form as the divine serpent, Ananta), human in form below the shoulders holding a sword (discrimination), a wheel of fire (discus of light, representing infinite time), and a conch (Divine sound) - to him, I prostrate. this sloka is dedicated to patanjali, the guru of ashtanga yoga. well, the pundits in benaras were not happy over madonna's pronounciation of the word 'om shanti.' one of the The pundits b.n. chaturvedi, said, "how can it bring peace to Madonna and her audiences when she pronounces 'Shanti, Shanti,' as 'Shant-ee Shant-ee?'" he asks. According to scholars, the word should be pronounced with a clipped E sound and not a long E sound. "It is one thing to make a mistake in ordinary conversation but another to chant it incorrectly," says Chaturvedi. BUT TO ALL THESE SCHOLARS, I SAY- " please, look at the big picture. The lady at least made an honest attempt to pay tribute to a great yoga teacher by popularizing this sloka." but for her, how many (including indians) know of this sloka? my question is , the whole idea behind ashtanga yoga (eight limbed) is as you start practicing the different postures and srart learning the breathing techniques, your body, mind and thoughts get purified ! whether purification comes before and after is a subject of another post... but anyday, if i can bend my body like a pretzel like lady madonna, i will be the first one to bow to this lady's lotus feet!!! even though as a bharatanatyam dancer, i used to be flexible now with age and lack of practice, simple yoga asanas seem to be so difficult!! om !om!om! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest guest Report post Posted April 19, 2002 The only problem I have with Madonna and some of these other stars is that they tend to cheapen Hindu culture and tradition in using it as a fashion fad...all very shallow and also mostly used as a marketing ploy to shift more records etc...Madonna is a prime exemple of fads hopping like being into catholicism one minute, hinduism/buddhist the next and not very long ago, she swore only by the Kabbalah (The jewish mysticism)...looks like an opportunist to me, that's why she is a very cunning business woman... I dont like that. If you are going to practice these great teachings, you will not behave like Madonna, in such a materialistic manner... Having said that, someone like Sting I think is (and I hope) more involved in the philosophy and spirituality so that is fine! Perhaps then he should talk more about it in his music or even do lectures etc... JAI MA KALI!!! JAI HANUMANJI!!! JAI PHIL COLLINS!!! Phil Das Bhakta , "adi_shakthi16" <adi_shakthi16> wrote: > Pop star (rock star) lady Madonna releaed an album with a sanskrit > sloka ! she came in for a lot of crticism for her 'pronounciation' of > sanskrit. > > now, folks, if we can bend our body as madonna does and be flexible > like a ;pretzel' and do ashtanga yoga like her, doe it really matter > how she pronounces the 'om shanti' mantra... ? > > as you all know, all fashions, fads and fetishes srart in hollywood > and end in bollywood. (bombay).. so, now some of the famous rock and > pop stars like Sting, Jebnnifer Lopez and Madonna have taken to > ashtanga yoga. > > The bindi (red dot or variations of it) and mehendi (hand painting > with henna) are also becoming popular in hollywood. > > well, folks Maonna certainly made history with her rendering of this > sanskrit sloka > > > here is how it goes... > > Astanga Yoga Mantram > > OM > Vande Gurunam Caranaravinde > Sandarsita Svatma Sukhava Bodhe > Nih Sreyase Jangalikayamane > Samsara Halahala Mohasantyai > Abahu Purusakaram > Sankhacakrasi Dharinam > Sahasra Sirasam Svetam > Pranamami Patanjalim > > OM > > In English: > > I pray to the Lotus feet of the Supreme Guru who teaches the good > knowledge, showing the way to knowing the self awakening great > happiness; who is the doctor of the jungle, able to remove the poison > of the ignorance of conditioned existence. > > To Patanjali, an incarmation of Adisesa, white in color with 1000 > radiant heads (in his form as the divine serpent, Ananta), human in > form below the shoulders holding a sword (discrimination), a wheel of > fire (discus of light, representing infinite time), and a conch > (Divine sound) - to him, I prostrate. > > this sloka is dedicated to patanjali, the guru of ashtanga yoga. > > well, the pundits in benaras were not happy over madonna's > pronounciation of the word 'om shanti.' > > one of the The pundits b.n. chaturvedi, said, "how can it bring > peace to Madonna and her audiences when she pronounces 'Shanti, > Shanti,' as 'Shant-ee Shant-ee?'" he asks. According to scholars, the > word should be pronounced with a clipped E sound and not a long E > sound. "It is one thing to make a mistake in ordinary conversation > but another to chant it incorrectly," says Chaturvedi. > > BUT TO ALL THESE SCHOLARS, I SAY- " please, look at the big picture. > The lady at least made an honest attempt to pay tribute to a great > yoga teacher by popularizing this sloka." but for her, how many > (including indians) know of this sloka? > > my question is , the whole idea behind ashtanga yoga (eight limbed) > is as you start practicing the different postures and srart learning > the breathing techniques, your body, mind and thoughts get purified ! > whether purification comes before and after is a subject of another > post... > > but anyday, if i can bend my body like a pretzel like lady madonna, i > will be the first one to bow to this lady's lotus feet!!! even though > as a bharatanatyam dancer, i used to be flexible now with age and > lack of practice, simple yoga asanas seem to be so difficult!! > > om !om!om! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest guest Report post Posted April 19, 2002 dear jaiphilcollins, in my eyes 'material gil' madonna is o.k. you know why? let me explain. I do not look up to madonna as my spiritual role model --- sure, she is a shrewd bussiness woman; more than that she knows how to market her talents... but believe me when 'material girls' like her make a lot of money they do spend their wealth and as a result of that a 'redistribution of wealth' occurs -the velocity of circulation of money increases putting more purchasing power in the hands of a larger number of people... everybody benefits- the fashion industry, the textile industry, the cosmetic industry, so on and so forth... also, to take big tax write offs, she may be contributing to 'charities' of all kinds... all i was saying was she did popuularize a relatively unknown stotra of sage patanjali and 'ashtanga yoga'- She does have a very 'toned' up physique at her age because of practicing all the difficult yoga asanas and believe me when she gets older and wiser, she may even turn into a full-fledged yogi! who knows and who cares? after all, 'materialism' has its limits... but i do admire her 'free spiritedness' and her desire to 'experiment' and explore different paths ! one day, just like the rest of us, she may discover herself - that 'i am the self' ! smiles!!!! love , "jaiphilcollins" <JayaPhilCollins@a...> wrote: > The only problem I have with Madonna and some of these other stars is > that they tend to cheapen Hindu culture and tradition in using it as > a fashion fad...all very shallow and also mostly used as a marketing > ploy to shift more records etc...Madonna is a prime exemple of fads > hopping like being into catholicism one minute, hinduism/buddhist the > next and not very long ago, she swore only by the Kabbalah (The > jewish mysticism)...looks like an opportunist to me, that's why she > is a very cunning business woman... > > I dont like that. If you are going to practice these great teachings, > you will not behave like Madonna, in such a materialistic manner... > > Having said that, someone like Sting I think is (and I hope) more > involved in the philosophy and spirituality so that is fine! Perhaps > then he should talk more about it in his music or even do lectures > etc... > > JAI MA KALI!!! > JAI HANUMANJI!!! > JAI PHIL COLLINS!!! > > Phil Das Bhakta > > > , "adi_shakthi16" <adi_shakthi16> > wrote: > > Pop star (rock star) lady Madonna releaed an album with a sanskrit > > sloka ! she came in for a lot of crticism for her 'pronounciation' > of > > sanskrit. > > > > now, folks, if we can bend our body as madonna does and be flexible > > like a ;pretzel' and do ashtanga yoga like her, doe it really > matter > > how she pronounces the 'om shanti' mantra... ? > > > > as you all know, all fashions, fads and fetishes srart in hollywood > > and end in bollywood. (bombay).. so, now some of the famous rock > and > > pop stars like Sting, Jebnnifer Lopez and Madonna have taken to > > ashtanga yoga. > > > > The bindi (red dot or variations of it) and mehendi (hand painting > > with henna) are also becoming popular in hollywood. > > > > well, folks Maonna certainly made history with her rendering of > this > > sanskrit sloka > > > > > > here is how it goes... > > > > Astanga Yoga Mantram > > > > OM > > Vande Gurunam Caranaravinde > > Sandarsita Svatma Sukhava Bodhe > > Nih Sreyase Jangalikayamane > > Samsara Halahala Mohasantyai > > Abahu Purusakaram > > Sankhacakrasi Dharinam > > Sahasra Sirasam Svetam > > Pranamami Patanjalim > > > > OM > > > > In English: > > > > I pray to the Lotus feet of the Supreme Guru who teaches the good > > knowledge, showing the way to knowing the self awakening great > > happiness; who is the doctor of the jungle, able to remove the > poison > > of the ignorance of conditioned existence. > > > > To Patanjali, an incarmation of Adisesa, white in color with 1000 > > radiant heads (in his form as the divine serpent, Ananta), human in > > form below the shoulders holding a sword (discrimination), a wheel > of > > fire (discus of light, representing infinite time), and a conch > > (Divine sound) - to him, I prostrate. > > > > this sloka is dedicated to patanjali, the guru of ashtanga yoga. > > > > well, the pundits in benaras were not happy over madonna's > > pronounciation of the word 'om shanti.' > > > > one of the The pundits b.n. chaturvedi, said, "how can it bring > > peace to Madonna and her audiences when she pronounces 'Shanti, > > Shanti,' as 'Shant-ee Shant-ee?'" he asks. According to scholars, > the > > word should be pronounced with a clipped E sound and not a long E > > sound. "It is one thing to make a mistake in ordinary conversation > > but another to chant it incorrectly," says Chaturvedi. > > > > BUT TO ALL THESE SCHOLARS, I SAY- " please, look at the big > picture. > > The lady at least made an honest attempt to pay tribute to a great > > yoga teacher by popularizing this sloka." but for her, how many > > (including indians) know of this sloka? > > > > my question is , the whole idea behind ashtanga yoga (eight limbed) > > is as you start practicing the different postures and srart > learning > > the breathing techniques, your body, mind and thoughts get > purified ! > > whether purification comes before and after is a subject of another > > post... > > > > but anyday, if i can bend my body like a pretzel like lady madonna, > i > > will be the first one to bow to this lady's lotus feet!!! even > though > > as a bharatanatyam dancer, i used to be flexible now with age and > > lack of practice, simple yoga asanas seem to be so difficult!! > > > > om !om!om! 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