ShegavichaRana

can achieve such feats. In the past such many incidents have been recorded. However, in the age of KaliYuga, when everyone is hooked on to Fast (read junk) food, such newsitem surely will make a news. Among the NathSampradaya, the famous Jalandarnath, lived underground for 12 long years continuously, without even Sunlight!

this simple story is! I really appreciate it. Isn't everyone's life like that of the donkey, that wants come out the deep trouble?

that the consciousness level of the people who do not believe in reincarnation has not yet risen to a level, to receive the knowledge of transmigration of souls? It would also mean that, these non-believers in reincarnation would be born in any one of the Sanatana, Jaina, Buddha dharmas, to eventually receive this information. Pl. clarify.

and the arduous journey of Spiritual Austerities, you may start reading biographies of well-known Vaishnava saints. Then of course, BhagavadGita, Bhagavatam must be read and understood. One good thing about Hinduism is that, no one takes a stick and makes someone do spiritual progress, it is all personal. It is is up to you to decide and chart the course. More you do the Purushartha, faster you progress.

I am constantly bogged down by discussion on this topic. If there is One God managing everything everywhere in the entire universe, all His laws must be same, throughout and should be applicable to all equally. It does not matter, how a person/a community worships Him, these basic laws are (should be) same. But they are not (that is what many say). How can God allow such discrepancies among humans? Other communities who do not believe eternity of the soul and its transmigration ask the tangible proof for such things. How can this matter be settled? There has to be an end to this controversy!

because, Dronacharya, a great warrior and a teacher, was fighting the "Adharmic" side. There would not have been any victory, had he not been killed. Those who are taking side of the wrongdoers cannot expect any better treatment. That is how Lord asked Yudhisthira to say "Naro Va Kunjaro". A commentary on Mahabharata war written by a western philosopher said the war was won by Pandavas with deceit! Now this is too much!

while I read your post. The reason is simple. Just 5 months back I lost my mother, a truly God-conscious woman who was a great devotee.

that he too loved you? Many a times, we mistake others and their feelings for our convenience. And liking someone's company is differnt and love is different. Did you ever talk to him about the marriage of you two? If marriage was never discussed between you two, then you took it for granted that, he would eventually marry you. This has resulted in the big disappointment for you. Trying to become his second wife is not a good option at all, it will spoil everything. In fact, you make a clean break here and now. You can go to another place where you may find a good company of HK devotees, temple and you can get engrossed in spiritual austerities. I know it is difficult, but it is better for you to forget him, but it is a better option rather than ruining the happiness of all of you.

Pandavas might have had small tiffs with Kauravas and Karna but that is much less important than the cruelties and injustice meated out to them by the latter at every stage. Karna lost his discrimination as soon as Duryodhana befriended him. Why could he not shake off this friendship, while taking some important decisions? and Varnashramadharma was far more powerful then, than it is now. Now people do not care if you belong to forward caste or backward caste. Karna lost all the sympathy when he participitated in killing Abhimanyu. Perhaps it can be said, that, he behaved much worse than a Sutaputra while doing so.

Another interesting thing is about Karna's wife. A very famous book on Karna in Marathi ("Mritunjaya") says, his wife's name was Vrishali, who committed sati when he was killed in the war and Lord Krishna was the witness. But BR Chopra's "Mahabharata Katha" (which is about the events after the war) showed that, Karna's wife (Padmawati) was also a maid servant to another princess. Which is true? I do not think he had two wives. Does anyone know?

the death (of the body) and the next birth depends on how much the soul was earthbound. That is, how strong were the desires of the soul, to "meet" his/her relatives, manage business etc.etc. If the desires were too strong, then after a year, the soul takes rebirth. There are ample examples of this. Otherwise, the soul can remain in other Lokas, like Brahmloka, Chandraloka, Indraloka etc. In these lokas, the soul remains in a blissful condition till it exhausts its good merits (accumulated punya), but cannot add to it. After exhausting the good merits, such pious souls take birth in families, where there is great devotion to God. This period can be anywhere between 200-500 earthly years. For souls, one earthly year is equal to one day.

I do not think, Krishna encourages Material Science, it is we people who do it for our comforts and needs. There can never be "too much chanting" due to our fickle mind. If anybody can ever achieve such a state of constant chanting, then it is assured that, he/she is definitely on the path of Moksha.

because, it is not "material" and cannot be sensed by material senses or means. It is Anadi (without the beginning) and Ananat (endless) and existed always. But anything with the form in the material world is perishable and destructible. Certainly, a spirit cannot be destroyed. To show the similarily, the soul is called Spiritsoul.

Bhishma never regretted his decision to be celibate for the entire life. While he brought, the three daughters of Kashiraja, Amba, Ambika and Ambalika to be married to his stepbrother, Vichitravirya, the only king who offered the resistance was, Salva, who loved Ambika. Ambika too loved him. When Bhishma defeated Salva, the latter ran away. Later, when Ambika told Bhishma the fact, he magnanimously allowed her to go back to Salva. However, Salva was humiliated so he refused to marry Ambika and she had nowhere to go. It is then, Ambika cursed Bhishma. In the end, on the battlefield, it was Ambika, reincarnated as Shikhandi (an eunuch) fought with Bhishma and the latter gave up as he would not fight with an eunuch. He would never regret his decision to be celibate certainly not for Ambika.

her a question as,"Do Christians celebrate Janmashtami?" and take it from me, from her answer you would know that, HK devotees are far more magnanimous than christians.

Which character do I choose among the galaxy of stars? Among men, the obvious is eternal relationship between Arjuna and the Lord, Arjuna among the men. Among the women, I find Gandhari the most admirable woman, who was really good at heart and always had her emotions in check. Had Duryodhana listened to her advice, Kurukshetra war would never have happened. Draupadi, is again my favourite for her total devotion to the Lord. Unfortunately, not much is known about the decendents of Pandavas.

I did feel like that many times earlier due to incompatibility with my wife. I used to think about my two kids, who would be loosing their dad. That was a period of great turmoil for me. Luckily, my past meritorius deeds came in handy and my spiritual master asked me to do chanting of the Holy Name. Since then, these thoughts have gone away and I feel much better these days.

This is the perfect example of reincarnation of a soul, which in the previous birth (or births) spent considerable time in learning Sanskrit Grammar and perfected it. That is why, the soul in the present rebirth is unable to control its desire to diplay its hidden talent. At least now, 'scientis' should wake up and take notice of the fact, rebirth.

buckwheat or cream of wheat is definitely not permitted as it amounts to eating wheat in a different form. Most of the people prefer Sabudana, which consists of white round balls of size of Homeopathic pill. These are readily available in the market. Sabudana Khichdi is prepared on Ekadashi day. Soaked sabudana (to your requirement) is mixed with ground nut powder. Some ghee (not oil) is heated in Karahi and Jeera is put in it, when it splatters, green cut chillies are put with some potato pieces. When these things are cooked partilly, soaked sabudana mixed with groundnut powder is added and stirred with salt to taste. It is usually accepted for fast. In south India, (to my horror) people eat even Idlis, Upama (prepared from cream of wheat) and Dashami (Chapatties prepared from wheat flour by mixing it with milk) on fast day. Where is the sense of observing the fast?

Saint=poet Tukaram was initiated in his dream. A brahmin by name Babaji Chaitanya came to him and blessed him and initiated him giving the mantra as "RamKrishna Hari". Some people say this Babaji Chaitanya was none other than Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Any comments?

of the chariot story goes like this. When the war was completed, Lord Krishna asked Arjuna to alight first, who little perplexed alighted. Then Lord alighted, as soon as He did so, the chariot was in flames. When astonished Arjuna asked him about it, the Lord said, due to His presence on the chariot, all the Astras directed on the Arjuna, by various great warriors were ineffective, until He was aboard. Had Lord alighted first, Arjuna would have been burnt to ashes, that is why, Lord asked him to alight first.

When I sit for doing Japa, after some time with my eyes closed, I see faces and figures of humans (like old wrinkled faced men or women, young children) in strange clothing, whom I have never seen or met, could they be my previous births? This has been happening to me for quite some time now.

Unlike Him, we have mortal coil to take care, so we eat heartily. But His body is all spirit and pure consciousness, so He does not eat, rice, chapatti etc.....

Our scriptures give details about, King Parikshit (son of Abhimanyu) and his son, King Janmejaya (who did the snake sacrifice). But there is no mention about the children and grand children of other Pandavas, who were equally great, why? Surely, they must have more children, other than those 5 that were killed by Ashwatthama, in the camp! Any comment?

can certainly be calculated by using the modern scientific technique of Carbon-14 dating. Divers can go down and collect some organic deposits from the bridge, which when accurately tested for the presence of Carbon-14 isotope, would reveal the age of the bridge. Why is this not being tried? Somehow, I feel this must be the same bridge that Prahu Ramchandra's Sena built. Incidentally, when I visited Rameshwaram recently, I saw many small temples, where "floating Stones" were preserved. In fact, they really floated in a small tank. With so many problems on hand, India cannot afford to study her own rich culture.

How can your relatives predict your life span when they do not theirs? About chanting, we should feel that earlier the better. In fact, my wife also says frequently, that she would start japam after 50 years of her age. She considers that, I am wasting my time and not attending to childrens' studies. Frequently we argue over these issues, uselessly! She expects me to be a saint overnight!!! How can this happen? There are Samskaras (impressions) on my soul of thousands of previous births, which cannot be wiped off that easily. Sometimes I get lost in all this struggle of life.