Jahnava Nitai Das

It is written in sanskrit and says "namaste". namah - "obeisances", te - "to you"

Red sand stone is often used in Orissa. In South they use a black stone, but I don't know the name.

Please post a photo if you have one. Thank you.

this is a test, please ignore.

testing.............

The present Rig Veda consists of 10,600 verses, whereas the Puranas state there are 1 crore verses. Thus the Vedas are 95% lost in modern times.

The Vedas are 95% lost. What we have left are the remnants.

I would just like to add one name to the list, that is Jaya Radhe Dasi, who passed away in the first few years of the forum. I think all the old timers know her. A very nice devotee and disciple of Prabhupada.

Please email it to me: bvashram {at} gmail {dot} com. I think many would be interested in that, so maybe I can send it to our email newsletter list. I think I saw that in BTG 10 years ago. I tore it out and kept it in a box somewhere, where it is still sitting.

Thanks to you as well. You were there from day one and have participated more than anyone else.

Here is a great website. It's the "care for cows" goshala website based in Vrindavan. They take care of injured, sick and abandoned cows from the streets of Vrindavan (the land of Lord Krishna). I have visited their goshala, and it is one of the greatest things I have seen. They really take care of these abandoned cows for life. Some of the cows come with very serious injuries from car accidents or attacks from wild dogs, but they treat them with modern medical equipment to help them recover, and then they maintain them for their entire lives. Home | Care for Cows in Vrindavan You can download their latest newsletters (in PDF format) here: http://careforcows.org/downloads/newsletters_0

Here is a website I came across today that provides some simple lessons to teach yourself to play the Bengali clay Mridanga: Forum ‎(Mridanga, the drum)‎

Sometime on August 8th we will be switching the forums to read only mode, which means it will no longer be possible to post new replies or new threads. After a month we will review the status, but it is likely that the forums will not be reopening after this. Thank you to everyone who has participated here over the years, and especially to those of you who have been here from the beginning (10 years ago). If you want to maintain contact with any of the other posters, please contact them by PM within the next few days to get their email IDs, so that you can continue communicating with them.

Agastya is definitely a siddha rishi, but don't let what some newspaper writes make you doubt him. Nowadays they write anything they like to get readers. They make up deities, like half hanuman/half ganesh in Madhya Kailash temple. Every week they need to come up with something spectacular to impress the readers, so they resort to making up all sorts of stories.

Do as you like. In South Indian temples 108 Shankha abhishekam is common in Shiva temples. Everyone should follow their sampradaya. For example, you can see here a temple in Madurai advertising 108 Shankhabhishekam for Pradosham puja to Lord Shiva: /message/11434 You can also see Thirukkadavur Shiva temple near Kumbhakonam, where Markandeya Rishi performed Shankhabhishekam to Lord Shiva, and a Shankha Mandapam still exists there to commemorate the history: http://www.indianetzone.com/5/tirukkadavur_temple.htm

Bhakti is the most important aspect. Any stone when worshipped becomes a shivalinga. I have seen sadhus worshipping stones that no one would think is a shivalinga. By worship Shiva enters it and His presence is manifested. The scriptures always speak about something being millions of times better than something else. It is kind of cryptic because you have to read through it. Millions of times better in what way? A car can drive millions of times better than a plane, but a plane isn't meant for driving, so the comparison is meaningless.

Each sampradaya will have different rules. Need to follow which ever sampradaya one belongs to.

P.S. Later you can add anga nyasa, kara nyasa, kavacham, sahasranama, etc.

Each sampradaya will have their own system of worship, some complex and some simple. Start simple and then add things as you go. Bathe with panchamrita (5 nectars: milk, ghee, yoghurt, sugar water and honey). The bathing utensils/pots should not be used for other things, and should especially never have been eaten from. If you can get a conchshell for pouring the liquids its good, but not necessary. While bathing you can chant om nama shivaya, or Rudram Chamakam, or you can play a CD of Shiva mantras so you can concentrate more on the service. Last bathe with plain water to remove all of the sticky ingredients. Dry him with a soft cloth reserved for this purpose. Then apply sandalwood past on him, usually three lines across or "Om". Real sandalwood paste is pretty rare. What they sell today as sandalwood paste is some powder that smells nice. You can use that, or if you like you can get real sandalwood powder, which will be available from government shops in Tamil Nadu like Khadi Gramod Bhavan, or Pumpuhar. Offer some flowers to him, and decorate him with flowers. Then perform arati to him with incense, lamp (it could be camphor or ghee whick lamps), flowers, etc. This part depends on which sampradaya you come in. In North India they have a different system of arati then in South India. After finishing arati, you prayer to Shiva to forgive you for the mistakes you made in the worship, and then you should bow down to him and this completes the Puja. Swami Shivananda suggests you spend 10 minutes sitting chanting after the puja to absorb positive energies rather than immediately leaving to do wordly activities.

In general I would be hesitant to use a Parada Shiva Linga, since it could lead to blood poisoning. There is supposed to be an ancient method by which the mercury becomes medicinal instead of poisonous, but I wouldn't take the chance, since most of these items are manufactured for sale (no ancient method is used). If worshipping a Parada Shiva Linga, at least don't drink the abhisheka water.

Nowadays pure sesame oil is almost the same cost as ghee. 1 liter of Idhayam brand sesame oil (a company that doesnt mix anything else with it) costs something like 160 rs, compared to 190 rs for government certified ghee.

The problem is that the companies producing the ghee are mixing animal fat into the ghee since animal fat costs much less to produce than real ghee. So you can't believe the labels. Nearly any ghee manufactured in India except for the ones mentioned above have between 15% and 50% animal fat dilution. This has been confirmed by laboratory tests. Any ghee marketed for "puja" will have even more dilution, since it is not directed for for human consumption.

Another quote Prabhupada uses in Bhagavad Gita is "man proposes and God disposes". Some background on that quote: man proposes but god disposes quotation

Buy only government brand ghees such as Omfed, Avin and Amul. These have been tested in a laboritory by devotees and found to contain no animal fat. Amul scored the best. Among private ghees Britania and Nilgiris contained no animal fat (at the time of testing, who knows now), but both were diluted with vegetable fat in small quantities. Over all I would suggest sticking to the government brands, as there will be some level of inspection involved and lab tests indicated they were the most pure.

You can try Krishnaculture.com, maybe email them directly, as they may not list all the products they have.