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Showing posts from October, 2012

Ākāśāt Patitaṃ: Many Forms, One Reality

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Adi Shankara: The image that's stayed with me forever Sanskrit and shlokas have always fascinated me. The sheer vastness of Sanskrit literature is humbling. There are enough verses, texts, commentaries and traditions to occupy many lifetimes, and still leave one feeling that one has barely scratched the surface. But I didn't think much about any of this when I was growing up. I would recite shlokas in the morning and evening without fail. They were simply part of life. The words were there, the rituals were there, the temples were there—but much of it happened in the background. I was busy with academics. There was no time for Sanskrit or Vedanta. At least, that is what I used to tell myself. Of course, time was never really the problem. I could spend five days watching a Test match from morning to evening and somehow consider that perfectly legitimate use of my time! The truth was simpler: Sanskrit and Vedanta had not yet become priorities. Gr...

Navarathri - Golu, Sundal and Geometry

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Navarathri Golu It's not unusual for people to get excited about Oktoberfest , the annual beer fest held in Bavaria, Germany.  In the other part of the world, in the month of October, falls the annual Navarathri festival that lasts for 10 days.  Even though the Hindu calendar takes precedence in deciding the date on which Navarathri falls, as far as I can remember, it somehow coincides with the month of October.  Of course, as with every festival in the Indian community, there are many theories as to why we celebrate Navarathri.  One of the Hindu traditions during this period is the exhibition of dolls and clay figurines at home.   This display of dolls is called as Golu . Kondapalli Dasavatharam This year, Hema and I wanted to keep a simple Golu at our California apartment.  Now, moving from Kansas to California is a huge step, simply because of the difference in culture between the mid-west and the far west.  For us, some of the greatest ...