Happy
New year and my best wishes! I have some interesting things to
announce for this New year.
Saturday, December 31, 2022
Thursday, December 29, 2022
Bhagvat20-Naked man’s Gurus - 5 to13
We were discussing the interesting story of Avadhoota – a totally liberated person who was moving around like a mad man, completely nude. Though Avadhoota had attained the ultimate knowledge, he never had any specific Guru. He imbibed whatever he knew from various sources which he considered as his Gurus. Some of these were not even human.
In the previous episode, we saw 4 of those Gurus namely earth, air, sky, and water. We also saw what Avadhoota learnt from these Gurus. Let us continue with some more of his Gurus in this episode.
Thursday, December 22, 2022
Bhagvat19-Naked man’s 24 Gurus!
Guru is a Sanskrit word which means a teacher – someone who shows you the way. Many of us spend our lifetime searching for a Guru in our spiritual journey. We try to coverup our lazy lifestyle by saying that we have not yet found a proper Guru. And some of us hang on to fake Gurus who mislead more than lead us on the right path. Bhagavata talks of a strange man who claimed that he had not one but 24 Gurus! But most of them were not even human!
Thursday, December 15, 2022
Bhagvat18-Legendary story of Sudama – Krishna’s schoolmate
As we discussed a few episodes ago, Krishna did his schooling in a residential school run by a well-known teacher by name Sandipani. Such residential schools were called Gurukul – literally meaning ‘family of teachers’.
Students lived in such Gurukuls along with their teachers and their family, during the period of their study which could be as long as 12 years. During that period, these students not only studied various subjects but also took part in the day-to-day household activities of the teachers’ family. In a way, it used to be all-round-training.
Thursday, December 8, 2022
Bhagvat17- Killing of Jarasandha
 |
| Jara bringing child Jarasandha |
With
the dual intention of freeing the Kings imprisoned by Jarasandha and
also attending special Rajasuya ritual organized by Yudhishthira,
Krishna and his entourage reaches Indraprastha. It would have taken
several days for them to travel from western end of India to almost
Northern end.
Thursday, December 1, 2022
Bhagvat16- A typical day in Krishna’s life!
Krishna has left behind his naughty childhood days. And also, the playful youthful days. He is a mature person now, married and also with several children. Though he was not the King, for all practical purposes, he worked like the representative of aging King Ugrasena – his maternal grand father.
Have you ever wondered how a King or Prime minister or President of a country spends his typical day? Here is a short snap shot that Vyasa provides.
Thursday, November 24, 2022
Bhagvat15- Krishna accused of stealing a Gem!
While he was in Gokul, as a mischievous kid, Krishna was often accused of stealing butter. As he grew into a young man, people accused him of stealing the hearts of young girls. He was now an adult and the prince of Dwarika. But accusations of stealing never left Krishna. And now, he was faced with the accusation of stealing an expensive Gem. What is this new story?
Thursday, November 17, 2022
Bhagvat14- Krishna-Rukmini: A strange love story
Krishna was now in Dwarika. He was no more the boy of Mathura. He had grown into an adult. Naturally, like all human beings he too fell for the cupid’s arrows. That is, he too fell in love like a typical human being. But it was not a one-sided story. Nor was it a smooth love affair. Let us discuss this love story in this episode.
Friday, November 11, 2022
NewBook: The Threads that lead to the Divine
The book that I am going to announce today is not really a new book. I had started working on it 2 years ago, but I was not very comfortable giving a final shape to it. It is about a highly revered ancient Indian scripture, or shall I say the most controversial one. It is highly revered since it is supposed to put down in clear terms, everything about Brahma or God. I am terming it controversial since the same book has been used to justify diametrically opposite view points by many great Indian philosophers.
Thursday, November 10, 2022
Bhagvat13- Yadavas migrate to Dwarika
We were discussing events in Mathura after Kamsa was killed by Krishna. Kamsa’s father-in-law, namely Jarasandha was furious about the killing of Kamsa. He wanted to wipe out the entire Yadava clan to which Krishna belonged to avenge Kamsa’s death.
Thursday, November 3, 2022
Bhagvat12- Mathura after Kamsa’s death
 |
| Uddhav meeting the cowherd girls |
After freeing Mathura from the clutches of the tyrant Kamsa, Krishna installed Ugrasena – Kamsa’s father, as the King of Mathura.
Thursday, October 27, 2022
Bhagvat11- Krishna in Mathura
 |
| Krishna curing Trivarka |
When
Krishna and Balarama were going around in the majestic city of
Mathura, they came across two types of people.
There were some who were close admirers of Kamsa and loyal to him. They tried to slight Krishna in whatever way they could. But there was a vast silent majority who suffered a lot from the tyrant Kamsa. They were quite jubilated to see Krishna. They had heard so many heroic stories about Krishna that they were hoping that Krishna would free them from the oppressor Kamsa.
Thursday, October 20, 2022
Bhagvat10- Kamsa invites Krishna to Mathura!
 | |
| Akrura lands in Vrindavan with an invite from Kamsa |
Were you surprised?
The Kamsa, who was all along doing everything possible to kill Krishna, how could he think of inviting Krishna to Mathura? Was he repenting for whatever wrongs he did against Krishna? Was he thinking of patching up with Krishna to avoid his death in Krishna’s hands? Or was his wicked mind scheming for something very big?
Friday, October 14, 2022
NewBook: The Man the Most Attractive
The Krishna’s story that you have been listening to for the past few weeks is now in a book form – e-book, Paperback as well as audio. Each format has its own advantages.
Thursday, October 13, 2022
Bhagvat09- Was Krishna a flirtatious boy?
In the previous episode, we saw how Vyasa apparently portrayed Krishna as a flirtatious boy.
More than getting into the historicity of the incident narrated in the previous episode, I am more curious as to why Vyasa included such an incident in the Bhagavata. Did Vyasa really want to portray Krishna as a flirtatious boy?
Thursday, October 6, 2022
Bhagvat08- Krishna – A darling of cowherd girls
Krishna is often portrayed as a ‘lover boy’! Probably, in any other religion, thinking about God as a lover boy is blasphemous! But not so for most Indians.
They enjoy looking at Krishna as a very flirtatious, and even sometimes as a person who goes beyond all socially accepted norms when it comes to ‘love’.
Thursday, September 29, 2022
Bhagvat07- Krishna moves to Vrindavan
 |
| Krishna in Vrindavan |
Child Krishna seemed to be always getting into problems. When he was a small kid, the cruel ogress Putana tried to kill him. When he survived that attempt, a cart almost fell on the cradle in which he was sleeping. But he escaped unhurt. As Krishna grew up, there were more such calamities which seemed as if planned by someone to kill him.
Thursday, September 22, 2022
Bhagvat06- Pranks of child Krishna
All mothers complain about the naughtiness of their children. But which mother does not want her child to be naughty? In fact, all mothers just enjoy it. More tantrums the child throws, more the mother likes it! Imagine a child very serious like an adult. He is no longer a kid 😉
Thursday, September 15, 2022
Bhagvat05- Baby Krishna in Gokul
We were discussing how God arrived on earth in human form. He took birth as the eighth son of Devaki and Vasudeva in a prison cell, where they were imprisoned by the wicked Kamsa. As it turned out, Vasudeva shifted the newborn to Gokul, where his friend Nandagopa’s wife had just given birth to a female child. He exchanged that kid with his own and returned back to the prison.
Thursday, September 8, 2022
Bhagvat04- Krishna descends on earth!
That was the dark fortnight of the rainy month of Sravana. It was almost middle of the night. The moon had not yet risen. The sky was pitch dark. There were lightning and thunder storms, followed by torrential rains. The river Yamuna had flooded.
Kamsa was taking rest in his palace, unable to fall asleep. He knew very well that any moment Devaki was going to give birth to her eighth child. The taunting tone of the ‘voice from skies’ was still reverberating in his ears. Will it really happen? He kept thinking. He tried to fall asleep, reassuring himself that nothing of that sort could happen since both Vasudeva and Devaki were imprisoned in a high security prison guarded by his trusted soldiers.
But...
Saturday, September 3, 2022
Quick update: Addition of new ‘share’ and ‘follow’ buttons
In response to request from many of my readers/listeners I have added share buttons on each of my blog pages to share the page on whatsapp or telegram in addition to other channels. These buttons appear either on the left margin – in the case of desktop viewing, or page bottom – in the case of mobile viewing.
Thursday, September 1, 2022
Bhagvat03- Good news! God is coming!
The Bhagavata contains lot of stories about incarnations of God. One of them, namely that of incarnation as Krishna is what I am going to narrate in this series.
Bhagavata depicts quite a dramatic prelude to the ‘God coming to earth’.
Thursday, August 25, 2022
Bhagvat02- Is God relevant today ?
That could be a bit controversial question to raise 😉
We come across more and more people who firmly deny the need for any God in today’s circumstances.
As always, I would like to analyze this issue rather than outright take any position.
Thursday, August 18, 2022
Bhagvat01- Vyasa’s predicament
Today I am going to start a new series of short talks based on the Indian scripture namely the Bhagavata Purana. This is a scripture comprising of stories about God Vishnu in many of his Avatars or incarnations. The word Vishnu literally means – someone who is all pervasive.
Who can be all pervasive, but God? That way, Vishnu is not limited to God of some sect of Indians, nor some specific religion. He is the God of any God centric religion. His reach is beyond sects, beyond religions, and even beyond India.
Tuesday, July 26, 2022
Quick sampling of all my audiobooks
First of all, let me apologize for not speaking to you for the past few weeks. I am going through some voice related issues, and I prefer to remain silent for some time. I hope to get back to you as early as possible.
I have a short announcement to make. I have made sampling of all my audiobooks simple. This will help you in deciding to choose the right book for you in a matter of minutes without switching sites and product pages. This is a small but powerful addition to UBL of my books.
Tuesday, June 14, 2022
Veda51- That indeed was a long journey!
The journey I am referring to is both the journey of our ancestors over thousands of years as well a journey that I took you along for the past several episodes talking about that.
Tuesday, June 7, 2022
Veda50- Let us dream, but not nightmares!
We have been discussing about Upanishadic truths and how different people view them. I personally go by the obvious meaning of the Upanishads without resorting to any mental gimmicks. I do it not just because I revere the Upanishads but also for the reason that the idea of unification as put forth by the Upanishads has a deeper implication in our lives.
Tuesday, May 31, 2022
Veda49- Don’t entangle yourself in a web of contradictions
I had a friend who believed firmly in the theory of Maya talked about by modern Advaitis. This elderly gentleman used to drive a long distance just to meet me and engage me in a lively debate. He somehow wanted to convince me that this world is an illusion and all that exists is just Atma and nothing else!
Tuesday, May 24, 2022
Veda48- Just surrender to the boss!
Advaitis who propagate the theory of illusion or Maya have a tough time explaining many mundane things they keep doing. Most of these people indulge in worship of some deity or sometimes even their own preceptors who are deified!
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