श्री जाहरवीर गोगाजी महाराज

श्री जाहरवीर गोगाजी महाराज

(13 अगस्त / गोगा जी के जन्मदिवस पर विशेष)

जाहरवीर चौहान राजस्थान के वीर योद्धाओं में गिने जाते हैं। लोग उन्हें गोगाजी, वीर गोगाराणा, गुग्गा वीर, जाहरवीर, गोगा महाराज, राजा मण्डलिक आदि नामों से भी पुकारते हैं। जाहरवीर चौहान का जन्म राजस्थान में चूरू जिले के ददरेवा में चौहान वंश के शासक जेवरसिंह की पत्नी महारानी बाछल के गर्भ से भाद्रपद मास के कृष्ण पक्ष की नवमी तिथि 935 ई० को हुआ था। गोगा वीर ने बहुत कम समय में ही अस्त्र-शस्त्र विद्याओं का प्रशिक्षण प्राप्त कर लिया था। चौहान वंश में महाराज पृथ्वीराज चौहान के बाद जाहरवीर चौहान परम प्रतापी और भारतवर्ष में ख्याति प्राप्त राजा थे। उनका राज्य हरियाणा, राजस्थान, मध्य प्रदेश, उत्तर प्रदेश तक फैला था। भारतीय इतिहासकारों ने उनके जीवन को शौर्यता, वीरता, पराक्रम, धर्म परायण एवं धर्म रक्षा के लिए उच्च आदर्शों का प्रतीक माना है।

गोगा जी ने सोमनाथ पर आक्रमण करने वाले महमूद गज़नवी जैसे आततायी लुटेरों की सेना के छक्के छुड़ा दिए थे। आपका बड़ा बेटा सज्जन चौहान गज़नवी की सेनाओं को मरुस्थल में रास्ते से भटकाकर शत्रुओं का नाश कर दिया था और स्वयं भी शहीद हो गया था। गोगा जी के 21 पुत्रों, 46 पौत्रों एवं 108 प्रपौत्रों ने इस युद्ध में अपना बलिदान दिया था। चार पीढ़ियों का बलिदान एक साथ हुआ। मुगल शासकों के राज्य में आपके पराक्रम की चर्चा इतनी फैल गयी थी कि फिरोजशाह को आपके मुसलमान होने की अफवाह फैलानी पड़ी थी।

गोगा जी एक वीर योद्धा के साथ ही सच्चे गौभक्त भी थे। यहां तक कि गौ रक्षा के लिए आपको अपने चचेरे-मौसेरे भाईयों अरजन व सरजन से युद्ध करना पड़ा था। युद्ध में अरजन और सरजन मारा गया। आपकी माता बाछल अपने भानजों के मारे जाने से दुःखी हुईं और आपको ददेरवा छोड़कर जाने का आदेश दे दिया था। माताजी के आदेश का पालन करते हुए आपने अपना राज्य खुशी-खुशी त्याग दिया।

आपने हिन्दू धर्म की संस्कृति की रक्षा, गौ सेवा और राज्य की रक्षा के लिए अपना सर्वस्व अर्पण कर दिया था। ऐसे वीर योद्धा को शत शत नमन!

xoxo

Goddes Lakshmi Pada

These are supposed to be feet of Goddess Lakshmi bringing in prosperity. These are specially put on Diwali outside our houses into the main doorway towards our Pooja (prayer) room,

as if she is entering our house bringing prosperity and wealth.

 

 

 

nav raatraa puja pics

We light akhand jyoti that keeps burning throughout the nine days of Navratri

  This jyoti represents the immense devotion for Goddess Durga. 

It is also a message to the devotees to never lose hope even in worst circumstances just like the little diya lights even the darkest places. It also shows that devotion will bring the light of knowledge in your life. 

According to 'mantra-mahodadhi'-'Deepam ghrut yutam dakshe, tel yutah ch vamatah'       Meaning: Diya with ghee should be kept on the right hand side of the Goddess and the oil lit diya should be kept on the left hand side of the Goddess. 

The akhand jyoti should be kept burning throughout the nine days. Keep a small diya in case you need to add oil or move the wicker of the akhand jyoti then light the small lamp with the akhand jyoti and keep it aside.

If in any case the akhand jyoti blows out then I  use the small lamp to light it again. Also I make sure to blow out the small lamp by dipping it in ghee.

Navratri, Puja  at my  tiny corner 

Barley grass and Diya 

Happy day!!!!

Navaratri Invokes The Moving Force

Today is the navamy of 

Navaratri 

We float in the effulgence of one scintillating unseen cosmic energy called the ‘Devi,’ Divine Mother, womb of all creation. She is the seed of all dynamism, radiance, beauty, equanimity, peace and nourishment. She is the life force energy.

Devi, as Goddess Durga is epitomised as Shakti who wards off all evil. Durga also means hill. Something difficult is often described as an uphill task. In the presence of Durga Shakti, negative forces fade away.

Durga is referred to as ‘Jaya Durga’ or the one who brings jai or victory. She is Durgatipariharini – one who removes obstacles. She transforms negativity into positivity. Even difficulties find it difficult to come near her.

When you pray to Mother Divine as Durga, you become courageous, victorious and compassionate. That is the beauty of the Divine as mother. She nourishes all qualities, nurturing the positive. It is like collecting good luck. For example, when you are with the mother  all ‘goodies’ are available. We become meritorious and we gain power to manifest good luck and hold or sustain it as well. Many times life may shower you with courage, prosperity and abundance but your ability to hold and transform this energy into happiness and compassion is lacking. Navaratri is a special time to pray to Durga to have all these qualities together – uniting and harmonising –magnifying and inculcating it in one’s life.

If we are always victorious but not happy it is of no use. Similarly, if we are always making efforts but never succeeding, that is also frustrating. Durga energy can give you all this together. All qualities are available to you as one unit.  We pray to Durga for all these qualities to be instilled in our consciousness,  bringing physical well being,  material fulfillment and spiritual uplift.

Durga is associated with the colour red. She is depicted wearing a red saree. Red is the colour of dynamism – a bright attitude, the ‘moving’ energy. You may be trained and skilled but if you are not able to move things together, move people  or your efforts in unison, the fruits are delayed. But when you pray to Durga, she makes this possible.  The fruit is immediate.

The Mother Divine is Prakriti or this entire creation. Everything is creation is made up of three gunas or qualities: Sattva, rajas and tamas. Sattva is associated with calmness, clarity of mind, enthusiasm and peace. Rajas is needed for action but often creates feverishness. Tamas is inertia and an imbalance in tamas can lead to laziness, dullness and even depression. When you handle tamas properly you move into sattva. Every being in this creation is caught in the play of the gunas. How does one come out of this cycle, and transcend them?

Raise your sattva and come out of the cycle through proper meditation, silence and food control. Transcending the gunas, one gets established in the Shiva tattva or the pure and infinite consciousness. Prakriti is full of opposites like night and day, heat and cold, pain and pleasure, joy and sorrow. Rising above opposites, transcending duality, once again the Shiva tattva is attained.

This is the purpose of all pujas and other rituals during Navratri -- to manifest the unmanifest and unseen energy, the Durga Shakti,  by whose grace one can transcend the gunas and attain the supreme, undivided, indivisible, pure, infinite consciousness click here for further reading.

Happy Day!

Raksha_Bandhan...

Today is the day for Raksha_Bandhan my niece tying rakhi' to my son

The 'rakhi' is a symbolic bond between two persons. It has similarities to the friendship band that is used to remind someone of close ties with the other person. It also is a chance to exhibit artistic flair. The rakhi comes in different shapes and designs. The strands that make up the string can be shiny, entwined with different coloured strands. A main mounted part if present also showcases themes of mystic symbols arranged in beautiful styles using textures, materials, colours, shapes and sometime fragrance. It looks like jewellery but it is not. Accepting a rakhi is respecting it and not stealing it which is less likely since it is inexpensive further means that one is respecting it.

happy festive day!!!

Gods and GoddessesMa luksmi --Ma Lakshmi

Ma Lakshmi 

Lakshmi 

The Hindu goddess of beauty, wealth, and prosperity who is the consort of Vishnu, the preserver of the universe. She is often represented as a beautiful young women with four arms sitting or standing on a lotus bud. Her four arms symbolize the four goals of human life: artha (worldly wealth and success), kama (pleasure and desire), dharma (righteousness), and moksha (knowledge and liberation from the cycle of birth and death). She is usually shown clasping a lotus flower, a symbol of purity and fertility, in her two back hands, while gold coins, signs of wealth, tumble from one or both of her front hands. Lakshmi’s association with prosperity is also emphasized by her dress, an elaborate sari often red with gold embroidery, and the fine jewelry that adorns her. Since Hindus believe Lakshmi can bestow good fortune and well-being on the family, she is a common household deity and the focus of worship during the festival of Diwali.

Have a lovely Day! 

Delight the eye with thuja, OM The Ultimate

my thuja today

Evergreen conifers delight the eye in any season, they are especially great among the snow in the winter when there is no greenery in the garden.

Thuja is the most unpretentious of conifers. It grows well on sunny places, fits perfectly in any garden landscape. This one was the first Thuja in my front yard and in the pot only. I planted it in front balcony  of the my house and Thuja loved  this place. Now it's taller than me. 

Significance of OM 

Significance and Importance of Om (AUM) : In Hinduism the most sacred words is Om It signifies the super conscious Brahman or the Non dual singularity which occupies the whole "Jagat" or Universe.

OM  The Ultimate

The most sacred single syllable in the entire literature of Hinduism is OM.

Those who know the soul, and those who do not know the soul, stand side by side reciting this syllable. But knowledge and ignorance are quite different. Only when it is recited with knowledge and faith, and with awareness of the hidden connections, does it become truly potent.

Chandogya Upanishad 1:1

OM  represents the wholeness of the universe and the eternal sound of Brahman (the universal soul) that permeates it. All Hindu mantras generally begin and often also end with OM. It has been frequently mentioned in the Vedas and offer scriptures of Hinduism.

This mystic symbol is also the most powerful Hindu mantra. It is composed of five elements: the syllables a, u, m, the dot or bindu and sound (nada). All aspects of speech are believed to have originated from this word.

Om first appears in the Upanishads as a mystic monosyllable and is regarded as the seed or basis of all mantras.

According to the Mandukya Upanishad, the past, present and the future are all included in this one sound and all that exists beyond these three forms of time is also implied in it. In fact this entire Upanishad deals with the understanding and symbolism of Om.

Those in whom Aum resides are unified with God. Taittiriya Upanishad 1:8

The syllable OM, can also be spelled as AUM. According to one interpretation:

•           “A” stands for creation,

•           “U” stands for preservation, and

•           “M” indicates destruction or dissolution.

OM 

 Om Namah Shivaya! This mantra is considered to be The King of all matras. It was for centuries considered to be a secret. Often a guru would wait for years to disclose this mantra (another mantra) to a devotee until a devotee was considered worthy of such a gift. Further, it was considered to be for the East and was not known to be disclosed, substantially, to the West perhaps at all until around 1970’s.

Om was said to be the first sound to have come from the creator's mouth. Its sound is said to be the foundation of all sounds.

'A' is the root sound produced without touching any part of the tongue or palate, 'm' represents the last sound in the series, being pronounced by closed lips. Between these two sounds exist all others. The three constituents of Om also represent the deities of the Trimurti: 'a' represents Vishnu, 'u' Shiva and 'm' Brahma. Hence it also represents creation, preservation and destruction. Because of this mystic importance, Om is uttered at the commencement of all prayers and religious ceremonies and at the beginning of all mantras

OM 

The priest begins worship with Aum. Spiritual teachers begin their lessons with Aum; and their disciples open themselves to those lessons with Aum.Om is also the mantra that yogis meditate with. Saying it aloud at the beginning or end of a lesson on Veda ensures that the student retains the knowledge imparted.

Om is now one of the best known, most used symbol of Hinduism.

OM represents the wholeness of the universe and the eternal sound of Brahman (the universal soul) that permeates it. All Hindu mantras generally begin and often also end with OM. It has been frequently mentioned in the Vedas and offer scriptures of Hinduism.

Aum is the supreme symbol of God. Aum is the whole. Aum affirms. Aum is the sound which expresses all truth.

Have a Lovely day!!!

God’s and Goddesses I used to pray Part 3..........

Shiva  MY Isht Deva

Shiva

Shiva, known as the destroyer, is the third of the principal gods of the Hindu. The triad's two other gods are Brahma, the creator of the universe, and Vishnu, the preserver of the universe. Hindus believe that Shiva periodically destroys the world in order to recreate it and is the source of both good and evil.

Shiva is depicted in many forms and known by 1,008 names, which are detailed in the Shiva Purana. He is often presented with a blue face and throat; long, dark matted hair; and holds a trident, which corresponds to the functions of the Hindu triumvirate. His forehead is anointed with three horizontal lines in white ash and may also feature a third eye, a symbol of wisdom and untamed energy. Among the most ancient representations of Shiva is as a lingum, a phallic statue that symbolizes his progenitive powers, and as a yogi, seated cross-legged in meditation dressed in a loincloth or simple animal skin.

Figures of a dancing shaman/deity with trident bangles and an animal headdress has been found on prehistoric wall paintings in Central India and though this is disputed, many scholars see a proto-Shiva as depicted on seals from the Indus Valley civilization. When depicted in the pose of the cosmic dancer, Nataraja (or Lord of the Dance), Shiva's dual nature is manifest in a single image, for his dance is believed to both destroy and restore the universe. He is also the ideal family man and husband when shown with his wife, the goddess Parvati, and his two sons, Ganesha and Skanda.

Many Hindus worship Shiva as the supreme and all-powerful deity and are part of the Shaivism sect. As a mark of their devotion, Shaivite ascetics smear their bodies with ash, keep their hair uncut, and carry a trident.

Her is the Part1 and  Part 2 of the series God’s and Goddesses I used to pray.

Have a Read!