Avadha:nam
Super memory test
When a child tunes his mind to work efficiently in one area, it can perform the same way in any area. Prajna students from India and USA took part in the super memory test in Bhagavad Gi:tha. It is the core and masterpiece of all knowledge. Any other subject will be a piece of cake for them.
The youngest who participated in avadha:nam is of age 7 and the eldest is 45.
- Given the chapter number and sloka number, they can recite that particular sloka
- Given a phrase in a Sloka, they can tell which chapter and sloka that belongs to
- Given a number from 1 to 700, they can recite the sloka corresponding to that number
- Given the beginning phrase of any sloka, they can recite that sloka
- Given the ending phrase of any sloka, they can recite full sloka
- Given a number and any increment number, they can chant that sloka and chant the next sloka in series by the increment number. For example, if we give numbers chapter 1, 34 and 2, the kid can chant the 34th sloka and chant 36th, 38th, 40th, etc. If there are no more slokas in that specific chapter, they move on to the next chapter seamlessly.
- Above step can be done with negative increment too
- … and many more
Paramahamsa, the Supreme Swan
Significance of theppo:tsavam, boat festival
Swan represents an acharya. Greatness of acharya is explained in twofold –
as a savior of God and as a savior of us, the souls.
Savior of God
Sthe:sha:m aham samudbhartha: bhava:mi mruthyu samsara sa:gara:th
God says… I will hold the hands of those who seek my refuge and pull them out of the waters of samsa:ra.
However, at times when God is put in a ‘difficult’ state, acharya steps in. When there are philosophies, ideologies that state God doesn’t exist, or God exists but has no form, no qualities, it is an acharya with authoritative scriptural knowledge who establishes the existence of God, His divine form, the ocean of His innumerable divine qualities. Other philosophies and ideologies come and go, but the proven Vedic wisdom as elaborated by Ramanujacharya is here to stay forever. In a very lucid vigorous prose named Ve:da:rtha Sangraha, he achieves exactly this.
An acharya is represented by a swan because he…
- is pure, like a swan in beautiful white
- can separate essence of knowledge from the rest, like a swan that can separate milk from water
- owns a mesmerizing conduct, like the walk of a swan
Sri Ramachandra learns that He needed an acharya after he met Sabari. She used divine fire to shed her body and reach her acharya’s abode as soon as she completed the work assigned by her acharya to receive Sri Ramachandra. He learnt the importance of acharya and her devotion towards acharya through her. Rama then began to look for such support and that’s when Hanuman steps in.
Savior of us, the souls
Most of us think we believe in God but we don’t. We may have fear, or devotion towards God but belief is hard to attain. We tend to examine God by internally putting Him to test. For example: “If I win this challenge, God exists. If God helps me through this, then I believe him.”
This is declared in Ramayana as well. Sugreeva is looked at as a seeker looking to be relieved from pain (samsa:ra) and attain kinghood (mo:ksha).
Hanuman was with him all the time, but he waited for Sugreeva to seek guidance from him until he thought he could do it all by himself. An acharya waits till a seeker tries things by himself/herself. When it is time, he introduces God to the seeker. Sugreeva puts Rama through some tests like shooting a zig-zag arranged set of 7 trees in one shot, or putting away a demon named Dundubhi and more. Finally, he declares…
lo:kana:thasya ra:masya sakha: da:so:smi ra:kshasa
I am the friend and servant of the LokaNatha Rama,
friend in His opinion and servant in my opinion
*samsa:ra is when you are limited by a body that develops ahamka:ra, ego
and is not utilized in serving Lord
