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Sanat Kumara is one of the four sons created from the mind of Lord Brahma the creator. Once while meditating in Brahma Loka (Abode of Lord Brahma), he had a vision of fighting against the Asuras. Being a Bramha Jnani (A Self realised soul) who has transcended all the pair of opposites, he was perplexed and wanted an answer from Lord Brahma. The Lord explained that as a Brahmana in his previous birth, he had witnessed Asuras destroying his ashram and in his anger he wanted to destroy them. That thought is the reason behind this dream. The Lord assured him that there may be a purpose behind this dream since the dream of a Jnani should come true.

Later, once Lord Shiva and Parvati visited Brahma Loka. Lord Brahma welcomed them with great reverence and happiness. Unmoved by the Lord’s divine presence Sanat Kumara continued his meditation. Lord Shiva was very much pleased by his Brahma Jnanam and blessed him with a boon of his choice. Sanat Kumara politely declined it as he had no need for a boon. Then Lord Shiva asked him to grant a boon for himself which he immediately agreed upon. Lord Shiva asked him to be born as his son which was accepted by Sanat Kumara on a condition that he should be born to Shiva alone without the involvement of Mother Parvati as Lord Shiva was the one who asked for the boon. Parvati Devi was immensely annoyed by this request but got pacified as she realised that there was a purpose behind this.

Lord Subrahmanya was born from the six sacred sparks emanated from the divine third eye of Shiva in the month of Vaishaka and his birth star was Vishaka. The fire god Agni carried the sparks and deposited them in the Sharavana pond and six divine babies were born in a lotus flower who were nursed by six celestial Karthika women. Later Mother Parvati hugged them all and they turned into one child with six faces.

We may have often wondered how education was in ancient India?  What was the system and what process was followed? How was the teacher-student relationship?

The answer is that education was a collaborative effort between the teacher and the student where both the teacher and student seeked to be uplifted. This is depicted in the famous ‘Sahana-vavatu’ chant which used to be chanted before their joint study.

सह नाववतु | सह नौ भुनक्तु | सह वीर्यं करवावहै |
तेजस्वि नावधीतमस्तु मा विद्विषावहै ||

Let us understand the meaning in detail,

सह नाववतु | सह नौ भुनक्तु |
Please protect we both together (teacher & student). Please nourish we both together (teacher & student).

सह – Together
नौ – We both
अवतु – Please protect
भुनक्तु – Please nourish

सह वीर्यं करवावहै |
Together may we both accomplish great valiant tasks.

तेजस्वि नावधीतमस्तु
May our joint study be filled with radiance.

मा विद्विषावहै
May there not be any difference of opinion/dispute between us.

1) अगजानन पद्मार्कं गजाननम् अहर्निशम् |
अनेकदं तं भक्तानाम् एकदन्तं उपास्महे ||

‘Aga’ means the mountain which does not move. ‘Agajaa’ refers to someone who is born from the mountain.  We know that Goddess Parvati is born to the mountain king and hence the reference in the first line is to her.  Seeing Gajanana (her son Ganesha) day & night , the face of Goddess Parvati lights up just like a lotus opens up to a ray of sunlight (Padma- lotus & Arka – sunbeam).

We worship such a person, Lord Ganesha who is single tusked (Ekadanta) and a giver of plenty (Anekada) for his devotees.

2) वक्रतुण्ड महाकाय सूर्यकोटिसमप्रभ |
निर्विघ्नं कुरु मे देव सर्वकार्येषु सर्वदा ||

O Lord Ganesha ! (who has a curved trunk, a huge body and whose radiance is similar to that of a crore suns ), please remove obstacles in all my tasks and at all times.

3) गजाननं भूतगणाधिसेवितम् |
कपित्थजम्बुफलसारभक्षितम् |
उमासुतं शोकविनाशकारणं |
नमामि विघ्नेश्वरपादपङ्कजम् ||

I pay my respect to the lotus feet of Lord Vigneshwara (Ganesha) who is worshipped by the Ganas, who enjoys the juice of various types of apples (Kapittha & Jambu), who is the son of Goddess Uma (Goddess Parvati) and who causes the removal of all grief.

What are the qualities that we should strive to possess and what are the qualities that we should avoid? Lord Krishna in Chapter 12 of Bhagavad Gita has explained this in great detail.

अद्वेष्टा सर्वभूतानां मैत्रः करुण एव च ।
निर्ममो निरहंकारः समदुःखसुखः क्षमी ॥१२- १३॥

One who is free from envy, who is friendly and compassionate towards all beings, who does not have the feeling of ‘mine’ & ‘I’, who is equal in happiness and sadness and who is tolerant and forgiving is dear to me.

संतुष्टः सततं योगी यतात्मा दृढनिश्चयः ।
मय्यर्पितमनोबुद्धिर्यो मद्भक्तः स मे प्रियः ॥१२  १४॥

One who is always happy, self-restrained, determined, who has offered his mind and intellect to me, such a devotee is dear to me.

यस्मान्नोद्विजते लोको लोकान्नोद्विजते च यः।
हर्षामर्षभयोद्वेगैर्मुक्तो यः स च मे प्रियः ॥१२- १५॥

The world does not fear him and he in turn does not fear the world, he who is free from feelings of happiness, anger, fear and anxiety, such a person is dear to me.

अनपेक्षः शुचिर्दक्ष उदासीनो गतव्यथः ।
सर्वारम्भपरित्यागी यो मद्भक्तः स मे प्रियः ॥१२- १६॥

One who has no expectations, who is pure internally and externally, who is wise and impartial, who is free from grief, who has renounced the sense of doership in all actions, such a devotee is dear to me.

यो न हृष्यति न द्वेष्टि न शोचति न काङ्क्षति।
शुभाशुभपरित्यागी भक्तिमान्यः स मे प्रियः ॥१२- १७॥

One who does not rejoice, does not hate, does not grieve, does not desire, who has renounced thoughts of auspiciousness or otherwise, who is full of devotion, such a person is dear to me.

समः शत्रौ च मित्रे च तथा मानापमानयोः ।
शीतोष्णसुखदुःखेषु समः सङ्गविवर्जितः ॥१२- १८

One who is equally disposed towards enemies and friends, who is level headed in  receiving respect and dis-honour, one who is the same in ‘cold’ and ‘ heat’, happiness and sadness, one who is free from attachment, such a person is dear to me.

तुल्यनिन्दास्तुतिर्मौनी सन्तुष्टो येन केनचित् ।
अनिकेतः स्थिरमतिर्भक्तिमान्मे प्रियो नरः ॥१२- १९॥

One who is balanced in criticism and praise, silent and contemplative, who is happy with what he has, who is unattached to his dwelling place, who is firm minded and full of devotion, such a person is dear to me.

मूकं करोति वाचालं पङ्गुं लङ्घयते गिरिं ।
यत्कृपा तमहं वन्दे परमानन्द माधवम् ॥

MOOKAM KAROTI VAACHAALAM PANGGUM LANGGHAYATE GIRIM | 

YATKRUPAA TAMAHAM VANDE PARAMAANANDA MAADHAVAM ||
MEANING: Salutations to Lord Maadhava, the ever blissful Lord by whose grace the dumb can  also become well versed in speech and oratory skills, the lame can cross mountains.

Kalidas, the great poet who wrote great epics like Abhijnanana Shakuntala, Kumaara Sambhavam was a foolish and lazy person in his childhood and used to sleep in the nearby Kaali temple.He was foolish enough to cut the same branch of the tree he was sitting. A passer by told him that he may fall down and get hurt by this foolish act of his. Such a person became a very intelligent person by the grace of Goddess Kaali.

Ratnaakar, a dacoit was turned into a great soul by the grace of God and became Valmiki and wrote Ramaayana, the great epic. If you go through history many a person rising to great heights with the help of divine blessing. Nothing is possible or impossible without God’s helping hand. God in his infinite generosity stands by the devotee who has immense faith and trust. If we achieve something in life, one should always remember that it is not by one’s intelligence, but the grace of God that has made him rise to this height.
In  our day today life we have seen many people who were highly respected in yesteryears suddenly fall from grace by their misdeeds and even get imprisoned. In Mahabharata Vidhura says, O my wealth coveting foolish soul, when will you succeed in emancipating yourself from the desire for wealth?. It can never bring happiness but only miseries.

The Lord prescribes everyone to follow the Dharmic path as per Sanaatana Dharma or Eternal Righteouness. If one follows this Dharmic path as prescribed by God then one is considered to be tolerant. This is described further and explained by Lord Krishna in this shloka of Vishnu Sahsranaama as follows:

Na krodho na cha matsaryam

Na lobho na shubha matihihi|

Bhavanti kruta punyaanaam

Bhaktaanaam purushotame ||

MEANING: In this Lord Krishna declares that those who are meditating on God or worshipping God without the negative feelings of anger, jealousy, greed and inauspiciousness for others will be blessed with His divine grace. One should get rid of the evils in one’s mind and worship the Lord with a pure mind to get His divine grace. Such a person is a true devotee and is dear to the Lord and is eligible to be one with the Lord.

EXISTENCE OF GOD: Regarding this truth, there is an interesting incident in the life of Sant Kanakadas. His Guru gave a banana to each of his disciples and asked them to eat it in a place where nobody is  watching. While every body else  could find a place to eat it, Kanakadas returned the banana saying, “Sir, I find Lord Krishna’s peacock feathers everywhere. So I could not eat it.” Some intellectuals question the existence of God and the necessity to go to the temples if he can be seen everywhere. Seeing God everywhere is the fruit of devotion, faith and sacred activities.

This does not mean one need not visit temples to worship God.

Temples are places of divinity where trikaala poojas, abhishekas are done and Vedic Mantras are recited daily with devotion and faith by Vedic pandits. Visiting temples regularly brings serenity, calmness, stress relief and soothing effect to our nerves which are essential in this modern day life.

While it is important that one visits temples to worship the Lord it is equally important to realize that God exists everywhere and is omnipresent.