Lord hari chanting

The punya, according to Shastras, obtained by studying Vedas, performing Yagnas, penances, donations, observing rituals, pilgrimages, performing Vaishvadeva, building Thaataka etc – all can be obtained by merely remembering/chanting the name of Lord Vasudeva
Sloka 58: A person’s desire, however small or big it is, will be instantly satisfied, if he worships Lord Vishnu will devotion
Sloka 59: O Maitreya! Just as gold and other metals melt away when exposed to fire, similarly all the sins melt away when one chants the name of Hari with devotion
Sloka 60: If one chants/sings the name of Lord Hari with devotion, even those sins – which will fetch the sorrow of unbearable hell and which are caused by Kali – will be destroyed
Sloka 61: Indra and others act as enemies in one’s pursuit to obtain Moksha in this easy way. But, one who depends upon Keshava obtains Moksha without any difficulties
Sloka 62: In the entire Jambudveepa island, surrounded by four oceans, there is none other than Keshava who have cure all our sins!
Sloka 63: The results one obtains by worshipping Lord Hari for 100 years in Kruta Yuga is obtained in Kali Yuga merely by chanting the name of the Lord
Sloka 64: But, as Kali Yuga progresses and Dharma reduces, then none will (be able to) chant the name of the indestructible and Moksha-giver Achyuta!
Sloka 65: Just as animals run away upon hearing a lion’s roar, so will all the sins of humans run away upon chanting (knowingly or unknowingly) the name of Lord Hari
Sloka 66: Brahma said:: The mantra called “Narayana” exists; The tongue is in one’s own control; Still people end up falling in terrible hell. What a surprise!
Sloka 67: Those who are subject to lots of sufferings; those who are troubled with many miseries; those who are physically incapable; those who are scared (of thieves and others); those who are suffering from terrible diseases; All these people will instantly lose all their trouble and obtain peace and happiness by the mere remembrance and chanting of the name of Narayana  
Source krishnamurtavarna

To over come bhava sagara

For this universal ailment of the cycle of birth and death (bhava-roga), listening to spiritual discourses (sravana) and singing God’s name (kirtana) is a mandatory prescription. God’s Name, Vedas and Puranas must be recited and listened to. Performing all these, if you do not awaken your own inner consciousness (antah-karana), you will fall into perdition. Hence, to attain God’s Grace, the feeling of ‘I-ness’ (ahamkara), which makes you say, “I am the doer”, should be rooted out from your heart. Everyone learned or illiterate, should feel an overwhelming urge to know God. God has equal affection toward all His children, for to illumine is the nature of light. So too, uttering God’s name, one can progress in the realisation of God, another may perhaps do wicked deeds! It depends on your usage of the light. Remember - the Lord’s name is without blemish, always and forever. 

Excel Anyway !

"People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies. Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you. Be honest and sincere anyway.

What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight. Create anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous. Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, will often be forgotten. Do good anyway.

Give the best you have, and it will never be enough. Give your best anyway.

In the final analysis, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway."

- Mother Teresa

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Silent pandu brother

Years of meditation and austerities in exile had rendered Pandu, the father of the Pandavas a wise and learned man. He had a premonition of his death and instructed his sons –

Years of celibacy and meditation in the forest have given me great knowledge which is embedded in my body. When I die, eat my flesh and all of you will be blessed with great knowledge. That shall be your true inheritance from me.

After Pandu died, his sons cremated his body, but could not bring themselves to follow their father’s instructions. But Sahadeva, the youngest of the sons noticed that ants were carrying a tiny piece of their father’s body before it burnt. Unable to resist himself, he took that piece and put it in his mouth.

In an instant, he knew everything about the world – all that had happened in the past, and all that was going to happen in the future as well.

He started running towards his mother and brothers to tell them about this, when he was stopped by a stranger –

Do you want God as your friend?

Yes said Sahadeva. Then, never voluntarily tell anyone about this wonderful gift of yours. And when any question is asked of you, always reply with another question he was instructed.

Sahadeva immediately realized that he was being addressed to by none other than the Supreme Lord himself. He agreed to these terms and lived a life where he always kept silent despite knowing all the events that were about to transpire and being able to do nothing about them.

As time went on, he realized that the future that he knew about could be deciphered by observing nature and celestial bodies very carefully. He is therefore credited with putting together various occult sciences which help man predict the future.

As for his whole life, Sahadeva kept waiting for people around him, including his brothers to ask the right questions of him and hence was always pictured as a silent, thoughtful person.

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Story courtesy: Dr Devdutt Pattanaik’s ‘Jaya : An illustrated retelling of the Mahabharata’

How to give dhana

Once Krishna and Arjuna were walking towards a village. Arjuna was pestering Krishna, asking him why Karna should be considered a role model for all Danas (donations) and not himself. Krishna, wanting to teach him a lesson snapped his fingers. The mountains beside the path they were walking on turned into gold. Krishna said "Arjuna, distribute these two mountains of gold among the villagers, but you must donate every last bit of gold". Arjuna went into the village, and proclaimed he was going to donate gold to every villager, and asked them to gather near the mountain. The villagers sang his praises and Arjuna walked towards the mountain with a huffed up chest. For two days and two continuous nights Arjuna shovelled gold from the mountain and donated to each villager. The mountains did not diminish in their slightest.

Most villagers came back and stood in queue within minutes. After a while, Arjuna, started feeling exhausted, but not ready to let go of his ego just yet, told Krishna he couldn't go on any longer without rest. Krishna called Karna. "You must donate every last bit of this mountain, Karna" he told him. Karna called two villagers. "You see those two mountains?" Karna asked, "those two mountains of gold are yours to do with as you please" he said,  and walked away.

Arjuna sat dumbfounded. Why hadn't this thought occurred to him? Krishna smiled mischievously and told him "Arjuna, subconsciously,  you yourself were attracted to the gold, you regretfully gave it away to each villager, giving them what you thought was a generous amount. Thus the size of your donation to each villager depended only on your imagination. Karna holds no such reservations. Look at him walking away after giving away a fortune, he doesn't expect people to sing his praises, he doesn't even care if people talk good or bad about him behind his back. That is the sign of a man already on the path of enlightenment" 

Khata Shyam temple in rajasthan or barbarik grandson of bhima

Barbarik was the grandson of Bhima and the son of Ghatotkacha. Barbarik was supposed to be a brave warrior having learnt the art of warfare from his mother. Lord Shiva pleased with Barbarik's talent as a warrior granted him a Three special arrows. He also got a special bow from Lord Agni (God of Fire).

It is said that Barbarik was so powerful that according to him the war of Mahabharata could end in 1 minute if he alone was to fight it. The story goes like this:

Before the war started, Lord Krishna asked everyone how long would it take for them to finish the war alone. Bhisma replied it would take 20 days. Dronacharya said it would take 25 days. Karna said it would take 24 days whereas Arjuna said it would take him 28 days.

Barbarik had expressed his desire to watch the war of Mahabharata to his mother. His mother agreed to let him go watch it, but asked him before leaving as to which side he would join if he felt the urge to take part in the war. Barbarik promised his mother that he would join the side that was weaker. Saying this he set up on the journey to visit the battlefield.

Krishna having heard of Barbarik and wanting to examine Barbarik's strength disguised himself as a Brahmin came in front of Barbarik. Krishna asked him the same question about how many days would it take to finish the war if he were to fight it alone. Barbarik replied it would take him only 1 minute to finish the battle if he was to fight it alone. Krishna was surprised at this answer of Barbarik considering the fact that Barbarik was walking towards the battlefield with just 3 arrows and a bow. To this Barbarik explained the power of the 3 arrows. 

• The first arrow was supposed to mark all the objects that Barbarik wanted to be destroyed.
• The second arrow was supposed to mark all the objects that Barbarik wanted to be saved.
• The third arrow was supposed to destroy all the objects marked by the first arrow OR destroy all the objects not marked by the second arrow.

And at the end of this all the arrows would come return to the quiver. Krishna eager to test this out asked Barbarik to tie all the leaves of the tree that he was standing under. As Barbarik started meditating to perform the task, Krishna took one leaf from the tree and placed it under his foot without Barbarik's knowledge. When Barbarik releases the first arrow, the arrow marks all the leaves from the tree and eventually starts revolving around Lord Krishna's feet. Krishna asks Barbarik as to why the arrow is doing this. To this Barbarik replies that there must be a leaf under your feet and asks Krishna to lift his leg. As soon as Krishna lifts his leg, the arrow goes ahead and marks the remaining leaf too.

This incident scares Lord Krishna about the phenomenal power of Barbarik. He concludes that the arrows are truly infallible. Krishna also realizes that in the real battlefield in case Krishna wants to isolate someone (for eg the 5 Pandavas) from Barbarik's attack, then he would not be able to do so, since even without the knowledge of Barbarik, the arrow would go ahead and destroy the target if Barbarik intended so.

To this Krishna asks Barbarik about which side he was planning to fight for in the war of Mahabharata. Barbarik explains that since the Kaurava Army is bigger than the Pandava Army and because of the condition he had agreed to with his mother, he would fight for the Pandavas. But to this Lord Krishna explains the paradox of the condition he had agreed with his mother. Krishna explains that since he was the greatest warrior on the battlefield, which ever side he joins would make the other side weaker. So eventually he would end up oscillating between the two sides and destroy everyone except himself. Thus Krishna reveals the actual consequence of the word that he had given to his mother. Thus Krishna(still disguised as a Brahmin) asks for Barbarik's head in charity to avoid his involvement in the war.

After this Krishna explains that it was necessary to sacrifice the head of the greatest Kshatriya in order to worship the battlefield and that he regarded Barbarik as the greatest Kshatriya of that time.

Before actually giving his head, Barbarik expresses his desire to view the forthcoming battle. To this Krishna agreed to place Barbarik's head on top of the mountain that overlooked the battlefield. At the end of the war, the Pandavas argued amongst themselves about whose was the greatest contribution to their victory. To this Krishna suggests that Barbarik's head should be allowed to judge this since it has watched the entire war. Barbarik's head suggests it was Krishna alone who was responsible for the victory in the war. His advice, his strategy and his presence was crucial in the victory.

Pandvas final journey

The five brothers and their wife reach the base of the mountain Sumeru, at the top of which live the Gods. Over the course of the journey, everyone except Yudhishtir falls to their death. For each death, Yudhishtir gives a reason: for Draupadi, it was because she was partial to Arjun in her love; for Arjun, Nakul and Sehdev, it was vanity, whether in prowess, looks or wisdom. For Bhim it was gluttony that finally took his life.

After each death Yudhishtir, usually prone to grief, moves on detachedly, without so much as a backward glance. In this final tale, the Mahabharat suggests that our last walks, when they come, will be the loneliest of all, and only by detaching ourselves from the earthly can we truly achieve lasting peace.

The power of concentration and the power of dedication

There are some devotees who want to show off. For hours they meditate, for hours they chant, for hours they repeat the name of Lord Krishna. They look down upon others who do not spend so much time meditating and chanting. Arjuna happened to be one of these. If you remember, one of Arjuna’s brothers, whose name was Bhima, was the in strongest in the family. Bhima never, never prayed to any god. He used to eat and he used to fight. He was a voracious eater and at the same time a great fighter.

But Arjuna used to pray to this god and that god; he had to please all the gods on earth. The Lord Shiva had to be worshipped every day. For two hours daily Arjuna used to collect hundreds of flowers and offer them to Lord Shiva one by one. Each time while offering the flowers he used to utter the name of Lord Shiva. Then pride entered.

What Bhima did was very simple. He would put his fingers on his forehead and concentrate for a couple of minutes before each meal. Then he would eat voraciously. This was his meditation! Poor Arjuna would spend hours gathering flowers, but Arjuna’s pride could not escape Sri Krishna.

Sri Krishna said to Arjuna, “Come, let us go for a walk.” As they were walking, they saw a man drawing a cart. The cart was loaded with flowers. All kinds of flowers. Arjuna said to the man, “What are you doing with these flowers? And where are you going?” The man had no time to respond to Arjuna. Sri Krishna said, “Arjuna, let us follow him.”

When the man reached his destination, there were many more carts of flowers. “What are you going to do with all these thousands and millions of flowers?” Arjuna inquired. “I have no time to speak to you. I am now in serious concentration. I can speak only to one person on earth, and that is Bhima, the second Pandava. He is the greatest spiritual seeker. When he meditates before his meals just for a minute or two, saying ‘O mighty Lord Shiva,’ thousands of flowers are offered by him to Lord Shiva. His concentration is most intense. His meditation is most sincere. Arjuna only throws flowers at Lord Shiva. He just shows off.”

Poor Arjuna went back with Lord Krishna and was extremely angry with him for subjecting him to this humiliation. Lord Krishna said to Arjuna, “I wanted to teach you that it is not the number of hours, it is not the number of flowers, but it is the power of concentration, it is the power of dedication that counts.

Sri Chinmoy, Commentary on the Bhagavad Gita: the Song of the Transcendental Soul, Agni Press, 1971