Ayurveda Initiative For Global Health

Arjuna Vishaada Yoga Chapter 1, Verse 31 nimittāni ca paśyāmi  viparītāni kesava  na ca śreyo'nupaśyāmi  hatvā svajanam āhave I am not able to stand and my mind seems to be whirling; also I see evil omens, O Keshava. The word nimittāni means omens. It was like an eclipse shaking the earth. Arjuna said, "I see omens which are not good, but evil. I don't comprehend it. My mind is turning and I can't stand." He was looking at all the inauspiciousness, saying that all that would happen would not be good. In his mind, he already saw that this war would bring unhappiness. He would not feel happy killing his brothers. "If I kill them, there will be lots of violence. And if I kill them with violence, this will be a big pressure on me and I will repent. I will live with a guilty feeling my whole life because I have killed my brothers, uncles and grandfathers. How could I live my life like this? The guilt will always play in my mind." Arjuna was already thinking b...

Arjuna Vishaada Yoga Chapter 1, Verses 28-30 arjuna uvāca drstvemam svajanam kṛṣṇa  yuyutsam samupasthitam sīdanti mama gātrāṇi  mukham ca pariśuṣyati  vepathuśca śarīre me  roma harṣaśca jāyate gāṇḍīvam sramsate hastāt  tvak caiva pari-dahyate  na ca śaknomy-avasthātum  bhramatīva ca me manaḥ Arjuna said: Seeing my own people, O Krishna, arrayed for battle, my limbs collapse and my mouth is parched, my body shakes and my hair stands on end; Gandiva (Arjuna's bow) slips from my hand, and all my skin seems to be burning. In this verse, Arjuna wanted to show that the indiscriminate slaughter of all the fighters in the great Mahabharat war would be extremely terrible for both sides. He knew that the warriors present before his eyes, his relatives and dear friends would all be dead. He knew that these people in front of him were there to be killed. You all know that if there are certain negative qualities inside of you, you have to change and transform the...

Question - Gurudev, can ladies chant Gayatri mantra? Gurudev Sri Sri - Yes. Nowhere it is said that ladies cannot chant. It is unfortunate that somewhere in the middle ages, these rights of women were taken away. We have reinstated this in the Ashram. Many ladies are learning. See it was a male dominated society. The men thought that if ladies do Gayatri Mantra, it will bring them a lot of power, healing power and sankalpa Shakti. Whatever they wish for those things will start happening. So the men said, 'No our wives are already powerful, we don't want to make them more powerful. So we won't let them chant the mantra'. This is why only a small section of people kept this as a highly guarded secret. Even yoga and pranayama was not taught to common people because it brings so much mental power. It also increases the power of the spirit in a person and that is why they kept it as a big secret, not letting everybody know it, learn it, or practice it. But we said no way, th...

Arjuna Vishaada Yoga Chapter 1, Verse 27 śvaśuran suhṛdaścaiva senayor-ubhayor api  tān samīkșya sa kaunteyaḥ  sarvān bandhūn avasthitān  kṛpaya paraya'viṣṭho  vişīdann idam abravīt Seeing all these kinsmen standing thus arrayed, Kaunteya (Arjuna), invaded by great pity, uttered this in sadness and dejection: Arjuna was very sad and went into his weakness. As a warrior, one can't go into one's weakness. Imagine that you are in a war, everybody is there on the battlefield in front of you, and you just sit and cry. It is like going to a doctor and saying, "I am sick. I have this terrible illness. Please help me!" Imagine that the doctor just sits and cries with you. What will happen? You'll be shocked! You'll become more depressed. Your illness will get worse! Arjuna saw that many people would die. He felt pity and his heart pained him. He was overtaken by emotions which would stop him from fighting. So he became cowardly, very soft. If you are soft, you can...

Arjuna Vishaada Yoga Chapter 1, Verse 26 tatrapasyat sthitān pārthaḥ  pitṛn atha pita-mahān  ācāryān mātulan bhrātṛn  putrān pautrān sakhims tathā Then Arjuna saw standing on opposite sides, uncles and grandsires, teachers, brothers, cousins, sons and grandsons, comrades, fathers-in-law, benefactors. Looking at the other side, Arjuna said, "Oh, I know these people!" When one starts on the spiritual journey, one has to first strengthen oneself before going to help others. You have to first remove your own negativity, change it, and then, when you are strong enough, you go and help other people. Otherwise you will get drowned in their negativity. Here Arjuna looked at all these people and said, "Oh my goodness! I know these people! These people are my great-uncles, like Bhishma, Somadatta, Bahlika. These are my teachers, Dronacharya, Kripacharya, Purujit. Shalya is the brother of our dear Madri. How can I go and fight them?" Everybody has a certain connection to their...