Timeless splendour of Sandhya Vandanam: V. Sundaram, IAS
Timeless splendour of Sandhya Vandanam: V. Sundaram, IAS
THE AVANI AVITTAM FESTIVAL FALLS ON 13TH AUGUST 2011
Devi Bhagavatam proclaims: “Sadhana of Gayatri mantra is the essence of Vedas. Even God like Brahma meditates on and performs Gayatri japa at the time of twilight. A Brahmin who performs only Gayatri japa regularly attains salvation. Daily worship of Gayatri has been described in all the Vedas. A Brahmin devoid of Gayatri is doomed in all respects. A Brahmin who gives up Gayatri goes to hell although he may worship Vishnu or Shiva”.
Adi Sankara Baghavadpadha has declared: “It is beyond human competence to describe the glory of Gayatri. Nothing is so important in the world as to have wisdom. This wisdom by which self –realisation is attained through divine insight is inspired by Gayatri. Gayatri is the initial mantra. It is an incarnation to destroy sins and promote virtues”.
Swami Ramakrishna Paramahansa has stated: “I tell people that it is not necessary to get engaged in prolonged sadhnas. Perform simple Gayatri Sadhana and see the result. Great siddhis are attained by Gayatri sadhana. This mantra is small, no doubt, but it is extremely powerful”.
Swami Vivekananda thundered thus “Gayatri is a mantra of righteous wisdom and therefore, it has been called a be-jeweled crown of all the mantras”.
...Printmaking as an art form emerged in India in the last decade of the 19th century. However, printing, in which lie the origins of contemporary printmaking, came to India in 1556, about a hundred years after Gutenberg's Bible. Calcutta, the capital of British India, was the hub of printing and publishing in colonial times. The printed picture, in the form of the book illustration, developed in early 19th century British India. European printmakers in 18th century India remained entirely disconnected from mainstream, indigenous printing activity since they had little or nothing in common with Indian culture and tradition. Their prints depicted exotic Indian landscapes that tended to appeal mainly to the colonial European sensibility. After 1820, the English East India Company invited several British painters and artists to visit India and do colour drawings of different aspects of British India---its religion, its literature, its culture and above all its people in all parts of India. It is thrilling, fascinating and highly instructive to see the cultural panorama of the Indian sub-continent unfolding under the scrutiny of intelligent foreign observers and painters in British India in the 19th century, bequething to us all the wealth of information on every aspect of Indian life, the memorable East-West encounter and above all the extraordinary nature of the adventures and confrontations of this historic association.
I derive my Himalayan inspiration to write about the glory of 'Gayatri Mantra' from the following everlasting words of Sri Aurobindo (1872-1950): 'I write not for the orthodox, nor for those who have discovered a new orthodoxy, Samaj or Panth, nor for the unbeliever. I write for those who acknowledge reason but do not identify reason with Western Materialism; who are sceptics but not unbelievers; who, admitting the claims of modern thought, still believe in India, her mission, her gospel, her immortal life and her eternal rebirth.'
THE AVANI AVITTAM FESTIVAL FALLS ON 13TH AUGUST 2011
Devi Bhagavatam proclaims: “Sadhana of Gayatri mantra is the essence of Vedas. Even God like Brahma meditates on and performs Gayatri japa at the time of twilight. A Brahmin who performs only Gayatri japa regularly attains salvation. Daily worship of Gayatri has been described in all the Vedas. A Brahmin devoid of Gayatri is doomed in all respects. A Brahmin who gives up Gayatri goes to hell although he may worship Vishnu or Shiva”.
Adi Sankara Baghavadpadha has declared: “It is beyond human competence to describe the glory of Gayatri. Nothing is so important in the world as to have wisdom. This wisdom by which self –realisation is attained through divine insight is inspired by Gayatri. Gayatri is the initial mantra. It is an incarnation to destroy sins and promote virtues”.
Swami Ramakrishna Paramahansa has stated: “I tell people that it is not necessary to get engaged in prolonged sadhnas. Perform simple Gayatri Sadhana and see the result. Great siddhis are attained by Gayatri sadhana. This mantra is small, no doubt, but it is extremely powerful”.
Swami Vivekananda thundered thus “Gayatri is a mantra of righteous wisdom and therefore, it has been called a be-jeweled crown of all the mantras”.
...Printmaking as an art form emerged in India in the last decade of the 19th century. However, printing, in which lie the origins of contemporary printmaking, came to India in 1556, about a hundred years after Gutenberg's Bible. Calcutta, the capital of British India, was the hub of printing and publishing in colonial times. The printed picture, in the form of the book illustration, developed in early 19th century British India. European printmakers in 18th century India remained entirely disconnected from mainstream, indigenous printing activity since they had little or nothing in common with Indian culture and tradition. Their prints depicted exotic Indian landscapes that tended to appeal mainly to the colonial European sensibility. After 1820, the English East India Company invited several British painters and artists to visit India and do colour drawings of different aspects of British India---its religion, its literature, its culture and above all its people in all parts of India. It is thrilling, fascinating and highly instructive to see the cultural panorama of the Indian sub-continent unfolding under the scrutiny of intelligent foreign observers and painters in British India in the 19th century, bequething to us all the wealth of information on every aspect of Indian life, the memorable East-West encounter and above all the extraordinary nature of the adventures and confrontations of this historic association.
I derive my Himalayan inspiration to write about the glory of 'Gayatri Mantra' from the following everlasting words of Sri Aurobindo (1872-1950): 'I write not for the orthodox, nor for those who have discovered a new orthodoxy, Samaj or Panth, nor for the unbeliever. I write for those who acknowledge reason but do not identify reason with Western Materialism; who are sceptics but not unbelievers; who, admitting the claims of modern thought, still believe in India, her mission, her gospel, her immortal life and her eternal rebirth.'
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