Vedanta for Everyday Life

A Fascinating Short Story!

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A Fascinating Short Story

Word Problems of Life

You think you are good at Maths, solve this riddle…

Once upon a time, there was a very rich man who had 3 sons. He wanted to divide his property before dying. He made a will stating half of my property should go to the elder son, one-third of it should go to second son, and one-ninth to the younger one. After a span of few days, he was no more. The sons decided to take their own share and live separately. They divided all the property as it was advised by their father. But they didn’t know how to divide, the remaining part of father’s property of 17 elephants, amongst themselves. They approached many knowns and unknowns, trying to figure out how to solve this complex problem. They were troubled with the situation; they were presented with and were sincerely searching for an answer.

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Message for the Day

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Message for the Day

Our mind, as per Vedanta, is a good servant but can be a very bad Master. Our mind is always trying to make us comfortable. Make who comfortable – this ‘I’. With that effort, it makes us isolated to only ‘me’ and ‘myself’ – desperate from others and ‘Isolation’. And we think, if we are only alone and be with ourselves, then nobody to contradict me and I will be happy. This is, as per Vedanta, is called ignorance and Mind remains as a Bad Master. Whereas thinking about ‘You’ makes us attain that tranquility, peace and happiness. Who is this ‘You’? Everyone else other than me could take us to that dream of ‘Togetherness’.

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Happy Diwali

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“Let Us Understand More About Mother Kali & Deepavali”

Diwali is an important festival for Indians. The name of festive days as well as the rituals of Diwali varies significantly among Hindus, based on the region of India, with others too. Diwali, as a festival, dates back to ancient times in India, which is, after the summer harvest in the Hindu calendar month of Karthikeya. The festival is mentioned in Padma Purana, the Skanda Purana, and other Sanskrit Hindu scriptures; the divas (lamps) are mentioned in Skanda Purana to symbolically represent parts of sun, the cosmic giver of light and energy to all life, who seasonally transitions through the Hindu calendar month of Kartik. Diwali is derived from the Sanskrit fusion word Dipavali, formed from dipa (light) and awali (rows). Dipavali thus meant a “row” or “series of lights’ ‘. Its celebration includes millions of lights shining on the roof of the houses, inside and outside of the doors and windows, around temples and other buildings in the communities and countries where it is observed. Some believe it to be the celebration of the marriage of Lakshmi with Lord Vishnu.  Read More

Q&A on Vedanta (Part 1)

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Question and Answers – Vedanta (Part 1)

Q&A on Vedanta 1

Well, have you ever thought, that why is it, you cannot see our own face! In order to see our own face, we need to have a mirror. Just imagine, without a mirror, or without any of the polished surface, we cannot see our own face. Even with a mirror, what we see is only a reflection. It is not our face? It is only an image. Think, it is only a copy, a double. It is not our face. ‘Vedanta’, when we use for ‘self-inquiry’~ to know us, realize ‘who am I’ like a mirror, becomes that mirror, which allows us to see our real face. With the power and the wisdom of Vedanta, we come to know who we truly are. We become aware of our ‘Atman’ ~ realise our see our face and come to know, “Who am I”? Read More

The Sugar Candies

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THE WORLD ~ How Does It Appear To Us?

A Child and the Sugar Candies

Not so many days ago, in India there was the boy, lived with his mother in a village near the bank of the river Ganges. Since his early tenure, the boy had proved to portray his potential in learning the lessons that had taught by his mother of kindness, simplicity, and humbleness.On a Sunday morning, there was one sugar candy seller who came to the village to sell handmade sugar candies of fruits and animals in numerous sizes, shapes, designs, and colors to attract the kids in the village. He used to come to this village to sell his candies only on Sundays. All the kids in the village rushed to the sugar candy seller to pick their own choice of candies from the seller. They all liked the candy-man’s candy whenever he visited that village. Read More

The Monkeys & The Vegetable Seller

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A Story of The Monkeys And The Vegetable Seller

Not so long ago, there was a vegetable seller. He lived a peaceful life in a small village where he grew fresh and healthy vegetables along with his father and sold them to make a decent living. Many years passed by, he was now married and had a little son too. To support his bigger family and expand his business, he decided to sell his vegetables in the nearby city. But to do so, he had to travel through a dense jungle which was home to many animals. And amongst the animals, there were some very cunning and smart monkeys too! Read More

Educating the Character (Part 2)

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Educating the Character ~ Part 2

At Victorious Kidss Educares, a learning environment is created for the child where; – the kids are encouraged to be ‘Inquirers’ ~ questioning society’s long-lived traditions and guidelines instead of obliviously joining the ‘Human Herd’. In Swami Vivekananda’s words, “If you do not allow one to become a lion, one will become a fox”?

– The process of the academics is aimed at making them Knowledgeable, develop an attitudse to learning (ATL) ~ a love for learning skill ~ about the real-life concepts and critically think of problems and analyze them instead of being a static receiver of undirected or directed bits of ‘data ~ information’.
– they confidently Communicate and accept information with an Open-minded attitude and make principled and unbiased decisions with integrity, fairness, and respect towards every human culture. Read More

Educating the Character (Part 1)

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Educating the Character ~ Part 1

Since the dawn of civilization in human life, the primary goal of imparting knowledge was to guide the new generations towards the betterment of society and educate them with the necessary qualities required to achieve that goal. They learned through Smaranam (Listening), Mananam (Reflection), Nidhidhyasanam (Meditation). Listening itself was through being near the Guru (Teacher) and was the beginning of Upanishad. There are many Upanishads ~ more than 100, some say or claim it to be a number close to 108. About 1500 years ago, Shankaracharya, chose to comment upon 12 of them and today those twelve Upanishads are studied by those, who wish to sincerely learn about ‘Vedanta’ ~ The end of all knowledge. At Victorious Kidss Educares, we couple these principles and as was advised by Swami Vivekananda ~ towards education for the children of 21 Century ~ to couple Western Education of IB coupled with Vedanta. The stress and importance is towards, first building a good loyal, committed, truthful character ~ who has developed the will power, concentration ~ to learn and be able to apply in the real world?

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Princess of Kashi

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Princess of Kashi

Once upon a time, in the court, of an ancient kingdom, adjacent to the then capital of India ~ Kashi (Today’s Varanasi or Banaras), a dramatic play performance was staged. The King and the Queen had organized this very special function, and required a pretty little girl of age ~ around 5 years, to play the role of ‘Princess of Kashi’. They could not find an appropriate girl for the role. So, the Queen came up with an idea of dressing up her little son Prince, who was about same age of five (5) years of age to enact the role of ~’Princess of Kashi’. The court as stances and maids in assistance, dressed up the Prince for the role, very well and he looked so cute and beautiful that the Queen asked for a portrait to be painted of him, ~ as he looked in that costume. The painting was completed and titled ‘Princess of Kashi’ with an appropriate date marked on it and stored away, in the palace’s basement store room.

Now, almost 15 years later, the Prince was all grown up, an adult, being trained to take over as the ‘Yuvraaj’ of the kingdom. One day while exploring the old stores of the palace, he accidentally discovered that painting. He was so mesmerized, hypnotized and enthralled by the beautiful Princess in that painting, he wanted to get married to her. Based on the date, he figured out that she would be of the same age as him and without a second thought; the Prince decided that he would not marry, anyone else, other than the ‘Princess of Kashi’. But feeling a bit shy, he could not tell anyone or share with his parents! He felt so moved, that he thought he would die, if he did not marry this princess. He felt lost and everyone could notice that something was unusual and wrong with the future ‘Yuvraaj’ of the kingdom. Worried King and Queen, talked and were equally unhappy, not knowing and realising,’what could they do to bring about some smile in their only son’s face? Read More

Being Who We Really Are

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New Year Resolution ~ Being Who We Really Are

For this New Year, we all need to come out of our comfort zone. We are just like a marble when dropped in a bowl, it whirls around unstably, but eventually after some time, it settles down. Once it settles down, it is very difficult to move it again. One is required to come out of that ‘comfort zone’. That would be ‘to live, to perform and to excel, in one’s life ~ attain whatever we wish?’. Vedanta tells us, we need to develop three basic skills to do well in life and attain ~ ‘Human Excellence’ ~ become an outstanding personality.

January 1st is called ‘Kalpataru day’, the day of Sri Ramakrishna’s becoming the “Wish Tree” and granting boons to whomsoever, came along, praying for his blessings ~ towards ‘~ “Self-realization”. Each and every one were blessed. But we need to comprehend that, ‘Kalpataru Day’, is not just a day, but it should be every day, starting from, 1st of January.

In 1886, while being unwell, Paramahansa Ramakrishna chose to leave his body, but before that he stepped out of his spiritual place for a walk. He met his disciplines, became overwhelmed with spiritual benediction and each of them received appropriate blessings. Each one of them experienced an ineffable bliss. One of them in the crowd asked Thakur (a popular short name for (Bhagawan Paramahansa Ramakrishna), “Bless me so that I may see, experience God everywhere”. Thakur did bless him, “May the consciousness dawn upon you ~ Tumhara Chaitanya Ho”. He started seeing God in everything, everywhere, in everything, in the tree, in all living beings, even in the animals, chariots, etc. Read More