valour
Salute to Valour: Maharana Pratap Jaynati
The vast cultural and historic occurrences in India have always added to its colourful list of events. Considering the emotions and sentiments of varied communities and religious groups in India, India ranks at the top with 21 public holidays in a year; according to a report by Times of India. Recently even the Uttar Pradesh government is demanding a holiday on the birth anniversary of Maharana Pratap that falls on May 9. So may be an addition in the list of state holidays for the lucky ones. But anyhow his birth anniversary i.e. Maharana Pratap Jayanti is celebrated every year on 3rd day of Jyestha Shukla phase as a full-fledged colourful festival. This year it is on 21st May 2015.
The renowned patriot is well known for his valour, pride, enthusiasm and love for his motherland. In the entire journey, he was committed and dedicated towards getting the lost Chittor back. The well-known Battle of Halidighati is the epitome of Pratap’s bravery and passion to get his state back. It is said that the yellow coloured soil of Haldighati turned completely red during the battle in 1576. So not only the battle but his intelligence, good conduct and grounded attitude made him praise worthy among all.
Thus to celebrate the victory and courage of this hero, Haldighati festival is also organized every year in Mewar, Rajasthan. The cultural events includes the bright decorations with traditional handicrafts stalls and cultural music; that gives the feel of a mini traditional India. All the stalls are designed as per the local requirements and represent the chivalrous acts of Pratap. Thousands of tourists join this multi-cultural fair to pay homage to the brave ruler and be a part of this colourful celebration.
Special pujas and processions are also organized in other states along with cultural events at Schools to celebrate the victory of goodness over evil. This day acts as an inspiration for Indians to hold that faith and compassion for their motherland and adopt the virtuous attributes like him.
Revitalising the spot of wisdom: Why do we apply Tilak?
“A forehead without a Tilak, a woman without a husband, a Mantra the meaning of which is not known while doing Japa (recitation), the head that does not bend before holy personages, a heart without mercy, a body devoid of health, a custom without purity,… – all these are worthy of condemnation. They exist for name’s sake only.” Our holy scriptures have mentioned the vitality of ‘Tilak’ or ‘Bindi’ applied between the space between two eyebrows.
According to varied traditions, different types of Tilaks are applied using different materials.
- The red kumkum tilak symbolise power, valour and dynamism indicating the devotees of Goddess Shakti or Durga.
- The U shaped tilak of sandalwood paste symbolise purity, calmness and tranquillity indicating the devotees of Lord Vishnu.
- The three horizontal lines (tripundra) of Vibhuti or yagna ash signifying wealth, fortune and devotion of the Shaiva group of worshippers.
- The three horizontal lines of holy ashes, with or without a red dot symbolise the worshippers of Lord Shiva.
Significance of applying Tilak:
Our human body is a source of energy and it continuously emits electromagnetic waves through certain special points. The Aajna Chakra or brow chakra connects to the Bhramanadi i.e. the main spot of wisdom, memory and thinking.
- The point soothes the inner soul and leads to the awakening of third eye of consciousness
- It provides the cooling effect to the body that prevents the emission of energy
- Being a major acupressure point, it relieves headaches through stabilising the nerves
- The center point is connected to the eye muscle that reduces the probability of vision defects due to tilak
- It keeps one away from the evil energies and prevents the chance of hypnotism
- Regular application of tilak helps in maintaining the immunity level
- As per Ayurveda, the spot calms the stress and fatigue to solve the problem of insomnia
Nowadays the scientific and religious relevance have lost its true essence in the society and is replaced by the artificial and fancy decorative stick bindis, which is just an object of show off and fulfils no other purpose. Instead abide by the nature and its beneficial products and apply tilak with the prayer – “May I remember the Lord. May this pious feeling pervade all my activities. May I be righteous in my deeds.”
Contributed By: Meenakshi Ahuja
Unexplored journey of the mighty and benevolent fighter: Bhishma Pitamah
The more we know about it, the greater it raises the curiosity within us to explore and analyse it further. The greatest epic in history, Mahabharat is an epitome of longest text that highlights the controversial politics, sibling rivalry, hegemony over women and power along with the increase in ‘adhrama’. Despite all this, the relevance of the epic, has still not lost its essence and is an inspiration for all. Apart from the widely known stories, till date the scholars discover the hidden secrets and unravel new mysteries as they comprehend the epic.
• ‘Ganga putra’ Devavratha (Bhishma) was the eighth son who had been known for his principles and vows towards his kingdom. His vow of bachelorhood became the reason for the agony of Amba, who wanted to seek revenge for the denial of her proposal. Lord Subramanya appeared with the fresh garland of lotuses and it was said that whosoever would accept that garland would turn into an enemy of Bhishma. Later, when Amba came in her next life as the daughter of King Drupad, she wore this garland playfully as a child, but later she became the reason of his death in the form of Shikhandi.
• Prabhasa (Vasu) was cursed by Vashishta to be born in the human world, as during one of the journeys Prabhasa’s wife insisted him to bring Vashishta’s cow. This made Vashishta angry and he cursed Prabhasa, so he was born as the eighth son of Ganga and Shantanu named, Devavratha.
Strengths and weakness of Bhishma:
Bhishma, known for his valour and principles driven life, sacrificed his entire journey for the benefit of Hastinapur. Bhishma refers to someone ‘who takes a difficult vow’ and his duty as a son and further as a brother, father and grand-father are quite known to us. In spite of his courage and dutiful attitude, these qualities became his weakness too, as many times even when he knew that he was favouring the wrong side, still he carried on to do so because of his vows and value system.
• He took away the three daughters of the King of Kashi for his younger brother Vichitravirya, but when he came to know about Amba’s love for someone else, he dropped her back to his father’s palace, which was indeed an act of disrespect. Her lover refused to marry her due to Bhishma. Bhishma couldn’t undo the promise, made to Satyavati’s father, of remaining a bachelor throughout his life so he denied the marriage proposal too.
• His subservience towards the throne of Hastinapur made him stay numb and helpless during Draupadi’s humiliated disrobing in the court before King Dhritarashtra and everybody else. Bhishma is renowned for his mighty strengths but when it was actually needed to react and use his skills, he chose to be a puppet in the hands of external forces and overlooked the respect of women.
• At times he unintentionally became a part of the evil strategies of Kauravas, as after the 12 years of exile when Pandavas were in their hiding period, he said that “there must be absolute law and order, as well as peace and prosperity prevailing wherever Yudhisthira stayed”. This gave an immediate clue to the evil Duryodhan and his skepticism made him reach King Virat’s kingdom. By keeping the gun on Bhishma’s shoulder, the Kauravas once again invoked King Virat to fight by snatching away his herd of cattle.
• Bhishma was aware of the wrong intentions of Guru Drona against King Drupad, still he welcomed him to his kingdom and later on we saw that Guru used his students for his own 
selfish motives. This rivalry resulted in the animosity between Hastinapur and Panchal, which lasted till the end.
Thus being an idol son and faithful towards his kingdom, he failed to follow the right path due to his ignorance and old values. Though he was following his words and expected the welfare of his kingdom but ultimately due to his reluctance of not adapting to the change, he could not alter the evil thinking of Kauravas. Being a great warrior, he tried to prevent the war by reconciliation between Pandavas and Kauravas, yet as it was already written, the war was essential for the end of ‘adharma’ and rise of the peaceful and righteous world once again.
Bhishma had to suffer at his death bed as earlier in his 73rd life birth, he injured insects by piercing needles into their body. So at the end Krishna blessed him and freed him from the Karmic cycle of life and death and the curse of Vashishta.
Contributed By: Meenakshi Ahuja
Shubhpuja.com 