Recently, it was India's Independence Day. On August 15th, 1947, we were finally liberated from Britain's rule, and became our own nation. Today, our country stands tall and proud, but most importantly, independent.
Learn more about India's struggle and play some cool games at the link below:
http://www.theholidayspot.com/indian_independence_day/games/
Have fun, and be proud of India's independence!
-Pooja Ranganathan
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Monday, August 23, 2010
From the Archives
This article is taken from the first issue of the Setu newsletter.
Published in June & July of 1995
Monday, August 16, 2010
Saturday, August 7, 2010
From the Archives: Focus on Hinduism: Non-Violence
This article is taken from the second issue of the Setu newsletter, published in October 1995. Before SETU became a blog, it was a newsletter that was printed a few times a year.
India gained its independence from Great Britain on Aug 15, 1947. Indians under the guidance of Gandhiji practiced non-violence to gain their freedom.
For this issue from the archives from October 1995, the co-editors were Sucharit Joshi and Vani Natarajan. The contributors were Meera Deepak, Sujay Joshi, Jyothi Natarajan, Nirnimesh Pandey, Nisheeth Pandey, and Mythili Rao
Thursday, July 29, 2010
The Ages of Man
The Ages of Man-The Four Yugas
Brahman, the one who has no beginning or end, the one who is the cause and its effect; the all auspicious and everlasting; Brahman is the creator, our God. We are all part of Brahman yet we are apart from Brahman, for we are not perfect. Do you believe we can ever be as perfect as God? Perhaps not, for only God is perfect; but do you believe that most people could be better? With these questions, I do not intend to say that people are bad; but I only intend to suggest that there was indeed a time when all people were all good and everyone was happy. It is very hard to believe isn’t it? Perhaps because nowadays, the idea of complete auspiciousness and prosperity is difficult for us to grasp; we tend to think that something must always be missing or that all goodness is impossible. But why is that so? Why do most people find it hard to accept the idea of everything being alright, of everything being just fine, of the whole world being content? The answer is easy, poverty, war, hatred, discrimination, betrayal, dishonesty and the obvious lack of world peace on our planet. With such disappointing things becoming more common as the days go by; only strong faith and hope make a person believe in enlightenment and harmony. Whether you think it is the truth or just a mythical dream; one thing is certain: According to Hindu religion, this beautiful integrity exists, and it also does in Greek mythology. I became curious, how many other religions think likewise, how many interpretations are there and how come this honest decency lacks today? We will never know why some things are the way they are but we can get close with faith, knowledge and understanding. So this is what I’ve done to gain a better understanding; I’ve collected pieces of knowledge from as many “stacks of good story books from the around the world” {religions} as I could find.
In Judeo-Christian culture, Daniel, a biblical figure whose name means “God is my judge;” once had a dream in which he saw a statue with four different metals: gold, silver, bronze and iron. These metals are the basis of the four ages of man. In the Book of Daniel, “You, O king, were watching; and behold, a great image! This great image, whose splendor was excellent, stood before you; and its form was awesome. This image’s head was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs (or sides) of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay (or baked clay}” it reads. So let us begin, with the head, the Golden Age as per Greece, or the Satya Yuga which translates {from Sanskrit} to “the truthful and correct age.”
Lasting one million, seven hundred and twenty eight thousand years; the earliest of the population lived up to 100, 000 years {this means that the average life span was a hundred thousand years for one person!}. The people enlightened themselves through the process of self-realization by meditating on Lord Visnu and everyone was in the mode of goodness. Acquired from the Greek philosophy, people did not know of old age {there was no such thing} for the people lived like Gods, without toil, worry or sorrow and although they died it was only as if they were completely overcome with an enchanting spell of sleep. In this age there was no fear, for there was no law because all men did right and kept faith, all land was free and without boundaries; there had not to be any rules to describe right from wrong. Everything was honestly accepted and understood through the spirit of God. Love was bounteous and sincere. This was indeed, the perfectness of life that we all dream of and “shrug off” with disbelief.
Secondly, as time passed by and unfortunately but truthfully, there always comes a time when things just begin to cease to be as good as they were or as good as they should continue to be; and that is what happened as the Treta Yuga began. This age is also called the Silver Age and is described {as by the Greeks} as the age when Lord Zeus ruled over Earth after defeating Cronos. During his rule, he divided the year into four seasons {where as before this generation, the only season was spring}. Thus the men had to seek shelter in the form of houses for the first time and as the little boys grew up into adulthood; they experienced sorrow and grief as there were burdens for the first time, they were forced to do wrong out of stress. Men were worried about feeding themselves and their families and so work and labor was executed and laws had to be made. Nevertheless, people held tight to their faith and godly qualities still existed within, although they were decreased by one-fourth compared to Satya Yuga. This was the age that the Varna-Asmara-dharma was introduced and the process of self-realization was carried out through sacrifices. This was the beginning of the evils such as, frustration and sadness.
The Dvapara Yuga or the belly and thighs made of bronze {from the vision of the statue} the age when all heavenly qualities were decreased by 50 percent and the 3rd generation began. According to Greek mythology, this was the time when men began to love the wrong things and admire the wrong qualities such as war, greed and power. This was the heroic age when weaponry was first introduced as good {the heroes} were against the bad {the villains}; this age was the age of the wars. As from the Hindu mythology, self-realization was gained through temples and deities as the places for and of worship. This was the time when our religion’s first stories and forms bloomed. This generation was the generation of Brahman taking different forms {as human or human-like} to symbolize that the good still exists and through determination and faith can abolish the evil. This was the age of all the possible stories that you may have heard {like Mahabharata, and Ramayana}. This was the mighty age that showed the powers of evil but also that it could be destroyed by the good {as we still know}.
Finally comes our age, the Kali Yuga or the Iron Age. It is said that Lord Krishna appeared right before the Kali Yuga started and it is believed that he will appear yet once more in his manifest form. It is predicted {according to the Hindu religion} that by the end of this Yuga, men will only live up to 20 years and their only food will be meat. The Greeks have described this age as the life of toil where faith, modesty and truth leave the Earth and in its place comes dishonesty and violence. Men are tired from labor and long for others’ lives to be disappointing. It is said {by both Hindu and Greek mythology} that this age is the age of hypocrisy. We are already 5000 years through the Kali Yuga and you can already see how common evil is. From the past generation {the Dvapara Yuga} the evil has dragged on and it almost seems as if it is overpowering all the good that we still believe in; but do not let that break your faith. Remember, good will always win in the end because true love and the ultimate truth cannot be ignored forever; in one way or another it will always return to remind us. For the mode of goodness that was abundant in the Satya Yuga is not lost, just misplaced. All we need to do is practice virtue and soon, we will come to realize what the people always knew way back then.
Let us not let the evil surrounding us blind us; but let us remain strong amongst ourselves as good people. Perhaps we cannot help our past sins but let us forgive and forget the wrong-doings and lift ourselves up with hope and pursue for the righteous. Our soul is created by God and so it is surely pure and loving as God himself {theoretically}; so let us begin to let our soul be our guide and our conscious lead our way. Let us keep our faith if our own goodness and let us unite to achieve that bliss our souls crave. Let us pray upon the righteous and the fair; let us pray for what feels good; let us create and withhold our own happiness within by accepting and learning and continuing to always do so.
Now that you have read this, you know that there was indeed such an innocent, perfect time. All there is left to think about this article now is to believe that we can make that happen again. Perhaps we cannot change the predication already made about how this Yuga will end; but we can certainly control {by our thoughts and actions} how our lives will be. So why not aim for the truth?
Bibliography
http://www.harekrishnatemple.com/chapter19.html {from the Hare Krishna website}
http://homepage.mac.com/cparada/GML/AgesOfMan.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ages_of_Man
Brahman, the one who has no beginning or end, the one who is the cause and its effect; the all auspicious and everlasting; Brahman is the creator, our God. We are all part of Brahman yet we are apart from Brahman, for we are not perfect. Do you believe we can ever be as perfect as God? Perhaps not, for only God is perfect; but do you believe that most people could be better? With these questions, I do not intend to say that people are bad; but I only intend to suggest that there was indeed a time when all people were all good and everyone was happy. It is very hard to believe isn’t it? Perhaps because nowadays, the idea of complete auspiciousness and prosperity is difficult for us to grasp; we tend to think that something must always be missing or that all goodness is impossible. But why is that so? Why do most people find it hard to accept the idea of everything being alright, of everything being just fine, of the whole world being content? The answer is easy, poverty, war, hatred, discrimination, betrayal, dishonesty and the obvious lack of world peace on our planet. With such disappointing things becoming more common as the days go by; only strong faith and hope make a person believe in enlightenment and harmony. Whether you think it is the truth or just a mythical dream; one thing is certain: According to Hindu religion, this beautiful integrity exists, and it also does in Greek mythology. I became curious, how many other religions think likewise, how many interpretations are there and how come this honest decency lacks today? We will never know why some things are the way they are but we can get close with faith, knowledge and understanding. So this is what I’ve done to gain a better understanding; I’ve collected pieces of knowledge from as many “stacks of good story books from the around the world” {religions} as I could find.
In Judeo-Christian culture, Daniel, a biblical figure whose name means “God is my judge;” once had a dream in which he saw a statue with four different metals: gold, silver, bronze and iron. These metals are the basis of the four ages of man. In the Book of Daniel, “You, O king, were watching; and behold, a great image! This great image, whose splendor was excellent, stood before you; and its form was awesome. This image’s head was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs (or sides) of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay (or baked clay}” it reads. So let us begin, with the head, the Golden Age as per Greece, or the Satya Yuga which translates {from Sanskrit} to “the truthful and correct age.”
Lasting one million, seven hundred and twenty eight thousand years; the earliest of the population lived up to 100, 000 years {this means that the average life span was a hundred thousand years for one person!}. The people enlightened themselves through the process of self-realization by meditating on Lord Visnu and everyone was in the mode of goodness. Acquired from the Greek philosophy, people did not know of old age {there was no such thing} for the people lived like Gods, without toil, worry or sorrow and although they died it was only as if they were completely overcome with an enchanting spell of sleep. In this age there was no fear, for there was no law because all men did right and kept faith, all land was free and without boundaries; there had not to be any rules to describe right from wrong. Everything was honestly accepted and understood through the spirit of God. Love was bounteous and sincere. This was indeed, the perfectness of life that we all dream of and “shrug off” with disbelief.
Secondly, as time passed by and unfortunately but truthfully, there always comes a time when things just begin to cease to be as good as they were or as good as they should continue to be; and that is what happened as the Treta Yuga began. This age is also called the Silver Age and is described {as by the Greeks} as the age when Lord Zeus ruled over Earth after defeating Cronos. During his rule, he divided the year into four seasons {where as before this generation, the only season was spring}. Thus the men had to seek shelter in the form of houses for the first time and as the little boys grew up into adulthood; they experienced sorrow and grief as there were burdens for the first time, they were forced to do wrong out of stress. Men were worried about feeding themselves and their families and so work and labor was executed and laws had to be made. Nevertheless, people held tight to their faith and godly qualities still existed within, although they were decreased by one-fourth compared to Satya Yuga. This was the age that the Varna-Asmara-dharma was introduced and the process of self-realization was carried out through sacrifices. This was the beginning of the evils such as, frustration and sadness.
The Dvapara Yuga or the belly and thighs made of bronze {from the vision of the statue} the age when all heavenly qualities were decreased by 50 percent and the 3rd generation began. According to Greek mythology, this was the time when men began to love the wrong things and admire the wrong qualities such as war, greed and power. This was the heroic age when weaponry was first introduced as good {the heroes} were against the bad {the villains}; this age was the age of the wars. As from the Hindu mythology, self-realization was gained through temples and deities as the places for and of worship. This was the time when our religion’s first stories and forms bloomed. This generation was the generation of Brahman taking different forms {as human or human-like} to symbolize that the good still exists and through determination and faith can abolish the evil. This was the age of all the possible stories that you may have heard {like Mahabharata, and Ramayana}. This was the mighty age that showed the powers of evil but also that it could be destroyed by the good {as we still know}.
Finally comes our age, the Kali Yuga or the Iron Age. It is said that Lord Krishna appeared right before the Kali Yuga started and it is believed that he will appear yet once more in his manifest form. It is predicted {according to the Hindu religion} that by the end of this Yuga, men will only live up to 20 years and their only food will be meat. The Greeks have described this age as the life of toil where faith, modesty and truth leave the Earth and in its place comes dishonesty and violence. Men are tired from labor and long for others’ lives to be disappointing. It is said {by both Hindu and Greek mythology} that this age is the age of hypocrisy. We are already 5000 years through the Kali Yuga and you can already see how common evil is. From the past generation {the Dvapara Yuga} the evil has dragged on and it almost seems as if it is overpowering all the good that we still believe in; but do not let that break your faith. Remember, good will always win in the end because true love and the ultimate truth cannot be ignored forever; in one way or another it will always return to remind us. For the mode of goodness that was abundant in the Satya Yuga is not lost, just misplaced. All we need to do is practice virtue and soon, we will come to realize what the people always knew way back then.
Let us not let the evil surrounding us blind us; but let us remain strong amongst ourselves as good people. Perhaps we cannot help our past sins but let us forgive and forget the wrong-doings and lift ourselves up with hope and pursue for the righteous. Our soul is created by God and so it is surely pure and loving as God himself {theoretically}; so let us begin to let our soul be our guide and our conscious lead our way. Let us keep our faith if our own goodness and let us unite to achieve that bliss our souls crave. Let us pray upon the righteous and the fair; let us pray for what feels good; let us create and withhold our own happiness within by accepting and learning and continuing to always do so.
Now that you have read this, you know that there was indeed such an innocent, perfect time. All there is left to think about this article now is to believe that we can make that happen again. Perhaps we cannot change the predication already made about how this Yuga will end; but we can certainly control {by our thoughts and actions} how our lives will be. So why not aim for the truth?
Bibliography
http://www.harekrishnatemple.com/chapter19.html {from the Hare Krishna website}
http://homepage.mac.com/cparada/GML/AgesOfMan.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ages_of_Man
By: Aekta Bandodker
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Life
LIFE
by Aekta Bandodker 2009
The sky is bright
The sky is dry
The night is moonless
The starless sky
Life is hard
And people die
Life is easy
Days go by
Hardships come
to make them go, we try
We succeed
we loose
To do a good deed
We choose
All people good
All people made
By God Himself
We are bound to obey
Our lives we pick
Some who assist
They walk the right path
But those who choose darkness
Who seem to be doubtless
That luck that is hopeful
May not be with them
But that the life that is harmful
Cluelessly walking through, they condemn
so now that is life
Will always be life
Do let go
All that we suffer
Be strong, be wise
Trust in God
Whether Ganesha
or Jesus Christ
Then life will be much easier
Then life will be fine.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Auspicious Beginning
We launch our online newsletter SETU with a drawing by Aditya M. Bandodker.
Aditya writes:
Gunputi is the remover of all obstacles and if you have a Gunputi statue larger than 3 feet you have to be a complete vegetarian for your whole life. Gunputi also has a mouse.
Friday, March 12, 2010
SETU INTRODUCTION
"Setu" is a bridge
that connects us to our heritage.
From young to old,
morals and values are what we are told
Our culture brings us together,
We shall unite for the better!
-Eesha Choudhari, Shalni Kumar, Pooja Ranganathan
that connects us to our heritage.
From young to old,
morals and values are what we are told
Our culture brings us together,
We shall unite for the better!
-Eesha Choudhari, Shalni Kumar, Pooja Ranganathan
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