Assam became first Indian state to observe Child Protection Day

Assam became first Indian state to observe Child Protection Day

Assam on 4 March 2014 became the first state in India to observe State Child Protection Day. The day was observed across the state and a central function was organized under the aegis of Assam State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (ASCPCR) in collaboration with the UNICEF.

• Internationally Child Protection Day is observed on 19 November every year. It was launched by the   Women’s World Summit Foundation (WWSF) in 2000.

Manthrikopanishad

 Manthrikopanishad

Here we don’t find a Guru or a disciple. In stanza I we find several adjectives for the immaculate aatman which is subtle and imperishable. Though we experience it althrough our life, we don’t recognize our Aatman always.

“Bhutasammohane kale biannae thamasi vaikaree

Antha: pasyanthi satwastha nirgunam guna gahwaree.”

[All human beings are caught up in the darkness of the ignorance. However, when the veil of ignorance is removed one is able to discern it in the inner mind]. 

Ignorant people will never be able to understand the greatness of the soul. The whole world is caught up in a wide web of maya; this maya rules the world.

 In the ensuing stanzas  we get a picture about real Mantra (secret).  Brahma bears different names like Kaala, Praana, Sharva, Maheswara, Rudra and so on. The same Paramaatma is described in the Vedas as Prajapathi, who is worshipped by all. The Upan ishads of Atharva Veda describe it as Nirguna Sankhya.

Stanza XVII summarizes the core principle:

“Yasmin sarvamitham protham brahmasthaavara jangamam

Thasminneva layam yathi sravanthya: saagare yadhaa."

[All moving and unmoving objects in the Universe are chained in Brahma; everything merge in the sea.]

  The bubbles arise from water and again become one with the sea. Similarly all objects evolve out of Brahma and later immerge in him. Whoever knows this secret he/she achieves the ultimate goal of oneness with Parabrahma.

                                                                     Dr. Karickam

Nikhil Kumar resigned: Sheila Dikshit appointed new Kerala governor

Sheila Dikshit, the former three-term Chief Minister of Delhi, was appointed the Governor of Kerala. She served as the chief minister of Delhi from 1998 to 2013. Dikshit led the Congress party, to a record three consecutive electoral victories in the national capital

• Dikshit, who had contested the 2013 Assembly Elections from the New Delhi Constituency, had lost against the newly formed Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convener Arvind Kejriwal with a big marginof around 20000 votes.
• Governor of Kerala Nikhil Kumar has resigned from his post and is likely to contest the elections from the Aurangabad seat in Bihar, which he had won in 2004.
• The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee has appointed him as the new Governor of Kerala on 9 March 2013.

86th Oscar awards announced: Best film 12 Years a Slave

The 86th Academy Awards ceremony held at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles on March 2, 2014. The ceremony was scheduled one week later than usual to avoid conflict with the broadcast of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

The awards, first presented in 1929 at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, are overseen by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS).

Gravity won seven awards, the most for the ceremony, including Best Director for Alfonso Cuaron.

The winners are as follows:

• Best Picture: 12 Years a Slave (Director: Steve McQueen)
• Best Director: Alfonso Cuaron  (Gravity)
• BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE: Matthew McConaughey  (Dallas Buyers Club )
• BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE: Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine)
• BEST WRITING -Original Screenplay: Spike Jonze (Her)
• BEST WRITING – Adapted Screenplay :John Ridley 12 Years a Slave
• BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Jared Leto - Dallas Buyers Club
• BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Lupita Nyong'o - 12 Years a Slave -
• BEST COSTUME DESIGN : The Great Gatsby
• BEST MAKE-UP & HAIRSTYLING: Dallas Buyers Club
• BEST SHORT FILM (ANIMATED): Mr Hublot
• BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM: Frozen
• BEST SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION): Helium
• BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT: The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life
• BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: 20 Feet from Stardom
• BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: The Great Beauty (Italy)
• BEST SOUND MIXING: Gravity
• BEST SOUND EDITING: Gravity
• BEST VISUAL EFFECTS:Gravity

UPANISHADS OF INDIA NO. 40 -- ASHRAMOPANISHAD

Paramahamsa Upanishad

     Paramahamsa Upanishad

                Once Narada comes to Brahma with a burning question.”who is a real Paramahamsa Yogi? What is his position among other yogis ? What is his real path pertaining to asceticism?’

                Brahma says that the office of a Paramahamsa is the most difficult vratha in the Universe. It is so hard. There are not many in their class. You will find only one or two at a time. They will be in a state called ‘ Kudastha bhava’.They will be called Veda Purusha. Their mind will be immensed in me. They abide in me and I in them. They will shun children, friends and family. They will give up all attachments like the Yajnopayeeda, tuft and stuff. They avoid even the study of Vedas. They will give up Samstha Brahmanda (whole world). In essential conditions they will wear only kaupeenam and carry only a blanket.

                But the main deeksha or vratha or the yogi principles shall be the following

1.       When he becomes a real Paramahamsa he will do away with attachments like Yajnopaveeda(Holy thread) and Dandu (Staff)

2.       He will not be swayed by  sukha or dukha.

3.       He will overcome all passions like contempt, pride, hatred, joy, sorrow, jealousy, cowetessness, and conceit and so on.

4.       He will consider his body just as a corpse.

5.       He will not entertain any doubts or false knowledge and becomes Satyajnana swaroopa.

6.       He never depends on any objects in this Universe.

7.       He is calm and unshakable.

8.       He attains Samabhavana (considering every one as equel)

9.       He always resides in Parabrahma Swaroopa. He will also be called as ‘Dandi’ as knowledge becomes his Dand (staff)

     The third stanza gives a warning about a sanyasi who is devoid of all the above qualities such one will inherit hell.

                Stanza Iv (final stanza) gives us a beautiful image that sky is the dress for a paramahamsa. He will have no house at all his intellect will be stable, he craves for no gold. Nothing in the world attracts him. If he craves for gold or wealth he makes himself like a killer of a Brahmin, he degrades himself to a chandaala. All his desires end. He will have no fear of grief. All his indriyas will be under control. He resides in his self and becomes a purnananda swaroopa and develops a feeling that “I am adweethya Brahma” (Brahma who has no equal).

            Dr. Karickam