INDIAN CULTURE

Few countries in the world have such an ancient and diverse culture as India's. Stretching back in an unbroken sweep over 5000 years, India's culture has been enriched by successive waves of migration which were absorbed into the Indian way of life.It is this variety which is a special hallmark of India. Its physical, religious and racial variety is as immense as its linguistic diversity. Underneath this diversity lies the continuity of Indian civilization and social structure from the very earliest times until the present day. Modern India presents a picture of unity in diversity to which history provides no parallel. Here is a catalogue of everything Indian. Indian religions, festivals, rituals, artifacts, monuments, costumes, music and dance, language and literature.

WHAT IS UNIQUE ABOUT THE INDIAN CALENDER?

The modern western calendar that we are accustomed to is based on the sun in which a year (365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 46 seconds) is the time required for the earth to complete one orbit around the sun. This solar year is composed of 12 arbitrarily assigned months which have either 30 or 31 days, with the exception of February.

The Indian calendar is based on both the sun and the moon. The Indian calendar uses the solar year but divides it into 12 lunar months. They are listed in order from beginning to end: Kãrtik, Mãghshar, Posh, Mãgh (Mahã), Fãlgun, Chaitra, Vaishãk, Jeth, Ashãdh, Shrãvan, Bhãdarvo, and Ãso.

A lunar month is the time required for the moon to orbit once around the earth and pass through its complete cycle of phases. These months are formulated not arbitrarily, but in accordance with the successive entrances of the sun into the 12 rãshis, the 12 constellations of the zodiac marking the path of the sun.

A lunar month is precisely 29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes, and 3 seconds long. Twelve such months make up a lunar year of 354 days, 8 hours, 48 minutes, and 36 seconds. To ensure that the corresponding seasons according to the lunar months coincide with those of the solar year, an extra month is inserted every 30 months (approximately every 2½ years) because 62 lunar months are equal to 60 solar months.

As a result of the adjustment, the seasons and festivals retain their general position relative to the solar year.Each lunar month is divided into two pakshas (two parts) – the sud or shukla paksh (the bright half of the month when the moon waxes from a new moon to a full moon) and the vad or krishna paksh (the dark half of the month when the moon wanes from a full moon to a new moon).

Each paksha is divided into 15 tithis (lunar days) which follow the names of Sanskrit numerical system. The era that is currently used in the Indian calendar is the Vikram Samvat Era, which began in 57 BCE when King Vikram drove off a Greek invasion of the Malwa region and came to the throne. Thus, we have the following conversion to the Indian year.

If the western calendar date falls between Kartik sud 1 (the beginning of the Indian Year) and December 31st (the end of the western calendar year), then 57 years should be subtracted from the Indian year to make the conversion. If the western calendar date falls between January 1st (the beginning of the western year) and Aso vad 30 (the end of the Indian year), then only 56 years should be subtracted to make the conversion.

WHAT IS AHINSA?

Ahinsã is not just non-violence. It also encompasses respect and consideration for life and peaceful, harmonious living.

Explanation:
The Concept of AhinsãAhinsã is the feeling that attempts to reduce harm to all living creatures. The concept of Ahinsã is meant to be practiced by:

thought - not having thoughts of ill-will towards others
word - not using speech to slander or malign others
deed - not performing violent physical actions

In renowned Hindu scriptures such as the Mahãbhãrat (3-207-7), the Vãsudev Mãhãtmya (20/21), and the Padma Purãn (1.31.27), Ahinsã is referred to as the highest virtue of life: Ahinsã paramo dharma. Bhagwãn Swãminãrayan has referred to the practice of Ahinsã throughout His Shikshãpatri - the code of conduct for devotees:

“All scriptures advocate Ahinsã as the highest dharma.”(Verse 12)
“My devotees should not harm any living being. They should not intentionally harm even small insects.” (Verse 11)
“Even for performing yagnas (ceremonial and divine sacrifices) to please deities or ancestors, no harm should be inflicted on any living being.” (Verse 12)
“Even for acquiring women, wealth or a kingdom, one should never, in any way, harm or kill any person.” (Verse 155)

Vegetarianism:

An Application of AhinsãA practical application of Ahinsã seen in Hinduism is vegetarianism - as it fosters the sentiment of respect for other living creatures. The most ancient Hindu scriptures curbed the practice of killing animals by imposing strict ritualistic regulations which are very difficult to ordinarily meet.

Those who were following the spiritual path and wanted to attain God were prohibited altogether from killing animals and consuming animal flesh because such consumption hinders spiritual progress. Hindu scriptures say that killing animals and consuming their flesh leads to violence in our thoughts and behavior.

It spoils one’s character and obstructs one’s acquisition of noble virtues. Today, some people feel that because they are not actually killing the animal themselves, eating the flesh and other body parts of a dead animal does not violate the code of Ahinsã. However, Hindus consider the consumption of dead animal flesh to be a barbaric practice.

ASHTANG YOG

Ashtang yog is a highly spiritual discipline that holistically encompasses the body ,mind, atma, and paramatama.


Patangali rishi (200 BCE) composed a sanskrit text known as a yog darshanam, whose shlokas are known as yog sutras. The word yog is derived from the sanskrit root yuj-to unite, to merge with parmatma . Maharshi Patangali 's Ashtang yog comprises of eight factors namely.


1) YUM(self -restraint)


2) NIYAM(external and internal purity)


3) ASANA(postures)


4) PRANAYAM(control of prana with breath)


5) PRATYAHAR(withdrawal of senses from their objects)


6) DHARANA(concentration)


7) DHYANA(meditation)


8) SAMADHI(transcendental realisation)

YUM(self-reatrain)

This means to control passions and diversting the mind from undesirable worldly thoughts and focus them on the atma. There are five factors

i) Ahimsa:It is non-injury in mind,speech and action towards any creature any any manner: mind - not to think maliciously of others,




speech- not to use foul language ,swear,backbite or quarrel.

action - avoiding injury to a person or creature

Ahimsa in thought is even more dmanding .It requires both interospection and effort. Thinking a bad thought about somebody whom we do not like or have a grudge against ,tantamounts to himsa.

By chronically harbouring vengance, anger or hostility one can never experience shanti within - (bhagwatgita 2/66).

on the contrary they are destructive to an individuals atma,mind and body and also to his family and society. Researchers today also corrobate this. In FOrgivieness (Theory,Research & Practice), the medicla auther cite studies documenting that chronic hostility is associated with negative health outcomes(McCullough 2000:257).

ii)SATYA(truthfulness)
One should live a truthful life in thought,speech and action . Regarding speech ,one should speakthat truth which is also benevolent and pleasing(Manu Smruti 4/138).

Another imprtant factor concerning satya ,is to earn one's living without deceit, fraud, or theft.For the young attending school or college , satya means to work diligently,not to copy from other's, nor to cheat in exam. To observe this satya one must cultivate an understanding that god is omnipresent and omniscient.

iii)Asteya (avoiding stealing possesions of others)

Taking something that does not rightfully belong to one self ,without permission of the owner or by violating the codes of the conduct enjoined by shastras,is known as theft Just thinking of acquiring something that belongs to others is also considered as theft .
Stealing gold (orcurrency in any form )is one of the five greatest sins-Punch Mahapap(ManuSmriti 11/5)

iv)Bhamacharya(celibacy)

Bhramacharya is the observance of eight fold celibacy and to remain engrossed in brahman. For householders the shastras consider bhramacharya as - one who is loyal to his wife ,is a celibate. prior to marriage the shastras forbid pre-martial relations.

As far as Ashtang yog is concerned ,bhramacharya is an extremely important factor in conserving virya(vitual energy) and boosting the spiritual energy in an individual.
Vishaybhog -indulgece in the sense pleasures-ruins a person(vairagyashatak 12).

v) Aparigraha (detached livingb with minimum requirements)

Simple living is the key to happiness . The more possesions a person has the greater his mental burden and the greater the carving to acquire further possessions,either lawfully or unlawfully.The mind needs to be free if material garbage in order to perfect yog.This requires a firm commitment to live a simple life - of simple clothing ,simple food,minimum mateial requirements and comfort, and a maximam detachment from them.

NIYAM(externel and internal purity)

Like yum ,niyam also comprises of five factors:

i)shauch(purity)
Primary purityis neede in sense of external and internal both.The ManuSmriti(5/109)elaborates that purifies the body,truthfulness purifies the mind, the jivatma is purified by knowledge and austries and the intellect (buddhi) is purified by knowledge.

Bathing purifies the body and only after such purification with water , is the body eligible for morningreligious rituals such as puja.

Purity of diet purifies the antahkaran(mind).Purity of antakaran stabilies the mind and meditation . After mastering meditation the basic instincts(vasna) are instantly eradicated.

ii)Santosh(contenment)
Santosh means toremain fully content with whatever god provides and has provided.Craving nature of the human invites misery.During an individual's life ,his karma(prarabdha) will dictate his wealth,health,longevity and possessions.

Acquiring more than what islawfully destined will either be whiled away or remain unused by him.
one should perform karmas deligently , and forsake expectation of their fruits. (gita (2/47)).

iii)tapas(austirity)

Tapas doesnot only mean performing physical austerities . IT also means to tolrate hardships;especially the dualities of heat-cold,hunger-thirst,happiness-unhappiness,honour-insult,gain-loss,and soforth .

tapas means remainig vigilant every moment ,to inculcate that "i am atma ,not this body",toperformonly those action in life that are necessary and helpful,and most importantly,to foresake one's own resolutions and beliefs and toobey the guru's wishea and commands.

iv) Swadhyay(regular study of truthfulshastras)

Bhagwan ved vyasdefines swadhyay as-chanting the omkar(pranv) mantra and studying true shastras with devotion , is called swadhyay or regular study.

v) Ishvar pranidhan(bhakti of Paramatma)

By deep devotionand surrender toIshvar(parmatma)it is possible toattain samadhi.-yogdarshan(2/45)

ASANA(postures)

Asana are the 84 yogic postures,mistakenly reffered to as 'yoga' in the west. Asana is just the third limb of the yog. An asana is mastered when a practitioner can remain quite comfortable in that posture. -yogdarshan(2/46).


As cited earlier ,just by mastering a few orall 84 asana a does not make a yogi . he needs to practice all the factors of Yam and Niyam,prior to practicing asana, as well as those that follow it.

A few practical rituals which automatically incorporate several asans in the daily life of the bhakta are: padmasan(lotus posture) and surya namaskar in the form of the dandvat pranams in the morning puja.

PRATYAHAR(withdrawing senses from their object)

This is the controlofthe senses (eyes,ears,nose,tounge and skin )by the mind,and diverting them inwards from their respective objects.-yogdarshan2/54

In essence pratyahar is a technique in which the mind withdraws into itself. The indriyas cease to function independently. It is similar to an inventer who is so engrossedin a problem that his mind is completely shutoff from the external world ,involuntarily .However in pratyahar , he mind remains within itself and the external world is shut out by sheer power,in Raj yog. In Bhakti Yog ,this occurs by th esupreme attractive power of an object of devotionallove within - paramatma.


The first five limb of the ashtang Yog is called Bahirang -external limbs of yog. The remainig three -Dharana,Dhyana and Samadhi are Antarang -internal.

DHYANA(meditation)

Dhyana is the broken flow of the mind towards the object(chosen for meditation).-yog dharsan 3/2.

In bhakti yog , Parmatma is the focus of dhyana. The difference between dharna and dhyana is that in the former occasional distractions occur. In the dhyana there is absence of distractions and unbroken continuity ofthe meditation on paramatma




The sadhakhas to practice dhyan diligently, despite setbacks. In the Vachnamrut Bhagwan Swaminarayan enjoins two practicalinjunctions for meditation :

-to meditate with faith on bhawan along with his ideal bhakta.
-to continue dhyana without losing heart , with renewed shraddha. He should not be discouraged even if this process takes 10,20,25 or even 100 years.

SAMADHI( transcendental realisation)

This is the last and the most important step of the ashtang yog.This is a transcendent state in which ther is consciousness only of the object of meditation -pramatma-and not of the mind itself.

The advait system believes that in the samadhi ,the sadhak mergse in the divine light of paramatma However Swaminarayan darshan believes that the pure atma realises Paramatma's sakar form and he, the Akshar-rup atma maintain his seperate identity. And he only attains such samadhi ,not by his personal sadhana ,but by the grace of the Aksharbrahma, the ideal disciple and divine adobe of parabrahma.

Ultimately in the samadhi , a sadhak experiences realisation of God , either through Ashtang Yog or intense and unalloyed bhakti for the Bhagwan,alsoknownas the premlakshana bhakti.
For the example the Gopis. Their premlakshana bhakti was soprofound ,that they harboured no other worldly desire . They only yearned toattain shri Krishna , who was divine and gunatit. By their love for him, they too became devoid ofmaya and attained Bhagwan's Akshardham.