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What is a Sacrifice?

Nobody performs sacrifices in London so how does it rain there? The guy was referring to the verse of the Bhagavad Gita that says sacrifices create clouds and rain gives food. Obviously, he didn't pause to reflect on the verse and was mocking the Gita. This is what most people do. They take deep philosophical texts at their face value and fail to grasp the real meaning. Sacrifice, in this case, doesn't mean starting a fire and pouring clarified butter into it all the while chanting some mantras. Sacrifice refers to Karma Yoga.  According to Lord Krishna, when a person performs his action with the greater good in his mind, it is a sacrifice. Non-attachment to the result is the key to such sacrifices. The person acts saying God will preside over the action and whatever God wills will happen. It is Karma Yoga. One needs to understand that the Hindu scriptures are not something you should read at their face value. They have a deeper meaning. If confused, ask instead of making fun o...
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Where did we come from and where do we go?

Where did we come from and where do we go? Someone posed this question. Here's my answer per my understanding: According to the Hindu philosophy, you and everything else are always there. You were never born, being energy or soul.  The Universe keeps on being created and dissolved by itself. You and everything else are vibrations of energy so you will always be here, even after you leave your body. It is said that the soul takes up another body depending upon its karma.  This continues until the universe contracts into the Hiranyagarbha (womb of Brahman). There you lie until the universe expands again. It's all just Maya, a play of Brahman. That's according to the Hindu philosophy. Tat Tvam Asi, meaning you are that. Here, "that" refers to the Supreme Soul. You are the energy of That. Always vibrating, always alive.  You may read the speeches by Alan Watts to completely understand this and other philosophies.
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Best app for Android phones - Clean Master from Cheetah Mobile

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There are many apps for Android by the name of Clean Master on the Play Store. But this post is about the best app for Android, the Clean Master from Cheetah Mobile. After five years of testing different multipurpose apps for Android maintenance, I concluded that the  Clean Master from Cheetah Mobile  is the best maintenance app. Not only general maintenance, Clean Master offers you much more than you can expect from a single app. Earlier, it felt that the "All in One for Android" was the best app out there for Android. But it turned out that the "All in One" app leaves out add-ins even after you remove the main app. Features built into the Clean Master app are available as add-ins in the All in One app for Android. The add-ins are not uninstalled when you uninstall the All in One app. I could not find a proper method to remove them as they were not visible in any App Managers. I had to do a factory reset of my phone, and that was when I acknowledged Clean Master a...
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Significance or Meaning of Swaha and Ithi in Sanskrit Mantras

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You might have noticed that all mantras begin with the sound of "OM". What you might have ignored or failed to notice is that mantras in Sanskrit end with "ithi" or "Swaha". Some of you end mantras with just a "Namah". Not to scare you, but if you fail to use "ithi" at end of each mantra or at the very end of any Stotra (hymn), the mantra & related offering (sacrifice or prasadam) doesn't reach the god being prayed. The word "ithi" marks the end of the mantra and urges gods to accept whatever you are offering. The word "swaha" is used more in homams (rituals where you put offerings/prasadam directly into the fire). Since people put offerings into the fire while saying "swaha", many of us associate it with "destruction". When anyone says "sab kuch swaha ho gaya (everything became swaha)", it does and should not be concluded that they lost things. It is a wrong notion that as...
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Analysis of Mahabharata Characters - Bhishma

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Bhishma is one of the powerful characters of the epic, Mahabharata that contains and shows a pious way of life to the mortals living on earth. I am starting this Analysis of Mahabharata Characters with Bhishma as he is the oldest character in the epic/saga and has tremendous influence on the other characters of Mahabharata. Bhishma was the son of king Shantanu and Ganga (the river Ganges in female form). Bhishma was considered one of the eight Vasus (rishis) who had to take birth on earth due to a curse. Before we analyze the character, let us take a quick look at the story of Bhishma according to the Mahabharata. Background Of Bhishma Bhismha is considered one of the eight Vasus who stole a cow named Kamadhenu from a sage. When the sage cursed them to take birth as humans, all Vasus asked for his forgiveness. The sage, for seven Vasus who helped the main Vasu to steal the cow, reduced the curse to death just after birth. However, the main Vasu who actually stole the cow was ...
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