Mananam

ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥ Introduction On the occasion of Vināyaka Chaturthi 2026, let us revisit that wondrous moment in time beyond time. The universe of the Mahābhārata had already been born in the mind of Bhagavān Vyāsa, waiting to emanate into words so that generations across the ages could receive it, live by it, and drink deeply from its inexhaustible wisdom. But who could read the mind of Bhagavān Vyāsa? And who could possibly match the speed of his thought with the speed of the written word? Brahmājī Himself had the answer: Gaṇeśaḥ smaryatāṃ mune, “O Muni, invoke Gaṇeśa.” And so Bhagavān Vyāsa remembered Him. Our sweet Swāmi, Śrī Mahāgaṇapati, appeared before Bhagavān Vyāsa. Vyāsa worshipped Him, offered Him a seat, and placed before Him an extraordinary prārthanā: become the lekhaka, the scribe, through whose divine hand the Mahābhārata would enter this world and remain for the ages to come. And Śrī Mahāgaṇapati agreed. Śrī Gaṇeśa Śaraṇam Śrī Gaṇeśa Śaraṇam Śrī ...

  MS Amma Jayanthi Vaibhavam (Sept 11th 2026) Om A devotional offering in celebration of the Jayanthi of Smt. M. S. Subbulakshmi Amma. Song Index ID Title Type Composer / Attribution Lyrics status 01 Vinayaka Ninnu Vina Kriti Sri Ramaswami Bhagavathar Included 02 Ganesha Pancharatnam Stotram Sri Adi Shankaracharya To be added 03 Siva Panchakshara Stotram Stotram Sri Adi Shankaracharya Included 04 Nada Tanumanisham Kriti Sri Sadguru Thyagaraja Included 05 Meenakshi Pancharatnam Stotram Sri Adi Shankaracharya Included 06 Nannu Kanna Thalli Kriti Sri Sadguru Thyagaraja Included 07 Sri Krishnashtakam Stotram Traditionally attributed to Sri Adi Shankaracharya Included 08 Gaanamurthe Kriti Sri Sadguru Thyagaraja Included 09 Ashtalakshmi Stotram Stotram Traditional Included 10 Kamakshi Varalakshmi Kriti Sri Muthuswami Dikshitar Included 11 Nama Ramayanam Stotram Sri Lakshmanacharya Included 12 Challare Ramachandruni Paini Poola Kriti Sri Sadguru Thyagaraja Included 13 Ikanaina Naa Kriti S...

Kaivalya Navanīta Kṛṣṇa The Inspiration This reflection was inspired by a small newspaper report on the Krishna Jayanti celebrations at the Śrī Navanīta Kṛṣṇa temple in Puliyarai, Tamil Nadu. The temple is situated behind the Dakṣiṇāmūrti shrine in the Śivakāmi Ambāl sameta Sadāśiva Svāmi temple complex. The beautiful name Navanīta Kṛṣṇa, inspired the following contemplation..... Kaivalya Navanīta Kṛṣṇa.... Boil the milk of the mind through the sādhanā of Karma Yoga. Add to it a little curd, the upadeśa received through Vedānta śravaṇam. Keep it undisturbed in the quietude of upāsanā, until the whole mind is transformed into curd. Now churn this well set curd through mananam and nididhyāsanam, until there emerges the precious navanītam of Kaivalyam, the firm abidance in Ātma jñānam, Ātma jñāna niṣṭhā. And Kṛṣṇa, the great Navanīta Chora, gladly takes this butter, only to give it to those who truly seek it. The jīvanmuktas, having themselves become, as it were, t...

In Vedānta, Ātma-anātma viveka begins with recognizing the fundamental difference between the svabhāva of the body-mind and the svarūpa of the Ātman. Happiness and sadness, pleasure and pain, heat and cold, agitation and tranquility all belong to the svabhāva maṇḍala. They are changing conditions of the body-mind. Consciousness, on the other hand, is the illuminator of all these conditions. Every experience, pleasant or unpleasant, is revealed in its presence, while consciousness itself remains unaffected by the particular content that it illumines. This is straightforward as a teaching. 😀 Yet, depending upon the adhikāritvam of the śrotā, a difficulty arises: “I understand what Vedānta is saying. But I still feel that I am this body-mind. I still experience its pain as my pain.” We often describe this by saying, “I understand it intellectually, but how to make it practical?!.” Without being explicit (perhaps for politeness or due to loyalty to tradition), we are implying...

Introduction During Gita Mananam, we discussed the The Two Birds and the Two Friends. So here is a short contemplative reading oppurtunity for the same.  The Mu ṇḍ aka Upaniṣad gives us the well-known image of two birds on the same tree: dvā supar ṇ ā sayujā sakhāyā samāna ṃ v ṛ kṣa ṃ pariṣasvajāte | tayor anya ḥ pippala ṃ svādv atty anaśnann anyo abhicākaśīti || Two inseparable companions of beautiful plumage perch on the same tree. One eats the sweet fruit, while the other, without eating, merely looks on. The next mantra explains the metaphor: samāne v ṛ kṣe puruṣo nimagno 'nīśayā śocati muhyamāna ḥ | juṣ ṭ a ṃ yadā paśyaty anyam īśam asya mahimānam iti vītaśoka ḥ || On the same tree, the jīva, immersed and helpless, grieves in delusion. But when he sees the other, the Lord, and recognizes His glory, he becomes free from sorrow. A beautiful parallel occurs in the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam in the Purañjana Upākhyānam, in Skandha 4, Chapters 25–29. The following ...

In his Yogasudhākara, commenting on Patañjali’s Yoga Sūtra 2.27, tasya saptadhā prāntabhūmiḥ prajñā “His culminating wisdom is sevenfold,” Śrī Sadāśiva Brahmendra describes seven nivṛttis that characterize the culmination of discriminative knowledge: Jijñāsā-nivṛtti, Jihāsā-nivṛtti, Prepsā-nivṛtti, Cikīrṣā-nivṛtti, Śoka-nivṛtti, Bhaya-nivṛtti, and Sakala-vikalpa-nivṛtti. The contemplation of these seven nivṛttis can have a profound steadying influence upon the mind of a mumukṣu yearning for Brahmātmanubhava. 1. Jijñāsā-nivṛtti, freedom from the need to know jñātavyam akhilaṃ jñātaṃ mama na kiñcij jñātavyam asti “All that has to be known has been known. There is nothing further for me to know.” This is freedom from the restless inquisitiveness that seeks fulfillment by knowing more and more about the countless things in the world, as though such accumulation of knowledge could complete oneself or in the least a worthwhile endeavour!! -   samprāptē sannihitē kālē nah...