Who Am I?

Who am I?

A question so often asked by each of us. On this page I will attempt to give a short explanation as to who I am and how I became so involved in India, Indic culture and Hinduism.

I was born in Southern Ohio and adopted at birth to a family in a rural community. We were always well traveled for where we were from. As a child it was not uncommon for us to go to Puerto Rico, the middle east, etc etc during the summer holidays as my father was an electrical engineer for a company based in Cincinnati. Still, I spent most of my life on my families rather large farm. Roaming forests, hill and glen and having free reign in my natural world gave me a very interesting childhood.

My grandfather had lived in India before her partition and he, as well as other family members related stories to me about his life there. Stories of traveling through the seven sisters into Burma to stop advancing Japanese soldiers, and of him meeting tribal peoples and trading stories. These tales always intrigued me, He died when I was 14 years old and when I was old enough (sometime around 18 years old) I decided to go see the places where these stories took place.



Having a few friends in India already I decided to take a months trip and explore a few common tourists sites. The Taj Mahal, Red Fort.. nothing very far off the beaten path for my first trip. I ended up falling in love with India and her many cultures on that trip. On my way home I did become stranded in Bombay, now Mumbai, for about a week and a half. With very little money to my name and relying on the kindness of strangers I got to see a side of India that most never get to see. Though, to be honest I would not enjoy the experience if I were forced to repeat it.

After many more trips to India and much more studying I decided I wanted to take up Upanayana (the sacred thread) so that I could properly study the Vedas. An Iyengar family in Bangalore kindly allowed me to take their gothra (lineage) so that I could study traditionally. After several more years I took the final steps to complete my pancha samaskar (the 5 initiative rights) to become fully involved in Sri Vaishnavism (Vadagalai).

At this time, I am completing my training as a panchratric bhattaracharya under Sri U. Ve. Madhava Bhattar of Andavan Ashramam who studied under the Ashtalakshmi Kovil in Besant Nagar, Chennai. I also have a degree in Cultural Anthropology and Linguistics from the University of Cincinnati.

I still have much to learn, as do we all, but I am happy to share what knowledge I have gained so that everyone can have a greater understanding and appreciation of Hinduism and Indic culture as a whole.

Adiyen

Narasimha Chaturdashi

Narasimha, the name of the ferocious aspect of Mahavishnu, protector of Prahalad and all Vaishnavas. His name, Nara-Simha can be literally translated to Man (Nara) Lion (Simha). His major legends can be found in several puranas; namely the Vishnu Purana, Agni Purana and Bhagavat Purana. The most commonly known legend associated with the great Narasimha is located in the Bhagavath Purana in which he saves the child devottee Prahalada from his demon-king father Hiranyakashipu.

In the legend the demon-king Hiranyakashipu had achieved a conditional immortality through boons granted by the god Bramha, After years of penance Bramha had appeared to the demon-king asking him what his desire was? To this Hiranyakashipu replied,

 O my lord, O best of the givers of benediction, if you will kindly grant me the benediction I desire, please let me not meet death from any of the living entities created by you.

Grant me that I not die within any residence or outside any residence, during the daytime or at night, nor on the ground or in the sky. Grant me that my death not be brought about by any weapon, nor by any human being or animal.

Grant me that I not meet death from any entity, living or nonliving created by you. Grant me, further, that I not be killed by any demigod or demon or by any great snake from the lower planets. Since no one can kill you in the battlefield, you have no competitor. Therefore, grant me the benediction that I too may have no rival. Give me sole lordship over all the living entities and presiding deities, and give me all the glories obtained by that position. Furthermore, give me all the mystic powers attained by long austerities and the practice of yoga, for these cannot be lost at any time.  

In this way the demon-king insured that he could not be killed, at least in any simple way. 

After a few events in the story I won't go into the demon-kings son Prahalad is born in the celestial sage Narada's hermitage and becomes a great devotee of Vishnu. Over the years Hiranyakashipu tries over and over to convince his son that he is god. Finally in a last straw the demon king asks Prahalada where his god is and Prahlada replies the Narayana (Vishnu) is in the pillar next to him, the smallest twig and every space in between. In a rage Hiranyakashipu strikes the pillar near Prahalad and suddenly Narasimha arises full of ferocity from its remains. After a fight Narasimha carries the demon-king to the threshold (neither inside or outside) at dusk (neither day or night) and puts him on one of his knees (neither on the ground nor in the sky) and tears him open with his gigantic claws (not by any weapon). Prahalad calms down the angry Narasmha and worships him.





Narasimha worship is traditionally strongest around modern day Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Particularly in Ahobilam where many ancient Narasimha temples dot the caves and jungle. Ahobilam is also revered as being the place where Hiranyakashipu's palace was actually situated and Narasimha first took form.

Narasimha worship has also become very popular with ISKCON (Hare Krishnas) who consider Narasimha as a protector of Vaishnavas. The Bangalore ISKCON, Mayapur ISKCON, as well as New Vrindavan in West Virginia all keep amazing Narasimha deities.

Varaha- The Avatar that Saved Modern Vaishnavism As We Know it

Varaha- The Avatar That Saved Modern Vaishnavism As We Know It

Indeed our religion has changed and developed greatly over the years to accommodate stresses and pressures involved from the contemporary culture of the day. Perhaps this ability to change is what has allowed Hinduism to survive the test of time when all of the religions which existed at its earliest beginnings have long since passed on into myth with the cultures they once serviced. There was at one time a real danger, and indeed the ripples are still being felt in the areas that were affected, of the end of not only Vaishnavism (the worship of Lord Vishnu and his Avatars) but of all Hinduism. This was a time of invasion, destruction and a time when one of the great Avatars of Vishnu once again rose to protect our way of life.

 The year was 1001 A.D. when Mahmud of Ghazni first entered India. In his eyes was the gleam of greed for all the riches held within the temples of western India. Gold and jewels, fine clothes, spices like pepper that were even more costly than precious metals were all given in these great temples. Under the guise of conversion of the heathens he pillages and ransacked the great temples. Destroying the great temple of Somnath in Gujarat and thousands of other pilgrimage sites he carried back the gold and jewels for himself and the broken idols to buried beneath the steps of the Kaaba in Mecca. This was only the first of the conquests into India that would take it’s toll on the religious and scientific cultures of the areas destroyed.

After several hundred years Turks and Afghans entered India to rule. Taking Delhi as their capital they extended campaigns ever further southward. Destroying the great Vishnvanath temple in Banaras and the temple to Sri Rama in Ayodhya that had existed since time immemorial. The Muslim armies finally came within sight of the richest and grandest of the great temples. The southern Dravidians had temples that stood so large they were as fortresses of stone; bound in gate after gate and covered in intricate carvings. The greed of the Sultinate was almost too much when they could almost taste the massive amount of precious things that dripped and gleamed in these places that honor gods they considered blasphemous.

  The famous hill shrine of Tirupati Venkateshwara stood shining atop the Saptagiri like a white pinnacle of Ivory. The only way to reach this temple was to climb the seven peaks of the Saptagiri range using the Alipiri footpath that is even today used by pilgrims. In the climb the armies left a swath of destruction until finally reaching one of the seven great doorways upon which was carved a great boar. Varaha, Vishnu's avatar who saved the earth on his tusk from a demon. Seeing what they considered an unclean beast the armies dared not cross the gateway and fled the temple gates in the process saving the temple and all preserved within.

  This story is common to many of the great temples in the south of India. If you hike to these areas you can see the broken carvings and walls until you reach an image of Varaha after which it seems nothing had ever taken place. No war, no destruction, and no loss of culture or knowledge.

 In modern times you can see a marked difference between the regions affected by these conquests. In areas most heavily affected like the states of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, etc etc, much of the lost knowledge has yet to be reclaimed. The general state of Hinduism for most locals there has become more of a superstition, even literacy is at an all time low in these places. In places like the south or in Bengal and Maharasthra where these conquests were fought against and pushed away it is easy to see the difference in even today's culture. In literacy, culture, knowledge of “Sanskaar aur Sanskruti” as well as why we actual perform certain acts is common knowledge.

   In writing this I do not mean to place judgment on modern Muslims nor on Hindus living in the states affected by the ancient conquests. I simply enjoyed the tales so commonly told in India and of the boogeyman still feared in much of Gujarat; the dark and frightening pillager that began it all, Mahmud of Ghazni and of that great Avatar that saved us yet again; Varaha, the great boar.