It was nearly two years ago when Oscar winner Hollywood star
Julia
Roberts (Pretty Woman) confessed of being a "practicing Hindu", and she
seems to be sticking to it devotedly.
In
her recent interviews to Indian media, she was quoted as saying: "I've
received real spiritual satisfaction through Hinduism and I'm a
practising Hindu and ever since I've started practicing, the festivals
(especially Diwali) attract me a lot too".
Roberts also stated in these reports that she shared a
common aspect of finding peace and tranquility of mind in Hinduism
similar to Patsy of The Razor's Edge by Somerset Maugham. "I would love
to return to this sacred land again and visit some key pilgrimage spots,
like Haridwar or Puri", she added while talking about India.
Welcoming her continued devotion to Hinduism, Hindu
statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, suggested
Roberts to realize the Self. Ancient Hindu scripture Katha Upanishad
points out that when wise realize the Self, they go beyond sorrow. Self
is supreme and those who meditate on Self are freed from the cycle of
birth and death. When one realizes Self, there is nothing else to be
known, Zed quotes the scripture.
Rajan Zed, who is President of Universal Society of
Hinduism, urged other Hollywood stars also to take time out of their
stressful lives to explore Hinduism and pointed out that they would
appreciate rich, diverse and long tradition of Hindu philosophy; and its
interpretation of the nature of reality.
Roberts, who grew up with a
Catholic mother and Baptist father, revealed for the first time in
September 2010 issue of women's fashion magazine Elle that she was
"definitely a practicing Hindu". She later revealed on ABC that she
became interested in Hinduism after seeing a picture of Hanuman devotee
Hindu guru Neem Karoli Baba, who died in 1973.
According to reports, Roberts has been interested in
yoga for quite some time. She was in Haryana (India) in September 2009
to shoot "Eat, Pray, Love" in an ashram (retreat). In January 2009, she
sported a "bindi" (vermillion mark on forehead) during her trip to India
when she also visited Taj Mahal with husband Danny Moder. She has a
production company called "Red Om Films", and "Om" in Hinduism is the
mystical syllable containing the universe.
Julia Fiona Roberts, 44, one of the most successful
Hollywood actresses besides a producer and fashion model, has won best
actress Oscar for "Erin Brockovich" and earned Oscar nominations for
"Pretty Woman" and "Steel Magnolias".
Hinduism, oldest and third largest religion
of the world, has about one billion adherents and moksh (liberation) is
its ultimate goal..
Source : Voxy News
Who is a Hindu? Who is a Hindu ? This question arises all the time in various situations and Hindus are unable to answer it exactly , precisely , satisfactorily and with confidence.I have asked this question to many people including eminent Hindu scholars, Sadhus, religious leaders, professors and Pandits but without a satisfactory reply. Fortunately I have found the most fitting , exact, precise and above all satisfying definition of a Hindu by a great revolutionary, author, orator, poet and patriot Veer Vinayak Rao Damodar Rao Savarkar. In 1905 while in the prison at Andamon- Nicobar Islands he thus wrote
ReplyDeleteAsindhu Sindhu Paryanta yashya Bharat Bhoomika,
Pitribhu Punya Bhuschaiva Sa vai Hindu Riti Smritah.[1]
There is a vast land between river Sindhu and Hind Mahasagar called Bharat and those who accept that this is their motherland or / and a holy land, land of pilgrimage are all Hindu .
This defination includes Sanatanis, Saivas, Vaishnavas,Saktas, Buddhists, Jains, Zorostrians[Parsis] , Arya Samasis, Sikhs, Harijans, members/followers of International Society of Krishna Consciousness or ISKCON, Vanvasis, Tribes , Yogis , Sadhus, Dalits, followers of Swaminarayan,followers of Shri Raamkrishna Paramhans, Panthis, Pagans, atheists and various other sects without exception are all Hindus . This is the first lesson the Hindu parents can give to their children. Parents, teachers, Sadhus and leaders must learn this definition and convey and spread the correct information to children and people to unify the Hindu society .
Vishnu Puran describes Bharat ;The country that lies north of the ocean and south of snowy mountains called Bharat,for there dwelt the descendents of Bharat.
ReplyDeleteBharatvarsh in short called Bharat is said to be given after these great three sons of the land;
Bharat the son of Raja Dasarath symbol of Tyag or sacrifice.
Bharat the son of Rishabhdev symbol of Gyan or knowledge.
Bharat the son of Raja Dushyant symbol of Veerata or bravery.
Therefore every Bharatiya must acquire all these qualities of sacrifice, knowledge and bravery to be a true son and daughter of Bharatmata, the mother of us all.
This is worth mentioning that acceptance of the Vedas with reverence, recognition of the fact that the means or ways to salvation are diverse; and realisation of the truth that number of gods to be worship is large, that indeed the distinguishing feature of the Hindu religion.--- Shri Balgangadhar Tilak.[ Quoted by Supreme Court of Bharat on 2 July 1995.] Hindus believe in One God. There is no god but God .Hindus are truly monotheist but worship many gods and goddesses and see the same God in all of them. This needs to be realised at intellectual level by others but they have failed to understand this fact. For example snow, ice, icicle, dew, and vapour are all forms of water but we call them by different names similarly Hindus see the same God in all the gods and goddesses as well as in all the living and non living things this is the most simple thing , Hindus understand this and appreciate this. Hindu scriptures say it boldly, clearly, distinctly and most beautifully
Ekam Sadhvipra Bahuda Vadanti [2] means that He is one but we call Him by various beautiful names.
Further to this it may be appropriate to mention the following verse which also gives clear message that Hindusthan means place [ sthan] of Hindus or land of Hindus or Hinduland [e.g. England ,land of English people, Ireland , land of Irish people ] .Hindusthan’s ancient name is Bharatvarsh.
Uttare cha Samudrashya Himadreshu cha Dakshinam,
Tadvarsha Bharat Nama Bharati Tatra Santati. [3]
The land which is north to the Hind Mahasagar[ Indian Ocean] and south to the mighty, magnificent Himalayas is Bharat, sons and daughters of this ancient land are called Bharati or Bbharatiya[Hindusthani]
Bharat also means knowdge or Gyan means away from ignorance or away from darkness so Bharat means land of source of light or knowledge. True knowledge is in the Ved so Bharat is also known as Ved Bhoomi.
Bhayam Ratam Bharatam [4] means Bharat is submerged in light or is full of light so foundation and backbone of Bharat is knowledge where life is led by knowledge therefore ignorance and superstitions have no place in the land of Hindus.
What unites us is our spiritual and cultural heritage and its inner and most powerful strength since beginning of our civilisation. Our heroes and heroines are supreme who inspire and guide us just remembering their names provide new and instant energy, strength, courage, hope and peace to name a few e.g. Raam, Krishna, Arjun, karn,Bhishma, Mahaveer, Buddha, Sri Raamkrishna, Dhruva,Prahalad, Hanuman,Sita, Radha,Tiruvallavur, Adi Sankaracharya, Guru Nanak, Samarth Guru Raamdas,Shivaji, Maharana Pratap, Bhamasah, Sant Yogeshwar, Swaminarayan, Meera Bai, Tulsidas, Guru Tegh Bahadur, Guru Govind Singh, Valmiki, Vedavyas, Kalidas, Swami Dayanand, Swami Vivekanand, Ramana Mahirishi, Srila Prabhupad, Valmiki, Soordas, Kabir,Subhas Chandra Bose, Khudi Ram Bose,Bhagat Singh,Chandra Shekhar TiwariAzad,, Bankim chandra chattopadhyaya, Sri Aurvindo, Dr.Hedegewar, Mangal Pandey,Sardar Ballabha Bhai Patel, Veer Savarkar, Dr. Ambedkar , Yogi Yoganand, Swami Chinmayanand, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,Sivaya Subramaiyaswami, Sai Baba,Sri Sri, Sri Ravishankar, Swami Ramdev, Swami Satyamitranand Giri,Sadhavi Umashree Bharati,Shri RameshBhai Oza and Sadhavi Ritambhara there is no end to this list and we are proud of them.
ReplyDeleteWe recite the following Slok while bathing which is so satisfying and unifying us from Himalayas to Hind Mahasagar and all the Hindus living anywhere in the world
Gange Cha Yamune Chaiva Godavari Saraswati,
Narmade Sindhu Kaveri Jalesminsannidhim kuru.[ 5]
A Hindu while chanting this Slok prays to sacred rivers e. g. Ganga, Yamuna, Godavari, Saraswati, Narmada,Sindhu and Kaveri to come and join in the water being used for bath or shower. It is a unique and enlightening experience and at the same time so unifying which inspires me to say that one Hindu is for all and all Hindus are for one. Origin of the word Hindu has been traced from an ancient scripture called Brihanardi Puran in which there is a verse
ReplyDeleteHimalayan Samabhya Yavat Bindusarovaram,
Hindusthanmati Gyatam Hii Antarakshar Ayogatah.[6]
It means the country between the Himalayas and Bindu Sarovar is Hindusthan so combining the first letter Hi of Himalayas and last compound letter Ndu of word Bindu forms Hindu so purely and simply this is a Sanskrit word. Our ancestors wrote so much including two largest epics Raamayan and Mahabharat and foreigners gave us the name Hindu cannot be accepted .This verse is also mentioned in the Nardeeya PuranWhich is a short version of original Brihannardi Puran.
Hinam Nashyati Iti Hindu[ 7 ] means those who uphold righteousness and fight ignobleness are Hindu.
Our motherland is also known as OM Bhoomi, Ved Bhoomi, Avatar Bhoomi, Devi Bhoomi, Devata Bhoomi, Punya Bhoomi, Rishi Bhoomi, Teerth Bhoomi, Gurukul Bhoomi, Guru Bhoomi, Sanskrit Bhoomi, Sanskriti Bhoomi,Sabhyata Bhoomi, Sant Bhoomi,Van Bhoomi, Veer Bhoomi,Raam Bhoomi, Krishna Bhoomi, Ras and Raas Bhoomi and Mahaveer Bhoomi, Buddha Bhoomi,Tiruvallavur Bhoomi, Kavi Bhoomi,Kavya Bhoomi, Sangeet Bhoomi,Nritya Bhoomi, Maharana Pratap Bhoomi, Shivaji Bhoomi, Lakshami Bai Bhoomi,Guru Nanak Bhoomi, Hedegewar Bhoomi, Sardar Patel, Veer Savarkar Bhoomi and above all Matri Bhoomi which inspired Shri Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyaya who wrote Vande Mataram.
I am a Hindu, my ancestors come from Hindusthan and my holy places or places of pilgrimage are in Hindusthan.
In Hindusthan over many thousands of years the Dharma,culture, civilisation, traditions, philosophy,Yog vidya, Ayurved,music, literature, arts , fine arts, dance, and languages had developed without outside compulsion and force in total harmony with nature and eternal laws that is why it is so pure and unique and if you approach with open mind then you will love it and you will find vast treasure in it and that is the experience of many people around the world , so try to know more about it you will be spiritually, morally and culturally richer and peaceful. Everything in Hindusthan is attached to word Hindu and greatest strength of Hindus has been the freedom of expression in thought, talk and action .The culture of this country is Hindu Culture, the history of this country is the history of Hindus, so is the architecture, literature, sculpture, folklore, poetry, dramas, stories, comics, sorrow and laughter, music, languages and heritage around us is all Hindu.Where ever Hindus went they took their culture and religion and people were attracted so adopted without compulsion or force so south east Asian conutries fell in love with Hindu culture and the influence can be seen in these countries from Mangolia to Burma toLuthvania and now in Europe and America. We must go a bit back and deeper and infact it has all its source from Sanatan Dharma. All the religions of Hindusthan are branches of Sanatana Dharma which is generally known as Hinduism ..Hinduism has the capacity and capability to accommodate all those who believe in the freedom of individual in thought, talk and action following the eternal laws of equality, justice and freedom in development of humanity. The time has come that Hindus must rename India officially as Hindusthan which is long over due, this will bring a new energy in Hindus and make them feel proud , bold, assertive, responsible and courageous . This is the demand of majority Hindus and cannot be ignored anymore.
ReplyDeleteThe Hindus, who always brag of believing in the existence of one God, in fact, believe in the existence of crores of Gods and Goddesses. While propitiating (appeasing) any one of them, the Hindus claim that the remaining 33 crore Gods and Goddesses are subservient to Him/ Her. This is self-contradictory and only indicates our lack of faith in one God. Dendrolatry in the form of worship of trees like peepal, banyan, banana, tulsi and jand etc. and zoolatry in the form of worship of animals as gods only exposes fickleness of our minds. As if and not satisfied with such a big army of Gods, the Hindus also throng to religious places of other faiths like gurudwaras and mazaars/peers, so much so that many of the mazaars/peers are maintained and looked after by the Hindus only. It is beyond doubt that most of the Muslim peers are flourishing because of Hindus only, and will be shut if Hindus stop visiting them. Hindus are always eager to appease the other communities (Muslims, Sikhs, Christians etc.) by following their customs/rituals. We may justify it as secularism but actually it reflects our wavering faith in our own Gods and Goddesses. On the contrary, rarely is a follower of other faiths seen in our temples or practicing our rituals. Lack of faith in one deity has seriously affected unity among the Hindus and has lead to disorganization and weakening of the Hinduism. On thousands of occasions, Hindus have miserably failed to protect the respect of their Gods and Goddesses and religious places. Unlike other religions, the Hindus have no centralised authority to control & regulate their religious affairs. The four Mathas established by the Shankracharya in 8th century have not proved to be really effective. This makes us unorganised and leads to lack of consensus on trivial issues like dates of Hindu festivals. Our religious scholars seldom agree on single date for festivals leading to celebration of festivals on different dates. This dilutes the devotion & enthusiasm and also impels a sense of ridicule for our religion in the minds of others. This is solely because of non-availability of a centralised religious command. The philosophy of non-violence has made us cowards and the Hindus on the excuse of non-violence do not even protect their own person & property, what to talk of common interest. The Hindus are not ready to bear pain involved in fighting for their own rights and always look towards others to fight for them. This philosophy has made us cowards to such an extent that we did not retaliate even the invaders who attacked us in our homeland. Just a handful of Muslim invaders attacked us, captured us, slew us, converted many to Islam, outraged the modesty of our women, broke our temples and used every possible atrocity to destroy Hinduism but the philosophy of non-violence made the Hindus surrender everywhere.
ReplyDeleteThe Hindus, who always brag of believing in the existence of one God, in fact, believe in the existence of crores of Gods and Goddesses. While propitiating (appeasing) any one of them, the Hindus claim that the remaining 33 crore Gods and Goddesses are subservient to Him/ Her. This is self-contradictory and only indicates our lack of faith in one God. Dendrolatry in the form of worship of trees like peepal, banyan, banana, tulsi and jand etc. and zoolatry in the form of worship of animals as gods only exposes fickleness of our minds. As if and not satisfied with such a big army of Gods, the Hindus also throng to religious places of other faiths like gurudwaras and mazaars/peers, so much so that many of the mazaars/peers are maintained and looked after by the Hindus only. It is beyond doubt that most of the Muslim peers are flourishing because of Hindus only, and will be shut if Hindus stop visiting them. Hindus are always eager to appease the other communities (Muslims, Sikhs, Christians etc.) by following their customs/rituals. We may justify it as secularism but actually it reflects our wavering faith in our own Gods and Goddesses. On the contrary, rarely is a follower of other faiths seen in our temples or practicing our rituals. Lack of faith in one deity has seriously affected unity among the Hindus and has lead to disorganization and weakening of the Hinduism. On thousands of occasions, Hindus have miserably failed to protect the respect of their Gods and Goddesses and religious places. Unlike other religions, the Hindus have no centralised authority to control & regulate their religious affairs. The four Mathas established by the Shankracharya in 8th century have not proved to be really effective. This makes us unorganised and leads to lack of consensus on trivial issues like dates of Hindu festivals. Our religious scholars seldom agree on single date for festivals leading to celebration of festivals on different dates. This dilutes the devotion & enthusiasm and also impels a sense of ridicule for our religion in the minds of others. This is solely because of non-availability of a centralised religious command. The philosophy of non-violence has made us cowards and the Hindus on the excuse of non-violence do not even protect their own person & property, what to talk of common interest. The Hindus are not ready to bear pain involved in fighting for their own rights and always look towards others to fight for them. This philosophy has made us cowards to such an extent that we did not retaliate even the invaders who attacked us in our homeland. Just a handful of Muslim invaders attacked us, captured us, slew us, converted many to Islam, outraged the modesty of our women, broke our temples and used every possible atrocity to destroy Hinduism but the philosophy of non-violence made the Hindus surrender everywhere.
ReplyDeleteATTROCITIES ON WOMEN AND THE LEGAL REMEDIES TO PREVENT THEM
ReplyDeleteLet us have an introspection upon the prevailing maladies and get the effective implementation of the better idea, the better measurements as to prevent them by the strong will power in order to protect the half of the human being which constituted the part of the women folk in the society. Yogesh Kumar Saxena, Advocate, High Court Allahabad and supreme court (India) e mail Address yogrekha@gmail.com, yogrekha@yahoo.co.in or yogrekha@rediffmail.com, Mobile:- 9415284843, 979231584, 7800888892
There will be no generation of great men, until there are women, free women of free mothers. There every women deserves sentiments. Women should be honoured and adorned with appraisal. The religious act of family where women are not honoured becomes fruitless. The family enjoys perpetual propriety, where women are delighted. Therefore one should honour women as ‘ PUJYA DEVI’ and refrain from committing any atrocities upon them.
Equality on the basis of sex and individuality of women has been recognized by the Indian Constitution. The number of laws has been enacted to improve the lot of women, but it has not been successful in changing the status of women. The women continue to be exploited, as they are dependent, socially, economically and psychologically upon men.
Education, an important source of personality development and emancipation has failed to bring women at par with men. Marriage being the sole purpose of women’s life, education becomes only a means to attain that purpose.
Women constitute one of the backward social groups is in the need of special protection. Tradition, religion and law have conspired to make women subordinate to men. The subordination of women is against the spirit of democracy, it is against equality and justice.The abolition of Sati and Lord Bentinck ( Bengal Sati Regulation, 1929) was no doubt the first legal measure for social reform. Legalization of widow’s remarriage, prohibition of child marriage and recognition of widow’s property rights were some of the other reforms made during British Rule. The Constitution of India, realizing the special need for ameliorative efforts to bring about equality between man and woman provided the special provision for women and children. The egalitarian thrust provided the right to an adequate means of livelihood. The special provision for maternity relief reveals the anxiety of implementation of social obligation.
It was a very interesting reading, thank you for your reply.
ReplyDelete