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Showing posts from October, 2012

The Goddesses Nanda and Sunanda of Kumaon

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S ome of the earliest mentions of divine Nanda and Sunanda are found in ancient Sanskrit texts. It cannot be confirmed if these references have any connection with more recent worship of these goddesses in Kumaon region but they deserve mention for the probable origin of these glorious goddesses. The Bhāgavata Purāna also known as Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, is one of the Puranic texts of Sanskrit literature. It includes  many stories well known in Vedic tradition. The text credits Veda Vyasa, the revered ancient sage, with its authorship. Here is a verse from this text,  “ Also, Srutadeva, Uddhava and others, Nanda, Sunanda and other leaders of liberated souls who are constant companions of the Lord ” Canto 1 Chapter 14 According to this verse, Nanda and Sunanda are close to the eternal lord with the same position as the highest of Angels of the Lord and amongst the leaders of liberated souls that are constantly engaged in serving God. A story in chapter 12 of the same text

Mother Goddess and Navratri

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Jai Mata Ki. Hail the Great Mother of Universe Every thing that we can perceive in the universe as well as everything that we cannot perceive is a manifestation of God. In fact this may be taken as a definition of God and by this definition everyone believes in God. His consciousness runs through everything in the universe and we as humans share an infinitesimally small part of this consciousness. The female side of it flows as the divine love of every mother, human, animal or gods. We also share an infinitesimally small part of His free will that all living things share in various degrees making them alive as well as responsible for their own individual actions as well as the consequences. Because of His infinity, God cannot have any form that can be imagined by any human mind or any other living mind in the universe. God alone knows God fully. However human and human like forms of the Universal spirit have been worshiped through the ages for simplicity and one of the