Life is Beautiful, Live it the fullest
Na tatra suryo bhaati na chandra tarakam
nema vidhyuto bhanti kutoyamagnihi |
tameva bhantam anubhati sarvam
tasya bhasa sarvam idam vibhati ||
Sun cannot illumine him, nor the moon, nor the stars
Lightning cannot, much less this little flame I wave |
Verily, when he shines everything is illuminated
By his light alone all of us shine ||~ Kathopanishad II v 15
In the Vedās, Upanishads, Gita and the Purān, we often encounter the term, Dwijā – twice born (Dwe – two; jā – born). A person is called a Dwijā, after his thread ceremony.
What two births are implied here? Continue reading “Dwijā – The Twice Born”
When I left India, I left behind my collections of Chandamama, Enid Blyton, Hardy Boys, Louis L'Armour, Alistair Maclean and many others. Also left behind boxes of Amar Chitra Katha, Commando, Tintin and scores of other comics. On these shores my collection sprouted anew. But every time we moved, it was easier to give away books and restart in a new city. This has been eight years in the making.
We just got this new book case with glass doors for my favorite books. The top-shelf will carry a few of M's doll collection.
2. Travel shelf. I still have a lot of places to visit!
3. My collection of Hindu Scriptures. The four Vedas (multiple editions) and others.
4 & 5. A grab bag of Hindu philosophy and history (and fairy tales!).
Bottom Shelf. Art and other over sized books.
In an open shelf bookcase are paperbacks and general fiction; a few miscellaneous thrown in. I'm still moving books around and organization is still in progress. You may notice some duplicates. If I see a second copy of a favorite book on sale, I will buy it. Perhaps visiting friends will ask for them. The Buddha head is from a visit to Korea.
There are several more bookcases in different rooms and in closets. A nice shelf of poetry; indian fiction, business-related, more philosophy and language. You can see those when you visit! Welcome to my world!
Arun Shanbhag 