Dear All,
Samskritam
Greetings and Namaste. The Pournima (Full Moon) day during the month of Margashirsha (29/30 Dec 2020) is celebrated as Devi Annapoorna Jayanti in many traditions, especially in Varanasi. Devi Annapoorna is also known as Devi Shakambhari and Devi Shatakshi. I am delighted to share a very rare hymn on Devi Shatakshi taken from Chapters 27 and Chapter 28 of Srimad Devi Bhagavatam and Skanda 7. Sage Vyasa delineates the story of Goddess Shatakshi in Chapters 27 and 28. The first 5 stanzas and Phalashruti are from Chapter 28 while the remaining stanzas are from Chapter 27. In the brief Phalashruti , Sage Vyasa mentions that one who recites the Mahatmyam of Goddess Shatakshi will bestow all auspiciousness and fulfillment of all rightful wishes.
We are in the cusp of new year in the Christian Era. There can be no two opinions on the fact that there has never been a year before like the year 2020 and perchance there never will be. Murphy's Law has been in full demonstration this year - everything that could go wrong, went wrong. The entire humanity has been held hostage by the savage of Corona virus with world and economies grinding to a halt for large parts of the year nullifying the economic progress made over decades in a matter of weeks. The poor and weaker section of the global societies have been peculated of their subsistence. The new year is about to dawn at this critical juncture with both promise (through Covid-19 vaccines and restart of many economies) and threat (through more infectious variants of Covid spreading like fire in parts of Europe and signs of food crisis in many places).
In the context of Hindu Dharma, Sanatana Dharma has faced more vicious attacks from all quarters in 2020 - repulsive mockery of sacred personalities like Andal and Thirugynasambandhar, perverted parodies of sacred hymns like Skanda Shashti Kavacham, forced marriage of Hindu girls through deception and above all questioning the veracity of the concept of Hindu Dharma itself. The root of this lies in the erosion of Hindu ethos and characteristic disunity. A house divided is very easy to run over- as India was under foreign rule for 1000 years. If we trace root cause of all invasions, they are due to disunity and personal settling of scores at the expense of own ethos, country and religion.
Every Hindu must read the excellent Open Letter to Great Gurus of Hinduism by Francois Gautier https://www.francoisgautier.com/2019/07/24/an-open-letter-to-all-the-great-gurus-of-india/. ("Disunity has always been the curse of Hinduism and India and whichever enemy conquered this country, did it not because of superior strength, but because they were helped by Hindu betrayers"). If Hindu factions don't unite leaving their petty and silly intra-sect politics, there may not be any Sanatana Dharma left a century or two from now and Lord may need to send another Adi Shankara to revive it.
It is in this context, the prayer to Goddes Shatakshi is quite timely and relevant - for, she is the great nourisher of mankind in every respect. May Goddess Shatakshi save the mankind from further inanition! May Goddess Shatakshi bestow nourishment to the sense and reasoning of Sanatana Dharma followers to see the larger picture and impel them to do their part to save it from extinction.
With best regards and pranams,
K. Muralidharan Iyengar (Murali)
| What was called in the ancient times Sanatan Dharma, which has come down to us today under the name of Hinduism, with its many branches, sects and gurus, is in great danger today, as it is attacked by many forces. |
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