Significance of New Year, Ugadi -- Part 1 of 3 Speaker: Dr. Rama Krishna Rao Date: 21 March 2010, 11:45 AM Venue: Hindu Temple of San Antonio, 18518 Bandera Rd, Helotes, TX 78023 Excerpts: Why is the new year a special day for Hindus, and why do they have new year on different days in different regions in India? Just as we have yearly cycles starting with our birth date, the nature has a cycle too. The way of new life in nature doesn't happen uniformly through out the world. In Punjab, they celebrate Vaisakhi in April/May. Indian new year starts with Chaitra. According to the Hindu calendar, the current Kali Yuga spans 432,000 years. The Yuga before this was 864,000 years. Treta Yuga lasted 1.2 million years, and Krita Yuga 1.728 million years. One Maha Yuga consists of all these four Yugas, and is of 4.32 million years long. 72 such Maha Yugas make up one Manvantara. One Manvantara is one day for Brahma. Hindu calendar has 6 season per year: Vasant ritu (spring), Grishma ritu (summer), Varsha ritu (rain), Sharad ritu (late rain), Hemant ritu (early winter), and Shishir ritu (winter). When you look at Ugadi from the eternal point of view, this cyclical patterns is magical. Vishnusahasra Nama describes the new years thus: AvartanO nivrutatma samvrutaha sampramardanaha aha samvatsakO vanhiranalO dharaNee dharah The eternal power behind all these changes keeps repeating things. And we salute that power. These changes will not affect that eternal power. The same power has created a smaller machine, the sun. The greatness of science was already perceived four thousand years ago in Vishnu Sahasra Nama in Mahabharatha written by Vyasa. The aim of the prayer should be to thank the lord for making us part of this great creation. -- Part 2 ---- Calendar predictions: Using Durganitha, each new year is given a new ruler. Ask a priest in Mysore, for example, and he would calculate exactly the times of lunar eclipses 50 years from now without the help of any computers, for example. That was the mathematical accuracy of their calculations. This year (2010) is ruled by (senadhipathi) Mars (Kuja graha), and he is the king. This means that there is going to be a lot of warmness around the world. The mantri (minister) is Budha. Sasya, in charge of plants: Saturn (sani). Means that there'll not be much of good crops. Yama is pasunayaka. Means that there'll be lot of unfortunate deaths around the world, a lot of misunderstanding between the rulers in the world. In spite of all this, we pray Mars (Kuja or Angaraka or Mangala) and praise him for our benefit: dharaNI garbha sambhUtam vidyut kAnti samaprabham kumAram shakti hastam cha mangalam pranamAmyaham. -- Part 3 -- A cow asked the bull why he lost three legs though he was looking satvik and powerful. The bull answered that his four legs were made up of Tapah (meditation), Sauchah (cleanliness, internal and external), Daya (kindness), and Satyam (Truth). He was so proud and he had all his four legs once upon a time. As the time went on Krita, Dwapara, Treta, and now Kali Yuga, he had been losing one leg after another because people have been losing these values. Now he has only one leg that represents Satyam (Truth). Now the bull asked the cow (also means GO, the mother earth) why she was looking so weak and worried. The cow said that she was ruled by good kings before like lord Krishna and they used to protect her well. Now that Krishna was gone, she was not treated well, and was worried. This conversation was being witnessed by King Parishit. Just at that time the cow was being beaten by a man who was looking like a government's representative. The king was upset, and asked that man why he was beating the cow, when the country was being ruled by himself and he didn't order such a treatment for the cows and bulls who were sacrificing for the sake of society. The man replied that his name was Kali, and that's how the nature of things are going to be in the new era, Kali Yuga. He said that in Kali Yuga people hurt unreasonably, cheat unreasonably, encourage greed and bad qualities unreasonably. King Parikshit was upset and ordered that man to stop doing what he was doing. He ordered that when people pray, lead a righteous life Kali should not stay in that place. Since he was a righteous king Kali should leave his kingdom. Then Kali asked the king to show him (Kali) some place on earth to live. Parikshit told him that Kali should stay in that place wherever people practice: lobham, anrutam, anaryam, aham jaishtAcha mAya kalahaschadambaha navadhirvatham sadharmasyo dharmEna satyEna cha varchitoryaha That is, the king ruled that Kali should go and rule those places where egotism and greed prevail, where alcohol is being used and abused, where women and their grace are being bought and sold. But wherever these things are not practised, Kali had no right to come in and rule.

• published: 21 Mar 2010
• views: 1246