World Samskrit Book Fair

World Samskrit Book Fair would be held in Bangalore {at National College Grounds, Basavanagudi} from 07-10 January, 2011. Book lovers and knowledge seekers can fully utilise this opportunity to buy good books. The book fair would show the vibrant samskrit world like never before!.  For more details please visit the official website: 
www.samskritbookfair.org

An unusual wish

I spent few days in Gokarna chanting rudra in the monumental project of 'Koti Rudra'. I got opportunities to see stream of devotees, performing various rituals, with specific desires/wishes, obtaining assistance from local priests. The wishes of devotees were ranging from early marriage, good jobs, prosperity in business, cure from illness, success in political/legal ventures etc. But, there was one exception.

An old lady, who was performing a pooja with intense devotion, was however had an unusual wish of seeking early death!.

Monkeys outsmart a samskrit speaking chess player

Diversion is a classical chess strategy. The attacker would divert a key piece defending the enemy territory and pounce elsewhere. Here a FIDE rated chess player gets a taste of the concept of 'diversion' from a small monkey down Karinjeshwara Hills.

Panchatantra (for women) Part -3

In the earlier two posts published in this blog (more than a year ago), we saw the gems of wisdom in the stories of Panchatantra in sanskrit prose and verse. The book in its original form is a reservoir of entertainment and wisdom. However, much of these are usually lost in translation.  

The tone in the first two parts was to please men. Now I want to make amends and buy peace with women readers. In this post,  let us see how women hold complete sway over men. .

Nice quote

People generally like apt quotations of great and successful people. Few even write them in personal books or quote the same to add weight to their talk. I received the following quote in a sms forwarded by my friend.
"Every one wants change, but no one brings it by themselves" - great lines said by ..Thankappan, a bus conductor!

Mutual praising

I was delighted to receive the following comment for my latest blog. 
The reader said: "I really appreciate your knowledge on shlokas. I like the way you start off with any general topic and end it with a relevant shloka. English translation is also very helpful. Keep blogging, Kudos!"
I am publishing his comments forthwith.{I am afraid he may get second thoughts!}. 
Rarely you find people who read the posts, appreciate the content and write few words of compliments. Who is not pleased with compliments ? If no one praises us, well, we should find a person and compliment each other.
उष्ट्रानाम च विवाहेषु गीतं गायन्ति गर्दभा:


परस्परं प्रशाम्संति अहो रूपं अहो ध्वनि:  


{Donkeys sing in the weddings of Camels. They admire each other. How beautiful! What a voice!}

Bribe proof garment

I am a regular reader of Taxindiaonline, a portal dedicated to indirect taxes of India. In one of their recent posts, they had published the following news item. I am reproducing the same with a link to the actual post.

Bribe-proof garments - Pocketless trousers to prevent Corruption

TALKING of Nepal, the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) of Nepal has come up with a novel idea to stop corruption in  Kathmandu's Tribhuvan International Airport.  Now all airport officials will be given bribe-proof garment - trousers with no pockets. But pockets are not the only places where corruption can be hidden. It was held that a Keralite keeping gold in his underwear was not actually concealing gold, because as his lungi had no pockets, that was the only place where he could keep the gold safely.

                                                (TIOL -14^th July 2010)

http://www.taxindiaonline.com/RC2/inside2.php3?filename=bnews_detail.php3&newsid=11123

अर्थानामर्जने दु:खं अर्जितानाम च रक्षणे   | 

आये दु:खं  व्यये दु:खं धिगर्था: कष्ट संश्रया: || 

{There is lot of pain in earning the money. Pain in holding on to the earnings. Difficulty in earning and sadness in spending. Oh contemptuous wealth!} 

Tourney over, finally

The chess tourney is over and I have to drag myself to office from coming Monday. My performance or lack of it is evident in the final placings. I ended up taking the 130th slot in a tourney of 350 players. You may see the final standing in the following link.
http://www.chess-results.com/tnr36028.aspx?art=1&rd=10&lan=1&m=-1&wi=1000
I may lose about 20 ratings as well. Chess players generally would worry about the ratings they may lose.
ಅಹೋ ರಾತ್ರಾಣಿ ಗಚ್ಚಂತಿ  ಸರ್ವೇಷಾಂ ಪ್ರಾಣಿನಾಮಿಹ 
ಆಯುಮ್ಶಿ ಕ್ಷಪಯಂತ್ಯಾಶು ಗ್ರೀಶ್ಮೆ  ಜಲಮಿವಾಮ್ಶವ:
[Just like sunrays suck water from the earth silently in summer, with each passing day, people lose their life span] Hence, there is no point in worrying about even trivial things like FIDE ratings. 

No point for winning an argument!

Eight out of 10 rounds are over in the 4th Mangalore FIDE rated chess tourney and I am lagging behind with just 4.5 points. The just concluded 8th round against Mr.Rajat Kumar of Tamil Nadu produced some fire works off the board. He had white pieces and offered draw soon after 22 moves. I declined the offer and said "let us play". He offered the draw again after few moves. I assertively told him "you cannot offer the draw successively". He nodded and the game continued. On the 35th move, I  made a King move and he objected. The transcripts are as follows:
Rajat: "You touched the pawn at a5 sqaure. So you have to move that".
Me   : " I have n't touched any pawn. You are mistaken"
R      : "No  sir. You touched the pawn. I wrote in my score sheet" (He pointed to his score sheet)
M     : "You may write whatever in your score sheet"
R      :" No. You had touched the pawn"
M     : " I have not touched any pawn. If you are not satisfied, call the arbiter"
{Players from adjacent board got curious and other onlookers surrounded us. Assistant arbiter comes and enquires. Rajat claimed that I had touched the pawn but moved the King. I asserted to the contrary. The asst arbiter looked for witnesses and obviously there was no one.The asst arbiter told that the game would continue and he intends to give a warning to me. I firmly told the arbiter that warning is to be given to the person who made a false claim and not to me. The asst arbiter vacates the scene and main arbiter stepped in. He turned down the claim of my opponent and asked the game to continue.}
The game finally ended in draw after 46 moves with repetition of position.
Well, in chess, there is no point for winning an argument.
Did we left the playing table on a bitter note? No way. Much to the surprise of onlookers, we analysed the game for while and discussed the possible alternatives and then walked out of the hall.
Do you need tips as to how to win arguments? Well, the 17th century poet Neelakata Deekshith stated thus:
 न भेतव्यं न बोद्धव्यं न श्राव्यम   वादिनो वचा : | 
झटिति प्रतिवक्ताव्यम सभासु विजिगीशुभि:      ||
[The one who desirous of winning arguments need not fear. Need not understand nor hear what the other person says. Retort quickly. That's sufficient.]
Well, the poet has given few more very useful tips, which I will reveal at appropriate time. (after all, I am a chess player!)

Joy short lived

The joy of drawing an IM (pl see the previous post) was short lived as I was pitted against the top seed Grand Master R R Laxman (elo rating 2503) in the 3rd round. Though, the GM won against me, I derived some satisfaction in opening the game with a Gambit (just to convince myself that I am not over awed by the credentials of my opponent); giving a check and managing equal material for major part of the game. I even offered draw at move 29 which was politely declined by the GM. He put me in a mating net 5 moves later.

Round 3:    Date : 11.07.2010   Time 3:00 pm
Madhusoodana Bhat (1959) Vs GM R R Laxman (2503)
1. e4   e5    2. Nc3  Nf6     3.f4    d5    4. ed5 fe4    5. Bb5+   Bd7     6. Bd7   Nbd7
7. d4  Bb4  8. Bf4   Nd5   9. Qe2+  Qe7   10. Qe7  Ke7  11. Bd2  Bc3  12. bc3  N7b6
13 Nf3  f6 14. Kf2  Kd7  15. Rhe1  Nc4   16. Rb1  b6    17. Kd2   c6   18. Kd3    b5
19. Nh5  Rhe8  20. Nf5  g6   21. Nh4  N5b6   22.Nf3   Na4   23. Bc1   Re1 24. Ne1 Rae8
25. Nf3 a6  26.Rb4  Nab6  27 Rb1  a5  28. Rb4  Kd6   29.Rb1(=) Kd5  30.Rb3  a4
31.Rb4 a3 32.Ng1? Re1! 33. Nd2 Rd1+      0-1

Draw with an International Master

The 4th Mangalore FIDE rated all India Chess Tournament is in progress at Mangalore. The 2 nd round is just over and I have reasons to be delighted. My game  with an IM  Praveen Kumar C (rating 2395) ended in a draw. This is my first encounter with an IM (who is rated 436 elo ratings higher than me - my current rating is 1959 and it is declining!) and the result is pleasing especially when, I have not been playing regularly for the last few years. That is also the reason why I am in such a hurry to post this on the blog, as the euphoria may not last long as more games are to be played in the next few days.
Here is the game.
IM Praveen Kumar C (2395) Vs Madhusoodana Bhat (1959)
1.  d4   Nf6   2. Nf3    e6    3. e3    d5     4. Bd3   c5     5. b3  Nc6         6. Bb2   cd4
7. ed4  Be7   8. Nbd2 0-0   9.0-0   Nb4  10. Be2 Qc7  11.a3  Nc6        12. Bd3   b6
13. c4  Bb7  14. Rac1 Rac8  15.Qe2  Rfd8.  16. Rfd1 Qf4 17.Nf1 Na5  18.g3 Qg4
19.Ne3 Qh5  20. Nd2 Qe2   21. Be2  dc4     22.bc4 Ne4   23. Bf3 Nd2  24.Bb7 Nb7
25.Rd2 Bf6(=) 26.Ng4 Bg5   27. f4   Be7     28.Ne5 Nc5    29. Rc2 Na4 30. Ba1 Ba3
31. Rb1 Bd6    32. Nf3 a6  33. Nd2 (=) 1/2 -1/2 .


काल:  करोति कार्याणि काल एव विहंति च  |  
करोमि इति विहंमीति मूर्खो मुह्यति केवलं   ||
{Time alone does the work. Time alone gives results whether good or bad.
Fool believes that his decisions cause success and failure }

Few minutes with the former CEC

Sri N Gopalaswami, former Cabinet Secretary and Chief Election Commissioner of India was in town today and I was privileged to take him in my Omni for a certain distance. I was impressed by his personality. He is a lover of samskrit and is contributing his bit for promoting of Samskrit admirably.






संत: परार्थं कुर्वाणा नावेक्षन्ते प्रतिक्रियां .
[Great People work for others without expecting anything in return].    

Prashikshana Varga 2010

I managed to attend the 10 day शिक्षक प्रशिक्षण वर्ग: २०१०  [Samskrita Shikshana Prashiksnana Varga] with family. It was memorable to stay in a fully samskrit environment. I was glad to meet quite a few interesting personalities.

Dr. Mahesha Kakathkar, a scholar in संस्कृत, taught us व्याकरण in his inimitable style. He also has composed few Yakshagana प्रसंगा in Samskrit. Pl watch these videos. Firstly invoking blessings of Lord Madhoor Vigneshwara and secondly a clipping from Sudhanva Kalaga
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMSXS9AKMos

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPu3XMHk42U

I also met Ms.Venetia who has put good deal of effort in learning samskrit.  Listen to what she says about samskrit.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuuTY1LggZ4
She has a very readable blog www.venetiaansell. wordpress.com

There was lot of entertainment too (all in samskrit, I must remind). Mrs Geeta Hegde enacted a scene from Maha Bharata where she donned the role of Bheema scolding Duryodhana who is hiding in Vaishampayana Lake
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOjw97bryic
Dr Mahesh entertained us with his acting. Here he is doing march past where the commands are Panini sutra's
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPsf-HJt4uU

A tiny step towards realisation of a dream

Well, the प्रवचन (Discourses) of Sri Bhadragiri Achyutadas had a profound influence on me. The greatest tribute that I could give him was to aspire to become a Pravachanakara myself. This aspiration was in me for many years and and I was also reasonably prepared to give a discourse on few पुराण 's that I had read. Yet, I could not commence, as there was no one to listen to my discourse. 

नीचै: गच्चति उपरि च दशा चक्रनेमी क्रमेण [the spokes of wheel which has gone down will come up in due course of time] observed Kalidas in his classic मेघदूतं .

Now that I am leading practice of Yoga and Surya Namaskara near my house, I calculated that those who come there to practice, would be compelled to listen to my experiments on them with these discourses. Further, I tested the waters by also teaching them विष्णु सहस्रनाम and विकृति संवत्सरस्य पंचांग श्रवण . The response was not bad. 

After few days, I started with संक्षेप रामायण  spread on 3 days. As the shloka's and its meaning was with me, there was no difficulty in the proceedings. On the concluding day, I summoned enough courage to crack a joke trying to imitate Sri Achyutadasa. I was expecting a roaring laughter from my limited audience but instead saw their faces which were reaction less! 

Well, I have a long way to go......          

Blogger Buzz: Blogger integrates with Amazon Associates

Blogger Buzz: Blogger integrates with Amazon Associates

A must read book 'Apaschimaha Paschime'

'अपश्चिम: पश्चिमे'  is the latest book I have read and undoubtedly a very impressive one. It is unique in concept and presentation and a wholesome entertainer. Moreover, it is written in simple and easy to understand Samskrit.   

     It is a narration of a visit to America. कति कवय: ? कति कृतय: ? {How many poets? How many books?}  Do we need yet another traveloge? you may ask. 

     I must say an affirmative YES and am sure you will also agree due to the following reasons and once you read the book.

    It is an account of efforts made by the author to popularise samskrit in distant America in 1997. The author Dr H R Vishwasa, a samskrit scholar himself, is an unsung hero who has dedicated his life to promote samskrit. The selfless efforts made by like minded people in reviving the sacred language through an organisation "Samskrita Bharathi" is phenomenal. Revolutionary ideas of Samskrita Bharathi like 'Speak Samskrit in 10 days' or 'Samskrit through Correspondence' and innumerable publications in Samskrit have dramatically improved the popularity of samskrit. The graph of samskrit is certainly on an upswing. The visit to America was in this direction to run few "Sambhashana shibira's"

     The uniqueness of the book is that it is in very simple and easy to understand samskrit. There are many incidents frequently cropping up in the narration which made me to laugh at varying degrees. The inherent wit and humour of the author is manifest in the book. The preface is by renowned scholar Vempati Kutumba Shastry, former Director of Rashtriya Samskrita Samsthanam. The gist is this book is in 'must read' category. [Published by Samskrit Bharathi, Mata Mandir Galli, Jhandewala, New Delhi-110055. Pages: 97  (Price Rs.35 for the first print which is now sold out. I was just lucky to snatch one of the few copies which were available. New Print is in the process and likely to be published in a month's time, I learnt).  

Govina Haadu (Punyakotiya kathe)

samskritasambhashanashibiranam samaaropaha

Soorya Namaskara

ಆರೋಗ್ಯಂ ಭಾಸ್ಕರಾತ್ ಇಚ್ಚೇತ್

( Desire health from Lord Sun)

samskritasambhashanashibiranam samaaropa:

Samskrita Bharathi organised many sambhashana camps in Mangalore at different places in January 2010.

A common 'samaropa' programme would be held on 26.01.2010 {Tuesday} at T V Ramana Pai Hall, Navabharath Circle Mangalore . Time 3.30 pm to 6.00 pm.  Please do come.

Solar Eclipse on 15-01-2010

A solar eclipse will occur on 15.01.2010.
The eclipse will start at 11:06 am (Local time, Mangalore)
                         end at 03:06 pm.
Duration is 4 hours, one of the longest in recent history.
No food/breakfast in the morning. ( Kids/sick/old people and pregnant women are exempted. They may however take food before 8 am on the said date).
The eclipse will take place in "Uttarashadha" Nakshatra in Makara (Capricorn) Rasi.
Other Rasi's being affected are Kumbha (Aquarius), Mithuna (Gemini) and Simha (Leo)
You may also refer the posting "How to observe Eclipse" elsewhere in this blog.