This story is from the epic Mahābhārata. The Mahābhārata is a legendary narrative of the Kurukṣetra War and describes the heroic lives of the Kaurava and the Pāṇḍava princes. It also contains immense philosophical and devotional wisdom. Biggest treasure in Mahābhārata is Bhagawad Gitā, which is a dialog between Lord Shri Krishna and Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra. Gitā is a 700 shloka (verse) scripture in which Lord Sri Krishna teaches about selfless action, dharma, bhakti (devotion) and ways of achieving moksha (liberation from the cycle of birth and death).

Pāṇḍavas were born around 3,200 BCE. They were the five sons of King Pāṇḍu, hence they were known as the Pāṇḍavas. One day while hunting in the forest, Pāṇḍu shot arrows and killed two deer embracing each other. Those deer were actually a sage and his wife who had transformed their body. They cursed Pāṇḍu that he will die if he ever embraces a woman. Hence, he could never have a child.

Fortunately, Kunti, the older wife of Pāṇḍu, received a boon from Sage Durvasa. The boon was that by chanting a specific mantra, she could invoke any God and immediately give birth to a child. Pāṇḍu asked her to invoke the mantra. Kunti did so 3 times and as a result conceived three sons. She first invoked Yama, God of Dharma and conceived Yudhishthir as a result. Yudhishthir was known as Dharma-rāj. He was the most righteous and truthful person alive. Then Kunti invoked Vāyu, God of wind and gave birth to Bhimasena. Bhimasena or Bhima for short was thus known as Vāyu-putra (son of wind). He was mighty powerful like the wind. Lastly Kunti invoked Indra, the King of Gods and conceived Arjuna. Thus, Pāṇḍu and Kunti had three sons: Yudhishthir, Bhima and Arjuna. Pāṇḍu also had another wife, Madri. Madri also used Kunti’s mantra and conceived two sons of her own – Nakul and Sahadev. They were twins and were the sons of the Gods Ashwini Kumars, the Divine Physicians. This is how the five Pāṇḍavas came into being.

Birth of Pāṇḍavas in English:

Namaste,
Amit

5 days of Diwali celebration begins tomorrow, November 4, 2018. The first of these 5 days is celebrated as Dhan Teras. This day is also known as Dhanwantri Trayodashi, the appearance day of lord Dhanwantri who came out of the Ocean with a pot of amrita (nectar) in his hand on this day. Please see below exact dates and times for Dhan Teras and Diwali for India and USA (PST).

You can also find this information on my website here: https://ganesha-hanuman.com/vedic-calendar/

Namaste,

Amit

Coming up this week is Akshay Tritiya – this is the only day in the whole year when Sun and Moon both are exalted. Exalted means dignified and feeling strong. Sun and Moon are the luminaries. Sun gives us light during the day and Moon gives us light during the night. Sun is the King of the day and Moon is the Queen of the night. Akshay means that which cannot be destroyed or decayed. So, any work done on Akshay Tritiya grows. It is one of the best days to start projects, give donation, start education, take vows, make promises, initiate mantras and start taking herbs. 6th incarnation of Lord Vishnu, Lord Parashuram was born on this day and he became a Chiranjivi – one who never dies and lives forever. Sudama visited Lord Krishna on this day with a handful of rice and their friendship is immortal. Yudhishthir received Akshay patra (bowl that provides food for eternity) from Lord Krishna on this day to feed pandavas.

Akshay Tritiya Timing for 2018:
PDT: starts 3:19 pm April 17 (Tuesday) and ends 1:00 pm April 18 (Wednesday)
India: starts 3:49 am April 18 (Wednesday) and ends 1:30 am April 19 (Thursday)

Within the lunar day of Akshay Tritiya, sthir lagna (fixed rising sign – especially Taurus) is best for initiating things but if you don’t know timing for sthir lagnas for your location, the entire lunar day of Akshay Tritiya is good. Remember, Tithis (lunar days such as Akshay Tritiya) have nothing to do with sunrise or day of the week. Tithis start at exact same moment everywhere on Earth and end at same exact moment everywhere.

New Moon – new beginnings
This month’s New Moon is taking place at 7:00 pm PDT on April 15 ( Sunday) in the sign of Aries. New Moon takes place when Sun and Moon are exactly at the same point in the zodiac. Sun is our father and Moon is our mother. A child is born only when father and mother come together. Union of Sun and Moon every New Moon signifies this birth of a new cycle. This particular monthly cycle will be an Aries cycle. See which house is Aries in your birth chart or horoscope and that house or area of life will have focus and powerful energy throughout the next 29 days or so. For example, if Aries is in your 4th house, then you will have powerful energy at your disposal this month to heal your mother, renovate your house, start projects at your place of residence etc. Within Aries, this New Moon is taking place in the lunar mansion (Nakshatra) of Ashwini. Ashwini symbolizes healing. Deity of Ashwini are Ashwini Kumaras – the celestial healers. They go around and heal the Gods. So a big theme for this next cycle is healing.

Om Shanti,
Amit Garg
https://www.ganesha-hanuman.com/

The demon Taraka was killed by Kartikeya, the son of Lord Siva. His 3 sons Tarakaksha, Vidyunmali and Kamalaksha were furious and wanted to take revenge. They worshiped Brahma and asked for a boon of immortality. Brahma said he cannot grant that. They came up with a clever idea. They asked from Brahma for 3 cities which will float in the heavens, the skies and the earth plane respectively. These cities can only be destroyed when all 3 are aligned in straight line and can be destroyed only by a single arrow and that too shot by none other than lord Siva himself. Brahma granted them their wish. So gaining virtual immortality, the 3 demon brothers started creating havoc. Gods pleaded to Siva and Siva agreed to help. Vishwakarma, the celestial architect designed the heavenly chariot. Sun became the right wheel and Moon the left wheel, Vishnu entered the arrow of Siva and Brahma was the charioteer. Siva went on the chariot and at the exact time when 3 cities were aligned when Pushya Nakshatra was rising on the horizon and at the Muhurata of Abhijit, Siva shot the arrow and destroyed the 3 cities.

From that point on, Siva received the name Tripurantaka, the slayer of the 3 cities.

Siva is the divine archer. He is the spirit. Three cities represent the three gunas – sattva, rajas and tamas. All three gunas have to come to a state of equilibrium (in a straight line) before the divine archer (Siva) can shoot the arrow of wisdom (Vishnu) and kill (harmonize) all three cities (gunas) and thus give redemption to the jivatma or embodied soul. The time has to be ripe for such liberation, so the arrow has to be shot at the right moment / Muhurata.

(Image: exoticindiaart.com)

Saturn and Mars are currently transiting in Anurādhā Nakshatra (lunar mansion). If we look at Sarvatobhadra Chakra (picture below), any planets placed in Anurādhā cast a vedhā (obstruction) on the following 3 Nakshatras: Vishākhā, Ashleshā and Bharani. So if you have important planets (such as Moon, Sun or Lagna) in any of these 3 Nakshatrās, you may be feeling intense pressure. This should ease by mid September. Mars moves out of Anurādhā on August 25 (in the evening pacific time) and Saturn moves out of Anurādhā on Sep 17 (morning pacific time). Until then, Hanumān is the savior.

Jai Bajrang Bali,
Amit

For the next 7 days, Mars is the king. Mars is final dispositor (ruler) of all the planets in the skies for the next 7 days. What this means is that all the other 8 planets are in the signs which are ultimately ruled by Mars. For example: Jupiter is in Leo which is ruled by Sun — Sun is in Aries which is ruled by Mars — And Mars itself is in its own sign Scorpio. Let us take another example: Ketu is in Aquarius which is ruled by Saturn — Saturn is in Scorpio which is ruled by Mars — And Mars again is in its own sign Scorpio.

So if we honor Mars at this time, we will in turn be honoring all the 9 planets. Here are a few things you can do to bring positive energies of Mars:

• Chant Hanuman Chalisa.
• Simple mantra for Mars: Om Mangalaaya Namaha. ॐ मङ्गलाय नमः
• Beej mantra for Mars: Om kraam krim kraum sah bhaumaaya namah. ॐ क्रां क्रीं क्रौं सः भौमाय नमः
• Do Hatha yoga because Mars is a physical planet.
• Volunteer physical labor.
• Mars is in Anuradha Nakshatra right now which is connected with Radha, the consort of Krishna and embodiment of love. Bhakti and devotion as exemplified by Radha is the best remedy.

Jai Radha Madhava https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOeYOMMmWSc

Moon nourishes and heals. 4th house in the chart signifies healing. Moon is the karaka (significator or “controller”) of the 4th house and hence one of the most important factors in evaluating recuperability from diseases. I took the following picture just now with my telescope. Beautiful Full Moon of the Vedic lunar month of Sravana which also happens to be the festival of Rakhi (or Raksha Bandhan) in which sisters tie a sacred thread on the wrist of their brothers and wish for their well being and brothers in turn vow to protect them.

This Full Moon is taking place in the nakshatra of Shatabhisha, which literally means a hundred physicians. Shatabhisha encourages us to embrace alternative or natural healing modalities. And this Full Moon is taking place in Aquarius. It is Aquarius where Siva drank the poison (“halaahal”) to save the creation. It is Aquarius where we reach out to the masses. It is Aquarius where we behave a little eccentric and are able to pull brilliant ideas out of thin air.

Happy Raksha Bandhan!!