KATHAM️
स्वातन्त्र्यदिनोत्सवः <sva-tantr-ya-dina-utsav-ah> is more precisely a day <dina> to unanimously rise in celebrating 🥳 <ut-sav> the technology 👨💻 <tan-tra> of the self, by the self & for the self <sva>, as a motivation 👍 to develop it further deeply within us, thus rediscovering 🎯 the timeless triple core of 😊 emotion 💖 <bhāvā>, 🎶 melody 💕 <rāgā> & 🥁 rhythm 💓 <tālā> 🇮🇳 on <Bhā-ra-tā>‘s Independence Day, coinciding this year with Ajā Ekādaśi & last Śrāvana śanivārā!
Stretching beyond mere geographical boundaries 🗺, our own truthfulness <Satya> is normally capable of liberating, obliterating & thus lording over our hijacked fickle mind 🌒 <Har-ish-chandrā>. Our truthfulness <Satya Harishchandrā> is naturally a dynamic emperor 🤴 on frictionless & brake-free wheels 🏎 in a roll <chakra-varthy> lording 👑 over the world 🗺, ruling from a position of invincibility 🏹 <A-yodhyā>.
But when followed literally to the rule book 📖, this very same truthfulness <Satya Harishchandrā> of ours is drastically reduced ⏬ from its lofty position 🤴 of invincibility <A-yodhyā> to the bottomless depths of penury, as an undertaker, mortician & slave, forced to wear attires of the dead 💀, aplenty in red 📛 & rude ♨️ roarer’s 🦁 residence <Rudra-vāsāh / रुद्रवासा:>, 🧟♂️ referring to the most terrible 🔱 form 🧜🏿♂️ of our own nothingness 🕳, engulfed 🌊 by the tributaries Varunā in the North & Assi in the South <Vārān-asi / वाराणसी>, yet shining 🌞 <Kāśī / काशी:> from Rig-vedic times immemorial as THE place to be for us 👩🎓 students 👨🎓 keen on lifelong 🏫 learning 📚 about life’s partner: death 💀, the ultimately blissful 😊 wilderness 🌳 <Ānanda-vanāh / आनंदवना: >, never ever abandonable <A-vi-muktah / अविमुक्त:>.
The apparent & immediate cause however is the utmost yet disguised compassion of the friend of the 🌎 whole 🌏 world 🌍 <Viśvā-mitrā> who wanted to donate all the fruits of His austerities to the most deserving quality of our own truthfulness, but not before hyper-stringent testing! Thus 👹strangulated ☠️ & wondering 😱 about the hidden/invisible reason <a-driśta> for its untold misery ☹️, our own literal truthfulness <Satya Harishchandrā> requires the services of an enlightened 💡 dispeller <göh / गः> of darkness <tama तम>, namely Gautama, the great 👀 perceiver 👁 <Maha-ṛṣi>. Instantaneously ⏳ recognising 😇 the unfailing law of 🔃 causation 🔄 <kārmic> in effect, the seer 👁 <ṛṣi> advises 🗣 our own truthfulness to partake in the penance 🧘🏽♂️ of ajā ekādaśi vratā, to rid itself of the ill effects of having been literally truthful, without understanding the true spirit behind TRUTH!
Thus enlightened 🌞 with knowledge <jñānā> & wisdom <vi-jñānā>, our own truthfulness promptly acts upon the 👁 seer's sage guidance 🗣 with utmost 🙏 devotion 🙇♂️ <bhakti>. Needless to explicitly mention, soon thereafter, our truthfulness regains all of its original glory, reaping the fruits 🍉 of austerity, regaining not only its own lost family of immaculately-pure qualities <sāttvic gunās>, but also its lordship 👑 over all other aggressively-passionate <rājasic> & inertially-lethargic <tāmasic> qualities <gunās>, thus becoming the emperor <chakra-varthy> of the world 🗺 once again, ruling from a position of invincibility 🏹 <A-yodhyā>.
That’s a round ♻️ trip from Ayodhyā to Vārānasi... i.e., material invincibility to enlightenment 🌞 & back to overall 🏹 invincibility! This allegory is revealed while 🧘🏽♂️ meditatively 🧘♀️ reading 📖 between the lines a simplified human story format in the <Brahma-vaivarta Purā-ṇa, ब्रह्मवैवर्त पुराण>. This story deciphers the spiritual practice or tool <sādhanā> for this specific unborn 🤰🏻 eleventh 1️⃣1️⃣ <ajā ekā-daśi>.
Our own righteously-established equanimous stability <Dharma-rājā Yudhi-sthirā> enquires from our own principle of attractiveness <Kṛṣṇā> about the significance of this penance <vrat>, performed by our own literal truthfulness <Satya Harishchandrā>, an ancestor of our own pleasantness <Rāmā>, the immediate precursor to our attractiveness <Kṛṣṇā>, the story weaver Itself!
Echoing our own creativity <Brahma, ब्रह्म>, our attractiveness <Kṛṣṇā> explains 🗣that when our hijacked fickle mind 🌒 <Har-ish-chandrā> is in an entirely deprived state, far away from its home 🏰 state of invincibility 🏹 <A-yodhyā>, fasting & overnight vigil on this eleventh 1️⃣1️⃣ day of the lunar 🌘month ensures speedy 💨 recovery from our attachment to the superficially-literal meanings of our scriptures to reach 🎯 the very core spirit of the metaphysical truth in all its glory.
At noon 🕛 today, I got off my fortnightly 41-hour fast, afresh aka a newborn 👶🏻 infant celebrating 🥳 freedom from the constrictingly-overprotective amniotic fluid of Mother Nature’s 🤰🏻 womb. Apparently ironic for this dark eleventh <kṛṣṇa ekādaśi> is termed unborn <ajā>. But most apt when perceived in reference to this austerity <vratā>‘s potency to free us from the catch-22 situation of the birth-death-rebirth-... cycle!
A K Sharma
Beautiful explanation of स्वतंत्रता दिवस। We can attain real independence only when we get librated from ownself. Your 41 hrs fasting reflects your tremendous inner strength. It's not for common people. Naman.
Asha Raghavan
Taking a thread out of this write up...fasting, I learnt that there are 4 types of fasting...1.not eat foe a fewhours/ days. 2.fasting of breath...breathing slower and slower and thus accumulate more energy, fasting of speech..literally meaning being tongue tied when one impulsively wants to say something unwarranted and 4 fasting of movement...to be crystal clear in the mind:how nice!If we can grip these, then may be it is the first step towards, towards??becoming spiritual, live with gay abandon??
Asha Raghavan
error...for instead of foe.3 fasting of speech.4.to b crystal clear in the mind and not fickle minded.
Pramay Bhatpahri
Beautifully explained Sir. 🙏🙏🙏
Srinivasan A.V
The virtual journey from ‘Ayodhyā to Vārānasi & back’ is simply fascinating. The two keywords in the write-up, ‘TRUTHFULNESS’ and ‘FASTING’ have captivated my thoughts and propelled me to write a few words. Truthfulness is unfathomable, but the article has explained it well in a subtle manner. The instant reward for truthfulness is a clean conscience. Practicing it, is hard in the real world, but its real profit is limitless in the spiritual realm. Vedanta says ‘Do not deviate from truthfulness. Truthfulness builds man’s character’. Fasting is an excellent tool for self-discipline, besides being a spiritual feast. Fasting prepares us to receive continuous divine grace. To gain BIG, we need to lose SMALL! Thanks for sharing a well researched and well-written article on the Independence Day!
Raghu D
Beautiful use of words Sir.......Fasting is an integral part of many religions......For sure, the enlightened Ancient sages across the spectrum of various religions would have seen its benefit !!!!