Its Joshi

 Samskrit has to be understood always in the context . You do direct word to word translation- it gets mistranslated. 1. In every Havan- this mantra is told "Shraddham *Medham* Yashah pragnyam vidhyam buddhim shriyam balam Ayushyam teja arogyam dehi me havyavahana " Is one praying for death to havyavahana (Agni) in this mantra?. Obviously not 2. Even today- a highly intellectual person is referred to as " Medhavi" 3. So many children are named Medha.( example; Medha Patkar, don't think her parents meant death or sacrifice to yajna) 4. Medha simply meant intelligent or Sharp. 5. "Shwa" meant yesterday or tomorrow,   "Ashwa" meant today or now . Ashwa was also referred to a horse. 6. When  your intellect ( Medha) is in the present moment ( Ashwa)-  nothing can shake it.  This is the essence of that Yajna which was called Ashwamedha yajna.   7. Only in some Ashwamedha yajna , horse was sent to other kingdoms as a symbol of the kings dominance. M...

                                                       When Kashi Called us. Frankly speaking, I am not the Teertha yatra types Guy. Nothing against it as such. Just that, my Interests lay somewhere else. So I myself was surprised, when we started planning a Trip to Kashi.It all happened by chance. We were supposed to go on a Vacation to some other place. That didn't happen due to some reason-then the word ‘Kashi’ popped up, and Lo, we were chalking out details for a Trip to Kashi. The day we arrived in Kashi, I casually mentioned it to our Guide( Tip: Pre-Book the Guide) that we didn't plan this trip as such. He Replied back “ Only if Mahadev calls you, you can come to Kashi”. Day One : We arrived in Varanasi late afternoon. Weather was pleasant ( Tip: Period between Mid Feb to Mid March is most suitable for Mangloreans. Neither too cold nor too ho...

                     Kashi-The Eternal City. To Understand even a bit about kashi- Both the Historical and Spiritual contexts needs to be known. Then it will make some sense. Knowing the historical context of Kashi becomes primary. Part One: The invasions and Revival of Kashi Year:1033: Mahmud Ghazni's son attacked Kashi and looted it.Left City within a few days. Year:1156: King Chandradeva sets up temple for Adi Keshava at kashi. Year 1194: Muhammad Ghori attacked Kashi. Nearly 1000 temples were destroyed. The Gold/Silver/jewels that he looted was so much that, he used nearly 1400 camels to carry it back home. Year 1212: Bengal king Visvarupa recaptured Kashi from Ghori rule and named it "Kshetra of Visveshwara" Year 1376: Firoz Tughlaq demolished Atala devi temple to build Atala Mosque at Jaunpur. Year 1496: Sikander Lodhi ordered destruction of all temples at Kashi.The Residents of Kashi realised that, there was no poi...