Significance of waking up before sunrise

You may have heard this quote many times “early to bed & early to rise makes a person happy, healthy & wise.”

Many Indians tell that it’s good to get up when the Brahma Muhrata starts (Brahma Muhrata starts at 3:00 am & ends at 6:00 am)

Some also tell that it’s good to get up before sunrise.

Scientifically it’s good for health to get up before sunrise.

You may know that everyone’s body has a clock & according to clock’s time body releases various chemicals.

Adrenal gland secretes cortisol a stress hormone during Brahma Muhrata.

It is also released when a person is stressed.

If a person is awake & active during Brahma Muhrata then cortisol’s level will be lower than when that person is at sleep.

High level of cortisol hormone in blood isn’t good for health as it affects blood pressure, metabolism, decreases muscle tissue, etc.

Thus getting up early before sunrise keeps cortisol levels low in body. It’s also good for kidneys & overall health & especially for those who suffer from blood pressure or hypertension.

Other reasons are early morning has less sound & disturbance so a person can do his/her work peacefully.

Also the best time to do Pranayam or Yoga or meditation or exercise or work-out is before sunrise.

Health Situation and Time

Although a health situation can happen anytime but there are certain health situations that happen mostly at a particular time.

For example: -

Pain due to rheumatism happens mostly at night.

Pain due to osteo-arthritis happens mostly during day.

Bronchial tubes are wider during day & constrict a bit at night thus asthma attack, cough & sinus problems happen mostly at night hence medicines for cough, sinus or asthma should be taken at evening.

During morning blood pressure rises & is down at night, thus heart attack happens mostly before noon so a person suffering from blood pressure or hyper-tension shouldn’t miss his/her morning & noon medicines & shouldn’t be stressed at morning or noon.

Intensity of pain experience is higher at morning, evening & night & a bit less during afternoon hence dentist’s appointment should be fixed at afternoon.

Message of love by Bhagwan Shri Sathya Sai

"The past is past. Don't bother to turn away back to watch the road already travelled. Look back & decide to continue to March with confidence & courage. Take your first step NOW; tomorrow can be too late. Repeat to yourself the truth that the world is God exactly as it is paradise.

 
No two entity or distinct categories called ' material ' & ' spiritual '. All distinctions are apparent, not real. Sai has attracted him both old & young people & each of them has Sai in the heart.

Scriptures of various faiths---the Bible, the Koran, the Upanishads (philosophy of the Vedas)---they look different, but their purpose is the same: to establish the fraternity of men & the fatherhood of God as the basis of peace for humanity ".

"You worship man: that I will worship. Rejected the man: you are rejecting Me. What does worshiping God & suppress the man, who is his counterpart? Love for God should manifest as love for man & love must be expressed in the form of service ".

Faith is the root of spirituality. If you believe that God exists, he exists. If you don't believe it, as for you, God does not exist. - Sai Baba.

[Sri Sathya Sai Baba; 23 November 1975’s speech at Prasanthi Nilayam-SSS vol. 13/19]

Sanathana Dharma

The best definition of Sanathana Dharma I got was by Bhagwan Shri Sathya Sai. He told that Sanathana Dharma is the only religion that declares that there is no religion that can be labeled ‘one & only’. It means that are but facets of 1 truth, that all names are names of 1 GOD that all forms are but his forms.

No religion can claim to represent fully the universal eternal TRUTH.

Therefore, if 1 finds faults with another’s faith, he’s casting a slur on his own faith. If anyone defames another’s religion, he/she only reveals his/her ignorance of the nature of religion & the glory of GOD.

Simple Ayurvedic remedies for some disorders

Bhagwan Shri Sathya Sai once told that as per Ayurvedic Texts all substances found in nature have a medicinal value provided these are used appropriately.  Ayurvedic medicines are meant to eradicate the disease itself rather than simply the symptoms.

I’m sharing some simple ayurvedic formulations that one can use for simple treatments at home that were once shared by Bhagwan Shri Sathya Sai.

ACIDITY, INDIGESTION

Aniseed:  A teaspoon of aniseed in a cup of boiling water. Leave it overnight, Seive & take it with a little bit of honey.

Celery:  Celery seeds soaked in buttermilk for five to six hours & then ground in the same buttermilk relieves indigestion.

Cinnamon: Cinnamon checks nausea, vomiting & diarrhoea. It stimulates digestion. A tablespoon of cinnamon water, prepared as for cold & taken half an hour after meals, relieves flatulence & indigestion.

Ginger: Chewing of ginger regularly after your meals prevents acidity & indigestion.

COMMON COLD

Ginger: The herb is an excellent remedy for coughs & colds. Extracted juice of ginger with honey is taken three or four times a day in case of coughs.

Holy Basil: A decoction of the leaves, with honey & ginger is effective remedy for cold. They should be boiled in water & then taken.

Black Pepper: Six pepper seeds finely ground & mixed in a glass of warm water taken for a few nights for good results.

CONSTIPATION

Liquorice: Liquorice is used as a laxative in constipation. Its powder is taken with jaggery & water.

Tamarind: Pulp of the ripe fruit is beneficial in the treatment of constipation & indigestion.

COUGH/ SORE THROAT

Ginger: The herb is an excellent remedy for coughs & colds. Extracted juice of ginger with honey is taken three or four times a day in case of coughs.

Holy Basil: Water boiled with basil leaves can be taken as a drink in case of sore throat. This water can also be used as a gargle.

Liquorice: The herb is a recognized home remedy for sore throat. A small piece of raw liquorice if chewed or sucked, provides relief by soothing the inflammation.

Pepper: Pepper is an effective remedy for coughs caused due to throat irritation. Three peppers sucked with a pinch of caraway seed & a crystal of common salt provides relief.

FALLING HAIR & DANDRUFF

Curry Leaves: The leaves, bark & the root of the curry plant are used in indigenous medicine as a tonic for falling hair.

Rosemary: Shampoos & hair lotions containing the pure extract of rosemary rejuvenate the scalp & hair while preventing dandruff & premature baldness.

Sage: The herbs is useful in preventing grey hair if blended in hair tonics.

HEADACHES & MIGRAINE

Clove: A paste of clove & salt crystals in milk is a common household remedy for headaches.

INSOMNIA

Nutmeg: The powder of nutmeg, mixed with fresh amla (green gooseberry) juice, is also an effective medicine for insomnia, irritability & depression.

Poppy Seeds: About 30 grams of milk extracted from the seeds mixed with sugar can be used for treating insomnia. A teaspoon of poppy seed oil taken every night is also very effective.

PIMPLES / ACNE

Coriander: A teaspoon of coriander juice, mixed with a pinch of turmeric powder, is an effective remedy for pimples, blackheads & dry skin.

Sandalwood: This oil mixed with twice its quantity of mustard oil is used for removing pimples.

TOOTHACHE

Asafoetida: Asafoetida is useful in alleviating toothache. After being ground in lemon juice, it is slightly heated. A cotton piece, soaked in the lotion & placed in the cavity of the tooth, relieves pain.

Margosa: Cleaning teeth regularly with a margosa twig prevents gum problems & it also relieves toothache.

My nice Friday

Mostly Fridays have been nice for me compared to other days. I don’t know why maybe because I was born on Friday.

This incident had happened when I was studying in standard seventh. My mother had made me join tuitions for Marathi & Hindi.

My tuition teacher lived very close to my house & knew my mother well.

I was poor at Marathi. In tuition’s first week my tuition teacher had asked me to study something for a test.

I thought she’ll take that test on Friday.

I was scared & I kept thinking that what if I’ll score less marks in that test. My fear was high as my tuition teacher knew my mother so thoughts like ‘what will my tuition teacher think about my mother if I’ll score less in that test’ was running in my mind.

I had got a lot of school homework that week in other subjects so I never got proper time to study for my Marathi test.

Although I wasn’t prepared I didn’t want to give my tuition teacher any excuse as it was my tuitions first week.

I went to my tuitions & pressed her room’s bell.

She didn’t come to open her door in time. Even her dog didn’t bark. I waited for some time & then pressed her room’s bell again.

I got negative thoughts. I was wondering if my friends are writing their test & am I late or test is on some other time. I was in tremendous tension that day & throughout that week.

After some time my tuition teacher opened her door. I came to know that she was sleeping hence she took time to open her door. My adrenaline level & heart beat rose.

After seeing me she told that today is a holiday as its Friday & she only teaches from Monday to Thursday.

I became extremely happy as I wasn’t prepared for that test & it never happened as it was a holiday.

Being on an adrenaline rush I jumped building’s stairs so fast. I ran home & called my friends to play cricket.

That day played for more than 4 hours. That day’s play is memorable as I was in tremendous tension throughout that week & after such tension I got a play break. I was extremely excited & I never got out even once.

I remember winning all tosses, hitting many sixes & fours & my team won every cricket match that day.

That was one of my nice Friday as I was so tensed throughout that week & in the end whatever I had anticipated nothing like that happened.

Mahabharata's war date

Some years ago I had watched Dr. Manish Pandit on ‘Live India’ News Channel speaking about his documentary “Krishna History or Myth”.

After some years I watched Dr. Narahari Achar presenting “The date of Mahabharata’s war: Based on Astronomical Data Using Planetarium Software” on Youtube.

As I had watched Dr. Manish Pandit’s interview some years ago so I don’t remember all information that was aired in that program but I’ve mentioned below some information about Mahabharata’s war that was aired & I remember.

It gives clear & concrete evidence about Mahabharata’s war & Lord Krishna’s existence.

Dr. Achar a professor of Physics at the University of Memphis did a research to find Mahabharata’s war date by studying many holy reference books of Mahabharata i.e. Parvans.

There are 18 Parvans of Mahabharata. They have Mahabharata war’s astronomical references. The maximum number of astronomical references around 140 are found in 2 Parvans they are book number 5 Bhishma Parvan & book number 6 Udyoga Parvan.

Dr. Achar used a computer software program that enabled him to view the night sky as it would have appeared any time in past & with its help he reproduced the exact night sky for every astronomical reference mentioned in Bhishma Parvan & Udyoga Parvan.

Maharishi Ved Vyas met Dhitrashtra on the eve of Mahabharata’s war & said to him about planetary position in sky. He told that Mars was retrograde in Antares (Jyeshtha Nakshatra), Saturn was in Aldebaran (Rohini Nakshatra), occurrences of eclipses 3 eclipses, 2 lunar & a solar eclipse & appearance of 2 comets.

He even interpreted war’s reasons & its outcome as per the planetary positions in sky that time by telling “Oh King, a great destruction will occur in this war just as indicated by these omens that are harbingers of great calamity.”

From the planetary positions that time astrologically I can interpret an apocalypse like situation as Saturn was in the Aldebaran (Rohini Nakshatra) in Taurus sign. As per Vedic Astrology lord of Aldebaran (Rohini Nakshatra) is Moon. Saturn & Moon are each other’s enemies. Saturn being in Moon’s constellation will act ominous.

Mars [lord of Antares (Jyeshtha Nakshatra) & Scorpio] was retrograde in Antares (Jyeshtha Nakshatra) in Scorpio sign. As Saturn was in Taurus being in Aldebaran (Rohini Nakshatra) it did aspect Mars as every planet fully aspects the 7^th sign (Rashee) & planets in that sign (Rashee) from its position.

 

Also the epic mentions the occurrence of a very rare astronomical event that took place prior to the Mahabharata war they were 2 lunar eclipses & a solar eclipse within a lunar month of 27 days. Astrologically eclipses are considered bad omens.

 

Saturn & Mars are each other’s enemies. Saturn signifies justice. Mars signifies violence, war. Mars being in its own Nakshatra Jyeshtha & Sign (Rashee) & also occurrence of eclipses especially a solar eclipse in Antares (Jyeshtha Nakshatra) can cause a violent war. Thus it created a situation for justice by war & caused an apocalypse.

 

Lord Krishna never wanted Mahabharata war to happen hence just before the war’s start he had gone on his final peace mission to persuade Dhitrashtra’s son Duryodhana to abandon the war in the month of Kartika (a Hindu calendar month) but because of the planetary position that time Dhitrashtra didn’t agree & the war was fought.

 

To find Mahabharata’s war date Dr. Achar had searched for years between 3500 BCE to about 500 CE, range of 4000 years. He found that during those 4000 years Saturn was 137 times in Aldebaran (Rohini Nakshatra).

To simplify Dr. Achar’s findings - We all know that a circle consists of 360 degrees. There are 27 constellations (Nakshatras). Thus every constellation (Nakshatra) consists of around 13.33 degrees.

  

Saturn takes a little over 29 years to complete one revolution around the Sun i.e. 360 degrees. Thus Saturn after a little over 29 years will return to Aldebaran (Rohini Nakshatra).

To understand how Dr. Achar found Saturn being in Aldebaran (Rohini Nakshatra) 137 times between 3500 BCE to 500 CE we can divide 4000 (the range of years Dr. Achar took into consideration) by 137 (the number of years Saturn was in Aldebaran as per his findings) & we get 29.197 that is a little over 29 years as Saturn returns to a particular constellation (Nakshatra) after a little over 29 years.

Then Dr. Achar searched for those years when Saturn was in Aldebaran (Rohini Nakshatra) & Mars was retrograde in Antares (Jyeshtha Nakshatra).

  

Dr. Achar found that in those 4000 years Saturn in Aldebaran (Rohini Nakshatra) & retrograde Mars in Antares (Jyeshtha Nakshatra) happened 17 times.

As per Bhishma Parvan (3.29) a lunar eclipse occurred in the month of Kartika (a Hindu calendar month) near Pleiades & was followed by a solar eclipse near Antares (Jyeshtha Nakshatra).

To discard the incorrect years out of 17 years that he found Dr. Achar looked for those years when a lunar eclipse occurred in the month of Kartika (a Hindu calendar month), Saturn was in Aldebaran (Rohini Nakshatra) & retrograde Mars was in Antares (Jyeshtha Nakshatra).

  

He found that it happened only 2 times in 3067 BCE & 2183 BCE.

  

To discard the incorrect year Dr. Achar thought of finding in which year out of 3067 BCE & 2183 BCE a solar eclipse was followed by a lunar eclipse that occurred in the month of Kartika (a Hindu calendar month).

He found that in both 2183 & 3067 BCE a solar eclipse near Antares (Jyeshtha Nakshatra) was followed by a lunar eclipse that occurred in October 21 2183 BCE.

  

Further he used winter solstice’s date mentioned in the Parvans (Mahabharata reference books) to eliminate either 3067 BCE or 2183 BCE to find Mahabharata’s war year. He found that in 2183 BCE winter solstice occurred when moon’s phase was waning (Krishna Panchami) & in 3067 BCE winter solstice occurred when moon’s phase was waxing (Shukla Panchami).

The Mahabharata reference books i.e. Bhishma Parvan & Udyoga Parvan state that moon’s phase was waxing during winter solstice.

  

Also as per Mahabharata’s epic war rules weren’t followed from 14^th day onwards. One of the war’s rules was that war should be stopped at sunset. It wasn’t followed & war used to get over only at moon rise at night.

Moon rising at night indicates that on war’s 14^th day moon was waning as waning moon rises at night. Thus moon being waning on 14^th day indicates that war didn’t start on a new moon day. 

The epic of Mahabharata also states that war started didn’t start on a new moon day (Amavasya).

  

Thus by using winter solstice & moon’s phase during the time of war year 2183 was discarded & year 3067 was considered to be Mahabharata’s war year.

  

Although many researchers have found some date of Mahabharata war but Dr. Achar has been able to match all the astronomical references mentioned in the Mahabharata Parvans with the Planetarium software he used.

Thus Dr. Achar was able to match the planetary information on the events & dates mentioned in the Mahabharata epic & reference books i.e. Parvans with the computer software program used to check its authenticity. His war date findings also match with Professor K. Srinivasa Raghavan.

  

Some other information mentioned in The Udyoga Parvan states that just before the war Lord Krishna had gone to Hastinapur on his final peace mission to persuade Dhitrashtra to abandon the war.

He had started his journey when moon was in constellation Zeta Piscium (Revati Nakshatra).

  

The day on which Dhitrashtra’s son Duryodhana turned down Lord Krishna’s efforts to abandon war that time moon was in constellation Delta Cancri (Pushya Nakshatra).

When Lord Krishna left Hastinapur with Karna (as Karna wanted to be Lord Krishna’s charioteer to accompany Lord Krishna for some time) after his efforts to abandon war failed on that day moon was in constellation Beta Leonis (Uttara Phalguni Nakshatra).

  

On his journey with Lord Krishna Karna discussed planetary positions in sky that time & interpreted that such planetary positions stand for a bad omen.

Professor K. Srinivasa Raghavan with his extensive research had also found that Mahabharata’s war happened in 3067 BCE & his findings matched with the astronomical references mentioned in Mahabharata’s Parvans. As per his findings 

Lord Krishna departs on September 26, 3067 BCE to Hastinapur to meet Dhitrashtra to abandon war.

Lord Krishna reached Hastinapur on September 28^th, 3067 BCE.

Lunar eclipse occurred (at Pleiades) on September 29^th, 3067 BCE.

Krishna rides with Karna on October 8^th, 3067 BCE.

Solar eclipse (at Antares) occurred on October 14^th, 3067 BCE.

War started on November 22^nd, 3067 BCE.

Winter solstice was on January 13, 3066 BCE.

Bhishma expired on January 17^th, 3066 BCE.

Departure of Lord Krishna in 3031 BCE.

Thus Lord Krishna’s existence & Mahabharata’s war can’t be just Maharishi Ved Vyas’s imagination but it was indeed a true incident & Lord Krishna was an extraordinary person & principal character in Mahabharata hence he is worshipped till now in many countries.

Sense of safe distance differs as per countries

Some years ago an unmarried foreign woman wanted me to help her visit some nice places & shop in Mumbai.

Being born & brought up in Mumbai I was comfortable to help her visit some nice places & shop at reasonable rates without getting cheated.

Throughout the time I spent with her I maintained safe distance & was never comfortable when the distance between us decreased lesser than a foot.

She was extremely elated to visit so many places in a day & shop so much at reasonable rate as she hadn’t expected it & her faith got rewarded by someone who didn’t have anything in common with her but her humanity.

As we spent many hours together she realised that I wasn’t so comfortable being close to her.

Although I told her many times that I was obliged for trusting me & pleased to spend time with you & in my culture men don’t get so close to women.

She said with a smile “You seem to be smart. You maintained safe distance to see me properly.”

Something about Smile

My father was hospitalised in KEM hospital being one a victim of train bomb blast that happened on 11^th June 2006. I had gone to KEM hospital to meet him. Many victims were admitted there.

Some noble Mumbaikars had come to KEM hospital with an intention to help those victims in need. Some were distributing water bottles; some were distributing biscuits packets & some were distributing fruits.

Many victims knew that they may never be able to live their life like before as they had suffered lot of injuries. They were in incapacitating pain but while accepting something from the people who were distributing water bottles, biscuit packet, fruits etc many victims were able to put a smile on their face.

It’s indeed tough to smile to someone on the next day after suffering a bomb blast in a running train.

Some people were able to smile & some were not. Amongst them I saw a newly married young woman sitting next to her husband who sleeping on a hospital bed next to her. He had suffered many injuries. I was wondering how strong she is as she looked serene in that situation.

When she was offered water bottle & biscuit packet she was able to put a smile on her face. To smile in that situation is indeed tough.

Her smile showed gratefulness, hopefulness, humbleness, optimism & many other positive feelings which I don’t have words to define.

With this I conclude that every heart has some pain. Some hide it by isolating themselves, some express it verbally, some cry & some hide it in their smile.

In my personal humble opinion strong are those who hide their pain with their smile & strongest are those who hide it with their smile & make others smile.