A Very Joyous Meeting

“Hearing the king say, ‘No one is as fortunate as I am.’, Vishvamitra became very happy and praised the king. The happiness felt from that meeting is known only to the minds of the king and the muni.” (Janaki Mangala, Chand 2.1)

kāhūm̐ na kīnheu sukṛta suni muni mudita nṛpahi bakhānahīṃ |
mahipāla muni keā milana sukha mahipāla muni mana jānahīṃ ||

Based on the path you follow in life, you consider yourself to be righteously situated. Not that you’re the best or that you’re above everyone else, but you are familiar with the meaning of life and how to go about fulfilling it. Whether others like you or not is of no concern, for you are firmly convinced of the need for following the righteous path, which for you means observing sacrifice and austerity. On one occasion you happen to visit someone else who you respect very much. Though they are in a different occupation, you understand that they are well situated in the mind, that they have earned the respect that others offer to them. You have a certain request going into this meeting, so you’re not sure how you will be greeted.

To your amazement, the person you respect so much honors you immediately upon your arrival. He first pays you the highest honor outwardly with his behavior, and then his words of praise supersede the previous gesture’s kindness. He says that by your visiting him he has become the most fortunate person in the world, that the amount of his spiritual merits cannot be measured. Obviously this will warm your heart, for who doesn’t appreciate sincere praise? Especially when it comes from someone you respect so much, there is no measuring the delight you feel from kind words. Correspondingly, the person you are visiting feels the same happiness, for they do not make up false words of flattery to push a specific objective. They are famous for their honesty, so their praise heaped upon you not only brings happiness to your mind, but it validates the decision you have made in life to sacrifice your efforts towards the highest cause.

Take this hypothetical situation and apply it to a real life meeting held many thousands of years ago and you can begin to imagine the happiness felt by the two parties. One side was Vishvamitra Muni, the famous son of Gadhi. He had a checkered past, which included life as a king and quarrels with another saint named Vashishtha. Ironically enough, the person Vishvamitra visited on this occasion had Vashishtha as a priest. King Dasharatha of Ayodhya was famous for having maintained the good standing of the Ikshvaku family, who were a dynasty of kings dating back to the beginning of creation. Dasharatha knew of Vishvamitra’s glory, of how he had undergone severe penances to take on the role of an ascetic. Dasharatha cared not for the ascetic’s past life as a king nor for his quarrels with Vashishtha.

When visited by Vishvamitra, Dasharatha knew how to act. In Vedic culture there are divisions of work and spiritual institutions in society. The work is determined by the qualities of the individual. Just as in a business some people are better leaders than others, in society some men are better suited to provide protection, which involves fending off enemies. The strongest and most capable fighters will survive in conflict, so those who can protect the best make ideal leaders of government.

The potential issue of having a “meathead” running the government is alleviated by the presence of the brahmanas, or priestly class. The powerful kshatriya

, or warrior, can follow the proper course of action by listening to the advice of the priestly class, who knows not only about religious life but also of how to earn success in different material ventures. When the proper aim in life is known, every action becomes spiritual. The behavior at large can be tailored towards meeting the end-goal, which means that such trivial things as ruling over a government and fighting in a war can become spiritual activities for the person who knows the self.

This technique of incorporation shouldn’t be that difficult to imagine. Think of a professional athlete. In whichever sport they participate, there is a particular training regimen, where they condition the body to perform at optimal levels on the day of competition. The game itself may only involve dexterity with respect to the rules and objects used, but the training is separate from this. If I am a tennis player, what do sit-ups have to do with performing well on the court? Sit-ups are on exercise to increase strength in the abdominal region of the body. Therefore the exercise is separate from the act of playing tennis against an opponent. If the sit-ups are targeted towards increasing the strength of the abdominal region to perhaps help with serving and lunging for tennis balls, the act becomes part of the routine of the successful professional tennis player. With the higher aim in mind, the scope of activity becomes all-inclusive, for even sleep helps to optimize performance.

The Vedic system of varnashrama-dharma is the most inclusive because the dharma identified is the highest. Dharma is the essential characteristic of something, and when it applies to a system of regulation, it is the set of procedures aimed at bringing that essential characteristic to the forefront and maintaining it. The identification with the spirit soul is the most inclusive, for it brings fraternal affection for all species, not just human beings. The individual spirit soul also exists well beyond the existence of the current bodily form.

The soul’s inherent characteristic is to serve the Supreme Soul, or God. Just realizing the presence of the soul and its qualities is difficult enough, therefore dharma is instituted society-wide. Each person follows activities that correspond to their body type so that gradually they can stop identifying with their form and start identifying with the soul. Under the proper procedures, every activity followed in life aims towards realizing the presence of the soul and allowing its dharma, its propensity to serve, to be directed in the proper area.

Vishvamitra and Dasharatha were in different occupations, but they were still both following the highest dharma, which is known as bhagavata. While under varnashrama-dharma one person may be situated as a ruler and another as a priest, under bhagavata-dharma one is directly engaged in devotion to the Supreme Lord. Therefore it doesn’t matter what type of engagement they are taking up. As a mere formality one devotee follows administration as a way of life while another serves as a priest, but the connection to the divine consciousness is there in both cases, creating a situation of equality. If both parties understand their identities as spirit souls, part and parcel of God, there is no question of a difference.

When two people following bhagavata-dharma meet, their joy swells. This was the case with Vishvamitra and Dasharatha. The king welcomed the sage and openly declared that because of the sage’s visit, he had become the most fortunate person in the world. “No one is more fortunate than I am.” What a nice thing to say, no? Wouldn’t it make you feel good if you heard that, especially if it came from someone who had a strict vow to tell the truth?

It’s not surprising therefore that Vishvamitra praised the king right back when hearing this. To the outsider, or even to the person who was there that day, the happiness in both parties could be noticed. Nevertheless, only the minds of the two individuals could understand just how great that joy was. Rare it is to find someone who fully appreciates your work and understands why you do what you do. Better still when the person you meet is himself a pious character who has dedicated their life to serving God.

“What significance does this meeting have? You had two people who were really happy upon meeting each other, but what’s the big deal? Doesn’t this happen all the time?” The meeting is noted in the Janaki Mangala written by Goswami Tulsidas

. The poem focuses on the marriage ceremony for Sita Devi

, who is Lord Rama’s eternal consort. Rama was Dasharatha’s eldest son, whom Vishvamitra had actually come to Ayodhya to borrow for a while. Though these events took place a long time ago, Lord Rama

 and Sita exist eternally, for they are the Supreme Lord and His pleasure potency.

God should always be worshiped, remembered, and served, but that service is suppressed when we don’t know much about Him. Instinctively we understand that there is a higher power who created everything, who can predict the outcome to every single event and who can grant us whatever we want. At the same time, knowing that God is great doesn’t do much for us in terms of altering behavior. If great people are around, shouldn’t we want to associate with them? Otherwise, what is the use of their greatness? Perhaps their influence can extend to us in a positive manner, allowing us to find some sort of temporary happiness, but real greatness extends through both the personal and impersonal.

God’s impersonal influence is felt through the amazing material nature, which has things like the sun, the earth and the weather that can’t be predicted. We can utilize these resources for our sustenance, but even the animals have the same opportunity. The Vedas reveal some of God’s features, especially His bliss-evoking attributes. In His original feature, God is Bhagavan, who is so attractive that He is addressed as Krishna. Lord Krishna

, who has a body that is eternal, knowledgeable and blissful, expands into other spiritual forms that accept the mood of worship of the interested parties. Shri Rama is not different from Krishna, except that He plays the role of a warrior prince who is so attractive and chivalrous that the pious can’t help but be drawn to Him.

As wonderful as Rama is, His wife Sita might be even more glorious. She is also beautiful, with her visible features able to enchant Rama. Those who love Rama will love anyone who makes Him happy. Since no one makes Rama happier than Sita, the devotees automatically have the highest affection for her, taking an interest in her devotional activities as well.

The stories relating to the Supreme Lord and His associates are so attractive that the saintly class never tires of hearing them. In their spare time they will even compose songs about the events so that they can be remembered even more. Take a notable and preferred incident from your life. If you want to remember it, you can probably write down accounts of the incident into a book, but how many times are you going to read this? If you synthesize the key elements into a song, however, you can remember the event every single day. Others can memorize the song and honor the event in that way too.

The Supreme Lord’s activities are the most attractive. Therefore the saints regularly dip in the holy lake that represents His acts. The Janaki Mangala is another one of those lakes, with the saint Tulsidas focusing on a specific pastime: Rama’s marriage to Sita in the city of Janakpur. The meeting of Vishvamitra and Dasharatha was related to the marriage because without Rama leaving Ayodhya to protect Vishvamitra in the forest, He never would have come to Janakpur to attempt to lift the bow of Lord Shiva

. The contest’s winner would marry Sita, so Rama had to be the one to lift the bow.

Everything relating to that event is worth remembering, including the fateful meeting between the sage and the king in Ayodhya. Just contemplate upon their happiness, how their minds were filled with joy. Associating with positive people who derive happiness from spiritual life is supremely beneficial. Their examples validate for us the proper path in life, that of always chanting

 the holy names, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare

”. The happiness felt by Vishvamitra and Dasharatha can also be shared with others, allowing the recipients to honor the role they played in bringing the divine couple together.

In Closing:

Happiness did sage Vishvamitra find,

Upon meeting king who also joyful in mind.

The association of the saint for him so treasured,

That the resulting spiritual merits could not be measured.

Treading the righteous path can be rough,

To stay determined in opposition tough.

Thus so joyful to meet someone who appreciates,

Your work, dedication to piety they validate.

Dasharatha and Vishvamitra’s mutual feelings,

Measure of joy unknown from only seeing.

Two saintly figures in motion set the wheels,

For Rama joining Sita, of beauty surreal.

Jumping Droplets Take a Lot of Heat, as Long as It Comes in a Cool Way

Chuan-Hua Chen, foreground, and Jonathan Boreyko. (Credit: Image courtesy of Duke University)

Science Daily  — Microscopic water droplets jumping between surfaces that repel and attract moisture could hold the key to a wide array of more energy efficient products, ranging from large solar panels to compact laptop computers.

These phase-change diodes can transfer over a hundred times more heat in the forward direction compared to the reverse, but with major limitations -- they are dependent on gravity or restricted by a tubular configuration. These limitations severely constrain the application of phase-change thermal diodes, for example, in mobile electronics which require orientation independence or solar panels which require a large surface area.Duke University engineers have developed a new way of producing thermal diodes, devices which regulate heat to preferentially flow in a certain direction, effectively creating a thermal conductor in the forward direction and an insulator in the reverse direction. While thermal diodes can be made from solid materials, these solid-state diodes are not nearly as effective as "phase-change" thermal diodes that rely on vaporization and condensation to transport heat.

The Duke engineers believe they have figured out a way to solve these limitations to existing thermal diodes by exploiting self-propelled water droplets, which can jump from a superhydrophobic (highly water-repellent) surface to a superhydrophilic (highly absorbent) surface, but not the other way around. The results of the Duke experiments were published online in the journal Applied Physical Letters.

Chuan-Hua Chen, assistant professor of mechanical engineering and materials science at Duke's Pratt School of Engineering, and his research group was the first to actually videotape the self-propelled jumping motion of water droplets on a superhydrophobic surface. They found that the droplets literally jumped straight up and off the surface. In their current experiments, a superhydrophilic plate was placed opposite to the superhydrophobic one, creating an asymmetry crucial for the directional transport of heat in their thermal diode.

"When the superhydrophobic surface is colder than the superhydrophilic surface, the heat transport is very effective with phase-change processes, much like sweat taking away body heat; when the superhydrophobic surface is hotter, the heat flow is blocked and the diode behaves like a double-paned window," said Chen. "Because the jumping droplets in our system are very small, gravity has negligible effect on them. Therefore, devices based on this approach can be oriented in any direction without the need to worry about gravity."

Furthermore, Chen said, this approach can be easily scalable, which means technology based on this design can be used for thermal management of devices as small as computer chips and as large as building roofs. The jumping-drop approach uniquely combines large-area scalability, orientation independence, and effective thermal rectification into one device. This combination of properties is extremely useful for thermal diodes but has remained elusive until Chen's invention.

Typical phase-change thermal diodes rely on evaporating water to transfer heat from one surface to another, with gravity pulling the subsequent condensate down to restart the cycle again. For example, these so-called thermosyphons are in use in the Alaskan oil pipeline, in order to keep the heat from the pipes from melting the permafrost.

Chen believes that this new approach could make thermal diodes more practical and effective for a variety of applications. These applications range from energy-efficient solar panels to smart "skins" of thermally adaptive buildings. For example, in the summertime a diode panel on a building could let heat escape out but prevent heat from creeping in. In space vehicles, thermal diodes can be used to regulate diurnal thermal fluctuations in the outer space, or even to harvest solar energy for powering satellites.

Chen's research is supported by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. Other Duke members of the team are and Yuejun Zhao.

Double Or Nothing

“Activity in Krishna consciousness, or acting for the benefit of Krishna without expectation of sense gratification, is the highest transcendental quality of work. Even a small beginning of such activity finds no impediment, nor can that small beginning be lost at any stage.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Bhagavad-gita, 2.40 Purport) You’ve put in your time at the particular job, knowing that you’ve given it your all and that certain goals just will not be achieved no matter how much more effort is expended. The freedom that comes with living in a modern democratic nation, a place where free will is generally not infringed upon by the forces of government, allows the individual to make decisions that will affect their future. Should they be unhappy in a particular scenario, they can change their setting, find a new place to live and work that will hopefully give them the pleasure they are looking for. There is risk at every turn, however. If you leave the one job you have for another, you could potentially end up losing both, and then be left to worry over what might have been. For the spiritualist sincerely trying to gain the Supreme Lord’s favor, however, there is no such risk. “Does a spiritualist think that they are risking something by dedicating more time to spiritual life? Why is there a distinction between spiritual and material anyway? Doesn’t this whole world belong to God? Am I not connecting with the Lord just by living, working to maintain my family? Isn’t service to man sufficient for serving God?” The separation between material and spiritual life exists in the minds of those who don’t understand how to dovetail every single behavior with service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That highest discipline is bhakti-yoga, which aims to keep a link to the divine consciousness in a mood of love through every single activity of the day. Whether to the outsider the behavior appears spiritual or material is of no concern, for the consciousness is focused on the glorious attributes of the Supreme Person. That contemplation then results in work being performed to maintain the concentration, completing the circle. Though the activities may vary, the link to the divine consciousness does not break. Someone not on the divine platform will make distinctions. For instance, hearing, chanting   , remembering, serving, and offering prayers specifically to a deity    or divine figure are seen as behaviors bearing no relation to working hard at the jobsite, studying in school, spending time with the wife and kids, going out to watch movies, playing sports, going out to eat at a restaurant, or so many other things. Because there are distinctions made based on the beneficiary of the activity, the proportion between the two behaviors is also monitored. Sort of like how one will manage the portion sizes of their food intake, the person seeing duality in existence will take stock of how much time is dedicated to spiritual life, for there is the feeling that the material and spiritual are mutually exclusive. Are they not correct? If you’re chanting the holy names of the Lord, like those found in the maha-mantra, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare   ”, are you not avoiding some other behavior? If you’re sitting in a church or temple, is that not an explicit act of religion    that is devoid of material association? When one knows the proper definition of God and acts off of it there can be no distinction, as the mentality from the spiritual activities seeps into the consciousness of the individual and then carries over into their other activities. As a crude example to see a similar principle in effect, we can take weight training. During the actual period of exercise, the different muscles atrophy; they are stretched to the limit so that they can increase in strength. What results is that during periods of rest the muscles continue to eat, sort of like burning calories without doing anything extra. Thus the short amount of time spent in explicit exercise ends up resulting in calorie burning distributed throughout the day, even during sedentary periods like sleep. The aim of spirituality is similar, except the benefits are all-encompassing. Submissive hearing of the holy names and pastimes of the Supreme Personality are the most effective form of spiritual activity, as they immediately take the mind somewhere else, a place where the dualities of heat and cold, gain and loss, and elation and suffering are absent. This sort of escape is always sought, such as through movies, books and television shows. The tendency for escape is already there, but in bhakti the destination of the travelling mind is pure, thereby making the hearing spiritual. Despite these cogent truths passed on by the acharyas of the Vedic tradition, the tendency is to think that if I devote too much time to spiritual life, I’ll eventually renounce everything and leave my important obligations neglected. The flaw that immediately jumps to mind is that the worthiness of the obligations supposedly missed is not taken account of. The sports gambler has the obligation of having an internet connection, a cell phone, and a television programming package that carries all the games that he needs to see. The fact that gambling    is rooted in the mode of passion and thus leads to a neutral state is not recognized by the gambler feverishly looking to win the next big payout. The mode of passion is one of the three modes of material nature that govern behavior and also the types of body assumed. The human being typically falls into the mode of passion, with mixes of the modes of goodness and ignorance sprinkled in. The complete description of these modes can be found in the Bhagavad-gita, the most concise treatise on Vedic philosophy, which happens to be delivered by the origin of all knowledge, Shri Krishna. In short we can say that the mode of goodness leads to knowledge, passion to a neutral state coupled with misery, and ignorance to a much worse off position. “The mode of passion is born of unlimited desires and longings, O son of Kunti, and because of this one is bound to material fruitive activities.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita   , 14.7) The gambler is in the mode of passion because through the difficult work of making the wager and nervously waiting to see the outcome, even success does not provide enough mental satisfaction to stop the gambler from repeating the same activity. Similarly, the business mogul who has made billions of dollars doesn’t stop where they are, for their activity has not proved to be satisfactory at making them happy. Following bhakti-yoga by learning the principles of the Bhagavad-gita from someone who knows how to apply the concepts into everyday life eventually gives one the ability to properly assess whether their specific obligations feared over are worth having. For argument’s sake, let’s say that there is some fear in the beginning. “I don’t want to chant Hare Krishna too often or read too many books about Krishna’s wonderful pastimes in the sacred land of Vrajabhumi because I’m afraid I won’t be able to take care of my other needs, which keep a roof over my head and food on the table.” Though this fear exists, in real yoga there is never a chance at becoming a loser in God’s eyes, a fact confirmed by Krishna Himself in the Bhagavad-gita. “In this endeavor there is no loss or diminution, and a little advancement on this path can protect one from the most dangerous type of fear.” (Lord Krishna   , Bg. 2.40) When contemplating whether or not to take a new job, there is an inherent risk to consider. Say, for instance, that while working at a job that we are comfortably situated in, another offer comes in. This new place is enticing, as it has certain things that we are looking for. One option is to quit the current job and accept the new position. Ah, but there is a risk. What if we fail at the new job? What if we are unable to perform the tasks to the satisfaction of the proprietor? What if we hate the new work environment? What if the people who promised us the job actually go back on their word and give the position to someone else, after we have quit our current job? In these instances we would become total losers, left without any job. This same risk accompanies every kind of material behavior, those activities where God is not the beneficiary. Indeed, loss is concomitant with gain, as there must be death after birth. The journey through life in the human form involves acquiring certain things and losing others. No property is stable; nothing is permanently retained in our name. With devotional service   , the aim is to purify consciousness, which is an aspect of our identity that stays with us from life to life, as it determined the circumstances of our present birth and the type of nature we assumed. It is seen that some children are born quiet and peaceful, while others are clever, naughty and a general pain in the behind. Some people are born with the ability to adapt to new situations and incorporate the information they acquire very quickly, while others are slow learners and take a long time to complete their tasks. These tendencies are inherited from the previous life, where consciousness was shaped through activity. With bhakti-yoga, the gains never diminish. Even if we devote much time to studying the Vedas and hearing about Krishna and then simultaneously renounce our other obligations, there is never any risk of complete destruction. If the plunge into spiritual life should result in failure, if somehow we break out of the divine consciousness, we get to start off from the same point in the next life. This benefit is present only in bhakti-yoga and not any other endeavor. You leave a construction site with the job half-finished and you have essentially failed. You may have occupied your time with constructive behavior, but otherwise there is no lasting benefit to the work you put in. In bhakti, there is at least the seed of devotion to God remaining inside of you, just waiting to be watered again through the association of saints and the submissive hearing of Krishna-katha, or talks about the Supreme Lord in His personal form. With guaranteed progress, there is no reason not to at least give a little time to spiritual life. The saints know that in the current age of Kali conditions in society are not conducive to following spiritual life with any determination. Houses where the names of the Supreme Lord are chanted regularly in earnest are difficult to find, and it seems that even the prominent spiritualists have ulterior motives. Not to fear, though, for the holy name is all we need to connect with God in a mood of love. The recommendation of chanting the holy names in the maha-mantra daily for at least sixteen rounds on a set of japa beads proves to be our best friend, the most effective weapon in our attack against the thick fog of nescience. Just chant the holy names on a regular basis, even if you think it’s an activity that will cause you to lose out on other obligations, and see what effect it has. Changing from one job to another can leave you without any, but making Krishna the beneficiary of your activities instead of material nature will always make you a winner in the mind, for the Supreme Lord will comfortably rest within your thoughts holding His flute and dazzling your consciousness with His sweet vision. In Closing: At your current jobsite you’re comfortable, Smooth sailing, no signs of any trouble. Then comes an offer from the outside, To work at new job, give up old and tried. Now you have a tough decision to make, Stay where you are or new offer to take. Trouble when new offer should go south, A job at either place you are left without. Only in bhakti-yoga is there not any risk, Following Krishna brings success that is brisk.

மருந்து வாங்கும் போது... எச்சரிக்கை!

மருந்து வாங்கும் போது... கீழ்க்கண்ட விஷயங்களை அவசியம் 

தெரிந்திருக்க வேண்டும். இது உயிர் பற்றிய விஷயம். எனவே 

அக்கறை அவசியம்.

1. மருத்துவரின் சீட்டு இல்லாமல் வாங்காதீர்கள்!

தமிழ் சினிமாவின் பிரபல வசனங்களில் ஒன்று, யார் சுட்டாலும் துப்பாக்கி சுடும். யார் வெட்டினாலும் கத்தி வெட்டும். மருந்து, டாக்டர் எழுதிக் கொடுத்தாலென்ன... கடைக்காரரே கொடுத்தால் என்ன? என்று நினைப்பவர் அநேகர். அது உண்மையல்ல. குடும்ப மருத்துவருக்குக் கொடுக்கும் பணம் உங்கள் உடல் நலத்திற்கான முதலீடு என்பதை உணருங்கள். நீங்கள் சரியான மருத்துவரிடம் 50, 100 ரூபாய் கொடுத்தால் அவர் குறைந்தது 5 மடங்கு பணம் மிச்சப்படுத்தும் வேலையைச் செய்வார்! 

இப்போது பெரும்பாலான மருத்துவர் கள் தங்கள் மருந்துச் சீட்டை தெளிவாக, தனித்தனியாக கொட்டை எழுத்துக்களில் தான் எழுதித் தருகின்றனர். சிலர் கம்ப் யூட்டர் மூலம் பிரிண்ட் செய்யப்பட்ட மருந்துச் சீட்டை கொடுக்கிறார்கள்.

கையெழுத்துப் புரியவில்லை என்றால் கேட்டு விடுங்கள்! கோபிக்க மாட்டார்! சிலர் பழைய சீட்டை வைத்தே வருடக் கணக்கில் வாங்குவார்கள். அதுவும் தவறு! அவ்வப்போது மருத்துவரைப் பாருங்கள்!

2. செல்போனில் மருந்துச் சீட்டு நீண்ட காலத்திற்கு சாப்பிட வேண்டிய உயிர் காக்கும் மருந்துகளின் பெயர், டோஸ் அளவு போன்றவற்றை Cell Phone™ மெஸேஜ் ஆக எழுதி பதிவு செய்து வைத்துக் கொள்ளுங்கள். இந்த   Message  வீட்டில் உள்ள அனைத்து செல்ஃபோனி லும் இருக்கட்டும். அவசரத்தில் சிகிச்சை யளிக்க மருத்துவர் கேட்கும்போது இது உயிர் காக்க உதவும். 

3. பில் இல்லா மருந்து மருந்தல்ல எங்கே வாங்கினாலும், எவ்வளவு வாங்கினாலும் எவ்வளவு அவசர மானாலும், பில் இல்லாமல் மருந்துகளை வாங்காதீர்கள். பில்லில் உங்கள் பெயர், மருத்துவரின் பெயரும் இருக்கட்டும். மருத்துவரின் மருந்துச் சீட்டுடன், பில்லை வைத்து கவனமாக சரிபார்த்து, வாங்குங்கள். சந்தேகம் இருக்கும் பட்சம் மருத்துவரிடமோ அவரது உதவியாளரிடமோ Cross Check செய்து கொள்ளுங்கள்.

4. உதிரிகள் வேண்டவே வேண்டாம் மருந்தின் பெயர், மருந்துப் பொருட்களின் பெயர், தயாரித்த கம்பெனியின்  பெயர், விற்கும் கம்பெனியின் பெயர் மருந்தின் வீரிய அளவு, மருந்து தயாரித்த தேதி காலாவதி தேதி ஆகியவற்றை முழு அட்டையாக மாத்திரை வாங்கும் போதுதான் கவனித்து வாங்க முடியும். எனவே கூடுமானவரை உதிரியாக மாத்திரை வாங்குவதை தவிர்த்து விடுங் கள். உதிரி மாத்திரைகள், காலாவதி, போலி, சாம்பிள் மாத்திரைகளாகக் கூட இருக்கக் கூடும். எனவே கூடுதல் கவனம் தேவை.

5. வீரியமில்லாமல் காரியமில்லை மாத்திரை பெயர் பார்த்து வாங்கும் போது அதன் அளவு 2 மிலி, 5 மிலி, 10 மிலி என வீரியத்தின் அளவு பார்த்து வாங்க வேண்டும். இது மிக முக்கியம்.

6. காலாவதி மாத்திரை காலனிடம் சேர்க்கும் எந்த மருந்தையும் நீங்களாகப் பார்த்து, காலாவதி தேதி சரிபாருங்கள். சில மாத் திரைகளில், 18 மாதங்கள், 24 மாதங்கள். தயாரித்த தேதியிலிருந்து என போட்டிருப் பார்கள். அதையும் சரிபாருங்கள்.

ஒரே வகையான மருந்து 6 மாதம் ஒரு கம்பெனியும் மற்றொரு கம்பெனி 3 வருடம் கழித்தும் காலாவதி தேதியை குறிப்பிட்டிருக்கும். அது மருந்து தயாரிக் கும் முறை, மருந்தின் உட்பொருட்கள் பொறுத்து மாறக்கூடும். நீங்களாக ஒரு முடிவுக்கு வர வேண்டாம்.

சில மருந்துகள் 1 நாள் தாண்டினால் கூட விஷமாக மாற வாய்ப்பு உண்டு. உதாரணம் டெட்ராசைக்ளின் வகை மருந்துகள். சில மருந்துகளில் காலாவதி தேதி நீண்ட நாட்கள் இருந்தாலும், குறிப்பாக குழந்தைகளுக்கு பவுடர் வடிவில் கொடுக்கப்படும் ‘ஆன்டி பயாடிக்Õ வகை மருந்துகள், காய்ச்சி ஆறவைத்த நீரில் கலந்து 5 நாட்களுக்குள் கொடுக்க வேண்டும் என சிறிய எழுத்தில் எழுதியிருப்பார்கள். அதுபோன்ற மருந்து களை 5 நாட்களுக்கு மேல் வைக்கக் கூடாது.

7. நீண்ட நாட்களுக்கு...

நீண்ட நாட்களுக்கு சாப்பிட வேண்டிய, தினசரி தவறாமல் எடுத்துக் கொள்ள வேண்டிய மருந்துகள் குறைந்தது 1 வாரத்துக்கான அளவாவது வீட்டில் இருக்கட்டும். இரவு ஒரே மாத்திரை இருந்து அதுவும் கீழே தவறி விழுந்துவிட்டால், தேவையில்லாத, பயம், பதட்டம், கவலை, அலைச்சல் டென்ஷன் இதை தவிர்க்க கைவசம் சற்று மாத்திரைகள், பர்ஸ், அல்லது ஹேண்ட் பேகில் இருக்கட்டும். 

8. குறைந்த செலவில் நிறைய மருந்துகள் சில மொத்த மருந்து வியாபாரிகளின் சில்லறை விலைக் கடைகளிலோ, சேவை நிறுவனங்கள் நடத்தும் கடைகளிளோ, 10 முதல் 20% வரை எம்.ஆர்.பி. விலையில் இருந்து தள்ளுபடி விலையில் மருந்து கிடைக்கும். ஒரு மாதத்திற்குத் தேவை யான மருந்துகளை இதுபோன்ற கடை களில் வாங்கினாலே கணிசமான பணம் மிச்சமாகும். சில கடைகளில் போனில் ஆர்டர் கொடுத்தால் இலவச டோர் டெலிவரி வசதியும் உண்டு. பயன்படுத்திக் கொள்ளுங்கள். நேரத்தை மிச்சப்படுத்துங்கள்.

9. அதே மருந்து... வேறு கம்பெனி சில மருந்து கம்பெனியின் தயாரிப் புகள் இல்லாதபோது நீங்களாகவே வேறு கம்பெனி மருந்துகளை மருத்துவரின் அனுமதியில்லாமல் வாங்காதீர்கள். போலி கம்பெனியா, தடைசெய்யப்பட்ட மருந்துகள் கலந்துள்ளனவா என்பதை உங்கள் மருத்துவர் அறிவார். குறிப்பாக வலிப்பு/ சர்க்கரை வியாதி/ ரத்தக் கொதிப்பு மாத்திரை வாங்கும்போது, வீரியம் அதிகரித்தாலோ, குறைந்தாலோ, தேவையில்லாத பாதிப்புகள் ஏற்படக் கூடும்.

அதுபோலவே மருத்துவர் எழுதிக் கொடுத்த மருந்தை நீங்களாகவே குறைத்துக் கொள்ளவோ அதிகரித்துக் கொள்ளவோ வேண்டாம்.

என் நண்பர் ஒருவர் ‘விருந்துக்குப் போய்விட்டு வந்தால் சர்க்கரை மாத்திரை இரண்டாகப் போட்டுக் கொள்வேன்’ என்பார். தலைக்கு மேல் கத்தி தொங்கு வது போன்றது இது. எப்போதும் ஆபத்து நேரலாம். 

10. மருந்துகள் பாதுகாக்க குழந்தைகள் கைக்கு எட்டாமல் வைக்கவும். பல மாத்திரைகள் கலர் கலராக ஜெம்ஸ் மிட்டாய் போல இருப்பதால் குழந்தைகள் வாயில் போட்டுக் கொள்ளும் ஆபத்து அதிகம்.

சில மருந்து மாத்திரைகள் குறிப்பாக நெஞ்சுவலி மாத்திரைகள் போன்றவை கைக்கு எட்டும் வகையிலும், தேவைப்பட்டால் ஒவ்வொரு அறையிலும் இருப்பது நலம்.

சில மருந்துகளை குளிர் சாதனப் பெட்டியில் தான் (இன்சுலின் போன்றவை) வைக்க வேண்டும். ஆனால் ஓபஸ் பெட்டியில் (ப்ரீஜரில்) வைக்கக் கூடாது.

பொதுவாக எல்லா மருந்துகளையும் வெயில், சூடுபடாத, ஈரம் இல்லாத உலர்ந்த இடத்தில் வைப்பது அவசியம். அடுப்பு அருகே, ப்ரிட்ஜின் மேல், சூடான பாத்திரம், ஹீட்டர் அருகே அல்லது வெயில்படும் இடங்களில் மருந்துகளை வைத்தால் மருந்து கெட்டுப்போக வாய்ப்பு உண்டு. சிலவகை தடுப்பு மருந்துகளில், மருந்தின் வீரியம் கெட்டுப் போனதை அந்த லேபிள் கலர் மாறு வதைப் பொறுத்து கண்டுபிடிக்க இயலும்.

தமிழ் தாயகத்திற்காக 

Engr. சுல்தான் 

Shirdi Sai Baba-1.avi

Pillayarpatti kerpaga vinayagar temple

History

This is an ancient rock cut temple. Scholars says that Lord Vinayaga is the Lord of wisdom, As Vinayagar satisfies the wishes of his devotees like Karpagam tree, he is also known "Karpaga Vinayagar". Here Lord Vinayaga appears with 2 hands unlike in other places where he is seen with 4 hands. Also he is seen seated without Angusapasam, with his legs folded and stomach not touching the Asanam in the form of "Artha Padma" Asanam. The word Vinayaga means "Incomparable Leader" Devotees worshipping Valamburi Vinayagar seated facing towards north, will be blessed with all wealth.

The deity of this temple is known as "Marudeeswarar" as Marudha tree (In Sansscrit Arjuna Virutcha, The Botanical name is Termanalia Arjuna) worship is followed in this temple which indicates that this temple in an ancient temple. The sculptur of pasupatheeswarar, "A cow worshipping Lord Siva by offering his milk" is the special feature of this temple. Also kubheran the Lord of wealth had worshipped at this temple.

Also adding to the sprituality Goddess Laxmi, Saraswathi and Durgai are found together at the same sport.

Unlike other places the three Lingams Thiruveesar, Marudheesar and Senchadeswarar and the three Goddess Sivagami amman, Vadamalar Mangaiamman and Soundara Nayaga amman all appear together at the same place and bless the devotees.

It is believed that by worshipping Kathyayini amman at this temple women get relived from sevvai dosham which prevent them from getting married. "Sabda Madhar" whom importance due to changing time are provided with a seperate sannidhi known as Sakthi sannidhi at this temple.

Antiquity: Over 15 inscriptions are found within the temple, that help establish the age of the temple. The Stalapuranam published by the temple classifies the growth of this temple into three distinct stages.

Location

Pillayarpatti is situated at a distance of 71Kms from Madurai and 12Kms from Karaikudi on Thirupathoor - Karaikudi state highway.The nearest airport is at Tiruchirappalli and Madurai. Chennai Rameswaram Express travel to these two railheads.

About the temple 

Karpaga Vinayagar koil is one of the oldest Cave Temples (Rock Cut) temples of Tamilnadu and situated at Pillayarpatti, which is between Pudukkottai and Karaikkudi. The nearest airport is at Tiruchirappalli, Chennai. Rameswaram Express and Kamban Express travel to these two railheads. The town of Pillaiyarpatti is named after 'Pillayar' - the tamil name for Ganesha, and this ancient temple houses rock cut images of Shiva, Lingodbhavar and others as well as several other shrines. Steeped in the tradition of Agamic textsthe temple bears testimony to the vibrant temple culture of the Tamil people, passed down through centuries. 

Antiquity: Over 15 inscriptions are found within the temple, that help establish the age of the temple. The Stalapuranam published by the temple classifies the growth of this temple into three distinct stages. The first stage goes back in time by about 1600 years. During this period, the innermost rock cut shrines housing Karpaka Vinayakar and Tiruveesar came into being. The uniqueness of the image of Ganesha is one factor testifying this date; the characters used in the temple inscriptions also help establish this date. 

The pillars within the shrine are of pre-Pallava origin. The Pallavas were prolific builders of rock cut temples (Mahabalipuram, Mahendravadi, Mamandur, Mandakapattu, Seeyamangalam, Namakkal, Tiruchi, Nartamalai, Kudumiyanmalai, Tirukkokarnam, Tirumeyyam, Peraiyur, Malayadipatti, Tirukolakkudi, Kunrakkudi etc.). A number of these can be traced to Mahendravarman I (615 - 630 AD) and Narasimhavarman I (630 - 668 AD). However, the inscriptions at Pillayarpatti date further back to the 4th century AD. Also, given the location of the temple in the Pandya kingdom it would only be logical to associate Pandya patronage to this temple, especially in the light of Pandya patronage at the Kazhugumalai temple not too far from here. There are several inscriptions within this temple that date back to the period between 1091 AD and 1238 AD, making it apparent that the Pillayarpatti Nagarattar became the custodians of the temple during the 13th century AD during the second growth phase of this temple, when Vimanams and Rajagopurams were built. 

The third phase of growth is much more recent and it involved the repair, rebuilding and refurbishment of the entire temple complex, including the renovation of the temple tank. The tank and the two Raja Gopurams provide an attractive approach to the temple, in this rather remote town of Pillayarpatti.

Rajini's BABA Ganesh	Hibiscus Ganesh	Ganesha on Moon	Royal Ganesh	Shiva-Parvathi Ganesh
Aries Ganesh	Taurus Ganesh	Gemini Ganesh	Cancer Ganesh	Leo Ganesh
Virgo Ganesh	Scorpio Ganesh	Capri Ganesh	Pisces Ganesh	Snake Ganesh
On Deer	On Garuda	On Eagle	On Horse(Baba)	On Himself
Baby Ganesh	Rajini Style	Pillayarpatti	Work in Progress	Painting Done

Three Faces	Hmmmmm?!!	Inside Linga
Baba Ganesh Close-up	On Ganesha's Request

Amazing Music Video and a Lesson