Simplicity and Profoundness

Of all the sanskrit shlokas that I have heard, there are two that appeal to me the most. One for the sheer simplicity and beauty and the other for the sheer complexity, profoundness and abstractness.

The first one is the very famous "asatoma sadgamaya" from the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad.


In english script:

Om! asatoma sadgamaya.
tamaso ma jyotirgamaya
mrutyorma amrutam gamayah
Om! shantih shantih shantih ||

And a rough translation of that is here:
(take me) from ignorance to knowledge
from darkness to light
from death to immortality
peace, peace, peace

Simple, straight and to the point.
I still remember, when I was just beginning to make half meaningful sentences, how my grand father would stand with me with folded hands in front of the family pooja room, and help me recite this shloka. I can claim to remember this because, I have a recording of this with me reciting the shloka with my grandfather. My baby voice with that of the gruff smoke hardened voice of my grandfather.

The second one is the equally famous "purnamadah purnamidam" from the Ishvasya Upanishad

In english script:

Om! purnamadah purnamidam purnat purnamudachyate |
purnasya purnamaadaya purnamevavshishyate |
Om! shantih shantih shantih

And a rough translation:

this is complete, that is complete from this complete comes that complete
if this complete is taken out of that complete, only completeness remains
peace, peace, peace

Many tomes have been written about this particular shloka for its profoundity. It might seem incoherent at first glance, but taken in its entire context, many people would aver that it encapsulates the entire advaita philosophy in it. There are many interpretations of this shloka. It is something that can really give a feast for thought. In spite of all that I said about this shloka, sometimes I wonder is this shloka all about simplicity itself?

Here are some good links that discuss this shloka
one, two (The link number two is a link to a pdf)

Imagination and Taste

"There is nothing worse than imagination without taste"
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Well, well, it looks like many years before these even born, Goethe predicted the rise of hip-hop, fashion nazis, modern art, Austin Powers and me. It does a tiny bit of good to my ego, I should imagine. It being as small as it is currently. Afterall, Gothe is looked up to by Friedrich Nietzsche himself.
Let me clarify here that I dont like hip-hop (yuck), I have the fashion sense of a neandrethal who is still using last years supply of tattered mammoth skin and I would not be able to tell a wall tile with paan stains on it from a piece of modern art. But I sure do love Austin Powers.....
oh! behave!
(Is there anything cooler than sharks with fricking lasers on their heads??)

Enlightened Moderation

This is really old news. But it is so funny that I should put it up here, or down there or wherever :D
Operation to remove light bulb from inmate's anus - Reuters

MULTAN, Pakistan (Reuters) - Fateh Mohammad, a prison inmate in Pakistan, says he woke up last weekend with a glass light bulb in his anus.

On Wednesday night, doctors brought Mohammad's misery to an end after a one-and-a-half hour operation to remove the object.

"Thanks Allah, now I feel comfort. Today, I had my breakfast. I was just drinking water, nothing else," Mohammad, a grey-beared man in his mid-40s, told Reuters from a hospital bed in the southern central city of Multan.

"We had to take it out intact," said Dr. Farrukh Aftab at Nishtar Hospital. "Had it been broken inside, it would be a very very complicated situation."

Mohammad, who is serving a four-year sentence for making liquor, prohibited for Muslims, said he was shocked when he was first told the cause of his discomfort. He swears he didn't know the bulb was there.

"When I woke up I felt a pain in my lower abdomen, but later in hospital, they told me this," Mohammad said.

"I don't know who did this to me. Police or other prisoners."

The doctor treating Mohammad said he'd never encountered anything like it before, and doubted the felon's story that someone had drugged him and inserted the bulb while he was comatose.

Maybe this is all about the "Enlighted Moderation" that His Highness Democratically Elected Dictator for Life (Elected with 98% vote share with 400% guarantee) El-Presidente General P Musharraf of The Islamic Republic of Pakistan keeps talking about.

We all understand the enlightened part here, but what about moderation? Is it that it was because of moderation that a bulb was used and not any other lighting instrument, like perhaps something a lot longer?

Crazy Diamond

Roger Keith Barrett ,
(Syd Barrett)
January 6 1946 - July 7 2006
RIP

:-(

Word for the day and Mail for the day

Alligated
al·li·ga·ted (ăl'ĭ-gā'ted)
v.

1. Bringing to notice the Karnataka state equivalent of Watergate.
2. The process of making the gate that legislators make when one of them gets the itch to assault another.

Usage:
"Allegation is not proof. You have to ask whoever has allegated againt me"

Our beloved CM, HDK used this word to devastating effect while giving an interview to one of those private "aap ko kaisa lag raha hain" tv channels.

Maybe I should not laugh at a rustic theater owner and film producer's english skills. So for kicks, I will put this e-mail up here so that everybody can laugh :D
One of my friend's friend ( :D ) got this e-mail thanks to (HAI, CAN WE START FRENDING? I LOVE YOU) orkut.

It might take some effort to understand given the splendid vocabulary of our man here, but I urge you infinite patience, it is worth it, trust me. Ah, the poetic simplicity, the incredible panache that shines through such modesty, wah, wah!

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Heya xxxxxxxxxxx :)

XXX hea!! checked ya out n thought of droppin a hi... so mind gettin talkin? cos tat's wha we are hea for.. i guess..

about me.. hmmmmmmmmm..dont really like blowin ma trumpet!! modesty pays ya see!! came ta bangalore say 8 months ago. now analyze this : im jus "basically" a marwari, born in Delhi n brought up in BARODA, tha's ma hometown!!!! studyied for 4 yrs in dis sick place called Trichy (cos was rottin at this REC/NIT there!!). in bang bang bangalore right now..

so me a hybrid mule kinda thing.. now, REMEMBER it okay!! :)
(ok, we all should remember that, after all how many can claim to be the direct descendant of a horse and a donkey?)

haha im a real talkative guy... like learnin frm people n respectin them, enjoyin life to d max, and knowin and analyzin people's thoughts... thats what life is about.. theres more to life actually... and i can go on n on n on n on n on...

neways, hmmmmmm.. gues u're bored enuf!! write back, even if you DO mind bein pals.. i mean, jus send a blank NO, n i will respect your decision. trust me, i will.

got msngers? [ i am a retard ]@ hotmail.com and [i will always be so ]@ yahoo.com

keep rappin!!
XXX

PS: forgot d usual crappy stuff : love rappin (dont get me wrong.. love RAPPIN.. not d word with only one P"!!!) , clubbin, Swearin, travellin (i just LOVE IT..) , music(hip hop, rap, punjabi) freakin OTHERS out! spendin time with myself and talking and analyzing.. arguing logically too!! (game?? can bet ma nation on tha!!)

n yeah... im kinda what you'd call a practical guy. wud appreciate if we dont stick to these lame virtual media for interaction... cos ma work hardly gives me ne time for mails n stuff. oh yeah, i know its real difficult n vague ta trust ppl nowadays.. but believe me, im no cheapo or despo ta keep givin u missed calls, or send those stupid lovey dovey FORWARDS! or to pass on ur number.. i just HATE, ABHOR, RESENT al that, n all that puts me off. i dont get it how someone can be so jobless to do that. pity such people who do it... so u cud probably drop in a text on 98XX XXX XXX :)

see ya at d beach??

btw, orkut's blocked at my work place..using it thru another proxy.. and i cant see any pics on any page! so dont think i messaged ya cos of any pic! :)

n yeah.. i hate scrappin.. its like almost showin d whole world what colored undergarments u wearin.. might as well invest d same effort in a mail! :) see ya at d beach?? btw, orkut\'s blocked at my work place..using it thru another proxy.. and i cant see any pics on any page! so dont think i messaged ya cos of any pic! :) n yeah.. i hate scrappin.. its like almost showin d whole world what colored undergarments u wearin.. might as well invest d same effort in a mail! :)
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Now that I have had my laughs, I wonder
Why is the world such a surreal place.

Drive

I wrote these lines over a period of time, when my mood was sufficiently dark. I guess it describes a typical day of mine from when I return home.

Drive

loud music, lonely drive
discordant lyrics, reflecting my mind

the broken city crawls by,
bright lights and dark holes

the rowdy drivers wont obey,
flick a switch to make it go away
BMP has forgotten them roads
and the rain god has performed his ode

the prodigal walks in alone
into which was home in times bygone

the magic mirror is switched on,
grotesque dancers keep frolicking on
[click]
hey look, those rhinos are turned on
[click]
the stuff celebs do to blow their own horn
[click]
another homeless child looks forlorn
[click]
bring out the coke and pop-corn
[click]
while the greedy eyes stare into soft porn
the book welcomes me, like it is lovelorn
[klack]

the welcoming book is now to be read,
cause I am addicted to ideas so full of dread

swirling fan, circling thought,
confused existence, creeping rot.

what could have been,
in this world so mean,

I wish I could just sleep,
and slip into its silence deep.

Fundas and Opium

I got to know today that there is a flower named after Pink Floyd, one of my favourite bands. They are so poetic and compose hauntingly beautiful tunes. Basically, they fcukking rock!!

Getting to know of such trivia thrills me no end. No wonder, this is what one of those scientific studies had to say about it.
"Thirst for knowledge" may be opium craving