Jagannatha Swamy Nayana Pathagami Bhava Tumi

Who sometimes fervently plays His flute on the banks of the Yamuna river in Sri Vrindavana, who is like a bumblebee that blissfully tastes the lotus faces of the Vraja-gopis, and whose feet are worshipped by great personalities such as Laksmi, Shiva, Brahma, Indra, and Ganesha -- may that Sri Jagannatha-deva be the object of my vision.

Who holds a flute in His left hand, who wears a peacock feather on His head and a fine yellow silken cloth around His hips, who from the corners of His eyes bestows loving sidelong glances upon His companions, and who is forever known as the one who performs wondrous pastimes in the divine abode of Sri Vrindavana -- may that Sri Jagannatha-deva be the object of my vision.

Who on the shore of the great ocean resides in a palace situated on the gold-like crest of Nilachala Hill accompanied by His powerful brother Baladevaji and between Them, His sister Subhadra, and who bestows the opportunity to serve Him upon all the demigods -- may that Sri Jagannatha-deva be the object of my vision.

Who is an ocean of mercy, whose bodily complexion is as beautiful as a row of blackish rainclouds, who sports with Laksmi-devi and Sarasvati, whose face is like a spotless fully-blossomed lotus, who is worshipped by the foremost demigods, and whose transcendental glories have been sung in the topmost scriptures -- may that Sri Jagannatha-deva be the object of my vision.

When Jagannatha's Ratha-yatra cart is moving along the road, at every step assemblies of brahmanas sing His praises. Upon hearing them, Jagannatha, being an ocean of mercy and the true friend of all the worlds, becomes favourably disposed towards them -- may that Sri Jagannatha-deva be the object of my vision.

Who is the crown-jewel of transcendence, whose eyes are like the petals of a fully-opened blue lotus, who resides at Nilachala, whose feet are placed on the head of Sesa, who is blissfully immersed in bhakti-rasa, and who derives happiness from embracing the rasa-laden body of Srimati Radhika -- may that Sri Jagannatha-deva be the object of my vision.

I do not pray to Jagannatha for a kingdom, nor for gold, jewels, wealth, or even for a beautiful wife as desired by all men. My only prayer is that Sri Jagannatha-deva, whose splendid glories are always sung by Shiva, be the constant object of my vision.

O master of the demigods! Quickly deliver me from this worthless worldly existence. O Lord of the Yadus! Purge me of my limitless host of sins. Aho! You have promised to bestow Your feet upon the fallen and shelterless -- O Jagannatha Swami, please be the object of my vision.

One who carefully recites this sacred Jagannathastakam, upon becoming sinless and purehearted, will attain entrance into Vishnuloka.    

Women education - learning today for a better tomorrow!

Women play so many different roles during her life. A woman’s life is thought to be a celebration of contributions she makes in every aspect of life: at home, on the job, in their communities, as mothers, wives, sisters, daughters, learners, workers, citizens and leaders. Whether it is while playing with their children in the park, or washing clothes in a river, or taking a break at the office water cooler, everywhere they come together and talk about their aspirations and concerns and time and again, the talk turns to children and families. However different they may be, there is far more that unites them than divides them across the globe. They share a common future. It is integral to find common ground so that they may help bring new dignity and respect to women all over the world - and in doing so, bring new strength and stability to families as well. It would be an understatement to say that this common ground includes the men in their lives too. A woman's struggle is not so much her own or just for the female community, it is a humanistic struggle. It is for the betterment and development of mankind on the whole on earth.
It still is a debatable issue whether the lives of women and girls matter to economic and political progress around the globe. What we need to focus around the world is that if women are healthy, educated and free from violence their families will flourish. If women have a chance to work and earn as full and equal partners in society, their families will flourish. And when families flourish, communities and nations will flourish. That is why every woman, every man, every child, every family, and every nation on our planet has a stake in the struggle for gender equality. Women are the primary caretakers for most of the world's children and elderly. Yet much of the work we do is not valued. Those of us who know how to read and write should be able to voice their opinion and lead the way for the ones who cannot.
Women education has definitely helped women to be more informative and more understanding. It has shown its effects both in the backward classes as well as modern ladies. Women education has brought about a vast change in the whole society and in the whole world. They are more independent now, they look at life in a totally different way, and they have learned to analyze things in the right manner and take their own decisions and execute them. Whatever they say and feel have weight in them and are considered by anyone and everyone. Women education has brought out the importance and the knowledge they hold in them .The outlook has changed not only in the higher society but also in the lower and underprivileged society. Issues such as dowry, sati, and discrimination though not completely extinct have taken a back seat in society. Women have learnt to protect themselves and live a life with their heads up. Their opinions are voiced better now and heard.
Whether a male or a female, black or white, education changes everyone’s life and their status, the more you know the more you gain. The more you learn the more you value yourself the more you are valued by other people. Education boosts up the self esteem in every person, and that’s what it is doing to every educated women. Certainly it has brought about a great change for the better of women folks. It has freed them from the bondage of men .The outlook and career prospects that education has given them is the kind of economic independence that is necessary for them to breathe a fresh air into their lives. Men can no longer use them for their selfish needs and mistreat them. Educated women no longer have to depend on others to help them in things, they don’t have to extend their arm and beg for money to fulfill their needs or the needs of the family.
Young women entering today’s workforce have much more opportunities than previous generations. Not only are more women working but as a matter of fact they occupy more senior high paying jobs than even before due to the improvement in their education. They have moved from typing tools and school rooms all the way to the competitive corporate world where the fittest of all survives. Today’s educated women are ready to accept all kind of challenges in their path. Whether in the corporate world or society or the political world they seem to be very strong in every field. Even poor people and backward people of the society are looking forward to the idea of education in order to give them a moral boost so that they can earn themselves a living the right way .
But as it is said where there is gain there is pain. Despite the education and career for women, they continue to bear the brunt of domestic chores. Still in some parts of the world women are being mistreated. In some places they are not being allowed education. Still women are considered second citizen. Women education and women can bring about a vast change in the society, country and the world for good if given the right opportunity. We as human beings should protect the sole interests of every woman. Education is a must for every woman!

What's the solution to dowry?

Dowry, as a practice has pervaded our system and it strikes at the roots of equality that we extol or boast about. This is an instance of a high degree of hypocrisy and double speech on the part of Indian society. The virtues of a girl are reduced to nothing and her abilities do not matter. If the father can pay hefty dowry, she would be regarded to have all the virtues of the world and if that cannot be garnered, the virtues are unwanted characteristics or may be vices. Dowry now is so much a part of the system that one not taking dowry is seen as a fool and one not giving as a miser who does not want the welfare of his daughter. Something that everyone realizes and acknowledges is bad but something that everyone indulges in. We have been trying to think on this problem from various angles. Educating the masses or society won’t help as social pressure is too much on people. Moreover, how can one stop a father from giving gifts to his daughter? The line that divides dowry and those gifts is thin and one that certainly can evade the law enforcing agencies. Then what is the way out? I believe law has its own limitations, there are issues which are beyond its reach and dowry certainly is one of these.
Can love marriages be a solution to this problem? I think they might be. It would first be pertinent to look at how arranged marriages operate or happen in our country. Invariably, the girl’s father goes to meet the prospective groom or the boy. Before that the photographs are exchanged. The boy would see the photograph of the girl. Height of the girl – 5’3”, color – fair, age - 23 years. And then the boy looks at her educational background. Now what is most striking about this description? Are you going to buy a goat or a cow? How does the height and color matter in a long term relationship? How can you spend your life with some one you do not know? The argument is that this is how it has been happening for so many years and moreover, the arranged marriages in India have been quite successful, i.e., long lasting. But the long lasting Indian marriages are not the true testimony of happiness as much as they are of tolerance, ignorance, patience and stamina of the Indian women. It is just a compromise of life. Besides the attributes of the girl, there are other considerations that are more important and are invariably the decisive factors. What is the father doing? What are the siblings doing? It seems that one is in a big showroom to buy a DVD player. What a travesty of the individual and what a great irony!
There cannot be anything more inimical to the interests of the women. In this entire where do they stand? Invariably they stand as a silent spectator, much like the cow. I am not saying that parents do not take all steps to ensure a good life for their children. But then who are they to decide what is good for a 23 year old girl. If she cannot decide what is good for her, she would probably never understand and learn to make a choice. How can leave the most important decision of one’s life to others? Isn’t this a folly?
Let us have a look from the boy’s perspective. India promotes compliance and produces spineless males. What can be a better manifestation of the above line than the fact that they are willing to spend their lives with someone they do not know. Is it not like playing a gamble? For us a boy who refuses to listen to his parents is disobedient, callous and disrespectful. After all, our parents bring us up, take care of us and so they do have certain expectations. But then is it not a restriction or in fact a strangulation of his freedom, his life and his choices? Civil and political freedom has been guaranteed by the Constitution but where is personal freedom? Is it not insecurity of the parents that they think of themselves to be in a better position to decide for their son not letting loose the grip they have on him? And what does the Indian male do? He obeys his parents because he does not want to displease them. But is this not a spineless act? Does this not show his helplessness, his predisposition to please everyone revealing that he does not have the power to confront, to stick to his decision against all odds? In fact, in India marriage is not something where an individual has to exercise his right to chose. The choice of the partner is left to the families and the rest is left for them to ponder about. So, the most germane decision is not yours. I simply do not understand this.
We talk of Hindu Muslim unity. We know inter caste and inter religious understanding is must for our country. But then are we really promoting it? It has both individual and societal level implications to it. Firstly, at societal level, these castes and religious groups would remain water tight compartments with little mobility. Just imagine a Hindu getting married to a Muslim. In a second, it can lead to riots and clashes and society, especially the middle class, looks at it as a crime, as something blasphemous. In my opinion, it would be turning a new leaf for communal harmony if more inter caste and inter religious marriages are encouraged. We have so much to gain and nothing to lose. What we need is an initiative. Young men who have a spine, who can stick to their decisions against all odds! But these changes would take time; to change the mindset of society is like shifting a graveyard, even the dead stand up and bleed status quo. But the youth of this country would not budge and we all are expecting a bright future not only for the women but for this country.

Elimination of female foetus

“In India, we have inherited the cultural legacy of having strong son-preference among all communities, religious groups and citizens of varied socio-economic backgrounds. Patriotically, patri-lineage and patriarchal attitudes manifest in women and girls having subordinate position in the family, discrimination in property rights and low paid or unpaid jobs. Women's work is limited to household duties. At the time of marriage, dowry is given by the bride's family to the groom's for shouldering 'the burden of the bride'. In many communities as custom female babies are killed immediately after birth either by the mother or by elderly women of the family to relieve themselves from the life of humiliation, rejection and suffering."
Social discrimination against women results in systematic neglect of women's health, from womb to tomb. Female infanticide and female feticide are widely practices in many States. The overall sex-ratio, at present, is favorable women in Kerala. But in Kerala also, in the 0-6 age group, the sex ratio was 963 as per 2001 census. Out of total 36.5 lakh 0-6 age group POPULATION 18'6 lakhs were male babies and 17.9 lakhs female babies. Thus, 79760 female babies and infants were missing in 2001 in Kerala. This masculisation of sex ratio is as result of female fetuses after the use of ultrasound techniques of sex determination.
The reason of female infanticide can be linked with the evil of dowry, hyper gamy, prevailing in our society. A more degrading and disparaging feature of the society has seen existing for the last two decades is the immense love for male child and elimination of female fetus. With invention of new technologies to monitor the 'Fetal' health, it was expected to be used for taking care of health of the unborn child, but became terminator of female fetus. Are female fetus being deliberately eliminated or aborted, is the question? To a great extent, yes! is the answer.
Are the technologies (ultrasonography, amniocentesis, chorian villi biopsy, foetoscopy, material serum analysis etc.) assisting in elimination? Again the answer is yes; yes, to a great extent.
Biologically, girls are stronger and with all thrust on the well being of the girl child, 1981 trends should have at least continued, but in the past 20 years the ratio has dropped considerably.
While there can be no moral or ethical justification for feticide still, it continues to be practiced. In fact sex determination which was mainly restricted to metros only now, is prevalent in villages as well. If sex determination tests are allowed to proliferate, and the elimination female fetuses allowed, the society should be ready to pay for this sin, after around two decades.
The greatest supporters of a child (whether male or female) are the natural parents. If a girl has a father who loves her and grants all her fundamentals right that girl is inviolable. Fathers often provide material comforts but deny daughters to choose their life partners.
For a daughter there can be no greater misery than to know that her father does not support her. If she was an unwanted child, the despair is compounded. To go through life and realize that she was thrust on her unwilling parents, it is a fate much worse than death. What can be more disgracing than the feeling of nothing more than a contraceptive failure?
Some months back, Delhi University Students and teachers came out of their classrooms to support the amendment to the Pre-Natal Diagnostic (PNDT) Bill which was tabled in Parliament, recommending more stringent measures against doctors who selectively abort female fetuses. The decline in ratio in urban areas is more than twice that in the rural areas. It is true that women should have the right to abort their unwanted fetus, but if the technology is being used only to eliminate the female fetus, then it should be questionable.
The root cause for elimination of female fetus is to be traced unless the evil of forced marriages, dowry, and illiteracy among the females are done away with the lives of women will not improve. Banning prenatal sex determination might add a feather in the caps of rights activists; it will not materially improve the lives of women. A social awakening for true respect to the girls is required; a lot of honest hard work with full political 'will' in this field can only solve the problem.

Marriage without dowry

Dowry is one of the worst diseases in India. In spite of various measures to contain it, it has been rising unabated. It has already taken a heavy toll of life and property. It has embittered relations between many a family. Every day we read about one or two deaths or sacrifices at the altar of this demon. It means the parents of a girl of marriageable age should offer in cash or kind some thing. Sometimes it is hard cash, running into many thousands or sometimes costly things of home like TV, a fridge that is demanded.
The dowry system in India is a long standing evil. Even today we read in the newspapers heart-breaking stories of young girls committing suicide or being murdered because their parents have not been able to give big dowries. New marriage is where the hearts of the two young loving individuals are formally united. Its holiness should never be destroyed by greedy of money or any other form of material wealth. The position of a woman in society should always be held in high esteem. Her position and welfare as a bride in an Indian family should be a matter of great concern and importance. We should not think of considering to be brought in marriage market.
This shocking problem cannot, however, be solved by laws only. Without public co-operation laws cannot help much. One of the main reasons of the dowry system is the dependence of women on men for their livelihood and upkeep. It is therefore, absolutely necessary to make women economically independent by spreading education widely among them. It is seen that there is no demand for dowry for educated girls especially for those in service. The second way to vanish this evil is to encourage inter-caste marriages. This will solve the demand and supply position in communities where there is lesser number of marriageable boys than girls.
Finally, it is for the youth in general and students in particular, to start a vigorous campaign against this social evil. The youth should take a vow not to give or take dowries in their marriages. Parents of marriageable boys and girls should also be induced, rather pressed, not to take or give dowries during the marriages of their sons and daughters