NARADA PURANAM

Brahma had four sons named Sanaka, Sanandana, Sanatkumar and Sanatana. All four of them became sages devoted to Vishnu. They were always on the search for wisdom and knowledge.
Brahma had a city on the peak of Mount Sumeru. The four brothers once went on a visit to that city. By the side of the city flowed one of the tributaries of the holy river Ganga. This tributary was named Sita. The brothers were bathing in the river Sita, when who should arrive there but the sage Narada himself.
Sanatkumara and his brothers greeted Narada and Narada reciprocated
Sanatkumara told Narada, "You are omniscient, you know everything. You are also a famous devotee of Vishnu. Tell us about the mysteries of Vishnu. Tell us about the methods whereby meditation becomes successful."
Narada prayed to Vishnu and started the recital.

Geography :
Prior to creation, there was the great godhead (mahavishnu) which was everywhere. When the time for creation drew near, the godhead expanded himself into three forms. Brahma was created from the right side of the godhead and Brahma’s appointed task was creation. Shiva was created from the centre of the godhead and his job was destruction. Vishnu was created from the left side of the godhead. Vishnu was assigned the task of preservation.
The female counterpart or principle of the godhead is referred to as Shakti. Shati divides herself into two, vidya (knowledge) and avidya (ignorance). Knowledge means an appreciation of the identity between the brahman and the universe. Ignorance is the absence of such an appreciation and it is ignorance that is responsible for the miseries of the world. Shakti herself is referred to by various names. When she is identified with Vishnu, she is known as Lakshmi; when associated with Shiva, she is called Uma or Parvati; and when in conjunction with Brahma, she is known as Sarasvati. But they are really one and the same, manifestations of the same force.
Brahma and Sarasvati are thus together responsible for creation (srishti), Vishnu and Lakshmi are responsible for preservation (sthiti), and Shiva and Parvati are responsible for destruction (laya). The unified Shakti is sometimes also called Mahamaya or Prakriti.
The universe is made of five elements (bhuta). Their names are kshiti (the earth) apa (the water). teja (the energy), marut (the wind) and vyoma (the sky).
The universe is divided into fourteen regions (bhuvanas or lokas). Seven of them form the upper regions and are known as bhuloka, bhuvarloka, svarloka, maharloka, janaloka and satyaloka. There ae seven more regions that constiute the lower regions or the underworld. Their names are atala, vitala, sutala,talatala, mahatala, rasatla and patala. The word patala is also used to signify all of the underworld as a region.
Each of the fourteen regions has its own inhabitants, mountains and rivers. The earth is bhuloka and the earth is split up into seven regions (dvipas). They are known as Jambudvipa, Plakshadvipa, Shalmaladvipa, Kushadvipa, Krounchadvipa, Shakadvipa and Pushkaradvipa. Bhuloka also has seven oceans named Lavana, Ikshu, Sura, Sarpih, Dadhi, Dughdha and Jala.
Bharatavarsha lies in Jambudvipa. It is that part of the land which is bounded by the Lavana ocean on the south and the Himalaya mountains on the north. Bharatavarsha is a wonderful place to live in, and even the gods desire to be born in this land. Bharatavarsha is known as karmabhumi. Karma means action. This land is therefore a place where actions have to be performed. Bhoga means to enjoy or savour, Bhogabhumi is a place where the fruits of one’s actions are pleasured or savoured. Bharatavarsha is not a bhogabhumi, it is merely a karmabhumi. The fruits of actions performed in Bharatavarsha are savoured elsewhere. Good deeds are rewarded in heaven (svarloka or svarga) and sins have to be paid for in hell(naraka).
To be born in Bharatavarsha means to be given the opportunity to perform good deeds. A person who does not avail of this opportunity is like a person who gives up a pot of amrita ( a heavenly life-giving drink) for a pot of poison. If one wishes to be rewarded in heaven, one should relentlessly pursue the path of good karma. But actions should not be performed with an eye to the fruits of such actions. One should disassociate oneself from the fruits, which vest only with Vishnu. This sort of detached action is known as niskama karma and it is superior to all other forms of action.

Pretty earrings

Wow! lets talk about jewellery. I love jewellery, any time any place any occation love wearing the pretty attractive creations of skilled artists. Because fashion jewellery was not allowed in our school, I never gave much thought about fashions or fads as a kid. But once we come out of the good disciplined schools, we would directly exposed to the running trends and gradually become part of the fashion. Same happened to me too. I love several brands and how they advertise their products to attract us. There is a great demand for jewellery designers these days as every one of us wants to try unique designer wear. Coming to gold jewellery, ofcourse our purse should be full as the gold rates are very bullish. I donot do much trading but never forget to keep an eye on markets. I asked my hubby to buy some gold since august but unfortunately instead of coming down the prices went up, so got satisfied with window shopping for now. Last week I was just watching some videos in youtube about how to cook dum aloo and suddenly came across the video about making jewellery like ear rings, necklace etc. So I just watched few of them and thought of why donot we give a try. Thats how I ended up with small jewellery making kit from walmart and started making ear rings for a beginner and I could not believe how nice the ear rings turned up. I like to attach a picture of them here in my blog. Coming to my regular life, joined gym and have to see how regularly I can exercise. Today is thursday and my daughter has dance class. I have to prepare for the class even though she is the one who is learning. Her teacher says that as my daughter is only 5 I need to concentrate on the class so that I could remind her the steps incase If she forgets. Then It came to me that may be she is too young for classical dance. We are also busy in planning my daughters birthday which is coming up this month end. Any how Happy thanks giving to everyone. Here are the earrings that I made.