Monday, the 9th May
2016 is the sacred day of Akshaya Tritiya.
“Akshaya” means “never diminishing”. In our tradition dana or gifting away is praised as the
means for spiritual progress. Of all gifts, gifting of food or annadana is said to be the best.
Therefore, at Sri Gnanananda Niketan annadana
is organized for the people of the nearby villages on that auspicious occasion.
It is done as Narayana seva or
service to God to help increase our wealth of spiritual values.
Sankara Jayanti will be celebrated this year on Wednesday, the 11th
May 2016. It was He who revived the Vedic
culture laying the foundation for Hindu religion as we see today.
As Buddism did not accept the
authority of Vedas, Sankara challenged it successfully and made it almost
disappear from its country of origin. Vedas teach the proper
methodology of super imposition and negation, thereby leading to the
realization of Brahman, the Ultimate Reality as the Substratum of all
phenomena.
With the advent of Sri Kumarila
Bhatta, Purva-mimasa, the ritualistic
portion of Vedas was revived. Adi Sankara gave proper direction and orientation
to it. He emphasized the importance of Upanishads which alone leads one to Self-realization
which is the goal of human life. He underlined the importance of the stages of Vanaprastha and Sannyasa. At the same time, he reminded them about the necessity of
ritualistic worship and meditative devotion or upasana as they help one to get Chitta
Suddhi, which would lead one to Bhakti
and Vairagya and then to Gnana.
He laid great emphasis on the
necessity to transcend the empirical stage of the distinction between the
Creator and creature and thus realize Brahman, the Impersonal Absolute, the One
without a second. Such a Gnani is doubtless the greatest bhakta, as he loves
God most as his own Self.
Adi Sankara put an end to the
wrong practices of certain cults by establishing Shanmata, worship of the six main forms of God as Ganesa, Siva, Vishnu, Surya, Divine Mother and Muruga.
Thus, he laid foundations of Hinduism as known today.
Thus, it is an important day for all
Hindus and especially for those who are in the path of Self-enquiry.
At Sri Gnanananda Niketan, it is
an important event of celebration. On that day, we worship Sri Adi
Sankaracharya and the celebration continues for a few days. On the morning of 12th
May, Krishna Yajur Veda Parayana (Samhita and Sakha) will be commenced. It will be concluded on 15th May. Five Vedic
pundits will participate in the parayana as in the previous years.
Aradhana of Paramapujya Sri Swami Vidyanananda Giri will be
celebrated on Sunday, 15th May 2016. Swami Vidyananda Giri was
blessed by Sadguru Gnanananda Himself as the Vedanta Acharya of the ashram and was the founding Chairman of Sri
Gnanananda Niketan Trust.
These events have become regular
celebrations at Niketan. We heartily invite you to attend these functions and
receive the grace of Sri Adi Sankara Bhagavadpadacharya and blessings of
Sadgurudeva.
