Gita Jayanthi – December 9th 2008

The Shukla Ekadashi prior to Vaikuntha Ekadashi was the day when Lord Krishna imparted the Bhagawad Gita to his greatest devotee Arjuna. This day is celebrated as Gita Jayanthi. It is also an important Ekadashi in many many parts of India, and of course to Madhwas.

On this day Lord Krishna spoke to Arjuna about the ultimate goal of human life in 700 verses in 18 Chapters.

The Bhagavad Gita is considered to be the greatest spiritual books the world has ever known. In a very clear and wonderful way Lord Krishna describes the science of self-realization and the exact process by which a human being can establish their eternal relationship with God.

I still remember singing the the first sloka in the Bhagavad Gita in my school:

dharmakshetre kurukshetre samaveda yuyutsavaha
mamaka pandavaschaiva kimakurvata sanjayaha

Ishtu Dina Ee Vaikunta

This is yet another great composition by Shri Kanakadasaru. My nieces sing this song so nicely, I will try to record the same and put it on youtube as early as possible. Until than, attached below is the lyrics for the same in Kannada and in PDF format.

• Ishtu Dina Ee Vaikunta

Healthy Red Dosa

There are several kinds of dosas, and several recipes for each one of them. I wanted to make a healthier version of Adai dosa, and came up with this one when I was doing the south beach diet in 2002. I have prepared this several times and it comes out perfect each and every time. And since this is the healthy version, I don’t feel gulity making them for my family. It is also filled with proteins. To top it all, it has ingredients which can be eaten by strict madhwas as well( no onion).

If you want to know why brown rice is more beneficial and healthier than white rice, read the following link:

• Brown Rice Health Benefits

Ingredients:

1. 2 cups brown rice
2. 1 cup channa dal or kadale bele
3. 1 cup urad dal or uddina bele
4. 1/2 cup moong dal or hesaru bele
5. 1 tsp methi seeds or menthya
6. 8 red chillies
7. salt to taste

Method:

• Soak rice, dals and methis seeds in water for around 5-6 hours.
• Next, grind all of them into a smooth paste. Also, add red chillies while grinding.
• Let the dosa batter ferment overnight.
• I usually keep the batter in the microwave and they ferment very well.
• Make dosas the next day.
• Since the dosa is spicy because of the red chillies, I usually don’t prepare any chatni.

P.S: I usually prepare dosa with brown rice, if you don’t want to or don’t have brown rice, you can use normal white rice also.

Sripathiyu Namage Sampadaveeyali

As requested by Shachi, attached below in pdf format is the lyrics for the song ” Sripathiyu Namage Sampadaveeyali “, composed by Shri Purandaradasaru.

• Sripathiyu Namage Sampadaveeyali

Enu Sukrutava Maadidalo Taa Yashodhe By Shri Vadirajaru

Shri Vadiraja Thirtharu is the second highest saint in the Madhwa hierarchy, being next only to Srimad Ananda Tirtha(Shri madhwacharya) himself.  Shri Vadiraja Thirtharu composed many devotional songs in Kannada. A few have already been posted on this blog.

Mr. Venkatesh Rao, who is a regular visitor to this blog sent me this wonderful composition of Shri Vadiraja Thirtharu saying how lucky mother Yashoda is to have loved and cared for Lord Krishna.

Attached is the pdf for this song in Kannada.

• Enu sukrutava by Shi Vadirajaru

What Regional Indian Languages Do You Know?

I have been receiving several comments on this blog from visitors asking me for lyrics in languages other than the ones posted here (English, Sanskrit and Kannada). I have replied to many comments saying I have no knowledge at all about other regional Indian languages like Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam. I do have Baraha Software installed, but since I do not know these languages, I am not in a position to translate or post the lyrics in any of these languages. I should also mention that if you have Windows machine, it is around less than 2 minutes to download, install and run Baraha.

So, if you have installed Baraha, and are willing to assist visitors in their quest for lyrics in these languages, let me know. I will send you the Baraha script, and you can translate the same, validate that it is indeed right and post me back the lyrics. I will post the lyrics in all these other languages.

I should mention that it is just two clicks once we have the lyrics written in Baraha software. As you can see in the comments section, this will help many visitors to learn and also recite the songs.

I am sure it will bring some good karma to us for helping interested devotees learn these songs.

Hoping to hear from at least  some of you.

Sri Hanuman Chalisa in kannada

So many of you had asked for the lyrics for Sri Hanuman Chalisa in Kannada. Shewtha, who visits this blog regularly, has taken the effort to translate the same in Kannada and also has provided the script for the same to be published here. Thanks, Shwetha.

So, here is the pdf for the same in Kannada.

• Sri Hanuman Chalisa in Kannada

Daily Tulasi Pooja Procedure

Even though I have been doing Tulasi Pooje, I wasn’t sure how to put the same in words. So, while browsing the books I had, I found this page which had the detailed procedure about how to do the same. So, I took an image of the same. So, for all those of you who would like to know how to do the Pooja, here is how to do the same in Kannada.

Here is a translation about how to do the Tulasi Pooja.

Ladies, married woman, unmarried woman after finishing their daily pooja within the house, should do the tulasi pooje everyday without fail.

Put Rangoli near the tulasi vrindavana or katte. Next, put water, haldi and kumkum while reciting

Shriya priye Shriyavase nityam Shridhara vallabhe |

Bhaktyadattam Mayaargyam hi Tulasi prathigruhatyam ||

Put flowers also and recite the following sloka as well

Yanmule sarva thirthani yanmadye sarva devatha |
yadagre sarva vedashcha Tulasi thvam namam mayham ||

Tulasi Shrisakhi Shubhe papaharini Punyade |

Namaste Naradanute Narayanamanahah Priye ||

Do namaskara to Shri Tulasi.

Tricolor Idli or Masale Idli

Masale Idli

Anytime I prepare Idli, there is always little amount of batter left which makes like around 5-6 idlis. And, this quantity isn’t sufficient for any one person. So, I use the leftover Idli batter to prepare masale idli. It is healthy, quick and very delicious.

The color is just amazing, the color of the carrots, the green peas bursting their green color, the yellow of the channa dal, just beautiful to even look at.

So, here comes the recipe for this tricolor idli.

Ingredients:

• 2 Cups Idli Batter
• 5 tsp channa dal soaked in water
• 3 carrots finely grated
• handful of peas
• 3 tsp fresh grated coconut
• 2 finely chopped green chillies (Optional)
• 5 sprigs coriander leaves finely chopped.

Method:

1. Soak the channa dal or kadale bele in water for almost an hour. Drain the water.
2. In a large bowl, Mix the Idli batter with the drained channa dal, and all ingredients listed above.
3. Add salt to taste also.
4. Some of my relatives add a pinch of baking soda also. It is again optional.
5. Grease Idli trays and pour the batter.
6. Steam the idlis for 8-10 minutes until done.
7. Serve with chutney, or sambar.
8. Very good for your lunch box as well.
9. Takes around 30 minutes to prepare.
10. makes 16 idlis.

I

Masale Idli Sambar