Prayer With Incense

 

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“Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.”
(The Holy Bible – Psalms 141:2)

This picture was shot at Dasaswamedh ghat along the Ganges in Varanasi (Benaras) during the Ganga Aarti which is performed every evening by students from the Sanskrit University trained to become Hindu priests.

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Receiving From Life

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“The world is a mirror.
We receive from life not what we want but who we are.
There are reasons to our lives and painful times never last.
Trust that the winter of your sorrow will yield to the summer of your joy, just as the brilliant rays of the morning always follow the darkest part of the night”.
(from “Daily Inspiration” by Robin Sharma)

This morning at sunrise a priest was performing Ganga Aarti at Dasaswarmeth ghat along the holy waters of the Ganges in Varanasi (Benaras).

The Beginning

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“Getting up early is a gift you give to yourself.
Few discipline have the power to transform your life as does the habit of early rising.
There is something very special about the first few hours of the morning.
Time seems to slow down and a deep sense of peace fills the air.
Joining the Five o’Clock Club will allow you to start controlling your day rather than letting your day control you.
Winning the “Battle of the Bed” and putting “mind over mattress” by rising early will provide you with at least one quiet hour for yourself during the most crucial part of your day: the beginning.
If spent wisely, the rest of your day will unfold in a wonderful way”.
(From “Daily Inspiration” by Robin Sharma)

At Dasaswarneth ghat a priest is performing Ganga Aarti every morning along the holy waters of the Ganges in Varanasi (Benaras).
Since many years I was trying to take those pictures but always failed to come in time at this ghat, this season I managed to join the Five o’Clock Club…;)

Freedom

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“The moment I have realized God sitting in the temple of every human body, the moment I stand in reverence before every human being and see God in him – that moment I am free from bondage, everything that binds vanishes, and I am free”.
(Swami Vivekanada – Indian spiritual leader, 1863-1902)

This is one more picture shot at dawn at Dasaswarneth ghat where a priest is performing Ganga Aarti every day along the holy waters of the Ganges in Varanasi (Benaras).

Feeling Dawn

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“Faith is the bird that feels the light and sings when the dawn is still dark.”
(Rabindranath Tagore – Indian Poet, Playwright and Essayist, Won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913, 1861-1941)

One more picture shot at dawn at Dasaswarneth ghat where a priest is performing Ganga Aarti every day along the holy waters of the Ganges in Varanasi (Benaras).

Spiritual Fire

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“Just as a candle cannot burn without fire, men cannot live without a spiritual life.”
(Buddha – Hindu Prince Gautama Siddharta, 563-483 B.C.)

This is a seven headed snake lamp used for Ganga Aarti rituals, it is a symbol of Lord Shiva and signifies that the Lord’s perpetual laws of reason and justice preserve natural order in the universe.
The snake is believed to be the Vasuki Naga, a deadly cobra which shows that Shiva is independent of time and death.
It was shot at sunrise at Dasaswarneth ghat in Varanasi (Benaras).

Om Namah Shivaya

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“Namaḥ Śivāya is the most holy name of God Śiva, recorded at the very center of the Vedas and elaborated in the Śaiva Agamas.
Na is the Lord’s concealing grace, Ma is the world, Śi stands for Śiva, Va is His revealing grace, Ya is the soul.
The five elements, too, are embodied in this ancient formula for invocation.
Na is earth, Ma is water, Śi is fire, Vā is air, and Ya is ether, or Ākāśa.
Many are its meanings.

 

Namaḥ Śivaya has such power, the mere intonation of these syllables reaps its own reward in salvaging the soul from bondage of the treacherous instinctive mind and the steel bands of a perfected externalized intellect.
Namaḥ Śivāya quells the instinct, cuts through the steel bands and turns this intellect within and on itself, to face itself and see its ignorance.
Sages declare that mantra is life, that mantra is action, that mantra is love and that the repetition of mantra, japa, bursts forth wisdom from within.

 

The holy Natchintanai proclaims, “Namaḥ Śivāya is in truth both Āgama and Veda.
Namah Śivāya represents all mantras and tantras.
Namaḥ Śivaya is our souls, our bodies and possessions
Namaḥ Śivāya has become our sure protection.”
(The meaning of the Namaḥ Śivāya mantra explained by Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami)

 

This student from the Sanskrit University, trained to become a Hindu priest, was performing the daily Ganga Aarti at Dasaswamedh ghat in Varanasi (Benaras).
This religious ritual ceremony worships the elements and it is easy to make a link to any faith.

 

 

Strings of Tension

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“The world is all gates, all opportunities, strings of tension waiting to be struck.”
(Ralph Waldo Emerson – American Poet and Essayist, 1803-1882)

This is a close-up of the foot of a Sanskrit university student, trained to become a Hindu priest, while he was performing a religious ritual ceremony in order to worship the elements at Dasaswamedh ghat along the Ganges in Varanasi (Benaras).
At that time he was manipulating a heavy “Aarti lamp” making a tension on his foot while he had to twist his body in clockwise manner.
Marigold petals were spread all around the platform.

Dum Spiro, Spero

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“Dum spiro, spero (Latin), “While I breath, I hope””
(Latin Proverb)

This is a picture of a student from the Sanskrit University, trained to become a Hindu priest, performing the daily Ganga Aarti at Dasaswamedh ghat in Varanasi (Benaras).
This religious ritual ceremony worships the elements and it is easy to make a link to any faith.

“While I breath, I hope”…prayers for all of us…special prayers for Japan.

Light in Darkness

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“God be prais’d, that to believing souls, Gives light in darkness, comfort in despair”
(William Shakespeare – English Dramatist, Playwright and Poet, 1564-1616)

This is a picture of one of the students from the Sanskrit University performing the daily Ganga Aarti at Dasaswamedh ghat in Varanasi (Benaras).
After a few years they will become Hindu priests and they will be sent anywhere in the world.