The great river banks at Varanasi, built high with eighteenth and nineteenth-century pavilions and palaces, temples and terraces, are lined with an endless chain of stone steps – the ghats – progressing along the whole of the waterfront, altering in appearance with the dramatic seasonal fluctuations of the river level. Each of the hundred ghats, big and small, is marked by a lingam, and occupies its own special place in the religious geography of the city. Some have crumbled over the years, others continue to thrive, with early-morning bathers, Brahmin priests offering puja, and people practicing meditation and yoga. Hindus puja, and people practicing meditation and yoga. Hindus regard the Ganges as amrita, the elixir of life, which brings purity to the living and salvation to the dead; sceptical outsiders tend to focus on all-persuasive and extreme lack of hygiene. Ashes to the dead, emissions from open drains and the left-overs from religious rites float by the devout as they go about their bathing and ceremonial cleansing.

BHAKTI YOGA teaches that the final end of all religions can be reached through love and worship of the personal God, who is the Creator and Governor of the phenomenal universe. It leads to the same destination as all the other branches of Yoga, but is especially suited for such as are emotional in their nature and have the feeling of love and devotion highly developed. It is for those devotees who, conscious of their own weakness arising from lack of self-control and of knowledge, seek help from outside; and who, taking refuge in the Supreme, pray to Him for forgiveness and for pardon of sins committed through ignorance of the moral and spiritual laws that govern our lives.

All dualistic systems of religion, like Christianity, Judaism, and Mahometanism, which advocate the worship of a personal God, knowingly or unknowingly preach Bhakti Yoga and direct their adherents along this path.

The word "Bhakti" means devotion, while Yoga in this case signifies union of the individual soul with God. Hence Bhakti Yoga is the method of devotion by which true communion of the soul with the Supreme Deity is accomplished. It shows what kind of devotion and love for God will bring the soul into the most intimate relation with the Divine Being; and how even the ordinary feelings of a human heart, when directed Godward, can become the means of attaining spiritual oneness with the Soul of the universe. Râja Yoga tells us that desire, passion, love, hatred, pride, anger, must be completely conquered before perfection can be reached. A student of Râja Yoga must not only keep constant watch over his mind, but he must also faithfully practice the eight steps already described, if he would achieve his highest ideal; while in Bhakti Yoga we learn that all desires and passions, whether good or bad, can be directed towards God. Then, instead of binding the soul to worldliness and earthly attachment, they become a means of attaining God-consciousness and absolute freedom from selfishness and wickedness.

A follower of Bhakti Yoga should feel God as closely related to his soul as he possibly can; and regard Him not only as the Lord of the universe, but as father, mother, brother, sister, friend, or child. Even the relation existing between husband and wife may be cultivated and developed in the heart of a lover of God, intoxicated by the soul-stirring wine of Divine Love. When the whole heart and soul of a Bhakta or lover of God flow like the unbroken current of a mighty river, surmounting all barriers and dashing headlong toward the ocean of Divinity, he finds no other attraction in the world, holds no other thought, cherishes no other desire, speaks no other word, and sees no other thing than his most Beloved, the Omnipresent Deity. He resigns himself entirely to Him and surrenders his will to the will of the Almighty One. He works, but without thinking of results. Every action of his body and mind is performed simply to please his Beloved One. His motive power is love alone and by this he breaks asunder the chain of selfishness, transcends the law of Karma, and becomes free. Thus a true Bhakti Yogi, being constantly in tune with the Infinite, loses the sense of "I," "Me," and "Mine," and makes room for "Thou," "Thee," and "Thine."

A Bhakta never forgets his relation to his Beloved. His mind is concentrated and one-pointed; consequently meditation becomes easy for him. True devotion or continuous remembrance of the Divine Ideal leads to unceasing meditation, and ultimately lifts the soul into Samâdhi, where it realizes God and communes with Him undisturbed by any other thought, feeling, idea, or sensation. Becoming dead to sense phenomena, it lives on the spiritual plane of God-consciousness. Wherever such a Yogi casts his eyes, he sees the presence of the All-pervading Divinity and enjoys unbounded peace and happiness at every moment of his life. It is for this reason that Bhakti Yoga is considered to be the easiest of all methods. What a Râja Yogi attains only after years of practice, a Bhakta accomplishes in a short time through extreme devotion and love. That which a Karma Yogi finds so difficult to achieve, a Bhakti Yogi attains easily by offering the fruits of all his works to the Almighty Source of all activity and the ultimate end of all motives.

Bhakti Yoga has two grades,--the first is called "Gauni," or preparatory and includes all the preliminary practices; the second is "Para," or the state of supreme love and devotion to God. A beginner in Bhakti Yoga should first of all prepare the ground of his heart by freeing it from attachment to earthly objects and sense-pleasures; then by arousing in it extreme longing to see God, to realize Divinity, to go to the Source of all knowledge, and to reach perfection and God-consciousness in this life. He must be absolutely earnest and sincere. He should seek the company of a true lover of God, whose life is pure and spotless, who has renounced all worldly connections, and who has realized the true relation which the individual soul bears to the Universal Spirit. If, by good fortune, he meets such a real Bhakta, he should receive from him the seed of Bhakti, plant it in the ground of his heart, and by faithfully following the instructions of the master, take special care to keep it alive and make it grow, until it becomes a large tree bearing the fruit of Divine Love. He should have respect, reverence, and love for his master, who will open his spiritual eye and transmit his own spiritual powers to his soul. When these powers begin to work, the soul will be awakened from the deep sleep of ignorance and self-delusion.

The Guru, or spiritual eye-opener, knowing the natural tendency of the disciple, will advise him to look upon God as his Master, or as his Father or Mother, and will thus establish a definite relation between his soul and God. Henceforth the disciple should learn to worship or pray to the Supreme through this particular relation. At this stage symbols, rituals, ceremonies may appeal to his mind; or he may repeat some name of the Lord that signifies the special aspect of the Divinity corresponding to the relation which he bears to Him. Constant repetition of such a name will help the mind of the neophyte to become concentrated upon the Divine Being. During this period he should avoid such company, such places, and such amusements as make him forget his chosen Ideal. He should live a chaste and pure life, always discriminating right from wrong and struggling to control his passions and desires by directing them Godward. He should be angry with himself for not realizing his ideal; he should hate his sinful nature because it keeps him away from the path of Bhakti and prevents him from remembering his Beloved. Thus he will gradually succeed in correcting his faults and in gaining control over his animal nature.

A traveller on the path of Bhakti should observe cleanliness of body and mind, should be truthful, and lead a simple life, without injuring any living creature mentally or physically. He should not kill any animal for his food, neither should he covet that which does not belong to him. He should, furthermore, obey the laws of health which tend to make him physically strong, as well as those moral laws the violation of which weakens the mind.

So long as the devotee thinks of God with a form and believes that He is outside of his soul and of the universe, he can make a mental picture of Him and worship the Divine Ideal through that form; or he may keep before him some symbolic figure like the cross which will remind him of his Ideal at the time of devotion. But a Bhakta should never mistake the imaginary form or the symbolic figure for the real Ideal. Wherever there is such a mistake there is to be found spiritual degeneration and the expression of ignorance in the form of sectarianism, bigotry, fanaticism.

Gradually, as the Bhakta approaches God, he will rise above such dualistic conceptions and realize that his Beloved is not only transcendent but immanent in nature, that nature is His body, that He dwells everywhere, that He is the Soul of our souls and the Life of our life, that He is the one stupendous Whole while we are but His parts. The Bhakta then reaches that state which is called qualified non-dualism. He sees that from the minutest insect up to man all living creatures are related to the Iswara 1 s a part is related to the whole. Therefore he cannot kill or injure any living being. Understanding that everything pertaining to any part belongs in reality to the whole, he says, "Whatever is mine is Thine"; and it is from this moment that absolute self-resignation and self-surrender to the will of the Iswara begin to reign supreme in the soul of the Yogi. Then he is able to say from the bottom of his heart, "Let Thy will be done," and never again can he forget that his soul is a part of the Iswara. His devotion henceforth consists in remembering this new relation, and his worship takes a new form. Whatever he does with mind or body becomes an act of worship of the Supreme Whole, for he realizes that he possesses no power that does not belong to God. Eating, drinking, walking, talking, and every other work of his daily life become acts of devotion, and the entire existence of such a Bhakta is a continuous series of acts of worship. Then the heart is purified and selfishness is dead.

The devotee thus rises to the second grade of Bhakti Yoga and begins to taste that Divine Love which is the fruit of the tree of Bhakti. Here all distinction between lover and Beloved disappears; the lover, the Beloved and Love all merge into one ocean of Divinity. The soul of the Bhakta is transformed, and manifesting omniscience, God-consciousness, perfect freedom, and all other Divine qualities, it attains to the highest ideal of Bhakti Yoga.

Also See

• Karma & Reincarnation
• Theory of Karma
• Multi Faceted Hinduism
• Sripada Ramanujacharya
• Spiritual Gardening

Astronomy: Panchanga

Panchanga–The Hindu Almanac

"Time creates the sky and the earth. Time creates that past and the future. By Time the sun burns, through Time all beings exist, in Time the eyes see. Time is the lord of all."

This verse from the Atharva-veda (19.54) expresses the importance of time in Hindu culture. In India time is conceived as an unending flow that moves in great cycles. The Matsya Purana speaks of the waters of time. (See: Heinrisch Zimmer, Myths ans Symbols in Indian Art and Civilization Bollingen Series, Princeton University Press, p. 27) Sometimes those waters move in a peaceful way, sometime they move in great and chaotic torrents. So it is with time. The movements of the sun and the moon, and the other celestial bodies are the indication of this flow of time. The Bhagavata Purana describes how the passage of the sun across the atoms on this earth creates the reckoning of time. The record of time is the pancanga wherein the movements of these celestial bodies are precisely recorded. No religious festival, family event, or even a civic affair is performed without first consulting the pancanga to know the favorable movement of this flow of time.

The Sanskrit word "pancanga" is made of two parts: panca and anga. Panca means five and anga means a limb or part. Thus the pancanga is a document made of five parts. These five parts are the tithi (lunar day), the vara (day of the week), the naksatra (lunar mansion), the yoga (luni-solar day) and the karana (half lunar day).

In order to understand these terms it is important to know how astronomers measure the sky. Just as a road map uses miles or kilometers to show distance between cities, so a celestial sky map uses degrees to show apparent distance between celestial objects. Keeping in mind that there are 360 degrees in a circle, it is easy to measure approximate degrees in the sky. Just raise your hand to the sky, and at arm's length, use your hand to measure the degrees in the sky. See the accompaning illustration that shows how the hand can be used to measure degrees in the sky.

At arm's length, for example, the width of the end of the little finger is almost one degree across. Check to see that the moon is about half a little finger in width and therefore can be estimated to be about a half a degree wide. This system is reasonably accurate for men, women and children, since people with smaller hands tend to have shorter arms. Astronomers have used this hand technique for thousands of years to make approximate measurements of the sky. To see how this system can be used to measure a common constellation see the illustration of the sapta-rsi (big dipper) and the star dhruva (polaris) to measure the degrees of separation.

As we begin to discuss the five elements of the Hindu almanac it is important to recognize the importance of the moon in Hindu culture. The basic calendar is primarily a lunar calendar. The lunar day, called a tithi, is all important in selecting a favorable time to begin a certain task. A person's name is often derived from the lunar position in the heavens called a naksatra. The reason for this is simple. In Hindu astrology the moon rules the mind.

Tithi (Lunar Phase)

The first element of the Hindu pancanga is the tithi or lunar phase. This is perhaps the single most important element of the pancanga. It is the building block for the lunar month. Simply stated a tithi is a measurement of 12 degrees of longitudinal separation between the sun and the moon. Another way to put it is to say that a tithi is the daily phase of the moon. For example, at new moon (amavasya) the sun and the moon are separated by zero degrees. We can say they overlap. As they begin to separate the first tithi begins when the sun and the moon have separated by 12 degrees. The moon is now a tiny almost imperceptable sliver. The second tithi begins when they are separated by 24 degrees. The sliver is slightly larger. The third tithi begins when they have separated by 36 degrees. The digit of the moon is new clearly visible. And so it goes until the sun and moon have separated by 180 degrees. This tithi is called full moon, purnima. These first 15 tithis or phases of the moon make up the waxing phases of the moon which in Sanskrit this is called the sukla-paksa. This is the bright side of the lunar month. After purnima, full moon, the tithi begins again counting from one as the longitudanal separation between the sun and the moon decreases back to zero. This is called the waning phase of the moon or in Sanskrit, the krsna-paksa or dark side of the lunar month. At certain times of the month when the sun and moon can both be seen in the sky at the same time you can estimate the tithi by using the hand method to measure the longitudinal separation between the sun and the moon.

The tithis are sequentially numbered from both the points of the new moon as well as the full moon. See the accompaning illustration. In this way, the sukla-paksa, begining with the new moon (amavasya), is followed by the first tithi, then the second tithi, the third tithi and so on up to the 14th tithi. There is no 15th tithi. Instead, this tithi is called full moon (purnima). After the full moon, the waning phase (krsna-paksa) again begins with the first tithi, the second tithi, the third tithi and so on up to the fourteenth tithi followed by the full moon. Afterwards the cycle repeats itself. In this way thirty tithis make up a lunar month, which is known as a masa. Some parts of India begin the month from the full moon whereas other parts begin the month from the new moon. Today, the lunar calendar is still in use throughout the world for Hindu religious purposes.

One of the greatest points of confusion between Hindu festival dates and the modern solar calendar is that the solar day begins at midnight whereas the lunar tithi can begin at anytime of the solar day. For practical purposes, however, the tithi that is current at sunrise is taken as the prevailing tithi for the day. This means that if a tithi begins just after sunrise and ends before the sunrise of the next day, it is eliminated.This is possible because the tithi can last between 19 to 26 hours due to the changing speed of the earth and moon in their obits. On average a tithi lasts for only 0.95 of a solar day. When this occurs a break in the numerical ordering of the days takes place. These factors cause a lot of confusion between the lunar Hindu calendar and the modern solar calendar.

From an astrological perspective the various tithis are considered either auspicious or inauspicious for different events. In general the sukla-paksa (bright side) is considered condusive to growth, increase and properity and would be selected for such occasions as weddings, moving into new homes or starting businesses, etc. The moon's krsna-paksa (dark side) is considered less favorable. In addition the 8th and 14th tithis, amavasya, as well as the 1st tithi of the sukla-paksa are generally considered inuaspicious. There are of course exceptions to this rule, the most notable of which are the various post funerary rites (sraddhas) that prefer the lunar dark phases. See the article "Hindu Funeral Rites and Ancestor Worship."

Vara (The Day of the Week)

The second element of the Hindu pancanga is the day, vara. In Sanskrit the days of the week are clearly named after seven major astrological influences:

Sunday, the sun, ravi-vara

Monday, the moon, soma-vara

Tuesday, Mars, mangala-vara

Wednesday, Mercury, budha-vara

Thursday, Jupiter, guru-vara

Friday, Venus sukra-vara

Saturday, Saturn, sani-vara

You can still see this astrological influence in the English names, Sunday, Monday and Saturday for the sun, the moon and Saturn respectively. If you examine the French and Spanish words for the days of the week you will see an even greater connection. Astrologically these days are named after these celestial bodies because the influence of that celestial body is said to be prominent on that day. For example, Tuesday, being ruled by Mars, the planet of war, would be a good date to enter into a battle, but not a good day to get married or move into a new home!

Naksatra (Lunar Mansion)

The third element of the pancanga is naksatra. The best way to understand naksatra is to observe the moon some evening. Notice the moon's position in relation to the background of stars. The next evening, at the same time and in the same location, again observe the moon's position in relation to the background of stars. You will see that it has moved consideralably. Use the raised hand technique to estimate how many degrees the moon has moved. The moon has moved somewhere between 10 and 15 degrees. In fact the moon has moved 13 degrees and 20 minutes. The region of the sky that has been displaced by the moon's eastward movement in one day is called a naksatra. In English this known as a lunar mansion. There are 27 such lunar mansions in the 360 degrees the moon travels in one lunar month ( 13.3 x 27 = ~360). In the Hindu Almanac each of these lunar mansions is named after a star or group of stars in each region of the sky.

The naksatra is very important in Hindu culture. At the time of birth a person's horoscope is made and one of the most important items to be known is the naksatra. Many elements of a person's character is thought to be determined by the naksatra. (Remember that the moon stands for the mind in Hindu astrology.) In many regions of India a person's name is based on the naksatra. Perhaps the first syllable of the name is derived from the naksatra. At the time of a puja or religious ceremony a priest will ask for the naksatra of the person performing the religious service so that it can be recited in the opening statement of the puja called a sankalpa. At the time of marriage considerations the naksatras of the both the bride and groom may be compared to check for pschological compatability.

The following is a list of the 27 naksatras along with their western astronomical designations. Note that in some cases it is difficult to determine exactly which western star name corresponds to the naksatras.

1. Asvini–alpha arietis (Hamal)

2. Bharani–41 arietis

3. Krttika–Pleiades

4. Rohini–alpha tauri (Aldebaran)

5. Mrgasirsa–lambda orionis (Bellatrix)

6. Ardra–alpha orionis (Betelgeuse)

7. Punarvasu–beta geminorum (Castor)

8. Pusya–delta canceri (area of M44 Beehive cluster)

9. Aslesa–alpha canceri (sometimes taken as the Hydra or Alphard)

10. Magha–alpha leonis (Regulus)

11. Purvaphalguni–delta leonis (lion's hind)

12. Uttara-phalguni–beta leonis (Denebola)

13. Hasta–gamma or delta corvi (Corvus)

14. Citra–alpha virginis (Spica)

15. Svati–alpha bootis (Arcturus)

16. Visakha–alpha libra

17. Anuradha–delta scorpionis

18. Jyestha–alpha scorpionis (Antares)

19. Mula–lambda scorpionis (near the globular cluster Shaula)

20. Purvasadha–delta sagittarii

21. Uttarasadha–sigma sagittarii (teapot)

22. Sravana–alpha aquilae (Altair)

23. Dhanistha–alpha delphini (Delphinis)

24. Satabhisa–lambda aqurii (Fomalhaut)

25. Purva-bhadrapada–alpha pegasi (Markab)

26. Uttara-bhadrapada–gamma pegasi

27. Revati–delta piscium

(To this group of 27 naksatras, one more naksatra known as abhit is sometimes added. Abhit includes the region of Vega in the constelation of Lyra. This is not on the path of the sun (solar eclipic) as are the other naksatras and so can be ignored.)

This system of 27 naksatra was the original Hindu way of dividing the 360 degrees of the solar ecliptic. The system of the twelve signs of the zodiac, in Sanskrit called rasi, was a later addition to Hindu astronomy.

Yoga (The Luni-solar Day)

The yoga (luni-solar day) is the period during which the combined longitudinal motion of the sun and moon amounts to 13 degrees and 20 minutes. Like the naksatras there are 27 yogas.

Karana (Half Tithi)

The final aspect of the pancanga is karana which is calculated to be 6 degrees of longitudinal separation between the sun and moon. In other words the karana is half a tihi. There are two karanas in each tithi. In total there are eleven karanas that rotate through the 30 tithis that make up the lunar month.

Both a karana and a yoga are similar to a tithi in the sense that they are all a measure of the relationship between the sun and moon. Recall that a tithi was 12 degrees of longitudinal separation between the sun and moon, the yoga is the combined longitudinal motion of the sun and the moon. Here the karana is half the tithi. In Hindu astrology the sun and the moon are both perceived to have a great effect on life, and their motions are precisely calculated. In addition to these five part of the traditional Hindu calendar the follow other elements may be added.

Masa (Month)

The Hindu year contains twelve lunar months named after the naksatra in which the moon is full:

Caitra (March - April) (citra-naksatra)

Vaisakha (April - May) (visakha-naksatra)

Jyaistha (May - June) (jyestha-naksatra)

Asadha (June - July) (purvasadha-naksatra)

Sravana (July - August) (sravana-naksatra)

Bhadrapada (August - September) (purva-bhadrapada-naksatra)

Asvina (September - October) (asvini-naksatra)

Karttika (October - November) (krttika-naksatra)

Margasirsa or Agrahayana (November - December) (mrgasirsa-naksatra)

Pausa (December - January) (pusya-naksatra)

Magha (January - February) (magha-naksatra) and

Phalguna (February - March) (phalguna-naksatra).

Different parts of India start the year during different months. In general the year begins either in the vernal month of Caitra or in the autumnal month of Karttika.

Rtu (Season)

Traditionally India has six seasons (rtu), each comprised of two months. The six seasons are:

Vasanta (spring, March to May)

Grisma (summer, May to July)

Varsa (rainy, July to September)

Sarad (autumn, September to November)

Hemanta (winter, November to January) and

Sisira (cool, January to March)

Another aspect of the lunar calendar is that its twelve months based on the lunar days (tithis) contain about 354 days. So just as every 4th year on the solar calendar must add an extra day to make up for the discrepancy in the earth's orbit around the sun, so every 30 months the lunar calendar must add an extra month. This leap-month (adika-masa) is generally inserted after the months of Asadha or Sravana and is called either a second Asadha or Sravana. Thus every second or third year contains 13 months. This of course contributes considerably to differences between the lunar and solar calendars. The consequences of these differences makes it hard to reconcile the dates from one calendar to the other without intricate calculations.

Hindu dates are usually given in the order: month, paksa and tithi, thus Caitra, sukla 7 means the seventh day from the new moon of the month of Caitra.