Hanuman lifts Mount Dronagiri

Shri Hanuman

The dead and wounded warriors of the Rama’s army were million. Indrajit - powerful rakshasa - had used the deadly weapon provided to him by Brahma. The outcome of the war seemed to be compromised for the army of the Prince of Ayodhya and seventh avatar of Vishnu.

Yet the day before fortune seemed to be propitious to Rama. With the help of the monkeys Sugriva and Hanuman, he had found the prison where the demon Ravana kept locked up his wife Sita.

Yes, absolutely, the powerful rakshasa Ravana – in love for the breathtaking beauty of Sita - had kidnapped the wife of Lord Rama and had taken into his kingdom of Lanka and Ramayana tells that just in Lanka there was one of the bloodiest wars the history of mankind.

In short, Rama was in serious trouble, his army was decimated and the war almost lost. What to do?

Jambavan, a wise man, spoke and said: "On the highest and most inaccessible peaks of the Himalayas, on Dronagiri, there are magical plants that restores life to the dead, healing the wounds, which invigorate the body and that strengthen the bones. Bring those plants and I will restore our military force. "

Who could go very quickly from Lanka to Himalayas, who was traveling throughout India and return with the miraculous medicinal herbs? Only Hanuman, the son of Vayu, the God of the wind. And so he did. With three steps (and after many adventures), the monkey god reached the heights of Dronagiri and here, not being able to find those herbs, picked up the entire mountain and with three steps, returned to the battlefield with his precious cargo. 

Some wounded soldiers were re-established only by scent of miraculous herbs, for others injured Jambavan prepared ointments, infusions and other medications. The wounded soldiers healed, the killed soldiers were raised, the battle could go on and Rama could free Sita.

The Ramayana tells us that Hanuman then put the mountain in its place, in fact, still looking at this impressive mountains of the Himalayas it seems that a part is missing. According to the inhabitants of the place it is just the piece that Hanuman took to Lanka to heal his companions.

Skanda or Karttikeya



Skanda or Karttikeya



Even on the birth of Skanda or Karttikeya there are many legends, this is the most famous.

The gods were concerned, the demon Taraka - formidable asura - warned them and only one child born of Shiva could save them. For this they were able to distract the God from the meditative state where he was submerged after the death of his wife Sati and convince him to join Parvati.
But a thousand years had gone by now. Shiva and Parvati were closed in their rooms on Mount Kailasa employed in their erotic games. Shiva in fact - Mahayogi - had full control of himself and was able to hold the seed for years and transform all of his own energy in erotic love, but unproductive.
Time passed, the gods were worried and went to the great God, led by Vishnu.
Shiva was obliged to interrupt intercourse with Parvati and the seed of God came out and fell down. Agni, theGod of fire, which was transformed into a dove, swallowed the seed. The fire burns and transforms all of the sacrifice.
When Parvati came to know what had happened, she cursed all the Gods "you will be miserable and suffer unspeakable pain," condemned to sterility their wives and cursed Agni for having indecently swallowed the sperm of her husband. The God of fire was sentenced, he destroyer of all things, to be worn by a fever unabated.
The Gods ingested the seeds of Shiva, in fact, all sacrifical foods were distributed to the Gods after they were purified by Agni, the fire. Even then they did so, but they feel like dying, they were unable to contain the power of the seed of Mahayogi, it was unbearable for them and they went back to Shiva to seek his help.
Shiva, The Auspicious One, helped them and all the Gods were able to eject the seed that fell on the ground and it became a beautiful mountain.
Agni also asked to be released from the unbearable pain that he had captured because of the curse of Parvati. Shiva agreed. So the seed of Shiva, who was still in Agni, moved into the wombs of six of the seven wives of the sages who had approached Agni, the fire, to warm up. The seventh wife, Arundhati,  stayed away.
The six wise men, when they discovered that their wives were pregnant, they left their and those, who were the six Krittika (Pleiades), desperate left the seed that was in their wombs in the Himalayas.
But even the great god of the mountain was not able to bear the seed of Shiva and made ​​him fall into the river Ganges. Even the goddess Ganga, the great Indian river, was not able to keep the product of the God, and threw it in a cane field on bank of river.
Arrived on the banks of the river, the seed turned into a beautiful and strong baby, at that very moment, without knowing why, on the peaks of the Himalayas Shiva and Parvati were filled with joy.
Skanda was born, 'son' - as Ganesh – of Shiva and Parvati.
He is the God of war and he is Mangala, the planet Mars.
Skanda is just interested in fighting, for this her has not married, his wife is only his army and he is also known as Senapati, Commander of the armies. His spear, Shakti Vel, never misses the target and back in the hand of the God once it has reached the target, so he is also called Shaktidhara, Bearer of the lance.
For his virginity is also known as Kumara, the young, the adolescent. In yoga 'Skanda' is the power of chastity, total control of himself, which is reached when, with the asceticism and chastity, the erotic energy is sublimated.

His vehicle, or Vahan, is the peacock Paravani and he will be the hero who will slay the demon Taraka.
Skanda, which means 'effusion' (of the seed) or that which spilled (the seed), is also known by the name of Karttikeya because he was brought up by six Krittika. For this he is depicted with six faces were born to God to enable him to drink milk from the breast of his six foster-mathers.

Therefore, he is also known as Shanmukha or Shadanan, One with six faces
He also has other names including Subrahmanya and Gangaji, born of the Ganges.
The important Skanda Purana is dedicated to him as the famous poem of Kalidasa, the Kumarasambhava, The Birth of Kumara.
Today, his worship is popular in South India where someone assimilates him to the ancient Dravidian God, Murugan.

Hinduism and Christianity

Puja

A friend asked me what is the difference in practice between Christianity and Hinduism. Beyond the rites, celebrations, beliefs, specifically what differentiates a Christian from a Hindu.
It is obviously a huge demand which I cannot give an answer, there are many aspects that make the two religions distant from each other and many even those that make them similar.
However I could not help but go back to read the wonderful "Pilgrimage to the sources " of Lanza del Vasto.
This is the diary of an ‘epic’ journey that Lanza del Vasto made ​​in India in 1936 to drink from the wellspring of all religions and all spirituality.
The Italian pilgrim meets an Hindu ascetic and stops a few days in his ashram at the foot of the Himalayas. By the time to go away he was invited to stay to meditate with shadu too, but he refuses.
"In me is Christian restlessness - he says - that, however imperfect, I prefer to perfect peace proposed by this wise man.
The good that I seek is not peace of the deep sleep but the ravings of the soul in love. I don’t think I have the right to seek salvation by myself and for myself. I must go thraough the good of others to get to my good and I believe that charity is worth more than wisdom.
For this I am going to Gandhi, to learn how to become a better Christian."