तुलसी कौन थी?

 तुलसी(पौधा) पूर्व जन्म मे एक लड़की थी जिस का नाम वृंदा था, राक्षस कुल में उसका जन्म हुआ था बचपन से ही भगवान विष्णु की भक्त थी.बड़े ही प्रेम से भगवान की सेवा, पूजा किया करती थी.जब वह बड़ी हुई तो उनका विवाह राक्षस कुल में दानव राज जलंधर से हो गया। जलंधर समुद्र से उत्पन्न हुआ था.

वृंदा बड़ी ही पतिव्रता स्त्री थी सदा अपने पति की सेवा किया करती थी.

एक बार देवताओ और दानवों में युद्ध हुआ जब जलंधर युद्ध पर जाने लगे तो वृंदा ने कहा -

स्वामी आप युद्ध पर जा रहे है आप जब तक युद्ध में रहेगे में पूजा में बैठ कर आपकी जीत के लिये अनुष्ठान करुगी,और जब तक आप वापस नहीं आ जाते, मैं अपना संकल्प

नही छोडूगी। जलंधर तो युद्ध में चले गये,और वृंदा व्रत का संकल्प लेकर पूजा में बैठ गयी, उनके व्रत के प्रभाव से देवता भी जलंधर को ना जीत सके, सारे देवता जब हारने लगे तो विष्णु जी के पास गये।

सबने भगवान से प्रार्थना की तो भगवान कहने लगे कि – वृंदा मेरी परम भक्त है में उसके साथ छल नहीं कर सकता ।

फिर देवता बोले - भगवान दूसरा कोई उपाय भी तो नहीं है अब आप ही हमारी मदद कर सकते है।

भगवान ने जलंधर का ही रूप रखा और वृंदा के महल में पँहुच गये जैसे

ही वृंदा ने अपने पति को देखा, वे तुरंत पूजा मे से उठ गई और उनके चरणों को छू लिए,जैसे ही उनका संकल्प टूटा, युद्ध में देवताओ ने जलंधर को मार दिया और उसका सिर काट कर अलग कर दिया,उनका सिर वृंदा के महल में गिरा जब वृंदा ने देखा कि मेरे पति का सिर तो कटा पडा है तो फिर ये जो मेरे सामने खड़े है ये कौन है?

उन्होंने पूँछा - आप कौन हो जिसका स्पर्श मैने किया, तब भगवान अपने रूप में आ गये पर वे कुछ ना बोल सके,वृंदा सारी बात समझ गई, उन्होंने भगवान को श्राप दे दिया आप पत्थर के हो जाओ, और भगवान तुंरत पत्थर के हो गये।

सभी देवता हाहाकार करने लगे लक्ष्मी जी रोने लगे और प्रार्थना करने लगे यब वृंदा जी ने भगवान को वापस वैसा ही कर दिया और अपने पति का सिर लेकर वे

सती हो गयी।

उनकी राख से एक पौधा निकला तब

भगवान विष्णु जी ने कहा –आज से

इनका नाम तुलसी है, और मेरा एक रूप इस पत्थर के रूप में रहेगा जिसे शालिग्राम के नाम से तुलसी जी के साथ ही पूजा जायेगा और में

बिना तुलसी जी के भोग

स्वीकार नहीं करुगा। तब से तुलसी जी कि पूजा सभी करने लगे। और तुलसी जी का विवाह शालिग्राम जी के साथ कार्तिक मास में

किया जाता है.देव-उठावनी एकादशी के दिन इसे तुलसी विवाह के रूप में मनाया जाता है !

इस कथा को कम से कम दो लोगों को अवश्य सुनाए आप को पुण्य अवश्य मिलेगा। या चार ग्रुप मे प्रेषित करें।

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Diversity & Inclusion

In this rapidly changing corporate culture, diversity, equity and inclusivity are becoming the most sought-after values. While we all understand why diversity is required and its benefits to the company, statistics show that most of the companies do not have enough diversity. Diversity in the workplace results in new ideas, innovations, and better profitability.

 As per Boston Consulting, among Fortune 500 companies, only 24 are women. Same study indicates there are only three black and three gay and lesbian CEOs among 500 CEOs.

 Look around you, does your company appreciate and honor multiple cultural and religious practices? Does your company harbor bias or prejudices? Today most employees are looking for an inclusive and diverse workplace that benefits the company. An equal opportunity company is what all employees look for. But how do we achieve this? And, before changing the ideology on Diversity, Equity & Inclusion values in company, First let us ask ourselves, being a woman,  are women uniquely poised to excel at each role given to her?

 I don’t think women are so different from men that they are better or worse for the job in terms of traits or skill sets. I think we must look at people individually and see what he or she brings to the table in terms of assets. Women for the senior leadership role should have a right blend of personality traits, skills, and understanding of compliance regulations and concepts.

As we adapted to COVID-19 new normal and I reflect on the lessons learned, my biggest takeaway was the need to improve our planning. A global viral pandemic was an emerging threat that had been recognized for years. While we continue to manage the consequences of the pandemic, we must also find the discipline to start preparing for future threats. I’m challenging myself to improve our readiness for the next big disruption. By being ready for the next crisis, I mean being organizationally ready in every way: financially, operationally and culturally.

I recommend four critical behaviors to support our new, contemporary culture. We need to develop a deeper understanding and incorporate these behaviors into our work habits. These behaviors strengthen and improve the best part of our culture and ourselves. We are calling these behaviors as our Ways of Working forward:

• Learn and adapt
• Collaborate and share openly
• Honor commitments
• Respect and value others

By doing this an organization thinking about Diversity, Equity & Inclusion will be challenged and reformed significantly. Although I am proud of our culture and what I have achieved together so far in this journey, but there is more work we can do to drive greater long-term success for our organization. let’s practice our new Ways of Working in supporting Diversity, Equity & Inclusion values and hold each other accountable and transform our organization from “good to great.”

We must foster a culture where every voice is heard and there are no favorites. It is also crucial that there is no gender pay disparity and companies must be transparent about it to foster the employee's trust. People from different backgrounds and generations have very different perspectives. So, embrace these different thinking patterns and you will see new ideas and innovations. Diversity and inclusivity are not about checking some boxes but about creating a culture that inspires diversity and inclusivity.

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Bye Bye 2020 - Take away COVID-19 with you

As 2020 comes to an end and we look back, the year has thrown innumerable challenges, but we stood strong, amidst all odds. We continued to keep our focus on our commitments, day on day, through the year. Each one has demonstrated our core values in supporting each other, doing the right thing, while working from home for the most part of the year. I would like to take this opportunity to specially thank all the efforts put in ensuring disciplined execution by our health workers, support staff, Police force, Vegetable, Milk & Grocery Vendors, while our family steered through these challenging times.

For whole India health and safety remain the top priority and we continue to take all possible measures, as we navigate through this pandemic. Special thanks to all loved ones at home for their remarkable support during these difficult times. I really wish speedy recovery for those who got affected by this pandemic and we will continue to provide all possible support.

A BIG Thank You to Narendra Modi Government for his focus, innovation, dedication, and passion, to make this happen and help us sail through these unprecedented times under his wise leadership. I encourage you to make best use of this time and take a well-deserved time off, to recharge, and spend quality time with your loved ones.

With this note Let us ring in 2021 with lots of optimism for a new tomorrow. Cheers to everyone & have a prosperous new year. Wishing you and your family a very happy new year and the best of health and happiness!

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Can WFH really make better workplace?

Much hyped round of discussions going on WFH going to be New Normal and to be continued in 2021 has various aspects and let me put my two cents and views on this topic.

And Before coming to the point, I would like to stress upon Multi Tasking which is a myth as the switching of attention is a 4 step process that necessarily happens sequentially. And that's why we find ourselves saying - "Now where was I?' when interrupted in the middle of something. He says - A person who is interrupted takes 50% longer to accomplish a task and makes up to 50% more errors!

To me this is affecting many even more severely while working from home. Lack of a quiet and undistracted work area keeps robbing us of that focused attention we want to give to work and finish off tasks. Leaving us inefficient and forcing us to work longer hours.

Also, WFH is asking us to use home premises which is not originally meant to focus and concentrate like office setup as we are using spaces made for some other purpose of leisure and rest.

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Staying Happy is HARD!

In a recent Linkedin post by Alok Kejriwal, I came to know "Staying Happy is INCREDIBLY HARD! It's so EASY to feel low & miserable".

Do a quick check yourself. Think of the day & what % of your mind has been occupied by worries, stress, guilt, pressure, jealousy, incompleteness VS the % of the time you've felt delighted or just happy. It's a miserable feeling being unhappy, but that's how we feel most of the time (save weekends).

Genetically, I think we are WIRED to worry. Imagine if we were sharing a Cave & stepped out without worrying. We would most probably get eaten by a lion or bitten by a cobra. Over the years, 'what will happen' has manifested as a core thought. Even though we may NEVER get eaten or bitten, we have imbibed the wonderful habit of worrying.

These are hacks that work wonderfully to LIFT your mind from low to high:

- 98% of our worries never fructify. But we spend 98% of our time worrying about them. Think through this.

- Reflect on your journey so far. Are you better off today vs 1 year or 5 years? If YES, rejoice. That's REAL tangible progress.

- When you envy someone, also envy their struggle & hardships (NOT known to you). If exposed, your envy may turn to pity!

- WORK hard on staying happy. Like fitness, its a HABIT you will need to cultivate.

So true..

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All about Krishna

 1) Krishna was born 5252 years  ago 

2) Date of Birth : 18 th July,3228 B.C

3) Month : Shravan

4) Day :  Ashtami

5) Nakshatra : Rohini

6) Day : Wednesday

7) Time : 00:00 A.M.

8) Shri Krishna lived 125 years, 08 months & 07 days.

9) Date of Death : 18th February 3102BC.

10) When Krishna was 89 years old ; the mega war (Kurukshetra) war took place. 

11) He died 36 years after the Kurukshetra war.

12) Kurukshetra War was started on Mrigashira Shukla Ekadashi,BC 3139. i.e "8th December 3139BC" and ended on "25th December, 3139BC".  

12) There was a Solar eclipse between "3p.m to 5p.m on 21st December, 3139BC" ; cause of Jayadrath's death.

13) Bhishma died on 2nd February,(First Ekadasi of the Uttarayana), in 3138 B.C.

14) Krishna  is worshipped as:

(a)Krishna Kanhaiyya : Mathura

(b) Jagannath:- In Odisha

(c) Vithoba:- In Maharashtra

(d) Srinath:  In Rajasthan

(e) Dwarakadheesh: In Gujarat

(f) Ranchhod: In Gujarat

(g) Krishna : Udipi, Karnataka

15) Bilological Father: Vasudeva

16) Biological Mother: Devaki

17) Adopted Father:- Nanda

18) Adopted Mother: Yashoda

19 Elder Brother: Balaram

20) Sister: Subhadra

21) Birth Place: Mathura

22) Wives: Rukmini, Satyabhama, Jambavati, Kalindi, Mitravinda, Nagnajiti, Bhadra, Lakshmana

23) Krishna is reported to have Killed only 4 people in his life time. 

(i) Chanoora ; the Wrestler

(ii) Kamsa ; his maternal uncle

(iii) & (iv) Shishupaala and Dantavakra ; his cousins. 

24) Life was not fair to him at all. His mother was from Ugra clan, and Father from Yadava clan, inter-racial marriage. 

25) He was born dark skinned. He was not named at all throughout his life. The whole village of Gokul started calling him the black one ; Kanha. He was ridiculed and teased for being black, short and adopted too. His childhood was wrought with life threatening situations.

26) 'Drought' and "threat of wild wolves" made them shift from 'Gokul' to 'Vrindavan' at the age 9.

27) He stayed in Vrindavan till 14~16 years. He killed his own uncle at the age of  14~16 years at Mathura.He then released  his biological mother and father. 

28) He never returned to Vrindavan ever again.

29) He had to migrate to Dwaraka from Mathura due to threat of a Sindhu King ;  Kala Yaavana.

30) He defeated 'Jarasandha' with the help of 'Vainatheya' Tribes on Gomantaka hill (now Goa).

31) He rebuilt Dwaraka. 

32) He then left to Sandipani's Ashram in Ujjain to start his schooling at age 16~18. 

33) He had to fight the pirates from Afrika and rescue his teachers son ;  Punardatta;  who was kidnapped near Prabhasa ; a sea port in Gujarat. 

34) After his education, he came to know about his cousins fate of Vanvas. He came to their rescue in ''Wax house'' and later his cousins got married to Draupadi. His role was immense in this saga. 

35) Then, he helped his cousins  establish Indraprastha and their Kingdom.

36) He saved Draupadi from embarrassment.

37) He stood by his cousins during their exile.

38) He stood by them and made them win the Kurushetra war.

39) He saw his cherished city, Dwaraka washed away. 

40) He was killed by a hunter (Jara by name) in nearby forest. 

41) He never did any miracles. His life was not a successful one. There was not a single moment when he was at peace throughout his life. At every turn, he had challenges and even more bigger challenges. 

42) He faced everything and everyone with a sense of responsibility and yet remained unattached.

43)  He is the only person, who knew the past and probably future ; yet he lived at that present moment always.

44) He and his life is truly an example for every human being.🌷🙏🏻

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Great Indian Vedic Inventions and Discoveries

 

The credit for almost all the great inventions and discoveries so far has always rested with the Western world. We have read about them in schoolbooks, heard about them on television or in movies and talked about it tirelessly. Sadly, it’s the knowledge and teaching of our ancient science that has taken a beating. Just because their achievements were well-documented, it doesn’t mean that they were the first ones to do that. Here are 10 facts, as found in our written and oral literature, about the supremely advanced ancient Indian science that you were never taught in school.

1) Sushruta Samhita, The Oldest Medical And Surgical Encyclopedia Known To Mankind

Written during the 6th century BC, the Sushruta Samhita contains 184 chapters with descriptions of 1,120 illnesses, 700 medicinal plants, 64 preparations from mineral sources and 57 preparations based on animal sources. Its author Sushruta is also considered to be the first ever human to perform medical surgeries on humans. The book also has vast details on embryology, human anatomy, along with instructions for venesection, the positioning of the patient for each vein, and the protection of vital structures (marma). The oldest documented evidence (9000 years) for the drilling of human teeth of a living person was found in Mehrgarh along with the evidences of orthopedic surgeries.

2) The First Ones To Acknowledge The Existence Of The Solar System

While history credits Copernicus for proposing the heliocentric model of our solar system, it was the Rig Veda that first noted the central placement of the sun and other planets orbiting it in the solar system.

Rig Veda 1.164.13

“Sun moves in its orbit which itself is moving. Earth and other bodies move around sun due to force of attraction, because sun is heavier than them.”

Rig Veda 1.35.9

“The sun moves in its own orbit but holding earth and other heavenly bodies in a manner that they do not collide with each other through force of attraction.”

3) Mahabharata Mentions The Concept Of Cloning, Test Tube Babies, And Surrogate Mothers

The fact that in the Mahabharata, Gandhari had 100 sons is pretty well known. But what’s unknown is the scientific explanation behind her giving birth to a 100 kids. Each ‘Kaurava’ was created by splitting the single embryo into 100 parts and growing each part in a separate kund (container). This is identical to the cloning process today. The birth of Karan, who was ‘born from the “characteristics adopted from men of her choice” also has striking resemblance to the present-day test tube baby concept.

4) ‘Hanuman Chalisa’ Precisely Calculates The Distance Between Earth And Sun

“Yug sahasra yojana par bhanu,

leelyo taahi madhura phal jaanu”

The above excerpt is from the Hanuman Chalisa and translates to: ‘[When] Hanuman travelled thousands of kilometers to swallow it thinking of it as a fruit’. The word-to-word translation of the same excerpt reveals the distance that Hanuman travelled.

1 Yuga = 12000 years. 1 Sahsra Yuga = 12000000 years. Also, 1 Yojan = 8 miles.

Hence, “Yug Sahsra Yojana”, the first 3 words mean 12000*12000000*8 = 96000000 miles or 153,600,000 kilometers. Interestingly, the actual distance from earth to sun is 152,000,000 kms. Bafflingly, there’s error of just around 1%.

5) Indian Vedas Figured Out Gravity Before The West Did

Yet again, way before Isaac Newton explained gravity, ancient Indian scholars had already figured out how it worked.

Rig Veda 10.22.14

“This earth is devoid of hands and legs, yet it moves ahead. All the objects over the earth also move with it. It moves around the sun.”

6) We Already Knew About The Speed Of Light

Sayana, a vedic scholar from the 14th century once said, "With deep respect, I bow to the sun, who travels 2,202 yojanas in half a nimesha." A yojana is 9 miles; a nimesha is 16/75 of a second. Therefore, 2,202 yojanas x 9 miles x 75/8 nimeshas = 185,794 miles per second or 2,99,000 kilometers per second. That’s astonishingly close to the real ‘scientifically-proven’ 3,00,000 kilometers per second figure. It’s often believed that his source was none other than the Vedas.

7) Vedas Explained The Science Behind The Rather ‘Feared’ Eclipses

While the world feared the eclipses and associated all types of paranormal occurrences with the phenomenon, Vedas already had a very proper and scientific explanation. The below excerpt is also proof that they knew that the moon wasn’t self illuminated.

Rig Veda 5.40.5

“O Sun! When you are blocked by the one whom you gifted your own light (moon), then earth gets scared by sudden darkness.”

8) They Knew The Exact Length Of A Year

Ancient Indians used 4 ways to measure the length of a year namely ‘Nakshatra’, ‘Savana’, ‘Lunar’ and ‘Saura’. Saura was one method based on the tropical zodiac that defines the seasons: equinoxes, solstices, year-halves, and months in relation to the (six) seasons. As unbelievable as it sounds, Saura estimates the length of a year to be exactly 365 days, 6 hours 12 mins and 30 seconds.

9) Aryabhatta’s Deduction Of The Value Of Pi

According to documented history, the irrationality of pi was proved in Europe only in 1761 by Lambert. The great Indian mathematician Aryabhata worked on the approximation of the value of pi ( ), and concluded that is irrational and its value is approximately 3.1416. He did this in 499 Common Era at the age of 23.

10) First Ones To Measure The Circumference Of Earth

Sadly, the Greeks enjoy the credit for this discovery while it was actually Aryabhata, who deduced a formulation proving that the Earth is rotating on an axis. Then, by estimating the value of pi to be 3.1416, he concluded that the circumference of Earth was approximately 39736 kilometers. The actual circumference of Earth, as deduced by scientists today, is 40,075 kilometers. How freaking cool is that!

 

 

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Vedic Science

 

The Vedic system comprised of the four Vedas (Rig Veda, Sama Veda, Yajur Veda and Atharva Veda), six Vedangas (ritualistic knowledge, metrics, exegetics, grammar, phonetics and astronomy), the Upanishads, Tarka Shastra (logic and reasoning), Puranas (history), and more.

 In the Vedic system, a child started his education at the age of five. To mark this commencement, the Vidyarambha ceremony, which included worshiping Goddess Saraswati and learning alphabets for the first time, was conducted. Leaving home and starting to live with a teacher required the child to conduct another ceremony called Upanayana. Boys practiced this ceremony at different ages according to their castes (only children of the Brahmin, Kshatriya and Vaishya did so).

 

Education for women was also quite important in ancient India. They were trained in housekeeping, as well as in dancing and music. Girls also had to conduct the Upanayana ceremony. Educated women were divided into two classes – Sadyodwahas, those who pursued their education just until they got married, and Brahmavadinis, those who never married and continued studying throughout their lives. Vedas and Vedangas were taught to women, too, but were limited to religious songs and poems necessary for rituals. Some notable Vedic and Upanishad women scholars were Apala, Indrani, Ghosha, Lopamudra, Gargi and Maitreyi.

Education in ancient India was quite different from the rest of the world back then. The society and state couldn’t interfere with the curriculum or the administration. To get an education, a child had to leave home and live with a teacher in a gurukul for the entire duration of his studies. No fee was charged for education; in fact, the teacher took care of everything, including food, clothing and housing. According to this system, physical labor was of utmost importance. So, even if a child was interested in acquiring philosophical knowledge, he would still have to do some manual work every day. Debates and discussions were a part of education, even in ancient days.

 

Early Indian scriptures like the Vedas, attempted to systematize ancient sciences, which are known as Vedic Sciences. The Vedic civilization is even believed to have been at a much higher level of development as compared to our current modern society. Vedic studies in many educational institutions in India aim to popularize Vedic knowledge by infusing this knowledge into modern methods of teaching, such as through seminars, lectures and projects.

 Studying from an institute that offers Vedic education allows a lot of scope for interdisciplinary learning. Students can choose from subjects that offer to learn from Vedic texts related to history, philosophy, religious studies, theology, anthropology, psychology, ethics, design, ecosystem, dance, film and yoga. Such programs enable their students to succeed in their area of work as they have an advantage of the knowledge imbibed from studying Vedic Sciences integrated with modern education and technology. Students, who have been a part of a Vedic education system, are more likely to experience a holistic development that takes them far in whatever career path they choose to embark on.

The place of Science and Technology in ancient India was at lower level before the spiritual knowledge involving miraculous powers exhibited by the sages. If a sage could create a building just by the power of his will, what will be the value of civil engineering before that? Today, we have lost that technology of spiritual powers and hence, the science and technology appear very big. The science and technology were like a small line drawn before the spiritual power standing as a big line. Today, the big line disappeared and the relatively smaller line becomes absolutely big.

Science and technology existed in ancient India to very high level in advanced state. Mathematics of Bhaskara, Astronomy of Arya Bhatta and Brahma Gupta, Geometry of Apasthamba, Bodhayana and Kaatyayana, Physics of Kanaada and Gowtama, chemistry of Rasaarnava, Aeronautics of Maya, Ayurveda of Charaka, Surgery of Sushruta, Economics of Chanakya, etc., were several advanced branches of science and technology. Brahmagupta establishes the theory that the earth is moving around its own axis and also around the Sun.

The usage of Brahmaastram in the Kurukshethra war was nothing but explosion of nuclear weapon as per the full details in the Mahabharatam and the studies of the soil of Kurukshethra war. The history of the science says that Zinc metal was first extracted in China since the metal sublimed and escaped the furnace during the earlier metallurgical operations in other countries and hence, could not be extracted from its ore. But, Rasaarnava says that the Zinc metal was extracted in ancient India by using a lid that covers the crucible so that the lower part of the lid collects the Zinc metal due to the condensation of the sublimed vapours on the lower part of the lid (Mukamushaagatam Dhmaatam – Rasaarnava). Hence, the Zinc metal was first extracted in ancient India and not in ancient China. The alloy of Zinc metal after mixing with Copper (Riti) was mentioned in the Valmiki Ramayanam (Ritih kanchanarajatih).

The theorems of geometry of Aapastamba etc., were of great surprise, which were followed in the construction of the Vedic altars to perform sacrifice using bricks (Shulba Sutraas). The altar of a square to be converted into a rectangle of the same area so that the diagonal of the square becomes the side of the rectangle is in one Sutra “Samachaturasram deergachaturasram Chikeershuh tadakshnyaa samparichchidya yathaa yogena yojeyet”. This means that you should cut the square via the diagonal and one half is made into two and these three pieces to be added. Sushruta describes several intricate eye operations. Rasaarnava describes thousands of chemical reactions.

We are benefitted by the applications of Science and Technology irrespective of its place of origin in the present time and to do research on the history of Science may not be of great importance. The argument that our ancient Indian scriptures were carried away to the foreign countries may help to restore the pride of our ancient India. This is purely from the point of history and not from the point of advancement in Science. But, a thorough study of these ancient scriptures may open the doors in some areas at least even for the advanced techniques, which may not be known even today. The metallurgy of Ashoka pillar in Delhi, which is made of cast iron, not corroding till today in spite of the extreme climate gives a practical hope for such research.

 

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Hinduism - A way to live life

Hinduism is the world’s oldest religion, according to many scholars, with roots and customs dating back more than 4,000 years

Today, with about 900 million followers, Hinduism is the third-largest religion behind Christianity and Islam. Roughly 95 percent of the world’s Hindus live in India. Because the religion has no specific founder, it’s difficult to trace its origins and history. 

Hinduism is unique in that it’s not a single religion but a compilation of many traditions and philosophies.

Hinduism embraces many religious ideas. For this reason, it’s sometimes referred to as a “way of life” or a “family of religions,” as opposed to a single, organized religion.

Hindus believe in the doctrines of samsara (the continuous cycle of life, death, and reincarnation) and karma (the universal law of cause and effect).

One of the key thoughts of Hinduism is “atman,” or the belief in soul. This philosophy holds that living creatures have a soul, and they’re all part of the supreme soul. The goal is to achieve “moksha,” or salvation, which ends the cycle of rebirths to become part of the absolute soul.

One fundamental principle of the religion is the idea that people’s actions and thoughts directly determine their current life and future lives.

Hindus strive to achieve dharma, which is a code of living that emphasizes good conduct and morality.

Hindus revere all living creatures and consider the cow a sacred animal.

Hinduism Holy Books

Hindus value many sacred writings as opposed to one holy book.

The primary sacred texts, known as the Vedas, were composed around 1500 B.C. This collection of verses and hymns was written in Sanskrit and contains revelations received by ancient saints and sages.

The Vedas are made up of:

• The Rig Veda
• The Samaveda
• Yajurveda
• Atharvaveda

Hindus believe that the Vedas transcend all time and don’t have a beginning or an end.

The Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, 18 Puranas, Ramayana and Mahabharata are also considered important texts in Hinduism.

Origins of Hinduism

Most scholars believe Hinduism started somewhere between 2300 B.C. and 1500 B.C. in the Indus Valley, near modern-day Pakistan. But many Hindus argue that their faith is timeless and has always existed.

Unlike other religions, Hinduism has no one founder but is instead a fusion of various beliefs.

Around 1500 B.C., the Indo-Aryan people migrated to the Indus Valley, and their language and culture blended with that of the indigenous people living in the region. There’s some debate over who influenced who more during this time.

The period when the Vedas were composed became known as the “Vedic Period” and lasted from about 1500 B.C. to 500 B.C. Rituals, such as sacrifices and chanting, were common in the Vedic Period.

The Epic, Puranic and Classic Periods took place between 500 B.C. and 500 A.D. Hindus began to emphasize the worship of deities, especially Vishnu, Shiva and Devi.

Hinduism Symbols

There are two primary symbols associated with Hinduism, the om and the swastika. The word swastika means "good fortune" or "being happy" in Sanskrit, and the symbol represents good luck. 

The om symbol is composed of three Sanskrit letters and represents three sounds (a, u and m), which when combined are considered a sacred sound. The om symbol is often found at family shrines and in Hindu temples.

                                

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Use Emotions to help yourself

Happiness can encourage you to get involved with others and take on new challenges.

Fear can help you prepare yourself and take precautions.

Sadness can help you to reflect on your priorities and find a way to cope.

Anger can help you stand up for yourself and protect your self-esteem.

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Written in 43 B.C. by Cicero of the Roman empire

Cicero of the Roman empire wrote this:

1. The poor - work & work.

2. The rich - exploit the poor.

3. The soldier - protects both.

4. The taxpayer - pays for all three. 

5. The banker - robs all four.

6. The lawyer - misleads all five.

7. The doctor - bills all six.

8. The goons - scare all of seven.

9. The Politician -, lives happily on account of all eight.

Written in 43 B.C.‼️

Valid even today

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What to look when you Hire?

Somebody once said that in looking for people to hire, you look for three qualities: integrity, intelligence, and energy. And if you don't have the first, the other two will kill you. You think about it; it's true. If you hire somebody without [integrity], you really want them to be dumb and lazy.

Integrity, intelligence, and energy = a great hire.

Putting all the pieces together, you have a great package deal. And while integrity may weigh heavier, the bar must be set equally high for each of the three traits. 

• Hire someone with high energy, high intelligence, but low integrity and you'll get a smart, fast-moving thief.
• Hire someone with high intelligence, high integrity, but low energy and you'll get a shopkeeper, not an engine of growth.
• Hire someone with high energy, high integrity, but low intelligence and you'll get a strong functionary, but not a great problem solver or visionary.

First of all, we're not negating the other two traits as deemed of lesser importance. You absolutely need intelligence in a knowledge economy. And energy is the fuel that propels passion and motivation.

But a lack of integrity? Like Warren Buffett asserts, it's a clear non-negotiable. When you hire someone with integrity, it's the central pillar that holds all three together or the structure collapses.

Integrity is what makes it hard to question a person's decisions. His or her actions are open for everyone to see and you can rest assured that he or she will use good judgment. 

In tight, collaborative spaces, colleagues of such hires will quickly see them as dependable and accountable for their actions, which is a laser path to developing team trust.

Hiring people with integrity also addresses the leadership void. A person who walks-the-walk of integrity eventually becomes a role model who commands respect and exercises great influence. These are the type of leaders people desire and whom you want to promote to management roles. 

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