The spiritual journey of a Hindu

Aloe Vera - Lily of the desert

scientific name - Aloe Vera
English - Aloe Vera
Ayurveda- Ghrit Kumari
Tamil -  Sotru Kattraalai

Aloe Vera has long been a popular houseplant. Aloe Vera is a plant of many surprises. It is often called the 'miracle plant' or the 'natural healer'. It flourishes in warm and dry climates, and to many people it looks like a cactus with fleshy thorny leaves. In fact it is a member of the Lily family, staying moist where other plants wither and die by closing its pores to prevent moisture loss.

However, they make excellent house plants when they are given sufficient light. Potted Aloes benefit from spending the summer outdoors. Older specimens may even bloom, producing a tall stock covered with bright colored coral flowers. Aloe flower nectar is a favorite of hummingbirds!

Benefits

As balm for cut and burns

 Aloe vera has been used for centuries as a natural cure-all for human body until it is called as 'first aid  plant". Many people keep an aloe plant in their kitchen to help sooth burns, cuts and scrapes. If you burn yourself whilecooking, an immediate application of the inner gel of the Aloe leaf has relieved much of the pain and prevented blistering. It works as a wonderful soothing balm.  The aloe vera and juice contain restorative properties that can be beneficial for all types of thermal burns (injuries caused by temperature changes), including radiation burns and sunburn. Besides containing salicylic acid, which acts a soothing agent, the Aloe gel also has properties that help protect and heal the damaged skin.

Therefore, aloe vera can be use as action healing. Aloe has components that enhance wound healing through biosynthesis of collagen (protein) fiber in the wound area. It contains high levels of calcium, potassium, and zinc as well as vitamins C and E. These are good especially in wound healing.

It’s the action of removing dead skin, replacing it with new skin cells. It also allows the flow of blood through the veins and arteries, clearing them of small clots and lowers the risk of inflection.

Treat skin problems

Aloe vera juice and gel have proved helpful in treating many types of skin problems including insect bites, rashes, dry-chapped skin, abrasions, fever blisters, diaper rash, razor burns and fungal inflections. It also found to be quite effective to relieve itching from stings, bites and various 'stinging' plants, such as poison ivy. It is also good for the same problems, when they are encountered by your pets. When you need to use it medicinally, just remove a lower leaf from the plant, slice it open, and apply the gel on the affected area.

Beauty Products

Aloe vera being rich in Minerals, Amino acids, vitamins and fiber, aloe vera helps cell regeneration thereby boosting the immunity of the body. It is good for skin or cell regeneration.

We also can deactivate the aloin (yellow or brown liquid from the rind that will irritate the skin) by boiling it in water for 5 minutes. Then use the gel as a skincare treat or a hair gel.

The juice of the fleshy leaves is usually mixed with gogo by the Filipino women to prevent falling of the hair and to cure baldness. The juice from the leaves mixed with wine preserves the hair.

Internal Healing

Aloe Vera Juice is favored by those looking to maintain a healthy digestive system and a natural energy level with optimum health and nutrition. It can be  made by boiling pure aloe vera gel without the "rind" or so called, "whole leaf". It provides your body with 200 health promoting compounds, including 20 minerals, 18 amino acids and 12 vitamins.

Juice made from aloe vera gel good for:-

1.     Treating Digestive Problems

Three times daily take 1 to 2 Tablespoon of aloe juice/gel. This will act like a general tonic and mild regulator of the bowels.

2.     Immune Function and Support

It contains a hormone that accelerates growth of new cells, also eliminating the old ones. Aloe helps protect the skin’s immune system. Besides, aloe vera provides natural support for the immune system.

3.     Heal stomach gases 

4.     Energy boosting

 Aloe vera boosts the body energy.

5.   Asthma

 Boil Aloe Vera stems in a pot of water and breathe in the vapor.

6.   Treats Heart burn, Acidosis

7.   Liver and kidney detoxification

 Aloe Vera juice detoxify the organs of the residue waste material.

8.   Diabetes

 Aloe Vera stabilizes the body sugars.

9.   Treat intestinal worms and wounds

10.  Arthritis Treatments

We can dice up Aloe Vera leaves and place pieces in a jar of water, refrigerate. Then, we drink 4 tablespoons per day and top up water in the jar as consumed. The drink can be bitter but it does go away over time. Some may find relief right away; many don’t find relief until a couple months later. Make a fresh jar of leaves as needed.

Bilimbi/Irumban Puli

Scientific name : Averrhoa Bilimbi Linn.

English : Bilimbi/ Cucumber tree

Ayurvedha : Karmaranga/ Karmsaraka

Tamil : Irumban Puli/ Bilimbi

Bilimbi is a tropical plant. It is found throught Malaysia. Especially grown in vilages or housing areas. It grows in any type of soil and does not require intensive care. Bilimbi tree is a medium tall tree with lots of branches. Its leaf has two small strips leaflets and stacked neatly on both sides of the vein. This leaves easily fall from the stalk. Flowers of the tree are appear either on the tree trunk or on matured branches. It is red in color.

The tree Bilimbi fruits are often found in in a clusters. The fruits are available throughtout the year and it bears hundreds of fruits per year. The fruits are very crunchy when unripe. The tender fruits are bright-green in colour and turn  to yellowish-green, when they are ripe. Once ripen they fall on the ground. The outer skin is shiny, very thin and gentle, and the flesh will be greenish-white in color which will be very juicy and extremely sour.The fruit has a few flattened seeds which is brown in color.

            The fruit has a high concentration of oxalic acid. It is very useful for cleaning and bleaching especilly brasswares. Since brass is made of zinc and copper, its tarnishes easily. A non-coated brassware need a a good work to bring back its shine. A natural ingredient or cleaner at home like tamarind, lemon and rock salt will do the best. As far as I know, the the fully ripen bilimbi fruit  is one of the best natural cleaner for brassware. I use to clean my prayer vessels by squizing the fruit with rock salt on the prayer vessels and clean with water and dry it. And, the shine is back as newly bought. You may try it at home. No harm trying as the fruit can be a natural mosturaizer to your hands as well.

There are some other benefits of the fruit:-

Cosmatic

1. Facial Cleanser  

Pound some fresh and tender fruits. Mix it with the home-made body powder (bedak sejuk). Make it a mask, leave it for 10 minutes. Then rinse with warm water. You can feel the smootheness of the skin.

2. Eliminate acne

Grind or mash some fresh fruits. Add a little lemon juice. Apply on the infected acne. Wait a few minutes and rinse with running water. Do three times a day.

4. Ringworm

Pound a few pieces of fresh fruit and add a little white lime paste (Sunnnambu) and dab on infected skin. Let stand for 5 minutes and rinse off with water. Do it daily.

Health

1. Lowering blood pressure

Mash some fresh fruits. Drink the extraction mix with water for 2-3 times a day. 

2. Cough / phlegm

Pound few pieces of fresh fruit and the get the juice. Add 2 tablespoons of salt water and drink 2 times a day or boil some fresh fruits, leaves and flowers in equal quantities and drink the water 2 times daily or boiled some flowers with a little handful of pennywort (vallarai) juice (pounded and take juice), 2 red onion and 1 cinnamon stick. Filter the broth and mix it with honey before drinking. Drink it three times a day.

3. Toothache

Pound some flowers and paste it on the aching tooth or chew some fruit with salt.

4. dizziness

Pound some fruits to make a drinks or brew some leaves to make a drinks.

4. Diabetes

Drink the fruit juice (do not over-drink as fruit juices contain high oxalic content which can have side effects such as kidney disease of the urinary tract)

5. Hypertension

Boil some fresh fruits. Drinking the water after breakfast every morning.

6. Infant jaundice

Bath the baby with decoction of the leaves

7. joint pain
Make a fine paste with the leaves and  apply on the body. Wait for few minutes before taking a hot bath. Also good for the skin and get rid of ringworm.

8. High fever
Pound or crush the leaves with a little water. Place on a cloth. Place the cloth on his head. It helps to cool fevers.

9. Relieve itchiness

Make a paste with the fruits and apply on the body before bath. Good for the new mothers. It is used as soap as it has anti bacterial properties.

Food

1. As a syrup full of vitamin C

2. Replace vinegar or tamarind

Akka Mahadevi

The legendary saint Akka Mahadevi was born around 1130 A.D.  in Udutadi. Udutadi is a small village in Shimoga District, at present in Karnataka, India. 

She hailed from an orthodox Veera Saiva family. Her parents were Nirmalshetti and Sumathi. Both the parents were belongs to a literate community of the time. She was given proper education and brought up as an intellectual and pious maiden. In a early age she displayed a very strong inclination to religious matters. She became a great poet of the time who sang the glory of Lord Siva. 

She was married to king Kaushigan with some prenuptial agreements about her belief and practices . The king was a Jain (follower of Jainism). When time went on, her belief and practices were disrespected by the king. This caused a strong disagreement and conflict between them.  She rejected her family life and left the palace as a Digambari. Digamabari is a practice of nudity as an absolute pre-requisite in Jainism to the medicament's path and to attain moksha.

She covered her body with her tresses.  When Allama Prabu, a mystic-saint and a didactic poet asked her for the reason she is covering her body as she chose to be Digambari. She answered him that it is to prevent others to get distracted by her nudity. He respected her purity of the heart and started to call her as Akka (elder sister) Maha Devi.  

She was  praying to Lord Shiva (Chenna Mallikarjuna) with a Madhura Bhava. Madhura bhava is traditionally understood as a form of devotion where a person is absolutely make the Lord as her worldly and eternal soul mate. Akka Maha Devi declared herself as the bride of Lord Shiva and was singing the glory of Him. All her poems and songs (called as Vachanas) ends with Chenna Mallikarjuna. The poems are simple but with a higher order experiences. For example, this is one of her poems.

Lord, see my mind touches you
Yet doesn’t reach you;
My mind is troubled.
Like a toll-keeper at the city gates,
My mind is unhappy.
It cannot become empty
Forgetting duality.
Show me how you can become me,
O Chennamallikarjuna, jasmine-tender.

She became a wandering saint-poet. She was travelling to many places singing the glory of the Lord. Her life as was a great inspiration for women empowerment and enlightenment at that time. She also took part in many gatherings of the learned to discuss as well as debate about the philosophy of emancipation and enlightenment.  

At the end of a life, she was practicing tapas (spiritual exercise leading to moksha) in the thick forest cave at Kadali, Srisailam. The place was located near to her beloved Lord Chenna Mallikarjuna. She then had herself united with her Lord in 1166 AD.

Karpuravalli

Scientific name : Plectracthus Amboinicus
English : Indian borage / Indian mint / Cuban Oregano
Ayurveda : Patta Ajwain
Siddha : Omavalli
Tamil : Karpuravalli

It is used as a common herb in south Asian countries. It is a tender and fleshy perennial plant. It is planted as a home garden or potted plant. It is highly aromatic (camphor/karpuram aroma) with short, soft and hairy leaves. It can be planted just by stem cutting. It grows very fast with little water and sunlight.

Medicinal use 
treating cold, cough and fever in infants
improve digestion and stimulate appetite for small children
cure hiccough
cure malaria fever
treat sore throat and nasal congestion
relief stomach problems  such as flatulence, nausea and diarrhoea
antiseptic - treating infections, wounds, skin allergy, skin ulcer
prevent rheumatism
cure chronic asthma
promote liver health
treat epilepsy
combat colic pain
treat venomous insect bite
cure headache

Use as Food
dip the leaves in batter to make pakora or mix together to make bajji
flavoring meats
meat tenderizer
use as salad

How to use
1. leaves are crushed and the juice extracted (heated up for a while) will be mix with honey or sweetened water for infant and children
2. brew some leaves to make concoction
3. make tea using the leaves - add sugar (rock sugar) and drink
4. just chew some leaves together with some sweet stuffs
5. crush some leaves and patch it on wounds or insect bites

Mathematics in Yajur Veda

A sloka in Yajur Veda describes how mathematics was used since the time immemorial, even by a layman. 2nd sloka in Chapter seventeen of Yajur Veda is a sloka on prayers to increase the number of cattles. Cattles represent the wealth of a person in those days. Thus, the sloka was used to pray for  a person's success in worldly  life which will lead him to the higher level. Success in worldly life is important for a person to lead a proper karmik  and dharmik life for attaining moksha.

The sloka/prayers sound in such:-
"Our number of cattles ought increase from one to ten, ten to hundred, hundred to thousand, thousand to ten thousand, ten thousand to hundred thousand, hundred thousand to one million, one million to hundred millions, hundred millions to thousand millions, thousand millions to mahapadmam, mahapadmam to shank, shank to samudram, samudram to madyam, madyam to prarthk, prarthak to the higher number that lead me to a wealthy life here and hereafter. To guard the wealth, let it give me the strength and punya that equal to the bricks that guards the homa fire"

This shows that how the Hindu mathematics calculation (probably Yajur Veda was compiled 1400-1000 BCE) at ancient time is outnumber recent mathematics figures of millions, billions, trillions and zillions. 

Gurukulam

 

It is the earliest schooling tradition in Hinduism.   It is a non-profit organization. The venue of the school is the Guru or Master's residence or house. The guru allows the students to live together with him.  The Guru  shelter the students and dispel the the darkness of their ignorance with the torch of his knowledge.  The students to live together with him for the entire the time of their courses or education.

It is called as Guru-Sishya parampara (tradition). 

These Gurukuls (school), preserve and spirited the knowledge handed down to us by the Rishis. Till to this date these Gurukuls are the one keeping alive our Vedas, Upanishad, agamas, yogas and also other body of knowledges (vinyana).

In a Gurukul, the sishyas will live under the same roof, irrespective to their social or economic status. A king's son will stay together with a pauper's son. For example, Krishna was Gurukul at their Guru Santipani, together with Kushela (a poor boy). They will be treated equally by the Guru. He let them live together with him. He act as a parent or substitute as a parent, with all the normal forms of parental disciplines. 

He teaches them formal and informal education. The formal education will be the course he is adjoint for. It will be either learning of vedas and religious based knowledge or other skills such as yoga, astrology, medicine, alchemy, language, grammar, martial arts, weaponry,  music, agriculture etc. 

The basic principle of the system is learning by serving. The serve the Guru during the course as he lives in a remote area. The Guru acting as a  parent,  nurture them mentally, intellectually, emotionally, spiritually. The Guru observes the students' characters and temperaments each and everyday. Then, he imparts the knowledge accordingly. The students make the Guru as their role model. They will learn from him and also help him in doing the mundane things like washing, cleaning, gardening, herding the domestic animals, looking for firewoods and etc. The Guru with his flawless character, imbibe moral and ethical values for the students to lead a successful life.  

Till today there is a Gurukul in every part of India