All posts tagged Book review

Damn Good Advice (Post No.3813)

written by S NAGARAJAN

Date:13 April 2017

Time uploaded in London:- 6-14 am

Post No.3813

Pictures are taken from different sources; thanks.

contact: swami_48@yahoo.com

Damn Good Advice

Santhanam Nagarajan

The book under review titled ‘Damn Good Advice’ written by the Ad Guru George Lois has been written based on his experience and hence worth reading.

It is a well-known fact that Lois is a Supernova, the original Mr Big Idea. Since 1950’s he has had a titanic influence on world culture.

He has 120 valuable tips to lead a creative and successful life.

Lois was born in New York in 1931.He is an advertising legend and the creator of Big Idea advertising.

Lois first wants the leader to identify himself choosing the type to which he belongs to.

There are only four types of persons.

Very bright, Industrious (You are perfect)
Very bright, lazy (A damn shame)
Stupid, lazy (You are a wash)
Stupid, industrious (You are dangerous)

He cautions us, ‘If you are number 1 or a 2, you will get a lot out of this book. If your are a number 3 or 4, you need not read this book.’

Very true.

All the tools in the world are meaningless without an essential idea. Hence always go for a big idea. Whatever you want to communicate to the world it should be communicated in a nanosecond. He quotes Lincoln who did not have time to contemplate, correct and edit his letter wrote a very long letter to his friend and express his apology citing the above reasons!

Energy begets energy. Playing War games may help you. Sports and the intense intellectualism of the game of chess help drive and sustain the creative ethos. Lois quotes Thomas Huxley. “The chessboard is the world, the pieces are the phenomena of the universe, the rules of the game are what we call the laws of Nature.”

Age is not a barrier. Charles Darwin was 50 when he wrote On The Origin of Species.

At 52, Ray Kroc started MacDonald.

A.C.Bhakthivedanta Swami Prabhupada founded the Hare Krishna movement when he was 69, with $7 to his name.

A little courage is needed. A great deal of talent is lost to the world for want of a little courage. The Webster dictionary zeroes in on the meaning of the word “courage”, marked by bold resolution in withstanding the dangerous, alarming or difficult .. a firmness of spirit that faces danger or extreme difficulty without flinching or retreating.

And in his 120^th advice he recalls the sufferings of Nelson Mandela. While incarcerated at Robben Island and Pollsmoor prisons for 27 years, recited Invictus, the iconic poem written in 1875 by the English poet William Ernest Henley to his fellow prisoners, empowering all with its message of self mastery. The last four lines of the poem is worth remembering ever:

It matters not how strait the gate,

How charged with punishments the scroll,

I am the mater of my fate.

I am the captain of my soul.

The book is not only for the persons in advertisement field but for all.

We may choose the tips applicable to us and customize some of the other tips.

To lead a creative life we need exclusive tips to suit the modern world.

This book will certainly help.

Note: Published in www.ezinearticles.com on 12017. Santhanam Nagarajan is an expert Platinum author in ezinearticles.com

Book Review: A Journey towards the Infinite Absolute… (Post No.3752)

Written by S NAGARAJAN

Date: 24 March 2017

Time uploaded in London:- 6-12 am

Post No.3752

Pictures are taken from different sources; thanks.

contact: swami_48@yahoo.com

புத்தக மதிப்புரை : எல்லையற்ற பரிபூரணத்தை நோக்கி ..

Book Review

A Journey towards the Infinite Absolute…

Santhanam Nagarajan

The book under review titled,’A Journey towards the Infinite Absolute’ is written in Tamil language by a retired professor of mathematics, Mr M.Subbiah Doss.

Many mathematics professors, scholars have tried successfully in describing and measuring God with their mathematical stick.

We have Swami Ramathirtha who was a great advadic scholar as well as a mathematics professor.

In his eight volumes ‘In the Woods of God Realization’ we have beautiful mathematical analogies explaining God.

The great genius Ramanujan declared that ”An equation for me has no meaning unless it represents a thought of God”.

The present work is also trying to measure the immeasurable things.

The book has three parts with eighteen chapters. Six chapters explain the various principles of spirituality with the help of simple mathematical principles.

Mandukya Upanishad explains the three dimensional world and four dimensional world

The ancient sages have discovered everything with their intuition. Even though the physical heart is on the left side of the body the spiritual heart is in the right side of the body.

When the author emphasize this point we remind ourselves about the saying of Bhagawan Ramana Maharishi, the sage of Arunachala, who also emphasized this point with his own experience.

The fourth dimension is always a curious subject. The great author J.W.Dunne (1875-1949) has explained it in his world famous book, ’An Experiment with Time’.

The author explains three dimensional world and four dimensional world with many simple sketches.

Man is determined by his karma which in turn is due to his own thoughts. The next birth is determined by his own thoughts of previous birth, this birth and the balance one brings from previous karmas.

The ancient sages by their inner vision have seen the hexagonal symbol in the northern pole of the planet Saturn and arranged to carve it in the Saturn temples roof. Now the spacecraft Cassini sent by Nasa proves this by sending photos of Saturn.

After illustrating the above points the author narrates an incident from Sri Sathya SaiBaba’s divine life. Once a girl met Baba in the river Chitravathi at Puttaparthi, in Andhra Pradesh, India. Baba had taken a statue from the river. That was the statue which was worshipped by the girl’s grandfather. Including this statue everything is being saved as a thought form.

Living within the limits of Space and Time and Cause and Effect is one thing. In order to free from these things one has to choose the spiritual path.

To understand God, mathematics is a helpful tool.

All the above points are all very interesting. In 147 pages the author gives us a complete picture about the hitherto unexplained principles.

A fitting foreword has been given by R.Panneerselvam, a Scholar in his own rights.

Many quotes from Swami Vivekananda, Swami Yogananda, Swami Chitbavananda and Ramakrishna mutt sages makes the book interesting reading.

The book is neatly printed and I congratulate the author for his painstaking research.

புத்தக விவரம்:

எல்லையற்ற பரிபூரணத்தை நோக்கி ..

எம்.சுப்பையாதாஸ்

147 பக்கங்கள்

விலை ரூ 150/

கிடைக்குமிடம்:

THAASU PUBLICATIONS

14, II CROSS STREET, VISWANATHAPURAM

MADURAI 625014 TAMILNADU INDIA

PHONE 0452 2641945

EMAIL : subdoss2014@gmail.com

Summary

The book under review titled,’A Journey towards the Infinite Absolute’ is written in Tamil language by a retired professor mathematics, Mr M.Subbiah Doss. To understand God, mathematics is a helpful tool. Many mathematics professors, scholars have tried successfully in describing and measuring God with their mathematical stick. The author explains three dimensional world and four dimensional world with many simple sketches. Many quotes from Swami Vivekananda,Swami Yogananda, Swami Chitbavananda and Ramakrishna mutt sages makes the book interesting reading.

Keyword

Mathematics is a tool to explain the absolute, three dimension and four dimensional wonders, explained

Nagarajan has written more than 3000 articles in Tamil in 18 magazines and published 52 books. He is revealing Eastern Secret Wisdom through T.V. Programmes, magazine articles, seminars, courses. He has covered various subjects in his wide range of articles which include Mantras, Yantras, Yoga, Meditation, Astrology, Astronomy, Space Science, Science and Spirituality, Hollywood cinema, Women’s progress, Aura, Significance of Colors, Reincarnation, Divine Geometry, Power of Prayer etc. As an ardent seeker of Truth, he has collected scientific experiments on mantras, mind, Auto suggestion etc. He has written many articles on para psychology also. His email id is snagarajans@gmail.com

Book Review: Brindavan Express by Mr V.Desikan (Post No. 3481)

74231-sundal

Written by S NAGARAJAN

Date: 25December 2016

Time uploaded in London:- 6-17 am

Post No.3481

Pictures are taken from different sources; thanks.

contact; swami_48@yahoo.com

This article first published in www.ezinearticles.com under expert author : santhanam Nagarajan

Brindavan Express by Mr V.Desikan

Santhanam Nagarajan

The book under review Brindavan Express written by Mr V Desikan is a fantastic book.

Mr Desikan belongs to Tamilnadu.

He has obtained his degree in electronics from the Madras Institure of Technology and joined in Defence Research and Development organization at Bangalore. He is the recipient of ‘Scientist of the Year (1983) DRDO award from the late Prime Minister of India Mrs Indira Gandhi

He has jotted down his thoughts systematically from time to time and like a sculptor creates his dream statue, has written down articles weaving his beautiful thoughts with a humorous touch.

The book has 73 articles under twelve captions namely My roots, Emotions, Life is a game, My living town – Bangalore, Food, Music and Novels, Future Tense, Language, Growing old, Science and Engineering, What is in a name and Mixture.

One of his friends Mr RV Rajan induced him to publish these article in a book form.

The articles were published in a leading English daily Deccan Herald. His style is lucid.

Each and every article kindles readers thought process. His conclusions are compelling and convincing.

As a scientist he dreams towards a better future where every thing is perfect. He points out that the future lies in Nano technology.

There are many quotations through out the book from great men like Rabindranath Tagore, Harry Emerson Fosdick, Shakespeare, G.K.Chesterton etc.

The book makes an interesting reading. He has

The book is neatly printed and can be obtained from leading book shops.

Some excerpts from the book:

f31bf-sundal2b2

About his Boss:

My boss Burman, a confirmed bachelor was in charge of system integration. He was a chain smoker.If he liked someone,he would call him an ‘idiot’ or ‘a fool’ – I was one of his favorite idiots!

On seeing his dream vehicle, the 40 feet long SANGAM:

I went towards my favorite SANGAM and stood there for a long time. I looked at her and gently whispered (what Brutus told Cassius):

‘Forever and forever farewell, my dear

If we do meet again, why, we shall smile.

If not, why then this parting was well made.’

About Sundal :

If there be Chat Centres, fast food outlets all over our cities, why can’t someone open a ‘Sundal Center’?

About KDK (Kumbakonam Degree (Coffee) Kaapi :

Thank you KDK

You bring me joy in the morning

You bring me joy in the morning;

About the requirement of a positive newspaper :

I have a real problem on hand. All my life I have enjoyed sipping my morning coffee, reading the morning newspaper. I have recently discontinued my habit as it is no more a pleasant experience. Now I need a ‘Positive Newspaper’ badly.

I have a dream:

My idea of Next-gen city is that it should be

Totally green and with Zero pollution

With efficient and complete public transportation

With minimum private vehicles

Total Connectivity – Airports, roads, sea (where applicable)

Full Safety

I congratulate Mr Desikan for releasing this wonderful book. I strongly recommend this book for the book lovers.

*********

2 Comments

by Tamil and Vedas on December 25, 2016 • Permalink

Posted in Culture

Tagged Book review, Brindavan Express, V.Desikan

Posted by Tamil and Vedas on December 25, 2016

https://tamilandvedas.com/2016/12/25/book-review-brindavan-express-by-mr-v-desikan-post-no-3481/

Voice of Senses

Compiled by S Nagarajan

Date: 1 October 2015

Post No: 2204

Time uploaded in London :– -9-18 am

(Thanks for the pictures)

Book Review By

Santhanam Nagarajan

Published in www.ezinearticles.com on September 29, 2015

Platinum Level Expert Author

Voice of Senses
Santhanam Nagarajan
The book under review titled, ‘Voice of senses’ is edited by Baidyanath Saraswati.
The entire book is devoted to a thorough understanding of the concept of senses. There are twenty articles in total in two parts.
The first part deals with philosophy and religion while the second part deals with Science and Society.
Eminent authors from various fields have written the articles and hence it is quite interesting to read and understand hitherto unknown facts.
The Five Elements or Five Processes is basic to Chinese tradition. Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water are the five elements.
Sitansu Ray has beautifully written about Tagore’s Congregational addresses on Seeing and Hearing
Seeing and hearing are consecutive themes of the great poet Rabindranath Tagore who delivered the congregational addressed on two consecutive days in Santiniketan. Vision leads us to realization. The silent music of celestial world is to be studied and our life music is to be synchronized with the magnanimous music of the ever-evolving universe.
Function of the Sense- Organs in the Snake- catching Technology is explained by Sanghamitra Pal.

In West Bengal, Saure Mal is one of the sub-castes of the caste Mal. The Sapure classify the snakes as poisonous and non-poisaonus. They believe that most of the snakes are harmless. They learn the art of snake-catching since childhood. It is very interesting to read about their knowledge and skill of snake-catching and charming.

Somushish Ghosh Dastidar and Manojit Denath analyse Plant Response to External Stimuli. A single stimulus such as hot needle can cause leaves to respond. It is possible for a plant to respond to the vibrations accompanying sounds. The plant ‘Mimosa Pudica’ also known as the ‘sensitive plant’ responds to the sound-induced vibration. In one archid plantation area every morning and evening the sound installed there plays devotional songs, ghazals, religious chants and instrumental music. The vibration in it helps in the growth of buds.
N.Sahay explains Human Senses and their purpose citing quotes from many Sanskrit works. One has to use these senses to ‘go upward’. The excellent path of true welfare is to be chosen and adopted by intelligent people.
These articles are of benefit to those who interested in learing about the different aspects of Indian religious and philosophical perceptions.
The Scientific back ground gives us more authentic information about the voice of senses.
Sense of touch, sense of taste, sense of smell, sense of sight, sense of hearing – all these five senses along with mind helps us to achieve empirical knowledge. One who uses these in the right way as stipulated by scriptures attains Shreya.
Mr Badiyanath Saraswati , an eminent anthropologist has spent about forty years in unraveling the relationship between traditional thought and modern science.
He is no more with us. But his collection of articles will definitely help the readers to know all about senses.
The Voice of senses is very sweet and I strongly recommend this book to all book lovers of Indology.
The book is neatly printed and published by D.K.Printword (P) ltd., New Delhi.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9182975

Achievements

Nagarajan has written more than 3000 articles in Tamil in 18 magazines and published 19 books. He is revealing Eastern Secret Wisdom through T.V. Programmes, magazine articles, seminars, courses. He has covered various subjects in his wide range of articles which include Mantras,Yantras, Yoga, Meditation, Astrology, Astronomy, Space Science, Science and Spirituality, Hollywood cinema, Womens’ progress, Aura, Significance of Colours, Reincarnation, Divine Geometry, Power of Prayer etc As an ardent seeker of Truth, he has collected scientific experiments on mantras, mind ,Auto suggestion etc He has written many articles on para psychology

So far 100,718 persons have read his ezine articles.

Three Books on a ‘Deity with a Thousand Names’: Vishnu Sahasranama

Compiled from London swaminathan

Post No 1806; Date 17^th April 2015

Uploaded in London at 15-24

The first book review is from my old paper cuttings file; before I destroy the paper cuttings, I want others to read it. Published on 9-11-99; probably in The Hindu

Sree Vishnu Sahasranama – A Treatise: Kalluri Suryanarayana;Sankhyayana Vidhya Parishad, H No.2-12-34, Annapurna Colony, Uppal, Hyderabad- 500039, Rs.153

The religious importance of Vishnu Sahasranama can be gauged from the nearly forty commentaries by saints and scholars for this most popular hymn; three of them have been rendered by the leaders of the three different systems of Hindu philosophy.

Of them Adi Shankara’s was the first and a version says how when he wanted to write his commentary on another Sahasranama, this work was placed before him.

His was based on Advaita, while the Dwaita approach was by Sri Satya Sandha Tirtha whereas the “Bhagavad Guna Darpana” was by Parasara Bhattar as per Vishishtadwaita school. The entire work, as contained in the Mahabharata, refers to the glory of Vishnu.

The treatise by the author, with Sanskrit text and English annotation, explains the significance of the 1000 names. Since the English meaning of this hymn is given in this work, many in this country and those living abroad, will welcome it. The author points out that the commentary of Sankara is like that of River Ganges, of Bhattar’s like Yamuna of the Madhwa saint’s as Saraswati. Every name is a mantra by itself, some with two and some ranging up to eight words. The hymn is an antidote for all ills.

The author mentions the benefits which will accrue by by reciting the various name of Vishnu. One gets immortal ecstasy by chanting the names. He connects twenty four Bhijaksharas of Gayatri mantra to the 24 names of Vishnu. In his commentary, Sankara has explained the glory of Visnu in Saguna and Nirguna forms, fit for meditation to attain the merger of Jeeva with the Paramatma.

The brief meaning of each name is simple as for instance for “Kshamaya”, the author says that for devotees who could not realise him earlier, Vishnu will confer liberation immediately when they start meditating on Him. The hymn can be chanted by everyone and for this, , no special ritual is prescribed. The book will quench the thirst of people who wish to achieve progress in the realm of spiritualism. The name of Koorattazhwan has been mis-spelt in the book giving an unsavoury meaning—DVV

Two More Books on Sahasranama

Thousand Ways to the Transcendental by Swami Chinmayananda

Central Chinmya Trust, Mumbai -400 072, 2009, Price Rs 115

“There is a deep connection between the name and the named. The name brings to our mind the image of the person thought of and the more one thinks, the more consistent the impressions. Eg. When I say flower, you immediately conceive a mental picture of the flower. This is the sole principle behind association.

“The 1000 names of Lord Vishn are meant to invoke a sense of bonding with the Lord, who’s the most intimate one, whether we recognise it or not. Yet how often and how deeply do we call out to him? The meanings of the names given out here will help in understanding the magnitude and depth of Godhood.

Vishnu Sahasranama was taught by Bhisma lying on a Bed of Arrows to Yudhisthira. It bought joy and solace to both. May t do the same to you as well”

“In the Thousand Names, 90 names have been repeated; and of them 74 are repeated twice, 14 are repeated thrice, and again two of them repeated four times.

“There are exactly 1031 single “Names” of Lord in the 1000 Name Chant (Sahasranama). The extra 31 names to be considered each as an adjective qualifying (vishesana) the immediately following noun”.

(This book contains how to use the names in Archana)

SRI VISHNU SAHASRANAMAM by Swami Tapasyananda, Sri Ramakrishna Math, 16 Ramakrishna Math Road, Mylapore, Madras – 600 004

From Introduction:

Vishnu Sahasranama is part of the Santi Parva of the Mahabharata. Tradition says that it was composed by Sanaka, one of the Kumaras (eternal living youths) and was transmitted to Bhisma who recied in the presence of Sri Krishna to the Pandava brothers when he was questioned by Yudhisthira “Who is the Being who is the Supreme Lord of all and by praising and worshipping whom man gains what is good and attains salvation?” The Thousand Names of Mahavishnu is the answer Bhisma gives to this enquiry. Besides its inherent quality, the importance of the Stotra is enhanced by the fact that no less than a personage than the great Sri Sankaracharya thought it worthwhile to write a commentary on it, expounding the meanings of the various names that find a place in it.

My comments: Read Vishnu Sahasranama every day and solve all your problems the easy way!

1 Comment

by Tamil and Vedas on April 17, 2015 • Permalink

Posted in Religion

Tagged Book review, Vishnu Sahasranama

Posted by Tamil and Vedas on April 17, 2015

https://tamilandvedas.com/2015/04/17/three-books-on-a-deity-with-a-thousand-names-vishnu-sahasranama/

PUN IN SANSKRIT LITERATURE

Picture of language tree

Written by S Nagarajan

Article no. 1721; dated 16 March 2015

Up loaded at 8-25 am London time

PUN IN SANSKRIT LITERATURE

By S.NAGARAJAN

The book under review titled Pun In Sanskrit Literature – A New Approach is a fantastic book.

All Sanskrit lovers and pun lovers should read this book without fail.

The book was first published by Mysore University, India in 1982. The author Gurupad K Hegde is a great scholar and has written this book after intense study of Sanskrit literature for many years.

The book has nine chapters.

The first chapter deals with the pun as alankara in Sanskrit literature.

The origin of pun starts with the first kavya (adi kavya) of the world written by the world’s first poet, sage Valmiki.

The origin of Ramayana is from a sloka of pun! The verse starts with ‘ma nisada’ is a curse on the hunter that he should never attain salvation for he killed the beautiful krauncha bird which was absorbed in love. And wonderfully, the verse also means that the great Lord Vishnu may attain a position for ever as he killed the demon Ravana and Vali.

The author describes in detail the root cause of the concept of fun, the nature of the words in pun and objects of the pun in the second chapter.

The author gives numerous examples to explain the figurative combinations in the great and beautiful language Sanskrit in chapter three.

Chapter four of the book deals with the role of pun in classical Sanskrit literature. The author indicates Shakespeare’s lines in Othello (III-2) The word ‘lies’ in the conversation of Desdemona and Clown is a witty use of pun to mean ‘lodging’ as well as telling a lie!

The great poets Sri Harsha, Bhavaputi, Asvaghosa, Bharavi, Magha, Dandin have used Slesha or pun in their works.

And it is to be noted that the only language which has kavyas where two or more stories are narrated throughout the full length of a poem is Sanskrit. Thus we have kavyas which describes Ramayana and Mahabharata in the same verse!

Needless to say that the author has dealt the Mahabharata kuta slokas which means the slokas with knots!

While the fifth chapter deals with functional pun and the sixth chapter deals with perceptional pun and the seventh with situational pun! The eighth chapter of the book deals with the impact of pun in iconography.

The author concludes in his concluding chapter that pun is everywhere starting from vedic literature to the modern literature which gives the experiences of day to day business of life.

Over three hundred selected verses are given as examples to understand the pun in Sanskrit literature.

On completing the book we are wonderstruck with the author’s deep reading as well as with the vastness of the wonderful t Sanskrit literature!

Index of subject and index of 300 verses will be useful to the readers.

Finally, we may pray that more such books should come to enlighten us!

*******************

2 Comments

by Tamil and Vedas on March 16, 2015 • Permalink

Posted in Sanskrit Literature

Tagged Book review, Pun, Sanskrit puns

Posted by Tamil and Vedas on March 16, 2015

https://tamilandvedas.com/2015/03/16/pun-in-sanskrit-literature/

Tamil and Vedas

All posts tagged Book review

Damn Good Advice (Post No.3813)

Book Review: A Journey towards the Infinite Absolute… (Post No.3752)

Book Review: Brindavan Express by Mr V.Desikan (Post No. 3481)

Voice of Senses

Santhanam Nagarajan

Platinum Level Expert Author

Achievements

Three Books on a ‘Deity with a Thousand Names’: Vishnu Sahasranama

PUN IN SANSKRIT LITERATURE

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