Brief Description of the 18 charts of
SADHARMA
Picture of Vinayaka in the centre. Esoteric explanations of the four hands and the trunk. Explanation of Suklambadaram Slokam and the tradition of Dorbih-karanam. Quotation from Ganapati Upanishad and meaning. Significance of Siddhi and Buddhi.
2. Dhruva, the Lodestar.
Story of Dhruva. Picture of the Lord giving him Darshan. Dhruva’s praise (Stotra) from the Bhagavata. The first and tenth sloka. Concept of Immanence explained.
3. Milk of Divinity tasted by a three-year old.
Sambandar as a child prodigy. His Thodudaiya seviyan song and the story associated with it. Three songs from Sambandar Tevaram. A little history about the four Samayacharyas and their importance.
4. Creator Brahma’s Cosmic Today.
One day of Brahma is described with all the attendant subdivisions of Manvantara, Mahayuga and Yuga. Hindu concept of Eternal Time. Mythological chronology in this scale of time. Story about Balarama’s wife, Revati, born in the first Mahayuga of this Manvantara, her trip to Brahmaloka along with her father. They spend 20 minutes of Brahma’s time there and return to Earth in this 28th Mahayuga to marry Balarama. This is the mythological counterpart of the modern ‘Back to the Future’ science fiction.
5. Man versus Animal
There are thirteen vrittis (tendencies of the mind) of Man of which eleven are bad, one neutral and two good. Some of the bad ones go back to his animal life in his ancestry. He has to use his intelligence and resort to Sraddha (Faith) and Bhakti (Devotion and Dedication) to rise from his animal instincts and become a Man!. These eleven bad vrittis are at the foundation of all 25 evils of the world, sociological, political, economic and cultural.
6. Six faces of Divinity
This is about the six faced God Subrahmanya. Various esoteric explanations about the six faces. Mythological story about the origin of Shanmukha. A Sanskrit sloka by Kalidasa and the use of the six faces in a poetic puzzle. Philosophy of unity and multiplicity.
7. Science and Spirituality
The two facets of man’s quest for knowledge. The long procession, in the history of time, of people of great spiritual strength, who constitute the the towering proofs of spirituality and later, in historical times, the pillars of modern Hindu rewnaissance. A single sentence account of each one of them. A collage of pictures of several of them.
8. Rain of Gold
This is the story of Adi Sankara who as a boy composed this stotra in Sanskrit of Goddess Lakshmi and miraculously helped a poor lady who had the greatest compassion and spirit of generosity while she herself needed all the compassion that humanity can muster. Fourteen slokas from the text of the Kanaka Dhaara Stotra and its meaning.
9. The three fundamental urges of Man.
Sat, Chit and Ananda are the infinite expressions of the three urges: To exist, to know and to enjoy. Interpretation of the Gayatri’s three lines in terms of these three . Philosophical explanation of the process of daily sleep and waking up.
10. The Ten Commandments of Hinduism
The author’s book of the same name partitions the entire spectrum of the Hindu religion into ten facets, called Commandments. They together embrace the entire gamut of the religion and its philosophy and the consequent responsibility of a Hindu. The chart also talks about how a partial acceptance of these ten commandments also makes one a Hindu, though not a complete one.
11. Strategy for action
The Gitopadesa of the Lord for man to do all his actions in a detached and dedicated way is here tabulated in a flow-chart fashion. Man’s need to act, the type of his response to this need, andthe attitude of this response are the components of this flow chart. It is the attitude that finally settles the issue whether it is right or wrong.
12. Behold the six colossal witnesses.
Prahlada, Vibhishana, Gajendra, Draupadi, Ahalya and Dhruva are the six witnesses - and their stories are told in brief -- who vindicate the religion’s stand that it is the Lord that is the ultimate resort, whatever you may be looking for -- Affection, Refuge, Protection, Compassion, Absolution or Benefaction.
13. The Dance Divine
The Cosmic Dance of the Lord. The mythological story of the origin of the concept and the cult of Nataraja. The esoteric explanation of the dance. The picture of Nataraja in the centre.
14. Scriptures of Hinduism
The hierarchy of Sruti, Smriti, Itihasa, Purana, Agama and Darsana. The six systems of philosophy under Darsana. The story of the Ramayana and of the Mahabharata under Itihasa. What the Upanishads say.
15. One of 75 gems of Devotion
The twelve Alvars of Vaishnavism, the 63 Nayanmars of Saivism constitute the 75 gems of devotion. A brief account of these. The story of Appoodi Adigal along with pictures.
16. Sabhapati
The five Sabhas., Miraculous recovery of the Tevaram hymns. The history of the Chidambaram temple. Chidambara Rahasyam. Story of Nandanar.
17. Difference and Non-difference
What is the subtle difference among the three great Acharyas, Sankara, Ramanuja and Madhwa. A little philosophy, explained in simple terms.
18. Four character-types of all human minds The Varna system of Hinduism is actually applicable to the entire human species. It is the difference in attitudes which one brings along from previous actions that makes them into the four types. Slokas from the Gita which classify these attitudes into three qualities. The process by which this gives rise to 28 different types which are categorised into the four Varnas
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS, APPRECIATION & THANKS are due to the following in the production of these charts in these forms. Actually the history of these charts is one and a half decades long. :
1. Asank Machwe, New Age International Publishers, Delhi, who, in 1995, planted the idea, in my mind, of the chart form of exposition of Hindu ideals. He gave me the necessary infrastructural assistance and printed these charts -- though of course, the later owners of the publishing company were not interested in pursuing the publication;
2. Dr. Karan Singh on 14th May 1996, who released these 18 charts at a public function held in Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, New Delhi, on 14th May 1996;
3. R. Vishvanath, of Delhi, who spared me a complete new set of these charts which he had purchased, when I had run out of all my copies ;
4. Kapil Sekhar and Gomati who provided me with the necessary computer software in 2007-2008; and
5. Om Jadeja, of Bangalore who took pains in 2011-2012 to photograph these charts and enabled me to make digital copies .
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All the 18 charts are also available, thanks to my friend Suresh, on one page on the pinboard at
http://pinterest.com/nsureshn/hinduism-charts/
Copyright © V. Krishnamurthy 1st January 2012
