jun 17th
happy father's day to all. you guys should read this and weep.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/17/opinion/17legato.html?ex=1150689600&en=09e26751401d1686&ei=5087%0A
on a personal note, this year, father's day, june 18th, is the star-date of my own father's death. he died on the 21st of june, the longest day, summer solstice, according to the western calendar. the day uttarayanam ends; the last auspicious day of the year -- although of course, in the indian calendar there is an offset of 14 days (due to the precession of the axis).
you recall how bhishma chose to lie in state on the bed of arrows till the end of dakshinayanam, till the winter solstice, or in our calendar, makara sankranti.
speaking of the 'sara-sayya' there is an incredible panel about the kurukshetra war at angkor wat; there is a very clear representation of bhishma on the bed of arrows. i have a grainy photo somewhere.
1 comment:
"you recall how bhishma chose to lie in state on the bed of arrows till the end of dakshinayanam, till the winter solstice, or in our calendar, makara sankranti."
-- This is called "ichcha-maram",
dying at the time of one's choice.
A few advanced souls can
consciously choose when they will
depart from their body. They can
even announce the date in advance,
I guess :-).
Others are governed by their
karma and other factors.
(btw shahryar, karma does not
mean "accident". we can talk about
this another time).
_
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