Jyotish-Yagya

I was up at 4:30 am getting ready for my train ride to Kanpur. I was a little foggy after the 14+ hour plane ride from Newark. But Ashish, a former VLF (Vedic Life Foundation) employee now working in Delhi, got me to my train on time. I was a little concerned, being a stranger in a strange land surrounded by a crowd of busy people at the train station. I was wondering if I was going to make it. I decided all was well and began to silently chant a simple Ganesha mantra – Ganesha Sharanam Sharanam Ganesha. When reading/chanting this mantra, pronounce all the vowels. The ‘a’s sound like ah, a soft sound like the ‘o’ in God. The ‘e’s sound like eh, a little harder sound like the ay in pay. Ashish got me there in plenty of time. I’ll have a good picture of him near the end of this journey.

Mrs. Manju and Pandit Dixit’s assistant Mr. Gautam met me at the train in Kanpur with big smiles. They brought flowers as well and then installed me at the Kanha International. I have to say that I’m not used to being waited on hand and foot! The service at the Kanha Continental in Kanpur is superb! I was slightly concerned about hotel as its website says that it is popular with backpackers. Very upscale backpackers!

This is Mrs. Manju, Pandit Dixit’s daughter and her executive secretary, Mrs. Meenu in their office at the Vedic LIfe Foundation.

Mrs. Manju and Mrs. Meenu

Here is a view of Pandit Dixit’s office. Mr. Gautam, is on the left. Mr. Ajay is in the middle. He is Panditji’s main secretary. Panditji can look over his shoulder as Mr. Ajay types the emails you recieve. This is D. S. Dixit (Panditji) on the right. It’s the end of the day and their desks are covered with the work of the day. We all get very busy just before big holidays (Holy Days) like Sharadiya Navaratri. Lots of yagya orders must be processed. There is a lot of record keeping that goes on behind the scenes here in order to keep everything well organized.

Vedic Life Foundation office

While I was in the office with Panditji today we spoke about Saraswati and Ganesha.
He said that not only did Saraswati govern wisdom, but also general knowledge and intellect. Ganesha’s job is to refine the intelligence and bring it to enlightened intelligence. If you want to become enlightened, create a conversation in your life with Ganesha. You can do this by giving an image of Ganesha an important place in your house. A picture or statue is good. Annette and I have both. Sit in front of the image and meditate each day. Have a daily conversation with this friendly Force of Nature and watch the depth and sweetness of your intellect grow.

This is one of the reasons we do yagyas. A yagya is a conversation with one of the Devas, with a Force of Nature, held for you by a learned man, a Pandit. The Pandit sits and chants your yagya for you. In this way, the Deva is given attention by you from our material world. It is nutured by us. According to Natural Law, the Devas then gives their divine attention to those who converse with them. It’s good to have the Gods smiling on you!