{"id":1513,"date":"2026-06-12T12:39:19","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T19:39:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cmportland.org\/HariPatrika2026\/?p=1513"},"modified":"2026-06-13T08:02:01","modified_gmt":"2026-06-13T15:02:01","slug":"yagnas2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cmportland.org\/HariPatrika2026\/yagnas2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Jnana Yagnas in 2025-26 and The Key Takeaways – Ganesh Krishnan"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ganesh Krishnan<\/strong><\/p>\n

As we conclude another wonderful school year, the Chinmaya Mission Portland families had the
\nopportunity to listen to and learn from great masters and practitioners of advaita vedanta throughout
\nthe year. Topics varied from Bhagavad Gita to bhakti to practical applications for better living. Here\u2019s
\na brief summary of all the jnana yagnas hosted by the Portland center during the 2025-26 school
\nyear and the key takeaways.<\/p>\n

Navadha Bhakti by Swami Swaroopanandaji<\/strong><\/p>\n

As the global head of Chinmaya Mission who travels across the world throughout the year on a very
\nbusy schedule, getting Swaroopanandaji to visit Portland is a true blessing. Swamiji immersed us in
\ntrue bhakti or devotion using the Nava Vidha Bhakti or Navadha Bhakti (nine modes of devotion)
\nframework as outlined in Srimad Bhagavatam and Ramacharitamanas.<\/p>\n

Bhakti is only one. But there are many expressions, forms, and practices. Navadha Bhakti explores
\nnine modes of bhakti: sharavanam (hearing), kirtanam (singing), smaranam (remembering),
\npadasevanam (serving the feet), archanam (worship), vandanam (prostration), dasyam (servitude),
\nsakhyam (friendship), and atma-nivedanam (self-surrender.)
\nSwamiji, with his highly engaging style, using several examples, helped us understand that as love
\ndeepens, the ego dissolves, all limitations end, and only oneness with the Lord remains.<\/p>\n

Mukundamala by Swami Ishwaranandaji<\/strong><\/p>\n

Composed by the saintly emperor Kulashekara Alvar in the 8th century, Mukundamala is a beautiful
\nrhythmic poem on Mukunda or Lord Krishna. The yagna was based on a commentary written by
\nSwami Ishwaranada on this wonderful poem.
\nSwamiji says that by keeping God as an idol in the temple or in our puja room, away from us, true
\ndevotion cannot be developed. A true, sincere, personal relationship needs to be built for devotion
\nto fructify, and having an ishta devata is a wonderful pathway for that. This was expounded with
\nutmost clarity using the examples of the six witnesses: Prahlada, Vibishana, Gajendra, Panchali,
\nAhalya, and Dhruva.<\/p>\n

Swamiji uses wonderful play of words not only to keep listeners’ attention but also to drive home
\nvery important takeaways. Whether it\u2019s phrases like \u201cworship is a way of shipping worries\u201d or
\n\u201cdevotion as a medicine for sin\u201d along with occasional (dad) jokes, there is never a dull moment
\nduring swamiji\u2019s yagna.<\/p>\n

Gita Panchamrit by Brahmacharini Shubhaniji<\/strong><\/p>\n

Gita Panchamrit, an initiative started as a part of the Amrit Mahotsav celebration, seeks to awaken
\nlove and reverence for the Bhagavad Gita in every heart. Carefully chosen by Guruji Swami
\nTejomayanandaji and Swami Swaroopanandaji, the five verses are truly inspiring to reflect upon and
\nprovide a very high level summary of Gita\u2019s teaching and its timeless relevance.<\/p>\n

Shubhaniji expounded on the mahavakya tat-tvam-asi (that-you-are) using the five verses from Gita
\nPanchamrit with the first three indicating tvam, the fourth one tat and the last verse asi. From the
\ntvam standpoint, one needs to lift oneself up at the body level (from pain to persistence), at the
\nmind level (from reaction to response), and at the intellect level (from validation to values) while
\nshifting the focus from jiva to atman at the spiritual level. She talked about how karmayoga is the
\nbest pathway for us to slowly work our way from tamas to rajas to satva.<\/p>\n

While working at the tvam level, we also focus on tat through ananya bhakti or undivided devotion.
\nShubhaniji says: \u201cWhen you are in the worship mode, worries cannot exist. And when you are in the
\nworry mode, worship cannot happen.\u201d Through this consistent and regular practice of karmayoga
\nand bhaktiyoga, the identification with BMI will automatically drop off and asi (from tat-tvam-asi) will
\nnaturally happen.<\/p>\n

Converting Hard Times to Happy Times Through Grace by Sri Vivekji<\/strong><\/p>\n

Life is hard. Everything about life is hard. Grace opens up a new pathway to face any hardship. It\u2019s
\nnot an easier pathway, but a better one for sure! Vivekji helped the listeners explore this new
\npathway using the 10-point plan that Lord Krishna gives to Uddhava in Chapter 13, verse 4 of 11th
\nskanda in Srimad Bhagavatam.<\/p>\n

Vivekji used a framework of a) traditional meaning of the word, b) contemporary meaning, c) a verb
\nthat relates to it, and d) the tamasic, rajasic, and sattvic types of execution of the verb defined in
\nstep c. Here\u2019s an example of the first point using this framework:<\/p>\n

Word: Agama
\nTraditional meaning: Scripture
\nContemporary meaning: Literature
\nVerb: Reading
\nTypes of reading: Reading for\/about possession (tamasic), position (rajasic), peace (sattvic)
\nHere\u2019s the complete list of 10 points: agama, apa, praja, desha, kaala, karma, janma, dhyana,
\nmantra, and samskara. When the framework was applied on each of these points, it provided a
\nwonderful way of looking at the timeless wisdom and making it relevant in today\u2019s world. Our Guru
\nparamapara insists that when efforts are put in, the Lord gives us more grace to make progress in
\nour spiritual journey.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ganesh Krishnan As we conclude another wonderful school year, the Chinmaya Mission Portland families had the opportunity to listen to and learn from great masters and practitioners of advaita vedanta throughout the year. Topics varied from Bhagavad Gita to bhakti to practical applications for better living. Here\u2019s a brief summary of all the jnana yagnas […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1513","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-moments-of-grace"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cmportland.org\/HariPatrika2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1513","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cmportland.org\/HariPatrika2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cmportland.org\/HariPatrika2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cmportland.org\/HariPatrika2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cmportland.org\/HariPatrika2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1513"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cmportland.org\/HariPatrika2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1513\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1514,"href":"https:\/\/cmportland.org\/HariPatrika2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1513\/revisions\/1514"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cmportland.org\/HariPatrika2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1513"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cmportland.org\/HariPatrika2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1513"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cmportland.org\/HariPatrika2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1513"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}