A visit between Dawn to Dusk! A visit to all three Ranganatha Swamy Temples on the same day between sunrise and sunset! Aren’t you excited right now to go on Triranga Darshan in one day! It is believed a visit to three Sriranganatha Swamy temples between dawn to dusk called “Triranga Darshan”
Bharathiyam was first conceived on March 14, 2000, as a seed idea — long before India’s cultural heritage found a home online. Though the domain was registered on that very day, its deeper blossoming required 25 years of experience, inner churning, and karmic purification.
Every civilization is born, grows, declines, and often disappears into the pages of history. Yet Bharat, the land sanctified by rishis, rivers, and the rhythm of Sanātana Dharma, stands apart. It is not merely a civilization of the past but a living continuum that has nourished countless generations, adapting to time yet never losing its eternal pulse.
Spiritual Movement Spiritual Movements – The Living Rivers of Awakening From the hymns of the Vedas to the songs of the saints, Bharat’s spiritual history flows through countless movements of love, wisdom, and inner transformation. Each age gave birth to seekers who re-discovered the timeless truth — that divinity lives within every heart.
My personal message is about the journey that shaped me, the lessons life taught me, and the realisations that pushed me back onto my own path. Every word you read here is mine — written from my own experiences, my own struggles, and the truths I discovered along the way.
Struggles and happiness are a part of life. If you don’t struggle, you won’t learn anything. If you don’t enjoy happiness, you won’t feel its essence. Both are just two sides of the same coin. Sometimes life feels like you’re swimming against the waves… but it’s only when you swim against the waves that you realise your own strength.
It was twilight. The sun had just set, and the path through the forest was dim. A traveler walked home, carrying a bundle of firewood. As he turned a corner, his eyes caught sight of a long, coiled shape lying across the path.
He froze. His breath quickened. “A snake!” he cried, dropping the bundle and leaping back.
His heart pounded as he imagined its fangs, its hiss, its deadly strike. He waited, trembling — but the snake did not move.
A few moments later, another man approached, carrying a lamp. Seeing the frightened traveler, he asked what had happened. The traveler pointed toward the snake in terror. The man lifted his lamp closer.
And then — both laughed. There was no snake at all. It was only a coiled rope, lying harmlessly on the ground.
The traveler sighed in relief, yet felt humbled. “How real the snake seemed,” he thought, “until the light revealed the truth.”
🪶 The Meaning
This simple story is one of the most beloved metaphors in Advaita Vedanta. The snake is not a lie; it is a misperception born of ignorance (avidyā). The rope is reality (Brahman), ever-present but misunderstood.
As long as there is darkness — absence of true knowledge — the mind imagines what is not there. Fear, attachment, and desire arise from this false seeing. When knowledge (jñāna) dawns — like the lamp — illusion (māyā) disappears instantly.
🕉️ The Philosophical Root
The parable echoes the teachings of Śaṅkarācārya and the Upanishads, especially the Chandogya and Mandukya.
Translation: “As a rope in darkness is mistaken for a snake, so too the One Reality, Brahman, is mistaken for the individual self until discrimination arises.”
The entire world, says the sage, is like that rope — real in essence, yet misperceived as something else because of our mental projection.
🌿 The Symbols Explained
Element
Symbolic Meaning
The Rope
The eternal reality — Brahman, pure existence-consciousness-bliss.
The Snake
The false appearance — the world of duality created by ignorance.
The Darkness
Ignorance (avidyā), lack of spiritual vision.
The Lamp
True knowledge (jñāna) that reveals reality as it is.
The Fear
The suffering and bondage caused by illusion.
✨ The Upanishadic Insight
In the dim light of ignorance, we see the world as separate from ourselves — friend and enemy, gain and loss, pleasure and pain. We react with attachment and fear, like the traveler before the lamp arrived.
But when the lamp of awareness is lit through reflection and meditation, the illusion dissolves. The rope is seen as a rope; the world is seen as Brahman alone.
“Brahma satyam jagan mithyā, jīvo brahmaiva nāparaḥ.” — Śaṅkara “Brahman alone is real; the world is an appearance. The individual soul is none other than Brahman.”
🪷 The Inner Teaching
This parable is not merely about metaphysics — it is about daily living. Every moment, our mind projects snakes onto ropes:
We mistake temporary problems for permanent disasters.
We imagine enemies where there are only mirrors of our own fears.
We treat roles and names as ultimate truth, forgetting the oneness beneath them.
The light that removes this illusion is not outer learning but inner awareness. When the mind becomes still and perception clear, reality shines forth as it is.
🕯️ Reflections for Modern Life
In today’s world, filled with noise, images, and judgments, our minds create countless snakes. We see danger in uncertainty, competition in companionship, and lack in abundance. Meditation, self-inquiry, and dharmic living act as the lamp that reveals the rope beneath — the peaceful essence of being.
When we misunderstand the world, fear rules us. When we understand the Self, fear disappears.
📜 Scriptural Echoes
Bhagavad Gītā (5.16): “Jñānena tu tad ajñānaṁ yeṣāṁ nāśitam ātmanaḥ; Teṣām ādityavaj jñānaṁ prakāśayati tat param.” “For those whose ignorance is destroyed by knowledge, the supreme truth shines like the sun.”
Mandukya Kārikā (2.31): “As dream and illusion appear real until waking, so does the world appear real until true knowledge arises.”
Yoga Vāsiṣṭha: “The mind creates bondage by illusion; it dissolves bondage by right understanding.”
🌼 The Message
“The world is not false; our seeing is.”
Ignorance makes the rope appear as a snake — knowledge restores vision. Similarly, ignorance makes us believe we are separate, limited, fearful beings. When the lamp of awareness is lit, we realize: I am That (Aham Brahmāsmi).
No effort is needed to destroy the snake — only the light of understanding. No struggle is needed to reach Brahman — only the end of misperception.
🪶 The Essence
When we awaken to truth, fear melts instantly, like darkness before dawn. We walk the same path, see the same world — but through the eyes of light. That is Moksha — liberation through right seeing.
“When you are born with a question in your soul, the answer becomes your life’s work.”
Venkatesham is the founder and guiding spirit behind Bharathiyam — a digital dharmic initiative dedicated to reviving, preserving, and sharing the timeless soul-wisdom of Bharat.
Born into a traditional family rooted in simplicity, reverence, and moral strength, his life bridges two worlds — the outer world of technology and digital communication, and the inner world of silence, reflection, and spiritual seeking.
The articles and essays featured on Bharathiyam are not recent creations, but part of a lifelong body of work that began more than two decades ago. Many of them were originally written between 2000 and 2020, stored quietly as Word documents — reflections, insights, and learnings collected through years of sādhanā, study, and service. These writings are now being published in their original spirit, dated according to when they were first composed.
Alongside Bharathiyam, he continues to nurture two interconnected literary trilogies exploring dharma, family, and the soul’s journey — expressions of the same inner quest that began long ago and continues to unfold through his work and life.
