Source: www.asianage.com
BHOPAL, INDIA, June 13, 2009: With the spectre of drought and water wars looming large in the state, Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan is planning another round of som yagyas to placate the rain gods — much like the ancient Hindu kings of the Vedic era.
The yagyas were recommended by Somaji Nana Kale, owner of an ashram at Kasarwadi near Sholapur in Maharashtra. Kale has devoted his life to researching Vedic life and literature. It was on his advice that some yagas were conducted in 2008, with spectacular results, in Bundelkhand which had undergone a three-year cycle of drought. Mr Kale said his life mission is to prove that Vedic practices were based on timeless wisdom whose impact was greater and deeper than the theories proffered by modern science.
Thirty of the state’s 50 districts have been reeling under a severe water crisis for the last several months following the monsoon’s failure to deliver adequate rain last year. The situation in the state capital has never been so bad.