Arctiv, Franklin's Expedition - Vaikasi Ekadasi 2025

 

23^rd May 2025  is Krishna Paksha Ekadasi in the month Vaikasi.

May 23 is the 143^rd  day of the year (144th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 222 days remain until the end of the year.  Human avarice knows no bounds  - mankind has fought wars for land and more and now Nations are trying to have their presence felt in Arctic. 

The Arctic is the polar region of Earth that surrounds the North Pole, lying within the Arctic Circle. The Arctic region, consists of parts of northern Norway (Nordland, Troms, Finnmark, Svalbard and Jan Mayen), northernmost Sweden (Västerbotten, Norrbotten and Lappland), northern Finland (North Ostrobothnia, Kainuu and Lappi), Russia (Murmansk, Siberia, Nenets Okrug, Novaya Zemlya), the United States (Alaska), Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenland), and northern Iceland (Grímsey and Kolbeinsey), along with the Arctic Ocean and adjacent seas.

Land within the Arctic region has seasonally varying snow and ice cover, with predominantly treeless permafrost under the tundra. Arctic seas contain seasonal sea ice in many places. The Arctic region is a unique area among Earth's ecosystems. The cultures in the region and the Arctic indigenous peoples have adapted to its cold and extreme conditions. Life in the Arctic includes zooplankton and phytoplankton, fish and marine mammals, birds, land animals, plants, and human societies.

Franklin's lost expedition was a failed British voyage of Arctic exploration led by Captain Sir John Franklin that departed England in 1845 aboard two ships, HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, and was assigned to traverse the last unnavigated sections of the Northwest Passage in the Canadian Arctic and to record magnetic data to help determine whether a better understanding could aid navigation. The expedition met with disaster after both ships and their crews, a total of 129 officers and men, became icebound in Victoria Strait near King William Island in what is today the Canadian territory of Nunavut. After being icebound for more than a year, Erebus and Terror were abandoned in April 1848, by which point two dozen men, including Franklin, had died. The survivors, now led by Franklin's second-in-command, Francis Crozier, and Erebus's captain, James Fitzjames, set out for the Canadian mainland and disappeared, presumably having perished.

Pressed by Franklin's wife, Jane, and others, the Admiralty launched a search for the missing expedition in 1848. In the many subsequent searches in the decades afterwards, several artefacts from the expedition were discovered, including the remains of two men, which were returned to Britain. A series of scientific studies in modern times suggested that the men of the expedition did not all die quickly. Hypothermia, starvation, lead poisoning or zinc deficiency and diseases including scurvy, along with general exposure to a hostile environment while lacking adequate clothing and nutrition, killed everyone on the expedition in the years after it was last sighted by a whaling ship in July 1845. Cut marks on some of the bones recovered during these studies also supported allegations of cannibalism.  Despite the expedition's notorious failure, it did succeed in exploring the vicinity of one of the many Northwest Passages that would eventually be discovered.

In the modern day, as soon as Magnus Mæland became mayor of a small town on Norway's northern tip in late 2023, three delegations from China came knocking on his door, because they want to be Polar superpower.  China might not instinctively spring to mind when you think about the Arctic - but it's determined to be a big Arctic player. It's been vying to buy real estate, get involved in infrastructure projects and hopes to establish a permanent regional presence.  China already describes itself as a "near-Arctic state", even though its northernmost regional capital Harbin is on roughly the same latitude as Venice, Italy.

Yes, the  Arctic is fast becoming one of the most hotly-contested parts of the world. Beijing faces stiff competition from Russia, Europe, India and the US.  The race for the Arctic is on.   Climate scientists say the Arctic is warming four times faster than anywhere else. This impacts ecosystems, wildlife and local populations. The Arctic is enormous, encompassing 4% of the globe. But global powers see a new world of opportunities opening up in the Arctic on the back of environmental changes. The melting ice in the Arctic makes it easier to access the region's incredible natural resources - critical minerals, oil, and gas - around 30% of untapped natural gas is said to be found in the Arctic.

And it's opening up possibilities for new maritime trade routes, drastically reducing travel time between Asia and Europe. In the export business, time is money. Russia controls a whopping half of the Arctic shoreline - and it's been hoovering up Chinese investments.  The two countries cooperate militarily in the Arctic too.  Every country bordering the Arctic is a member of Nato except Russia. Finland and Sweden joined after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Moving away from all the melee, life is blissfully peaceful for those who surrender to the lotus feet of Sriman Narayana. 

ஆழ்வார் பாடல்களிலே தமிழும், அற்புத உரையும், பக்தியும் கமழும்.  பேயாழ்வார் இடைகழியில் மற்ற இருவர் ஏற்றிய விளக்கினிலே பெருமாளை சேவித்து 'திருக்கண்டேன் பொன்மேனி கண்டேன்' என இசைத்தவர்.  அவரது வரிகள் இங்கே :  

விரும்பி  விண் மண்ணளந்த அஞ்சிறைய வண்டார்

சுரும்பு துளையில்  சென்றூத, அரும்பும்

புனந்துழாய் மாலையான் பொன்னங் கழற்கே,

மனம்துழாய் மாலாய் வரும்.

பூக்கள் மணமானவை; அழகானவை;  அவைகளை தொடுத்தால் கிட்டும்  அழகிய மாலையிலே,  சுறுசுறுவென இயங்கும்  சிறகுகளையுடைய வண்டுகள் துளையில் சென்று ஊத, அதனால்  அரும்புகள் உண்டாகப்பெற்ற மிக தூய நல்ல திருத்துழாய் மாலையை அணிந்தவனான எம்பெருமானுடைய பொன்னாங்கழல்கள் - சாதாரண திருவடிகள் அல்ல !   விண்ணுலகத்தையும் மண்ணுலகத்தையுமளந்த மிகவழகிய திருவடிகள்,  விஷயத்திலேயே எனது மனமானது லயித்து  அதனையே நினைத்து  மயங்கிக் கிடக்கின்றது. அந்த எம்பெருமானின் தங்க திருவடிகளையே சரணாக பற்றினேன் - எனக்கு எவ்வித குறையும் வாராது என அறுதியிடுகிறார் சுவாமி பேயாழ்வார்.

It is surrendering unto Him being guided by our Acaryas.  Prapatti is neither mere faith in the saving grace of Sriman Narayana  nor a mere prayer to Him for protection/ salvation / moksha. Prapatti would not  mean a mere surrender and a life centered around serving Sriman Narayana.  The concept of Prapatti encompasses all of this & is much much more. Though "Saranagathi" is in general used for denoting "surrender" – it is a life of ultimate surrender and living under the lotus feet of Sriman Narayana.  

Here are some photos of Vaikasi Krishnapakshi Ekadasi purappadu at Thiruvallikkeni divyadesam.

அடியேன்   ஸ்ரீனிவாச தாசன்.
தூசி மாமண்டூர் வீரவல்லி ஸ்ரீனிவாசன் சம்பத்குமார்.
23.5.2025.

பாசுர விளக்கம் : ஸ்ரீ உ.வே. பிரதிவாதி பயங்கரம் அண்ணங்கராச்சார் சுவாமி - ஒப்பற்ற ஸ்ரீவைணவ கலைக்களஞ்சியம் திராவிட வேதா இணையம்.