Vedic Discoveries: Krsna and Balarama in Greece — Dionysus — Herakles

Vedic Discoveries: Krsna and Balarama in Greece

"The people of Marathon worship both those who died in the fighting, calling them 'heroes,' and [a semi-divine being called] 'Marathon,' from whom the country derives its name, but also Heracles . . . . They say also that a man took part in the battle who looked and was dressed like a farmer. He slaughtered many of the Persians with his plowshare, and when everything was over he disappeared. But when the Athenians consulted the oracle, the god would not tell them anything except to honor 'Echetlaeus' [i.e. the man with the plowshare] as a hero."

However, the worship of Sankarsana appears to have been quite popular in the fourth century BCE and Megasthenes seems to refer to him. The Greek writer referring to Dionysos clearly states that the Indians speak of three individuals of this name appearing in different ages and they assign suitable achievements to each of these. The oldest of these was Indos, apparently the same as Indra, "who crushed grapes and discovered the use of the properties of wine." He further states that Dionysos also found out the method of growing figs and other fruit trees and taught this knowledge to others whence he was called Lenaios. This may be a corruption of Lingayasas or Lingin, a name for Siva. The third god spoken of in this context is Katapogon; and Megasthenes states that he was so named because it is a custom among Indians to grow their beards with great care. Katapogon is evidently the same as Kapardin, meaning one wearing braided and matted hair. The epithet is usually applied to Siva, but it may have been applied to Sankarsana also since the worshippers of Sankarsana, as we have noted earlier, wore braided (jatila) hair.

Dionysus             

At any rate, the three gods who could have been confused with Dionysos by Megasthenes are apparently Indra, Siva and Sankarsana, all the three are associated with wine and renowned for their bacchanalian habits. Arrian informs us that before the coming of Dionysos, Indians were nomads subsisting on the bark of the trees known as tala (fan-palm) and that when Dionysos came to India he taught them to sow the land, and it was he who "first yoked oxen to the plough and made many Indian husbandmen and gave the people the seeds of cultivated plants."

The description eminently suits the agricultural divinity Sankarsana, the wielder of the plough, with the fan-palm as his emblem. Arrian also writes that according to the Indians, Dionysos was earlier than Herakles by fifteen generations; and, as Herakles is generally identified with Vasudeva-Krsna in the popular mythology of the fourth century B.C., the Krishna and Baladeva legends had not yet acquired the final shape in which they are presented to us in the Mahabharata and the Puranas."

From ‘Pausanias, Description of Greece’, 1.32.4, quoted in George Luck’s ‘Arcana Mundi: Magic and the Occult in the Greek and Roman Worlds’. Baltimore, Johns Hopkins Univ. Press, (1985)

             Herakles

"It is pointed out in the Bhagavad-gita that Arjuna often addresses Vasudeva Krsna as Visnu. But the date of this work is highly controversial. It is closely linked with that of the epic in its present form. The assertion of another scholar (Pusalkar) about Megasthenes "The Greek ambassador definitely states that Krsna was regarded as an incarnation of Visnu" is evidently baseless. All that Megasthenes is reported to have said is "This Herakles is held in especial honour by Sourasenoi, an Indian tribe who possess two large cities Mathora and Cleisobora and through whose country flows a navigable river called Iobares." Herakles has been identified with Vasudeva Krsna and Sourasenoi with the Surasena Yadavas. The use of the words "especial honour" clearly indicates that Krsna was still a minor divinity, far from being the supreme god that he becomes with his identification with Narayana-Visnu; by no stretch of the imagination can it be construed to refer to Narayana-Visnu.

In the early centuries preceding and succeeding the Christian era, the entry of foreign tribes into India produced a favourable impact on the cults of Vaisnvaite and Saivite divinities, which, on the whole, enjoyed the support of the foreigners. The Greeks identified Krsna with Herakles and Sankarsana with Dionysos, and it is no wonder that they were favourably inclined to their worship. The Besnagar inscription describes the Greek ambassador Heliodorus as a Bhagavata who dedicated a Garuda banner to Lord Vasudeva.

The earliest epigraphic evidence for the existence of the Bhagavata cult is found in Madhya Pradesh. The discovery of the Garuda pillar inscription of Besnagar is a landmark in the history of Bhagavatism. The inscription records the erection of a Garuda standard in honour of Vasudeva, the god of gods, by a Greek ambassador Heliodorus who describes himself as a Bhagavata (see Heliodorus Column), and a resident of Taksasila. The ambassador came from the Greek king Antialcidis to Kautsiputra Bhagabhadra identified with the fifth Sunga king, and the record is dated in the fourteenth year of his reign, approximating to c. 113 B.C."

Suvira Jaisval, The Origin and Deveopment of Vaisnavism (Munshiram Manoharlal, 1967)
The Times of India reports a major archeological find of structures dating back to the Mahabharata period:

"Archaeologists have discovered ancient monuments, dating back to the Mahabharat period, during excavations carried out near Gwalior. The excavations, carried over a period of five months, were suspended on July 7 due to the monsoon.' The archaeologists believe that Gwalior town was established in the first century AD and not in eighth century AD, as was believed earlier. They came to this conclusion following the discovery of a large community structure at the Gwalior fort.

Superintending archaeologist of Madhya Pradesh A.K. Sinha said the excavations had exposed a 1.7-metre thick burnt brick wall having a height of about three metres. Mr Sinha told TOINS that the wall appeared to be a part of a large community structure, possibly a huge reservoir. On the basis of the ceramic industry and workmanship, the structure was dated to the first century AD. Though Naga coins dating to the 2nd or 3rd century AD were found from the surface on earlier occasions from Gwalior fort, this is the first time that any structural remains dating back to the beginning of the Christian era has been found. The ASI plans to carry out more excavations after the monsoon.

A Mahabharat period site has also been found at Kotwar, about 40 km from here. The site is located about eight km from Noorabad, a sub-divisional town on the Agra-Mumbai highway. The excavations, which started in February last, will be resumed after the monsoon. According to the archaeologists, the site has been identified with Kamantalpur, which was derived from the name of its founder, Kamant, father of the mythological character in the Mahabharat, Kunti, who later became the mother of the five Pandva brothers.

The site has a 18 to 20-metre-high mound and covers an area of about 2.5 sq km, according to Mr Sinha. He said the site had also been identified as one of the chief cities of the nine., Naga kings.The archaeologists claim that the digging at Kotwar had led to the recovery of painted greyware which had been interpreted by noted archaeologists B.B. Lal, as belonging to the Mahabharat period.

During the excavations at Kotwar, black and redware and black slipped ware, typical ceramic industries which pre-dated even the painted greyware (1100-800 BCE), were found from the lowest levels. The remains found at Kotwar have been sent to the Physical Research Laboratory and the Birbal Sahni Institute of Botany for precise dating. The excavations also revealed a number of ring wells which date back to the later half of the first millennium BCE."

Beyond Decipherment: Message of the Indus Seals

By N. S. Rajaram

Extracted from a paper on Vedic Seals by N. S. Rajaram, presented at a recent conference of leading historians on Vedic history.

(Based on The Deciphered Indus Script by N.Jha and N.S. Rajaram)

Background
 
The year 1996-97, the fiftieth year of Indian independence, was important in more respects than one. In that year Natwar Jha published his monograph Vedic Glossary on Indus Seals containing a complete decipherment of the Indus script along with more than a hundred deciphered readings. Shortly after its publication, I began my collaboration with Jha leading to our soon to be published book The Deciphered Indus Script. In our book, we present deciphered readings of well over five hundred texts with Vedic references and explanations. Since many of the messages are repeated on different seals, they probably cover between 1500 and 2000 seals, or about half the known corpus. We have read more that are not included in our book for reasons mainly of logistics.

The main conclusion to follow from our work is that the Harappan Civilization, of which the seals are a product, belonged to the latter part of the Vedic Age. It has close connections with Vedantic works like the Sutras and the Upanishads. The style of writing reflects the short aphorisms found in Sutra works. The imagery and symbolism are strongly Vedic. The vocabulary depends heavily on the Vedic glossary Nighantu and its commentary by Yaska known as the Nirukta. The name of Yaska is found on at least two seals ‹ possibly three. There are references to Vedic kings and sages as well place names. Of particular interest are references to Plakshagra ‹ the birthplace of the Sarasvati River, and Sapta Apah or the Land of the Seven Rivers.

This means that the Rigveda must already have been quite ancient by the time of the Harappan Civilization. Since the Harappan Civilization was known to be flourishing in the 3100 ­ 1900 BC period, the Rigveda must have been in existence by 4000 BC. This now receives archaeological support following R.S. Bisht¹s investigation of the great Harappan city of Dholavira. Bisht (and other archaeologists) have concluded that the Vedic Aryans of the Sarasvati heartland were the people who created the Harappan cities and the civilization associated with it. Our deciphered readings tell us the same thing.
 
Message of the Indus seals
 
I will not present the decipherment here which both Jha and I have discussed in detail at other places. I will only note that the script is a highly complex hybrid that includes (1) an alphabetical subset; (2) a large number of composite signs; and (3) numerous pictorial symbols. The language of the Harappan texts is Vedic Sanskrit, and the script itself is heavily influenced by the rules of Sanskrit grammar and phonetics. It is clear that the later Brahmi script is a derivative of the Harappan that evolved borrowing heavily from its alphabetical subset. In fact, there exist examples of writing that combine features of both. It is therefore reasonable to call the Harappan script Old Brahmi or Proto Brahmi. Its decipherment was the result of more than twenty years of research by Jha ‹ a Vedic scholar and paleographer of considerable distinction. As previously observed, Jha and I have read close to 2000 seals; for most of these we have also found references in the Vedic literature, particularly the Nighantu and the Nirukta of Yaska. With this body of material, we are now in a position to take a broad look at what these seals have to say about the people who created them. This is particularly necessary in the light of a couple of highly publicized claims over the contents of the seals made in the last few months. One linguist (Malati Shengde) has claimed that the language of the Harappans was Akkadian, a West Asiatic language. This claim, made without being able to read the writing, is not supported by our decipherment. The language of the seals is Vedic Sanskrit, with close links to Vedantic works like the Upanishads. For instance, we have found and deciphered a seal which contains the word shadagama (shat agama) ‹ a reference to the six schools Vedantic knowledge. This shows that they must already have been in existence before 2000 BC. (Most of the seals were created in the 3100 ­ 1900 BC period.)

Another recent claim by a retired archaeologist (M.V. Krishna Rao) relates to the career of Sri Rama. According to Krishna Rao, the Harappan seals tell us that Rama was born not in Ayodhya, but in the present state of Haryana. He further claims that according to his study of the seals, Rama invaded Babylon and defeated and killed the famous Babylonian ruler Hammurabi whom he equates with Ravana! This account, if true, would call for a radical revision of both Indian and Babylonian history. Hammurabi is a well-known historical figure. He is known to have died in 1750 BC of natural causes and not killed in battle. His date therefore is too late to have found mention in the Harappan seals. We have no such sensational findings to report. Our fairly extensive readings indicate that the seals contain little in the way of history. To begin with, the writings on the seals are brief, with an average length of five to six characters. This makes them unsuitable for recording historical details. Whatever historical information we do find is incidental. There are occasional references to Vedic kings like Sudasa, Yadu and Puru, and to sages like Kutsa and Paila. We find also references to ancient places like Plaksagra (birthplace of the Sarasvati river), Sapta-Apah or the Land of the Seven Rivers referred to in the Vedic literature. But such Œhistorical¹ seals are few and far between; they probably do not exceed five percent of the total. Other historical information has to be inferred from indirect messages like the one about the six schools of Vedanta mentioned earlier.

References to Rama We do find references to Rama, but they are nowhere near as dramatic as his invasion of Babylonia and the killing of Hammurabi-Ravana. Seals speak of kanta-rama or ŒBeloved Rama¹, and kanta-atma-rama or ŒBeloved Soul Rama¹. One seal in particular speaks of samatvi sa ha rama meaning ŒRama treated all with equality¹. All this finds echo in the Valmiki Ramayana as Œarya sarva samashcaiva sadaiva priyadarshanah¹, or ŒArya to whom all were equal and was dear to everyone.¹

There is also a reference to Rama performing a successful fire ritual (or launching a fire missile) which again is mentioned in the Ramayana. There is another reference to Rama¹s successful crossing of the sea which again touches on the Ramayana. Of particular interest is the presence of ŒRama¹ in at least one West Asiatic seal from pre-Sargon layer in southern Mesopotamia. We know from Zoroastrian scripture that Rama was well known in ancient West Asia. The readings suggest that this goes back to a period long before 2500 BC. What is interesting in all this is that Rama is treated as an ideal man and ruler loved by everyone; nowhere have we found anything to suggest that he was regarded as divine. All this suggests that history books are in need of major revision. The Aryan invasion stands shattered, the Proto Dravidians are found to be a myth, and the cradle of civilization ‹ assuming there was such a thing ‹ is not Mesopotamia but Vedic India. Also, a version of the story of Rama existed five thousand years ago, and known both in India and West Asia. And the Sanskrit language ‹ at least the Vedic version of it ‹ is of untold antiquity; it was certainly not brought to India by invading nomads in the second millennium.

Floods and maritime activity
 
To return to the seals and their contents, such Œhistorical¹ seals are exceptional. A great majority of the seals are different in character and content. Often their texts can be quite mundane. We find a reference to a craftsman by name Ravi whose products last twice as long as those made by other craftsmen (dvi-ayuh). One inscription speaks of a short-tempered mother-in-law; there is even mention of relieving fever with the help of water from a saligrama (fossil stone) ‹ a remedy still followed in many Indian households. We find numerous references to rivers (apah) and Œflows¹ (retah), suggesting the existence of an extensive system of waterways. We have texts like a madra retah (flow to the Madra country), and a vatsa retah (flow to the Vatsa country) indicating their presence. The Vedic Civilization was of course largely a maritime one, as indeed was the Harappan ‹ a fact noted by David Frawley. The seals confirm it. There is recent archaeological evidence suggesting the presence of Indian cotton in Mexico and Peru dating to 2500 BC and earlier (Rajaram and Frawley 1997), which again suggests maritime activity. As noted earlier, archaeological evidence also supports the fact that the Vedic people (and the Harappans) engaged in maritime activity. References to floods are common, and can sometimes be quite vivid. There is a particularly dramatic inscription, which speaks of workers laboring all night by fire, trying to stem the floods. The readings suggest that the floods were due to the encroachment of seawater and not necessarily the rivers. These messages should be of interest to archaeologists who have noted the damage to sites due to floods and salination. The great Harappan city of Dholavira in Gujarat is a striking example.

Vedic symbolism
 
While historical references are rare, and many seals contain much mundane material, a substantial number of seals have messages reflecting Vedic symbolism. This symbolism can be quite profound, and one has to dig deep into the Vedic and Vedantic literature in trying to interpret them. But once understood, it helps to explain the symbolism of the images on the seals also. This can be illustrated with the help of the famous Pashupati seal, alongside its deciphered text.

The seal contains a meditating horned deity surrounded by five animals. The animals are ‹ elephant, musk deer, buffalo, tiger and rhinoceros. These five animals are often identified with the five senses, and the five associated elements ‹ fire, water, space, wind and earth (or soil). These elements that go to make up the material universe are known in the Vedic literature as panca maha-bhutas or the Five Great Elements. The reading on the seal is ishadyatah marah. Mara is the force opposed to creation ‹ one that causes the destruction of the universe. The seal message means: Mara is controlled by Ishvara. The seated deity is of course a representation of Ishvara.

Hindu cosmology holds that both creation and destruction of the universe result from the action of the Five Great Elements. So Mara, the destructive force, is also composed of the Five Great Elements. With this background, the deciphered message ishadyatah marah allows us to interpret the symbolism of the famous Pashupati seal. It expresses the profound idea, that, in every cosmic cycle, both the creation and the destruction of the universe are caused by the action of the panca maha-bhutas (Five Great Elements) under the control of Ishvara. This remarkable interpretation was decoded and brought to my notice by Jha.
We find numerous such seals with close links to the Vedic and Vedantic literature; our book includes several such interpretations. The written messages are brief in the form known as Œsutras¹ to Sanskrit scholars. These are short formula-like aphorisms made famous by such works as Panini¹s grammar, and Patanjali¹s celebrated Yogasutra. They invariably need elaboration. An example is the message ishadyatah marah just described. The seals are products of the same cultural, and, no doubt, historical milieu. Thus they confirm the earlier findings of Sethna and this writer that the Harappan Civilization overlapped with the Sutra period. This is what Frawley and I in our book have called the ŒSutra-Harappa- Sumeria equation¹. (We have also found mathematical formulas on a few seals.) All this provides a window on the Harappan world, and calls for a complete revision of Vedic history and chronology.

Conclusion
 
In summary, one may say that the deciphered seals, while they may not contain much in the way of history, they do provide a clear historical context for the Harappans by establishing a firm link between Harappan archaeology and the Vedic literature. Thanks to the deciphered seals, the Harappans, who until now had been left dangling like the legendary king Trishanku, find at last a place in history ‹ in Vedic India. The Harappans were the Vedic Harappans. The Rigveda therefore must go back well into the fifth millennium. If there was a cradle of civilization, it was Vedic India, not Sumeria. This recognition is bound to bring about a revolution in our understanding of history.

Rerefences
 
Jha, N. (1996) Vedic Glossary on Indus Seals. Ganga-Kaveri Publishing House, Varanasi.
Jha, N. and N.S. Rajaram (To appear) The Deciphered Indus Script: Methodology, Readings, Interpretation.
Rajaram, N.S. (1996) ŒJha¹s Decipherment of the Indus Script¹, in the Quarterly Journal of the Mythic Society (October-December 1996).
Rajaram, N.S. and David Frawley (1997) Vedic Aryans and the Origins of Civilization: A Literary and Scientific Perspective, 2nd edition. Voice of India, New Delhi.

Why Do Hindus Not Eat Beef [Google Questions Answered]

Why Do Hindus Not Eat Beef?

I’ve addressed this a little bit here and there, but always as part of a larger post. Today I’m just going to talk about beef and cows…

Growing up in America, beef is every where. For some Americans, it’s part of every dinner. It is the thing our diets are most based on. Without meat, and often specifically beef, it’s not a meal.
I think to many Americans not eating cow seems arbitrary. Certainly some Hindus are fully vegetarian but many others eat some meats but not beef. How strange, the American thinks, how could it be okay to 
eat chicken but not cow?

For Hindus who grow up in America, not eating beef or stopping eating beef can be an enormous challenge. Beef eating is all around us and if we don’t eat it, we are viewed as extremely strange and forced to explain it every time. It can get pretty exhausting.

My understanding is (and please correct me if I’m wrong) that Hindus growing up in India have a very different perception of the cow. It is simply not a meat animal. How could that be? Well, my American peers, think about the stories of some cultures eating dogs. Is it true? I have no idea. But I know that shocking rumors go around from time to time about how in some countries you might accidentally eat dog meat.

Why are they shocking? Because to us, a dog is not a food animal. It occupies a different position in our brains than those animals we would eat. A dog is not for eating.
To Hindus, the cow is the same way. It is not an animal for eating.

There are other reasons why a Hindu might also be a vegetarian. One reason is that one of the important principles of Hinduism (and several of the other Indian religions) is ahimsa, the principle of non-harm. Hindus try to minimize the harm that they do to anyone or anything. (Did you know that in strict Jainism food cannot be plucked from trees or pulled from the ground to minimize harm to plants? Traditionally Jains do not eat root vegetables and fruits must have already fallen from the tree).
Another reason is the belief that when you take the meat into your body, that meat is infused with the emotions of the animals and that you are also taking in the pain and fear connected with how that animal died.

As you have probably heard, cows are revered in India. Some say it is because Krishna was a cow herder and so it is an animal special to him. Others will say it is because the cow is a great symbol for selfless giving. She provides us with milk, cheese, yogurt, etc.

In practice, I think cows wandering the street may be just one more pest. For some, anyway. When I was in India, I mostly saw people swatting cows away in annoyance!

During Diwali there is a day (Dhanteras) when, in some regions, cows are decorated and pujas are performed to them.

All animals suffer

 

'I do not agree with what you eat, but I'll defend to death, at the cost of the animal's death unfortunately, your right to eat it.'
Banning beef, says Zelda Pande, is about imposing fundamentalism in everyday life.
A long-standing colleague has spent the last year faithfully visiting every restaurant across Mumbai, big or small, that serves beef steak.
His logic when I asked him last year: Modi's government is coming. Very soon we won't get to eat steak anymore.
While I was amused then at his logic, I could only be surprised by his foresight when I read, bemused, that beef can no longer be consumed in Maharashtra.
Being a vegetarian -- I am a seriously staunch animal lover and definitely not a proponent of Hindutva-style shakahari-ism -- I am caught in a conflict.
It makes scant difference to me if they stop slaughtering just cows. It is just one poor, luckless creature among many being brutally slaughtered in a bad system.
All animals suffer, not just cows. Think of those sad-looking chicken, being carried upside down, tied to bicycle handlebars, to the market for certain, inhumane, death.
More important is to examine, in these modern times, the manner in which an animal is allowed/not allowed to live his life and how he is slaughtered, whichever the species.
And to look at how livestock is being unhealthily (for humans), industrially reared purely for ingestion by the 'higher' species and as well as for providing us milk (the bhakts, too, please note), eggs and wool.
This pretence reverence for cows stems from no real honour or feelings for cows. Or they would first make sure that the cows tied up all over the place for people to worship and feed with a bundle of grass do not lead their day semi-strangulated on ropes one-foot long.
As an animal-wallah, and an average feeling human being, one finds it truly unbearable to read about violence, pain and any killing, of animals or people. We put them on the same scale, even if you may not understand.
Growing up vegetarian in an ignorant 1970s America, and then India, and having travelled to several countries across the world, I know how it feels to be -- mostly unconsciously and unknowingly -- discriminated against for being vegetarian.
Very few take the trouble to understand what a vegetarian can eat or are bothered to understand why someone is vegetarian or vegan.
You are just considered weird.
The minority that ought to be ignored.
The stupid unhealthy people who eat grass, ha, ha, hurt plants, should realise they need to eat chicken soup when they are sick or to have strength to play a sport, and are questioned over and over again -- till you feel like screaming -- on why they eat eggs, wear leather or what they would do on a deserted island with their dog/goat/ bleh--.

Asked when they are going to 'convert'. Or jokingly offered a ham sandwich. Childish stuff. Goddamit, it is my choice! Mind your own beeswax. I am sure you are peculiar in certain ways too, like I am.
Within my family and home I have taken on battles to establish that my way of life needs to be respected. I am not going to eat a curry or a biryani from which meat pieces are fished out. Or be expected to always provide for myself at a family gathering, because no one can be bothered to figure out what a vegetarian wants to eat.
Respecting another's way of life is a key principle here.
I would like you to respect my way of life.
In turn, I need to respect your way of life.
We need to respect each's life choices.
I won't convert you. And you don't convert me.
While I would like the cost to animals and the price these creatures have to pay, for being objects of consumption, across the planet to decrease, I know as a vegetarian I need to respect the meat-eater's way of life too, whether I like it or not.
That is why banning beef is wrong.
Simply, and quite obviously, neither can a majority nor a minority impose rules on either one. It is a matter of rights.
I do not agree with what you eat, but I'll defend to death, at the cost of the animal's death unfortunately, your right to eat it.
If I want my vegetarian rights guaranteed, in turn I must guarantee your non-veggie ones.
Just because I am vegetarian, it does not mean I weighed in on a decision by the President of a country of one billion plus and the chief minister of a state to come up with this kind of illogical ban that affects a considerable population of people.
It is very much like the fact that all Hindus today have to pay the price for their few co-religionists who have hijacked a temperate and mostly gentle philosophy, breathing fire, spreading hatred, trying to impose ditzy ideas, promoting cultural imperialism; some of it strongly visible in the social media space.
So I am not for a ban on beef, even if I am a staunch vegetarian.
Finally, a beef ban is about imposing fundamentalism in everyday life.
Fundamentalism is the world's nastiest epidemic today. A deadly cancer for which there is no cure, it seems... Excessive patriotism. Excessive nationalism. Excessive jingoism. Excessive religion. Excessive racism. Excessive chest beating. Excessive me-ness. Excessive isms of all sorts..
The same fundamentalism that is causing untold human bloodshed -- be it the ISIS executions or the killing of young women of the 'wrong' caste in Uttar Pradesh.
So, dear Maharashtra government, kindly govern the state, give us good roads, transport, slum housing and toilets, water, illness and garbage free environments.
Don't waste your time on fundamentalism. And pettiness.

5 Ways to Increase Your Annual Income

      Invest in Enriching Your Life and Increasing Your Income

Increasing your annual income has many benefits- mainly, ability to afford a quality lifestyle for you and your family, and also the ability to manage unexpected money requirements.
Here are five practical ways to increase your annual income.

#1: Invest in Yourself – Add Value to Your Self Worth
Investing in yourself will give you disproportionately high return on investment- both for the amount of money invested and the time you spent.

DIY Tips to Invest in Yourself

• Leverage the power of learning. Add a new skill, learn a new language, or try something that’s been on your bucket list.
• Set aside time on a daily or weekly basis to read informative blogs, articles or books.
• Attend a workshop, webinar or training to stay updated on the latest trends.
• Explore your creative side to exercise untapped areas of your mind. This will open up different doors of perception- personally and professionally.

Invest time in taking a sabbatical – Retrospect, introspect and regain your focus

How Does This Increase My Annual Income?
 
Better skills, greater knowledge and wider perception, all lead to a higher level of opportunities.

#2: Invest Smart – Monetarily not Momentarily
Talking about increasing income is incomplete without considering the actual monetary aspect of investing smart.

DIY Tips to Increase Your Future Annual Income

• Start early-as early as you possibly can
• Invest for the long term
• Make the right investment choices- for long term goals (more than 5 years), invest in equities and short term (less than 5 years), invest in debt instruments.

How Does This Increase My Annual Income?
Increase your profits by investing wisely. Instill a long term perspective to evade myopic results from a short-sighted plan.

#3: Invest in a Long Term Career Path – Map Your Progression Professionally
Mapping your professional interests can help you strategically build your career path.

DIY Tips to Chart Your Career Path

• Do a SWOT analysis on your professional traits. Determine your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. In this way you can identify the best opportunities that can help you progress with purpose.
• Inculcate a long term vision. Do not let short term challenges come in the way of building your potential in the future.

How Does This Increase My Annual Income?
Being at the right place, at the right time with the right capabilities, tactically improves your career prospects.

#4: Invest in Rewarding Risks – Zone Out of Your Comfort Zone
Taking risks can snap you out of your comfort zone.

DIY Tips to Zone Out of Your Comfort Zone

• Take a chance to challenge yourself. Push your limits beyond the monotony of mediocre tasks. It is a bitter truth that machines will replace you eventually.
• Focus on work that allows you to build your capabilities, even if it means making a drastic change.

How Does This Increase My Annual Income?
Stepping out of your bubble automatically unlocks new possibilities

#5:  Invest in Health – Focus on Your Physical, Mental and Social Well Being
The real wealth is in the health and well being of your body, mind and social interaction. While the increase in disposable income may translate to a higher standard of living, it could also lead to increasing health issues.

DIY Tips to Enrich Your Wealth in Health

• Physical Health
  • Exercise. If not for the physical benefits, it also helps in reducing your healthcare bills.
  • Eat healthy. A home cooked meal is not only healthier but also lighter on the pocket.
• Mental Health – Many occupational lifestyle diseases are creeping into urban population. Maintain a good work-life balance to avoid mental problems such as depression, hypertension and neurological issues.
• Social Well Being – Whether you admit it or not, who you interact with socially and your lifestyle have a big impact on your personality. The social environment you choose to be influenced by will affect the way you think and the decisions you make. Choose wisely.

How Does This Increase My Annual Income?
You become the environment you live in. Make it clean, green and lean on the body, mind and wallet.