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Help our project - free Vedic scriptures and Stotras for the Blind people

The blind Jagadguru Sri Ramanandacharya with a blind boy

When someone bumps into us, or fails to follow the written instructions, we call him a blind fellow. Yes, in India saying "Andhe ho kya?", meaning are you blind, is a Gali - an abuse or insult. So what is the life of an unfortunate blind person like?

We can simply get up, go to the toilet, wash our hands and come back. It's an act about which we don't have to worry. A blind person has to carefully feel his way to do this simple thing. Going to the market to buy vegetables is not a problem for us but they need an escort. As soon as we settle in a job, we buy a car, after prospering go for a bigger car and dream of a Honda Accord or a Mercedes one day. The blind can't even dream of a bicycle. And who will marry a blind person?

In spite of a million such difficulties and deprivations, many blind people are fighting it out. They are studying and doing jobs which they can to earn a living and stand on their own feet.

There are a lot of organisations which are helping the blind in many ways. Being a religious minded person, I am involved with an organisation, Aadhyatmik Chetana Samiti (Reg), which makes Vedic scriptures for the blind in Braille script and gives them free to the blind schools and students.

You'll be surprised to know that till now there were no Braille script scriptures or stotras for the blind people of India to read and learn. This is the first organisation which has undertaken this task.  Pt. Ram Kumar Sharma, who is a Sanskrit teacher at the School for the blind New Delhi, started this with the help of a few other like minded people and is providing the scriptures and stotras etc. to the blind schools and students freely.

So far we have printed and distributed feely the following:

Shri Shiv Saharanaam

Shri Guru Geeta

Shri Stotra Piyusham(Part - ll)

Shri Hari Geeta (2- vols.)

Srimad Bhagwat Gita
(3 vol Sanskrit-Hindi)

Srimad Bhagwat Gita
(3 vol Sanskrit translitration-English)

Shri Hanuman Chalisa

Shri Durga Chalisa

Shri Bhajan Sangrah

Shri Sunder Kand
(Ramcharit Manas)

Shri Lalita Sahasranaam

Shri Vishnu Sahasranaam

Aditya Hridayam

Lakshmi Stotras

Krishna chalisa

Gopal sahasranam

In August 07 we conducted a stotras competition for the blind students.

Thanks to the good wishes and help extended by people like you we have managed to complete a long cherished project, Bhagavad Gita for the blind people in Braille script. This 1st ever Braille edition of Gita is with Sanskrit verses and Hindi commentary and it was inaugurated on 30 November 2007 by Sri Jagadguru Ramanandacharya Ramabhadracharya, (the Ramanuja Muth equivalent of a Shankaracharya) M.A.Dlit in Sanskrit. He is an acknowledged Vedic scholar who started the blind university at Chitrakoot, MP and is blind himself. It will be distributed free of cost to all the registered blind schools and to any blind person who wants it.

See the inaguration pictures

After that came the English version of Bhagavad Gita in Braille. ( The English translation is by Swamy Paramahamasa Sivananda of the Divine Life Society, Rishikesh.)

Right now it is almost a 2 man project. Pt. Ram Kumar Sharma, who is a Sanskrit teacher at the School for the blind, New Delhi, looks after putting together the Devanagari script, editing the Braille composition, printing and distribution of the booklets. I look after the fund raising and publicity. So any support is a morale booster for us.

Braille is a writing system which enables the blind to read and write through touch. It consists of patterns of raised dots (like embossing). As it must be understood by touching the raised dots, it has to be fairly large. So it is in 16 point size and occupies more space.

For example my name looks like this:

S.P.Tata

This picture is the actual size

So the Braille script occupies approximately 3 times the space of ordinary print. It also requires special printers and thick paper to print the raised dots. It doesn't exactly cost a bomb but its not peanuts either.

Even if you are not rich, I am sure you can sponsor one MP3 CD or one Hanuman Chalisa booklet for one blind child. Or a Vishnu Sahasranama, or a Durga Chalisa, or a Shiva Chalisa? In most cases its less than 1% or 1/2% of our monthly income!! After all Vidya Dan or giving knowledge in charity is said to be the best charity according to our scriptures. If you cannot do one good act a day, can you do one good act per month or per year?

If you are interested given bellow are the various donation options. You can donate online by credit card, or by online transfer by clicking on the "Click & Donate" links.

It is a registered organisation and you can see the registration certificate and testimonial letters given to the Adhyatmik Chetana Samiti by Chief Minister of Delhi and Union Cabinet Ministers by > clicking here

Send your donations to:

Adhyatmic Chetna Samiti (Reg)
Flat No. 3, 1st floor,
2.PP Block, Lakshmi Nagar
Delhi -110092
Mobile (0091) 9810207724

You can also visit their website

http://www.chetnasamiti.in/

You can send cheque or transfer money to their bank a/c as follows:

Adhyatmic Chetna Samiti
ac no 10113006159
State Bank of India, IOC Lodhi road, New Delhi 110003

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