Bharatham : Uthishtatha-Jagratha : (wef-05/11/2012. )

======================================================================= ====================================================================== 24/11/2019. POST-5. ====================================================================== All the Vaishnava saints worship Him as either Rama or Krishna, Narayana or Vishnu. The Saiva saints worship Him as Paramasiva. The Saktas worship Him as Adi-sakti. The philosopher-saints worship Him as Brahman, the Absolute, as Isvara, Hiranyagarbha, and Virat or the Cosmic Being. The Virat-Saivas worship God as Siva, especially manifest as the Linga(symbolised in the rounded sacred stone which they wear round their necks). The symbol of Vishnu is the Saligrama, the symbol of Siva is the Linga, and the symbol of Devi is the Yantra(sometimes, a Mantra). According to the Nyaya and Vaiseshika schools, God is the instrumental cause of creation, like a potter fashioning a pot of clay, but not the material cause of creation. The Samkhy

======================================================================= ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 09/11/2019. POST-4. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- According to the Bhagavata and the Mahabharata, God especially manifested Himself as Bhagavan Sri Krishna, who is regarded as the foremost of the divine Incarnations, in whose personality the Supreme Being is fully focussed and manifest. Srimad Bhagavata says: He is Brahman(the Absolute), Paramatman(God), Bhagavan(the Incarnation). According to the Pancharatra Agama and the Vaishnava theology, God has five forms: the Para or the Transcendent, Antaryamin or the Immanent, Vyuha or the Collective(known as Vasudeva, Sankarshana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha), Vibhava or the Incarnation, and Archa or the symbolic form of daily worship. According t

======================================================================== -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17/10/2019. Post - 3. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Mahabharata says that Narayana alone was in the beginning, who was the prius of the creative, preservative, and destructive principles, the Trinity known as Brahma, Vishnu and Siva – the Supreme Hari, multi-headed, multi-eyed, multi-footed, multi-armed, multi-limbed. This was the Supreme Seed of all creation, subtler than the subtlest, greater than the greatest, larger than the largest, and more magnificent than even the best of all things, more powerful, than even the wind and all the gods, more resplendent than the Sun and the Moon, and more internal than even the mind and the intellect. He is the Creator, the Father Supreme. The Bha

======================================================================== ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 13/09/2019. Post - 2. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Supreme Being knew only Itself as 'I-Am', inclusive of everything. As He is the Knower of all things, no one can know Him, except as 'He Is'. The Svetasvatara Upanishad says, 'Thou art the Woman', 'Thou art the Man', 'Thou art Girl', 'Thou art Boy', 'Thou deceivest us as the old man tottering with the stick', 'Thou movest everywhere, in the form of everything, in all directions', 'Thou art the dark-blue Butterfly, and the Green Parrot with red eyes', 'Thou art the thunder cloud, the Seasons and the Oceans', 'Thou art without beginning and beyond all time and sp

28/07/2019 1. The earliest statement of the Nature of Reality occurs in the first book of the Rig-Veda: Ekam Sat-Viprah Bahudha Vadanti. "The ONE BEING, the wise diversely speak of." The tenth book of the Rig-Veda regards the highest conception of God both as the Impersonal and the Personal: The Nasadiya Sukta states that the Supreme Being is both the Unmanifest and the Manifest, Existence as well as Non-existence, the Supreme Indeterminable. The Purusha-Sukta proclaims that all this Universe is God as the Supreme Person – the Purusha with thousands of heads, thousands of eyes, thousands of limbs in His Cosmic Body. He envelops the whole cosmos and transcends it to infinity. The Narayana-Sukta exclaims that whatever is anywhere, visible or invisible, all this is pervaded by Narayana within and without. The Hiranyagarbha-Sukta of the Rig-Veda declares that God manifested Himself in the beginning as the Creator of the Universe, encompassing all things, including everything w

13/06/23019 CONCLUSION : Q: What are the recommended duties for man? A: Man has a duty towards himself as a physical, psychological and spiritual embodiment, as also to the family, the community, the nation and the world at large. Man has a duty to the whole universe of which he is an integral part and from which he can never be separated organically. The primary duty of man is abidance by the law of the universe, which determines the lower relative laws applicable to the lesser levels of life in the world, one’s own country, community, family, and personality. Q: How does it influence universal brotherhood and tolerance towards other religions? A: Hinduism should be considered as the great friend of man, in the sense that it has no enemies. In this sense, again, its influence on others is one of a true friend, philosopher and guide. It accepts and holds as valid every faith and every religion in its own field and context and operational jurisdiction, in the light of its o

19/04/23019 Q: Divine Incarnations ? Give their brief life-sketch. A: The Hindus adore the well-known Divine Incarnations of Narayana or Vishnu, viz., Rama and Krishna, who are classified among the gods and are not regarded as humans. The great sages and saints who hold a pre-eminent position are Vasishtha, Vyasa, Suka, Dattatreya, Vamadeva, Yajnavalkya and the like; also, the great devotees associated with devotion to the principal gods popularly worshipped, viz., Vishnu, Siva, Ganesa, Devi, Skanda and Surya; included also are the Acharyas referred to above. Q: What is its relation with modern science and how does it affect modern man? A: Hinduism, as a religion of an almost universal inclusiveness, takes into consideration the different levels of not only the evolution of life by stages but also the levels of outlook in knowledge and experience. The question of the relation between science and religion arises due to the assumption that the objective of science and the a

17/03/2019 III.3. Continued ... Q: Who are the saints and prophets? Give their brief life-sketch. A: The Hindus adore the well-known Divine Incarnations of Narayana or Vishnu, viz., Rama and Krishna, who are classified among the gods and are not regarded as humans. The great sages and saints who hold a pre-eminent position are Vasishtha, Vyasa, Suka, Dattatreya, Vamadeva, Yajnavalkya and the like; also, the great devotees associated with devotion to the principal gods popularly worshipped, viz., Vishnu, Siva, Ganesa, Devi, Skanda and Surya; included also are the Acharyas referred to above. Q: What is its relation with modern science and how does it affect modern man? A: Hinduism, as a religion of an almost universal inclusiveness, takes into consideration the different levels of not only the evolution of life by stages but also the levels of outlook in knowledge and experience. The question of the relation between science and religion arises due to the assumption that the

25/02/2019 III.2 - Continued .. Q: Give glimpses of the life-sketch of its founder. A: Hinduism has no founder, but it adores the great personalities mentioned in or associated with its fundamental scriptures mentioned earlier - for example, sages like Vasishtha, Vyasa, Suka, Valmiki, Yajnavalkya and Uddalaka, and all the propounders of the religion of knowledge, devotion and action. Q: How and in which countries did it spread? A: Hinduism has its stronghold in India, especially. But it spread outside India in the East and its impact in such countries and lands as Java, Sumatra, Cambodia and the like is well known to history. Today, a large population of Indians dwells outside India, in many different countries of the world. The way it spreads its message outside has been through its teachers, messengers, propounders and actual living participants, who accomplished this task either by travel or by written message, or through both. Q: Where are its monuments/places of pi

12/02/2019 III.1 Q: Which are its Scriptures? A: The principal Scriptures of Hinduism are : • the Vedas, consisting of the Samhitas, Brahmanas, Aranyakas and Upanishads • the Smritis, of which the most important are of Manu, Yajnavalkya and Parasara • the Itihasas, viz., the Ramayana and the Mahabharata (which contains the Bhagavadgita) • the eighteen Puranas. Q: Which are the other important books written on it, and who are their authors? A: The other important texts associated with Hinduism, apart from the basic canons mentioned above, are : 4. • the Agamas and Tantras (mystical and esoteric texts) • the Purva-Mimamsa and the Uttara-Mimamsa schools of theology and philosophy • the writings of the great exponents and commentators in the field of philosophy and religion, such as the Acharyas, viz., Sankara, Ramanuja, Madhya, Vallabha, Nimbarka, Gauranga Mahaprabhu and Krishna Chaitanya, as well as the propounders of the religious schools of Vaishnavism, Saivism an

17/01/2019 II. Q: 4. What are its basic principles? A: Briefly, the principles of Hinduism may be stated as follows : - • The ultimate reality of the universe is one and not more than one. • The nature of this reality is spiritual in the sense of Intelligence or Consciousness. • Therefore, this reality is Universal, Omnipresent, and hence at once Omniscient and Omnipotent. • Creation is a veritable Body of this All-pervading Almighty Omnipresence. The relationship between this reality, which is called God, and the created universe is intrinsic, organic and vital, and not external or mechanistic. • There are several planes in this creation, broadly classified into fourteen realms known as lokas, all which are inhabited by different categories of beings, right from the lowest level of the physical elements up to the region of the Creator Himself. • In the sense stated above, the whole universe and all beings are vehicles of divinity and radiant with the immanent Godh