Question What are different types of sins? Answer The question seems simple, but it's a bit broad because there are hundreds of sins mentioned in our scriptures. There are so many kinds of sins mentioned in our scriptures that categorizing them would be difficult. Generally, a sin is committed when the prescribed laws of the sages are violated either by mind, body or speech: varṇāśramaviruddhaṃ ca karma kurvanti ye narāḥ...
Question What are hymns chanted for abhishekam? Answer First of all there is a Panchayatan (formation for offering puja), in this we perform Abhishek to the Aaradhya (main) god for which we are offering puja. There are following possibilities for Aradhya and other god's Any Male God(Except Shiva) we use Purusha Sukta Lord Narayana(Vishnu) and all his 24 avatar's we use Vishnu Sukta (notice we can also use Purusha Sukta instead) each 11 times for Abhishek....
Question Should we consider ISKCON devotees as Hindus or not? Answer This needs an examination of the meaning of the word Hindu. A few questions already exist about what the term 'Hindu' means. Legally in India, anyone who does not follow Abrahamic faiths are Hindus. That includes Jains, Sikhs & Buddhists too. Similarly ISKCON would also fall under the category of legal Hindu. If one were to see if ISKCON would fall under theological Hinduism, it would since their main deity is Krishna who is a 'Hindu' deity....
Question What is the significance of breaking a coconut in Hindu rituals? Answer Can't find any reliable citations for this, but I have mostly heard about this from my parents and elders. Coconut breaking is a symbolic act of submitting oneself completely to the almighty. Before starting anything good/big (ex: foundation stone of buildings, buying a new car etc), coconuts are offered. Coconut is also known as "Sriphal", or Gods fruit....
Question What scripture does the sacred thread mantra come from? Answer I don't know if there's an earlier source, or if there are any scriptures elucidating what prajāpateryat sahajaṃ refers to, but the verse is found in Pāraskara Gṛhyasūtra 2.2.11. Note: “The question: What scripture does the sacred thread mantra come from?” is licensed by Stack Exchange Inc (https://hinduism.stackexchange.com/); user contributions licensed under CC BY-SA.
Question Can sins be transferred? Answer Karma refers to the reward or fruit of action. When one commits a good deed, it is returned back to him/her. When one commits a bad deed(sin), it is also returned back. Can it be transferred to someone else? There are accounts of saints taking on the sicknesses (or bad karma) of others in order to relieve them of their misery throughout history. But this is done voluntarily by the saint, rather than by the disciple....
Question Time travel in Hindu scripture Answer In Bhagavata Purana and some other Puranas, there is mention of a king named Muchukunda who also experienced a similar effect. He went to join the battle for the gods as their commander but by the time he was free to return, all his family and relatives were extinct being swept away by this effect of relative time (SB - 10.51.18). Update This answer is based on the verse from Bhagavata as it describes the story a bit more than the other Puranas....
Question Do the same avatars repeat in each chaturyuga? Answer This might give you an idea of how yugas are divided. As far as same thing getting repeated every chaturyug ,i do not reckon any mention of that but in Devadutta Patanaik book "SITA" Yum comes Ayodhya to take Lord Ram life but he couldn't enter as Hanuman is guarding the gates of Ayodhya. Lord Ram knew about this, so to distracts Hanuman from guarding the gate he drops his ring in river and ask Hanuman to fetch it....
Question Does Science contradict Hinduism? How to deal with scientific discoveries that don’t line up with Vedas? Answer Hinduism is an intrinsically scientific religion. The Vedas themselves accurately describe very complicated geometric concepts including six-dimensional spaces, distances between celestial bodies, and using changing skylines to measure time, just to name a few examples ("Vedic Geometry Course" Dr. S. K. Kapoor). If you follow the Dhashavataram carefully, you will see that it perfectly mirrors the evolution of life on Earth as well as the emergence of increased social structure (and eventual decline) among humans....
Question Is Balarama an Avatar of Vishnu or Adiseshan (or both)? Answer The reason that Balarama is called an incarnation (avatara) of Vishnu is that the serpent Adiseshan is himself a form of Vishnu. Here is how Balarama's birth is described in the Srimad Bhagavatam: When Kamsa had killed six of the children born from Devakî, the seventh one, a plenary expansion of Vishnu who was celebrated with the name Ananta, therefore [was born] as an embryo in the womb of Devakî ....
Question What is the difference between Thenkalai and Vadakalai sects of Sri Vaishnavism? Answer First of all, these aren't the two main sub-sects of Vaishnavism, they are the two main sub-sects of Sri Vaishnavism. There are other Vaishnava Sampradayas, like the Gaudiya Vaishnava sect that ISKCON adheres to. What distinguishes Sri Vaishnavas from other kinds of Vaishnavas are mainly two things: our beliefs, and our origins. Gaudiya Vaishnavas believe in Achintya Bheda Abheda, a simultaneous unity and difference between Jivatma (the human soul) and Paramatma (divine soul or supersoul) that is inconceivable....
Question Who was Lord Hayagriva? Answer Yes, Lord Hayagriva is the avatar of Vishnu with a horse head. Haya means horse and griva means neck. So the deity with a horse head from his neck is known as Hayagriva. The incident of how He got that horse head is present in different scriptures with slight variations. Once in the ancient time the gods decided to do a Yajna. But they couldn't find where was Vishnu....
Question What exactly happens at end of Kali Yuga. Will the world be destroyed? Answer No, the world won't actually get destroyed at the end of the Kali Yuga. Rather, what's going to occur is that when the evil and decadence of the Kali Yuga reaches its zenith, Vishnu will have an incarnation (avatara) as Kalki the horse rider, to kill all the evil people and restore Dharma on earth, commencing a new Satya Yuga....
Question How does Karma work for a person who has converted to Hinduism? Answer Karma is what you had done and what you are doing in your life time. So Karma will be there from the very next moment of your birth. There is nothing to do with Hindu, Muslim or Christian. The Karmaphalam, Fruit(Reward) for your Karma will be awarded to you in your life time, may be in your next life too....
Question Is Janeva (Yajñopavītam or sacred thread) limited to Brahmins only? Answer The wearing of the sacred thread is part of the Dharma (duty) of the first three castes because as the Manu Smriti describes, they are the ones who can read the Vedas: 87) But in order to protect this universe He, the most resplendent one, assigned separate (duties and) occupations to those who sprang from his mouth, arms, thighs, and feet....