Q&A

Question Can a 24 year old renounce the material world and live a life solely dedicated to realization of God through meditation? Answer Ramakrishna Paramahamsa says (Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, Chapter 8): There are three or four varieties of renunciation. Afflicted with miseries at home, one may put on the ochre cloth of a monk; but that renunciation doesn't last long. Again, a man out of work puts on an ochre wearing-cloth and goes off to Benares....

Question Is Hanuman an avatar of Lord Shiva? Answer Yes. Lord Hanuman is Rudra avatar of Lord Shiva as per shiva puran. Mother of Lord Hanuman Pleased Vayu devata and Lord Shiva to have son. Vayu devata gave her boon of son and Lord Shiva was asked to give son who is exactly like him. So Lord Shiva granted Anjanimata boon that his 11th Rudra will take birth as her son and Lord Hanuman born....

Question Universal mantra of all mantras for attaining the highest level of God realization? Answer I upvoted SwamiVishwananda's answer, but not 100% convinced. ॐ is more of a sound vibration than a mantra. Hence, I would extend it to below 2 mantras from Bhagavad Gita: 1. Gayatri Mantra ॐ भूर्भुवः॒ स्वः । तत्स॑वि॒तुर्वरे॑ण्यं॒ भर्गो॑ दे॒वस्य॑ धीमहि । धियो॒ यो नः॑ प्रचो॒दया॑त् ॥ Meaning: We meditate on the glory of that being who has produced this universe; May he enlighten our minds....

Question Who wrote or composed (put together) the Puranas? Answer I googled and I got this: अष्टादशपुराणानां सारं व्यासेन कीर्तितम् | परोपकार: पुण्याय पापाय परपीडनम् || हिंदी अनुवाद: कीर्तिस्वरूप अठारह पुराणों के सार के रूप में महर्षि व्यास ने सिर्फ दो बातें कहीं !! दूसरो का उपकार करने से पुण्य होता है और दुःख देने से पाप । एक प्रचलित कहावत भी है -परहित सरिस धरम नहि भाई, परपीड़ा सम नहि अधिकाई । English Translation: Amidst all the 18 Puranas, know only two gospels of Maharshi Vyas to be true, that doing good to others conduces to merit and doing harm to them leads to Sin....

Question What is Ganga Devi’s marital status? Answer Ganga Devi is wife of King Shantanu. Ganga devi's sister Parvati is wife of Lord Shiva. From texts in Mahabharata epic it is clear that Ganga Devi is wife of King Shantanu. Thus Ganga Devi's marital status is married. But Ganga devi had a deal with King Shantanu that he will never doubt her or question her actions. Before Bhishma 7 children(Vasus) were born to Ganga Devi who died in flood But when Bheeshma born King Shantanu doubted Ganga devi that she will also take the son away in flood and he will die....

Question Why did Karna flee from battle with Chitrasena (Gandharvas)? Answer I posted the same question on Quora and got the answer: "the Kuru prince, surrounded by thecowherds, began to # sport and wander cheerfully. And the citizens also and the soldiers by thousands began to sport, as best pleased them, in those woods, like the celestials. And the herdsmen, well skilled in singing and dancing and instrumental music, and virgins decked in ornaments, began to minister to the pleasures of Dhritarashtra's son....

Question राशि(zodiac sign) of Krishna and Rama Answer Zodaic specially refers to position of moon in constellation at the birth time. Although Sun-zodiac is also calculated, but the term राशि mainly refers with respect to Moon. For Lord Krishna 1-5. Thereafter, at the auspicious time for the appearance of the Lord, the entire universe was surcharged with all the qualities of goodness, beauty and peace. The constellation Rohini appeared, as did stars like Asvini....

Question Does Krishna really love any one? Answer I think you are referring to following Bhagavad Geeta shlokha. The speaker in the YouTube video you mention has got some of the translation (I neither love nor hate any one) wrong. The translation by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada is below. Bg 4.11 ye yathā māṁ prapadyante tāṁs tathaiva bhajāmyaham mama vartmānuvartante manuṣyāḥ pārtha sarvaśaḥ Word for word: ye — all who; yathā — as; mām — unto Me; prapadyante — surrender; tān — them; tathā — so; eva — certainly; bhajāmi — reward; aham — I; mama — My; vartma — path; anuvartante — follow; manuṣyāḥ — all men; pārtha — O son of Pṛthā; sarvaśaḥ — in all respects....

Question How can one know about their previous births? Answer Patanjali Yoga Sutra III.18 says: By making samyama on previous thought-waves, one obtains knowledge of one's past lives. The basic idea is that every thought remains in a subtle form even after it is gone from our conscious mind. Thus one can though Yoga bring these subtle thoughts back into the conscious mind. This can even be done for previous births....

Question Does chanting Holy Names while doing worldly duties generate any punya karma? Answer Yes, chanting holy names generates good karma. This can be seen from the fact that people in past and even today use to name their children with some God names (e.g., Krishna, Shankar, Shiv, Vishnu, Mahesh, etc), such that when they call them by their names, they remember God as well. People in some parts of India while meeting other people often say 'Ram-Ram' and the other person also says the same in return....

Question Approach to the Ultimate/Absolute Truth (Jnana) Answer The path of knowledge is commonly referred to as Jnana Yoga. What is meant by Jnana depends upon the scripture being read. Oftentimes scripture will distinguish between Vijnana (refers to Knowledge -meaning Realization of Brahman, Transcendent Perception of the Ultimate) and Jnana (meaning mental and scriptural knowledge/understanding of Brahman, but not Realization). Other times Jnana is simply referring to Vijnana. Swami Vivekananda says (Complete Works, V7, p 197-198; and here under the title Conversations and Dialogues, sub-title I - XXIX, sub-sub-title XV - http://cwsv....

Question What is RaasLeela? Answer sorry frnd it not a sex ... Reason : load krishna like to play rass .... may u agree and leela means its one kind of magic at a time when load krishna play rass there is many gopi's and all want to play rass with shri krishna so shri krishna do there leela so that then can play rass with each and every gopi is we can said rassleela ....

Question Supreme Brahman in Hinduism Answer Mahabharata, Santi Parva, Section CCLXXX says: Know that this entire universe is under the control of one divine Being. The Veda that is in the soul.......regards the unity of various creatures. When a living creature realizes this unity in consequence of true knowledge, he is then said to attain to Brahman. Mahabharata, Vana Parva, Section CCLXX says: The Supreme Spirit hath three condition, In the form of Brahma, he is the Creator, and in the form of Vishnu he is the Preserver, and in his form as Rudra, he is the Destroyer of the Universe....

Question Why is Ravan considered a Rakshasa? Answer In the famous dialogue between Yama (in form of Yaksha) and King Yudhishthira there is mention about the eligibility to be a a brahmin. The verse goes as follows(Question no-31): The Yaksha asked,—“By what, O king, birth, behaviour, study, or learning both a person become a Brahmana? Tell us with certitude!” Yudhishthira answered,-“Listen, O Yaksha! It is neither birth, nor study, nor learning, that is the cause of Brahmanahood, without doubt, it is behaviour that constitutes it....

Question Is human birth reincarnation? Answer The parents provide the gross physical body for the pleasure and pain of the subtle body of a Jiva. Brahma Sutra Bhasya of Sankaracharya 3.1.27 says, From the womb a (new) body is born. It is only when the soul (Atman and the subtle body) reaches the womb from candraloka that it gets, according to its residual Karma, a body for the enjoyments of pleasure and pain....