Q&A

Question Can you subtract sin with enough virtue? Scriptural quotes/activities/instruction to wipe out any and all sin! Answer No. In the mythology of the Puranas and the epics, the picture of sins (pāpa ) and virtue (pūnya) that emerges is mostly based on the superstitions and is not comprehensive to present a unequivocal, logical, argumentative answer to your question. However, Vedas presents an answer that appeals to logic and legal philosophies....

Question Are Devas like Indra god? Answer The question is I heard many stories about deeds of Indra and other gods in Puranas. For e.g. rape of Ahilya by Indra, rape of Tara by Saima etc. So my question is how can a God do this? Are they really God? If they are not God why did Vedas praise them? Is there anything from Hindu scriptures, especially in Vedas or Upanishads, that denies them as God?...

Question Does Sankara Bhashyam exist for The Nrusimha Tapani Upanisad? Answer Commentary of Shankaracharya on Nṛsiṃha pūrva tāpaniya Upanishat exists. Collected Works of Sankara 1910 Edition published by Sri Vani Vilas Press, Sri Rangam. This book is a collection of various works which are believed to be written by Adi Shankaracharya. It contains following works: 1. Brahmasutra-bhashya 2. Brahmasutra-bhashya 3. Brahmasutra-bhashya 4. Upanishad-bhashya, vol. 1: Isa, Kena [2], Katha, Prasna...

Question Why, when and how did the Atman acquire body consciousness? Answer Short Answer Atman never loses its self awareness. You have the wrong idea. There's no material body in first place, then how can Atman acquire body consciousness? न निरोधो न चोत्पत्तिर्न बद्धो न च साधकः । न मुमुक्षुर्न वै मुक्त इत्येषा परमार्थता ॥ ३२ ॥ There is no dissolution, no birth, none in bondage, none aspiring for wisdom, no seeker of liberation and none liberated....

Question What is validity of different translation of word" Mamsah"? Answer First off, as Sheldon Pollock points out in his translation of Ayodhyākāṇḍa, the two verses you quote in your question have been removed from the Critical Edition of Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa. Sarga 90 1. In order to establish a reasonable transition between sargas, the SR [Southern Recension] inserts before this verse four lines (2091*), in which Rāma, having shown Sītā around the mountain, sits down on the slope and gives her cooked meat to eat (thus attempting also to account for the fire mentioned in 87....

Question What good deeds saved Taksaka from Sarpa Yajna? Answer One reason is mentioned in answer by srimannarayana k v that Indra took exception form Brahma to save Takṣaka. One more reason is mentioned in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (Bhāgavata Purāṇa) 12.6.23-24 which says that Takṣaka had drunk the Amrita so due that reason he couldn't be killed. Note: “The question: What good deeds saved Taksaka from Sarpa Yajna?” is licensed by Stack Exchange Inc (https://hinduism....

Question Question related to karma and rebirth Answer Before coming to the example, one needs to understand the two types of karma in play here - Prarabdha and Kriyamana. But I will also include Sanchita karma for good order sake. Sanchita Karma It is all your accumulated karma of past lives. Prarabdha karma It is that portion of Sanchita karma that will fructify in this life. One cannot escape it....

Question Is there any Vedic verse that explicitly says Brahma and Shiva did not exist before creation? Answer Is there any Vedic verse that explicitly says Brahma and Shiva did not exist before creation? Yes. For example this verse from the Maha Upanishad: eko ha vai nArAyaNa AsIt, na brahmA neshAnaH Only Narayana was there. Not Brahma, nor Shiva. The modern day Mahopanishad is interpolated but this verse was cited by many ancient Vedantins including Yamunacharya, Ramanujacharya, Vedanta Desika, Yadavaprakasha, and Narayanacharya....

Question Is this verse really there in the Bhagavat Gita? Please answer with reference Answer That verse doesn't belong to the Bhagavad-gītā but is taken from the Aśvamedha Parva of the Southern Recension of the Mahābhārata (Kumbakonam Edition): Ashvamedhikaparva - adhyAya 116 14.116. adhyAyaH 116 Mahabharata - Ashvamedhika Parva - Chapter Topics kR^iShNena yudhiShThiraMprati bhakagavadbhaktisaushIlyAdyabhAve brAhmaNAnAmapi agnihotrasvAdhyAyAdhyayanAdisatkarmaNAmapi vaiphalyasya shUdrANAmapi bhaktyAdimatAM svochitakiMchitkarmaNAmapi sAphalyasya cha kathanam.. 1 .. Mahabharata - Ashvamedhika Parva - Chapter Text yudhiShThira uvAcha....

Question Why Vedas are called inferior in Upanishads? Answer The Vedas are divisible into two parts which are Purva Mimamsa or Karma Mimamsa dealing with rituals for Dharma, Artha, Kama and Gyana Kanda or Uttara Mimamsa/Upanishads for Moksha. Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha together are Purusartha or purpose of society and its beings. Upanishads have called Purva Mimamsa as inferior when compared to Gyana Kanda Vedanta. Mundaka Upanishad Chapter 1...

Question Do gods like Brahma, Vishnu, Indra and Yama, in their Lokas, have bodies or are they just Atmans? Answer Do gods like Brahma, Vishnu, Indra and Yama, in their Lokas, have bodies or are they just Atmans? Yes they have bodies according to the Brahma Sutras. Ramanujacharya in his Sri Bhashya says: The devas, from Brahma downward, possess a body and sense-organs, is declared in all the Upanishads. ......

Question Was Daśaratha/Dasharatha at fault to receive a curse for killing a boy unintentionally? Answer It is mentioned in Valmiki Ramayana that Dasratha was an ace hunter who could shoot unseen (just on hearing ) Ayodhya Kanda Ch 63 Verse 11 "This sin was done by me while I was young and wielding a bow. At that time, I was famous as a young man, who can shoot heard (but unseen) object by an arrow, O Kausalya!...

Question Original version of Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram bhajan? Answer The original lyrics of Raghupati Raghava Rajaaram are written by Sri Lakshamanacharya in a religious text titled Shri Nama Ramayanam Source: Raghupati Raghav Rajaram – The Original Lyrics Original text of Bhajan: रघुपति राघव राजाराम पतित पावन सीताराम सुंदर विग्रह मेघश्याम गंगा तुलसी शालग्राम भद्रगिरीश्वर सीताराम भगत-जनप्रिय सीताराम जानकीरमणा सीताराम जयजय राघव सीताराम These devotional songs falls in category called as Nām Jap / नाम जप (chanting of various names of any god / goddess)....

Question If mother is superior to father then why did Parashurama kill his mother on his father’s command? Answer So why did Parashurama obey his father's command ? This is answered in the Srimad Bhagavatam: राम: सञ्चोदित: पित्रा भ्रातृन् मात्रा सहावधीत् । प्रभावज्ञो मुने: सम्यक् समाधेस्तपसश्च स: ॥ ६ ॥ Jamadagni then ordered his youngest son, Paraśurāma, to kill his brothers, who had disobeyed this order, and his mother, who had mentally committed adultery....

Question Does South India comes within land of mlechhas? Answer No, South India is not the land of mlechhas. Why? Because people possessing vedic knowledge reside in South India also. What is the pramANa for all this? It is Shankara's commentary on brihadaranyaka upanishad 1.3.10. https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/book/the-brihadaranyaka-upanishad/d/doc117898.html Upanishad Verse 1.3.10: सा वा एषा देवतैतासां देवतानाम् पाप्मानम् मृत्युमपहत्य यत्रासां दिशामन्तस्तद्गमयांचकार, तदासां पामनो विन्यदधात्; तस्मान्न जनमियात्, नान्तमियात्, नेत्पाप्मानम् मृत्युमन्ववायानीति ॥ १० ॥ sā vā eṣā devataitāsāṃ devatānām pāpmānam mṛtyumapahatya yatrāsāṃ diśāmantastadgamayāṃcakāra, tadāsāṃ pāmano vinyadadhāt; tasmānna janamiyāt, nāntamiyāt, netpāpmānam mṛtyumanvavāyānīti || 10 ||...