Hinduism Questions & Answers

Question Complete English translations of Puranas Answer Note: Skip to bottom of this answer to download complete Purana as single PDF file. All these puranas are scanned and non text searchable. Index here shows Skanda Purana consists 23 Volumes.Of 23 Volumes,20 volumes were found from West Bengal Dspace. Skanda Purana Volume 1 Volume 2 Volume 3 Volume 4 Volume 5 Volume 6 Volume 7 Volume 8 Volume 9 Volume 10 Volume 11 Volume 12 Volume 13 Volume 14 Volume 15 Volume 16 Volume 17 Volume 18 Volume 19 Volume 20 I will update links for other Volumes after getting legitimate links....

Question When and what time does the Navratri fast end? Answer Navaratri basically represents a celebration of the Goddess Durga, with nava meaning nine and ratri meaning nights Navratri is “Nine Nights festival”. The commencement of spring and autumn are considered to be an important junction of atmospheric and solar influences, and this is the reason why these two periods are taken as sacred prospects for the worship of the Divine Durga Maa....

Question Are there any references to Gravity in Hindu Scriptures? Answer Due to the dominance of Vedanta school in present time, Sanatana Dharma (Hinduism) is often seen only in the light of Vedanta. If we go with respect to doctrines, Vedanta is only a small part of philosophies of Sanatana Dharma. Sanatana Dharma is mainly represented by six philosophies like Vedanta, Mimamsa, Nyaya etc.. Among the six school of philosophy, Vaishesika is one of them....

Question Righteousness among Rakhshasas Answer While a layman uses the words Asura,Daitya ,Rakshasa synonymously but there are differences between them. Atleast ,as far as a Daitya and a Rakshasa are concerned there is quite a good amount of differences between the two. Manu Smriti, the oldest Dharma Shastra, describe everything in creation as manifestations of the 3 gunas(Triguna) viz-Sattva,Rajas and Tamas. Each of these 3 groups are further divided into three more sub-groups viz-Sattva1,Sattva2 and Sattva3 where Sattva3 is the lowest form of Sattva and Sattva1 the highest....

Question Is it wise to kill an insect just because it is bothering you Answer Damaging crops and infrastructure eventually leads to damage to humans. Worry about the karma you are creating by not helping a human in need. The amount of karma from killing an insect, even thousands, is inconsequential compared to the karma for harming one human, much less killing one. As Swami Vivekananda has pointed out, we are surrounded by life, just the act of taking a breath of air kills thousands of bacteria....

Question How Sattva Guna Lord Vishnu killed Demons or evil people in his incarnations? Answer Lord Vishnu is associated with Sattva Guna... Relating 3 modes of nature with 3 Gods is insulting. Where BrahmA and Shiva are associated with Rajas and Tamas respectively. BrahmA is not only a homonym with Brahman but also quite near and also he is the creator of the universe. Shiva/Sadashiva/Rudra/MahAdev is equally respected among devotees. Now someone (may be a Vishnu worshiper) has ignorantly associated Triguna to Trideva and secured Sattva for Vishnu....

Question Does the shloka ‘ahiṃsā paramo dharma’ or excerpt appear in Mahabharata? Answer Yes, this shloka is present in Mahabharata. 1) Adi Parva of Mahabharata: Sauti Muni talking about Rishi Sahasrapat tells Rishi Ruru about the characteristics of a brahamana. अहिंसा परमॊ धर्मः सर्वप्राणभृतां समृतः तस्मात पराणभृतः सर्वान न हिंस्याथ बराह्मणः कव चित Verily the highest virtue of man is sparing the life of others. Therefore a Brahmana should never take the life of any creature....

Question ‘Playing football takes us nearer to heaven rather than reading Bhagavad Gita’ but how and why? Answer Swami Vivekananda meant that a strong body can help you have the frame of mind needed to understand things like the Upanishads and Bhagavad Gita, and thus ultimately attain Jnana. Here's the quote in its original context: First of all, our young men must be strong. Religion will come afterwards. Be strong, my young friends; that is my advice to you....

Question Is fear not as bad as anger and lust? Answer Gita classifies fear as a bad quality as can be seen in this shloka: Freed from passion, fear and anger, ever absorbed in My thought, and ever dependent on Me - many have attained to My state, being purified by the fire of knowledge and austerity. Gita 4.10 Note: “The question: Is fear not as bad as anger and lust?...

Question Ravana - Who were his parents and siblings? Answer Ravana's parents were Vishrava (son of Pulastya) and Kaikesi (daughter of Sumali and Thataka). Kaikesi had two brothers Maricha and Subahu which would effectively make them Ravana's uncles. Ravana had six brothers and two sisters: Kubera – the King of North direction and the Guardian of Heavenly Wealth. He was an older half-brother of Ravana: they were born to the same father by different mothers....

Question Is Krishna mentioned in the Chandogya Upanishad? Answer Chandogya Upanishad declaration on Ghora Angirasa and Devaki Putra Krishna: taddhaitadghor āṅgirasaḥ kṛṣṇāya devakīputrāyoktvovācāpipāsa eva sa babhūva so'ntavelāyāmetattrayaṃ pratipadyetākṣitamasyacyutamasi prāṇasam̐śitamasīti tatraite dve ṛcau bhavataḥ ॥ The meaning of this mantra as given by shrI shankara and shrI madhva differs from that of shrI rAmAnuja. shrI shankara says: "Ghora Angirasa, after having communicated this (view of the sacrifice) to Krishna, the son of Devaki -- and he never thirsted again (after other knowledge)--said: 'Let a man, when his end approaches, take refuge with this Triad: "...

Question Is there anything against Islam in Hindu texts? Answer Hindu scriptures long predate the rise of Islam. I would say that Hindu-Muslim relationship has been bad for many centuries. The 1202 storm campaign of Muhammad Ghori resulted in the destruction of hundreds of Hindu temples. There is no doubt ( in spite of the efforts of secular historians) that Nalanda was destroyed by the Muslim invaders. The common Hindus were forced to pay Jizya tax....

Question How to differentiate between a spiritual experience and a mental disorder or delusion? Answer Modern Scientific studies of the Human Brain and Nervous System ,cybernetics,show that it is not possible to distinguish between these three states of consciousness -i.e. Spiritual Experience ,Insanity and Day Dreaming of a drunkard. Consider a situation ,where Doctors administer Chloroform to a patient , before surgery . This makes the patient Unconscious. The Doctors perform the surgery , the patient does not react ....

Question Is there any incarnation of God currently living among us? Answer From history it is evident that whoever revives Dharma in difficult times almost single-handedly is being considered as Avatar of God. Going by this definition in the recent past, in Mughal era, Chhatrapati Shivaji in Maharashtra could be called as an Avatar. Similarly, at the time of Vivekanand, Christian missionaries were raising huge funds in the Western countries for missionary work in India to convert poor and illiterate Hindus....

Question Did Rama have multiple wives? Answer Rama's father Maharaja Dasaratha had 3 Queens and 350 other wives. On the other hand, Rama is Ekapatni Vrata, the man who wedded only once. Sitadevi is his only wife. This is illustrated many times in the Ramayana, prominently in the episode of Surpanakha, where he denies her proposal saying he is Krta Darah, meaning one who has already married - this implies his Ekapatni Vrata....