Hinduism Questions & Answers

Question Who was at Fault for Draupadi Vastraharan – Duryodhan Or Yudhishthir? Answer After reading above comments and answer just my opinion is, i don't think only Kauravas were responsible for draupadi’s fate ,i think all the people who was presented in raj sabha are equally responsible. Because, Wasn’t it the mistake of Yudhishtir to bet Draupadi, his wife in the very first place? Well, if Yudhishtir considers Draupadi as an object and bets her in a game of dice, then Duryodhan being the winner of the game as well as the object don’t you think so had every right to do anything to the winning thing ?...

Question Is relationship between father and son eternal? Answer In a way yes. Their relation is eternal because son is said to be the own self of the father, his atma. angad angat sambhavasi hrdayad abhijayase atma vai putra-namasi sañjiva saradah satam “You have taken birth from my various limbs and have arisen from my very heart. You are my own self in the form of my son. May you live through a hundred autumns....

Question Is mukthi possible from world’s other than bhuloka(ie. From swarga and naraka) Answer As I discussed in this answer, according to Vedanta, the only way to attain Moksha is to realize Brahman. ShvetaShvatar Upanishad: वेदाहमेतं पुरुषं महान्त- मादित्यवर्णं तमसः परस्तात् । तमेव विदित्वातिमृत्युमेति नान्यः पन्था विद्यतेऽयनाय ॥ ८॥ III-8: I have realized this Great Being who shines effulgent like the sun beyond all darkness. One passes beyond death only on realizing Him....

Question Examples of human sacrifice in Hindu scripture Answer The Mahābhārata narrates the story of King Somaka and his only son Jantu who was sacrificed so each of Somaka's 100 wives would be blessed with a son. Here's a short account of the story from The Purāṇic Encyclopedia: Jantu born again. Somaka had hundred wives. But only one of them gave birth to a child. That child was Jantu. He was a pet of all the hundred wives....

Question Exact relation between lord shiva and goddess Kali? Answer Before coming to your question, a little background understanding is important. Here it is.. Before the creation of world Shiva use to be in Ardhanareshwara (Half body is of woman and half is of man) form. Brahma starts creation of world but at one point Lord Brahma got lack in energy/power to complete the work of srijan (creation). Then he went to Shiva and ask for help....

Question How to do meditation if I’ve got negative thoughts? Answer When ever i try to concentrate in either my breath or a word i am not able to concentrate. Please give me some solution to it. Yes , the solution of your above problem is given in various Hinduism scriptures like Shreemad Bhagvat Gita , Patanjali YOG-SUTRAS , Aparokshanubhuti ( by adi Shankaracharya ) etc. This problem is discussed and possible solutions are also given in below shlokas by various texts....

Question Are there mantras that should be chanted by me for curing a person (not me)? Answer Mahamrityunjaya mantra is the best choice but it should be chanted in continuous manner accompanied by homam and abhishekam if problem is severe. Along with this, Sri Rudram should also chanted as much as possible. One has to visualize the energy of the mantra entering into the patient and healing him. Mrityunjaya mantra is as follows, As per Mantra-Mahodadhi Chapter 16, Up to three nakshatras from the birth nakshatra, one has to perform homam with samidha (wood) of Guduchi to avoid diseases and untimely death....

Question Does Lord Narayana take incarnation to change era? Answer "Does Lord Narayana take incarnation to change era?" Not necessarily. There are few AvatAra-s which are listed for Vishnu, but there may be many others which are not that much famous. IMO, we cannot define when the lord should take an incarnation. Also not everyone of them were born at the end of an era, as there are only 4 era-s....

Question Does prayer remove bad deeds of past lives? Answer Prayer, PujA (worship) etc can remove sins committed in infinite number of our past lives. Here is a proof that prayer in the form Mantra Japa can do it: Lakshyadwayen pApAni saptajanmakritAnyapi | NAsayet TripurA devi sAdhakasya na samsayaha || JaptvA lakshyatrayam mantri yantrito mantra vigraha | PAtakam nAsayedAsu yadi janmasahasragam || ......... [Lord Shiva said] If the devotee does japa [of the mantra] two lakh times, Goddess TripurA will destroy all his sins that was accumulated in his past seven lives....

Question Who are the Sanat Kumaras? Answer So are there more than 10 mAnasa putras? Yes, it seems to be there are more than ten Manasaputra of Lord Brahma. Many Puranas mention it. First Lord Brahma generated some sons but they adopted the path of Nivritti. Sanandana and the other sons of Brahmā were previously created by him, but they were without desire or passion, inspired with holy wisdom, estranged from the universe, and undesirous of progeny....

Question How did Vishnu help Indra in killing Vritra? Answer There is a slightly different version of the story of Vritra as mentioned in the Mahabharata. There Indra is defeated by Vritra, gets advice from Vishnu, befriends Vritra based on that advice, and later kills Vritra by throwing foam infused with Vishnu's power on him. (All of the following are from K.M. Ganguly's translation of Vyasa's MahaBharata) MahaBharata Udyoga Parva, Section 9: Indra is defeated by Vritra: Long story but Twashta creates Vritra since Indra kills his son....

Question Apart from the Srimad Bhagavatam and the Brahma Vaivarta Purana, is Goloka Vrindavana mentioned anywhere? Answer Yes, apart from Shrimada Bhagavatam 10.27.1, Goloka is mentioned in many scriptures. While Bhagavatam describes Goloka as a place where the celestial cow Surabhi resides, but some other scriptures describe Goloka as eternal abode of Lord Krishna. In this way, O son of Kunti, assuming diverse forms do I rove at will through the Earth, the region of Brahma himself, and that other high and eternal region of felicity called Goloka....

Question Where can I get the complete English translation of the Chaitanya Bhagavata? Answer You can read a complete English translation of Vrindavana Dasa Thakura's Chaitanya Bhagavata here. Note that the Kandas are out of order; you should read th Adi Kanda, then the Madhya Kanda, then the Antya Kanda. Note: “The question: Where can I get the complete English translation of the Chaitanya Bhagavata?” is licensed by Stack Exchange Inc (https://hinduism....

Question Do any Vedic verses depict Lord Vishnu to be supreme? Answer Yes, Rig Veda (1.22.20) makes it very clear that it is Vishnu who empowers all the heavenly Devas extolled and glorified in the Vedas. Vishnu occupies the paramount position. All the other deities look always to His feet. Rig Veda 10.113.2 states: Vishnu is glorified because of who and what He intrinsically is. Indra, on the other hand, is only glorious circumstantially....

Question What is the meaning of the term ‘‘Mayavadi’’? Is the term mentioned in any of the scriptures? Answer The earliest reference I can find is from the 8th century in Bhaskara's Bhasya on the Brahma Sutra. First see the remark made by Surendranath Dasgupta in the third volume of his History of Indian Philosophy: Bhāskara argues against Śaṅkara as follows: the arguments that the upholder of māyā (māyāvādin) could adduce against those who believed in the reality of the many, the world, might be adduced against him also, in so far as he believes in monism (adraita)....