Hinduism Questions & Answers

Question What are the different sources that describe vedangas or limbs of the vedas? Answer Vedangas literally mean the limbs of the Vedas. The Vedanga are six auxiliary disciplines traditionally associated with the study and understanding of the Vedas. They are six in number. Just like the limbs of the body, they perform various supportive and augmenting functions in the study, preservation and protection of the Vedas and the vedic traditions....

Question Is it possible for us to see the subtle body? Answer I thought you are asking if scriptures mention whether it is possible to see the subtle body or not. So, if you are also looking for answers like this, then Sri Ramakrishna also saw his own subtle body coming out of his gross body. This inicident is quite famous in his life. He saw signs of the throat disease in that subtle body that he were to be afflicted with in the future....

Question Who is devi in devi suktam? Answer Vaak Suktam Or Devi Suktam is in Rig- Veda - Mandala 10 as sukta 125. The Rishika of this sukam is Vagambharni i.e. this sukta has been heard by a female sage by name Vaak , who is the daughter of Rishi Ambhrina and so the sukta is also called as the VakAmbharni Sukta. The explanation given in various sources say that this suktam came out from deep of her heart when she was in communication with Brahman in her worship in exalted state....

Question Is me and my body separate? Answer The "I" is the soul. And it is distinct from the body. The body is declared to be dead when the soul leaves the body. Asya visramsamAnasya sharirasthasya dehinah | DehAdvimuchyamanasya kimatra parishishyate | Etadvai tath || When, one, who is established in the body as it's lord, gets detached from the body, what remains in the body then? That is That (or the AtmA)....

Question Did Brahman split into multiple souls? Answer The exact verse you are referring to is Chandogya VI.2.3. The division is only apparently so, and is only seen from the aspect of maya. Krishna says in Gita Chapter 13 verse 16 (Swami Nikhilananda translator): It is indivisible, and yet It is, as it were, divided among beings. That Knowable Brahman is the Sustainer of all beings, and also their Devourer and Generator....

Question What are the “Three Worlds” referred to in the Bhagavad Gita 3.22? Answer The Brhadaranyaka Upanishad V.xiv.1 (Swami Madhavananda translator) says: 'Bhumi' (the earth), 'Antariksa' (sky) and 'Dyaus' (heaven) make eight syllables, and the first foot of the Gayatri has eight syllables. So the above three worlds constitute the first foot of the Gayatri. He who knows the first foot of the Gayatri to be such wins as much as there is in those worlds....

Question One mantra for praising all deities of three Lokas Answer There technically is "no only one mantra" if you're planning to please all the deities in the Triloka. But there are alternatives. If you wish to get the mantra which all the gods adhere to and pay allegiance, but non-Vedantic - then try the Gayatri Mantra. It is present in many sources, however I am taking it from the Surya Upanishad....

Question Does the individual soul actually feel pleasure or pain? Answer Yes, the jiva feels the pleasure and pain as long as he does not identify with the Atman. Upon the same tree there are two birds, one on the top, the other below. The one on the top is calm, silent, and majestic, immersed in his own glory; the one on the lower branches, eating sweet and bitter fruits by turns, hopping from branch to branch, is becoming happy and miserable by turns....

Question Did our scriptures mention any avatar that Parabrahma has taken? Answer Yes, certainly. But NOT in the same sense as of those of say, Lord Vishnu or Lord Shiva. The reason for this is that the nature of the Parambramhm (Parbramha) is fundamentally different from that of both - ordinary souls like us, who are linked to casual ( and ultimately to gross ) bodies, as well as the divine souls residing in the higher realms....

Question Who is the goddess depicted as “Bharat Mata” & why is she having Indian tricolor flag? Answer Goddess The Bharat mata is [primarily] goddess Durga. However in general she is an amalgamation of various goddesses. Bharat Matā (Hindi, from Sanskrit Bhāratāmbā भारताम्बा; अम्बा ambā means 'mother') is the national personification of India as a mother goddess. She is an amalgam of all the goddesses of Indian culture and more significantly of goddess Durga....

Question Was Lord Hanuman born in Sumeru? Where is that place? Is it renamed recently? Answer Was Lord Hanuman born in Sumeru? Is it the birth place of Hanuman? Yes, as per UTTARA KANDA of Valmiki Ramayan: [The ascetic Agastya said to Lord Shri Rama:] I am not capable of describing to thee the wondrous childish feat which Hanuman did perform in his boyhood. But if thou art, O Raghava, greatly anxious to hear it, I shall relate do thou hear with a quiescent mind....

Question Is liberation for mind or Atman? Answer What we perceive as consciousness through our mind is contained in Atman only. Atman is pure consciousness. It is the cause of consciousness which is played by the "mind" in the human body. Kena Upanishad Chapter One: IV That which speech does not illumine, but which illumines speech: know that alone to be the Brahman (the Supreme Being), not this which people worship here....

Question From which dimension of existence did Matsya take the Sapatarishis? And to where? Answer From which place did Saptarishis in boat travel? As per Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (Bhāgavata Purāṇa) 8.24, One day while Satyavrata, the King of Draviḍadeśa, performing austerities by offering water on the bank of the river Kṛtamālā, a small fish appeared in the water in his palms. Later the fish became bigger and bigger and Satyavrata came to know that the fish is not the ordinary one....

Question What is the meaning of Shivaaya? Answer शिवाय (Śivāya) is 4th Vibhakti of शिव (Shiva). 4th Vibhakti means to/for whom. So the meaning of Śivāya would be to/for Shiva. Example: ॐ नमः शिवाय (Om Namah Shivaya): Om salutations to Lord Shiva! Below are the basic details on 8 Vibhaktis: 1st: Subject 2nd: Object 3rd: by/with/through whom 4th: to/for whom 5th: from whom 6th: shows possession (E.g. Ram's or of Ram) 7th: in/on whom 8th: when addressing The below lines of Ram Raksha Stotra have all the Vibhaktis in order:...

Question Why Gayatri mantra is widely recited by non-bramhins nowadays which was once the stronghold of only the brahmins? Answer gAyatri mantra HAS TO BE recited by non brahmins also, Kshatriyas and vysyas too have right for vedic initiation/upanayana. Secondly women too have right to study and chant vedas and conduct vedic rites. So it is good that non brahmins too are taking interest in this else the divine knowledge of vedas would keep on reducing among the masses....