Hinduism Questions & Answers

Question In which veda(s) is Ayurveda included? Answer Ayurveda is treated as Upaveda of Rigveda and Antharveda.1 The Charanavyuha mentions Āyurveda as Upavedas of Rigveda. But Sushruta and Bhavaprakasha mention Ayurveda as an upaveda of the Atharvaveda. 2 So Ayurveda is treated as upveda of Rigveda or Atharveda. Note: “The question: In which veda(s) is Ayurveda included?” is licensed by Stack Exchange Inc (https://hinduism.stackexchange.com/); user contributions licensed under CC BY-SA.

Question If Radha and Krishna aren’t married, why do we worship Them together, like Sita-Rama? Answer Besides the Brahma Vaivarta Purana mentioned in the other answer, the 39th Chapter of the 9th Book of Devi Bhagavatam also mentions the origin of both Radha and Lakshmi from Krishna: 4-33. Nârâyana said :-- Of old, in the beginning of the Prâkritik Creation, from the left side of Krisna, the Supreme Spirit, appeared in the Râsamandalam (the Figure Dance) a Devî....

Question What are the exact ten avatars of Vishnu? Answer This isn't a proper answer, but then again I don't think there can be a proper answer. The notion of Dasavatharam isn't a notion that's found in Hindu scriptures; there are countless avatarams of Vishnu found in Hindu scriptures, such as the approximately twenty-four avatarams of Vishnu found in the Srimad Bhagavatam, and different people have made different lists of what they think the "...

Question At what age was Lord Krishna killed by the hunter? Answer Krishna lived for 125 years; in the Srimad Bhagavatam, Brahma tells Krishna that it's time for his life on earth to end: O Supreme Personality of Godhead, O my Lord, You have descended into the Yadu dynasty, and thus You have spent one hundred twenty-five autumns with Your devotees. There's another popular way to calculate his age: the Matsya Purana apparently contains a reference to Krishna being 89 years old during the Mahabharata War (see here), and the Mausala Parva of the Mahabharata says that Krishna died 36 years after the war, which adds up to 125 years total....

Question What is the panchang to be used when generating a horoscope? Answer Note that I'm basing my answer on largely on this site and this site, both of which use the Drik Panchangam, so that might bias the arguments somewhat. The Vakya Panchgangam system, as used for instance in the famous Pambu Panchangam and the Sri Rangam Panchangam, originates in an ancient astrological work called the Surya Siddhanta. The Surya Siddhanta covers many topics in astrology, but most notably it has a section with a collection of simple mnemonic devices that describe how to determine the location of the heavenly bodies like the Sun and Moon, based on trigonometric calculations that were quite advanced for its time....

Question Did mountains use to have wings? Answer As Sundarkandnirnay - 2 says Mainak parvat had wings. Earlier all the mountains had wings. They out of pride, started flying in the air and settling down at their will. This caused inconvenience to the people at large. Hence Indra cut the wings of all the mountains. But Mainak, the golden parvat, 100 yojana in width, took shelter of vayu and then consequently was saved and allowed to stay in lavan samudra....

Question Why is “Chandra” added in the name of Lord Rama? Answer There is no such story. But there are two reasons: Lord Rama was the first child after a long wait, in King Dashratha's family, so he was very dear and close to King's heart so they called "Chand sa beta" in Hindi or "Chandra" in Sanskrit. Lord Rama was born on "Chaitra" Month of Indian calendar in suda 9(or Ramanavmi), which is the ninth day of the bright-half of the Indian month Chaitra....

Question Why did Lord Hanuman forget that he has special powers? Answer I found an actual scriptural account of the story the other two answers describe, from the Uttara Kanda of the Ramayana. As a child, Hanuman acquired lots of boons from various gods, as I describe in this answer. And he started using his new-found powers to cause a lot of mischief: Because of the boons he received and the strength which he gained from them, Hanuman was replete with his own speed, like the ocean....

Question What happens after death? Answer Because no one has actually seen what happens after death, there are multiple beliefs regarding this. But the yogis through their eyes of knowledge know the movement of the beings before and after their death: utkrāmantaḿ sthitaḿ vāpi bhuñjānaḿ vā guṇānvitam vimūḍhā nānupaśyanti paśyanti jñāna-cakṣuṣaḥ [BG - 15.10] Meaning Not the people of lower intelligence, but one with the eye of knowledge sees how a being leaves the body, stays in the body and experiences different bodies due to nature....

Question Who made Lord Hanuman immortal? Answer Hanuman's immortality is a combination of multiple boons. First of all, as described in the Kishkindha Kanda of the Ramayana, when Hanuman was a child, he saw the sun and thought it was a fruit, so he flew toward it in an attempt to eat it. When Indra saw Hanuman coming, he threw his Vajra (thunderbolt) to strike him down, in the process injuring Hanuman's left cheekbone....

Question Who gave weapons to Shri Krishna and Balarama and how? Answer The story is described in the Adi Parva of the Mahabharata. A king named Shwetaki had once conducted a Yagna (fire-ritual) for twelve years, and having consumed all the ghee (clarified butter) that was offered into the fire, Agni the fire god felt lethargic. So he consulted Brahma, who told him to consume the Khandava forest: O exalted one, thou hast eaten, for twelve years, a continuous stream of sacrificial butter poured into thy mouth!...

Question Why is the idol of Lord Ganesha immersed in water (visarjana)? Answer Every year Clay statues of Lord Ganesha are immersed into the water bodies or in sea. Gradually the clay dissolves into water. Ganesha's image disappears. This ritual is designed by our ancestors to draw attention to the 'ephemeral nature of life and worldly things'. Showing that nothing in this mortal world lasts forever. It celebrates the fact of life of Creation(Idol construction),Perpetuation and finally Visarjan or immersion(Destruction) in water bodies with fun and fair, as celebration pointing to the fact and Showing that death is imperative/essential for creation of new that's why people say "...

Question Do Vedas say Earth is static? Answer First of all, we can not believe translations to Sanskrit language as such. Even sanskrit experts have difficulties in defining the meaning of some words. And here is my explanation for your specific question. Let me answer this using your quotes itself. The very first quote is against the earth static view. Oh Man ! He who made the trembling earth static is Indra....

Question Who are the seven immortals (Chiranjeevi)? Answer As mentioned here Chiranjivins (Sanskrit nominative sing. ciranjivi, चिरंजीवी): The word is a combination of "chiram" (long) and jivi (lived). Aswathama Balir Vyaso Hanumanash cha Vibhishana Krupacharya cha Parashuramam Saptatah Chirjeevanam Which means that Aswathama, King Mahabali, Veda Vyasa, Hanuman Ji, Vibhishana , Krupacharya and Lord Parashuram are death-defying or imperishable personalities. Markandeya, a great rishi and Jambavan are also considered as Chiranjivins....

Question What does Hinduism state regarding the concept ‘God lives in us’? Answer Using Advaita Vedanta to answer your question, God(Nirguna Brahman) has no form, gender or qualities. Brahman cannot be called He or She but only It or That. Hence humans are not an 'image' of God. God didn't create the cosmos but became the cosmos. Hence everything in this world is Brahman, from a rock to a bacteria to a human....