Q&A

Question What would be the authentic source for Śrāddha vidhi? Answer Shraddha karma and other karmas like sandhyavandanam etc are described in Ghriya Sutras -: The sutras for domestic ritiuals Ghriya Sutras are decided according to your vedic shakha if you are a dwija. Following is the Description of Various Ghriya Sutras and the Vedas from which they are derived. R̥igveda Âśvalāyana-Gṛhyasūtra [4] Kausîtaki-Gṛhyasūtra (Bāṣkala śakha) Śāṅkhāyana-Gr̥hyasūtra 1 Sāmaveda Gobhila-Gṛhyasūtra Khādira-Gṛhyasūtra (Drāhyāyana-Gṛhyasūtra) Jaiminiya-Gṛhyasūtra Kauthuma-Gṛhyasūtra...

Question What does the word “mlechha” (म्लेच्छ) mean in the context of Hinduism? Answer Mleccha is a Sanskrit word which means 'barbarian, uncultured, foreigner, non-Vedic'. Aloka Parashara in his book, Mlecchas in Early India describes it as, Mleccha (and its equivalent milakkha) are usually translated as foreigner or barbarian. A translation which is inadequate in so many ways but not least because it implies that it was a word used by Indians to describe non-Indians....

Question Who is Rudra deva? Answer The reason why Shiva is called Rudra is described in this chapter of the Shatapatha Brahmana of the Rig Veda: [Brahma] said to him, 'My boy, why criest thou, when thou art born out of labour and trouble?' He said, 'Nay, but I am not freed from (guarded against) evil; I have no name given me: give me a name!' Hence one should give a name to the boy that is born, for thereby one frees him from evil;--even a second, even a third (name), for thereby one frees him from evil time after time....

Question Is there any difference between Moksha and Heaven? Answer Swarga or Haven is one of the seven loka whereas Moksha is the liberation/freedom from Samsara (the cycle of rebirth). The seven loka in Hindu cosmology are: Difference between Moksha & Heaven/Swarga: From wikipedia Heven#Hinduism: According to Hindu cosmology, above the earthly plane, are other planes: (1) Bhuva Loka, (2) Swarga Loka, meaning Good Kingdom, is the general name for heaven in Hinduism, a heavenly paradise of pleasure, where most of the Hindu Devatas (Deva) reside along with the king of Devas, Indra, and beatified mortals....

Question Help me to find out the verse : “Brahma satyam jagat mithya, jivo brahmaiva naparah” Answer Good question. Always quoted as Sankara, but no one gives the source text. It is from Sankara's Brahmajnanavalimala verse 20. It is available here 20. brahma satyam jaganmithyA jIvo brahmaiva nAparah anena vedyam sacchAstram iti vedAntaDiNDimah Yo can also check from sanskritdocuments: The 20th verse of Brahmajnanavalimala: ब्रह्म सत्यं जगन्मिथ्या जीवो ब्रह्मैव नापरः ।...

Question Origin of the Sanatan Dharma Answer Why "Hindu Dharma" and "Sanatan Dharma" are synonym? : First of all, the Sanskrit term Sanatan means eternal or ancient. From Wikipedia: Sanātana Dharma (Devanagari: सनातन धर्म meaning "eternal dharma" or "eternal order") has been proposed as an alternative, "native" name for Hinduism (Hindi Hindu Dharm हिन्दू धर्म "Hindu religion".[5] The term was mentioned and explained in depth in Vedic literature (Rig Veda) (4-138) and was used during the Hindu revivalism movement in order to avoid having to use the term "...

Question What is the recommended age for marriage for girls as per Shastra? Answer Here is what this chapter of the Manu Smriti recommends: A man, aged thirty years, shall marry a maiden of twelve who pleases him, or a man of twenty-four a girl eight years of age; if (the performance of) his duties would (otherwise) be impeded, (he must marry) sooner. Bhishma says much the same thing in this chapter of the Anushasana Parva of the Mahabharata:...

Question Which scripts have been used to write Sanskrit? Answer Sanskrit originated as an oral language i.e. it was never penned down for the most of it's life. Hence, it doesn't have a writing system of it's own. During it's life cycle, various scripts have been used to write Sanskrit including many regional Indian tongues and most recently Roman script . The earliest occurrence of Sanskrit in written form is in Brahmi script ....

Question If Aryabhata invented zero in Kaliyuga, how could Hindus of earlier yugas describe Ravana as having 10 heads and Kauravas were 100 in number? Answer I feel the your doubt is about representation If you look at the history of representation, it starts with the story of people representing numbers with straight lines, and crossing them after sometime. Roman Numerals for example did not originally have 0. Multiplication and division might have possibly be done in form of addition and subtraction and if you look closely,you will not feel the importance of zero in them....

Question Why was Dasaratha so emotionally attached only to Rama? Answer Lord Rama in Ramcharitmanas Uttar kanda answers this question giving an analogy to that as: एक पिता के बिपुल कुमारा । होहिं पृथक गुन सील अचारा ।। कोउ पंडित कोउ तापस ग्याता । कोउ धनवंत सूर कोउ दाता।। कोउ सर्वग्य धर्मरत कोइ। सब पर पितहि प्रीति सम होई।। कोउ पितु भगत बचन मन कर्मा । सपनेहुँ जान न दूसर धर्मा ।।...

Question Who are Adi Shakti and Durga? Answer Goddess Durga herself is Adi Parashakti. In Sri Chandi (from the Markandeya Purana), she is described as the combined form of the 3 deities viz; Mahakali, Mahalakshmi and Mahasaraswati. The Devi Atharva Sirsha describes Adi Parashakti's features as follows: sābravīt- ahaṃ brahmasvarūpiṇī । mattaḥ prakṛtipuruṣātmakaṃ jagat । śūnyaṃ cāśūnyam ca ॥2॥ She said: I am an aspect of Brahma. From me this Universe, in form of Prakriti and Purusha, is generated; which is both void and non-void....

Question Who created Datta Bavani? Answer Rang Avadhoot Maharaj Created Datta Bavani. He also gave one mantra Paraspara Devo bhava means we humans should behave as devas. means we should not harm anybody. Bhakti should be without sho off. Note: “The question: Who created Datta Bavani?” is licensed by Stack Exchange Inc (https://hinduism.stackexchange.com/); user contributions licensed under CC BY-SA.

Question Who is Virat Purusha? Answer The concepts are similar. In his introduction to Brahma Sutras 3.3, Sankara says (Swami Vireswarananda translator): It is not possible for the ordinary man to grasp the Infinite. Therefore the scriptures present various symbols of Brahman, such as Prana, Akasa, and mind, for the beginner to meditate upon. Sometimes they prescribe the cosmic form of Brahman (Vaisvanara) for meditation. These different methods of approaching the infinite Brahman are known as Vidyas or Upasanas....

Question Why are there two versions of Chapter 1 - Verse 8 of Bhagavad Geetha? Answer In his footnote to this verse, Swami Gambhirananda writes in his translation of the Bhagavad Gita (p 14): Asvatthama, son of Drona: Mention of Asvatthama before Karna's son Vikarna, and others, as also the mention of Drona before Bhisma and others, was for pleasing Drona. Saumadatti: King of Balhika (of Punjab), son of Somadatta; known also as Bhurisrava because of his preeminence....

Question Can we become God? Answer Yes. "brahma vid brahmaiva bhavati". One who knows brahman becomes brahman himself. The path to know brahman is yoga - any (or a combination) of bhakti/gnyana/karma (upasana)/raja yogas. स यो ह वै तत् परमं ब्रह्म वेद ब्रह्मैव भवति नास्याब्रह्मवित्कुले भवति । तरति शोकं तरति पाप्मानं गुहाग्रन्थिभ्यो विमुक्तोऽमृतो भवति ॥ ९ ॥ sa yo ha vai tat paramaṃ brahma veda brahmaiva bhavati nāsyābrahmavitkule bhavati | tarati śokaṃ tarati pāpmānaṃ guhāgranthibhyo vimukto'mṛto bhavati || 9 ||...