Q&A

Question Does the Bhagavad Gita declare that caste is based on birth? Answer Does the Bhagavad Gita declare that caste is based on birth? Yes it does, according to all ancient and orthodox Vedic commentators. First, from chapter 1: 1.41 - When unrighteousness prevails, O Krishna the women of the clan become corrupt; when women become corrupt, there arises intermixture of castes. adharmābhi-bhavāt kṛṣṇa praduṣyanti kula-striyaḥ | strīṣu duṣṭāsu vārṣṇeya jāyate varṇa-saṅkaraḥ || 41 ||...

Question What does the Bhagavad Gita mean when it says caste is based on Gunas? Does it mean trained, external behavior, or genetic predisposition? Answer What does the Bhagavad Gita mean when it says caste is based on Gunas? Does it mean trained, external behavior, or genetic predisposition? According to the various Smritis, Vedas, and ancient Vedic scholars and commentators, the word Guna in the Gita verse means genetic predisposition....

Question Can I believe in Sanatan Dharma while not believing in any of the God? Answer The answer is certainly yes. Hindu scripture does not ask for blind belief in God. ...Reflecting on this entire teaching do as you think fit. Gita 18.63 Who is a spiritual person? A person who is trying to be morally perfect is said to be a spiritual person. Among thousands of men, there will just be one here or there striving for spiritual perfection....

Question Why are Vedas often referred to as “three Vedas” instead of four? Why is Atharva Veda excluded from this list? Answer Why is Atharva Veda excluded from this list (trayī vidyā or trayo vedā)? The answer really depends on the philosophical school of thought one subscribes to. As Jayanta Bhaṭṭa of Nyāya school explains in his Nyāya-Mañjarī, the Mīmāṁsakas did not believe that Atharva Veda was either authentic or apauruṣeyā and it is for this reason a lot of Śruti and Smṛti texts exclude it from their list of Vedas:...

Question What is source for claim that Sruti is more important than Smriti ? That Itihasa/Purana can be discarded if they conflict with Vedas? Answer The answer is no. There are five Vedas as follows:- 1: Rigveda 2: Atharvaveda 3: Samveda 4: Yajurveda 5: Itihaas and puranas The Atharvaveda supports this claim. Atharvaveda 11:7:24 says that god created puranas and itihasa. Verses, and Songs, and magic hymns, Purāna, sacrificial text. All the celestial Gods whose home is heaven sprang from the Residue...

Question Can you subtract sin with enough virtue? Scriptural quotes/activities/instruction to wipe out any and all sin! Answer No. In the mythology of the Puranas and the epics, the picture of sins (pāpa ) and virtue (pūnya) that emerges is mostly based on the superstitions and is not comprehensive to present a unequivocal, logical, argumentative answer to your question. However, Vedas presents an answer that appeals to logic and legal philosophies....

Question Are Devas like Indra god? Answer The question is I heard many stories about deeds of Indra and other gods in Puranas. For e.g. rape of Ahilya by Indra, rape of Tara by Saima etc. So my question is how can a God do this? Are they really God? If they are not God why did Vedas praise them? Is there anything from Hindu scriptures, especially in Vedas or Upanishads, that denies them as God?...

Question Does Sankara Bhashyam exist for The Nrusimha Tapani Upanisad? Answer Commentary of Shankaracharya on Nṛsiṃha pūrva tāpaniya Upanishat exists. Collected Works of Sankara 1910 Edition published by Sri Vani Vilas Press, Sri Rangam. This book is a collection of various works which are believed to be written by Adi Shankaracharya. It contains following works: 1. Brahmasutra-bhashya 2. Brahmasutra-bhashya 3. Brahmasutra-bhashya 4. Upanishad-bhashya, vol. 1: Isa, Kena [2], Katha, Prasna...

Question Why, when and how did the Atman acquire body consciousness? Answer Short Answer Atman never loses its self awareness. You have the wrong idea. There's no material body in first place, then how can Atman acquire body consciousness? न निरोधो न चोत्पत्तिर्न बद्धो न च साधकः । न मुमुक्षुर्न वै मुक्त इत्येषा परमार्थता ॥ ३२ ॥ There is no dissolution, no birth, none in bondage, none aspiring for wisdom, no seeker of liberation and none liberated....

Question What is validity of different translation of word" Mamsah"? Answer First off, as Sheldon Pollock points out in his translation of Ayodhyākāṇḍa, the two verses you quote in your question have been removed from the Critical Edition of Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa. Sarga 90 1. In order to establish a reasonable transition between sargas, the SR [Southern Recension] inserts before this verse four lines (2091*), in which Rāma, having shown Sītā around the mountain, sits down on the slope and gives her cooked meat to eat (thus attempting also to account for the fire mentioned in 87....

Question What good deeds saved Taksaka from Sarpa Yajna? Answer One reason is mentioned in answer by srimannarayana k v that Indra took exception form Brahma to save Takṣaka. One more reason is mentioned in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (Bhāgavata Purāṇa) 12.6.23-24 which says that Takṣaka had drunk the Amrita so due that reason he couldn't be killed. Note: “The question: What good deeds saved Taksaka from Sarpa Yajna?” is licensed by Stack Exchange Inc (https://hinduism....

Question Question related to karma and rebirth Answer Before coming to the example, one needs to understand the two types of karma in play here - Prarabdha and Kriyamana. But I will also include Sanchita karma for good order sake. Sanchita Karma It is all your accumulated karma of past lives. Prarabdha karma It is that portion of Sanchita karma that will fructify in this life. One cannot escape it....

Question Is there any Vedic verse that explicitly says Brahma and Shiva did not exist before creation? Answer Is there any Vedic verse that explicitly says Brahma and Shiva did not exist before creation? Yes. For example this verse from the Maha Upanishad: eko ha vai nArAyaNa AsIt, na brahmA neshAnaH Only Narayana was there. Not Brahma, nor Shiva. The modern day Mahopanishad is interpolated but this verse was cited by many ancient Vedantins including Yamunacharya, Ramanujacharya, Vedanta Desika, Yadavaprakasha, and Narayanacharya....

Question Is this verse really there in the Bhagavat Gita? Please answer with reference Answer That verse doesn't belong to the Bhagavad-gītā but is taken from the Aśvamedha Parva of the Southern Recension of the Mahābhārata (Kumbakonam Edition): Ashvamedhikaparva - adhyAya 116 14.116. adhyAyaH 116 Mahabharata - Ashvamedhika Parva - Chapter Topics kR^iShNena yudhiShThiraMprati bhakagavadbhaktisaushIlyAdyabhAve brAhmaNAnAmapi agnihotrasvAdhyAyAdhyayanAdisatkarmaNAmapi vaiphalyasya shUdrANAmapi bhaktyAdimatAM svochitakiMchitkarmaNAmapi sAphalyasya cha kathanam.. 1 .. Mahabharata - Ashvamedhika Parva - Chapter Text yudhiShThira uvAcha....

Question Why Vedas are called inferior in Upanishads? Answer The Vedas are divisible into two parts which are Purva Mimamsa or Karma Mimamsa dealing with rituals for Dharma, Artha, Kama and Gyana Kanda or Uttara Mimamsa/Upanishads for Moksha. Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha together are Purusartha or purpose of society and its beings. Upanishads have called Purva Mimamsa as inferior when compared to Gyana Kanda Vedanta. Mundaka Upanishad Chapter 1...