Tattva

Vijay Dashami, also known as Dussehra, falls on October 21 this year. In Sanskrit, “Vijay” means “victory” and “Dashami” refers to the tenth day of the bright half of the lunar month of Aashwayuja. Thus, Vijay Dashami is a festival of victory, the triumph of Dharma over Adharma. This day is marked by many inspiring episodes from history that reflect the victorious tradition of our ancestors. It was on Vijay Dashami that Shri Ram defeated Ravan after ten days of battle, thus liberating the city of Lanka from its adharmic ruler. Vijay Dashami is also the finale of the nine-day festival of Navaratri. During the days of Navratri, we worship Saraswati, the goddess of learning; Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth; and Durga, the goddess of strength. There are countless names of the goddess of strength—Durga, Maha Kaali, Mahishasura Mardini. Time and time again, she has defeated the demonic forces and established the supremacy of the righteous. Read the rest of this entry »

The Bhagavad Gita starts with the words of Lord Krishna, “O Arjun you are grieving for what should not be grieved for.” This verse contains the theme of the Gita and reveals the context of the teaching—Arjuna’s state of mind, his asking for the knowledge. This is the beginning of the Gita. The beauty of this timeless scripture is that its essential message is universal. Read the rest of this entry »

Most of us must have heard about the government of India’s statement on September 12, 2007, to the Supreme Court, claiming that there was no historical evidence to establish the existence of Lord Rama or the other characters in Ramayana. The affidavit was filed before the court by the Archaeological Survey of India, an Indian government agency. The affidavit declared that there is no “historical record” to prove the existence of the characters or the occurrences of the events depicted in the Ramayana. Read the rest of this entry »

Last month, on September 15th, we celebrated the festival of Ganesh Chaturthi, also known as Ganesh Utsav. Every Hindu home prepared to give Him a hearty welcome. Beautiful murtis of Shri Gajanana were put on display, privately and publicly, throughout the period of festivity. While we enjoy celebrating the festival, let us take the time to reflect on Shri Ganesh and see what we can learn from him. Read the rest of this entry »

Interesting Facts about Hinduism and Bharat:

Aeronautical developments of ancient India

Iron Pillar (Garuda Pillar), Delhi

Ram Sethu

Read the rest of this entry »

1.) The wise and learned daughter of Rishi Vachaknu; she was known as Brahmavadini because of her knowledge of Brahma-vidya. She participated in an intellectual debate with the knower of Brahma, Yajnavalkya.

2.) The founder of the Brahmo Samaj, one of the first Indian socio-religious reform movements. He made significant contributions in the fields of politics, public administration, and education. He is best known for his efforts to abolish the social evil of sati. Read the rest of this entry »

Read the rest of this entry »