Hindu Dharma is for all – theists, semi-theists, atheists, vegetarians, non-vegetarians, realists, mystics, logicists, and who not. Some of these schools of thoughts have taken shape and are widely regarded as distinct faiths. Hindu Dharma and all faiths that evolved from the punyabhumi Bharat are sisterly, complimentary to each other.
Jnaneshwari is the commentary on Bhagavad Gita written by the Marathi saint and mystical poet Jnanadeva. The commentary on Bhagavad Gita has been praised not only for its scholarly excellence, but also for its aesthetic value. He has explained the Gita not by recourse to rational arguments but by the profuse use of similes, metaphors and illustrations. In Jnaneshwari, he calls the Gita the literary image of Lord Krishna.
Kautilya, also known as Chanakya or Vishnugupta was born in 300 B.C. He was a philosopher and statesman who wrote a classic treatise on polity known as Arthashastra. It is compilation of almost everything that had been written in India up to his time on the science of Artha, or material prosperity, which is one of the four goals of human life. The means of subsistence according to Kautilya is primarily wealth and secondarily earth. Read the rest of this entry »
Growing up in Bharat, I have always heard people proclaiming, “All Religions are the same and they teach the same thing.” Elders, teachers, great men of Bharat, leaders and intellectuals, all of them have been drumming the same tone. Naturally I believed in it until I could think for myself. I have seen that it is only in Bharat that one hears the above expression. I have lived in the West for quite some time and I must say I haven’t seen any staunch Christian say the same. I have seen that practicing Christians believe that they alone are right in their beliefs and everyone else who is not a Christian has no chance of being saved. The same goes for Muslims. I have some Muslim friends who are pious and committed to Islam. But they are sincere in their belief that they alone are the chosen people and that they have the last word on Religion, Truth, God and that all non-Muslims are doomed. Read the rest of this entry »
Definition
The origin of the Sanskrit word “Vedanta” is Veda + anta. Veda means intuitive knowledge or wisdom. The root verb “vid” means to know. Anta means end, conclusion, essence or a goal. So, Vedanta means the final conclusion as well as the goal of Vedas. There are four Vedas, Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samaveda, and Atharvaveda, which are the timeless collections of inspired thoughts and intuitive wisdom. Vedantic wisdom, philosophy and practice are based on three major sources of inspired writings namely, Upanishads, Bhagvad-Gita, and Brahma-Sutra. These three together are known as the foundations of ancient wisdom, Prasthana-trayee. Read the rest of this entry »
Sewa, by definition, is any physical act one performs for the benefit of others in need. In Sanskrit, it is described in the shloka Paropakaraya Punyaya, Papaya Parapeedanam, i.e. any action resulting in the good of others is noble and should be followed. Sewa is essentially selfless service toward humans, animals, nature, and even the self. For every service done for others is a service done for the self and, in effect, a service done for God, as illustrated in the shloka, “Iswarah Sarva Bhutanam Itruddesha Arjuna Tishtati,” which means that the same God who is present in me is also present in other human beings.
There are religions and religions, and there are philosophies and philosophies connected with them. Invariably all religious philosophies are centered around the concept of Ishwar. But has anyone seen this Ishwar? How can we see or feel Ishwar? I am sure there are no convincing answers to all such ‘inconvenient’ questions. Billions and billions of human beings have lived on this planet before us and probably billions will follow us. Many divine personalities belonging to different regions, races and religions have claimed to have seen or felt or realized Ishwar, but none of them could show Ishwar to another individual. It is said that Swami Vivekananda once challenged Sage Ramakrishna Paramahamsa to show him Ishwar and the Sage could go as far as giving him a feel. Experiences of those who claim to have seen Ishwar vastly differ and even those who claim to have felt Ishwar’s presence have much varied experiences. One thing is very clear – that Ishwar has no permanent form nor feel. Read the rest of this entry »
Ideally morality should be looked upon as the mechanism by which societies tackle existential constraints and limitations to promote creativity for social evolution and avoid destructive tendencies arising from narrow self-definition. This view would seem to restrict morality to secular or worldly life.
Hinduism takes a broad view of secular (loukika in Sanskrit) human activity. Creativity and social evolution are the goals that are collectively known as Dharma. Read the rest of this entry »
Students from Hindu YUVA, University of Washington took an interview of Swami Bhaskarananda, a senior monk of Ramakrishna Mission. He has authored various books and is the founder and editor-in-chief of Global Vedanta..
Widely considered one of the greatest table maestros, Pandit Anindo Chatterjee has helped spread Indian classical music across the world. After receiving first place in the All India Children’s Music Competition at the young age of 6, he was accepted as a student by the esteemed judge, Guru Pandit Jnan Prakash Ghosh. His tabla solo debut was at age 10. He has since developed into one of the most well-respected tabla solo performers of his generation. Read the rest of this entry »
You are currently browsing the articles from the Hinduism, General category.
Loading ...