QUESTIONANSWER DIVINE 1
Dear friends
These are few question answers I have stored in my computer in 2010. I thought
of reposting them. Information arestored from various sources. Hope these could
be informative
Sincerely,
Gopalakrishnan 19-09-21
Q1What is the importance of Sarnath?
A1Buddhists from all over the world converge on Bodhgaya and Sarnath
tocommemorate the Buddha's birth, enlightenment, and death. Sarnath has a
colourful fair and procession of relics, at atemple on the site where the
Buddha preached his first sermon.
Q2 What do Guru Pournima means ?
A2Guru Pournima means full moon withoutany defect or lacuna
Q3What is aadi seperation?
A3Important point to note about aadi month is that for the newly married couple
itis an inauspicious month to sleep together. The reason being if the girl
who is conceived in this month might deliverthe baby in the month of May, the
hottest month in Tamil Nadu ('Agninatchathiram ' [pinezu] last 7 days of
Chitharai and [munezu] first 7 days of Vaigasi ) and it will betough period
for baby delivery.
Q4What is the Direction to light a lamp?
A4 The direction to light a lamp would in thefollowing order.Best: Lamp
facing east (thedirection of the rising sun)
Better: Lamp facing west ( the direction of setting sun)
Good: Lamp facing north. The lamp facing south isnormally not down in iyer
family.
Q5What is the specilaity of Karkidaka month?
A5On the evening prior to the samkramam there was a ritual ceremony of
packing the Chetta, the presiding spiritover dirt, off. Women with broom
went around cleaning and dusting anddriving out the Dirty thing that hidin
corners. Basically, it was athorough cleansing before the twilight.
For children, the ritual meant a serious partof life The dead were
invoked onthe day of the new moon. In kerala ancestral worship is part of
religion just as animismhas prevailed, although in pockets.
The end of karkkidaka would complete thereading of the whole Ramayana.
SoKarkkidaka is known as the month of Ramayana as well.
Dhanwanthari is the patron saint ofAyurveda, Indian medicine. In
themonth of Karkkidaka the prasad given here is mukkidi, thejuice extracted
form medicinal plants.Having a doze of this juice daily for a month in the
rainy season was the traditional preventive antidote fora year's epidemics.
The new moon day of this month iscelebrated as "Aadi Amavasai" which is
to remeber our ancestors who have reached God.That day donations will be
made.
Q6Why do Aadi considered inauspicious?
A6Well, it is considered so as the six-month period which starts from
Aadito Marghazhi are the nighttime for the Devas.
Therefore,marriages, upanayanams and house warming ceremonies are not
performed during this season, as theblessings of the Devas cannot be invoked.
Q7Why thenumber 10 is considered in- auspicious ?
A7Our people are very superstitious, especially about anything connected with
death. Since the 10th day after death is considered very inauspicious, they
applyit to the number 10. So instead ofgifting Rs.10, they make it 11.
Q8What is the story behind the eight bends in Ashtavakra’s body?Which king
washis deciple?
A8 Once upon a time there was a student ofthe scriptures who could not support
hisfamily. He would work hard all day every day and then read aloud the
holylanguage of sacred verses late into the night.
Hiswife, round of belly with their coming child, would sit beside him in the
dim room, listening as her wearybeloved chanted the ancient words.
Onelate night in her eighth month a voice from inside her belly said to the
father: "Sir, please beattentive - you are mispronouncingthat verse."
Tiredand short-tempered, without thinkingwhy he would feel so enraged at
being corrected by an unborn child, the father cursed the voice -and because
the father had built upmerit, his curse took hold: the child was born
deformed, with eight crooks in his body.That child was called Ashtavakra,
aname which means `eight bends'.
Everyonewho saw him laughed in derision.That crippled child was an enlightened
masterwho took birth in this family to revealin simple words the essence of
mystical experience.
Janaka, king of the known world, father of thebride of God, Sita, daughter
of theearth, that very King Janaka became this crippled boy's disciple. The
book based on thatevent is called The Song of theEightfold Cripple, or
Ashtavakra Gita.
Q9What were the speciality in the birth of Srirama?
A9It is stated that Rama emergence into the world was painless to his
mother, Queen Kaushalya. Shesuddenly saw the Divine Child with 4arms.Upon
Mother Kaushalya's prayer that he assume the body of a natural child, Rama
reverted tothe form of a normal new born baby andstarted to cry!
Q10What were the speciality in the birth of SriKrishna?
A10Devaki did not experience labour pains. Upon the birth of the Divine
Child, the guards fell asleep, the gatesmiraculously opened and
Vaasudevacrossed a swollen river and carried the child to safety!
Q11What were the speciality in the birth of buddaha?
A11It is believed that baby Sidhaartha, who became the Budha walkeda few
steps on being born.His Mother Maya learned that she was blessed to be the
Mother of a Great Being, by a Celestial Dream!
Q12 Which are the words of Lord Krishna on death?
A12Krishna says: "What-everobject a person thinks of at the time of death, he
attains to that object alone... Whoeverthinks of only Me even at the time
ofdeath, attains to My state on abandoning his body. There is no doubt about
this".
Heonce again reinforces: "He who, at the time of his death, engages himself
in remembering the Supreme Lordwith full devotion, will certainlyattain to
Him".
Q13Which purana and upanishath talk about death?
A13The Katha Upanishad(kethopanishth) explains the Vedic concept of death
andGaruda Purana deals comprehen-sivelywith rituals pertaining to death,
graphically describing the souls journeyafter death to its next birth.
Krishnasays: "What-ever object a person thinks of at the time of death, he
attains to that object alone...Whoever thinks of only Me even at thetime of
death, attains to My state on abandoning his body. There is no doubt about
this".
Heonce again reinforces: "He who, at the time of his death, engages himself
in remembering the Supreme Lordwith full devotion, will certainlyattain to
Him".
nota single one got that boon-ultimatelyall had to die. When we take a close
look at death, we realise that it isthe physical body made of matter,
thatdies as a result of aging, disease orfatal accidents. In all these
cases, the body gets damaged to the extent that it is no longercapable of
manifesting the life forceor awareness or conciousness. The dead body is
disposed off by burying orcremation,in the interest of the health of the
living.
Aswe identify ourselves by the physical form and the name(to distinguish
from others) of thebody, we think that we die when thebody dies.
Hestressed that daily sandhya should not be missed. Sandhya brings prosperity
and peace in the household.
The modern generation of brahmins suffers onlywherever there is lack of
faith inkarmas. The vedic pandits should be respected. Pitru pujanam (orworship
of the forefathers) is an inherent and important part of our scriptures. This
is one of thethree dues which a dwija (twice born)has to repay. Periyava
said the book pitru pujanam is authentic and brings out subtle points of the
scriptures like whether the last-rites aremeant for the body or the soul
Q14What is saptha pathi?
A14 "The Bridegroom gets up from his seatholding his bride's right hand.
Hethen goes around the Holy Fire (Agni) from the right side, by lifting his
bride's right feet at each step. This isdone for seven steps. With
eachstep, he recites a mantra addressed tothe bride.(This is also called as
Sapta-Padi or Saat Phere) Theseare the seven vows which are exchanged.
1. The first for food,
2. The second for strength,
3. The third for prosperity,
4. The fourth for wisdom,
5. The fifth for progeny,
6. The sixth for health and
7. The seventh for friendship
Q15Who wrote commentaries on Vishnu sahsra namam first? What is the story
behindit?
A15 The commentarieson Vishnu Sahasranamam was first written by Adi Sankara.
There is an interesting story behind it.
Sankara actually wanted to writecommentaries on Lalita Sahasranamam. Heasked
one of his disciples to bring palm-leaf manuscripts of LalitaSahasranamam.
The disciple went to the room where itwas kept and returned with the
manuscript. When Sankara opened, he found that it was Vishnu Sahasranamam. He
again asked the disciple to go back andbring Lalita Sahasranamam. When
thedisciple returned, Sankara found that it was again Vishnu Sahasranamam.
Sankara again advised the disciple to bringLalita Sahasranamam only and in the
third time also the disciple returned withVishnu Sahasranamam.
A little annoyed, Sankara asked thedisciple Didn’t you understand properly, I
told you to bring LalitaSahasranamam.
The disciple replied Revered Sir, I wentto bring Lalita Sahasranamam only but
there is a cute little girl in there whotold me to take Vishnu Sahasranamam
every time. Sankara then understood that Goddess Ambal wanted him to
writecommentaries on Vishnu Sahasranamam and he completed the task.
Q16 It is common among Hindus in India to throw fruits, saffroncloths,
etc., when the rivers are in spate. what is the reason??
A16 In India the rivers Gangesand Yamuna, Cauvery and Gothavari are
considered sacred. Just like the earth gives us food, water is considered as
a sacred necessity to meet the needs of individuals.People began to
worship water in the form of wells, tanks and rivers. It iscommon among
Hindus in India to throw fruits, saffron cloths, etc., whenthe rivers
are in spate purely basedon the belief that these rivers are the species
offemale deities.
I will continue in next posting
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