QUES ANSW DIVINE11
Q1 Everybody knows we wait for crowto take the pinda during ANNUAL ceremony.
Why we wait so?
A1 A departed soul can easily get back to us not necessarily in a human form,
A crow is thenext most accessible form towards a human family..The pindam that
we keep {ideally everyday} is not for thecrow but for the “potential” pithru.
It could be any of your fore-fathersincluding your father who can bless, save
and can curse. I am a rationalist anda scientist. Yet facts are facts. You can
question superstitions but notscience.]
Anybody who does NOT DO THARPANAM OR THEVASAM CAN PROFESS to bescholarly or
modern but only until they become a Pithru themselves, but alas, onlytoo late,
for they will have no “ BODY” left. Their children will not feed them because
they have notfed their own parents.This is Kaliyuga. We can mourn or curse
butcan not correct.
Q2 Everybody has heard about Vishnu’s vehicle Garuda. What is itsdifference
from eagle/kite?
A2 Garuda with the head andwings of eagle and sometimes with the rest of his
body like that of a man is called the king of birdsand he is also the carrier
of god Vishnu.
Q3 Every body has heard about Omens. Why garuda darsanam is said to begood
omen. How he has became Vishnu’s vehicle?
A3 Vinita, the wife of Kashyap, the progenitorof gods and men, laid an egg and
became the mother of this bird-god. Garuda is also known by another name of
Vinayak,which name he shares with god Ganesh.Thus this god-bird is thought to
be the remover or destroyer of obstacles.
Garuda with his great strengthsurmounted many dangers. At last one day Garuda
seized the moon and concealedit under his wings. This worried all the gods in
heaven and under theleadership of lndra the gods attacked Garuda.
He overcame all gods but could not conquer Vishnu. However, when Garuda
relentedgod Vishnu made the bird immortal and permitted him the honour of
beingVishnu's carrier.
Q4 Everybody knows temples like Rameswaraam, Kalahasthi etc have very bignandi
in the front. Question- Where we have a temple for Nandi?
A4 There are some temples inIndia which are exclusively built for Nandi like
the famous Nandiswara temple in Karnataka.
Q5 Every body know about Dakshinamoorthy in Siva temples. Who isChandikeswara?
A5 Chandikesvara is a ferociousgod, holding weapons of war and ready to do
battle for a divine cause.His images are generally found in a corner in all the
Siva temples.
Q6 Every Brahmin know about theannual ceremony and Tharpanam done to Pithrus
once in a month. Question- Whythe periodicity fixed so? What is the importance
of the exact date?
A6 One year for us is equal to one day for the Devas, why you may ask.
Theyreside in the North, literally the North pole where it is bright for 6
monthsand dark for the next 6. It is called day time if it is bright and night
timeif it is dark.
We get up, supposedly, justbefore Sunrise, and similarly do the Devas. When we
do sradham once in a year they get the full feedonce in a day!
Tila tarpanam is just getting arefreshment of coffee as we take. The importance
of fixed date for Sradah- if we give later they would be more hungry and if we
give earlierthey would be very less hungry
Q7 Everybody knows about Sadgurusand Gurus. What is the specially with Sadguru?
Why a Guru is required?
A7 A Sadguru is endowed with countless Siddhis (psychicpowers). Hepossesses all
divine Aisvarya (powers), all the wealth of the Lord.
Sadgurus generally do not exhibit any miracle or Siddhi. Sometimes, however,
they may do so in order to convince the aspirants ofthe existence of
superphysical things, give them encourage-ment, and instilfaith in their
hearts.
Man can learn only from man, and hence God teaches through a human bodyTo light
a candle, youneed a burning candle. Even an illumined soul alone can
enlightenanother soul.
If you are not able to find out even this second-class type of Guru,you can
follow the teachings contained in the books written by realised saintslike Sri
Sankara, Dattatreya, and others.
You can keep a photo of such a realised Guru, if available, and worshipthe same
with faith and devotion.
Thescriptures are like a forest. There are ambiguous passages. There
arepassages which are apparently contradictory. There are passages which
haveesoteric meanings, diverse significance, and hidden explanations. Thereare
cross-references. You are in need of a Guru or Preceptor who will explain to
you the rightmeaning, who will remove doubts and ambig-uities, who will place
before you theessence of the teachings.
Q8 Everybody knows about Sadgurusand Gurus. Can you give examples of famous
Gurus and Sishyas like SishyaBrighu- His Guru Varuna etc?
A8 Svetaketu learnt the nature of Truth from Uddalaka, Maitreyi
fromYajnavalkya, Bhrigu from Varuna, Narada from Sanatkumara, Nachiketas from
Yama,Indra from Prajapati; and several others humbly went to wise ones,observed
strict Brahmacharya, practised rigorous discipline, and learntBrahma-vidya (the
science of God) from them.
Lord Krishna sat at the feet of His Guru Sandeepani. Lord Rama had Guru
Vasishtha who gave HimUpadesha (spiritual advice). Lord Jesus sought John to be
baptised by him onthe banks of the river Jordan.
Even Devas (celestial beings) have Brihaspati as their Guru.
Even the greatest among the divine beings sat at the feet of GuruDakshinamurti.
Tukaram received his Mantra,Rama Krishna Hari, in his dream.He repeated this
Mantra and had Darshan (vision) of Lord Krishna.
Vilvamangal was very much attracted to Chintamani,the dancing woman. The
latter became his Guru.
Tulasidas received instructionsfrom an invisible beingto see Hanuman and,
through Hanuman, to get Darshan of Sri Rama.
Q9 Everybody knows about Sadgurusand Gurus What about Siksha guru and Diksha
Guru?
A9 The Guru who teaches him the knowledge of worldly arts is the Siksha Guru.
The Guru who shows him the path of Realisation is the Diksha Guru.
Siksha Gurus can be many-as many as the things he wishes to learn. TheDiksha
Guru can be only one-the one who leads him to Moksha.
Q10 Everybody knows about Sadgurusand Gurus Question- whether we can change
Gurus?
A10 NO NO NO. Do not dig here and there shallow pitsfor getting water. The pits
will dry up soon. Dig a very deep pit in one place. Centralise all yourefforts
here. You will get good water that can supply you throughout the year.
Drinkdeep from one man. Sit at his feet for some years. There is no use of
wanderingfrom one man to another man, out of curiosity, losing faith in a short
time.
Do not have the ever-changing mind of a prostitute. Follow thespiritual
instructions of one man only.
If you go to several people and follow the instructions of manypersons, you
will be bewildered. You will be in a dilemma.
>From a doctor, you get a prescription. From two doctors, you getconsultation.
>From three doctors, you get your own cremation!!!
Q11 Everybody knows about Sankarcharya and Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. Question-
Name their Guru and important deciple.
A11 Govindacharya impartedknowledge to his disciple Sankaracharya;
Sankaracharya to his disciple Suresvaracharya.
Similarly Totapuri imparted knowledge to Sri Ramakrishna, andRamakrishna to
Swami Vivekananda.
Q12 Everybody knows in earlier yearscow dung was much used in house
construction. Even now it is widely used forfuneral fire. Why it was so?
A12 Cow dung ash mixed with mud strengthens mud houses, and housescoated with
cow dung are insulated from extremes of heat and cold and protectedfrom
diseases like cholera and plague, insects and reptiles, wild elephants andeven,
so they say,. nuclearradiation
Q13 Everybody knows aboutBramarshi Valmiki got his name so since he has
emerged from ChithalPuttu(Valmikam) after Srirama meditation. What was his
orginal name? Was hereally a hunter by birth? Was he a married man?
A13 Rishi Valmiki (who composedRamayana) was a Dacoit by professionValmiki
was not the name that his parents chose for the poet. His real name
wasRatnakara.The word ‘Valmika’ in Sanskrit means an ant-hill. Since he came
out of anant-hill, he got the name of Valmiki .Now, that is a wonderful and
delightfulstory. Valmiki by birth was actually a son born to a great sage
Prachetasa.
One fine day while Ratnakara was playing around his father’s hermitagenear the
Ganges he lost himself in the forest & his parents assumed thatRatnakara had
become prey to some beasts but then a hunter and his wife found Ratnakara
crying andhence adopted this young baby as their son
There after Vamiki forgot his parents took the profession of the hunter& he
became an avatara of YAMA to the beasts and animals of the forest.
His foster father searched for a bride and celebrated his marriage witha
beautiful girl from a hunters family. In a few years she gave birth to
somechildren. Thus Ratnakara’sfamily grew in size. It became very difficult for
him to provide food andclothing to his large family. So he took to robbery.
He began to attack people going from one village to another, frightenthem and
took away all that they had. If they opposed him, he killed them.
It happened that the great sage Narada was passing that way. Narada hadhis
favourite musical instrument, a Veena, in his hands. As he played on theVeena,
he was singing a song in praise of God. When he was thus lost in joy,suddenly
Ratnakara rushed at him. He lifted the stout staff in his hands andshouted,
“Look here!Hand over all you have or else I’ll break your head.”
He was not frightened by the loud shouts of Ratnakara. He smilingly,“My dear
man, all that I have only this old Veena and the rags I we; If you want them,
you cancertainly take them. Why should you break my head for these?”
Ratnakara was astonished at these words. He looked up at Narada’s face.He was
surprised to see a face tender and innocent like that of a child. He hadnever
seen such a lovely face. As he gazed, his cruel mind melted into tenderness.
Ratnakara wasdeeply moved. Noticing the change, the sage Narada paused in
hissong and said, “Brother, stealing is a sin. Killing animals is also sinful.
Whydo you do such evil?”
Hunting and stealing are all I know. What else can I do?” The sagesmiled and
said, “My friend, will any member of your family partake of your sinalso ? Go
and ask them, and bring back their reply.”Ratnakara thought that wasall right.
He tied Narada to a tree and went home. He asked his Father, I robpeople to get
food and clothing for you all. It seems that is a sin. Do you notshare in that
sin?”
His father was angry and said, “You sinner, you should not do such badthings.
Am I to share your sins? No, never. You have to suffer for what you do.”
“Surely, mother, you will share my sin, won’t you?” But she alsoscolded him and
sent him away. He then went to his wife and said, “Do you knowhow I earn to
provide you and your children with food and clothing? It is byrobbery. But I
steal for your sake. Therefore you are also partners in my sin.Isn’t that so?”
‘What are you saying? What have we to do with your sin? You are myhusband, and
my children are your children. It is your duty to look after usand give us food
and clothing.”
He realized that he alone was responsible for all his sins no one elsewould
share his sin. As soon as it was clear to him, he ran to Narada“Oh, sire now
what of me?How can I atone for all the sins I have committed? You are my only
savior.”
So he taught Ratnakara the sacred name of Rama - ‘Rama Nam’. He madehim sit
beneath a tree and asked him to go on repeating the sacred name ofRama. He
said, I shall come here again,Till then you should not get up and go away.”
Then the sage departed.
He had neither food nor sleep for days and days. And in this way quitea few
years passed. An ant hill grew all around and above him. He could noteven be
seen by anybody. Narada chanted the name of Rama in his ears Naradahelped him
to get up. He also gently touched him all over.
Ratnakara felt new life flowing through him. He touched the sage’sfeet; You are
now a sage of the highest order, a Brahmarshi. As you are now reborn from a
Valmika (the ant-hill), will hereafter be famous as Valmiki.”
The sage, Valmiki, now formed his ashrama or hermitage near the riverGanga
These are information posted by members compiled asQA by me in 1998’s-2000’s
and stored in my computer. At this date I have noinformation of the members
posted.
Posted by R Gopala krishnan,78 ,on 1-10-2021
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