QUES ANSW DIVINE 17 Dear friends, These are information posted by members compiledas QA by me in 1998’s-2000’s and stored in my computer. At this date I have noinformation of the members posted.
Being compilation there may be errors Posted by RGopala krishnan,78 ,on 9-10-2021 Q1What are the brief details of Rudraksha? A1 The Rudraksha is one of the most commonly usedbeads amongst the Hindus. The tree on which it grows belongs to the species ofElaeocarpus Ganitrus found in the Himalayas. The seed of the fruit of this tree is used as abead and is classified into four categories according to their shape and sizes. The bead isclassified on the basis of the number of lines or mouths (mukhas) running from top to bottom. The number of mouths can varyfrom one to fourteen The five-mouthed (Pancha mukha) beads are the mostcommon Asingle faced bead is the rarest and the owner will be free from the cycle ofbirths and rebirths Onwearing the seven-faced bead the goddess Mahalakshmi is happy. The eight-facedone is to Ganesha and the wearer is always victorious Q2Do the mountains are considered sacred? A2 yes. The most important of these are of course the Himalayas, onthe summits of which are the heavens. Mountains, specially the Himalayas werealso important as it was amongst them that the holy men, the yogis and thesadhus lived doing meditation A person going on a trek in the Himalayas caneasily find yogis doing meditation in caves amongst the high snow-capped peaks Q3What is the legend behind the Krauncha pass. ? A3 Mount Kailash, the home of Shiva, which became involved in a disputebetween Indra and Kartikeya as to their relative powers and to settle thedispute they agreed to race around it. Kartikeya won but became angry when Kailash gave the verdict infavour of Indra ad hurled his lance at the mountain splitting it open, thus creating the Kraunchapass. Q4What are the importance of the places Benares, Mathura, Dwaraka, Puri,Rameswaram, Gaya, Ujjayani and Haridwar ? A4 Benares isthe most sacred among the holyplaces. Also known as Varanasi and Kashi, it is the city of Shiva, having overtwo thousand temples and over half a million idols, most of them dedicated toShiva and his family. It is situated on the banks of the holy river Ganga. Mathura, on thebanks of Jamuna, near Agra,is the birth place of Krishna. The atmosphere of Mathura is in direct contrastto that of Benares. Mathura represents the religion of the living, whileBenares emphasizes the permanence of death. Dwaraka inGujarat is another important shrine.It was the capital of Krishna’s kingdom and has some very important templesdevoted to him. The city is located on the Western coast of India. Puri in Orissahas the Jagannath temple whichattracts pilgrims from all over India. It has an idol considered to be amanifestation of Krishna. The temple, containing idols of Balarama and Subhadra(sister of Krishna), is on the Eastern corner of India. Rameswaram fromwhere Rama is said to havelaunched his attack on Lanka is in the extreme south of India. Rama is said tohave installed a Shiva lingam here; hence the place is sacred to bothShaivas (Shiva worshippers) and Vaisnavas (Vishnu worshippers). Gaya on theGanges, once a stronghold of theBuddhists, is for the Hindus connected with the death ceremonies of ancestorsfor which they visit the place. After the rituals are performed at Gaya the soul of the deadattain salvation. Ujjain. It iscalled the navel of earth. It has thefamous temples of Ganesha and Kal-Bhairav. During the time of Vikramaditya itused to be the capital of India. Two parts of the Skanda-Purana were said tohave been written here. Haridwar. It isanother very important holy city ofIndia. It is at the foothills of the Himalayas and is the place where the Gangaenters the plains. It isalso called the ‘gateway of the Ganga’. Q5What are the importance of ganga and Jamuna rivers? A5 The civilization of India was nurtured in theriver basin of the Ganga and the Jamunawhich has been the heart of ancient India. The two rivers have, therefore, been worshippedsince ancient times. The Ganga has been known for its purity and divinity and the Hindusbelieve that a bath in her waters cleanses one of all sins. Theriver Jamuna is known for her devotion Theriver Saraswati was worshipped in ancient times when the Aryans lived in Punjab. The Saraswati changed its course in later ages andgradually disappeared in the deserts of Rajasthan Q6How did the river goddesses became the guarden deities of the temples When did they became so? A6Around the 4th century A.D. architects began to carve figures of Ganga and Jamuna, in human form,on the two sides of the temple door symbolizing purity (Ganga) and devotion(Jamuna). Thiswas to emphasize that only the pure and devoted could enter the temples. At a later period it became a common practice torepresent the two river goddesses on the two sides of the shrine door in bothNorth and South India. Q7Dothe trees were worshipped as Gods? A7The tree deity has been found in the stamp seals of the Indus Valleycivilization. Plants such as thetulsi, a type of basil, are equally important. Thespirits that inhabit trees are the yakshas, feminine deities; male figuresnever appear in such a connection A yaksha is propriated with offerings such asfood, bits of cloth tied to the branches and red-smeared stones put at the baseof the tree. Some treeslike the tulsi are worshipped daily Pipal(Ficus religiosa) is one of the leading trees in Hinduism and Buddhism. It is also known as the bodhi treebecause Gautama Buddha attained enlightenment under it. The tree isthe object of universal worshipthroughout India. It is sacred to Vishnu. It is a very large tree with highraised roots which descend to the ground fromthe branches like additional trunks. The kushahas the quality of warding off evils.In all rituals, kusha is a must in some form or other. Durva is supposed to bevery auspicious and is offered to Ganesha. Q8What are the tales about Tulasi? A8Tulsi (Ocynum sanctum) is a sacred plant of the basil family. Tulsiwas one of Vishnu’s paramours. Out of jealousy his wife Lakshmi turned her into aplant, and the god became the salagrama stone to keep her company. In some versions of the story, Tulsi and Lakshmiare the same. The plant is about three feet is height. Everyday the ground nearit is covered with a layer of cowdung and at night a lamp is lit near it. It is a common custom to place a sprig of tulsinear the head of a dying person. The aromatic leaves are taken as a digestiveafter meals. Q9Do the sadhus are cremated? A9NO. Unlike the common Hindu who is cremated, the Sadhuis buried, usually in the sitting position. The burial site normally becomes aplace of worship. Q10What are the details about salagrama? What is the sani story associated withsalagram? A10 The Salagrama is a small stone, actually anammonite, a fossil genus of marine cephalophod, and is considered by Brahminsto be a natural representation of Vishnu. It plays an important role in theworship of a Brahmin, who is considered a living, earthly form of the deity.The salagrama is mentioned in the Atharva Veda where it iswritten that any Brahmin’s house that does not contain the salagrama is to beconsidered as impure as a cemetery. Salagramasare to be found in the Gundak river in Nepal. They are black or dark coloured, round or oval in shape, striated,umbilicated and ornamented with natural tree like markings. The most soughtafter are the ones that are perforated in one or more places by worms The reason for its sacredness is that once Shanicalled on Vishnu, who had transformed himself into a mountain. Thisangered Shani who became a worm (Vajrakita) and afflicted him for twelve years At the expiration of the time Vishnu regained hisoriginal shape and ordered that henceforth the stones of this mountain will beworshipped as a representation of himself. Q11What are the details about the Sivalinga? A11 A Shiva-linga may be movable (chal) or immovable(achal). The movable linga may be kept in a shrine in one’s home and may be prepared temporarily with clay ordough and dispensed with after the worship Theimmovable lingas are those installed in temples and it is very common to have alinga in a temple without any image of Lord Shiva. The lingas will always have an arrangement forwater to drip on it continuously The linga symbolizes the divine act ofcreation. It represents the union of linga (phallic symbol) with the yoni(female organ) showing manifest nature, the universal energy. Q12 Which ritual is continued from vedic period to tilldate? A12 SHRAADH-It is a system of offerings for deceasedancestors, based upon the Vedas. It is perhaps the strongest feature of Vedic Hinduismto have survived into the modern period Sraddha Ritualsperformed on the banks of the sacred river at centres like Benares or Gaya arebeneficial for the spirits of the ancestors. Q13What was the position of women in the early periods? A13 In the ancient times Gargi, wife ofMandanamishra, was appointed as judge because of her superior erudition andspiritual attainments. Warrior queens like Kaikeye helped their husbands on thebattlefields. Women were not marriedtill they were in their late teens, sometimes even later. They could choosetheir own husbands and inter-marriages were common. Polygamy existed in some societies but mostlyamongst princes who contracted several marriages with daughters of neighbouringrulers for political reasons. The rituals especially auspicious ones, areincomplete when performed by a man without his wife co-participating. Q14 What are the details aboutswasthik? A14 Theword ‘Swasti’ means auspicious, benevolent, a good deed or good wishes. TheSwastika is considered auspicious and is painted on the doors of houses inIndia to ward off evil spirits. Its origin goes back to the Vedic times(4500-2500 B.C.), may be even earlier. Seals with the Swastika symbol have beenfound at excavation sites in Harappa which date back to about 2000 years The Swastika is in the form of Greek cross withthe ends of the arms bent at right angles. The right-handed Swastika moves inthe clockwise directions and the left-handed in the counter-clockwise direction The Swastika is said to represent the Sun or LordVishnu. In the Puranas it has been described as the ‘Sudarshana Chakra’ or thewheel of Vishnu and also symbolizes the constant changes in the universe The Swastika has also been associated with the Sun(the arms representing the sun’s rays) and also with Ganesha, the pathfinderwhose image is often found at the crossroads. In the ‘Siddhanta Saar’ the hub of the Swastikahas been described as the navel of Vishnu and the four lines as the four facesand four arms of Brahma. The Swastika is considered as a tantric symbol and isdrawn in various stylised forms. It is a tradition to pray to it during religiousfestivals and auspicious occasions. During Diwali, the festival of lights, andthe financial year-end for the Hindu businessmen, new account books are openedand decorated with the Swastika symbol and the words ‘Shubh-Labh’ (meaning‘Auspicious Profit’) next to it. Prayersare also held so that the goddess of wealth, Lakshmi, will be benevolent. Q15What is the brief detail of tantra? A15 Tantra found an expression in the sensualsculpture of the Indian temples, which envisions the coupling of the male andthe female as union with the divine and the total release of the soul in thegodhead Q16 What are the brief details of chakra? A16 The centre of the forehead between theeyebrows is the most important psychic location in the human body and itsimportance is stressed by putting a coloured mark at this spot. This centralspot is where the sixth chakra (Ajna) is located. It is also called the thirdeye or the eye of wisdom. It is the aim of yogis and devout Hindus to ‘open’this third eye by constant meditation The most common material used for making this markis ‘kumkum’, the red powder which is a mixture of turmeric, alum, iodine,camphor, etc. Another popular material is sandalwood pasteblended with musk. This has a strong cooling effect and is generally meant forthose who have meditated for a long time Sacred ash from the sacrificial fire (yagna) orthe funeral pyre is considered the best material for the tilak by the yogis andsanyasis because they have renounced all their attachments to worldly life andash symbolises this. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Thatha_Patty" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/thatha_patty/454216618.633362.1633748081340%40mail.yahoo.com.
