QUESANSW DIVINE 26
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 22-10-2021 Q1 What is thedifference between swaha and swadha? A1 When we make an offering to a deity with mantras we must say "svaha". When it is made to the fathers we must say "svadha". The corresponding word to be said when offerings are made to variouscreatures is "hanta". Q2 What is"somasamsta" in brief? A2 Samavedic hymns chanted by the udgata is called samsta. The namesomayaga is derived from the fact that the essence of the soma plant, so muchrelished by the celestials, is made as an oblation. Apart from this, animals are also sacrificed in the singing of stotrasof the Samaveda during the samsta all those assembled for the sacrifice feel asif heaven were upon earth. This is one reason why somayajna is also known as"somasamsta". In the old days a Brahmin used all his wealth in performing the somasacrifice. Much of this was spent in daksina to the priests and the rest formaterials used in the sacrifice Among Namputiris, until some forty or fifty years ago, atleast onefamily out of ten performed the somayajna. Since only the eldest member of the family could conduct the sacrifice healone had the right to property. Q3 A very interestingquestion- Do cremation is a samskara? A3 Cremation is not included in the forty samskaras but, as alreadypointed out, it is alsoa sacrifice, the last one, antyesti, and performed to the chantingof mantras by the son or a close relative of the deceased. If a PERSON has not worshippedthe tretagni and kept only the aupasanagni, his cremation must be performedwith that fire. Thereis no cremation, of course, for a sannyasin. If sannyasa were compulsory forall there would be no dahana-kriya or cremation mentioned in the sastras. On his death his body is cremated with the chanting of mantras and thisrite also bring good to the world. Q4 Do the samskarasbenefit all or the individual only? A4 While the samskaras refine a man, purify him, the mantras chanted atthe time create benign vibrations in the world. And, while each karma is apparently meant for the performer as anindividual, it also brings benefit to the entire world. In truth there is nokarma that does not benefit mankind in general. All rites begin with the prayer, "Jagat--hitayaKrsnaya". When we chant the Gayatri we do not say, "may the sun god quickenor inspire my intelligence", but"our" inteligence. Brahmins, Kshatriyas and Vaisyas must mutter the Gayatri not only fortheir own good but for that of all castes, all creatures including animals,birds, insects, all sentient beings. Q5 Sankaracharya ofkamakoti peetam Kanchepuram has made an interesting and excellent view that caste is based on birth.What are its basis? A5 The views in nutshell is as follows:- I( Sankaracharya) will give firm proof in support of the view thatcaste is based on birth and not on the nature or qualiti of individuals. The caula of children belonging to particular caste is performed at theage of three, the upanayana at five or seven. These are samskaras based onbirth and performed in childhood. So it would be absurd to claim that one'svocation is based on one's nature of qualities. Is it possible to determineone's qualities or nature in early childhood? Take, for instance, the calling of the Brahmin who has to join thegurukula when he is seven or eight years old. His education covers a period of twelve years; after this alone will hebe qualified for his vocation which includes, among other things, teaching. Ifa man's occupation were to be fixed until after his character and qualities areformed, it would mean a waste of his youthful years Lord krishna urges Arjuna tofight. " You are born a Ksatriya and you are duty-bound to wage war.Take up your bow and fight". Thus we have confirmation that by svadharma the Lord means the jatidharma of birth. Parasurama and Dronacarya were Brahmins but they were Ksatriyas bynature. On the other hand, Visvamitra, a valorous Ksatriya king known for hisviolent and passionate temperament, became a Brahmin rsi. Cases like this are extremelyrare, and are exceptions to the rule of jati dharma Q6 What is the view ofthe psychologists on this question of caste A6 According to them, heredity and environment play a crucial part indetermining a man's character, abilities and attitudes I will cite the views of Gandhiji who is much respected by thereformists:" The Gita does talk of varna being according to guna andkarma, but guna and karma are inherited by birth During Krsna's own time the various castes were divided according tobirth : we learn this, without any room for doubt, from the Mahabharata, theBhagavata and the Visnu Purana. I mention this because some research scholarstoday are likely to put forward the view that caste based on birth evolvedafter the time of Krsna Sri Krsna establishes that anindividual owes his caste to his birth. There should not be the slightest doubt about it Q7 What is theexplanation given by Kanchi Paramacharya for the wordings “KanyamKanaka-sampannam" (the bride adorned with gold): A7 Kanyam Kanaka-sampannam"(the bride adorned with gold):these words occur in the sastras relating to themarriage rites. Gold symbolises thegrace of Laksmi but a mangalasutra with a grain of gold as part of it is enough. A cotton sari will serve the purpose of thekurapudavai They claim that they are vegetarians. So shouldthey not feel remorse about being indirectly responsible for the destruction ofcountless silkworms because of their love of silk saris Q8What are the details of Bhairavas in Banaras? A8 Bhairava presides over the holy city in a group of eightcalled ashtabhairavapaired with a group of eight goddesses called ashtamâtrkâ Though Kâla Bhairavais the mostimportant and central among them, he is not counted among the eight traditionalBhairavas in the, roughly speaking, eight different directions of the holy cityto whom he has relegated his function of Kotwal Batuka and Âdi Bhairavaoccupy separate shrines in the same temple in the Kamacchâ area, a temple that is notcounted among the traditional eight Bhairavas but has eclipsed them all inpopularity due the dynamism of its Mahant. Q9 Do Banaras isidentified with Godesses? A9 Yes In many Mahâtmyâs,Banaras is identified with the goddess: “In Kashi Khanda 7:66, Banaras is personified as agoddess whose ‘tremulous eyes’ are Lolark and Keshava, and whose arms are the rivers Varanaand Asi” But the sages ask why Kâçîhas a feminine name if it is a linga? Çiva replies that he is himself both Çiva and Çakti,thus underlining the androgynous character of the holy city. Kâçî has been connected with the worship of thegoddess since early times (Eck 1983:75,174 and Tiwari 1985). Q10 Do mythology ofjyotirlinga is associated with kasi? A10 The mythology ofthe jyortir lingais veryimportant in Banaras, because it is precisely in Kâçîthat this column of fire originally appeared. Kâçîis even identified with this lingaof light. “Kâshî is also thelinga of light Q11 Where do the true form of kasi appear? A11 The true form of Kâçîis not only the Çiva linga,no different from the pillar of light from which Bhairava was born, but alsothe Goddess Citâ (meaning both “funeral pyre” and“Consciousness”). Kâçî,the city of light, is illuminated above all by the fires of death The perpetual cremation ofcorpses at Manikarnikâ, the navel of Kâçî, transforms this “Great Cremation Ground” into the cosmogoniccenter Banaras has scarcely assumed thefull-fledged form of the Goddess proper Q12 A mysterious question- When did we startLord Ganesha worship actually? A12 For historians feel it was only around the fourth century AD thatthe concept of Ganesa came to stay preceded, as it were, by instances ofelephant worship. In his aspect as the sacredelephant, his genesis seems to stretch far back into antiquity An approximatedate that scholars bring to light is the late Indus period, (2550-2050 BC) whenthe elephant motif was used on coins. In the 3rd centuryBC, the famous Maurya king Asoka used the elephant figure on many of hispillars. The Sarnath pillar, from which the national emblem is derived, is oneamong them. Indeed, the elephant is closely related to Buddhist mythology. Veryearly in history, the symbol had been adopted by Buddhism and Jainism too. The elephant is symbolic of Buddha’sconception as well as that of many Jain Tirthankaras. Of course, in Hindumythology elephants figure in many instances, beginning with Lord Indra, theking of the heavens. His mount, Airavata, was a white elephant. So there is a school of thought which believes that Ganesa evolved fromthe Vedic fold. In the Vedas, the oldest dating to 1500-1000 BC, he issynonymous with some other Gods mentioned therein. But, equally, it is pointed out thatthe name Ganesa or Ganapati or Vinayaka, as he is variously called, does notfigure in the Vedas In many African societies the elephant is a common symbol as, in adesire to acquire the strength of the elephant, its worship began and soon heassumed the role of a guardian deity. A syncretistic deity,Adianta Prabhu, can be seen in a temple in Chennai in Tamil Nadu where thedeity is half Hanuman and half Ganesa Q13 Who was vedicsakthi? A13 The vedic word shakti "energy" designates the energypersonified in the spouse of Indra, god of war and thunder who is the chief godin the vedic pantheon By far the most remarkable of the shaktis is Shiva's spouse, who isknown under a variety of forms and names. The most commonplace representations are Durga the "inaccessible, " Uma "thefavourable," Gauri "the fair one, " Kali "thedark-complexioned " (or less likely perceived as symbolisingfeminine Time), Candi the "violent,",Parvati "the mountaingirl" (an allusion to one of her incarnations), Kumari the"virgin," more generally Devi Mahadevi, is the goddess parexcellence. At a certain point in her existence Durga couples up with the GodShiva, later becoming his wife and mother to his child. In this role Durgatakes on domesticated features and is identified with the goddess Parvati. Q14Actually what we study from Veidc scriptures? A14 In Hindu scriptures, you areactually studying about the history and culture of India, like in 66 books ofthe Holy Bible you are actually studying about the culture and history of theJews. Hinduismand Judaism are mothers of all modern religions in the world. Q15What is the orgin of different religions? A15 Buddhism, Sikhism and to some extent Jainism and Zoroastrianism camefrom Hinduism. Of course, Jainism existed during Rig Vedic Period. Islam and Christianity came from Judaism. Judaism,Islam and Christianity have Abraham as the common father figure. All three havemany common prophets. There is even mention about Jesus Christ many times inthe Holy Koran. C.S. Lewis, the great author andtheologist wrote, finally it will come to two religions. Hinduism andChristianity. The first [Hinduism] will grow absorbing ideas and concepts fromeverywhere and later [Christianity] will keep away from everything that isforeign to it. What C.S. Lewis wrote is very true. Q16Who is the founder of Hinduism? A16 It is like asking “who is the founder ofScience”? No body inparticular. It is the research output of countless learned mencalled Rishis who were Christ like masters, through centuries. Q17When did Hinduism Take Birth? A17Nobodyknows. If you go by Hindu mythologicalstories, Hinduism is trillions of years old. If you go by Max Muller, theGerman philosopher, it is at least 8000 to 9000 years old. However studying the relics of Mohenjadaro and Harappaexcavations, I conclude, relics of the Indus civilization shows merging of manycultures and concepts. TheIndus Valley was home to the largest of the four ancient urban civilizations ofEgypt, Mesopotamia, India and China. Harappa and Mohenjodaro werecities in the Indus Valley civilization that flourished around 2,500 B.C. inthe western part of South Asia. The roots of Hinduism can be traced to thiscivilization.Hinduism has the strange capability to absorb and grow from allquarters and that is why in it you can see relics of all other civilizationslike Egyptian, Celtic, Mayan, Greek, Roman etc. To me it does not matter the exact date it wasborn, since nobody can prove or disprove the exact date. I am more concernedabout what it has to give to the world. Q18What was the original name of Hinduism? A18 Sanatana Dharma or Eternal Righteousness wasthe correct name of Hinduism. Itwas Persians who invaded India during 6th century B.C. who gave thename Hinduism meaning the religion of people livingnear the Indus river. In Persian the letter S getstransformed as H. So they misprounounced the word Sindhu (Sanskrit name forIndus) and started calling the people living near Sindhu as Hindus. And then ofcourse “Hinduism” was born, although it makes little sense. Q19 What is the language in which the Hinduscriptures were written? A19 Sanskrit. It isolder than Hebrew and Latin. Apparently, the first words in English languagecame from Sanskrit. The word mother came from Sanskrit word mata and fathercame from Sanskrit word pita as per the PBS video “The Story of English”. Believe it or not, the wordgeometry came from a Sanskrit word named Gyaamiti meaning ‘measuring theearth’. The word trigonometry came from the word Trikonamiti meaning ‘measuringtriangular forms’. Q20How Hinduism Started? A20 Accordingto Hindu scriptures it started as Shruti - that which is heard. The great seers of ancient times called Rishis who had perfectedthemselves have heard in their hearts, eternal truths and they taught thosetruths to disciples orally and later they wrote them in books. Vedas and Upanishads are known as Shruti literature rest is calledSmriti - that which is remembered - literature. All of Shruti are considered asrevealed truths of God. According Christian theologians Holy Bible is considered to be HolySpirit inspired book. According toMimamsa school of thought, all Shruti literature existed all through eternityin the form of sounds. -- 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/1081032207.12455.1634863474398%40mail.yahoo.com.
