QUES ANSW DIVINE 56 Q1 What is the importanceof Purusha sooktham?
A1 One of the foundation scriptures of Vedic Hinduism is the PurushaSuktam (Hymn to theTranscendental Overself) whatever that means. But reading thishymn's translation, one gets a sense of the time it was composed thousands ofyears before writing changed our societies and our lives. Q2 Do purusha sooktham ischanted in vedic worship and poojas? A2 Yes. This hymn is also one of the foundations of Vedic worship.Many, if not all, pujas use this hymn as part of the worship service. Q3 What is The PurushaSuktam? A3 It is Hymn to the Transcendental Oversoul orSelf."Om. ThePrimal Person has a thousand heads, a thousand eyes, a thousand feet. Pervadingthe entire universe, He transcends everything (is twenty finger-widths above,which means transcendental) All this is that Supreme Person that which was and that which will be.The existence of the universe in all three periods of time is the manifestationof the glory of this primal person. Three-fourths of this Cosmic Reality is established in the spheres oflight above. Onlyone-fourth of His effulgence appears and disappears here as our reality.In this manifesting one-fourth power, this Primal Person is pervading in allliving things He created thecelestials, animals and human beings as well as the earth by His own Power,though he was always Transcendental The universe of varied forms emerged from the Primal Person. Holdingthis cosmos as His body the Supreme Being manifested. Later, to propitiate thiscosmic Truth, the celestials made a symbolic mental fire sacrifice There emerged a curd that contained the ghee (clarified butter) fromthe altar of the fire sacrifice in which the Cosmic Being himself was thehighest oblation. Later birds that fly, animals of the forest,and the animals that move in the village were created. All mantras known asRik, Yajur, Sama and Gayatri emerged out of that altar in which the Self of allthe selves was the main oblation. Horses, animals having two-linedteeth, cows, goats and sheep and the like were born of this cosmic sacrifice. >From His mindemerged the moon, sun from his eyes, Indra (Lord of the first >heaven) and Agni(god of fire) from his mouth, and the cosmic breath, Vayu (the >air) emergedfrom his breath (prana). Atmosphereemerged out from his navel, sphere of light (Dyuloka) from his head, earth fromhis feet, directions from his ears. Thus the celestials (devas) created allSpheres( lokas) from His cosmic body. Thus the gods worshipped the God of Gods mentally through Sacrifice.The techniques used in the Yajna (sacrifice) became the law of life. The meditation on this"Cosmic Prayer of the Cosmic Form of God" leads the devotees to thehighest heaven where the angels and masters dwell. Brahmins (priests) emerged from themouth, Kshatriyas (warriors and rulers) from the arms, Vaishyas (tradespeople)from his thighs, Shudra (people of service to the rest) from the feet of thisCosmic Person. For this sacrifice seven meters are the boundaries. Twenty-oneprinciples are the oblations From this hymn came the beginning of ritualworship that quickly evolved into the Hindu pujas that we know today Q4 What happens bychanting Sanskrit mantras?A4 They saw that we are surrounded by energy all the time, spiritualenergy. They also saw that when theSanskrit formulas were chanted, that is, as the petals on the chakras vibratedin mystical resonances, atiny amount of this spiritual energy was actually pulled into the subtle body.The chakras were accessing and drawing in energy that is around us allthe time By the chanting of the Sanskrit formulas, people were experiencing anet gain not just in energy, but in usable spiritual energy. Over months and years of such activity, the energy gains were amazing.People who previously had no noticeable aura, now had one. Among those who hadseemed quite ordinary, some became healers, while others seemed to grow wiseand mysteriously tap into realms of spiritual knowledge and understanding. The total amount of energy inthe body was increasing as chanting continued over time, They immediately clamped a lid on the spread of thisknowledge even as they continued to study it. As the years rolled by, the sagesnoticed that continuous practice of chanting led to spiritual abilities, suchas clairvoyance (mystical seeing), clairaudience (mystical hearing), andothers. Q5 where we have thedetails of this aura? A5 The subtle body, as it grew, became able to work with the laws ofthe universe in ways that seem like science fiction today. These outcomes werecarefully written down (after the advent of writing) and can be found today inThe Vedas, the Upanishads, and most recently the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. Q6 What is the story about theorigin of the shrine at Guruvayur.? A6 The “Narada Purana” in the chapter Gurupavanapura Mahatmyaalludes to this story: In their 2nd janma, as Kasyapa & Adita,the couple worshipped the image NOW AT GURUVAYUR and got their son Vamana . Krishna moved toDwaraka where he built a temple, installed that image the supreme himself andworshipped it after the death of his parents . When the time come of his‘Swargarohana’( ascent to Vaikundha), Lord Krishna entrusted his devoted discipleUddhava. He appraised Udhava that a subsequence of Dwaraka was impending and thathe should install the image in an equally holy spot in consultation withBrihaspati (Guru), Accordingly Guru along with Vayu (the God of Winds) setforth to Dwaraka where they in tensed the image being tossed about in the seaby the surging waves. The God of winds(Vayu) carried the image of his lead and both set part in search of a sacred place for itsinstallation In their quest, they came upon a lake of lotuses., none other thanthe Rudratheertha where Lord Siva & Parvathi were waiting to receive them . Siva told them that that spot was etched out for Narayanalong ago; hence he and Parvathi would move to Mammiyur, the opposite bank. Itis for this reason that a visit to Guruvayur is considered incomplete withoutvisiting mammiyoor temple. Guru and Vayu installed the image in the temple built byViswakarma, the architect of the God. As Guru and Vayu together founded thetemple, the place came to be known as Guruvayurpura in accordance with Shiva’swish. The name was later shortened to Guruvayur. Well, as the legend says the deity inGuruvayur is more than 5000 years old . Q7What is the specialityof the sreekovil at Guruvayur? A7The squareshaped Sree Kovil has two stairs and three rooms inside In the north-easternside of the Sree Kovil is the temple well called Manikinar Q8 What is the orgin andstory of Sivalingam? A8It is believed that at the end of all creation, during the greatdeluge all of the different aspects of God found a resting place in the Lingam.Brahma is absorbed intothe right, Vishnu to the left and Gayatri into the heart. Siva Lingam is also a representation of theinfinite cosmic column of fire, whose origins Vishnu and Brahma were unable to trace. Siva Lingas areswayambhoos (that which appearedon their own) in several temples, or that which is untouched by a chisel. Thehighly polished Siva Lingas of the Pallava period bear several stripes, as inKailasanatha temple in Kanchipuram. Siva Linga is generally mounted on a circular or quandrangularreceptacle called the Avudaiyar. This pedestal is designed so as to drain offthe water offered during ablution ceremonies. In templessuch as Kanghipuram,abhishekam is offered only to the pedestal and not to the Siva since the Linga made of sand Bottom of the pedestal represents Brahma,the octoganal middlerepresents Vishnu and upper circular portion represents Siva. Upper portion ofSiva Linga may be of various shapes, cylindrical, elliptical, umbrella shaped,images may also be (rarely) carved on a Siva Linga. Q9What is represented by Nandi? A9 Nandi the bull is depicted facing the sanctum in all saivitetemples symbolising thehuman soul, jeeva-tma yearning for realising its oneness with paramatma the ultimate reality Q10 What is the advantageof reading/ listening Bhagavat geetha? A10 Even then the devotees who really relish Bhagwad get free from the fears of death. Shrimad Bhagwad makes a manfearless. Bhagwad makes a man free from doubts. It is a supreme creation byVyasaji. Bhagwad is in fact an appearance of Narayana. Even the sagelike Shukdevji, who deserted everything, couldn't give up the temptation tohear Shrimad Bhagwad . Q11 What di Bhagavt mean?Who presented it first? A11 WordBhagwad literally means God or akin to God . During the twilight of Dwapar Yuga, MaharashiVeda-Vyas taught this scripture to his son Shukdev. Origin of Shrimad Bhagwad iseven older. In the tradition of Shrimad Bhagwad, God Narayan himself narratedits content to Brahma. Brahma narrated it to Devarshi Narad who preached it toBadrayan Vyas. Vyas brought it into scriptural form and handed it to his sonShuk Dev. Shukdev, in his turn, preached Shrimad Bhagwad to the king Parikshit and SUTJI. King Parikshitdied soon after hearing it, while SUTJI narrated this scripture to the sageslike Shaunak et al. in Nemisharanya during his thousand years stay there. Q12 What are the firstlines of Bhagavatam? A12VASUDEVSUTAM DEVAM KANS CHANUR MARDANAM | DEVAKIPARMANANDAM KRISHAM VANDE JAGAD GURUM || Q13 What were the fivethings on which king Parikshith allowed Kali to live upon? A13 The king allowed Kali to live in five things-- gambling, drinking of wine,company of women, violence and the Gold. Since then, Kali i.e. thedispute has had a continuos association with these five things. Hence, anybodydisirous of self-improvement must avoid these five things which are governed byKali. Q14 What was the firstand last occasion King Parikshith became angry? Name the sage insulted by KingParikshith. A14 One day, king Parikshit went on a huntingexcursion. Till noon, he could not find a game. He was feeling restless becauseof hunger, thirst and fatigue. Searching water and shelter the king reached thehermitage of the sage Shamik. Shamik was in deep meditation so he did not welcome the king. For the first timethe king Parikshit grew angry with a Brahmin. As a revenge and to show hisanger he hanged a dead snake around the sage's neck. Q15 What was the curse bythe son of sage shamik on king Parikshith? A15 When he came to know about his father's insult bythe king Parikshit, hecursed him that on the seventh day from that moment, Takshak, the Naga wouldbite the king for his violation of kingly glory. Q16 Who explainedBhagavatham to king Parikshith in his last days? What was the speciality ofsage Sukhdev? A16 At that moment the ever-wandering, indifferent-naturedsage Shukdevji also arrived there. Sukdev explained that the human birth can be successful only if by anymeans one has a remembrance of God in his last moments. He was then onlysixteen years old but appeared quite radiant and graceful. Q17 Do day starts withsun rise or midnight? A17 Day starts when Sun rises in East. But unfortunately due to the aggression ofthe western civilisation, our days are started at 12.00 in the night. Probablywhen sun rises in India the time may be 12,00 night at greenwhich inEngland. So even westerners are accepting the day starts when sunrises in Bharath Q18What is Lord Kapil theory of childdevelopment? A18 Lord Kapil says,"Through the union of the sperm and the ovum, the human body appears as alump in the womb. His body forms completely within six months. Sense organs develop thereafter. Twenty fifth element, thesoul, then enters the human body. With that, the body begins to experiencehunger and thirst. I present him with a sight of me in his heart. It then takes birth because of my grace. But as soon as it appears on theearth the human being begins to forget me. Still, I present him with my sight for two tothree months more, when he begins to laugh Youth of a human being passes infutile activities. In old age, his organs begin to fail and a human being findshimself unable to recite my name. Thus, the whole life of a human being just passes in the illusion of 'I','me' and 'my' and he reaches his last stage, and begins to realize his mistake Q19What is siddipata? A19Devahuti got a sight of God in herconscience and her body transformed into a holy river. The place where Mata Devhutireceived salvation is still known as Siddhi Pada. -- 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/988409810.3047438.1637738477519%40mail.yahoo.com.
