QUESTION ANSWER DIVINE 03-2022-06 Dear friends,
These are information compiledas QA by me in 1998’s-2004’s and stored in my computer. They are posted by very learnt members. BEING COMPILATION THERE MAY BE ERRORS. Sincerely, R. Gopalakrishnan, 78, dated 06-03-2022 Q1 We know the two wivesof Lord Muruga are Valli and Devayani. Question- How they got the name so? A1 Long,long ago, when LordSubrahmanya was staying at Kanda Verpu, the two daughters of Lord Maha Vishnu,Amrita Valli and Sundara Valli, cherished the desire of becoming theconsorts of Subrahmanya. With this aim in mind they both went to SaravanaPoigai and commenced austere penance to fulfill their desires. Pleased with their prayer and worship, Lord Subrahmanyaappeared before them and told Amrita Valli, "You will be brought up byIndra as his daughter and I shall marry you in due course." Her youngersister Sundara Valli was also graced with a similar blessing. She was born tosage Sivamuni and brought up by Nambi, the headman of Vedas. Amrita Valli took the form of a female child and went to Mount Meru, the abodeof Indra, and told him, "I am the daughter of Maha Vishnu and theresponsibility of looking after me has been entrusted to you." On hearing this, Indra became very happy and directedAiravatam, his white elephant, to take care of the child. The elephant with all love brought her up and affection andshe attained the age of marriage in course of time. Hence she came to be knownas Devayanai, one whowas brought up by the heavenly elephant of Indra (yanai in Tamil meanselephant). Q2 What is the importance of Agni? A2 Agni is one of the few gods who have retained their supremacy in the Hinduhierarchy of gods, from the Vedic age till today and has the largest number ofhymns addressed to him. He isthe priest of the gods and the god of the priests and serves as the liaison betweengods and men. He presides over all the greatevents of a person’s life and at the end it is Agni, through the flames of thefuneral pyre, who accepts the body Q3What are the nine forms of Durga? A3 Durga has nine popular formscalled Nava-Durgas which are worshipped during the Dussehra festival. Theyare, Shailaputri, Uma/Brahmacharini, Chandraghanta, Kushmanda, Skandamata,Katyayani, Kalaratri, Mahagauri and Siddhidhatri. Q4 What are the fourmanifestations of Lord Ganesha? A4 Lord Ganesha is the Lord of the Brahmacharis (celibates). There are several accounts of Ganesha's birth. According to the Ganesha Purana, Lord Ganesha had fourmanifestations. In the manifestation Mahakota Vinayaka he has ten hands,is riding a lion and is dazzling with brilliance. Shri Mayuresh has six hands, is faircomplexioned and is riding a peacock. Shri Gajaanana has four hands, is ridinga mouse and is crimson coloured. Shri Dhoomraketu has two hands, has asmoke-coloured complexion and is riding a horse. ( During our rituals wehave a manthra during Ganesha pooja as Dhoomra kethuve Namahae) Q5 What are the eightincarnations of Ganesha? A5 Another group ofeight incarnations are: 1)Vakratunda, riding a lion, (2) Ekadanta, (3) Mahodara, (4) Gajaanana,and (5) Lambodara, all riding on a mouse. (6) Vikata, on a peacock, (7)Vighnaraja, riding on the serpent Sesha and (8) Dhoomra Varna, like Shiva. Q6Whether Kubera is aGod?What are his details? 6 Yes .Formoving about he has a chariot called Pushpak. Kuber is not an important deity and hisimages are very rarely seen, though he is frequently referred to in the epics. He is also called the god of theYakshas (savage beings). His brother Ravana, by practicing austerities,obtained from Shiva the boon of invincibility and so was able to defeat Kuberand to seize and retain Lanka and the chariot, Pushpak. As Lanka could not be restored to Kuber, Viswakarma, the architect god,built him a palace on Mount Kailash. He also has a beautiful gardencalled Chaitrarath on Mount Mandara. Kuber'sdomains are all in the high Himalayas, partly because he is the guardian of theNorth, but also because the mountains are the repository of mineral wealth. Kuber watchesover the earth's storehouse of gold, silver, jewels, pearls and the ninenidhis, special treasures. Q7 An interesting question. There isa major difference between Parvathi and Gowri forms. What is it? A7 When Shiva teasedParvathi about her black skin, through penancesParvathi had her colour changed to that of gold and was then calledGauri. Q8Do Vedic Saraswathi wasa river or Godess? A8 Both . In the Vedas Saraswati is primarily a river but in the hymns she iscelebrated as both a river and a deity. Her origins are obscure but it ispossible that she once had something to do with the river Saraswati inRajasthan or with water in some other way. At all events, she seems to have been associated with the creativeproperties that water has for seeds and vegetation. Being the goddess of learning, she is worshipped when a child is giveninstructions for the first time in reading and writing. Many schools in India startclasses with a mass prayer to the goddess. Q9 Do Sun is worshipped in temple as main deity? A9 Everyday in the morning one can see hundreds ofdevotees chanting the mantras and offering water to the Sun god. Small images and visualrepresentations of the Sun god can be seen in the temples of other gods, but herarely has a full-fledged temple to himself. One of the exceptions is the famous sun temple atKonarak in Orissa. Sooryanar kovil main deity is Siva, not soorya thoughsoorya has got prominence Implements of the trade such as lathe machines, chisels etc. areworshipped when the Sun enters tile Bhadrapada constellation. Jaipur has an industrial area named after him, and so are thousands ofmachining and mechanical shops all over tile country. Q10 Do Varuna isworshipped as a God? A10 Varuna lost hisimportance even during the Vedic times. Of his former character of a celestial deity, he retains only the titleof the regent of the Western quarter of the compass. The mythologicalexplanation of this great fall is that a great conflict occurred between godsand demons and when it was over each of the gods was assigned a clearly definedsphere of influence to avoid further conflicts. >From this time onward lndra remained god of the atmosphere while Varunawas >ousted from the guardianship of the heavens and was given the over-lordshipof >the oceans. Here he kept watch over the various demons of the ocean. Varuna sits with his wife, Varuni, on athrone of diamonds and the gods and goddesses of the different rivers, lakesand springs form his court. However Varuna japam is performed to bring rain and yajyas areconducted for it. Q11Do Yama is worshipped as God? A11 Yama is worshippedas Dharma raja by Brahmins daily during sandhya and prayer is offered to him. Recollect our Sandhya Vandan- Yamaya Dharma rajaya,Mrituvae Chandakayaja, Vaivasutaya Kalaya Sarva Bhootha Kshayayacha” Yama is the messenger or god ofdeath and the judge of men. He is represented as a green coloured man, clothedin red garments and wearing a crown The virtuous are conveyedto heaven (Swarga) and the wicked to different regions of hell (Naraka). Q12Do red is a good colour? A12 Yes Yes. In Hindu religion red is of utmost significance andthe colour most frequently used for auspicious occasions like marriages, birthof a child, festivals etc. A red mark is put on the forehead duringceremonies and important occasions. As a sign of marriage women put red powderon their hair parting. They also wear a red sari during marriage. Red powder is usuallythrown on statues of deities and phallic symbols during prayers. It is also the colour of shakti (prowess). Ared coloured dress is put on deities who are charitable, brave, protective and whohave the capacity to destroy evil. On the death of a woman, her body is wrappedin a red cloth for the cremation. Q13What was the colour of Rama and Krishna? A13 Lord Rama and Krishna spent their lifeprotecting humanity and destroying evil, hence they are coloured blue. Q14 When do pride arise? A14 Man's pride usually arises outof three factors – possession of wealth, his pedigree which may be highand his acquisition of knowledge and intellectual attainment. Q15 DO there are similar seedslike Rudraksha? A15 Yes.Rudraksha. This isround and large in size and most commonly used for prayers medicines and formaking garlands.Bhadraksha.Thisone is smaller in size and round. It is less beneficial than Rudraksha.Indraksha. Thisis shaped like a groundnut and is oval.Sahastraksha. It is shaped like Indraksha only it isslightly flat in shape. -- 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/1852843006.183474.1646539488591%40mail.yahoo.com.
