texts:
One of the most famous parts of the Chandogya Upanishad is the dialogue of the sage Uddalaka Aruni with his son Shwetaketu.  (It's known as the Sad Vidya, and it's one of the 32 Brahma Vidyas.) It is during this dialogue that the famous Mahavakya "Tat Tvam Asi" or "Thou art That", which plays an important role in Advaita, is mentioned.  (See my question here for how other schools interpret the Mahavakyas.). But I'm interested in Shwetaketu himself.

Shwetaketu is known for many things.  He was the one who abolished polyandry, the practice of a wife having multiple husbands, as described in the Adi Parva of the Mahabharata. (A husband having multiple wives, on the other hand, is a well-established practice.)  And he was the uncle of Ashtavakra, the purported author of the Ashtavakra Gita.  And he is said to have written a text which formed the basis of a certain work of Vatsayana. But my question is about Shwetaketu's parentage.

This chapter of the Shanti Parva of the Mahabharata describes how certain acts, which are usually grave sins, are allowed in certain circumstances.  In particular it says this:

  Connection with the preceptor's wife at the preceptor's command does not stain the pupil. The sage Uddalaka caused his son Swetaketu to be begotten by a disciple.

My question is, who is Shwetaketu's biological father?  This is a case of Niyoga, which is the practice I discuss here where a woman has a man other than her husband father a child with her, either because her husband is unable to father children or because he's dead.

So who was the disciple that Uddalaka Aruni chose to bear a child on his behalf?  Is this story of Shwetaketu being born through Niyoga described in more detail in any other scriptures?

Also, on a side note if Shwetaketu was born through because Uddalaka Aruni was unable to have children, was his daughter Sujata, mother of Ashtavakra, also born through Niyoga?


texts: Parable that describes why one wants to achieve Moksha?

texts:
In university my professor told a story or parable of why one would want to attain Moksha (and break the cycle of life and death).  The details are foggy but it generally involved a man with a wife and children that lived by the sea, and he asked an elder why he would want to achieve Moksha.  His wife and children were then killed by either a wave or a flood and the moral was that this was why, i.e. when one breaks the cycle of life and death and achieve Moksha they are one with everything and thus no longer have to deal with the grief of loving others only to lose them.

Has anyone ever heard such a parable or point to such a story online?


texts: If atmas exchange bodies after death, does it mean the population/no. of bodies has to remain constant?

texts:
Quoting Bhagawad Gita 2.22

वासांसि जीर्णानि यथा विहाय
नवानि गृह्णाति नरोऽपराणि।
तथा शरीराणि विहाय जीर्णा
न्यन्यानि संयाति नवानि देही।।2.22।।

"As a person sheds worn-out garments and wears new ones, likewise, at the time of death, the soul casts off its worn-out body and enters a new one."

Does this mean that the total population has to remain constant? Or it continuously decreases as some atmas attain moksha? Is this satisfied by the provision of inter-species transfer of atma considering total biomass remains roughly the same? Is there also a provision of creation of new atma entities?


texts: Do any biographies of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu mention Him to be the founder of the Durga Puja tradition in Odisha?

texts:
According to this Gaudiya Vaishnava site, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu brought the tradition of Durga Puja in Odisha:

It is a misconception among many Gaudiya Vaishnavas that worship of Lord Shiva or Devi Durga is prohibited and offensive and not as per our Guru varga teachings . What is actually condemned is the  “independent” worship of Lord Shiva and Devi thinking of them as the Supreme Divinity and asking only for material pleasures.
If one worships them with devotion and respect as an expansion of Lord’s energy along with Lord Himself then there is no harm. Lord Shiva and Devi are famous for granting the required strength and clear all hurdles in the spiritual path of devotees. They will grant whatever is needed by devotees to attain Sri Radha Krishna’s service. As a matter of fact, it is Sriman Chaitanya Mahaprabhu who started the Saradiya Durga Pooja mahotsava in Orissa 500 years ago. This is acknowledged by Orissa government as well...

My questions are:

Do any of the biographies of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu mentioned Him to have founded the Durga Puja tradition in Odisha?

Has Srila Prabhupada or any other ISKCON acharyas commented on this issue?


texts: Why do widows wear white sarees after their husband's death?

texts: After the death of a man (husband), the wife (widow) is not allowed to wear bangles, kumkum (sindhur) and is asked to wear white saree & shave her head. Is there any reference for such a practice in scriptures? And what is the purpose of such a custom?


texts: What is "Brahm" in "Brahmacharya"? How does it relate to celibacy?

texts:
My perception was that, "Brahm"(ब्रह्म) in "Brahmacharya"(ब्रह्मचर्य) is the same "Brahm", which is referred in Gita at many places. In this site, we mainly refer it as "Brahman" (ब्रह्मन्). And "charya"(चर्य) means, "practised" or "acted".

ब्रह्मचर्य - acting according to supreme one [instructions]

In other words, forfeiting all the doership of the actions and thinking of "actions" as being done by the supreme one.
(The other way of saying is that, performing actions without desires (kAma) born out of Rajas.)

Now,

celibacy - abstaining from sex

Why or how is "Brahmacharya" related to "celibacy"?
For example, this Qn already assumes them as synonyms:
What is the importance of Brahmacharya (Celibacy) in Hinduism?

Lord Krishna was referred as "आजीवम् ब्रह्मचारिन्" (lifelong BrahmachAri). How can it be true, when he had 8 main wives & lot of children.
Hence the Qn in title.

Answer wiki

All the answers are nice in details & echo the same sentiment.
For those, who wants to know in brief:

"Brahmacharya" means acting towards realisation of Brahman (supreme One)
Overall it means to stay away from desires which deviates from Dharma
It's not a synonym of "celibacy", but may include attributes of "celibacy" as a part of it
"Celibacy" in this context, also doesn't mean "absolute abstinence from sex"; Amorous pleasures enjoyed for conceiving during particular period is allowed
It's yet unclear, if the sexual congress performed on prescribed days but without intention of conceiving is valid or not

Conformance from AnushAsana Parva:

  He who has congress with only his wedded wife and that only at her season, is said to be observant of the vow of Brahmacharya


texts: What are the 4 Dig Vijayas conquered by Karna?

texts: What exactly are Dig Vijayas and what are the campaigns that lead to Karna attaining the 4 Dig Vijayas?


texts: Freedom from cycle of ( re-birth _ death_re-birth )

texts:
Is the re-birth recurrence principle a belief or an assumption proved true by those more spiritually evolved in states of higher consciousness? Were there instances of verification or revelations in ancient or in recent times?

EDIT1:

Punarapi jananam, punarapi maranam... is Adi Shankara's assertion. Attainment of Mokasha is getting out of  this round and round  unending continuous circle. Verification of experience in a repeating circle and verification of advanced experiences guiding a Mumukshu into a higher spiritual orbit is part of the same total phenomenon. Those ahead  and graduated only can guide those who are new entrants.


texts:
The Shiva Aavahan mantra recites:

शिव आह्वाहन मंत्र
ॐ मृत्युंजय परेशान जगदाभयनाशन ।
तव ध्यानेन देवेश मृत्युप्राप्नोति जीवती ।।
वन्दे ईशान देवाय नमस्तस्मै पिनाकिने ।
आदिमध्यांत रूपाय मृत्युनाशं करोतु मे ।।
नमस्तस्मै भगवते कैलासाचल वासिने ।
नमोब्रह्मेन्द्र रूपाय मृत्युनाशं करोतु मे ।।
त्र्यंबकाय नमस्तुभ्यं पंचस्याय नमोनमः ।
नमो दोर्दण्डचापाय मम मृत्युम् विनाशय ।।
नमोर्धेन्दु स्वरूपाय नमो दिग्वसनाय च ।
नमो भक्तार्ति हन्त्रे च मम मृत्युं विनाशय ।।
देवं मृत्युविनाशनं भयहरं साम्राज्य मुक्ति प्रदम् ।
नाना भूतगणान्वितं दिवि पदैः देवैः सदा सेवितम् ।।
अज्ञानान्धकनाशनं शुभकरं विध्यासु सौख्य प्रदम् ।
सर्व सर्वपति महेश्वर हरं मृत्युंजय भावये ।।
Om mrityunjay pareshaan jagadaabhayanaashan
Tav dhyaanen devesh mrityupraapnoti jeevati
Vande ishaan devaay namastasmai pinakine
Aadimadhyaant rupaay mrityunaasham karotu me
Namastasmai bhagwate kailasachal vaasine
Namobrahmendra rupaay mrityunaasham karotu
Trayambakaya namastubhyam panchasyaay namo namah
Namo dordandachaapaay mam mrityum vinaashay
Namordhendu swarupaay Namo digvasanaay cha
Namo Bhaktarti hantre cha mam mrityum vinaashay
Devam mrituvinaashanam bhayaharam saamrajya mukti pradam
Nana bhutagananvitam divi padaih devaih sada sevitam
Agyaanaandhakanaashanam shubhkaram vidhyaasu saukhya pradam
Sarv sarvapati maheshwara haram mrityunjay bhaavaye

Who composed this mantra in form of a stotram?


texts: Does the story of Madhavrao Peshva contradict the BhavaghadGita?

texts:
I would like to hear ideas on whether the story of Madhavrao Peshva (a brahmin-born who performed the duty of a warrior) contradicts the Gita's teaching that one should perform their own duty (and never another's)?
I theoreticise that it isn't based on Tilak's point of view. This is due to Madhavrao Peshva performing duty necessary of his time?


texts: What to chant before taking and consuming prasad?

texts: What to chant before taking and consuming prasad from anyone for any god ... is there a common mantra or thank you shloka ?


texts: What is the story of Nara and Narayana's brothers Hari and Krishna?

texts:
As I discuss in this question, one of the most prominent incarnations of Vishnu in ancient times was the sage Narayana, twin brother of the sage Nara and son of Yama god of death.  Nara and Narayana were famous for engaging in Tapasya (deep meditation) in Badrikashrama, and in the time of the Mahabharata they were reborn as Arjuna and Krishna.  In any case, apparently Narayana carried out a five-night (Pancharatra) Yagna and then became the entire universe, so people started following the so-called Pancharatra texts, scriptures originating from Narayana himself which gave detailed procedures for worshipping him.  As I discuss in this question, the Pancharatra texts were important in the development of Vaishnavism.  Among the oldest Pancharatra texts are the Satvata Samhita, the Paushkara Samhita, and the Jayakhya Samhita.

But there's a Pancharatra text even older than these, and it is found within the Mahabharata!  Most people only know about the Bhagavad Gita, an 18-chapter religious discourse between Krishna and Arjuna found in the beginning of the Bhishma Parva of the Mahabharata.  But there is another 18-chapter religious discourse found at the end of the Shanti Parva of the Mahabharata, the Narayaniya.  It is a Pancharatra text which takes the form of a dialogue between Yudhishtira and Bhishma as the latter is lying on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, and Yudhishtira asks him questions about the importance of worshipping Narayana/Vishnu.  (It goes from this chapter to this chapter in the Shanti Parva; apparently the Bhagavad Gita and the Narayaniya divide the Mahabharata into three equal parts.)

In any case, in the first chapter of the Narayaniya, Bhishma describes the birth of the sages Nara and Narayana:

  I heard it from my sire that in the Krita age, O monarch, during the epoch of the Self-born Manu, the eternal Narayana, the Soul of the universe, took birth as the son of Dharma in a quadruple form, viz., as Nara, Narayana, Hari, and the Self-create Krishna. Amongst them all, Narayana and Nara underwent the severest austerities by repairing to the Himalayan retreat known by the name of Vadari, by riding on their golden cars.

My question is, what is the story of Nara and Narayana's brothers Hari and Krishna?  The only other information the Narayaniya provides about them is Narada's statement that Hari and Krishna lived in Badrikashrama before Nara and Narayana:

  That form took birth in four shapes for the expansion of the race of Dharma which have been reared by that deity. How wonderful it is that Dharma has thus been honoured by these four great deities viz., Nara, Narayana, and Hari and Krishna! In this spot Krishna and Hari dwelt formerly. The other two, however, viz., Nara and Narayana, are now dwelling here engaged in penances for the object of enhancing their merit.

The only other scriptural reference I could find to Hari and Krishna is in this excerpt from the Vamana Purana:

  The divine body Dharma born from the heart of Brahma, had reproduced Hari, Krishna, Nara and Narayana sons by virtue of consummating with his wife Dakshayani.... Hari and Krishna engrossed themselves with exercise on Yoga.  Nara and Narayana the greatest among all ancient sages began austerity with Parabrahma at the ever broad bank of the sacred Ganges in Badrikashrama, a place situated in the great Himalaya.

So first of all, how did Hari and Krishna's practicing of Yoga differ from their brothers Nara and Narayana's practicing of Tapasya?  Second of all, what caused Hari and Krishna to leave Badrikashrama?  Did they die or something?  And in any case, what was Vishnu's purpose in incarnating as Hari and Krishna?

Are there any other Hindu scriptures which mention these two brothers?  Note that this Hari is different from Vishnu's incarnation Hari who rescued Gajendra, whom I discuss here.


texts:
Gayatri Mantra is dedicated to Lord Savitr. In the Hindi version of both Wikipedia pages, different pronunciations are given.

The former says it's "सवित्र", while the latter says it's "सवितृ".

Which is the correct pronunciation?

  Edit : As the user Tezz points out that pronunciation "Savita" has also been used in scriptures. I think that all three pronunciations are correct, but vary as per context. For instance, the word "Pitra" refers to ancestors and "Pita" refers to father. Any references illustrating the uses in different contexts of the word are welcome.


texts: What scriptures describe Parashurama's mother's head being attached to a low-caste woman's body?

texts:
I'm currently visiting India, and as I was
leaving my native village of Poondi (which I discuss in my questions here and here), I passed by a temple which was built at a location visited by the goddess Mariamman.  Mariamman is a goddess worshipped primarily in Tami Nadu.  Her temples are kept on the outskirts of villages, and she is worshipped for rain.  There are multiple folk tales people tell about Mariamman.  Some people say that her name comes from the Tamil word "Marai" meaning rain.  (Amman just means mother and it's a universal appellation for all forms of Parvati or Durga.)  But as I was passing by the aforementioned Mariamman temple, I heard another explanation, namely that Mariamman is really Renuka.

For those who don't know, Renuka is the wife of the great sage Jamadagni and the mother of Vishnu's incarnation Parashurama.  One day, Renuka saw the Gandharva king Chitraratha and felt a momentary attraction to him, despite the fact that she was married.  When Jamadagni found out that his wife had felt attraction to another man, he was furious, and ordered Parashurama to kill his mother.  Parashurama was duty-bound to obey his father, so complied and cut off his mother's head.  Jamadagni was pleased with Parashurama and offered him a boon, whereupon Parashurama asked that his mother be brought back to life!

But the folk tale I heard (found, e.g. in this Wikipedia page) adds an extra twist to this story.  In this account, the people in the village where Jamadagni lives cremate Renuka's body before Jamadagni can resurrect it.  But the Renuka's head is still there, so Jamadagni attaches it to a dead body of a low-caste woman and brings it back to life.  Because Renuka now has a low-caste body, she is no longer allowed in Jamadagni's ashram, so she takes up residence on the outskirts of the village.  And she is subsequently worshipped as Mariamman, as "Mari" is the Tamil word for "changed".  So this explains both her name and why her temples are on the outskirts of villages.

But my question is, are there any scriptures that mention Renuka's head being reattached to another woman's body?  Here is all this chapter of the Srimad Bhagavatam says about Renuka's resurrection:

  Jamadagni, the son of Satyavatī, was very much pleased with Paraśurāma and asked him to take any benediction he liked. Lord Paraśurāma replied, “Let my mother and brothers live again and not remember having been killed by me. This is the benediction I ask.” Thereafter, by the benediction of Jamadagni, Lord Paraśurāma’s mother and brothers immediately came alive and were very happy, as if awakened from sound sleep.

But are there other scriptures that say that Renuka's head wasn't reattached to her own body?  Or is this just something added in folklore?


texts: Did Kunti explicitly tell Pandavas to marry Draupadi?

texts:
Consider the following excerpt from The Mahabharata:

  SECTION CLXLIII (Swayamvara Parva continued)

  Vaisampayana continued,

    Hearing these words of Drupada, the virtuous king Yudhishthira replied, saying, 'O great king, I also shall have to marry.

  Hearing him, Drupada said,

    If it pleaseth thee, take thou the hand of my daughter thyself with due rites. Or, give Krishna in marriage unto whomsoever of thy brothers thou likest.

  Yudhishthira said,

    Thy daughter, O king, shall be the common wife of us all! Even thus it hath been ordered, O monarch, by our mother. I am unmarried still, and Bhima also is so amongst the sons of Pandu. This thy jewel of a daughter hath been won by Arjuna. This, O king, is the rule with us; to ever enjoy equally a jewel that we may obtain. O best of monarchs, that rule of conduct we cannot now abandon. Krishna, therefore, shall become the wedded wife of us all.

Since Yudhishthira never lies, there are 2 reasons for all Pandavas to marry Draupadi:

Order from their mother (i.e., Kunti telling all five Pandavas to marry Draupadi)
All Pandavas equally enjoy a jewel won by anyone (source already cited above)

Now my doubt is, where (i.e., in which paragraph of Mahabharata) can I find the explicit statements made by Kunti to support reason #1?


texts: How was Radhaji born? What are the names of her father and mother?

texts:
I need to know the details about the birth  story of Radhaji. Yesterday I have heard from one of my relatives that Radhaji was born from Yagna Kunda like Draupadi. So Is this true or not?

I also want to know the names  of Radhaji's father and mother.


texts: What is esoteric meaning behind eclipse timing?

texts:
It is commonly known idea that merit time is a sacred one and it is suggested that one must do good deeds like sacred bathing, charity, japa, homa, etc. during the eclipse. Activities like eating, sleeping, intercourse, and normal rituals are not recommended during this period.

What is the specialty of this celestial event?

How does it help us to gain better results from spiritual deeds?


texts:
I have been wandering my mind over saving my religion. Sanatan religion is dying today facing extreme bashing,abuse, conversion etc.

Is there any scripture which say something about this and hindus?

What scriptures say for people like me in the situation like am in?


texts: Was King Bhagirath an ancestor of King Dasharath?

texts: One day,my uncle told me that King Bhagirath was an ancestor of Lord Rama's father King Dasharath. Is this true or false?


texts: Is reaching to next kalpa is common for some persons?

texts:
Some says after end of kalpa everything vanishes and Brahma goes to sleep for one kalpa. During his sleep, there is no existence of life left. And after one kalpa, Brahma wakes up and creates everything from beginning. So life started again by Brahma after his sleep. I also believes the same.

I know that Dhruv got boon from Lord Vishnu that he will be safe from mahaa pralaya at the end of kalpa but what about others? There are few examples I know who reached to the next kalpa well and fine. Here are few examples..

Tarakasura: He was present at time of Sati. And when on next kalpa
Pravati was born, he was present that time also. He died when
Parvati's son Kartikeya killed him. So he live for more than one
kalpa.
Ganga: She was also present since Sati's time and till now she is
well and fine. She was one more survivor.
Prajapati (Sati's father): He was also one more person who also
reached to the next kalpa with his wife.
Narada: Who was present in every story, no matter the story is of
which kalpa.

And there are many more examples can be found. Apart from those examples which are mentioned in any Purana, there must be many more which are unheard/unwritten.

Point to notice in above examples

In above examples, it is not like that those were created again by Brahma after his sleep. For examples: Ganga, Prajapati, Tarakasura etc are those who knew about previous kalpa's incidents because they were present that time. So they all reached to next kalpa without loosing their memories. Same as we reach in next year and remembers all about what we did, think and experienced in past year. So they were not created again.

Here is my question

If Brahma goes to sleep after one kalpa then how they all (above mentioned examples) lived without Brahma for one kalpa. Or may be all creation also goes in deep sleep with Brahma. Just like Brahma pressed pause button to stop a movie And when Brahma wakes up then he just resume movie instead of starting from begining. Because Sati's story (with all characters ex. Tadkasura, Prajapati, Ganga etc.) continued in next Kalpa. It's not like that Sati again commit suicide but instead Parvati born in next Kalpa and Tadkasura changed his target from Sati to Parvati in next kalpa.

So what's the real truth about kalpantara? Also on what reasons a person can survive to the next kalpa with all his/her experience of previous kalpa?


texts: What are the philosophical differences between the Vivarana and Bhamati schools of Advaita Vedanta?

texts:
It seems that from this question that the Advaita Vedanta school of Adi Shankaracharya has two philosophical divisions within their Sampradaya- the Vivarana school of Prakasatman and the Bhamati school of Vachaspati Misra.
What are the philosophical differences between these schools other than the nature of Avidya as described in that question?


texts: Did Swami Vivekananda regularly chant any Vedic or Tantric mantras?

texts: Did Swami Vivekananda regularly chant any Vedic or Tantric mantras during his lifetime?


texts: lokavat tu lila kaivalyam [Brh. Su. - 2.1.33] - The creation is merely a sport of Brahman

texts:
lokavat tu lila kaivalyam [Brahma Sutras - 2.1.33]
  The creation is merely a sport of Brahman.

So does it look like God created us for fun?


texts:
I was trying to answer Which scripture was first to identify Buddha as an avatar of Lord Vishnu? but then I don't know which is the oldest of the Purāṇas.

I'm not looking for references from Purāṇas that call either themselves or others the oldest but research done on this subject from a historical standpoint, i.e., who wrote these Purāṇas and when (on human timescale), the kind of Sanskrit script that was used for writing the oldest parts of the Purāṇas, etc.

Questions that are related but don't address my question:

Who wrote or composed (put together) the Puranas?
Why Bhagavata purana is considered the foremost of all puranas?


texts: Scriptural basis for Uddhava-Gita's conversation on "Why Krishna didn't stop the dice game?"

texts:
As per this blog post and this Facebook post, the following is a conversation that took place between Uddhava and Sri Krishna in the Uddhava Gita. Is there any truth to this story/conversation? Is it part of another Purana or scripture?
Uddhava asks:

Krishna, you were a dear friend of the Pandavas. They trusted you fully as Apadhbhandava (protector from all difficulties). You not only know what is happening, but you know what is going to happen. You are a great gyani. Just now you gave the definition of a true, close friend. Then why did you not act as per that definition. Why did you not stop Dharmaraja [Yudhishtra] from playing the gambling game? Ok, you did not do it; why did you not turn the luck in favour of Dharmaraja, by which you would have ensured that dharma wins. You did not do that also. You could have at least saved Dharmaraja by stopping the game after he lost his wealth, country and himself. You could have released him from the punishment for gambling. Or, you could have entered the hall when he started betting his brothers. You did not do that either. At least when Duryodhana tempted Dharmaraja by offering to return everything lost if he betted Draupadi (who always brought good fortune to Pandavas), you could have intervened and with your divine power you could have made the dices roll in a way that is favorable to Dharmaraja. Instead, you intervened only when Draupadi almost lost her modesty and now you claim that you gave clothes and saved Draupadi's modesty; how can you even claim this – after her being dragged into the hall by a man and disrobed in front of so many people, what modesty is left for a woman? What have you saved? Only when you help a person at the time of crisis, can you be called 'Apadhbandhava'. If you did not help in the time of crisis, what is the use? Is it Dharma?’

Krishna laughs and says:

Dear Uddhava, the law of this world is: "only the one who has Viveka (intelligence through discrimination), wins." While Duryodhana had viveka, Dharmaraja lacked it. That is why Dharmaraja lost.
While Duryodhana had lots of money and wealth to gamble, he did not know how to play the game of dice. That is why he used his Uncle Shakuni to play the game while he betted. That is viveka.
Dharmaraj also could have thought similarly and offered that I, his cousin, would play on his behalf.
If Shakuni and I had played the game of dice, who do you think would have won? Can he roll the numbers I am calling or would I roll the numbers he is asking. Forget this. I can forgive the fact that he forgot to include me in the game. But, without viveka, he did another blunder. He prayed that I should not come to the hall as he did not want me to know that through ill-fate he was compelled to play this game. He tied me with his prayers and did not allow me to get into the hall; I was just outside the hall waiting for someone to call me through their prayers. Even when Bheema, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva were lost, they were only cursing Duryodhana and brooding over their fate; they forgot to call me. Even Draupadi did not call me when Dusshasan held her hair and dragged her to fulfil his brother’s order. She was also arguing in the hall, based on her own abilities. She never called me. Finally good sense prevailed; when Dusshasan started disrobing her, she gave up depending on her own strength, and started shouting ‘Hari, Hari, Abhayam Krishna, Abhayam’ and shouted for me. Only then I got an opportunity to save her modesty. I reached as soon as I was called. I saved her modesty. What is my mistake in this situation?


texts:
I found a verse in shatpath brahman:-

“Pragâpati said to him [Rudra], 'My boy, why do you cry, when you are born out of labor and trouble?' He said, 'Nay, but I am not freed from sin; I have no name given me: give me a name!' Hence one should give a name to the boy that is born, for thereby one frees him from evil;--even a second, even a third (name), for thereby one frees him from evil time after time” - (Satapatah Brahmana 6:1:3:9)

Is Shiva sinful?


texts: Which activities are forbidden in Hinduism for women compared to men?

texts:
Women are not allowed to do several activities during their menstrual period.

Apart from those, are there any activities forbidden for women permanently compared to men?

Example: There are very less warriors like Sathyabama for doing wars. less female soldiers etc.,


texts: Besides Indra, who possessed Vajra or the thunder which was made by bones of dadhichi?

texts: Divyastras were common in Mahabharat and also in Ramayana. Vajra is also a divine weapon and Vajra is one of the primary divine weapons of Indra. Who else besides Indra possessed the thunderbolt or the Vajra of Indra?


texts: The ancients hunted deer, presumably for food and not for sport. What is the scriptural evidence that venison should or should not be eaten?


texts: Is there heaven/hell in between death and rebirth?

texts:
According to Hinduism,

What happens between death and rebirth?
Does the soul go to heaven/hell in between?
If so, does rebirth occur irrespective of whether the soul went to heaven or hell?


texts: Physical characteristics of the four varnas

texts: Is there any description of the physical characteristics of the four varnas in  Scriptures?


texts: Which upanishad contains the laxmi gayatri mantra?

texts:
Gayatri mantra which is chanted at the end of Sri sukta, which upanishad or Veda contains it?

The Mantra is this:

  ॐ म॒हा॒दे॒व्यै च॑ वि॒द्महे॑ विष्णुप॒त्नी च॑ धीमहि । तन्नो॑ लक्ष्मीः
  प्रचो॒दया॓त् ॥ -- Om mahadevyai cha vidmahe vishnupatni cha dhimahi
  tanno lakshmi prachodayath ||


texts: Does marriage really depend on Kundali and Gunas?

texts:
Does marriage (love or arranged) really depend on yours and your partner's Kundali and Gunas?
If yes, then what happens if a person gets married without matching Kundalis?


texts:
Acharyas are the doyens of Sri-Vaishnava Sampradaya and fulfil a most important role in authoritatively vouchsafing jivAtmas trying to overcome the ocean of Saṃsāra.

What is the correct way to approach such an Acharya? What are the practices to be followed to ready oneself for the same? And God forbid, What should be one's attitude if one is deemed unready?


texts: What does the term in "the playing fields" as used in the Bhagadavida Gita really mean?

texts: There is a verse in the Bhagadavida Gita that refers to the earth world realm and it's 3rd dimensional limitations emplaced there as "the playing fields".  I have a few ideas as-to-what what this may really mean, but would like to know what others say and what the general overall consensus is.


texts: What did humans do that Brahma took away their divinity?

texts:
According to an ancient Hindu legend whose author is unknown, there was once a time when all human beings were gods but they so abused their divinity that Brahma, the chief god, decided to take it away from them and hide it where it could never be found. What did humans do to abuse their divinity and cause the gods to hide it?

A Traditional Hindu Legend: Where The Treasure Lies
According to an old Hindu legend, there was once a time when all human beings were Gods, but they so abused their divinity that Brahma, the chief God, decided to take it away from them and hide it in a place where it could never be found. In order to find the best spot, however, he needed to hold a council of the Gods to help him decide.
"Let's bury it deep in the earth," said the Gods.
Brahma answered, "No, that will not do, because humans will dig into the earth and find it."
The Gods replied, "Okay, let's sink it in the deepest ocean then."
But Brahma said, "No, not there, for they will learn to dive, and they will find it."
Then the gods said, "What about the highest mountain top, out in the farthest corner of the earth?"
But again Brahma replied, "No, that will not do either, because they will eventually climb every mountain, scale every peak, search every hidden cave and once again find and take up their divinity."
The rest of the Gods were exasperated. They threw up their arms in surrender. "There is no place!" they hollered. "The humans will proliferate, and they will find it anywhere we put it."
Brahma was quiet for a time. He thought long and deep. Finally, he looked up at the rest of the Gods, a knowing twinkle in his eye. "Here is what we shall do," he said. "We will hide their divinity deep down in the one place they will surely never look -  the very center of their own being."
The rest of the Gods rejoiced. Of course! It was the perfect place! They all formally agreed on it, and the deed was done.
Ages passed, and since that time, humans have been on a desperate and unending search, travelling every corner of the planet, digging, diving, climbing, and exploring - searching for the one thing they know they've lost, and just can't seem to find.


texts: On what grounds do Srivaishnava jeeyars retain sacred thread?

texts:
In many traditions like sankara dashanami they give up sacred thread while taking up sanyasa

But Sri vaishnavas sanyasins retain it

Some so called sanyasa upanishads talk of giving up the thread

Hence on what grouds do sri vaishnava sanyasins retain the threads?

What is the shAstra pramaanam for this?


texts: Please help me understand the below passage from Rig veda

texts:
I found the passage on Wikipedia page of Samkhya(sankhya) Philosophy.

  Seven to the one-wheeled chariot yoke the Courser; bearing seven names the    single Courser draws it.
      Three-naved the wheel is, sound and undecaying, whereon are resting all these worlds of being.
  The seven [priests] who on the seven-wheeled car are mounted have horses, seven in tale, who draw them onward.
  Seven Sisters utter songs of praise together, in whom the names of the seven Cows are treasured.
  Who hath beheld him as he [Sun/Agni] sprang to being, seen how the boneless One [spirit] supports the bony [body]?
  Where is the blood of earth, the life, the spirit? Who will approach the one who knows, to ask this?
  ----Rigveda 1.164.2 - 1.164.4

From my understanding this is leaning towards the Advaitic philosophy, but i am not able to understand all the symbols here, like bearing seven names points to the Sapta Rishis or any thing else.

Any help will be appreciated.


texts: Why is worship only possible in a sitting posture?

texts:
Is it true that worship is only possible in a sitting posture?
 why we can't worship in sleeping posture?


texts:
Following are the four stages of life described for a Hindu male:

Brahmachari
Grihastha
Vanaprastha
Sanyasa

Does this only apply to males?
If so, what about females?
Do females have a different (if any) description of life stages like this?


texts: How can we know that an Aatma got Moksha?

texts:
As per Adwaitha - Siddhantha, after a person's death, Aatma will merge with supreme one, called Paramathma.

My question is, how can we know that an Aatma got Moksha? Is there any way to identify it?


texts:
Why most Gods are symbolised based on living things.?

we see shiva vishnu all in human form.


texts: Is Yudhishtira's justification of polyandry in accordance with dharma?

texts:
In the Mahabharata, Yudhishthira justifies his polyandrous relationship with Draupadi with two reasons: it has historic precedent, and because his mother ordered the Pandavas to share Draupadi:

"Yudhishthira then spoke, saying, 'My tongue never uttereth an untruth and my heart never inclineth to what is sinful. When my heart approveth of it, it can never be sinful. I have heard in the Purana that a lady of name Jatila, the foremost of all virtuous women belonging to the race of Gotama had married seven Rishis. So also an ascetic's daughter, born of a tree, had in former times united herself in marriage with ten brothers all bearing the same name of Prachetas and who were all of souls exalted by asceticism. O foremost of all that are acquainted with the rules of morality, it is said that obedience to superior is ever meritorious. Amongst all superiors, it is well-known that the mother is the foremost. Even she hath commanded us to enjoy Draupadi as we do anything obtained as alms. It is for this, O best of Brahmanas, that I regard the (proposed) act as virtuous.'

But polyandry is a non-Vedic practice:

Aitareya Brahmana III. 3. - Therefore, there are several wives for one
man, but not several husbands for a woman simultaneously

In the MB section linked above, even king Drupada says that polyandry is non-Vedic:

The practice is sinful in my opinion, being opposed to both usage and the Vedas. O best of Brahmanas, nowhere have I seen many men having one wife. The illustrious ones also of former ages never had such a usage amongst them.

Now, Drupada is clearly wrong about there being no historic precedent, but he is correct that polyandry is apparently non-Vedic.
Now that there is a Vedic prohibition of polyandry, can anything override it? Consider this verse from the Manusmriti:

2.6 - The entire Veda is the root-source of Dharma, as well as the practices found in Smriti,
the traditional practices of Vaidikas (AcAra), and their self-satisfaction.

Shruti (Veda) takes precedence over Smriti, which takes precedence over AcAra, which takes precedence over one's own opinion. So how can one's mother or any authority order a non-Vedic practice? If my father tells me to murder someone, then I doubt that that act becomes dharma.
Moreover, the Mimamsakas make it clear that traditional or regional customs only have authority as long as they don't conflict with the Vedas.
The Apastamba Dharma Sutra also says:

Ācārya adhīnaḥ syād anyatra patanīyebhyaḥ

He shall obey his teacher, except [when ordered to commit] sins which cause loss of caste.

From all this, I don't see how Yudhishthira's justification of polyandry is valid, unless it is the case that Smriti, AcAra, and sAdhutuSTi are on the same level as the Vedas.


texts:
It was Bhima's vow to kill all sons of Dhritarastra. We have seen Pandavas injuring them but not killing--leaving them to Bhima to kill. However in Karna parva it says:

He was then surrounded by ten heroic and foremost of warriors, viz., thy sons, all of whom were Duhshasana's juniors in age.
...
Then with some broad-headed arrows he cut off and felled their heads decked with lips bit and eyes blood-red in rage.

Does it mean Arjuna killed 10 and not Bhima?


texts: When Vishnu himself with the form of Vridhrasura made Brindha lose chastity, how come Brahma alone cursed for entering Parvathi abode with 5 heads?

texts: Here Vishnu disguised in the form of Ashura made his wife lose chastity, he was not punished.But When Brahma entered the abode of Parvathy, his fifth head was severed and shiva attained Brahma Kabala and Brahma did not have temples in the earth and also has only four heads because of his act.Even Shiva as Bhishadana made rishi's wife abandon chastity due to rishis ignoring god and believe only in  karma. How these stories justified when there is partiality to Brahma?


texts: Help me solve the mystery of age of Yugas and Lord Vishnu's avatars

texts:
There are a few things which bother me regularly. Those are:

Do the Ramayana and Mahabharata repeat every chaturyuga? If yes, then what is the need of doing this over and over again?
I've read that Ramayana took place in the 24th Treta Yuga. Then does that mean Hanuman Ji is immortal? Does chiranjeevi means death until the end of the ongoing kalpa? Also, NASA said that Ram Setu is only 17 lakh years old which means Ramayana happened in the current chaturyuga.
There have been 27 Kaliyugas before the current one, then why have the stories of the other Kaliyugas lost? Does that mean nothing great has happened in those Kaliyugas or are they not necessary (relevant) for the current Kaliyuga?
In which yuga did Prajapati Daksh appear?
We receive different versions of same story, though their motive of explaining things remain the same. Why is it so?


texts: Do Devas have sukshma sharira? If they have then, does that mean that sukshma sharira also have mind, chitta, buddhi, akhamkara? Please explain.


texts: Who is vAk (the speech) in Rig Veda 10:125?

texts: The Rig Veda hymn 10:125 tells about the supreme Goddess. So is this hymn addressed to Goddess DurgA or the female  power Of Universe (Shakti) Or vAk (वाक्), the speech? Who is vAk Goddess described in Rig Veda?


texts:
What are the names of Vamana other than Aditya, Upendra, TriVikrama and IndrAnuja. Specifically, is his one of the names Vishnu?

If not, then is there any other Aditya with the name Vishnu as Bhagavad Gita 10.21 says that there is one Aditya named Vishnu? Also, Adi Parva of Mahabharata mentions that Vishnu is youngest among Adityas which raises some possibility that he is Vamana.


texts: By killing mosquito/bedbugs take us to hell?

texts:
Some castes don't consume meat because of some religious traditions and practices. But knowingly or unknowingly we all have killed insects.

For example, even microorganisms that enables curd from milk which we consume. So, indirectly we all have consumed non-veg.

Even plants also have lives in which we are taking it.

And night times, we definitely kill mosquitoes or bed bugs by spray/liquid or hands.

And during the walk, we may have stamped on ants as well.

So, will we go to hell? Is it a serious crime?


texts: Why should i read any Purana which is not Sattva, like the Bhavishya Parva/Purana?

texts:
It is said that sattva is the highest mode so why should one read a purana of a lower mode?

Am I confusing things?


texts:
In my local community area, the recitation and listening of the Garuda Purana from the 8th to the 11th day ( within the 12 day period of after-death rituals for the deceased) by the family priest and family members respectively, forms an integral part of the afterlife rituals to be performed.
Vaitaraṇî River ( वैतरणी नदी)  has been a term, I have encountered quite often. It's kind of an equivalent of the Styx river found in other religions. While the basic paradigm for it as I have always known is: it's a river (instead of water although, it contains all sort of litter) one has to cross to reach the abode of the Yama.
The Wikipedia article cites the rivers' mention in several of the puranas like skanda purana and Itihaasa - Mahabharata.

However, other texts like the Harihareshwara Mahatmya in the Skanda
Purana mention a physical river as well, that joins in the eastern
ocean; he who bathes in it is supposed to forever be free from the
torment of Yama. It first appears in the Tirtha Yatra Parva (Pilgrimage
Episode) of the Mahabharat, where it is mentioned to be rising from
the Vindhyas and falling into the Bay of Bengal after passing
through Orissa as present Baitarani River.

Furthermore,

Apart from that it appears in Matsya Purana, and Vamana Purana, lastly
it is the Padma Purana which reveals the etymology of Vaitarani
in Vaitarani Mahatmya, where it is defined
as Vai (truly) tarini (saving) and that related the legend wherein it
was brought on to the earth from Patala, due to the penance
of Parashurama resulting in a boon from Shiva.

So here are my several questions:

What are the various stories and the significance of Vaitarani river, as per various puranas ? How is this river situated in the Yamaloka in terms of flow and orientation, direction, etc? What is It's source and destination-end? For ex:- Like almost all rivers, does it ultimately drain in some (divine) sea, considering the river itself is divine? If yes, which one?
Does this river finds any mention in any of the Vedic Literature?
What are the associated legends of the Baitarani River in Odisha, as per various puranas and or local puranas or folklore.
How and why did Parashuram had to bring it from Patala? And if that river existed in Patalaloka, then why it says the river is in the narakaloka? Why such anomaly?
It also says that the river looks different to the sinner and the pious. However, only the sinners are brought through the South door of the Yamaloka, which is where the river is said to flow. If so, why would or how would ever a pious person look at the river, if they are never brought through the south door?
Considering Garuda Purana, is a predominantly Vaishanavite purana, How authoritative is the premise of this river and subsequently the Garuda purana as beliefs systems, across various sects and Schools?
Lastly, I have heard several interpretation of this river in terms of the metaphysical and spiritual meaning (lakṣyārtha). One being:- "It's representative of the delusion of all materiality of this samsara, which is equivalent to the litter found in the river."
Any help in the form of commentaries by eminent personalities or scriptural references, regarding same will be appreciated.


texts: if Ghatotkacha had survived the war would he have been an heir to the throne?

texts:
Krishna used Ghatotkacha to have Karna waste his Vasavi shakti.
But he also said that he would have killed Ghatotkacha if he survived the war.
Did Krishna wanted Arjuna's descendant to inherit the throne because of his kinship to Arjuna through Subhadra?


texts: Who were/are required to wear purvashikha?

texts:
I guess they wore their tuft of hair on the front part of the head.

(1) What is the significance of "purvashikha"?

(2) Has this practice now died out?


texts:
is it allowed for a son to perform cremation and related samskaras when his father is alive?

If a man's father in law dies and that person didn't have sons, as soon in law, he steps up. But can be do it if his own father is alive?

Also, (related) it says if you don't have a son, you can nominate daughter's son. But that's son could have living parents. Will still the grandchild take the rights?

In my tradition children, however old they are, are not allowed to even see a dead body as long as they have father.


texts: What are the important texts/scriptures of VisistAdvaita Vedanta?

texts:
The central texts common to the various Vedanta schools are Upanishads, Brahma Sutras and Bhagavad Gita collectively referred to as Prasthanatrayi1. Another central text of VisistAdvaita is Nathamuni's anthology of the divine poetry of the Azhwars, the poet-saints of Vishnu, called Naalayira Divya Prabhandham also referred to as the Dravida Vedas (based on their effulgent exemplification of Bhakti).
Apart from these, which scriptures/texts are considered important in the VisistAdvaita Canon of Literature? Please give a brief overview of why each of the texts you mention are considered important acc. to VisistAdvaita Siddhanta (for instance due to its historical importance and/or acute philosophical insights and/or elegant exposition, etc,.)
1. credit where it's due - this question is inspired by a similar question on Advaita Vedanta which you can read here


texts: How are the Vedas authorless according to Mīmāṃsā and Vedanta?

texts:
Mīmāṃsā and Vedanta consider vedas to be eternal and authoress. But if a book exists it must have an author. And what is the source of vedas according to these schools. They don't even believe vedas are authored by the God. Source
The author of the Vedas should either be God or humans.
My questions : How can vedas be authorless?
And what is the source (if they are authorless) of the Vedas according to these schools?


texts:
The Manu of Manu Smriti is same as Manus of Manvantar or he is any rishi?
Also, which Manu he is if he is Manu of Manvantar?


texts: Which Vedic verses describe Indra as Brahman? Or as creator of universe or as source of universe or as someone who pervades whole universe?


texts: Can Moksha be achieved through Bhakti towards a physical object?

texts:
I am looking for any scriptural sources relating to whether Bhakti towards a lover, a king, a country, or a physical idol can lead to Moksha by itself, or does one need to have Bhakti for the formless reality?

If so, how does this Bhakti enable us to realise Brahman?


texts: Is the statement 'Gods love the mysterious' also found in the Vedic Samhitas?

texts:
The following is from Aitareya Upanishad.

  तस्मादिदन्द्रो नामेदन्द्रो ह वै नाम।

  तमिदन्द्रं सन्तमिंद्र इत्याचक्षते परोक्षेण।

  परोक्षप्रिया इव हि देवाः परोक्षप्रिया इव हि देवाः ৷৷ 1.3.14 ৷৷

  Therefore is He Idandra; for Idandra is the true name of Him. But
  though He is Idandra, they call Him Indra because of the veil of the
  Unrevelation; for the gods love the veil of the Unrevelation, yea,
  verily, the gods love the Unrevelation.

My question is, do the Samhita parts of Vedas contain this statement - the gods love the Unrevelation? (परोक्षप्रिया इव हि देवाः)


texts: How to control /manage the mind when angry and lustful thoughts attack you very badly?

texts:
Our life is not constant some times go up and sometimes down
In our day to day life  sometimes  lust thought/anger thought  attack you but not badly , but at some special day lustful thought/anger thought  attack u very  badly at that moment our mind doesn't work properly , so we lose ourself when  we have done bad deed/work through lust/anger
my question is that How to control /manage the mind when lustful thought/anger thought attack you badly and badly ?


texts: What is the story of Vasishtha's sister?

texts:
Recently I was in a discussion with a friend who had visited Chidambaram Temple and he was telling me about the legend of Vyaghrapada mentioned in this question but my curiosity was piqued by another statement he said. He mentioned that this lion-legged rishi was married to the sister of Brahmarishi Vasishth and they sired the rishi Upamanyu!

I am aware that Vasishth was one of the Manas Putras of Lord Brahma and all of them were male. As mentioned in the Bhagavata Puran:

  Thereafter, Lord Brahma created ten more sons- Marichi, Bhrigu, Kratu, Pulah, Pulatsya, Angira, Atri, Vashishtha, Daksh and Narad. Nine out of them took permission for the creation of their offsprings, but Narad accepted celibacy and resolved to preach Bhagwad bhakti (devotion for God.)

So my question is - Is there any mention of a sister of Brahmarishi Vasishth in any scripture and if so is she mentioned as the wife of Vyaghrapada and mother of Upamanyu?


texts: Are women allowed to let their hair loose? Why are Goddesses depicted with their hair untied?

texts:
Pictures commonly found across the internet depict Goddesses with their hair untied. Example:

My knowledge is that women shouldn't have their hair untied. I've also heard in discourses (pravachanams) that a woman should never let her husband see her with untied hair.

With that in mind, I had these questions:

What do our śāstras say in this regard? Can a woman leave her hair loose or untied?
Is depicting Goddesses with their hair untied, against what our śāstras recommend?
Another observation I've made is that North Indians are quite okay with Goddesses with untied hair, whether it's a painted picture or a digital image; however, South Indians condemn that practice. To what extent is my observation correct?

I tried searching for these doubts on the internet, but the best I got was a forum filled with opinions of few ladies who believe it's harmless to discontinue traditional practices that are not "modern".


texts: What is the source of "śāntākāraṃ bhujagaśayanaṃ padmanābhaṃ sureśaṃ" sloka of Lord Vishnu?

texts:
शान्ताकारं भुजगशयनं पद्मनाभं सुरेशं
विश्वाधारं गगनसदृशं मेघवर्ण शुभाङ्गम् ।
लक्ष्मीकान्तं कमलनयनं योगिभिर्ध्यानगम्यम्
वन्दे विष्णुं भवभयहरं सर्वलोकैकनाथम् ॥
śāntākāraṃ bhujagaśayanaṃ padmanābhaṃ sureśaṃ
viśvādhāraṃ gaganasadṛśaṃ meghavarṇa śubhāṅgam ।
lakṣmīkāntaṃ kamalanayanaṃ yogibhirdhyānagamyam
vande viṣṇuṃ bhavabhayaharaṃ sarvalokaikanātham ॥

Above is a beautiful shloka written in the prayer of Lord Vishnu. I thought it was in Shri Ramcharitmanas and Shri Tulsidas ji was the author of this shloka but I was wrong. Please tell me the source of this shloka.


texts: Can a brahmin eat meat according to shastras

texts:
I had posted the following in an answer but was urged to post it as a question.

I thought brahmins were not supposed to eat meat but I was reading MahAbhArata when I came across the following in sabhA parva.

  भक्ष्यैर्मूलैैः फलैश्चैव मांसैर्वाराहहारिणैः ie by different types of foods like roots, fuit and pork and deer-meat

and again in

  मांसैर्विबिधप्रकारैः खाद्यैश्चापि तथा नृप ie different types of meat and food (SabhA parva, 4th adhyaya, slokas 7 through 9)

which depict how dharma raja Yudhishtira fed the brahmanas before entering the palace of Indraprastha.

But it is a well known fact that Brahmanas shouldn't eat meat. Where does this come from?

Meat is considered a delicacy in the mahAbhArata.
But we know, for tradition, that we are not supposed to eat meat. Why did this tradition arise? If serving meat to brAhmanas was considered punya by vedavyasa, why do we consider it a sin?


texts: What scriptures describe Brihaspati's brother burning Kubera to ashes?

texts:
As I discuss in this answer, Ravana, Kumbhakarna, and Vibhishana were sons of the sage Vishravas and the demoness Kaikeshi.  But they weren't Vishravas' first children.  Before he met Kaikeshi, Vishravas was married to a woman named Ilavida, and their son was Kubera god of wealth.  But the Brahma Vaivarta Purana says this wasn't Kubera's first birth.
According to this excerpt from the Brahma Vaivarta Purana, Kubera was originally born from the body of Krishna. (The Brahma-Vaivarta Purana conceives of Krishna as the supreme god living in Goloka.) But then he was reborn as the son of Vishravas, after a curse by the sage Utathya:

Once Utathya demanded a crore of gold coins from Kubera to pay gurudakshina to his teacher.  Kubera in turn behaved with him quite harshly as a result of which Kubera was to be reborn.  Thus Kubera was born again of Vishvashrava and the brother Ravana, Kumbhakarna, and Vibhishana who was quite a religious one.

For those who don't know, Uthathya, also known as Uchathya, is the son of the sage Angiras and the brother of Brihaspati guru of the gods.  The story he's most known for is that once Brihaspati impregnated Uchathya's wife Mamata. But there was already a child in Mamata's womb, and this unborn child objected to the impregnation.  Bribaspati was angered by this and cursed the child to be blind.  As a result, Mamata gave birth to two sons, Brihaspati's son Bharadhwaja and Utathya's son Dirghatamas, who was indeed blind.  Both grew up to be illustrious sages, as you can see in the Rig Veda Anukramani in my answer here.
In any case, my question is, what other scriptures describe this story of Kubera being burnt to ashes by Utathya and then being reborn?  The Brahma Vaivarta Purana is considered to have a lot of interpolations, and the story presented here is centered around Krishna, so I'd like to see whether other scriptures confirm at least the broad outlines of this story.
The only other reference to a disciple of Utathya I know of is in this excerpt from the Skanda Purana, which says that Utathya was the guru of Vishnu's incarnation Mandhata (whom I discuss here).  But are there any scriptures which describe Utathya as Kubera's guru?


texts: On use of contraceptive methods and enjoying sex-life without being kandarpa

texts:
Kandarpa is a person who only uses his sexual power to beget good children from his dharmapatni or wife.

So for being a kandarpa, a person can only have sexual contact with his wife for having children. Therefore any type of sexual activity without this holy purpose is cause of attachment. Some even consider non-kardarpa bhoga as sin.

So if being kandarpa is ideal and not sinful then, does this mean using contraceptive methods specifically condoms and birth control pills are sins because we waste our seed without a reason (i.e., being non-kandarpa)?

EDIT

What do Dharma Shastras say about Vasectomy?
Is Vasectomy considered a contraception and thus a sin?


texts: If we the people are the actual reason for building our own castes then why do gods (krishna as kshatriya, parasurama as brahmana) take birth in particular castes?


texts: How to identify a doomed horoscope(Jatakam)

texts:
In astrology there are sayings if these planets are placed in these houses then the person has good life, wealth and health but this is the positive side in astrology.

In general if there is positive aspects there in should be a negative aspects too.

All I need to know is the planetary positions for the respective signs which denotes that the person is doomed to suffer forever in his life.


texts: Is there is difference between 'upanishad embedded' and 'upanishad attached'?

texts:
Is there is any difference between 'upanishad embedded in veda' and 'upanishad attached to Veda'?
Please give any example.


texts: Where is the story of Upilliappan in the Brahmanda Purana?

texts:
Most people only know about the Venkateshwara form of Vishnu (AKA Balaji or Srinivasa) in connection to the deity of the world-renowned Tirumala Venkateshwara Temple in Tirupati.  But that is not the first time that Vishnu has come to earth in his Venkateshwara form; he came earlier as Upilliappan, the deity of the great Upilliappan Vishnu Temple near Kumbakonam in Tamil Nadu.  The story as I understand it goes roughly as follows.  Once the sage Markandeya prayed that he would have Lakshmi as a daughter and Vishnu as a son-in-law.  Sure enough, Lakshmi took an incarnation as a baby born from the earth, whom Markandeya named Bhumadevi (not to be confused with Vishnu's wife Bhumidevi goddess of the earth).  When Bhumadevi became a young girl, Vishnu went in his Venkateshwara form to Markandeya and asked for his daughter's hand in marriage.  Markandeya said that his daughter was so young, and that she didn't even know how to put salt in her cooking.  But Vishnu said that he was willing to eat without salt, for which he came to be known as Upilliappan or the lord without salt.

But my question isn't about the story itself, but rather what scripture the story is found in.  I just visited the Upillaiappan Vishnu Temple, and this is what the Sthala Purana (temple scripture) of the temple says:

  History of the holy place found in Brahmanda Purana

  Narada's prayer to Brahma

  Once Narada prayed to Brahma to enlighten him on the history and and greatness of the holy Markandeya kshetra that will also be for the benefit of humanity.

  On hearing this, Brahma started narrating the greatness of Tiruvinnagar and its presiding deity, whose glory can not be described even by Adisesha with his 1000 tongues.

And then it proceeds to tell the story of Upillaiappan in far more detail than I gave above.  My question is, where in the Brahmanda Purana does this story occur?  Here are all five volumes of the Motilal Banarsidass translation of the Brahmanda Purana, most of the links being taken from DSpace, the digital repository of the West Bengal Public Library network:

Volume 1
Volume 2
Volume 3
Volume 4
Volume 5

But at first glance I can't find the story there; here's the table of contents and index of the Brahmanda Purana.  Does anyone know where it is?


texts: What parts of Utpaladeva's Ishwara Pratyabhijna Vivriti are available in English?

texts:
Generally, Vaishnavas follow the Pancharatra Agamas, Shaivites follow the Shaiva Agamas, and Shaktas follow the Shaiva Agamas. But long ago, there was a group of people in Kashmir who followed the Shakta Agamas but adopted Shiva as their Ishta Devata. That group evolved into what we now call Kashmir Shaivism. Because it has its roots in Shakta Agamas, it subscribes to a monistic philosophy, as opposed to philosophical Shaivite sects like Shaiva Siddhanta which are more dualistic in their philosophy.

Now the most famous Kashmiri Shaivite philosopher was Abhinavagupta, who lived in the 10th century.  As I discuss in this question, Abhinavagupta had many gurus, but one of them was Lakshmanagupta, whose guru was Utpaladeva, who is the subject of my question.  Utpaladeva composed a work called the Ishwara Pratyabhijna Karika, which is the defining work of the Pratyabhijna school, a philosophical school founded by Utpaladeva's guru Somananda which involves regaining knowledge of one's own Shiva-nature.  The Pratyabhijna school is one of the traditions that merged to form the Kashmiri Shaivite sect.

In any case, Utpaladeva wrote two commentaries on his own Ishwara Pratyabhijna Karika, the Vritti which is short and the Vivriti which is long.  The Vritti still exists, and has been translated by Rafaelle Torella in this book.  But the Utapaladeva's Vivriti is mostly lost now.  That's because people stopped paying attention to it and started paying attention to Abhinavagupta's two commentaries on the Ishwara Pratyabhijna Karika, namely the Ishwara Pratyabhijna Vimarshini and the Ishwara Pratyabhijna Vivriti Vimarshini.  That's ironic, because the latter work is actually a commentary on the Vivriti, but the problem is that Abhinavagupta seldom quotes the actual verses of the Vivriti in his commentary.  And so the Vivriti was eventually lost.

But my question is, what surviving fragments of Utpaladeva's Ishwara Pratyabhijna Vivriti have been translated into English?


texts: Are the epics mentioned in Hinduism but never written down and given to humans ever named?

texts:
When we think of epics in Hinduism, we usually think of the Mahābhārata or the Rāmāyaṇa. However there are a bunch more epics that are suggested to exist somewhere, but not retold to humans.
The most obvious one is the story of Bharata, of which only snippets are known, however, they clearly seem to be part of a larger story. We even know how the very broad details of how it plays out. Bharata's early life is happy and his family are happy, but eventually, something goes horribly wrong and Bharata becomes mad and bitter, as shown in the Viṣṇu Purāṇa. He obviously goes through a lot to make him both highly intelligent and for a lack of a better word emo.
Anyway, do these ungiven epics ever get names?
https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/book/vishnu-purana-wilson/d/doc115973.html


texts: Did Lingodbhava incident take place twice in this Kalpa?

texts:
In Thirukandiyur near Thanjavur district, there is a temple for Brahma dev by the name Brahma Sira Kandeeswarar temple. It is believed that lingodbhava incident of where Shiva appearing in linga form to kill Ahankara of Brahma took place. This was the place where Lord Shiva first appeared as Kala Bhairava.

It is during this period where Kala Bhairava seemed to have nullified his Brahmahatya dosha in Kashi.

So now my question is, did this Shiva linga incident took place twice in this Kalpa? Do we have reference for it?


texts: Are different ways of salutation (pranaam) just cultural or prescribed in scripture?

texts:
In the North, the young just bend down and touch the feet of elders.  In the South, they lie down flat on the ground while doing namaskaram (women would keep the midriff off the ground).

There are probably other differences by region/sect and so forth.  Are these based on scripture?


texts: Why did Ghosha's personal prayer become part of RigVeda?

texts:
from wikipedia :
Ghosha was born during the Vedic period in India. Her father was Kakshivat and grandfather was Dīrghatamas and both of them had written hymns in the Rigveda. She was suffering from a skin ailment and was confined to the house attending to her father. According to a hymn, she suffered from leprosy, which had disfigured her. She was thus a celibate for a long period. She fervently prayed to Ashvins, the divine physician twins of the time, who were proficient in rejuvenation. They taught her Madhu Vidhya, a Vedic teaching, a science of secret learning to restore youth and acquire immense knowledge, to get her cured of skin ailment. Because of her constant prayers Ashvini Kumars cured her skin problem and restored her beauty. She was then married. She had a son, Suhstya, who also composed a hymn in the Rigveda.

Ghosha composed two hymns in praise of the Ashvini Kumars which are contained in two suktas (hymns) of the tenth Mandala (book) of Rigveda, chapter X hymns 39 and 40, each containing 14 verses. The first hymn praises the Ashvins. The second hymn is a personal desire expressing her intimate feelings and desires for married life.[6][7][8] The two hymns are:[9]

  “ Asvins Your radiant Chariot -whither goes it on its way? Who decks
  it for you, Heroes, for its happy course starting at daybreak visiting
  each morning every house, borne hitherward through prayer unto the
  sacrifice?    ” “ Where are you, Asvins, in the evening, where at morn?
  Where is your halting place, where rest ye for the night? O Heroes,
  this I beg of you. 'Be near me in the day, be near me in the night'.

I felt touched and inspired  by her story , because it is very sentimental in nature. As we all go through life, we too face lots of issues and we too do a lot of prayers to god.
But I still fail to understand how and why her prayers became immortalized in vedas, considering it was personal in nature,  and what are its larger implications ?


texts: Is Vinayaka an individual or a position like Indra?

texts:
We know that Indra is a position attained by different persons. Present Indra is Purandara. This answer by  explains how he attained the position of Indra. There are occasions where he lost the throne to Prahlada, Mandhata, Nahusha etc.,

But my question is  whether Vinayaka (the head of the obstacles and the removal of the obstacles) also called as Ganesha (leader of the Ganas of Shiva) a position or an individual(separate entity).

If it is a position, then is there anyway mentioned in scriptures how to become the leader of Ganas?


texts: Are explicit rankings/ratings of deities relatively recent in Hinduism?

texts:
Madhwa has the taratamya - that assigns ranks to about 100 deities.  More recent scriptures have ratings baed on Kalas - a deity with 64 Kalas being supreme.
Have there been such detailed comparisons (not merely that "deity A is superior" or "deity A gave birth to deity B" etc.) of deities before Madhwa?


texts: What is the scripture verificiton of the sine-wave based seven vedic gods concept?

texts:
some of These picture everyone can see flying around the net, tellings about 7 modes of the supreme bhrahman realities.

i thinks , There is some of the peculiar answers in several platforms regarding this. An example: Why aren't the original Rigvedic gods worshipped anymore?
so, what does the scriptures says on this kind of contents? are they true and suported by hindu texts?


texts:
यत्र योगेश्वर: कृष्णो यत्र पार्थो धनुर्धर: |
तत्र श्रीर्विजयो भूतिध्रुवा नीतिर्मतिर्मम || 78||
BG 18.78

Translation

Wherever there is Shree Krishna, the Lord of all Yoga, and wherever there is Arjuna, the Supreme archer, there will also certainly be unending opulence, victory, prosperity, and righteousness. Of this, I am certain.

The foregoing is the last sloka of the Bhagavad Gita and it conveyed-

There can be only One verdict in this war—victory will always be on the side of God and his pure devotee, and so will goodness, supremacy, and abundance.

In the foregoing sloka God Vishnu{Sri Krishna} is referred in the Yogeshwara form.
God Vishnu is also referred in the Yogeshwara form in the following Canto of Srimad Bhagavatam,
SB 4.22.22:-

Attachment for the Supreme can be increased by practicing devotional service, inquiring about the Supreme Personality of Godhead, applying bhakti-yoga in life, worshiping the Yogeśhwara, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and by hearing and chanting about the glories of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. These actions are pious in themselves.

What is the Yogeshwara form of God Vishnu? Is there a story why God Vishnu is also referred as Yogeshwara? Explain in brief.


texts: I heard that Skanda Puranam contains a very large section called Srisaila Khandam describing about the famous kshetra Srisailam which has the story of a Brahmana called Parvata doing tapas for Siva etc. Is the text of that khanda available in any language (preferably in sanskrit) ?


texts: The widely held belief is that it was Parashurama who gave sudarshana chakra to Lord Krishna. However as seen in this answer it was not the case. So my question is  did the two ever meet given that they were contemporaries at time of Mahabharata ?


texts: Does Jnana marga takes much time compared to Karma and Bhakti?

texts:
Traditionally, there are three ways to attain moksha: Jnana, Bhakti, and Karma.
Is it true that it will take more time for a person to attain moksha in Jnana marga?


texts: About meditation for memory and concentration

texts:
Someone had suggested to me (5-6 years ago) to "gaze on a black dot marked on an clean wall" to increase concentration.
I used to do it whenever i felt lack of concentration.

A few days ago, when i was reading an answer here on stackexchange i came to know that it's actually a type of meditation....called Trātaka.
It's useful for increasing mind awareness, concentration and focus (atleast in my case it worked)

I'm wondering if there's any certain type practice or yoga which helps in increasing someone's Memory ( to be precise.....remembering and recalling ) ?

Thanks for any useful information in advance :)


texts: Foreigners knowledge about fasting in previous yugas

texts:
The following statement by Yudhistrira clarifies that foreigners are aware of (benefits of) fasting during Dwapara Yuga

"Yudhishthira said, 'The disposition is seen, O grandsire, in all the
orders of men, including the very Mlechchhas, of observing fasts. The
reason, however, of this is not known to us. It has been heard by us
that only Brahmanas and Kshatriyas should observe the vow of fasts.
How, O grandsire, are the other orders to be taken as earning any
merit by the observance of fasts? How have vows and fasts come to be
observed by persons of all orders, O king? What is that end to which
one devoted to the observance of fasts attains? It has been said that
fasts are highly meritorious and that fasts are a great refuge. O
prince of men, what is the fruit that is earned in this world by the
man that observe fasts? By what means is one cleansed of one's sins?
By what means doth one acquire righteousness? By what means, O best of
the Bharatas, doth one succeed in acquiring heaven and merit? After
having observed a fast, what should one give away, O king? O, tell me,
what those duties are by which one may succeed in obtaining such
objects as lead to happiness?'

Do any other statements from any scripture comment on this? I mean, do any other statement from any scripture also mention that foreigners were aware of fasting, which is one of the integral ritual of Sanathan dharma, in previous yugas.
Note: I want answer only from scriptures, as I told, not from the opinions or books by historians, archeologists, modern experts, etc.,  (which this site is not intended for).


texts: What is the correct birth story of Chakshush Manu of the 6th Manvantar?

texts:
According to the Markandeya Purana Chakshush, the Manu for the previous Manvantar was born to Anmitra and Giribhadra.

  Chakshush had manifested from the eye (Chakshu) of Lord Brahma in his previous birth. For this reason, he was known as Chakshush. Chakshush was born to Anmitra and Giribhadra. After taking birth, he was abducted by Jatharini and exchanged with the son of King Vikrant who was sleeping besides his mother.

However, the Harivamsa states that he was born in the lineage of Dhruva:

  Dhruva’s wife, Shambhu, gave birth to sons named Shlishti and Manya. Shlishti’s wife, Succhaya, gave birth to five unblemished sons — Ripu, Ripunjaya, Vipra, Vrikala and Vrikatejasa. Ripu’s wife, Brihati, gave birth to Chakshusha and he possessed every kind of energy. Through Pushkarini, Virana’s daughter, Chakshusha had a son named Chakshusha Manu. This great-souled Prajapati was thus descended from Virana’s lineage.

Which of these stories regarding the origin of the 6th Manu is actually correct?

Please refrain from the Kalpa Bheda logic I am looking for at least one of the references getting some mention in a different scripture than the ones quoted.


texts: Does the Mahabharata give reasons why Duryodhana went to heaven?

texts:
http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m10/m10009.htm
Ashwatthama is reporting his night-slaughter to the dying Duryodhana:

Going from this world, O monarch, and meeting with those mighty car-warriors (that have preceded thee), show thy regards to them, at my request, one after another, according to the order of their rank and years. Having offered worship to thy preceptor, that foremost of all wielders of bows, tell him, O king, that Dhrishtadyumna hath been slain by me. Embrace king Bahlika, that mighty car-warrior, as also the ruler of the Sindhus, and Somadatta, Bhurishrava, and the other foremost of kings that have preceded thee to heaven. At my request, embrace all of them and enquire after their welfare."
Sanjaya continued, "Having said these words unto the king deprived of his senses and lying with broken thighs, Ashvatthama once more cast his eyes on him and uttered these words, "If, O Duryodhana, thou hast any life in thee still, listen to these words that are so pleasant to hear. On the side of the Pandavas, only seven are alive, and among the Dhartarashtras, only we three! The seven on their side are the five brothers and Vasudeva and Satyaki; on our side, we three are myself and Kripa and Kritavarma! All the sons of Draupadi have been slain, as also all the children of Dhrishtadyumna! All the Pancalas too have been slain, as also the remnant of the Matsyas, O Bharata! Behold the vengeance taken for what they had done! The Pandavas are now childless! While buried in sleep, the men and animals in their camp have all been slain! Penetrating into their camp in the night, O king, I have slain Dhrishtadyumna, that wight of sinful deeds, as one kills an animal."
Duryodhana then, having heard those words that were so agreeable to his heart, regained his senses and said these words in reply, "That which neither Ganga's son, nor Karna, nor thy sire, could achieve, hath at last been achieved by thee today, accompanied by Kripa and Bhoja. Thou hast slain that low wretch (Dhrishtadyumna) who was commander of the Pandava forces, as also Shikhandi. In consequence of this I regard myself equal to Maghavat himself! Good be to you all! Let prosperity be yours! All of us will again meet together in heaven!"
Having said these words the high-souled king of the Kurus became silent. Casting off his griefs for all his (slain) kinsmen, he then gave up his life-breath. His soul ascended to sacred heaven,

It cannot be argued that he went to Veera-swarga, since his army allegedly committed war crimes.
Does the Mahabharata say why he went to heaven?


texts: How does it rain in Foreign countries, like the Amazon rain forest, than in India, when no one there performs yajnas for the Devas?

texts:
The scriptures say that yajnas please the devas, and the devas being pleased, shower rain:

  The demigods, being pleased by sacrifices, will also please you; thus nourishing one another, there will reign general prosperity for all.

If so, how does it rain more in Foreign countries, like the Amazon rain forest, than in India, when no one there performs yajnas for the Devas?

Does this falsify the claim that Yajnas produce rain as its reward?


texts: What is significance of Shashtanga Namaskaram near Kodimaram/Dwajastambha/flagpole?

texts: Why do we do Shashtanga Namaskara near Kodimaram/Flag Pole/Dwajastamaba ? I often watched people also doing Namaskaram near Garbha Gruha (inner sanctorum)? Please clarify me which one is the right way and procedure to do Namaskaram.


texts: Is It true that Ravana and Mandodari never had a fight between them?

texts: I asked this because of an incident happened to me in the past. I was coming back from Vaishno Devi (Pilgrimage), and it was the Dusshera (Ravana's Death Anniversary) so I visited nearby big field in which Ravan was going to be burned. After it burned all people rush towards it and collected all the burned leftover sticks of the statue. I haven't seen this collection of sticks(bamboo sticks) practice elsewhere. At least not in my own state. When I asked a person why are they collecting sticks from the Ravana's statue's leftovers, he replied that it is a good thing to be kept at home as it prevents fighting between the married couples. He explained me the reason that is the Ravan and Mandodari never fought. So is this true?


texts: What does "being ignorant to Gayatri mantra" mean?

texts:
What does ignorance to anything specifically "Gayatri hymn" mean?

Context:

A Brahman, ignorant of the Gayatri hymn, is more .... (Parashara Smriti,Chapter 8,Verse 24)

What does ignorance specifically mean here?


texts: Does the Taittiriya Upanishad quote a hymn of the Sama Veda?

texts:
The Taittiriya Upanishad constitutes the Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth Vallis (sections) of the Taittiriya Aranyaka of the Yajur Veda.  The last of these is known as the Bhrigu Valli, and here is how it ends:

  He who knows this, when he has departed this world, after reaching and comprehending the Self which consists of food, the Self which consists of breath, the Self which consists of mind, the Self which consists of understanding, the Self which consists of bliss, enters and takes possession of these worlds, and having as much food as he likes, and assuming as many forms as he likes, he sits down singing this Sâman (of Brahman): "Hâvu, hâvu, hâvu!  I am food (object), I am food, I am food! I am the eater of food (subject), I am the eater of food, I am the eater of food! I am the poet (who joins the two together), I am the poet, I am the poet! I am the first-born of the Right (rita). Before the Devas I was in the centre of all that is immortal. He who gives me away, he alone preserves me: him who eats food, I eat as food.  I overcome the whole world, I, endowed with golden light."  This is the Upanishad

For those who don't know, Saman is a term generally used to refer to the hymns of the Sama Veda, which are set to musical melody unlike the hymns of other Vedas.  So my question is, is the Taittiriya Upanishad quoting some hymn of the Sama Veda here?

This webpage claims that it is from the Sama Veda, and that it's a hymn that's used by the gods to venerate Vishnu in Vaikuntha:

  The Sama Veda is almost entirely musical, and is most pleasing to hear-this Veda is sung and not recited, as is indicated by the usage, “SAma gAnam”. The Taittiriya Upanishad attests to the fact that the Nitya Suris in Sri Vaikuntam please the Lord through melodious singing of SAma mantras- “Etat SAma gAyan AstE”.

And this webpage claims that Parashara Bhattar, a famous Sri Vaishnava Acharya said the same thing:

  SrI BhaTTar uses the above interpretation and explains the nAma as "One
  Who has the mukta-s or the Released souls singing the sAma hymns in praise
  of Him once they have attained Him" – sva-prApti madhu pAnena "hAvu hAvu
  hAvu" iti sAmAni gAyamAno muktaH asya asti iti sAma-gAyanaH. He gives the
  quote from taittirIya Upanishad – "etat sAma gayannAste" – (The released soul
  or mukta) will be singing this sAma chant.

But at first glance I can't find this hymn in the Sama Veda; you can read the Sama Veda here.  If it helps, here is the hymn in Sanskrit:

  hā 3 vu hā 3 vu hā 3 vu |

  ahamannamahamannamahamannam |

  ahamannādo3'hamannādo3|āhamannādaḥ |

  aham̐ ślokakṛdaham̐ ślokakṛdaham̐ ślokakṛt |

  ahamasmi prathamajā ṛtā3sya |

  pūrvaṃ devebhyo'mṛtasya nā3bhāyi |

  yo mā dadāti sa ideva mā3''vāḥ |

  ahamannamannamadantamā3dmi |

  ahaṃ viśvaṃ bhuvanamabhyabhavā3m |

  suvarna jyotīḥ |

  ya evaṃ veda |

It looks like this hymn is also chanted in the famous Tirumala Venkateshwara Temple in Tirupati when giving the Venkateshwara statue an Abhishekha (bath); see this video starting from about the 30 second mark, where the priests are clearly singing it in the style of Sama Veda chanting.  That lends some credence to the notion that it's a hymn from the Sama Veda which is chanted in praise of Vishnu in Vaikuntha.

Does anyone know whether this hymn occurs in the Sama Veda, and if so where iin the Sama Veda?


texts: Are "antarAtmA" (inner self) and "antaryAmI" (inner controller) the same in vedAnta?

texts: Answer might depend on the school of vedAnta. That is fine. I want to know the position of different schools.


texts: What is the story of Indra attacking Lord Shiva on his neck?

texts:
In this chapter of Anushashana Parva of Mahabharata Lord Shiva tells the reason why his neck is blue. He states:

  देवकार्यार्थ सिद्ध्धयर्थम् पिनाकं मे करे स्थितम् ।।
  इन्द्रेण च पुरा वज्रं क्षिप्तं श्रीकाङ्क्षिणा मम ।
  दग्ध्वा कण्ठं तु तद्यातं तेन श्रीकण्ठता मम ।।
  The bow Pinaka is always in my hand for accomplishing the purposes of the deities. In days of yore, Indra, desirous of acquiring my prosperity, had hurled his thunderbolt at me. With that weapon my throat was scorched. For this reason I have become blue-throated.

Similarly in this chapter of Harivamsha Parva Lord Krishna also states:

   दत्तः प्रहारः कुलिशेन पूर्वं
          तवेशान सुरराज्ञातिवीर्य ।
      कन्ठे नैल्यं तेन ते यत्प्रवृत्तं
          तस्मात्ख्यातस्त्वं नीलकण्ठेति कल्पः ॥२-७४-३१
  O highly valiant lord! Long ago, the king of deva-s, Indra struck your neck with vajra. Hence there was a mark of blue. Hence you became famous as the one with blue neck. You perceive all. Even then you pardon all such deeds.

The most famous reason for why Lord Shivas neck is blue is that he drank the Kãlakuta poison during Samundra Manthan which made his neck blue. However the blue necked epithet is itself described in SataRudriya portion of YajurVeda, and also in Kaivalya Upanishad which I also discuss here. Epithets described in the Vedas are eternal so there can be many stories which make Lord Rudras neck blue. Similarly the above story is one of them.

So, my question is:
➡What is the story of Indra attacking on Lord Shiva's neck with his Vajra?

As a sidenote, Indra also tried to attack Lord Shiva just after Tripura Samhara when Mahadeva took Vyuptakesha form as discussed here.. Here Lord Shiva paralyses Indras arm as:

  Sakra, through ill-feeling endeavoured to strike that child with his thunderbolt. The divine lord Mahadeva, smiling, quickly paralysed the arm of the enraged Sakra.

Similarly in the chapter 29 of Rudra Samhita, Shiva Purana, Sati is condemning all Gods and sages about their participation in Dakshas sacrifice. Particularly for Indra she says:

  इन्द्र त्वं किं न जानासि महादेवस्य विक्रमम् ।
  भस्मिकृत पविस्तेन हरेण क्रुरकर्मणा ।।
  Oh Indra you are all aware of the prowess of  Mahadeva. The lord - performer of difficult tasks reduced your Vajra to ashes.

So, it is possible that Sati here is hinting the same incident to Indra.


texts: Does the phrase "Sri Mahavishnu Paramatma Sriman Narayana" occur outside the Vishnu Sahasranamam?

texts:
In the preamble to the Vishnu Sahasranama, the following verse occurs (see page 3):

asya sri vishNOr divya sahasranAma stotra mahA mantrasya|
sri vedavyAso bhagavAn RshiH|
anushTup chandaH|
sri mahAvishNu paramAtmA sriman nArAyaNo devatA|
Of the great mantra called the Sri Vishnor Divya Sahasranama Stotra, the sage [who heard it from the gods] is Sri Vedavyasa Bhagavan, the meter is Anushtup, the deity [whom it is about] is Sri Mahavishnu Paramatma Sriman Narayana.

My question is about the unusually elaborate epithet used for Vishnu, "Sri Mahavishnu Paramatma Sriman Narayana."  The meaning is clear: Mahavishnu just means the great Vishnu; Paramatma means the supreme soul or supersoul, which Vishnu certainly is; and Sriman Narayana is a common name of Vishnu which means the one who sleeps in the water.  But I'm wondering why this particular combination of names was used as the name of the deity of Sahasranamam.  Usually when the deity of a mantra is given, a very simple name is used, so it might say "vishNu devatA" or "mahavishNu devatA" or "sriman nArAyaNo devatA".
Is this particular phrase something that occurs elsewhere to describe Vishnu, perhaps in the preamble of some of other mantras to Vishnu?  Or is it unique to the preamble of the Vishnu Sahasranama?


texts: Is there a way to know about my past life?

texts: I am always trying to know how was my past. I just wanted to know is there any influence of my past life . So could anyone suggest how to know about past life ??


texts: Did Hanuman undergo a surgery after he pierced his chest to show that Lord Ram was inside him?

texts:
We all know that, when Sita Devi gave Hanuman a pearl necklace, Hanuman said that its of no use to him as Lord Ram is not inside of it.

So when asked whether Lord Ram is inside him, Hanuman torn his chest apart to show that Lord Ram and Sita devi were inside him.

But what happened after this incident? What happened to Hanuman? Did he live the rest of his life  with a torn chest or did he undergo some surgery to fix it?

I believe all these incidents took place in real, it is not meant to disrespect Hanuman or Lord Ram but to know the real incident fully, so please answer it correctly.


texts: What did Rajneesh/Osho mean by "all enlightened beings are navel-centered"?

texts: I am quoting from memory.  This was in response to a question about J Krishnamurti and he said "all enlightened beings are navel -centered, but Krishnamurti uses his head for expression".


texts: Who are the seven immortals (Chiranjeevi)?

texts: Please tell me about the seven immortals in Hinduism? How did they become immortals?


texts: What is the story of Manavala Mamunigal's ancestor Gomadathalwan?

texts:
The Sri Vaishnava sect has two sub-sects, Thenkalai and Vadakalai.  Vadakalais follow the teachings of Vedanta Desikan, whereas Thenkalais follow the teachings of Pillai Lokacharya and Manavala Mamunigal. My question is about Manavala Mamunigal. He was a 14th century Acharya considered by Thenkalais to be an incarnation of Vishnu's serpent Adiseshan and a rebirth of Ramanujacharya.  Here is how this webpage describes him:

  After some time periya perumAL orders AdhisEshan to re-appear in this samsAram to bring many jIvAthmAs to paramapadham. thiruvananthAzhwAn accepts his swamy’s orders and takes birth as azhagiya maNavALa perumAL nAyanAr (who eventually becomes azhagiya maNavALa mAmunigaL) as the son of thigazha kidanthAn thirunAvIrudaya pirAn (coming in the lineage of gOmadathAzhwAn who was one of the 74 simhAsanAdhipathis established by emperumAnAr [Ramanujacharya]) and sriranga nAchiAr on ippasi thirumUlam in AzhwAr thirunagari.

I'm interested in the part in bold.  My question is, what is the story of Ramanujacharya's shishya Gomadathalwan, ancestor of Manavala Mamunigal?

Here is all this list of Ramanujacharya's shishya says:

  GOMATHAARYA ( GOMATATHU AAZHWAAN) bore the bowl and slippers of his
  master.

But what is Gomadathalwan's background, how did he become Ramanujacharya's shishya, and how did he get the rare opportunity to Ramanujacharya's bowl and slippers?


texts: Science behind working of Pushpak Vimanam

texts:
I don't know whether I should ask this in Hinduism or Physics but I think my question would would better relate with this site.

According to an ancient epic Ramayana, Ravana was having an aircraft named 'Pushpak Vimanam', which is believed to be one of the ancient miracles in Hinduism epic and advancement of technology at that time. Well I am currently in my academics in my final year and studying the detailed properties of charge and magnetism. My teacher told me that few theories have been made that Pushpak Vimanam might be working on this principal.

In detailed way his air craft must have been made with a light weight conductor which might be having charge uniformly distributed over it's surface leading to formation of some electric and magnetic field that may help in lifting the aircraft and balancing the gravitational force. However it still remains a mystery that how Vimanam was able to get such enormous charge.

At that age if technology was so much advanced then why not someone wrote the working and mechanism behind that like we study about some complex machines in high school today?

Beside this also I want to ask whether it can be true? Means are there any kind of evidence or anything which can prove this?


texts: Is there any mention of Lord Krishna in the Rāmāyaṇa?

texts:
In the Canto CXIX.: Glory To Vishnu
of the Yuddha Kāṇḍa of the Valmikí Rāmāyaṇa, after Rāvaṇa has been defeated, all deities appear in the sky and eulogize Shri Rāma, as Lord Vishnu himself and the word Krishna is made reference to.

Thou all-pervading Vishnu Lord Who wears the ever-conquering sword;
Thou art the Guide who leads aright, Thou Krishna of unequalled might.
Thy hand, O Lord, the hills and plains, And earth with all her life
sustains; Thou wilt appear in serpent form When sinks the earth in
fire and storm. Queen Sítá of the lovely brows Is Lakshmí thy
celestial spouse

The Sanskrit version

अक्षरं ब्रह्मसत्यं च मध्ये चान्ते च राघव। लॊकानां तवं परॊ धर्मॊ विष्वक्सेनश चतुर्भुजः ॥13
शार्ङ्गधन्वा हृषीकेशः पुरुषः पुरुषॊत्तमः।             अजितः खड्गधृग विष्णुः कृष्णश चैव बृहद्बलः॥14॥
akṣaraṃ brahmasatyaṃ ca madhye cānte ca  rāghava ।
lokānāṃ tvaṃ paro dharmo viṣvaksenaś  caturbhujaḥ ॥13॥
śārṅgadhanvā hṛṣīkeśaḥ puruṣaḥ
puruṣottamaḥ ।
ajitaḥ khaḍgadhṛg viṣṇuḥ kṛṣṇaś caiva bṛhadbalaḥ ॥14॥

So, my question is, here Krishna is to be taken as the adjective which means -  "The most attractive one / the one who's  all attractive / the one who's of dark complexion". Or it is to be taken in the proper noun form, i.e., the incarnation of the Lord - "Shri Krishna"?
Also, considering time is cyclic, it doesn't matter whatever form the Lord incarnates, the trikāladarśin seers, must be knowing everything, I guess? In that way, the proper noun interpretation seems more logical to me. I'd appreciate some supportive commentaries by competent sanksrit acharyas or gurus on this word meaning interpretation dilemma posed in here.


texts: Did Vedavyasa ever write his own commentary on the Brahma Sutras?

texts:
The Brahma Sutras were compiled by Vedavyasa, and subsequent acharyas such as Ramanujacharya have written commentaries on them.

But is it known if Vyasa ever wrote his own commentary on them?


texts: Sthala Purana of Varadaraja Perumal Kanchipuram

texts:
Varadaraja Perumal Temple is an important site for Sri Vaishnavas, because it is one of the 108 Divya Deshas and Bhagwad Ramanujacharya under guidance of Bhagwan Varadaraja Swamy.

What is the story of the origin of Varadaraja Perumal temple in
Kanchipuram,
What is the sthala purana for Varadaraja Perumal temple.


texts: Why is cracking knuckles bad from the POV of Hinduism?

texts: Our elders have always advised us to not crack knuckles of our fingers or elsewhere intentionally. What is the significance behind this?


texts: Do the demons ever try to conquer Brahma loka or Shiva loka?

texts:
When Daitya Hiranyakashipu conquered the universe, he conquered up till Swarga.

  Text 13: O my dear King, Hiraṇyakaśipu was always drunk on strong-smelling wines and liquors, and therefore his coppery eyes were always rolling. Nonetheless, because he had powerfully executed great austerities in mystic yoga, although he was abominable, all but the three principal demigods — Lord Brahmā, Lord Śiva and Lord Viṣṇu — personally worshiped him to please him by bringing him various presentations with their own hands.

Have the demons ever successfully conquered Brahma loka or Shiva loka?


texts: Will a person get moksha or not when he/she donates body after death?

texts:
It is said that a person need to lean in panchabhootas in his life. But what happens if any person doesn't meet one of the panchabhoothas i.e fire due to body or organs donation? Will he/she gets moksha or not?
There is also a myth if a person donates his eyes after death, he will not be able to see in the next birth and also during his travel towards Hell/Heaven, he will be blind. How true is this? This is a controversial myth and hence most don't donate any of their organs after death.
Also, this leads to another question:
Apart from Brahmin religions, people are burried or placed in coffin. Will they meet moksha too as they wont undergo panchabhootas?


texts: What are the differences in the teachings of Gaudapada,Nagarjuna and Yajnavalkya?

texts: I don't see much of a difference between them. If there is someone who has understood it well can you answer it?


texts: Miracles performed by Krishna in Mahabharat

texts:
In Mahabharat, was Krishna regarded as a deity and incarnation of Vishnu from the very beginning, or was he deified in subsequent editions of the epic?

Did anyone ask Krishna to prove his divinity?

Did Krishna perform any miracles in Mahabharat?

Did Krishna perform any miracles in Mahabharat to prove his divinity?


texts: Can we take bath in the evening after deepam has been lit?

texts:
Before performing sandhyavandanam in the evening, should a brahmin take bath? Or do the shastras prohibit it?

We live in southern Chennai and there are times when the sun sets well over 6 or 6:30 p.m. During such times, in case I plan to take bath immediately before starting sandhyavandanam, it's five to ten minutes past six, and my mom already lights the deepam.

Can I still take bath after the deepam has been lit?


texts: Is killing infidels allowed in Hindu Scriptures?

texts:
Yajur Veda 13.12,

  ”O king, make progress in thy duty of administration, extend happiness
  to the virtuous. O terrible chastiser, burn down the irreligious foes.
  O splendid person, humiliate and consume utterly like dried up
  stubble, him, who encourages our foe.”

Atharva Veda 12.5.62

  Rend, rend to bits, rend through and through, scorch and consume and
  burn to dust, the one who rejects the Vedas

Atharva Veda 12.2.23

  He who dwells fixed in the atmosphere, smiting the blasphemers of the
  god that do not sacrifice to him be reverence with ten
  Sakvari-stanzas.

Atharva Veda 10.3.3

  This charm shall conquer and cast down thy foemen. Be thou the first
  to slay the men who hate thee.

Atharva Veda 20.93.1

  May our hymns give you great delight. Display your bounty, Thudered.
  Drive off [kill] the enemies of the Vedas.

Everyone must kill Blaspemers:

Rig Veda 6.72.1

  ye killed all darkness and the Gods’ blasphemers.

Srimad Bhagvatam 4.4.17

  Sati continued: If one hears an irresponsible person blaspheme the
  master and controller of religion, one should block his ears and go
  away if unable to punish him. But if one is able to kill, then one
  should by force cut out the blasphemer’s tongue and kill the offender,
  and after that one should give up his own life.


texts: I am asking this question because after death how can be yama punished the soul. Because no fire can burn the soul , and no water can wet the soul. So how can the yama punished the soul after death . According to his bad thing that he done. When alive .


texts: What is the difference between Dakshina Kali and Guhya Kali?

texts:
What is the difference between Dakshina Kali and Guhya Kali as per the Tantric Scriptures? Did Goddess Kali assume the Guhya Kali form to slay any demon?

One image of Guhya-Kali from one famous temple of Bengal consecrated by Maharaj Nandakumar is enclosed.


texts: Garuda [Big Thiruvadi] and Hanuman [Small Thiruvadi]

texts:
Garuda the king of birds is the vahana of Sriman Narayana and his consort Goddess Lakshmi. He carries them on their shoulder and flies from one place to another. He will be on the skies hence known as Big Thiruvadi. Likewise Hanuman king of vanaras carry Lord Rama, Sita and Lakshmna on his shoulders from one place to other in land. Hence he is known as Small Thiruvadi.
Any mythological evidence for this? If so in which purana?


texts: Who is actually learning? Is it Atman or me?

texts:
If I am learning something like learning physics or chemistry or maths means who is learning? Is it Atman or my brain?

If Atman means why can't it (Atman) realize after death that I belong to this body and then I will enter back to this same body.

If it is just my brain, my brain is learning about Brahman now, then how my Atman will remember that oh okay I am actually Brahman, so I should merge with brahman and this body is not real.

I am looking for connectivity between brain and Atman. How brain will send the information to my Atman that I am Brahman.


texts: Do the Puranas have divine origin or inspiration,like vedas and Bhagavad Gita. And can we take puranas as literaler truth.


texts: Can anyone explain about lord Ayyappa irumudi kattu?

texts:
Devotees visiting the Sabarimala Temple carry with a specially designed bag with two compartments called Irumudi Kattu. I need to know more about that which is followed for many years.
Can any one please explain?


texts: What was the symbolism of Ashwatthama's story?

texts:
It is well known that Mahabharata can be seen as an allegory for human life.

The characters of Yuddhishthira, Bheema, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva are frequently discussed in this context. Even Bhishma, Drona, Dhritrashtra and Gandhari find a place in this representation.

However, I hardly found any discussion about Ashwatthama.

I feel this is important because he is at the receiving end of great suffering at the end of the war. Throughout the epic his character seems quite acceptable, except for the large mistakes towards the end.  Also his immortality is a very important aspect of his character as well as his suffering.

Contemplating on this matter lead me to the possibility that Ashwatthama represents persistent doubt and criticizing nature of human beings.

Following are some thoughts that fall in line.

1) The name Ashwatthama also means a banyan tree. Branches of banyan sprout new roots which go deep in the soil. Similarly new doubts spring from existing ones and often become stronger with time. Also note banyan tree has a very long life span.

2) Ashwatthama will be alive till end of this Yuga cycle, suffering in the process, but will be the compiler of Vedas in next Yuga cycle. Doubts inspite of causing suffering and insecurity if used constructively lead to great learning.

3) Ashwatthama often doubts people around him. He doubts love of his father. He doubts Duryodhana's capability to win etc. Also note that in Kannad version of Mahabharata he is released of Krishna's curse after worshiping para Shakti. Adi Parashakti or Durga is also known as reliever of difficult and persistent doubts.

These are my musings. Would  love to know views of learned readers.

Edit: Also the most important point if Parikshit is the one who is tested, then Ashwatthama is the one who conducts the test.


texts: It is okay to believe in God , but why did we need to worship God?

texts:
I like the God, I like their stories, but what is his link with worship.

I know worship means thinking of god always.

If we do good to others, they will be happy. I.e. I can see that response is immediate, so no doubts in that.

I can believe in Karma theory also, but how do we believe that Bhakti has some effect.

I can believe that every action has a reaction, but what kind of reaction that Bhakti has, it will not even help my surrounding people, but how it is important.

Please don't say that it will generate some vibrations in air, and those vibrations will do some good to you. It is far away to believe and also unimaginable, I need some answer that is believable.