# 027 Shanti karmas

Details of different Shanthi karmas (celebrations): 

On completion of one year - Abda poorthi /Ayush Homa 

55th birthday ie on completion of 54 years - Bheema Shanthi 

60 th birthday ie on completion of 59 years - Ugra Ratha Shanthi

On completing 60 years - Sashtiabdha poorthi 

70 th birthday or on completion of 69 years - Bheema Ratha shanthi 

72 nd birthday ie on completion of 71 years - Eka Shanthi  

77 years 7 months 7 days - Vijaya Ratha Shanthi  

On Completing 80 years & 8 months - Satabhisheka  

On Completing 100 years - Poornabhisheka (Kanakabhisheka) 

Prapouta Shanti - when a son is born to one's son's son. 

Sri Rudra Ekadasani - When Sashtiabdha poorthi, Bheema Ratha Shanthi and Satabhisheka are celebtated, Sri Rudra Ekadasani is also usually done as a part of the function. 

Sri Rudra Ekadasani is a prayaschitha karma and it is advisable to carry it out in a elaborate manner. It will do good to the entire family in addition to the individual for whom the shanti karma is intended.

# 019 Strength of Hinduism

Two Shankaracharyas to work against Modi in Varanasi - news item in Deccan Herald dated 2.5.2014

My first thought was why are they getting into (petty) politics?

On deeper reflection I  wonder whether the ability to accommodate such  activities is what gives strength to Hinduism/ Indian Culture?

# 018 Jaya and Vijaya

I am sure everybody knows that Jaya means Victory.

But there is another word Vijaya which also generally means Victory. 

Why two different words if the meaning is same? Does it mean there is a subtle difference? If so what is the difference? I stumbled on a credible answer. Read on:

"Jaya means pure victory — one where there are no losers.

 Vijaya means victory where someone is defeated.

 A victory without losers is a victory over one's own self."

Jaya is the subject matter of Vedas. It is interesting to note that Vyasa gave the title of Jaya for the epic Mahabharath which name was given later by others and got stuck. 

Devdutta pattanaik.

# 005 Who or what is God: it is for you to find out yourself !!

Dr. S.I. Tulaev, Russian Indologist : A man who has no belief in religion, who does not adopt any rituals, never goes to the temple or church, does not heed any dogmas, but always thinks good and does good throughout his life. Could you kindly tell me, Sir, whether such a man has any salvation at the end of his life?

Mahaperiyaval (Chandrashekarendra Swamigal):  Yes.

His Holiness : (enlarging His answer) " Do not think that I am giving you this answer. No, this is said in our ancient scriptures themselves. There are different types of aspirants.

The Agnostics, those who enquire into the concept of God and by using their own reasoning, come to the conclusion that there is no God.

Secondly there are the Buddhists, especially the Sunyavadins, who believe in non-existence.

Thirdly the Jains, who believe in suffering by putting their body to various austerities, vratas.

Fourthly Saivaites, Vaishnavites and others who believe in a personal God and spend their life in devotion; and

Lastly the Advaitins, who believe that the entire world, the cosmic reality is the apparent manifestation of one and the same ultimate Reality.

All these aspirants get to the truth. The difference between them lies in their proximity to God (Truth). If one enquired into the nature of God by using his own mind, whatever is the conclusion arrived at, even if it is a total rejection of Godhood, such an aspirant is far higher than the idler who never worries about the search after truth. This also is not my saying but is from our scriptures only."

I am sure every human being at some point of time in his/her life  starts wondering on what the ultimate reality is and starts asking fundamental questions like who am I, how life or consciousness manifested in this body, what is the purpose of life, who or what is God etc..

I have started asking these questions. Have you?

And fortunately I have found some very credible answers from Vedas - like the one above from Mahaperiyaval down to incredible number of other great Acharyas - opening up a clear trail in an otherwise jungle. Journey has just begun. It is said there is no end to this journey.  

# 002 Vedas

It is seen that Hinduism is not just a religion but a view of life and a way of life.

Veda is the chief authority. Since it is cryptic and difficult to understand by self study it has to be studied under a Guru (teacher) who himself has studied under another Guru in the tradition of an unbroken chain starting with Sadashiva (God) Himself. This is called Guru Shisya Parampara (Teacher Student lineage). The whole learning used to be only thro listening to Guru's teachings. No written documents were used. Since the Vedas are thus learnt only thro listening it is called Srutis.

Each Veda has 2 Kandas (sections); the Karma Kanda and Gnana/Tattva  Kanda. Karma Kanda deals with actions (karma) like rituals etc. Gnana or Tattva (Philosophy) Kanda deals with nature of reality, eternal truth of life etc. The former is further divided into two sections viz Mantra and Brahmana. Brahmana portion refers to the details of the ritual and indicates the particular mantra to be recited in each ritual/act. Mantra portion supplies the mantras. Gnana/Tattva  Kanda is also called as Upanishad. As the Upanishad is positioned at the end (anta) of a Veda it is also called as Vedanta.

Karma Knada is also called as Purvamimamsa and Vedanta or Upanishads as Uttaramimamsa meaning former and later parts of the Vedas. They are thus supplementary to each other. But there are schools of thought who adopt each one as independent Darsanas about which more will be said later.

It is already said in #001 Introduction that Rig, Yajur, Sama and Atharva are the 4 main vedas.

Rig Samhita is the biggest & oldest of all. It is in poetic style.There are 10552 mantras (Hymns) in Rig and has 2 Shakhas (schools): Shakla & Vashkala. Aitereya Brahmana is the well known Brahmana of this Veda. This Brahmana has an Aitereya Aranyaka which further has the Aitereya Upanishad.

Yajur veda is in prose form and has 2 shakas : Krishna Yajur Veda & Shukla Yajur Veda.It is the smallest of all Vedas.

Sama veda is in the musical form and has to be sung. Most of the mantras of Sama veda contain mantras from Rig. It has a total of 1875 mantras.

Atherva veda is for specific and special purposes and has 5977 mantras.

There is a Mahavakya in each of the 4 vedas conveying the essential teaching of the Vedas namely, Reality is one, and the individual is essentially identical with it.

These Mahavakyas are expressions to convey supra-essential essence of the ultimate reality, and not to describe it with reference to accidental attributes, such as creatorship etc. that which is ultimately responsible for all our activities. It is the final meaning of our mental and physical activities. Brahman is that which is Absolute, fills all space, is complete in itself, to which there is no second, and which is continuously present in everything, from the creator down to the lowest of matter. It, being everywhere, is also in each and every individual.

The 4 Mahavakyas are:

             Rig Veda: Prajnanam Brahmma ( Consciousness is Brahman)

             Yajur: Aham Brahmmaasmi (I am Brahman)

             Sama Veda:  Tat twam asi ( That thou art)

             Atharva Veda: Ayam aathma Brahmma (This self is Atma, the Brahman)

The Vedas can not be known without aids or angas (parts) called Vedangas. There 6 Vedangas namely

       Siksha            - Phonetics
       Vyaakaranam - Grammer
       Chandas         - Metre (Maatra)
       Niruktha         - Origin of words (Kosa)
       Jyothisha        - Astrology/Astronomy
       Kalpa             - Method of doing pooja-sacrifice-offering etc.

The Guru also uses other scriptures as aids to teach the eternal truth and values. They are called Smiritis the details of which will be given next.

# 001 Introduction

This is a series on Sanatana Dharma, more popularly called now a days as Hinduism. The latter name is not the original name but given by westerners to the Religion & Philosophy that is existing in India. Again even the name India is a misnomer and it should have been, rightfully speaking, called Bharat.

Sanatana Dharma, actually is not a religion in the strict sense the term but a way of life combining both religion and philosophy of the land. It is not founded by any particular person unlike most other religions. It has evolved naturally as mankind has evolved and is not based on the teachings or preachings of any one particular person. Its basis is derived from Vedas which are existing eternally without a beginning. Its age can not be historically determined. They are  beyond  history and are super-historical and not merely pre-historical

Veda is the word of God and verily the God Himself. Vedas are  revealed to the Rishis and they transmitted it in an unbroken lineage of Teacher-Student chain. They are therefore not the authors or creators of Vedas but  merely passed them on to the mankind. They happened to be the seers of them. Since it was transmitted by word of mouth and preserved by hearing they are called Srutis.

There are 4 Vedas Rig, Yajur, Sama and Atharva.They deal with eternal truths and values and therefore is fixed in essentials but at the same time remain flexible in essentials like rituals, rites etc which can be adopted to changing conditions.