|
Kusha Grass
The kusha () grass, the darbha () grass and the pavitram (), are the Sanskrit terms for ''Desmostachya bipinnata'' grass. This grass is of literary and ritual significance in Hinduism. In the performance of Vedic rituals such as the homam and tarpanam, the kusha grass is shaped like a ring and is worn by a priest on the ring finger of his right hand. Literature The Rigveda prescribes the sprinkling on the soma juice upon kusha grass in the performance of a rite. The Garuda Purana states that the kusha grass is born of the hair of Vishnu, and that it offers residence to the essence of all three of the Trimurti. It is among the many substances that is declared to be impossible to become impure despite frequent usage. The Bhagavata Purana features a legend from the Uttara Kanda in which Sita does not leave behind her son Lava in Valmiki's hermitage as she usually does while going out. The sage observes the boy's absence, and concludes that some animal had carried him away. Bel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trimurti
The Trimūrti (; Sanskrit: त्रिमूर्ति ', "three forms" or "trinity") are the trinity of supreme divinity in Hinduism, in which the cosmic functions of creation, maintenance, and destruction are personified as a triad of deities. Typically, the designations are that of Brahma the creator, Vishnu the preserver, and Shiva the destroyer. The Om symbol of Hinduism is considered to have an allusion to Trimurti, where the A, U, and M phonemes of the word are considered to indicate creation, preservation and destruction, adding up to represent Brahman. The Tridevi is the trinity of goddess consorts for the Trimurti. Evolution Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva seated on lotuses with their consorts, ca1770.jpg, Left: Brahma and Saraswati, Middle: Vishnu and Lakshmi, Right: Shiva and Parvati. Halebid3.JPG, An art depiction of the Trimurti at the Hoysaleswara temple in Halebidu Brahma Vishnu Mahesh.jpg, Trimurti, painting from Andhra Pradesh The Puranic period from the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plants In Hinduism
Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclude the fungi and some algae, as well as the prokaryotes (the archaea and bacteria). By one definition, plants form the clade Viridiplantae (Latin name for "green plants") which is sister of the Glaucophyta, and consists of the green algae and Embryophyta (land plants). The latter includes the flowering plants, conifers and other gymnosperms, ferns and their allies, hornworts, liverworts, and mosses. Most plants are multicellular organisms. Green plants obtain most of their energy from sunlight via photosynthesis by primary chloroplasts that are derived from endosymbiosis with cyanobacteria. Their chloroplasts contain chlorophylls a and b, which gives them their green color. Some plants are parasitic or mycotrophic and have lost the ability ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kshira Sagara
In Hindu cosmology, the Ocean of Milk (',', ''Malayalam: Pālāḻi'') is the fifth from the centre of the seven oceans. It surrounds the continent known as Krauncha. According to Hindu scriptures, the devas and asuras worked together for a millennium to churn the ocean and release amrita, the nectar of immortal life. It is spoken of in the ''Samudra Manthana'' chapter of the Puranas, a body of ancient Hindu legends. It is called as the ''Tiruparkadal'' (Sacred sea of milk) in Tamil, and is the place where Vishnu reclines over Adishesha, along with his consort, Lakshmi. Etymology "Ocean of Milk" is the English translation of the Sanskrit terms ', ' or ', from ' "milk" and ', ' "water, ocean" or ' "ocean." The term varies across Indic languages, including ''khir sagar'' in Bengali, ''pārkaḍal'' in Tamil, and ''Pāla Kadali'' in Telugu. The Churning of the Ocean One of the most fascinating episodes of Hindu mythology involves the churning of the cosmic ocean in order to obta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Varaha Purana
The ''Varaha Purana'' ( sa, वराह पुराण, ) is a Sanskrit text from the Puranas genre of literature in Hinduism. It belongs to the Vaishnavism literature corpus praising Narayana (Vishnu), but includes chapters dedicated to praising and centered on Shiva and Shakti (goddesses it calls Brahmi, Vaishnavi and Raudri). The text exists in many versions, with major sections lost to history. The text has been estimated to have been first completed between the 10th and 12th centuries, and continuously revised thereafter. The surviving manuscripts of this text are notable, like ''Linga Purana'', because they do not cover the required ''Panchalakshana'' (five characteristics) expected in a Purana. Scholars have questioned whether it really qualifies as a Purana, and whether the extant manuscripts are merely a religious manual largely focussed on Vaishnava practices, with sections that also praise Shiva, Shakti and other gods in a secular way. The ''Varaha Purana'' includes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kusha (Ramayana)
Kusha, also rendered Kusa (Sanskrit: कुश) and his twin brother Lava are the children of Rama and Sita in Hindu tradition. Their story is recounted in the Hindu epic ''Ramayana,'' and its other versions. Birth and childhood The first chapter of Ramayana, ''Balakanda'' mentioned Valmiki narrating the Ramayana to his disciples, Lava and Kusha. But their birth and childhood is mentioned in the last chapter ''Uttara Kanda,'' which is not believed to be the original work of Valmiki. According to the legend, a pregnant queen Sita leaves the kingdom of Ayodhya when she learns that the citizens were suspicious when a washerman of Ayodhya questioned Sita's fidelity. She then took refuge in the ashram of the sage Valmiki located on the banks of the Tamsa River. Sita gave birth to twin sons, Lava and Kusha, at the ashram. They were educated and trained in military skills under the tutelage of Valmiki, and also learned the story of Rama. Ashvamedha Yajna During an Ashvamedha Yajn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Valmiki
Valmiki (; Sanskrit: वाल्मीकि, ) is celebrated as the wikt:harbinger, harbinger-poet in Sanskrit literature. The epic ''Ramayana'', dated variously from the 5th century BCE to first century BCE, is attributed to him, based on the attribution in the text itself. He is revered as ''Ādi Kavi'', the first poet, author of ''Ramayana'', the first epic poem. The ''Ramayana'', originally written by Valmiki, consists of 24,000 shlokas and seven cantos (kaṇḍas). The is composed of about 480,002 words, being a quarter of the length of the full text of the ''Mahabharata'' or about four times the length of the ''Iliad''. The ''Ramayana'' tells the story of a prince, Rama of the city of Ayodhya in the Kosala, Kingdom of Kosala, whose wife Sita is abducted by Ravana, the demon-king (Rakshasa) of Lanka. Valmiki's ''Ramayana'' is dated variously from 500 BCE to 100 BCE or about co-eval with early versions of the ''Mahabharata''. As with many traditional epics, it has gon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lava (Ramayana)
Lava ( sa, लव) and his twin brother Kusha, are the children of Rama and Sita in Hindu tradition. Their story is recounted in the Hindu epic, ''Ramayana'' and its other versions. He is said to have a whitish golden complexion like their mother, while Kusha had a blackish complexion like their father. Birth and childhood The first chapter of Ramayana, ''Balakanda,'' mentioned Valmiki narrating the Ramayana to his disciples, Lava and Kusha. But their birth and childhood story is mentioned in the last chapter '''Uttara Kanda which is not believed to be the original work of Valmiki. According to the legend, Sita banished herself from the kingdom due to the gossip of the kingdom folk about her sanctity. She chose self-exile and took refuge in the ashram of Valmiki located on the banks of the Tamsa river. Lava and Kusha were born at the ashram and were educated and trained in military skills under the teachings of Sage Valmiki. In which the time they had also learned the stor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sita
Sita (; ) also called as Janaki and Vaidehi is a Hindu goddess and the female protagonist of the Hindu epic, ''Ramayana''. She is the consort of Rama, the avatar of the god Vishnu, and is regarded as a form of Vishnu's consort, Lakshmi. She is also the chief goddess of Rama-centric Hindu traditions. Sita is known for her dedication, self-sacrifice, courage, and purity. She is one of the seventeen national heroes (r''astriya bibhuti'') of Nepal. Described as the daughter of Bhūmi (the earth), Sita is brought up as the adopted daughter of King Janaka of Videha. Sita, in her youth, chooses Rama, the prince of Ayodhya as her husband in a swayamvara. After the swayamvara, she accompanies her husband to his kingdom, but later chooses to accompany her husband, along with her brother-in-law Lakshmana, in his exile. While in exile, the trio settles in the Dandaka forest from where she is abducted by Ravana, the Rakshasa king of Lanka. She is imprisoned in the garden of Ashoka Vatik ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ramayana
The ''Rāmāyana'' (; sa, रामायणम्, ) is a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic composed over a period of nearly a millennium, with scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text ranging from the 8th to 4th centuries BCE, and later stages extending up to the 3rd century CE. ''Ramayana'' is one of the two important epics of Hinduism, the other being the ''Mahabharata, Mahābhārata''. The epic, traditionally ascribed to the Maharishi Valmiki, narrates the life of Sita, the Princess of Janakpur, and Rama, a legendary prince of Ayodhya city in the kingdom of Kosala. The epic follows his fourteen-year exile to the forest urged by his father King Dasharatha, on the request of Rama's stepmother Kaikeyi; his travels across forests in the South Asia, Indian subcontinent with his wife Sita and brother Lakshmana, the kidnapping of Sita by Ravana – the king of Lanka, that resulted in war; and Rama's eventual return to Ayodhya to be crowned kin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bhagavata Purana
The ''Bhagavata Purana'' ( sa, भागवतपुराण; ), also known as the ''Srimad Bhagavatam'', ''Srimad Bhagavata Mahapurana'' or simply ''Bhagavata'', is one of Hinduism's eighteen great Puranas (''Mahapuranas''). Composed in Sanskrit by Veda Vyasa, it promotes ''bhakti'' (devotion) towards Krishna, integrating themes from the Advaita (monism) philosophy of Adi Shankara, the Vishishtadvaita (qualified monism) of Ramanujacharya and the Dvaita (dualism) of Madhvacharya. It is widely available in almost all Indian languages. The ''Bhagavata Purana'', like other puranas, discusses a wide range of topics including cosmology, astronomy, genealogy, geography, legend, music, dance, yoga and culture. As it begins, the forces of evil have won a war between the benevolent ''Deva (Hinduism), devas'' (deities) and evil ''asuras'' (demons) and now rule the universe. Truth re-emerges as Krishna, (called "Hari#Usage in Indian religion and mythology, Hari" and "Vāsudeva" in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vishnu
Vishnu ( ; , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism. Vishnu is known as "The Preserver" within the Trimurti, the triple deity of supreme divinity that includes Brahma and Shiva.Gavin Flood, An Introduction to Hinduism' (1996), p. 17. In Vaishnavism, Vishnu is the supreme being who creates, protects, and transforms the universe. In the Shaktism tradition, the Goddess, or Adi Shakti, is described as the supreme Para Brahman, yet Vishnu is revered along with Shiva and Brahma. Tridevi is stated to be the energy and creative power (Shakti) of each, with Lakshmi being the equal complementary partner of Vishnu. He is one of the five equivalent deities in Panchayatana puja of the Smarta tradition of Hinduism. According to Vaishnavism, the highest form of Ishvara is with qualities (Saguna), and have certain form, but is limitless, transcend ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
