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Pitṛs
The pitrs () are the spirits of departed ancestors in Hinduism. Following an individual's death, the performance of the antyesti (funeral rites) is regarded to allow the deceased to enter Pitrloka, the abode of one's ancestors. The non-performance of these rituals is believed to result in the fate of wandering the earth as a restless preta. The amavashya (new moon day), as well as the occasion of Pitru Paksha during the Hindu month of Ashvin is recommended for the veneration of pitrs. Development Ancestor veneration is an ancient Indian practice that emerged in the Vedic religion, dating back to 1500 BCE, during the Vedic period. The custom of a death anniversary is still practised in India, where the deathday of one's parents involves a number of rituals and offerings, that are elaborated in the Puranas. Balls of rice (Piṇḍa) are traditionally offered on certain occasions, due to the belief that one's ancestors still need to be fed by their descendants. For the Brahmins, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Śrāddha
Śrāddha ( sa, श्राद्ध) is a Sanskrit word which literally means anything or any act that is performed with all sincerity and absolute faith in it. In the Hindu religion, it is the ritual that one performs to pay homage to one's 'ancestors' (Sanskrit: Pitṛs), especially to one's dead parents. Conceptually, it is a way for people to express heartfelt gratitude and thanks towards their parents and ancestors, for having helped them to be what they are and praying for their peace. It also can be thought of as a "day of remembrance". It is performed for both the father and mother separately, on their respective 'thithi' – death anniversaries as per the Hindu Calendar. In addition it is performed for the entire community of 'pitr' – both from paternal and maternal side – collectively during the Pitru Paksha or ''Shraaddha'' paksha (Fortnight of ancestors), right before ''Sharad Navaratri'' in autumn. Etymology 'Śrāddha' means 'confidence, devotion', stemming ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hinduism
Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global population, known as Hindus. The word ''Hindu'' is an exonym, and while Hinduism has been called the oldest religion in the world, many practitioners refer to their religion as '' Sanātana Dharma'' ( sa, सनातन धर्म, lit='the Eternal Dharma'), a modern usage, which refers to the idea that its origins lie beyond human history, as revealed in the Hindu texts. Another endonym is ''Vaidika dharma'', the dharma related to the Vedas. Hinduism is a diverse system of thought marked by a range of philosophies and shared concepts, rituals, cosmological systems, pilgrimage sites, and shared textual sources that discuss theology, metaphysics, mythology, Vedic yajna, yoga, agamic rituals, and temple building, among other to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cremation
Cremation is a method of Disposal of human corpses, final disposition of a Cadaver, dead body through Combustion, burning. Cremation may serve as a funeral or post-funeral rite and as an alternative to burial. In some countries, including India and Nepal, cremation on an Pyre, open-air pyre is an ancient tradition. Starting in the 19th century, cremation was introduced or reintroduced into other parts of the world. In modern times, cremation is commonly carried out with a Crematorium, closed furnace (cremator), at a crematorium. Cremation leaves behind an average of 2.4 kg (5.3 lbs) of remains known as "ashes" or "cremains". This is not all ash but includes unburnt fragments of bone mineral, which are commonly ground into powder. They do not constitute a health risk and may be buried, interred in a memorial site, retained by relatives or scattered in various ways. History Ancient Cremation dates from at least 17,000 years ago in the archaeological record, with the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Smriti
''Smriti'' ( sa, स्मृति, IAST: '), literally "that which is remembered" are a body of Hindu texts usually attributed to an author, traditionally written down, in contrast to Śrutis (the Vedic literature) considered authorless, that were transmitted verbally across the generations and fixed.Wendy Doniger O'Flaherty (1988), Textual Sources for the Study of Hinduism, Manchester University Press, , pages 2-3 ''Smriti'' is a derivative secondary work and is considered less authoritative than ''Sruti'' in Hinduism, except in the Mimamsa school of Hindu philosophy.James Lochtefeld (2002), "Smrti", The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Vol. 2: N–Z, Rosen Publishing, , page 656-657 The authority of ''smriti'' accepted by orthodox schools, is derived from that of ''shruti'', on which it is based. The Smrti literature is a corpus of diverse varied texts. This corpus includes, but is not limited to the six Vedāngas (the auxiliary sciences in the Vedas), the epics (the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brahma Marriage
The Brahma marriage () is a righteous form of marriage in described in Hindu texts. It refers to the marriage of one's daughter to a man of good conduct, learned in the Vedas, and invited by oneself. Originally intended only for the Brahmins, a Brahma marriage is where a boy is able to get married once he has completed his education in the first stage of life, the Brahmacharya. Brahma marriage holds the supreme position of the eight types of Hindu matrimony. When the parents of a boy seek a suitable bride, they consider her family background, and the girl's father would ensure that his daughter's prospective groom is a scholar, one who is well-versed in the Vedas. This form of marriage is described in the Manusmriti. Description This form of marriage held that the son born of a marriage redeems the sins of ten ancestors, ten descendants, and himself. In the Mahabharata, it is found that the Kshatriyas practiced the Brahma form of marriage, although as suggested by its name, it was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Manusmriti
The ''Manusmṛiti'' ( sa, मनुस्मृति), also known as the ''Mānava-Dharmaśāstra'' or Laws of Manu, is one of the many legal texts and constitution among the many ' of Hinduism. In ancient India, the sages often wrote their ideas on how society should run in the manuscripts. It is believed that the original form of ''Manusmriti'' was changed as many things written in the manuscript contradict each other. Over fifty manuscripts of the ''Manusmriti'' are now known, but the earliest discovered, most translated and presumed authentic version since the 18th century has been the "Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) manuscript with Kulluka Bhatta commentary". Modern scholarship states this presumed authenticity is false, and the various manuscripts of ''Manusmriti'' discovered in India are inconsistent with each other, and within themselves, raising concerns of its authenticity, insertions and interpolations made into the text in later times. The metrical text is in Sansk ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brahmana
The Brahmanas (; Sanskrit: , ''Brāhmaṇam'') are Vedic śruti works attached to the Samhitas (hymns and mantras) of the Rig, Sama, Yajur, and Atharva Vedas. They are a secondary layer or classification of Sanskrit texts embedded within each Veda, which explain and instruct on the performance of Vedic rituals (in which the related Samhitas are recited). In addition to explaining the symbolism and meaning of the Samhitas, Brahmana literature also expounds scientific knowledge of the Vedic Period, including observational astronomy and, particularly in relation to altar construction, geometry. Divergent in nature, some Brahmanas also contain mystical and philosophical material that constitutes Aranyakas and Upanishads. Each Veda has one or more of its own Brahmanas, and each Brahmana is generally associated with a particular Shakha or Vedic school. Less than twenty Brahmanas are currently extant, as most have been lost or destroyed. Dating of the final codification of the ''B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Atharvaveda
The Atharva Veda (, ' from ' and ''veda'', meaning "knowledge") is the "knowledge storehouse of ''atharvāṇas'', the procedures for everyday life".Laurie Patton (2004), Veda and Upanishad, in ''The Hindu World'' (Editors: Sushil Mittal and Gene Thursby), Routledge, , page 38 The text is the fourth Veda, and is a late addition to the Vedic scriptures of Hinduism.Laurie Patton (1994), Authority, Anxiety, and Canon: ys in Vedic Interpretation, State University of New York Press, , page 57 The language of the Atharvaveda is different from Vedic Sanskrit, preserving pre-Vedic Indo-European archaisms. It is a collection of 730 hymns with about 6,000 mantras, divided into 20 books.Maurice BloomfieldThe Atharvaveda Harvard University Press, pages 1-2 About a sixth of the Atharvaveda texts adapts verses from the Rigveda, and except for Books 15 and 16, the text is mainly in verse deploying a diversity of Vedic meters. Two different recensions of the text – the and the – have sur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Devaloka
In Indian religions, a devaloka or deva loka is a plane of existence where gods and devas exist. The deva lokas are usually described as places of eternal light and goodness, similar to the concept of Heaven. Teachers of different Hindu denominations may call such homes of the gods by other names, including Svarga, each differing in non-fundamental aspects. Hindu beliefs are vast and diverse, and thus Hinduism is often referred to as a family of religions rather than a single religion. Thus, devaloka is viewed by many Hindu sects as a stopping point onto the final destination of an eternal heaven. These higher planes include Vishnuloka (''Vaikuntha''), Brahmaloka (''Satyaloka'') and Sivaloka ('' Kailasa''), places of union with Vishnu, Brahma and Shiva. Within Hindu traditions, a Devaloka is understood as either a temporary planes of existence due to one's good karma, or a permanent plane of existence that is reached when one is sufficiently attuned to light and good. Within ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Deva (Hinduism)
''Deva'' (; Sanskrit: , ) means "shiny", "exalted", "heavenly being", "divine being", "anything of excellence", and is also one of the Sanskrit terms used to indicate a deity in Hinduism.Monier Monier-Williams, A Sanskrit-English Dictionary” Etymologically and Philologically Arranged to cognate Indo-European Languages, Motilal Banarsidass, page 492 ''Deva'' is a masculine term; the feminine equivalent is '' Devi''. In the earliest Vedic literature, all supernatural beings are called ''Devas''George Williams (2008), A Handbook of Hindu Mythology, Oxford University Press, , pages 90, 112 and ''Asuras''. The concepts and legends evolved in ancient Indian literature, and by the late Vedic period, benevolent supernatural beings are referred to as ''Deva-Asuras''. In post-Vedic Hindu texts, such as the Puranas and the Itihasas of Hinduism, the ''Devas'' represent the good, and the ''Asuras'' the bad. In some medieval works of Indian literature, ''Devas'' are also referred to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rigveda
The ''Rigveda'' or ''Rig Veda'' ( ', from ' "praise" and ' "knowledge") is an ancient Indian collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns (''sūktas''). It is one of the four sacred canonical Hindu texts (''śruti'') known as the Vedas. Only one Shakha of the many survive today, namely the Śakalya Shakha. Much of the contents contained in the remaining Shakhas are now lost or are not available in the public forum. The ''Rigveda'' is the oldest known Vedic Sanskrit text. Its early layers are among the oldest extant texts in any Indo-European language. The sounds and texts of the ''Rigveda'' have been orally transmitted since the 2nd millennium BCE. Philological and linguistic evidence indicates that the bulk of the ''Rigveda'' Samhita was composed in the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent (see) Rigvedic rivers), most likely between 1500 and 1000 BCE, although a wider approximation of 19001200 BCE has also been given. The text is layered, consisting of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hindu Deities
Hindu deities are the gods and goddesses in Hinduism. The terms and epithets for deities within the diverse traditions of Hinduism vary, and include Deva, Devi, Ishvara, Ishvari, Bhagavān and Bhagavati. The deities of Hinduism have evolved from the Vedic era (2nd millennium BCE) through the medieval era (1st millennium CE), regionally within Nepal, Pakistan, India and in Southeast Asia, and across Hinduism's diverse traditions.Nicholas Gier (2000), Spiritual Titanism: Indian, Chinese, and Western Perspectives, State University of New York Press, , pp. 59-76Jeaneane D. Fowler (2012), The Bhagavad Gita, Sussex Academic Press, , pp. 253-262 The Hindu deity concept varies from a personal god as in Yoga school of Hindu philosophy, to thirty-three major deities in the Vedas, to hundreds of deities mentioned in the Puranas of Hinduism. Illustrations of major deities include Vishnu, Lakshmi, Shiva, Parvati, Brahma and Saraswati. These deities have distinct and complex personalities, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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