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Panchagni Vidya
Panchagni vidyā (Sanskrit: पञ्चाग्नि) means - meditation on the five fires. This ''vidyā'' or knowledge appears in the Chandogya Upanishad (Chapter V 3-10) and the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (Chapter VI.2). It is one of the forty-one prescribed Vedas, Vedic rituals. In ''Panchagni vidyā'', which ''Vidya (Knowledge), vidyā'' is a specific kind of knowledge, the symbolic agni (fire) is the object of meditation and has five important aspects – the three worlds (the heaven, earth and intermediate space), man and woman; which ''vidyā'' is taught in connection with the "Reincarnation, Doctrine of Transmigration of souls" as the "Doctrine of descent". This ''vidya'' was taught by the royal sage, Pravahana Jaivali, Prāvāhana Jaivali, to Svetaketu, son of Aruni, Uddālka Āruni. ''Panchagni vidyā'' belonged to the Kashatriya, Kśatriyas. Uddālaka Āruni was the first Brahmin to receive this knowledge. Pravāhana Jaivali, who was well-versed in ''Samaveda, udgitha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late Bronze Age. Sanskrit is the sacred language of Hinduism, the language of classical Hindu philosophy, and of historical texts of Buddhism and Jainism. It was a link language in ancient and medieval South Asia, and upon transmission of Hindu and Buddhist culture to Southeast Asia, East Asia and Central Asia in the early medieval era, it became a language of religion and high culture, and of the political elites in some of these regions. As a result, Sanskrit had a lasting impact on the languages of South Asia, Southeast Asia and East Asia, especially in their formal and learned vocabularies. Sanskrit generally connotes several Old Indo-Aryan language varieties. The most archaic of these is the Vedic Sanskrit found in the Rig Veda, a colle ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parjanya
Parjanya ( sa, पर्जन्य ) according to the Vedas is a deity of rain, thunder, lightning, and the one who fertilizes the earth. It is another epithet of Indra, the Vedic deity of the sky and heaven. Description It is assumed Parjanya is the udder and lightning is the teats of the rain-cow, accordingly rain represents her milk. Also he is sometimes considered as a rain-bull controlled by the superior Indra. The thunder is his roar. He is the father of arrow or reed which grows rapidly in rainy season. He is also considered as a protector of poets and an enemy of flesh-eating fire. Meanings According to his 1965 ''Sanskrit–English Dictionary'', Vaman Shivram Apte gives the following meanings: * Rain-cloud, thunder cloud, a cloud in general; * Rain (as referred in the Shloka from Bhagavad Gita Chapter 3 Verse 14); * The god (deva) of rain i.e. Indra. In hymns Two hymns of the Rigveda, 5.83 and 7.101, are dedicated to Parjanya. In Vedic Sanskrit ''Parjanya'' means "ra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Upanishads
The Upanishads (; sa, उपनिषद् ) are late Vedic Sanskrit texts that supplied the basis of later Hindu philosophy.Wendy Doniger (1990), ''Textual Sources for the Study of Hinduism'', 1st Edition, University of Chicago Press, , pages 2-3; Quote: "The Upanishads supply the basis of later Hindu philosophy; they are widely known and quoted by most well-educated Hindus, and their central ideas have also become a part of the spiritual arsenal of rank-and-file Hindus." They are the most recent part of the Vedas, the oldest scriptures of Hinduism, and deal with meditation, philosophy, consciousness, and ontological knowledge; earlier parts of the Vedas deal with mantras, benedictions, rituals, ceremonies, and sacrifices.Gavin Flood (1996), ''An Introduction to Hinduism'', Cambridge University Press, , pp. 35–39A Bhattacharya (2006), ''Hindu Dharma: Introduction to Scriptures and Theology'', , pp. 8–14; George M. Williams (2003), Handbook of Hindu Mythology, Oxford U ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Adi Shankara
Adi Shankara ("first Shankara," to distinguish him from other Shankaras)(8th cent. CE), also called Adi Shankaracharya ( sa, आदि शङ्कर, आदि शङ्कराचार्य, Ādi Śaṅkarācāryaḥ, lit=First Shankaracharya, ), was an Indian Vedic scholar and teacher (''acharya''), whose works present a harmonizing reading of the ''sastras'', with liberating knowledge of the self at its core, synthesizing the Advaita Vedanta teachings of his time. The title of Shankracharya, used by heads of the amnaya monasteries is derived from his name. Due to his later fame, over 300 texts are attributed to his name, including commentaries (''Bhāṣya''), introductory topical expositions (''Prakaraṇa grantha'') and poetry (''Stotra''). However most of these are likely to be by admirers or pretenders or scholars with an eponymous name.W Halbfass (1983), Studies in Kumarila and Sankara, Studien zur Indologie und Iranistik, Monographic 9, Reinbeck Works known t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brahma Sutras
The ''Brahma Sūtras'' ( sa, ब्रह्मसूत्राणि) is a Sanskrit text, attributed to the sage bādarāyaṇa or sage Vyāsa, estimated to have been completed in its surviving form in approx. 400–450 CE,, Quote: "...we can take it that 400–450 is the period during which the ''Brahma Sūtras'' was compiled in its extant form." while the original version might be ancient and composed between 600 BCE and 200 BCE.James Lochtefeld, Brahman, The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Vol. 1: A–M, Rosen Publishing, , p. 746. The text systematizes and summarizes the philosophical and spiritual ideas in the Upanishads.James Lochtefeld, Brahman, The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Vol. 1: A–M, Rosen Publishing, , p. 124. The scholar Adi Shankara's interpretation of the Brahmasutra attempted to synthesize diverse and sometimes apparently conflicting teachings of the Upanishads by arguing, as John Koller states: "that Brahman and Atman are, in some respects ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Panchadasi
Panchadasi or Panchadashi (Devanagari: पञ्चदशी IAST paṃcadaśī) is a simple yet comprehensive manual of Advaita Vedanta written in the fourteenth century CE (1386-1391) by Vidyaranya, previously known as Madhavacharya. Pancha (पञ्च) is five and dasi (दशी) is ten, are the total fifteen chapters divided into three quintets the three aspects of Brahman, Sat (सत्, Truth), Chit (चित्, Consciousness) and Ananda (आनंद, Bliss) aspects of Reality. It elaborates Advaita (non dual), Consciousness, Jiva, Maya, Prakriti (Prakṛti, Nature)Mahat(universal mind), Buddhi (Intellect), Ahamkara (Ego), Avidya (Ignorance), and ananda (Bliss). Dating Panchdasi was written during the later years of Vidyaranya's life around 1386 CE. About Vidyaranya Vidyaranya was born around 1300 CE in South India. Madhava Madhavacharya, Madhavamantri, Madhavamataya were the names which Vidyaranya was known before his turning into recluse. His fathe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Swami Swahananda
Swami Swahananda (29 June 1921 – 19 October 2012) was a senior monk of the Ramakrishna Order of India, and the minister and spiritual leader of the Vedanta Society of Southern California from 1976 to 2012. He also led the Vivekananda Retreat, Ridgely, and the Vedanta Center of Greater Washington, DC. He joined the Ramakrishna Order in 1947 and received sannyasa, full monastic ordination, in 1956. Early life and education Swami Swahananda was born on 29 June 1921 in a village near Habiganj in British India, now in Bangladesh, the youngest of three boys. His father, Nirmal Chandra Goswami, died in April 1921 at the age of 32, just two months before Swahananda was born. His mother, Pramilabala, was only 19 at that time. Swahananda's grandmother named him "Bipadbhanjan".Ashit Chandra Chakrabarty, A Few Pearls of our Family Necklace (Kolkata: Ashit Chandra Chakrabarty, 2003). Nirmal Chandra had been a disciple of Sarada Devi, and had received initiation from her in 1908. Swahan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Apurva
''Apurva'', also spelled as ''Apoorv'', in Vedanta philosophy is the performative element of an injunction that justifies ritualistic acts and their results. As an explanatory concept it serves as a mediator. Meaning The Sanskrit word in its common usage means 'one of a kind', 'unique', 'like none-other', 'like never before' or 'unprecedented', it is something not foreseen, unpreceded, unprecedented, never seen before; in brief it means that which did not exist before or is newly born. Apurva cannot be denoted through any noun or by any verb; it is comprehended as a result of an act. Apurva of Hindu philosophy Bhartrhari explains that ''pravrtti'' can be viewed in four ways: as ''apurva'', ''kala-sakti'', ''kriya'' and ''kala''. Kumarila Bhatta explains that Apurva is the newly known ''vidhi'' or that what is not known before hearing a vedic sentence. Salikanatha explains that Apurva is that which is not cognisable by any of the ordinary means of knowledge. And, according ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prakṛti
Prakriti ( sa, प्रकृति ) is "the original or natural form or condition of anything, original or primary substance". It is a key concept in Hinduism, formulated by its Sāṅkhya school, where it does not refer to matter or nature, but "includes all the cognitive, moral, psychological, emotional, sensorial and physical aspects of reality," stressing "prakṛti's cognitive, mental, psychological and sensorial activities." Prakriti has three different innate qualities ( guṇas), whose equilibrium is the basis of all observed empirical reality. Prakriti, in this school, contrasts with Puruṣa, which is pure awareness and metaphysical consciousness.James G. Lochtefeld (2001), The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism: A-M, Rosen Publishing, , Pages 224, 265, 520 The term is also found in the texts of other Indian religions such as Veda & Jainism and Buddhism. Etymology and meaning Prakriti (Sanskrit: प्रकृति) is an early Indic concept, which means "making or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shastra
''Shastra'' (, IAST: , ) is a Sanskrit word that means "precept, rules, manual, compendium, book or treatise" in a general sense.Monier Williams, Monier Williams' Sanskrit-English Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Article on 'zAstra'' The word is generally used as a suffix in the Indian literature context, for technical or specialized knowledge in a defined area of practice. ''Shastra'' has a similar meaning to English ''-logy'', e.g. ecology, psychology, meaning scientific and basic knowledge on a particular subject. Examples in terms of modern neologisms include # 'physics', # 'chemistry', # 'biology', # 'architectural science', # 'science of mechanical arts and sculpture', # 'science of politics and economics', and # 'compendium of ethics or right policy'. In Western literature, ''Shastra'' is sometimes spelled as Sastra, reflecting a misunderstanding of the IAST symbol 'ś', which corresponds to the English 'sh'. Etymology The word ''Śāstra'' literally ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yajna
Yajna ( sa, यज्ञ, yajña, translit-std=IAST, sacrifice, devotion, worship, offering) refers in Hinduism to any ritual done in front of a sacred fire, often with mantras.SG Nigal (1986), Axiological Approach to the Vedas, Northern Book, , pages 80–81 Yajna has been a Vedic tradition, described in a layer of Vedic literature called Brahmanas, as well as Yajurveda. The tradition has evolved from offering oblations and libations into sacred fire to symbolic offerings in the presence of sacred fire ( Agni). Yajna rituals-related texts have been called the ''Karma-kanda'' (ritual works) portion of the Vedic literature, in contrast to ''Jnana-kanda'' (knowledge) portion contained in the Vedic Upanishads. The proper completion of Yajna-like rituals was the focus of Mimansa school of Hindu philosophy. Yajna have continued to play a central role in a Hindu's rites of passage, such as weddings. Modern major Hindu temple ceremonies, Hindu community celebrations, or monastic in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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