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Vyāna
In yoga, Ayurveda, and Indian martial arts, prana (, ; the Sanskrit word for breath, " life force", or "vital principle") permeates reality on all levels including inanimate objects. In Hindu literature, prāṇa is sometimes described as originating from the Sun and connecting the elements. Five types of prāṇa, collectively known as the five ''vāyus'' ("winds"), are described in Hindu texts. Ayurveda, tantra and Tibetan medicine all describe ''prāṇa vāyu'' as the basic vāyu from which the other vāyus arise. Prana is divided into ten main functions: The five Pranas – Prana, Apana, Udana, Vyana and Samana – and the five Upa-Pranas – Naga, Kurma, Devadatta, Krikala and Dhananjaya. Pranayama, one of the eight limbs of yoga, is intended to expand conscious awareness of prana. Etymology V.S. Apte provides fourteen different meanings for the Sanskrit word ' () including breath or respiration; the breath of life, vital air, principle of life (usually plural in th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vāyu
Vayu (; ), also known as Vata () and Pavana (), is the Hindu deities, Hindu god of the winds as well as the divine messenger of the gods. In the ''Vedic scriptures'', Vayu is an important deity and is closely associated with Indra, the king of gods. He is mentioned to be born from the breath of Supreme Being Vishvarupa, Vishvapurusha and also the first one to drink Soma (drink), Soma. The ''Upanishads'' praise him as ''Prana'' or 'life breath of the world'. In the later Hindu scriptures, he is described as a dikpala (one of the guardians of the direction), who looks over the north-west direction. The Hindu epics describe him as the father of the god Hanuman and Bhima. The followers of the 13th-century saint Madhva believe their guru as an avatar, incarnation of Vāyu. They worship the wind deity as Mukhyaprana () and consider him as the son of the god Vishnu. Connotations The word for air (classical element), air (''vāyu'') or wind (''pavana'') is one of the Classical eleme ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yoga
Yoga (UK: , US: ; 'yoga' ; ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines that originated with its own philosophy in ancient India, aimed at controlling body and mind to attain various salvation goals, as practiced in the Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ... traditions. Yoga may have pre-Vedic period, Vedic origins, but is first attested in the early first millennium BCE. It developed as various traditions in the eastern Ganges basin drew from a common body of practices, including Vedas, Vedic elements. Yoga-like practices are mentioned in the ''Rigveda'' and a number of early Upanishads, but systematic yoga concepts emerge during the fifth and sixth centuries BCE in ancient India's sannyasa, ascetic and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blood
Blood is a body fluid in the circulatory system of humans and other vertebrates that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells, and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells. Blood is composed of blood cells suspended in blood plasma. Plasma, which constitutes 55% of blood fluid, is mostly water (92% by volume), and contains proteins, glucose, mineral ions, and hormones. The blood cells are mainly red blood cells (erythrocytes), white blood cells (leukocytes), and (in mammals) platelets (thrombocytes). The most abundant cells are red blood cells. These contain hemoglobin, which facilitates oxygen transport by reversibly binding to it, increasing its solubility. Jawed vertebrates have an adaptive immune system, based largely on white blood cells. White blood cells help to resist infections and parasites. Platelets are important in the clotting of blood. Blood is circulated around the body through blood vessels by the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prashna Upanishad
The Prashna Upanishad (, ) is an ancient Sanskrit text, embedded inside Atharva Veda, ascribed to ''Pippalada'' sakha of Vedic scholars. It is a Mukhya (primary) Upanishad, and is listed as number 4 in the Muktika canon of 108 Upanishads of Hinduism. The Prashna Upanishad contains six ''Prashna'' (questions), with each chapter discussing the answers.Robert HumePrasna Upanishad Thirteen Principal Upanishads, Oxford University Press, pages 378-390 The chapters end with the phrase, ''prasnaprativakanam'', which literally means, "thus ends the answer to the question". In some manuscripts discovered in India, the Upanishad is divided into three ''Adhyayas'' (chapters) with a total of six ''Kandikas'' (कण्डिका, short sections).Raksha BandhanRaksha BandhanBibliotheca Indica, Vol. XV, No. 41 and 50, Asiatic Society of Bengal, pages 119-141 The first three questions are profound metaphysical questions but, states Eduard Roer, do not contain any defined, philosophical answe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mundaka Upanishad
The Mundaka Upanishad (, ) is an ancient Sanskrit Vedic text, embedded inside Atharva Veda. It is a Mukhya (primary) Upanishad, and is listed as number 5 in the Muktika canon of 108 Upanishads of Hinduism. It is among the most widely translated Upanishads. It is presented as a dialogue between sage Saunaka and sage Angiras. It is a poetic verse style Upanishad, with 64 verses, written in the form of mantras. However, these mantras are not used in rituals, rather they are used for teaching and meditation on spiritual knowledge.Max Muller (1962), The Upanishads - Part II, Dover Publications, , pages xxvi–xxvii. The ''Mundaka Upanishad'' contains three ''Mundakams'' (parts), each with two ''khandas'' (''sections''). The first Mundakam, states Roer, defines the science of "Higher Knowledge" and "Lower Knowledge", and then asserts that acts of oblations and pious gifts are foolish, and do nothing to reduce unhappiness in current life or next, rather it is knowledge that frees. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Katha Upanisad
The ''Katha Upanishad'' (, ), is an ancient Hindu text and one of the ''mukhya'' (primary) Upanishads, embedded in the last eight short sections of the ' school of the Krishna Yajurveda.Paul Deussen. ''Sixty Upanishads of the Veda''. Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass. . pages 269-273 It is also known as ' Upanishad, and is listed as number 3 in the Muktika canon of 108 Upanishads. The Katha Upanishad consists of two chapters (''Adhyāyas''), each divided into three sections (''Vallis''). The first ''Adhyaya'' is considered to be of older origin than the second. The Upanishad has the legendary story of a little boy, Nachiketa – the son of Sage Vajasravasa, who meets Yama (the king of the dead). Their conversation evolves to a discussion of the nature of man, knowledge, Atman (Self) and moksha (liberation). The chronology of Katha Upanishad is unclear and contested, but it is generally considered to belong to the later Upanishads, dated to the 5th to first centuries BCE. The Kat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chandogya Upanishad
The ''Chandogya Upanishad'' (Sanskrit: , IAST: ''Chāndogyopaniṣad'') is a Sanskrit text embedded in the Chandogya Brahmana of the Sama Veda of Hinduism.Patrick Olivelle (2014), ''The Early Upanishads'', Oxford University Press; , pp. 166-169 It is one of the oldest Upanishads. In the Muktika canon of 108 Upanishads, it is listed as the ninth. The Upanishad belongs to the ''Tandya'' school of the Samaveda. Like ''Brihadaranyaka Upanishad'', the Chandogya is an anthology of texts that must have pre-existed as separate texts, and were edited into a larger text by one or more ancient Indian scholars. The precise chronology of ''Chandogya Upanishad'' is uncertain, and it is variously dated to have been composed by the 8th to 6th century BCE in India. As one of the most extensive Upanishadic compilations, it comprises eight ''Prapathakas'' (literally 'lectures' or 'chapters'), each divided into multiple sections containing numerous verses. The volumes include a diverse array of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Homa (ritual)
In Indian religions, a homa (Sanskrit: होम), also known as havan, is a fire ritual performed on special occasions. In Hinduism, by a Hindu priest usually for a homeowner (" grihastha": one possessing a home). The grihasth keeps different kinds of fire including one to cook food, heat a home, among other uses; therefore, a Yajna offering is made directly into the fire. A homa is sometimes called a "sacrifice ritual" because the fire destroys the offering, but a homa is more accurately a " votive ritual". The fire is the agent, and the offerings include those that are material and symbolic such as grains, ghee, milk, incense, and seeds. It is rooted in the Vedic religion, and was also adopted in ancient times by Buddhism and Jainism. The practice spread from India to Central Asia, East Asia, and Southeast Asia. Homa rituals remain an important part of many Hindu ceremonies, and variations of homa continue to be practiced in current-day Buddhism, particularly in parts ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 Vedic rituals. In ''Panchagni vidyā'', which '' 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 " Doctrine of Transmigration of souls" as the "Doctrine of descent". This ''vidya'' was taught by the royal sage, Prāvāhana Jaivali, to Svetaketu, son of Uddālka Āruni. ''Panchagni vidyā'' belonged to the Kśatriyas. Uddālaka Āruni was the first Brahmin to receive this knowledge. Pravāhana Jaivali, who was well-versed in '' udgitha'', held that the Universe exhibits at every stage the principle of sacrifice in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mahabharata
The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; , , ) is one of the two major Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epics of ancient India revered as Smriti texts in Hinduism, the other being the ''Ramayana, Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the events and aftermath of the Kurukshetra War, a war of succession between two groups of princely cousins, the Kauravas and the Pandava, Pāṇḍavas. It also contains Hindu philosophy, philosophical and devotional material, such as a discussion of the four "goals of life" or ''puruṣārtha'' (12.161). Among the principal works and stories in the ''Mahābhārata'' are the ''Bhagavad Gita'', the story of Damayanti, the story of Shakuntala, the story of Pururava and Urvashi, the story of Savitri and Satyavan, the story of Kacha (sage), Kacha and Devayani, the story of Rishyasringa and an Ramopakhyana, abbreviated version of the ''Rāmāyaṇa'', often considered as works in their own right. Traditionally, the authorship of the ''Mahābhārata'' is attributed to Vyasa, Vy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Three Bodies Doctrine (Vedanta)
According to three bodies doctrine in Hinduism, the human being is composed of three ''shariras'' or "bodies" emanating from Brahman by avidya, "ignorance" or "nescience". They are often equated with the five koshas (sheaths), which cover the atman. This doctrine is an essential doctrine in Indian philosophy and religion, especially Yoga, Advaita Vedanta, Tantra and Shaivism. The three bodies Karana sarira – causal body ''Karana sarira'' or the causal body is merely the cause or seed of the subtle body and the gross body. It has no other function than being the seed of the subtle and the gross body. It is ''nirvikalpa rupam'', "undifferentiated form". It originates with ''avidya'', "ignorance" or "nescience" of the real identity of the atman, instead giving birth to the notion of ''jiva''. Swami Sivananda characterizes the causal body as "The beginningless ignorance that is indescribable". Siddharameshwar Maharaj, the guru of Nisargadatta Maharaj, also describes the caus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vedas
FIle:Atharva-Veda samhita page 471 illustration.png, upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the ''Atharvaveda''. The Vedas ( or ; ), sometimes collectively called the Veda, are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and the oldest Hindu texts, scriptures of Hinduism. There are four Vedas: the Rigveda, the Yajurveda, the Samaveda and the Atharvaveda. Each Veda has four subdivisions – the Samhitas (mantras and benedictions), the Brahmanas (commentaries on and explanation of rituals, ceremonies and sacrifices – Yajñas), the Aranyakas (text on rituals, ceremonies, sacrifices and symbolic-sacrifices), and the Upanishads (texts discussing meditation, philosophy and spiritual knowledge).Gavin Flood (1996), ''An Introduction to Hinduism'', Cambridge University Press, , pp. 35–39A Bhattacharya (2006), ''Hindu Dharma: Introduc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
