Hinduism - What Is Vismaya Hasta?

 

Vismaya is a Sanskrit word that means "surprise." 

Hasta - A hand gesture (hasta) in Indian dance, sculpture, and ritual in which the forearm and fingers point upward with the back of the hand turned toward the spectator.

This hasta is used to express any kind of surprise, such as amazement and astonishment.



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Hinduism - What Are The Vital Winds?

 



Prana is the collective name for the five internal winds that are said to be responsible for all human physiological functions.


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Hinduism - What Is The Vishva Nirmala Dharam ?



Nirmala Devi (b. 1923), a contemporary Hindu guru, formed this religious organization to spread her teachings over the globe.


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Hinduism - Where Is The Vishvanath Temple?

 


At the Vishvanath temple in Benares, the deity Shiva appears in his manifestation as the "Lord of the Universe." Shiva is represented in Vishvanath with a linga, a pillar-shaped image that represents Shiva's symbolic form; the Vishvanath linga is one of Shiva's twelve jyotirlingas, a network of locations thought extremely important to Shiva and where Shiva is uniquely present.

Benares, also known as Varanasi, is one of India's most holy towns; it is especially dedicated to Shiva, with Vishvanath being the most significant of all the Shiva temples there.

The original temple was destroyed by the Moghul emperor Aurangzeb, who built a mosque on the site, and the only part of the original temple that has survived is the Gyan Vapi ("well of knowledge"), into which the original Shiva linga was reportedly cast (to prevent it from being desecrated by Aurangzeb's soldiers).

The original temple was established in 1776 on a location next to the pre-sent temple by the Maratha queen Ahalya Bai Holkar.

Maharaja Ranjit Singh of Lahore eventually covered the temple in gold, earning it the moniker "Golden Temple." Even in previous centuries, the closeness of the Vishvanath temple and Aurangzeb's mosque made for tense relations between the Hindu and Muslim populations, and Benares, like many other northern Indian towns, has seen its share of bloodshed.

The Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), a Hindu activist group pushing for the "return" of this and other northern Indian landmarks by force if necessary, has recently taken up the demolition of the old Vishvanath temple as a political issue.

The existence and activities of the VHP have heightened tensions between Hindus and Muslims in general.

Given the political benefits that these confrontational techniques have yielded, it is probable that they will continue in the future, and that the Vishvanath temple will remain a focus of strife.


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Hinduism - Who Are The Vishvedevas In Hindu Mythology?

 


Based on the literal meaning of the word ("all the gods"), this name might be interpreted as referring to all gods, or it can refer to a group of deities known as the sons of Vishva, the celestial sage Daksha's daughter.

The number of sons varies across manuscripts and is either 10 or thirteen.

Although the Manu Smrti, one of the most important scriptures in the dharma literature, requires daily gifts to the Vishvedevas, they are especially venerated during memorial services for the deceased known as shraddhas.

They are claimed to have received these daily offerings as a reward for performing exceptionally severe asceticism.


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Hinduism - What Is The Vishuddha Chakra?

 



The vishuddha chakra is one of the six psychic centers (chakras) thought to exist in the subtle body, according to several schools of yoga and tantra, a hidden, ritually oriented religious practice.

The subtle body is a separate physiological system that is thought to exist on a different level than coarse matter yet has some similarities to it.

It's depicted as a group of six mental centers joined by three vertical channels and shaped like multipetaled lotus flowers flowing approximately along the spine's route.

Each of these chakras has significant symbolic associations, including varying human capacities, subtle components (tanmatras), and seed syllables (bijaksharas) constructed from Sanskrit alphabet letters, embracing all holy sound.

Shiva (consciousness) and Shakti (power), the two divine principles through which the whole cosmos came into existence, have physical abodes above and below these centers.

The homology of macrocosm and microcosm, a key Hindu notion from the time of the mystical scriptures known as the Upanishads, is therefore the basic premise underpinning this concept of the subtle body.

The vishuddha chakra is the fifth of the six chakras, which are generally numbered from the bottom up.

It resembles a sixteen-petaled lotus and is found in the neck area.

Each of the petals has a seed phrase made up of a letter from the Sanskrit alphabet, in this instance all sixteen Sanskrit vowels, which are necessary linking factors in any meaningful speech.

The vishuddha chakra is linked to the human ability to speak and breathe on a symbolic level.

It is also said to be the physical seat of the subtle element of space (akasha), through which hearing is thought to occur.

See Arthur Avalon's (Sir John Woodroffe's) Shakti and Shakta (1978) and Philip S. Rawson's The Art of Tantra (1973) for further details.



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Hinduism - What Is The Vishva Hindu Parishad?

 


 Vishva Hindu Parishad is a Hindu religious organization based in India.

(VHP) Modern Hindu religious group connected with the Rashtriya Svayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a conservative Hindu organization whose avowed mission is to produce the leadership cadre for a rejuvenated Hindu India.

When RSS leader Madhav Sadashiv Golwalkar met with a group of Hindu religious leaders in Bombay in 1964, the VHP was created.

Their immediate concern was Pope Paul VI's planned visit to India, which they saw as a covert effort to convert Hindus to Christianity, which they intended to combat by founding an organization committed to Hinduism propagation.

With little fanfare and little influence on public perception, the VHP concentrated its concentration for the next fifteen years on opposing Christian missionary operations in northeastern India.

The conversion of some untouchables to Islam in the Tamil Nadu hamlet of Minakshipuram in 1982 was a watershed moment in the VHP's public image.

The VHP seized on this widely reported incident as proof that Hindu identity was in jeopardy, and responded by undertaking a series of inventive public activities, first in Tamil Nadu and then throughout the country.

The VHP's resurgence coincided with the RSS's shift toward activism, as well as the BJP's decision to adopt a more militantly Hindu character.

Many of the VHP's national campaigns coincided with national or state elections, and many of them were concentrated on the effort to erect a temple to the deity Rama in the city of Ayodhya, at the alleged birthplace of Rama.

The intended temple location was occupied by the Babri Masjid, a Muslim mosque erected after the ancient Rama temple was demolished, according to the VHP.

As a result, the temple campaign evoked strong memories of historical persecution as well as the boldness of a resurgent Hindu identity.

The VHP's political involvement has helped the BJP become the dominant political party in most of northern India.

Throughout India, the VHP's advocacy has evoked a wide range of feelings.

Proponents refer to the organization's long history of charitable work and its role in strengthening and defining modern Hindu identity.

Detractors object to the RSS's disdain for legal formalities, as was shown by the destruction of the Babri Masjid in December 1992, as well as its sometimes caustic anti-Muslim rhetoric and, despite its unique institutional identity, its ultimate control by the RSS.

Others have chastised the VHP for seeking to define and regulate the character of "Hinduism" by declaring some "necessary" Hindu practices as antithetical to Hindu heritage.

Other opponents reject the VHP's claim to speak for all Hindus, pointing out that its genuine authority resides in the hands of brahmins and other privileged castes; these critics perceive the VHP as an organization meant to hide its true objective, which is to maintain upper-class power and privilege.

For more information, see Walter K. Andersen and Shridhar D. Damle's The Brotherhood in Saffron (1987); James Warner Björkman's Fundamentalism, Revivalists, and Violence in South Asia (1988); Tapan Basu et alKhaki .'s Shorts and Saffron Flags (1993); Lise McKean's Divine Enterprise (1996); and Christophe Jaffrelot's The Hindu Nationalist Movement in India (1996).



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Hinduism - Who Is Vishvakarma? What Does Vishvakarma Mean?

 

Vishvakarma is a Sanskrit term that literally refers to a cycle of good and bad deeds ("doing everything") is a phrase that is used to describe a person who does everything. 

It also variably refers to a Universal Worker or Builder capable of various constructions or creations. 

Vishvakarma is more significantly the name of a minor Vedic and Hindu deity who is the architect of the gods, the designer of many handicrafts, decorations, and weapons, the best sculptor, and the inventor of the gods' airborne chariots.

He is the patron and model for all skilled trades involving the shaping and shaping of materials, and he is credited with establishing the canons for carving godly pictures.

Sanjna, Vishvakarma's daughter, is married to Surya, the sun, but she cannot stand to be with him because of the sun's splendor, according to one account.

Vishvakarma brings the sun to his studio and reduces his radiance to a level that Sanjna can tolerate.

He then carves the sun's cut-off fragments into Vishnu's discus (Sudarshana), Shiva's trident (trishul), numerous heavenly weapons, and the Pushpak Viman, the most renowned of the airborne chariots.

In the Vedas, the earliest Hindu sacred books, Vishvakarma is frequently mistaken for Tvashtr, the god's workman.

Despite this, it seems that they are two distinct gods who have been homologized by their same role.

Tvashtr's name means "maker of carriages," and it seems that this was his major duty, but he is also known for manufacturing godly weapons, including the mace with which the storm-god Indra slays the snake Vrtra.

Nonetheless, his name seems to imply that his primary role is the construction of carriages, which is seen to be quite crucial in a Vedic religious literature, since numerous Vedic songs reference the usage of war chariots.

Vishvakarma, on the other hand, has a considerably broader set of abilities, implying that the two deities are not the same.



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Hinduism - Who Is Vishvamitra In The Hindu Pantheon?

 


One of the Seven Sages in Hindu mythology, whose names denote exogamous clan "lineages" (gotra; exogamous clans allow members to marry outside their own clan); the others are Gautama, Bharadvaja, Kashyapa, Bhrgu, Atri, and Vasishtha.

All brahmins are said to be descended from these seven sages, with each family receiving their progenitor's name as their gotra name.

Marriage inside the gotra is outlawed in contemporary times, thus these gotra divides are still crucial.

The new bride takes on her husband's gotra as part of her new identity after their marriage.

Vishvamitra is most well-known for his long-running quarrel with the sage Vasishtha, which has resulted in several battles.

The rivalry arises because of the kshatriyas and brahmins' differing social position.

Vishvamitra is a king who visits the woodland ashram of the brahmin Vasishtha with a contingent of retainers.

Vishvamitra is astounded by Vasishtha's cow, the Kama dhenu's capacity to feed everyone when he requests food.

Vishvamitra attempts to purchase the Kamadhenu first, then tries to seize it by force, but Vasishtha's tapas defeats his henchmen (ascetic practices).

Vishvamitra acknowledges defeat and undertakes ascetic activities in order to generate his own strength.

Two of their most famous fights are over King Trishanku and his son, Harishchandra; in both cases, the actual problem is the sages' mutual hatred.

Marriage bans may also be referred to in this context.


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Hinduism - Who Is Lord Vishnu In The Hindu Pantheon?

 


Vishnu meaning the “all-pervasive” in Sanskrit, is one among the three most powerful deities in the Hindu pantheon, with Brahma, Shiva and the Goddess.

All three are significant for being largely unmentioned in the Vedas, the oldest Hindu religious books, and their rise, as well as the progressive eclipse of the Vedic gods, indicates a marked change in Hindu religious life.

Vishnu is the one who appears most often in the Vedas among the three.

Many hymns that mention him refer to him as a helper to Indra, the major Vedic deity, and one of Vishnu's epithets is Upendra ("junior Indra").

He also appears as an autonomous actor in certain late hymns, linked with wonderful works for the benefit of the cosmos, such as measuring out the universe in three steps.

Vishnu is also linked to the sun, both in terms of his ability to travel through the skies and his ability to fall on (and therefore "observe") everything.

Vishnu is the sustainer or maintainer of the universe, according to the holy trinity of Brahma Vishnu-Shiva.

Vishnu is pictured reclining on the back of his serpent couch, Shesha, in the primordial ocean at the moment of cosmic disintegration in one of the most prominent creation myths (pralaya).

Vishnu's navel produces a lotus, which opens to reveal Brahma, the creator, who starts the creation process.

When the time comes for disintegration, the whole process reverses, and the cosmos is pulled back into Vishnu, who is therefore considered as the source of everything.

The cosmos is also sustained by Vishnu's avatars or incarnations, who come into the world to restore balance to a universe that has been dangerously out of balance, generally as a result of an out of proportionally powerful demon.

There are 10 avatars as far as we know.

The Fish avatar, Tortoise avatar, Boar avatar, and Man-Lion avatar are the first four in nonhuman forms.

The other six are in human form, frequently as sages or heroes: Vamana avatar, Parashuram avatar, Rama avatar, Krishna avatar, Buddha avatar, and Kalki avatar.

In each of these instances, Vishnu takes on a physical form in order to avoid tragedy and preserve the cosmos' purity.

The theory of the avatars served as a means of assimilating existing deities into the broader pantheon while still granting them distinct status.

Although most of the avatars are no longer objects of devotion (the Boar and Man-Lion avatars each had a significant following early in the common period), Rama and Krishna's adoration has entirely exceeded that of Vishnu himself in most of northern India.

Vishnu is still revered throughout southern India, especially among Shrivaishnavas.

Apart from the avatar idea, notable local deities like as Jagannath, Venkateshvara, and Vithoba have all been absorbed into the pantheon as manifestations of Vishnu.

Vaishnavas and Shaivas established sectarian rivalry in medieval Hinduism, both claiming supremacy over their own deities (Vishnu and Shiva).

Despite the fact that Vaishnavas see Vishnu as the universe's highest force, his legendary persona and activities are vastly different from Shiva's.

Vishnu's headgear is a crown, and his persona is that of an all-ruling monarch, but Shiva is linked with ascetic life and practices (tapas) and hence with the religious force created by such acts.

Vishnu frequently succeeds by guile, ingenuity, and deceit, but Shiva eliminates his mythological enemies with sheer might, which is devoid of any finesse.

Each deity's followers recognize their divinity as the supreme force in the cosmos, from which all other gods get their power, and both are portrayed as kind and caring to their worshippers (bhakta).


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Hinduism - Who Was Vishnuchittar?

 

 

Vishnu Periyalvar, an Alvar poet and saint, was given this appellation.

Between the seventh and tenth centuries, the Alvars were a group of twelve poet-saints living in southern India.

All of the Alvars were worshippers of the deity Vishnu, and their emphasis on emotional devotion (bhakti) to a personal god, expressed via hymns sung in Tamil, revolutionized Hindu religious life.


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Hinduism - What Is The Vishnu Purana?

 


Vishnu Purana is a Hindu epic that tells the story of Lord Vishnu and his One of the eighteen traditional puranas, which comprised an important genre of smrti texts and housed much of traditional Indian mythology.

The smrtis, or "remembered" texts, were considered less authoritative than the shrutis, or "heard" texts, despite being considered important.

In a nutshell, the shrutis referred to the Vedas, the oldest and most authoritative Hindu religious texts, whereas the smrtis referred to the Mahabharata and Ramayana, as well as dharma literature, the Bhagavad Gita, and the puranas.

The puranas contain a wide range of sacred lore, ranging from mythic tales to ritual instruction to the exaltation of various sacred sites (tirthas) and actions.

The majority of the puranas are sectarian, and this one is focused on Vishnu's warship, as its name implies.

It includes instructions for how, where, and when Vishnu should be worshiped, as well as an exhaustive list of Vishnu's mythic deeds—many of which have become the common mythic currency for many traditional Hindus.


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Hinduism - Who Was Vishnuswami ?

 


Vishnuswami  is a Sanskrit word that means "Vishnu Swami." ("Vishnu is [his] Lord") 

The Vaishnava ascetics' Rudra Sampraday is said to have been founded by a Guru named Vishnuswami.

(The Rudra Sampraday is one of the four "sampraday" branches of the Bairagi Naga ascetics, who are devotees of the god Vishnu; vaishnava refers to Vishnu devotees.)

According to some sources, Vishnuswami was the guru of both Jnaneshvar and Namdev.

Vishnuswami was a Vaishnava, as his name implies, but nothing is known about him other than that.

His ascetic path and status as one of the four Vaishnava ascetic sampradays have been seized by Vallabhacharya's Shuddadvaita, or "Pure Monism," which emphasizes Krishna's adoration with Radha as his wife.



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Hinduism - Who Was Vishakhadatta?

 



 Vishakhadatta(6th c.), was a Sanskrit playwright, Mudrarakshasa ("Rakshasa's Ring") is his sole extant work.

The play is historically significant since its central narrative is the ascent of Chandragupta Maurya (r. 321–297 B.C.E. ), the founder of the Maurya dynasty, despite the fact that the play attributes his victory to his crafty brahmin minister, Chanakya.

Although, in respect to the actual monarch, this picture is wrong, the play portrays the king as a weak character, with the minister as the true power behind the throne.

The narrative of the drama is convoluted, as is the case with many Sanskrit plays, but the drama's climax occurs when the main protagonists are dramatically saved from execution at the last minute.

Michael Coulson translated the play into English and released it in the collection Three Sanskrit Plays in 1981.

Vishishthadvaita ("Qualified Non-Dualism") is a Sanskrit word that means "qualified non-dualism." Vedanta One of the branches of Vedanta, the philosophical school that claims to reveal the Vedas' ultimate meaning and purpose (anta), the Hindu religious texts' oldest and most authoritative texts.

The greatest figure in Vishishthadvaita is Ramanuja, an eleventh-century philosopher who was central to its formulation, despite the fact that he was building on earlier work.

Ramanuja believed that Brahman, or Supreme Reality, was a personal god rather than an impersonal abstract concept, and that the most significant kind of religious activity was devotion (bhakti).

His philosophical viewpoint, Vishishthadvaita Vedanta, emphasized both of these ideas, and so contrasted with the Advaita Vedanta school, created by the philosopher Shankaracharya.

The Advaita school adheres to the philosophical position of monism, or the belief in a single impersonal Ultimate Reality, which they refer to as Brahman.

Despite the appearance of difference and variety in the perceivable world, Advaita adherents believe that reality is "nondual" (advaita), meaning that all things are nothing but the formless Brahman.

This assumption of diversity, according to Advaitins, is a fundamental misunderstanding of the ultimate nature of things, as well as a manifestation of avidya.

Although avidya is often translated as "ignorance," it is better understood as a lack of genuine understanding that leads to karmic bonding, rein carnation (samsara), and suffering.

Because the real issue for Advaitins is a misunderstanding, realization (jnana) was the best spiritual path to achieve ultimate liberation (moksha).

The material universe and self have genuine and autonomous existence, according to Ramanuja's formulation, while their existence is ultimately anchored in God, whom he names as Vishnu.

The world emerges from God through an evolutionary process based on the Samkhya model, but because matter is unconscious, it is both similar to and dissimilar to God.

Human beings are similar to God in that they have God as their source, but they differ from him in that they are subject to ignorance and suffering.

God, according to Ramanuja and his followers, is not the same as ourselves or the world, which are all thought to have real and independent existence.

In a way that the Advaita proponents will never concede, this notion of identity and difference makes the perceptible world real.

Ramanuja's stance differs from that of a later thinker, Madhva, whose Dvaita Vedanta emphasized the enormous chasm between God and all else.

Because of the disparity in capacities between the god and the devotee (bhakta), Ramanuja and his followers have emphasized bhakti as the most effective route of redemption.

Even after freedom, souls maintain enough separation from God to allow devotion; liberation is seen as a perpetual relationship with God rather than a loss of individuality.

For further detail, read John Braisted Carman's The Theology of Ramanuja, published in 1974, and Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan and Charles A. Moore's A Sourcebook in Indian Philosophy, published in 1957.


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Hinduism - Who Are The Virashaiva?

 


Virashaiva means "Victorious Shaivas" in Sanskrit.

The Lingayat religious community's alternative name, derived from the Lingayat belief that Shiva is the sole true deity.


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Hinduism - Who Is Virata?

 


Virata is the monarch who shelters the five Pandava brothers, the epic's heroes, during the year they spend incognito after their twelve years of exile in the forest, in the Mahabharata, the later of the two major Hindu epics.

This year is crucial because, according to the pact the Pandavas made with their foe, Duryodhana, if they are found during this year, the cycle of exile and living in secrecy would begin all over again.

Even though Duryodhana has dispatched armies of spies to locate the Pandavas, Virata's care and forethought prevents them from being detected.

He continues to help the Pandavas throughout the Mahabharata battle and is finally murdered by the archery expert Drona.


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Hinduism - What Is Visarjana?

 

Visarjana means "dismissing" in Sanskrit.

The sixteenth and last upacharas ("offerings") offered to a god as part of devotion, based on the principle of treating the deity as a valued guest.

As the last act of devotion, the devotee (bhakta) grants the god permission to depart.

Although the phrase dismissal seems arrogant in any conversation with a god, it really relates to the parting remarks that one would give to a leaving guest.

The fundamental aim here, as with other upacharas, is to demonstrate one's devotion for the god by ministering to the deity's needs.


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Hinduism - Who Was Viramamunivar?



Father Constanzio Beschi (1680–1747), an Italian Jesuit who spent 36 years in Tamil Nadu, was given the pseudonym Viramamunivar.


Beschi learned the local language and adopted the local way of life, as did many other early Jesuits.

He translated parts of the Old and New Testament into literary Tamil as part of his missionary work, and his command of the language and poetic conventions makes this work a seminal work in Tamil literature.


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Hinduism - What Is The Viramitrodaya?

 



One of the most recent and largest nibandhas ("collections"), compiled by scholar Mitra Mishra in the early seventeenth century.


The nibandhas were Hindu lore compendia in which the compilers culled references on a specific theme from the Vedas, dharma literature, puranas, and other authoritative religious texts, and then compiled them into a single volume.

The Viramitrodaya is a massive compendium of Hindu lore, divided into twenty-two sections, each of which focuses on a different aspect of Hindu life, such as daily practice, worship, gift-giving (dana), vows, pilgrimage, penances (prayashchitta), purification, death rites (antyeshthi samskara), law, and so on, culminating in liberation (moksha).


Mitra Mishra's work became an important source for later legal interpretation, particularly in eastern India, because he not only cites relevant scriptural passages but also provides extensive learned commentary.


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Hinduism - What Is Virasana?

 


One of the sitting poses (asana) listed in comments to the Yoga Sutras; it is also one of the sitting postures in Hindu iconography in which deities are shown.


In this posture, one foot rests on the ground, beneath the opposite thigh, while the other foot rests on top of the opposite knee, as stated in the Yoga Sutras comments.

This pose is defined differently in current yoga texts, as a sitting posture with the legs folded back outside the body and the feet pushed against the thighs and buttocks.


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Hinduism - What Is A Viragal?


 

Viragal or “Hero-stone” are stone memorials erected in honor of a warrior, usually the village headman, who died in battle defending the village cattle from pillage.


Deleury speculates that the Maharashtrian god Vithoba arose from such a deified hero, who was later assimilated into the pantheon as a form of Vishnu, and that such stones can be found all over the Deccan region.


Viraha is a word that has a lot of different meanings depending on who you (“separation”) Classical Sanskrit poetry, as well as much vernacular devotional (bhakti) poetry, have a well-established poetic genre.


Whether the separated lovers are two human beings or devotee (bhakta) and deity, the genre focuses on describing the pain that results from the separation of lover and beloved.

Separation is thought to cause specific physical symptoms, which the poets describe in great detail—lack of appetite, insomnia, inability to attend to daily life, or think about anyone but the beloved.

Because love in union is sweetened by the presence of the beloved, whereas the former must stand alone, the type of love felt in such separation is thought to engender an even more intense love for the beloved than love in union.


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Hinduism - Who Is Virabhadra?

 


Virabhadra is a powerful being created by the god Shiva to humble the demigod Daksha and destroy Daksha's sacrifice, according to Hindu mythology.


Daksha gives his daughter, Sati, to Shiva to marry, but later feels Shiva has not treated him with respect.

Daksha plans a large sacrifice and invites all the gods except Shiva to it in order to humble Shiva.

When Sati inquires as to why her father has done so, Daksha lashes out at Shiva, calling him worthless and despicable.

Sati, humiliated by these public insults, kills herself—in some versions, by leaping into the sacrificial fire, and in others, by withdrawing into a yogic trance and giving up her life.

When Shiva learns of Sati's death, he is enraged and tears two matted locks (jata) from his head and dashes them to the ground, according to the most popular version of Virabhadra's creation.

One matted lock assumes the form of Virabhadra, while the other assumes the form of Bhadrakali, the Goddess's most powerful and terrifying form.


Bhadrakali represents the Goddess's ferocious and dangerous side, in contrast to the gentle and loyal Sati, just as Virabhadra represents Shiva's destructive side.


The two demolish Daksha's sacrifice on Shiva's orders, scattering the guests and destroying the sacred fires, until Daksha repents and worships Shiva as the supreme deity.

Despite the fact that Virabhadra's actions in this story are destructive, he is and remains Shiva's servant, carrying out his divine master's commands, which ultimately uphold the created order.


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Hinduism - What Is Viparitakhyati In Hindu And Indian Philosophy?


Viparitakhyati is a Sanskrit word that means "discrimination in the face of the law". 

Kumarila, a Mimamsa philosopher from the seventh century C.E., proposed a theory of error.


All theories of error seek to explain why people make mistakes in judgment, such as mistaking a silvery flash of seashell for a piece of silver, which is a common example.


Kumarila, like Prabhakara and the Naiyayikas, believes that the simple judgments "that object is silvery" and "silver is silvery" are both correct and unquestionable.

Kumarila also agrees with the Naiyayika that the error stems from a false discrimination.

The Naiyayikas postulate the inherence-relationship as a connecting sub jects and predicates ("silver color" and "silver").

This is where he differs from them.


Kumarila's theory is identity-and-difference (bhedabhada), which states that everything is what it is and not what it isn't.


As a result, the perception (pratyaksha) of a shell on the beach would include its similitudes and differences from silveriness, as well as silver's similitudes and differences from silveriness.

One can make a false judgment by combining similarities, or one can make a true judgment by combining differences.

The root cause of combining similarities rather than differences, as in the Naiyayika theory of error, is karmic dispositions arising from avidya, specifically the desire for silver, which drives us to seek out such valuable items.

For more information, see Bijayananda Kar's The Theories of Error in Indian Philosophy, published in 1978, and Karl H. Potter's Presuppositions of India's Philosophies, published in 1972.


~Kiran Atma


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Hinduism - What Is Vira Or The Tantric "Hero"?

  

The Vira or "hero” is one of the ritual expression modes used in tantra, a secret, ritual-based religious practice.


The tantric "hero" is said to be someone who not only consumes the Five Forbidden Things (panchamakara) in their purest form, but also uses this inversion of normal moral rules to affirm the ultimate unity of all things in the universe.


Aspirants who adopt a heroic mode frequently worship a powerful but dangerous deity, with the ultimate affirmation of this unity being the affirmation of one's identity with that deity.

If one succeeds, various powers are said to be conferred, but if one fails, illness, insanity, or death are said to result.


This isn't a risk-free path, but it gets the heroes to their desired destination quickly.


~Kiran Atma


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Hinduism - What Is Vipaksha In Hindu And Indian Philosophy?

 


One of the parts of an accepted form of inference in Indian philosophy (anumana).


An inference is made up of three parts: an assertion (pratijna), a reason (hetu), and an example (drshtanta); each of these three has its own set of constituent parts.


The vipaksha is a negative example given to show that the claim made in the initial assertion reflects the action of specific causes.

It is part of the third term, examples.

For instance, in the inference "there is fire on the mountain because there is smoke on the mountain," the vipaksha could be "unlike a lake," because lakes do not have fire or smoke, indicating that these conditions are not universally present (fire is found in mountains, but not in lakes).


An inference, by convention, had to include a positive example, the sapaksha, to demonstrate that similar events occurred in similar circumstances (i.e., that there were other cases in which there was both fire and smoke).


~Kiran Atma


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Hinduism - What Is The Vinaya Patrika By Tulsidas?

 

 

Vinaya Patrika or a petition letter is a collection of 280 short poems written in the Braj Bhasha dialect by poet-saint Tulsidas (1532–1623?).


The entire work is presented as a letter of petition to Tulsidas' chosen deity, Rama, through the monkey god Hanuman, who acts as his intermediary.


The letter's main theme is a plea for deliverance from the current degenerate age's evils (kali yuga).


The first sixty-odd verses are a series of invocations to various gods, demonstrating Tulsidas' devotion's ecumenical quality.

The poem's remainder is addressed to Rama and emphasizes other themes that run throughout Tulsidas' poetry.


One of the themes is the kali yuga's corrupted nature, which makes devotion the only effective means of salvation.


Another pervasive theme is the incomparable power of God's name to rescue the devotee (bhakta).

Finally, the listeners are cautioned not to squander the gift of human birth.

Much of the poetry has an intensely personal quality to it, and it seems to reflect both the poet's despair and eventual hope for salvation.

The Vinaya Patrika is generally thought to have been written in the poet's later years, though it cannot be precisely dated, based on its general tone.



~Kiran Atma


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Hinduism - What Is A Vimana?

 

(“vehicle”) A term having distinct particular meanings in different situations, a com mon trait in the Sanskrit language.

It may refer to a god's vehicles, either mythically, since each deity has an animal considered to be his or her vehicle, or in a literal sense, such as the cart used to transport them in procession, or to the human person who "carries" them via the process of being possessed.




The term vimana is used in architecture to refer to the section of the temple that "carries" the god, i.e. the sanctuary as a whole.



~Kiran Atma


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Hinduism - What Is Vimarsha?

 




 (“reflection”) Vimarsha is one of the bipolar opposites used to define the essence of all reality in Hindu tantra, a secret, ritual-based religious practice, with its counterpart being illumi country (prakasha).


These two concepts are especially significant in the formation of the world, which is believed to occur when the ultimate Brahman's pure and radiant awareness (prakasha) becomes self-conscious via the reflection (vimarsha) of this original consciousness.

The absolute transforms from a single awareness into a dual divinity—the deity Shiva and his spouse Shakti—whose ongoing interaction creates the universe.

This prakasha vimarsha dyad is especially essential in Kashmiri Shaivism's Trika school.


Jaideva Singh, Pratyabhijnanahrdayam, 1982, is a good source of knowledge.


~Kiran Atma


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Hinduism - What Is A Vina?

 




A multi-stringed musical instrument with a long hollow body and a sounding box at the bottom; the top has a huge hollow gourd jutting from the rear, which amplifies the sound even more.




  • The vina is a classical musical instrument used in southern India, where mastery of the instrument is still prized.
  • The goddess Saraswati is most firmly connected with the vina in Indian imagery, in line with her role as patron Goddess of the arts, culture, and learning.






~Kiran Atma


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