Common questions on Sanatan Dharma

Why should not the ordinary spoken language be used in worship instead of Sanskrit? Will this not enable us to understand and follow these rites better? ?

Pita (worship), Homa (sacrifice) and other similar religious rites are considered as sacred and holy acts. It is the Rishis (sages), the originators of our religious traditions, that have given us these rites including the procedure and the mantras to be used. Hence it is quite proper that we conform strictly to the pattern of the rites and the language in which they have been transmitted to us. This produces a solemn and sacred atmosphere.
Again, according to the science of the Mantras, the various Mantras used in the rites have a special potency. When they are pronounced and intoned properly, they exert a salutary effect on the minds of those who hear them. Hence, if translations or versions in the spoken language are used, they will just be translations only and do not act as Mantras. 

It would, perhaps, be helpful if a general description of the rites and the meaning of the mantras are given first in the spoken language, followed by the rituals in the traditional manner. The rites would then become more intelligible to the votaries. 

It should not be forgotten here that even in other religions, the religious rites and ceremonies are being conducted in the language of the original scriptures. 


Are non Hindus permitted into Hindu temples??

Of late, non Hindus also are being permitted to enter many Hindu temples. In some temples, however, admission is restricted to certain parts of the temple only. Even if their entry is completely prohibited it will not be unjustified.
The reason is simple: If the non Hindus visit our temples with the same faith they show while visiting the places of worship of their own religions, feeling that these temples are also holy, there should be no objection to their being admitted.

However, if they come without being endowed with such faith, just out of curiosity or for fun, or even to find fault, then, they would not be benefited in the least by such visits. On the other hand, it could hurt the religious feelings and sentiments of the Hindus visiting the temples. Frankly speaking, let us learn first to admit all sections of Hindus, without any distinction, into temples and see that such visits take place in a more organized and solemn way.

We can consider the admission of others later on. This is certainly not a matter of great concern for the present. 

Sushruta: ‘The Father of Surgery’ :: 300 different types Operations, and 125 Surgical Instruments

2600 years ago he and health scientists of his time conducted complicated surgeries like cesareans, cataract, artificial limbs, fractures, urinary stones and even plastic surgery and brain surgery. Usage of anesthesia was well known in ancient India. Over 125 surgical equipment were used. Deep knowledge of anatomy, etiology, embryology, digestion, metabolism, genetics and immunity is also found in many texts.

Sushruta (also spelt Susruta or Sushrutha) (c. 6th century BC) was a surgeon who lived in ancient India and is the author of the book Sushruta Samhita, in which he describes over 120 surgical instruments, 300 surgical procedures and classifies human surgery in 8 categories. He lived and taught and practiced his art on the banks of the Ganges in the area that corresponds to the present day city of Varanasi in North India.

In the Sushruta school, the first person to expound Āyurvedic knowledge was Dhanvantari who then taught it to Divodasa who, in turn, taught it to Sushruta, Aupadhenava, Aurabhra, Paushakalāvata, Gopurarakshita, and Bhoja.

Because of his seminal and numerous contributions to the science and art of surgery he is also known by the title “Father of Surgery.” Much of what is known about this inventive surgeon is contained in a series of volumes he authored, which are collectively known as the Susrutha Samhita. The “Samhita” has some writings that date as late as the 1st century, and some scholars believe that there were contributions and additions to his teachings from generations of his students and disciples. Susrutha is also the father of Plastic Surgery and Cosmetic Surgery since his technique of forehead flap rhinoplasty (repairing the disfigured nose with a flap of skin from the forehead),that he used to reconstruct noses that were amputated as a punishment for crimes, is practiced almost unchanged in technique to this day. The Susrutha Samhita contains the first known description of several operations, including the uniting of bowel, the removal of the prostate gland, the removal of cataract lenses and the draining of abscesses. Susrutha was also the first surgeon to advocate the practice of operations on inanimate objects such as watermelons, clay plots and reeds; thus predating the modern practice of the surgical workshop by half a millenium.

The Sushruta Samhita is one of two early texts that form the cornerstone of the Indian medical tradition of Ayurveda (Ayurveda means science of life). The other treatise is called the Charaka Samhita. Samhita is Sanskrit for compendium, and Sushruta and Charaka are proper names. So thetitles translate as “Sushruta’s Compendium” and “Charaka’s Compendium.” Likethe Charaka Samhita, the Sushruta Samhita made revisions and alterations to an earlier text on which it is based, in this case, the writingsof Divodasa Dhanvantari, the author’s teacher. The author, Sushruta, is identified as the son of the Vedic sage Visvamitra. The text is long, running over 1,700 pages in English translation. The exact date of its composition is unknown, but is generally thought to be around 100 A.D.

Like the Charaka Samhita, the Sushruta Samhita refers to the eight branches of Ayurvedic medicine. Sushruta is organized similarly toCharaka, but in addition to emphasizing therapeutics, it also discusses surgery, which Charaka barely mentions. The text is divided into six sections and 184 chapters. In another major departure from Charaka,Sushruta describes the need for and way to conduct dissections on human cadavers to gain knowledge of anatomy. Students might practice on natural and artificial objects, for example, vegetables and leather bags full of water. Quartered sacrifical animals were used to study different kinds of anatomy.

Sushruta details about 650 drugs of animal, plant, and mineral origin.In addition, it describes more than 300 kinds of operations that call for 42different surgical processes and 121 different types of instruments. Other chapters in Sushruta make clear the high value put on the well-being ofchildren, and on that of expectant mothers. Sushruta’s coverage of toxicology (the study of poisons) is more extensive than that in Charaka, and goes into great detail regarding symptoms, first-aid measures, and long-term treatment, as well as classification of poisons and methods of poisoning.

In keeping with the Ayurvedic philosophy of preserving life and preventing the infirmity of old age, Sushruta extols the benefits of clean living,pure thinking, good habits and regular exercise, and special diets and drug preparations. A plant called soma that is described in the early texts but hasnever been clearly identified was recommended as a treatment for rejuvenating body and mind. Sushruta explains the need of all living creatures tosleep and to dream as a function of two principles of the mind that give glimpses of previous existences or warn of future ill health. When both principles are weakened, coma results.

Sushruta explains the origins of disease as imbalances of vital humorsthat occur either individually or in combination, and that originate from within the body or outside of it, or for no known reason. It discusses the useof surgical devices such as tourniquets and setting plasters, and surgical tools and procedures. Operations are described for amputations, hemorrhoids, hernia repair, eye surgery, and Cesarean section. An operation using skin flaps, for example, to repair a nose, was also described in Sushruta. The procedure was observed in India by a British surgeon in 1793 and published inLondon the following year, thus changing the course of plastic surgery in Europe.

 Sushruta also admits members of the lowest of the four classes. However, such persons would be excluded from special ceremonies accorded to students of more respectable parentage. Sushruta describesthe day-to-day life of the physician in ancient India, who made the rounds ofpatients’ residences and also maintained a consulting room in his own home,complete with a storeroom of drugs and equipment. Although doctors could command a good living, they might also treat learned brahmins–priests–and the poor for free. Sushruta describes the ideal qualities of a nurse, and suggests that doctors may have been required to have licenses.

The drugs described in Sushruta include 395 plant substances, 57 substances of animal origin, and 64 mineral substances, metals, and so on. Many ofthe complicated procedures for dissolving, macerating, extracting, and combusting a variety of solid, squashy, and liquid substances remain part of modern Ayurvedic pharmacological practice.

The conquest by Arabs of the Indian province of Sind (now a part of Pakistan)in the eighth century unleashed a scholarly exchange of scientific ideas. The Sushruta samhita was translated into Arabic and later into Persian.These translations, as well as those of Charaka, helped to spread thescience of Ayurveda far beyond India.

Surgery: 300 different types Operations, and 125 Surgical Instruments::

The ancient Indians were also the first to perform amputation, cesarean surgery and cranial surgery. Sushruta as early as 600 BC used cheek skin to perform plastic surgery to restore and reshape human nose, ears, and lips with incredible results. In his treatise, Shushruta Samhita, he classified surgery into eight types:

aaharya (extracting solid bodies),
bhedya (excision),
eshya (probing),
lekhya (sarification),
vedhya (puncturing),
visravya (extracting fluids), and
sivya (suturing).

Shushruta describes the details of more than 300 operations such as extracting solid bodies, excision, incision, probing, puncturing, evacuating fluids and suturing. Ancient Indians were also the first to perform amputations, caesarean and cranall surgeries with 42 surgical processes. He worked with 125 kinds of surgical instruments including scalpels, lancets, needles, catheters, etc. Sushruta even devised non-invasive surgical treatments with the aid of light rays and heat. Sushrata & his team conducted complicated surgeries like cataract, artificial limbs, cesareans, fractures, urinary stones and also plastic surgery and brain surgeries.

Chanakya's Arthashãstra describes post-mortems, and Bhoja Prabandha describes brain surgery, successfully performed in 927 AD by two surgeons on King Bhoja to remove a growth from his brain. Usage of anesthesia was well known in ancient India medicine. Detailed knowledge of anatomy, embryology, digestion, metabolism, physiology, etiology, genetics and immunity is also found in many ancient Indian texts.

हिन्दू धर्म प़र ऊँगली उठाने वालो के लिये एक लेख

मेरी यह पोस्ट उन लोगो के लिये है जो लोग अक्सर हिन्दू धर्म प़र ऊँगली उठाते है और प्रतिदिन बखेड़ा खड़े करे रहते है . तभी कुछ दिनों से मै भी कुछ सवालों के जवाब तलाशने की कोशिश कर रहा था . जो मेरे ही नही हर हिन्दू के मन में भी उठते है . उन सवालों के जवाब तलाशने के लिये मै कई साधुओ के पास गया और जितनी जानकारी मै एकत्रित कर सका वह प्रस्तुत है उसके कुछ अंश .मै समझता हूँ टीवी प़र धारावाहिकों के माध्यम से हिन्दू धर्म प़र जो दुष्प्रचार किया जा रहा है वह भ्रम लोगो में फैलना कम होगा और लोग जागृत होंगे .
क्यों करते है तुलसी है पूजा =हिन्दू स्तरीय तुलसी की पूजा अपने सोभाग्य एवं वंश वृद्धि के लिये करती है . रामायण कथा में वर्णित एक परसंग के अनुसार राम दूत हनुमान जी जब सीता का पता लगाने गये तो वहा उन्होंने एक घर के आंगन में तुलसी का पोधा देखा जो की विभिष्ण का घर था उन्होंने तुरंत अनुमान लगा लिया की यह किसी धर्म परायण व्यक्ति का घर है अर्थात तुलसी पूजा की प्रथा प्राचीन काल से चली आ रही है .
वज्ञानिक अर्थ = तुलसी की पतियों में स्क्राम्क ‘ कितानुओ ‘ को मारने की अद्भुत शक्ति होती है . तुलसी एक दिव्य ओषधि का पोधा है . जुकाम खासी , मलेरिया आदि में लाभदायक है . इतना ही नही केंसर जैसी भयानक बिमारी में भी ठीक करने में लाभदायक है .
क्यों हिन्दू धर्म में मृतक की अस्थियो को गंगा में प्रवाहित करते है = हिन्दुओ की धार्मिक आस्था के अनुसार मृतक की अस्थियो को गंगा में प्रवाहित करने से मृतक की आत्मा को शान्ति मिलती है .
वज्ञानिक अर्थ = वज्ञानिक परीक्षणों से यह निष्कर्ष निकला है की अस्थियो में फास्फोरस अत्याधिक मात्रा में पायी जाती है जो खाद के रूप में भूमि को उपजाऊ बनाने में सहायक है . गंगा नदी के जल से हमारी अन्न उपजाने वाली जमीन की सिचाई होती है . जमीन की उर्वरा शक्ति बढाने में फास्फोरस सहायक है जो की गंगा के जल में अस्थिया प्रवाहित करने के कारण बहुत अधिक मात्रा में निहित है
आज के लिये इतना ही वक्त की कमी के कारण बाकी का लेख कल लिखा जाएगा . लेकिन इन दो बातो से भी यह प्रमाणित होता है की जिन बातो को आज रुढ़िवादी बताया जा रहा है और प्रहार किये जा रहे है वे बिलकुल निराधर है और ऋषि मुनियों ने जो परम्पराए बनाई है उनका वज्ञानिक अर्थ भी है


भूलिये नहीं ! हिन्दू धर्म के बिना भारत का कोई भविष्य नहीं है। हिन्दू धर्म वह भूमि है जिसमे भारत की जड़े गहरी जमी हुई हैं और यदि इस भूमि से इसे उखाड़ा गया तो भारत वैसे ही सूख जायेगा जैसे कोई वृक्ष भूमि से उखाड़ने पर सूख जाता है। भारत में अनेक मत,संप्रदाय और वंशों के लोग पनप रहे हैं,किन्तु उनमे से कोई भी न तो भारत के अतीत के उषा काल में था, न उनमे कोई राष्ट्र के रूप में उसके स्थायित्व के लिए अनिवार्यत: आवयशक है। 
यदि आप हिन्दू धर्म छोड़ते है तो आप अपनी भारत माता के ह्रदय में छुरा घोंपते हैं।यदि भारत माता के जीवन-रक्त स्वरुप हिन्दू धर्म निकल जाता है तो माता गत-प्राण हो जाएगी। आर्य जाती की यह माता ,यह पद्भ्रष्ट जगत -सम्राज्ञी पहले ही आहत क्षत-विक्षत ,विजित और अवनत हुई है। किन्तु हिन्दू धर्म उसे जीवित रखे हुए है,अन्यथा उसकी गर्णा म्रतों में हुई होती। 

यदि आप अपने भविष्य को मूल्यवान समझते हैं, अपनी मात्रभूमि से प्रेम करते हैं,तो अपने प्राचीन धर्म की अपनी पकड़ को छोडिये नहीं,उस निष्ठां से अलग मत होइए जिस पर भारत के प्राण निर्भर हैं। हिन्दू धर्म के अतिरिक्त अन्य किसी मत की रक्त -वाहिनिया ऐसी स्वर्ण सी ,ऐसी अमूल्य नहीं हैं,जिनमे आध्यात्मिक जीवन का रक्त प्रवाहित किया जा सके। 

परन्तु एक धोखा है --

-- एक वास्तविक और भारी धोखा --- कि भारत से कभी हिन्दू धर्म का लोप न हो जाए ,
नए -पुराने के झगडे में कहीं हिन्दू धर्म ही नष्ट न हो जाए। यदि हिन्दू ही हिन्दू धर्म को न बचा सके तो और कोन बचाएगा ? यदि भारत की संतान अपने धर्म पर अडिग नहीं रही तो कोन उस धर्म कीरक्षा करेगा ?भारत और हिन्दू धर्म एक रूप हैं। मै यह कार्य भार aapko de रही हूँ,कि हिन्दू धर्म के प्रति निष्ठावान रहो,वही आपका सच्चा जीवन है। कोई भ्रष्ट मत या विकृत धर्म अपने कलंकित हाथों से आपको सोंपी गयी इस पवित्र धरोहर को स्पर्श न कर सके। 

Common questions on Sanatan Dharma

It is customary to install these images in temples which millions of Hindus visit to offer worship. What is the justification for this? Also, what is the significance of a temple??


God exists. He is the creator and controller. His grace gives us happiness and peace. His wrath brings about sorrow and suffering. Mankind all over the world has cherished this belief in some form or other. Once it is conceded that such a God exists, there must be an easy means of approaching Him and propitiating Him. That is the temple. The temple is the structure we put up with devotion for the residence of God when He descends to this world for our sake. It is something like the camping of the king of a State in a part of his territory.
The essential parts of a temple are: the Garbhagriha housing the icon of the deity, the Shukanasi and Antarala which are the adjoining passages, the Navaranga or Mantapa which serves as a multipurpose hall for religio cultural activities, the Dhvajastambha or flag post and the Balipitha or the pedestal for offerings. Bigger temples have smaller shrines for the minor deities associated with the chief deity. high walls surrounding the whole campus, places reserved for performing sacrificial rites and cooking, for housing the deity (taken in procession), sheds for the temple car, wells and tanks, as also gardens.

The structure of a temple is highly symbolical. Primarily it indicates God as the Cosmic Person. The Garbhagriha or sanctum sanctorum is His head, the Gopura (tower at the main entrance) is His feet, the Shukanasi His nose, the Antarala His neck, the Prakaras (the surrounding high walls) His hands and so on. Alternatively it represents the body of man, with God residing in his heart. The temple may also represent the whole creation.

In temples consecrated according to scriptural rites, the images are considered to be alive. Hence, formal worship is a must. This worship ranges from one to nine times per day, depending on the extent and resources of the temple. On special festival days, celebrations are conducted. lie biggest of such celebrations is termed Brahmotsava (brahma=big). The Rathotsava or temple car festival is also held during this period. The temple car is a moving symbol of the temple.

Those who want to visit the temple are expected to enter it physically clean and with the proper mood of faith and devotion. Walking silently straight to the sanctorum, and after offering, they should come out and then circumambulate the shrine. Formal obeisance should be done from a place outside the flag post. Then, they should visit the minor shrines and spend some time in meditation, sitting in a secluded spot on the north eastern side of the temple. it is incumbent on the visiting devotees to .maintain the purity and sanctity of the temple.



What is the significance of worship, whether at home or at the temple? Is there any prescribed method for doing it?


Puja or worship is a loving entertainment of God, even as we entertain our friends and relatives whom we love.
The several steps involved in such worship may be briefly stated as follows:

Avahana (invoking the presence of God in the image or symbol), Asana (offering a seat), Padya and Arghya (giving water for washing feet and hands), Snana or Abhisheka (ceremonial bath), Vastra (offering Clothes), Candana (smearing sandal paste and other unguents), Pushpa (offering of flowers and garlands), Dhupa (burning incense),Dipa (waving of light), Naivedya (food offering), and finally Visarjana (bidding goodbye).

In the temples, the Abhisheka (bathing) of the image and its decoration are done more elaborately. If worship is performed with faith and devotion, it generates peace and joy in our minds. It is to be stated here that , according to the Agamas, God manifests Himself in a subtle form in the image or symbol duly consecrated and accepts the worship thus offered. 

What is the real relationship between Radha and Sri Krushna ?

1. Birth

Krushna belonged to the royal dynasty while Radha to an ordinary milkman’s family. Like Sita, She too was born out of a resolve (sankalpa).
2. Special features

Radha is the manifest form of devotion unto Krushna. In response to the question ‘How devoted should one be ?’ the Naradbhaktisutra writes ‘Like the gopis (wives of the cowherds) of Vraj (यथा व्रजगोपिकानाम्‌)’. Krushna Himself sent His great friend Uddhav to the gopis to teach him what devotion meant. The incident goes as follows -

Once to display the devotion of the gopis to others Krushna pretended that He had intense headache which did not respond to any medicine. Then He pronounced, ‘Krushna’s pain will vanish with the application of mud beneath anyone’s feet. However the one giving the mud beneath his feet will die. Proclaim this and then bring the mud which someone gives.’ No one was prepared to give the mud from under his feet.

On entering Gokul when Uddhav asked this question to the first gopi that he met, she replied, “If the mud under my feet will relieve Krushna’s headache then I am even prepared to go to hell.”

The devotion of the gopis is an illustration of ultimate devotion. Radha among them was like a jewel in the crown.
3. Futility of misinterpretation of the Radha-Krushna relationship

Radha’s spiritual love (priti), that is devotion unto Krushna has been misinterpreted as love in the Radha-Krushna relationship. Its futility will be realised if one considers Krushna’s age at that time. When Krushna left Gokul permanently He was only seven years old; thus His relationship with Radha was only during the period when He was three to seven years old.
4. The flute

The sound of the flute means the anahat sound. That sound had maddened all the gopis (wives of the cowherds). So one will realise how highly spiritually evolved they were. When leaving Gokul, Krushna gave His flute to Radha and never played it again. Thus He made sure that She constantly got the spiritual experience of Absoluteness (Purnatva) which is superior to anahat sound.
5. Implied meaning

5.1. ‘Water flows from a higher to a lower level. It is called a stream (dhara). When the letters of the word dhara (धारा) are reversed the word becomes radha (राधा). That stream which flows from below upwards is called radhagati. When it reaches the origin, it gets a spiritual experience of being Radha Herself. Acquisition of this state itself is called “blending into zero” or “sainthood”. In other words Radha and Krushna were one and the same. Krushna had Himself assumed Radha’s form to love Himself. Hence although Radha had merged into Krushna, She continued to worship Him for the sake of guiding the other gopis, that is attitudes. One will think that once a gopi reaches the zenith she will see several Radhas. Those following Radha, that is those seekers following the Path of Devotion will see only one Radha because there is no duality in spiritual love, only non-duality.’ - H.H. Kane Maharaj, Narayangaon

5.2. According to the Tantrik and Vaishnavite sects Rukmini representing the Energy of opulence is one of the two Divine Energies (Shaktis) of Krushna while Radha is the Blissful Energy (Ahladini).

A. The Energy of opulence: ‘When Sudama came to meet Krushna he brought along four handfuls of puffed rice. Even that was borrowed by his wife, from a neighbour. After Krushna had eaten just a pinch of the puffed rice Rukmini snatched it from His hands and said, “We are 16,008 in number. Let us all partake of atleast one grain.” She did this because She knew that if Krushna ate even a pinch, Sudama’s city would turn into gold. So if He were to eat everything then the eight supernatural powers along with the entire wealth from the three regions - earth, nether world and heaven would have to serve Sudama all their lives. So great would be the opulence that he would acquire. Rukmini did this because She was the Energy of opulence rather the deity of wealth, Lakshmi. If a devotee of The Lord has devotion with expectation (sakam) then it is only the Energy of opulence which stops him from acquiring all types of opulence totally.’ - H.H. Kane Maharaj, Narayangaon. In short, the Energy of opulence helps in endowing a devotee having expectation with some opulence while the Blissful Energy imparts the spiritual experience of Bliss to the devotee without expectation (nishkam).

B. The Blissful Energy: Radha was the Blissful Energy. She never intervened when The Lord endowed someone with riches because Her incarnation was meant for spiritual emotion generated from devotion. Hence that spiritual emotion (bhav) is referred to as Radhabhav. The spiritual emotion of Radha (Radhabhav) or Radha refers to the Adnya chakra.The implied meaning behind this is when a worldly person or a Guru merges into Krushna when carrying out worldly transactions or preaching to disciples respectively they descend to the level of the Adnya chakra.

This stream of spiritual emotion progressing from below upwards in other words is the progress of the devotee towards Self-realisation. Radha being Krushna Himself was a devotee who remained absorbed in Bliss. She certainly does not obstruct someone from being gifted with opulence. Even if God were to endow someone with Bliss She would not stop Him because Her Bliss never declines. The moral behind this is that by giving opulence to others it decreases, Bliss does not.

In reality, internally were Rukmini and Radha distinct from each other? Certainly not. But They behaved according to the mission of Krushna’s incarnation. Though They were merged into Krushna They did not become separate because to become separate one needs to have ego. Since The Lord does not have ego His actions (karmas) are referred to as divine play (lila) and the play of man are called actions because of his ego.

5.3. ‘Radha was first created in the Go region (Golok) and then became Krushna’s lover. Later She was born in Vrundavan to the cowherd (gopa), Vrushbhanu and became the idol of the devotees in Vrajamandal. She married a Vaishya (businessman) youth named Shashan; actually it was only Her replica which married him. Keeping Her image in Her physical body Radha left that body and merged Herself into Krushna’s heart in Her primal form.’
6. The divine play of Lord Krushna (rasalila)

The word rasa (रस) has originated from two sources - (रसानां समूह:) means the collection of nine rasas and (रस: उत्‍पद्यते यस्‍मात्‌) means that from which ras is generated. The rasa dance (rasakrida) is a beautiful event in the lives of Krushna and the gopis (wives of the cowherds). During the dance Krushna endowed them with the spiritual experience of non-duality (advait).

Reference: 'Vishnu and His forms', Published by Sanatan Sanstha

Common questions on Sanatan Dharma

If the Hindus really believe in one God, why do they worship a variety of gods like Siva, Devi, Vishau or Ganapati? Is it not tantamount to accepting many gods and godlings ? As If in approval of this tenet, don't we see these gods competing and conflicting with one another, if we an to believe the stories in our ? 


Though Hinduism concedes the existence of several gods or deities, it accepts only one God, the Supreme. Out of these deities, Indra and others are actually ordinary souls like us, who rose to those positions in the cosmic scheme as a result of the extra. ordinary religious merit they had acquired in the previous cycle of creation.
It should be noted here that these deities who rule over certain aspects of the powers of nature, are like the officers of the government, who exercise their powers delegated to them by the Head of the State. Once their merit gets exhausted, they have got to vacate their positions and try for Moksha or liberation. 

Next, we take up the case of Brahma, Vishnu and Siva. They are not three independent and separate deities, but three different aspects of the same Supreme God, while engaged in the processes of creation, sustenance and destruction of the universe, in that order. It is similar to the role played by the same person as the father at home, as the boss in the office and as a customer in a shop.


Is it not the height of foolishness to worship manmade images of stone, clay or metal? Does it not betray utter ignorance and superstition? 

This objection, which is very common, has been raised without a proper understanding of the great and sublime principle behind image worship. No Hindu ever worships these images considering them as God Himself. Though they are insentient images it is the conscious and sentient God that is brought to the mind by them even as we remember the living and conscious person when we see his photograph. If even this is objected to, then, the Christians who worship the crucifix, the Muslims who adore the Kaaba stone or the patriots who honour the national flag all of them will have to be dubbed as idolators! 
As regards the superstitions, the less said, the better. It is a well known fact of European history that hapless old women were branded as witches and burnt. Even today, the number 13 is believed by many in the West to bring bad luck. If by chance a shirt is worn inside out, they consider it as a bad omen that indicates failure in endeavours.

The killing of the chameleons by the Muslims can also be cited as another example. Actually many Hindu practices ridiculed as superstitions have deeper philosophical and psychological truths behind them than meets the eye. Even granting that superstitions do exist, they are all harmless. Lastly, the blind faith of the modem man in science and technology as if they are omnipotent, forgetting that they have miserably failed to give him peace of mind, is the greatest superstition of all! 

The Christian Chronology

From the days of British colonial rule we have developed a habit of following the Christian, or rather the Gregorian calendar. The main difficulty of this chronology is that, it originated only nearly 2000 years ago and hence incapable of accommodating events of long past as stated above. The geological time-frame invented by the scientists can take care of events which happened not earlier than 4 billion years ago. Most importantly, the origin and the process of counting months and years in Gregorian calendar are in no way linked to astronomical events. That is the reason why it was a matter of dispute whether the month February in 2000 A.D. would contain 29 days or 30 days.

Some texts try to establish a link between the birth of Jesus and the beginning of this Christian or Gregorian calendar and say that a bright star then appeared in the sky. According to the famous German astronomer Johannes Kepler, it was a conjunction of the planets Jupiter and Saturn in the zodiacal sign Pisces and the incident look place in 7 B.C. Most of the historians and researchers on Jesus believe that he was born somewhere in between 6 B.C. and 4 B.C. Moreover, the people who are connected with the origin of this calendar, possess entirely childish and amusing ideas about the creation of this universe and its antiquity. The Irish prelate James Ussher in 17th century openly declared, without giving any thought to the possible repercussions of his statement that this universe originated on February 26, 4004 B.C. at 9 a.m. Even today most of them believe that God created this earth and heaven within six days from nothingness and finished His task on that day.

In fact, the present Christian chronology originated in 753 B.C., the year of foundation of the city of Rome. In its original form, 304 days divided into 10 months made a year and its present form bears the testimony of this fact. At that time the parting 4 months, namely September, October. November and December were the 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th months of the year and their names were coined from septem, octo, novem and decem, the Latin words for 7.8.9 and 10. This shows the colossal lack of knowledge the Romans of that time had about the solar cycle and one can easily imagine the frightening disharmony it had with the solar cycle. Here one should also notice the striking similarity between the Latin words for 7, 8, 9 and 10 as mentioned above and the Sanskrit words saptam, astam, navam and dasam. This shows that the Romans learned the art of counting from India. However, in 46 B.C. emperor Julius Caesar introduced, quite arbitrarily, the month July after his name and then emperor Augustus Caesar introduced the month August after his name and made 12 months or 355 days a year. Then onwards it was called the Julian calendar.

In 1582, Pope Gregori XIII, in his endeavour to make it in harmony with the solar cycle, introduced some vital revisions. He introduced the practice of counting a year normally of 365 days and, a leap year of 366 days every fourth year. Furthermore, he made the rule that, a centesimal year will be treated as a leap year only when it is divisible by 400. Despite all such efforts it was seen that, a discrepancy of 11 days had crept in the year 1700 A.D. A compromise was made in that year by skipping those 11 days and in fact, 4th September was counted as 15th September in that year. In the Eastern Europe the said correction was done in 1917, when the discrepancy reached 13 days. According to the old calendar the Bolshevik revolution in Russia took place in October, but in November after correction. That is the reason why the Communists some times call it the Great October Revolution and some times the Great November Revolution. It is important to note here that, there is no scope of occurrence of such a discrepancy in Hindu calendar because months and years are counted here according to actual position of the sun in the sky. However, in 1752, only 5 years before the battle of Palāśī, this Gregorian calendar was adopted as the royal calendar of Britain and with the gradual expansion of the British Empire, it ultimately acquired the present status of an international calendar. So, one should notice that the Gregorian calendar has achieved the status of an international calendar not due to its superior scientific basis but due to military success of its followers.

Significance of Hinduism : A Special One

How Hinduism compares with other religions??

Hinduism is quite different from the normal religion definitions and hence asks for a complete paradigm shift in terms of what is being looked for in a religion. Unless this preparation is done one is very likely to be bewildered and overwhelmed by the gigantic versatility of Hindu concepts. Many people get confused when they try to compare Hinduism with the other religions say like Christianity or Islam. While most of other religions have "well defined" boundaries, the question they have is why Hinduism is not like that. For example there would be one named God, one holy book, one founder, one set of rules, which the adherers must follow, and Hinduism does not have these kind of definitions.

Doctrine of Hinduism

This is the most important and valuable specialty of Hinduism that it has not closed itself inside any contours, but is the realistic representation of the limitlessness of knowledge and experience. It is absolutely open minded. This is the religion that calls Let the good things come from all the directions of the world (aa no bhadrAH kratavo yantu vishvataH - Rig veda). Thus this religion nurtured the good concepts with a neutral mindset. Hinduism is a dharma (discipline) than a religion. Various religions stand over this dharma. In general this is not the religion of just postulations.

Very naturally this religion does not force even the acceptance of God to the followers. The Hindus are not threatened that they would be punished for not praying/believing the God, whereas the major scriptures advice the followers to hold to the God in order to get liberated from the rough road of pleasures and pains! Even those things undergo a very healthy debate. Nothing is unquestionable. The Hindu scriptures instead of defining the way, in which the Hindus should live, in a better way, act as supporting material for the individual to decide the course of life and stand by that.

Does it mean that there is no discipline and guidance? Certainly it provides various "ready to use" paths for the simple people, but this is not a forced one for others. It would be astonishing to note that in the same platform of Hinduism both the ritualistic orthodox traditions and something like nyAya vAda, which questions and criticizes blind faith etc stay, harmoniously with meaningful discussions among them. The reason is the openness of this religion.

Significance of Hinduism

Hinduism is the oldest and active among all the religions that have very big number of followers. There is no definite date of birth for this religion and even in future whether it could be clearly found is not quite possible, given the fact that this discipline is found in existence even in the earliest analyzed period of the modern history. In this very big period this matured religion has contributed a lot to the humanity and developments. It is worth to stress the scientific approach and openness towards things, the proof of which lie through all its scriptures very rich in knowledge covering a large panorama, be it astronomy, mathematics, alchemy, health and personal growth and what not! The inventions and discoveries by the Hindu sages who also formulated the number system are innumerous which one finds scattered all throughout the scriptures. But it is quite shocking that the later generations, which were in politically disturbed state forgot/ ignored/ lost many of these marvels.

A unique characteristic of Hindu set of religions (includes Buddism, Jainism etc) is that its philosophers start the analysis from a more concrete and most logical question of "who am I" than to start with the postulations on an abstract God at the start. When you invent something, you probably need to have define the abstract result first and work towards that. But when it is a discovery, it should be following the known information one gets to know the unknown things beyond and finally comes the great discovery. Hinduism does not invent God but it discovers. It neither stops at the human boundary confused and failing to go forward, but gets to the divine aspects supported by facts. This makes their findings more logical and realistic and even the super human descriptions experiencable if not explainable.

These and many more specialties of Hinduism make it a harmonious and worth religion, which is suitable for any time in present or future, for any land or creed.

Hinduism and Human Evolution

Some days ago I was just searching on Facebook suddenly I found a article which is written to Prove that Hinduism doesnt supports Human Evolution. This article is here to prove that Hinduism is the most scientific religion and accepts each and every theory of science Hinduism is the only religion which accepts Human Evolution as whole while other religions believes on 6 days theory of creation around 5000 years ago. Hope you will like it.

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Hinduism does believe in evolution. not only believes in evolution, it takes it a step further and says that even "souls" evolve,


Hindus are the only society in the world, who have no conflict of interest with the theory of Creation and as well as that of Evolution. This is one issue which has been addressed in detail in religious text of Hindus. We are the only ones who believe that the CREATOR or GOD, after having created this universe and set out broad and flexible goals for creation, let the EVOLUTION take care of the rest. As such there is no conflict between science and religion. 
That Hindus have faith in the theory of Evolution is abundantly clear from the fact that we believe in the theory of incarnation of God. The incarnation theory can only work, when one believes that God sitting in heavens will not interfere in life of Human. If HE has to interfere, HE has to come on this earth, take birth, and then make the best use of opportunities, and evolve the path of Dharm…in other words create rules for the growth of society.


there is this wonderful Ancient Tamil Hindu-hymn that explains the knowledge of physical amongst beings

"pullaki-poodaki-puluvai-maramaki-
palvirukamai-paravayaip-pampaki
-kalla-manitharai-
thevarai-ellamumahi"

the english translation is

became grass-became little shoots of plants-became huge trees-became little worms-became birds-became snakes-became-illiterate-humans-became humans-became godlings/heavenly beings-became everything.


another quote -from the famous Hindu sage swami Vivekananda
"
The secret of evolution is in the organism itself. The Vedantic concept of evolution is much deeper. Swami Vivekananda observes:

From the lowest protoplasm to the most perfect human being there is really but one life. Just as in one life we have so many various phases of expression, the protoplasm developing into the baby, the child, the young man, the old man, so, from that protoplasm up to the most perfect man we get one continuous life, one chain. This is evolution, but we have seen that each evolution presupposes an involution. The whole of this life which slowly manifests itself evolves itself from the protoplasm to the perfected human being---the Incarnation of God on earth the whole of this series is but one life, and the whole of this manifestation must have been involved in that very protoplasm. This whole life, this very God on earth, was involved in it and slowly came out, manifesting itself slowly, slowly, slowly. (Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, Vol. II, p. 228) 
"

According to the Hindu tradition, 'a jiva (from the stage of a protozoan, perhaps) attains competence for a human body after undergoing 8,400,000 births.'

Sir John Woodroffe (1865-1936), Advocate General of Bengal and Legal member of the erstwhile Govt. of India, had the same revelation after the study of Sanskrit texts. 

He said and I quote, 

"Ages before Lamarck and Darwin, it was held in India that man has passsed through 84 lakhs births as plants, animals, inferior species and then came the ancestors of developed man existing today. The theory was an act of brilliant deduction in which observation may also have had played part!"


It may be interesting to note that some ancient Puranas of the Hindus record in detail this evolutionary journey. For example, the Vishnu Purana states that there are a total of 8,400,000 species in the following order:

20,000 species of non-mobile plants etc. Sthavara); 900,000 species of aquatic creatures; 900,000 species of amphibian and reptiles, 1,000,000 species of birds, etc.; 3,000,000 species of other creatures such as animals, etc.; 400,000 species of anthropoids (Vanaras), after which the human species (Manushya) of 200,000 varieties come into being, and Man then engages in purposeful activity to attain perfection. 


You will be hard-pressed to find a Hindu who is fervently opposed to the theory of evolution like many religious people in the west are. This is partly because in India, all knowledge is welcome and open enquiry is encouraged. It's a cultural quality.

It is the great burden of religious orthodoxy for those subscribing to the Abrahamic precept that God directly spoke to a single prophet and that message is unerringly transcribed in The Holy Book, to perpetually face the empirical advancements of science with distrust and fear. Entire schools of theology since the Enlightenment have been, and still are, it seems, occupied with confronting, disproving, or mitigating the fallout from the heretic contentions that the earth revolves around the sun, the Big Bang, and Darwin’s theory of evolution. Once ancient books, transcribed as they are by mortals--albeit enlightened--are seen as literal words beyond interpretation to govern every mode of life, arguments ensue over what a “Judeo-Christian” society really is or what one governed by Sharia actually means.

So as the brilliant cover story in Christianity Today elucidates, theologians are working with three options towards reconciling science and Genesis: a) God created “mature, fully functioning creation in six literal days 6,000 years ago”; b) reject evolution but believe in the planet’s ancient origins; or c) intelligent design theory that a supernatural force guides the vagaries of nature rather than “natural selection.”

It is interesting that Hindu largely recuse themselves from all of this angst over evolution. Indeed, cosmology, science, and the ancient Vedas--Hinduism’s sacred scripture--are eerily complementary. Lord Brahma, the Lord of Creation, often depicted as one of the Hindu Trinity of Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva, is described as creating the universe in an unending cycle over each of his days and nights. In his classic, Cosmos, Carl Sagan describes Hinduism’s agreement with modern science best:

"The Hindu religion is the only one of the world's great faiths dedicated to the idea that the Cosmos itself undergoes an immense, indeed an infinite, number of deaths and rebirths. It is the only religion in which time scales correspond to those of modern scientific cosmology. Its cycles run from our ordinary day and night to a day and night of Brahma, 8.64 billion years long, longer than the age of the Earth or the Sun and about half the time since the Big Bang.”

If the Big Bang theory is posited to have occurred 13 billion years ago, Hindus would have no trouble at all agreeing that an Intelligent Designer, Lord Brahma, indeed guides the creation of the universe. Even more, Swami Vivekananda, one of modern Hinduism’s intellectual giants wrote in the early 20th century, whether an intelligence made the material world, or whether, as some scientists believe, the material world led to the creation of intelligence, does not much matter. For in his words, “Indian philosophy, however, goes beyond both intelligence and matter, and finds a Purusha, or Self, which is beyond intelligence, of which intelligence is but the borrowed light.”

And as to evolution, more than 2,000 years before Darwin rocked Christendom with his heresy, the Hindu Puranas described the “Dasha Avataras”--the ten Avatars, or incarnations, of Lord Vishnu. Lord Vishnu is said to assume an avatar at various periods in history to guide creation and preserve its eternal dharma--meaning that which is necessary to sustain and uphold. And so God is described in the earliest of creation to have taken the avatar of a fish, followed by a tortoise (amphibian), boar, half man-half lion, short human (scientists only recently found that early humans were likely short-statured), and then a warrior with an axe. The latter incarnations are the well known avatars of Lord Rama, Lord Krishna, and Lord Buddha as the most recent.

The Hindu and Abrahamic conception of time, human origins, and creation, then, are diametrically divergent. Hindus conceive of creation as part of an ongoing cycle of creation and destruction, with our current universe forming several billions of years ago, and God manifesting along the spectrum of evolutionary speciation when necessary.


The Thiruvasakam, written by Appar in 8th Cent. AD, speaks about evolution. The descent of man is 
chronicled by and large along modern evolutionary order. It furthermore concludes that humankind is the most evolved animal.
The Sanskrit writings of India mention creatures with apelike bodies and humanlike intelligence. The Ramayana speaks of the Vanaras, a species of an apelike army of men that existed millions of years ago. According to the Ramayana alongside these ape-men existed modern humans. Thus according to these ancient writings the status was a state of coexistence for certain durations which is very consistent with Darwinian evolution.

Puranic view asserts that the universe is created, destroyed, and re-created in an eternally repetitive series of cycles. In Hindu cosmology, a universe endures for about 4,320,000,000 years (one day of Brahma, the creator or kalpa) and is then destroyed by fire or water elements. At this point, Brahma rests for one night, just as long as the day. This process, named pralaya (Cataclysm), repeats for 100 Brahma years (311 trillion, 40 billion human years) that represents Brahma's lifespan.

Science writers Carl Sagan and Fritjof Capra have pointed out similarities between the latest scientific understanding of the age of the universe, and the Hindu concept of a "day and night of Brahma", which is much closer to the current known age of the universe than other creation myths. The days and nights of Brahma posit a view of the universe that is divinely created, and is not strictly evolutionary, but an ongoing cycle of birth, death, and rebirth of the universe. According to Sagan:
The Hindu religion is the only one of the world's great faiths dedicated to the idea that the Cosmos itself undergoes an immense, indeed an infinite, number of deaths and rebirths. It is the only religion in which time scales correspond to those of modern scientific cosmology. Its cycles run from our ordinary day and night to a day and night of Brahma, 8.64 billion years long, longer than the age of the Earth or the Sun and about half the time since the Big Bang.
Capra, in his popular book The Tao of Physics, wrote that:
This idea of a periodically expanding and contracting universe, which involves a scale of time and space of vast proportions, has arisen not only in modern cosmology, but also in ancient Indian mythology. Experiencing the universe as an organic and rhythmically moving cosmos, the Hindus were able to develop evolutionary cosmologies which come very close to our modern scientific models
British geneticist and evolutionary biologist, J B S Haldane, observed that the Dasavataras are a true sequential depiction of the great unfolding ofevolution. The avatars of Vishnu show an uncanny similarity to the biological theory of evolution of life on earth.

The Value of Pi::

Did you know that the ratio of the circumference and the diameter of a circle known as Pi (a value of 3.141592657932…) was first calculated by Hindus?

The value of pi is being used in India from ancient times. It gives us an insight about how evolved our past was.

Indians were the first to observe that the perimeter (circumference) of a circle increases in proportion to its diameter. Therefore, our ancestors established the relation- perimeter / diameter = constant. Never did they know that this constant will be known as Pi!

Since the Indus Valley script is not completely deciphered, it will be incorrect form my side, to claim that Π was known to Indians in 3000 BC. But they did know the value of Pi by the time Rigveda was written! The Vedangas and Sulabasutras also mention the value of Π. The oldest of them, the Baudhayayana Sulabasutra claims that the perimeter of a pit is 3 times its diameter- therefore approximating the value of Π at 3. Many other texts, including the Mahabharata (Bhishmaparva, XII: 44) and many Puranas approximate Π at the value of 3.

Later, many other Sulabasutras mention the value of Π to be 18 * (3 – 2 √2) = 3.088. The Manava Sulabasutra approximates the value of Π to be 28/5= 3.125. The ancient Jaina school of mathematics preferred the approximation Π = √10. This value of Π has been used not only by Jainas, but also by the greats like Varahamihira, Brahmagupta and Sridhara.

Its amazing that our forefathers used an encryption technique to easily remember it. What is more astonishing is that they needed pi upto 31 places!

Science and spirituality both moved together in this land.

The Sanskrit text, by the famous Hindu mathematician, Baudhayana in his Baudhayana Sulbha Sutra of the 6th century BC mentions this ratio as approximately equal to 3.


 The Hindu mathematician, Aryabhatta, in 499 AD worked out the value of Pi to the fourth decimal place as [3x (177/1250) = 3.1416]. In 825 AD one Arab mathematician Mohammad Ibna Musa said: This value has been given by the Hindus [Indians] (62832/20,000 = 3.1416).

haturadhikaM shatamaShTaguNaM dvAShaShTistathA sahasrANAm AyutadvayaviShkambhasyAsanno vr^ttapariNahaH.
[gaNita pAda, 10] Aryabhatiyam (499 CE)
“Add 4 to 100, multiply by 8 and add to 62,000. This is approximately the circumference of a circle whose diameter is 20,000.”
i.e. 
correct to four places.

Even more important however is the word "Asanna" - approximate, indicating an awareness that even this is an approximation. 

Aryabhatta called it an approximate (asanna) value to mean that not only is this an approximation but that the value is incommensurable (or irrational).

It is quite a sophisticated insight, because the irrationality of pi was proved in Europe only in 1761 by Lambert!

Katapayadi Encryption

gopiibhaagya madhuvraataH shruMgashodadhi saMdhigaH .
khalajiivitakhaataava galahaalaa rasaMdharaH

This shloka, a hymn to Lord Krishna or Shiva, gives the value of pi upto 31 decimal places. 

Katapayadi system is used to encode numbers in many shlokas

ga - 3 pii - 1 bhaa - 4 gya - 1 ma - 5 dhu - 9 ra - 2 ta -6 shru - 5 ga - 3 sho - 5 da - 8 dhi - 9 sa - 7 dha - 9 ga - 3 kha - 2 la - 3 jii - 8 vi - 4 ta - 6 kha - 2 ta - 6 va - 4 ga - 3 la - 3 ra - 2 sa - 7 dha - 9 ra – 2

pi = 3.1415926535897932384626433832792

So we needed pi upto 31 decimal places! What is more amazing is that we knew encryption! Science and spirituality both were important and both moved together. 

Madhava of Sangamagrama

Madhava's work on the value of π is cited in the Mahajyānayana prakāra ("Methods for the great sines"). While some scholars such as Sarma feel that this book may have been composed by Madhava himself, it is more likely the work of a 16th-century successor.This text attributes most of the expansions to Madhava, and gives the following infinite series expansion of π, now known as the Madhava-Leibniz series.

which he obtained from the power series expansion of the arc-tangent function. However, what is most impressive is that he also gave a correction term, R_n, for the error after computing the sum up to n terms. Madhava gave three forms of R_n which improved the approximation, namely

R_n = 1/(4n), or

R_n = n/ (4n² + 1), or

R_n = (n² + 1) / (4n³ + 5n).

where the third correction leads to highly accurate computations of π.

It is not clear how Madhava might have found these correction terms. The most convincing is that they come as the first three convergents of a continued fraction which can itself be derived from the standard Indian approximation to π namely 62832/20000 (for the original 5th-century computation)

He also gave a more rapidly converging series by transforming the original infinite series of π, obtaining the infinite series

By using the first 21 terms to compute an approximation of π, he obtains a value correct to 11 decimal places (3.14159265359). The value of 3.1415926535898, correct to 13 decimals, is sometimes attributed to Madhava,but may be due to one of his followers. These were the most accurate approximations of π given since the 5th century 

The text Sadratnamala, usually considered as prior to Madhava, appears to give the astonishingly accurate value of π =3.14159265358979324 (correct to 17 decimal places). Based on this, R. Gupta has argued that this text may also have been composed by Madhava.