Monday, January 11, 2016

Whenever I have read any part of the Vedas, I have felt that some unearthly and unknown light illuminated me."
 - Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862), philosopher and writer
 Maharshi Vishvamitra was one of the greatest Vedic sages, as he gave us one of Hindu Dharma's most important prayers, the Gayatri Mantra:
ॐ भूर्भुवःस्वः
 तत्सवितुर्वरेण्यं भर्गो देवस्य धीमहि ।
 धियो यो नः प्रचोदयात् ।।
"OM Earth (Bhuh), Atmosphere (Bhuvah) and Light (Svah) ---
We meditate on the choicest luminosity of the Divine Nourisher.
 May he inspire our thoughts."
 Gayatri is the Mother of the Vedas, the Mother of all Wisdom and Insight. She has brought the wisdom of the Vedas to the entire world.
 Sanatana Dharma in Switzerland: On 1st of January 2016, a Maha-Gayatri-Homa was performed at Omkarananda Ashram Switzerland to inaugurate the Board of Hindu Dharma to represent the interests of all people following Sanatana Dharma in that small country. Members will include the head of Omkarananda Ashram Sri Swami Vivekananda, the head of ISKCON Switzerland Sri Krishnapremarupa Das, the head of Sri Ramakrishna Mission Switzerland Sri Swami Amarananda, Dr. Satish Joshi, Madhav Acharya, Pandit Madhu Shastri, Vidyabhaskar and many more people devoted to Sanatana Dharma.
नमः परमऋषिभ्यो नमः परमऋषिभ्यः
Obeisance (Namah) to the great Rishis,
 Obeisance (Namah) to the great Rishis

Monday, January 4, 2016

What is the reality of Hinduism? Did all the 33 crores Gods ever exist?
’33 Crore Gods’ is a completely misinterpreted fact due to wrong translation of Vedic Sanskrit by certain foreign 'scholars'.
 The term ‘trayastrimsati koti’ mentioned in Atharva Veda, Yajur Veda, and Satapatha-brahmana, is rightly translated as 33 Gods.
The term koti in Sanskrit has two meaning, one is ‘type’ and the other is Crore.
 So, somewhere in translation, they missed the basic fact that Sanatana Dharma/Hinduism has 33 Supreme Gods and not 33 Crore Gods.
 According to Vedas there are 33 Gods/Devas. These Gods are separated in the following pattern : 12 + 11 + 8 + 2.
 12 is the number of Adityas, 11 are the number of Rudras, 8 is the number of Vasus, 1 is Prajapati, the Master of Gods, and 1 is the Supreme Ruler who is very powerful.
Names of all 33 Vedic deities:
12 Adityas (personified deities) correspond to the 12 Solar months and represent different attributes of social life. The Vedic sages especially venerated the Adityas and Vedas are full of hymns dedicated to Indra, Agni, Surya, Varun and the like. These are:
1. Indra/Shakra (eldest and the undoubted leader of other Adityas)
 2. Ansh (due share),
 3. Aryaman (nobility),
 4. Bhaag (due inheritance),
 5. Dhatri (ritual skill),
 6. Tvashtar (skill in crafting),
 7. Mitra (friendship),
 8. Pushan/Ravi (prosperity),
 9. Savitra/Parjanya (power of word),
 10. Surya/Vivasvan (social law),
 11. Varun (fate),
 12. Vaman (cosmic law).
8 Vasus are attendant deities of Indra and comprise of eight elemental gods that represent the different aspects of Nature. They are:
 1. Anil (Wind),
 2. Apas (Water),
 3. Antariksh/Dyaus (Space),
 4. Dhara (Earth),
 5. Dhruv (Pole Star),
 6. Anal (Fire),
 7. Prabhas (Dawn),
 8. Soma (Moon).
11 Rudras:
 ·
 5 abstractions – Ānanda (bliss), Vijñāna (knowledge), Manas (thought), Prāṇa (breath/ life), Vāc (speech),.
5 names of Śiva – Īśāna (ruler), Tatpuruṣa (that person), Aghora (not terrible), Vāmadeva (pleasant god), Sadyojāta (born at once)
 ·
 1 - Ātmā (spiritual self)
In the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, the 11 Rudras are represented by ten vital energies (rudra-prana) in the body and the eleventh one being the Ātman (the soul):
 katame rudrA iti |
 dasheme purushhe prANA
 AtmaikAdashas
 te yadA.asmAchchharIrAnmartyAdutkrAmanty
 atha rodayanti
 tadyadrodayanti
 tasmAdrudrA iti || 4 ||
‘Which are the Rudras ?’ ‘The ten organs in the human body, with the prana as the tenth and the atma as the eleventh. When they depart from this mortal body, they make (one’s relatives) weep. Because they then make them weep, therefore they are called Rudras.’
Sources:- Rig Veda, Atharva Veda, Yajur Veda, and Part 9 of Brihadaranyaka Upanishad where Sage Yajnavalkya is questioned by Sage Sakalya.
- Brihadaranyaka Upanishad III-ix-4: ‘