Hinduism - What Is Brahmacharya?

Brahmacharya means "pursuing Brahman." This term, in its most basic meaning, refers to the way of life of a young man from a certain social class during his time as a student (brahmacharin). 

This is the first of a twice-born man's four ashramas (“stages of life”), that is, a man born into one of three Indian social groups: brahmin, kshatriya, or vaishya. 

• These young males are eligible for the "second birth," a teenage religious initiation. 

• He will then begin his life as a student, moving into his guru's home and studying the holy books, the Vedas. 

• This is envisioned as a time of intensive study, religious practice, and an austere lifestyle characterized by desire restriction, with celibacy as the hallmark. 

Although the four ashramas paradigm is now mostly obsolete, the term brahmacharya still connotes an austere monastic lifestyle, and it is often used as a synonym for celibacy.

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Hinduism - Who Is A Brahmacharin?

Brahmacharin means "Brahman seeker." 

Depending on the context, this word may have many different meanings. 

A brahmacharin is a person in a time of religious study in the dharma literature, which provides instructions on religious responsibilities. 

• This is the first of a twice-born man's four ashramas (“stages of life”), that is, a man born into one of three Indian social groups: brahmin, kshatriya, or vaishya. 

• These young males are eligible for the "second birth," a teenage religious initiation. 

According to the ideal, the brahmacharin should reside in his guru's home following his initiation and decoration with the holy thread—the most apparent evidence of a twice-born man—and study the Veda, the oldest Hindu religious book, in addition to doing other religious actions. 

Because brahmacharins are focused on acquiring religious knowledge, this is intended to be a highly austere period of life characterized by enforced celibacy, hard labor, service to the instructor, careful observance of all religious rituals, and abstention from pleasures like beds, cosmetics, and body adornment. 

The student will marry and join the second ashrama, that of the householder, after this time of study is over. 

• The dharma literature describes an idealistic system, and it is impossible to know if it was ever properly maintained. 

• Although many modern brahmin boys still experience the "second birth," other aspects of the tradition, such as the austere lifestyle and focus on Vedic studies, are generally disregarded in modern times. 

In an ascetic setting, some of the term's original meaning survives. 

Brahmacharin is also the name of two ascetic organizations, as well as a novice or younger monk whose job is to serve and learn from the older monks. 

• The renowned Swaminarayan sect is one of these organizations, with members drawn exclusively from the brahmin caste. 

• The other is the Brahmachari Sanyasis, which is made up of Shiva devotees (bhakta) who are separate from the Dashanami Sanyasis. 

• The Brahmachari Sanyasis maintain an ashram atop Mount Girnar, and the Brahmachari Naga (fighting) Sanyasis have a recognized position among the other Naga tribes during the Kumbha Mela bathing (snana) event. 

G. S. Ghurye, Indian Sadhus, 1964, is a good source of knowledge.

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Hinduism - Who Is Lord Brahma?

  

Brahma is the first of the Trimurti, the Hindu pantheon's "three aspects" of divinity, which include Brahma as the creator of the world, Vishnu as the preserver or sustainer, and Shiva as the destroyer. 

Brahma is typically shown with four heads (the fifth was slashed off by Bhairava, Shiva's wrathful form), and the hamsa, or Indian geese, is his animal chariot. 

• Vishnu floats in the center of the cosmic ocean, resting on the gigantic snake Shesha, according to legend, during the period of cosmic disintegration between world cycles. 

• When the moment comes for creation, Vishnu's navel grows a lotus, which opens to reveal Brahma within. 

• Brahma begins the process of creation, and at the conclusion of the world cycle, he returns to the lotus, which is absorbed by Vishnu. 

One of Brahma's titles is Svayambhu ("self-born"), which refers to his spontaneous emergence at the beginning of each cosmic era. 

• The world is not formed from nothing, according to Judeo-Christian doctrine. 

• Brahma just organizes the universe's existing components into a cohesive and orderly cosmos. 

Brahma is a significant pantheon character who appears in numerous Hindu mythological stories. 

• His legendary status obscures the reality that he is never worshipped as a major god. 

• Throughout fact, at all of India, he has just one temple dedicated to him, in Pushkar. 

• His absence of devotion has been ascribed by some Hindus to his position as the creator. 

After all, why bother with Brahma, whose job is done, now that creation has been completed? 

• This lack of devotion is typically attributed to a curse—sometimes by the deity Shiva, but in other tales by the sage Bhrgu—in the puranas, books on Hindu mythology.

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Hinduism - Who Was Subhash Chandra Bose?

Subhash Chandra Bose (1896–1945) was a politician and a liberation fighter from Bengal. 

Before World War II, Bose ran for the Congress Party's leadership against Mohandas K. Gandhi, but lost. 

• Bose, unlike Gandhi, was eager for the British to go and was prepared to use force to do it. 

• During World War II, Bose enlisted the help of the Japanese to create the Indian National Army (INA), whose goal was to drive the British out of India by force. 

• Starting in Singapore, the INA marched 5,000 kilometers throughout Southeast Asia until being crushed by the British army at Kohima in eastern India. 

• Despite eyewitness evidence that Bose died from burns sustained in an aircraft crash during the Pacific War's last days, many Bengalis think he is still alive and living in secret.

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Hinduism - What Is Varaha, The Boar Avatar Of Vishnu?

Varaha, Vishnu's Avatar as the Boar. 

The deity Vishnu's third avatar, or "incarnation." 

• When the process of creation is halted by the disappearance of the Earth, Vishnu assumes this avatar at the beginning of one of the cosmic eras. 

• The demon-king Hiranyaksha is to blame for this issue, since he has abducted the Earth and buried her in the depths of the cosmic ocean. 

Vishnu, disguised as a colossal boar, descends to the ocean's depths, where he slays Hiranyaksha, puts the Earth on the tip of his tusk, and raises her from the depths. 

• The process of creation continues with the return of the Earth. 

• The avatar theory is widely recognized as a means of assimilating minor regional deities into the greater pantheon by identifying them as manifestations of Vishnu. 

The Boar avatar, which seems to have absorbed an old religion in central India by making the boar an incarnation of Vishnu, supports this conclusion. 

• The Boar avatar is not widely worshipped in contemporary times, despite having a large following in the past, especially in central India. 

• This is corroborated in part by the sculptural record, with especially excellent sculpted representations of this avatar found in the caves of Ellora and Udayagiri. 

More information may be found in Arthur Llewellyn Basham's 1968 book, The Wonder That Was India.

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Hinduism - What Is The Ritual Significance Of Blood In Hinduism?

In Hinduism, Blood, like other body fluids, is regarded ritually unclean and a cause of contamination when anything or anyone comes into touch with it. 

Not just because of its impurity (ashaucha), but also because of its link to life, blood is considered a "hot" and strong material. 

• Human blood is said to be the source of sustenance for witches. 

• This emphasizes both their malicious nature, since they can only survive by killing others, and their marginal, antisocial nature, as they feed on a highly unclean material. 

• Blood from animal sacrifice is often given to village deities or to certain strong and frightening manifestations of the Goddess in another setting. 

• Any deities that need blood sacrifice are called "hot," which means they are strong enough to give worshippers favors but also marginal, possibly dangerous, and in need of constant injections of life-sustaining blood to keep their abilities alive. 

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Hinduism - What Is The Black Yajur Veda?

The Yajur Veda in its worst form is known as the Black Yajur Veda Or The Book Of Black Arts and Witchcraft.

One of the two main versions of the Yajur Veda, one of the earliest Hindu sacred scriptures, together with the White Yajur Veda. 

• The placement of explanatory notes on the Vedic mantras (holy sounds) and their meaning is the main distinction between these two types. 

• These comments are included in the text of the Black Yajur Veda in all four recensions. 

• The one recension of the White Yajur Veda, on the other hand, collects these comments in an appendix known as a Brahmana, which gives the second main stratum of Vedic writings its name.

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Hinduism - What Are The Rituals Associated With Childbirth In Hinduism?

Birth is a biological occurrence at its most basic level, but the rituals conducted for it and the importance assigned to it transform it into a cultural event in Hinduism. 

In terms of how Hindu groups commemorate births, there is a lot of regional and sectarian diversity, although there are a few common elements. 

• Although the birth of a child is a joyous event, it is also fraught with impurity because to the numerous body tissues and fluids that accompany it (blood, membranes, amniotic fluid, placenta, etc.). 

• To eliminate this birth impurity, most birth ceremonies involve cleansing procedures for both mother and child (sutakashaucha). 

• For the mother, it's quite straightforward: a bath after the birth, followed by baths throughout the seclusion time (7–10 days). 

The child's last ritual, the chudakarana samskara (head shaving), may not take place for years after birth. 

• Aside from impurity (ashaucha), the threat of impending harm is a recurring motif. 

• Both mother and infant are regarded as very susceptible soon after birth, not just to natural stressors like cold, exhaustion, or illness, but also to ills brought on by witchcraft or the evil eye (nazar). 

• Given this worry, it's no surprise that the placenta and other birthing leftovers are carefully gathered and disposed of to avoid being used in spells. 

The time of seclusion after the birth is meant to keep such evil energies at bay while also warding them off via rituals of protection. 

• To boost her resilience, the mother is typically massaged and offered fortifying foods. 

• Charms, sometimes known as amulets, are widely used. 

Lawrence Babb, The Divine Hierarchy, 1975; and Doranne Jacobsen, “Golden Handprints and Redpainted Feet: Hindu Childbirth Rituals in Central India,” Unspoken Worlds: Women's Religious Lives in NonWestern Cultures, Nancy Falk and Rita M. Gross (eds. ), 2000.

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Hinduism - Who Was Ghanshyamdas Birla?

Ghanshyamdas Birla (1894–1983) was the Birla industrial family's patriarch. 

The Birlas earned their wealth through the opium trade in the early twentieth century, then moved on to a number of other industrial enterprises. 

• Ghanshyamdas was a personal friend of Mohandas K. Gandhi and a significant financial backer of Gandhi's political party, the Indian National Congress, to which Birla had donated an estimated 100 million rupees by the time India gained independence. 

• In his latter years, he spent a lot of money and time constructing temples, establishing religious and philanthropic trusts, and doing other good things.

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Hinduism - Who Was Bindusara?

Bindusara (3rd c. B. C.E.) was the Son of Chandragupta Maurya, the Mauryan empire's founder, and father of Ashoka, the empire's most powerful person. 

The Mauryans dominated the Indus and Ganges river basins at the time of Bindusara's accession. 

• Bindusara not only extended Mauryan authority into the Deccan area as far south as Mysore, but also cemented his father's achievements. 

• He was said to have had international tastes, since he requested sweet wine, dried figs, and a sophist from Antiochus I, the Seleucid king of Syria. 

• The first two things were presumably transported, but Antiochus stated that Greek philosophers were forbidden to be sent. 

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Yoga Asanas For Stress Relief - Dandasana - Staff Pose

Table Of Contents
DANDASANA
PROPS
BENEFITS
PRECAUTIONS
INSTRUCTIONS

Dandasana - All of the sitting forward bends and twists begin with this asana. 

It has a number of beneficial benefits, the most significant of which is improved posture. 

• Dandasana is beneficial to people who work in sedentary jobs since it helps you to sit straight with a completely upright spine. 

• This posture massages and stimulates the stomach and pelvic organs when practiced regularly. 

PROPS - TWO FOLDED BLANKETS AND TWO WOODEN BLOCKS 

• The folded blanket beneath the buttocks aids in the acute extension of the lower spine, releasing the hamstrings, while the two blocks under the hands aid in thoracic extension. 

BENEFITS.

• Improves digestion

• Tonifies the kidneys 

• Aids in the prevention of sciatica 

• Stretches and stimulates the leg muscles 

• Prevents weary feet by stretching the foot muscles 

PRECAUTIONS.

• Practice the asana with your back supported by a wall if you have asthma, bronchitis, dyspnea, rheumatoid arthritis, ulcers, or bulimia, or if you are suffering premenstrual stress. 

• During menstruation, practice against a wall. 

INSTRUCTIONS.

 1. Sit with your spine upright and knees bent on a folded blanket.

 

• Place the blocks on each side of your hips, on their wide sides. 

• Place your hands on the blocks after that. 

•  Sit on the backs of your buttocks. 

 

2. Straighten each leg and connect the inner sides of your legs and feet, one at a time.

 

• Stretch your knees and toes while lengthening your leg muscles. 

• Maintain a straight line with your knees. 

• Stretch your elbows and arms while pressing your palms down on the blocks. 

 

3. Lift your abdomen to relieve stress in your diaphragm.

 

• For 1 minute, stay in this position. 

•  Beginners should separate their feet slightly and maintain the position for no more than 30 seconds.

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