Indica Today- Shastraas & Indic Knowledge

  Namaste narasiṁhāya, prahlādahlāda-dāyine, hiraṇyakaśipor vakṣaḥ, śilā-ṭaṅka nakhālaye Translation:  I salute to Lord Narasiṁha, who gives joy to Prahlada and whose nails are like chisels on the stone like chest of the demon Hiraṇyakaśipu One of the unique elements of Hinduism aka Sanatana Dharma is the concept of Avatara (incarnation). Hindus believe that God, which is called as Brahman, is not only transcendental in nature, it is also immanent.  More importantly, Brahman assumes various forms and takes Avatara for the sake of devotees and Dharma. This taking of Avatara from time to time, makes it possible for people to establish a direct connection, an intimate relationship with the Lord. Among all the innumerable incarnations that Brahman assumes, the Avatara of Narasimha is unique not only because the deity has a unique form- half lion, half man, but also because the entire account of the incarnation imparts many important lessons about Vedanta, Bhakti, and Dharma....

  वर्तमान में हमें महाभारत के सम्माननीय व्यक्तित्वों जैसे कि महाराज युधिष्ठिर व अन्य पाण्डवों पर विवाद देखने को मिलता है, उनके सामर्थ्य व उनके गुणों पर शंका की जाती है, तो हमें महाभारत में ही देखना चाहिए कि युधिष्ठिर आदि पाण्डव स्वयं से भी शक्तिशाली या धर्मपुंज थे अथवा आधुनिक प्रचार अनुसार मात्र श्रीकृष्ण की दया पर ही लंबित थे क्योंकि ऋषि बार बार उनको धर्मराज कह रहे तब उनका वचन मिथ्या नहीं हो सकता। अध्यात्मपक्ष में निश्चित रूप पाण्डव क्या सब कृष्ण के लंबित है पर यहाँ पांडवों का भौतिक जगत में स्वयंबल भी देखना चाहिए। युधिष्ठिर समेत सभी पांडव देवताओं के अंश थे। भगवान् श्रीकृष्ण मूर्ख नहीं थे जो पाण्डवों के पक्ष में रहा करते थे।  जिसके पक्ष में कृष्ण खड़ा हो जाए उसकी हस्ती कितनी विराट होगी। पूरी महाभारत में महाराज युधिष्ठिर की महानता के हज़ारों प्रसङ्ग हैं। पांडवों को नीचा दिखाकर कृष्ण की महानता नहीं हो सकती है। स्वयं हस्तिनापुर की प्रजा युधिष्ठिर को हृदय से राजा बनाना चाहती थी।  ( आ.प.अ- 140)  में उल्लेख है कि हस्तिनापुर की प्रजा हर सभा, चौराहे पर इकट्ठी होती तो युधिष्ठिर...

  Introduction In this series, Yogic terminologies will be taken up and their – Etymological analysis, Lexical descriptions and Textual occurrences in Yogic literature and their commentaries, as available, will be presented. And finally observations will be made on the references. Three texts – Yogasūtra , Haṭha-yoga-pradīpikā and Bhagavad-gītā are consulted for textual occurrences portion. Śabda-yoga is intended to help students, teachers, and professionals of Yoga to develop a sound grammatical, contextual, and thereby an authentic and immersive understanding of Yoga terminologies. List of Words From among the above five words for this unit 9, this part discusses the fourth word Vitarka. Etymology वि + तर्क + घञ् = वितर्कः vi + tarka + ghañ = vitarkaḥ विvi is the prefix that may mean both विशेष&विरुद्ध- viśeṣa viruddha – special and also opposite (in the context of the word Vitarka) Tarka is the root that means भाषा bhāṣā – to speak, to talk घञ्Ghañ is the suffix that means ...

  It is common knowledge that atheism isn’t a recent phenomenon. Centuries and millennia prior to our own births, men have questioned the necessity to include a supernatural as the basis of explaining their lives. Of course, the root of this feeling is not as rational every time, and is more often a sense of hubris and a reluctance to have someone who has more control and agency over the course of our lives. The attachment of the mind to the ego complex leads some to accept any stream of logic that would disprove the existence of a Deity . This is not to deny the existence of a genuine atheistic strain of thought, I am merely pointing out the hypocrisy of certain elements who have not expended significant effort into answering this fundamental question and settled for the same faith based answers in a manner similar to what they accuse their theistic counterparts. This problem was what plagued the ancient proponents of the Indian philosophical school Nyāya. In the beginning t...

  Introduction The indigenous shilpis or craftsmen of India, have left innumerable  shilpa  creations dotting the map of our country. Moreover, these wonderful and long lasting creative productions by the craftsmen are the reflectors of our age-old culture. Today we stand awestruck by the ancient magnificent temples with grand entry gateways called Gopuras , multi-pillared mandapas, cave structures and sculptures that have stood the test of time, but we never ponder to know about the makers of this living tradition and their ancient technology. Research studies elaborate the science and technology involved in these huge skyscraping superstructures, technically called the  Vimanas  and other components of the sacred built form. Two decades back, a historical monument was built atop the minor rock, about 400 meters from the coastline of Kanyakumari at the southern tip of the Indian peninsula. This monument, a stone sculpture, was built in honour of a renowned Tami...