Just A Thought

The battle between the Good and the Evil is one of the oldest battles in the History of this universe. Since the inception of our time, we have been hearing stories of continuous war between Good and the Evil. But how many of us have put in thought to understand what exactly is the meaning of this Good and Evil? What makes one a Hero of the Folklore and Mythology; and how does one turn out to be the Villain. The simple way of looking at this would be to define a difference between Gods and Demons, or as we know them in Hindu Mythology; Devas and Asuras. We can just define the physical and character aspects of these mythic beings and come to our conclusion about the difference between Good and Evil; because we have always known that Devas/Gods were good and Asuras/Demons were bad. But that would be an oversimplification of the facts. In reality, there is a very thin line that separates the two. Recently as I was browsing through my social media pages, I came across a very interesting...

“A set of belief concerning the cause, nature and purpose of the universe, especially when considered as a creation of superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs.”  dictionary.com “A personal set or institutionalised system of religious attitudes, beliefs and practices.”  merriam-webster.com These are the definitions of the word ‘Religion’ given in two of the most renowned dictionaries available on Internet. And these definitions are spot on in case of most of the religions existing in the world like Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Sikhism, Judaism , etc. Every religion would find its definition in the above mentioned words. But not Hinduism; because these definitions are too narrow in scope to define Hinduism. It is too broad a term to be defined in two simple lines. I am in no way trying to undermine any other religion or trying to portray a larger than life im...

We often get to hear that India is a nation of Gods. According to some theories there are approximately 36 Crore Gods and Goddesses that reside in the soul of India. Every state, every city, every town, every village in India has their own God or Goddess. Most of these Gods are revered and worshipped because of one or multiple miraculous deeds that they performed when they appeared on earth. Krishna, Shiva, Durga, Vishnu, Hanuman, Kali, Ganesh, Lakshmi and even minor Gods like, Indra, Varun, Vayu have numerous miraculous acts associated with them. Now, whether these are just stories or real miracles or if there are some other clarifications which can be given for them, we will discuss at some other time. Today I want to explore and understand a God who is not associated with any miracle throughout his appearance on earth, he couldn't fly, couldn't shift shapes and on top of that even though he is considered to be an incarnation of all powerful Vishnu, he had to depend upon a...

According to Hindu belief system, its scriptures and books associated with it, the time is divided into four Yugas. It started with Satyuga when every one was righteous. It was followed by Tretayuga, the Yuga marked by the presence of Shri Ram and the way of life established by him. Then we entered into the Dwapar Yuga, when Krishna set foot on this earth and gave us a new way of life. And finally came the age or the Yuga in which we all were born i.e. Kali Yuga. The reason I started off with a brief description of Yugas is because if we take out Satyuga, the age where everyone was righteous and Kaliyuga, a time when which is marked by chaos, we are left with two Yugas, Treta and Dwapar. These two yugas were specifically important, because in both these Yugas, world witnessed the emergence of two iconic personalities, whose deeds were so great that they were conferred with the titles of Vishnu Avatars or Incarnations of Vishnu. With their deeds and efforts they established new ways o...

Hinduism as we know of today is an evolved or I should say is a simplified version of Sanatan Dharma. Sanatan is a Sanskrit word which means which is Anadi (beginingless) and Anant (endless) and does not cease to be, that which is eternal and everlasting. Therefore, we can ascertain from this meaning that this religion has always been trying to locate that is invisible, grab that is without form and know what is unknown, much like the Modern Science. The recorded history of Hinduism or in correct terms Sanatan Dharma starts from the Vedic period when the Hymns of Rig Veda were created by our great Maharishis. The texts of this religion may contain hymns, rituals, meditation, magic etc, but it is the most scientific religion world may have ever known. Our beliefs, the knowledge in our religious texts is full of scientific ideas that Modern science has explored in recent past and some of the knowledge is still out of bounds to Modern Science. Let me start from the concept o...

Who is a Hindu? The simplest answer would be a person who follows Hinduism is a Hindu. But this answer can be sufficient for a follower of Islam, Christianity or Sikhism because these religions are based on a set of rules and rituals and hence can be defined on the basis of following of them. However, when talking about a Hindu or Hinduism this answer does not suffice. This is because Hinduism is not bound by rules and rituals. Hinduism is more of a way of life than a religion. If you are able to unearth the deep rooted truths that lie in the teachings of Hinduisms, then there is no fear of any Hell and no desire for any Heaven left in us. There are reasons that I refer to Hinduism as a way of life. And I would like to share some of the reasons that I have been able to decode. First of all, a Hindu unlike a Muslim or a Christian is not asked to follow one particular God and lead the life in a particular way. There is a lot of freedom. The thoughts, ideology, the rituals are not r...