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It is amazing how many non-Hindus actually claim to have read Hindu scriptures (and understood them). I have read from people who claimed to have studied Hindu scriptures and found another (non-Hindu) scriptures like Al Quran and/or the Bible to make more sense to them.
Of course we all know that they did not read it or even understood it. But to prevent people from claim they know Hindu scriptures, I have decided to do some research on how vast Hindu scriptures are. I believe many of the readers will be very surprise with the vastness of Hindu scriptutes and its hidden wisdoms.
Source of the Picture : https://ramanan50.wordpress.com/2014/05/31/hindu-scriptures-list/
And to qoute "To list Hindu Scripture is an impossible task." which is very true but for sake of future reference of other Hindu knowledge seekers, I will attempt to put as much information as possible.
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Edited by Sephiroth at 29-4-2015 11:03 AM
In a nutshell, Hindu scriptures are divided into SIX CATEGORIES - each with their own meanings and selected texts written and compiled.
1. Shruti (Shoe-ru-tee) - means "that which is heard".
This refers to what the Humans have "heard" spoken by God/s to Human races. To traditional Hindus (like the Brahmins), Shruti is literally the Words of God. And unlike the Bible and the Al Quran which consists of ONE single book with several thousands of pages, the Shruti consists of :-
a). The Vedas (Vee-Dah) - FOUR books with thousands of pages (over FOUR hours of Hymns if One were to narrate the Vedas by word).
b). Samhita (Sam-hi-ta) - ONE book - consists of mantras, hymns, prayers etc.
c). Brahmana (Bra-mana  pun not intended)- 23 BOOKS - collection of commentaries of the Vedas. Oldest dated 900 BC (900 years BEFORE CHRIST) and the youngest is 700 BC. Which makes these books older than the Bible AND Al Quran. The books consists of discussions on various topics within the Vedas like rites, important of sacred words, facts in Hinduism and legends (among others).
d). Aranyaka (Aran-ya-ka) - 7 BOOKS - describes and discuss rituals and sacrifices from various perspective.
e). Upanishads (Upa-nee-sha-da) - OVER 108 BOOKS - authors are unknown and most likely consists of a large number of rishis and sages who poured down their wisdom throughout the ages. Consists of ideals and ideology of the Brahman (God), Atma (Soul), philosophy and diverse tradition.
And these are just ONE CATEGORY in Hindu scripture.
(Epeiye tala shuthu de  ) |
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Still under Shruti
Many people (even Hindus) thinks that when they heard the word "Vedas", it could refer to just the four Vedas given by Matsya Avatar to King Manu after the deluge. They do not know the Vedas means a large collection of written wisdom, handed down throughout the Ages via orally and then written down when Writing was brought to India by the Sumerians from Mesopotamia.
Upa-Vedas
Under the Upa-Vedas, we have FIVE sub-category (the picture shows only four). They are :-
a). Dhanurveda - Science of WARFARE.
Yes ... this is Hindu version of the Art of War (written by Sun-Tze in China). Before Chinese even wrote anything related to warfare, Hindus already had their own Art of War. But unfortunately today, many Hindus do not even know these facts. (I definitely going to research this more).
b). Gandharvaveda (Gand-har-va-ve-da) - Study of all form of Arts (including Erotica versions).
As some may notice, Gandhavar refers to "marriage through sexual relation".
c). Ayurveda - Science of Life (medicine).
d). Arthasastra - deals with public administration, governance, economy and policy.
Before coming of the Muslims and the British, India was ruled through complex governance system based on this scripture. Indians today should remember that at times when the whole world was ruled through barbaric rituals, practice and brutality, ONLY in India did the forefathers ruled the land with proper policies, rules, regulations and proper government.
e). Sthapathyaveda (Sat-ha-pat-the-ya-ve-da) - related to Engineering and Architectures. |
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Final sub-category of the Shruti - Vedanga
The name means "limbs of Veda" and it deals with six auxilliary disciplines traditionally associated with study and understanding of the Veda.
a). Shiksha (Shi-sha-ya) - deals with proper phonetics and phonology of Sanskrit. In another words - students are taught how to speak and pronounce properly the Sanskrit words which later will be used in various activities like reading and speaking mantra in rituals etc.
For further information :- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiksha
b). Kalpa - refers to rules of ceremony.
For further information :- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalpa_(Vedanga)
c). Vyakarana - refers to linguistic and grammar analysis.
For further infomation : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vy%C4%81kara%E1%B9%87a
d). Nirukta - This discipline traditionally contributed to Yaska- an ancient Sanksrit linguistic/grammarian. It consists of brief rules of deriving word meanings, supplemented with glossaries of difficult or rare Vedic words.
Don't understand? It is the World's first Dictionary of rare words in Sanksrits. Before Oxford came out with their version which can be found almost everywhere in the World, India had its own version of Oxford Dictionary which are used in schools and ancient universities. That was how advance India was before coming of the barbarians (Muslims and Christians).
e). Chandas - Study of Meter. Meter here doesn't mean measurement of the length (in traditional manner) but the study of light and heavy tone of syllabus, words etc.
f). Jyotisha - Study of Astronomy and Astrology. |
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Smriti
We have examined the Sruthi scriptures of Hindu Scripture. Now we will examine the Smriti. Smriti (Sanksrit) which means "that which is remembered". The different between Shruti and Smriti is that, Shruti is considered authorless (have no specific author) and considered divine origin, while smriti is attributed to specific author and can even be traced back to a specific time and date when it was written.
Because Smriti is based on specific author and timeline, it's significants can be debated and re-examined (especially in constrast with modern age). Many of the texts gives examples of laws and dharmas set in older period of time based on the Vedas. These examples can be re-examined and remodified for current age. In a nutshell, if Shruti is considered the Al Quran, Smriti can be considered as Al Hadith in Islamic perspective. Only different is that Hindus do not have only two books.
a). Manu Smrit
Unlike Genesis Chapter in the Bible where it places the creation of Mankind as the beginning page, Hinduism do not put Manu chapter as a Shruti (authorless and divine) but as a Smriti, which means it can be accepted or rejected accordingly.
Manu Smriti (or Laws of Manu) is said to be given by Manu, the progenitor of Mankind to a group of seers or rishis after the Great Flood over 10,000 years ago. The Sanksrit text was edited in 1913 by P.H Pandya and in 1920 by J.R Gharpure. The first translation to English was done in 1794 by Sir William Jones.
Numerous classical commentaries on Manu Smriti were written during the medieval period. The oldest is Bharuci (somewhere between 7th to 11th Century) and Medhatithi around 820 to 1050).
Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manusm%E1%B9%9Bti
b). Yajnavalkya
Most likely dated to Gupta Period (roughly 3rd and 5th Century). This Smriti seems to suggest that there was a direct exchange of knowledge and ideal between India and Greek at that time, as the story goes that Sages of Mithila came to India and wished to study the Dharma. Mithal is known as an ancient cult which went underground when Christianity settled in Roman (and then to Greek) around 4th-5th Century).
Majority of the discourse were divided into three sub-topic - Acara (proper conduct), Vyavahara (legal procedure) and Prayascitta (penance).
Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Y%C4%81j%C3%B1avalkya_Sm%E1%B9%9Bti
c). Parasara
Father of Sage (Veda) Vyasa and regarded to have lived around 310 BCE.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parashara
d). Others - 15 books.
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Itihasa
Ithihasa probably one of the most important aspect in Hindu scriptures, because without it, other parts of the scriptures could simply fall into realm of mythology and vanish like so many ancient beliefs of other civilisation. Itihasa simply means (roughly translated as) "Historical Events". Which means to a hindu, this is Hindu history from Ancient times, passed down from one generation to the next using oral tradition.
In Hindu history, we have two (quite famous) epic - Ramayana and Mahabratha (which have a summary of Vedas called Bhagavad Gita). During the Invasion of Muslims and the Christians, Europeans and Muslims were trying hard to make hindus into a "civilised" people and in their attempts, they managed to brainwash many of the Hindu elites (in 1900s) to label these two epics (among other countless sutras, puranas and wisdoms of the Sages) to become "myth".
Many of the Indian scholars at that time had actually came to believe that the World was about 6,000 years old. Many of them rejected the notion that the World was older than that and that the human race have been around much longer than mere 6,000 years (which proven to be true today).
Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Itihasa
Ramayana Epic is a story of Prince Rama and his siblings, who lived in an ancient kingdom in what today to be Delhi. This story was based on poem ascribed by the Hindu Sage, Valmiki.
For further reading : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramayana
The next one could be Mahabratha Epic. The story related the Kurushektra War between Kauravas and Pandavas, two cousins. Traditionally, it was narrated by Sage Vyasa (through his meditation) and was written down by the Hindu Elephant-headed God, Ganesha. There are 18 books (or Chapters) and original story of Shri Krishna was not covered in this text until much later. It is possible that the Mahabratha Epic was to function as an orally perserved record for later generation and not as a religious text until much later when Bhavagad Gita and role of Shri Krishna was brought forth to emphasis morality, ethics and Spiritualism.
Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahabharata
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Edited by Truth.8 at 7-5-2015 02:15 PM
Ramayana Epic is a story of Prince Rama and his siblings, who lived in an ancient kingdom in what today to be Delhi. This story was based on poem ascribed by the Hindu Sage, Valmiki.
hmmm delhi now? than why it mentioned in Ayodhya???
Dasharatha is the king of Ayodhya and the father of Rama. He has three queens, Kausalya, Kaikeyi and Sumitra, and three other sons: Bharata, Lakshmana and Shatrughna. Kaikeyi, Dasharatha's favourite queen, forces him to make his son Bharata crown prince and send Rama into exile.
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Debate on Itihasa or Hindu History
Since the time of British first invaded India 250 years ago and shoved their (biblical) version of history into Indian minds, the debate on itihasa or Hindu-based history have been going on. Unfortunately Western mindset have been winning, especially when "scholars" of India were given western education in the West, came back to a "foreign country" called India, developed a deattachement to its culture, roots, heritage and belief system and even develop a discontent and feeling of ashame with their own background to the point that these westernized Indians were busy continue what the British had done before - try and make India and her people "civilised".
Even today, there are many (westerners and Indians alike) who wants Ramayana and Mahabratha Epic to remain as a myth. This is because the West fears Hinduism - as it always has. Unlike Islam which can co-exist with Christianity in a love-hate relationship (as they did for the past 1,000 years in Middle East and Europe) due to a common traits in Abrahamic belief, the same cannot be said about Hinduism. Hinduism gives different belief, ideals and history to what Abrahamic belief System had done. It's stories had placed humanity to be thousands of years, even hundred of thousands of years old and the Planet to be millions of years oldThese a notion which was laughed at 200 years ago and rejected, even so Charles Darwin had brought similar scientific research to the attention of the Europeans at that time.
Today, many including in the West are dissatisfied with the notion of history given by their Bible - that the Earth is about 6,000 years old and that the oldest civilization on the Planet was Mesoptamphia and Egypt. More and more of them finding that the date of history are being pushed back further than they had been taught. Recently historians found a fishing village in Middle East that was 15,000 years old which had complex social structure, which forced the Westerners to think, just how old is the Human Race? When was the first Civilization came about? How advance were our ancestors? What is the oldest civilization on the Planet? Questions which many scholars found nagging in the back of their minds.
And some of them even voiced out that humanity was suffering from an amnesia. That we had forgotten something which in our own history and started fresh somewhere along the time line right after the last Ice Age, 10,000 years ago (about 8,000 BC). Matter a fact, the one "similarities" all the stories of creation through out the Globe has is that humanity seems to began after a "great flood" or a "great calamity" that had fallen Mankind. Even in Mahabratha, today's humanity were the direct descandant of people like Abimanyu (Son of Arjuna, 2nd of Pandavas's brothers) and a few others (including those fortunate few from Dwarka who was saved by grace of Sri Krishna). Could this be a sign that humanity today had indeed created a massive civilization but suffered greatly before the end of the last Ice Age, and that the survivors, in order not to repeat the same mistakes their forefathers had done, choose to "seal away" their memory of the event, thus creating a clean slate for humanity 10,000 years ago? Could the amnesia we are facing today a direct result of our forefathers manipulating the power of their minds to block off memories within themselves and their descendant and that memory continue to exist within us as genetic memory, thus allowing us to create stories of the Great Flood and Ancient Lands.
Anyway, back to the topic at hand. Because of these possible historical information which contains in Epics like Ramayana and Mahabratha which refused to die from the minds of the People, the Westerners begins to fear them and its growing influence in India and throughout the World through the Internet. The Western scholars (and religious groups) fears that these epics could provide some recollection and information on the true nature and the true history of Mankind.
It is my opinion that Epics like Ramayana, Mahabratha and many more around the World could be given a serious examinations to see whether they could correspond with known history of humanity. Already, Ramayana had produced several "evidence" of it being true, such as the Rama-Setu or Rama's Bridge (also known as Adam's Bridge) which can only be seen from space and Mahayana gave account of existence of river Saraswati (which disappears later) and ruins of cities where the Epic had described them to be. Compared to some Abrahamic 1001 tales many following today, we will find that many of these lands and people described in these tales were just that, tales.
Reading reference.
Source : http://articles.economictimes.in ... tory-indian-council
http://www.outlookindia.com/arti ... iodnot-myths/291363
http://listverse.com/2013/04/12/ ... nced-civilizations/
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no reply from madam sepi....so now madam saya rama in new dehli....
hello hindus out there...watch out to this serpent comes in holy garment..and misleading others |
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Source : http://mforum.cari.com.my/forum. ... &extra=page%3D1
No one is a Hindu unless he or she have some basic knowledge about Hinduism. Like that pariah in the above thread claiming himself to be some hindu because his parent brought him to a temple and told him to bow down to idols. He is not a Hindu. He maybe an Indian but that is all he is. He had no clue about God (of Hinduism) nor did he took his own time and afford to learn. All he did was bow.
And now that he is a Muslim (pariah), this stupid a$$hole still doing the same thing - bowing down without any clue to what he is bowing down to. He is doing it (bowing down) NOT because he found faith in God nor anew affection toward Religion; No, he is doing it because he was fooled by some Arabic lunatic name Muhammad who promised him heaven if he bow blindly. Nothing changed in his life, only his stupidity had grown more. |
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Edited by Truth.8 at 2-6-2015 01:53 PM
No one is a Hindu unless he or she have some basic knowledge about Hinduism. Like that pariah in the above thread claiming himself to be some hindu because his parent brought him to a temple and told him to bow down to idols. He is not a Hindu. He maybe an Indian but that is all he is. He had no clue about God (of Hinduism) nor did he took his own time and afford to learn. All he did was bow.
I know you hate Islam as well Christian....when such hatred put in your heart...it create negative caused of action...whatever reason or action anyone does has the meaning ...for example the above guy left hindusim....why? have you ponder?
i would says, hindusim has gone beyond corruption ...tamilan hindu corrupting the hindusim...hence hindusm look stupid, bad and etc....if hindusim kept to Gita and some holy book which teaches good element, why would one need to leave hindusim???..india land of mystery....land where black magic and etc practised using under god name....this leads many hindus feel hindusim is evil or kind satan worshipped...
Today hindus are trying to be a devotee for some gurus who do not even tell their followers to be vegetarian which is the primary quality of the dharma. Hindus are destroying their own dharma by seeking false teachings and gurus.
so the guy choose islam base on several things: proper worshipped, cleanses , food, equal shares, no riba (no interest) etc...
now as for your words using unplesant words to cursed....remember what goes around comes around....because it is the action of your speech which is negative that comes to you....
Think
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Let's us continue from where we left off (before more Pariahs find their ways here).
Purana
Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puranas
Basically Purana means "Of Ancient times" so it maybe stories like Greek Fables, designed to inflict morale messages within the stories on how and why things are as it is and also why something should be avoided. For example, it is still said among men that one should not put too much trust in women as "Chandra (the Moon)" were spoilt because of women and so does "Indra (Lord of Heavens)".
However this does not mean that we should reject the Puranas as complete myth and fables. This is because many of the myths around the World were proven to contain grain of truth. So these puranas could also be used to explain events that happened in a place or to simplify explanations to laymen (by Rishis and Sages). After all, if one of the Rishis were to approach a layman and explain about Quantum Physics, I could very much doubt that the layman could understand.
While Purana could be considered as "stories" similar to the Greek fables, it should not be looked upon as a fairy tales. Many of them were written in length that could make today's novels ashame. For example, Mahapurana is a collection of puranas that consist of 18 purana, that brings the total verses to be 429,000. FYI - the Bible itself have 54,522 verses (plus minus a few hundred) which included the Old Testament and the New Testament combined.
There are another group called Upa-Puranas which consists of information on the 2nd generation gods and goddess as I could call them - namely Lord Ganesha, Lord Muruga, the Bull Guardian Nandi, and such. It is numbered to be 18 puranas in total as well.
And beside the first two collections (Maha and Upa Puranas), there are also lesser puranas which amount to a staggering 180 in total, which makes it almost impossible for a person to be able to sit down and finish reading all these texts in one life time. |
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Agama
I think most South East Asian countries could recognise the word "Agama" which stands for "Religion". Malay word for Religion itself is "Agama" (Yes, many Malay words are from Sanksrit due to the 500 years of influence of India and Hinduism before the coming of Islam in 1500s).
So, this post covers the various form of literature relating on Religions on Hinduism. Many of you could get confused. Why are they so many literature on religions in Hinduism? Isn't Hinduism a single religion - like Christianity and Islam? The answer is No.
Since Hinduism composed by various belief system, it has various different sub-religions within the main category (a religion called Hinduism). The fact is, Hinduism DOES NOT exist. There is no word nor a belief system called Hinduism. When the Persians came to the banks of the River Sindhu (north-west of India, where today Pakistan is), they were confronted by a group of people from the other side of the banks. Lacking in name for these people who opposed them, the Persians called them Hindus (or People who lives across the Sindhu River) and their collective belief system as Hinduism (or in older text, Hindoo). This term was then accepted and adopted by Westerners when they came to India in 1500s. Anyway, we are not here to debate about the origin of the term Hinduism.
Hinduism consists of various belief systems which have various Gods and Goddess at the central piece. Vaishnavism put Lord Vishnu (in South India, known as Narayana Murthi) as the main Deity or God. Majority of books and literature comes from this group of worshippers, over 200 literatures. The second group could be the Shaiva or those who worship Lord Shiva as the main Deity. There are 28 literatures regarding the greatness of Lord Shiva and most of these came from the 64 Sages of Lord Shiva.
It is said that many of these literatures were kept under ground in one of the main temples in India (I forgotten the name) and was rediscovered by one of the Hindu Kings (Raja Cholan if not mistaken). But due to the condition which they were kept, many of the literatures which were written earlier about Lord Shiva was destroyed. So we can say that ignorance of South Indians in keeping their own literature and history properly are the main reasons their belief system are not as expanded as Vaishnavism. Hardly surprising considering that this condition did not change much even today among South Indians, even here in Malaysia.
And finally we have the Saktha or the Worship of Goddess Shakti (Lord Shiva's consult), which have been famous around 1st AD. The reason for this is that worship of Lord Shiva are mainly by the Yogis and those who have renounced the World and seek the more mystical approach to Spiritualism. The Path of Lord Shiva are the Path of Yogis and Mystics, Path of Magic and the Hidden World that lies just next to our physical World. Not many cut out for such path as it is dangerous and very hard to follow. Dangerous here means that such mystical practice can lead to delusion, false sense of ego and toward the darker side of the humanity. This is because the Yogis needs to turn and face their own demons (usually take the form of themselves) and cleanse it from their being before they could nurture their hidden Self (or the Atman).
Worship of Shakti is more toward a Mother-Son relationship where the Devotees consider themselves as Children of the Goddess and seeks "favors" from Her through Love and Devotion. Anyone who has Mothers could know how easy it could be to pursuit their mothers when they need something. Therefore the devotees hope that through their love and devotion, they could pursuit Her or Lord Shiva (who takes the form of the Father) for favors. However, one should not forget that Hindu mothers are more stricter and harsher when comes to children who misbehave, and therefore, the devotees are always reminded of the Karma of their pursuit, that they may seek ONLY goodness for themselves and others. In literature, there are 77 known literatures or books regarding Shakti worship. |
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Religion Part 2
There are many things which makes Hinduism different from any other religions (like Christianity and Islam), however for this post, I will take three (what I considered as most important) aspect of Hinduism :-
1. Sere amount of literature, knowledge and written (or orally transmitted) information in form of text, dialogues and books.
2. Authors who can be traced back through history as real men and women.
3. Sere amount of historical information on how humanity was before coming of joke called Abrahamic belief systems.
You see, despite of a large number of characters calling themselves Kings, Queens and Prophets in Abrahamic texts (like Talmud, Bible and Al Quran), there are largely small amount of historical data here which can actually traced back to an original person or persons of real life. Sure, Muhammad did live 1,400 years but if one were to ask Muslims where and when did Jesus (or Isa as the Muslims calls him) born, lived and died (exact spot, date and detail of his life), most Christians and Muslims will scratch their heads to answer. And this is merely a history (as they call it) of their belief system which occurred (at least in their claims) 2,000 years ago. And yet, we have detailed historical information of not one but 63 Sages (64 if you were to count the 9th Century Manikkavacakar). So, question remains - which belief system based on mythology and which belief system based on historical facts?
In Hinduism we have two branches of Sages - Vaishnanism Alwars (or Maha Vishnu's Sages. 12 in numbers) and 63 Nayanars (or Maha Eshwara's Sages). You can refer to the links below.
One more different between Hinduism and Abrahamic belief system can be found here - and that is the existence of female saints (namely Karaikkal Ammeiyar who lived in 6th century, Mangayarkkarasiyar (her name means Queen of the women) - lived in 7th Century as she had met with Appar and lastly Isaignaniyaar, the mother of Sundarar). Among the Alwars, the most famous woman saint is Andal - born in 10th Century CE.
In the Bible, you could not able to find two women of virtue (one virtous woman is Sarah, wife of Abraham). The rest of the women (including Eve) are labelled as lustful, narrow-minded and easy to corrupt (or if allowed, able to corrupt men).
One could ask - why there is only so little women in Hinduism patronage of their Gods and Goddesses (when compared to men)? The answer is simple - because women's path (according to Hinduism) is already preset as the role of daughter, wife and mother and eventually as the caretaker of the society itself where they have to educate the next generation of youngsters about belief system and religion. In another word, Hinduism have placed a heavier role onto the women's shoulders when compared to men (who are free to fight, travel and indulge in Spiritualism).
Most of these Saints and Sages can be traced back in time. Their birthplace still exist, their history is still known, and their feats are recorded. There are also Sages of bigone eras who have been swept away in passage of times to a point of being mythological. However, what is important here is that there are Sages which we can trace back and therefore, we can conclude that Hinduism (and ONLY Hinduism) are a belief system which are based on Facts, History and Truth.
Source :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nayanars
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alvars
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Darshan (or Dar'sana)
In the sense "to see with reverence and devotion," the term translates to hierophany, and could refer either to a vision of the divine or to being in the presence of a highly revered person. In this sense it may assume a meaning closer to audience. "By doing darshan properly a devotee develops affection for God, and God develops affection for that devotee."
Basically, Darshan means that seeking Lord's attention through practice and devotions. So in this scriptures, Hindus are teaching their followers how to get attention of their Gods/Goddesses. Many could not even understand why this is necessary or why Hindu Gods and Goddesses needs to be addressed in the proper manner (and understanding).
Hinduism relies heavily in concept of Karma, which means that the Universe revolves around Karma - Action and Reaction. For every actions, there are reactions - good and bad bouncing back and forth, creating countless interactions which seems to be chaotic. A person with a chaotic mind, irrational thoughts, uncontrollable emotions and illogical actions toward the World will always finds that the World is chaotic, full of vice, mayhem and evil while a person who has a sound control of his mind (ideals), actions (physical body) and reaction (active thoughts) will always find tranquility like a person who walks in the middle of the Storm where it is always calm and tranquil.
Matter a fact, in Hinduism one do not need to go and disturb the Gods and Goddesses for daily problems (unlike other religions like the Abrahamic belief system which seems to state that every problems in the World - including a clogged toilet can be solved through prayers.). 
Anyway, we are not talking about the irrationality that exists in non-Hindu belief system. Back to the topic at hand. Darshan or Seeking the Divine Attention can be done through several school of thought.
Nyaya
Nyaya (न्याय) is a Sanskrit word which means method, rule, specially a collection of general or universal rules.[1] In some contexts, it means model, axiom, plan, legal proceeding, judicial sentence, or judgment.
In the theory of logic, and Indian texts discussing it, the term also refers to an argument consisting of an enthymeme or sometimes for any syllogism.[1] In philosophical context, Nyaya encompasses propriety, logic and method.[15]
Nyaya is related to several other concepts and words used in Indian philosophies: Hetu-vidya (science of causes), Anviksiki (science of inquiry, systematic philosophy), Pramana-sastra (epistemology, science of correct knowledge), Tattva-sastra (science of categories), Tarka-vidya (science of reasoning, innovation, synthesis), Vadartha (science of discussion) and Phakkika-sastra (science of uncovering sophism, fraud, error, finding fakes).[16] Some of these subsume or deploy the tools of Nyaya.
As we can see from above (bolded statement), Hinduism is NOT a blind faith where one must blindly take a leap of faith and hope he could land on something soft called God. The School of Nyaya consists of strict Science of study, understanding, dissecting, examining, cross-examining, testing and finally applying what they have learned through practical daily functions to be truth.
Which is very different to what Hinduism being practiced today. Today, many take no time to study literature regarding philosophy, with excuse that they have no time to do so. They will run to a "Guru" whom they believe are "educated" in these scriptures which they have no time to study. Unfortunately, this is where the bad names for Hinduism comes from.
Many of these "Gurus" are self-proclaimed "false prophets" who could perform their acting after a brief time spending learning about meditation, Yoga and such worldly practice. They could come out with their own ideals and philosophy and in many times, just to woo non-Hindus (especially rich foreigners), could include foreign belief systems (like the Abrahamic belief system) into their own belief and create their own understanding and perception which continue to delude original Hinduism.
Indian texts identify four requirements for correct perception:[32] Indriyarthasannikarsa (direct experience by one's sensory organ(s) with the object, whatever is being studied), Avyapadesya (non-verbal; correct perception is not through hearsay, according to ancient Indian scholars, where one's sensory organ relies on accepting or rejecting someone else's perception), Avyabhicara (does not wander; correct perception does not change, nor is it the result of deception because one's sensory organ or means of observation is drifting, defective, suspect) and Vyavasayatmaka (definite; correct perception excludes judgments of doubt, either because of one's failure to observe all the details, or because one is mixing inference with observation and observing what one wants to observe, or not observing what one does not want to observe).[32]
Source :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dar%C5%9Bana
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nyaya |
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Edited by Sephiroth at 22-7-2015 10:26 AM
Nyaya - Part 2 - Argument against/toward existence of God
Hinduism is one brave belief system. In times when humans could condemn, persecute and even kill other humans for questioning his or her belief system, only Hinduism seems to be brave enough to allow questions like whether God exist or not to be addressed and they even tried to answer them accordingly. We will look at this questions based on their ideals. BTW - The source is still the same as stated above.
Arguments that God does not exist[edit]
In Nyayasutra's Book 4, Chapter 1, verses 19-21, postulates God exists, states a consequence, then presents contrary evidence, and from contradiction concludes that the postulate must be invalid.[43]
The Lord is the cause, since we see that human action lacks results.
This is not so since, as a matter of fact, no result is accomplished without human action.
Since this is efficacious, the reason lacks force.
—Nyaya Sutra, IV.1.19 - IV.1.21 [43]
Actually I find this reasoning (for God doesn't exist) to be invalid and illogical. First of all, human race is NOT cause of anything other than reactions that occurs to their own selves. It is the human ego, ignorance and arrogance which actually make them think that they are the cause of anything (other than their own misery).
Egoistic Humans goes around thinking - "the World exists for me, therefore I must be the cause for the World to exist, therefore I'm alone is God. Only my perception matters, only my understanding is the Truth, there is Nothing beyond my understanding, including God which I cannot understand nor find proof of existence."
These humans failed to understand one simple fact - that no matter how much they try, they cannot stop Rain from falling down somewhere in the World, nor the Wind blowing, nor the Earth moving or the Sun rising and setting. They cannot stop birth (completely) nor they can stop death when it is time, nor they can stop themselves from aging. They may find ways to extend their life span by several hundred years (even thousands of years) but in the end, they too will die.
ॐ ૐ ॐ ૐ ॐ BRIHADARANYAKA UPANISHADhad II, IV
Thereupon Maitreyi said: Venerable Sir, if indeed the whole earth, full of wealth, belonged to me, would I be immortal through that? No, replied Yajnavalkya, your life would be just like that of people who have plenty. Of Immortality, however, there is no hope through wealth.
Here is the harsh truth - the World existed long BEFORE humans had existed and if humans nuke themselves tomorrow and get wiped out, the World will still exist AFTER them. Humanity is not the cause for the World to exist and if anything, it is the World that is the cause for Humanity to exist as Scientists could say that homo sapiens were "lucky" to "emerge" on the period where the last ice age ended. Refer to James Lovelock's Gaia Theory (1960s).
Is World's seemingly conscious state (as stated in Gaia Theory) a proof of God's existence? Some will agree and some will argue. I will leave it to them to decide. |
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Something I wrote in Muslim Column and wanted to add here :
Evidence why Muhammad is NOT Kalki Avatar.
Source :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalki
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad
12th of the first part of the moon cycle in the month of Chaitra (March/April, Hindu new year) Lord Krishna (as Kalki) arrived then the father was overwhelmed by the son being born
Muhammad was born in Rabi' al-awwal but since the Islamic calender itself seems to be irregular, many scholars are debating when was the exact date Muhammad were born. In another word, no one knows when Muhammad was born when Kalki's birthday was clearly stated. Therefore, the first evidence of Muhammad not being Kalki is his date of birth.
Kalki will establish moral law in the form of the fourfold varnas, and organize society into four classes, after which there will be a return to the path of righteousness.[6]
Kalki Avatar's purpose for being born is clear - he will reestablish moral laws by returning the Hindu Varna status back to the people. Varna is not like the Caste System we have today (which was establish by the British and Moghuls). The Varna here is based on a person's attribute and characteristics and each person will be reorganized into working force for the benefit of the society.
What was Muhammad's purpose? He spend the first 40 years in his life in confusion, the next 10 years trying to fight for what he believed and the final 10 years in fear (for his life) to the point that he didn't even eat food cooked by non-Muslims (which is where the concept of Haram and Halal came from today). Muhammad established NOTHING.
The Padma Purana describes that Kalki will end the age of Kali and kill all mlecchas. He will gather all brahmanas and propound the highest truth, bringing back the ways of dharma that have been lost, and removing the prolonged hunger of the Brahmin. Kalki will defy oppression and be a banner of victory for the world.[8]
When Muhammad died (in June 8, 632), Kali Yuga was still here. He gathered no others except those who are loyal to him alone. Jews and Christian scholars had abandoned him as false prophet and he did not bring anyone toward truth. In another word, Muhammad was a failure because he left the World exactly the same way he had came to it, only much worse. ONLY achievement he managed was to rally Muslim hordes as one under a Caliphate. Also who are the mlecchas here? It is state that Mlecchas are Non-Vedic barbarians. As far as I know, these refers to Muslims and Christians alike.
Padma will be the consort of the avatar, as written in the Kalki Purana.[9] The beloved of Kalki who is incarnation of Lakshmi lives at द्वीप dweep (island) सिंहले Sinha (सिंह shiha (Lion) + ले(of))= "the island of the lion"(1:3:9). Lion City island.
And the final nail to be struck. The one who will marry Kalki will be one who is born in the Island of the Lion. Muslims ... tell me where is this Island of the Lion and which wives of Muhammad is referred to by this?
The truth is - there was NO ISLAND OF THE LION at the time of Muhammad or any time for the next 500 years. The Island which referred to here is SINGAPORE. In another word, Kalki is to marry a maiden from Singapore (City of the Lion). And since Muhammad never even been to Singapore, it is evident that Muhammad is not Kalki. |
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Continue from above ...
Vaisheshika
The epistemology of Vaiśeṣika school of Hinduism, like Buddhism, accepted only two reliable means to knowledge - perception and inference.[2][3] Vaiśeṣika school and Buddhism both consider their respective scriptures as indisputable and valid means to knowledge, the difference being that the scriptures held to be a valid and reliable source by Vaiśeṣikas were the Vedas.
Vaisheshika school is known for its insights in naturalism,[4] and it is a form of atomism in natural philosophy.[5] It postulated that all objects in the physical universe are reducible to paramāṇu (atoms), and one's experiences are derived from the interplay of substance (a function of atoms, their number and their spatial arrangements), quality, activity, commonness, particularity and inherence.[6] Knowledge and liberation was achievable by complete understanding of the world of experience, according to Vaiśeṣika school of Hinduism.[6]
Vaiśeṣika darshana was founded by Kaṇāda Kashyapa around the 2nd century BC.[6]
Pratyaksa = Perception. Divided into two - internal and external. External perception derives from the five physical sensors and worldly object and internal perception derived from the Mind.
Anumana = Interence. Basically it means deriving a new Truth by reexamining the perviously understood Truth and adding new evidence and school of reasoning into it. By reexamining things in a new light, Truth can be redefined over and over again in order to suit the changing times.
The early Vaiśeṣika texts presented the following syllogism to prove that all objects i.e. the four bhūtas, pṛthvī (earth), ap (water), tejas (fire) and vāyu (air) are made of indivisible paramāṇus (atoms): Assume that the matter is not made of indivisible atoms, and that it is continuous. Take a stone. One can divide this up into infinitely many pieces (since matter is continuous). Now, the Himalayan mountain range also has infinitely many pieces, so one may build another Himalayan mountain range with the infinite number of pieces that one has. One begins with a stone and ends up with the Himalayas, which is a paradox - so the original assumption that matter is continuous must be wrong, and so all objects must be made up of a finite number of paramāṇus (atoms).
According to the Vaiśeṣika school, the trasareṇu (dust particles visible in the sunbeam coming through a small window hole) are the smallest mahat (perceivable) particles and defined as tryaṇukas (triads). These are made of three parts, each of which are defined as dvyaṇuka (dyad). The dvyaṇukas are conceived as made of two parts, each of which are defined as paramāṇu (atom). The paramāṇus (atoms) are indivisible and eternal, they can neither be created nor destroyed.[30] Each paramāṇu (atom) possesses its own distinct viśeṣa (individuality).[31]
The measure of the partless atoms is known as parimaṇḍala parimāṇa. It is eternal and it cannot generate the measure of any other substance. Its measure is its own absolutely.[32]
Source : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaisheshika
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Sankhya or Samkyha
These include pratyakṣa (perception), anumāṇa (inference) and śabda (āptavacana, word/testimony of reliable sources).[5][6][7] Sometimes described as one of the rationalist school of Indian philosophy, this ancient school's reliance on reason was neither exclusive nor strong.[8][9]
Samkhya is strongly dualist.[10][11][12] Sāmkhya philosophy regards the universe as consisting of two realities; puruṣa (consciousness) and prakṛti (matter). Jiva (a living being) is that state in which puruṣa is bonded to prakṛti in some form.[13] This fusion, state the Samkhya scholars, led to the emergence of buddhi ("intellect") and ahaṅkāra (ego consciousness). The universe is described by this school as one created by purusa-prakṛti entities infused with various permutations and combinations of variously enumerated elements, senses, feelings, activity and mind.[13] During the state of imbalance, one of more constituents overwhelm the others, creating a form of bondage, particularly of the mind. The end of this imbalance, bondage is called liberation, or kaivalya, by the Samkhya school.[14]
The existence of God or supreme being is not directly asserted, nor considered relevant by the Samkhya philosophers. Sāṃkhya denies the final cause of Ishvara (God).[15] While the Samkhya school considers the Vedas as a reliable source of knowledge, it is an atheistic philosophy according to Paul Deussen and other scholars.[16][17] A key difference between Samkhya and Yoga schools, state scholars,[17][18] is that Yoga school accepts a "personal, yet essentially inactive, deity" or "personal god".[19]
I personally like this school of ideas because it is the closest to describing the Universe, energy and matter as described (or trying to describe) by modern Science. Even today, scientists are trying hard to separate the physical Universe from the notion of a Spiritual Universe. They kept painting a figure of a Universe which is chaotic, uncertain and lacks of order (which could then be an evidence of non-existence of God). A universe which is chaotic could not have a God within it because it could mean that that God lacks of any control over the Universe.
However, in Sankhya philosophy (which no one knows when started officially), the Universe is anything BUT chaotic, uncertain or lack of order. If anything, it has Consciousness within Matter (something like the Force within the Universe in the Star Wars movies and TV shows) and it is this Consciousness which imbueded and created physical forms which we see like Planet, stars, constellations etc. And the best thing is, they imply this Universe model theory into creation of Man. How he is created from Matter and how his Spirit interact with Matter to form a dual state called Mind and how the Mind can cause Imbalance, creating problematic situations for itself which later increase bondage that holds the Spirit down. I think every Star Wars fan could understand that quite easily. 
The 24 Element Principles in Sankhya School
Source : http://www.hinduwebsite.com/24principles.asp
I think one of the best contribution Sankhya school had done is the creation of the 24 Element Principle which they believe was involved in creation of the Universe, which in my opinion is the best non-scientific explaination one can find ANYWHERE and in ANY belief system in the World. No other religion or belief system after Hinduism had came out of such detailed explaination on how the Universe and Man was created.
Mahat (the great Principle)(1) = Pure Energy(?)
Buddhi (discriminating, reasoning and causative intelligence)(2) = Time and Space(?)
Ahamkara (Ego Principle)(3) = Gravity(?)
Manas (the Mind or the Sixth Sense)(4) = Higher form of Life or the notion of Existence(?)
Panchendiryas (Five organs)(9) = Lower form of Life or the Need to Exist(?)
Five Karmendriyas (Five organs of Action)(14) = Physical manifestation of Life(?)
Five Tanmatras (five subtle elements)(19) = Taking metaphysical form by absorbing non-physical elements like light, energy, atomic a.k.a ether(?)
Five Mahabhutas (five gross elements) (24) = Taking physical form by absorbing lower elements like earth, fire, water and wind (?)
The bolded words cames from the Sankhya Philosophy while the unbolded words (ending with question marks) are my own opinion of what they could present in the Creation Process.
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Edited by swimswim at 9-12-2015 11:25 AM
I hope you would be a good hindus and make your religion proud.
Is there any english translation for these scriptures? I would like to countercheck some question i had in mind |
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Post time 29-4-2015 10:41 AM
变色卡
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![[Edisi tahniah] Selamat Pengantin baru Afifah Nasir!](https://uf.cari.com.my/forumx/mforum/block/c9/c97d679eb37ef49a51786bd2e594be95.jpg)
