In Hinduism, dharma denotes behaviours that are considered to be in accord with Ṛta—the "order and custom" that makes life and universe possible. This includes duties, rights, laws, conduct,
virtues and "right way of living". The concept is believed to have a transtemporal validity, and is one of the four Puruṣārthas. In
Buddhism, dharma (
Pali: Dhamma) refers to "
cosmic law and order", as expressed by the teachings of the
Buddha. In
Buddhist philosophy, dhamma/dharma is also the term for "
phenomena".
Dharma in Jainism refers to the teachings of Tirthankara (Jina) and the body of doctrine pertaining to the purification and moral transformation of humans. In
Sikhism, dharma indicates the path of righteousness, proper religious practices, and performing one's own moral duties. (Full article...)
Image 2
Rati
Rati (
Sanskrit: रति, Rati) is the
Hindugoddess of
love, carnal desire, lust, passion, and sexual pleasure. Usually described as the daughter of PrajapatiDaksha, Rati is the female counterpart, the chief consort and the assistant of
Kama (Kamadeva), the god of love. A constant companion of Kama, she is often depicted with him in legend and temple sculpture. She also enjoys worship along with Kama.
The Hindu scriptures stress Rati's beauty and sensuality. They depict her as a maiden who has the power to enchant the God of Love. When the deity
Shiva burns her husband to ashes, it is Rati, whose beseeching or penance, leads to the promise of Kama's resurrection. Often, this resurrection occurs when Kama is reborn as
Pradyumna, the son of
Krishna and
Rukmini. Rati – under the name of Mayavati – plays a critical role in the upbringing of Pradyumna, who is separated from his parents at birth. She acts as his nanny, as well as his lover, and tells him the way to return to his parents by slaying the demon-king, who is destined to die at his hands. Later, Kama-Pradyumna accepts Rati-Mayavati as his wife. (Full article...)
Iravan also known as Iravat and Iravant, is a minor character from the
HinduepicMahabharata. The son of
Pandava prince
Arjuna (one of the main heroes of the Mahabharata) and the
Naga princess
Ulupi, Iravan is the central deity of the
cult of Kuttantavar (Kuttandavar) which is also the name commonly given to him in that tradition—and plays a major role in the sect of
Draupadi. Both these sects are of Tamil origin, from a region of the country where he is worshipped as a
village deity and is known as Aravan. He is also a patron god of well-known
transgender communities called Alis (also Aravani in Tamil, and Hijra throughout South Asia).
The Mahabharata portrays Iravan as dying a heroic death on the 8th day of the 18-day
Kurukshetra War (Mahabharata war), the epic's main subject. However, the South Indian traditions have a supplementary practice of honouring Aravan's self-sacrifice to the goddess
Kali to ensure her favour and the victory of the Pandavas in the war. The Kuttantavar tradition focuses on one of the three boons granted to Aravan by the god
Krishna in honour of this self-sacrifice. Aravan requested that he be married before his death. Krishna satisfied this boon in his female form,
Mohini. In
Koovagam,
Tamil Nadu, this incident is re-enacted in an 18-day festival, first by a ceremonial marriage of Aravan to Alis and male villagers (who have taken vows to Aravan) and then by their widowhood after ritual re-enactment of Aravan's sacrifice. (Full article...)
Dwarka has the
Dwarkadhish Temple dedicated to Krishna, which is one of four sacred
Hindu pilgrimage sites called the
Chardham founded by
Adi Shankaracharya at the four corners of the country. The Dwarkadhish Temple was established as a monastic center and forms part of the Dwarka temple complex. Dwarka is also one of the seven most ancient religious cities (
Sapta Puri) in India. (Full article...)
Image 5
The Bhikshuka Upanishad describes
Hindu mendicants who seek spiritual liberation through the practise of yoga
The Upanishad describes four kinds of sannyasins (Hindu monks), their eating habits and lifestyle. Yoga is the path of spiritual liberation for all four. Of these, the Paramahamsa monks are discussed in this text at greater length, and described as loners who are patient with everyone, free from
dualism in their thoughts, and who meditate on their
soul and the
Brahman. (Full article...)
The Badami cave temples are a complex of
Budhist,
Hindu and
Jain cave temples located in
Badami, a town in the
Bagalkot district in northern part of
Karnataka, India. The caves are important examples of
Indian rock-cut architecture, especially
Badami Chalukya architecture, and the earliest date from the 6th century. Badami is a modern name and was previously known as "Vataapi", the capital of the early
Chalukya dynasty, which ruled much of Karnataka from the 6th to the 8th century. Badami is situated on the west bank of a man-made lake ringed by an earthen wall with stone steps; it is surrounded on the north and south by forts built during Early Chalukya and in later times.
The Badami cave temples represent some of the earliest known examples of
Hindu temples in the Deccan region. They along with the temples in
Aihole transformed the Mallaprabha River valley into a cradle of temple architecture that influenced the components of later Hindu temples elsewhere in India. (Full article...)
Vaishnava traditions centre on
Hindu god
Vishnu (centre) and his
avatars.
Vaishnavism (
Sanskrit: वैष्णवसम्प्रदायः,
romanized: Vaiṣṇavasampradāyaḥ) is one of the major
Hindu denominations along with
Shaivism,
Shaktism, and
Smartism. It is also called Vishnuism since it considers
Vishnu as the sole
supreme being leading all other
Hindu deities, that is, Mahavishnu. Its followers are called Vaishnavites or Vaishnavas (
IAST: Vaiṣṇava), and it includes sub-sects like
Krishnaism and Ramaism, which consider
Krishna and
Rama as the supreme beings respectively. According to a 2010 estimate by Johnson and Grim, Vaishnavism is the largest Hindu sect, constituting about 641 million or 67.6% of Hindus.
The ancient emergence of Vaishnavism is unclear, and broadly hypothesized as a
fusion of various regional non-Vedic religions with worship of
Vishnu. It is considered a merger of several popular non-Vedic theistic traditions, particularly the
Bhagavata cults of
Vāsudeva-krishna and Gopala-Krishna, as well as
Narayana, developed in the 7th to 4th century BCE. It was integrated with the Vedic God
Vishnu in the early centuries CE, and
finalized as Vaishnavism, when it developed the
avatar doctrine, wherein the various non-Vedic deities are revered as distinct incarnations of the supreme God
Vishnu.
Rama,
Krishna,
Narayana,
Kalki,
Hari,
Vithoba,
Venkateshvara,
Shrinathji, and
Jagannath are among the names of popular avatars all seen as different aspects of the same supreme being. (Full article...)
Kartikeya has been an important deity in the
Indian subcontinent since
ancient times. It has been postulated that the
Tamil deity of Murugan was syncretized with the
Vedic deity of Skanda following the
Sangam era. He is regarded as the "God of the
Tamil people" and is hailed as the lord of
Palani hills, the tutelary deity of the
Kurinji region whose cult gained immense popularity.
TamilSangam literature has several works attributed to Murugan such as Tirumurukāṟṟuppaṭai by
Nakkīraṉãr and Tiruppukal by
Arunagirinathar. Archaeological evidence from the 1st-century CE and earlier indicate his iconography associated with
Agni, the Hindu god of fire, suggesting he was a significant deity in early Hinduism. (Full article...)
Yoga-like practices were first mentioned in the ancient
Hindu text known as Rigveda. Yoga is referred to in a number of the
Upanishads. The first known appearance of the word "yoga" with the same meaning as the modern term is in the Katha Upanishad, which was probably composed between the fifth and third centuries BCE. Yoga continued to develop as a systematic study and practice during the fifth and sixth centuries BCE in ancient India's
ascetic and
Śramaṇa movements. The most comprehensive text on yoga, the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, date to the early centuries of the
Common Era;
Yoga philosophy became known as one of the six
orthodox philosophical schools (
Darśanas) of Hinduism in the second half of the first millennium CE.
Hatha yoga texts began to emerge between the ninth and 11th centuries, originating in
tantra. (Full article...)
Image 2A new born's Namakarana ceremony. The grandmother is whispering the name into the baby's ear, while friends and family watch. (from Samskara (rite of passage))
Image 3Samskaras are, in one context, the diverse rites of passage of a human being from conception to cremation, signifying milestones in an individual's journey of life in Hinduism. Above is annaprashana samskara celebrating a baby's first taste of solid food. (from Samskara (rite of passage))
Image 4Six Hinduism deities. Surya, Parvati, Hanuman, Lakshmi, Vishnu, and Indra. All of these statues came from India, except Vishnu (from the Thai-Cambodian border). Various eras. National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh (from Hindu deities)
Image 5A Hindu cremation rite in
Nepal. The samskara above shows the body wrapped in saffron on a pyre. (from Samskara (rite of passage))
Image 10The ten avatars of
Vishnu, (Clockwise, from top left) Matsya, Kurma, Varaha, Vamana, Krishna, Kalki, Buddha, Parshurama, Rama and Narasimha, (in centre) Radha and Krishna. Painting currently in
Victoria and Albert Museum. (from Hindu deities)
Image 11Annaprashanam is the rite of passage where the baby is fed solid food for the first time. The ritual has regional names, such as Choroonu in
Kerala. (from Samskara (rite of passage))
Image 12Shiva (left), Vishnu (middle), and Brahma (right) (from Hindu deities)
Image 13Indra is a Vedic era deity, found in south and southeast Asia. Above Indra is part of the seal of a
Thailand state. (from Hindu deities)
Image 14A Tamil Hindu girl (center) in 1870 wearing a half-saree, flowers and jewelry from her Ritu Kala samskara rite of passage (from Samskara (rite of passage))
Image 15Goddess
Durga and a pantheon of other gods and goddesses being worshipped during
Durga Puja Festival in Kolkata. (from Hindu deities)
Image 16Upanayana samskara ceremony in progress. Typically, this ritual was for eight-year-olds in ancient India, but in the 1st millennium CE it became open to all ages. (from Samskara (rite of passage))
Image 17Ishvara is, along with Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma, one of the 17 deities commonly found in Indonesian
Surya Majapahit Hindu arts and records. However, Ishvara represents different concepts in various Hindu philosophies. (from Hindu deities)
The apparent multiplication of gods is bewildering at the first glance, but you soon discover that they are the same
GOD. There is always one uttermost God who defies personification. This makes
Hinduism the most tolerant religion in the world, because its one transcendent God includes all possible gods. In fact Hinduism is so elastic and so subtle that the most profound
Methodist, and crudest idolater, are equally at home with it.
Advaita Vedanta (/ʌdˈvaɪtəvɛˈdɑːntə/;
Sanskrit: अद्वैत वेदान्त,
IAST: Advaita Vedānta) is a
Hindu-tradition of textual exegesis and
philosophy and a
Hindusādhanā, a path of spiritual discipline and experience. In a narrow sense it refers to the scholarly tradition belonging to the
orthodox Hindu
Vedānta tradition, with works written in Sanskrit, as exemplified by the
Vedic scholar and teacher (acharya)
Adi Shankara (9th cent. CE); in a broader sense it refers to a popular medieval and modern syncretic tradition, blending Vedānta with
Yoga and other traditions and producing works in vernacular.
The term Advaita (literally "non-secondness", but usually rendered as "
nondualism", and often equated with
monism) refers to vivartavada, the idea that "the world is merely an unreal manifestation (vivarta) of Brahman," as proposed by the 13th century scholar
Prakasatman. In this view, Brahman alone is ultimately
real, while the transient
phenomenal world is an illusory appearance (maya) of Brahman. In this view, jivatman, the experiencing self, is ultimately non-different ("na aparah") from Ātman-
Brahman, the highest Self or
Reality. The jivatman or individual self is a mere reflection or limitation of singular Ātman in a multitude of apparent individual bodies. (Full article...)
Image 2
Krishna Dvaipayana (
Sanskrit: कृष्णद्वैपायन,
IAST: Kṛṣṇadvaipāyana), better known as Vyasa (/ˈvjɑːsə/;
Sanskrit: व्यास,
lit. 'compiler',
IAST: Vyāsa) or Veda Vyasa (
Sanskrit: वेदव्यास,
lit. 'the one who classified the
Vedas',
IAST: Vedavyāsa,), is a revered
rishi (sage) portrayed in most Hindu traditions. He is traditionally regarded as the author of the epic Mahābhārata.
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (
IAST: Abhaya Caraṇāravinda Bhaktivedānta Svāmī Prabhupāda;
Bengali: অভয চরণারৱিন্দ ভক্তিৱেদান্ত স্ৱামী প্রভুপাদ) (1896–1977) was a spiritual, philosophical, and religious teacher from
India who spread the
Hare Krishna mantra and the teachings of “
Krishna consciousness” to the world. Born as Abhay Charan De and later legally named Abhay Charanaravinda Bhaktivedanta Swami, he is often referred to as “Bhaktivedanta Swami”, "Srila Prabhupada", or simply “Prabhupada”.
Madhvacharya (
IAST: Madhvācārya; pronounced[mɐdʱʋaːˈtɕaːrjɐ]; CE 1199–1278 or CE 1238–1317), and also known as Purna Prajna (
IAST: Pūrṇa-Prajña) and Ānanda Tīrtha (Aananda Theertharu), was an Indian philosopher, theologian and the chief proponent of the Dvaita (dualism) school of
Vedanta. Madhva called his philosophy Tattvavāda meaning "arguments from a realist viewpoint".
Madhvacharya was born on the west coast of
Karnataka state in 13th-century India. As a teenager, he became a
Sanyasi (monk) joining Brahma-sampradaya
guru Achyutapreksha, of the Ekadandi order. Madhva studied the classics of
Hindu philosophy, and wrote commentaries on the
Principal Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita and the
Brahma Sutras (Prasthanatrayi), and is credited with thirty seven works in
Sanskrit. His writing style was of extreme brevity and condensed expression. His greatest work is considered to be the Anuvyakhyana, a philosophical supplement to his
bhasya on the
Brahma Sutras composed with a poetic structure. In some of his works, he proclaimed himself to be an avatar of
Vayu, the son of god
Vishnu. (Full article...)
Aurobindo studied for the
Indian Civil Service at
King's College, in Cambridge, England. After returning to India he took up various civil service works under the Maharaja of the
princely state of
Baroda and became increasingly involved in nationalist politics in the
Indian National Congress and the nascent revolutionary movement in Bengal with the
Anushilan Samiti. He was arrested in the aftermath of a number of bombings linked to his organization in a public trial where he faced charges of treason for
Alipore Conspiracy. However, Sri Aurobindo could only be convicted and imprisoned for writing articles against British colonial rule in India. He was released when no evidence could be provided, following the murder of a prosecution witness, Narendranath Goswami, during the trial. During his stay in the jail, he had mystical and spiritual experiences, after which he moved to
Pondicherry, leaving politics for spiritual work. (Full article...)
Image 6
Painting of Adi Shankara, exponent of Advaita Vedanta with his disciples by
Raja Ravi Varma
Adi Shankara (8th c. CE), also called Adi Shankaracharya (
Sanskrit: आदि शङ्कर, आदि शङ्कराचार्य,
romanized: Ādi Śaṅkara, Ādi Śaṅkarācārya,
lit. 'First
Shankaracharya', pronounced[aːdɪɕɐŋkɐraːt͡ɕaːrjɐ]), was an Indian
Vedic scholar and teacher (acharya) of
Advaita Vedanta. Reliable information on Shankara's actual life is scanty, and his true impact lies in his "iconic representation of Hindu religion and culture," despite the fact that most Hindus do not adhere to Advaita Vedanta. He is seen as "the one who restored the Hindu dharma against the attacks of the Buddhists (and Jains) and in the process helped to drive Buddhism out of India." Tradition also portrays him as the one who reconciled the various sects (Vaishnavism, Shaivism, and Saktism) with the introduction of the Pañcāyatana form of
worship, the simultaneous worship of five deities – Ganesha, Surya, Vishnu, Shiva and Devi, arguing that all deities were but different forms of the one
Brahman, the invisible Supreme Being.
The historical influence of his works on Hindu intellectual thought has been questioned. Until the 10th century Shankara was overshadowed by his older contemporary
Maṇḍana Miśra, and there is no mention of him in concurring Hindu, Buddhist or Jain sources until the 11th century. The popular image of Shankara started to take shape in the 14th century, centuries after his death, when Sringeri matha started to receive patronage from the kings of the Vijayanagara Empire and shifted their allegiance from AdvaiticAgamic Shaivism to Brahmanical Advaita orthodoxy. Hagiographies dating from the 14th-17th centuries deified him as a
ruler-
renunciate, travelling on a
digvijaya (conquest of the four quarters) across the
Indian subcontinent to propagate his philosophy, defeating his opponents in theological debates. These hagiographies portray him as founding four
mathas ("monasteries"), and Adi Shankara also came to be regarded as the organiser of the
Dashanami monastic order, and the unifier of the
Shanmata tradition of worship. The title of
Shankaracharya, used by heads of certain monasteries in India, is derived from his name. (Full article...)
Image 7
Illustration of Swaminarayan writing the Shikshapatri
In 1800, he was initiated into the Uddhavasampradaya by his guru,
Swami Ramanand, and was given the name Sahajanand Swami. Despite opposition, in 1802, Ramanand handed over the leadership of the Uddhava Sampradaya to him before his death. According to the Swaminarayan tradition, Sahajanand Swami became known as Swaminarayan, and the Uddhava Sampradaya became known as the Swaminarayan Sampradaya, after a gathering in which he taught the
Swaminarayan Mantra to his followers. (Full article...)
In Hinduism, dharma denotes behaviours that are considered to be in accord with Ṛta—the "order and custom" that makes life and universe possible. This includes duties, rights, laws, conduct,
virtues and "right way of living". The concept is believed to have a transtemporal validity, and is one of the four Puruṣārthas. In
Buddhism, dharma (
Pali: Dhamma) refers to "
cosmic law and order", as expressed by the teachings of the
Buddha. In
Buddhist philosophy, dhamma/dharma is also the term for "
phenomena".
Dharma in Jainism refers to the teachings of Tirthankara (Jina) and the body of doctrine pertaining to the purification and moral transformation of humans. In
Sikhism, dharma indicates the path of righteousness, proper religious practices, and performing one's own moral duties. (Full article...)
Image 2
Rati
Rati (
Sanskrit: रति, Rati) is the
Hindugoddess of
love, carnal desire, lust, passion, and sexual pleasure. Usually described as the daughter of PrajapatiDaksha, Rati is the female counterpart, the chief consort and the assistant of
Kama (Kamadeva), the god of love. A constant companion of Kama, she is often depicted with him in legend and temple sculpture. She also enjoys worship along with Kama.
The Hindu scriptures stress Rati's beauty and sensuality. They depict her as a maiden who has the power to enchant the God of Love. When the deity
Shiva burns her husband to ashes, it is Rati, whose beseeching or penance, leads to the promise of Kama's resurrection. Often, this resurrection occurs when Kama is reborn as
Pradyumna, the son of
Krishna and
Rukmini. Rati – under the name of Mayavati – plays a critical role in the upbringing of Pradyumna, who is separated from his parents at birth. She acts as his nanny, as well as his lover, and tells him the way to return to his parents by slaying the demon-king, who is destined to die at his hands. Later, Kama-Pradyumna accepts Rati-Mayavati as his wife. (Full article...)
Iravan also known as Iravat and Iravant, is a minor character from the
HinduepicMahabharata. The son of
Pandava prince
Arjuna (one of the main heroes of the Mahabharata) and the
Naga princess
Ulupi, Iravan is the central deity of the
cult of Kuttantavar (Kuttandavar) which is also the name commonly given to him in that tradition—and plays a major role in the sect of
Draupadi. Both these sects are of Tamil origin, from a region of the country where he is worshipped as a
village deity and is known as Aravan. He is also a patron god of well-known
transgender communities called Alis (also Aravani in Tamil, and Hijra throughout South Asia).
The Mahabharata portrays Iravan as dying a heroic death on the 8th day of the 18-day
Kurukshetra War (Mahabharata war), the epic's main subject. However, the South Indian traditions have a supplementary practice of honouring Aravan's self-sacrifice to the goddess
Kali to ensure her favour and the victory of the Pandavas in the war. The Kuttantavar tradition focuses on one of the three boons granted to Aravan by the god
Krishna in honour of this self-sacrifice. Aravan requested that he be married before his death. Krishna satisfied this boon in his female form,
Mohini. In
Koovagam,
Tamil Nadu, this incident is re-enacted in an 18-day festival, first by a ceremonial marriage of Aravan to Alis and male villagers (who have taken vows to Aravan) and then by their widowhood after ritual re-enactment of Aravan's sacrifice. (Full article...)
Dwarka has the
Dwarkadhish Temple dedicated to Krishna, which is one of four sacred
Hindu pilgrimage sites called the
Chardham founded by
Adi Shankaracharya at the four corners of the country. The Dwarkadhish Temple was established as a monastic center and forms part of the Dwarka temple complex. Dwarka is also one of the seven most ancient religious cities (
Sapta Puri) in India. (Full article...)
Image 5
The Bhikshuka Upanishad describes
Hindu mendicants who seek spiritual liberation through the practise of yoga
The Upanishad describes four kinds of sannyasins (Hindu monks), their eating habits and lifestyle. Yoga is the path of spiritual liberation for all four. Of these, the Paramahamsa monks are discussed in this text at greater length, and described as loners who are patient with everyone, free from
dualism in their thoughts, and who meditate on their
soul and the
Brahman. (Full article...)
The Badami cave temples are a complex of
Budhist,
Hindu and
Jain cave temples located in
Badami, a town in the
Bagalkot district in northern part of
Karnataka, India. The caves are important examples of
Indian rock-cut architecture, especially
Badami Chalukya architecture, and the earliest date from the 6th century. Badami is a modern name and was previously known as "Vataapi", the capital of the early
Chalukya dynasty, which ruled much of Karnataka from the 6th to the 8th century. Badami is situated on the west bank of a man-made lake ringed by an earthen wall with stone steps; it is surrounded on the north and south by forts built during Early Chalukya and in later times.
The Badami cave temples represent some of the earliest known examples of
Hindu temples in the Deccan region. They along with the temples in
Aihole transformed the Mallaprabha River valley into a cradle of temple architecture that influenced the components of later Hindu temples elsewhere in India. (Full article...)
Vaishnava traditions centre on
Hindu god
Vishnu (centre) and his
avatars.
Vaishnavism (
Sanskrit: वैष्णवसम्प्रदायः,
romanized: Vaiṣṇavasampradāyaḥ) is one of the major
Hindu denominations along with
Shaivism,
Shaktism, and
Smartism. It is also called Vishnuism since it considers
Vishnu as the sole
supreme being leading all other
Hindu deities, that is, Mahavishnu. Its followers are called Vaishnavites or Vaishnavas (
IAST: Vaiṣṇava), and it includes sub-sects like
Krishnaism and Ramaism, which consider
Krishna and
Rama as the supreme beings respectively. According to a 2010 estimate by Johnson and Grim, Vaishnavism is the largest Hindu sect, constituting about 641 million or 67.6% of Hindus.
The ancient emergence of Vaishnavism is unclear, and broadly hypothesized as a
fusion of various regional non-Vedic religions with worship of
Vishnu. It is considered a merger of several popular non-Vedic theistic traditions, particularly the
Bhagavata cults of
Vāsudeva-krishna and Gopala-Krishna, as well as
Narayana, developed in the 7th to 4th century BCE. It was integrated with the Vedic God
Vishnu in the early centuries CE, and
finalized as Vaishnavism, when it developed the
avatar doctrine, wherein the various non-Vedic deities are revered as distinct incarnations of the supreme God
Vishnu.
Rama,
Krishna,
Narayana,
Kalki,
Hari,
Vithoba,
Venkateshvara,
Shrinathji, and
Jagannath are among the names of popular avatars all seen as different aspects of the same supreme being. (Full article...)
Kartikeya has been an important deity in the
Indian subcontinent since
ancient times. It has been postulated that the
Tamil deity of Murugan was syncretized with the
Vedic deity of Skanda following the
Sangam era. He is regarded as the "God of the
Tamil people" and is hailed as the lord of
Palani hills, the tutelary deity of the
Kurinji region whose cult gained immense popularity.
TamilSangam literature has several works attributed to Murugan such as Tirumurukāṟṟuppaṭai by
Nakkīraṉãr and Tiruppukal by
Arunagirinathar. Archaeological evidence from the 1st-century CE and earlier indicate his iconography associated with
Agni, the Hindu god of fire, suggesting he was a significant deity in early Hinduism. (Full article...)
Yoga-like practices were first mentioned in the ancient
Hindu text known as Rigveda. Yoga is referred to in a number of the
Upanishads. The first known appearance of the word "yoga" with the same meaning as the modern term is in the Katha Upanishad, which was probably composed between the fifth and third centuries BCE. Yoga continued to develop as a systematic study and practice during the fifth and sixth centuries BCE in ancient India's
ascetic and
Śramaṇa movements. The most comprehensive text on yoga, the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, date to the early centuries of the
Common Era;
Yoga philosophy became known as one of the six
orthodox philosophical schools (
Darśanas) of Hinduism in the second half of the first millennium CE.
Hatha yoga texts began to emerge between the ninth and 11th centuries, originating in
tantra. (Full article...)
Image 2A new born's Namakarana ceremony. The grandmother is whispering the name into the baby's ear, while friends and family watch. (from Samskara (rite of passage))
Image 3Samskaras are, in one context, the diverse rites of passage of a human being from conception to cremation, signifying milestones in an individual's journey of life in Hinduism. Above is annaprashana samskara celebrating a baby's first taste of solid food. (from Samskara (rite of passage))
Image 4Six Hinduism deities. Surya, Parvati, Hanuman, Lakshmi, Vishnu, and Indra. All of these statues came from India, except Vishnu (from the Thai-Cambodian border). Various eras. National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh (from Hindu deities)
Image 5A Hindu cremation rite in
Nepal. The samskara above shows the body wrapped in saffron on a pyre. (from Samskara (rite of passage))
Image 10The ten avatars of
Vishnu, (Clockwise, from top left) Matsya, Kurma, Varaha, Vamana, Krishna, Kalki, Buddha, Parshurama, Rama and Narasimha, (in centre) Radha and Krishna. Painting currently in
Victoria and Albert Museum. (from Hindu deities)
Image 11Annaprashanam is the rite of passage where the baby is fed solid food for the first time. The ritual has regional names, such as Choroonu in
Kerala. (from Samskara (rite of passage))
Image 12Shiva (left), Vishnu (middle), and Brahma (right) (from Hindu deities)
Image 13Indra is a Vedic era deity, found in south and southeast Asia. Above Indra is part of the seal of a
Thailand state. (from Hindu deities)
Image 14A Tamil Hindu girl (center) in 1870 wearing a half-saree, flowers and jewelry from her Ritu Kala samskara rite of passage (from Samskara (rite of passage))
Image 15Goddess
Durga and a pantheon of other gods and goddesses being worshipped during
Durga Puja Festival in Kolkata. (from Hindu deities)
Image 16Upanayana samskara ceremony in progress. Typically, this ritual was for eight-year-olds in ancient India, but in the 1st millennium CE it became open to all ages. (from Samskara (rite of passage))
Image 17Ishvara is, along with Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma, one of the 17 deities commonly found in Indonesian
Surya Majapahit Hindu arts and records. However, Ishvara represents different concepts in various Hindu philosophies. (from Hindu deities)
The apparent multiplication of gods is bewildering at the first glance, but you soon discover that they are the same
GOD. There is always one uttermost God who defies personification. This makes
Hinduism the most tolerant religion in the world, because its one transcendent God includes all possible gods. In fact Hinduism is so elastic and so subtle that the most profound
Methodist, and crudest idolater, are equally at home with it.
Advaita Vedanta (/ʌdˈvaɪtəvɛˈdɑːntə/;
Sanskrit: अद्वैत वेदान्त,
IAST: Advaita Vedānta) is a
Hindu-tradition of textual exegesis and
philosophy and a
Hindusādhanā, a path of spiritual discipline and experience. In a narrow sense it refers to the scholarly tradition belonging to the
orthodox Hindu
Vedānta tradition, with works written in Sanskrit, as exemplified by the
Vedic scholar and teacher (acharya)
Adi Shankara (9th cent. CE); in a broader sense it refers to a popular medieval and modern syncretic tradition, blending Vedānta with
Yoga and other traditions and producing works in vernacular.
The term Advaita (literally "non-secondness", but usually rendered as "
nondualism", and often equated with
monism) refers to vivartavada, the idea that "the world is merely an unreal manifestation (vivarta) of Brahman," as proposed by the 13th century scholar
Prakasatman. In this view, Brahman alone is ultimately
real, while the transient
phenomenal world is an illusory appearance (maya) of Brahman. In this view, jivatman, the experiencing self, is ultimately non-different ("na aparah") from Ātman-
Brahman, the highest Self or
Reality. The jivatman or individual self is a mere reflection or limitation of singular Ātman in a multitude of apparent individual bodies. (Full article...)
Image 2
Krishna Dvaipayana (
Sanskrit: कृष्णद्वैपायन,
IAST: Kṛṣṇadvaipāyana), better known as Vyasa (/ˈvjɑːsə/;
Sanskrit: व्यास,
lit. 'compiler',
IAST: Vyāsa) or Veda Vyasa (
Sanskrit: वेदव्यास,
lit. 'the one who classified the
Vedas',
IAST: Vedavyāsa,), is a revered
rishi (sage) portrayed in most Hindu traditions. He is traditionally regarded as the author of the epic Mahābhārata.
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (
IAST: Abhaya Caraṇāravinda Bhaktivedānta Svāmī Prabhupāda;
Bengali: অভয চরণারৱিন্দ ভক্তিৱেদান্ত স্ৱামী প্রভুপাদ) (1896–1977) was a spiritual, philosophical, and religious teacher from
India who spread the
Hare Krishna mantra and the teachings of “
Krishna consciousness” to the world. Born as Abhay Charan De and later legally named Abhay Charanaravinda Bhaktivedanta Swami, he is often referred to as “Bhaktivedanta Swami”, "Srila Prabhupada", or simply “Prabhupada”.
Madhvacharya (
IAST: Madhvācārya; pronounced[mɐdʱʋaːˈtɕaːrjɐ]; CE 1199–1278 or CE 1238–1317), and also known as Purna Prajna (
IAST: Pūrṇa-Prajña) and Ānanda Tīrtha (Aananda Theertharu), was an Indian philosopher, theologian and the chief proponent of the Dvaita (dualism) school of
Vedanta. Madhva called his philosophy Tattvavāda meaning "arguments from a realist viewpoint".
Madhvacharya was born on the west coast of
Karnataka state in 13th-century India. As a teenager, he became a
Sanyasi (monk) joining Brahma-sampradaya
guru Achyutapreksha, of the Ekadandi order. Madhva studied the classics of
Hindu philosophy, and wrote commentaries on the
Principal Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita and the
Brahma Sutras (Prasthanatrayi), and is credited with thirty seven works in
Sanskrit. His writing style was of extreme brevity and condensed expression. His greatest work is considered to be the Anuvyakhyana, a philosophical supplement to his
bhasya on the
Brahma Sutras composed with a poetic structure. In some of his works, he proclaimed himself to be an avatar of
Vayu, the son of god
Vishnu. (Full article...)
Aurobindo studied for the
Indian Civil Service at
King's College, in Cambridge, England. After returning to India he took up various civil service works under the Maharaja of the
princely state of
Baroda and became increasingly involved in nationalist politics in the
Indian National Congress and the nascent revolutionary movement in Bengal with the
Anushilan Samiti. He was arrested in the aftermath of a number of bombings linked to his organization in a public trial where he faced charges of treason for
Alipore Conspiracy. However, Sri Aurobindo could only be convicted and imprisoned for writing articles against British colonial rule in India. He was released when no evidence could be provided, following the murder of a prosecution witness, Narendranath Goswami, during the trial. During his stay in the jail, he had mystical and spiritual experiences, after which he moved to
Pondicherry, leaving politics for spiritual work. (Full article...)
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Painting of Adi Shankara, exponent of Advaita Vedanta with his disciples by
Raja Ravi Varma
Adi Shankara (8th c. CE), also called Adi Shankaracharya (
Sanskrit: आदि शङ्कर, आदि शङ्कराचार्य,
romanized: Ādi Śaṅkara, Ādi Śaṅkarācārya,
lit. 'First
Shankaracharya', pronounced[aːdɪɕɐŋkɐraːt͡ɕaːrjɐ]), was an Indian
Vedic scholar and teacher (acharya) of
Advaita Vedanta. Reliable information on Shankara's actual life is scanty, and his true impact lies in his "iconic representation of Hindu religion and culture," despite the fact that most Hindus do not adhere to Advaita Vedanta. He is seen as "the one who restored the Hindu dharma against the attacks of the Buddhists (and Jains) and in the process helped to drive Buddhism out of India." Tradition also portrays him as the one who reconciled the various sects (Vaishnavism, Shaivism, and Saktism) with the introduction of the Pañcāyatana form of
worship, the simultaneous worship of five deities – Ganesha, Surya, Vishnu, Shiva and Devi, arguing that all deities were but different forms of the one
Brahman, the invisible Supreme Being.
The historical influence of his works on Hindu intellectual thought has been questioned. Until the 10th century Shankara was overshadowed by his older contemporary
Maṇḍana Miśra, and there is no mention of him in concurring Hindu, Buddhist or Jain sources until the 11th century. The popular image of Shankara started to take shape in the 14th century, centuries after his death, when Sringeri matha started to receive patronage from the kings of the Vijayanagara Empire and shifted their allegiance from AdvaiticAgamic Shaivism to Brahmanical Advaita orthodoxy. Hagiographies dating from the 14th-17th centuries deified him as a
ruler-
renunciate, travelling on a
digvijaya (conquest of the four quarters) across the
Indian subcontinent to propagate his philosophy, defeating his opponents in theological debates. These hagiographies portray him as founding four
mathas ("monasteries"), and Adi Shankara also came to be regarded as the organiser of the
Dashanami monastic order, and the unifier of the
Shanmata tradition of worship. The title of
Shankaracharya, used by heads of certain monasteries in India, is derived from his name. (Full article...)
Image 7
Illustration of Swaminarayan writing the Shikshapatri
In 1800, he was initiated into the Uddhavasampradaya by his guru,
Swami Ramanand, and was given the name Sahajanand Swami. Despite opposition, in 1802, Ramanand handed over the leadership of the Uddhava Sampradaya to him before his death. According to the Swaminarayan tradition, Sahajanand Swami became known as Swaminarayan, and the Uddhava Sampradaya became known as the Swaminarayan Sampradaya, after a gathering in which he taught the
Swaminarayan Mantra to his followers. (Full article...)