One of the oldest
religions in the world, Hinduism has no identifiable
founder because it is a religion that evolved and
developed through ages from the spiritual, religious
and social practices of the people of the Indian
subcontinent.
Unlike most other
religions in the world, Hindu tradition has no
single founder and no specific book or even a path
to follow. People are allowed to choose their own
path for enlightenment, which suits a person most in
terms of his/her current position, abilities and
need, guided by a Guru or book or tradition or
purely conscience.
The word "Hindu"
comes from the Sanskrit name for the river Indus (Sindhu).
Most likely the people from the Middle East used
this term first to indicate the people who lived on
the eastern side of the Indus river. The term India
also has the same root, however, this may have been
coined by the Greeks. European colonists used
Hinduism to indicate the spiritual and social
practices of the people of India. Hindus use
Sanatana Dharma, or the "eternal universal tradition
of righteousness and duty" to describe their
spiritual and social practices. In this sense all
Indic traditions such as Vaishnavism, Shaivism,
Jainism, Buddhism, Sikhism – all are part of the
greater Hindu or Indic heritage and civilization.
Concepts such as Yoga, Karma and reincarnation,
Ahimsa, Dharma, Mantra, Guru, Moksha, etc. are
common for all these paths.
According to many, Hinduism in its
recognizable form first appeared in about 1500 BCE
(Before the Common Era, formerly BC, Before Christ),
but Hindus and some other scholars believe that it
is much older than that (according to some accounts
it is between 5 to 10 thousand years old).
Hinduism, commonly referred to as Hindu Dharma
by the Indic traditions developed in the Indian
Sub-continent (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal)
and today is mainly practiced in India, Nepal, parts
of Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Indonesia,
Malaysia, Trinidad, Mauritius, Surinam, South
Africa, Kenya, U.K., Canada and USA. Hinduism is,
however, spreading throughout the world as the
result of immigration, and as people in the west
become increasingly interested in eastern religion
and spirituality.
Hindus consider Brahman or Isvara the ultimate
reality. There are hundreds of gods and goddesses (devas
and devis – meaning "divine manifestation of the
supreme") in Hinduism, and each is seen as the
personification of an aspect of Brahman. The three
main gods representing the Hindu Trinity are Vishnu,
the force for preservation; Brahma, the creator; and
Siva the destructive force. And the main
accompanying goddesses (consorts) of each are:
Lakshmi (wealth and prosperity), Saraswati
(knowledge), and Shakti or Durga (creative power),
respectively.
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10th-century
mandir (temple) in Khajuraho, Madhya PradeshHinduism rests
on the spiritual bedrock of the Vedas, hence Veda Dharma,
and their mystic issue, the Upanishads, as well as the
teachings of many great Hindu gurus through the ages. Many
streams of thought flow from the six Vedic/Hindu schools,
Bhakti sects and Tantra Agamic schools into the one ocean
of Hinduism, the first of the Dharma religions. See
Schools of Hinduism.
The great debate between followers among the major
Hindu philosophical school, Vedanta, from followers of
Advaita philosophy on one hand and the strict theistic
schools such as those of Ramanuja and Madhva on the other,
focused on the true nature of Brahman, on whether Brahman
was essentially attributeless or with attributes, i.e., a
personal Supreme Being.
Vedas, An Overview
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written by Unknown Author
30-Dec-1994
Primary or Classic Vedas consist of invocations to the One
Divine and the divinities of nature, such as the Sun, the
Rain, the Wind, the Fire and the Dawn - as well as prayers
for matrimony, progeny, prosperity, concord, domestic
rites, formulas for magic, and more. They are composed in
beautiful metrical verses, generally of three or four
lines.
Rig-Veda
The heart of the entire Veda with 10,552 verses.
Rig-Veda Interpretation (Poorna Pragnya)
Sama-Veda
Mainly liturgical selections from the Rg-Veda arranged for
melodious chanting, approximately. 2000 verses
Yajur-Veda
as Sama-Veda, but for cadenced intonation, approximately.
2000 verses
Atharva-Veda
Nearly 6,000 verses of prayers, charms and rites are
unique
Besides its Samhita, each Veda includes one or two
Brahmanas, ceremonial handbooks, and Aranyakas, ritual
interpretations, plus many inestimable Upanishads,
metaphysical dialogs. In all there are over 100,000 Vedic
verses, and some prose, in dozens of texts.
The Vedangas and Upavedas are collections of texts that
augment and apply the Vedas as a comprehensive system of
sacred living.
Jyotisha Vedanga delineates auspicious timing for holy
rites.
Astrology and Jai Maharaj's texts
Kalpa Vedanga defines public rituals in the Srauta and
Sulba sutras, domestic rites in the Grihya Sutras and
religious law in the Dharma Sastras.
Four other Vedangas ensure the purity of mantra
recitation, through knowledge of phonetics, grammar,
poetry and the way of words.
The Upavedas expound profound sciences:
Artha-Veda unfolds statecraft
Ayur-Veda sets forth medicine and health
Dhanur-Veda discusses military science
Gandharva-Veda illumines music and the arts
Sthapatya-Veda explains architecture
In addition, the Kama Sutras detail erotic pleasures. The
Agamas, too, have ancillary texts, such as the Upagamas
and Paddhatis, which elaborate the ancient wisdom.
The Epics - the Mahabharata and Ramayana as the two main
classics.
Hindu Astrology, or Vedic Astrology,
for it springs forth from the ancient Vedas, the
spiritual Bible of ancient India, reputed to be over
5000 years old!The astrology of ancient India comes
to us originally from the Rig Veda, the oldest of the
four Vedas. The Vedas were originally an oral
tradition that was passed down from family to family,
generation to generation, reputedly over thousands of
years. Along with the Vedas are ancillary texts known
as Vedanga, or limbs of the Vedas. One of these limbs
specifically explains astrology. It is called Jyotish
Vedanga in Sanskrit, meaning "the limb of astrology."
The oral traditions of this sacred knowledge were
called Shruti in Sanskrit, meaning "that which is
heard." Latter the oral traditions were written down,
and referred to as Smriti in Sanskrit, meaning "that
which is remembered." The astrology of ancient India
draws a distinction between the knowledge that is
directly transmitted orally from teacher to student,
and the knowledge that later was written down in
books. The consciousness of ancient India acknowledges
the often sharp distinctions between that which has
been heard, and later, that which is remembered!
About the 5th century AD many of the previous oral
teachings were put into written form. Many of India’s
greatest astrologer-sages appeared in this period of
time. Such personages as Parasara, Vaharamihira,
Kalyana Varma, and Mantreswar are known by their
written masterpieces on Vedic Astrology; Hora Shastra,
Brihat Jataka, Saravali and the Phaladeepika are all
still readily available today.
In our time such prolific Indian authors as Dr.B.V.
Raman, and most recently Bepin Behari, Dr. K.S. Charak,
and K.N. Rao, have popularized Vedic astrology in
western culture. In the last decade there has been a
resurgence of the Vedic sciences in western thought
largely facilitated by the writings of Deepak Chopra.
Dr. Chopra’s popularization of Aryurvedic medicine has
gone a long way in opening the western mind to eastern
systems of healing and psychology. Aryurveda in
Sanskrit means, "the science of life." Astrology in
Sanskrit is known as Jyotish. Jyotish means, "the
science of light." Both these Vedic sciences are limbs
of the Vedas. But astrology holds a special
consideration. It is known as "the eye" of the Vedas,
for Jyotish gives light, and where there is light one
can see the way ahead clearly. This is why the ancient
Vedas say, "a King without an astrologer is like a man
who is blind in his own home!"
Many western students of astrology commonly ask two
pressing questions about Vedic astrology. They want to
know how Vedic Astrology is different than Western
Astrology, and why there is such a resurgent interest
in this astrology at this time?
Vedic Astrology is different than Western
Astrology in that Vedic Astrologers use a different
Zodiac. There are two Zodiacs, called the Tropical Zodiac
and the Sidereal Zodiac. While Western Astrology uses the
Spring Equinox as the fixed point of Aries, in the month
of March, to start the Tropical Zodiac, Vedic Astrology
uses the actual precessed constellation point of Aries,
currently in the month of April, to start the Sidereal
Zodiac. The difference between the two Zodiacs is
currently 23 to 24 degrees. Planets in your Tropical
astrological chart below 23 to 24 degrees of a particular
sign, say the sign of Aries, will now become recognized by
the previous sign, in this case Pisces. In this manner all
the planets in your Tropical astrological chart will move
backward into the previous degrees of the same or earlier
sign. Exerpted from:
http://www.revealer.com/vedic.htm |