Yegan

Dear jndas, From your statement above should I presume that Dronacarya has made a mistake in refusing to teach Karna because he is a "sudra" ? Hari bol

Dear guest, Thxs for responding, but your explanation doesnt seem convincing to me. If birth dictates your caste, then Karna is a kshatriya by birth, for his father is none but the sun god. Whether Dhuryodana, gave him lands or not, doesnt matter at all for Karna is born as kshatriya. As a matter of fact, he is the true heirs of all the lands and the only one eligible to be crowned king (Since he is the eldest pandavas). Considering the STATUS issue, well I dont agree with you because: 1. Anyone born in a poor family, will never be able to become a kshatriya because obviously STATUS would be absent as you have clearly mentioned. (Usually someone poor doesnt have proper education or training hence NO REQUIRED STATUS to become a kshatriya according to you. I obviously disagree with that.) 2. If STATUS is one of the attributes that makes someone to be kshatriya or may be Brahmin then to me I find that very unfair. So many people are born poor but with blatant characteristics of a kshatriya, but due to their so called "unproper status" they are deprived to become kshatriya. Anyway I have never come across a verse which says that your caste is STATUS dependent. Point me to a verse which says so. 3. If someone needs lands or woteva STATUS to be accredited as kshatriya, then there would be no soldiers fighting in Mahabharat because obviously their so called status is same if not lower than Karna and thus unfit to fight. The proclaimed scientist at some point of his life had no training nor proper education ,same like the farmers. It took someone to give him the chance to learn and acquire knowledge ,independent of his so called status before becoming a scientist. The farmer may not have the knowledge of the scientist at present but it might well be that the farmer's nature is more scientific than the scientist. Given the chance to explore his nature, (i.e learning and training) he can become a scientist as well. Same thing applies with Karna. His nature is blatantly that of a kshatriya, and if everyone were like Dronacarya(Take disciple based on status, according to you), then Karna would have never been given the chance to fight which would have been very unfair for someone with kshatriya nature.

Hari Bol, I have been reading some of the threads on this forum and have come across one which has shed some confusion in my mind. As per his holiness Srila Prabhupada, caste is nature dependent and NOT birth dependent. So someone who is born in a sudra family for example can later do preaching and thus is a brahmin, independent of his family background. Now what I cannot understand is if this is so, then why Dronocarya refuses to accept Karna as his disciple. To my knowledge Dronacarya refuses to accept Karna as hisciple because the latter was from "sudra" family. Karna blatantly has the nature of a warrior and as such Dronacarya should have accepted him as disciple, since caste is nature dependent. Can anyone plz enlighten me on this issue. I am not well versed in Mahabaharat, my appologies if I made a wrong statement. Jai Radhe

There are 18 puranas, among them there is one named Skanda and it contains lots of information on Lord Murugan. If you have heard about Skanda before, than he is the very same Lord Murugan /karttikeya. Same like Krishna is known as Govinda or Kessava. In south India many people would refer to skanda as Muruga or Karttikeya.

'Vegatarianism' is the the best diet (my own belief, many wont agree with me). Eating meat is not recommended, eating cow is definitely the worst among the worst if you are after spiritual quest. I presume one can get away by eating say chicken, but definetely NOT by eating cow. To my knowledge I dont know any branch in hinduism which allows cow eating.

Lord Karttikeya also commonly known as Murugan(In Tamil Nadu) is the son of Shiva, born through his thrid eyes, independent of his wife Parvati. Whereas Lord Ganesha is born from mother Parvati, independant of her husband, lord Shiva. No, Lord Muruga is not Kali.

The most important festival for Lord shiva is Maha shivaratree which falls on the darkest night of the month Feb/March. We do have shivaratrees every month but the major one is on Feb/March hence the name "Maha". Jai bolenath

Picture Of Lord Murugan (Click on picture to have a better view). If you need some songs/Prayers (Gonna get some serious vibrations) of Lord Murugan, let me know I got heaps.

The Skanda Purana deals with the Avatara and Lilas of Lord Skanda, the spiritual son of Lord Siva. Two Skanda Puranas are available one divided into Khandas, and the other divided into Samhitas. The former gives only a brief account of Lord Skanda’s Avatara and the destruction of Tarakasura at His hands. The latter, however, contains a detailed account of the divine advent and the glorious deeds of Lord Skanda the need for the Lord’s advent, His auspicious Avatara, His Bala Lilas, the commanding of the Deva army against the Asuras and their destruction, His marriage with Valli and Deivayanai, etc. There is a work called Kanda Puranam in Tamil, composed by Saint Kachiyappa Sivachariar, in verses, based on the Samhita-divided Skanda Purana and under the orders of Lord Shanmukha Who also gave the first line for the work. The advent of the Lord was for the purpose of punishing the wicked and protecting the good. The great Asura Surapadma was tyrannising the Devas. He was defeated in battle by the Lord and the Devas were released from his control. This happened on the eve of the sixth day after Dipavali, which is the day of Skanda Shashthi. This day is celebrated in a grand manner in all temples of Lord Skanda. To devotees and spiritual seekers, the period of six days of Skanda Shashthi is an occasion for observance of strict Vratas, performance of grand worships and communion with the Lord in the Self within. Glory to Lord Skanda, the bestower of Divine Wisdom. In order to save the good [Devas] from wicked [Asuras], LORD MURUGAN was originated from the Holy Sparks of Lord Siva's third eye. The story goes that the sparks which flashed forth from the third eye of Siva rushed through space, which Vayu and Agni carried and dropped into the river Ganga. By the grace of the Lord, the sparks were carried by holy Ganga to Saravanappoihai. On arriving at the tank, the sparks assumed the form of six children of unparalleled beauty. Each baby was lying on a lotus and was being lulled to sleep by the Devis of the Karttikai (the 3rd constellation of the 27 Stars). To witness this Avatara of the Saviour, all the Devas hastened to the tank along with Lord Siva and Parvati. Parvati, out of the extreme fondness of a mother, took up the babes together and called them Skanda. Instead of them remaining as six separate individual babes, there arose the form of one Deity with six faces and twelve hands. Hence he was known as Lord Arumugaswamy or Shanmukha, the Lord with six faces. As he was nursed by the six Devis of the Karttikai Star, he was known also as Karttik Swami, or Karttikeyan. Thus, to the great joy of the persecuted Devas, the Lord Himself appeared in the form of Shanmukha to protect the good and to punish the wicked. As the form of Lord Shanmukha originated in a tank of shrubs, he was known as Saravanabhava. There is thus a combination of the ether, air, fire, water and earth principles in the depositing of the Tejas or energy of Siva in the world. The cumulative force which combined the forms of the five elements impregnated with the divine power of Siva (Divya-Tejas) manifested itself as a sixfold divinity with six faces (Shanmukha), including both the unmanifest and manifest elements in a single being. This is the child of Siva, of mysterious birth, mysterious bringing up, under mysterious circumstances, for a mysterious purpose which the Gods alone knew. The third eye represents the principle of intelligence and Skanda, thus, as a revelation through the third eye of Siva, is said to stand for an incarnation of Divine Knowledge. Information was from http://www.nallur.org/Murugan.html

The Tamils have named Shanmukha as Murugan. Just as the God of Winds is Vayu, the God of Waters Varuna, the Tamil term for the Lord of Nature is Murugan. The term Murugan, in Tamil, denotes the Deity possessed of undecaying beauty, everlasting youth and Godliness. Any Deity who is endowed with the above attributes is truly Murugan. Hence the worship of Skanda or Murugan does not pertain to any sect or creed. Perhaps it is the outcome of an inherent desire of man to express his gratitude for an unknown and hidden Power, which bestows upon him every good and removes all his sufferings. Worship of Lord Murugan is tantamount to the worship of Nature. As Nature abounds with soul-stirring and inspiring landscapes and is the source and support of all living beings on earth, the ancients have thought it right to glorify Nature. To lead a natural life is to live with Nature. This is the life in consonance with the Divine Will. Control of the senses, anger and lust is the way to achieve the higher life. And the most important form of worship that a human being can offer unto the Lord is by not hurting others either by thought or word or deed. Only then life in nature becomes smooth and happy. It is this kind of worship and life that the Skanda Purana teaches us through the worship of the Saguna form of Lord Skanda. Indeed it is the counsel of Christ: “Treat thy neighbour as thy own Self” and “Do unto others as thou wishest to be done by.” And the Essence of all religions is only to abstain from inflicting injury on anyone,—Ahimsa Paramodharmah. Hence, whenever we worship Lord Murugan, we should have the Bhava ‘I pray unto Him, who is the All-Pervading Beautiful One, the Indweller of all, in the Form of Lord Subrahmanya or Murugan.’ This Saguna form of the Lord is only to give a hold and grasp for the mind to understand the Immortal, the Omnipotent and the Omniscient attributes of the Almighty, who is at once Infinite and the Indweller of every heart. As in the worship of other Deities, in the Saguna worship of Lord Skanda also, there are some Vratas, or observances. There was once a king, Muchukunda by name. He was a staunch Saivite. He approached Sage Vasishtha to advise him on the importance and methods of observing some Vrata by which he could gain personal success, peace and prosperity. Vasishtha indicated the Vratas of Lord Skanda and detailed their significances. One of them is the Vrata observed on every Friday. By observing this Vrata of Friday for 3 years, Bhagiratha overcame his enemy Gora. On Friday, after a clean bath, one should do Puja and Archana for the Lord with extreme devotion. He who does this is bound to achieve success in all his undertakings. Another Vrata is the Karttikai Vrata. On every Karttikai (3rd constellation of the 27 stars) day, this Vrata is to be observed with faith and devotion, and with external purification by a bath, before the Puja, etc. This Vrata was observed by Narada Rishi as per the advice of Lord Ganesa. After a period of 12 years, Narada gained his ambition, viz., the supreme position among the great Sapta Rishis. The most important of all the Vratas of Lord Shanmukha is the Skanda Shashthi Vrata. It is to be commenced on the Prathama Tithi (the day immediately following Dipavali) of the Sukla Paksha (bright fortnight) in the month of Aippasi (October-November). A complete fast should be observed and the devotee should engage himself solely in the Puja of the Lord, in reading and learning of the glories of Lord Skanda, Bhajan, meditation, etc. If fasting for six days continuously is likely to prove too much of a strain, he may have one meal per day and fast completely on the last day, i.e. the Shashthi Day. This is the day to commemorate the victory of Lord Shanmukha over the Asura king, Surapadman. Persons who observe this Vrata achieve success in all their undertakings and in the end attain Liberation.

Some information on Lord Murugan, Kali Yuga, the age indicating the period of darkness and degeneration commenced about 3100 BC. Many Hindus believe that the presiding deity of this yugam [period] is LORD MURUGAN [Kali Yuga Varathan], whose VEL that symbolises the spear of victory, will eventually restore peace and harmony, destroying arrogance, violence and injustice. The worship of LORD MURUGAN goes back to the pre-Christian era, and forms an important facet in the religious life of Hindus. LORD MURUGAN, although regarded as the second son of Siva, and the younger brother of Ganesha, is infact an Avatara of Lord Siva. All incarnations are manifestations of the One Supreme Lord. Lord Subrahmanya and Lord Krishna are one. Lord Krishna says in the Gita, "Senaninam Aharn Skandah,Of the Generals, I am Skanda". The Lord manifests Himself from time to time in various names and forms for establishing Dharma and punishing the wicked. Lord Subrahmanya is a ray born of the Chaitanya of Lord Siva. He is the energy of Lord Siva. Valli and Deivayani are His two Divine consorts. They represent the Iccha Shakti and the Kriya Shakti of the Lord. He is a Pratyaksha Devata in this Kali Yuga, like Hanuman. He bestows on His devotees material and spiritual prosperity and success in all their undertakings, even at the slightest devotion shown to Him. He is worshipped much in South India and Sri Lanka. Guha, Muruga, Kumaresa, Karttikeya, Shanmukha (he who has six faces), Subrahmanya, Skanda, Velayudha (he who wears the Spear), Saravanabhava are synonymous terms. In the above picture, Lord-Subrahmanya holds the Vel or Spear in His hand, just as Lord Siva holds the Trident or Trisula. The Vel is an emblem of Power, and indicates that He is the ruler of this Universe. Devotees of Lord Subrahmanya do obeisance to the Vel. His vehicle or Vahana is the peacock: this is by way of representation that he has entirely conquered pride, egoism, vanity. There is a cobra under His Feet: this is to indicate that He is absolutely fearless, immortal and wise. Valli is on His one side, Deivayanai is on the other. Sometimes He stands alone with the Vel. He is then called by the name of Dandapani. This represents His Nirguna aspect which is free from Maya. The six heads represent the six rays or the six attributes viz. Jnana (wisdom), Vairagya (dispassion), Bala (strength), Kirti (fame), Sree (wealth) and Aishvarya (divine powers). They indicate that He is the source for the four Vedas, Vedangas and the six schools of philosophy; that He has controlled the five Jnana Indriyas and the mind. They denote that He is the Virat Purusha with countless heads. They signify that His head is turned everywhere (Visvatomukha): He is all-pervading. They indicate that He is omnipotent and that He can multiply and assume forms at His will. Veltrivel Muruga Haro Hara

I can follow your line of thinking, and your question has a logical approach. But as Jndas has mentioned, you CANNOT consume the fresh of cow even after the latter has met a natural death. Cow is considered as your very own mother in Sanatan Dharma. And as such if you are a hindu you should NEVER EVER consume cow's fresh even if you are forced to so or if the cow met with a natural death. Think about it, would you eat your own mother after she died? That would be considered cannibalism and complete disrespect if u do, in the same approach, eating cow is considered cannibalism and complete disrespect. More importantly, krishna loves cows, and he said they are worshipable. Govinda is the protector of cows. One cannot pray to Govinda and at the same time eat cow, that is hypocrite. So eating cow is abominable in whichever form or state. Jai Govinda

What if we can have an altenative? What i mean is instead of using the skin of a cow to make mridangas, can there be another material for substitution? If there is a substitution to the cow skin, should we use it or should we stick to the cow skin? BY using the cow's skin in mridangas, I presume in a way the cow is rendering service to the lord, but then would you have used the skin of your own mother in service of the lord(assuming human skin can be used as leather)? Personally if I had a choice I would not use the skin of cow even in mridangas, but instead would use an alternative material. However if in the scriptures it is mentioned that we can safely use the skin of cow for service to the lord, then yes. Apologies if I have offended anyone on this issue. Cow is extremely sacred and is a very sensitive issue to discuss. Jai Govinda

That wuld be kool if sephiroth can show, where in the scritures we can find these connections with Modern Science. We would definitely learn more. Jai Govinda

I did try once to fix my mind, and I got an instant realisation that very same day. I came to realise that the mind is mega hard to be kept fixed. The same thing happens when I do chant the nama hare krishna mantra. My mind would just drift away. Its amazing you know, I have Govinda in front of me, and yet my mind would travel repeatedly, thinking of stuffs that happened 10years back, thinking about the future plans, thinking what shall I cooked, thinking how unlucky I am not having my mum here to cook for me. My mind would be fixed, yes on everything else ,apart from Govinda who is just standing in front of me and on whom i was supposed to have the mind fixed. I know its an offence, but I just dont have any control over my mind. I have read the gita which states how unsteady is the mind but I now got the realisation of it. Anyone having some advice of how to control the mind, that would be kool. Haribol

Dear guest, indeed you are right, heaps of theories. I have just mentioned the one(ever expanding universe) which is mostly accepted in the scientifical community. Any of these theories can be proved wrong at any time. So we need to rely on other source of information to get the absolute truth. Personally I have faith in the repetitive nature of the universe. Concerning your point of view on the inhalation and exhalation, matter of fact we dont share the same point of view. I presume that the explanation of a spiritual guru might he helpful here for us to have some understanding of Lord Vishnu's inhalation and exhalation in connection to the universe. If he himself cannot exit due to something (i.e that "something" might be breath or wotever it may be), then he is not fit to be called GOD. GOD exits by himself and doesnt need anything or anyone to be sustained.I think there are nice verses in the Gita on this account. Again a guru would be helpful here as well for clarification

Yes you are right dear guest, but the ever expanding universe has the majority of adepts among the scientists. There is also the repeating universe which indeed parallel the cosmological hindu philosophy, but then it is not widely accepted in the scientist community as the ever expanding universe.

Sephiroth, I am just wandering if you follow the preaching of srila prabhupada (ISKCON)? If the question bothers you or is inappropriate, my appologies, dont reply. Thxs Jai Radhe

Modern Science believes in an ever expanding universe(which is believed to be even accelerating). According to modern science there is not enough matter (Dark matter hasnt been taken in the analysis to my knowledge) to reverse this process and hence sooner(billions and billions of years from now) the universe would be dead. In sanatan dharma we believe that on one exhalation lord vishnu the whole universe is being created and on his inhalation all the universes enter him. This somehow contradicts the "Ever expanding universe as suggested by modern science". With this phylosophical approach in mind, the universe at some point would stop accelerating and then instead starts to collapse (Lord Vishnu starts to inhale). And the cycle would repeat itself. So in sanatan dharma the concept of an ever expanding universe is not accepted. Instead we belive in repeated cycles(expanding and collapsing). All this happens in one breath of Maha Vishnu.

If Naga ashtra is from electricity, what about the thunderbold of indra?

Hi friends, If we want to propagate Hinduism/ sanatan dharma, I think we should start head on by preventing the mass conversion of our "own people" to other religions. Hindus converting to other religions, first and foremost is because they do not know the beauty of their own religion. The tactics that one Christian missionary used on me in trying to convert me was that in Hinduism we have many GODS, and we pray to stones and idols and as a consequence makes no sense at all. Well, believe it or not many Hindus get brainwashed with these sort of tactics. The solution is simple, start to explain the LOGIC/MEANING behind some of our traditions, starting with our kids. we can no longer tell our kids to follow traditions unless we can show them the logical meaning behind these traditions. Example: 1/ why do we bow before elders? (Christians and muslims can argue that we should only bow before almighty and not before elders) 2/ why we pray to stones, idols? (we should be able to explain to our kids that the so called "stones" and "idols" are infact deities and we should be able to explain to them the differences) 3/ why so many GODS in hinduism whereas in other religions there is only one GOD? 4/ why apparently only cows are given much importance and why we worship an animal i.e cow? (This one is one of their favorite brainwashed tactics) The list goes on.... To give you an idea how these tactics are used in trying to shake our faith, see the link below. These tactics are being used here itself on audarya forums! ww.audarya-fellowship.com/forums/hinduism/24135-why-do-hindus-name-themselves-after-gods-why-do-they-worship-each-others.html These are the few questions that all hindus should be able to answer. In this way our kids will be able to have a strong foundation and our faith will withstand outside influences because it wont be a blind faith but a faith with "meaning". So by teaching our kids the meaning behind our traditions, they will get to see the beauty of sanatan dharma and develop a strong foundation. Strong foundation gives rise to unshakable faith. The more we know of our religion, the less likely are we liable to convert to other religions. so why not make the preaching of Gita for example compulsory in all primary and secondary schools? First start with a little bit of logical approach (by explaining the why's and how's) then bhakthi will follow. Jai Radhe

Hi friend,

Haribol friend, well, our futur is "sort of pre destined" according to our previous karma. So if he/she(astrologue) says you gonna die at say 40yrs old means your previous action(karma) wasnt that "good", you might have committed something in your previous life which have for consequence of you dying at 40yrs old in this present life. Now bear in mind another important fact, in this age of kali yug, there is very few people who can actually really forsee the futur. In previous yuga, yes you should have taken this astrologue very seriously. The solution: Now assume that in the very unlikely event that this astrologue can really forsee the futur in this age of kali, then you might wonder how to actually "cheat the system" and live longer. Lets see, as I said above, futur is karma related. So if you can somehow clear that karma in your previous life which has resulted in you dying at the age of 40yrs old in this life, then it means you would then live much longer. Now the question is how to clear that karma? Well, from what i have read so far, all your sins(however bad they might be) are all cleared if you can sincerely say the name of Hari or krishna. Thats all! So chanting this mantra "HARE KRISHNA HARE KRISHNA KRISHNA KRISHNA HARE HARE HARE RAMMA HARE RAMMA RAMMA RAMMA HARE HARE" is said to be extremely powerful that when chanting with pure heart all accumulated sins are destroyed. There are many gods or demigods if you prefer that can grant you any wish if you do penance, but to my knowledge none can change your karma. Only krishna can. So, chant the above mantra and clear any bad karma you might have accumulated in your previous life. I have heard that usually you dont ask krishna to grant you this and that(no material benefits), but nevertheless it is actually much better to ask krishna(even material things) rather than asking the demigods. In conclusion, if you wanna live longer, simple, chant the hare krishna maha mantra and ask krishna that you wanna live longer (In case that astrologue might be right). Bear in mind that krishna never refuse a pure devotee's desire. So my dear friend if you can become a pure devotee, well you can have anything. But then, being a pure devotee you would only want krishna nothing else . Jai Radhe

Good question ng dasa

That would be nice to know about the passing away of Lord Balaram as well, so any information are welcomed.