animesh

Really interesting:-) Dear vinc, I agree that the point raised by you is very interesting and worth pondering over. But why are you thinking that Jayasriradhey ji is angry. I read his comments again and again and I don't think he is angry with any of us. So far, the usage of words "deluded world" is concerned, I do not find anything wrong in using these words. Because these words are used for the complete material unverse.

I am not sure if this is all real or fiction. But the comment by vinc indicates that he considers the stories which talk about Krishna having many wives as degrading him. But I don't think that the authors who wrote these stories were, in any way, trying to degrade Krishna. Rather than just knowing that these many authors have written about Krishna having many wives, we should also see the reason they have given for this. Based on reason, having many wives may be right or wrong. As I have read, Krishna married many ladies who were captives of Narakasur. These ladies had no-one else to turn to. So, Krishna did not do anything wrong even if he married them.

I really do not understand this question. Every organism is mortal including tiger. So, how can it be associated with immortality?

Hi Shvu, It is really nice to see you back. Where had you been? Holidaying somewhere. Or eating Hershey's Sundae pie? You have written that Alexander could not defeat Porus. But, as I have read, he did defeat Porus.

I agree that we should study vedas and find out the knowledge within that and put to the world in a way that can be understood by people at current time. Because, even though the knowledge contained within vedas are vast, we have to study them very thoroughly to find out useful info. In fact, even before something is found in science, we should be able to tell this to the world. This will serve lots of purpose:- 1) The people world over (both Indians and abroad) will know about our countries vast heritage. 2) The knowledge can be used to serve humanity, just like any other scientific knowledge can be used to serve humanity. 3) This will save lots of time of scientists. Because if scientists find something new after spending lots of money, time and after working very hard, then I do not think it is fair if we tell them that what they did is nothing new and that we already had that knowledge.

I want to share an interesting incident related to Albert Einstein. Well, I understand that it is not related to AI but it is related to Sanskrit and is really interesting: - Prof. Einstein once hailed the Indian Scientist Dr.B.N. Gupta in Sanskrit. Dr. Gupta pleaded his inability to reply in Sanskrit. Prof. Einstein said 'Come along, see my library which treasures classics from Sanskrit namely the Gita and other treatises on Hindu Philosophy. I have made the Gita as the main source of my inspiration and the guidance for the purpose, scientific investigations and formation of my theories'.

Sanskrit grammar is so perfect with its syntax structure that it leaves no room for error or any ambiguity. There are ambiguitites in other languages. As an example, consider English. You will agree that there are many English sentences which are in fashion now-a-days (esp. in spoken English), but which can mean many things. Very often, we have to see the context to find the actual meaning. Also, as you have mentioned, in sanskrit, syllables and roots are combined.

I very glad Gauracandra ji that you have posted this question. I am a software engineer, I know Sanskrit well and also I am very much interested in the topic you have raised. I have some work now. But, I will post whatever I know on this topic shortly.

Merry Christmas to all of you. Let Santa Claus pour happiness on you.

Dear Gauracandra Ji, Because of some problem it was not possible for me to use internet yesterday. Now only I read your comment. I am happy that you liked my contributions in this forum. First I was thinking that you might be getting bored by so many comments from me. :-) As you may have noticed, sikh gurus have been very much influenced by vedas and puranas. For a lay person they may seem to be completely different from hindus because of difference in rituals, difference in the way they pray, difference in dress etc. etc. But their beliefs are same as those of hindus. In fact, it is not at all surprising that they believe in things in which people of sanatan dharma believe. Because the advent of sikh gurus was to protect citizens against the cruelty of Mughal emperors. Especially guru Tegh Bahadur used his sword for this purpose and hence he is known as Tegh Bahadur (a person who is very brave when it comes to using sword). Correction: In my previous comment, I wrote: "In reality, sikhism also assumes that there are many gods and goddesses. But it does favour worshipping of them." I should have written "But it does NOT favour worshipping of them." This is because sikhs favour worship of only one supreme God whom they call by various names (mostly Waheguru). I have met some of my friends who are under impression that they use this word for their ten gurus. But that is not the truth. Waheguru is used for Supreme God. "guru" is a part of this word because according to sikhism, Supreme God is considered as the ultimate Guru. The first four letters are "Wahe" to express wonder (wow) regarding the creation of Supreme God. The word "Wah" in Hindi means "marvellous".

Creation of Universe According to Sikhism This is very much similar to what one can find in Vedas. Guru Nanak said (it is also recorded in Adi Granth): - "There was darkness for countless period. There was neither earth nor sky; there was only His desire. There was neither day nor night, neither sun nor moon. He was in deep meditation. Only He was present. Then He willed the creation and world was created." He became manifest: Sargun. He diffused Himself in nature. (Isn't it same what we have read about Kshiridakshayi Vishnu?) God created the three 'gunas' Satv, Rajas and Tamas (again we see parallel with Vedas and Puranas). The universe is made up of five elements ether, air, fire, water, earth and these three gunas. Sikhism gives very much importance to human body. Soul in Sikhism Sikhism believes in soul, heaven and hell and reincarnation. These belieifs are exactly same as in hinduism. Heaven and hell In one of my comments above, I have mentioned that sikhs do not believe in numerous gods and goddesses. I am sorry that I did not make myself very clear. In reality, sikhism also assumes that there are many gods and goddesses. But it does favour worshipping of them. It favours worshipping of only one Supreme God (called as Waheguru, Ram, Rahim, Allah). Sikshism believes that there is Yamaraj who gives people what they deserve as per their karma. As per his actions, a person will go to heaven or hell. But there is conflict among sikhs in this respect. Some belive that heaven and hell are just conditions of mind. Sikhism does not belive that a person can escape punishment at the time of judgement because of intervention of some prophets. It is also belived that if you are sinful in this birth, you will take lower life forms in the next birth. Human form is recognized as the most important form.

In posting the above comments, I have just relied on my memory. So, please correct me if I have missed something important or written something wrongly. In the next comment, I will write about the creation of universe according to sikhism.

God in Sikhism Guru Nanak describes the attributes of God in the prayer: "There is but one God. His name is True and Everlasting. He is the Creator, Fearless and without Enmity, the Timeless Form, Unborn and Self-existing." Sikhs do not believe in God for muslim or God for Hindus etc. There is the "Only One God" and is called Waheguru by the Sikhs (wonderful enlightener and wonderful Lord). Gurus have called God by the names like Ram, Rahim, Allah, Mahakal etc. God is present in all things and yet they do not cover His limitless expanse. God is the Whole. Sikhs believe that nobody can know God fully. According to Guru Nanak , "Only one who is as great as He, can know Him fully." By His order, all forms and creatures came into existence. It is the duty of man to study the laws of the universe and to realize the greatness and glory of the Supreme Being. He has created an infinite number of worlds and constellations. The world in which we live is a very-very small as compared to the complete universe. God put His divine spark in man which is called "The Soul". The soul enters bodily forms according to individual's actions. The wall of ego separates the soul from God. This leads to the cycle of birth and death. This can only be ended through meditation or the acquisition of divine grace. Man is made of spirit and matter: shiv and shakti. The spirit is subtle, while the body is gross. The body has to be cared for, because it houses the soul. Union with God is our goal. Hiw great qualities, Truth, Goodness, Beauty, Love, Purity, Peace, Wisdom, Justice, Mercy etc. are the ladder to Him.

Well, I have read on Sikhism from verious sources and also have sikh friends from whom I have aquired some knowledge of this religion. Like hindus, sikhs recogniz God as the one not affected by space and time. This is the same as is mentioned in Gita. But they do not talk about avatars. Also, they do not talk about innumerable gods and goddesses. Also, there is no place for asceticism in Sikhism. Everybody is expected to earn his living. Now let me talk a little about the history of Sikhism: - As is well known Sikhs consider Guru Nanak as their first guru. The advent of Guru Nanak (in 15th century) was as a result of politico-social evil. He raised voice against the tyranny of Babar's army in India. He stressed that everybody should follow three-fold discipline: physical, moral and spiritual. Physical discipline means acts of service to humanity and also living the life of a household at the same time; moral discipline means rising above selfishness, and spiritual discipline means the faith that there is only one Almighty God and is timeless. Guru Nanak asked people to dedicate themselves, day and night to the remembrance of God and His Name. All the ten gurus opposed caste system, discripancy against women and untouchability. They also opposed sati system.

Well, the four sons I have mentioned above are sons of Brahma. But I think they are not the sons of goddess Saraswati because Brahma created these four from his energy when he started creating the material universe. Of course, latter on, he gave birth to many more sons including the great sage "Narad".

As per my knowledge (1) Sanaka (2) Sanandan (3) Sanatkumar (4) Sanatana are four sons of Brahma.

Sri Ggohil ji, You are saying that even though people do not follow a common purpose, there may be some common purpose. I agree with you that this is a possibility. But how do we know what common purpose it is? Nobody knows. We can only speculate. So either there is no common purpose in life or even if there is nobody knows. Everybody can say what he thinks to be the best as the common purpose of life. But it is only one's feeling. So, nobody knows what is the common purpose of life. And, as far as I know, we do not know of any method by which we can find that out. So, I think we must use Occam's razor here.

Ggohil ji, Even though your question is addressed to Dear Shvu, let me just put my views also. The answer to your question depends on what you will consider as proof. If, by proof, you mean a rigorous scientific proof, then we can neither prove that there is a common purpose in life. Similarly we can neither prove nor disprove that we were not created. So, in such matters, I will agree with jndas ji, that we can rely only on faith. Even if we say that there is a common purpose in life, how do we know what exactly it is? We can only speculate. Since we have to use speculation to decide the purpose in life, it is better to speculate something good. But there are many good things to do. Different people may consider different things as best thing to do. Therefore they will not come to any unanimous decision. Since they will not come to any unanimous decision, the decision can not be termed "common".

Yes, Viji ji, you are right. Through Ramayana, people can learn many things of great value, e.g., how to be a good son, a good brother, how to give importance to one's parents' words etc. etc.

Dear Shvu, What do you mean by the word "we" in your statement? It is our physical bodies, then we were created. Because there was a time when my body did not exist. But in my comment, I used the word we not only for our bodies but for everything (living and non-living) that we can observe.

Yes, it is true that faith very much decides what we believe and what we disbelieve. But faith is not the ONLY factor, even though it is a very important factor. The likelihood of a claim made is also important. If I have moderate faith in someone and he makes a statement which is very likely, then I may believe him. But if he makes a statement which is very unlikely (if not impossible), then I may not belive him.

We are talking about the purpose of human life. Could we extend it further and talk about the purpose of creation itself?

Sorry, I left one sentence incomplete. I will complete it now. As all will agree, a large no. of crimes both in the eyes of law and dharma (I do not want to use the word religion for dharma as it does not give as accurate meaning as I intend it to be). happen because of these bad qualities.

Dear Viji has mentioned that realizing God should be our purpose in life. It is really a very good purpose if we think properly what we really mean by realising God. Does it simply mean keeping vratas and going to temples? Of course, going to temples gives us peace of mind. But is this all there is to God realization? Definitely not. If you read vedas and puranas, you will come to know that for God realization, we have to leave greed, hatred, selfishness etc. etc. As all will agree, a large no. of crimes both in the eyes of law and dharma (I do not want to use the word religion for dharma as it does not give as accurate meaning as I intend it to be). Of course, some will claim that there is always selfishness in whatever we do. Whether there is really always selfishness or not, depends on what we mean by the word selfishness. If selfishenss means desire, then there is definitely always selfishness. But all desires can not be considered as bad. When I use the word selfishness, then like most people, I am talking about the bad part. So, if we genuinely try to abandon our bad qualities, then we can definitely make the world a better place to live. Nobody knows whether he will really someday realize God or not. But even genuinely trying to realize God will make us nice human beings. And if you think over the conditions mentioned in scriptures for realizing God, then you will find that it includes all the good qualities we talk of, e.g. honesty, kindness, patience etc.

Different people can give different answers to this question. But none of those answers can be proved. We can't even prove that there is a purpose in life. Similarly, we can't prove that there is no purpose in life. So, it all boils down to what we consider as our purpose in life. Since it is upto us, it is always better to consider something which will make our living and living of other people happy. To do this, just a single thing can not be called as purpose in life. We need to do so many things if we want to be happy and want others to be happy. Helping poor is just one of them though it is very important.