"HINDUISM": June 2014

Hinduism - Introduction

The Hindu Scriptural literature is so vast and comprehensive that there is no branch of knowledge left uninvestigated by the great seers of this Country – India.

It is a pity that most of our people do not know even the authentic basics of this religion. People have got much of information only from hearsay that the real authentic information has been almost lost. I have collected information about our religion from most authentic sources and compiled it here. Please make use of it to teach your children.

What is Hinduism

Let us see what swamy Vivekananda has to say about our religion.

Concept of Sanaathana Dharma

When people of other religions ask our kids about our Hindu religion, it is a pity that they do not know anything. It is necessary to teach our children the basics of our Hindu religion. Particularly NRIs, who mingle a lot with other religion people should teach their children, the great philosophy in our religion.

knowledge contained in the Veda is so vast

The knowledge contained in the Veda is so vast. We should teach our children the greatness of our religion and its philosophy so that they are equipped to face life with a smile.

The Sanskrit word “VEDA” comes from the root “VID” to know. Veda is literally the book of knowledge – knowledge of the changeless and Supreme reality.
The vast knowledge of the Veda was as a single source without any classification in the first part of the Dwapara Yugam (more than 6000 years ago). Later, Maharishi Veda Vyasa classified it into many divisions and subdivisions for the benefit of all to understand. He divided the Veda into 4, wrote Mahabharata, 18 Mahapuranas and Vedanta.

I am presenting the classification of the Knowledge gained and accumulated by our great Rishis over a period of thousands of years in a series of about 10 slides.
Those who want to seriously know about our religion are requested to save these slides for further reference.

You will be surprised that all the knowledge in today’s world of Science & Technology, Medicine, Architecture, Literature and all have their roots in one of these classifications.

Detailed table of the Knowledge in the Vedas

Here I am presenting a much more detailed table of the Knowledge in the Vedas, which contains Science, Astronomy, Life sciences etc.,

Smritis in detail

Here I am expanding a part of the full classification of knowledge (Vedas). That is the Smritis part which contains knowledge about all aspects of material knowledge for living. Whereas Srutis deal with spiritual aspects.

A complete knowledge of the various aspects of Smritis gives a clear idea of living a good life style.

In due course we will try to explore each part separately in detail.

From a much broader classification

18 Mahapuranas as expanded from the Veda - Knowledge chart.

Click on the older posts below to see the continuation of this post

SRUTIS explained

Upanishads

Upanishads are the last part of the Vedas under Sruti. And each of the 4 Vedas namely Rig, Sama, Yajur and Atharva…… have Upanishads at its end. Upanishads are the highest philosophies that are discussed about the creation of this Universe and the Supreme God – Para Brahman. Most of them are dialogues between Guru and Sishyaas and known as Samvaada. Brahma Sutra is again an abridged version of the description of Para Brahman. There is a saying that one will not understand Upanishads, unless he has understood the basics of philosophy from the other scriptures like Bhagavad Gita, Puranaas ….. etc.,

Ayurveda-1

Now let us try to explore in detail the various divisions of Smritis one by one.

Under the Upavedas heading first let us take Ayurvada and analyse in a series of postings.

Ayurveda -2

Ayruveda was broadly classified into Medicine, Surgery and Physio-therapy. Now let us look at it one by one in detail.

Ayurveda -3

All the above information regarding Ayurveda is for information purpose only and to feel proud that our ancient knowledge was the first and at the peak in ancient times.

What about Indian medicine today? In my personal opinion, I will not recommend Indian medicine to anyone. The reason for this is that most of the information is either lost or mixed up with many unwanted factors and got polluted. For every one genuine Ayurveda doctor there are hundreds of quakes.

Mixing up of all Indian medicines under one head has also probably lead to its decline. There are degrees offered in Indian medicine as ….. B.A.M.S., (Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Siddha). Ayurvedic medicine are based on natural herbs only.

Whereas Siddha medicines use inorganic compounds and metals…. Like sulphur, mercury, lead, gold ….etc., ……. This was known as Rasa vaadham and practiced by Rasa Vaadha Siddhas. Indian medicine doctors prescribe both Ayurvedic and Siddha medicines and as a result there are a lot of side effects.

A 2008 study of more than 230 products found that approximately 20% of remedies (and 40% of rasa shastra medicines) purchased over the Internet from U.S. and Indian suppliers contained lead, mercury or arsenic. In 2012 the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) linked Indian drugs to lead poisoning, based on some cases where toxic materials were found.

Gandharva Veda

We have been seeing in detail the various divisions of Smritis one by one. Under the Upavedas heading we have seen Ayurvada and next let us see Gandharva Veda.

Stapatya Shaastra

So far we have been seeing in detail the various divisions of Smritis one by one. Under the Upavedas heading we have seen Ayurveda & Gandharva Veda and next let us see Stapatya Shaastra.