Shiv dhanush information!! - Page 3

Originally posted by: Karkerrna3

please tell the truth!! Im confused

Okay so...theres a lot but I'll try to explain as much as I can.

Now unlike other religions where there is one name given to their respective God, Hinduism (known as Sanatana Dharma or Eternal Truth) focusses on reaching spirituality, becoming one with the Universe and getting your soul (atman) out of the life-and-death cycle. That can be done in multiple ways: by following one deva or devi, multiple devas or devis, dualism, pantheism, agnosticism (these are all philosophical terms) and even yoga.

So in short if I have to describe it, its like that one answer in the question paper that has multiple ways to solve it, but u should get the correct answer.

Now there are two major types of Hinduism : Vedic and Puranic. This is where things get confusing. Because both are strikingly different, yet similar. However, the way I see it is that Vedic Hinduism is more spiritual and practical in nature and the Puranas are stories of our country's history. They say once you understand the Vedas u attain everything you need to know about this world, its working, the universe, everything. And the Puranas are like stories of our ancestors and their great deeds. Even the Ramayana and Mahabharat are also history. But since Santana Dharma exists before AD, everyone's termed it as mythology.

Since the corruption of the Varna system, Brahmins have manipulated a lot of the scripts. Thats easily distinguishable too. I'll give you a personal example: I have been reading the Shiva Purana recently and came across this piece of text where it was given before you read this sacred book you need to do daan, feed pandits, gold donation etc etc and I knew that was a corruption of the text. How can the one man who has lived his "life" in the simplest way possible, who never discriminates amongst his bhakts, humans or animals, would want any of this?! So of course I skipped over that part, refused to do it and continued reading.

Now coming to Vedic Hinduism: this means you read and study the Vedas and the Upanishads and have a more spiritual understanding. The deities most focussed on was Agni, Varuna and Indra. Vedic Hinduism holds stark resemblance to Zoroastrianism and ancient (now lost) civilisations too.

Puranic Hinduism is the Hinduism we know today. With more focus on deities like Vishnu, Shiva, Brahma, Durga. The way I understood it, the same deities were a part of both Hinduism but the main problem was that the Vedas were initially orally recited. We are talking about a time when human(iods??) were like the superheroes we see in films today. Super strength, speed, brain power. So for them to learn something as vague in the Vedas wasn't a big deal, it all made sense to them. But as the human brain deteriorated, the Puranas became easy to understand so we stuck to them. See how smart Lord Krishna was, knowing we would lack the spiritual and understanding levels of our ancestors, he literally simplified all the teachings of the Vedas into certain core teachings. This was known as the Bhagwat Gita.

Hinduism has always evolved over a period of time, and Hindus have fought valiantly to save themselves from eternal change, that is why there are so many texts which has caused overall discrepencies. 

A simple example is that the Vedas and Upanishads are your entire syllabus but you haven't studied the entire year so you buy the Cliff Notes a.k.a the Puranas, Ramayana/Mahabharat and Bhagwat Gita just before the exams to pass.

If you've understood this then I will continue to the 33 crore god parts, but if there are any doubts then I'll clear them.

Originally posted by: Ashley.Tisdale

Okay so...theres a lot but I'll try to explain as much as I can.

Now unlike other religions where there is one name given to their respective God, Hinduism (known as Sanatana Dharma or Eternal Truth) focusses on reaching spirituality, becoming one with the Universe and getting your soul (atman) out of the life-and-death cycle. That can be done in multiple ways: by following one deva or devi, multiple devas or devis, dualism, pantheism, agnosticism (these are all philosophical terms) and even yoga.

So in short if I have to describe it, its like that one answer in the question paper that has multiple ways to solve it, but u should get the correct answer.

Now there are two major types of Hinduism : Vedic and Puranic. This is where things get confusing. Because both are strikingly different, yet similar. However, the way I see it is that Vedic Hinduism is more spiritual and practical in nature and the Puranas are stories of our country's history. They say once you understand the Vedas u attain everything you need to know about this world, its working, the universe, everything. And the Puranas are like stories of our ancestors and their great deeds. Even the Ramayana and Mahabharat are also history. But since Santana Dharma exists before AD, everyone's termed it as mythology.

Since the corruption of the Varna system, Brahmins have manipulated a lot of the scripts. Thats easily distinguishable too. I'll give you a personal example: I have been reading the Shiva Purana recently and came across this piece of text where it was given before you read this sacred book you need to do daan, feed pandits, gold donation etc etc and I knew that was a corruption of the text. How can the one man who has lived his "life" in the simplest way possible, who never discriminates amongst his bhakts, humans or animals, would want any of this?! So of course I skipped over that part, refused to do it and continued reading.

Now coming to Vedic Hinduism: this means you read and study the Vedas and the Upanishads and have a more spiritual understanding. The deities most focussed on was Agni, Varuna and Indra. Vedic Hinduism holds stark resemblance to Zoroastrianism and ancient (now lost) civilisations too.

Puranic Hinduism is the Hinduism we know today. With more focus on deities like Vishnu, Shiva, Brahma, Durga. The way I understood it, the same deities were a part of both Hinduism but the main problem was that the Vedas were initially orally recited. We are talking about a time when human(iods??) were like the superheroes we see in films today. Super strength, speed, brain power. So for them to learn something as vague in the Vedas wasn't a big deal, it all made sense to them. But as the human brain deteriorated, the Puranas became easy to understand so we stuck to them. See how smart Lord Krishna was, knowing we would lack the spiritual and understanding levels of our ancestors, he literally simplified all the teachings of the Vedas into certain core teachings. This was known as the Bhagwat Gita.

Hinduism has always evolved over a period of time, and Hindus have fought valiantly to save themselves from eternal change, that is why there are so many texts which has caused overall discrepencies. 

A simple example is that the Vedas and Upanishads are your entire syllabus but you haven't studied the entire year so you buy the Cliff Notes a.k.a the Puranas, Ramayana/Mahabharat and Bhagwat Gita just before the exams to pass.

If you've understood this then I will continue to the 33 crore god parts, but if there are any doubts then I'll clear them.

Please continue!!

Originally posted by: Karkerrna3

thank you ! 

Please continue!!

Your welcome 😳

I am sorry for posting this so late but its taken me a long time to type it all 😆

Moving onto the "Gods" which is technically not a term in Sanskrit/Hindi or Hinduism. The Supreme Being in Hinduism is called Brahman, which does not have a gender, shape, form. It is described as the Ultimate Reality, the Eternal Truth. It is the Unity in this diverse universe. It is Unchanged, yet because of it Everything Changes. You see where I am going with this?

When the Atman unites with Brahman, we attain moksha. And that is the exact purpose of our birth. Now there is another concept of Heaven and Hell, which is handled by Chitragupta Bhagwan. The way I see it, a soul going to Heaven or Hell isn't permanent. Once we die and if haven't attained Moksha, based on our good/bad deeds we are sent to Heaven (which is Vaikuntha, Shivaloka and so on) or Hell (which is mentioned in detail in the Garuda Purana). When your term is over, you are reincarnated with the purpose of attempting to attain Moksha again.

Coming to the 33 Cr gods now:

There are no Gods. The Supreme Being is Brahman. The Trideva a.k.a the ones who are responsible for creation, preserving and destruction are Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, along with their respective consorts a.k.a the Tridevis a.k.a Saraswati, Lakshmi and Parvati. 

Ok now the gold question: who is the strongest and why? Technically if you were to see they are all very very strong. And if it weren't for them, we wouldn't have the universe and the many other universes that exist too. Shaivism will tell you its Shiva, Vaishnavism will tell you its Vishnu, Shaktism will tell you its Shakti. However there is one definitive answer. 

You see they have their own tasks. Brahma is responsible for creation along with Saraswati (because how can you create without creativity), Vishnu is responsible for preservation and maintaining along int Lakshmi (you cannot preserve without money) and Shiva is responsible for destruction one and for all along with Parvati (destruction isn't possible without energy). Here is where is gets challenging. But walk with me.

According to our scriptures everything is created out of energy. U me, plants, animals, everything. And this energy cannot be created or destroyed, it only changes form. Even our Physics textbooks state it. 

Whats another word for energy? Shakti. Shakti does not have a beginning, middle or end. She manifested herself in the Tridevis as well. She manifested the universe through a cosmic egg. Everyone is using her to carry out their actions. But all in all, she is also the zero energy, the "Nothing" that exists before and after this universe. 

Now if we think about this logically, there must be something that helps her remain zero right? So who is the one who can handle her "power"?

The Cosmic Egg : a.k.a the dormant form of Shiva and Shakti. This is from where it all comes. When pulled apart, Shakti is stable yet volatile and is present in every creation. Does the Big Bang Theory sound familiar?

Shiva is formless, worshipped as a linga, yet takes form. U see how tangible yet intangible they are? Shiva is masculine source of energy and a stabiliser, the only one who can handle Shakti. And since Parvati is the Full and Ultimate Creation of Adi Shakti, Mahadev is the strongest of them all.

If I were to explain this from the Trideva viewpoint, then it takes Vishnu multiple avatars who preserve the Universe. But if Shiva such as raises a finger, its catastrophic. So the minute they are pulled apart from each other, Shiva takes the form of an ascetic, until Shakti has created the world through Brahma and carried out a few good-vs-evil battles through Vishnu before finding her way back to her consort.

In a metaphorical form it also means the inner union of masculine and feminine energy will take you to the next level of ecstasy, which is never possible to achieve if you unite physically (a.k.a intercourse). It is also the definition of balance, that exists when they re together and you have connected to both your energies, male and female.

Each and every concept of Hinduism has multiple meanings and lessons to learn form.

Now the next part:

The "Gods" being referenced are the deities who have responsible positions like Surya, Varuna, Agni, Ganpati. They hold immense power and are responsible to help "run" the place. Imagine them as the Cabinet Ministers who have their portfolios to handle. These don't change though, except one a.k.a Indra. Indra is a position, not a deity. The Indra of the next Manvantara (time measurement...if u aren't aware of this let me know, I will elaborate on this too) will be King Bali. The current Indra is Purandhara.

Now where do these deities come from? Simple. Brahma, the Creator, was responsible for populating the planet and creating many many lineages. See how we aren't allowed to marry into our own family with our cousins? See where this comes from?

Brahma ended up creating many children merely from his mental power, known as Manas Putra. The children included Rishis Angiras, Atri, Bhrigu, Marichi, Pulastya, Vashishtha, Narada Muni, The Kumaras, Prajapati Daksha, Himavan, Jambavan (yes from Ramayana), Chitragupta. You see the number of lineages? 

Pulastya Rishi was related to Ravana, Chitragupta Bhagwan was the progenitor of the Kayasthas and so on.

Now obviously this wasn't enough, because there were so many positions and so many deities were required. So Prajapati Daksha's daughters were married off to the Manasputras. Now you might say that oh, they still married into their family. We are talking about expanding a family tree to the point that you aren't directly related to the second person we meet. But if we trace back our lineages, it will all go back to Brahma.

Which brings us to Rishi Kashyap, known as the progenitor of all types of creatures. He married Aditi and gave us the Adityas a.k.a the Devas, with Diti we got the Daityas a.k.a the Asuras, with Kadru we got the Nagas, with Danu we got Danavas, and other children include birds, cows, animals and Gandharvas (celestial singers).

Now after this how did humans come into the picture?

The answer is Manu. A Manu is a position that changes every Manvantara. He is the progenitor of mankind, so the first man on the planet. The name of the current Manu is Shraddhadeva or Vaivasvara Manu. 

What is his genealogy?

Here it goes: Brahma < Rishi Marichi < Rishi Kashyap + Aditi < Vivasvan or Surya Deva < Shraddhadeva Manu.

See how everything adds up and makes sense?

Okay now cut a long story short, Shraddhadeva Manu had a bunch of children. One of them was Ikshvaku...sound familiar? Ikshvaku was the founder of the Ikshvaku Dynasty where King Rama was born. Yes, the same Rama from Ramayana. Thats why they are also known as Suryavanshis since they are the lineage of Surya Dev.

Ikshvaku had another son, Nimi, who was responsible for the Kingdom of Videhas. This is normally called Mithila, the most prominent King was Janaka. This is the kingdom where Sita Maa was adopted into. 

Congratulations we have linked it to the Ramayana 😆

If you have any doubts, don't hesitate to ask!

Thanks again for explaining! 

I won't be able to remember all the names but understood the main thing, I think!