In this concluding part, let us look into life accounts of few more Rishis like Bhagvan Dattatreya, Rajarshi Bharata, Maharshi Charaka, Rishi Kapila, Rishi Kanada, Maharshi Panini.
Nārada was no gossip-monger – in fact he acted as a carrier of news from one place to another, so as to disrupt the devious and harmful plans of Adharmic people and also to impart valuable life lessons to common masses
The Gita is said to have been revealed to humanity around 3100 BCE. Some historians date it to 1400 BCE, whereas others think of 500 BCE.
Hindu tradition lays great stress on the study of scriptures and there is region-wise distribution of Sages, Saints, Scriptures, Languages and Holy Places
God will listen to our prayers no matter which language we use to worship him. The important thing to keep in mind is that we should remember God with faith and devotion, no matter what the language of our prayers is.
Hindu tradition states that the rules of Sanskrit as well as Tamil grammar were both formulated by Lord Shiva, and the latter were subsequently written down by Sage Agastya in the work Tolkappiyam. Just as Sanskrit is called the ‘Language of Gods’, Tamil too is credited with a Divine origin and is said to have originated from Lord Shiva himself.
Hindu personal law is largely derived from Mitāksharā commentary on Yājñavalkya Smriti, in view of its great popularity in large parts of India during last few centuries
The word Purāņa itself means “ancient,” and a good deal of Purāṇic lore may have coexisted with the Vedas themselves.
It is customary to know three things about each #mantra – devatā (deity), Rishi (speaker) and Chhanda (poetical meter) & it is forbidden to study Vedas without knowing these.
Unlike the mantras, the Brāhmaṇas are predominantly prose & contain formulas for rituals, rules and regulations for rites, sacrifices & other religious duties
Whereas Shruti is considered of Divine origin, Smriti is considered the wisdom of Saints and Sages who were pious, virtuous and had understood the Vedas.
There is a lot of wisdom in Hindu Dharma since the sages of yore have collected their teachings resulting in a vast number of sacred writings and this requires many books
Scriptures are a means to knowing the difference between Dharma and Adharma, and not a substitute for practicing Dharma.
Scriptures, especially the Vedas, are the yardstick by which we measure the morality of our actions and judge whether we are right or wrong.
The learning of Hindu scriptures-svādhyāya must be followed by self-reflection, teaching it to others, and application of the teachings in our daily lives.
Vishal Agarwal is an independent scholar residing in Minneapolis (USA) with his wife, two children and a dog. He has authored one book and over fifteen book chapters and papers, some in peer reviewed journals, about ancient India and Hinduism. He and his wife founded the largest weekend school teaching Hinduism to students, and also a teenager organization to keep them engaged in Dharma. Vishal has participated in numerous interfaith forums, and has represented Hindus and Indians in school classrooms and in seminars. Vishal is the recipient of the Hindu American Foundation’s Dharma Seva Award (2010), the Global Hindu Academy’s Scholar award (2014) and service awards from the Hindu Society of Minnesota (2014 and 2015). He is very strongly engaged in the social and Dharmic activities of the Indian and Hindu communities of Minnesota, and has authored a series of ten textbooks for use in weekend Hindu schools by children from the ages 4-14. Professionally, Vishal is a biomedical Engineer with graduate degrees in Materials Engineering and Business Administration (MBA). His scientific and statistical training enables him to bring precision and a high level of rigor in his research – qualities that are very often missing in contemporary publications on Indology and in South Asian Studies.
