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Science must be accepted even when science contradicts the Vedas. Vedas should be used only in matters which can not be probed by any scientific method. Vedic authority does not extend to matters which can be studied using scientific methods. I am posting some quotes that will hopefully make things clear.
Bhishma said in Mahabharata Shanti Parva Section ...
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First of all, yes, there is a notion of a greater Vishnu and a lesser Vishnu. This concept is expressed in simplest terms in this chapter of the Vishnu Purana:
Affecting then the quality of activity, Hari, the lord of all, himself becoming Brahmá, engaged in the creation of the universe. Vishńu with the quality of goodness, and of immeasurable power, ...
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Hinduism is an intrinsically scientific religion.
The Vedas themselves accurately describe very complicated geometric concepts including six-dimensional spaces, distances between celestial bodies, and using changing skylines to measure time, just to name a few examples ("Vedic Geometry Course" Dr. S. K. Kapoor). If you follow the Dhashavataram ...
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Q. I hear these terms Dvaita, Advaita, Vishistdvaita, Shuddhadvaita, and may be any other XYZdvaita, etc in most of the questions but I am not very sure what do they refer to.
There are six Darshan (षडदर्शन) i.e philosophy in Hinduism which are Samkhya, Yoga, Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Mimamsa and Vedanta.
Among these six schools, Vedanta(वेदांत) is very popular ...
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Vedas state "Sarvakhalvidam Brahman" which means "Everything is Brahman." So, everything is Brahman in the absolute level. Chandogya Upanishad states:
सर्वं खल्विदं ब्रह्म तज्जलानिति शान्त उपासीत अथ खलु क्रतुमयः पुरुषो यथाक्रतुरस्मिल्लोके पुरुषो भवति तथेतः प्रेत्य भवति स क्रतुं कुर्वीतः । [Chandogya Upanishad.]
III-xiv-1: Verily, all ...
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Yes, the current Brahma attains Moksha at the end of his life. As I discuss in this answer, the Srimad Bhagavatam describes what happens to the inhabitants of Brahmaloka, including Brahma himself, at the end of the Mahakalpa:
Worshipers of the Hiraṇyagarbha expansion of the Personality of Godhead remain within this material world until the end of two ...
answered Oct 21 '15 at 3:46
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First we should know our body is not just physical body, but has five sheaths (Pancha Kosha). What we see externally is Annamaya Kosha (food sheath). After death we shed Annamaya kosha and jiva with other four koshas (Sookshma Sareera or Subtle body) go to other realms, hell or heaven depending of Karma and Sukshma Sareera takes new physical body (rebirth) ...
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First of all, these aren't the two main sub-sects of Vaishnavism, they are the two main sub-sects of Sri Vaishnavism. There are other Vaishnava Sampradayas, like the Gaudiya Vaishnava sect that ISKCON adheres to. What distinguishes Sri Vaishnavas from other kinds of Vaishnavas are mainly two things: our beliefs, and our origins.
Gaudiya Vaishnavas ...
answered Aug 22 '14 at 20:19
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There are different perspectives. This is an advaita perspective (the belief that all Gods are One.)
What are the three gunas
The three gunas are:
Tamas - this is the quality of laziness, darkness (ignorance) and inertia.
Sri Swami Sivananda on tamas process
Tamas is inertia or inaction or darkness.
Tamas binds man to heedlessness (Pramada), laziness (...
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Shakti Vishishtadvaita is the philosophy of a Shaivite sect known as Lingayatism, AKA Virashaivism, founded by the 12th century philosopher Basava. Note that the term "Shaivite" actually means something here; there are a lot of people who call themselves Shaivites, like Iyers for instance, but they're actually followers of Adi Shankaracharya's ...
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human beings don't know about god am I right?
See what Kena-Upanishad says about your question.
यस्यमतं तस्य मतं मतं यस्य न वेद स:। अविज्ञातं विजानतां
विज्ञातमविजानताम ॥3॥
YasyaMatam Tasya Matam Matam Yasya na Ved sa AvigyanTam
Vijanatam VigyanTaMaVijanaTam
He who thinks he does not know It, knows It. He who thinks he knows
It, ...
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It's because it was a separate debate. It's true that Mandana Misra's wife Ubhaya Bharati is said to have been the referree of the debate between Adi Shankaracharya and Mandana Misra. But this chapter of the Madhaviya Shankara Digvijaya, the traditional biography of Adi Shankaracharya, describes how after the debate is over, Ubhaya Bharati is resentful of ...
answered May 13 '15 at 5:52
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Yes, it is predetermined. Right when a person is a foetus in the womb, his span of life is already determined based on his past karma. Here's what chapter 32 of the Uttara Kanda of the Garuda Purana says:
O Tarksya, thus, man is born in the mortal world as a result of his own actions. The five characteristics, viz. the span of life, action, wealth, ...
answered Jul 16 '15 at 14:16
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Here are the main philosophical schools discussed by Vyasa in the Brahma Sutras (which you can read here:
Vedanta: The Brahma Sutras are the defining text of Vedanta school, so in some sense all the Sutras are giving the views of the Vedanta school.
Samkhya: Kapila's Samkhya school seems to have been the most popular school of Hindu philosophy at the time, ...
answered Jun 12 '17 at 5:03
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The cruelty and evil seen in the world are the results of Karmic factors of Jeevas and God can't be blamed for that. It is stated in Brahma Sutra 2.1.34 as:
Inequality (of dispensation) and cruelty (the Lord can) not (be reproached with), on account of his regarding (merit and demerit); for so (Scripture) declares.
While commenting on this sutra Adi ...
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As I discuss in this answer, the word Smartha originally just meant "follower of Smriti. (Hinduism has two sets of scripture, Shruti or "that which is heard" and Smriti or "that which is remembered.) But the Smartha came to denote the followers of the sect founded by Adi Shankaracharya, which he did in order to create a more streamlined version of Hinduism....
answered Nov 23 '14 at 8:16
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It's true that Brahman is conscious, and that Brahman is the one that gives both rewards and punishments, so in that sense it is the efficient cause of all suffering. But it is not being cruel or capricious in doing this; it is doing this in accordance with the law of Karma. Here is what Adi Shankaracharya says in his commentary on the Brahma Sutras:
The ...
answered Mar 25 '15 at 15:40
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In brief, the situation is:
A rationalist has analyzed a text written in C++ into English because both look similar. He has critisized C++ for "bad grammar". Certain extremists are behind his life just because they think C++ grammar is cool!
what Bhagavan criticized in detail
what his arguments are
K. S. Bhagawan is an Indian rationalist, Kannada ...
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By practicing Yoga and pranayama (control of prana vayu) a Yogi can float in the air, walk in air. This is called Vayu-Siddhi or mastery over air. It can be achieved in the third stage of pranayama sadhana.
From Shiva Samhita:
In the first stage of pranayama the body of the Yogi begins to
prespire. When it prespires, he should rub it well, otherwise ...
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Q. What's the source and meaning of this verse?
Srimad Bhagavad Gita is the source of this verse:
अनन्याश्चिन्तयन्तो मां ये जनाः पर्युपासते।
तेषां नित्याभियुक्तानां योगक्षेमं वहाम्यहम्।।9.22।।
And here are some useful translations:
English Translation By Swami Adidevananda
9.22 There are those who, excluding all else, think of Me and worship Me, ...
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I am not answering from the scriptures right now. I am only using Sri Ramakrishna Paramhamsa's "Kathamrita" as the reference.
Such apparent differences can be explained by taking into account our previous birth Karmas. It's actually not that God is discriminating.
NOTHING IS LOST IN THE ECONOMY OF GOD
THERE is a story about a man who practised Sava-...
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Swami Vivekananda meant that a strong body can help you have the frame of mind needed to understand things like the Upanishads and Bhagavad Gita, and thus ultimately attain Jnana. Here's the quote in its original context:
First of all, our young men must be strong. Religion will come afterwards. Be strong, my young friends; that is my advice to you. You ...
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The word संशयात्मा does not literally mean doubting mind. But it has an inner meaning. Samshayatma means a cynic who does not agree with the scriptures.
If we consider only shloka you are quoting, there may be some misinterpretations and doubts. Therefore, we should also consider the shlokas which precede the 40th shloka.
śraddhāvāllabhate jñānaṃ ...
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According to this website, there are a number of biographies of Shankaracharya called shankara vijaya.
The oldest among them is the Madhaviya Shankara Vijaya, by Vidyaranya
mAdhavIya Sankaravijaya - The mAdhavIya is probably the oldest available, and also the most authentic and widely known among the different Sankaravijayas today. It is certainly the ...
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The verse occurs in this chapter of the Srimad Bhagavatam. Here is what the sons of Rishabha tell Nimi (the solar dynasty king whom I discuss here):
I consider that one whose intelligence is constantly disturbed by his falsely identifying himself with the temporary material world can achieve real freedom from fear only by worshiping the lotus feet of the ...
answered Oct 12 '15 at 15:43
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It's because Vyasa and Jaimini were working together. Vyasa and two of his disciples, Jaimini and Kasakritsna, together composed a unified work called the Mimamsa Shastra, designed to analyze the meaning of the Vedas in all its aspects. It consisted of 20 Adhyayas or chapters: the 12 Adhyayas of Jaimini's Purva Mimamsa Sutras, analyzing the Karma Kanda of ...
answered Jul 11 '16 at 5:15
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Yes, this is a possibility according to the Vedanta schools of Sri Madhva and Sri Vallabha. This view is based on the following shloka:
O son of Kunti! Falling into demoniac wombs, in life after life, they
go to still lower states of degradation, without attaining Me.
Gita 16.20
On the basis of such texts, some schools of Vedanta like those of Sri
...
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The answer depends on what you think is meant by caste. The answer is no if you think of caste as jati or community. The answer is yes if you think of caste as varna which should depend on conduct.
I am posting the relevant Gita verses on varna:
O great hero! The duties of Brahmanas, Ksatriyas, Vaisyas and also
Sudras have been divided according to ...
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There is a common popular misconception in People that according to Advaita World doesn't exist at all. It is not true.
When we are deciding reality of things as per Advaita. Then, Advaita itself gives three level of reality to us:
1)Paramarthika Satyam/ Absolute Reality level
2)Vyavaharika Satyam/ Ishwara Shristi level
3)Pratibhasika Satyam/ Jeeva ...
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Thanks to Rickross and Partha for their answers. You are not wrong. But this question is significant even in Advaita circles and deserves a level of detail which neither have covered.
Advaita, during the course of time, has been morphed in to a confused, hodge podge of philosophical diversions.
In the same book quoted in the question, on page 604, the ...
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