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Lingashtaka
The ''Lingashtaka'' () is a Hinduism, Hindu hymn attributed to the 8th-century philosopher Adi Shankara. An ''Ashtakam, ashtaka'', it comprises 8 stanzas, extolling the lingam, an aniconic form of the deity Shiva. Legend According to the ''Shiva Purana'', when Brahma and Vishnu disputed their superiority over the other, Shiva manifested before them as a massive Jyotirlinga, pillar of light. The two deities travelled along the length of the pillar in opposite directions to locate the end. While Vishnu confessed that he had been unable to locate the end, Brahma lied about having achieved his goal, proclaiming his victory. Shiva punished Brahma for his falsehood by creating Bhairava, who decapitated one of Brahma's Panchamukha, five heads. Shiva announced that Brahma would not be worshipped by humans thence; he rewarded Vishnu for his honesty by announcing that he would be widely worshipped in the same manner as himself. Brahma was forgiven following the intercession of Vishnu. Follo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lingam
A lingam ( , lit. "sign, symbol or mark"), sometimes referred to as linga or Shiva linga, is an abstract or Aniconism, aniconic representation of the Hinduism, Hindu Hindu deities, god Shiva in Shaivism. The word ''lingam'' is found in the Upanishads and Indian epic poetry, epic literature, where it means a "mark, sign, emblem, characteristic", the "evidence, proof, symptom" of Shiva and Shiva's power. The lingam of the Shaivism tradition is a short cylindrical pillar-like symbol of Shiva, made of stone, metal, gem, wood, clay or precious stones. It is often represented within a disc-shaped platform, the ''yoni'' – its feminine counterpart, consisting of a flat element, horizontal compared to the vertical lingam, and designed to allow liquid offerings to drain away for collection. The ''lingam'' is an emblem of generative and destructive power. While rooted in representations of the male sexual organ, the ''lingam'' is regarded as the "outward symbol" of the "formless reali ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dakshinamurti Stotra
The ''Dakshinamurti Stotra'' () is a Sanskrit religious hymn (''stotra'') to Shiva attributed to Adi Shankara. It explains the metaphysics of the universe in the frame of the tradition of Advaita Vedanta. Description In the Hindu mythology, Dakshinamurti is an incarnation of Shiva, the supreme god of knowledge. Dakshinamurti is an aspect of Shiva as a guru of all types of knowledge, and bestower of ''jñāna''. This aspect of Shiva is his personification as the supreme or the ultimate awareness, understanding, and knowledge. This form represents Shiva in his aspect as the progenitor of yoga ( Adiyogi: the first Yogi), music, and wisdom, and giving exposition on the shastras. Unlike most of the stotras of Hindu gods, which are in the form of description of anthropomorphic forms, or mythological deeds of those gods, the ''Dakshinamurti Stotra'' takes the form of conceptual and philosophical statements. Its verses offer a description of the unity of the '' atma'' in the midst o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kalabhairavashtakam
The ''Kalabhairava Ashtaka'' () is a Sanskrit hymn written by Adi Shankara. The hymn addresses Kalabhairava, a form of Shiva. It consists of eight stanzas, characteristic of an '' ashtakam''. Hymn The first hymn of the work extols the deity: Kaal Bhairav Ashtakam Stotram: Significance, Method, and Benefits Introduction: Kaal Bhairav is considered a fierce form of Lord Shiva in Hinduism. The Kaal Bhairav Ashtakam, a revered hymn dedicated to him, is especially popular among his devotees. This stotram is believed to be composed by Adi Shankaracharya, and its recitation is said to help alleviate fear, unrest, and negative energy. Kaal Bhairav is worshipped as the lord of time and the controller of life and death. (Source: Gita Press, Gorakhpur) What is an Ashtakam? An Ashtakam is a Sanskrit hymn comprising a total of eight verses. These verses typically glorify a specific deity, highlighting their qualities, virtues, and powers. The word "Ashta" means "eight," hence t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hinduism
Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified by adherence to the concept of ''dharma'', a Ṛta, cosmic order maintained by its followers through rituals and righteous living, as expounded in the Vedas. The word ''Hindu'' is an exonym, and while Hinduism has been called the oldest religion in the world, it has also been described by the modern term ''Sanātana Dharma'' () emphasizing its eternal nature. ''Vaidika Dharma'' () and ''Arya dharma'' are historical endonyms for Hinduism. Hinduism entails diverse systems of thought, marked by a range of shared Glossary of Hinduism terms, concepts that discuss God in Hinduism, theology, Hindu mythology, mythology, among other topics in Hindu texts, textual sources. Hindu texts have been classified into Śruti () and Smṛti (). The major Hin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Moksha
''Moksha'' (; , '), also called ''vimoksha'', ''vimukti'', and ''mukti'', is a term in Jainism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Sikhism for various forms of emancipation, liberation, '' nirvana'', or release. In its soteriological and eschatological senses, it refers to freedom from '' saṃsāra'', the cycle of death and rebirth. In its epistemological and psychological senses, ''moksha'' is freedom from ignorance: self-realization, self-actualization and self-knowledge. In Hindu traditions, ''moksha'' is a central concept and the utmost aim of human life; the other three aims are ''dharma'' (virtuous, proper, moral life), '' artha'' (material prosperity, income security, means of life), and '' kama'' (pleasure, sensuality, emotional fulfillment). Together, these four concepts are called Puruṣārtha in Hinduism. In some schools of Indian religions, ''moksha'' is considered equivalent to and used interchangeably with other terms such as ''vimoksha'', ''vimukti'', '' kaivalya'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sanskrit Texts
Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late Bronze Age. Sanskrit is the sacred language of Hinduism, the language of classical Hindu philosophy, and of historical texts of Buddhism and Jainism. It was a link language in ancient and medieval South Asia, and upon transmission of Hindu and Buddhist culture to Southeast Asia, East Asia and Central Asia in the early medieval era, it became a language of religion and high culture, and of the political elites in some of these regions. As a result, Sanskrit had a lasting effect on the languages of South Asia, Southeast Asia and East Asia, especially in their formal and learned vocabularies. Sanskrit generally connotes several Old Indo-Aryan language varieties. The most archaic of these is the Vedic Sanskrit found in the Rigved ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shaiva Texts
Shaivism (, , ) is one of the major Hindu traditions, which worships Shiva as the supreme being. It is the second-largest Hindu sect after Vaishnavism, constituting about 385 million Hindus, found widely across South Asia (predominantly in Southern India), Sri Lanka, and Nepal.Keay, p.xxvii. The followers of Shaivism are called Shaivas or Shaivites. According to Chakravarti, Shaivism developed as an amalgam of pre-Aryan religions and traditions, Vedic Rudra, and post-Vedic traditions, accommodating local traditions and Yoga, puja and bhakti. According to Bisschop, early shaivism is rooted in the worship of vedic deity Rudra. The earliest evidence for sectarian Rudra-Shiva worship appears with the Pasupata (early CE), possibly owing to the Hindu synthesis, when many local traditions were aligned with the Vedic-Brahmanical fold. The Pāśupata movement rapidly expanded throughout North India, giving rise to different forms of Shaivism, which led to the emergence of various tan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hindu Devotional Texts
Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for people living in the Indian subcontinent. It is assumed that the term ''"Hindu"'' traces back to Avestan scripture Vendidad which refers to land of seven rivers as Avestan geography, Hapta Hendu which itself is a cognate to Sanskrit term ''Sapta Sindhuḥ''. (The term ''Sapta Sindhuḥ'' is mentioned in Rig Veda and refers to a North western Indian region of seven rivers and to India as a whole.) The Greek language, Greek cognates of the same terms are "''Indus''" (for the river) and "''India''" (for the land of the river). Likewise the Hebrew cognate ''hōd-dū'' refers to India mentioned in Hebrew BibleEsther 1:1. The term "''Hindu''" also implied a geographic, ethnic or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hindu Mantras
A mantra ( ; Pali: ''mantra'') or mantram (Devanagari: मन्त्रम्) is a sacred utterance, a numinous sound, a syllable, word or phonemes, or group of words (most often in an Indo-Iranian language like Sanskrit or Avestan) believed by practitioners to have religious, magical or spiritual powers. Feuerstein, Georg (2003), ''The Deeper Dimension of Yoga''. Shambala Publications, Boston, MA Some mantras have a syntactic structure and a literal meaning, while others do not. ꣽ, ॐ (Aum, Om) serves as an important mantra in various Indian religions. Specifically, it is an example of a seed syllable mantra ( bijamantra). It is believed to be the first sound in Hinduism and as the sonic essence of the absolute divine reality. Longer mantras are phrases with several syllables, names and words. These phrases may have spiritual interpretations such as a name of a deity, a longing for truth, reality, light, immortality, peace, love, knowledge, and action. Examples of lon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shiva Tandava Stotra
The ''Shiva Tandava Stotra(m)'' () is a Sanskrit religious hymn (''stotra'') dedicated to the Hindu deity Shiva, one of the principal gods in Hinduism and the supreme god in Shaivism. Its authorship is traditionally attributed to Ravana, the ruler of Lanka, considered a devotee of Shiva. Etymology In Sanskrit, '' tāṇḍava'' (nominative case: ''tāṇḍavam'') means a frantic dance; ''stotra'' (nominative case: ''stotram'') means a panegyric, or a hymn of praise. The entire compound can be translated as "Hymn of praise of Shiva's dance". Verse The stotra has 16 syllables per line of the quatrain, with ''laghu'' (short syllable) and ''guru'' (long syllable) characters alternating; the poetic meter is iambic octameter by definition. There are 17 quatrains in total. Both the ninth and tenth quatrains of this hymn conclude with lists of Shiva's epithets as destroyer, even the destroyer of death itself. Alliteration and onomatopoeia create rolling waves of resounding beau ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phalashruti
A ''phalashruti'' () is a meritorious verse in Hindu literature, appearing at the end of a text or one of its constituent sections. Such a verse offers a description of the benefits that could be accrued by an adherent from the recitation or listening to a given text. It may also extol the prominence of a work, as well as provide the appropriate context for its perusal. Etymology ''Phalaśruti'' is a Sanskrit compound word consisting of the words ''phala'' () and ''śruti'' (), literally translating to, "fruits of listening". Literature The ''phalashruti'' is featured in a number of genres of Hindu literature such as the ''Upanishads,'' the ''Brahmanas,'' the ''Puranas,'' and the ''Itihasas''. Bhagavata Purana The ''phalashruti'' of the ''Bhagavata Purana'' states that he who gifts the text on a full moon in the month of Bhadrapada would achieve the highest goal after their death. The verse acclaims the greatness of the text among other texts of the ''Purana'' genre, sta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Daksha Yajna
Dakṣayajña is an important event in Hindu mythology that is narrated in various Hindu scriptures. It refers to a yajna (ritual-sacrifice) organised by Daksha, where his daughter, Sati, immolates herself. The wrath of the god Shiva, Sati's husband, thereafter destroys the sacrificial ceremony. The tale is also called Daksha-Yajna-Nasha ("destruction of Daksha's sacrifice). The legend forms the liturgical basis of the establishment of the Shakti Pithas, the temples of Mahadevi, the supreme deity of Shaktism. It also becomes a prelude to the legend of Parvati, Sati's reincarnation, who later marries Shiva. The tale is mainly told in the '' Vayu Purana''. It is also mentioned in the ''Kasi Kanda'' of the ''Skanda Purana'', the '' Kurma Purana'', '' Harivamsa Purana,'' and the ''Padma Purana''. The ''Linga Purana'', ''Shiva Purana'', and '' Matsya Purana'' also detail the incident. Variations of the legend may be observed in later Puranas, each text lending a superior account to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
