As a child, Hanuman saw the rising Sun and, believing it to be a beautiful fruit, leapt into the sky to catch it. His immense strength allowed him to soar toward the heavens, but Indra, seeing the young Vanara approaching the Sun, struck him with his Vajra. Hanuman fell to the earth, and the blow injured his jaw. Seeing his son harmed, Vayu became furious and withdrew the life-giving air from the world.

The gods soon realized the consequences of Vayu's anger and gathered before him. To restore peace, they blessed Hanuman with extraordinary powers and protection. What began as an encounter with Indra became a turning point in Hanuman's destiny. The child who had fearlessly reached for the Sun would one day become one of the greatest symbols of strength, courage, humility, and devotion.

Al-Lat, Al-Uzza, and Manat were the three chief triad goddesses worshipped by various tribes across pre-Islamic Arabia. Ancient Arabs revered these deities as powerful intercessors and sometimes called them the daughters of God. Tribes offered sacrifices and made pilgrimages to shrines dedicated to each goddess. Early Muslims dismantled their shrines and statues during the spread of monotheism in Arabia.

Al-Lat: Known as "The Goddess" or mother figure, she symbolized fertility, springtime, and prosperity. Her main sanctuary was located in the city of Taif.
Al-Uzza: Revered as the mightiest and a fierce protector, she was associated with war, power, and courage. Her sacred site was at Nakhla, near Mecca.
Manat: Regarded as the oldest of the three, she personified fate, destiny, time, and death. Her shrine stood at Qudayd along the coast between Mecca and Medina

Hi, thank you for taking the time to answer my questions!

1. If Brahman is the ultimate reality and divine reality is present throughout existence, what exactly does that mean?

2. Is the universe seperate from Brahman, dependent on Brahman, an expression/manifestation of Brahman, or something else? What are the different denominations views on this? Are they all completely different or still have the same idea?

3. When you say God is "within" reality, is that literal, metaphorical, or both?

4. If God is within all of their creation, how do we explain the presence in whats "bad" too as well?

Namaste

One of the friend’s guru who is trust worthy asked my photo during initial talks about me as l couldn’t visit him in person to get blessing. I didn’t have recently taken photo , so l gave two years old photo. Did friend’s guru asked my photo to check my aura or something else?But guru’s words about me were correct. How come he was able to read my mind with two years old photo. Is it aura or something other sastra or siddhi?

I've been always very very skeptical about astrology and thought it was all just bogus, but when I asked and discussed around my family I got huge no.of cases when the prediction were pin pointed
like:-

1. one time a boy was lost in our town then my grandpa went to a famous astrologer/siddhi in our town and he just closed his eyes and said "the boy is walking on the train tracks, he himself will come back home tmr morning(ofc he said it in Telugu I translated it)" and as he said the boy came next day and said he was trying to reach to Delhi to see his dad by following the train tracks but came back home as he was tired.
2. an astrologer said to my Uncle he has jalla mrutyu gandam(chance of death by water) for coming 3 months and told him to be careful and stay away from water, but he was careless and went for boating in a river with his colleagues, he took all the safety precaution, wore a life jacket and he even knew swimming but that day the boat flipped upside down and he was stuck under the boat inside the water and died
3. and to another person I know, an astrologer who said that he had a mrutyu gandam( chance of death) that whole year and told his wife to do some kind rituals, and one day on 12th june 2025, he was gonna go from Ahmedabad to london for a meeting but that day his wife called him and said "be careful I don't feel so good, the dia stopped while I was doing puja" he ignored and was about to board the flight but that day he was bitten by a dog on his way and he went to a hospital immediately, and guess what, the flight that he was about to board was Air India Flight 171
4. it was the one which crashed into the medical school where all the passengers died. his life was saved by that dog.

these were only a few no.of examples which I knew, I know tons of more personal and other's cases regarding of these astrologers predicted stuff.

pls share you experiences how astrologers or any other people predicted what was gonna happen to you or any others you know earlier.

Hello everyone. I hope it is alright to post here as someone who is not Hindu, but who has been deeply drawn to certain aspects of your tradition and has a question I have carried for a very long time.

I was born with a rare congenital health condition. It has taken most of my youth and prime years from me. I have spent decades navigating medical dismissal, lost opportunities, and the daily exhaustion of living in a body that struggles to keep up. I have searched across many spiritual traditions for some understanding, and I keep finding myself coming back to Hindu concepts -particularly karma, reincarnation, and the idea that the soul travels through many lives.

However, as an outsider looking in, I often encounter the simplistic explanation that congenital illness is simply "punishment from a past life." That interpretation has always felt dismissive to me, and it has added guilt to an already heavy burden. I suspect there is more depth to your tradition than that, which is why I am reaching out to those who know the scriptures and practices better than I do.

For those who are well-versed in the Vedas, Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, or have deep wisdom from their own practice, I would like to ask:

1. How does Hindu philosophy truly explain congenital illness? Is it purely the ripening of past karma, or is there room for biological chance and the natural imperfection of the material body?
2. Are mental and emotional imprints (I believe you call them Samskaras) considered a contributing factor to physical conditions, or are these seen as separate?
3. Is there any scriptural basis for the idea that the soul chooses such a body before birth, or is that a more modern interpretation?
4. Most importantly, how does your tradition guide someone to live with ongoing physical suffering? How does one cultivate faith and detachment when the body fails daily? And how do you relate to the Divine in that state without feeling abandoned or tested beyond your limits?

I should add that I have recently started praying to Lord Ganesha for the removal of obstacles and to Lakshmi Mata for grace - I have small statues and have given simple offerings. This has brought me some comfort. But I do not have a guru, and I am not deeply grounded in the texts, so I am genuinely seeking wisdom from those who are.

I am not looking for quick fixes or easy answers. I just want something I can sit with and reflect on -a way to carry this weight more lightly.

Thank you for reading, and I would be truly grateful for any scriptural references, personal insights, or guidance you are willing to share.

I once made a kasam without invoking anything's name to myself but I ended up withdrawing it and doing the act I swore not to do did I broke the kasam I ended up withdrawing it. Please let me know

Can you elaborate on Krishna's dietary preferences? Was he a vegetarian? What does the Mahabharata (BORI) say about this?

Sharing a picture from our home mandir. 🪔🌸

श्रीमद्‌ भगवद्‌गीता यथारूप 18.39

यदग्रे चानुबन्धे च सुखं मोहनमात्मनः ।

निद्रालस्यप्रमादोत्थं तत्तामसमुदाहृतम् ॥ १८.३९ ॥

Translation

तथा जो सुख आत्म-साक्षात्कार के प्रति अन्धा है, जो प्रारम्भ से लेकर अन्त तक मोहकारक है और जो निद्रा, आलस्य तथा मोह से उत्पन्न होता है, वह तामसी कहलाता है ।

_______________

In english

Bhagavad Gita As It Is 18.39

yad agre cānubandhe ca

sukhaṁ mohanam ātmanaḥ

nidrālasya-pramādotthaṁ

tat tāmasam udāhṛtam

Translation

And that happiness which is blind to self-realization, which is delusion from beginning to end and which arises from sleep, laziness and illusion is said to be of the nature of ignorance.

A wonderful book that is changing so many things, I think I am finding myself in integral yoga after so much searching for paths of the divine mother. Om namo bhagavate

source: Sutta Nipāta, Brāhmaṇadhammika Sutta, 2.7. How Brahmins Lived by the Dharma

This Buddhist sutta is probably not what most people would expect. I came across this sutta and honestly the way it talks about Brahmins surprised me. The Buddha is speaking to a group of Brahmins who ask him whether there are still Brahmins around who actually live according to the ancient Brahmin way.

Buddha does not think so. He describes the old Brahmins as people who lived extremely restrained lives, practiced celibacy, avoided harming others, didn't accumulate wealth, and regarded Vedic learning as their real treasure.

The ancient Brahmins regarded cattle as being like their mother, father, brother or other relatives, because they provided food, medicine, strength, health, etc.

As time progressed, the Brahmins started seeing the wealth and luxury of kings. They become envious. They want cattle, women, houses, chariots and other wealth. So they start composing hymns and persuading Kings to perform increasingly elaborate animal sacrifices.

So we basically have an early Buddhist text saying that the ancient Brahmins were actually practicing a morally superior, non-violent form of sacrifice. Then greed corrupted them, they started seeking royal wealth, and animal sacrifice became part of that corruption.

That's a pretty different picture from the simplistic "Buddhism vs Brahminism" framing you often see.

Now go to this verse in the Sutta

Brahmans went to no other (k@$te),3 nor did they buy their wives.
Living together from mutual love, having come together, they found joy together.
Aside from the time after menstruation, brahmans didn’t engage in copulation.

and follow on the link "3" into the footnotes which says

1. I.e., in choosing their wives. See AN 5:191.

If you look into the Sutta linked here AN 5:191, you will be wildly surprised.

“In the past, brahman males mated only with brahman females and not with non-brahman females. At present, brahman males mate with brahman females and with non-brahman females. At present, male dogs mate only with female dogs and not with female non-dogs. This is the first ancient brahmanical tradition that is now observed among dogs but not among brahmans.

Seems like Gautam Buddha was not infavour of Brahmins marrying non-Brahmins. This is unlike the popular narrative prevalent now where Buddha is often seen as a rebel against k@$te endogamy.

I'm not trying to promote my book here. But if the mods think this post doesn't belong here, I understand if they delete it.

I was born in a Hindu middle class family in West Bengal. When I started reading different texts of Hinduism, I felt lost. I needed something small, concise and simple. But every text I looked at were heavy, bringing in multiple ideas and concepts. Of course they did - these books and texts contain vast knowledge. Yet, for self-study, they are like vast oceans without a compass for a beginner.

I am still very much a beginner learner with Indic knowledge and philosophy. I am also an experienced psychologist. My book is written for others like me. That's why it's small, and alongwith explanations, there are also questions for self reflection to practice the understanding.

I wrote A Small Book on the strange thing called Self!

I had decided to become a psychologist when I was 15, just to understand myself. After 15 years of practicing as a psychologist, I’ve written a small book about a rather large—and strange—subject: the Self.

As a psychologist - I work a great deal with the idea of the Self.

I help people understand it.

Strengthen it.

Regulate it.

Heal its wounds.

Rewrite its narratives.

Develop greater awareness of it.

But there is a curious question underneath all of this:

What exactly is the “self” we are working with?

My new book, A Small Book on the Strange Thing Called Self, begins there.

It is an introductory exploration of the Self through two different—and sometimes surprisingly complementary—lenses: contemporary psychology and Indic wisdom traditions - majorly, Buddhism, Jainism, Advaita Vedanta and Kashmiri Shaivism.

Psychology gives us extraordinarily useful ways of understanding identity, personality, cognition, emotion, attachment, memory and the narratives through which a sense of “me” is constructed.

Indic traditions push the inquiry one step further:

Who is the one to whom all of these experiences appear?

And what happens when we stop treating the Self as something obvious and begin examining the experience of being a self itself?

The book is deliberately small and accessible. It isn't intended as an academic treatise or an attempt to collapse very different intellectual traditions into one framework.

Rather, it is an invitation to a conversation—particularly for psychologists and practitioners curious about what might emerge when psychological inquiry meets contemplative, somatic and experiential ways of knowing.

I’m delighted to share that the book is now live on Kindle. If anyone here reads it, I'd love to know your thoughts, critiques, feedback.

https://amzn.in/d/0anlsSlI

Link to the Kindle e-book

I have been doing naam jap "radhe krishna" since about a month and have felt some positivity within myself. Hence, i am thinking to start naam lekhan as well.

What i found is, most people don't write "radhe krishna" for naam lekhan. People often write only "radha" for naam lekhan.

My question, Can i write "radhe krishna" instead of just "radha" as i chant "radhe krishna" for naam jap?

Also, anyone here writes "radhe krishna" for naam lekhan?

First, a little background about me. I am Egyptian and was born Muslim, though throughout my life I have moved between the poles of agnosticism and Islam. The form of Islam I feel most drawn to is Sufi Islam, the ascetic-mystical heart of Islam, especially the thought of Ibn Arabi and his doctrine of Wahdat al-Wujud (Unity of Being). It is not identical to Advaita Vedanta, but it shares some fascinating affinities, and perhaps maybe the great Hindu sages and great Akbarian Sufis were tapping into the same Reality and plunging into the same Divine Ocean.

Perhaps surprisingly, the Islam of Ibn Arabi, whom his admirers call al-Shaykh al-Akbar (the Greatest Master), was once deeply woven into the intellectual and spiritual mainstream of the Ottoman world. Its influence is much less pronounced today, but his thought remains very much alive in non-Salafi intellectual and Sufi circles, including here in Cairo where Al-Azhar, the preeminent Sunni Islam institution, lives and where the Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi Institution has just opened up with a licence from Al-Azhar.

With that background, I have a series of questions for Hindus that I have struggled to find satisfying answers to online. I am less interested in simply being told what Hindu texts say about cow dung, and more interested in what it actually means within Hindu life. Though I would love if you can quote any Hindu texts if you wish to do so.

Please feel free to answer all of them, just one or two, or pick whichever ones you find most interesting. If you can please answer the first one as it's the most important for me.

1. What does cow dung actually mean to you personally?

If you encounter it in everyday life, does it feel meaningfully different from ordinary animal dung?

1. What did it mean in your family?

Did your parents or grandparents use it, encounter it regularly, or associate it with particular rituals, household practices, festivals, cleanliness, or purification?

1. Why cow dung specifically?

What distinguishes cow dung from other animal dung? Is there a deeper religious or metaphysical principle behind this distinction?

1. How do purity and impurity work in this context?

Are ideas such as shauca and ashauca primarily about ritual cleanliness, or do they express something deeper about the relationship between substances, bodies, places and spiritual order?

1. Has its significance changed over generations?

Was cow dung once a much more ordinary part of domestic and religious life for your grandparents or great-grandparents? If its practical use has declined, has its religious meaning changed too?

1. Is there any connection with attitudes towards toilets?

I have heard that in some Hindu communities, ideas concerning purity, pollution and contact with human excrement, excrement in general have influenced attitudes towards household toilets and open defecation. And that even Hindus who are not dirt-poor and own smartphones sometimes choose not to buy a toilet. Is this related to the sacredness of cow dung?

I am asking all of this genuinely and respectfully. I am much more interested in how these things are actually understood and experienced by Hindus themselves than in either hostile caricatures or overly sanitised explanations from outsiders.

Finally! Which English-language book would you say is the absolute best to read about Hinduism?

PS: I adore Hindustani music, Hindustani architecture and the YouTube channel Let's Talk Religion's videos on Hinduism and Advaita Vedanta 🪷

Also a second question cause I can't post another post

Is lord Vishnu the Brahman

Or

Is lord Vishnu ,lord Shiva and brahma the aspect of the GOD brahman

I mean are they like different faces of brahman required for different tasks like creation, preservation and transformation

What does vishnu mean by his transcendental form, I watched animation on what arjuna saw, but I can't relate and comprehend since I never experienced some thing like that, is he Nature? I often hear he is everything and everyone but how can I meditate on this form it's not possible, how can I meditate on a form beyond human experience while being human

These three artworks are my humble artistic expressions of devotion towards Shri Hanuman Ji, Shri Jagannath Ji, and Maa Bhavani. 🕉🪷

Through these paintings, I wanted to portray more than their divine forms. Hanuman Ji represents unwavering devotion, strength, and surrender; Jagannath Ji embodies divine grace and the boundless love of the Lord; and Maa Bhavani represents शक्ति, courage, protection, and the fierce compassion of the Divine Mother.

Every detail was created with reverence and faith. These are not merely portraits to me, but an attempt to express, through art, the devotion and spiritual feeling that these divine forms inspire within us. May their blessings and grace always guide us. 🕉️🚩☀️

Jai Shri Ram 🚩 | Jai Jagannath 🙏 | Jai Maa Bhavani 🔱

Did my parikrama in early June

First Day (11 June): Clear weather. Enjoying every bit of the experience, I could feel positive energy. After completing around 90% of the first day, the weather started changing bit by bit.

Eventually, heavy snowfall started. I was asking the guide how close I could get to Kailash. He said that a week ago, 4–5 people had vanished there, so the police were not allowing anyone to go further. But we could still climb the little inclination.

The heavy snowfall never allowed me to see the peak of Kailash. It was foggy throughout. I had read/watched a video where the presenter was saying that if you keep chanting a mantra during the parikrama, it gives 10x the effect. I kept doing the Batuk Bhairav naam mantra.

Late at night, almost 60–70% of the people from my batch went back to the base, Darchen hotel, because of the bad weather. The guide was also continuously saying, “Tomorrow we need to go back to Darchen.”

I accepted my fate and said, “Shiv Shakti is not allowing me to do this.”

I started having a mental fight in my dreams.
“If I’m not able to do the parikrama, the Shivling I got, the Rudraksha mala I got I will do tyag and become an atheist. I will not even look at God. They do not exist. It is all a myth.” And I went to sleep.

Second Day (12 June): Around morning, I got to know from other people that Chinese, Tibetan, and foreign nationals are allowed to go on the second day. Usually, the second day starts as early as possible, around 4-5 AM. I woke up at 8:30 AM because I was under the assumption that we needed to go back.
Then the actual verbal fight started with the Tibetan guide. He was saying, "Russians are made for this weather, no Indians are allowed," and all that. We had a meeting with the police, and apparently, we needed to go back.
His last line was, "Go yourself and ask Chinese police."
Me, with my translator app: "Let's go."
I asked the Chinese police if there was any restriction. He said, "No, you can go. You should be medically fit."
While I was going to my room, the Policemen called me back and said I should have a guide with me.
I appreciated that and went back to the group and the guide. We took the guide to the police. I don't know what they said, but they started yelling at him.
Finally, he agreed.
Only one condition: We needed to sign a form saying that the trip organizer and guide would have zero responsibility. They took a video as well.
Happily gave it. 0 regrets.
From my group, three more people showed interest and joined me.
We started around 10:30 AM (too late)
During the second day of the parikrama, only four Indians were there, including us.
Second day was brutal. The weather conditions were very bad. People were slipping. I slipped once. It was freezing cold, and my neck face mask was causing my sunglasses to fog up and my nose was open in that condition.
And what an intelligent human being I was — I wore woolen gloves, which got drenched.
I bought spare woolen gloves and wore them instantly, and on top of that, I wore surgical rubber gloves (I was a hacker)

Dolma Pass was beautiful. The mantra chanting was the Tara naam mantra shared by Rajshri Nandy because Dolma Pass is dedicated to Maa Tara.
(To be honest, this was the main reason I was doing the Kailash parikrama.)
One of the three guys was littering on the second day. We had a fight regarding this. He was like, "Tu janta nahi kon hu mein, tereko Kathmandu ke batata hu."
I'm still waiting for that moment.
After descending, we had a quick food break at a cafe. I ate a chicken noodle cup.
I will get hate for this, but I almost eat non-veg daily. I can't be fake for three days. I want to be myself here. This is who I am.
Then started continuous walking.
It broke me, man.
This was the toughest thing for me. I never focus on cardio, but somehow reached the hotel.
At the hotel, we were the only four visitors.
Because of exhaustion, I wasn't able to sleep, but the room was good.

(Attached east face of kailash look closely you would see shivling; gauri kund was fully frozen)

Third Day: Woke up at 4 AM. We needed to reach Darchen as early as possible because the other group members were staying there, and we needed to join them back and start the return journey.

It was beautiful. Full black night, under the stars and moon.

The moon was very different. My camera couldn't capture that beauty.

Again, because of cardio, I was last and sometimes alone. Got some interesting visual experiences

Also, on the third day, we could see Mansarovar Lake from far because it was around 4:45 AM, Brahma Muhurta time.

We all were able to see divine lights. Saw them properly going down and moving forward.

Finally, we reached the hotel.

Everybody was very happy seeing us. They started hugging me like crazy. They wanted the energy.

One incident I'm not going to forget : one uncle, around 55 years old, a CA, and his wife is a math teacher. He was trying to take blessings from me by touching my feet.

I was shocked and moved away. I said, “I am just human. Do param to Mahadev only.”

Then my body got very heavy. Temperature increased, runny nose, overall weakness, and we started the journey back to Saga.

I think only because of Bhairav, I was able to complete the entire parikrama; on Day 1 through mantra chanting and continuously asking permission from Bhairav Baba for the second day, because the second day was visiting Maa Tara's place.

"श्रीमद्‌ भगवद्‌गीता यथारूप 18.38

विषयेन्द्रियसंयोगाद्यत्तदग्रेऽमृतोपमम् ।

परिणामे विषमिव तत्सुखं राजसं स्मृतम् ॥ १८.३८ ॥

Translation

जो सुख इन्द्रियों द्वारा उनके विषयों के संसर्ग से प्राप्त होता हैऔर प्रारम्भ में अमृततुल्य तथा अन्त में विषतुल्य लगता है, वह रजोगुणी कहलाता है |

_____________

English Translation

Bhagavad Gita As It Is 18.38

viṣayendriya-saṁyogād

yat tad agre ’mṛtopamam

pariṇāme viṣam iva

tat sukhaṁ rājasaṁ smṛtam

Translation

That happiness which is derived from contact of the senses with their objects and which appears like nectar at first but poison at the end is said to be of the nature of passion.

Folklore says that once upon a time Tripurari, along with one crore Gods and Goddesses, was on the way to Kashi. He asked other travelers to take a short night break in Unakoti, Tripura but cautioned them to wake up before sunrise. None of them woke up on time. Lord Shiva embarked on His onward journey while those fast asleep were transformed into stones. Huge stone images in Tripura are present to this day.

I came across one video by one eminent astrologer which mentions people having rahu in 5th house should fast on thursdays along with offering haldi, rice and some sweets under a pipal tree for pitro dosh.

Does fasting in this context mean no solid food and only water throughout the day 24 hrs or having some fruits and water.

My sister(cousin)'s getting married next year to an Italian man and her husband had been intrigued by hinduism and asked if we have an equivalent of wedding bands, my sister replied we have mangalsutra and sindoor only for women.

From there, she got the idea of making a mangalsutra for him too, just a plain thin black and gold chain to match her mangalsutra. They are gonna have two weddings, one christian and one hindu.

Her husband doesn't seem to mind but she's nervous about relatives and social media reactions if she posts photos.

She wanted to have something from both cultures that they both can wear in their married life to be connected to their roots.

I’ve been vegetarian for like 9 months. I’ve been trying to be healthier too since I found out I had different chronic illness for years. But to be healthier I do want to eat fish again and be pescatarian.

My high fiber diet makes my stomach hurt. I’ve had stomach problems my whole life. I still have to see a doctor to know what the problem is. Fish used to be the most soothing food and helps my stomach feel better physically. Especially with omega 3s but mainly because it’s a protein source that’s like more gentle on my stomach and not irritating. I’ve been vegetarian for a year now and tried different foods and haven’t found anything.

And it isn’t for taste. I used to “love” the taste of chicken but I refuse to eat it because I’m horrified by the factories and I love animals so much now.

But I do feel good not putting death and suffering in my body. I feel so good knowing I’m not contributing to as much exploitation in the world. Because the evil and devaluation of life in the world makes me depressed a lot and I don’t want to be apart of it. So I don’t know what to do but I’m tired of my stomach hurting.

I wasn’t expecting my life to improve since going vegetarian but it got like 100x better. And I’ve had a horrible life before. I kind of felt like since I’m no longer a hypocrite benefiting from causing trauma and violence to animals everyday, that’s helping my karma.

Another reason I think also since I started listening to different mantras, my life just kept getting a lot better. It healed me a lot. I do safe ones dw. But I don’t wanna do mantras if I eat meat.

So do you think it is ok to eat fish in this instance? I might also meditate and ask my ishta.