Saraswati, the Hindu goddess of knowledge, music and the arts, with the goddesses Lakshmi and Parvati or Durga, forms the 'Tridevi', who are consorts of the male trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, respectively. She is not only worshiped for secular knowledge, but for the true divine knowledge essential to achieve moksha. The word Saraswati is made combining two Sanskrit words 'sara' and 'swa. The word 'sara' means "essence" and 'swa' means "self." Thus Saraswati means "the essence of the self." Goddess Saraswati is worshipped by all persons interested in knowledge, especially students, teachers, scholars, and scientists./

Saraswati is depicted as clothed in white, seated on a white lotus, a symbol of the Supreme Reality and supreme knowledge, playing the instrument veena.

Saraswati is also referred to as Sharda, the fou ..]]> http://blog.agoodplace4all.com/post/index/23/Saraswati Tue, 12 Aug 2008 11:12:58 +0000 General http://blog.agoodplace4all.com/post/index/23/Saraswati#cmt

The Yajurveda, the Rigveda and the Bhagavad Gita declare that Vishnu is the supreme God. According to the Vishnu Sahasranama Vishnu as Paramatma (supreme soul) and Parameshwara (Param=supreme, Ishwar=God). Hindu mythic describes Vishnu as the master of-and beyond-the past, present and future. He is the creator of all existences.

The Puranas tell that Vishnu is having the divine color of clouds (dark-blue), four-armed, holding a lotus, mace, conch and chakra (wheel). Bhagvad Gita also states that Vishnu is having a 'Universal Form' (Vishvarupa) which is beyond the ordinary limits of human sense perception.

Ten incarnations of Vishnu:

1. Matsya or the Fish incarnation: in this form Vishnu saved the Saint Vaivaswata, the hindu variety of the biblical Noah (or vice versa).
   
   
2. Kurma or the Turtle incarnation: at the Churning of the Ocean, Vishnu as Koorma offered his back as a pivot on which ..]]> http://blog.agoodplace4all.com/post/index/22/Vishnu Sat, 09 Aug 2008 12:46:09 +0000 General http://blog.agoodplace4all.com/post/index/22/Vishnu#cmt

   According to the Hindu mythology Indra was the supreme ruler of the gods or Devas. He is also the god of War and Weather. Amaravati, also known as Indrapuri, is his capital. From Vedic to Pouranic ages Indra remained significant in Indian myths, as the primary ruler of all devas.

   As per the Hindu mythic Indra is very powerful, with a reddish complexion and with four very long arms. Indra is married to Indrani. His sons are named as Jayanta, Midhusa, Nilambara, Rbhus, Rsabha, Sitragupta, and, most importantly, Arjuna (by Kunti).

   Story of Indra and Vritra

   Indra's most distinguished exploit is his battle with the asura Vritra. Vritra converted himself as a mighty dragon, and stole all the water in the world. On hearing what had happened, Indra vowed to take back the all the water from him. He consumed vast amount of Soma to get much strength. Indra smashed through Vritra ninety-nine fortresses, and then came upon th ..]]> http://blog.agoodplace4all.com/post/index/21/Indra Thu, 07 Aug 2008 10:12:23 +0000 General http://blog.agoodplace4all.com/post/index/21/Indra#cmt

   All the four Vedas mention 33 Gods i.e. Indra, Prajapathi Brahma, eight Vasus, eleven Rudras and twelve Adityas, a list of principal Vedic is furnished below:

   • Indra
   • Vishnu
   • Sarasvati
   • Rudra
   • Agni
   • Surya
   • Vayu
   • Varuna
   • Brihaspati
   • Yama
   • Heaven and Earth
   ]]> http://blog.agoodplace4all.com/post/index/20/Gods--Godess-in-Vedas Wed, 06 Aug 2008 19:37:23 +0000 General http://blog.agoodplace4all.com/post/index/20/Gods--Godess-in-Vedas#cmt
   India is very rich in literature since very ancient age.

   The Vedas

   According to English wikipedia “The Vedas are a large corpus of texts originating in Ancient India. They form the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and the oldest sacred texts of Hinduism. The meaning of the Sanskrit word ‘veda’ is “knowledge” or “wisdom”. It is supposed that the Vedas were directly pronounced by the ‘God’ himself before the god Brahma. Vedic mantras are recited at Hindu prayers, spiritual functions and other propitious occasions. The applications of these mantras are the way of obtaining the physical immortality.
   There are four Vedas:
   1. Rigveda
   2. Yajurveda
   3. Samaveda
   4. Atharvaveda
   Undoubtedly the Vedas are the oldest sacred texts that are still used.

   The Shrutis

   In Vedic age there was no system of writing. The Sanskrit Mantras were pronounced by the ‘Rishi ..]]> http://blog.agoodplace4all.com/post/index/19/Ancient-Indian-Literature Tue, 05 Aug 2008 11:26:32 +0000 General http://blog.agoodplace4all.com/post/index/19/Ancient-Indian-Literature#cmt
   India is one of the oldest countries in the world. Aryavart, Bharatvarsh, Bharat, Hindustan are the other names of India.
   
   The name Bharatvarsha is derived from the name of the great emperor Bharat, the son of king Dushyant and Shakuntala. Bharatavarsha refers to the total Earth. Emperor Bharata was the first and the only emperor to rule Bharatvarsha.
   
   
   Story of Bharata
   
   Once upon a time the great sage Vishvamitra started ghor tapasya deep meditations. Indra, the king of Gods, became afraid of his tapasya and instructed the Apsara Menaka go to distract Vishvamitra. She succeeded, and bore a female child by him. Vishwamitra, distanced himself from the child and mother as he was annoyed by the loss of the virtue gained through his many hard years of his tapasya.
   
   Menaka left the newborn child on the banks of the Malini River on the peaks of the Himalayas. The newborn child was ..]]> http://blog.agoodplace4all.com/post/index/18/Enormous-India Mon, 04 Aug 2008 11:26:26 +0000 General http://blog.agoodplace4all.com/post/index/18/Enormous-India#cmt