Tag: vedic science (Page 1 of 2)

Annaprashana and Vidyarambha

May 2, 2026 / Govinda Bhat K / 0 Comments

According to the Indian tradition of the Sanatana Dharma, the human life system is not God-centric, but it is human-culture-centric. A Sanatana Dharma follower or any family member may believe in any particular God or not (being optional), but has to observe four principles.

Truth is the first principle, and an article on this principle has already been published on this website. After six months, a child should be given solid foods, and it is called Annaprashana karma, or the baby feeding ceremony. Some Sanskrit verses are used during the baby feeding ritual. In case a father or a mother is unable to accomplish it, then somebody in that society would be doing it. Hunger and food are unavoidable parts of the truth.

Later, kindness is the second principle. Kindness is natural for elders towards children. After three years, a child should be taught about cleanliness and how to speak. Then the child would be very particular about neatness, washing with water and taking a bath. Daily bathing is practised by the Indians from early childhood.

Similarly, living in neat and clean premises is also taught to the child. The importance of Suchitva, or cleanliness, is the third principle in the Sanatana Dharma. When the child starts to speak, then it is administered into letter writing and this ritual is called Vidyarambha karma. During the evening, around the time of sunset, the child would be doing short duration of prayers with actions in their house. Evening or morning, name chanting, called as Japa, is taught by parents, followed by the bath daily.

An AI-generated image of a traditional Indian Annaprashana and Vidyarambha ceremony showing parents feeding a baby and a Guru guiding a child to write Om on a plate of rice in a cultural home setting. — Annaprashana and Vidyarambha mark a child’s first steps into life and learning, where nourishment and knowledge begin under the guidance of family and tradition (AI-generated image)

Donation is the fourth principle of Sanatana Dharma. Donation should be decided by the donor. The doubts of the child are cleared in the bedtime stories after night food, before sleeping. In a peaceful society, these four principles later lead the child to be a good and responsible citizen serving their own nation or the global system of the world. So the basic human culture starts with Annaprashana and proceeds through Vidyarambha.

Karma Siddhanta

May 22, 2024 / Govinda Bhat K / 1 Comment

Karma in Sanskrit means the works. It has other meanings such as duty or actions also. Siddhanta in Sanskrit means finally proved principle in the end. It has other meaning such as proof or theorem. Hence this subject is the principle of work and its results up on its doer, considering all living creatures on earth including the human species. The complementary idea of this truth is Punarjanma, means rebirth. In the previous article on this website ‘Karma: How it affects future’, it is described.

How Punarjanma Siddhanta is complementary with Karma Siddhanta?

Punarjanma Siddhanta means the ‘Principle of Rebirth’ and is the complementary principle to the Karma Siddhanta. Moreover, these two principles are also linked to the Mimamsa Science as already told in this website. These are the subjects of Sanatana Dharma.

According to Indian Karma Siddhanta, there are certain terms or words to be understood initially to think before the Karma Siddhanta. Punya means virtues gained. Papa means sins accumulated to one’s life account. Rebirth means, after death, the living soul energy will be born again according to the credits of virtues and sins taken together in another young child body. The universal soul generally referred as God can create his soul as its own tiny part life beings having own mechanism capable, as discussed in the chapter of Madhvacharya of this website, under the Dvaita and Advaita Siddhantas.

A ceiling decoration from a Jain temple in Ranakpur, Rajasthan where the knots represent the interlinking notion of karma — A ceiling sculpture in Ranakpur, Rajasthan representing the interlinking notion of karma

The unicellular organ bacteria are the smallest life species as detailed in Garuda Purana. Elephants, rhinos or human beings are the bigger in body-size life as detailed in Garuda Purana. But the life soul active energy of bacteria, cows, elephants or rhinos are equal in mass and weight. Shankaracharya proved in his life the portability of this soul energy from his body into the recently dead body of another man is possible, the technique with name as Para Kaya Pravesh. But the transplanting of soul energy from human to another human only was shown as possible.

Hence after several times of birth and death, one slowly starts gaining more and more virtues and finally gets into the human body. When the virtues are very high and sins are meagre, one gets birth as a child to live later as a pure vegetarian. In India, then that human being gets the horoscope. This is a typical life under Sanatana Dharma who could be born anywhere now.

जननी जन्म सौख्यानां वर्धनीकुल संपदां ।
पदवी पूर्व पुण्यानां लिख्यते जन्म पत्रिका ॥

Meaning: Mother being the reasonable cause of birth and pleasures, later developments of the child, the family growth with wealth, according to the previous virtues, the status in the society it gets, for considering all these facts the horoscope is written.

Upaveda

May 9, 2024 / Govinda Bhat K / 0 Comments

Veda in Sanskrit means the science of knowledge. It has other names such as Shruti, Agama, Amnaya etc. The contents are very huge and it was initially divided into four divisions for the convenience of teaching and learning, with the names as Rigveda, Atharvaveda, Samaveda and Yajurveda. In due course of time, each division were further classified as main branches and auxiliaries or Vedashakhas and Upa-Vedas, dealing with different specialized subjects.

Bharadvaja Ashrama was like a University in olden days. Gauthama Ashrama was another such example. The classification of a particular Veda has no particular date and time. Sushruta was the son of Vishwamitra Rishi. He had written books on medicines. One Rishi with the formal name as Bharata had composed verses on Natya shastras. Chanakya had composed books on Arthashastra. Maya had contributed to archeology and artilleries. All are in Sanskrit. These developments were concluded as the basics for job oriented courses.

Gradually, the four branches of Vedas were learnt by the students separately according to their aptitudes, further evolving into ten clear branches. Surgery and medicines were studied by the students of Rigveda having the branch name as Shakhala Shakha and those verses pertaining to their aptitudes were termed as Ayurveda and later, that auxiliary branch continued as Upaveda of Rigveda. Thus medical field got the name evolved as Ayurveda. Rigveda had only one branch, so one wing Ayurveda is the one assumed Upaveda, continuing even now .

Japa Yajna

April 30, 2024 / Govinda Bhat K / 1 Comment

Japa means chanting divine name of God or repeatedly reciting the same powerful mantras. There are several compound words such as Japayoga, Japa sadhana, Japayajna etc. This is most commonly known as Japayajna or simply Japa. Japayajna is sometimes done without any purpose or without desire also. But Japayajna is usually done to achieve a desired result within a least time.

Earning money may be a difficult project work but earning virtue through Japayajna is an easier project than it. It can be practiced individually, within family members or within a group of people together. A garland with 54 (fifty four) beads or 108 (one hundred and eight) beads to keep the counts of repetitions is helpful for the Japa practitioner of Sanatana follower. There are also people, using 100 beads, 33×3+1 chanting for thrice a day. The words Japa or Tapa are colloquial phrases but Tapa is not as easy as Japa since Tapa is penance and not recommended for all.

यज्नानां जपयज्नो ऽस्मि

Meaning of Yajnanam japa yajno asmi: God Krishna had explained his various forms of recognized, special exhibitions or proof of divine perceivable existences. Among the several visible forms, sacrifices or rituals are considered as causes for virtues. Japa, the God’s name chanting or mantra reciting system is the best or divine form, most pleased by God. This narration is available in the twenty fifth verse of the tenth chapter of the Bhagavad Geetha. It is available in Mahabharata. Vyasa Rishi had written it in Sanskrit, for the guidance of all desiring welfare, and recommendable for all, without any restrictions.

Shri Madhvacharya: Exploring The Legacy And Teachings

November 2, 2023 / Govinda Bhat K / 1 Comment

Who is the Udupi Shankaracharya?

Madhvacharya is the Udupi Shankaracharya. His Holiness Shree Shree Madhvacharya had presented his incarnation from Vayu on the Vijayadashami day in 1238 AD, at Pajaka in Udupi district of Karnataka in India as the first son to Smt. Vedavati and Sri Narayana Bhatta. Since the house of Narayana Batta was in the middle of a colony, he was also famous by his house name, in local Tulu dialect, as Naddanthillaya, which makes a sense of owner of the house in the middle of the colony. His holy life was amalgamated with the lotus feet of Maha Vishnu on 1317 CE.

13th century portrait of the pontiff, Shri Madhvacharya — 13th century portrait of Shri Madhvacharya

The initial name of Madhvacharya, prior to bestowing him as the Holy Swamiji of Udupi, was generally referred by the assigned name of Purnaprajna being officially granted by his Guru. During the Purvashrama, his name was Vasudeva but later he was delighted as a holy pontiff of Udupi. The disciples of His Holiness assigned him the honorable name of Madhvacharya. Usually, his family followed Vaishnavite theologies and was following practical and social performances of the school of Shankara philosophy.

The common Indian word for the cultural rituals or the lively routine activities is called the Dharmic Achara or simply as Achara. Acharya means a person like a priest who performs and preaches, along with highlighting ancient and ever-lasting theologies or acharas of Sanathana Dharma, the naturally evolved, scientific social customs.

What was the specialty of Madhvacharya ?

Until Madhvacharya became a pontiff, his previous traditional teachers were following what the great Indian seer Shankaracharya had renovated. But gradually, Madhvacharya developed many social outlooks of Sanathana Dharma within the lessons of his own experiences. He felt that, in the later periods, debates would become more prominent and hence rituals should be based on scientific proofs and such plain protective approach that was originally faced by Jagadguru Shankaracharya also.

Mahabharat: Pauloma Chyavana

November 22, 2020 / Govinda Bhat K / 1 Comment

In Mahbharat, Pauloma parva is the fourth upa parva, under the first maha parva, named as the Adi parva. Maha parva means parts of the epic, the main book of Mahabharat, and upa parva means sub divided volumes. Mahabharat was authored by Veda Vyasa Rishi and he told the entire epic to his son Shuka Muni in eighteen parts with an appendix or in total say, one hundred sub divisions. Suta Puranika had heard the narrations, when he had attended the serpents’ yajna performed by Janamejaya, where the epic was retold by Shuka muni to the audience assembled there.

After completion of the yajna, Suta Puranik, while returning, had visited the hermit of Ugrashrava , son of Lomaharshana, at Naimisharanya. Ugrashrava had requested Suta Puranik to narrate the same epic. Thus three upa parva was completed. He started to narrate the fourth upa parva, the pauloma parva. After accepting the provisions of due hospitality, the story teller, Suta Puranik upheld the lesson of this upa parva being the highest virtue as non- violence, as adorable for any human being and to be longed for that root principle of Dharma.

Nandadeepa: The Ever Glowing Lamp

September 14, 2020 / Govinda Bhat K / 0 Comments

Lamp lighting is a common feature in India, during the holy inauguration of a new house, hall or starting of a meeting or conference. In the various linguistic states of India, holy Lamps usage is more or less similar. In the various religious functions also, the lamps find an indispensable place on occasions. Even though electric lights are now available, the holiness goes to the various oil lamps. The highest honor of lamp is occupied by the cow ghee lamps.

A lit mud lamp called Nandadeepa — Nandadeepa

Chaturmasya: Importance And Results

July 8, 2020 / Govinda Bhat K / 0 Comments

Different people of India celebrate Chaturmasya vrata as festival in different styles and on different dates, even though some of these are common for the followers of different faith. It is a very important achara, means performance of religious fast, for controlling self-emotions, and fulfillment of desires by controlling the nature and having the blessings of God at large for the benefit of family and self. In general, it is a holy religious fasting system.

Six Important Festivals Of India

July 6, 2020 / Govinda Bhat K / 3 Comments

The people of India celebrate various festivals in different styles and dates, even though some of these are common for the different believers. India supports multi lingual society, with followers of different faith. From the very early dates of history, it could be seen in India, people lived here having different aptitudes and liking with respect to the one in their near neighborhood.

Celebrating of different types of festivals in India has never caused any conflict but went on with mass happiness. Thus, in a neighborhood, people belonging to Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Sikh, or Jains, speaking different languages, live together happily. Out of their different festivals, some six are more important and hence recognized throughout India, but celebrated on different dates and in different styles.

Astrology Guru Sri Kanapram Narayanan Namboothiri

July 5, 2020 / Govinda Bhat K / 4 Comments

Guru photo — Photo of Sri Kanapram Narayanan Namboothiri, Kaithapram

The word Guru is used for a person in the sense of honour. It is associated with the field of education and means teacher in Sanskrit. Sri Kanapram Narayanan Namboothiri, from Kaithapram (Pin code – 670631), a place near Payyannur, deserves to be honoured with the word “Guru” since he served for the same in the field of Indian astrology. The author of this article actually used to reside in his residence as a disciple of astrology and has learnt various items related to the subject during the time periods from 5 p.m. till 9 p.m. in the years from 1983 up to 1989 approximately for six years, but in broken periods. He also provided food in that time and bed for overnight rest, similar to the Gurukulam system of learning.