1. When Rohingyas Mass Murdered Hindus

Yes you heard it right. They are not the most persecuted minority of the world. They are capable of fighting guerilla wars against military states like Myanmar.

And they brutally eliminate non-Muslim minorities wherever they come to rule.

1. Hindu Iconography and Knowledge Distribution in Ancient India

Hindu Iconography is a reservoir of powerful symbols. Symbols lead to meaning. Meaning leads to an understanding of Truth. But looking at this ancient process, we also realize a great truth about our society.

2. Just like Vaikhari in language is incapable of expressing the Ultimate Truth, Symbols in themselves are incapable of conveying the Divine Truth about the Supreme Consciousness. They are a ladder to a great meaning and realization.

3. But just as our ṛṣis created a language, Sanskrit, which could most closely approximate the Ultimate Truth and lead the devotees towards it, similarly in Hindu iconography, mudrā and poses were invented by the ṛṣis to lead the devotee towards the path of Self Realization.

4. This symbolism is first codified in the Natyashastra but then many texts expand it into the most elaborate iconography that the world has ever seen. mudrā, hasta and bhaṇga convey the meaning of the poses that the body takes.

5. The symbolism of the āyudha that the deities hold in their hands makes the symbolism richer and more complete. Their āsana and decorations make the meaning richer and more beautiful.

1. How Christianity created the lethal blend of Prophetic Monotheism

Hindu View of Christianity and Islam – Part 2

Shri Ram Swarup explains how the lethal blend of Prophetic Monotheism was created by Christianity. Judaism wasn't particular on conversion. Christianity added it.

2. Jesus started his career by trying to become a Jewish prophet. The initial times are marked by his words which seek audience only in Jews. It was only when Jews considered him dangerous enough to bring Roman ire on Israel that he turned his attention to Gentiles.

3. Gentiles were the pagans of Israel/ Palestine of those times. And this change of audience in attention from Jews (monotheistic people) to Gentiles (pagan people) has its marks on the character of Christianity, mainly in the things that it borrowed from both cultures.

4. From Messiah to Savior

"Jesus himself was converted from a Messiah into a Saviour, into God's First Begotten Son, the Intermediary between God and man. This indeed was a great leap and a great promotion from the humble figure of a Jewish Messiah."

5. Jesus's story is sold as a unique happening in the history of mankind. But that’s false. When Christianity was born there were too many saviors around. Mithras, a Persian god, famous in Roman Empire had a story too similar to Jesus. (All quotes are Shri Ram Swarup’s words)

1. 'Hindu' is a word which is often objected to: both by the left-liberals and even by many Hindu nationalists. The disbelief in the word arises from the same historical truth: that the word 'Hindu' is not indigenous and it was a name given to us by the others, by the outsiders.

2. Whether it was a corruption of the word 'Sindhu' by the Iranians who couldn't pronounced 's' as 'h' is now a matter of great debate, but everyone agrees that the word itself is foreign in origin.

3. Anti-Hindus claim that since the word itself is foreign in origin there is no such thing as the Hindu society & Hinduism, & India is a British creation! They mistake the word for the civilization, and proving former’s foreign origin, reject the very existence of the latter.

4. The Hindu Nationalists believe that since the name is foreign in origin, so we should completely reject it and use the name 'Bharat' for our country and 'Sanatana Dharma' and 'Sanatani' for referring to our Dharma and our people.

I disagree.

5. I have no problem with the phrase Sanatana Dharma and I use it quite often. But the word 'Hindu', and the phrase 'Hindu Dharma' are quite useful, easy and we have been using them for the past few centuries very very well to identify ourselves.

1. How Our Eyes Lie to Us

Cognitive Psychologists in the past two decades have been experimenting on narrative fallacy. They say that our minds create stories or narratives which do not portray reality as it is, but as our minds perceive them.

2. Daniel Kahneman, Dan Ariely, Daniel Gilbert etc. have published ground breaking works where they discuss the narrative fallacy. They tell us how our mind fools us in our behavior and we may think we are in control of our behaviors but our mind has different designs for us.

3. Daniel Gilbert in ‘Stumbling Upon Happiness’ tells us how our eyes betray us and we can’t even be sure of what we see, let alone what we think. Michael Gazzaniga tells us that how our instincts are not in our control and it seems we act according to a pre-written script.

4. These are very serious subjects and only future will tell us what is going to happen in these disciplines. But the bottomline of all this research is that: our mind and our senses lie to us and we cannot be sure of what we think or what we even see.

5. That our senses create a narrative fallacy is something that has been alluded to in many of our spiritual texts. Modern West is just rediscovering it through tests and experiments. But there is an experiment in our daily lives that gives us a clue of what narrative fallacy is.

1. Is Śiva really Bholenātha?

A commong sight during Sāvana ke Somvāra in north India is Hindu women offering Bilva Patra to Śiva liṇga at the nearby temple, offering jala & other offerings directly to Śiva liṇga by touching it directly or a long time.

2. There is scarcely any rule to this offering of pūjā. Women in sārī, suit and even western clothes offer everything they have brought with them directly to Śiva: milk, water, kumkum, haldī, bilva patra, sweets, fruits and much more with priest just managing the proceedings.

3. There is often a queue-less, order-less jumble of acts, sights and sounds in which women of all ages jostle with men and boys of all ages to reach the ‘pinḍī’, the Śiva liṇga and offer the pūjā.

4. Most people from the south, following tradition, where āgamas are still a working reality, at least in temples, and where many people follow caryā are offended, and not without reason.

Śiva also have rules of worship and approach, as other deities.

5. Śiva temple, like others requires certain rituals and customs which are inviolable. Śiva, like other deities, requires certain caryā from his devotees and thus cannot be just taken any way the devotees want. It is true that there is a way to approach him like any other deity.

WHY BABUR NEVER TRIED TO ATTACK SRI KRISHNADEVARAYA ?

A🧵u must read

It is very well known that Babur considered Krishna Dev Raya as the strongest ruler of the entire subcontinent, and Vijayanagar empire the strongest during that time in India.

1/10

The Vijayanagar empire reached its peak during 1509-1529 around the reign of Krishna Dev Raya.

Vijayanagar’s famed elephant brigade 👇

2/10

At his command there were over 50000 elite troops with a regiment of Portuguese gunners and 3200 cavalry with 600 elephants.

3/10

Along with that more than four hundred thousand ( four lakh) peasant levies and irregular military made this empire one of the largest in all of South Asia.

A typical Vijayanagar levie soldier 👇

4/10

During Baburs invasion, Krishna Dev Raya ruled supreme in all of deccan.

In fact, in an all our brawl, Krisha Dev Raya will beat Babur fair and square.

Babur could muster at max 50000 troops with 50 canons.

While Krishna Dev Raya had these numbers in Hampi alone

5/10

Varahi Amman, Madurai, Tamilnadu

Vaarahi is one of the Saivite Shakti deities with the group of goddesses known as SAPTAMATAS.
They are: Brahmi, Maheshwari, Kaumari, Vaishnavi, Vaarahi, Mahendri and Chamundi. 1/n

They are the Shakti (female) equivalents of their male counterparts. Vaarahi is the Shakti of Bhairavar who is one of the Amsam of Bhairavar.Created from the boar avatara of Vishnu, Vaarahi is often associated with Goddess Kamala (one of the Mahavidyas). 2/n

She is also called Dandini (Lady Commander of the forces of the Mother-Goddess, symbolizing the might of SriVidya). As Vaarahi ("hog-faced" or "the great consumer") she destroys evil forces that obstructs the devotees' progress, paralyses the enemies 3/n

and led the devotees ultimately to SriVidyas. She is also called Panchami). With Kurukalla, she is accorded the parental status to Sri-Chakra (Lalita Tripura-Sundari). While Kurukalla represents the full moon, Vaarahi represents the new-moon. 4/4

Jai Maa Varahi 🙏

Tag for 📷 credit

MEENAKSHI AMMAN, MADURAI (TN)
#bharatmandir #navratri2021

A paadal Petra sthalam where Shiva took the form of Sundareswarar (the handsome one) and married Devi Parvati (Meenakshi).
Devi is also known by the name Angayarkanni (mother with the beautiful fish eyes).
@GunduHuDuGa

Devi Meenakshi emerged from yagna fire as a 3 year old girl when Pandyan King Malayadwaja and Kanchanamalai were praying for a child.
It is said that Devi was born with three breasts and there was a prophesy that her superfluous breast would melt away when she met her husband.

Devi ruled over Madurai and captured Indralok. She went on to capture Kailasha. When she saw Shiva, her 3rd breast disappeared and she realised that Shiva would be her consort.
The divine marriage was attended by all Devas and Sri Vishnu (as her brother) gave her hand to Shiva.

It is said that Indra found a swayambhu lingam at Kadamba Vanam. He placed it in Madurai where the kshetram stands. Here, Shiva is seen on the vehicle of Indra.
The Golden Lotus Tank is said to be the place where a golden lotus blossomed for the puja performed by Indra.

The Meenakshi Thirukalyanam festival is celebrated in the Chithirai month to mark the divine marriage of Meenakshi Amman. The festival includes a procession where Meenakshi and Sundareshwara travel in a chariot and Sri Vishnu gives away his sister in marriage to Shiva.

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