Friday, December 31, 2010

VedPuranas Articles / Links

http://encyclopediaofauthentichinduism.org/articles.htm
http://sanskritdocuments.org/doc_purana/

Quran and Puran

1. Koran-Puran-bed-bedanto-Tripitak,Jendavesta Grontho-shahib Pore jao joto shokh.
Vedas, Tripitak,Or Quran - Puran,Avesta or another,read as much as you like or can.
2. If God was called Allah or Khuda by Muslims, and Ram or Parmeshwar by Hindus. Father, daddy and papa meant the same person. The real test lay not in be­lief but in action. Both Quran and Puran taught love of humanity. He emphasized that in the eyes of God there was no person high or low superior or inferior, big or small, rich or poor.
3. Both the scriptures(Quran and Puran) mention that we all belong to one GOD and that we are all destined to meet in HIS abode where rivers flow in gardens where Gandharvas(Cupids) play music and the Lord is served by thousands of DemiGods or Farishtays or Angels.

Miracles of Veda and Purana

The Bible : A Purana of Middle East

https://www.google.com/search?q=The+Bible+A+Purana+of+Middle+East

Comparison Of Ancient Texts / Digitalizing

http://ancientvoice.wikidot.com/article:comparison-of-ancient-indian-texts
http://ir.inflibnet.ac.in/dxml/bitstream/handle/1944/84/cali_6.pdf?sequence=1

Target Audience - Friendly Treatises

1. The Puranas are of the same class as the Itihasas (the Ramayana, Mahabharata, etc.).
2. They also give a description of the regions of the universe not visible to the ordinary physical eye.
3. The Puranas were meant, not for the scholars, but for ordinary people who could not understand high philosophy and could not study the Vedas and the Darsanas or schools of philosophy are very stiff. They are meant only for the learned few. The Puranas are meant for the masses.
4. The Puranas were written to popularise the Vedas. All the Puranas belong to the class of Suhrit-Sammitas, or the Friendly Treatises, while the Vedas are called the Prabhu-Sammitas or the Commanding Treatises with great authority.
5. They contain the essence of the Vedas and The aim of Puranas is to impress on the minds of the masses the teachings of the Vedas and generate Faith and devotion to God,
6. Even to this day, the Puranas are popular. The Puranas contain the history of remote times. They are very interesting to read and are full of information of all kinds. Children hear the stories from their grandmothers. Pundits and Purohits hold Kathas or religious discourses in temples, on banks of rivers and in other important places. Agriculturists, labourers and bazaar people hear the stories.

Worship of

There is an emphasis on the worship of
1. Brahma (the creator),
2. Vishnu (the preserver),
3. Shiva (the destroyer),
4. Surya (the Sun God),
5. Ganesha (the elephant headed god known to be the remover of obstructions ),
6. Shakti (the goddess).

Rishi and Muni

The rishis are seers and munis are the spokesmen. We generally get confused and think that Rishis and Munis are same. It is interesting to note that they are different.

The word Rishi has four meanigs –
1. Speed,
2. Shruti (that which is heard),
3. Truth and
4. Austerity.
Lord Brahma says that one who has these four qualities is called Rishi.

In Taittiriya Aranyaka it is explained that in the beginning there was only austerity - Tapas. Lord Brahma imparted the Vedas and Shrutis to these Rishis who were undergoing great austerities. These rishis then propogated the mantras or the hymns to their disciples and thus the chain was formed.

The Muni is one who is also undergoing austerities. He lives like a mendicant and nomad and spends his night wherever he finds some shelter at night. Bhagavad Gita also states that
1. one who is not affected by miseries,
2. not bothered about material comforts and
3. free from anger and fear
is called muni.

This certifies that Puranas are not ordinary or written by some persons with
ulterior motives. They are transcendental.

The first Purana

The first Purana is called Brahma Purana which comes out as Brahma's
breath. It had 1 billion slokas and in heavenly planets that is still
being refered. Vysadeva divided this into 18 Puranas and the slokas
were limited to 400,000

Puranas and Vedas

1. Whatever is written in concise form in Vedas is explained in details in Puranas.
2. The Puranas are supplemetary commentary on Vedas and help us understand it better with practical examples and anecdotes.
3. Puranas are the Smritis - that which comes by rememberance. Vedas are Srutis - that which is learnt by hearing.
4. It was Lord Brahma who first remembered the Puranas. This was before he got the message of Vedas in his heart.
5. the Puranas are older than Vedas which has no beginning and notman-made as the veda formed core and purans the outer branch hence when they appeared in the world Puranas were seen before then Vedas appearead.
6. Puranas are both Paurusheya and Apaurusheya - created by man and not created by man.
Where as Vedas are Apaurusheya and not created by man
7. The Vedas were received by Rishis and the Puranas were perceived by the Munis.

Tales / Stories from the Puranas


What Puranas Consist of

The Puranas being expressed in form of parables and narratives have
become scripture for common people.They are encyclopedias furnishing image of
1. Spiritual,
2. Religious,
3. Social,
4. Political And
5. Cultural Life

comprising an astonishingly varied repertory of folklore and information regarding diverse topics including
1. philosophy,
2. ethics,
3. legal institutions,
4. popular festivals, and
5. several arts.

They even have subjects like
1. grammar,
2. prosody,
3. rhetoric,
4. archery,
5. care of horses and
6. elephants etc.

Thursday, December 30, 2010

Puranas / Naming / Download

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puranas

One of the puranas Vayu Purana states that

yasmatpura hynatidam puranam tena hi smrtam
niruktamasya yo veda sarvapapaih pramuchyate (1.203)

"Since it is alive from the ancient times it is called
Purana. One who knows this overcomes all sins."

http://www.dharmicscriptures.org/literature.htm

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