QUESANSW DIVINE 88 Dear friends,
These are information posted by members compiled as QA by me in1998’s-2004’s and stored in my computer. At this date I have no information ofthe members posted. For some QA a reference book is mentioned. So such QA is framed byreading the book by me downloading from internet. Gaya Srardha topic is covered in this QA also It ispurely incidental. BEING COMPILATIONTHERE MAY BE ERRORS. Sincerely, R. Gopalakrishnan, 78,Former ITS, AGM Telecom Trivandrum dated 29-12-2021 Q1How many ways we sin? A1 We sin in four different ways. With our body we do evil;with our tongue we speak untruth; with our mind we think evil; and with ourmoney we do so much that is wicked. We must learn to turn these very four means of evil intoinstruments of virtue. Q2 Do worshippingkamadhenu is equal to worshipping ancestors? A2 Yes, Vedassay so. The Vedas also say that offering prayers to GoddessKamadhenu is equivalent to worshipping our ancestors and hence it is consideredto be auspicious to feed the cows on a New Moon Day. According to ancient seers, this worship when performed along with the feeding of the cow with"Agathi Keerai" herb leaves produces immense benefits tothe ancestral spirits and the native. The benefits of offering "Agathi Keerai" herb leaves to the Cow will reach the ancestors residing in any plane of existence and obtain theirblessings for you. If a soul has certaindissatisfaction when leaving the earth plane, offering Agathi Keerai willappease the soul and make the soul to rest in peace. The soul canthen ascend to higher level of existence beyond the earth plane Q3 Everybody wouldhave seen big advertisements to purchase gold on the Akshaya thrithiya day.Question- Who got Akshaya Pathrm from the Son- Panchali or Yudhishtira? A3 According to Vedic Mythology, the "Akshaya bowl" whichcreates unlimited food was given to the great king Yudhistra on this day This event happenedat the Thirumanthurai temple in Tamil Nadu. Q4 What is thespcial attribute of Siva puram temple in South India? A4 Kuberaworshipped Lord Siva at a temple called Sivapuram. This temple isone of the most sacred temples in Southern India. Buried underneath the landsurrounding the temple are thousands of Sivalingams Q5 Can a prayer before the sea isapproved if you could not do anything like sraddah, Tharpanam etc ? A5 Yes. Again, our scriptures say, if we don't get any facilitysuch as place, person, or mantras, Agni and even good water etc etc, and we aretrapped in an island," Goand weep before the sky and water" for non performance of these. Ourprayers for them are bound to be carried by these holy agents. Q6 What are thethree main classifications of Sraddaha? A6 Shraddha canbe of three types: adyashraddha(early obsequies), abhyudayikaor brddhi shraddha (emerging obsequiesofferings) and sapindikarana (yearly obsequies rites). The sapindikarana shraddha isheld a year after a death Shraddha, observed to seek blessings from the ancestors prior to marriageor upanayana (holy thread ceremony),is known as brddhi shraddha. There are alsothree other types of shraddha: shraddha observed on some occasions like Mahalaya (new moon of the Banglamonth Ashvin) or marking the death falling on some special occasions is knownas parvana shraddha(festivalobsequies). Theshraddha meant for a single person at a time is known as ekoddishta shraddha (obsequiesfor one) Food isusually offered to the manes (pindadan) in the name of three generationson parvana shraddha. Q7 What is Anvashtaka sraddaha? A7 There is another type of shraddha called Anvashtaka,but this is not observed widely. It is thought that it is proper to hold shraddha at the altar of vishnu in the holyplace of Gaya. The rich in most cases observe the shraddha of their parents inGaya. shulapani's Shraddhavivekaand Raghunandan's Shraddhatattva are considered authoritative textsregarding shraddha by Hindus in Bengal. [Suresh Chandra Banerjee] Q8Where do we have Akshayavat in Gaya? A8 Ghats and temples line the banks of the sacred Falgu River. Trees such as pipal treesand Akshayavat, the undying banyan, are especially sacred Q9What is the speciality of Mangal gouri shrine and Vishnu pada temple in Gaya? A9 The Mangla Gauri shrine is marked by tworounded stones that symbolize the breasts of the mythological Sati, the firstwife of Lord Shiva Lord vishnu's right footprint is embedded onthe stone called 'Dhrama shiela'. Pilgrims come here for praying. They worship with milk and flower garlands so thattheir relatives soul have peace in eternalheaven. Q10 What are the special attributesof deoghar temple in Bihar and mythology associated with it? A10 Thehoary temple at Deoghar (the home of gods) is the most important pilgrim pointin Bihar that attracts thousands of Shiv devotees during the month of Shrawan(July/August), when the summer heat has just given way to the early monsoon. Saffronclad pilgrims with pots of holy water, well balanced on their shoulder, make a 100 km. Bare foottrek from Sultanganj, where the holy water of Ganges is considered holier due to itsunusual flow northwards. The sanctity of deoghar lies inits legend of Ravana who went all the way to Mount Kailash, pleading Shiva tomake Lanka his home. Ravana’smother was an ardent devotee of Shiva and she worshipped a Shivalinga made ofclay, which soon dissolved with daily pouring of water over it. This prompted Ravana to implore Shiva if hewould reside in Lanka. Lord Shiva did not accede to Ravana’s prayer but offeredhim one of twelve emblems of his divinity (Jyotiralinga) which would be quiteas effective and that he might take it away on the condition that the transfer should be effectedwithout breaking the journey. Moreover if the lingam wasplaced elsewhere on earth during the journey, it would remain fixed on thatspot forever. The othergods felt unhappy at the jyotiralinga being transported to Lanka which wouldrender them powerless in their fight with Ravana. Accordingly they planned tooutwit Ravana . Varuna, the god of water entered the belly ofRavana, urging him to relieve himself. Ravana was left with no alternative but to descend and befriend and oldBrahmin (who was Vishnu in disguise) begging him to hold the lingam for awhile. On return Ravana found thelingam lying on the ground and the Brahman was nowhere to be seen. He was ina great rage but equally helpless as he tried hard to remove the lingam fromthe spot but heonly succeeded in breaking a piece of the top of it. This place where thejyotiralinga was destined to last for ever is Deoghar, also popular as BaijnathDham. Anotherfestival that takes place at this time is the festival of Naag Panchami (July/August). It is celebrated in honour of snakes at Rajgir. Devotees offer milkand flowers and worship snakes. As it is Lord Shiva who wears a garland ofsnakes (sarpa bhushanam), he is also worshipped on this day. Q11 Who are Gayalis and how theyare associated with Gaya sraddaha? A11 Fewmonths prior to the Buddhist pilgrimage this sleepy town is agog with people whocome here for the Pitrapaksha mela or the ancestor worship typified in Sraddharitual. It is time for the Gayalis (the descendants ofMagga Brahmans who were once devotees of Shiva but later converted toVaishnavism) to be prepared for the Vedic Sraddha ceremonies or the pindan – amandatory Hindu rite that is supposed to bring salvation to the departed soul. The legenddates back to Lord Vishnu who is believed to have confirmed the power ofcleansing one’s sins in this holy place. Thetradition traces its history to the time of Buddha, who is believed to have performedthe first pindan here. Turning the pages of earlier history, onecomes across the Puranic legend that ascribed Gaya as one of the holiest spotsof the world. The Asura, named Gaya became so powerful thatthe gods felt threatened and thus thought of eliminating him. As aprecondition to his death, the Asura demanded that he should be buried in theholiest spot of the world .This place is Gaya. Thecentral point of the Hindu pilgrimage in Gaya is the Vishnupada temple, builtby Rani Ahilyabai of Indore in the 18th century. The spoton which it stands is associated with the famous mythological event of LordVishnu killing Gaya and leaving marks of his footprint on the rock which is themain object of worship in the temple. Theshraddha is customarily performed under a fig tree while the women pilgrimsperform it indoors as gayawal women live under strange customs, for instance, they neverstir out of the house and married girls continue to get their daily ration fromtheir parents. Q12What are the details of Haridwar? How the the place got its name so? A12 Although there is no much information about thedecent of lord Vishnu in Haridwar and how did He left there His footprints, wewould like to say few words about this very auspicious holy place. Haridwar (literally, Vishnu's gate) is sanctified byLord vishnu's footprints and so, it is one of the seven most important pilgrimage places in India - theland of the Aryan civilization Har-ki -pauri literary means the feet of LordVishnu. Interestingly, very close to the temple is the bathing place calledCharan or footprints of Lord Visnu which actually became imprinted on stonesituated on the upper wall of the ghats. This bathing place is the mostimportant ghat on the river Ganga, where a holy dip, by many people isconsidered to be a must. The benefitof performing a horse sacrifice or Shraddha ceremony at Gaya is also easilyattained at Shukla Tirhta and ultimately one can attain liberation So, at this amazing holyplace Shukla Tirtha one can have a darshan of Lord Vishnu's footprints, prayingto which one can attain the His spiritual abode. Q13 Dothere is a foot print of Vamana in Mecca? A13Yes is the answer. In the Harihareshvar Mahatmya there is an interesting mantra thatdescribes three holy places in this earth planet where the incarnation of LordVishnu, Vamana, left His footprints. The mantra goes as follows: "Ekam Padam Gayayantu MAKKAYAANTU Dwitiyakam Tritiyam Sthapitam DivyamMuktyai Shuklasya Sannidhau" In this Verse it is not so surprising that the Lordleft His footprints in Gaya and Shukla Tirtha but it is very amazing that itis also there in Mecca - the most holy pilgrimage place of all the Muslims. This can suggest that although, the Muslims consider that thedivine footprints are the footprints of Mohamed, according to theabove Vedic reference they actually worship and bow down to the lotusfootprints Lord Vamana Firstly worshipping a foot -impression amounts toidolatry and should therefore be taboo for a true Muslim. Secondly Muhhamaddisclaimed having performed any miracles. Thirdlyfoot-impressions must always be in pairs like shoes. Yetin most of these shrines, it is usually a single footprint which suggests thatMuhammad walked on only one foot. My note-This QA is added on academic interestand not for discussions Q14What is the story told in the Gaya Mahamya about Gayasura and Gaya sraddaha? A14In few puranas like Vayu, Agni and Garuda puranas but especially in the GayaMahatmya there is astory of the demon called Gayasura who acquired so much divine powers thatanyone who saw or touched him went straight to heaven Because this interfered with the duty of Yamaraja,the Lord of death and because other demigods began to suffer too due toGayasuras required power, LordVishnu requested by the demigods decided to kill the demon. He, however, also granted a boon to Gayasura thatthe ground covered by his body-some ten miles in extent-would become theholiest place on the earth and be known as Gaya Ksetra. At the time of killing Gyasura, Vishnus footprintremained in the block of basalt that is now called Dharmasila and is the objectof worship. PerformingSraddha ceremony or offering oblations to the ancestors at this place frees theancestors from the cycle of repeated birth and death Q15Which are the most important holy places that were known in ancient times ? A15 In this earth planet there are five most important holy places thatwere known already in ancient times. Badrinath in the north; Jagannath Puri in thewest-coast; Rameswaramin the south; Dwarakain the east-coast of India and approximately in the middle of them Vrindavana. Q16 Dofootprints of Vishnu are there at Badrinath? A16 Yes. At Badrinath there is a place called Charanpaduka wherea huge boulder bears the footprints of Lord Vishnu that were imprinted when he descendedfrom Vaikuntha. Unfortunately, we don't have information whichincarnation of Lord Vishnu left here His footprints. Q17 Dofootprints of Vishnu are there at Varanasi? A17 Yes .In Varanasi, close to Manikarnika, the place where people arecremated, is another place where Lord Vishnu's footprints are preserved. According to the localtradition, here Lord Vishnu performed tapasya - penance for not less than 7,000years. His footprints areseen on a boulder called 'the Caranpaduka', a slab of stone between thewell and the bathing place. The footprints were personally imprinted byLord Vishnu. Close by, there is a temple in honor of Ganesh who is worshipped to remove allobstacles on the path of spiritual practice. Q18 DO Gandhamaa hill bear foo prits of Sri rama?How do it has cone? A18 One of the divinefootprints that Lord Rama left in this earth planet are found near Himalayas at theGandhamadana hill that is the favorable abode of Hanuman - Gandhamadanasaila-sthainai-namaha.The reason how this happened is very interesting. In the Rama lila when Laksmana got a great wound and needed a healingsanjiva herb, Hanuman brought the whole Gandhamadana hill at the place whereLaksmana was lying. At this time Siushena collected the required healing herband Lord Rama left His footprints there as well. After some time Hanumanbrought back the fortunate Gandhamadana hill to its previous place close to theHimalayas where only three kilometers away, Ravans's brother, Vibhusanasurrendered to His eternal, real muster Lord Ramacandra. Q19 Is there any verse that Siva is a Vaishnavite inSrimad Bhagavatham? A19 The Shrimad Bhagavatam declares - vaishnavanam yatha shambhu -Shiva is the best of all the Vaishnavas. Q20 Do Rameswaram is a Vaishnavite pilgrim center? A20 Yes. Lord Ramaworshiped Lord Shiva just to show an example how one should glorify and worshipan elevated devotee. Thisplace Rameshvaram is a place dear both to the Vaisnavas and the Shaivites. Q21 What is the speciality of Kamadgiri hill? A21 On top of the Kamadgiri hill is a place calledSita Rasoi meaning Sita's Kitchen Shrine where she was cooking for the first years of theexile. It is quite interesting that in the Ramayana there is no mention ofSita's cooking and moreover, that this is not the only place at Kamadgiri whereShe was cooking for Lord Rama and Laksmana. Q21 Do there any instance sageViswamithra cursed his sons? A21 Yes. In Vedicliterature there are names like mleccha and yavana. The mlecchas are understood to be those who donot follow the Vedic principles. In former days, the mlecchas were fewer, and Visvamitra Municursed his sons to become mlecchas -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Thatha_Patty" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to thatha_patty+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/thatha_patty/155912160.1718538.1640737316353%40mail.yahoo.com.
