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Dr. Nikhil asked: What are the various main misunderstood interpretations in Hinduism?
Shri Swami replied: 1) Unimaginable God: a) This is a misunderstanding in all the religions including Hinduism. This space, which is subtle energy, is infinite. This infinity is not the absolute inherent characteristic of the space. It means that the space is not infinite by itself. The space is generated from the unimaginable God. If you reach the boundary of the space, you touch God like...
1. What is the meaning of the upasthana mantraas chanted every day in Sandhyavandana?
[Shri Hrushikesh asked: Dear Swami, Request You to kindly answer the below questions. What is the meaning of upasthana mantraas that brahmins chant every day as a part of the Sandhyavandana ritual?]
Swami replied:- Upa- near, sthaana- the place of God. This means that you are becoming closer and closer to God. This is possible only when you express your true love to God. Mantra means repetition of the expression of mental love thought. The ritual in its essential meaning...
The meaning of Gayatri is a divine song, which protects the singer. Mantra means that divine sentence which attracts the mind and protects the...
Śrī Bharath Krishna asked: Pādanamaskāraṃ Swāmiji! You have recently given a discourse about women wearing the maṅgala sūtram. I sent it to one of my friends. After reading it, she said that she agrees with the point that wearing a maṅgala sūtram helps a married lady by reminding her of her love for her husband. But she disagrees with the point that there was some injustice done by not allowing women to chant the Vedas. According to her, there is no partiality...
Swāmi replied: All this is sheer, sheer and sheer nonsense. These people are neither true scholars of science nor true scholars of ancient logic. Both science and logic oppose this. Even if you prove that Gāyatrī Mantra causes more menstrual flow, it must be a scientific fact pertaining...
Swami Vivekananda cried loudly looking at the sky, “Why is India, with such rich spiritual knowledge, suffering with poverty?” Only Lord Datta can give the answer to this question. Today, the answer is given. Any country means its people and their mentality. The mind decides everything and the action follows accordingly. If the mentality is analyzed, the action and its fruit become clear. Almost all the foreign countries are blessed with wealth, except India. So the mentality of all...
[Evening Message] Shri Ajay asked: I found one lady devotee preaching in T.V. saying “I don't know from where this bad tradition of restricting the ladies from the recitation of Gayatri Mantra has come?” Please give your comments on her remark.
Shri Swami Replied: This shows that the lady devotee is angry regarding this bad tradition. I can say that her remarks are based on the situation already filled with total confusion. In such case, I have to say that she is right from one angle and not right from another angle of misunderstanding. My remark will be well understood...
[Evening Message] People give a lot of importance to the Gayatri mantra without realizing the true concept of it. When the actual concept is not realized, the misunderstanding misleads the people to negative results and their desired results are not at all touched. There are three subsequent steps in the spiritual path. The first step is knowledge (jnana yoga) by which you first realize the true information about the goal and its address. Then, you will also realize the true path for reaching the goal. Then, you will also realize the true status of yourself. All these three realizations constitute the triad (Triputi) of information about the goal (Jneya), path (Jnana) and the aspirant (Jnata). You must realize that your goal is the unimaginable God...
There is a misunderstanding that women were suppressed in Hinduism without independence. People quote Manu Smruti in this context, which says that woman should not be independent (Na stree svatantryamarhati…). But, the same Manu says that women should be worshipped to please God (Yatranaryastu pujyante ramante tatra devatah…). Both these contradict each other. If you do not give even basic independence to somebody, how can you worship him or her? Will you worship a person without independence, put in prison? This means that the first statement of Manu is misinterpreted. The actual meaning of first statement is that women should not move independently without escort because...
Ms. Laxmi Thrylokya asked:- While explaining the caste system, You said that Gayatri was not allowed for all women and the fourth caste. Does this not bring hatred in the hearts of all women and the fourth caste against the priests, who were responsible for this? Will it not lead to further division of Hinduism?
Swami Replied:- The hatred in the minds of the assumed victims will come provided there was real loss. The real loss was only to the priest and the assumed loss did not happen to the assumed victims...
A saint (monk, sanyasi) does not do any worship using flowers, fume sticks, camphor, coconuts etc. He does not burn ghee (clarified butter) or oil in the lamp. He does not do any sacrifice by burning ghee and food in the fire. Only the householders are doing such rituals with the help of priests. When a saint comes, all householders including priests are supposed to prostrate before the saint. What does this mean? The stage of the saint is certainly a higher stage. The saint also does not chant the Gayatri hymn. He has given up the sacred thread because he knows that the sacred thread (yajnopaveetam) with three strings is only a model representing the three qualities of the nature (prakriti). This model indicates...
Trailokyā Uvāca:-
1) Brūṣe Datta! sadā Satyaṃ, tamassva para bheda bhit! |
Aspṛśya Brāhmaṇau kau ca?, sā Gāyatrī dvijasya kim? ||
[Ms. Trailokya asked:- O God Datta! You always speak only truth in the Spiritual knowledge. You never have the ignorance in which one thinks that some are his people and some are outsiders irrespective of merit and defect. Who is the untouchable and who is the Brāhmaṇa? Does the Gāyatrī hymn and Upanayanam ritual belong to Dvijas only, who are Brāhmaṇas...
1) Gayatryā Daiva gānena, Yogo 'pyupanayanena ca|
Trivedā gadya padyābhyām, gītena caramam priyam ||
Gayatrii means singing sweet songs in the praise of God. Upanayanam means becoming close to God through these sweet songs. Like this, Gayatrii and Upanayanam are to be interpreted. Rig Veda is in poetry, Yajur Veda in prose and Saama Veda is in songs. Song is sweeter than...
[This message is regarding the holy thread marriage or Upanayanam ritual in Hinduism. Sons of some close devotees of Shri Swami were initiated by this ritual and Shri Swami gave this message on the auspicious occasion.]
Opponent: Upanayanam means nearing God through worship and hence it should be applicable to all human beings. Confining it to certain castes makes it appear that the ancient sages, who were Brahmins, have been partial. This is highly deplorable, since everybody has equal right to reach God, the Divine Father. In order to clarify this, an answer should be given by Lord Dattatreya, Who being the son of sage Atri, belongs to the caste of sages.
Defendant (Swami): Lord Dattatreya is the absolute unimaginable God, Who entered the medium of a human body that was born to sage Atri. In light of the medium, He is born in the caste of sages. In the light of the inner God Who identified with that body for the sake of the propagation of divine knowledge...
[Mr. Kevin Johnson (called as Dattaji) from Texas, USA sent a gift to Swami and asked Swami to bless him with a mantra. Given below is Shri Swami’s message for him.]
The word Mantra is made up of two verbs, 1) mananaat and 2) trayate. The first verb means that your mind must be continuously attracted towards a statement or a poem or a song that makes you repeat it again and again without any trace of effort. The second verb means that such a statement or poem or song must be related to God and hence, it gives you perfect protection from all corners, everywhere and everytime. Therefore, the definition of Mantra...
Opponent: A woman is also untouchable in the four days during the cycle of menses. Due to this reason, the woman is boycotted from the Vedic rituals.
Defendant: The monthly cycle of menses in the case of women is described as the 1/4th part of the sin in killing Vrutra asura by Indra as per the scripture. The 3/4th of the sin was distributed equally among scented earth, water with froth and flowers with pollen grains. Therefore, the sin is equally divided between women, water, flowers and earthen soil. If one is untouchable, the other three must be also untouchable. But, you are using - the scented soil (scent means the natural scent that comes from the soil) to prepare...
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