SAGE UGRASHRAVAS INTRODUCTION Ugrashravas was an ancient sage, and he was the reciter of various holy Puranas, like Mahabharata, Srimad Bhagavatham, and other holy texts, in front of the sages who used to assemble in the Naimisharanya Forest. He was the son of Rishi Lomaharshana who was a noble disciple of Vyasa. The entire Mahabharata epic was told in the form of a discussion between Ugrashravas and sage Saunaka. Ugrashravas was a holy sage, who believes that reciting of Puranas would bring goodness to him, and hence he has interestingly done the great job. In most of the puranas, his name would be mentioned as the teller…
Author: hinduscriptures
KING CHEKITANA INTRODUCTION Chekitana was born in the Suryavanshi clan and he was the son of Dhrishtaketu, the king of Kekaya Kingdom, and his family were close to Pandavas. His brother was Shaibva and his sister was Karenumati who married with Nakula. He also participated in the Mahabharata War, and died in the hands of Duryodana. Chekitana played a minor role in the great epic Mahabharata, and he was very much liked by Lord Krishna, due to his good nature, and soft approach. Chekitana was a righteous person, and he was a relative to the Pandavas. He arranged the army men for the Pandavas before…
BHIKSHATANA INTRODUCTION Bhikshatana is a form of Lord Shiva who appears in the form of a beggar with a begging bowl in his hand. Bhikshatana appears in nude form, and he looks very bright, shines like the glittering sun, and he is followed by his devotees. Bhikshatana wanders in the entire universe and reached the city of Varanasi. He has done like that, in order to make us to leave all of our belongings and to concentrate our attention only on Shiva. The belongings would be with us only till our death, and after that, nothing would come along with us. In…
DR.ABDUL KHALAM – A GREAT HUMANITARIAN INTRODUCTION Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam (1931 –2015) was an aerospace scientist and served as the President of India from 2002 to 2007. He was born and brought up in Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu and after completing his aerospace engineering course, he worked as a scientist at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), and he played a major role in conducting various nuclear tests. Due to his good manners and his simplistic approach, he was referred to as the “People’s President”, and apart from his routine work, he also wrote poems and texts on various subjects. He received the Padma Bhushan, Padma Vibushan and…
BHARATANATYAM DANCERS INTRODUCTION Bharatanatyam dance is a nice profession, and it is a favourite art of Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva in the form of Nataraja used to perform Bharatanatyam dance in order to maintain peace and prosperity in the universe. This famous art form gives great entertainment to the viewers and also to the performers, since dancing is also a kind of physical exercise and it would give good strength to our body. Among the various dancers, Rukmini Devi Arundale (1904–1986) was a famous Bharatanatyam dancer and she was an animal lover and the caretaker of animals. She was also participated…
LAKSHMIPATHI – A GREAT POET OF KARNATAKA INTRODUCTION Lakshmipathi (17th century AD ) was born in Mysore in the family of Vedic pundits and poets. His family deity was Kanchi Varadaraja, and he finished his studies at his native place, and at his teenage, he had settled in Melkote in Mandya district. He belonged to the lineage of the great Vaishnavite saints, Sri Nathamuni and Aalavandaar, and he was a disciple of Sri Kadambi Singaracharya. He was conferred with the title of Chikkupadhyaya by the Mysore King Sri Chikka Devaraja Wodeyar, and he had served to him, as Minister and Guru. He was an expert writer, and he…
SWAMI SHANTATMANANDA – FOLLOWER OF RAMAKRISHNA INTRODUCTION Swami Shantatmananda is a saint in the Ramakrishna Mission and he is a great scholar and a spiritual personality, and at present, he is administering the Ramakrishna Mission – Delhi Centre. He worked in the Ramakrishna Mission, Belur Mutt for several years, and he properly administered the affairs of the management, and he has also introduced lot of welfare schemes for the staffs working at the Ramakrishna Mission, Belur Mutt. Swami Shantatmananda started a social welfare association in Kolkata, called as Sarada Seva Sangha, which is functioning effectively by the women volunteers, and they are…
SUGRIVA TEMPLE AT RAMESWARAM INTRODUCTION The Sugriva temple is a small temple situated in Rameswaram, and it is dedicated to Sugriva, who was the king of Vanaras, and he prosperously ruled Kishkinta for many years. Since he has helped Lord Rama to build the Ram Sethu Bridge, this holy temple was built in order to honour him. Sugriva was married to Ruma, and she looks very beautiful, and she was mentioned as a chaste, pious and a holy woman. She contains good wisdom, knowledge, courage and boldness. With the help of Hanuman, Ruma and Sugriva married each other. She was…
GUSAINJI – AN INCARNATION OF LORD VITHOBA INTRODUCTION Vitthalanatha (1516-1588), also called as Sant Gusainji, was a great saint and a Krishna devotee. He was the son of the great saint Sri Vallabhacharya. He is believed to be an avatar of Lord Vithoba of Pandharpur. Gusainji learned all the divine scriptures from Sri Damodara-dasa, a famous Krishna devotee. After the death of his father Vallabhacharya, Gusainji spread the importance of Pushti sect amongst the people. Pushti sect is a famous sect formed by Vallabha, in praise of Lord Krishna. IMPORTANT WORKS Arya Bhakti-hamsa Bhakti-hetu-nirnaya Gita-govinda-prathamashtapadi-vivriti Jalabheda-tika Krishna-premamrita Nyasa-desha-vivarana-prabodha Premamrita-bhashya Vidya-mandana Gusainji is still…
KING BHUMANYU INTRODUCTION Bhumanyu was the son of Bharata, and he was mentioned in Mahabharata. He was born from the Yagna performed by his father Bharata, and hence he got great powers, and he is also considered to be an AMSHA of Lord Agni Dev. He was also called as Vitatha. Similar to his father Bharata, he prosperously ruled the ancient Bharat, and he was considered as one of the best ancient kings. During his period, he performed lot of Yagnas, and constructed temples. He gave a golden rule similar to his father Bharata, and he treated his people as…
SWAMI UMAKANTANAND – HARIDWAR SAINT INTRODUCTION Swami Umakantanand was the founder of the Shriram International Charitable Trust at Haridwar, for helping the poor people, and the spiritual saints at Haridwar. He left his home at his younger age, and has become a saint at his teenage, and he learned the basic education and the Vedas and other Hindu religious texts from his guru. He went throughout India as well as abroad for giving divine lectures on the holy texts, and also taught yoga and meditation to the Indians and the Foreigners. He used to deliver divine lectures in prestigious universities,…
HAIDAKHAN BABAJI INTRODUCTION Haidakhan Babaji, also called as Babaji was a spiritual teacher who has shown his divine presence in the Haidakhan village in Uttarakhand during the year 1970, and he lived there till 1984. His followers consider him to be a great saint similar to Mahavatar Babaji. Haidakhan Babaji declares himself as the rebirth of Hariakhan Baba who lived during the 19th century AD. During the year 1971, Haidakhan Babaji travelled throughout India, propagated the Shiva Bhakti amongst the people and insisted them to do yagna, and Shiva puja regularly in their homes. He was visited by famous film personalities like Shammi Kapoor,…
Upset Hindus are urging Los Gatos (California) based ecommerce firm Whimzy Tees for immediate withdrawal of “swim briefs” carrying images of Hindu deities Lord Shiva and Lord Ganesha; calling these highly inappropriate. Distinguished Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada today, said that Lord Shiva and Lord Ganesha were highly revered in Hinduism and were meant to be worshipped in temples or home shrines and not to adorn one’s legs, thighs, groin, genitals and pelvis. Inappropriate usage of sacred Hindu deities or concepts or symbols or icons for commercial or other agenda was not okay as it hurt…
Hindu mantras will open Board of Lincoln County Commissioners meeting in Nevada on January four for the first time since the county was established in 1866; containing verses from world’s oldest extant scripture. Distinguished Hindu statesman Rajan Zed will deliver the invocation from ancient Sanskrit scriptures remotely before Board of Lincoln County Commissioners. After Sanskrit delivery, he then will read the English interpretation of the prayers. Sanskrit is considered a sacred language in Hinduism and root language of Indo-European languages. Zed, who is the President of Universal Society of Hinduism, will recite from Rig-Veda, the oldest scripture of the world still…
BHAGAVATA NAMA INTRODUCTION Similar to chanting the names of the almighty, we can also chants the names of his devotees like Prahalada, Dhruva and Markandeya, and sages and saints like Vasishta, Atri, Viswamitra, Raghavendra, Shirdi Sai Baba and Kanchi Paramacharya. In most of the houses, we can see the pictures of the above mentioned saints, and they would worship them similar to the great almighty. Actually there is no difference in worshipping the almighty and the saints, since saints and sages contain the features of the god, and they also acts as a mediator between us and the god. In…
JAYANANDA DASA INTRODUCTION Jayananda Dasa was a famous saint in the ISKCON movement, and his spiritual guru is Sri Prabhupada, who has considered him as his best disciple. His birth name was Jim Kohr and he was born in USA, and he is an engineering graduate. After meeting his Guru Srila Prabhupada in America, Jayananda helped him to found an ISKCON centre in San Francisco in the year 1967 and he served as the president of the temple. He also happily participated in the ISKCON Ratha Yatra festival, at San Francisco. When Prabhupada met his disciple for the first time, he tells, “I am very…
SRI SUBHUDENDRA TEERTHA INTRODUCTION The present pontiff of Mantralayam Sri Raghavendra Swamy Mutt is Sri Subhudendra Teertha. Previously he was serving as the Diwan of the Raghavendra Swamy Mutt, and he has become a saint in the year 2013, and he took charge of the administration of the Mutt in the year 2014 from Sri Suyateendra Teertha, and became his successor. His birth name was Raja S. Pavamanacharya. He was one of the main preachers of the Advaita Philosophy of Madhwacharya, and he conducted spiritual discourses among the people, and inculcated the “SRI RAGHAVENDRA BHAKTI” into their minds, and he…
BHAKTI CHARU SWAMI INTRODUCTION Bhakti Charu Swami (1945–2020) was a famous leader of the ISKCON and he is the disciple of Sri Prabhupada. He was born in the year 1945 in an orthodox Bengali family and spent his childhood in Kolkata. At his teenage, he left his native place, and went to Germany for further studies. There, he thoroughly studied Vedas, and also researched our holy Hindu Scriptures. Once he got an opportunity to study the holy book of Srila Prabhupada, and due to his spiritual thirst, he joined ISKCON in Mayapur, West Bengal, India. After joining in ISKCON, he translated all…
EKNATH EASWARAN INTRODUCTION Eknath Easwaran (1910–1999) was a spiritual writer and translated holy texts like the Bhagavad Gita and the Bhagavatham in different languages and in a simplified manner. He also wrote books in praise of the Holy River goddesses like Ganga and Yamuna, and he was considered as a best spiritual writer during his period. Mr.Eknath was born in a village in Kerala during the year 1910, and he was educated in Thrissur. Easwaran for some time served as a lecturer in India, and he also conducted meditation classes in foreign countries. He also published his books, and made the general public to…