“Windows To Spirituality”
Vishnu Vishnu (विष्णु, Viṣṇu) is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. The “preserver” in the Hindu triad (Trimurti), Vishnu is revered as the supreme being In Vaishnavism as identical to the metaphysical concept of Brahman (Atman, the self, or unchanging ultimate reality), and is notable for adopting various incarnations (avatars such as Rama and Krishna) to preserve...
Rama Rama or Ram (राम, Rāma) also known as Ramachandra (रामचन्द्र, Rāmacandra), is a major deity of Hinduism. He is 7th avatar of the God Vishnu, one of his most popular incarnations along with Krishna, Parshurama, and Gautama Buddha. Jain Texts also mentioned Rama as eighth balabhadra among the 63 salakapurusas. In Rama-centric traditions of Hinduism, he...
Hanuman Hanuman (हनुमान्, Hanumān) is a Hindu god and divine vanara companion of the god Rama. Lord Hanuman is one of the central characters of the Hindu epic Ramayana. He is a ardent devotee (for Lord Rama) and one of the chiranjeevis. He is also mentioned in several other texts, such as the epic Mahabharata and the various Puranas. Hanuman is...
Lakshmi In Hinduism, Lakshmi (लक्ष्मी, lakṣhmī) is the Goddess who leads to one’s goal (lakshya in Sanskrit), hence her name Lakshmi. For mankind, 8 types of goals are necessary – Spiritual enlightenment, food, knowledge, resources, progeny, abundance, patience and success, hence there are 8 or Ashta Lakshmis – Aadi Lakshmi, Dhaanya Lakshmi, Vidya Lakshmi, Dhana...
Shakti Shakti (शक्ति, Śakti; lit. “Energy, ability, strength, effort, power, capability”) is the primordial cosmic energy and represents the dynamic forces that are thought to move through the entire universe in Hinduism, and especially Shaktism, a major tradition of Hinduism. Shakti is the personification of the energy that is creative,...
Kali Kali ( काली, Kālī), also known as Kālikā (कालिका) or Shyāmā (श्यामा), is a Hindu goddess. Kali is the chief of the Mahavidyas, a group of ten Tantric goddesses. Kali‘s earliest appearance is that of a destroyer of evil forces. She is the most powerful form of Shakti, and the goddess of one of...
Shiva Shiva (शिव, Śiva, lit. ”the auspicious one”), also known as Mahadeva (lit. ”the great god”), is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Shaivism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism. Shiva is known as “The Destroyer” within the Trimurti, the Hindu trinity that includes Brahma and Vishnu. In...
Trimurti The Trimurti or Trimūrti ( त्रिमूर्ति, trimūrti, “three forms”) is the Triple deity of supreme divinity in Hinduism in which the cosmic functions of creation, maintenance, and destruction are personified as a triad of deities, typically Brahma the creator, Vishnu the preserver, and Shiva the destroyer, though individual denominations may vary from that particular...
Dashavatara The Dashavatara (दशावतार, daśāvatāra) refers to the ten primary (i.e. full or complete) incarnations (avatars) of Vishnu, the Hindu god of preservation which has Rigvedic origins. Vishnu is said to descend in the form of an avatar to restore cosmic order. The word Dashavatara derives from daśa, meaning ‘ten’, and avatar (avatāra), roughly equivalent to ‘incarnation‘. The list of...
Kalki Kalki, also called Kalkin or Karki, is the tenth avatar of Hindu god Vishnu to end the Kali Yuga, one of the four periods in the endless cycle of existence (krita) in Vaishnavism cosmology. He is described in the Puranas as the avatar who rejuvenates existence by ending the darkest and destructive period to remove adharma and ushering in the Satya Yuga,...
History Of Hinduism The History of Hinduism denotes a wide variety of related religious traditions native to the Indian subcontinent. Its history overlaps or coincides with the development of religion in Indian subcontinent since the Iron Age, with some of its traditions tracing back to prehistoric religions such as those of the Bronze...
Gautama Buddha In Hinduism In Vaishnava Hinduism, the historic Buddha or Gautama Buddha is considered to be an avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu. Of the ten major avatars of Vishnu, Vaishnavites believe Gautama Buddha to be the ninth and most recent incarnation. Buddha‘s portrayal in Hinduism varies. In some texts...
Hinduism And Other Religions In the field of comparative religion, many scholars, academics, and religious figures have looked at the relationships between Hinduism and other religions. Indian religions Main article: Indian religions Ayyavazhi Main article: Ayyavazhi and Hinduism Ayyavazhi and Hinduism are two belief systems in India. Though Ayyavazhi continues to officially exist within Hinduism and is considered...
Hindu–Islamic Relations This article covers Hindu–Islamic relations. Hinduism is a religion and a way of life of the Hindu people of India, their diaspora, and other regions which have experienced Hindu influence since ancient and medieval times. Islam is a monotheistic religion in which the deity is Allah (الله “the God”: see God in Islam), the last prophet being Muhammad, whom Muslims...
Rāja Yoga In Sanskrit texts, Rāja yoga was both the goal of yoga and a method of attaining it. The term also became a modern name for the practice of yoga, when in the 19th-century Swami Vivekananda equated raja yoga with the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. Since then, Rāja yoga has variously been called aṣṭāṅga yoga, royal yoga, royal union, sahaja marg, and classical...
Karma Yoga Karma yoga, also called Karma marga, is one of the three spiritual paths in Hinduism, one based on the “yoga of action”. To a karma yogi, right action is a form of prayer. It is one of the paths in the spiritual practices of Hindus, others being Jnana yoga (path of knowledge) and Bhakti yoga...
Jnana Yoga Jnana yoga, also known as Jnanamarga, is one of the several spiritual paths in Hinduism that emphasizes the “path of knowledge”, also known as the “path of self-realization”. It is one of the three classical paths (margas) for moksha (salvation, liberation). The other two are karma yoga (path of action, karmamarga) and bhakti yoga (path of loving devotion to...
Jnana In Indian philosophy and religion, jñāna (ज्ञान, ñāṇa, gyān) is “knowledge”. The idea of jnana centers on a cognitive event which is recognized when experienced. It is knowledge inseparable from the total experience of reality, especially a total or divine reality (Brahman). The root jñā- is cognate to English know, as well as to the Greek γνώ- (as...
Āstika And Nāstika Āstika and Nāstika are concepts that have been used to classify Indian philosophies by modern scholars, as well as some Hindu, Buddhist and Jain texts. The various definitions for āstika and nāstika philosophies have been disputed since ancient times, and there is no consensus. In current Indian languages like Hindi and Bengali, āstika and its derivatives usually mean ‘theist’,...
Neo-Vedanta Neo-Vedanta, also called Hindu modernism, neo-Hinduism, Global Hinduism and Hindu Universalism,are terms to characterize interpretations of Hinduism that developed in the 19th century. The term “Neo-Vedanta” was coined by Paul Hacker, in a pejorative way, to distinguish modern developments from “traditional” Advaita Vedanta. Scholars have repeatedly argued that these modern interpretations...
