The Battle at Lanka, Ramyana by Sahibdin. It depicts the monkey army of the protagonist Rama (top left, blue figure) fighting Ravana—the demon-king of the Lanka—to save Ram's kidnapped wife, Sita. The painting depicts multiple events in the battle against the three-headed demon general Trishira, in bottom left. Trishira is beheaded by Hanuman, the monkey-companion of Rama.

Ramayana

What Is Ramayana? Ramayana (रामायणम्, Rāmāyaṇam) is an ancient Indian epic poem which narrates the struggle of the divine prince Rama to rescue his wife Sita from the demon king Ravana. Along with the Mahabharata, it forms the Hindu Itihasa. The epic, traditionally ascribed to the Hindu Valmiki, narrates the life of Rama, the legendary prince...

A 17th-century Devimahatmya manuscript.

Sanskrit Literature

Sanskrit Literature Sanskrit literature refers to texts composed in Sanskrit language since the 2nd-millennium BCE. Many of the prominent texts are associated with Indian religions, i.e., Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, and were composed in ancient India. However, others were composed central, East or Southeast Asia and the canon includes works...

The Pandavas and Krishna in an act of the Javanese wayang wong performance

Mahabharata

What Is Mahabharata? The Mahabharata or Mahābhārata (महाभारतम्, Mahābhāratam) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India, the other being the Rāmāyaṇa. The title may be translated as “the great tale of the Bhārata dynasty”. The Mahābhārata is an epic legendary narrative of the Kurukṣetra War and the fates of the Kaurava and the...

Purana Manuscripts from 15th- to 18th-century

List Of Hindu Texts

List Of Hindu Texts Hinduism is an ancient religion with diverse traditions such as Vaishnavism, Shaivism, Shaktism and others. Each tradition has a long list of Hindu texts, with subgenre based on syncretization of ideas from Samkhya, Nyaya, Yoga, Vedanta and other schools of Hindu philosophy. Of these some called Sruti are broadly considered...

Two folios from a palm leaf manuscript of the Kamasutra text (Sanskrit, Devanagari script).

Kama Sutra

What Is Kama Sutra? The Kama sutra (कामसूत्र, Kāmasūtra) is an ancient Indian Sanskrit text on sexuality, eroticism and emotional fulfillment in life. Attributed to Vātsyāyana, the Kama Sutra is neither exclusively nor predominantly a sex manual on sex positions, but written as a guide to the “art-of-living” well, the nature of love, finding...

The Bible

Historicity Of The Bible

Historicity Of The Bible The historicity of the Bible is the question of the Bible‘s “acceptability as a history”. This can be extended to the question of the Christian New Testament as an accurate record of the historical Jesus and the Apostolic Age. When examining the books of the Bible, scholars...

The last Exorcism

Exorcism In Christianity

Exorcism In Christianity Exorcism in Christianity is the practice of casting out demons from a person they are believed to have possessed. The person performing the exorcism, known as an exorcist, is often a member of the Christian Church, or an individual thought to be graced with special powers or...

Cemetery

Resurrection Of The Dead

Resurrection Of The Dead Resurrection of the dead, or resurrection from the dead (“standing up again of the dead”) is used in the doctrine and theology of various religions to describe an event by which a person, or people are resurrected (brought back to life). Various forms of this concept can...

Islamic book-Quran

Gospel In Islam

Gospel In Islam Gospel in Islam called Injil (إنجيل‎, Injeel) is the Arabic name for the Gospel of Jesus (Isa). This Injil is described by the Qur’an as one of the four Islamic holy books which were revealed by God, the others being the Zabur (possibly the Psalms), the Tawrat (the Torah), and...

Christianity

Christianity

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. Its adherents, known as Christians, believe that Jesus is the Christ, whose coming as the Messiah was prophesied in the Hebrew Bible, called the Old Testament in Christianity, and chronicled in the New Testament. It is the world’s largest religion with about 2.4 billion followers. Christianity remains...

Gospel of John

Gospel Of John

The Gospel Of John The Gospel of John is the fourth of the canonical gospels. The work is anonymous, although it identifies an unnamed “disciple whom Jesus loved” as the source of its traditions. It is closely related in style and content to the three Johannine epistles, and most scholars treat the...

Nag Hammadi Library

Nag Hammadi Library

Nag Hammadi Library The Nag Hammadi library (also known as the “Chenoboskion Manuscripts” and the “Gnostic Gospels“) is a collection of early Christian and Gnostic texts discovered near the Upper Egyptian town of Nag Hammadi in 1945. Thirteen leather-bound papyrus codices buried in a sealed jar were found by a local farmer named Muhammed...

Grateful Thankful Appreciation Gratitude Thanks

Gratitude To God In The Old Testament

Gratitude To God In The Old Testament This article covers Gratitude To God In The Old Testament. Moreover, when God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work—this is a gift of God. (Ecclesiastes, 5:19) Sing...

kneeling praying

Submission To God In The Old Testament

Submission To God In The Old Testament What does the Old Testament say about submission? We are all called to be in submission to God as addressed in many versus in the Bible. What does submission mean? Google’s dictionary defines submission as “the action or fact of accepting or yielding...

Ten Commandment monuments in Ohio.

Obedience to God’s Commandments

Obedience To God’s Commandments In The Old Testament This article covers Obedience To God’s Commandments In The Old Testament. So be careful to do what the Lord your God has commanded you; do not turn aside to the right or to the left. Walk in all the way that the Lord...

Wheelchair Inspiration Love Angel Freedom Faith

Destiny In The Old Testament

Destiny In The Old Testament This article covers destiny in the Old Testament. The Old Testament (abbreviated OT) is the first part of Christian Bibles, based primarily upon the Hebrew Bible (or Tanakh), a collection of ancient religious writings by the Israelites believed by most Christians and religious Jews to be the sacred Word of God. The...

Sunset Water Sea Sky Dusk Praise Worship Nature

The Importance Of Prayer In The Old Testament

The Importance Of Prayer In The Old Testament The following versus collected from the Old Testament to show the importance of prayer in the Old Testament. The Lord is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth. He fulfills the desires of those...

Angel Angel Figure Guardian Angel wing heaven

Belief In Angels In The Old Testament

Belief In Angels in The Old Testament This article covers Belief in Angels In The Old Testament. For He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a...

Ice

Belief In The Hereafter According To The Old Testament

Belief In The Hereafter According To The Old Testament This article covers Belief in the Hereafter According to The Old Testament. Resurrection Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt. (Daniel, 12:2) “And you will know that...

Sadakah is charity

Sadaqah

What Is Sadaqah? Sadaqah or Sadaka (صدقة‎, “charity“, “benevolence”, ṣadaqāt صدقات) in the modern context has come to signify “voluntary charity”. According to the Quran, the word means voluntary offering, whose amount is at the will of the “benefactor”. Etymology and meaning ‘Sadaqa‘ literally means ‘righteousness’ and refers to the voluntary giving of alms or charity. But...