Vedas (April 2013)

Vedas are our most important scripture. At the dawn of creation, the Almighty God revealed the pure knowledge (the Vedas) to Rishis when they deeply meditated upon Him for long durations without any desire for personal gains. The knowledge contained in Vedas form the foundation of Hindu religion. The literal meaning of the word Veda is knowledge. The Vedas were

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Ramayana (March 2013)

As we talked on the last hawan, the scripture of this month is Ramayana. It captures the life-details of Lord Rama. It is also considered the first great composition of Sanskrit Literature, written by Muni Valmiki. While keeping Lord Rama at the center stage, it portrays a picture of Hindu Society in Vedic age. It describes how our Vedic and Upanishadic

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Mahabharata (February 2013)

The scripture of this month is Mahabharata. The topic we covered last month, the Gita, is part of the great epic, the Mahabharata. Vyasa Muni wrote this epic. It is considered one of the most important and treasured literature.  Apart from being a composition of the historical events, it has huge religious relevance. The Mahabharata is one of the rare literature

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Purushartha – Objectives of Life (October 2012)

The topic for this month is Purushartha. ‘Purush’ means human, and ‘arth’ means goal/objective. Purushartha means human objective. Hinduism defines Purushartha as the purpose of human life. Without understanding the purpose of life on earth, one may incorrectly consider it is only for eating, drinking, growing, enjoying – and finally succumbing to death. Per Hindu religion, the human life is

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Ashram System – Four Stage of Life (August 2012)

Ashram System (Four Stage of Life) Another major contribution and one of the main teachings of Hinduism is Ashram System. While Ashram literally means a place for spiritual and religious retreat, Ashram System describes a way of life. According to Hinduism, the human life has four major aims: Dharma (righteousness), Arth (wealth), Kaam (pleasure), and Moksha (liberation). To achieve these

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Rebirth (May 2012)

Namaste everybody, The topic for this month is Rebirth (Punarjanma). Before expounding on the topic, let me start by congratulating the hawan group kids and parents for an excellent job last month. Even though the last month’s topic on Trinity (Paramatma, Atma, and Prakriti) is an abstract one, the presentations, discussions, and questions/answers session confirmed that the kids have built

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God, Soul and Matter (April 2012)

God, Soul, and Matter The topic for this month’s assignment is God, Soul, and Matter. Hindu sages have delved into the topic of three eternal entities of this world in great details. These entities are Matter (Prakrati), Soul (Atma), and God (Paramatma). The study has given birth to different philosophies: Trinity (Traitavad), Dualism (Dvaitavada), and Non-Dualism/Monism (Advaitavada). The ‘Tri’ in

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