Hawan Group of Central New Jersey, USA
Dear kids, I hope you have already prepared the article on the Yajur Veda, the topic for this month’s hawan. Here is some supplemental information for the topic. The Yajur Veda is one of the four Vedas that captures the spiritual sciences including purushartha, duties, deads, civil & military sciences. A key concept in the Veda is yajna. It is
» Read moreAs part of understanding core Hindu Scriptures, currently, we are covering different Vedas (one Veda each month). Continuing on that theme, this month’s topic is Rig Veda. Kids have the following assignment for this month: 1. Describe the nature of knowledge captured in the Rig Veda 2. Explain the meaning of at least one mantra from the Rig Veda While kids are expected to
» Read moreVedas 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
» Read moreAs 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
» Read moreThe 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
» Read moreNamaste, Last year, when we picked Hinduism as the topic of the year, we had set some modest goals for the group kids – and ourselves. We expected the kids to be able to understand and relate to Hinduism. By the end of the year, they would be able to • understand the basic tenets of Hinduism • identify
» Read moreIt is the time of the year when instead of a new assignment, we stop and take stock of our year-long learning. The theme of the current year is Hinduism. At the start of the year, we set some humble goals like, build a common understanding of the basic tenets of Hinduism identify & appreciate the core beliefs and teachings
» Read moreThe 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
» Read moreAshram 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
» Read moreLaw of Karma (action) In Hinduism, there is an old and potent saying, “As you sow so shall you reap”, which very aptly describes the Law of Karma (Action). What is Karma? Karma is our deeds – or misdeeds for that matter – in thoughts and physical world. The Law of Karma states that person reaps the fruits of his/her
» Read more