Category: Monthly Articles

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 […]

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 […]

Law 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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

Hindu Scriptures The topic for this month is Hindu Scriptures. Before we start, lets first talk about what Scriptures are and what makes a book a Scripture. Scriptures are books that contain the knowledge of our religion. They directly and indirectly guide us. That is, they tell us what we should and should NOT do. Not only do they impart […]

The assignment for this month is God. God Hindus believe in the Supreme Power that has created the entire world including all living and non-living things. He is the creator and sustainer of the universe. He existed prior to the creation of the universe.  Hindus call that divine conscious power (God) by various names: Ishwar, Parameshwar, Paramatma, Brahma, Aum, Bhagwan, […]

Hinduism is one of the most ancient and rich religions. However, because of the plurality of gods/goddesses, rituals, discourses, beliefs and practices, sometimes, the core definition and essence of our religion gets muddled in our minds. While we can unequivocally call ourselves Hindus, we may not be able to consistently describe our religion. To ensure we and our kids are […]

Namaste everybody, What a beautiful and colorful experience we had this year as we went on a whirlwind tour of the world exploring Hinduism! Kids have done a marvelous job in describing the religious beliefs and cultural practices observed by Hindus in different parts of India, USA, and rest of the world. On this trip, while learning a great deal […]

Namaskar Everyone, So far we have covered Hinduism in East, West, North and South India. For the next two months, hawan kids will focus on “Hinduism outside India”. This month kids can talk about religious practices (pooja, archana etc), religious leaders with influence on international scale, and cultural practices followed by Hindus living outside India. Regards Renu Mendiratta