Srikanto Acharya
Srikanto Acharya is a Kolkata-based modern Bengali singer. Acharya is a most prominent singer of Rabindra Sangeet. Srikanto is the son of Rohini Nandan Acharya and Kana Acharya, he received formal training in Rabindrasangeet from Dakshinee. He received training in tabla from Ustad Ali Ahmed Khan, he quit his job as a sales professional and Utpal Chakravarty, proprietor of an old music store, convinced him to send his cassettes to Sagarika Music. He got a call from them within a week and they offered him a contract to sing for them, he is a qualitative songs-tan of Bengal music. He made many music albums which contains various types of bangla songs...'ak jhak pakhi' is one of the popular album of srikanta acharya. Ek Jhank Pakhi Swapno Dekhao Tumi Brishti Tomake Dilam Nadir Chhobi Aanki Mone Pore Sudhu Valo Theko Kachhei Achhi Ghuri Sonar Meye Roddur Aami Noi Musafirana Ghum Nei Raat Musafirana 2 Hey Bandhu Hey Priyo Anubhabe Jenechhilem Nivrito Praner Debota Nirob Nirjane Prem Esechhilo Hridoy Aamar Roudro Chhayay Anek Diner Gaan Valobasi Milechho Mor Prane Surer Dosor Tagorespeare Aapon Gaan, Vol – 1 Aapon Gaan, Vol – 2 Chitrangada Pather Sathi Uttaran Moner Janala Neel Dhrubatara Kono Ekdin Uttaradhikar ) Sudhu Dujone.
) Ekechhi Dujonee. ) Ma Aamar ) Sri Sri Ramkrishnayan ) Sadhananjali ) Amar Prem ) Offering ) Srikanto Acharya on IMDb
Indian religions
Indian religions, sometimes termed as Dharmic faiths or religions, are the religions that originated in the Indian subcontinent. These religions are all classified as Eastern religions. Although Indian religions are connected through the history of India, they constitute a wide range of religious communities, are not confined to the Indian subcontinent. Evidence attesting to prehistoric religion in the Indian subcontinent derives from scattered Mesolithic rock paintings; the Harappan people of the Indus Valley Civilisation, which lasted from 3300 to 1300 BCE, had an early urbanized culture which predates the Vedic religion. The documented history of Indian religions begins with the historical Vedic religion, the religious practices of the early Indo-Iranians, which were collected and redacted into the Vedas; the period of the composition and commentary of these texts is known as the Vedic period, which lasted from 1750–500 BCE. The philosophical portions of the Vedas were summarized in Upanishads, which are referred to as Vedānta, variously interpreted to mean either the "last chapters, parts of the Veda" or "the object, the highest purpose of the Veda".
The early Upanishads all predate the Common Era, five of the eleven principal Upanishads were composed in all likelihood before 6th century BCE, contain the earliest mentions of Yoga and Moksha. The Reform or Shramanic Period between 800–200 BCE marks a "turning point between the Vedic Hinduism and Puranic Hinduism"; the Shramana movement, an ancient Indian religious movement parallel to but separate from Vedic tradition defied many of the Vedic and Upanishadic concepts of soul and the ultimate reality. In 6th century BCE, the Shramnic movement matured into Jainism and Buddhism and was responsible for the schism of Indian religions into two main philosophical branches of astika, which venerates Veda and nastika. However, both branches shared the related concepts of saṃsāra and moksha; the Puranic Period and Early Medieval period gave rise to new configurations of Hinduism bhakti and Shaivism, Vaishnavism and much smaller groups like the conservative Shrauta. The early Islamic period gave rise to new movements.
Sikhism was founded in the 15th century on the teachings of Guru Nanak and the nine successive Sikh Gurus in Northern India. The vast majority of its adherents originate in the Punjab region. With the colonial dominance of the British a reinterpretation and synthesis of Hinduism arose, which aided the Indian independence movement. James Mill, in his The History of British India, distinguished three phases in the history of India, namely Hindu and British civilisations; this periodisation has been criticised, for the misconceptions. Another periodisation is the division into "ancient, classical and modern periods", although this periodization has received criticism. Romila Thapar notes that the division of Hindu-Muslim-British periods of Indian history gives too much weight to "ruling dynasties and foreign invasions," neglecting the social-economic history which showed a strong continuity; the division in Ancient-Medieval-Modern overlooks the fact that the Muslim-conquests took place between the eight and the fourteenth century, while the south was never conquered.
According to Thapar, a periodisation could be based on "significant social and economic changes," which are not related to a change of ruling powers. Smart and Michaels seem to follow Mill's periodisation, while Flood and Muesse follow the "ancient, classical and modern periods" periodisation. An elaborate periodisation may be as follows: Indian pre-history including Indus Valley Civilisation. Evidence attesting to prehistoric religion in the Indian subcontinent derives from scattered Mesolithic rock paintings such as at Bhimbetka, depicting dances and rituals. Neolithic agriculturalists inhabiting the Indus River Valley buried their dead in a manner suggestive of spiritual practices that incorporated notions of an afterlife and belief in magic. Other South Asian Stone Age sites, such as the Bhimbetka rock shelters in central Madhya Pradesh and the Kupgal petroglyphs of eastern Karnataka, contain rock art portraying religious rites and evidence of possible ritualised music; the religion and belief system of the Indus valley people have received considerable attention from the view of identifying precursors to deities and religious practices of Indian religions that developed in the area.
However, due to the sparsity of evidence, open to varying interpretations, the fact that the Indus script remains undeciphered, the conclusions are speculative and based on a retrospective view from a much Hindu perspective. An early and influential work in the area that set the trend for Hindu interpretations of archaeological evidence from the Harrapan sites was that of John Marshall, who in 1931 identified the following as prominent features of the Indus religion: a Great Male God and a Mother Goddess.
Krishna
Krishna is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of the god Vishnu and as the supreme God in his own right, he is the god of compassion and love in Hinduism, is one of the most popular and revered among Indian divinities. Krishna's birthday is celebrated every year by Hindus on Janmashtami according to the lunisolar Hindu calendar, which falls in late August or early September of the Gregorian calendar; the anecdotes and narratives of Krishna's life are titled as Krishna Leela. He is a central character in the Mahabharata, the Bhagavata Purana and the Bhagavad Gita, is mentioned in many Hindu philosophical and mythological texts, they portray him in various perspectives: a god-child, a prankster, a model lover, a divine hero, as the universal supreme being. His iconography reflects these legends, shows him in different stages of his life, such as an infant eating butter, a young boy playing a flute, a young man with Radha or surrounded by women devotees, or a friendly charioteer giving counsel to Arjuna.
The synonyms of Krishna have been traced to 1st millennium BCE literature. In some sub-traditions, Krishna is worshipped as Svayam Bhagavan, this is sometimes referred to as Krishnaism; these sub-traditions arose in the context of the medieval era Bhakti movement. Krishna-related literature has inspired numerous performance arts such as Bharatnatyam, Kuchipudi and Manipuri dance, he is a pan-Hindu god, but is revered in some locations such as Vrindavan in Uttar Pradesh, the Jagannatha aspect in Odisha, Mayapur in West Bengal and Junagadh in Gujarat, in the form of Vithoba in Pandharpur, Nathdwara in Rajasthan, Guruvayur in Kerala. Since the 1960s, the worship of Krishna has spread to the Western world and to Africa due to the work of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness; the name "Krishna" originates from the Sanskrit word Kṛṣṇa, an adjective meaning "black", "dark", or "dark blue". The waning moon is called Krishna Paksha, relating to the adjective meaning "darkening"; the name is interpreted sometimes as "all-attractive".
As a name of Vishnu, Krishna is listed as the 57th name in the Vishnu Sahasranama. Based on his name, Krishna is depicted in idols as black- or blue-skinned. Krishna is known by various other names and titles that reflect his many associations and attributes. Among the most common names are Mohan "enchanter"; some names for Krishna hold regional importance. Krishna is with some common features, his iconography depicts him with black, dark, or blue skin, like Vishnu. However and medieval reliefs and stone-based arts depict him in the natural color of the material out of which he is formed, both in India and in southeast Asia. In some texts, his skin is poetically described as the color of Jambul. Krishna is depicted wearing a peacock-feather wreath or crown, playing the bansuri. In this form, he is shown standing with one leg bent in front of the other in the Tribhanga posture, he is sometimes accompanied by a calf, which symbolise the divine herdsman Govinda. Alternatively, he is shown as a romantic and seductive man with the gopis making music or playing pranks.
In other icons, he is a part of battlefield scenes of the epic Mahabharata. He is shown as a charioteer, notably when he is addressing the Pandava prince Arjuna character, symbolically reflecting the events that led to the Bhagavad Gita – a scripture of Hinduism. In these popular depictions, Krishna appears in the front as the charioteer, either as a counsel listening to Arjuna, or as the driver of the chariot while Arjuna aims his arrows in the battlefield of Kurukshetra. Alternate icons of Krishna show him as a baby, a toddler crawling on his hands and knees, a dancing child, or an innocent-looking child playfully stealing or consuming butter, holding Laddu in his hand or as a cosmic infant sucking his toe while floating on a banyan leaf during the Pralaya observed by sage Markandeya. Regional variations in the iconography of Krishna are seen in his different forms, such as Jaganatha in Odisha, Vithoba in Maharashtra, Shrinathji in Rajasthan and Guruvayoorappan in Kerala. Guidelines for the preparation of Krishna icons in design and architecture are described in medieval-era Sanskrit texts on Hindu temple arts such as Vaikhanasa agama, Vishnu dharmottara, Brihat samhita, Agni Purana.
Early medieval-era Tamil texts contain guidelines for sculpting Krishna and Rukmini. Several statues made according to these guidelines are in the collections of the Government Museum, Chennai; the earliest text containing detailed descriptions of Krishna as a personality is the epic Mahabharata, which depicts Krishna as an incarnation of Vishnu. Krishna is central to many of the main stories of the epic; the eighteen chapters of the sixth book of the epic that constitute the Bhagavad Gita contain the advice of Krishna to Arjuna on the battlefield. The Harivamsa, a appendix to the Mahabharata contains a detailed version of Krishna's childhood and youth; the Chandogya Upanishad, estimated to have been composed sometime between the 8th and 6th centuries BCE, has been another source of speculation regarding Krishna in ancient India. The
Kundakunda
Acharya Kundakunda was a Digambara Jain monk and philosopher, still revered. He authored many Jain texts such as: Samayasara, Pancastikayasara, Pravachanasara and Barasanuvekkha, he occupies the highest place in the tradition of the Digambara Jain acharyas, a position comparable to Christ in Christianity and Muhammad in Islam. All Digambara Jains say his name before starting to read the scripture. Modern scholarship has found it difficult to locate him chronologically, with a possible low date in the 2nd-3rd centuries CE and a late date in 8th century, his proper name was Padmanandin, he is popularly referred to as Kundakunda because the modern village of Kondakunde in Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh might represent his native home. A. N. Upadhye has shown that apart from the name Elacarya, all the other names ascribed to Kundakunda go against the tradition of the early epigraphic records. Acharya Kundakunda belonged to the Mula Sangh order of Digambara sect, he is dated to have flourished around second century CE.
For Digambaras, his name has auspicious significance and occupies third place after Lord Mahavira and Gautama Ganadhara in the sacred litany. Kundakunda's singular contribution consists in his compiling a number of liturgical tracts and creating several masterly doctrinal works of his own, which provided a parallel canon for the Digambara tradition; this earned him the everlasting gratitude of the Digambaras, who have for centuries invoked his name together with that of Mahavira and his Ganadhara, placing him ahead of Bhadrabahu and some forty other elders in the lineage, thus making him the founder of the Digambara sect. Dr. A. N. Upadhye in his critical edition of the Pravachansara has examined at great length the problems concerning the date and author-ship of these and other works attributed to Kundakunda and has placed him in the middle of the 2nd century AD; this would make him the first significant and independent thinker of the post-canonical period whose views are accepted as representing the Jain thought.
In texts such as Pravacanasāra and Samayasāra, Kundakunda distinguishes between two perspectives of truth: vyavahāranaya or ‘mundane perspective’ delusion niścayanaya or ‘ultimate perspective’ called “supreme” and “pure” For Kundakunda, the mundane realm of truth is the relative perspective of normal folk, where the workings of karma operate and where things emerge, last for a certain duration and perish. The mundane aspect is associated with the changing qualities of the soul the influx of karmic particles; the ultimate perspective meanwhile, is that of the pure soul or atman, the jiva, "blissful, energetic and omniscient". Delusion and bondage is caused by the confusion of the workings of karma with the true nature of the soul, always pure, in other words, it is caused by taking the view of vyavahāranaya, not the higher niścayanaya, the absolute perspective of a Jina - Kevala Jnana, his view has become the mainstream view in Digambara Jainism. The works attributed to Kundakunda, all of them in Prakrit, can be divided in three groups.
The first group comprises four original works described as "The Essence" — namely, the Niyamasara, the Pancastikayasara, the Samayasara, the Pravachanasara. The second group is a collection of ten bhaktis, short compositions in praise of the acharya, the scriptures, the mendicant conduct, so forth, they form the standard liturgical texts used by the Digambara in their daily rituals and bear close resemblance to similar texts employed by the Śvētāmbara, suggesting the possibility of their origin in the canonical period prior to the division of the community. The last group consists of eight short texts called Prabhrta compilations from some older sources, on such topics as the right view, right conduct, the scripture, so forth. Various Jain texts mention that Acharya Kundkunda wrote'84 Pahurs', only some of them are available at present. Simandhar Swami Kundadri Taran Svami Jain, Vijay K. Acharya Kundkund's Samayasara, Vikalp Printers, ISBN 978-81-903639-3-8 Singh, Upinder, A history of ancient and early medieval India: from the Stone Age to the 12th century, New Delhi: Pearson Education, ISBN 978-81-317-1120-0 Balcerowicz, Piotr, ed. Essays in Jaina Philosophy and Religion, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 81-208-1977-2 Cort, John E. Open Boundaries: Jain Communities and Cultures in Indian History, SUNY Press, ISBN 0-7914-3785-X Jaini, Padmanabh and Salvation: Jaina Debates on the Spiritual Liberation of Women, Berkeley: University of California Press Shah, Jainism: The World of Conquerors, I, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 81-208-1938-1 Jain Literature and Kundakunda Acharya Kundkund
Pancastikayasara
Pañcastikayasara, is an ancient Jain text authored by Acharya Kundakunda. Kundakunda explains the Jain concepts of Ethics; the work serves as a brief version of the Jaina philosophy. There are total 180 verses written in Prakrit language; the text is about five āstikāya, substances that have both characteristics, viz. existence as well as body. The five āstikāya mentioned in the text are:— Jīva, Dharma and Akasa Kundakunda, Acharya.
Anekantavada
Anekāntavāda refers to the Jain doctrine about metaphysical truths that emerged in ancient India. It states that reality is complex and has multiple aspects. Anekantavada has been interpreted to mean non-absolutism, "intellectual Ahimsa", religious pluralism, as well as a rejection of fanaticism that leads to terror attacks and mass violence; some scholars state that modern revisionism has attempted to reinterpret anekantavada with religious tolerance and pluralism. According to Jainism, no single, specific statement can describe the nature of existence and the absolute truth; this knowledge, is comprehended only by the Arihants. Other beings and their statements about absolute truth are incomplete, at best a partial truth. All knowledge claims, according to the anekāntavāda doctrine must be qualified in many ways, including being affirmed and denied. Anekāntavāda is a fundamental doctrine of Jainism; the origins of anekāntavāda can be traced back to the teachings of Mahāvīra, the 24th Jain Tīrthankara.
The dialectical concepts of syādvāda "conditioned viewpoints" and nayavāda "partial viewpoints" arose from anekāntavāda in the medieval era, providing Jainism with more detailed logical structure and expression. The details of the doctrine emerged in Jainism in the 1st millennium CE, from debates between scholars of Jain and Hindu schools of philosophies; the word anekāntavāda is a compound of two Sanskrit words: vāda. The word anekānta itself is composed of three root words, "an", "eka" and "anta", together it connotes "not one ended, sided", "many-sidedness", or "manifoldness"; the word vāda means "doctrine, speak, thesis". The term anekāntavāda is translated by scholars as the doctrine of "many-sidedness", "non-onesidedness", or "many pointedness"; the term anekāntavāda is not found in early texts considered canonical by Svetambara tradition of Jainism. However, traces of the doctrines are found in comments of Mahavira in these Svetambara texts, where he states that the finite and infinite depends on one's perspective.
The word anekantavada was coined by Acharya Siddhasen Divakar to significant the teaching of Mahavira that truth can be expressed in infinite ways. The earliest comprehensive teachings of anekāntavāda doctrine is found in the Tattvarthasutra by Acharya Umaswami, is considered to be authoritative by all Jain sects. In the Digambara tradition texts. The'two-truths theory' of Kundakunda provides the core of this doctrine; the Jain doctrine of anekāntavāda known as anekāntatva, states that truth and reality is complex and always has multiple aspects. Reality can be experienced, but it is not possible to express it with language. Human attempts to communicate is naya, or "partial expression of the truth". Language is not Truth. From truth, according to Māhavira, language not the other way around. One can experience the truth of a taste, but cannot express that taste through language. Any attempts to express the experience is syāt, or valid "in some respect" but it still remains a "perhaps, just one perspective, incomplete".
In the same way, spiritual truths are complex, they have multiple aspects, language cannot express their plurality, yet through effort and appropriate karma they can be experienced. The anekāntavāda premises of the Jains is ancient, as evidenced by its mention in Buddhist texts such as the Samaññaphala Sutta; the Jain āgamas suggest that Māhavira's approach to answering all metaphysical philosophical questions was a "qualified yes". These texts identify anekāntavāda doctrine to be one of the key differences between the teachings of the Māhavira and those of the Buddha; the Buddha taught the Middle Way, rejecting extremes of the answer "it is" or "it is not" to metaphysical questions. The Māhavira, in contrast, taught his followers to accept both "it is" and "it is not", with "perhaps" qualification and with reconciliation to understand the absolute reality. Syādvāda and Nayavāda of Jainism expand on the concept of anekāntavāda. Syādvāda recommends the expression of anekānta by prefixing the epithet syād to every phrase or expression describing the nature of existence.
The Jain doctrine of anekāntavāda, according to Bimal Matilal, states that "no philosophic or metaphysical proposition can be true if it is asserted without any condition or limitation". For a metaphysical proposition to be true, according to Jainism, it must include one or more conditions or limitations. Syādvāda is the theory of conditioned predication, the first part of, derived from the Sanskrit word syāt, the third person singular of the optative tense of the Sanskrit verb as,'to be', which becomes syād when followed by a vowel or a voiced consonant, in accordance with sandhi; the optative tense in Sanskrit has the same meaning as the present tense of the subjunctive mood in most Indo-European languages, including Hindi, Russian, etc. It is used; the subjunctive is commonly used in Hindi, for example, in'kya kahun?','what to say?'. The subjunctive is commonly used in conditional constructions. Syat can be translated into English as meaning "perchance, may be, perhaps"; the use of the verb'as' in
Gampo Abbey
Gampo Abbey is a Western Buddhist monastery in the Shambhala tradition in Nova Scotia, Canada. Founded by Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche in 1983, it is a lineage institution of Shambhala and a corporate division of the Vajradhatu Buddhist Church of Canada. Under the spiritual direction of Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, the spiritual head of Shambhala International, Gampo Abbey is guided by its abbot Thrangu Rinpoche and its principal teacher Pema Chödrön. Gampo Abbey is named after the first monastic in the Kagyü lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. Residents of Gampo Abbey include monks and nuns who have taken life ordination and nuns who have taken temporary ordination, laymen and laywomen; the life monastics are all ordained in the Mulasarvastivadin lineages of the vinaya, or in the case of the bhikṣuṇīs, a combination of the Mulasarvastivadin and Dharmaguptaka lineages. Gampo Abbey's guiding teacher is the well-known author, Buddhist nun, teacher Pema Chödrön; the Abbey has ties to the local Cape Breton Shambhala sangha.
The Abbey offers programs to residents and/or to the public, including: The Yarne winter retreat In-house retreats, where people can experience Abbey life for a week or two Solitary retreats Shedra classes Shambhala programs Practice intensives, including Vajrayogini druppas At the request of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, Thrangu Rinpoche introduced temporary ordination to give Dharma practitioners an opportunity to experience monasticism without making a lifetime commitment. The prerequisite is the Refuge Vow. Temporary ordination is offered after residing at the Abbey for at least three months. Residents may be ordained for a minimum of nine months. Temporary monastics shave their heads, wear robes, train in the disciplines and rituals of monastic life. In May 2013, the Office of the Kalapa Court, on behalf of Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, announced the formation of the Shambhala Monastic Order, which will provide the umbrella organization over Gampo Abbey and any future monasteries within Shambhala.
The Sakyong will work with Pema Chödrön, Gampo Abbey’s monastics, other leaders on the path of Shambhala monasticism. This work will embrace the monastic practices and traditions to which the monastics of Gampo Abbey have devoted themselves. What will be developed are teachings and skillful means that further enrich and infuse the monastic discipline with Shambhala vision and culture. In 1996 Thrangu Rinpoche, the Abbot of Gampo Abbey, requested. Supported by Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, construction of the stupa began in 1999. After completion, Thrangu Rinpoche consecrated the stupa in August 2001, dedicating it to world peace; the Stupa of Enlightenment houses the relics of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche and symbolizes that the dharma has taken root in Nova Scotia. Söpa Chöling is the three-year retreat center at Gampo Abbey, it was envisioned by Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche and founded by Thrangu Rinpoche in 1990. The first three-year retreats were designed and taught by the great Buddhist master, Jamgön Kongtrül, Lodrö Thayé.
The three-year retreat remains one of the most important institutions of Buddhism. The third Jamgön Kongtrül named the center Söpa Chöling, which means "Dharma Place of Patience." Three-year retreats at Söpa Chöling are done in three segments with breaks in between. This schedule was designed by Thrangu Rinpoche to make the retreat more accessible for people with family and career commitments. Six groups of retreatants have completed a total of 56 individuals; the seventh cycle of retreats is underway. Notable Söpa Chöling retreat alumni include teacher Pema Chödrön. Recent alumni have written about their three-year retreat experience at Söpa Chöling. Buddhism in Canada'The Trap' - Gampo Abbey members practising'life release'
