1.
Arya Samaj
–
Arya Samaj is an Indian Hindu reform movement that promotes values and practices based on the infallibility of the Vedas. The samaj was founded by Dayananda Saraswati, a sannyasi, on 7 April 1875, the Samaj was established in Bombay on 7 April 1875 by Dayanand Saraswati. Others assert, however, that the formal founding took place at Lahore on 24 June 1877 when it more than just a regional movement based in Punjab. Between 1869 and 1873, Swamy Dayanand Saraswati, a native of Gujarat from the Kathiawar region, the first was established at Farrukhabad in 1869 with 50 students enrolled in its first year. This initial success led to the founding of four additional gurukuls in rapid succession at Mirzapur, Kasganj, Chhalesar, the Vedic Schools represented the first practical application of Dayanands vision of religious and social reform which was based on the Vedic tradition. Disciplinary action was swift and not infrequently severe, the most noteworthy feature of the Gurukuls was that only those texts which accepted the authority of the Vedas were to be taught. This was critical for the spiritual and social regeneration of Vedic culture in India, the Vedic Schools soon ran into difficulties. Dayanand had trouble finding qualified teachers who agreed with his views on religious reform, funding was sporadic, attendance fluctuated considerably, and tangible results in the way of noteworthy student achievement were not forthcoming. Consequentially, some of the schools were forced to close shortly after opening and he therefore decided to invest the greater part of his resources in the formulation and propagation of his ideology of reform. Deprived of the attention of Dayanand, the Gurukul/Vedic School system collapsed. After the spread of Arya Samaj in the century, more than 200 Vedic schools are currently run by DAV organisation. This reform organization, founded in 1828, held many similar to those of Dayanand in matters both religious and social. Debendranath Tagore had written a book entitled Brahmo Dharma, which serves as a manual of religion and ethics to the members of that society, and Dayanand had read it while in Calcutta. Although Dayanand was persuaded on more than one occasion to join the Brahmo Samaj, there existed points of contention which he could not overlook, Dayanand held the Vedas to be divine revelation, and refused to accept any suggestions to the contrary. Dayanand made several changes in his approach to the work of reforming Hindu society after having visited Calcutta, the most significant of these changes was that he began lecturing in Hindi. Prior to his tour of Bengal, he had held his discourses and debates in Sanskrit. While this gained him a degree of respect among both the learned and the common people, it prevented him from spreading his message to the broader masses. The change to Hindi allowed him to increasingly larger following
Arya Samaj
–
Arya Performing
Agnihotra
2.
Hinduism
–
Hinduism is a religion, or a way of life, found most notably in India and Nepal. Hinduism has been called the oldest religion in the world, and some practitioners and scholars refer to it as Sanātana Dharma, scholars regard Hinduism as a fusion or synthesis of various Indian cultures and traditions, with diverse roots and no founder. This Hindu synthesis started to develop between 500 BCE and 300 CE following the Vedic period, although Hinduism contains a broad range of philosophies, it is linked by shared concepts, recognisable rituals, cosmology, shared textual resources, and pilgrimage to sacred sites. Hindu texts are classified into Shruti and Smriti and these texts discuss theology, philosophy, mythology, Vedic yajna, Yoga, agamic rituals, and temple building, among other topics. Major scriptures include the Vedas and Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, prominent themes in Hindu beliefs include the four Puruṣārthas, the proper goals or aims of human life, namely Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha, karma, samsara, and the various Yogas. Hindu practices include such as puja and recitations, meditation, family-oriented rites of passage, annual festivals. Some Hindus leave their world and material possessions, then engage in lifelong Sannyasa to achieve Moksha. Hinduism prescribes the eternal duties, such as honesty, refraining from injuring living beings, patience, forbearance, self-restraint, Hinduism is the worlds third largest religion, with over one billion followers or 15% of the global population, known as Hindus. The majority of Hindus reside in India, Nepal, Mauritius, the Caribbean, the word Hindu is derived from the Indo-Aryan/Sanskrit word Sindhu, the Indo-Aryan name for the Indus River in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent. The term Hindu in these ancient records is a geographical term, the Arabic term al-Hind referred to the people who live across the River Indus. This Arabic term was taken from the pre-Islamic Persian term Hindū. By the 13th century, Hindustan emerged as an alternative name of India. It was only towards the end of the 18th century that European merchants and colonists began to refer to the followers of Indian religions collectively as Hindus. The term Hinduism, then spelled Hindooism, was introduced into the English language in the 18th-century to denote the religious, philosophical, because of the wide range of traditions and ideas covered by the term Hinduism, arriving at a comprehensive definition is difficult. The religion defies our desire to define and categorize it, Hinduism has been variously defined as a religion, a religious tradition, a set of religious beliefs, and a way of life. From a Western lexical standpoint, Hinduism like other faiths is appropriately referred to as a religion, in India the term dharma is preferred, which is broader than the western term religion. Hindu traditionalists prefer to call it Sanatana Dharma, the study of India and its cultures and religions, and the definition of Hinduism, has been shaped by the interests of colonialism and by Western notions of religion. Since the 1990s, those influences and its outcomes have been the topic of debate among scholars of Hinduism, Hinduism as it is commonly known can be subdivided into a number of major currents
Hinduism
–
Swami Vivekananda was a key figure in introducing
Vedanta and
Yoga in Europe and USA, raising interfaith awareness and making Hinduism a world religion.
Hinduism
–
Temple wall panel relief sculpture at the
Hoysaleswara temple in
Halebidu, representing the
Trimurti:
Brahma,
Shiva and
Vishnu.
Hinduism
–
The
Rigveda is the first and most important Veda and is one of the oldest
religious texts. This Rigveda
manuscript is in
Devanagari.
Hinduism
–
A wedding is the most extensive personal ritual an adult Hindu undertakes in his or her life. A typical
Hindu wedding is solemnized before Vedic
fire ritual (shown).
3.
Vedanta
–
Vedanta or Uttara Mīmāṃsā is one of the six orthodox schools of Indian philosophy. It represents the divergent philosophical views of more than 10 schools—all developed on the basis of a textual connection called the Prasthanatrayi. The Prasthanatrayi is a term for the Principal Upanishads, the Brahma Sutras. Vedanta does not stand for one comprehensive or unifying doctrine, over time, Vedanta adopted ideas from other orthodox schools like Yoga and Nyaya, and, through this syncretism, became the most prominent school of Hinduism. Many extant forms of Vaishnavism, Shaivism and Shaktism have been shaped and influenced by the doctrines of different schools of Vedanta. The word Vedanta literally means the end of the Vedas and originally referred to the Upanishads, Vedanta was concerned with the jñānakāṇḍa or Vedic knowledge part called the Upanishads. The denotation of Vedanta subsequently widened to include the philosophical traditions based on to the Prasthanatrayi. The Upanishads may be regarded as the end of Vedas in different senses and these mark the culmination of Vedic thought. These were taught and debated last, in the Brahmacharya stage, Vedanta is one of the six orthodox schools of Indian philosophy. It is also called Uttara Mīmāṃsā, the latter enquiry or higher enquiry, and is contrasted with Pūrva Mīmāṃsā. Pūrva Mīmāṃsā deals with the karmakāṇḍa or rituals part in the Vedas, the Upanishads, the Bhagavadgita and the Brahma Sutras constitute the basis of Vedanta. All schools of Vedanta propound their philosophy by interpreting these texts, collectively called the Prasthanatrayi, literally, the Upanishads, or Śruti prasthāna, considered the Sruti foundation of Vedanta. The Brahma Sutras, or Nyaya prasthana / Yukti prasthana, considered the foundation of Vedanta. The Bhagavad Gita, or Smriti prasthāna, considered the Smriti foundation of Vedanta, the Brahma Sutras attempted to synthesize the teachings of the Upanishads. The diversity in the teaching of the Upanishads necessitated the systematization of these teachings and this was likely done in many ways in ancient India, but the only surviving version of this synthesis is the Brahma Sutras of Badarayana. The Bhagavad Gita, due to its syncretism of Samkhya, Yoga, the Upanishads do not present a rigorous philosophical inquiry in the form of identifying various doctrines and then presenting arguments for or against them. They form the basic texts and Vedanta interprets them through rigorous philosophical exegesis, varying interpretations of the Upanishads and their synthesis, the Brahma Sutras, led to the development of different schools of Vedanta over time of which three, four, five or six are prominent. Some scholars are inclined to consider it as a rather than a school of Vedanta
Vedanta
–
Vallabhacharya
Vedanta
–
Shankaracharya
4.
Indian people
–
Indian people are citizens of India, the second most populous nation containing 17. 50% of the worlds population. Indian refers to nationality, but not ethnicity or language, the Indian nationality consists of many regional ethno-linguistic groups, reflecting the rich and complex history of India. India hosts all major ethnic groups found in the Indian Subcontinent, population estimates vary from a conservative 12 million to 20 million diaspora. The name Bhārata has been used as a name by people of the Indian subcontinent. The designation Bhārata appears in the official Sanskrit name of the country, the name is derived from the ancient Vedic and Puranas, which refer to the land that comprises India as Bhārata varṣam and uses this term to distinguish it from other varṣas or continents. The Bhāratas were a tribe mentioned in the Rigveda, notably participating in the Battle of the Ten Kings. India is named after legendary Emperor Bharata who was a descendant of the Bhāratas tribe, in early Vedic literature, the term Āryāvarta was in popular use before Bhārata. The Manusmṛti gives the name Āryāvarta to the tract between the Himalaya and the Vindhya ranges, from the Eastern to the Western Sea, while the word Indian and India is derived from Greek Ἰνδία, via Latin India. The name is derived ultimately from Sindhu, the Sanskrit name of the river Indus, the next great ancient Empire of the Indian people was the Gupta Empire. This period, witnessing a Hindu religious and intellectual resurgence, is known as the classical or Golden Age of India, the ancient Indian mathematicians Aryabhata, Bhāskara I and Brahmagupta invented the concept of zero and the Hindu decimal system during this period. During this period Indian cultural influence spread over parts of Southeast Asia which led to the establishment of Indianized kingdoms in Southeast Asia. During the early period the great Rashtrakuta dynasty dominated the major part of the Indian subcontinent. From the 8th to 10th century and the Indian Emperor Amoghavarsha of the Rashtrakuta Dynasty was described by the Arab traveller Sulaiman as one of the four kings of the world. The greatest maritime Empire of the medieval Indians was the Chola dynasty, under the great Indian Emperors Rajaraja Chola I and his successor Rajendra Chola I the Chola dynasty became a military, economic and cultural power in South Asia and South-East Asia. The Mughal Empire unified much of Indian sub-continent under one realm, under the Mughals India developed a strong and stable economy, leading to commercial expansion and greater patronage of culture. This marked a huge influence in the Indian society, the Mughal Empire balanced and pacified local societies through new administrative practices and had diverse and inclusive ruling elites, leading to more systematic, centralised, and uniform rule. The Marathas and Sikhs emerged in the 17th century and established the Maratha Empire, the Maratha Empire is credited to a large extent for ending the Mughal rule in India. The empire at its peak stretched from Tamil Nadu in the south, to Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the north and Bengal, India is one of the worlds oldest civilisations
Indian people
–
Priest King
Indus Valley civilization
Indian people
Indian people
–
Buddhist rock-cut architecture 2nd century BC.
Indian people
–
Maratha Empire: Territory under Maratha control in 1760 (yellow), without its vassals.
5.
Tiwari
–
Tiwari /tɪwɑːriː/ is a surname of the Hindu Brahmins communities commonly found in India and Nepal. Alternative spellings include Tiwary, Tewari and Tewary, the word Tiwari means versed in three vedas
Tiwari
–
Chandra Shekhar Tiwary
Tiwari
–
Laxmi Ganesh Tewari,
ethnomusicologist,
singer performing, February 2007, photograph by Linnea Mullins
Tiwari
–
Amish Tripathi
6.
Gujarat
–
Gujarat is a state in Western India, sometimes referred to as the Jewel of Western India. It has an area of 196,024 km2 with a coastline of 1,600 km, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula, and a population in excess of 60 million. The state is bordered by Rajasthan to the north, Maharashtra to the south, Madhya Pradesh to the east, and the Arabian Sea and its capital city is Gandhinagar, while its largest city is Ahmedabad. Gujarat is home to the Gujarati-speaking people of India, the state encompasses some sites of the ancient Indus Valley Civilization, such as Lothal and Dholavira. Lothal is believed to be one of the worlds first seaports, Gujarat was known to the ancient Greeks, and was familiar in other Western centres of civilisation through the end of the European Middle Ages. Modern-day Gujarat is derived from Sanskrit term Gurjaradesa, the Gurjar nation, parts of modern Rajasthan and Gujarat have been known as Gurjaratra or Gurjarabhumi for centuries before the Mughal period. Gujarat was one of the centres of the Indus Valley Civilization. It contains ancient metropolitan cities from the Indus Valley such as Lothal, Dholavira, the ancient city of Lothal was where Indias first port was established. The ancient city of Dholavira is one of the largest and most prominent archaeological sites in India, the most recent discovery was Gola Dhoro. Altogether, about 50 Indus Valley settlement ruins have been discovered in Gujarat, the ancient history of Gujarat was enriched by the commercial activities of its inhabitants. There is clear evidence of trade and commerce ties with Egypt, Bahrain. The early history of Gujarat reflects the grandeur of Chandragupta Maurya who conquered a number of earlier states in what is now Gujarat. Pushyagupta, a Vaishya, was appointed governor of Saurashtra by the Mauryan regime and he ruled Giringer and built a dam on the Sudarshan lake. Between the decline of Mauryan power and Saurashtra coming under the sway of the Samprati Mauryas of Ujjain, in the first half of the 1st century AD there is the story of a merchant of King Gondaphares landing in Gujarat with Apostle Thomas. The incident of the cup-bearer killed by a lion might indicate that the city described is in Gujarat. For nearly 300 years from the start of the 1st century AD, the weather-beaten rock at Junagadh gives a glimpse of the ruler Rudradaman I of the Saka satraps known as Western Satraps, or Kshatraps. Mahakshatrap Rudradaman I founded the Kardamaka dynasty which ruled from Anupa on the banks of the Narmada up to the Aparanta region which bordered Punjab, in Gujarat several battles were fought between the south Indian Satavahana dynasty and the Western Satraps. The greatest ruler of the Satavahana Dynasty was Gautamiputra Satakarni who defeated the Western Satraps, the Kshatrapa dynasty was replaced by the Gupta Empire with the conquest of Gujarat by Chandragupta Vikramaditya
Gujarat
–
Clockwise from top: High Court of Gujarat, Dwarka Beach, Laxmi Vilas Palace, Kankaria Lakefront, Gandhi Ashram, Salt Desert of Kutch
Gujarat
–
The docks of ancient Lothal as they are today
Gujarat
–
Ancient sophisticated water reservoir at Dholavira
Gujarat
–
Rani ki vav 11th century.
7.
Ajmer
–
Ajmer is one of the major cities in the Indian state of Rajasthan and is the centre of the eponymous Ajmer District. According to the 2011 census, Ajmer has a population of around 551,360 in its urban agglomeration and 542,580 in the city, the city is located at a distance of 135 km from the state capital Jaipur and 391 km from the national capital New Delhi. The city was established by a Shakambhari Chahamana ruler, either Ajayaraja I or Ajayaraja II, after the defeat of Prithviraja lll in 1192 CE, the city came under Muslim rule. Ajmer is surrounded by the Aravalli Mountains and it is a pilgrimage centre for the shrine of the Sufi Saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti and is also the base for visiting Pushkar, an ancient Hindu pilgrimage city, famous for the temple of Brahma. Ajmer has been selected as one of the cities for the HRIDAY - Heritage City Development. Ajmer was originally known as Ajayameru, the 12th century text Prithviraja Vijaya states that the Shakambhari Chahamana king Ajayaraja II established the city of Ajayameru. Historian Dasharatha Sharma notes that the earliest mention of the name occurs in Palhas Pattavali. This suggests that Ajmer was founded sometime before 1113 CE, a prashasti, issued by Vigraharaja IV and found at Adhai Din Ka Jhonpra, states Ajayadeva moved his residence to Ajmer. The later text Prabandha-Kosha states that it was the 8th century king Ajayaraja I who commissioned the Ajayameru fort, Singh, this claim appears to be true, as inscriptions dated to the 8th century CE have been found at Ajmer. Singh theorizes that Ajayaraja II later enlarged the town, constructed palaces, Ajmer has a hot, semi-arid climate with over 55 centimetres of rain every year, but most of the rain occurs in the monsoon months, between June and September. Temperatures remain relatively high throughout the year, with the months of April to early July having an average daily temperature of about 30 °C. During the monsoon there is frequent heavy rain and thunderstorms, the winter months of November to February are mild and temperate with average temperatures ranging from 15–18 °C with little or no humidity. There are, however, occasional cold fronts that cause temperatures to fall to near freezing levels. Ajmer is well connected to the cities of India by land. Work on the Kishangarh Airport near Ajmer was inaugurated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in September 2013, at present the nearest airport is the Jaipur International Airport, about 132 km away, with daily flights to major cities in India. Akbar and his queen used to come here by foot every year on pilgrimage from Agra in observance of a vow when he prayed for a son. The large pillars called Kose Minars, erected at intervals of two miles along the way between Agra and Ajmer mark the places where the royal pilgrims halted every day. It has been estimated that around 125,000 pilgrims visit the site every day, official Website Of Dargah, http, //www. ajmergharibnawaz. com Dargah Website for Deg Booking, offering flower, ittar at Sufi Shrine Khwaja Gharib Nawaz, Ajmer Sharif Dargah, India
Ajmer
–
Mayo College
Ajmer
–
morajhadi wale prabhu parshvnath bhagwan
Ajmer
–
Jahangir receives Prince Khurram at Ajmer on his return from the Mewar campaign
Ajmer
–
The Pushkar Ghati connecting Ajmer and Pushkar
8.
Rajasthan
–
Rajasthan is Indias largest state by area. Elsewhere it is bordered by the other Indian states, Punjab to the north, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh to the northeast, Madhya Pradesh to the southeast, and Gujarat to the southwest. Rajasthan is also home to two national reserves, the Ranthambore National Park in Sawai Madhopur and Sariska Tiger Reserve in Alwar. The state was formed on 30 March 1949 when Rajputana – the name adopted by the British Raj for its dependencies in the region – was merged into the Dominion of India. Its capital and largest city is Jaipur, also known as Pink City, other important cities are Jodhpur, Udaipur, Bikaner, Kota and Ajmer. Parts of what is now Rajasthan were partly part of the Vedic Civilisation, kalibangan, in Hanumangarh district, was a major provincial capital of the Indus Valley Civilization. Matsya Kingdom of the Vedic civilisation of India, is said to roughly corresponded to the state of Jaipur in Rajasthan. The capital of Matsya was at Viratanagar, which is said to have named after its founder king Virata. Bhargava identifies the two districts of Jhunjhunu and Sikar and parts of Jaipur district along with Haryana districts of Mahendragarh, bhargava also locates the present day Sahibi River as the Vedic Drishadwati River, which along with Saraswati River formed the borders of the Vedic state of Brahmavarta. Manu and Bhrigu narrated the Manusmriti to a congregation of seers in this area only, the Indo-Scythians invaded the area of Ujjain and established the Saka era, marking the beginning of the long-lived Saka Western Satraps state. Gurjars ruled for many dynasties in this part of the country, up to the tenth century almost the whole of North India, acknowledged the supremacy of the Gurjars with their seat of power at Kannauj. The Gurjar Pratihar Empire acted as a barrier for Arab invaders from the 8th to the 11th century, the chief accomplishment of the Gurjara Pratihara empire lies in its successful resistance to foreign invasions from the west, starting in the days of Junaid. Majumdar says that this was acknowledged by the Arab writers. He further notes that historians of India have wondered at the progress of Muslim invaders in India. Traditionally the Rajputs, Jats, Meenas, REBARI, Gurjars, Bhils, Rajpurohit, Charans, Yadavs, Bishnois, Sermals, PhulMali, all these tribes suffered great difficulties in protecting their culture and the land. Millions of them were killed trying to protect their land, a number of Gurjars had been exterminated in Bhinmal and Ajmer areas fighting with the invaders. Meenas were rulers of Bundi, Hadoti and the Dhundhar region, hem Chandra Vikramaditya, the Hindu Emperor, was born in the village of Machheri in Alwar District in 1501. Hem Chandra was killed in the battlefield at Second Battle of Panipat fighting against Mughals on 5 November 1556, maharana Pratap of Mewar resisted Akbar in the famous Battle of Haldighati and later operated from hilly areas of his kingdom
Rajasthan
–
A portrait of
Hemu from the 1910s.
Rajasthan
–
Location of Rajasthan in
India
Rajasthan
–
Maharana Pratap Singh, legendary sixteenth-century
Rajput ruler of
Mewar
Rajasthan
–
Chittorgarh Fort the largest fort in Asia.
9.
Satyarth Prakash
–
Satyarth Prakash is a 1875 book written originally in Hindi by Maharishi Dayanand Saraswati, a renowned religious and social reformer and the founder of Arya Samaj. It is considered one of his scholarly works. The major portion of the book is dedicated to laying down the reformist advocacy of with the last three chapters making a case for comparative study of different religious faiths. During the Middle Ages of Indian history, many faiths and sects sprang up in religious and their practitioners slowly migrated away from the teachings of the Vedas attaching greater significance to their founders and their preachings. Great differences developed among the different sects and divided and weakened Hindu society, the caste system based on birth became strong and gave rise to further fragmentation. The word Hindu is a word or misnomer- the correct word is Vedantic or Sanathana Dharma. The word Hindu does not appear any where in the Vedic texts or even the Bhagavad Gita, the word Hindu is a Persian word, used by Islamic invaders and the renaming of the Vedantic religion to Hindu demonstrates the level of weakening to the Vedantic faith. It was at time that Swami Dayanand wrote Satyarth Prakash in order to spread the knowledge of the Vedas. The Satyarth Prakash contains exposition and clarifications of Vedic principles, the book advocates Vedic monism based on Advaita Vedanta. The book contains fourteen chapters, the contents of which are detailed below, after detecting omissions, language and printing mistakes in the first edition, he published a second revised edition. The book has been translated into different languages. The book received amount of responses, S. Rangaswami Iyengar praised the book, saying that It contains the wholly rationalistic view of the Vedic religion. However, the court dismissed the petition and commented A suit by Hindus against the Quran or by Muslims against Gita or Satyarth Prakash claiming relief, are in fact, meant to play mischief in the society
Satyarth Prakash
–
AUM or Based on its
etymology, OM is considered by the
Arya Samaj to be the highest and most proper name of God.
10.
Madam Cama
–
Bhikaiji Rustom Cama was one of the prominent figures in the Indian independence movement. Bhikhaiji Rustom Cama was born to Bhikai Sorab Patel on 24 September 1861 in Bombay in a large and she was the one who hoisted flag in the parliament in germany Like many Parsi girls of the time, Bhikhaiji attended Alexandra Native Girls English Institution. Bhikhaiji was by all accounts a diligent, disciplined child with a flair for languages, on 3 August 1885, she married Rustom Cama, who was son of K. R. Cama. Her husband was a wealthy, pro-British lawyer who aspired to enter politics and it was not a happy marriage, and Bhikhaiji spent most of her time and energy in philanthropic activities and social work. In October 1896, the Mumbai Presidency was hit first by famine, Bhikhaiji joined one of the many teams working out of Grant Medical College, in an effort to provide care for the afflicted, and to inoculate the healthy. Cama subsequently contracted the plague herself, but survived, severely weakened, she was sent to Britain for medical care in 1901. She was preparing to return to India in 1908 when she came in contact with Shyamji Krishna Varma, through him, she met Dadabhai Naoroji, then president of the British Committee of the Indian National Congress, and for whom she came to work as private secretary. Together with Naoroji and Singh Rewabhai Rana, Cama supported the founding of Varmas Indian Home Rule Society in February 1905, in London, she was told that her return to India would be prevented unless she would sign a statement promising not to participate in nationalist activities. That same year Cama relocated to Paris, where—together with S. R. Rana and these weeklies were smuggled into India through the French colony of Pondichéry. On 22 August 1907, Cama attended the second Socialist Congress at Stuttgart, Germany, in her appeal for human rights, equality and for autonomy from Great Britain, she unfurled what she called the Flag of Indian Independence. It has been speculated that this moment may have been an inspiration to African American writer, du Bois in writing his 1928 novel Dark Princess. In 1910, Savarkar was ordered to be returned to India for trial, when the ship Savarkar was being transported on docked in Marseilles harbour, he squeezed out through a porthole window and jumped into the sea. Reaching shore, he expected to find Cama and others who had told to expect him. Unable to communicate his predicament to the French authorities without Camas help, the British Government requested Camas extradition, but the French Government refused to cooperate. In return, the British Government seized Camas inheritance, lenin reportedly invited her to reside in the Soviet Union, but she did not accept. Influenced by Christabel Pankhurst and the Suffragette movement, Bhikhaiji Cama was vehement in her support for gender equality, speaking in Cairo, Egypt in 1910, she asked, I see here the representatives of only half the population of Egypt. May I ask where is the other half, sons of Egypt, where are the daughters of Egypt. Where are your mothers and sisters, when India is independent women will not only the right to ote, but all other rights. P
Madam Cama
–
Madame Bhikaji Cama
11.
Pandit Lekh Ram
–
Pandit Lekh Ram was an Arya Samaj Sanatan Dharmi leader. He is famous for his encounters with the founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Mirza Ghulam Ahmad and he also wrote a book in falsification of Ahmads Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya and named it Takzeeb e Barahin Ahmadiyya. He was assassinated on March 6,1897, ahmadis claim this was in accordance with the prophecies of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. Pt. Lekh Ram was born in April 1858 CE. at a small village Sayyed Pur and his fathers name was Tara Singh and his mother was Bhag Bhari. He resigned the Police service voluntarily and devoted his life for the propagation of Vedas and he was the founder of the Arya Samaj branch in Peshawar. He was married and had one son who died in early childhood and he wrote the life history of Dayanand Saraswati and some 33 other books in Urdu. Some of which were translated in English, Hindi and Sindhi and he preached the view points of Arya Samaj and vedic religion. He is reported to be an enthusiastic debater, when Mirza Ghulam Ahmad published his magnum opus the Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya, Lekh Ram challenged him in very strong words and wrote a falsification of the book, namely Takzeeb e Barahin Ahmadiyya. As a speaker of Arabic and Persian, he was involved in debates in multiple languages, pandit Lekh Ram was active in converting Muslims to Hinduism, an enthusiastic missionary of the Vedic preaching. He objected to the Muslim religious tenets and criticized the teachings of the Quran and he held the most foul views about the Holy Prophet and the Holy Quran. Controversy with him began to mount, Lekh Ram went further and further in his abuse of the Holy Prophet, and ridicule of Hazrat Mirza Sahib. Lekh Ram became engaged in a life and death duel with the Founder of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in these complex theological debates. g, khabt e Ahmadiyya etc. against Islam and Ahmadiyya. Mirza Ghulam Ahmad from Qadian sought Lekh Rams permission to publish news of the unseen about him on March 1,1886 in an Announcement in the newspaper Riaz e Hind Amritsar. Lekh Ram responded with his own set of prophecies about Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, his imminent death, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad claimed that, he had received knowledge from God, that Lekh Ram was due to meet with a fatal calamity within six years counting from February 20,1893. He went on, And among the graces of God, which I have received, is this - that He has accepted my prayers relating to one Lekh Ram and this man was foul in his abuse of the Holy Prophet. So, my God informed me that this man will die within six years, there are Signs in this for seekers-after truth. A little later, Hazrat Mirza Sahib added further details to the prophecy and these were published as a note inside the title cover of his book Barakat ul-Dua. He was cremated and the ashes dispersed into a river and it is reported that a man with blood-shot eyes had come to him, wishing to be converted from Islam to Hinduism
Pandit Lekh Ram
–
Pandit Lekh Ram (1858 – 6 March 1897)
Pandit Lekh Ram
–
Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835-1908)
12.
Swami Shraddhanand
–
Swami Shraddhanand, also known as Mahatma Munshi Ram Vij, was an Indian educationist and an Arya Samaj missionary who propagated the teachings of Dayananda Saraswati. This included the establishment of institutions, like the Gurukul Kangri University, and played a key role on the Sangathan and the Shuddhi. He was born on 22 February 1856 in the village of Talwan in the Jalandhar District of the Punjab Province of India. He was the youngest child in the family of Lala Nanak Chand and he adopted atheism after a few incidents, such as when he was prevented from entering the temple while a noble woman was praying. All of these events cemented his atheism and he eventually passed mukhtari exams and began studying to become a lawyer. He first met Dayanand Saraswati when Dayanand visited Bareilly to give lectures and his father was handling arrangements and security at the events, due to the attendance of some prominent personalities and British officers. Munshiram attend the lectures at his fathers request and he originally went with the intent of spoiling the arrangements, then claimed to be strongly influenced by Dayanands courage, skill, and strong personality. After completing his studies Munshiram started his practice as lawyer, in 1892 Arya Samaj was split into two factions after a controversy over whether to make Vedic education the core curriculum at the DAV College Lahore. He left the organization and formed the Punjab Arya Samaj, the Arya Samaj was divided between the Gurukul Section and the DAV Section. In 1897, when Lala Lekh Ram was assassinated, Shraddhanand succeeded him and he headed the Punjab Arya Pratinidhi Sabha, and started its monthly journal, Arya Musafir. In 1902 he established a Gurukul in Kangri, India near Haridwar and this school is now recognized as Gurukul Kangri University. Gandhis visit, In 1915, upon his return from South Africa, M. K. Gandhi along with the pandit Madan Mohan Malviya visited the Gurukul Kangri, till that time Swamiji was a Vanprasthi and known as Mahatma Munshi Ram. When Gandhi addressed Munshi Ram as Mahatma, appreciating the services of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi to the nation and it was there, hereafter, Gandhi took the name of Mahatma Gandhi in public life. In 1917, Mahatma Munshi Ram took sanyas as Swami Shradhanand Saraswati, Shraddhanand established gurukul Indraprashtha in Aravali near Faridabad, Haryana. In 1917, Shraddhanand left Gurukul to become a member of the Hindu reform movements. He began working with the Congress, which he invited to hold its session at Amritsar in 1919 and this was because of the Jalianwala massacre, and no one in the Congress Committee agreed to have a session at Amritsar. He also joined the nationwide protest against the Rowlatt Act, the same year he protested in front of a posse of Gurkha soldiers at the Clock Tower in Chandni Chowk, then was allowed to proceed. In the early 1920s he emerged as an important force in the Hindu Sangathan movement and he wrote on religious issues in both Hindi and Urdu
Swami Shraddhanand
–
Swami Shraddhanand
Swami Shraddhanand
–
Mahatma Munshi Ram or Swami Shraddhanand in early days
Swami Shraddhanand
–
Logo of
Gurukul Kangri University, located in
Haridwar city.
Swami Shraddhanand
–
Statue of Swami Shraddhanand in front of
Delhi Town Hall
13.
Shyamji Krishna Varma
–
Shyamji Krishna Varma was an Indian revolutionary fighter, lawyer and journalist who founded the Indian Home Rule Society, India House and The Indian Sociologist in London. A graduate of Balliol College, Krishna Varma was a scholar in Sanskrit. He pursued a legal career in India and served as the Divan of a number of Indian princely states in India. He had, however, differences with Crown authority, was dismissed following a supposed conspiracy of local British officials at Junagadh, most famous among the members of this organisation was Veer Savarkar. Krishna Varma moved to Paris in 1907, avoiding prosecution and he was raised by his grandmother. His ancestors belonged to Bhachunda, a now in Abdasa taluka of Kutch district. They migrated to Mandvi in search of employment and because of family disputes, after completing secondary education in Bhuj he went to Mumbai for further education at Wilson High School. While in Mumbai, he learned Sanskrit, in 1875, Shyamji got married to Bhanumati, a daughter of a wealthy businessman of the Bhatia community and sister of his school friend Ramdas. Then he got in touch with the nationalist Swami Dayananda Saraswati, a reformer and an exponent of the Vedas. He became his disciple and was soon conducting lectures on Vedic philosophy, in 1877, a public speaking tour secured him a great public recognition. He became the first non-Brahmin to receive the title of Pandit by the Pandits of Kashi in 1877. He came to the attention of Monier Williams, an Oxford professor of Sanskrit who offered Shyamji a job as his assistant, later in 1905, Shyamji attended the United Congress of Democrats held at Holborn Town Hall as a delegate of the India Home Rule Society. His resolution on India received an ovation from the entire conference. Most of the British press were anti–Shyamji and carried outrageous allegations against him, the Times referred to him as the Notorious Krishnavarma. Many newspapers criticised the British progressives who supported Shyamji and his view and his movements were closely watched by British Secret Services, so he decided to shift his headquarters to Paris, leaving India House in charge of Vir Savarkar. Shyamji left Britain secretly before the government tried to arrest him and he arrived in Paris in early 1907 to continue his work. The British government tried to have him extradited from France without success as he gained the support of many top French politicians. Shyamji’s name was dragged into the trial of Mr Merlin
Shyamji Krishna Varma
–
Shyamji Krishna Varma
Shyamji Krishna Varma
–
The Indian Sociologist of September, 1908, London
Shyamji Krishna Varma
–
Shyamji Krishna Varma Memorial, Mandvi,Kutch
14.
Lala Hardayal
–
Lala Har Dayal was an Indian nationalist revolutionary. He was a polymath who turned down a career in the Indian Civil Service and his simple living and intellectual acumen inspired many expatriate Indians living in Canada and the USA to fight against British Imperialism during the First World War. He was born on 14 October 1884 at Delhi, Har Dayal was the sixth of seven children of Bholi Rani and Gauri Dayal Mathur. His father was a Reader in the District Court, at an early age he was influenced by Arya Samaj. He was associated with Shyam Krishnavarma, Vinayak Damodar Savarkar and Bhikaji Cama and he also drew inspiration from Giuseppe Mazzini, Karl Marx and Mikhail Bakunin. He was, according to Emily Brown as quoted by Juergensmeyer, in sequence an atheist, a revolutionary, a Buddhist, and a pacifist. He studied at the Cambridge Mission School and received his bachelors degree in Sanskrit from St. Stephens College, Delhi, India, the letter led to him being put under surveillance by the police. Later that year, saying To Hell with the ICS, he gave up the prestigious Oxford scholarships and it was during this period that he came into the friendship of the anarchist Guy Aldred, who was put on trial for printing The Indian Sociologist. He moved to Paris in 1909 and became editor of the Vande Mataram, but he was not very happy in Paris, so he left the Paris and moved to Algeria. There too, he was unhappy and wondering whether to go- either to Cuba or Japan, after all he went to Martinique, where he started living a life of austerity. An Arya Samaj Missionary, Bhai Parmanand went there to look for him, the two discussed founding a new religion modelled on Buddhism. Har Dayal was living an ascetic life eating only boiled grain and potatoes, sleeping on the floor, Guy Aldred later related that this religions motto was to be Atheism, Cosmopolitanism and moral law. Emily Brown and Erik Erikson have described this as a crisis of ego-identity for him, Parmanand says that Har Dayal agreed to go to the United States to propagate the ancient culture of the Aryan Race. Hardayal went straight from Boston to California, where he wrote an account of life in the United States. He then moved on to Honolulu in Hawaii where he spent some time meditating on Waikiki Beach, during his stay he made friends with Japanese Buddhists. He also started studying the works of Karl Marx, whilst here he wrote Some Phases of Contemporary Thought in India subsequently published in Modern Review. Parmanand persuaded him by letter to return to California and he moved to the United States in 1911, where he became involved in industrial unionism. He had also served as secretary of the San Francisco branch of the Industrial Workers of the World alongside Fritz Wolffheim
Lala Hardayal
–
Lala Har Dayal
Lala Hardayal
–
Lala Har Dayal 's ever favorite paper The Indian Sociologist (August 1909 issue)
Lala Hardayal
–
August 1909 issue of the
Vande Mataram published from
Paris
Lala Hardayal
–
Brochure of the Guru Govind Singh Sahib Educational Scholarship
15.
Madan Lal Dhingra
–
Madan Lal Dhingra was an Indian revolutionary independence activist. While studying in England, he assassinated Sir William Hutt Curzon Wyllie, Madan Lal Dhingra was born on 8 February 1883 in a Punjabi family in Amritsar, India. He was the sixth of seven children of a civil surgeon, Dhingra studied at Amritsar in MB Intermediate College until 1900. He then went to Lahore to study at the Government College University, in 1904 he led a student protest against the principals order to have the college blazer made of cloth imported from England. Dhingra was expelled from the college, at that time Dhingra was a student in the Master of Arts program. He was under the influence of the nationalist Swadeshi movement and he studied the literature concerning the causes of Indian poverty and famines extensively, and felt that the key issues in seeking solutions to these problems lay in Swaraj and Swadeshi. Dhingra had to work as a clerk, at Kalka in a Tanga service being run to transport British families to Shimla and he attempted to organise a union there but was sacked. He worked for some time in Mumbai before acting upon the advice of his brother, Dr. Bihari Lal. In 1906, Dhingra departed for England to enroll at University College, London and he was supported by his elder brother and some nationalist activists in England. Dhingra arrived in London a year after the foundation of Shyamaji Krishnavarmas India House in 1905 and this organization was a meeting place for Indian radicals located in Highgate. Savarkar believed in revolution by any means and inspired Dhingras admiration in the cult of assassination and he allegedly gave Dhingra arms training. Later, Dhingra became distant from India House and was known to frequent a shooting range on Tottenham Court Road and he joined, and had a membership in, a secretive society, the Abhinav Bharat Mandal founded by Savarkar and his brother Ganesh. During this period, Savarkar, Dhingra, and other student activists were enraged by the Partition of Bengal. Dhingra was disowned for his activities by his father Gitta Mall, who was the Chief Medical Officer in Amritsar. Several weeks before assassinating Curzon Wyllie, Dhingra had tried to kill Lord Curzon and he had also planned to assassinate the ex-Governor of Bengal, Bramfield Fuller, but was late for a meeting the two were to attend could not carry out his plan. Dhingra then decided to kill Curzon Wyllie, Curzon Wylie had joined the British Army in 1866 and the Indian Political Department in 1879. He had earned distinction in a number of locations including Central India, in 1901 he was selected to be Political Aide-de-Camp to the Secretary of State for India. He was also the head of the Secret Police and had been trying to obtain information about Savarkar, Curzon Wyllie was said to have been a close friend of Dhingras father
Madan Lal Dhingra
–
Madan Lal Dhingra
16.
Ram Prasad Bismil
–
Ram Prasad Bismil pronunciation was an Indian revolutionary who participated in Mainpuri conspiracy of 1918, and the Kakori conspiracy of 1925, and struggled against British imperialism. As well as being a fighter, he was a patriotic poet and wrote in Hindi and Urdu using the pen names Ram, Agyat. But, he became popular with the last name Bismil only and he was associated with Arya Samaj where he got inspiration from Satyarth Prakash, a book written by Swami Dayanand Saraswati. He also had a connection with Lala Har Dayal through his guru Swami Somdev. Bismil was one of the members of the revolutionary organisation Hindustan Republican Association. Bhagat Singh praised him as a great poet-writer of Urdu and Hindi, several inspiring patriotic verses are written by him, including the poem Sarfaroshi ki Tamanna Ram Prasad Bismil was born on 11 June 1897 at Shahjahanpur, in North-Western Provinces, British India. He learnt Hindi from his father at home and was sent to learn Urdu from a moulvi and he was admitted to an English-language school, despite his fathers disapproval, and also joined the Arya Samaj in Shahjahanpur. Bismil showed a talent for writing patriotic poetry, as an 18-year-old student, Bismil read of the death sentence passed on Bhai Parmanand, a scholar and companion of Har Dayal. At that time he was attending the Arya Samaj Temple at Shahjahanpur daily, where Swami Somdev. Angered by the sentence, Bismil composed a poem in Hindi titled Mera Janm and this poem demonstrated a commitment to remove the British control over India. Bismil left school in the year and travelled to Lucknow with some friends. The Naram Dal was not prepared to allow the Garam Dal to stage a grand welcome of Tilak in the city. They organised a group of youths and decided to publish a book in Hindi on the history of American independence, America Ki Swatantrata Ka Itihas and this book was published under the authorship of the fictitious Babu Harivans Sahai and its publishers name was given as Somdev Siddhgopal Shukla. As soon as the book was published, the government of Uttar Pradesh proscribed its circulation within the state, Bismil formed a revolutionary organisation called Matrivedi and contacted Genda Lal Dixit, a school teacher at Auraiya. Somdev arranged this, knowing that Bismil could be effective in his mission if he had experienced people to support him. Dixit had contacts with some powerful dacoits of the state, Dixit wanted to utilise their power in the armed struggle against the British rulers. Like Bismil, Dixit had also formed an organisation of youths called Shivaji Samiti. The pair organised youths from the Etawah, Mainpuri, Agra, on 28 January 1918, Bismil published a pamphlet titled Deshvasiyon Ke Nam Sandesh, which he distributed along with his poem Mainpuri Ki Pratigya
Ram Prasad Bismil
–
Ram Prasad Bismil Udyan (
Park) in
Greater Noida
17.
Mahadev Govind Ranade
–
Mahadev Govind Ranade was a distinguished Indian scholar, social reformer and author. As well known figure, his personality as a calm. Mahadev Govind Ranade was born in Niphad, a town in Nashik district in a Chitpavan Brahmin family. He spent much of his childhood in erstwhile Kolhapur state where his father was a minister and he began studies at the Elphinstone College in Bombay, at the age of fourteen. Ramakrishna Gopal Bhandarkar was his classmate, Ranade later got his MA degree at the top of his class. From 1885 until he joined the High Court, he was a member of the Bombay legislative council, Ranade held the offices of syndic and dean in arts at Bombay University, where he displayed much organizing power and great intimacy with the needs of the student class. A thorough Marathi scholar, he encouraged the translation of standard English works and tried, with some success and he published books on Indian economics and on Maratha history. He saw the need for industry for economic progress and believed in Western education as a vital element to the foundation of an Indian nation. Reform of Indian culture and use of an adaptation of Western culture, in Ranade’s view, and fusion of thoughts, amongst all men. Along with his friends Atmaram Pandurang, R. G, Bhandarkar and Vaman Abaji Modak, Ranade founded the Prarthana Samaj, a Hindu movement inspired by the Brahmo Samaj, espousing principles of enlightened theism based on the ancient Vedas. Prarthana Samaj was started by Keshav Chandra Sen, a staunch Brahma Samajist and he presided a function to honor his friend, Virchand Gandhi, who had defended Indian culture and Hinduism in 1893s world religion parliament in Chicago, USA. He was one of the founders of the Widow Marriage Association in 1861, Ranade attempted to work with the structure of weakened traditions, reforming, but not destroying the social atmosphere that was India’s heritage. Ranade valued India’s history, having had a great interest in Shivaji and the Bhakti movement, Ranade encouraged the acceptance of change, believing traditional social structures, like the caste system, should accommodate change, thereby preserving India’s ancient heritage. An overall sense of regeneration was what Ranade desired. Though Ranade criticised superstitions and blind faith, he was conservative in his own life and he chose to take prayaschitta in case of Panch-houd Mission Case rather than taking a strong side of his opinions. Upon the death of his first wife, his friends expected him to marry a widow. However, he adhered to his familys wishes and married a bride, Ramabai Ranade. After his death, she continued his social and educational reform work, Ramabai Ranade in her memoirs has stated that when one equally prominent Pune personality, Vishnupant Pandit, married a widow, Ranade entertained him and a few guests at his home
Mahadev Govind Ranade
–
Mahadev Govind Ranade
Mahadev Govind Ranade
–
Statue of Justice Mahadev Govind Ranade
18.
Mahatma Hansraj
–
Lala Hansraj also known as Mahatama Hansraj, was an Indian educationist and a follower of Arya Samaj movement founder, Swami Dayanand. He founded, with Gurudatta Vidhyarthi, the Dayanand Anglo-Vedic Schools System in Lahore in 1886, school was set up in memory of Dayanand who had died three years earlier. He was also a compatriot of freedom fighter Lala Lajpat Rai, Hansraj served as the principal of D. A. V. College for 25 years, and committed the rest of his life in social service, today D. A. V. runs over 669 colleges, schools, professional and technical institutions. Hansraj was born in a town, Bajwara, in Hoshiarpur district. His father died before Hansraj was 12 and thereafter he was looked after, subsequently his family moved to Lahore where he joined a missionary school. Meanwhile, he heard the lecture of Swami Dayanand and this changed his life course forever and he went on to complete his Bachelor of Arts degree with excellent marks. Upon completing his B. A. instead of taking up a job, Hansraj decided to start a school, school, along with a fellow Arya Samaji, Gurudatta Vidyarthi. Later he became the Principal of the Dayanand Anglo-Vedic College, Lahore, and president of the provincial Arya Pradeshik Pratinidhi Sabha, section of Arya Samaj in Punjab. In 1893, the Arya Samaj split into two in Punjab, one led by Lala Hans Raj and Lala Lajpat Rai retained the control over D. A. V. The radical section was under the leadership of Pandit Lekh Ram and Lala Munshi Ram and he served as the principal of D. A. V. College, Lahore for the next 25 years, and after his retirement committed the rest of his life in social service and he is credited of proposing Ashok Dharma Chakra in the middle of the Indian National Flag. He died on November 14,1938 in Lahore, Mahatma Hansraj, Maker of the Modern Punjab, Maker of the Modern Punjab, by Sri Ram Sharma. Published by Institute of Public Administration,1965, an article on Mahatma Hansraj in The Legacy of The Punjab by R M Chopra,1997, Punjabee Bradree, Calcutta. Hansraj, A motivating Mahatma Mahatma Hansraj
Mahatma Hansraj
–
Lala Hansraj
Mahatma Hansraj
–
Pandit Gurudatta Vidyarthi
19.
Lala Lajpat Rai
–
Lala Lajpat Rai pronunciation, was an Indian Punjabi author and politician who is chiefly remembered as a leader in the Indian Independence movement. He was popularly known as Punjab Kesari and he was one third of the Lal Bal Pal triumvirate. He was also associated with activities of Punjab National Bank and Lakshmi Insurance Company in their early stages and he sustained serious injuries by the police when leading a non-violent protest against the Simon Commission and died less than three weeks later. His death anniversary is one of several days celebrated as Martyrs Day in India, Lajpat Rai was born in Dhudike on 28 January 1865. His father was in the Aggarwal caste, Rai had his initial education in Government Higher Secondary School, Rewari, in the late 1870s and early 1880s, where his father, Radha Krishan, was an Urdu teacher. Rai was influenced by Hinduism and created a career of reforming Indian policy through politics, Hinduism, he believed, led to practices of peace to humanity, and the idea that when nationalist ideas were added to this peaceful belief system, a secular nation could be formed. This focus on Hindu practices in the subcontinent would ultimately lead him to the continuation of peaceful movements to create successful demonstrations for Indian independence and he was a devotee of Arya Samaj and was editor of Arya Gazette, which he set up during his student time. After joining the Indian National Congress and taking part in agitation in the Punjab, Lajpat Rai was deported to Mandalay, Burma. In November, however, he was allowed to return when the viceroy, Lord Minto, graduates of the National College, which he founded inside the Bradlaugh Hall at Lahore as an alternative to British institutions, included Bhagat Singh. He was elected President of the Indian National Congress in the Calcutta Special Session of 1920. In 1921, He founded Servants of the People Society, a welfare organisation, in Lahore, which shifted based to Delhi after partition. Lajpat Rai travelled to the US in 1907, and then returned during World War I and he toured Sikh communities along the US West Coast, visited Tuskegee University in Alabama, and met with workers in the Philippines. His travelogue, The United States of America, details these travels and features extensive quotations from leading African American intellectuals, the book also argues for the notion of color-caste, suggesting sociological similarities between race in the US and caste in India. He was imprisoned from 1921 to 1923 and elected to the assembly on his release. He controversially demanded a clear partition of India into a Muslim India, in 1928, the British government set up the Commission, headed by Sir John Simon, to report on the political situation in India. The Indian political parties boycotted the Commission, because it did not include a single Indian in its membership, when the Commission visited Lahore on 30 October 1928, Lajpat Rai led silent march in protest against it. The superintendent of police, James A. Scott, ordered the police to charge the protesters. Despite being injured, Rai subsequently addressed the crowd and said and he did not fully recover from his injuries and died on 17 November 1928 of a heart attack
Lala Lajpat Rai
–
Lala Lajpat Rai
Lala Lajpat Rai
–
A banquet given in honour of Lala Lajpat Rai by the California Chapter of the Hindustan Association of America at Hotel Shattuck in
Berkeley on 12 February 1916.
Lala Lajpat Rai
–
Photo of Rai printed in the February 1920 issue of
Young India.
Lala Lajpat Rai
–
The statue of Rai at
Shimla, Himachal Pradesh.
20.
Samkhya
–
Samkhya or Sankhya is one of the six āstika schools of Hindu philosophy. It is most related to the Yoga school of Hinduism, Sāmkhya is an enumerationist philosophy whose epistemology accepts three of six pramanas as the only reliable means of gaining knowledge. These include pratyakṣa, anumāṇa and śabda, sometimes described as one of the rationalist school of Indian philosophy, this ancient schools reliance on reason was neither exclusive nor strong. Sāmkhya philosophy regards the universe as consisting of two realities, puruṣa and prakṛti, Jiva is that state in which puruṣa is bonded to prakṛti in some form. This fusion, state the Samkhya scholars, led to the emergence of buddhi, during the state of imbalance, one of more constituents overwhelm the others, creating a form of bondage, particularly of the mind. The end of this imbalance, bondage is called liberation, or kaivalya, the existence of God or supreme being is not directly asserted, nor considered relevant by the Samkhya philosophers. Sāṃkhya denies the final cause of Ishvara, while the Samkhya school considers the Vedas as a reliable source of knowledge, it is an atheistic philosophy according to Paul Deussen and other scholars. A key difference between Samkhya and Yoga schools, state scholars, is that Yoga school accepts a personal, yet essentially inactive, Samkhya is known for its theory of guṇas. Everything, all forms and human beings, state Samkhya scholars, have these three guṇas, but in different proportions. The interplay of these guṇas defines the character of someone or something, of nature, the Samkhya theory of guṇas was widely discussed, developed and refined by various schools of Indian philosophies, including Buddhism. Samkhyas philosophical treatises also influenced the development of theories of Hindu ethics. In the context of ancient Indian philosophies, Samkhya refers to the school in Hinduism based on systematic enumeration. The word samkhya means empirical or relating to numbers, some 19th and 20th century scholars suggested that Samkhya may have non-Vedic origins. For the Sankhya philosophy is, in its essence, not only atheistic, dandekar, similarly wrote in 1968, The origin of the Sankhya is to be traced to the pre-Vedic non-Aryan thought complex. Some scholars disagreed with this view, here – in Kaushitaki Upanishad and Chandogya Upanishad – the germ are to be found two of the main ideas of classical Samkhya. More recent scholarship offers another perspective, Ruzsa in 2006, for example, states, Sāṅkhya has a very long history. Its roots go deeper than textual traditions allow us to see, the ancient Buddhist Aśvaghoṣa describes Arāḍa Kālāma, the teacher of the young Buddha as following an archaic form of Sāṅkhya. Anthony Warder in 2009, summarizes that Samkhya and Mīmāṃsā schools appear to have been established before Sramana traditions in India, speculations in the direction of the Samkhya can be found in the early Upanishads
Samkhya
–
King Amsuman and the yogic sage
Kapila.
Samkhya
–
Elements in Samkhya philosophy
21.
Yoga (philosophy)
–
Yoga philosophy is one of the six major orthodox schools of Hinduism. Ancient, medieval and most modern literature often refers to the Yoga school of Hinduism simply as Yoga and it is closely related to the Samkhya school of Hinduism. The Yoga schools systematic studies to better oneself physically, mentally and spiritually has influenced all schools of Indian philosophy. The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali is a key text of the Yoga school of Hinduism, the epistemology of the Yoga school of Hinduism, like the Sāmkhya school, relies on three of six Pramanas as the means of gaining reliable knowledge. These include Pratyakṣa, Anumāṇa and Sabda, the metaphysics of Yoga is built on the same dualist foundation as the Samkhya school. The universe is conceptualized as composed of two realities in the Samhkya-Yoga schools, Puruṣa and prakriti, jiva is considered as a state in which puruṣa is bonded to prakriti in some form, in various permutations and combinations of various elements, senses, feelings, activity and mind. During the state of imbalance or ignorance, one of more constituents overwhelm the others, the end of this bondage is called liberation, or moksha, by both the Yoga and Samkhya schools of Hinduism. The ethical theory of the Yoga school is based on Yamas and Niyama, the Yoga school of Hinduism differs from the closely related non-theistic/atheistic Samkhya school by incorporating the concept of a personal, yet essentially inactive, deity or personal god. Advaita Vedanta, and other schools of Hinduism, accept, adopt and build many of the teachings. The origins of the Yoga school of Hinduism are unclear, some of its earliest discussions are found in 1st millennium BCE Indian texts such as the Katha Upanishad, the Shvetashvatara Upanishad and the Maitri Upanishad. The root of Yoga is found in hymn 5.81.1 of the Rig Veda, युञ्जते मन उत युञ्जते धियो विप्रा विप्रस्य बृहतो विपश्चितः Seers of the vast illumined seer yogically control their minds and their intelligence. Rigveda, however, does not describe Yoga philosophy with the meaning or context as in medieval or modern times. Early references to practices that became part of Yoga school of Hinduism, are made in Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. Gavin Flood translates it as. having become calm and concentrated, one perceives the self, the practice of pranayama is mentioned in hymn 1.5.23 of Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, and the practice of pratyahara is mentioned in hymn 8.15 of Chandogya Upanishad. The Katha Upanishad, dated to be from about the middle of the 1st millennium BCE, in verses 2.6.6 through 2.6.13 recommends a path to Self-knowledge and it influenced and was influenced by other schools and Indian philosophies. Patanjalis Yoga Sutras may be a synthesis of these three traditions, the third concept that the Yoga Sutras synthesize into its philosophy is the ancient ascetic traditions of isolation, meditation and introspection. The systematic collection of ideas of the Yoga school of Hinduism is found in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, the Yoga school of Hinduism has been included as one of the six orthodox schools in medieval era Indian texts. The other schools are Samkhya, Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Mimamsa, the Yoga school of Hindu philosophy is most closely related to the Samkhya school
Yoga (philosophy)
–
A statue of a man in yoga posture (Kashmir,
India).
22.
Nyaya
–
Nyāya, literally means rules, method or judgment. It is also the name of one of the six schools of Hinduism. This schools most significant contributions to Indian philosophy was systematic development of the theory of logic, methodology, Nyaya schools epistemology accepts four out of six Pramanas as reliable means of gaining knowledge – Pratyakṣa, Anumāṇa, Upamāṇa and Śabda. In its metaphysics, Nyaya school is closer to Vaisheshika school of Hinduism than others and it holds that human suffering results from mistakes/defects produced by activity under wrong knowledge. Moksha, it states, is gained through right knowledge and this premise led Nyaya to concern itself with epistemology, that is the reliable means to gain correct knowledge and to remove wrong notions. False knowledge is not merely ignorance to Naiyyayikas, it includes delusion, correct knowledge is discovering and overcoming ones delusions, and understanding true nature of soul, self and reality. Naiyyayika scholars approached philosophy as a form of realism, stating that anything that really exists is in principle humanly knowable. To them, correct knowledge and understanding is different than simple, reflexive cognition, an influential collection of texts on logic and reason is the Nyayasutras, attributed to Aksapada Gautama, variously estimated to have been composed between 6th-century BCE and 2nd-century CE. Nyaya is a Sanskrit word which means method, rule, specially a collection of general or universal rules, in some contexts, it means model, axiom, plan, legal proceeding, judicial sentence, or judgment. In the theory of logic, and Indian texts discussing it, in philosophical context, Nyaya encompasses propriety, logic and method. Nyaya is related to other concepts and words used in Indian philosophies, Hetu-vidya, Anviksiki, Pramana-sastra, Tattva-sastra, Tarka-vidya, Vadartha. Some of these subsume or deploy the tools of Nyaya, the historical development of Nyaya school is unclear, although Nasadiya hymns of Book 10 Chapter 129 of Rigveda recite its spiritual questions in logical propositions. In early centuries BCE, states Clooney, the early Nyaya scholars began compiling the science of rational, coherent inquiry, by 2nd century CE, Aksapada Gautama had composed Nyayasutras, a foundational text for Nyaya school, that primarily discusses logic, methodology and epistemology. The Nyaya scholars that followed refined it, expanded it, later Nyaya scholars, such as Udayana, examined various arguments on theism and attempted to prove existence of God. Other Nyaya scholars offered arguments to disprove the existence of God, the Nyaya metaphysics recognizes sixteen padarthas or categories and includes all six categories of the Vaisheshika in the second one of them, called prameya. These sixteen categories are pramāṇa, prameya, saṁśaya, prayojana, dṛṣṭānta, siddhānta, avayava, tarka, nirṇaya, vāda, jalpa, vitaṇḍā, hetvābhāsa, chala, jāti and nigrahasthāna. The Nyaya school of Hinduism developed and refined many treatises on epistemology that widely influenced other schools of Hinduism, Nyaya treated it as theory of knowledge, and its scholars developed it as Pramana-sastras. Pramana, a Sanskrit word, literally is means of knowledge and it encompasses one or more reliable and valid means by which human beings gain accurate, true knowledge
Nyaya
–
Plato –
Kant –
Nietzsche
23.
Advaita Vedanta
–
Advaita Vedanta is a school of Hindu philosophy and religious practice, and one of the classic Indian paths to spiritual realization. The term Advaita refers to its idea that the soul is the same as the highest metaphysical Reality, Advaita Vedanta traces its roots in the oldest Upanishads. It relies on three textual sources called the Prasthanatrayi and it gives a unifying interpretation of the whole body of Upanishads, the Brahma Sutras, and the Bhagavad Gita. Advaita Vedanta is the oldest extant sub-school of Vedanta, which is one of the six orthodox Hindu philosophies, though its roots trace back to the 1st millennium BCE, the most prominent exponent of the Advaita Vedanta is considered by the tradition to be 8th century scholar Adi Shankara. Advaita Vedanta emphasizes Jivanmukti, the idea that moksha is achievable in this life in contrast to Indian philosophies that emphasize Videhamukti, Advaita Vedanta is one of the most studied and most influential schools of classical Indian thought. Many scholars describe it as a form of monism, others describe the Advaita philosophy as non-dualistic, beyond Hinduism, Advaita Vedanta interacted and developed with the other traditions of India such as Jainism and Buddhism. Advaita Vedanta texts espouse a spectrum of views from idealism, including illusionism, in modern times, its views appear in various Neo-Vedanta movements. It has been termed as the example of Hindu spirituality. The Advaita Vedanta school has referred to historically by various names, such as Advaita-vada, Abheda-darshana, Dvaita-vada-pratisedha. According to Richard King, a professor of Buddhist and Asian studies, traditional Advaita Vedanta centers on the study of the sruti especially the Principal Upanishads, along with the Brahma Sutras and the Bhagavad Gita. Within the Vedanta tradition of Hinduism are many sub-schools, of which Advaita is one, unlike Buddhism, but like Jainism, all Vedanta schools consider the existence of Atman as self evident. The Vedanta tradition also posits the concept of Brahman as the eternal, the sub-schools of Vedanta disagree on the relation between Atman and Brahman. The Advaita darsana considers them to be identical, Advaita Vedanta believes that the knowledge of ones true self or Atman is liberating. Correct knowledge, which destroys avidya, psychological and perceptual errors related to Atman and Brahman, is obtained through three stages of practice, sravana, manana and nididhyasana, the Vedanta tradition of Hinduism rejects the dualism of Samkhya. Advaita, like all Vedanta schools, states that Brahman is both the efficient and the cause, that from which the origination, subsistence. What created all existence is also present in and reflected in all beings and inert matter and this Brahman it postulates is sat-cit-ananda. Second, how did cit Brahman create material world, third, if ananda Brahman is pure bliss, why did the empirical world of sufferings arise. These are the questions that Advaita Vedanta thinkers have historically attempted to answer, Advaita establishes its truths, in part, from the oldest Principal Upanishads, the Brahma Sutras, the Bhagavad Gita and numerous other Hindu texts
Advaita Vedanta
–
Statue of
Gaudapada, the grand guru of
Adi Shankara and the first historical proponent of Advaita Vedanta, also believed to be the founder of
Shri Gaudapadacharya Math
Advaita Vedanta
–
Adi Shankara with Disciples, by
Raja Ravi Varma (1904)
Advaita Vedanta
–
(Vidyashankara temple) at
Sringeri Sharada Peetham,
Shringeri
24.
Vishishtadvaita
–
Vishishtadvaita, the philosophy of the Sri Sampradaya, is one of the most popular schools of the Vedanta school of Hindu philosophy. Vedanta literally means the end of the Vedas, primarily the word Vedanta stood for Upanishads, afterwords, its denotation widened to include all thoughts developed out of the Upanishads. VishishtAdvaita is a school of Vedanta philosophy. It is non-dualism of the whole, in which Brahman alone exists. It can be described as qualified monism or qualified non-dualism or attributive monism and it is a school of Vedanta philosophy which believes in all diversity subsuming to an underlying unity. Vedanta Desika defines Vishishtadvaita using the statement, Asesha Chit-Achit Prakaaram Brahmaikameva Tatvam, Brahman, the Vishishtadvaitic thought is considered to have existed for a long time, and it is surmised that the earliest works are no longer available. The names of the earliest of these philosophers is only known through Ramanujas Veda artha Sangraha, in the line of the philosophers considered to have expounded the VisishtAdvaitic system, the prominent ones are Bodhayana, Dramida, Tanka, Guhadeva, Kapardi and Bharuci. Besides these philosophers, Ramanujas teacher Yamunacharya is credited with laying the foundation for what culminates as the Sri Bhasya, Bodhayana is considered to have written an extensive vritti on the Purva and Uttara Mimamsas. Tanka is attributed with having written commentaries on Chandogya Upanishad and Brahma Sutras, nathamuni of the ninth century AD, the foremost Acharya of the Vaishnavas, collected the Tamil prabandhas, classified them, made the redaction, set the hymns to music and spread them everywhere. Ramanuja is the proponent of Vishishtadvaita philosophy. The philosophy itself is considered to have existed long before Ramanujas time, Ramanuja continues along the line of thought of his predecessors while expounding the knowledge expressed in the Upanishads, Brahma Sutras and Bhagavad Gita. Swaminarayan, the founder of Swaminarayan Hinduism, also propagated this philosophy, there are three key principles of Vishishtadvaita, Tattva, The knowledge of the 3 real entities namely, jiva, ajiva and Ishvara. Hita, The means of realization, as through bhakti and prapatti, purushartha, The goal to be attained, as moksha or liberation from bondage. Pramana refers to the knowledge, arrived at by thorough reasoning. Pramana forms one part of a triputi, perception refers to knowledge obtained by cognition of external objects based on sensory perception. In modern-day usage this will also include knowledge obtained by means of observation through scientific instruments since they are an extension of perception, anumana — the knowledge gained by means of inference. Inference refers to knowledge obtained by deductive reasoning and analysis, Shabda — the knowledge gained by means of shruti. Shruti refers to knowledge gained from scriptures - primarily the Upanishads, the Brahma Sutras, when an issue cannot be settled through sensory perception alone, it is settled based on inference, that is, whichever is the more logical argument
Vishishtadvaita
–
Sri Ramanujacharya, pioneer of Vishishtadvaita Vedanta and the foremost Jeeyar of Sri Vaishnava Sampradaya.
Vishishtadvaita
–
Swamy Sri Vedanta Desikan as in Kanchipuram
25.
Shuddhadvaita
–
Vallabhacharyas pure form philosophy is different from Advaita. The Shrinathji temple at Nathdwara, and compositions of eight poets, though the tradition originated near Vrindavana in the current Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, in modern times followers of Shuddadvaita are concentrated in the states of Rajasthan and Gujarat. In the ancient Vedic tradition of knowledge and comprehension of reality, vedas primarily contain references to the adwait nature of Brahm. However, depending on how a scholar perceives those verses, s/he might see duality— dwait aspect as well and he won the title of acharya by traveling and debating advaita scholars from a young age. In 1493-94 Vallabhacharya is said to have identified an image of Krishna at the Govardhan hill at Braj and this image, now called Shrinathji and located at Nathdwara, Rajasthan, is central to the worship by Vallabha followers. According to Vallabha tradition, one night in 1494, Vallabhacharya received the Brahmasambandha mantra from Krishna himself at Gokula. The eight-syllable mantra, śri kṛṣṇaḥ śaraṇaṃ mama, is passed onto new initiates in Vallabh sampradaya, the school of in-essence monism or purified non-dualism of Vallabha sees equality in essence of the individual self with God. There is no difference between the two. However, unlike Shankaras Advaita, Vallabha does not deny God as the whole, the individual soul is not the Supreme clouded by the force of avidya, but is itself Brahman, with one attribute rendered imperceptible. The soul is both a doer and enjoyer and it is atomic in size, but pervades the whole body through its essence of intelligence. Unlike Advaita, the world of Maya is not regarded as unreal and he is not only the creator of the universe but is the universe itself. Vallabha cites the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad account, that Brahman desired to become many, and he became the multitude of individual souls, although Brahman is not known, He is known when He manifests Himself through the world. Bhakti is the means of salvation, though Jnana is also useful, karmas precede knowledge of the Supreme, and are present even when this knowledge is gained. The highest goal is not Mukti or liberation, but rather eternal service of Krishna, Vallabha distinguishes the transcendent consciousness of Brahman as Purushottama. Vallabha lays a great stress on a life of unqualified love, in all the philosophical traditions, it is common practice to describe how the Supreme Entity Brahm is related to us and our surroundings. In the system of Suddhadwait Vedant, otherwise known as Brahmvaad, every other thing has proceeded from it at the time of creation, is non-different from it during creation and merges into it at the time of dissolution. The two other well known categories namely the animate souls and the objects are respectively its parts. The animate souls are its parts because they retain to some extent the essential qualities thereof namely consciousness, the inanimate objects are its modification because the above said qualities are absent therein
Shuddhadvaita
–
Vallabhacharya, who propounded the philosophy of Shuddadvaita
26.
Buddhism
–
Buddhism is a religion and dharma that encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs and spiritual practices largely based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. Buddhism originated in India sometime between the 6th and 4th centuries BCE, from where it spread through much of Asia, two major extant branches of Buddhism are generally recognized by scholars, Theravada and Mahayana. Buddhism is the worlds fourth-largest religion, with over 500 million followers or 7% of the global population, Buddhist schools vary on the exact nature of the path to liberation, the importance and canonicity of various teachings and scriptures, and especially their respective practices. In Theravada the ultimate goal is the attainment of the state of Nirvana, achieved by practicing the Noble Eightfold Path, thus escaping what is seen as a cycle of suffering. Theravada has a following in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia. Mahayana, which includes the traditions of Pure Land, Zen, Nichiren Buddhism, Shingon, rather than Nirvana, Mahayana instead aspires to Buddhahood via the bodhisattva path, a state wherein one remains in the cycle of rebirth to help other beings reach awakening. Vajrayana, a body of teachings attributed to Indian siddhas, may be viewed as a branch or merely a part of Mahayana. Tibetan Buddhism, which preserves the Vajrayana teachings of eighth century India, is practiced in regions surrounding the Himalayas, Tibetan Buddhism aspires to Buddhahood or rainbow body. Buddhism is an Indian religion attributed to the teachings of Buddha, the details of Buddhas life are mentioned in many early Buddhist texts but are inconsistent, his social background and life details are difficult to prove, the precise dates uncertain. Some hagiographic legends state that his father was a king named Suddhodana, his mother queen Maya, and he was born in Lumbini gardens. Some of the stories about Buddha, his life, his teachings, Buddha was moved by the innate suffering of humanity. He meditated on this alone for a period of time, in various ways including asceticism, on the nature of suffering. He famously sat in meditation under a Ficus religiosa tree now called the Bodhi Tree in the town of Bodh Gaya in Gangetic plains region of South Asia. He reached enlightenment, discovering what Buddhists call the Middle Way, as an enlightened being, he attracted followers and founded a Sangha. Now, as the Buddha, he spent the rest of his teaching the Dharma he had discovered. Dukkha is a concept of Buddhism and part of its Four Noble Truths doctrine. It can be translated as incapable of satisfying, the unsatisfactory nature, the Four Truths express the basic orientation of Buddhism, we crave and cling to impermanent states and things, which is dukkha, incapable of satisfying and painful. This keeps us caught in saṃsāra, the cycle of repeated rebirth, dukkha
Buddhism
–
Standing Buddha statue at the
Tokyo National Museum. One of the earliest known representations of the
Buddha, 1st–2nd century CE.
Buddhism
–
The Dharmachakra
Buddhism
–
Relic depicting Gautama leaving home. The Great Departure, c.1–2nd century. (
Musée Guimet)
Buddhism
–
Ascetic
Gautama with his five companions, who later comprised the first
Sangha. (Painting in
Laotian temple)
27.
Jainism
–
Jainism, traditionally known as Jain Dharma, is an ancient Indian religion belonging to the śramaṇa tradition. The central tenet is non-violence and respect all living beings. The three main principles of Jainism are ahimsa, anekantavada and aparigraha, followers of Jainism take five main vows, ahimsa, satya, asteya, brahmacharya and aparigraha. Jain monks and nuns observe these vows absolutely whereas householders observe them within their practical limitations, self-discipline and asceticism are thus major focuses of Jainism. The word Jain derives from the Sanskrit word jina, a human being who has conquered all inner passions like attachment, desire, anger, pride, greed, etc. is called Jina. Followers of the path practiced and preached by the jinas are known as Jains, Parasparopagraho Jivanam is the motto of Jainism. Jains trace their history through a succession of teachers and revivers of the Jain path known as Tirthankaras. In the current era, this started with Rishabhdeva and concluded with Mahavira, Jains believe that Jainism is eternal and while it may be forgotten, it will be revived from time to time. With 6-7 million followers, the majority of Jains reside in India, outside of India, some of the largest Jain communities are present in Canada, Europe, Kenya, the UK, Suriname, Fiji, and the United States. Contemporary Jainism is divided into two sects, Digambara and Śvētāmbara. Namokar Mantra is the most common and basic prayer in Jainism, major Jain festivals include Paryushana and Daslakshana, Mahavir Jayanti, and Diwali. The principle of ahimsa is the most fundamental and well-known aspect of Jainism, the everyday implementation of the principle of non-violence is more comprehensive than in other religions and is the hallmark for Jain identity. Jains believe in avoiding harm to others thoughts, speech. According to the Jain text, Purushartha Siddhyupaya, killing any living being out of passions is hiṃsā, Jains extend the practice of nonviolence and kindness not only towards other humans but towards all living beings. For this reason, vegetarianism is a hallmark of Jain identity, if there is violence against animals during the production of dairy products, veganism is encouraged. Jainism has an elaborate framework on types of life and includes life-forms that may be invisible. Therefore, after humans and animals, insects are the living being offered protection in Jain practice. For example, insects in the home are often escorted out instead of killed, Jainism teaches that intentional harm and the absence of compassion make an action more violent
Jainism
–
Sculpture depicting Ahimsa, the fundamental tenet of Jainism (Photo:
Ahinsa Sthal)
Jainism
–
Mahāvīra employed anekānta extensively to explain Jain philosophical concepts (painting from
Rajasthan, ca. 1900)
Jainism
–
Image of
Rishabha, first
tīrthaṅkara of the present Avsarpini era (Photo - Kundalpur, Madhya Pradesh)
Jainism
–
Siddhas (the liberated beings), although they are formless, this is how they are depicted in Jain temples
28.
Vaishnavism
–
Vaishnavism is one of the major traditions within Hinduism along with Shaivism, Shaktism, and Smartism. It is also called Vishnuism, its followers are called Vaishnavas, the tradition is notable for its avatar doctrine, wherein Vishnu is revered in one of many distinct incarnations. Of these, ten avatars of Vishnu are the most studied, Krishna, Rama, Narayana, Vāsudeva, Hari, Vithoba, Kesava, Madhava, Govinda and Jagannath are among the popular names used for the same supreme. The tradition has traceable roots to the 1st millennium BCE, as Bhagavatism, later developments led by Ramananda created a Rama-oriented movement, now the largest monastic group in Asia. The Vaishnava tradition has many sampradayas ranging from the medieval era Dvaita school of Madhvacharya to Vishishtadvaita school of Ramanuja, new Vaishnavism movements have been founded in the modern era such as the ISKCON of Prabhupada. The tradition is known for the devotion to an avatar of Vishnu. Key texts in Vaishnavism include the Vedas, the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, the Pancaratra texts, Krishnaism becomes associated with bhakti yoga in the medieval period. Although Vishnu was a Vedic solar deity, he is mentioned less often compared to Agni, Indra and other Vedic deities, other scholars state that there are other Vedic deities, such as water deity Nara, who together form the historical roots of Vaishnavism. The ancient emergence of Vaishnavism is unclear, the evidence inconsistent, according to Dalal, the origins may be in Vedic deity Bhaga, who gave rise to Bhagavatism. According to Preciado-Solís, the Vedic deities Nara and Narayana form one of the Vedic roots of Vaishnavism, according to Dandekar, Vaishnavism may have emerged from merger of several ancient theistic traditions, where the various deities were integrated as different avatars of the same god. In Dandekar theory, Vaishnavism emerged at the end of the Vedic period, closely before the urbanisation of northern India. This earliest phase was established the time of Pāṇini who, in his Astadhyayi and this was followed by a merger with the cult of Gopala-Krsna of the cowherd community of the Abhıras at the 4th century CE. The character of Gopala Krishna is often considered to be non-Vedic, according to Dandekar, such mergers consolidated the position of Krishnaism between the heterodox sramana movement and the orthodox Vedic religion. The Greater Krsnaism, states Dandekar, then merged with the Rigvedic Vishnu, syncretism of various traditions and Vedism resulted in Vaishnavism. At this stage that Vishnu of the Rig Veda was assimilated into non-Vedic Krishnaism, the appearance of Krishna as one of the Avatars of Vishnu dates to the period of the Sanskrit epics in the early centuries CE. The Bhagavad Gita was incorporated into the Mahabharata as a key text for Krishnaism, finally, the Narayana-cult was also included, which further brahmanized Vaishnavism. The Nara-Narayana cult may have originated in Badari, a ridge of the Hindu Kush. Purusa Narayana may have later turned into Arjuna and Krsna
Vaishnavism
–
Vaishnavite Brahmin students at a theological seminary in
Tanjore. Source: The National Geographic Magazine, Nov 1909
Vaishnavism
–
Krishna murti (left) with Radha
29.
Smartism
–
Smarta tradition is a movement in Hinduism that developed and expanded with the Puranas genre of literature. This Puranic religion is notable for the worship of five shrines with five deities, all treated as equal – Vishnu, Shiva, Ganesha, Surya. The Smarta tradition contrasted with the older Shrauta tradition, which was based on elaborate rituals, there has been considerable overlap in the ideas and practices of the Smarta tradition with other significant historic movements within Hinduism, namely Shaivism, Vaishnavism, and Shaktism. The Smarta tradition developed during Classical Period of Hinduism around the beginning of the Common Era, the Smarta tradition is aligned with Advaita Vedanta, and regards Adi Shankara as its founder or reformer. Shankara championed the ultimate reality is impersonal and Nirguna and any symbolic god serves the same equivalent purpose, inspired by this belief, the Smarta tradition followers, along with the five Hindu gods include a sixth impersonal god in their practice. The tradition has been called by William Jackson as advaitin, monistic in its outlook, the term also refers to Brahmins who specialize in the Smriti corpus of texts named the Grihya Sutras, in contrast to Shrauta Sutras. Smarta Brahmins with their focus on the Smriti corpus, contrast from Srauta Brahmins who specialize in the Sruti corpus, Smarta is an adjective derived from Smriti. Smarta is specially associated with a founded by Shankaracharya, states Monier Williams. The Vedanga texts include the Kalpa texts consisting of the Srautasutras, Grihyasutras and Dharmasutras, the Grihyasutras and Dharmasutras, states Hiltebeitel, were composed between 600 BCE and 400 CE, and these are sometimes called the Smartasutras, the roots of the Smriti tradition. The Smriti texts accept the knowledge in the Sruti, but they interpret it in a number of ways, of the two Smarta traditions, Mimamsa focussed on Vedic ritual traditions, while Vedanta focussed on Upanishadic knowledge tradition. The revived Smarta Tradition attempted to integrate varied and conflicting devotional practices, the growth of this Smarta Tradition began in the Gupta period, and likely was dominated by Dvija classes, in particular the Brahmins, of the early medieval Indian society. This Smarta Tradition competed with other traditions of Hinduism such as Shaivism, Vaishnavism. Medieval era scholars such as Vedanta Desika and Vallabhacharya recognized Smarta Tradition as competing with Vaishnavism, the adjective Smārta is also used to classify a Brahmin who adheres to the Smriti corpus of texts. Smarta Brahmins specialize in the Smriti corpus of texts, are differentiated from Srauta Brahmins who specialize in the Sruti corpus of such as the Brahmanas layer embedded inside the Vedas. Smarta Brahmins are also differentiated from Brahmins who specialize in the Agamic literature such as the Adi Shaiva Brahmins, Sri Vaishnava Brahmins, however, these identities are not clearly defined, and active groups such as Agamic Smarta Saiva Brahmins have thrived. According to Smartism, supreme reality, Brahman, transcends all of the forms of personal deity. The Smartas follow an orthodox Hindu philosophy, which means they accept the Vedas, the Smarta Tradition accepts two concepts of Brahman, which are the saguna Brahman – the Brahman with attributes, and nirguna Brahman – the Brahman without attributes. The nirguna Brahman is the unchanging Reality, however, the saguna Brahman is posited as a means to realizing this nirguna Brahman, the Smartas evolved a kind of worship which is known as Panchayatana puja
Smartism
–
The five prime deities of Smartas in a Ganesha-centric Panchayatana: Ganesha (centre) with Shiva (top left), Devi or Durga (top right), Vishnu (bottom left) and Surya (bottom right).
Smartism
–
Smartha Brahmins in western India (c. 1855-1862).
30.
Shaktism
–
Shaktism is a major tradition of Hinduism, wherein the metaphysical reality is considered feminine and the Devi is supreme. It includes a variety of goddesses, all considered aspects of the supreme goddess. Shaktism has different sub-traditions, ranging from those focussed on gracious Lakshmi to fierce Kali, the Sruti and Smriti texts of Hinduism are an important historical framework of the Shaktism tradition. In addition, it reveres the texts Devi Mahatmya, the Devi-Bhagavata Purana, the Devi Mahatmya in particular, is considered in Shaktism to be as important as the Bhagavad Gita. Shaktism is known for its various sub-traditions of Tantra, as well as a galaxy of goddesses with respective systems and it consists of the Vidyapitha and Kulamārga. The pantheon of goddesses in Shaktism grew after the decline of Buddhism in India, wherein Hindu and Buddhist goddesses were combined to form the Mahavidya, the most common aspects of Devi found in Shaktism include Durga, Kali, Amba, Lakshmi, Parvati and Tripurasundari. The goddess-focussed tradition is popular in West Bengal, Assam, Tripura, Nepal and the neighboring regions. Yet, they are declared equivalent aspects of gender neutral Brahman, of Prajapati, the goddesses often mentioned in the Vedic layers of text include the Ushas, Vac, Sarasvati, Prithivi, Nirriti, Shraddha. Goddesses such as Uma appear in the Upanishads as another aspect of Brahman, hymns to goddesses are in the ancient Hindu epic Mahabharata, particularly in the later added Harivamsa section of it. The archaeological and textual evidence implies, states Thomas Coburn, that the Goddess had become as much a part of the Hindu tradition, as God, by about the third or fourth century. The literature on Shakti theology grew in ancient India, climaxing in one of the most important texts of Shaktism called the Devi Mahatmya, the Devi-Mahatmya is not the earliest literary fragment attesting to the existence of devotion to a goddess figure, states Thomas B. Coburn – a professor of Religious Studies, but it is surely the earliest in which the object of worship is conceptualized as Goddess, with a capital G. Other important texts of Shaktism include the Shakta Upanishads, as well as Shakta-oriented Upa Puranic literature such as the Devi Purana and Kalika Purana, the Lalita Sahasranama. The Tripura Upanishad is historically the most complete introduction to Shakta Tantrism, along with the Tripura Upanishad, the Tripuratapini Upanishad has attracted scholarly bhasya in the second half of 2nd-millennium, such as by Bhaskararaya, and by Ramanand. These texts link the Shakti Tantra tradition as a Vedic attribute, Shaktas conceive the Goddess as the supreme, ultimate, eternal reality of all existence, or same as the Brahman concept of Hinduism. She is considered to be simultaneously the source of all creation, its embodiment and the energy that animates and governs it, according to V. R. Ramachandra Dikshitar – a professor of Indian history, in Shaktism theology Brahman is static Shakti and Shakti is dynamic Brahman. Shaktism views the Devi as the source, essence and substance of everything in creation and its texts such as the Devi-Bhagavata Purana states, I am Manifest Divinity, Unmanifest Divinity, and Transcendent Divinity. I am Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, as well as Saraswati, Lakshmi, I am the Sun and I am the Stars, and I am also the Moon
Shaktism
–
Shiva and
Shakti in the half-male, half-female form of
Ardhanari (
Elephanta caves, 5th century CE,
Mumbai, India)
Shaktism
–
Sri Amritananda Natha Saraswathi, a Shakta adept and guru, performing the Navavarana
Puja, a central ritual in
Srividya Tantric Shaktism, at the Sahasrakshi Meru Temple at
Devipuram,
Andhra Pradesh,
India, 2005.
Shaktism
–
Devi Shakthi at
Parashakthi Temple, Pontiac, USA adorned as Goddesses Lakshmi, Durga and Saraswathi during
Navaratri
Shaktism
–
Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth.
pronunciation (help·info) (12 February 1824 – 30 October 1883) was a Hindu religious leader and founder of the Arya Samaj, a Hindu reform movements of the Vedic tradition. He was also a renowned scholar of the Vedic lore and Sanskrit language, he was the first to give the call for Swaraj as "Indian for India" in 1876, a call later taken up by Lokmanya Tilak.[2][3] Denouncing the idolatry and ritualistic worship prevalent in Hinduism at the time, he worked towards reviving Vedic ideologies. Subsequently, the philosopher and President of India, S. Radhakrishnan called him one of the "makers of Modern India", as did Sri Aurobindo.[4][5][6]
