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51 search results for: Mahabharata

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(T) Arjuna’s Dilemma on the Battlefield (dilemmas)

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STO-701 This passage give some background information to the Battle of Kurukshetra and the difficult situation Arjuna faced prior to that great conflict. It also serves to show how the Bhagavad Gita came to be spoken. For more information, please refer to “The Heart of Hinduism” Teachers’ Book pages 126-127. The Mahabharata explains how Dhritarashtra […]

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Scriptural Verses B – Core Values and Virtues

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Scriptural Verses B (word document download) Verses on Core Values and Virtues Please also refer to the section on proverbs for further relevant verses. In here, there are four main categories, namely: A. Godly / Spiritual Qualities (general) B. Demonic / Materialistic Qualities (general) C. Specific Virtues D. Miscellaneous A. Godly / Spiritual Qualities (general) […]

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Further Resources

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Academic Books (especially for Secondary RE teachers and Libraries) A Very Short Introduction to Hinduism by Kim Knott (Oxford University Press) ISBN: 0-19-285387-2 A succinct and accessible introduction to the tradition Hinduism – A Short Introduction by Klaus. K. Klostermaier (Oneworld, Oxford) ISBN: 1-85168-220-1 A Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism by K. K. Klostermaier (Oneworld, Oxford) […]

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STO-701 – Arjuna’s Dilemma on the Battlefield (dilemmas)

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STO-701-sec This passage give some background information to the Battle of Kurukshetra and the difficult situation Arjuna faced prior to that great conflict. It also serves to show how the Bhagavad Gita came to be spoken. For more information, please refer to “The Heart of Hinduism” Teachers’ Book pages 126-127. The Mahabharata explains how Dhritarashtra […]

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STO-318 – Stories of Ganesh

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STO-318-sec How Ganesh received his head Ganesh is the first son of Parvati, Shiva’s consort. During one of Shiva’s long bouts of austerity on Mount Kailash, Parvati became lonely and one day, while taking her bath, she shaped a child out of the flakes of her own skin. She instructed him to stand as a […]

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STO-320 – Stories of Surya

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STO-320-sec Surya and Sanjana In Hindu mythology, Surya married Sanjana and she bore two children, Yama and Yami. Yama is the God of Death, and Yami is more commonly called Yamuna, the sacred river that runs through Vrindavana and New Delhi. Sanjaya, however, could not bear the intense light and heat radiating from her fiery […]

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(P) Stories connected with Raksha Bandhan

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STO-401 There are number of stories or incidents connected with Raksha Bandhan, and we narrate five, as follows: The Bhavishya Purana cites a story that the Devas (demigods) once battled with the Asuras (demons) for twelve years. However, the Devas, headed by the mighty Indra, were losing the war. As they prepared to fight again, […]

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(T) Stories of Surya

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STO-320 Surya and Sanjana In Hindu mythology, Surya married Sanjana and she bore two children, Yama and Yami. Yama is the God of Death, and Yami is more commonly called Yamuna, the sacred river that runs through Vrindavana and New Delhi. Sanjaya, however, could not bear the intense light and heat radiating from her fiery […]

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(P) Stories of Ganesh

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STO-318 How Ganesh received his head Ganesh is the first son of Parvati, Shiva’s consort. During one of Shiva’s long bouts of austerity on Mount Kailash, Parvati became lonely and one day, while taking her bath, she shaped a child out of the flakes of her own skin. She instructed him to stand as a […]

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Ganesh

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Download PDF: PCT-310 Ganesh is the most universally worshipped of the Hindu pantheon. However, he is rarely the exclusive or ultimate object of devotion, though this is relatively common in South India. More often he is supplicated before the worship other deities. He is frequently placed as the keeper of the threshold, standing near the […]

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Krishna

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Download PDF: PCT-305 Krishna is often considered the eighth incarnation of Vishnu. Many think him to be God himself, and the terms Vishnu and Krishna are often used synonymously. He is perhaps the most popular deity, especially in North India and within the UK. Krishna is depicted with two hands, usually playing his flute. He wears […]

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ART-1204 The Life of Madhvacharya (1239 – 1319 CE)

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Word document download: ART-1204 Madhva one of the three preeminent Vedantic theologians; the others are Shankara and Ramanuja. Madhva was born around 1239 in a village called Pajaka, situated near the coast on the southerm part of the sate now called Karnataka. He was originally called Vasudeva. There are many references to his being an […]

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ART-0529 Ujjain: The Gurukula (school) of Lord Krishna

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Word document download: ART-0529 Ujjain is one of the main Kumbha Mela sites. See the Teachers’ Book, pages 72, 78 (Sandipani Muni painting) and page 101 (Mathematics). See also STO-320, the story of the turtle incarnation. According to the Aranya Parva of the Mahabharata, Ujjain is one of the seven sacred cities (dhamas) known as […]

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ART-0526 Somnath

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Word document download: ART-0526 Somnath is particularly important for Shaivas, but related sites are closely connected to Krishna. For a picture of a linga, see the Teachers’ Book, page 135. Somnath near Veraval in Gujarat was once the most revered shrine in the country, for it had one of the twelve pre-eminent Jyotirlingas (the glowing […]

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ART-0517 Naimisharanya

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Word document download: ART-0517 Naimisharanya is perhaps the most famous of the sacred forests. It is connected with Lord Brahma (Teachers’ Book, pages 34,48). For information on circumambulation see page 59, and for information on Vyasa and the Vedas, see pages 30,124. Naimisharanya is the spot where the Bhagavat Purana was spoken by Suta Goswami […]

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THE HARE KRISHNA MOVEMENT

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Word document download: FCT-1201 What is the Hare Krishna Movement? The Hare Krishna movement is the popular name for the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON). Who started ISKCON? In 1965, an elderly monk, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (1896-1977), travelled alone from India to establish the culture of Krishna consciousness in the […]

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THE BHAGAVAD GITA

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Word document download: FCT-1102 Bhagavad Gita means “The Song of the Lord”. It was spoken by Lord Krishna who is considered Bhagavan (the Supreme Personality of Godhead) to his friend Arjuna just prior to the Battle of Kurukshetra. Present day Kurukshetra is located one hundred miles north-west of New Delhi. It is composed of seven […]

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THE VEDIC (HINDU) SCRIPTURES

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Word document download: FCT-1101 The term ‘Hinduism‘ is somewhat arbitrary but broadly refers to the tradition whose members follow the sacred texts called the Vedas or the Vedic scriptures. There are two main categories of Vedic literature: – the shruti (that which is heard) – the smriti (that which is remembered). All traditions accept the […]

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PRAYER AND MANTRA

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Word document download: FCT-0303 Within the Hindu tradition there is no clear distinction between prayer, the chanting of mantras and the singing of songs and hymns. A mantra is a standard phrase consisting of a number of syllables. It is often chanted repetitively a fixed number of times. At the beginning of each mantra there […]

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ART-0001 Hinduism, how we see it

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Download article ‘ART-0001 Hinduism, how we see it’ as word document The Western Educationalists’ Perspective on the Vedic Tradition Rasamandala Das Rasamandala dasa has offered us this article to help clarify some of the concerns and reservations that many of us may have with educational approaches to Vedanta and Hinduism. He reassures us with his […]

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ART-0102 Time, Hindu Ideas of

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Download article ‘ART-0102 Time, Hindu Ideas of’ as word document ‘Hindu Notions of Time’ I have always been fascinated by the infinite. My twin brother and I, as children of seven or eight, used to stand in our back garden gazing at the clear night sky. On those balmy autumn evenings, we’d pose the perennial […]

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ART-0505 Dwarka

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Dwarka: The Capital of Lord Krishna 5000 Years Ago Dwarka is connected to Lord Krishna and is mentioned in the Mahabharata and the Bhagavat Purana. It is one of the four holy dhamas (See Teachers’ Book, page 72). Over 5000 years ago, after He left Mathura, Lord Krishna spent one hundred years in his capital, […]

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ART-0513 Kurukshetra

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Kurukshetra: Where the Bhagavad Gita Was Spoken  This holy spot is especially related to the Bhagavad Gita. Verses from this book, as well as the One Thousand Names of Vishnu, are featured on the Audio page, Tracks 4-10 and 15 respectively. Kurukshetra is called “Dharma-kshetra” in the Bhagavad Gita. This is where the great battle […]

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ART-0522 Pushkar

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Pushkar: The Place of Lord Brahma Pushkar is the only prominent site connected to Brahma, the creator. According to Vedic tradition, the empowered creator of the universe, Lord Brahma, chose Pushkar as a site for his temple and it has attracted sages and ascetics for thousands of years. Once Lord Brahma desired to have a […]

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ART-0531 Varanasi

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Varanasi: The City of Lord Shiva Varanasi is perhaps the most important place of pilgrimage and is closely connected so Shiva. It also relates to the funeral ceremony . Varanasi is situated on the bank of the River Ganges. The name “Varanasi” comes from the two rivers, Varna and Assi, which join the Ganges on […]

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13. RESTORING THE FORESTS OF VRINDAVAN

13. RESTORING THE FORESTS OF VRINDAVAN “Krishna brought forward the cows and played on His flute through the forest of Vrindavan, which was full of flowers, vegetables and pasturing grass. The Vrindavan forest was as sanctified as the clear mind of a devotee and was full of bees, flowers and fruits. There were chirping birds […]

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09. LIFE OF SACRIFICE

9. LIFE OF SACRIFICE Everything within this world is possessed by God. He pervades both the animate and the inanimate. Therefore one should only take one’s fair share, and leave the rest to the Supreme. Isa Upanishad 1 Although Gandhi’s ideas were never put into practice by the rulers of India after independence, they are […]

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06. THE TEN AVATARS

6. THE TEN AVATARS The ten incarnations of Vishnu are a recurrent theme in Vedic history. Vishnu exists outside the material realm as the creator, and he exists within every being as the Supersoul. He also enters this world as avatar, ‘one who descends’, to restore balance whenever his presence is needed. His descent is […]