Religion

Sufism Sufi or Sufism is related to Islam. The Sufis originally drew their ideas from certain verses of the Quran and Hadith i.e. traditions of the prophet. Their difference with orthodox Muslims lay in the fact that while the latter…

Sufism The source of Sufism was Quran and the teachings of Prophet Muhammad. The Sufi reformers started preaching main thoughts of Islam. Main ideals: According to Sufism, devotion and relin­quishment are the ways to reach God. They are…

Bhakti Movement in India The essence of the Bhakti movement is the union of the human soul with supreme being through devotion. The Bhakti movement took off in southern India between the 7th and the 12th centuries A.D., nurtured by Saiva…

Hindu Goddesses Saraswati Saraswati, the consort of Brahma, the female Shakti or energizing principle which gives the creator his remarkable power. Saraswati, literally means flowing water, because the nature of wisdom is that it wets and…

Lord Shiva is also known as Bhagwan Shiv. Lord Siva, the cosmic destroyer, was not a Vedic god, and in his earlier forms he was known as Rudra. He is the perfect ascetic mahayogi. He is also depicted as the primeval dancer – Adinata and…

Vishnu (from ‘Vish’ meaning to pervade). Lord Vishnu (also Bhagwan Vishnu) is the preserver or sustainer, and his dwelling place is Vaikuntha. Lord Vishnu, the Hindu God, is represented as reclining in deep mediation in a milky ocean, the…

Lord Brahma (also Bhagwan Brahma) is first among the Hindu Trinity of Gods. Brahman is the formless, ineffable divinity and Brahma is the creator with form, the begetter of the universe, the dynamic creative five-headed divine figure. His…

Guna has a two-fold meaning of “quality” in both its meaning. Its first connotation is “Physical characteristic” while its second connotation is value, virtue, work. It indicates the ‘attitude’ with which the mind works. “Sattva, rajas and…

Lord Varuna was one of the twelve sons of Aditi. The Devas appointed him the Lord of all waters. Lord Varuna is the sustainer of universe and guardian of the moral order right. Lord Varuna is constantly called ‘Dhritavrata’ or one whose…

Lord Agni is the god of fire and sacrifice among Hindus. The universe is believed to be composed of five elements of which Agni is one. The other four are: water, earth, ether (akasha) and air. Lord Agni stands next to Indra in importance…