The Alwars (also spelled Azhwars) are a group of 12 ancient Vaishnava saints who lived in Tamil Nadu and are famous for their poetry in praise of Vishnu. The Alwars are crucially important figures in the development of Vaishnavism; it is the principles and beliefs embodied in the Alwars' poems th...
TL;DR They basically indicate the occupations that Brahmanas used to have back when they were officiating Vedic Yagnas rather than being temple priests and the like.
In order to understand what it means for someone to be a Rig Veda Brahmana and so on, you need to understand the nature of the Ved...
TL;DR They basically indicate the occupations that Brahmanas used to have back when they were officiating Vedic Yagnas rather than being temple priests and the like.
In order to understand what it means for someone to be a Rig Veda Brahmana and so on, you need to understand the nature of the Ved...
As I discuss in this answer, how the Vedas originated is that from time immemorial, sages known as Dhristas have heard sacred verses directly from the gods during a state of Tapasya (deep meditation). And then in every Dwapara Yuga, a sage called the Veda Vyasa takes this set of mantras and divid...
Orthodoxy in Christianity is the holding to the oldest beliefs. It is of course impossible for the religion not to evolve at all as new questions and there answer have to addressed. The "Orthodox" version is often considered to be the least evolved sect of a religion. Does the concept of Orthod...
In the Yuddha Kanda of the Ramayana, after Rama kills Ravana and rescues his wife Sita, he tells Sita to walk through fire to (to others) prove that she is still faithful to him. She walks through the fire and emerges unharmed, demonstrating her purity of heart. But before she emerges from the ...
Chapter 4 and 5 of Satarudrasamhita of Shiva Purana describes the 28 Avatars of Shiva. Shiva takes these avatars at end of every Dvapara Yuga with Vyasa to teach Yoga techniques for people of Kali Yuga. He will have 4 disciples in each Yuga and these disciples teach the people of Kali Yuga and h...
