I’m curious about the origins of Vastu Shastra—does it truly have its roots in the Vedas? And why it is referred to as science?

I have always been fascinated by how the direction of spaces influences the flow of energy and whether it can have such a profound impact on our lives. Additionally, why is the northeast direction typically considered auspicious for temples and house entrances? I would love to understand the deeper significance behind directions and how it impacts the environment around us.

Can someone provide some potent verses about the practice of self control?

I have heard a few different versions of the Sri Rudram Namakam and verses are the same. However, one particular version by "Marepally Naga Venkta Sastry" is a little different.

From 0:00 minutes to 4:25 there is a portion that is different from other variations of the Mantra.

Can anyone cite the exact Veda that it is from? Below is the link to the Mantra.

https://youtu.be/RGYYE71BtN0?si=hNXsu-j-GBXo4LpJ

Hello everyone,
I am a student of Ayurveda in my third year, I am 25years old and I've been particularly intersted in Sanskrit language for the past year. I love it so much and feel like it draws me towards it if that makes sense. I also practice "ART" widely in my life as a performer (music mostly). Yes.

To put you a bit in context:
I have an "addicted" past and am working on emancipating myself from all these patterns currently, I've been sober many years and am still in the process of quitting cigarettes currently.
I find it particularly challenging to change habits, which is in fact going to be one of my main challenges with future patients! Getting them to avoid or privilege (Through their ahara, nidra, and so on...) Ayurveda truly manifested itself in my life and I feel like we chose each other for an important reason.

Anyways, dont get it wrong, I have in fact come a very long way and am in a good situation in my life. I love Ayurveda ; although not judging myself and not becoming hyperconscious about all my "mistakes"/"failures" sometimes is very challenging.

Some Slokas about "Rightful codes of conduct" (if that makes sense) that I read in the classic texts just seem So far from what life is actually like nowadays ;
(the challenges faced in this hyper-capitalistic/ materialist/ dualist/ estranged from the Divine system/time we live in)
and while I usually understand and appreciate the knowledge that is provided + as much as I would like to start adopting them to my own life - some things are just not possible right now with the life I live.
I don't wan't to have to say goodbye Vedic knowledge/Ayurveda but I aslo don't wan't to let go of my life as an artist.
I feel like the way Vaidyas are described to be in the texts- as "clean/pure and so on" sets an very/insanely high standard and I'm most certainly not clean nor pure, which is fine because things happen at a certain time for a reason right...yet I feel unworthy sometimes and it's very alienating... I'd like to have someone to look up to, a rolemodel, someone who lives a very balanced life between their spiritual/ ancestral practices while also keeping a foot in the social, everyday life that is so needed as well. I feel like, in a way, Im isolating myself socially with this path, which I don't see as something bad necessarly because Im happy and honnored to be studying what I study - I also sometimes feel lonely and would love to see my friends but at this point our lives are so different, we can't relate much anymore.... See what I mean?

It's just that sometimes I feel very unworthy of this knowledge because there is a lot I know but I don't necessarly apply it to myself. There is also a lot I yet have to learn.

In french we have a saying "Les cordonniers sont toujours les plus mal chaussés"
which translates to "The cobbler always wears the worst shoes"-- thats how I feel sometimes.
Living in Europe also makes me feel isolated from the larger Ayurvedic community, I don't really know other students my age with similar hobbies who I can exchange with...

VOilà. Wanted to share... Hope this makes sense! Can anyone relate? Or do you have some words of adive?
Would really appreciate it.

Love and Light

what is the ultimate truth i am very confused about it

if only brahman exists then from where did even maya come from?

i asked some guy who claimed to be knowledgeable about it but i could not understand anything he said because he was saying both brahman and maya are causeless but maya has an end but brahman does not

he also said maya is brahman power but looking at this screenshot taken from from Yoga vasistha(english translated work) i dont think such is the case

https://preview.redd.it/ogjahkw64zvd1.png?width=1012&format=png&auto=webp&s=e09de6ffb2a5fa9c50eee2824baada999369157c

but also there is this screenshot which says "he is the only doer and all other like us are not the doers"

https://preview.redd.it/ruab3f345zvd1.png?width=1130&format=png&auto=webp&s=b56a56a6f0566792a2d850f22817fe50d4b2753c

which leads me to think that shiva who is causeless is the only doer and all others like us are ideas to him which he entertains in himself and he is the only master of maya but i am still very confused about all this and i wish somebody tells me in clear language how does all these comes from that unchangeable one

there is the famous example was gold appearing in various shapes but im still confused

I'm on a mission! I'm looking for some direct sources on some of the earliest forms of meditation practice, especially from the Vedas and Upanishads. I'd prefer texts/sutras giving some form of instruction as to how to practice, but anything related will work as well!

Commentaries are welcome, but base text is preferred. Thank you 🙏

I have been reading the latest published Bhagavad Gita by Gita Press (code 1658), which contains just the Sanskrit shlokas and it's translation in Hindi and English without any commentary by anyone. I went to Gita Press website searching for a similar format book for Kathopanishad but couldn't find it. The same goes for Chandogya Upanishad and Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. I couldn't even find The Ashtavakra gita in their list. The upanishads were only available with Shankaraachaarya's commentaries. The format mentioned for Gita helped me immensely to understand the concept of Advaita Vedanta philosophy. I didn't have any commentaries so I had to understand Krishna's poetic style of speech all on my own just by the help of the translations and without any added bias of any commentary. I'm not trying to be disrespectful towards Shankaraachaarya but I know that his commentaries and notes were recorded while he had his casteist and sexist biases with him and was still not free from them. Also I know he would definitely interpret the Upanishads better than I can, he was a thousand times more learned than I am, I still want to make journey through the Upanishads by myself. So, please let me know if I can find the three mentioned Upanishads and the Ashtavakra gita in the above mentioned format. If not with both Hindi and English translations, only hindi translation would be good as well. Just no commentaries.

Hi I want to read these books, I don't understand much of Sanskrit, But I know Bengali, Hindi and English as well. So if I want to read them which are the good and authentic books with translations? Indian laguages are preferably first in the list, and then english, also if the writers are indians that would be good too...

According to history Vedas were written aound 3500 years ago, how they are considered of divine origin, why God only chose some people to give divine knowledge?

Are there any religious texts or scholars in the current day who millenia from now will be part of the Hindu canon like Vedas and Upanishads are?

My wife and I are watching the Mahabharat serial and are almost at the war's end. Watching the episodes, we realized that there are a lot of inconsistencies in what is shown and the stories we heard from our grandmothers.

I have now decided to read the Puranas, the Ramayan and finally the Mahabharat. Is that the right order? Are there any other texts I'm missing out? I think I could give the Vedas a pass since from what I know, they don't follow a story but are a collection of hymns and rituals.

Any guidance would be helpful.

So, i get that. Turiya is pretty much brahman? But what is stuff like deep sleep state?

Is the current state in which I am writing vaisnavara(A of the three words of AUM)?

Can anyone really clarify the first 3 states because turiya surprisingly makes the most sense.

"The Brahmanas were his mouth, the kshatriyas became his arms, the vaishyas were his thighs, and the shudras were assigned to his feet."

The above is the famous verse from the Purusha Suktam that is often used to establish the varna system. Today I had a flash of insight and thought to share it with everyone, Purusha is fundamentally meant to be one being, as such all the varnas are part of this one being, therefore could we internalize the varna system into each individual? That is to say each individual is a Brahmana, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra all together. Let us take from each varna the virtuous quality such as wisdom from the Brahmana, courage from the Kshatriya, industriousness from the Vaishya and honesty from the Shudra. Let us each seek to become perfect beings and dissolve the differences of caste between persons, seeking to become a perfected whole instead.

Om Swasti

Source:
https://shlokam.org/purushasuktam/

I am from a veg hindu family .I just want to ask a simple question that acc to Vedas and Upanishads we should be veg or not ?

How these people are formed and the possible cure?

Why is it that in Brahma Sutras 1.3.33 to 1.3.39 It (and the many commentators like Shankara Ramanujacharya etc,.) Advocate for the fact that Shudras are some how incompetent to study the Vedas ? What's the justification for this?

This is a very important collection of Mantras in the Vaikhanasa school.

Even though it is titled an Upanishad, it is pure collection of mantras. it is embedded in the Vaikhanasa Samhita.

there are a collection of 105 mantras, in 11 anuvakas. the first ten anuvakas have 10 mantras each. the Eleventh anuvaka has 5 mantras. the location is the Vaikhanasa Samhita (vaikhanasa MantraPrashnah) , prashnah 7.

there are 2 recenssions of the Paramatmikopanishad. one is by Sreenivasa Deekshita and another by Bhatta Bhaskara.

These are considered to be the most important Mantras to Vishnu, and in fact many of his Avatars (not the full dasavatars but several of their vedic proto forms )

Vaikhanasa Agama is the agama used for the worship of Lord Balaji (Venkateswara ) in the world famous Tirumala hill shrine.

I am curious because I have seen literally zero information online or any kind of awareness of the existence of such a vast collection of mantras that are so important and used in some of the most key rituals to vishnu.

are people aware of this particular collection of mantras ? has anyone done more research into this ?

I would like to bring this to the attention of people here who are researching into vedic hymns. also, anyone with knowledge about this , I would love to hear.

this post is only aimed at bringing something I found to the attention of people who are much more learnt than me. I mean no offence to anyone. I am just curious and wish to know more about this.

thanks to everyone for reading this post.

I noticed Sri Prabhupada gave a new definition to a Sanskrit term from the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. What’s your opinion??? In the last chapter of "The Science of Self-Realization," the author Sri Prabhupada mentions the phrase "Ahaṁ brahmāsmi" and defines it as "I am the spirit soul." However, the it seems the original translation appears to be "I Am Brahman." This caught my eye. I wonder if he included this phrase intentionally to draw attention to Advaita Vedanta non-dualists. Why? Perhaps Sri Prabhupada is trying to provide deeper perspectives given his preference for Gaudiya Vaishnavism approach. Do you enjoy this new definition by Sri Prabhupada or the old?

"Ahaṁ brahmāsmi" appears in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, which is one of the major Upanishads and part of the Vedic literature. This phrase is specifically found in 1.4.10 of the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. It is one of the Mahavakyas or "great sayings" in the Upanishadic texts, embodying the principle of non-duality that asserts the identity of the individual self (Atman) with the ultimate reality (Brahman).

Ahaṁ means “I” or “I am.” Brahmāsmi combines “Brahman” with the verb “asmi,” which means “am.”

I was on a website one day looking at different foods and their how their properties act on the body. On one of the pages they mentioned a sacred text. I googled and found it, and read some of it.

There was a passage which stated “The true physician has cured himself of lust.” I believe it was a section about medicine. Unfortunately I don’t remember the book title, but would like to read it more thoroughly.

Any help would be appreciated. Thank you!

I genuinely want to know, why gods created us? Humans... like what's our ultimate purpose? Moksha? Okay... but why in the first place? To live? To feel? To learn? but why?

Edit: i see many of you say that we're not created, alright, then why do we exist at all? The purpose tho?

Before the composition of the Vedic hymns into its early mandalas, the attitude of mantras and its relationship to ritual seems to be quite different. Various verses praise the “new song” and it seemed that, without an existed canon of hymns, ritual for the early Vedic peoples used personally made hymns. What I’m wondering is how exactly were the hymns used in this early period, before the advent of complex śrauta rituals that use a diversity of hymns. Let’s take Rigveda 6.39, for example, an invitation for Indra to partake in Soma. Would the composer have used this hymn simply by itself in a ritual, or would he still use it in advent with others? I apologize if this seems like a strange question.

Does vedantic knowledge not make you second guess your experience? Most likely not completely. Understand that you have to second guess the Vedas themselves meaning that all that tasty knowledge really means absolutely nothing.

In Rigveda, it is said that Indra was born from the mouth of purusha in the 13th mantra of purush suktam

चन्द्रमा मनसो जातश्चक्षोः सूर्यो अजायत । मुखादिन्द्रश्चाग्निश्च प्राणाद्वायुरजायत ॥

The Moon was born from His Mind and the Sun was born from His Eyes, Indra and Agni (Fire) were born from His Mouth, and Vayu (Wind) was born from His Breath.

But in the 4.18.4th mantra it says that he was born through Aditi

किं स ऋधक्कृणवद्यं सहस्रं मासो जभार शरदश्च पूर्वीः । नही न्वस्य प्रतिमानमस्त्यन्तर्जातेषूत ये जनित्वाः ॥

Aditi speaks: What irregular act has he committed whom (I, his mother), bore for a thousand months and for many years? there is no analogy between him and those who have been or will be born.

So what is the truth about the birth of Indra? How was he born?

Hello and Namaste to all.. I was looking for Upanishads in Hindi and i found that there's a collection of 108 Upanishads in three parts along with Sanskrit slokas and Hindi explanation done by Pandit Shri Ram Sharma. But I'm not sure if I should buy this version or not. I was not able to find any other Hindi translation either. Most books are too costly for me to afford so i though of getting the one (collection of 108 Upanishads in three parts) that I found on Amazon. However, due to very few reviews available on Amazon and i was not able to find reviews on other platforms either I'm not sure whether i should buy this translation or not. Can you please guide me here. Here I'm sharing the Amazon link of those Upanishads. Please guide me. Thank you.

Here I'm sharing the link. (I'm not sure what is the difference but i found two products both are of three books containing 108 Upanishads but the price difference is huge. So I'm sharing both the links.)

https://www.amazon.in/Upnishad-vols-Khand-Sadhna-Bramha/dp/B0BCQ4JS3P/ref=pd_vtp_h_pd_vtp_h_d_sccl_3/262-9504168-9620050?pd_rd_w=yy2PB&content-id=amzn1.sym.6c9a4279-ad42-4fd6-b9a9-3cd14ede34c9&pf_rd_p=6c9a4279-ad42-4fd6-b9a9-3cd14ede34c9&pf_rd_r=YSPC32FN3Q4H41039XSE&pd_rd_wg=uX79n&pd_rd_r=5f3896d8-ec1b-4b0f-8f9f-10152a5f716c&pd_rd_i=B0BCQ4JS3P&psc=1#customerReviews

https://www.amazon.in/Upanishads-3-Pieces-Saral-Hindi-Bhavarth/dp/B08SWJ11F3?source=ps-sl-shoppingads-lpcontext&ref_=fplfs&psc=1&smid=A2ZD346TNLBX47#customerReviews