The Reign of the Vedic Gods

The Reign of the Vedic Gods
Author: Swami Achuthananda
Publisher: Relianz Communications Pty Ltd
Total Pages: 203
Release: 2018-06-06
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0975788310

Home to one of the ancient civilizations of the world, India is also the birthplace of a dizzying array of gods worshipped by millions of Hindus living in India and across the globe. Over the centuries many of these gods rose to power and became the object of utmost devotion, only to fall from grace and lose their standing. These deities shared a peculiar trait: they were never perfect. In this multivolume series entitled, The Galaxy of Hindu Gods, Sach takes you on an extended journey to meet with the gods and share their tales with you. Among the multitude of deities, the most ancient are the Vedic gods, which include luminaries like Indra, Surya, Varuna, Agni, and others. Today a minor deity, the Vedic Indra was once the ruler of the three worlds who, under the influence of a mysterious power drink, fought with the demons and vanquished them. His reign did not last long. His comrades Surya and Varuna also had their glory days but were overthrown by other gods of the pantheon. Yet, after thousands of years, gods like Indra, Surya, and Varuna are still household names and honored in Hindu rituals and traditions. If you know little or nothing about Hindu mythology, this is your ideal starting point where you will meet the overwhelming array of Hindu gods and learn about their wonderful stories.

Many Many Many Gods of Hinduism

Many Many Many Gods of Hinduism
Author: Swami Achuthananda
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
Total Pages: 110
Release: 2013-07-02
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1481825526

Religion is the opium of the people, said Karl Marx many centuries ago. For more than a billion people living in India and abroad, Hinduism is the religion and a way of life. In this multi-award winning book, Swami Achuthananda cracks open the opium poppy pods, analyzes the causes for euphoria, and comes away with a deeper understanding of the people and their religion. *** Winner 2014 Next Generation Indie Book Awards (Religious Non-fiction) *** This is a comprehensive book on Hinduism. It tells you why Hindus do the things they do - and don't. Written in a casual style, the book guides you through the fundamentals of the religion. It then goes further and debunks a number of long-standing myths, some of them coming from the academia (of all places). While most books shy away from contentious issues, this book plunges headlong by taking on controversies, like the Aryan Invasion Theory, idol worship, RISA scholarship and many more. In fact one-third of the book is just on controversies that you rarely find in any other literature. Other Awards: *** Finalist - 2014 Pacific Book Awards (Religion) *** *** Bronze - 2014 IPPY Award - (Religion) ***

The Ascent of Vishnu and the Fall of Brahma

The Ascent of Vishnu and the Fall of Brahma
Author: Swami Achuthananda
Publisher: Relianz Communications Pty Ltd
Total Pages: 163
Release: 2018-08-27
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0975788337

According to Hindu mythology, Brahma has a lifespan of 100 years. That may appear way short for a god of Brahma’s standing . (He is the creator of our solar system.) But Brahma and Hindu gods do not follow our traditional 24-hour clock. They represent time in cosmic units of yugas and kalpas. If you don’t understand any of these terms, that’s ok. A kalpa, for instance, is defined as a day of Brahma and translates to 4.32 billion human years. In fact Brahma has a lifespan of 311 trillion years! We explain these colossal timescales, as we introduce Brahma in this book. You will learn that Brahma initially was the supreme deity of Hinduism, but he could not hang on to his position for long. A judgmental lapse is said to have caused his downfall. With Brahma’s descent, Vishnu rose to power. Today, in the Hindu pantheon, Vishnu is a prominent god, and has a following of more than 700 million devotees, who are occasionally identified by the U-shared marks on their foreheads. With a focus on Vishnu and Brahma, we continue our journey beyond the Vedic era. We begin by examining a popular creation myth in which Brahma emerges from the navel of a sleeping Vishnu and starts crafting the world. Further on, we explore the churning of the milky ocean, a crucial event in Hindu mythology and one of the rare occasions when gods and demons collaborated (instead of fighting) to search for the nectar of immortality. Many precious things—and surprises—came out this quest, including Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and consort of Vishnu. We also get to know a critical insight into our ancestry. According to Hinduism, we are all related and descendants of Manu, the father of human race. While this book focuses on Brahma and Vishnu, there will be occasional detours when we pause to look at art and architecture. In particular, we’ll look at Angkor Wat, the largest Hindu temple in the world. Guess what? The fact that Angkor Wat is located outside India has dented Hindu pride from time immemorial. We’ll also peek at ancient paintings from a mythological perspective, especially the unique genre of miniature paintings called ragamala that combines art, music, and poetry. A remarkable shift in worship took place during this period. Bhakti became a major form of worship and pervaded Hindu society forever. If you are unfamiliar with bhakti, then nothing exemplifies bhakti (devotion) more than the dancing-and-chanting Hare Krishnas.

The Little Book of Hindu Deities

The Little Book of Hindu Deities
Author: Sanjay Patel
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 146
Release: 2006-10-31
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0452287758

Pixar animator and Academy Award–nominated director Sanjay Patel (Sanjay’s Super Team) brings to life Hinduism’s most important gods and goddesses—and one sacred stone—in fun, full-color illustrations, each accompanied by a short, lively profile. The Little Book of Hindu Deities is chock-full of monsters, demons, noble warriors, and divine divas. Find out why Ganesha has an elephant’s head (his father cut his off!); why Kali, the goddess of time, is known as the “Black One” (she’s a bit goth); and what “Hare Krishna” really means. “Throw another ingredient in the American spirituality blender. Pop culture is veering into Hinduism.”—USA Today

Religion and World Civilizations [3 volumes]

Religion and World Civilizations [3 volumes]
Author: Andrew Holt
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Total Pages: 1679
Release: 2023-06-30
Genre: Religion
ISBN:

An indispensable resource for readers investigating how religion has influenced societies and cultures, this three-volume encyclopedia assesses and synthesizes the many ways in which religious faith has shaped societies from the ancient world to today. Each volume of the set focuses on a different era of world history, ranging through the ancient, medieval, and modern worlds. Every volume is filled with essays that focus on religious themes from different geographical regions. For example, volume one includes essays considering religion in ancient Rome, while volume three features essays focused on religion in modern Africa. This accessible layout makes it easy for readers to learn more about the ways that religion and society have intersected over the centuries, as well as specific religious trends, events, and milestones in a particular era and place in world history. Taken as a a whole, this ambitious and wide-ranging work gathers more than 500 essays from more than 150 scholars who share their expertise and knowledge about religious faiths, tenets, people, places, and events that have influenced the development of civilization over the course of recorded human history.

Bogowie: A Study of Eastern Europe's Ancient Gods

Bogowie: A Study of Eastern Europe's Ancient Gods
Author: T.D. Kokoszka
Publisher: John Hunt Publishing
Total Pages: 444
Release: 2023-08-25
Genre: History
ISBN: 1803412860

T.D. Kokoszka grew up in Texas with a Jewish mother and a Polish-American father. While he was aware of roots going back to Eastern Europe from both families, he found it hard to learn very much about them. He knew that Polish people would whack one another with palm leaves around Easter, and he knew that his great-grandmother purportedly believed in forest spirits known as borowy. However, it wasn't until he was in his teens that he became vaguely aware of an ancient people known as the Slavs who gave rise to the Polish, Ukrainian, Russian, Serbian, Bulgarian, Slovakian, Slovene, and Czech languages. It quickly became clear to him that this was a family of cultures currently under-represented in popular culture, and even in western scholarship. Not simply a regurgitation of scholarship from the Soviet period - and presenting new analyses by using previously neglected resources - Bogowie: A Study of Eastern Europe's Ancient Gods offers one of the most painstaking scholarly reconstructions of Slavic paganism. These new resources include not only an overview of folklore from many different Slavic countries but also comparisons with Ossetian culture and Mordvin culture, as well as a series of Slavic folktales that Kokoszka analyzes in depth, often making the case that the narratives involved are mythological and shockingly ancient. Readers will recognize many European folktale types and possibly learn to look at these folktales differently after reading this book.

The Complete Illustrated Guide to Hinduism

The Complete Illustrated Guide to Hinduism
Author: Rasamandala Das
Publisher: Lorenz Books
Total Pages: 256
Release: 2017-08
Genre: Hinduism
ISBN: 9780857231307

Hinduism is perhaps the world's oldest major religion. This comprehensive book explores its rich historical and cultural development, from its Indian roots to its vibrant application in the present, global context. The first section examines the origins of Hinduism, exploring the holy texts and their teachings about the self, the law of karma, and the cycle of birth and death. The second part focuses on spiritual practices - the four main paths and the many Hindu deities. The final section analyses Hindu society, culture and arts. This accessible book provides the perfect reference for anyone wishing to explore the compelling faith and culture that is Hinduism.

Hindu Myth, Hindu History, Religion, Art, and Politics

Hindu Myth, Hindu History, Religion, Art, and Politics
Author: Heinrich von Stietencron
Publisher: Orient Blackswan
Total Pages: 352
Release: 2005
Genre: Civilization, Hindu
ISBN: 9788178241227

Drawing Upon Varions Sources And Currents Folk, Tribal, And The Multilayered Sanskritic Tradition The Author Offers In This Volume, Major Insights Into The Complex Cultural History Of Hindu Traditions.