Swamiji's Replies to Devotees questions

Dear Swamiji, Pranams!
I have a question based on religion . We Hindus pray to gods like Lord Siva , Lord Narayana , Lord Brahma.why do we have this many number of gods? But the main thing is that one my christian friend told that "the gods like siva, vishnu,Brahma are all fake gods they are all evil powers" The only one god is Jesus for all and he asked me that why lord siva wears a snake on his throat and how water comes out from his head and why they are all married?. This looks like animation done ". In this way he use to tell me and make me sad. Can you please tell me the answer for the question which my friend asked me? so that i can make him to realise that all gods are one who is the almighty to the whole universe.

He also told me that "you all people who are praying to idols will go to hell but not to heaven(Hindus)" please clarify me doubt and make my friend also to know the truth regarding to this matter.

WE ARE HAPPY FOR THE QUESTIONS YOU HAVE ABOUT THE RELIGION. WE GIVE ANSWERS IN SHORT. Ok!

1. WE ARE NOT NECESSARILY BE CALLED AS HINDUS. BECAUSE WE ARE TALKING ABOUT GODS, & THINGS LIKE SOULS, VIRTUES(PUNYAS) OR SINS(PAPAS), HEAVEN, HELL AND MANY MORE THINGS - NOT BECAUSE WE HAVE SEEN THEM, BUT BECAUSE WE ARE KNOWING ABOUT THEM THROUGH A SCRIPTURE CALLED VEDA. ALL THE SASTHRAS, PURANAS ETC., ARE ELABORATING THE ESSENCE OF VEDAS ONLY. HENCE WE SHOULD BE CALLED AS VEDICS. ALL THE NAMES LIKE VISHNU, SIVA BRAHMA OR ANY OTHER DEVAS OR FOUND ONLY IN THAT VEDA. OK.

AND THEN, PEOPLE BELONGING TO KING BHARATHA WERE OUR ANCESTORS. HERE "OUR" MEANS NOT ONLY PEOPLE IN INDIA, BUT PEOPLE ALL OVER THE WORLD, LET THEM BELONG TO ANY RACE OR COLOUR. BECAUSE OF THIS ALL THESE HUMAN BEINGS SHOULD BE CALLED AS "BHARATHAS". KEEP THESE TWO THINGS IN MIND FIRST. 'HINDU' IS THE NAME USED AS A DISTORTED VERSION.

IN VEDAS, THERE IS ONLY ONE GOD. NOT MANY. BUT THAT ONE, IS ALL-PERVASIVE, SO HE IS CALLED AS VISHNU. HE IS GREATER THAN THE GREATEST. SO HE IS CALLED AS BRAMHA. HE ALWAYS DOES GOOD TO ALL. THUS HE IS CALLED AS SIVA. HE IS CONTROLLING EVERY THING SO, HE IS NAMED AFTER ISWARA. HE DWELLS IN AND OUT OF ALL OBJECT, KNOWING EVERY MOVEMENT, RIGHT FROM ATOM TO COSMOS. SO HE IS NAMED AFTER NARAYANA. ULTIMATELY IT IS ONE GOD ONLY, HAVING SEVERAL NAMES,
REVEALING SEVERAL ACTIVITIES, TO SUPPORT THIS UNIVERSE. GREAT PEOPLE GAVE DIFFERENT FORMS TO DEPICT THOSE ACTIVITIES. ONE NEED NOT BE CONFUSED BY SEEING DIFFERENT NAMES AND FORMS.

AND THEN, WE, FOLLOWING VEDAS, TRY TO FEEL THE PRESENCE OF THAT UNIVERSAL POWER GOD, IN EVERY OBJECT EVEN IN THE NATURE AND ALL LIVING ENTITIES, MAY BE THEY ARE DOMESTIC OR CRUEL. WE RESPECT ALL THE SYSTEM OF THE UNIVERSE BECAUSE THEY ARE WITH SOME PURPOSE. NO ENTITY EXISTS WITHOUT REASON. HENCE, EVERY CRUEL CREATURE IS ATTACHED TO ONE FORM OF GOD VIZ., SERPANT WITH VISHNU, SNAKES WITH SIVA, LION WITH PARVATHI, EAGLE WITH VISHNU, BULL WITH
SIVA... LIKE THAT. THIS SAYS THAT YOU NEED NOT IGNORE EVEN THOSE ANIMALS AND BIRDS. IT DOES NOT MEAN THAT YOU HAVE TO LIVE WITH THEM IN YOUR HOUSES. WHAT YOU NEED TO UNDERSTAND IS THAT THEY MUST BE KEPT IN THEIR RESPECTIVE PLACES AND SHOULD NOT BE DISTURBED

BASED ON THE PERSONIFIED FORMS OF THOSE POWERS OF GOD, PURANAS GAVE INNUMERABLE DETAILS OF EVENTS. WE NEED PROPER GUIDANCE TO FOLLOW THEM, FOR, THEY ARE DEALING WITH UNIVERSAL SECRETS. OTHERWISE THEY APPEAR ODD. THEY WERE DESCRIBED WITH THEIR SPOUSES, NOT BECAUSE THEY ARE MARRIED LIKE HUMAN BEINGS, BUT THE WOMAN IS A FORM OF ENERGY. SO EACH OF THE FORMS OF GOD HAVING A FORM AND SOME ENERGY. ONE CANNOT SEPARATE THE ENERGY FROM THE
OBJECT. FORM IS MASCULINE WORD AND ENERGY IS A FEMININE WORD. SO THEY WERE SHOWN AS WIFE AND HUSBAND. IN VEDIC CULTURE WIFE AND HUSBAND LIVE TOGETHER TILL THE END. THEY NEVER QUARREL AND TAKE DIVORCE EVERY NOW AND THEN. EVEN AT TIMES SOME QUARREL APPEARS, IT WILL BE WITH SOME PURPOSE TO HELP SOMEBODY IN THIS WORLD. HENCE, THERE ARE WIVES WITH DIFFERENT FORMS OF THAT "ONE GOD".

WE VEDICS NEVER CRITICISE PEOPLE WHO ARE TRYING TO SEE 'THAT ONE GOD' IN SOME NEW FORM THEY LIKE, BECAUSE WHEN GOD IS UNIVERSAL AND IN-DWELLER OF EVEN AN ATOM, THEN ALL OBJECTS BECOME 'HIS FORMS ONLY'. THE IDOL WHICH PEOPLE WORSHIP ALSO FALLS IN THAT SAME CATEGORY; WHY CANNOT IT BE ACCEPTED? TO DRAW THE POWER FROM THE IDOLS, AGAIN, THERE RECOMMENDED SOME PROCEDURE IN BOOKS LIKE PANCHARATRA AGAMAM. ONE NEEDS TO LOOK INTO THEM, TAKE RIGHT LEARNING FROM THEM, THAT MAKES TO UNDERSTAND TO A LITTLE EXTENT. WHEN YOU CRITICISE OTHERS, YOU ARE PROVING YOURSELF AS AN INTOLARENT OR JEALOUS.

THEN, HOW CAN ONE NOT HAVING ANY KNOWLEDGE OF THESE FACTS, CRITICISE ANYTHING? IT IS SO IMMETURE AND IGNORANCE LIKE AN INFANT BOY CRITICISING HIGH THEORIES OF SCIENCE. IF ONE REALLY WANTS TO SAY 'NO GOD OR NO VEDAS' ONE SHOULD FIRST READ THEM IN TOTAL, UNDERSTAND FULLY, GET THE ACCEPTANCE FROM LEARNED VEDIC SCHOLARS AND THEN ONLY CAN SAY NO TO THOSE VEDIC TRUTHS.

UNFORTUNATELY YOUR FRIEND IS LIKE A LITTLE FROG IN A SMALL POND. HE DOES NOT KNOW THE BIG OCEANS OF KNOWLEDGE. ALL THAT WE CAN SHOW SYMPATHY TO YOUR FRIEND, TALKING BIG THINGS WITH SMALL MOUTH. YOU NEED NOT WORRY WHETHER YOU ARE GOING TO HELL OR PURGATORY (
temporary naraka ), BUT LET HIM FIRST SAVE HIMSELF FROM THEM. JESUS NEVER SAID THAT HE IS GOD. HE WAS VERY HUMBLE IN SAYING THAT HE IS THE MESSENGER OF GOD, OR, SON OF GOD. BUT HE HIMSELF DOES NOT KNOW WHO THAT GOD IS. LORD IN VEDAS AND MANY PLACES DECLARED THAT NARAYANA IS 'GOD-SUPREME'.

jai srimannarayana sir, what is the lifehistory of shabari(ramayana)? kunchakarra rama

ANS:
ACCORDING VALMIKI, SABARI WAS A HUNTER LADY, LIVING IN THE HERMITAGE OF SAGE MATHANGA. HIS DISCIPLES WERE HER GURUS. THEY WERE TAKING CARE OF HER, SINCE HER CHILDHOOD. SHE WAS DOING SERVICE THERE TILL THEIR DEPARTURE. THEY INFORMED HER THAT Lord RAMA IS GOING TO VISIT THIS ASRAMAM AND THEIR GURU'S GREATNESS SHOULD BE EXPLAINED TO HIM. THOSE DISCIPLES OF SAGE MATHANGA SAID THEY ARE WERE NOT ABLE TO PROLONG THEIR LIFE TIME AND HENCE THEY WERE LEAVING THEIR BODIES. SABARI THUS INSTRUCTED BY HER GURUS WAITED FOR 13 LONG YEARS FOR LORD SRIRAMA TO COME
TO HER PLACE. ULTIMATELY HE AND HIS BROTHER LAKSHMANA VISITED THAT ASRAMAM. THEY HAD INTERACTION WITH HER AND WITH THEIR ACCEPTANCE, SHE LEFT THE BODY IN THE SELF-CREATED FIRE AND ACQUIRED A DIVINE BODY AND REACHED THE LOTUS FEER OF HER GURUS. THIS IS THE STORY AVAILABLE IN SRI RAMAYANAM.
=Chinnajeeyar=

From: "Ramakrishna Addanki"
Sashtanga Danda Pranamalu to Swamiji,
Swamiji,In general, control of anger, rage and irritation are very important for marital happiness and for good social contact. I would be highly obliged, if Swamiji may bless us withe some techniques and processes to be able to achieve
to improve control over these unwanted qualities. I feel ashamed ,sometimes, that I do not have enough "satvik" to gain control over those. adiyen Ramanuja dasa

ANS:
THAT IS GOOD YOU HAVE REALIZED THAT YOU ARE IN THE POSSESSION OF THOSE QUALITIES WHICH ARE BAD. THIS IS STEP ONE. WHENEVER YOU KNOW SOME BAD IS WITH YOU, YOU ALWAYS TRY TO ELIMINATE IT. IF NOT IN PRIVACY, ATLEAST IN THE PUBLIC. THEN 2ND STEP STARTS. IF YOU HAVE BOSS IN THE OFFICE AND YOU ARE ONE AMONG MANY EMPLOYEES
IN HIS OFFICE. AND IF ONE CO-WORKER DID SOMETHING WRONG, YOU ARE NOT GOING TO FIRE HIM OR SHOWING A BURNING EYES TO HIM. BECAUSE YOU ARE NOT THE DECISSION MAKER OVER HIM. YOU RATHER CONTROL YOUR FEELING AND TRY TO BE GOOD WITH HIM TOO. HERE IS THE SOLUTION. WHEN YOU FEEL THAT YOU ARE THE BOSS, YOU TRY TO SHOW ANGER
ON ANYONE. OTHERWISE, YOU TRY TO TELL THEM NICELY. THIS STEP MAY BE TRIED FOR SOME TIME AND OBSERVE THE RESULT. THERE ARE MANY MORE STEPS OF COURSE, WHICH CANNOT BE DOWNLOADED FREE.
=CHINNAJEEYAR=

Srimate-Narayanaya-namah.

I always had this little query regarding the ramayana and mahabharata. as we have seen in ramayana the pattabhishekha intially was only planned for jestha kumara I.e., srirama and others were not eligible when he was there so he was sent out for vanavasa in mahabharata we see that the kaurava's who are the sons of jestha kumara I.e., dritharastra should be actually given the throne but how were pandava's eligible ? im really sorry if my question was totally wrong Sathuluri Ravi

ANS: ALWAYS ELDEST OF THE FAMILY ONLY WAS ELIGIBLE, IF HE IS NOT OTHERWISE HANDICAPPED. TO OBSERVE THAT ONLY, BHARATHA DID NOT ACCEPT THE THRONE AND SUBSERVED THE PA:DUKAS, IN PLACE OF LORD SRI RAMA. WHEN HE CAME BACK, THE THRONE WAS GIVEN BACK. BECAUSE RAMA WAS NOT OTHEREWISE, HANDICAPPED.

DHRUTHA RA:SHTRA WAS BLIND. HENCE, HE LOST THE CHANCE OF RULING THE KINGDOM. PANDU ALSO WAS SUFFERING FROM ILL-HEALTH. YET, BECAUSE OF HIS VISION AND ABILITY, HE WAS GIVEN THE KINGDOM AND CROWN. AUTOMATICALLY, HIS CHILDREN GOT THE CHANCE OF BECOMING HEIRS.

BECAUSE OF PANDAVAS' OVER-KINDNESS AND DURYO:DHANA'S HIGH HANDEDNESS, KAURAVAS STARTED RULING THE KINGDOM. IN FACT, DURYO:DHANA WAS NEVER CONSIDERED AS KING AT ALL. AFTER PANDU'S DEMISE, DHRUTHARA:SHTRA WAS ONLY THE KING. YET, DURYO:DHANA, DECLARED HIMSELF AS THE KING, AS WAS STARTED MAKING ANNOUNCEMENTS AS HE WAS THE
KING OF KINGS. "DURYO:DHANA SA:RVABHOUMA". HE WAS A ROWDY. HAVING A BIG GAND WITH HIM. HIS FATHER WAS SO MUCH FASCINATED TO HIS SON. HENCE, NO OTHER OPENED THEIR MOUTHS. INSPITE OF SOME ELDERS SAY SOMETHING GOOD, THEY NEVER CARED THOSE WORDS AT ALL.
=Chinnajeeyar=

If all demigods like Shiva, Brahma, Indra etc are avataras of SWAMY, then how can they be different from SWAMY..? Rama, Krishna are also avataras of SWAMY...and hence considered SWAMY HIMSELF. So if all demigods are also avataras of SWAMY, then why is there a differentiation and inequality between Shiva, Brahma, Indra etc

Can you please dispel our agnaanam and guide us Swamiji..?
Please correct us if we are wrong and please forgive any sins committed Swamiji...

ANS: WHEN GOD HIMSELF COMES DOWN DIRECTLY, WE CALL THEM AS ‘SA:KSHA:TH AVATHA:RAM’, LIKE KRUSHNA, RAMA, VAMANA, NARASIMHA ETC. THERE ARE SOMEMORE INCARNATION CALLED ‘AMSA AVATHARAMS’ ‘A:VE:SA AVATHA:RAM’ ETC., TAKE FOR SOME LITTLE PURPOSES. BALARAMA, PARASU RAMA ETC., ARE A:VE:SA AVATHA:RAMS. GOD IMPOSES HIMSELF ON THEM FOR SOME TIME AND AFTER FULFILING SOME WORK, HE WITHDRAWS HIM POWER AND THEY BECOME ORDINARY PERSONS ONLY. PARASURAMA AVATHARAM FOR SOME HORRIBLE PURPOSES. WHEREAS VEDA VYASA AVATHARAM ALSO A A:VE:SA AVATHARAM, FOR WRITING SOME PURANAMS, BRAHMA SUTRAMS ETC., CALLED AS ‘SAKTI A:VE:SA AVATHARAM’. INCARNATIONS LIKE MATSYA, KURMA ETC., ARE CONSIDERED AS AMSA AVATHARAMS OF GOD DIRECTLY, BUT NOT LIKE THAT OF RAMA ETC, THESE ARE ONLY FOR A VERY LIMITED PURPOSE.

OTHER THAN THESE HIS POWER WILL BE THERE IN ALL THE JIVAS ACCORDINGLY TO THEIR KARMA, HIS POWER IS PROVIDED. IT IS THE SAME EVEN WITH THE JIVAS LIKE BRAHMA, INDRA, RUDRA ETC., EVEN WITHIN US ALSO HE DWELLS. BUT OUR KARMA IS OF LOW GRADE AND BRAHMAS KARMA IS OF HIGH PURE KARMA. THIS IS LIKE ORIDINARY PETROL USED FOR NORMAL CARS; AND HIGHLY PURIFIED PETROL, USED FOR AEROPLANES OF HIGH QUALITY.

I need to have a clarification regarding the information given by my friend, even though I knew it was wrong. he said that in valmiki ramayana it was given that rama enjoyed his life very much that is in luxurious way. he also said that he used take bath between paricharikas and like that. even though I didnot believe I could not answer him. please reply him so that I can slap him and say that what u said was wrong. I request you to clarify.

You need not get mad after him. Rama was the son of a chakravarthi. He was provided with all sorts of luxaries with his father King Dasarath. You need not deprive him with those things. It was only during the period of his exile, his step-mother ordered him not to enjoy anything that is luxurious. So he observed austirities like a sage in the forest.

While he was in his kingdom during his childhood and after returning from the forest also he was having all sorts of princely wealths and facilities. So you need not yell at your friends that Rama was not having any paricharikas to serve him. All that you can say that he shared his life only with Sitha.
=chinnajeeyar=

Before few months I have purchased two books , in thirst of knowing about Lord Narayana and mother Goddess Lakshmi ,The books are 1.An Introduction to Lord Vishnu; 2.Godess Lakshmi an Introduction , By Devdutta Pattanaik

In those books there r many things which make me sad , He tells that Draupadi is Bhudevi incarnation, And Mother Lakshmi is like a sister or even wife to Kubera , And many other things. Please kindly give me the truth.

We have gone through your mail. Also observed the reply given to you by our Sri Vishnuji. It is nice.

In olden days Gods used to play with human beings. Probably to give a repartee, now a days human beings are playing with Gods. They stopped creating man and man started creating Gods.

In olden days, we used to hear few stories about Ganesa, that he was the son of Lord Siva & Parvithi, having two wives viz, Siddhi and Buddhi. But now a days, my god, it is unbelievable that Ganesa appearing in somany forms. Some, Lakshmi Ganapathi also appeared from some corner. We do not know when and where he came from. And also we do not know whether his parents know something about Lakshmi or not. All this type of writings are nothing but their own creations and ultimately they impose these things in puranas and say, that some Rishi has written them. We have sufficient evidences about our own gods, fortunately. So, you need not believe all the non-sence from x, y, z books.

=chinnajeeyar=

Jai Sreemannarayan! Pujya Swamiji,
Can you please enlighten us on the process to perform Sree SeetaRama Kalyanostavam on Sree RamaNavami Day at our homes. Is it enough to read Seeta kalyana sarga from Srimadramayanam? Or is there a similar process as that of Sree Goda Ranganayaka Kalyanam (part of Dhanurmasotsvam) published under with divine blessings.

Jai Sreemannarayana!
Dingari Venkataramana Chinnajeeyar Dasa
Lexington, KY, USA.

Happy to know about Sitaramakalyana Mahotsavam in your home.
1.Perform Vishwaksena Puja
2.Conduct Punyaha Va:chanam
3.Arrange a place for Kalyanam. Take Sri Rama & Sita to that mandapam.
4.Provide Asanam to Lord RAma.
5.Offer Madhu Parkam, ie mixture of Yogurt & Honey.
6.Decorate Him with a New Yajno:pavi:tham.
7.Conduct mangala ashtakam chanting.
8.According to the local tradition, any other offerings like Gudam Jeerakam mixture may be offered.
9.Perform PUja to Mangalasutram and offer to Sita after touching to Rama's hand.
10.Akshatas may be sanctified and offered to both by each one's hand. She offers Him and He offers to her.
11.Brahma Grandhi bandhanam and Vedic asi:rwa:dam.
12.Chant Va:rana Ma:yiram and give Ha:rathi.
13.Distribute Prasadam etc., to the devotees.

There are the main activities. You may chant manthras to each of these
activities at length.
Contact any pandit to get the manthras.
=chinnajeeyar=

From: "govardhana jayanth kumar"
Subject: Q - buddhishm
Jai Sri:manna:ra:yana !
When asked by my friend that why Buddhism could not ha dits roots in India. Why scriptures were not found. He also said that when buddhism was in full swing sankaracharya spread hinduism at that time by getting rid of many buddhists. I need a clarification for this.

ANSWER:
PRIYA SRIMAN GOVARDANA JAYANTH KUMARJI!
Jai Srimannarayana!
Buddhism, though originally founded by Siddhardha for peace and non-violence, but at a later stage, people following started turning too violent, eating raw meat, even today we can see that. Anything that moves could be taken by them as food. That is one of the reasons.

Next reason is, they did not accept Vedic tradition as authority. If one does not accept vedic tradition, then there would not be any history to the nation left behind. People of this land accepted the history of Rama & Krishna etc., as their own. But when that was denied, they did not take the Buddhism to their heart. So we are vedic people.
Unfortunately, today this fact is in need to be understood.
=chinnajeeyar=

Q) Did Ravana actually have 10 heads or is it an allegorical meaning ?
A) Ravana was having 10 heads. Though they were interpreted as 10 indriyas or organs of the body like sensory and vital organs, yet he was really also was having them.

Q) Which Treta Yuga did it take place ? I have heard it was in the 24th treta yuga.
A) 24th trethayuga was the rama's period. Right you are.

Q) Are Vanaaras, Rakshashas, etc are humans with different qualities or they actually different living entities?
A) Vanaras were having ability to have their own chosen from. Ka:maru:pa Dha:rana: sakthi. So they can take any form they want.

=chinnajeeyar=

From: Naren Reddy
Subject: Re: Q on 16 Qualities of Sri Rama ...
When listening to your divine discourse on Ramayanam, you mentioned about 16 qualities of Sri Rama. Can you please state all these 16 qualities and one or two lines of description for these qualities. I hope this will be a great help for people like us.

ANSWER)
Priya Sriman Naren Reddy !
Mangalasasanams
You may refer to the Ramayanam articles being posted by Smt Ramanujamma in this discussion group. You will get all the information in detail.

vinayakuniki muudu naamaalu petti viswaksenuluga chupistunnaru,vishwaksenula nija roopam telupagalaru! venkatesh nyayapati (Translation: "We observed that people put three namas on Vinayaka and show it as Vishwaksena. Can you pleae tell us the real form of Sri Vishwaksena ? ")

A)
Priya Sriman Venkateshji!
Jai Srimannarayana!
Vishwakse:na and Vina:yaka were not one and the same. Vishwakse:na appears just like Lord Na:ra:yana Himself. Colour will be ordinary not blue. Along with Sankha and Chakra he will be holding a long stick in his left hand and showing index finger with right hand, to fear all the evil powers. Several elephant headed (gaja mukhas) gana:dhipathis are in his force, to obey his instructions in removing the hurdles of Vishnu devotees. Vishwak Se:na is the whole and sole to look after the administration of the entire Universe and also the Paramapadam. Here is a verse says that

"vande: vaikuntta se:na:nyam, de:vam su:travathi:sakham |
yad ve:thra sikhara spande: viswam e:thath vyavasthitham ||"

Whatever draft he prepares with regard to running the vibhuties or Universes, will be accepted by Lord Srimannarayana, without any alteration or addition, it seems. A:lawanda:r Stho:tram reveals this in its verse
" priye:na se:na:pathina: nyave:di thath, thattha:nuja:nantham uda:ra vi:kshanaihi".

This is the greatness of Sri Vishwak Se:na. As Gajamukhas are somany in the Pariva:ra of Vishwak Se:na, in some occassions if devotees worship a Gajamukha in the place of Vishwakse:na, as a representative of him, will also be accepted. Because all the pariva;ra:s pass on the result to their boss always.

But then that Gajamukha will be having four hands with sankha and chekra and also with U;rdhwa pundram on his fore-head. There may not be rats as his chariot. These Gajamukhas are not mu:shika Va:hanas. We are sure you understood the subject.

=chinnajeeyar=

I would like to know the proper pronounciation for Venkatesa in the Venkatesa Suprabhatam. I am informed that according to some Aacharyas, one should say Vengada and not Venkata. Is this the tradition amoung some schools? If so, what is the Ta:tparyam? Why does the Sanskrit version say"Venkata". What does the word mean? Would Swami be able to help with this issue? Ramaa Sampath

A)
Priya Sriman R.Sampathji!
Jai Srimannarayana!
In Tamil there are no many a letter. They have to be adjusted for somany other sounds. Hence there will be some problem in fixing up the usage of particular sound to a particular letter. 'ka' may be pronounced as 'kha' , 'ga' and 'gha' also. You need to choose your own sound from that letter. So also here with the word Venkata. If you take this word as a Tamil word you can pronounce either 'vekata' or 'vengada' makes no difference. If you take the word as a sanskrit word then it should be 've:nkata' only.

For Tamil one, the meaning was already given by Nammalwar as, 'kadangal ve:m' kadangal=unavoidable debts like karmas, which soul carries along with it, which should be otherwise experienced without any hesitation, will be, ve:m=burnt to ashes, when one surrenders unto Him.

In sanskrit the meaning was given in a different way like 've:m' = all the links with one's own sins, 'kata=will be cut off in total, to one, who surrenders to Him.

Q - minor gods
I would like to know more about the minor gods of Hinduism, especially those connected with the Shaiva traditions. Everyone knows Brahma, Shiva, Vishnu, Krishna, Bhairava, Durga, Kali, Parvati, Lakshmi, Sarasvati, Rama, Hanuman, Ganesha, Skanda, etc., but Hinduism has so many gods, there should be many interesting other gods.

ANSWER:
WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO WITH ALL OF THEM BY KNOWING? THERE ARE MILLIONS OF GODS. YOU NEED TO CHOSE ONLY ONE FOR YOU AND BE HAPPY WITH HIM. LET THEM BY HAPPY IN A WAY THEY ARE AND YOU TRY TO BE HAPPY BY
WORSHIPPING ONE AND RESPECTING ALL DON'T MESS UP EVERYTHING, OK!
=chinnajeeyar=

Om Asmad Gurubhyo: namaha. For the benefit of Sriman 'Anand Srinivasan Narasimhan' who posed the question on Lord Rama worshipping 'Mahadeva', I am attaching the answer, that Sri Swamiji gave about two years back.
Please read it completely:

According to Sri va:lmi:ki Ra:ma:yana, there is no mention about Sri:ra:ma's worship to Lord Siva. Lord Siva appeared before Sri:ra:ma, after the death of Ra:vana, along with all the other De:vathas. And then Lord Siva praised Sri:ra:ma as the Ultimate Supreme Lord to all the Ji:vas. And there only, he suggested Sri:ra:ma to go back to Ayo:dhya and bless
the Bharatha and others for some time and come back to the Divine abode, when all the De:vathas requested Sri:ra:ma to come back to Divine Abode, because Ra:vana was killed. This shows the concern that Lord Siva has towards the Lord. That is all mentioned about him. It was Tulasi Das who made somany inter-polations about other dieties and also he made his own story about Srira:ma in his Ra:macharitha Ma:nasa book. He is the one who made the story of Ra:me:swaram in his book. But it is not authentic sofar as Ra:ma's history is concerned.

We always treat Sri RA:MA:YANA as our ancient history and not just an epic or a pura:na. History means 'that has to be accepted as it is without any changes or additions'. Sri RA:MA:YANA & SRIMATH MAHA:BHA:RATHA are our historic books, but not pura:na:s or epics. Sri Tulasidas also made mistakes in this regard. This made so many people to think about
Srira:ma's worship to Lord Siva.

There is one place in Va:lmi:ki Ra:ma:yana, where the name"Maha:de:vaha" mentioned. People give the meaning to that word as Lord Siva, which is wrong there. The context is 'Ra:ma returning from Lanka in the Pushpaka Vima:nam, along with Sitha and other subjects. Sri Ra:ma was explaining the events and places to Sitha from the areal view. While crossing
the Ocean, He was showing the bridge, constructed by the Va:naras and said how that was built and so on. When the flight reached the other end of the Sea, then He said "Athra pu:rvam Maha:de:vah prasadam akaro:th Prabhuhu" it means "O Sitha! when we wanted to cross the ocean, it was here only, Maha:de:vah= The God of Sea, Varunade:va, appeared and blessed us with the means as and how can we build the bridge". Here the word Maha:de:vah is wrongly interpreted by somany. In fact, there was no Siva appeared during their sojourn to Lanka.

Some people say that after killing the Ra:vana, Ra:ma was possessed by Brahma Hatya Dosha ( A greater sin captures by killing a brahmin)and to get rid of that sin he consecrated the Siva Linga at Ra:me:swaram. This is again a false story created without any authority. If Ra:ma is captured by the sin, by killing a Demon, who did all non-sense, then no one
will dare to punish wicked. By punishing a wicked person, no one will be captured by sins. And Ra:ma never felt sorry for killing Ra:vana and He never wanted to do any Pra:yaschitta (purification act) for that act.

You may read Sri Va:lmi:ki Ra:ma:yana, whenever it is possible. You can take it granted any event, which goes in accordance with that only. If something goes against to that you need not ask anybody and think it is a story created by the writer according to his own wish.

:

From: "Anand Srinivasan Narasimhan"; Subject: Q - Lord Siva; Humble salutations to HH Jeeyar Swamiji! I shall be gretful to you if you could clear my doubt. In the valmiki ramayana, Sri Rama is said to have worshipped Lord Shiva at Rameshwaram. In the mahabaratha Sri krishna is said to have smeared himself with ashes and chanted the shatarudriyam. The vedas also acknowledge Lord shiva as a great god.I was told that there are instances in the vedas and kUrma purANam that Shiva, Vishnu and Soorya are one and the same. The Aditya hrudayam testifies that in the
verse "ESha Brahma cha vishnushcha shiva skanda Prajapathi..." Then why do the vaishnavites do not go to shiva temple and recognize Shiva and do not accept prsadam. Adiyen Anand

ANSWER:
WHEN YOU UTTER NAMES WITH DIFFERENT QUALITIES, YOU ARE ACCEPTING DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE FORMS. THE SANSKRIT WORD "BHE:DA" CREATED ALL THIS TROUBLE. PEOPLE NOT ABLE TO UNDERSTAND THE RIGHT MEANING OF THIS WORD, MADE EVERY THING MESS. BHE:DA=DIFFERENCE; BHE:DA=CLASH, THERE IS NO CLASH BETWEEN THE DE;VATHAS. BUT THERE IS A VERY CLEAR DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ALL THE DE:VATHAS. EACH ONE OF THEM HAVE THEIR OWN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES. THE INNER FORCE TO ALL OF THEM IS THE NARAYANA ONLY. SO THEY CAN BE CALLED AS DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE SAME POWER. IN THAT WAY YOU CAN SAY THAT THEY ARE ALL ONE TOO. THE INNER POWER CAN ALSO BE CALLED WITH THE NAME OF THOSE DE:VATHAS ALSO. FOR YOUR INFORMATION, SRI RAMA NEVER WORSHIPED LORD SIVA, ACCORDING TO SRI RAMAYANAM. HE DID NOT CONSECRATE RAMESWARAM. THIS IS A MADE UP STORY. ANYTHING RELATED TO SRI RAMA, WILL BE ACCEPTED IF VALMIKI RAMAYANA MENTIONS THAT.

=chinnajeeyar=

From: "Ankem, Balaji", Subject: Q - Is leaving one's own country bad? Dear China jeeyar Swamiji, My humble pranamams to you. I am a software professional and I work in Germany. As I hear from puranas & learned scholars one should not leave his own country. And India is a karma country where one can dissolve the karmas. My plan is to earn sufficient money here, come back to india and dedicate my life to do social service to the devotees. Please suggest me if I am wrong., Ramanuja Dasudu Balaji

ANSWER:
YOU ARE NOT AT ALL WRONG, IF YOU PLAN TO RETURN OR IF YOU START SUPPORTING YOUR MOTHER COUNTRY, OK!!!!!
=chinnajeeyar=

Through a previous post on Srimad Ramayana Thatthva Deepika -Ba:laka:nda, we came to know what subject Lord SriRamachandra was taught and what he mastered. Can you please tell what training did Bhagavan Sri Krishna go through?

ANSWER:
ONE NEEDS TO LOOK INTO THE STORY OF SRI RA:MA AS A HUMAN BEING. SO HE NEEDS TO GO TO A GURU AND LEARN STRICTLY ACCORDING TO THE HUMAN TERMS AND CONDITIONS. WHEREAS ONE SHOULD UNDERSTAND THAT LORD KRISHNA IS NOT A HUMAN BEING. HE CAME TO SHOW AS AND HOW GOD WOULD BE. SO HE, IN FACT, DOES NOT NEED TO GO TOANY GURU AND LEARN ANYTHING. YET, HE ALSO APPROACHED GARGA:CHARYA WHILE HE WAS YOUNG AND APPROACHED SA:NDI:PANI FOR 64 DAYS TO JUST UNDERSTAND WHAT THE 64 KALAS ARE. IT IS ONLY TO SAY THAT ANYONE NEEDS A GURU. THAT IS ALL. HE NEVER GOT TRAINED IN ANY SUBJECT FROM ANYONE.

It is said Bhagavan Krishna also taught Anu-Gita. How many slokas does Anu-Gita consist of? Are the slokas same as the slokas in Bhagavad Gita?

ANSWER:
ANU-GITHA IS JUST AN ABRIDGED VERSION OF THE WHOLE GITHA. THE SLO:KAS WERE ALSO DIFFERENT, BUT THE CONTENT WAS THE SAME.

Subject: Raganuga Bhakti Sadhana

Is this form of Sadhana practised by all Vaishnavas, or by worshippers of Krishna only?

ANSWER:
THIS IS ONLY APPLICABLE TO HARE KRISHNA BHAKTHAS ONLY IT SEEMS. FOR ALL SRI VAISHNAVAS BHAKTHI MEANS 'A BRIDGE OF LOVELY THOUGHTS TOWARDS GOD. WHATEVER SERVICE ONE DOES TO GOD, THE NAME OF THE BHAKTHI MAY CHANGE VIZ., IF ONE LISTENS TO THE STORIES THAT LOVELY THOUGHTS MAY BE CALLED AS 'SRAVANA BHAKTHI' , KEERTHANA BHAKTHI, SMARANA BHAKTHI ETC.,

Subject: philosophy of the grammarians

I would like to understand the philosophy of the grammarians. I think their philosophy is important for understanding the concept of"mantras".

ANSWER:
TO UNDERSTAND THE CONCEPT OF MANTHRAS ONE NEEDS GURU'S UPADE:SAM BUT NOT THE PHILOSOPHY OF GRAMMERIANS. THAT LEADS TO MORE COMPLICATIONS RATHER THAN DEVELOPING DEVOTION TOWARDS THE MANTHRA.

How was time measured in the vedic period? Adiyen Srinivasan Ramanuja dasan.

Jai Srimannarayana!
Measuring the time was so great by our vedic people. You can read the 4 & 5 canto of Srimad Bhagavatham, where the creation of time was mentioned.

Here are a few queries. Pls forgive me If I have asked anything wrong.Adiyen Ramanuja Dasan, Venkata Nathan

We have to observe the fasting on Ekadasi. So on that day will there be any Thiruvaradhanam (offering food) to Sri Perumal? If yes who will eat that food? (Since on Ekadasi we don't take food).

ANSWER:
E:KA:DASI IS FOR US NOT TO GOD. FOR HIM YOU CAN DO A:RA:DHANA EVERYDAY. A:RA:DHANA INCLUDES FOOD OFFERING TOO. WHATEVER FOOD IS REQUIRED THAT MUCH ONLY WILL BE OFFERED ON, NOT ONLY E:KA:DASI DAY BUT, EVERYDAY. YOU ARE NOT JUST DOING A LOT OF FOOD OFFERING EVERYDAY? ARE YOU? NO. WHATEVER YOU NEED EVERYDAY TO CONSUME, THAT MUCH ONLY WILL BE OFFERED. SO ALSO ON E:KA:DASI DAY. IF FASTING IS OBSERVED, SOME WILL TAKE FOOD PREPARED WITH OTHER THAN RICE. SOME PEOPLE WON'T COOK AT ALL. THEY USE FRUITS OR JUICES ETC., ON THAT DAY THATMUCH ONLY WILL BE OFFERED. ONE SHOULD NOT REMAIN TOTALLY NOT SIPPING EVEN A DROP OF WATER, AS SOME SAMPRADA;YA PEOPLE DO. BECAUSE THE OFFERING SOMETHING TO GOD WILL BE DONE ONLY AFTER THE DEVOTEE TAKES IT. SO, FLOWERS OFFERED WILL BE DONE ONLY AFTER THE DEVOTEE HAS TAKEN THEM, WHEN THEY WERE REMOVED FROM GOD. PEOPLE CALL THEM AS NIRMA:LYAM. WATER OR MILK OR YOGURT ETC., OFFERED IN ABHISHEKAM WILL BE DONE ONLY THEN WHEN, THE DEVOTEES TAKE IT AS THI:RTHAM, AFTER THAT RITUAL IS OVER. SO ALSO THE FOOD, IN WHATEVER MANNER IT MAY BE.

I have known that the names of the Rishis which we tell in"Abivadhanam" is the names of popular Rishis in that Parampara. Is that correct? Is any book available for the histories of such Rishis?

ANSWER:
THERE ARE BOOKS AVAILABLE ONE THE STORIES OF SO MANY RUSHI:S.
ENCYCLOPEDIA GIVES SOMANY DETAILS OF MANY SAGES LIKE THAT. THE NAMES USUALLY CHANTED IN THE PRAVARA OF SANDHYA: VANDANAM, SAYS THAT THIS GROUP OF RUSHI:S WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE LINEAGE YOU ARE COMING IN.

ANSWER:
THERE ARE NO SPECIFIC VE:DA BHA:GAS THAT ONE SHOULD KNOW, AS SUCH. IT DEPENDS UPON, WHAT ONE REQUIRES. IF ONE WANTS TO PERFORM SANDHYA VANDANAM, THOSE MANTHRAS MAY BE LEARNT. IF ONE WANTS PITRU KARMAS TO BE
PERFORMED THEY MAY BE LEARNT. SOME MORE MANTHRAS FOR SOME OTHER PURPOSES VIZ., PANCHA SU:KTHAS, UPANISHADS, NAMAKAM, CHAMAKAM, ARUNAM ETC., ANYTHING TO LEARN MEANS "WHY" "HOWMUCH" ETC., QUERRIES MUST BE KNOWN.

Vedas are said to be "Anadhis". And Vedhas include the Upanishad part also. But Upanishads tells so many stories which are a real occurrences. Does it mean that only after the happening of those events upanishads are written. If yes how the Vedhas can be said as "Anadhi"

ANSWER:
VEDAS ARE BEGINNING-LESS ( ANA:DI) ONLY. UPANISHADS ALSO BECOME A PART OF VE:DA ONLY. THE STORIES WE USUALLY HEAR IN THEM, WILL BE REPEATED IN EVERY MANVANTHARAM AND IN EVERY CREATION. THE ONLY DIFFERENCE IS
EVENTS MAY CHANGE. PEOPLE IN THOSE POSTS WOULD BE THE SAME. VASISHTTA, VYA:SA, PARA:SARA ETC, ARE ACTUALLY THE POSTS IN WHICH SOME BLESSES SOULS TAKE BODIES AND DO SOME SERVICE TO THE LITERATURE FOR FUTURE GENERTIONS TO KNOW.

Q] Jai Srimannarayana HH Chinna Jeeyar Swamiji, Based on puraanas, do we know the history of prior Kali Yugas in this Vaiwasvata
Manvantara. Does Kalki Avatar happens in every Kali Yuga ? Dhanyavaad, Ravi Chandrasekhara MD

ANS: JAI SRIMANNARAYANA RAVIJI!

IT SEEMS KALKI AVATHARA COMES AT THE END OF EACH KALIYUGA, ACCORDING TO THE SRIMATH BHAGAVATHAM. HOW IT COMES AND WHAT IT DOES IS DESCRIBED IN BHAGAVATHAM. THIS MAY HAPPEN IN EACH KALIYUGA IT APPEARS. BASING ON THAT ONLY THE GREAT SAGE VEDA VYASA WRITTEN ABOUT THE APPEARANCE OF KALKI AVATHARAM. 71 KALI YUGAS WILL BE REPEATED IN EACH MANVANTHRA. WE ARE IN 28TH KALIYUGA. SO, KALKI AVATHARA MIGHT HAVE COME 27 TIMES ALREADY, ACCORDING TO THE PURANAM.

=chinnajeeyar=

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Q]
Why do we get dreams? What does divine visions mean? Because I often get divine visions.Is there any step to be taken? {rekha.m.}

A]
JAI SRIMANNARAYANA REKHAJI!

DREAMS ARE THE RESULTS OF OUR PREVIOUS KARMAS, CREATED BY GOD ONLY. IF THEY ARE GOOD, REMEMBER THAT GOD IS ALLOWING SOME GOOD KARMAS TO BE CONSUMED. IF ONE GETS BAD DREAMS, THEN GOD IS REMOVING SOME BAD KARMAS FROM THE STORE ROOM. THEY MAY LEAD TO SOME RESULT, ON WHICH YOU NEED NOT THINK MUCH AND BOTHER YOU, BUT HE HAPPY THAT GOD ALLOWED YOU TO REDUCE SOME LOAD OF KARMAS.

IN BHAGAVAD GITHA LORD KRISHNA CLEARLY SAID 'MATTHAS SMRUTHIR JNA:NAM APO:HANAM CHA' WHICH MEANS FROM ME ALONE, NEW THINGS ARE KNOWN BY ONE, ALREADY KNOWN THINGS ARE RECOLLECTED AND SOMETHING KNOWN IS ALSO FORGOTTEN. ALL THESE ARE UNDER LORD'S CONTROL ONLY.

FOR SOME PEOPLE GOD SHOWS CERTAIN THINGS JUST BEFORE THEY MIGHT OCCUR. THIS IS WHAT PEOPLE CALL AS DIVINE VISION. SOME PEOPLE ARE ABLE TO GUESS THE FUTURE EXACTLY, BECAUSE OF THE LORD'S GRACE. A FEW PEOPLE WILL REMEMBER GOD BEHIND AND WILL BE GREATFUL TO HIM, BUT MANY FORGET GOD BEHIND AND POSE AS IF THEY ARE
GODS. THEN THE PROBLEM STARTS. DIVINE VISION IF GIVEN BY GOD, BE HAPPY AND APPRECIATE THE GRACE OF GOD ON YOU.

=chinnajeeyar=

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From: "Bharath radhe krishna" <radhe_titanic@...>
Jai Sriman narayana..

1) Dreams : Swamiji why these dreams will occur when we sleep.Why the person feel the dream as real.What is the purpose of dreams created by Lord. Do dreams fortell about future? Dreams convey any useful information to us or not? One day I got the dream depicting Sri Ranganatha swami I had seen only his face and I am standing before him and I am looking very small. What this dream tell me about? Before the day I got dream I read a book about srirangam.

ANS:
DREAMS ARE THE CREATIONS OF GOD, TO CONSUME OUR PAST KARMAS OF CERTAIN CATEGORY. KARMAS ARE DIVIDED INTO 3 CATEGORIES. BIG, MID AND SMALL. BIG ARE ENJOYED IN THE EXTERNAL WORLD, WHETHER THEY ARE GOOD OR BAD. ALL MID WILL BE SENT FOR STORE ROOM, FOR NEXT BIRTH. SMALL WILL BE ALLOWED FOR DREAMS TO BOTHER AND CONSUME. THEY ARE NOT UNDER OUR CONTROL BUT UNDER GODS CONTROL. THEY ARE AS REAL AS THE EXTERNAL WORLD. THEY WILL CERTAINLY FORETELL ABOUT FEW THINGS. BUT NOT NECESSARILY AS WE HAVE SEEN THEN. YOU MAY SEE SOMETHING, IT MIGHT APPEAR IN SOME OTHER FORM IN THE WORLD. LIKE, YOU SEE THE CLOUDS AND IT RAINS LATER. THUS YOU PREDICT THAT CLOUDS ARE THE INDICATORS FOR RAIN. LIKE THAT, SOME SCEENS YOU SEE
DURING DREAMS, YOU EXPERIENCE SOMETHING, FOR YOU HAVE CONSUMED SOME PORTION OF THE KARMA. AS WE ARE NOT CREATORS OF THE EXTERNAL WORLD, SO ALSO THE INNER WORLD. AS WE CAN MANIPULATE ONLY SOME PORTION OF THE EXTERNAL WORLD, SO ALSO BY DOING SOME SADHANA, WE ALSO CAN MANIPULATE SOME PORTIONS OF THE KARMAS AND AVOID EVIL EFFECTS OF DREAMS. SOME DREAMS ARE TO BE CARED AND SOME HAVE TO BE IGNORED.
YOU ARE BLESSED FOR SEEING LORD IN YOUR DREAMS. IT SHOWS THAT YOU ARE GOING TO GET SOMETHING GOOD. BE HAPPY. WHEN YOU ARE SEEN SMALL, IT MEANS THAT YOU ARE UNNECESSARILY FEELING THAT YOU ARE GREAT, AND HE WANTS YOU TO KNOW THAT YOU ARE REALLY NOT. APPLY IT TO THE EVENTS YOU ARE GOING TO EXPERIENCE. OK!

-chinnajeeyar-

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||Srimannarayana||
I have been a mute spectator of the grp for sometime now. I recently found an article(very breif) on Ashta-Mukha-Ganda-Bherunda-NRsimha. With some google search, I could get some info that there is a temple of this scary form of paramatma in Andhra at Yadagiri-gutta. I am a srivaishnava from karnataka and my knowledge of Andhra and my devotion is limited to Tirumala and its lord. Could someone in the grp kindly enlighten me on this aspect of lord? I also read that this form is more tantric in nature. Is that so? if so, can srivaishnavas learn more about him? Thanks, Jayanth Dasa ||Sri Hari||

JAI SRIMANNARAYANA JAYANTHJI!

YADAGIRI GUTTA IS A 100 KM DISTANCE TEMPLE FROM HYDERABAD. LORD LAKSHMI NARASIMHA IS THERE IN FIVE FORMS. ONE AMONG THEM IS GANDA BHERUNDA NARASIMHA SWAMY. THIS FORM IS NOT CLEARLY VISIBLE TO THE VISITING DEVOTEES AS THIS IS UNDER A STONE. LORD HERE IT SAYS, IS A SELF-INCARNATED ONE. THERE IN THAT TEMPLE
HE IS WORSHIPPED ACCORDING TO SRI PANCHARATRA ONLY NOT IN TANTRIC WAY OF WORSHIP.
=Chinnajeeyar=

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From: "Karthik M Nagaraj"
Subject: Q - Confusion about Sage Vishwamitra
Jai Srimannarayana Swamiji,

I had some confusion about Sage Vishwamitra. We hear about Sage Vishwamitra in many places:

[1] Much before the Lord Rama came down to the earth. (Vishwamitra was the one who build the heaven for the ancestor of Lord Rama, Satyavrata, later called as Trishanku).

[2] Then Vishwamitra went into penance with an enimity with Sage Vasista. Thats when Gayathri mantra was given to us.
[3] During the penance Menaka comes down and from them is born the Bharatha dynasty king - Dushyant. So does that mean while Lord Rama's dynasty (SuryaVamsa) were ruling in Treta Yuga, the seed for the Bharatha's dynasty
(ChandraVamsa) was sown and set to begin in Dwapara Yuga? in which Yugas did the Chandra Vamsa and Surya Vamsa dynasties gain importance?

[4] During the Ramayana time which is in the Treta Yuga the sage educates Sri Rama and Sri Lakshmana in their youth by taking them to the forest.

[5] We also hear Sage Vishwamitra during Lord Venkateshwara's time which is Kali Yuga (I think so, is that correct?)

My confusion is what are the chronological timings of these events? Is it the same Sage Vishwamitra that is being talked about everywhere? How is it possible for Sage Vishwamitra to be alive for so long? How come no mention of him or any
encounters with him during the Mahabharatha time, which is Dwapara Yuga?
Please forgive me if I have made any mistake in mentioning the events. Jai Srimannarayana,
Adiyen Ramanuja Dasan

RE: Q - Confusion about Sage Vishwamitra

Priya sriman Karthikji!
Jai Srimannarayana!

We are happy for your interest to know about sage Viswamithra. There were no many viswamitras, like other sages. Only one was there, who was highly praised by Sage Valmiki.

When you talk about the age, in those days they used to live long, like thousands of years. It was not a big issue in those days at all. Sumanthra the minister of Dasaraddha, Ravana, Vasishta etc., were living even in Krutha Yuga.
So also Viswamithra. Now a days, we people started comparing with our own knowledge and age and experience, which is wrong.

Another Lo:ka created for Trisanku by the same Viswamithra, who was having enimity earlier with Sage Vasishta. Menaka met with the same Sage, yes!
To his own credit he made penance for thousands of years on each corner of this country. He met with different issues on each of these corners. But he was the same Sage.

Rama belongs to Surya Vamsa. After Rama, approximately 32 generations were continuing. Then there may be some gap. During Rushabha Deva again the Chandra Vamsa started in Ayodhya. This might have started after a few lakhs of years,
when dwapara yuga was started.
Some people say that yugas go in some thousands. Even that is wrong. They go in 4:3:2:1 ratio, which altogether come to 43,20,000 years. The size of human beings also was not as we see them today. Recently, some skeleton found in North
Indian Desert was so amazingly huge, may be between 30 to 50 feet height. There was some record also found along with it, which was not totally revealed by the Govt. but says that they were interacting with brahma and Siva etc. we try to
put that available information for you soon.

So people living for thousands of years was not a great thing in those days. Finally, it was the same sage Viswamithra, who was mentioned in all the episodes you have memtioned and he lived for many a year, before and after Rama.

He did not appear in Ramayana after Rama's marriage, but he was there. We are not sure whether Viswamithra's mention was there anywhere in Lord Venkateswara's History?

=chinnajeeyar=

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Dear Swamiji,
How far it is true that worshipping Rama/Krishna bring difficulties and worshipping Siva would bring happiness and properity? (If that is the case for a country like India having 1 billion population with so much unemployment is not
it better to go with Siva?) pranams to your feet. with humble regards
Jaya Kishore Pattaswamy

ANS:

Priya Sriman Kishoreji!
Ji Srimannarayana!
God appears in different forms. Each form helps in some way or the other. Rama is the replica of humane qualities and if one worships His, that person develops humane qualities. Lord Krishna is the replica of divine qualities and to His
worshippers He blesses divine qualities. Lord Siva also several occasions sought the help of these incarnations. You can see that in Sri Ramayana, after the killing of Ravana. All the devathas appeared before Rama and one among was Lord
Siva, who praised Srirama as the saviour of the wise and punisher of wicked. We can see this in all most all the incarnations. People with no knowledge and having love towards Lord Siva, spread such wrong stories. One can definitely worship Lord Siva, at the same time, they should not create wrong stories against incarnations of Lord Vishnu. Somany big big people are trying to do this
in recent decades. Remember, Lord Rama & Krishna teach us as and how to face the problematic situations, yet how to maintain equilibrium. You may remember our githa jyothi, suthras 'worship your own..respect all'. If this is understood, then there won't be any wicked thoughts like this. =Chinnajeeyar=

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Jai Sriman Narayana,
Dear Swamiji, My pranams to you. I have a question about charity, please forgive me if it is in appropriate. I heard according to vedic law of karma we have to bear the results of our actions including the charity we give and hence charity must be given in the name of God to brahmanas. So when we try to help tsunami hit fishermen by providing boats to them, don't we incur the results of
their action which is killing of the fish in the sea? How should I understand this contradiction?
Srinivas

ANS:
YOU MUST HAVE MISTAKEN MY FRIEND, IN UNDERSTANDING THE KARMA THEORY. KARMA, IS ONE'S OWN RESPONSIBILITY, ORDAINED BY GOD, COMES BY BIRTH. WHATEVER THE WORK ASSIGNED, SHOULD BE DONE WITHOUT ANY TRACE OF HESITATION, DEDICATING THE RESULTS TO GOD. THAT BECOMES KAINKARYAM, IF EXECUTED WITH LOVE. FISHING TO THE RECENT TSUNAMI VICTIMS, KILLING THE INNER BACTERIA TO A DOCTOR, OFFERING FLOWERS TO GOD BY A PRIEST ETC.,ARE ALL CARRY THE SAME WEIGHT. MANY DUTIES ARE LIKE THIS. IF ONE IS SUFFERING FROM ANY PROBLEM, DUTY OF A PERSON
WITH HEART, IS TO HELP. THIS IS JUST HUMANITY. IF ONE IS CHARITABLE, HELPING WITHOUT ANY EXPECTATION, WILL BE THE PRIMARY DUTY, LET OTHER MAY BE ANYONE. THIS IS CHARITY.

NOW, YOU CAN IMAGINE, THE DUTY OF A RELIGIOUS OR A SPIRITUAL PERSON, FOR, HIS PLANE IS HEIGHER THAN THE ABOVE, HIS HEART MEALTS IF SOMETHING GOES WRONG.
NOW, WHEN YOU ARE ATTACHED TO THE RESULT, THEN THERE IS NO POINT IN PUTTING YOUR EFFORTS, ALL THAT YOU TRY TO FIND OUT WHO IS SMART IN BRINGING YOU THE MEDAL, RANK ETC., IF NOT AVAILABLE FROM THE OPEN MARKET. A SPIRITUAL MAN WON'T DO THAT. HE NEVER EXPECTS NOR DEMANDS FOR TEMPORARY RESULTS.

FISHER MEN ARE THE KARMA YOGIS. THEY DID NOT DEMAND FOR ANYTHING. WORLD STARTED HELPING THEM ON HUMANITARION GROUNDS, YOU AND ME DO THIS WITH THE SPIRITUAL MIND, DEDICATING TO GOD.
=CHINNAJEEYAR=

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Subject: Q - Krishna / Vishnu / Sriman Narayana
From so many days, I am getting a query in mind: In the end part of Vishnu sahasra naamam, we chant "Kaayaena vaachaa....Naaraayanaayaeti Samarpayami" and then "Sriman Naaraayanaayaeti Samarpayami". After this again people chant"Sarvam Sri Krishnaarpanamastu" which is not printed in the book. But even though printed, as Sriman Naaraayanaa and SriKrishna are same, why we need to say both of the above lines: "Sriman Naaraayanaayaeti Samarpayami". "Sarvam Sri
Krishnaarpanamastu"

------------------------------------------------
I bound the Vishnupuranam stories from Chandamama in India and got it to Pittsburgh. When I went thru the dasaavataaram stories taken from Vishnupuraanam, it mentions about 14 worlds in which, the first top most world
is "Dhruva Kshiti" where Dhruva lives permanently and this kshiti contains "Golokam" where SriKrishna Stays here with Prakriti Maata (radha devi). Above this Druva kshiti, there will be a total darkness and at the other end of this
darkness, there lies the "Vaikuntam" where Sriman Naaraayana lives. that means Sriman Naaraayana lives in the top most part of Brahmaanda. In some other stories, I read that Sriman Naaraayana came from SriKrishna. There is some
missing information I guess. My question is out of these two, who came from whom? Iscon people also says that Sri maha Vishnu came from SriKrishna. Can you please elaborate and clarify me on this?

------------------------------------------------
Also In Vishnu puraanam, when I read, it says, Parasurama went to Golokam to get "Krishna Kavacham" from Sri Krishna, to fight and remove kings on earth. That means, SriKrishna exists before he descends to earth in the time of Mahabharata.
But there is no exact story how he came to Golokam. Can you please let me know? Please correct me also if I am wrong in any of my mentions here and also let me know, if my first question is related to any of these stories because of which
we have to chant "Sri Krishnaarpana mastu" after chanting Vishnu saharsa naamam.
Jai Sriman Naaraayana.

ANS:
FOR THE SAKE OF SLOKA, IT IS MENTIONED 'NARAYANAYETHI SAMARPAYAMI'. TO AVOID CONFUSION FURTHER, THEY ADDED THAT NARAYANA IS NOT SINGLE ONE BUT 'SRIMANNARAYANAYETHI...' OF COURSE, NARAYANA IS ALWAYS 'SRIMAN' ONLY. WHEN THAT
CONCEPT INCARNATED BECAME 'KRISHNA' TO WE OFFER TO HIM EVERYTHING.

THE STORIES OF CHANDAMAMA NEED NOT BE TAKEN AS EXACT STORIES OF THE PURANAM.

LORD IN HIS DIVINE ABODE IS CALLED AS PARA-VASUDEVA OR SRIMANNARAYANA. WHEN HE STARTS THE CREATING HE TAKES THE NAME AS VISHNU, ALONG WITH BRAHMA & SIVA. BUT WHEN EVER THE TIME COMES TAKES INCARNATIONS. IN THAT PROCESS, ONE INCARNATION AMONG THEM WAS LORD KRISHNA, WHO IS VERY NEAR TO US. SO WE DEDICATE AT THE END
TO HIM, AS HE ASKED THAT FROM US IN BHAGAVAD GITHA IN 9TH CHAPTER. INCARNATIONS FROM KRISHNA, AS EXPLAINED BY ISCON, IS NOT ACCEPTED BY OUR ACHARYAS. EVEN AUTHENTIC PURANAS ALSO WERE NOT IN TUNE TO THAT CONCEPT. THIS HAS BEEN EXPLAINED IN BRAHMA VAIVARTHA PURANAM, WHICH WAS CONSIDERED AS A THAMASA PURANAM. SO YOU
NEED NOT TAKE THE PORTIONS OF THAT, WHICH GO AGAINST TO SRIMAD BHAGAVATHAM, BECAUSE IT IS THE MOST AUTHENTIC ONE. IN THAT BHAGAVATHAM, ISCON PEOPLES STAND WAS NOT SUPPORTED.
=Chinnajeeyar=

Generall y when one asks so many requests/demands they are referred to us as HIRANYAKSHA VARALU.WHERE AS IT APPEARS ONY HIRANYAKASUPUDU HAS ASKED IMPOSSIBLE VARALU AS HE MADE LORD VISHNU TO HAVE ANOTHER AVATARAM.Why they are called like that?

ANS: YOUR POINT IS CORRECT. CRITICAL BOONS WERE ASKED BY HIRANYA KASIPU ONLY NOT HIS BROTHER HIRANYAKSHA. YET BOTH THE BROTHERS MADE LORD TO APPEAR IN TWO APPEARANCES. AND BOTH THE AVATHARAS ARE PECULIAR. BHOOVARAHA AND NARASIMHA. THAT IS THE REASON BOTH THE BROTHERS ARE CONSIDERED AS A SINGLE UNIT. SO NO MATTER WHETHER YOUNGER OR ELDER ASKED THE BOON. BOTH MADE THE LORD TO PUT A LITTLE OF HIS EFFORT FOR THEM. IN FACT, HIRANYA KASIPU TURNED VOILENT ONLY BECAUSE OF HIS BROTHERS DEATH ONLY. FOR ATTACKING SRIHARI ONLY HE ASKED ALL THOSE BOONS, THAT MAY BE THE REASON PEOPLE STARTED CREATING A PROVERB AS “HIRANYAKSHA VARALU”.

Secondly in Ramavataram Bhoodevi is Sitas mother where as in other avatarams Bhoodevi is vishnu murthys wife.Will the relationship be changing ineach avataram?Please clarify.

ANS: WHENEVER LORD APPEARS, MOTHER ALSO TAKES A FORM TO APPEAR ALONG WITH HIM. MOSTLY LAKSHMI ONLY COMES. FOR VARAHA APPEARANCE ONLY WIFE BHOODEVI OCCUPIED THE PLACE, BECAUSE THAT APPEARANCE ITSELF WAS ONLY FOR HER SAKE. WHEN LAKSHMI COMES, OTHERS TAKE SOME FORM TO HELP HER. THERE IS NO QUESTION ON ROLE THEY PLAY, FOR ALL RELATIONSHIPS TO THEM ARE ESTABLISHED WITH HIM ONLY.