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Hinduism – Core Beliefs, Facts & Principles
Hinduism – Core Beliefs: Hinduism is not an organised religion, and its belief system has no
single, structured approach to teaching it. Nor do Hindus,
Read More »

Ashta Bhairav: The eight manifestations of Kaal

Bhairav
 Bahubali
 December 2, 2015
 3 Minutes Read
Ashta Bhairav are eight manifestations of Kaal Bhairav. They are the
guardians and controller of eight directions. Each Bhairav has eight sub
Bhairavs under him. So there are 64 Bhairavs in total. All of the Bhairavs are
ruled and controlled by Maha Swarna Kala Bhairava, who is considered the
supreme ruler of time of the universe and the chief form of Bhairava.

The 8 Bhairavs:
 Kaal
Bhairav

1. Sri Asithaanga Bhairav

 Sri Asithaanga Bhairav
Consort: Bhrami
Vahana: Swan
Direction: East
Worship Benefits: Gives creative ability.

2. Sri Unmatha Bhairav

 Sri Unmatha Bhairav
Consort: Vaarahi
Vahana: Horse
Direction: West
Worship Benefits: Controls negative ego and harmful self talk.

3. Sri Bheeshana Bhairav

 Sri Bheeshana Bhairav
Consort: Chamundi
Vahana: Lion
Direction: North
Worship Benefits: Obliterates evil spirits and negativity.

4. Sri Chanda Bhairav

 Sri Chanda Bhairav
Consort: Koumaari
Vahana: Peacock
Direction: South
Worship Benefits: Gives incredible energy, cuts competition and rivals.

5. Sri Ruru Bhairav

 Sri Ruru Bhairav
Consort: Maaheshwari
Vahana: Ox (Rishabam)
Direction: South-East
Worship Benefits: Divine educator.

6. Sri Krodha Bhairav

 Sri Krodha Bhairav
Consort: Vaishnavi
Vahana: Eagle (Garuda)
Direction: South-West
Worship Benefits: Gives you the power to take massive action.

7. Sri Samhaara Bhairav

 Sri Samhaara Bhairav
Consort: Chandi
Vahana: Dog
Direction: North-East
Worship Benefits: Complete dissolution of old negative karmas.

8. Sri Kapaala Bhairav

 Sri Kapaala Bhairav
Consort: Indrani
Vahana: Elephant
Direction: North-West
Worship Benefits: Ends all unrewarding work and action.

Each of the Bhairava’s manifestations represent, Akash, air, fire, water and
earth and the other three being sun, moon and atma. Each of the Bhairavs are
different in appearance, have different weapons, different vahanas. They also
represent the Ashta Lakshmis.

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 June 12, 2021
 3 Minutes Read
Who Founded Hinduism? The Origin Of Hinduism and Sanatana Dharma

Introduction
What do we mean by Founder? When we say a founder, we mean to say that
someone has brought into existence a new faith or formulated a set of
religious beliefs, principles and practices which were not in existence before.
That cannot happen with a faith such as Hinduism, which is considered
eternal. According to the scriptures, Hinduism is the religion of not just
humans. Even gods and demons practice it. Ishwar (Ishwara), the Lord of the
universe, is its source. He also practices it. Hence, Hinduism is God’s
Dharma, brought down to the earth, just as the sacred River Ganga, for the
welfare of the humans.
Who is then the Founder of Hinduism (Sanatana
Dharma)?
Hinduism is not founded by a person or a prophet. Its source is God
(Brahman) himself. Hence, it is considered an eternal religion (Sanatana
dharma). Its first teachers were Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. Brahma, the
creator God revealed the secret knowledge of the Vedas to gods, humans and
demons in the beginning of creation. He also imparted to them the secret
knowledge of the Self, but due to their own limitations, they understood it in
their own ways.

Vishnu is the preserver. He preserves the knowledge of Hinduism through

countless manifestations, associated gods, aspects, saints and seers to
ensure the order and regularity of the worlds. Through them, he also restores
the lost knowledge of various Yogas or introduces new reforms. Further,
whenever the Hindu Dharma declines beyond a point, he incarnates upon
earth to restore it and revive its forgotten or lost teachings. Vishnu exemplifies
the duties which humans are expected to perform upon earth in their
individual capacity as householders within their spheres.

Shiva too plays an important role in upholding Hindu Dharma. As the

destroyer, he removes the impurities and confusion that creeps into our
sacred knowledge. He is also considered the universal teacher and the source
of various art and dance forms (Lalitakalas), Yogas, vocations, sciences,
farming, agriculture, alchemy, magic, healing, medicine, Tantra and so on.

Thus, like the mystic Ashvattha Tree which is mentioned in the Vedas, the
roots of Hinduism are in heaven, and its branches are spread out on earth. Its
core is divine knowledge, which governs the conduct of not only humans but
also of the beings in other worlds with God acting as its creator, preserver,
concealer, revealer and remover of obstacles. Its core philosophy (the shruti)
is eternal, while it changing parts (smriti) keep changing according to the time
and circumstances, and the progress of the world. Containing in itself the
diversity of God’s creation, it remains open to all possibilities, modifications
and future discoveries.

Also Read: Prajapatis – the 10 sons of Lord Brahma

Many other divinities such as Ganesha, Prajapati, Indra, Shakti, Narada,
Saraswati and Lakshmi are also credited with the authorship of many
scriptures. Apart from this, countless scholars, seers, sages, philosophers,
gurus, ascetic movements and teacher traditions enriched Hinduism through
their teachings, writings, commentaries, discourses and expositions. Thus,
Hinduism is derived from many sources. Many of its beliefs and practices
found their way into other religions, that either originated in India or interacted
with it.

Since Hinduism has its roots in the eternal knowledge and its aims and
purpose are closely aligned to those of God as the Creator of all, it is
considered an eternal religion (Sanatana dharma). Hinduism may disappear
from the face of the earth due to the impermanent nature of the world, but the
sacred knowledge which forms its foundation will remain forever and keep
manifesting in each cycle of creation under different names. It is also said that
Hinduism has no founder and no missionary goals because people have to
come to it either by providence (birth) or personal decision due to their
spiritual readiness (past karma).

The name Hinduism, which is derived from the root word, “Sindhu” came into
usage due to historical reasons. Hinduism as a conceptual entity did not exist
until the British times. The word itself does not appear in literature until the
17th Century A.D. In medieval times, the Indian subcontinent was known as
Hindustan or the land of Hindus. They were not all practising same faith, but
different ones, which included Buddhism, Jainism, Shaivism, Vaishnavism,
Brahmanism and several ascetic traditions, sects and sub sects.

The native traditions and the people who practiced Sanatana Dharma went by
different names, but not as Hindus. During the British times, all the native
faiths were grouped under the generic name, “Hinduism” to distinguish it from
Islam and Christianity and to dispense with justice or settle local disputes,
property and tax matters.

Subsequently, after the independence, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism were

separated from it by enacting laws. Thus, the word Hinduism was born out of
historical necessity and entered the constitutional laws of India through
legislation.

Read More. 3 Minutes Read

 June 12, 2021
 3 Minutes Read
Hinduism – Core Beliefs, Facts & Principles
Hinduism – Core Beliefs: Hinduism is not an organised religion, and its belief
system has no single, structured approach to teaching it. Nor do Hindus, like
the Ten Commandments, have a simple set of laws to obey. Throughout the
Hindu world, local, regional, caste, and community-driven practices affect the
understanding and practice of beliefs. Yet belief in a Supreme Being and
adherence to certain principles such as Reality, dharma, and karma is a
common thread across all these variations. And belief in the power of the
Vedas (sacred scriptures) serves, to a large degree, as the very meaning of a
Hindu, although it can differ greatly in how the Vedas are interpreted.

The major core beliefs that Hindus share includes the following listed
below;

Hinduism Believes that Truth is Eternal.

Hindus are seeking knowledge and comprehension of the facts, the very
existence of the world and the only truth. Truth is one, according to the Vedas,
but it is expressed in a number of ways by the wise.

Hinduism Believes that Brahman is Truth and Reality.

As the only true God who is formless, infinite, all-inclusive, and eternal,
Hindus believe in Brahman. Brahman which is not an abstract in notion; it is a
real entity that encompasses everything in the universe (seen and unseen).

Hinduism Believes that The Vedas are the Ultimate

Authorities.
The Vedas are scriptures in Hindus containing revelations that ancient saints
and sages have got. Hindus claim that the Vedas are without beginning and
without end, the believe is that Vedas will remain until all else is destroyed in
the universe (at the end of the period of time).
Hinduism Believes that Everyone Should Work Hard to
Achieve Dharma.
The understanding of dharma concept allows one to understand the Hindu
religion. No single English word, sadly, adequately covers its context. It is
possible to define dharma as right conduct, fairness, moral law, and duty.
Everyone who makes dharma central to one’s life seeks to do the right thing
at all times, according to one’s duty and skills.

Hinduism Believes that Individual Souls are Immortal.

A Hindu claims that there is neither existence nor destruction of the individual
soul (atman); it has been, it is, and it will be. The soul’s actions when living in
a body require the same soul in a different body to reap the effects of those
actions in the next life. The process of movement of the atman is known as
transmigration from one body to another. Karma decides the kind of body the
soul next inhabits (actions accumulated in previous lives).

The individual soul’s objective is moksha.

Moksha is liberation: the release of the soul from the death and rebirth period.
It happens when, by recognize its true essence, the soul unites with Brahman.
To this awareness and unification, many paths will lead: the path of obligation,
the path of knowledge, and the path of devotion (unconditionally surrender to
God).

Also Read: The Complete Story Of Jayadratha (जयद्रथ) The King Of Sindhu
Kingdom

Hinduism – Core Beliefs: Other beliefs of

Hinduism are:
 Hindus believe in a single, all-pervading Supreme Being, both
Creator and Unmanifest Reality, who is both immanent and
transcendent.
  Hindus believed in the divinity of the four Vedas, the most ancient
scripture in the world, and as equally revealed, venerate the
Agamas. These primordial hymns are the word of God and the
cornerstone of the eternal faith, Sanatana Dharma.
 Hindus conclude that infinite cycles of formation, preservation and
dissolution are undergone by the universe.
 Hindus believe in karma, the law of cause and effect by which each
human, by his thoughts, words and deeds, creates his own destiny.
 Hindus conclude that, after all karmas have been resolved, the
soul reincarnates, developing over multiple births, and moksha,
freedom from the rebirth cycle, is achieved. There will not be a
single soul robbed of this destiny.
 Hindus believe that there are supernatural forces in unknown
worlds and that with these devas and gods, temple worship, rites,
sacraments and personal devotionals create a communion.
 Hindus believe that understanding the Transcendent Absolute is
necessary to an enlightened lord, or satguru, as is personal
discipline, good behavior, purification, pilgrimage, self-inquiry,
meditation, and surrender to God.
 In thought, word and deed, Hindus believe that all life is sacred, to
be cherished and respected, and thus practice ahimsa,
nonviolence.
 Hindus believe that no religion, above all others, teaches the only
way to redemption, but that all true paths are facets of the Light of
God, worthy of tolerance and understanding.
 Hinduism, the oldest religion in the world, has no beginning—it is
followed by recorded history. It doesn’t have a human creator. It is
a spiritual religion that leads the devotee to experience the Reality
personally inside, eventually achieving the peak of consciousness
where one is man and God.
 There are four major denominations of Hinduism—Saivism,
Shaktism, Vaishnavism and Smartism.
Read More. 3 Minutes Read
 June 11, 2021
 5 Minutes Read
How old is the word Hindu? Where does the word Hindu comes from? –
Etymology and History of Hinduism

We want to build on the ancient word “Hindu” from this writing-up. The
Communist historians of India and the Western Indologists say that in the 8th
century the word “Hindu” was coined by the Arabs and its roots were in the
Persian tradition of replacing “S” with “H. The word “Hindu” or its derivatives
were, however, used by many inscriptions over a thousand years older than
this time. Also, in the Saurashtra region of Gujarat in India, not in Persia, the
root of the word most probably lies. This particular interesting story is written
by the uncle of Prophet Mohammed, Omar-bin-e-Hassham, who had written a
poem to praise Lord Shiva.
There are so many websites saying that Kaba was an ancient temple of
Shiva. They are still thinking what to make of these arguments, but the fact
that the uncle of Prophet Mohammed wrote an ode to Lord Shiva is definitely
incredible.

The anti-Hindu historians like Romila Thapar and D.N. The Antiquity and
Origin of the Word ‘Hindu’ In the 8th century, Jha thought that the term ‘Hindu’
was given currency by the Arabs. However, they do not clarify the basis of
their conclusion or cite any facts to support their argument. Not even Muslim
Arab writers make such an exaggerated argument.

Another hypothesis advocated by European authors is that the term ‘Hindu’ is

a ‘Sindhu’ Persian corruption arising from the Persian tradition of substituting
‘S’ with ‘H.’ No proof is cited even here. The word Persia itself actually
contains ‘S’ which, if this theory was right, should have become ‘Perhia’.

In the light of epigraph and literary evidence available from Persian, Indian,
Greek, Chinese and Arabic sources, the present paper discusses the above
two theories. The evidence appears to support the hypothesis that ‘Hindu’ has
been in use since the Vedic period like ‘Sindhu’ and that while ‘Hindu’ is a
modified form of ‘Sindhu’ its root lies in the practice of pronouncing ‘H’ instead
of ‘S’ in Saurashtran.

Epigraphic Evidence of the word Hindu

The Persian king Darius’s Hamadan, Persepolis and Naqsh-I-Rustam
inscriptions mention a ‘Hidu’ population as included in his empire. The date of
these inscriptions is between 520-485 B.C. This reality indicates that, more
than 500 years before Christ, the word ‘Hi(n)du’ was present.

Xerexes, successor of Darius, gives names of countries under his control in

his inscriptions at Persepolis. ‘Hidu’ requires a list. Xerexes ruled from 485-
465 B.C. There are three figures above on a tomb in Persepolis in another
inscription attributed to Artaxerexes (404-395 B.C.), which are labelled ‘iyam
Qataguviya’ (this is Satygidian), ‘iyam Ga(n)dariya’ (this is Gandhara) and
‘iyam Hi(n)duviya’ (this is Hi(n)du). The Asokan (3rd century B.C.) inscriptions
frequently use phrases such as ‘Hida’ for ‘India’ and ‘Hida loka’ for ‘Indian
country’.
In the Ashokan inscriptions,’ Hida’ and her derived forms are used more than
70 times. For India, the Ashokan inscriptions determine the antiquity of the
name ‘Hind’ to at least the third century B.C. The king has the titles
shakanshah hind shakastan tuxaristan dabiran dabir, “king of Shakastan,
minister of ministers of Hind Shakastan and Tukharistan,” in the Persepolis
Pahlvi inscriptions of Shahpur II (310 A.D.).

The epigraphic evidence from the documents of the Achaemenid, Ashokan

and Sasanian Pahlvi established a condition on the hypothesis that in the 8th
century A.D. the word ‘Hindu’ originated in Arab use. The ancient history of
the term ‘Hindu’ takes literary evidence back to at least 1000 B.C. Yeah, and
maybe 5000 B.C.

Evidence from Pahlvi Avesta

Hapta-Hindu is used for Sanskrit Sapta-Sindhu in the Avesta, and the Avesta
is dated between 5000-1000 B.C. It means that the word ‘Hindu’ is as old as
the word ‘Sindhu.’ Sindhu is a concept used in the Rigveda by the Vedik. And
thus, as old as the Rigveda,’ Hindu’ is. Veda Vyas talks of the visit of Veda
Vyas to the court of Gustashp in the Avestan Gatha ‘Shatir’ 163rd verse and
Veda Vyas introduces himself in the presence of Zorashtra saying ‘man
marde am Hind jijad.’ (I am a man born in ‘Hind.’) Veda Vyas was an elder
contemporary of Shri Krishna (3100 B.C.).

Greek Usage (Indoi)

The Greek word ‘Indoi’ is a softened ‘Hindu’ form where the original ‘H’ was
dropped as there is no aspirate in the Greek alphabet. Hekataeus (late 6th
century B.C.) and Herodotus (early 5th century B.C.) used this word ‘Indoi’ in
Greek literature, thereby indicating that the Greeks used this ‘Hindu’ variant as
early as in the 6th century B.C.

The Hebrew Bible (Hodu)

For India, the Hebrew bible make use of the word ‘Hodu’ which is a ‘Hindu’
Judaic type. Earlier than 300 B.C., the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) is
considered Hebrew spoken in Israel today uses Hodu for India as well.
The Chinese Testimony (Hien-tu)
The Chinese used the word ‘Hien-tu’ for ‘Hindu’ around 100 B.C.11 When
explaining the Sai-Wang (100 B.C.) movements, the Chinese annals note that
the Sai-Wang went south and entered Ki-Pin by passing Hien-tu. Later
Chinese travellers Fa-Hien (5th century A.D.) and Huen-Tsang (7th century
A.D.) use a slightly changed ‘Yintu’ word, but the’ Hindu’ affinity is still
retained. Until today, this word ‘Yintu’ continues to be used.

Also Read : https://www.hindufaqs.com/some-common-gods-that-appears-in-

all-major-mythologies/

Pre-Islamic Arabic Literature

Sair-ul-Okul is an anthology of ancient Arabic poetry from the Makhtab-e-
Sultania Turkish Library in Istanbul. A poem by Uncle Omar-bin-e-Hassham of
the Prophet Mohammed is included in this anthology. The poem is Mahadev
(Shiva) in praise, and uses ‘Hind’ for India and ‘Hindu’ for Indians. Here are
some verses quoted:

Wa Abaloha ajabu armeeman Mahadevo Manojail ilamuddin minhum wa

sayattaru If, with dedication, one worships Mahadev, the ultimate redemption
will be achieved.

Kamil Hinda e Yauman, Wa Yakulam na latabahan foeennak Tawajjaru, wa

sahabi Kay yam feema. (Oh Lord, grant me a day’s stay in Hind, where
spiritual bliss can be attained.)

Massayare akhalakan hasanan Kullahum, Summa gabul Hindu najumam aja.

(But one pilgrimage is worthy of all, and the company of great Hindu saints.)

Another poem by Labi-bin-e Akhtab bin-e Turfa has the same anthology,
which is dated 2300 years before Mohammed, i.e. 1700 B.C. ‘Hind’ for India
and ‘Hindu’ for Indians are also used in this poem. The four Vedas, Sama,
Yajur, Rig and Athar, are also mentioned in the poem. This poem is quoted in
columns in New Delhi’s Laxmi Narayan Mandir, commonly known as Birla
Mandir (Temple). Some verses are as follows:
Hinda e, wa aradakallha manyonaifail jikaratun, Aya muwarekal araj yushaiya
noha minar. (O Hind’s Divine Country, blessed art thou, thou art the chosen
land of divine knowledge.)

Wahalatjali Yatun ainana Sahabi akhatun jikra, Hindatun minal Wahajayahi

yonajjalur rasu. (That celebratory knowledge shines with such brilliance in the
fourfold abundance of the words of the Hindu saints.)

Yakuloonallaha ya ahlal araf alameen kullahum, Veda bukkun malam

yonajjaylatun fattabe-u jikaratul. (God enjoins all, follows the direction shown
by Veda with divine awareness with devotion.)

Wahowa alamus Sama wal Yajur minallahay Tanajeelan, Yobasshariyona

jatun, Fa e noma ya akhigo mutibayan. (Sama and Yajur for Man are filled
with wisdom, brothers, following the path that leads you to salvation.)

The two Rigs and Athar(va) also teach us brotherhood, sheltering their lust,
dissipating darkness. Wa isa nain huma Rig Athar nasahin ka Khuwatun, Wa
asanat Ala-udan wabowa masha e ratun.

Disclaimer: The information above is collected from various sites and

discussion forums. There are no solid evidences which will back any of the
above points.

Read More. 5 Minutes Read

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