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Who is Hindu? What is Hinduism? Is the Hindu Right Wing different from Communists?

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Looking at the way some extreme right Hindu groups are behaving after that BJP minister's speech on the Taj Mahal, calling it a blot on India's history, I wonder if the Indian right wing is actually right. It seems more of a fanatical nature to forget the past many years' history and fight to bring back an era 1300 years old. They are giving a whole new meaning to Hinduism. I feel confused too now. Is Hindutva different from Hinduism? Aren't they all-encompassing nature of Hindus? What are Hindus? Is Hindu a religion? If it is a religion, it should have at least one prophet or Messiah. Whom do we have? Who started Hindu dharma, if at all anyone did so? The name, Hindu, was given by rulers of the Middle East. Likewise, the West called them Indians. Hinduism never was or is a religion. Some people imposed some rules and Sanatan Dharma was born. That too, was due to people who wanted power over the masses. The guys who think the Taj Mahal, Red Fort, Qutub Mina...
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Were Mughals not Indians?

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Dunno what I will be labeled for saying this... I am not too sure how to put it but let's try. When we spend our childhood or a significant part of our life at any place, that place owns a part of us. We go live our early career years in the USA only to acquire part of its culture. A foreign student who studied at Banaras Hindu University will keep coming back for those ghats, temples, and culture. Based on the above deduction, I think it is alright if the Mughals ruled India for 800 years. Maybe Babar was an outsider, but he settled here in India, his following generations were born here and thus, are part of Indian culture. They did force people to convert and many converted. But forced conversions still happen. Besides, we love Mughal structures - Taj Mahal, Red Fort, Qutub Minar, and Mughlai cuisine - Biryani, Haleem, etc. So, what's the point of hating them? I think it's time we stopped seeing Mughals as outsiders and accept them as part of Indian culture. The...
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Pollution issue in India: Polluting the minds of innocent

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BAN CRACKERS? I didn't want to comment on that, hoping for the greater good. But when our very intellectuals make it a communal issue, one is forced to talk. Why is it that Supreme Court interferes only with Hindu festivals? In his tweet, Shashi Tharoor says goats are lesser beings and that Muharram processions hurt only themselves. Then why did Supreme Court set the dahi handi height limit? Wasn't that to stop people from getting hurt? Basically, the followers of Lord Ram are supposed to stop using water on Holi. Diwali is something a kid waits for months in advance and now he can't use fireworks and crackers because fireworks cause pollution. 1. If it is really pollution, should we install dust collectors all over Delhi? 2. What about illegal factories operating from residential colonies all over Delhi? 3. Why are old vehicles still on the roads? 4. Why can't the government use permanent remedies instead of pushing a particular community to the corner? ...
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Next Operating System from Microsoft might be completely cloud based

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Microsoft is right now racing in the cloud computing scenario. Though Satya Nadella said it would be "mobile first" for Microsoft, emphasis is clear on its cloud systems. It (Microsoft) is promoting and receiving a tremendous response for all its cloud based products, especially Office 365 & Azure. Amazon Web Services (AWS) is currently leading the cloud market with Microsoft and Google close at its heels. We had earlier observed that not only is Microsoft neglecting mobile phone market, it isn't showing much interest in Windows 10. Incidentally, Microsoft has now made it official that Windows phones won't receive any more support (budget). Probably, it is working on a cloud based operating system - OS as a service. The concept would be to boot up local devices using firmware and connect to the cloud operating system. We are already seeing a shift in Microsoft offerings - from local to cloud. Could it be that Microsoft is focussing on cloud before going ba...
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How to get motivation?

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How to get motivation? In my honest opinion, there is no such thing called motivation. All those motivational quotes and posters are BS. If your brain is good enough to be charged with a quote or two, you don't need any motivation. On the contrary, if you are a tired soul, nothing can motivate you - except circumstances. There may be motives behind every action or inaction. But thinking that going through a few quotes, watching a movie, or reading a book, will give you the necessary strength is stupidity. It's not motivation. It's the strength you already have. This strength is within everyone. Motivation is "I have to do it." If there are no other options and you have to do it, it is motivation. In other words, motivation is awakening your strength and getting down to work in either of these cases: 1. You seriously (desperately) want to do something - in which case you don't need any external motivation 2. You are left with no options; you have to d...
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Why pray to Lord Ganesha before any task?

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Why do we invoke Lord Ganesh before performing any task? There are two reasons. One is known widely & is based on the Hindu religion. The other reason is scientific. First, let's talk about the reason you already know. Lord Ganesh is also called विघ्नहर्ता (remover of all obstacles). If you have been celebrating Shri Ganesh Chaturthi, you know that Mother Goddess designated Him as Agrahari... That is, people pray to Lord Ganesh so that their tasks are completed without many or any obstacles. The second reason lies in the Chakra system of meditation. You might already know that there is this Sushumna nerve (something more like a pipe) inside the human spine. Actually, there are three pipes - Ida, Sushumna, and Pingala. When you perform pranayama, you breathe in and out using Ida & Pingala alternatively. We'll talk about Pranayama in a separate post. Coming back to the Sushumna nerve pipe, yogis say there are seven main centers in the spine that connects the tail...
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Concept of giving (help) in Hinduism

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न कोई मरता है न कोई मारता है न कोई जीतता है न कोई जिताता है मैं तो सिर्फ निमित्त मात्र हूँ।              ॐ इसलिये हे मानव, गर्व न करो के तुमने किसी की सहायता की। You can't help anyone. You cannot help even yourself. The only thing you can do is for yourself. Your body is an instrument. Keep it fit & strong so that God can use it to provide for others. Don't revel that you helped others. You just can't help anyone. You expect returns. You expect that the person you helped will be grateful to you. That does not help. The moment you expect something in return, it is trading. Help is much above trading. It takes full understanding that you are just an instrument that God is using for providence. You can serve God better by being in a position where God can use you to provide for others. इसलिये गर्व न करो। Be honest to yourself. God placed you in that position so that He can provide for others, providing for you in the process. Like...
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Significance of OM in Hinduism

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Why do we use OM before beginning any mantra? It is so widespread that we assume OM is part of mantra. It is not. OM is prefixed to each and every mantra in Hindu scriptures. Since we've been listening to it for long, it appears OM is part of every mantra.  There are two reasons for beginning mantras and prayers with OM. The first one is well known by Hindus of any religion. The OM symbolizes Godhead. We all pray to different gods and goddesses. These gods are supposed to be in charge of different laws acting upon universe. But these gods too, have to dissolve into the Supreme God at some point of time. The Godhead is beyond human comprehension. You cannot and should not associate Godhead with any form - human or otherwise - because Godhead is not your God only but God to everything in this universe.   If you associate a human form, and give God a name, you might spend rest of your life jumping from one form to another, changing religions, taking pride in your religion ...
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Best app for Android phones - Clean Master from Cheetah Mobile

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There are many apps for Android by the name of Clean Master on the Play Store. But this post is about the best app for Android, the Clean Master from Cheetah Mobile. After five years of testing different multipurpose apps for Android maintenance, I concluded that the  Clean Master from Cheetah Mobile  is the best maintenance app. Not only general maintenance, Clean Master offers you much more than you can expect from a single app. Earlier, it felt that the "All in One for Android" was the best app out there for Android. But it turned out that the "All in One" app leaves out add-ins even after you remove the main app. Features built into the Clean Master app are available as add-ins in the All in One app for Android. The add-ins are not uninstalled when you uninstall the All in One app. I could not find a proper method to remove them as they were not visible in any App Managers. I had to do a factory reset of my phone, and that was when I acknowledged Clean Master a...
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How to get salvation (moksha)?

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From God we came, into God we will go. Salvation is guaranteed for every soul. It is not reserved only for intellectuals. It is for each and every human. No, not just humans! Salvation (Moksha) is destination of all souls living, as gods, as humans, as animals, plants, and even the single cell amoeba. Everything is an expansion of God. Whatever theory you believe, you know you are formed of the same material as that of which the universe is composed. Universe and all creation is just like the sandbox of a child. He creates things out of that sand, plays with them, and then dissolves the creation to create another game in the same sandbox. You also know what you see is gross, just a small part of the entire creation. You cannot even see the subtle you. You, as a soul, are invisible to normal people. Yogis can talk directly to you as soul because they've practiced a lot. But that's not the main thing here. The main thing is salvation is guaranteed. The time taken t...
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Online Piracy and Cloud Storage

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Google Drive may scan its users' contents after an expose by security agencies that it is being used for piracy. Online Piracy through Google Drive It has been brought to the notice of Google that pirates are storing all their stuff on the cloud storage space offered as Drive. Trends suggest people uploading illegal music, videos, software etc to Google Drive. After uploading them to Google Drive, pirates are sharing them using links. Earlier, it was easier to get pirates by scanning the Internet. Since services like Google Drive, Onedrive, and Dropbox are secure storage systems, cyber police cannot scan them without warrant. Pirates are taking advantage of this feature and are using Drive storage to upload and distribute illegal content. The terms and conditions of almost all cloud storage services have a clause asking users to refrain from uploading what they don't own. But since it cannot be ascertained if the files on cloud or legitimate or not unless searched...
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Future of Microsoft Windows

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I personally, don't think Windows has any future unless they draw it from scratch again. They messed up Windows 10. Everyone seems to hv a buggy copy. There are known issues like things popping up or cursor random movements, but the developers are not tending to them. Did you say bye to Windows OS? Going by the hints Microsoft dropped, it will be a cloud based operating system by 2020, when the mainstream support for Windows 10 ends. You can get an idea of the cloud based Windows if you look at Windows 10 S. As of now, it is just a stripped down version of Windows 10 that allows apps only from Microsoft Store. Going by that, it is going to be a highly limited operating system just like its counterpart iOS. The leading operating system in the world is Android as of now. I said that in an earlier post too. Coming back to Windows operating system, will you be interested in a cloud based operating system that charges you monthly? It is not yet confirmed th...
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What is society and should you listen to it?

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Why does every emotion boil down to sex and things like that? What's the meaning of love? Physical intimation? How many of you get intimate with God? What's that supposed to mean? Why can't you simply love anyone without thinking about physical and social relations? Because it's the social fabric that tells us whom to love and whom to hate. I too hate plenty of people, based on my prejudice; my thoughts that are/were influenced by others. I grew up hating people, even dad. Just because I was told they were bad. But love too has its own origins. You are told to love your near and dear based on how your parents feel about them, based on social norms. Every relationship has a name, definition, and comes with a rule of do's and dont's. If you try to break the rules, you are disgusting. You are not worth any respect from anyone. You try hard to feed yourself the concept of family, society, good, and bad. But deep inside, you know it is just hypocrisy. You...
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Mother, Father, Allah, and God

There is one Mother who cares. For everything. For everyone. You just have to call Her. Many a time you don't even call Her. She Herself manifests into different people - not necessarily female. She loves me. In the form of one of you. Or in the form of strangers. I don't get it quick. But I know it's my Mother. You call Her Krishna. I address Her as Amma. That's the only difference. You don't like Her as Mother Goddess, because you are too busy praying to Her in the form of Venkatesh, Ram, or Krishna. There are people who don't want Saraswati Stuti but won't miss Ma Laxmi's prasadam. What ideology is that? Do you really believe there are thirty-three crore gods? All of them are manifestations of my Mother. Call Her by any name. Draw Her in any shape. She would not mind. Because She is my Mother. You unnecessarily fear Her, dragging Her down to a personality, assigning Her some attributes that your books say. But I know my Mother Goddess. She...
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Permanent Relations - Universe is a family

There are moments when you feel intense emotions for "yours". But at the same time you know everything is more temporary than the word "temporary" itself. It gives you pain the very next moment - the moment you realize it. Happens always to me. There are two ways to deal with this. You can forget that it is maya and indulge in whatever you fancy. That doesn't stay for long though. But you can enjoy the moment. People say there is nothing called "yours". They mean the carriers of soul. They look at physical things and tell you that nobody is your own. Maybe they are right. I have a different point of view. I try to see things as God's creation. Maybe the material bodies are temporary but souls are their own, or rather God's children - human or anything else. If you look at things that way, you are God's; that is God's belonging; I am God's child. Thus, we are all connected... up to eternity because then you are looking fr...
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My God vs Your God

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We all are born beautiful. But then we start thinking. Beauty ends where brain starts. A priest is the happiest person on earth, because he doesn't question his beliefs. He believes in the same verses at 80, that he learned at 8. A priest is beautiful. But you and I think. We have questions about God. We have questions about our life. We question things. Therefore we are ugly. Only something that doesn't think is beautiful. As long as you don't question your parents and uncles and aunts, you are a beautiful being. The moment you stop blind beliefs, you become ugly, hated by your own. I don't really believe I am born for some special purpose. It is philosophy, designed to put you at ease. You can wait all your life for the purpose and die without knowing it. There is no purpose as such, except for what is laid out according to your religion. When you are just a kid, you pray to God. Hanumanaji is as much the God as is Durga Ma or Ram or Jesus or Allah. As you g...
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Why does life repeat itself

Life does repeat itself. We often face similar circumstances and events recurring. People say life repeats itself because it has a lesson to teach you. So until you understand and learn that lesson, it will keep coming back. I don't know if it is true. I've been turning into ashes every few years. All my hard work goes into dustbin. Then there is a brief period of inactivity. Then I build things from scratch again. It happened three times since 2010. But I don't see any lesson. It just happens without any reason. Maybe, it is the way of life. People can either fight life or go with the flow. So far, I've hardly seen anyone winning. People who adjust according to circumstances are the ones at peace. I read somewhere that life is not complicated until you want to control it. I do not know which route is good. It's not to discourage you or anyone but I find adapting to circumstances is much easier than trying to fight and control things. Life takes it own rou...
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How to find God - Connect to the Universe

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People can be at ease if they don't question their beliefs. While there are no rules in Hindutva, questions still arise in the human mind. It is better to keep faith in God and ask Him for guidance than approaching people in charge of religions. There are Vedas and the Bhagwad Gita that give a direction to your thoughts allowing you to think clearly. Even the Abrahamic religions have holy books that their followers refer to, when in doubt. The only issue is that caretakers of all religions are against updating these holy books. Books can help only up to an extent. They make you think, help you get started, and give food to your thought so that can find answers. You need to connect to the Universe to receive answers. Books can guide to a point. There is nothing like an all inclusive book that contains solutions related to all the problems of humanity. The Vedas and Gita have latest interpretations based on current circumstances. There are many interpretations if y...
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Does India have a refugee policy?

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These new forms of attacks emerging in Europe is pretty disturbing. People can be arrested if found with bombs. You cannot simply arrest truck drivers until after they strike. All thanks to Europe's Immigration Program. Barcelona Attack ISIS terrorism according to "The Guardian" Now, India is settling Rohingya and Bangladeshi immigrants illegally in Jammu and Hyderabad. They are already there in West Bengal and Assam. Kashmir is already burning because of misguided Muslim youth. West Bengal too is going Kashmir way. In my opinion, lack of a proper refugee policy amounts to inviting disasters like those in Europe. Wonder why governments don't see it. Or probably they see it as a good thing because it will keep them in business until eternity. ~ AK
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Caste system in India and its religions

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It is not Brahminism that ruined our society. Those Ambedkar and Periyar followers are wrong. Brahmins are just like any other caste. Like Dalits. All of them need some sort of identification so they can get a feeling that they belong to a certain group. This tendency is there in animals & birds too. That is why you see animals in groups. Then there are sub groups. Dogs of a locality have their territories marked. They won't let in dogs from outside into the territory, unless the newcomer is holding its tail down, ready to serve the authoritian Jdogs of that territory. When Lord Krishna spoke, He spoke of Varnas and not Castes. Now, Varnas are different. They are decided based on the type of work a person does. A king is a kshatriya. A teacher is brahmin. A businessman is vaishya. Someone doing things like cleaning up is shudra. Lord Krishna never spoke of untouchability when explaining varna system. He said people were recognized and got a place in society (v...
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Equality is not desirable

Imagine equality. How do you define it? The easiest way would be to think of equality as contentment, where everyone is at peace with no positive or negative forces acting on them. How desirable is that? It feels good in theory that everyone is content; everyone is at peace; everyone has everything he or she wants. Believe me, you wouldn't want everyone to achieve that state. Because it leads to inertia. There won't be any type of action - positive or negative. There would be a state of suspended animation: people alive but not able to do anything because they do not want anything. Creation is based upon disbalance. I had a friend tell me that world would hv been pleasant if God was nice to everyone in general. Think about it. Isn't tension necessary for action to take place? That action could be creation or it could be destruction of something. But there would be action. In case of all prevalent contentment, there won't be any action. Nobody will want to bre...
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What is your dharma Karma and Sanyas yoga

In times when people are fighting on what to call God, let's look at Maha Nirvana Tantra. First thing is, who dared name God? Anyone claiming that that God has a special name is blasphemous. Names are but an easier way to identify things. God is much above that. Coming to Maha Nirvana Tantra, there are two types of dharmas. One is grihasth (गृहस्थ) or householder. The other is Sanyasi (सन्यासी) or people who renunciated everything to spend their time in learning and teaching about God. It is difficult to remain in world, fulfill your duties, and reach God. It is nevertheless possible. People who believe in karma and take care of dharma while being grihasth or householder reach the same destination that a yogi who renunciated everything would reach. There are four yogas mentioned that take you towards the Ultimate. Householder or grihasth is toughest of them all. Because under this yoga, the person has to stay in world & yet take care of his duties, that too, without a...
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Modi and Corruption - Where does India stand after all these years?

It saddens me to see the sorry state of current affairs. If we don't unite, Modi can't do anything even if he tries. Just like Modi eating food will not satisfy your hunger, he going ahead and announcing schemes won't help until there is unity among persons responsible for implementation & use of those schemes. This post is prompted by the depression arising out of transfer of DIG of Prisons to Traffic department. It shows the deep rooted corruption in every system. Why was the DIG Prisons transferred? Because she told us about special treatment being given to Sasikala, lodged in one of Karnataka prisons. Not only was the DIG Prisons transferred, the DG too has been sent on indefinite leave. Some 42 prisoners were also sent to other prisons so that no one can give any statement on the special treatment given to Sasikala. The report on Sasikala was presented yesterday & within 24 hours, so much happened. It kind of sends signals of distress & despair amon...
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Questions for the Indian Government from a common Indian

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Following are some questions for the Indian government. But anyone can answer them if they know the answers. Why does everything seem to be going in the wrong direction? Hyderabad at Sunrise - Not related to the post Why is Pakistan still Most Favored Nation (MFN) for India? What are these governments hiding? Already Kashmir is on boil...why are they settling Rohingya refugees there? Is there really terrorism or a freedom fight going on in Kashmir? What do they want exactly? To go with Pak, create unrest, or implementation of an Islamic rule? Why isn't any scamster of UPA regime still not in jail? Why is West Bengal turning into an Islamic state? Why isn't anyone even trying to overthrow Mamata Banerjee's regime? How much is the government earning from illegal poppy cultivation there? What is happening in Kerala? W hy isn't anyone protesting the killings of local activists by communists? Who is benefitting from those killings & how? W...
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Letter to Sri Narendra Modi - Indian PM

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Nobody wants war. But at the least, revoke MFN status to Pakistan? Is Mr Modi playing MK Gandhi - working both for international influencers while trying to maintain his following? Believe me sir, your following is reducing each day that ends with non action. All that development, which you claim you have done, will do you no good if you fail the mood of nation. People are angry. They voted you to power because they wanted Chinese Gandhis in Tihar, because they were fed up of terrorists beheading our armed forces personnel, and because they wanted a Nationalist at Center. They didn't vote you so that you go to Lahore & have Biryani with Sharif. They didn't vote you to power just so they can listen to your "mann ki baat" on radio. ITES companies are laying off more than 70,000 people this summer. Do you have any action plan? Instead you're giving sermons on Buddhism in Lanka. Your Standup India scheme is limited to Backward Classes who a...
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Best app for Android phones - Clean Master from Cheetah Mobile

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There are many apps for Android by the name of Clean Master on the Play Store. But this post is about the best app for Android, the Clean Master from Cheetah Mobile. After five years of testing different multipurpose apps for Android maintenance, I concluded that the  Clean Master from Cheetah Mobile  is the best maintenance app. Not only general maintenance, Clean Master offers you much more than you can expect from a single app. Earlier, it felt that the "All in One for Android" was the best app out there for Android. But it turned out that the "All in One" app leaves out add-ins even after you remove the main app. Features built into the Clean Master app are available as add-ins in the All in One app for Android. The add-ins are not uninstalled when you uninstall the All in One app. I could not find a proper method to remove them as they were not visible in any App Managers. I had to do a factory reset of my phone, and that was when I acknowledged Clean Master a...
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Significance or Meaning of Swaha and Ithi in Sanskrit Mantras

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You might have noticed that all mantras begin with the sound of "OM". What you might have ignored or failed to notice is that mantras in Sanskrit end with "ithi" or "Swaha". Some of you end mantras with just a "Namah". Not to scare you, but if you fail to use "ithi" at end of each mantra or at the very end of any Stotra (hymn), the mantra & related offering (sacrifice or prasadam) doesn't reach the god being prayed. The word "ithi" marks the end of the mantra and urges gods to accept whatever you are offering. The word "swaha" is used more in homams (rituals where you put offerings/prasadam directly into the fire). Since people put offerings into the fire while saying "swaha", many of us associate it with "destruction". When anyone says "sab kuch swaha ho gaya (everything became swaha)", it does and should not be concluded that they lost things. It is a wrong notion that as...
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Analysis of Mahabharata Characters - Bhishma

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Bhishma is one of the powerful characters of the epic, Mahabharata that contains and shows a pious way of life to the mortals living on earth. I am starting this Analysis of Mahabharata Characters with Bhishma as he is the oldest character in the epic/saga and has tremendous influence on the other characters of Mahabharata. Bhishma was the son of king Shantanu and Ganga (the river Ganges in female form). Bhishma was considered one of the eight Vasus (rishis) who had to take birth on earth due to a curse. Before we analyze the character, let us take a quick look at the story of Bhishma according to the Mahabharata. Background Of Bhishma Bhismha is considered one of the eight Vasus who stole a cow named Kamadhenu from a sage. When the sage cursed them to take birth as humans, all Vasus asked for his forgiveness. The sage, for seven Vasus who helped the main Vasu to steal the cow, reduced the curse to death just after birth. However, the main Vasu who actually stole the cow was ...
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