dvija:

"Twice born". Initiated.

(See also: dvija, Hinduism, Hinduism Dictionary, Sanskrit Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

Dvija:

Dvija. "Twice born". Initiated.

(See also: Dvija, Tantra, Tantra Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

dvija

A member of one of the three classes—brahmanas, kshatriyas, and vaishyas—who are “twice-born” by dint of sacred-thread initiation by a spiritual master. The term is especially used in reference to brahmanas.

(See also: dvija, Bhakti, Bhakti Yoga, Bhakti Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

Yajnopavita or the sacred thread is worn by the Brahmins, Kshatriyas and the Vaisyas. Wearing the sacred thread is a very holy and sacred ceremony amongst the Hindus. Brahmin boys between the ages of five and eight are invested with the sacred thread on a very auspicious day. By this ceremony, they become fit for the repetition of Gayatri. A Brahmin becomes a true Brahmin only after this ceremony.

Excerpt from All About Hinduism by Sri Swami Sivananda

Read more here: » Yajnopavita: Hindu Symbols - Significance Of The Sacred Thread Yajnopavita

Hinduism Rituals: Hindu Samskaras

Hinduism prescribes both ritual and spiritual practices for the final liberation of men. The ritual aspect is meant to make man more spiritual in the end, not vice versa. Each and every important event in the life a Hindu, who has chosen to lead a normal householder's life calls for the performance of certain rites. These rites are intended mainly to invoke the blessings of various gods and ensure success in the performance of his ordained duties. They are performed during various stages in his life for different ends. Some of the important rites of Hinduism are described here.

Read more here: » Hinduism Rituals: Hindu Samskaras

Hinduism and Children: Hindus loves their children dearly. They believe that their children are gifts from gods and products of their previous karma. Many presume that their children were related to them in their past lives or were their close friends. Since a Hindu firmly believes in rebirth, he views his own life from a wider perspective that encompasses not just this life but many other lives that preceded it as well as succeed it, and his individual existence as a part of a great cosmic cycle.

Read more here: » Hinduism and Children: Hindu view in Children and Parenting

There are great truths behind the ancient mythology of Hinduism. You cannot ignore a thing simply because it has a garb of mythology. Do not argue. Shut up your mouth. Keep your intellect at a respectable distance when you study mythology. Intellect is a hindrance. It will delude you. Give up arrogance and vanity. Cultivate love for imagery. Sit like a child and open your heart freely. You will comprehend the great truths revealed by mythology. You will penetrate into the hearts of the Rishis and sages who wrote the mythology. You will really enjoy mythology now..

Excerpt from All About Hinduism by Sri Swami Sivananda

Read more here: » Hindu Mythology: Hinduism Mythology and Symbols

Outward symbols are necessary and beneficial. When viewed from the right angle of vision, you will find that they play a very important part in your material as well as spiritual life. Though they may look very simple and unimportant, they are very scientific and effective.

Excerpt from All About Hinduism by Sri Swami Sivananda

Read more here: » Hindu Symbols: Symbols in Hinduism

The rites that pertain to the stages of life of man are called Samskaras. The Samskaras are purificatory rites which sanctify the life of the Hindu. They give a spiritual touch to the important events in the life of the individual from conception to cremation. They mark the important stages of a mans life. Just as the outline of a picture is lighted up slowly with the filling in of many colours, so also is Brahmanya with scriptural Samskaras. There are the Samskaras of childhood, of boyhood, of manhood and of old age and death.

Excerpt from All About Hinduism by Sri Swami Sivananda

Read more here: » Hindu Rituals: The Ten Scriptural Samskaras

An initiated journey thru the mayor Hindu Spiritual rituals by Sri Swami Sivandanda.

Excerpt from All About Hinduism by Sri Swami Sivananda

Read more here: » Hindu Rituals: An overview of Hindu Rituals

In Hinduism, diksha is the ritual of initiation into the worship of some deity by a guru (diksha guru) who bestows mantra(s) and takes the karma of the initiate - at least in case of Vaishnava diksha, as per Hari Bhakti Vilasa 1.70: raji catmatyaja dosah patni-papam sva-bhartari tatha sisyartjitam papam guruh prapnoti niscita "The faults of the counselor fall on the king, and the sins of a wife fall on her husband. In the same way a spiritual master attains the sins of his disciple. That is certain." Diksha primarily means a transfer of spir ...

Read more here: » Diksha: Encyclopedia - Diksha

The terms Varna and Sub-caste (Jati) are actually two distinct concepts. Sub-caste (Sanskrit: Gyati ज्ञाति , Hindi: Biradari बिरादरी, samaj समाज, jati जाति etc , Urdu Zat ज़ात ) is an endogamous group. Generally a sub-caste is divided into exogamus groups based on same gotras गोत्र. Varna ( वर्ण From Sanskrit, literally "kind") is a supposed unification of all the Hindu sub-castes into either four groups: Kshatriya, Brahmin , Vaishya Shudra, or into one of seve ...

Read more here: » Varnas: Encyclopedia - Varnas

The Sanskrit word ‘vrata’ denotes ‘religious vow’. It is one of the most widely used words in the Hindu religious and ritualistic literature. Derived from the verbal root ‘vrn’ (‘to choose’), it signifies a set of rules and discipline. Hence ‘Vrata’ means performance of any ritual voluntarily over a particular period of time. The purpose is to propitiate a deity and secure from it what the vrati, the performer wants. This whole process, however, should be undertaken with a sankalpa or religious resolve, on an auspicious da ...

Including:

• Vrata - Etymology
• Vrata - Three Types
• Vrata - Time based vrata
• Vrata - Based on Deity
• Vrata - Impact on Society
• Vrata - Rules of Vratas

Read more here: » Vrata: Encyclopedia - Vrata

Dvija - anyone among the brahmanas, ksatriyas, or vaisyas who has received a ‘second birth’ through the upanayana-samskara of being invested with the sacred thread, which prepares one for studying the Vedas.

(See also: Dvija, Bhakti, Bhakti Yoga, Bhakti Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

dvija:

twice-born, referring to the brahmins, (formerly even the Ksatriyas and vaisyas), who undergo initiation into the hindu religion at a sacred-thread ceremoni

(See also: dvija, Hinduism, Hinduism Dictionary, Sanskrit Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

Dvija (Sanskrit) (from dvi two + the verbal root jan to be born)

Twice-born; nowadays in India used for any man of the first three of the four castes who has undergone a certain ceremony; specifically used of a Brahman (Dvija-Brahmana) who is said to be reborn after investiture with the sacred thread, but in older times this term was used only the initiated Brahmins.

In theosophical literature, generally used for an initiate in the original sense of the word: one who really and actually is twice-born -- the first time physically, the second time spiritually and intellectually through initiation. The modern-day purely ceremonial and ritualistic observance of "passing through a silver or golden cow" (TG 107) is a faithful but purely physical emblematic ceremony of which even among most modern Brahmins the real and original meaning has been utterly forgotten.

Just as in ancient Egypt, from archaic times in Hindustan the cow has always been considered the symbol of Mother Nature, who brings to birth all things out of her ever fertile and continuously productive womb; gold has always stood for the sun, the parent of the human spiritual and intellectual faculties, while silver stood for the moon, parent of the lower human mind. Thus, just as human beings through repeated rebirths through the womb of nature grows through evolution in all parts of their constitution, so through initiation does a person become a twice-born or dvija, by being reborn from either the sun or the moon -- both of them organs of Mother Nature.

(See also: Dvija, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Dvija-bandhu

unworthy son of a brahmana.

(See also: Dvija-bandhu, Bhakti, Bhakti Yoga, Bhakti Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

Twice-born.

See DVIJA

(See also: Twice-born, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Body mind and Soul)

Golden Cow. See COW; DVIJA; HOLY OF HOLIES

(See also: Golden Cow, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Dwija. See DVIJA

(See also: Dwija, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)