Soma (Sanskrit), or Haoma (Avestan) (from Proto-Indo-Iranian *Sauma) was a ritual drink of importance among the early Indo-Iranians, and the later Vedic and Iranian cultures. It is frequently mentioned in the Rigveda, which contains many hymns praising its energizing or intoxicating qualities. It is described as prepared by pressing juice from the stalks of a certain mountain plant, which has been variously hypothesized to be a psychedelic mushroom, cannabis, or ephedra. In both Indian and Iranian tradition, the drink is ...

Including:

• Soma - Etymology
• Soma - Soma in Indian tradition
• Soma - Vedas
• Soma - Other Hindu texts
• Soma - Hinduism
• Soma - Persian Haoma
• Soma - Candidates for the Soma plant
• Soma - Hallucinogenic
• Soma - Ephedra
• Soma - Archaeological evidence

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Krishna (IAST kṛṣṇa, the Sanskrit for "the all-attractive one") is according to common Hindu tradition the eighth avatar of Vishnu. In Gaudiya Vaishnavism, however, he is seen as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and the fountain head of all avatars. Krishna appears in a number of stories in different cultures and traditions. Sometimes these contradict each other, though ther ...

Including:

• Krishna - The name
• Krishna - Texts stories and literature
• Krishna - The story of Krishna
• Krishna - The incarnation
• Krishna - Birth and childhood
• Krishna - Boyhood and youth
• Krishna - Krishna the prince
• Krishna - The Kurukshetra war
• Krishna - The last days
• Krishna - The worship of Krishna
• Krishna - Early references
• Krishna - The Bhakti tradition
• Krishna - Gita Govinda - the song of the cowherd
• Krishna - Recent Krishna bhakti movements
• Krishna - Krishna in Jainism
• Krishna - Krishna in Buddhism
• Krishna - Chronology

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Hinduism (हिन्दू धर्म; also known as Sanātana Dharma - सनातन धर्म, and Vaidika-Dharma - वैदिक धर्म) is a worldwide religious tradition that is based on the Vedas and is the direct descendant of the Vedic religion. It encompasses many religious traditions that widely vary in practice, as well as many diverse sects and philosophies. An array of deities, all manifestations of the one supreme monistic Ishvara, are venerated. Beliefs, codes and principles vary fr ...

Including:

• Hinduism - Core Concepts
• Hinduism - The Eternal Way
• Hinduism - Basic beliefs
• Hinduism - Practice Yoga Dharma
• Hinduism - The four objectives Of Life
• Hinduism - The four stages of Life
• Hinduism - The four classes of the society
• Hinduism - Nature of God
• Hinduism - Denominations
• Hinduism - Hindu sacred texts
• Hinduism - Shruti
• Hinduism - Bhagavad Gītā
• Hinduism - Smriti
• Hinduism - Origins and society
• Hinduism - Origins of Hinduism
• Hinduism - Etymology
• Hinduism - Vedic religion
• Hinduism - Hindu nationalism
• Hinduism - Temples
• Hinduism - Current geographic distribution
• Hinduism - Hindu philosophy: the six Vedic schools of thought
• Hinduism - Pūrva Mīmāmsā
• Hinduism - Yoga
• Hinduism - Uttara Mimāmsā: Vedānta and its three main schools
• Hinduism - Alternative cultures of worship
• Hinduism - The Bhakti schools
• Hinduism - Tantra
• Hinduism - Important symbolism and themes in Hinduism
• Hinduism - Tilaka symbol on forehead or between eyebrows
• Hinduism - Ahimsa non-violence vegetarian diet and the cow
• Hinduism - Hindu symbolism
• Hinduism - Murtis icons
• Hinduism - Sanskrit
• Hinduism - Mantra
• Hinduism - Criticism
• Hinduism - Hinduism
• Hinduism - Related systems and religions

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There are a great variety of Buddhist texts. Buddhists place varying value on them: attitudes range from worship of the text itself, to dismissal of some texts as falsification of the ineffable truth. They therefore cannot be called "scripture" in the sense of other religions. The texts can be categorized in a number of ways, but the most fundamental division is that between canonical and non-canonical texts. The former, also called the Sutras (Sanskrit) or Suttas (Pali), are held to be, literally or metaphoricall ...

Including:

• Buddhist texts - Canonical texts
• Buddhist texts - Non-canonical texts
• Buddhist texts - Texts of the Nikaya Schools
• Buddhist texts - Vinaya
• Buddhist texts - Sutta
• Buddhist texts - Abhidharma
• Buddhist texts - Non-canonical texts
• Buddhist texts - Mahayana texts
• Buddhist texts - Perfection of Wisdom Texts
• Buddhist texts - Saddharma-pundarika
• Buddhist texts - Pure Land Sutras
• Buddhist texts - The Vimalakirti Nirdesha Sutra
• Buddhist texts - Samadhi Sutras
• Buddhist texts - Confession Sutras
• Buddhist texts - The Avatamsaka Sutra
• Buddhist texts - Third Turning Sutras
• Buddhist texts - Tathagatagarbha class sutras
• Buddhist texts - Collected Sutras
• Buddhist texts - Transmigration Sutras
• Buddhist texts - Discipline Sutras
• Buddhist texts - Sutras Devoted to Individual Figures
• Buddhist texts - Proto-Mahayana Sutras
• Buddhist texts - Non-canonical texts
• Buddhist texts - References
• Buddhist texts - Vajrayana Texts
• Buddhist texts - Buddhist tantras
• Buddhist texts - Other products of the Vajrayana literature

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This article is in need of attention. You can help Wikipedia by editing it into a better article. Please also consider changing this notice to be more specific. Varna the word itself means colour. Varna system is a color based classification. But it is also a fact that that system was not originally based on color based divisions. Lord Krishna was a dark skinned person but he was a upper caste member. Classification was based on the occupations. Working conditions brings skin color chan ...

Including:

• Indian caste system - Varna system
• Indian caste system - Four Varnas
• Indian caste system - Division of labor
• Indian caste system - Untouchables Dalit
• Indian caste system - Jati
• Indian caste system - Caste in Hindu texts
• Indian caste system - Rig Veda - Purusha Sukta hymn
• Indian caste system - Origins of the system
• Indian caste system - Aryan invasion
• Indian caste system - Transition in Caste
• Indian caste system - Modern perceptions of caste
• Indian caste system - Quotes about Caste
• Indian caste system - Notable people
• Indian caste system - Literature

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Vedic may refer to: Hindu scriptures: The Vedas, the oldest preserved Indo-Aryan texts Vedic Sanskrit, their language Vedic religion Vedic civilization Hindu culture: Vedic astrology the Ayurveda (Vedic medicine) Maharishi Mahesh Yogi: Vedic science Maharishi Vedic Medicine

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Shraddha are the funeral rites and funeral offerings for the dead among the Hindus. Shraddha also happens to be a popular Indian female name and can be translated quite accurately as "Faith" in English. Shraddha at the Banglapedia This article incorporates text from the public domain 1907 edition of The Nuttall Encyclopaedia. ...

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Hanuman Chalisa (Hindi: हनुमान चालीसा Forty chaupais on Hanuman) is Tulsidas' most famous and read piece of literature apart from the Ramacharitamanasa, a poem primarily praising Hanuman. Although it is not one of his best poems, it has gained enormous popularity among the modern-day Hindus. Many of them recite it as a prayer every week, generally on Tuesdays. Hanuman Chalisa - Text. दोहा श्र ...

Including:

• Hanuman Chalisa - Text

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The Mitakshara is a legal treatise on inheritance, written by Vijnaneshwara in the 12th century. It became one of the most influential texts in Hindu law, and its principles regarding property distribution, property rights, and succession are still in practice across most of India. The work was first translated into English by Henry Thomas Colebrooke in the early 19th century. Other related archives12th century, 19th century, English, Henry Thomas Colebrooke, Hindu law, India, Vijnanes

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In India, a zenana is the part of a house reserved for the women among Hindu families of good caste. Only since 1860 have Christian women missionaries been admitted to the zenana, and a freer interaction established. This article incorporates text from the public domain 1907 edition of The Nuttall Encyclopaedia. Other related archives1860, Christian, The Nuttall Encyclopaedia, house, public domain, women

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Kamasutram, generally known to the Western world as Kama Sutra, is an ancient Hindu text on human sexual behavior, widely considered to be the standard work on love in Sanskrit literature. The text was composed by Vatsyayana, (pronounced Vaats-yaa-yan), as a brief summary of various earlier works belonging to a tradition known generically as Kama Shastra, the science of love. Kama is literally desire. Sutra signfies a thread, or discourse threaded on a series of aphorisms. Sut ...

Including:

• Kama Sutra - Preceding history
• Kama Sutra - Time and background of Kama Sutra
• Kama Sutra - Translations

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In Hindu mythology and Buddhist mythology, Amrita is the drink of the gods, which grants them immortality. The word itself literally means "without death" In Yogic Philosophy (see yoga) amrita is a fluid that can flow from the pineal gland down the throat in deep states of meditation. It is considered quite a boon: some yogic texts say that one drop is enough to conquer death. It is also a common first name in India and Nepal, as the masculine "Amrit" and the feminine "Amrita." More recently, Amrita has become a eup ...

Including:

• Amrita - Reference

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Saptaŗişhi or Saptarşi (सप्तर्षि, pronounced as "səptərŞhi") in Sanskrit means the Seven Sages or rishis who are extolled at many places in the Vedas and other Hindu literature. The Vedas never actually enumerate these rishis by name, though later texts do so. They are regarded in the Vedas as the patriarchs of the Vedic religion. The constellation of Ursa Major is also named as Saptarshi. Saptarishi - Names of the Saptarishis incomplete. There are many contradictory lis ...

Including:

• Saptarishi - Names of the Saptarishis incomplete

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Kekaya, the land of the Pauravas (people of the Puru tribe), was one of the janapadas of ancient India. Its location was in what is now the plains lying south of the Kashmir valley between the rivers Ravi and Chenab in Punjab, and the extent of its territory varied from time to time. Its capital was Ŝakala, modern Sialkot in Punjab, Pakistan. From the ancient Hindu texts it is known that it was in constant conflict with the more powerful neighbouring kingdom of Gandhara, whom it saw as great threat.

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The term Vedic chant refers to recitation of hymns of the Vedas, the most ancient scriptures of India, and the basis of the many Hindu traditions. Chanting of these hymns has continued for at least last three millennia and is believed to the oldest such religious tradition. Before the introduction of printed texts, the Vedas were passed from one generation to the next only by the oral tradition, which necessitated chanting and memorizing of these hymns. Vedas, Mantra, Yantra, Japa, Hare Krishna, ...

Including:

• Vedic chant - Introduction
• Vedic chant - Divine Sound
• Vedic chant - Unesco
• Vedic chant - Popular Vedic Chants

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Avidya, pronounced avidyā, is a Sanskrit word meaning Ignorance, delusion, unlearned, unwise. It is used extensively in Buddhist and Hindu texts, including the Upanishads. Avidya - Buddhist concept. Avidya plays a key role in Buddhism and Buddhist doctrine and is the primary cause of suffering in Samsara. Avidya is one of the Three Fires. Avidya is the first spoke on the Wheel of Life. Avidya is the first link of Pratitya-Samutpada. As one of the T ...

Including:

• Avidya - Buddhist concept
• Avidya - From one to six aspects
• Avidya - In Advaita Vedanta
• Avidya - Adi Shankara on avidya

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The new books that appeared afterwards were called Smriti. Smrti literature includes Itihasas (epics like Ramayana, Mahabharata), Puranas (mythological texts), Agamas (theological treatises) and Darshanas (philosophical texts). The Dharmashastras (law books) are considered by many to form part of the smrti. From time to time great law-givers (eg Manu, Yajnavalkya and Parashara) emerged, who codified existing laws and eliminated obsolete ones to ensure that the Hindu way of life was consistent with both the Vedic spirit a ...

See also:

Hindu scripture, Hindu scripture - The Vedas, Hindu scripture - The Upanishads, Hindu scripture - Post-Vedic Hindu scriptures, Hindu scripture - The Bhagavad Gita, Hindu scripture - The Puranas, Hindu scripture - Other Hindu texts

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Many a Hindu has said that the most succinct and powerful abbreviation of the overwhelmingly diverse realm of Hindu thought is to be found in the Bhagavad Gita. Essentially, it is a microcosm of Vedic, Yogic, Vedantic and even Tantric thought of the Hindu fold. Composed between the 5th and 2nd centuries BC, the Bhagavad Gita (literally: Song of the Lord) is a part of the epic poem Mahabharata and is revered in Hinduism. It is not limited to Vaishnavs, as some people incorrectly assume, since it is accepted by Tantrics and non-denominational ...

See also:

Hindu scripture, Hindu scripture - The Vedas, Hindu scripture - The Upanishads, Hindu scripture - Post-Vedic Hindu scriptures, Hindu scripture - The Bhagavad Gita, Hindu scripture - The Puranas, Hindu scripture - Other Hindu texts

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From the time of its compilation, the text has been handed down in two versions: The Samhitapatha has all Sanskrit rules of sandhi applied and is the text used for recitation. The Padapatha has each word isolated in its pausa form and is used for memorization. The Padapatha is, as it were, a commentary to the Samhitapatha, but the two seem to be about co-eval. The original text as reconstructed on metrical grounds lies somewhere between the two, but closer to the Samhitapatha ("original" in the sense that it aims to recover the hymns in the form of their composition ...

See also:

Rigveda, Rigveda - Text, Rigveda - Books, Rigveda - Translations, Rigveda - Internal evidence, Rigveda - Hindu tradition, Rigveda - More recent Indian views, Rigveda - Editions, Rigveda - Translations, Rigveda - Bibliography

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The Rigveda is far more archaic than any other Indo-Aryan text preserved. For this reason, it has been in the center of attention of western scholarship from the times of Max Müller. The Rigveda records an early stage of Vedic religion, still closely tied to the pre-Zoroastrian Persian religion. It is thought that Zoroastrianism and Vedic Hinduism evolved from an earlier common religious Indo-Iranian culture. Scholars usually date the Rig-Veda to the 2nd millennium BC both linguistically and on grounds of its references to late bronz ...

See also:

Rigveda, Rigveda - Text, Rigveda - Books, Rigveda - Translations, Rigveda - Internal evidence, Rigveda - Hindu tradition, Rigveda - More recent Indian views, Rigveda - Editions, Rigveda - Translations, Rigveda - Bibliography

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While the Upanishads are indeed classed within the fold of the "Vedas," their actual importance to Hindu thought has far exceeded that of possibly any other set of Hindu scriptures, and even resulted in the Bhagavad Gita, which is a self-proclaimed yoga upanishad. Thus, they deserve a look that is independent from the samhitas and brahamans, whose excessive ritualism the Upanishads famously rebelled against. They form Vedanta and ...

See also:

Hindu scripture, Hindu scripture - The Vedas, Hindu scripture - The Upanishads, Hindu scripture - Post-Vedic Hindu scriptures, Hindu scripture - The Bhagavad Gita, Hindu scripture - The Puranas, Hindu scripture - Other Hindu texts

Read more here: » Hindu scripture: Encyclopedia II - Hindu scripture - The Upanishads