Shruti Vedas Rig Veda Sama Veda Yajur Veda Atharva Veda Brahmanas Aranyakas Upanishads Smriti Itihāsas Mahābhārata Bhagavad Gītā Ramayana Puranas (List) Tantras Sutras (List) Stotras Ashtavakra Gita Git ...

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Itihasa -

(1) history in general.

(2) a book which contains instructions on dharma, artha, kama, and moksa, and narrations of ancient events (dharmartha-kama-moksanam upadesa-samanvitam purva-vrta katha-yuktam itihasam pracaksate). This definition is quoted in Gaudiya-Vaisnava-abhidhana.

(3) the fifth Veda. According to both sruti and smrti, the Itihasa and the Puranas are considered the fifth Veda. Srimad-Bhagavatam (3.12.39) states, itihasa-puranani pancamam vedam; and (1.4.20) , itihasa puranan ca pancamo veda ucyate. In his commentary on (1.4.20) , Jiva Gosvami quotes the Mahabharata (Moksa-dharma 340.21) , vedan adhyapayamasa mahabharata-pancaman iti, "Vyasa taught the Vedas along with the fifth of their number, the Mahabharata.”

Similarly in Manu-smrti (3.232) it is said, akhyananitihasams ca. In his Manu-vartha-muktavali commentary on this sloka, Kulluka Bhatta (a celebrated commentator on Manusmrti from the twelfth century) states, itihasan mahabharatadin, "The word itihasan refers to the Mahabharata and other literature.” These references establish that the word itihasa specifically refers to the Mahabharata.

Within the Mahabharata is found the Bhagavad-Gita, which is accepted as the essence of all the Vedas even by Sri Sankaracarya, who states in the introduction to his Gita commentary, tad idam gita-sastram samasta-vedartha-sarasangraha- bhutam, "This gita-sastra is the essence of the purport of all the Vedas.” This further confirms that the itihasa is part of the body of Vedic literature. Sruti itself (Chandogya Upanisad 7.1.2) declares that the Itihasa and Puranas are the fifth Veda among the body of Vedic literature, itihasam puranam pancamam vedanam vedam.

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

For more dictionary entries, see » Itihasa Dictionary

Bhagavad Gita: n (Sanskrit) "Song of the Lord." One of the most popular of Hindu writings, a conversation between Lord Krishna and Arjuna on the brink of the great battle at Kurukshetra.

In this central episode of the epic Mahabharata (part of the sixth book), Krishna illumines the warrior-prince Arjuna on yoga, asceticism, dharma and the manifold spiritual path.

See: Itihasa, Mahabharata.

(See also: Bhagavad Gita , Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)

For more dictionary entries, see » Itihasa Dictionary

allegory: A story in which the character, places and events have symbolic meaning, used to teach ideas and moral principles. See: Itihasa, Purana.

(See also: Allegory , Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)

For more dictionary entries, see » Itihasa Dictionary

Aithihya (Sanskrit) (from iti thus, in this manner + ha emphatic particle)

Thus indeed it was; traditional instructions, tradition. Closely similar to itihasa, a name applied to semi-legendary and epic accounts; also to the Mahabharata and Ramayana. As the instructors of certain schools in handing on teaching (especially oral teaching delivered with "mouth to ear") invariably commenced an installment with the phrase "iti maya srutam" or "iti ha maya srutam" (truly thus have I heard), such instruction came to be called aitihya or aitiha. The adjectival form aitihasika also means what is communicated or derived from tradition, ancient legend, or heroic history.

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

For more dictionary entries, see » Itihasa Dictionary

Ramayana

"The most ancient Sanskrit epic poem, written by the sage Valmiki. It is estimated to have been composed about 500 B.C., and contains approximately 50,000 lines. The Ramayana describes the life of Sri Rama: his banishment from Ayodhya; life in the forest with his faithful wife Sita; Sita's abduction by Ravana; the war of Rama and his allies against Ravana; defeat of Ravana and rescue of Sita; Rama's return to Ayodhya as ruler; slander of Sita by the people of Ayodhya and her banishment from the kingdom; her subsequent exoneration and final ascent to heaven, where she is joined by Rama."

-- Ramakrishna-Vedanta Wordbook

"The Ramayana is a work of the same essential kind as the Mahabharata; it differs only by a greater simplicity of plan, a more delicate ideal temperament and a finer glow of poetic warmth and colour. The main bulk of the poem in spite of much accretion is evidently by a single hand and has a less complex and more obvious unity of structure. There is less of the philosophic, more of the purely poetic mind, more of the artist, less of the builder. The whole story is from beginning to end of one piece and there is no deviation from the stream of the narrative. At the same time there is a like vastness of vision, an even more wide-winged flight of epic sublimity in the conception and sustained richness of minute execution in the detail.

...The eopic poet has taken here also as his subject an Itihasa, an ancient tale or legend associated with an old Indian dynasty and filled it in with detail from myth and folklore, but has exalted all into a scale of grandiose epic figure that it may bear more worthily the high intention and significance. The subject is the same as in the Mahabharata,, the strife of the divine with the titanic forces in the life of the earth, but in more purely ideal forms, in frankly supernatural dimensions and an imaginative heightening of both the good and the evil in human character. On one side is portrayed an ideal manhood, a divine beauty of virtue and ethical order, a civilization founded on the Dharma and realising an exaltation of the moral ideal which is presented with a singularly strong appeal of aesthetic grace and harmony and sweetness; on the other are wild and anarchic and almost amorphous forces of superhuman egoism and self-will and exultant violence, and the two ideas and powers of mental nature living and embodied are brought into conflict and led to a decisive issue of the victory of the divine man over the Rakshasa. All shade and complexity are omitted which would diminish the single urity of the idea, the representative force in the outline of the figures, the significance of the temperamental colour and only so much admitte as is sufficient to humanise the appeal and the significance.

The poet makes us conscious of the immense forces that are behind our life and sets his action in a magnificent epic scenery, the great imperial city, the mountains and ocean, the forest and wilderness, described with such a largeness as to make us feel as if the whole world were the scene of his poem and its subject the whole divine and titanic possibility of man imaged in a few great or monstrous figures. The ethical and the aesthetic mind of India have here fused themselves into a harmonious unity and reached an unexampled pure wideness and beauty of self-expression. The Ramayana embodied for the Indian imagination its highest and tenderest human ideals of character, made strength and courage and gentleness and purity and fidelity and self-sacrifice familiar to it in the suavest and most harmonious forms..."

-- Sri Aurobindo, The Foundations of Indian Culture,

SABCL Vol 14 pp. 289-90

(See also: Ramayana , Hinduism, Vedic Scriptures, Yoga, Body Mind and Soul)

For more dictionary entries, see » Itihasa Dictionary

Itihasas

Epic histories, including the Mahabharata and Ramayana. In contrast to the more encyclopedic Puranas, each Itihasa usually tells one heroic story.

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

For more dictionary entries, see » Itihasa Dictionary

Bhagavad Gita: n (Sanskrit) "Song of the Lord." One of the most popular of Hindu writings, a conversation between Lord Krishna and Arjuna on the brink of the great battle at Kurukshetra. In this central episode of the epic Mahabharata (part of the sixth book), Krishna illumines the warrior-prince Arjuna on yoga, asceticism, dharma and the manifold spiritual path. See: Itihasa, Mahabharata.

(See also: Bhagavad Gita , Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)

For more dictionary entries, see » Itihasa Dictionary

Mahabharata: (Sanskrit) "Great Epic of India."

The world's longest epic poem. It revolves around the conflict between two royal families, the Pandavas and Kauravas, and their great battle of Kurukshetra near modern Delhi in approximately 1424 bce. Woven through the plot are countless discourses on philosophy, religion, astronomy, cosmology, polity, economics and many stories illustrative of simple truths and ethical principles. The Bhagavad Gita is one section of the work. The Mahabharata is revered as scripture by Vaishnavites and Smartas.

See: Bhagavad Gita, Itihasa.

(See also: Mahabharata , Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)

For more dictionary entries, see » Itihasa Dictionary

This is a sitemap for Theosophy - I . Click on a link and you will find multiple definitions and articles related to the word.

I - Letter I, I Am That I Am, I Ching, I H S, I Hi Weu, Iabraoth, Iacchos, Iachus, Iah, Iaho, Ialdabaoth, I-am, Iamblichus, I-am-I, I-am-ness, Iao, Iao Hebdomai, Iapetos, Iapetus, Iaso, Iavar-Zivo, Ibis, Ibis Worship, Iblis, Ibn Gebirol, iccha-sakti, Ice Ages, Ichchha, Ichchha Sakti, Ichchha-sakti, Ichthus, Ichthys, Icshu, Ida, Idaean Mysteries, Idaei, Idaeic Finger, Idam, Ida-nadi, Idas, Idaspati, Idavatsara, Iddhi, Ideal Man, Idealism, Idei, Ideic Finger, Ideos, Idises, Idol, Idolotry, Idospati, Idra Rabba, Idra Suta, Idra Zuta, Idris, Idrus, Idun, Iduna, Idwatsara, I-em-hetep, Ieon, Iesous, Iesus Hominum Salvator, Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum, Ieu, Ieva, Ieve, Ievo, Iezedians, Ifing, Igaga, Igege, Igigi, Igne Natura Renovatur Integra, Ignis, Ignis Fatuus, IHVH, Ikhir Bonga, Ikshu, Ikshvaku, Ikshwaku, Iksvaku, Iku-gai-no-kame, Ila, Ilavrita, Ilavriti, Ilavrta, Ilda Baoth, Ildabaoth, Iliados, Ilithyia, Illaah, Illa'ah, Illinus, Illuminati, Illupl, Illusion, Ilmatar, Ilus, Ilya Murometz, Ilythia, Imagination, Imago, Imat, Imhetep, Imhotep, Imhot-pou, imma, Immaculate Conception, Immah, Immah Illa-ah, Immortality, Imothos, Imouthes, Imperishable Sacred Land, in Hebrew Hinnom, Inachos, Inachus, Inca, Incantation, Incapsulation Theory, Incarnation, Incarnations, Incas, Incense, Incubus, Indeterminacy, Indigo, Individualism, Individuality, Indivisibles, Indolentia, Indovansas, Indrani, Indriya, Indriyatman, Indu, Induction, Inductive Method, Induvamsa, Induvansa, Indwellers, Ineffable Name, Infallibility of Pope, Infants, Inferior and Superior, Infernal Deities, Infinite, Inflectional Speech, Influenza, Initiant, Initiate, Initiation, Inner Eye, Inner God, Inner Man, Inner Round, Innocents, Inorganic, Insanity, Insignia Majestatis, Inspiration, Inspired, Instinct, Intellect, Intercosmic gods, Interlaced Triangles, Intermediate Nature, Intoxicants, Intra-Mercurial Planet, Intuition, Inversion of Poles, Invisible Worlds, Involution, Io, Ioannes, Ioh, Iolo Morganwg, Ion, Ionian, Ionic School, Iormungandr, Iotef, Iove, Ira, Irad, Iranian Morals, Irdhi, Irenaeus, Iri-sokhru, Irkalla, Iron Age, Isa Upanishad, Isaac ben S Luria, Isanami, Isangi, Isarim, Isatva, Ischin, Ish Amon, Ishdubar, Ishim, 'Ishim, 'Ishin, Ishmonia, Ishtar, Isiac table, Isitwa, Islam, Israel, Issachar, 'issarim, Istar, Ister, Isu, Isvara, Iswara, Iswur, I't, Itchasakti, Ithyphallic, Itihasa, Itthammuktas, Iukabar Zivo, Iu-Kabar Zivo, Iurbo Adonai, Iurbo Aduna?, Ivalde, Ivaldi, Iwaldi, Ixtlilxochitl, Iyam, 'iyyob, Izad, Izanagi and Izanami, Izdubar, Ized

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Ramayana: (Sanskrit) "Vehicle of Rama."

One of India's two grand epics (Itihasa) along with the Mahabharata. It is Valmiki's tragic love story of Rama and Sita, whose exemplary lives have helped set high standards of dignity and nobility as an integral part of Hindu dharma. Astronomical data in the story puts Rama's reign at about 2015 bce.

See: Rama.

(See also: Ramayana , Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)

For more dictionary entries, see » Itihasa Dictionary

Hinduism Lexicon on A

From aadheenam to axis.

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Hinduism Lexicon on B

From backbiting to buddhi chitta.

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This is a sitemap for topic pages related to Hinduism. Click on a link and you will find multiple articles related to the topic:

Hinduism Dictionary - I

Icha shakti, Icon, Iconoclastic, Ida nadi, Ida nadi, Illusion, Illustrious, Immanent, Immature, Immature soul, Immemorial, Immutable, Impasse, Impede, Impediment, Impending, Imperishable, Impermanence, Impersonal, Impersonal being, Impersonal God, Impetus, Implore, Impoverished, Inanimate, Inauspicious, Incandescent, Incantation, Incarnation, Incense, Incisive, Incognito, Increment, Individual mind, Individual soul, Individuality, Indomitable, Indra, Indriya, Induce, Indus Valley, Indwell, I-ness, Inexhaustible, Inexplicable, Infatuation, Infinitesimal, Inflict, Infuse, Ingest, Inherent, Inherent sin, Inherit, Initiation, Injunction, Inmost, Innate, Inner, Inner advancement, Inner bodies, Inner discovery, Inner form of the guru, Inner law, Inner life, Inner light, Inner light, Inner mind, Inner planes, Inner self, Inner sky, Inner truth, Inner universes, Inner universes, Innermost body, Innumerable, Inscrutable, Insignia, Instinctive, Instinctive mind, Instinctive mind, Instrumental cause, Intellect, Intellectual mind, Intellectual mind, Internalize, Internalized worship, Interplay, Intervene, Interweave, Intimacy, Intrigue, Intrinsic, Intrinsic evil, Intuition, Invigorate, Invocation, Iraivan, Iraivan Temple, Isha, Isha Upanishad, Ishanyaguru, Ishta Devata, Ishtalinga, Ishvara, Ishvarapujana, Islam, Issue forth, Itihasa, Itinerant,

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Shruti Vedas Rig Veda Sama Veda Yajur Veda Atharva Veda Brahmanas Aranyakas Upanishads Smriti Itihāsas Mahābhārata Bhagavad Gītā Ramayana Puranas (List) Tantras Sutras (List) Stotras Ashtavakra Gita Gita Govinda Hatha Yoga Pradipika Vahana is the being or object that serves as the mount or vehicle of a deity in Indian mythology. Vah in Sanskrit ...

Including:

• Vahana - Symbolism
• Vahana - Origins
• Vahana - Vahanas of some major and minor deities

Read more here: » Vahana: Encyclopedia - Vahana

In iconography, the vahana is both the symbol and the emblem of the deity that it carries. Nandi the bull, vahana of Shiva, represents strength and virility. Parvani the peacock, vahana of Skanda, represents splendour and majesty. The swan, mount of Saraswati, represents grace and beauty. As the assistant of a deity, the vahana serves the function of doubling his or her powers. Durga the warrior could not have destroyed the demon Mahishasura without the aid of her mount, Manashthala the lion. Lakshmi, goddess of fortune, dispenses bot ...

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Vahana, Vahana - Symbolism, Vahana - Origins, Vahana - Vahanas of some major and minor deities

Read more here: » Vahana: Encyclopedia II - Vahana - Symbolism

Itihasa (Sanskrit) (from iti thus, so + ha indeed + asa it was)

Thus indeed it was; legend, tradition, history. From the custom of narrators to conclude their utterance with this phrase, it acquired the meaning of tradition. It is also "the narrative of the lives of some august personages, conveying at the same time meanings of the highest moral and occult importance" (BCW 6:42).

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

For more dictionary entries, see » Itihasa Dictionary

Agama Hindu Dharma is the formal name of Hinduism in Indonesia. It is practised by 93% of the population of Bali, but also in Sumatra, Java (especially by the Tenggerese people on the east), and Kalimantan. Although only about 3% of Indonesian population is officially Hindu, Indonesian beliefs are too complex to classify as belonging to a single world religion. In Java in particular, a substantial number of Muslims follow a non-orthodox, Hindu-influenced form of Islam known as Abangan, while across the archipelago the Hindu legacy, along with ...

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• Agama Hindu Dharma - General beliefs and practices
• Agama Hindu Dharma - Hinduism in Bali
• Agama Hindu Dharma - Javanese Hinduism
• Agama Hindu Dharma - Hinduism elsewhere in the archipelago
• Agama Hindu Dharma - See Also

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The vahana of a deity can vary according to the source, the time, and the place. In popular tradition, the origin of each vahana is told in thousands of different ways. While Ganesh was still a child, a giant mouse began to terrorize all his friends. Ganesh trapped him with his lasso and made him his mount. Mushika was originally a gandharva, or celestial musician. After absentmindedly walking over the feet of rishi Vamadeva, he was cursed and transformed into a mouse. However, after the sage had calmed down, he promised him that one day, the gods themselves would bow down before him. This came to pa ...

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Vahana, Vahana - Symbolism, Vahana - Origins, Vahana - Vahanas of some major and minor deities

Read more here: » Vahana: Encyclopedia II - Vahana - Origins

Shruti Vedas Rig Veda Sama Veda Yajur Veda Atharva Veda Brahmanas Aranyakas Upanishads Smriti Itihāsas Mahābhārata Bhagavad Gītā Ramayana Puranas (List) Tantras Sutras (List) Stotras Ashtavakra Gita Gita ...

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