There is a story about Vijaya and his men landing on the shores of Sri-Lanka. There were no women with them, since they were exciled by the king father of Vijeya. So, he married a local tribal woman and then a Chola princess in order to have a son. But there was no reference that he was a Sinhalese or he spoke Sinhala. Therefore it is wrong to say, Vijeya introduced Sinhala to Sri-Lanka. If he was a Sinhala, who was exciled ( or rather left to drift in the bay of Bengal ), what happened to the rest of the Sinhala people who exciled him by pu ...

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Saiva Agamas: (Sanskrit) The sectarian revealed scriptures of the Saivas. Strongly theistic, they identify Siva as the Supreme Lord, immanent and transcendent. They are in two main divisions: the 64 Kashmir Saiva Agamas and the 28 Saiva Siddhanta Agamas. The latter group are the fundamental sectarian scriptures of Saiva Siddhanta. Of these, ten are of the Sivabheda division and are considered dualistic: 1) Kamika, 2) Yogaja, 3) Chintya, 4) Karana, 5) Ajita, 6) Dipta, 7) Sukshma, 8) Sahasraka, 9) Amshumat and 10) Suprabheda.

There are 18 in the Rudrabheda group, classed as dual-nondual: 11) Vijaya, 12) Nihshvasa, 13) Svayambhuva, 14) Anala, 15) Vira (Bhadra), 16) Raurava, 17) Makuta, 18) Vimala, 19) Chandrajnana (or Chandrahasa), 20) Mukhabimba (or Bimba), 21) Prodgita (or Udgita), 22) Lalita, 23) Siddha, 24) Santana, 25) Sarvokta (Narasimha), 26) Parameshvara, 27) Kirana and 28) Vatula (or Parahita).

Rishi Tirumular, in his Tirumantiram, refers to 28 Agamas and mentions nine by name. Eight of these - Karana, Kamika, Vira, Chintya, Vatula, Vimala, Suprabheda and Makuta - are in the above list of 28 furnished by the French Institute of Indology, Pondicherry. The ninth, Kalottara, is presently regarded as an Upagama, or secondary text, of Vatula. The Kamika is the Agama most widely followed in Tamil Saiva temples, because of the availability of Aghorasiva's manual-commentary (paddhati) on it. Vira Saivites especially refer to the Vatula and Vira Agamas.

The Saiva Agama scriptures, above all else, are the connecting strand through all the schools of Saivism. The Agamas themselves express that they are entirely consistent with the teachings of the Veda, that they contain the essence of the Veda, and must be studied with the same high degree of devotion.

See: Agamas, Vedas.

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Vijaya:

Vijaya: Victory (SSS-II) also another name for Arjuna

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Vijaya Dasami Day:

Vijaya Dasami Day: The tenth day of the light-half of the month Asvina, day of victory (SSS) (SSS-II) the tenth day of victory (Dasara) (SSS-IV)

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MOTHER KALI

The Destroyer of Demoniac Attributes

It is unfortunate that Devi is ignorantly understood by many as a mere blood-thirsty Hindu Goddess. No! Devi is not a vicious demoness nor is She the property of the Hindus alone. Devi does not belong to any religion. Devi is that conscious power of God. The words Devi, Shakti, etc., and the ideas of different forms connected with these names are concessions granted by the sages due to the limitations of the human intellect; they are by no means the ultimate definitions of Shakti.

From " Hindu Fasts & Festivals " by Sri Swami Sivananda.

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Jaya and Vijaya

The guards of a main gate of Vaikuntha. When the four Kumara sages tried to enter Vaikuntha, Jaya and Vijaya stopped them and were cursed to fall down into the material world. Thus they were successively born as the demons Hiranyaksha and Hiranyakashipu, Ravana and Kumbhakarna, and Sishupala and Dantavakra.

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

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Sankara-vijaya:

Sankara-vijaya: The classical biography of Sankaracharya. (SSS-II)

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vijaya-vigraha

Deity forms which are taken out of the temple for processions and other outdoor functions, generally because of Their smaller, more manageable size.

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Durga Puja or Navaratri:

This festival is observed twice a year, once in the month of Chaitra and then in Aswayuja. It lasts for nine days in honour of the nine manifestations of Durga. During Navaratri (the word literally means "nine nights") devotees of Durga observe a fast. Brahmins are fed and prayers are offered for the protection of health and property.

From Hindu Fasts & Festivals by Sri Swami Sivananda.

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MOTHER SARASWATHI

Mother Saraswathi, is divine knowledge personified, the embodiment of knowledge of the Absolute. The sound of Her celestial veena awakens the notes of the sublime utterances of the Upanishads which reveal the Truth, and the sacred monosyllable, Om. She bestows the knowledge of the supreme, mystic sound and then gives full knowledge of the Self as represented by Her pure, dazzling snow-white apparel. Therefore, to propitiate Saraswathi, the giver of knowledge, is the third stage.

From " Hindu Fasts & Festivals " by Sri Swami Sivananda.

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Religious observances, traditional worship and Vratas have, at times, more than one significance. Apart from being the adoration of the Divine, they are commemorative of stirring bygone events, allegoric when interpreted from the occult standpoint, and are significant pointers guiding the Jiva on his path to Realisation.

Excerpt from All About Hinduism by Sri Swami Sivananda

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The history of Buddhism spans from the 6th century BCE to the present, starting with the birth of the Buddha Siddharta Gautama. This makes it one of the oldest religions practiced today. Throughout this period, the religion evolved as it encountered various countries and cultures, adding to its original Indian foundation Hellenistic as well as Central Asian, East Asian, and Southeast Asian cultural elements. In the process, its geographical extent became considerable so as to affect at one time or another most of the Asian continent. The history of Buddhism is also characterized by the development of numerous movements and schisms, foremost among them the Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana traditions, punctuated by contrasting periods of expansion and retreat.

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Shivaratri

THIS FALLS on the 13th (or 14th) day of the dark half of Phalgun (February-March). The name means "the night of Shiva". The ceremonies take place chiefly at night. This is a festival observed in honour of Lord Shiva. Shiva was married to Parvati on this day.

From Hindu Fasts & Festivals by Sri Swami Sivananda.

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Hells are not imaginary fiction as ordinarily conceived of by the modern rationalistic mind. The empiricist believes only in experience of sense-contact and feels himself unable to rise above the dictates of the intellect. But it does not mean that man has reason to overlook facts beyond his comprehension

This is an excerpt from the book What Becomes Of The Soul After Death by Sri Swami Sivananda.

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Arjuna [Phalgunah, another name for Arjuna, meaning 'One who is pure and unsullied, white']: Son of queen Kunti and King Pandu. Friend and cousin of Krishna. One of the five Pandava brothers; Krishna became his chariot driver and spoke to him the Bhagavad Gita. [see The Bhagavad Gita of Order] also Vijaya, another name for Arjuna.

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Seemollanghanam:

Seemollanghanam: Means the act of crossing the boundary, from one kingdom into another. Kings, in former days, gathered their forces, equipped them with arms, worshipped and propitiated on Ayudha Puja Day (the Day previous to Vijayadasami Day) and, crossing their own state boundaries, they invaded the neighbouring states, eager to achieve Vijaya or Victory. That was on the tenth Day of Dasara, the tenth or Dasami day of the bright half of the Aswija month. (SSS-II)

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Yadava (Sanskrit) A descendant of Yadu; also a great race of Hindustan in which Krishna was born. The founder of this race, Yadu, was the son of Yayati and Devayani, and ruled over the country west of the Jumna River, adjoining the Kurus.

He was the half-brother of Puru, who became the founder of the Paurava line of the Chandravansa (lunar dynasty) -- to which also belonged the Kurus and Pandus. The greatest of the Yadavas in Hindu story was Krishna (hence he is called Yadava, "son of Yadu"). He established the Yadavas in Gujarat, his capital city being Dvaraka, to which Krishna brought all the inhabitants of the city of Mathura after he had slain his wicked cousin Kansa who had usurped the throne.

Sometime after Krishna's death (3102 BC), a catastrophe occurred at Dvaraka in which the city and all its inhabitants were engulfed by the ocean. Only a few members of the race who were absent from the city were saved. The present rajas of Vijaya-nagara maintain that they are living descendants of the Yadavas.

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Yadaya (Sanskrit). A descendant of Yadu; of the great race in which Krishna was born. The founder of this line was Yadu, the son of King Yayati of the Somavansa or Lunar Race.It was under Krishna -  certainly no mythical personage - that the kingdom of Dwaraka in Guzerat was established; and also after the death of Krishna (3102 B.c.) that all the Yadavas present in the city perished, when it was submerged by the ocean. Only a few of the Yadavas, who were absent from the town at the time of the catastrophe, escaped to perpetuate this great race. The Rajas of Vijaya-Nagara are now among the small number of its representatives.

(See also: Yadaya , Theosophy, Spirituality, Body mind and Soul, Spiritual Dictionary,)

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Vallabhacharyas Vallbhacaryas (Sanskrit) A Vaishnava sect founded by Vallabhacharya, a sectarian mystic said to have been the disciple of Vishnu-svamin, a celebrated teacher of his time. His followers are called Gosvami-maharajas and have a considerable amount of landed property and numerous temples in Bombay.

Vallabhacharya was born in the forest of Champaranya in 1479. At an early age he began traveling to propagate his doctrines, and at the court of Krishna-deva, king of Vijaya-nagara, succeeded so well in his controversies with the Saivas, according to the reports of his followers, that many Vaishnavas chose him as their chief. He then went to other parts of India, and finally settled at Benares, where he composed 17 works, the most important of which were commentaries on the Vedanta- and Mimansa-Sutras and another on the Bhagavata-Purana, on which this sect seems in the main to base their doctrines. He left 84 disciples.

He taught a non-ascetic view of religion and deprecated all self-mortification as dishonoring the body which contained a portion of the supreme spirit. His emphasis on human affections and emotions seems at times to fringe closely the frontiers of licentiousness.

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jaya

“Victory!” or “All glories!”

Jaya

a gatekeeper in one of the Vaikuntha planets who, along with another gatekeeper (Vijaya), was cursed to take birth as a demon.

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