by KESHAV PRASAD VARMA | Feb 14, 2017 | Religion
God is the creator of all that exists. The Rig Veda describes how God created the world; the Upanishads and the Puranas supplement this description and provide more details. This creation is cyclic – it arises, runs its course, comes to an end, and then God creates it again. The complete cycle lasts for a long time. Compared to it, the time that God spends in creating the world is very short. ‘What does God do when He is not creating?’ A commonly-held view is that “He remains busy in running the world”, and it may come with a short explanation, “The world is vast and complex, and managing such a huge system ought to demand all of his time.” This comment is rhetorical and comes out of the concept that God is omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent. It does not give reasons or provides any basis for the observation and thus it is not a complete reply. For a better understanding, we ought to look into what other knowledge is available to us on how the world operates as a system as it moves on its day to day journey. Today our general perception of the world goes beyond the ancient documents of scripture and mythology and takes into account explanations provided by science, which is based on empirical evidence. At macrocosmic level are the galaxies, stars, planets and other heavenly bodies, all engaged in an endless journey. Physics explains their movement with mathematical precision with the help of the Laws of Motion and that does not call for control or interference by God. Coming down to our planet...
by KESHAV PRASAD VARMA | Jan 29, 2017 | Religion
Saint poet Tulsidas was a devotee of Rama. He is well known for his epic poem Ramacharitmanasa which narrates the life and deeds of his lord. It is the most widely read book by the Hindus. Tulsidas also wrote a large number of devotional poems dedicated to Rama. In folklore, there is a story describing a visit Tulsidas had once made to a Krishna temple. Tulsidas stood before the idol and looked at it– Krishna was standing there in full splendor, with his characteristic peacock feather tucked in his curly hair and a flute in his hands. Tulsidas smiled, and impromptu recited a couplet which expressed his first impressions and heartfelt emotions. With flute in hands and peacock feather in your hair, O lord, you present yourself very well. But before Tulsi bows his head, Please take the bow and arrow in your hands. Then he bowed before the idol. Rama is always visualized by his devotees, and depicted in paintings and idols, holding a bow in his left hand and a quiver of arrows behind his right shoulder. Tulsidas’s prayer was, “O Lord, please show me yourself as Rama.” The story goes that the idol transformed itself and when Tulsidas raised his head after bowing, it was Lord Rama standing there holding his bow and quiver of arrows. Why did Tulsi do that? Krishna is also a god and as popular as Rama is; what is more, He also is an incarnation of Lord Vishnu, as Rama is. Why did Tulsi insist that he would see the God only as he had always visualized Him, and...
Recent Comments