THE SCRIPTURES, the study of sacred books, throw light on the philosophical texts and the performance of Samskaras. The Vedas, the fountain head of Indian glory, which are divine revelations, codified by Vyasa, give the message through many other works. The scriptures contain the details of man's religious duties, the rites and rituals he should perform, customs, traditions and all other details help him to keep his mind pure and to enable him to do good only and eschew evil. All the sacraments are in Sanskrit and thus Sanskrit plays a main role. Spiritual exercises, singing hymns and visiting temples are necessary, but if devotion is combined with the observance of these duties, the benefits will be far greater and the mind can be cleared of all impurities.
In ancient days, everyone used to conduct worship in his house (as noted by Hanuman in Vibhishan's place in Sri Lanka or in various dramatic scenes in the Mahabharata, Ramayana, Sri K'rsna performed in television serials) and carried out other duties and went to temples.
The aim of this book is to apprise the human being to utilize his privileged rare faculty of reasoning and discriminating between good and evil. The study of traditional sacraments described herein, aim at one's utilizing the rare opportunity to rise to the level of the divine.
In the present times, when a man is so busy in his materialistic adventures, all that one can do is to study scriptures, carry out worship in the house and when time permits, visit temples and attend sermons by saints. Devotion at all occasions is essentially desired.
The description of customs and ceremonies, given in this book, is brief and not exhaustive. If one were to describe each in details, it would require many volumes; but the details, howsoever little given in this book, will be found useful by the reader to enlighten his mind.
The authors are grateful to Shri Suman Pathak, Director, Pathak Publisher and Distributors for his constant encouragement and critical review from time to time. Shri Pathak has been so kind to see the timely and beautiful publication of this book through Pathak Publisher and Distributor, New Delhi.
Readers are requested to inform the authors about any shortcomings in the book, so that improvement can be done in the next edition.
Vedas (1182)
Upanishads (493)
Puranas (624)
Ramayana (741)
Mahabharata (354)
Dharmasastras (165)
Goddess (496)
Bhakti (242)
Saints (1503)
Gods (1290)
Shiva (370)
Journal (187)
Fiction (60)
Vedanta (362)
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