Vedic Philosophy

Question: Is the worship of Deities a tool for less intelligent people that should be given up by the spiritually advanced? Answer: Not exactly. The sacred scriptures like the Pancharatras and the Puranas explain that the Lord’s appearance as the archa-avatara (the incarnation as the Deity or the iconic representation) is a special mercy for the…

Answer: The aarti is a profound act of selfless devotion. Let’s understand its significance through four questions. What is offered? Figuratively, aarti signifies the offering of creation (represented by the various items offered during the aarti) to the creator (represented by the Deity, the iconic representation of the Divine). The Bhagavad-gita (7.4-5) analyzes the material…

Answer: Love; eternal, divine love. Let’s analyze our current existential situation from the perspective of the timeless wisdom-traditions of the world. We are all like the biblical Prodigal Son; we are the beloved but lost children of the supreme zillionaire, God, who is not just a lakha-pati, karoda-pati, araba-pati, kharaba-pati, but is Lakshmi-pati, the Lord…

Question: Why is the Vedic philosophy pessimistic about life? Why does it harp on the miseries of life? Why not see the bright side of life? Answer: Pessimism in Vedic philosophy is only initial, never final. In its conclusion, Vedic philosophy is supremely optimistic. Let’s see how. Consider a person diagnosed as having cancer that is…

Question: Different religions claim their God to be the real God. Sometimes, certain people claim to be incarnations of God. Some consider God personal, others, impersonal. Who actually is God? Answer: God has nowadays largely become an object of naïve sentiment and blind faith. However, knowledge of God is a precise and profound science. Based on…