(No subject)

[Guest guest]

The site below is from New Zealand:

http://www.gunn.co.nz/anand/hinduism/gods.html

The Gods To say that Hinduism is polytheistic is an understatement.There are an

immense number of gods (thousands), but here we concetrate on the shining

stars.

Shiva - Brahma - Vishnu

The Holy Trinity; click above to visit their pages.

Rama Rama is an incarnation of Vishnu. He is thought of as a perfect man,

perfect husband, and perfect king. He is always has a bow and arrow and thus

represents eternal readiness to destroy both internal and external enemies.

Devotion to Rama is one of the most prevalent cults in all classes of Indian

society.

Sita, Rama' s wife, is considered to be the perfect wife and the perfect

woman.She remained completely devoted to Her husband under the most trying of

circumstances, even making Her home in the forest, rather than living in

splendor as befits a queen.

Lakshmana, brother of Rama, showed his loyalty to His brother by joining Him as

He went to the forest.

Right: Rama's ever loyal servant, Hanuman,bows before Lakshmana, Rama and Sita

Hanuman Hanuman, is the perfect devotee, ever willing to assist Rama and Sita in

every way, even at personal risk.He is one of the main deities in the most

villages of northern India, his image is also found on every one of the ancient

forts of Southern India. The Puranas give many and varied accounts of Hanuman's

birth, but they all agree that he was endowed with extraordinary valour,

erudition, and devotion to Rama.

Parvati Excerpts from the Sanskrit literature (Kena Upanisad) state that she is

the eldest daughter of Himavat, the Himalaya, by Mena, the latter according to

Ramayana is the daughter of Meru. In classical Hindu mythology the goddess

Parvati and Durga are the most common names of Lord Shiva’s consort. She is

also known as:

Ambika, Devi, Bhavani, Chandi, Chamunda, Gauri, Kali, Shakti and Uma.

She is particularly celebrated for her victories over several Asures (demons)

primarily being the buffalo demon Mahishasur, Shumbha and Nishumbha, Chandh and

Mundh.

In relation to Shiva, Kali appears to play the opposite role from that of

Parvati. Parvati calms Shiva, counterbalancing his anti-social or destructive

tendencies. It is she who brings Shiva within the sphere of domesticity and

who, with her soft glances, urges him to moderate the destructive aspects of

his tandava dance. Kali is Shiva’s "other" wife, as it were, provoking him and

encouraging him in his mad, antisocial, often disruptive habits.

For more about this Goddess: www.durga.org

Ganesha Also known as Ganapati, Lord Ganesha is associated with success and

prosperity, and indeed, these are the names of his two wives (Siddhi and

Rddhi).As Lord of categories, he is the scribe who writes down the

Scriptures."You, leader of categories, are the writer of this [Maha-] Bharata"

(Mahabharata 1.1.77. [527]). The Brahmanas accept him as the god of learning.

Born of Parvati (see above), Ganesha lost his head when he tried to stop Shiva

entering his house while Parvati was bathing. On seeing Parvati's sorrow over

the deed, Shiva replaced it with the head of the first living thing he came

across.

Everything which our senses can perceive or our mind ccan grasp can be expressed

in terms of kind (or category). Hence a category is a fundamental element of

existence. The principle of classification through which the relations between

different orders of things, can be understood is called the lord-of-categories

(Ganapati).

Back

http://www.gunn.co.nz/anand/hinduism/gods.htmlDo You ?

Check out Shopping and Auctions

for all of your holiday gifts!