Shangrala's God's Paintings! GOD'S PAINTINGS! When God paints, we can all stand back and take notice of His greatness! Here are some pictures of His "Work In Progress". Enjoy! :) When things get tough, always remember... Faith doesn't get you around trouble, it gets you through it! ^BACK To TOP^ For those of you who Want More FUN - Join The Shangy Fun List! Yes! Svarga Svarga Loka is a set of heavenly worlds located on and above Mt. Meru where the righteous live in paradise before their next incarnation. During each pralaya (the great dissolution), the first three realms, Bhu loka (Earth), Bhuvar loka and Swarga loka are destroyed. Below the seven upper realms lie seven lower realms, of Patala, the underworld and netherworld.[1] Overview[edit] Svarga is seen as a transitory place for righteous souls who have performed good deeds in their lives but are not yet ready to attain moksha, or elevation to Vaikunta, the abode of Lord Vishnu, considered to be the Supreme Abode (Rig Veda (1.22.20) states, "Oṃ tad viṣṇoḥ paramam padam sadā paśyanti sūrayaḥ" "All the suras (i.e., devas- divinities) look toward the feet of Lord Vishnu as the Supreme Abode" See also[edit] References[edit] The Garuda Purana (Wood and Subrahmanyam translation, 1911) at sacred-texts.com
God.com Janamejaya Kuru King In Vedic Literature[edit] Janamejaya is mentioned as a great king and conqueror in a number of late Vedic texts. The Aitareya Brahmana (VIII.21) states that his priest Tura Kāvasheya anointed him with the Aindra Mahabhisheka (great anointing of Indra). The Shatapatha Brahmana mentions that he performed an ashvamedha (horse sacrifice), for getting himself rid of the Brahmahatya (sin associated with killing of a Brahmin), and the priest who performed it for him was Indrota Daivapa Shaunaka at a place named Āsandīvat.[3] Historicity[edit] H.C. Only one Janamejaya is mentioned in Vedic literature; however, post-Vedic literature (Mahabharata and Puranas) seems to indicate the existence of two kings by this name, one who lived before the Kurukshetra War was an ancestor to the Pandavas, and one who lived later and was a descendant.[3] Historian H. In Puranic Literature[edit] In Mahabharata[edit] Parikshit bitten by Takshak from Birla razmnama. Sarpa Satra (snake sacrifice)[edit] Notes[edit]
Bábism The room where The Báb declared his mission on 23 May 1844, in his house in Shiraz. Bábism (Persian: بابیه Babiyye or "the Bábí Faith") is a religious movement that flourished in Persia from 1844 to 1852, then lingered on in exile in the Ottoman Empire (especially Cyprus) as well as underground. Its founder was Sayyid `Alí Muhammad Shirazi, who took the title Báb—meaning "Gate"—from a Shi'i theological term. Unlike Islamic messianic movements, the Bábí movement signaled a break with Islam and started a new religious system. While the Bábí movement was violently opposed and crushed by the clerical and government establishments in the country in the mid-1850s, the Bábí movement led to the founding of the Bahá'í Faith which sees the religion brought by the Báb as a predecessor to their own religion, and gives a renewed significance to the Bábí movement.[1][full citation needed] Antecedents[edit] In 1830s Qajar Persia, Sayyid Kazim Rashti was the leader of the Shaykhis, a sect of Twelvers.
Dharma-yuddha Dharma-yuddha is a Sanskrit word made up of two roots: dharma meaning righteousness, and yuddha meaning warfare. In the ancient Indian texts, dharma-yuddha refers to a war that is fought while following several rules that make the war fair.[1] The rules of engagement also set out how warriors were to deal with noncombatants. Dharma-yuddha also signifies that the war is not fought for gain or selfish reasons. In the Mahabharata[edit] In the Mahabharata epic, which describes the Kurukshetra war, the two sides agree on the following rules: Fighting must begin no earlier than sunrise and, should end by exact sunset. Other texts[edit] Beyond the Mahabharata, the principles of dharma-yuddha are referred to in many other ancient Indian texts, including the Ramayana and the Dharmashastras or law texts. See also[edit] References[edit] ^ Kaushik Roy. External links[edit]
Samaritanism The Samaritans (Samaritan Hebrew: ࠔࠌࠓࠉࠌ Samerim "Guardians/Keepers/Watchers [of the Law/Torah], Jewish Hebrew: שומרונים Shomronim, Arabic: السامريون Sāmeriyyūn) are an ethnoreligious group of the Levant, descended from ancient Semitic inhabitants of the region. Religiously the Samaritans are adherents of Samaritanism, an Abrahamic religion, the most closely related to Judaism. Based on the Samaritan Pentateuch,[3] Samaritans assert their worship is the true religion of the ancient Israelites prior to the Babylonian Exile, preserved by those who remained in the Land of Israel, as opposed to Judaism, which they assert is a related but altered and amended religion, brought back by those returning from the Babylonian exile. As of January 1, 2012, the population was 751,[12] divided between Kiryat Luza on Mount Gerizim and the city of Holon, just outside Tel Aviv.[13][14] Most Samaritans in Israel today speak Arabic and Hebrew. Etymology[edit] History and origin[edit] Samaritan sources[edit]
Parikshit Kuru king of India King Pariksit (Sanskrit: परिक्षित्, Parikṣit[note 1]) was a Kuru king who reigned during the Middle Vedic period (12th-9th centuries BCE).[1] Along with his son and successor Janamejaya, he played a decisive role in the consolidation of the Kuru state, the arrangement of Vedic hymns into collections, and the development of the orthodox srauta ritual, transforming the Kuru realm into the dominant political and cultural center of northern Iron Age India.[2] He also appears as a figure in later legends and traditions. Mentions[edit] "Listen to the good praise of the King belonging to all people, who, (like) a god, is above men, (listen to the praise) of Parikṣit! Parikshit is eulogised in a hymn of the Atharvaveda (XX.127.7-10) as a great Kuru king (Kauravya), whose realm flowed with milk and honey and people lived happily in his kingdom. Few other details about his reign are recorded in Vedic literature. Historicity[edit] Family[edit] Parikshit was crowned by Yudhisthira
Taoism Taoist rite at the Qingyanggong (Bronze Ram Temple) in Chengdu, Sichuan. Taoism, or Daoism, is a philosophical, ethical, and religious tradition of Chinese origin that emphasizes living in harmony with the Tao (also romanized as Dao). The term Tao means "way", "path" or "principle", and can also be found in Chinese philosophies and religions other than Taoism. In Taoism, however, Tao denotes something that is both the source and the driving force behind everything that exists. It is ultimately ineffable: "The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao. While Taoism drew its cosmological notions from the tenets of the School of Yin Yang, the Tao Te Ching, a compact and ambiguous book containing teachings attributed to Laozi (Chinese: 老子; pinyin: Lǎozǐ; Wade–Giles: Lao Tzu), is widely considered its keystone work. After Laozi and Zhuangzi, the literature of Taoism grew steadily and was compiled in form of a canon—the Daozang—which was published at the behest of the emperor. Ethics[edit]
Himalayas Mountain range in Asia The Himalayas, or Himalaya (), is a mountain range in Asia separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has many of Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest (Nepal/China). The Himalayas include over fifty mountains exceeding 7,200 m (23,600 ft) in elevation, including ten of the fourteen 8,000-metre peaks. By contrast, the highest peak outside Asia (Aconcagua, in the Andes) is 6,961 m (22,838 ft) tall.[1] Lifted by the subduction of the Indian tectonic plate under the Eurasian Plate, the Himalayan mountain range runs west-northwest to east-southeast in an arc 2,400 km (1,500 mi) long.[2] Its western anchor, Nanga Parbat, lies just south of the northernmost bend of Indus river. The Himalayas are inhabited by 52.7 million people,[5] and are spread across five countries: Bhutan, China, India, Nepal and Pakistan. Name[edit] Geography and key features[edit] A satellite image showing the arc of the Himalayas
Christianity Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth Emperor Constantine the Great decriminalized Christianity in the Roman Empire by the Edict of Milan (313), later convening the Council of Nicaea (325) where Early Christianity was consolidated into what would become the State church of the Roman Empire (380). The early history of Christianity's united church before major schisms is sometimes referred to as the "Great Church" (though divergent sects existed at the same time, including Gnostics, Marcionites, and Jewish Christians). The Church of the East split after the Council of Ephesus (431) and Oriental Orthodoxy split after the Council of Chalcedon (451) over differences in Christology,[6] while the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church separated in the East–West Schism (1054), mostly over the authority of the bishop of Rome. Etymology Beliefs Creeds Concise doctrinal statements or confessions of religious beliefs are known as creeds. Jesus