Sanatana Dharma and Indic Knowledge

Many readers might be familiar with the Sankalpa Mantras chanted before the start of any Puja, “Shube shobane muhurte, adya Brahmana, dvitiya parardhe, Shweta Varaha kalpe, Vaivasvata manvantare, ashtavim shatime kaliyuge pratama paade, …” Ever wonder what this means? This brief article provides an explanation Srimad Bhagavatham defines the various divisions of Kala (time) from the smallest to the greatest, in great detail. The minutest particle of material substance (which cannot be further divided) is called Paramanu. Two Paramanus make one Anu. Three Anus make a Trasarenu. A Trasarenu is one of the tiny specks that can be seen floating in a sun-beam that enters a room. The measure of time taken by the sun to flit across a Paramanu is also called a Paramanu. The time taken by the sun to flit across 3 Trasarenus is called a Truti. From here, bigger units are time are defined. The divisions of time as defined in the Bhagavatam are shown in the table below: Definition ...

The great sage Vyasa is the son of sage Parasara and Satyavati. According to Srimad Bhagavatam, Vyasa is an Avatara (incarnation) of Maha Vishnu Himself. Another name for Vyasa is Krishna Dvaipayana because of his dark complexion (Krishna means black), and because he was born on a Dvipa (island). He is also known by the name Badarayana, because he lived under a Badari tree (Badari is the jujube fruit, known as Ber in Hindi and Bor in Marathi). Surprisingly, despite the superhuman work done by Veda Vyasa, not much is known about his own personal and family life. However, his work speaks volumes about him. Vyasa’s illustrious genealogy can be seen in the Purva Bhaga (prelude) of the Vishnu Sahasranamam, which occurs in the Mahabharata. It says: व्यासं वसिष्ठनप्तारं शक्तेः पौत्रमकल्मषम्  पराशरात्मजं वन्दे शुकतातं तपोनिधिम् ॥ Vyasam Vasishtha naptaram Shakte pautram akalmasham Parashara-atmajam vande Suka taatam taponidhim (Source: Vishnu Sahasranama - Purva Bhaga) Word by word me...