I think that the key is surrender. Vishnu only descended when Gajendra stopped using his own personal strength and sought refuge in Vishnu. Similar thing with Draupadi.
In Vaishnavism, Vishnu alone is responsible for moksha. Shastras say that every jiva in samsara must have gone through various body forms (plant, animal, manushya, devata, asura, etc) before we ended up in our current form. What sadhana could a plant or animal have performed to be elevated from...
The color matters as although Vishnu's incarnations range in color, black is his preferred color. The symbolism is that even traditionally impure and base characteristics such as black (darkness, "evil", etc) can be transformed with his association into a form worthy of meditation.
The Gita doesn't imply that Earth is a hellish realm; it simply alludes to the evil tendencies that overtake a person's good consciousness with the greatest demons (anger, envy, greed etc). Even the residents of Svarga such as Indra can act as demons once their ego increases or they are...
Which tissue of animals, then, produces B12? No animal can produce B12, and in our current day, there is no need to eat animals products specifically for B12 (who are sometimes fed B12 supplements in the first place!).
I won't disagree with that, but surely one cannot ignore the repercussions...
Maybe it's just me, but the last statement seems to feel a bit contradictory to the first. If you want to ensure happiness and peace for the animals, then why end their lives?
I also don't think that humans are solely restricted or should be restricted to their physiology either.
Aside from...
No worries! Which section of the forum would you like me to move it? There is an "Ethics and Morality" section, General Debates Section, and "The Living World" section.
I just have to ask @chinu , why put a thread about animal-eating in the religious debates section without mentioning God or religion in the OP? Perhaps you could provide your rationale, or if you are fine with it, move this thread to the General Debates section.
Sayak, moved your post from the other thread here so we could have a focused discussion without going back and forth on both threads. I hope @Spirit_Warrior , you, and everyone else interested in this topic will stick to this thread only.
I'm a little confused on what you are indicating here...
Just as a reminder, but SriVaishnavism (and most sects of Vaishnavism) do not consider absolute identity between Vishnu and Shiva. Vishnu is always the foremost deity, with Shiva as his devotee. Additionally, the "Hari-Hara" avatar is not interpreted to be a combined form of Shiva and Vishnu; it...
Hi everyone,
I was just wondering about the appearances of the Vedic Gods (for right now, I'm going to restrict these to the Adityas and the Rudras) and whether the descriptions of the deities are symbolic or if they are perhaps trying to mimic the inhabitants of the Central European regions...
I've read about this before. The 16 rounds is an arbitrary number; they just have a high number of japa rounds so you can feel the effects of the chanting even later on in the day (chanting something for more than 2 hours will still stick in your lips for a long time).
Attentive japa will...
You are definitely located at an ideal place for interfaith interaction since London is a global city, as well as the abode of many prominent leaders of the ISKCON community. I think that you can attempt to worship Jesus in the way you elaborated in your OP, but if it is uncomfortable and...