Hindus

Published on 15th January, 2017, on www.dailyo.in . Answering this question depends on whether you value caste, or you are indifferent to it. If you value caste, then this thought can be depressing, even terrifying. If you are indifferent, it will not matter. In pre-modern times, caste really mattered, as it identified you as part of the community. This community gave you a vocation and a wife, and demanded you follow the community rules, which included giving your daughter only to a member of the caste. It was an extended family. And so anything, which led to loss of caste, acquired great significance. Baudhayana Dharma-sutra, ..

Published 21st June 2015, in Mid-day. Samadhi commonly refers to the tomb of a holy man, or a place where his relics are stored, or a place where he was cremated, example Gandhi Samadhi. Traditionally, while most Hindus were cremated, a saint's dead body is buried, and the burial site becomes a holy shrine. Many Hindus believe that a holy man does not die, but is able to voluntarily liberate, through yogic practices, his life-force (jiva-atma) from the mortal flesh (deha) so that it unites with the cosmic infinite life-force (param-atma). So at a very young age, in the 13th century, we are told that ..