Answer: Lakshmi and Parvati
Saraswati and her fellow goddesses, Lakshmi and Parvati, are part of the Para Brahman, that is, the supreme trinity. They exist outside of time, beyond everything comprehensible to humans and anything else, beyond description and without maya (magic or illusion).
From Quiz: Hinduism: All about Saraswati
Answer: Vedanta
Attributed to Adi Shankaracharya, 'Vivek Churamani' is in the form of questions and answers between the liberated Guru (spiritual teacher) and the shishya (earnest student) seeking salvation. Literally meaning 'end of the Vedas' but metaphorically defined as 'essence of Vedas', Vedant is considered by many scholars as the most profound among the schools. Vedant propounds the primacy of unified awareness over its modifications and the equivalence of the individual and the universal soul once the veil of cosmic illusion (termed 'Maya') is removed. Awareness is affirmed as the only reality in Vedant. Everything else, from the entire cosmos to the entire range of human experiences, is seen as a dreamlike appearance in Awareness. This appearance binds those who are engulfed with desires, but is merely a joyous play of Awareness for those who are beyond desires, who see both mundane pleasure and pain as crests and troughs of the waves of bliss that shine in Awareness.
From Quiz: Six Schools of Indian Philosophy
Answer: Ketaki
In "Shiva Purana", Brahma and Vishnu were having an argument regarding which god was the most powerful. Shiva agreed to mediate the debate, taking the form of a lingam that went up through the heavens and under the earth, challenging both of the gods to walk their separate ways to find both beginning and the end of it, whoever did would be declared the most powerful. Lord Brahma decided on the form of a swan and flew heavenward, whereas Lord Vishnu decided on the form of a boar and roamed the land. Days of travelling resulted in neither of them being in reach of the beginning or the end.
Vishnu eventually accepted that he could not outdo Shiva, but Brahma accosted a ketaki flower on his travels and persuaded it to lie, saying that he had witnessed Brahma reaching the top of the cosmic column where the flower once stood. The ketaki flower declared Brahma's victory. At that moment the central column of the lingam cracked open, revealing a furious Lord Shiva, enraged that Brahma had tried to deceive him. Shiva cursed Brahma with never being worshiped on Earth again. He then cursed the ketaki flower to be forever deemed an unsuitable offering in Hindu worship rituals.
From Quiz: Hinduism: All About Lord Shiva
Answer: Brahma
Vishnu was asleep for ages upon a thousand-headed serpent, and his consort offered her services to him. When he awakened a lotus flower rose up from his navel. When this flower blossomed, it resulted in the birth of Lord Brahma.
Brahma saw Vishnu after his birth and paid Vishnu his respects. Brahma then started the process of creating the World, with Vishnu's blessing.
From Quiz: Hinduism: All About Lord Vishnu
Answer: Brahma
This event happens at the brink of a major deluge, before the beginning of the new Satya Yuga (Era). Lord Vishnu observes the entire event. He descends to the Earth as the Matsya (Fish) avatara, and saves the seven ancient sages, including Satyavrata Manu. Lord Vishnu also kills Hayagriva to restore the knowledge of the Vedas to Brahma.
The deluge depicted is similar to the story of Noah in the Bible, as animals of various kinds are saved alongside the sages in the deluge.
From Quiz: The Quiz You'll Never Forget
Answer: Vishwamitra
Vishwamitra is one of the most well-known sages of all time. He is credited with authoring the Gayathri Mantra, which has a great importance in Indian rituals. When once he was a king, he faced defeat when he tried to steal the holy cow, Surabhi, from the ashram of sage Vasishta. He then decided to become a Maharishi like Vasishta, and became one after rigorous penance. The story of Vishwamitra gives us many moral values, such as having no greed, determination, respect to those who are both superior and inferior to us, etc.
From Quiz: Common Facts about Hinduism
Answer: Flood
A Great Flood near the beginning of human history turns up in a variety of religions, from the ancient faith of Sumeria (as told in the epic of Gilgamesh) to modern Judaism and Christianity (as told in the biblical book of Genesis). In the Hindu telling, the catastrophic deluge lasted seven days, and Manu paid special attention to herbs and seeds in stocking his tremendous boat.
Matsya, a fish, may seem an unusual form for a great god to take, but it was effective. Matsya persuaded Manu that he was special by speaking to him, asking him to take care of him; he then persuaded Manu of his divinity by rapidly outgrowing all containers, including the ocean. Only then could Matsya be confident that Manu would heed his warning.
In art, Matsya is often depicted as the head and four-armed torso of a man emerging from the tail of a fish.
From Quiz: The Ten Lives of Vishnu
Answer: Shiva
Shiva is considered the destroyer. His main weapon is the trident and it is said that He destroys the world in the form of a cosmic dance.
From Quiz: The Gods and Goddesses of Hinduism
Answer: Saraswati
Saraswati is the Hindu goddess of knowledge, music, arts and science. She is the daughter of Durga along with Lakshmi, Ganesha and Karthik. It is considered in some religious texts that her knowledge helped Brahma to create the universe. Urbashi/Urvashi is an apsara who used to entertain the gods by her dancing skills during the meeting of Gods in Heaven.
From Quiz: Livin' On a Prayer
Answer: Brahma, Shiva, Vishnu
Brahma is the god of creation. Vishnu is the god of preservation and Shiva is the god who is responsible for destruction.
From Quiz: A glance through Hinduism
Answer: Madri
Madri is the wife of Pandu and the sister of Shalya. She is the mother of Sahadeva and Nakula.
From Quiz: What a man must know about Hinduism
Answer: Lord Shiva
Lord Shiva is for destruction. Lord Vishnu is for protection. Lord Brahma is for production.
From Quiz: More facts about Hinduism
Answer: Matsya
In Matsya Avatar, Vishnu incarnated as a fish. His duty was to transfer all the species of plants and animals to the new world and protect them from a great deluge. He pulled a boat that carried all the plants and animals and transferred them to the new world.
From Quiz: Dashavatar
Answer: Brahma
Brahma is believed to have five heads. First, having only one head, he created a very beautiful lady called Shatarupa or Saraswati. She was so beautiful that he could not take his eyes off her. She, out of shyness, moved around so that Brahma could not see her. Brahma, being the creator, created four more heads so that he could see her wherever she went. He made another head in top of those four so he could see her when she moved up. Shiva later burned that head as he was offended by Brahma. Daksh is known as the human son of the god and his story is very famous too.
From Quiz: Hinduism: The Whole Epic
Answer: Kamala
Kamala, also known as Kamalatmika, is the Tantric manifestation of the goddess Lakshmi, the goddess of fortune, wealth, prosperity, luck, beauty, etc. She is represented as sitting on a lotus, with four arms, and with elephants sprinkling water over her.
From Quiz: The Ten Great Wisdoms - Mahavidyas
Answer: Nahusa
Lord Rama never took place of Indra. Kashyapa was a saint and Daksha was also not capable of taking place of Indra. Indra had to hide as he had killed a Brahamna. King Nahusa was chosen by gods to take place of Indra till he was hiding.
From Quiz: The Great Indian Mythology Quiz
Answer: Valmiki
Valmiki was a great saint of the ancient times. His works of Sanskrit are well known throughout India. He belonged to the Koli tribe in Maharashtra. He had done many evil deeds in his life, hence his wife and kids hated him. He decided to do some good deeds and began writing the text of Ramayana. He took a vow that by the completion of the script, his sins would flow away.
From Quiz: Hindu epics
Answer: 3rd
With around 900 million followers, Hinduism is beaten only by Christianity and Islam in terms of number of followers. Almost all Hindus live in India.
From Quiz: All About Hinduism
Answer: Not two
For fairly complex reasons, advaita means 'not two' rather than 'all one' or similar, as saying all is one is seen as too simplistic, so saying 'not two' leads to a state more or less beyond words.
From Quiz: Advaita; The Path of Nonduality
Answer: It is a harvest festival
One of the first festivals in the Hindu religion, falling in the month of January (usually on January 14th or 15th), is the festival of Sankranti or Pongal. This festival is celebrated to mark the harvesting of crops by farmers. It is also celebrated to mark the change of direction of the sun, from 'Dakshinayana' (South) to 'Uttarayana' (North). The Sun God is worshipped on this occasion.
From Quiz: Hindu Festivals
Answer: Surya
The Sun god is known as Surya or Ravi. According to Hindu legends, Surya is one of the 'Ashta Dikpalakas' or the eight protectors of the world. The sun is also part of the Navagraha or nine planets in Hindu legends. The Gayathri mantra or chant is the most auspicious of prayers and is dedicated to the sun god.
From Quiz: Hindu Myths and Legends
Answer: Lakshmi
The Gods carried out the churning of the ocean to obtain Amruta - the nectar of immortality. During the churning, the Goddess of wealth, Lakshmi, came forth and married the Lord Vishnu.
From Quiz: Hindu Mythology
Answer: Adi Shankaracharya
Basaveshwara propagated Veerashaiva philosophy, Swami Vivekananda founded the Ramakrishna Mission and Sri Ramanujacharya established Visistadvaita philosophy.
From Quiz: The Great Indian Religion And Culture
Answer: Kaveri
Lopamudra was married to sage Agastya. She went from North India to South India along with her husband crossing the Vindhyas and became a river in present day Karnataka.
From Quiz: Indian Mythology
Answer: Hamsa, the swan
Hamsa (also spelled Hansa), able to separate milk and water, symbolizes intelligence and discrimination.
From Quiz: Vahanas: Vehicles of the Hindu Deities
Answer: Saraswati
Saraswati and Gayatri are the consorts of Brahma.
From Quiz: Hindu Gods and Goddesses
Answer: Ananta Shesha
While lying on the serpent, a lotus grows from Vishnu's navel, and the creator god Brahma grows from one of the lotus seeds.
From Quiz: Mythology, Hindu Style
Answer: Yoga
The eight steps are Yama (Ethical prohibitions - non-violence, not lying, not stealing, celibacy and non-covetousness), Niyama (Ethical affirmations- purity of body, mind and speech, contentment, austerity, self-analysis and surrender to God), Asana (Posture), Pranayama (Mode of breathing), Pratyahara (Withdrawal of awareness from externalization), Dharana (Focus on awareness on interiorization), Dhyan (Deep contemplation) and Samadhi (Unified Awareness). The basic philosophy of Yoga is similar to those of Samkhya and Jainism, but the emphasis on a structured and disciplined step-by-step approach to liberation sets it apart from them.
From Quiz: Six Schools of Indian Philosophy
Answer: From drinking poison
In the Hindu texts "Vishnu Purana", "Vayu Purana" and "Padma Purana" Durvasa, an avatar of Lord Shiva, is the indirect cause of the Samudra Manthana, or the turning of the Ocean. Indra, king of Svarga Loka (Heaven) encountered Durvasa and angered him by neglecting a flower garland Durvasa had given him, which ended up being trampled by an elephant. Durvasa cursed Indra to become old, frail and cast down from power as his garland had been cast down. He also cursed all the devas (divine deities).
Indra and the devas asked for Lord Vishnu's help, who suggested that they churn the Kshira Sagara, or the Ocean of Milk. They churned it for a millennia, hoping to release Amrita, or the elixr of immortal life. They needed help from the asuras (demigods always in battle with the devas) who agreed provided they could have their share of the spoils. The god Garuda had to bring the biggest snake, Vasuki (who was Shiva's snake) to churn the ocean. Many things came from the ocean, including a poison which could wipe out life on Earth.
Shiva drank the poison to save the Earth. His wife, Parvathi, saw he had drunk it and ran to stop him swallowing. She gripped his neck so tightly that the poison never made it to his stomach. It did however, turn his throat blue.
From Quiz: Hinduism: All About Lord Shiva
Answer: Shesha
Shesha (also known as Adishesha, or Sheshanaga) is a Nagaraja, that is, king of all nagas. Naga are divine or sometimes semi-divine deities, sometimes fully serpent or half serpent, half human.
Shesha is usually portrayed as floating coiled in space, to form a bed for Vishnu to lie on. He holds all the planets together in his hoods, and it is believed that when Shesha uncoils, creation is in abundance and time moves forwards. If he coils back, the universe stops existing.
From Quiz: Hinduism: All About Lord Vishnu
Answer: Lakshmana
The demon Maricha had disguised himself as a golden deer, and Rama and Lakshmana had gone to capture the golden deer on Sita's insistence. Lakshmana drew a line around the house, telling her not to venture out for her own safety. Ravana, meanwhile, disguised as a mendicant, arrived at Sita's cottage, begging for alms. Sita stepped across the line and Ravana kidnapped her. She was flown all the way to Lanka.
In languages like Hindi or Bengali, the phrase 'Lakshmana rekha' (line of Lakshmana) refers to a socially acceptable moral limit, which should not be transgressed.
From Quiz: The Quiz You'll Never Forget
Answer: Baali and Sugreeva
Baali and Sugreeva were brothers, who loved each other more than anything. Sugreeva lusted over Baali's wife and throne, while Baali was unable to understand this because of his blind love and faith for his brother. Then the day came while Baali was fighting a demon inside a cave. He asked Sugreeva to stand as a guard. Sugreeva closed the cave and went to Kishkinda, their kingdom, and claimed the throne. Baali was highly angry because of this act of Sugreeva, and ordered him not to set foot on his country. Then Rama came to Sugreeva and he helped Sugreeva to kill Baali by shooting him while hiding behind a tree while the brothers were engaged in a duel.
From Quiz: Common Facts about Hinduism
Answer: He supported a mountain being used as a churning rod.
The gods had foolishly insulted a powerful sage by treating his gift -- a garland of flowers -- with disrespect. The resulting curse weakened them badly, which was a major problem due to their constant battles with the demon asuras. Vishnu advised the troubled gods to churn the world ocean, which was made of milk, to access the nectar of immortality and regain their strength.
So the gods negotiated a ceasefire with the asuras and began churning. They wrapped a giant snake, Vasuki, around Mount Mandara, and pulled on either end of the snake to manipulate this geological churning rod. When the mountain began to sink in the milk, Kurma appeared to support its weight so that the churning could continue. Eventually the gods received their nectar (and some other gifts besides), and all was well.
From Quiz: The Ten Lives of Vishnu
Answer: Vishnu
Vishnu is the sustainer of the universe. It is said that He has come into the world nine times already and will come again in the form of Kalki. These incarnations are called Dashavatars.
From Quiz: The Gods and Goddesses of Hinduism
Answer: Lakshmi
Lakshmi is the Hindu goddess of prosperity, fortune and wealth. She is also a consort of Vishnu. The Hindu festival of Kojagiri Purnima is celebrated in her honour. She is referred to as "Shri" because she has the six "Gunas" (divine qualities) and also because she provides strength even to Vishnu, one of the supreme gods.
From Quiz: Livin' On a Prayer
Answer: Parvathi
Sati was Shiva's first wife. Sati committed suicide in front of her father Daksha. Parvathi is the reborn form of Sati.
From Quiz: A glance through Hinduism
Answer: Shiva
Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva are together known as "Trimoorthis". In this important group, Brahma is the creator, Vishnu is the protector and Shiva is the destroyer.
From Quiz: What a man must know about Hinduism
Answer: The victory of good over evil
One example of this victory is the death of Kamsa Maharaj, an evil emperor. He ate seven of his nieces and nephews to avoid his own death. He was killed by his last nephew, Krishna.
From Quiz: More facts about Hinduism
Answer: Tortoise
The tortoise incarnation is the second avatar of Lord Vishnu. When the devas (Gods) and asuras (demons) were churning the sea for Amrita (the nectar of immortality), the mountain Mandarachala started to sink. Vishnu, as Kurma, bore the weight of the mountain.
From Quiz: Dashavatar
Answer: Madhu and Kaitav
These were very powerful demons that fought Vishnu for days until defeating him. Vishnu, very shocked that they defeated him, asked them to name a boon. Madhu and Kaitav mocked him, by saying "powerful people give boons and you are not powerful so, oh Vishnu, ask a boon from us. We shall grant you your wish." Getting his chance, Vishnu asked them their death as a boon. Madhu and Kaitav, defeated by his wits told Vishnu, they could only be killed in his lap. Vishnu extended his lap so wide the universe was filled with it. He caught the two demons and eventually killed them.
From Quiz: Hinduism: The Whole Epic
