20+ Must Know Facts About Hinduism

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Pratik Desai was born in Mumbai, India in 1984, to a Gujarati Vaishnava family. He holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Mumbai and a Masters degree in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from the prestigious University of Florida, USA. Being raised in a Vaishnava family, he was spiritually inclined from an early age. During his college years, he watched most of the religious TV series like Mahabharata, Ramayana, Vishnu Purana, Shiva Purana to name a few. While he was not committed to any specific path, he did not miss an episode of these series. Later on, his faith in spirituality was strengthened by grave incidents in his life, which inspired him to question material existence and to seek answers about the purpose of life, karma and the Absolute Truth.

One such pivotal incident was his withdrawal from a graduate programme at ivy league university, Duke University in the USA. Struggling with homesickness and the stress of the challenging academic demands, within two months of enrolling, he withdrew from the programme and returned home. This failure challenged his sense of identity and purpose in life which led to a strong need to seek answers about the purpose of suffering and the nature of God. This led him to start reading the Bhagavad-Gita As It Is and to associate with ISKCON devotees.

In associating with the ISKCON devotees, he was inspired by their sincerity and devotion to following the teachings of Bhagavad-Gita laid down by its Founder-Acharya His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada.

In the modern age, not many people have faith in the concept of religion. Some question the existence of God and classify scriptural narratives as mythology. Some profess belief in God but disregard the words of the scriptures. Most people do not have a clear idea of 'Who God Is' or 'How to know and worship God', as prescribed by the scriptures. A lack of understanding of the scriptures and disbelief in the existence of God can be attributed to the fact that:

1) People do not know of or have access to bona-fide scriptures

2) People may lack a proper philosophical understanding, due to hearing or misinterpreting explanations of the scriptures.

3) People may be disinterested in reading scriptures, due to a lack of faith or interest.

More than a decade ago, I had the good fortune to come in contact with the tenets of Bhagavad-Gita and Srimad- Bhagavatam as presented by the teachings of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (Founder-Acharya of International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON)), where I learned and practised the principles of dharma (religion) and Bhakti (devotion). With the practice of Bhakti- yoga one begins to experience God's reciprocation in different ways. Only a living person can reciprocate and that is how we can justify God's existence. Thus, even a neophyte practitioner of Bhakti-yoga, who cannot see God, through these gross queries or clarifications please feel free to write to me at 'pratikbd108@gmail.com. If you have any feedback regarding this book, please feel free to share that too. You may also follow my YouTube channel - Pratik Desai Official (https:// www.youtube.com/@pratikdesaiofficial6597) where I will be posting videos that would elaborate on subject matters, based on requests from readers and viewers.

Finally, wishing all our readers good luck and I wish this book clears misconceptions about the path of Bhakti-yoga (Sanatan Dharma) and inspire readers to explore it without prejudice.

In order to make this book more lucid for the readers, I have referred to all the questions as Frequently Asked Questions (FAQS) with their respective numbers. The numbers are based on the sequence that appears in the book. For example, if FAQ 10 is mentioned, it refers to the tenth question in the book. I have also divided the questions into their respective categories and sequenced the questions ranging from general categories to more technical ones. This is simply done for the reader's convenience. However, readers may start reading in any sequence they wish to. There are some questions whose answers are interconnected to the answers of other questions and also serve as an indirect reference to support and provide more explanation on the subject matter. In this case, I have pointed out the interconnection or reference by stating the FAQ number in the footnote. In case something isn't clear from an answer then I would advise the readers to go through all the answers once; this might provide more insights and clarity since relevant answers could be found in more than one question. The answers to the conceptual questions are foundational though and pervade or are reflected in the answers to all other questions.

For scriptural references, I have very frequently quoted verses translated by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada through the medium of Bhaktivedanta Book Trust (BBT). For example, when I refer to a particular verse number from the Bhagavad-Gita, Srimad-Bhagavatam, Caitanya-Caritamrita, Nectar of Devotion, Sri Brahma-Samhita and Sri Isopanisad, I am especially referring to the translations by A.C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. For easy access to the verses, please visit www.vedabase.io which is the only official BBT website. Here you will find all the verses in their entirety. One may think that because I am an ISKCON follower I am being biased, but the reason I use his translations apart from being his follower is also that I found his translations most authentic, loyal to all the Vaishnava disciplic successions, extremely scholastic and consistent in conveying the essence and goal of the subject matter. Any other author outside of Vaishnava disciplic succession could be questioned about their authenticity of interpreting the scriptural texts since it may directly or indirectly contradict the injunction of scriptures. I have provided an elaborate explanation on this in FAQ 6 as well as others presented in the Foundational Principles section. I am hopeful that readers will get a thorough understanding after going through it. Even amongst the many bona-fide Vaishnavas, I have chosen A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami's translations since he is the only Acharya who has made the teachings of the Bhagavad-Gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam universally available and applicable in a very tangible way. His preaching has transformed people from different countries into devotees of Lord Krishna irrespective of any barrier of society, caste and creed. Thus every credit of this book goes to him. Not only are his translations scholarly but also replete with the essence and conclusion of the teachings of all the Acharyas of the Vaishnava disciplic succession. This is very rare yet at the same time, it's very eloquent in presentation and practically applicable in today's day and age. Also, in order to give the readers a holistic view of the scriptures and their goals, I have quoted many scriptures apart from just quoting the Bhagavad-Gita.