ANSWER : Upanishads are like the Head of the Vedas

ANSWER : Upanishads are like the Head of the Vedas

ANSWER : Match the following 1. Rg Veda - c) used to praise Gods 2. Yajur VEda - d) used in yajna rituals 3. Sa:ma Veda - b) is used to praise and please gods by singing 4. Atharva Veda - a) has information on many essential aspects of life in addition to praising gods

ANSWER : Vedas are apourushe:yam meaning they have not been written by a human / auhtorless etc

ANSWER : The Lord Himself is both the means (upa:yam) and end (upe:yam) for Sri Vaishnavas

ANSWER : When one follows a process to attain something the process is called upa:yam. The result or the fruit of the process is upe:yam. Fill (upa:yam/upe:yam)

ANSWER : Eternal bliss is assured to those who leave aside other means and faithfully adopt the Lord alone as means, so teaches the Upanishads. Om is the essence of the Ve:das. This is the bow. The arrow is the ji:va. The target is the Blissful Supreme Lord.

Note : Jai Sriman Narayana To achieve good ends, there are many means such as karma, jna:na, and bhakthi. These are insentent and cannot give fruit on their own. For those who adopt the Lord as the means, there is no need for any other means. The success is quick and complete. Hence, the best path is the Lord. He is “Ma:rgasi:rsha” or the “Best Path” (literally: Head Path—as vital as head is to the rest of the body, He is to the rest of the paths). Ma:rgasi:rsha vratham reveals that resorting to Him is easy and good. This is also the highest wisdom declared by the Upanishads.

ANSWER : The Ve:da is the authority because it is free from four defects: They mean asakthi inability of the senses to perceive the truth bhrama becoming illusioned about the truth prama:da being negligent to see the truth despite possessing the ability to see it vipralambha cheating others by preaching something other than the truth because one has vested interests"

ANSWER : Vyuha forms and their abodes Sankarshana - Sammo:da Pradyumna - pramo:da Aniruddha - A:mo:da

ANSWER : The supreme abode of Lord Sriman Narayana is called Parama a:ka:sam or apara:jitha or sri vaikunttam. (referring to Para form of the Lord). This abode is also radiant as thousands of rising suns

ANSWER : PIllai Lokacharya's analogy of the 5 forms of Bhagavaan with water 1. Antaryami - Bhu:gata jala (underground water) 2. Para ru:pa - a:varana jala (vast stretch of deluge water surrounding the universe) 3. Vyu:ha - Milky ocean 4. Vibhava - Seasonal flood water 5. Archa ru:pa - pools of water in the river bed Check notes for information on why they are referred so

Note : The Antaryami form is compared to the underground water (bhu:gata jala) implying that without knowing the difficult ashtanga yoga practice its not possible to view the God within in the same way as the water deep in the ground cannot be obtained without hard labour of digging deep. The para ru:pa of God is like the vast stretch of the deluge water surrounding the universe (a:varana jala) and as it exists in a realm far remote from the universe, it is absolutely inaccessible to us. The vyu:ha forms are compared to the milky ocean though which exists in the cosmic universe is still unapproachable by us. The vibhava forms are like seasonal flood water, which comes at a particular time and is useful for those living at that time but not for others who come later. The archa avatara are like the pools of water in the river bed and available at all tiems for a thirsty person. The archa form available at temple or home in which divinity is present is easily accessible to every devotee at all times. Hence the greatness of archa vigraha is extolled by the Azhvars and Sri Vaishnava acharyas.

ANSWER : Match the following (5 forms that Bhagavaan manifests himself) 1. Para - Supreme form of his transcendent being 2. Vyuha - means expansion and expands into 4 more forms 3. Vibhava - Form seen through his Incarnation or His avataras 4. Archa - His presence manifested in idols or vigrahas 5. Antaryaa:mi - His immanent presence in everyone or the entire universe

ANSWER : 4 states of consciousnss with the 4 vyu:ha forms 1. Turi:ya (state beyond all states) - Vaasudeva 2. Sushupti (dreamless deep sleep) - Sankarshana 3. Svapna ( state of dreams) - Pradyumna 4. Jaagrat (wakeful state) - Aniruddha In the Jaagrat state the external sense organs function, in the swapna the external sense organs dont function and only the mind is active, in the sushupti state the mind doesnt function and there is only breathing and in Turiya even brething is suspended.

ANSWER : Match the following prominent qualities and the associated Vyuha forms 1. Vaasudeva . - (Jnana,Aishvarya,Shakthi) (Bala,Virya,Tejas) 2. Sankarshana - Jnana , BBala 3. Pradyumna - Aishvarya, Vi:rya 4. Aniruddha - Sakthih, Tejas

ANSWER : Vaasudeva, Sankarshana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha are the 4 vyuha forms.The emanation of the four Vyuhas follows a certain sequence. The Vyuha Vasudeva is the first emanation. From him arises the second Vyuha: Sankarshana who in turn gives rise to the third Vyuha: Pradyumna. The fourth Vyuha, Aniruddha, is produced by Pradyumna.Vyuha forms.

ANSWER : The 6 primary qualities of Bhagavan are Jnana (all knowing) Aishwarya (owns everything) sakthih (power or poetency) bala (strength) vi:rya (valour) tejas (splendour or glory)

ANSWER : This auspicious day on the full moon day of Shravana month happens to be the day when Lord Narayana took the avatara as Lord Hayagriva. Lord Vishnu took the form of a horse, and hence this incarnation is called asHayagriva or "horse-head".Lord Hayagriva restored the Vedas to Bramha: from the demons Madhu and Kaitaba. He is the God of Knowledge. Hence the eginning of study of Vedas (Upa:karma) starts this day

ANSWER : Upa:karma means beginning. Upa:karma is the ritual performed that signifies the starting of the Vedic education or vedic classes every year for the student. The ritual starts with reciting of a mantra that asks for forgiveness for not performing the utsarjana function and any mistakes during the learning of Vedas. This is followed by the main Upa:karna function. The main purpose of the Upakarma function is to offer prayers and express our gratitude to those rishis who gave us the Vedas — the rishis through whom the Vedic mantras were revealed. Check notes for further information

Note : The learning of the Vedas happened from the beginning of the month of Shravana and continued for 6 months. It ended with a utsarjana function. The rest of the 6 months was devoted to learning of other shastras. The the cycle of Upakarma and Utsarjana was established. However 6 months was not enough to learn the Vedas and it took 12 or more years to learn just one veda. Hence the Vedic studies continued through out the year but the Upa:karma ritual carried on. There are different Vedas and there are different rishis for every Veda. Each one is expected to worship the rishi who belongs to their branch of the Veda (Yajur, Rk, Sa:ma etc). During the upakarma men also change their sacred thread that they wear.