Srauta Karma is a term denoting ritual actions in Hinduism. Srauta Karma is too general a term, embracing all types of activities of a person, whether they are religious, social, official, physical or mental. The term ‘karma’ in Srauta Karma is used to refer to religious rites, particularly the rituals and rites performed in the fire. These rituals and rites prescribed in Shastras can be broadly divided into two categories, namely, Srauta and Smarta. Those rituals and rites which are performed in the tretagni, a group of three fires, are referred to as Srautakarmas and those performed in ekagni, a single fire, are referred to as smartakarmas. For example, Agnihotra, Darshaparunamasya, Somayaga, Rajasuya, etc, are srautakarmas, whereas Garbhadhana, Simantonayana, etc., are smarkakarmas. These srauta and smarta karmas can be further classified as nitya (obligatory), naimittika (occasional) and kamya (optional for fulfillment of desires). For instance Sandhyavandana, Agnihot

Nandaka is the sword of Srihari Vishnu and the story of how Lord Vishnu came into possession of the sword is found in the Agni Purana. Vishnu is never worshipped with sword in temples. It is very rare to find Vishnu holding sword in murti form. Kalki form of Vishnu is depicted as riding a horse with a raised sword. Legend has it that Bhagwan Brahma performed a Yajna on the banks of Ganga on a peak of Mount Meru. A demon named Lohasura decided to disturb the yajna and was heading towards the spot of the sacrifice. To face the demon, from meditating Brahma appeared a man. The man paid homage to Brahma. He was then greeted by the Devas and changed into a sword named Nandaka. Devas asked Bhagavan Vishnu to lift up the sword Nandaka for defending Dharma which was threatened by Lohasura. Lohasura reached the yajna spot. The fierce demon had thousand hands and his body was dark blue in color. The demon’s body was hard like the diamond. Using a club he drove away the Dev

The term Tretagni in Hinduism refers to the group of three fires, namely, grihapatyagni, dakshin agni and ahavaniyagni, used for making oblations in a Srauta Karma. The basins used for these three fires are circular, semi-circular and square in shape, respectively. It is quite interesting to note the way the dimensions of these basins and the altars are specified in Sulba Sutras. The texts give the dimensions of the basin for ahavaniyagni and merely mention that the basins for the other two fires have to be constructed in such a way that the area of the basin for ahavaniyagni is the same as the area of the other two basins. Thus, the problem of finding the radius for the basins of grihapayagni and ahavaniyagni is left to the performers of the sacrifice. The space in between in the grihapayagni and ahavaniyagni in the east-west direction is referred to as vedi, and the darbha (holy grass) is spread over it. A schematic sketch of the basic structure of the vedi (altar), u

Marriage is on a rocky ground and if it were not for kids, the marriage would have ended long back. We get to hear this from many husbands and wives. People stick on with marriage because of kids. I have been married for ‘x’ number of years. There is nothing in common between us now. Things are getting more and more difficult. I want to be with people who understand me. Our sex life is low and it is now merely an exercise. There is no passion. There is no understanding…Am keeping the marriage alive for the sake of children. You meet such unsatisfied married males and females daily. First and foremost, marriage is not about an individual. It is not all about you. The day you decide to get married, you are also preparing to sacrifice the individual and personal needs for another goal – this goal is family. If you are not ready to sacrifice or adjust your individuality and personal needs, then family life should not be your choice. Or you can at least decide not to have