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VedicLiteratures
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UnderstandingGod
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Based on the teachings of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
PrabhupadaFounder Acharya International Society for Krishna Consciousness
Based on the teachings of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
PrabhupadaFounder Acharya International Society for Krishna Consciousness
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We inhabit aHUGE UNIVERSE
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We areWe areherehere
BangalorePopulation: over 6 million. One of the fastest growing cities
This huge templecomplex isrepresentedas a dot on
Bangalore map.
This huge templecomplex isrepresentedas a dot on
Bangalore map.
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However,
Bangaloreitself is a dotin map of
Karnataka
However,
Bangaloreitself is a dotin map of
Karnataka
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andKarnataka is
one of themany states
in India
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... one of the many countries onthe planet Earth.
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Earth weighing 6x10 21 Kg., is one of the many planets in our solar system.
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Sun, around which all the planetsare orbiting is 14,00,000 times
bi er than Earth.
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Astrophysicists point out
There are 2000 billion starslike sun each
having its ownfamily of planets
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...all these billions of galaxiesand trillions of stars comprise our
UNIVERSE
According to science...
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The most important question..
Who manages theseUNIVERSES in a perfect
order?
Is he a person with Super intelligence?
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Proof of Gods Super intelligence?
Unseen is proved by the seen
Even the smallest material thingneeds a creator
(? mechanism)
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Proof of Gods Super intelligence?
Unseen is proved by the seen
Gods Perfect mechanism
Universe, Stars, Eclipse, Sunset & Sunrise,Moonrise & Moonset, Seasons, Living
beings body systems.
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UNDERSTANDING THE
SUPER INTELLIGENCE
Organizer
Designer
Controller
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(1) PRATYAKSA PRAMANA(DIRECT SENSE PERCEPTION )
THREE WAYS OFGAINING
KNOWLEDGE
UNDERSTANDING THE SUPER INTELLIGENCE
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(2) ANUMANA PRAMAN(THEORIES BASED ON EVIDENCE )
THREE WAYS OFGAINING
KNOWLEDGE
UNDERSTANDING THE SUPER INTELLIGENCE
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RELATIVE TRUTH - BLIND FAITH
(2) ANUMANA PRAMAN(THEORIES BASED ON EVIDENCE )
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(3) SABDA PRAMAN(HEARING FROM A BONAFIDE
AUTHORITY)
THREE WAYS OFGAINING
KNOWLEDGE
UNDERSTANDING THE SUPER INTELLIGENCE
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WE CANNOT ACQUIRE ABSOLUTE KNOWLEDGETHROUGH MATERIAL SENSES.
OUR SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE IS RELATIVE
PRATYAKSA PRAMAN
Is seeing believing
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WE CANNOT UNDERSTAND THE ABSOLUTE TRUTH THROUGHOUR BLUNT MATERIAL SENSES BECAUSE OF THE
FOLLOWING FOUR DEFECTS
1. IMPERFECT SENSES
2. TO BE ILLUSIONED
3. TENDENCY TO COMMITMISTAKES
4. CHEATING PROPENSITY
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Four Defects - (1) IMPERFECT SENSES
OUR EYES ARE BLIND outside the rangeof 400 to 700millmicron
OUR EARS ARE DEAF outside the range
of 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz
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Four Defects - (1) IMPERFECT SENSES
An uninformedScientist may boast:
We will use theinstrument outside therange for perceiving
things.
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Even if we photograph stars eventually we have to take in by
our senses what the photo shows. Furthermore, without our senses we cannot handle a camera.
Even if we amplified / refined by instruments the knowledge is
no more perfect than our imperfect senses.
Four Defects - (1) IMPERFECT SENSES
Noble Prize winning
Physicist Eugene Wigner points out:
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Four Defects - (2) TO BE ILLUSIONED
O ptical illusion
Our eyes
imagine thelines thatform a white
triangle.
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Four Defects - (2) TO BE ILLUSIONED
O ptical illusion
Depending on which image you choose to discard, the drawingis either a black vase or the outline of two white faces lookingtoward each other. Both images are present, but you can't seethem, both at the same time. Consciously or unconsciously,
you select one and discard the other.
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Four Defects - (2) TO BE ILLUSIONED
O ptical illusionPicture shows 2 faces,either a young woman
or an old woman,depending on how youchoose to interpret the
data before you.
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Four Defects - (2) TO BE ILLUSIONED
Optical illusion
HOW MANY LEGS CAN YOU COUNT?
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Optical illusionWhich circle in the middle is bigger?Technically both are of the same size.
Four Defects - (2) TO BE ILLUSIONED
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Four Defects - (2) TO BE ILLUSIONEDIf you take a look at the following picture , let me tell you ... it is not
animated. Your eyes are making it move. To test this, stare at one spot for a
couple seconds and everything will stop moving. Or look at the black center of each circle and it will stop moving. But move your eyes to the next black center and the previous will move after you take your eyes away from it.... Weird
Optical illusion
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Four Defects - (2) TO BE ILLUSIONED
Optical illusion
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Four Defects - (2) TO BE ILLUSIONED
Are the purple lines straight or bent?
Optical illusion
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Four Defects - (2) TO BE ILLUSIONED
Optical illusion
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Four Defects - (2) TO BE ILLUSIONED
Optical illusion
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Four Defects - (2) TO BE ILLUSIONED
Optical illusionDo you see gray areas in between the squares?
Now where did they come from?
There are only black areas in the picture.
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EARS
Cannot distinguish hissingof a cooker and train
Four Defects - (2) TO BE ILLUSIONED
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EARS
Four Defects - (2) TO BE ILLUSIONED
1. Human hearing extends from 20 Hz up to 20,000 Hz.
2. We are deaf to any vibration above or below this range.
3. That's why when you blow dog's whistle all street dogswill come running to you, but you cannot hear!
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Four Defects - (2) TO BE ILLUSIONED
Orange taken after eatingsugar tastes sour
Orange taken after eatinglemon tastes sweet
TONGUE
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Four Defects - (2) TO BE ILLUSIONED
SKIN
Same water touched withwarm hand appears cool;
touched with cold handsappears warm
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Four Defects - (3) TO COMMIT MISTAKES
STARS WERE CONSIDERED PINPRICKS ONA CRYSTAL GLOBE (!)
WILDLY INCORRECT ACCOUNTS INSCIENCE
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Four Defects - (3) TO COMMIT MISTAKES
ELECTRICITY & HEAT WERECONSIDERED FLUIDS (!!)
WILDLY INCORRECT ACCOUNTS INSCIENCE
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Four Defects - (3) TO COMMIT MISTAKES
BRAIN WAS THOUGHT OF AS AN ORGANTO COOL THE BLOOD (!!!)
WILDLY INCORRECT ACCOUNTS INSCIENCE
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Four Defects - (4) CHEATING PROPENSITY
1912 - CONNECTING LINK MADE-UP
1953 - FRAUD REVEALED :HUMAN SKULL & FILED JAW
THE PILTDOWN MAN FRAUD
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ANUMANA PRAMAN(Theories based on Evidence)
It may have been like this, or perhaps it was like this...Hypothesis on the knowledge acquired
by direct perception
Charles Darwin'stheories and
much of archaeology and
anthropology
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RECORD OFTHE ROCKS
MAN CAME FROM MONKEYS
HUMAN BEINGS
AND MONKEYSSIMULTANEOUSLYEXISTED MILLIONS
OF YEARS AGO
40,000
100,000
400,000
1 million
1.5 million
2 million
Age of Rock Strata in Years
ANUMANA PRAMAN(Theories based on Evidence)
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KRISHNA
BRAHMA
NARADA
CHAITANYAMAHAPRABHU
A C BHAKTIVEDANTA SWAMI
SABDA PRAMANHearing from a Bonafide Authority
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How do we understand
GOD who is ...
Creator & maintainer of many such universes.
Beyond this giganticmanifestation.
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All methods of acquiring
knowledge can be broadlyclassified into two
categories
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Inductive(Ascending)Trying to find the truth by
ones own endeavor or speculation.
If a child wants to know whohis father is, he makes a
survey of the male population of the city.
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Deductive(Descending)
To learn the truth byaccepting an authority &
inquiring from him.
If a child wants to knowwho his father is, he
should ask his mother.
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How can an ant living in one corner of this classroom know about...
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What are the latestdevelopments in Iraq?
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The wars in the other side of the globe?
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Who is
President of United States
of America ?
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Arafat & ethnic
conflicts inPalestine and
Lebanon
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Logically speaking ant cannever know through its own
efforts through ASCENDINGPROCESS of acquiring
knowledge
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Its tooooo...small & haslimited sense perception
Ground Reality...
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Then how can we go aboutunderstanding GOD who is creator of infinite gigantic UNIVERSES?
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...but to accept thedescending method of acquiring knowledge
We have no choice...
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Accept an authority & learn the truth byinquiring submissively.
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Lord Krishna in
Bhagavad-Gita mentionsthe process of acquiring
knowledge.
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tad viddhi praiptenaparipranena sevay
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Just try to learn the truth byapproaching a Spiritual Master and
inquire submissively
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Who is thatauthority?
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THE VEDICLITERATURES
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But arent the Vedaswritten by man !!!
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NOThe Vedas are
apaurusah they are not man-made
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Moriz Winternitz concludes,Vedic literature extends
from an unknown past (sayx) to 500 B.C.
Ruth Reyna, Introduction to Indian Philosophy. p. 16
Vedic History
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tene bramhahriday adi
kavaye
Vedic History
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The Vedic knowledge was revealed bythe Supreme Person, in the heart of the
first created being, Brahma.
Vedic History
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The oral tradition begansimultaneous to the cosmic
creation, when Supreme Being
spoke Vedic knowldege to thefirst living being , Brahma.Srimad-Bhagvatam, First Canto, vol.1, p.44
Vedic History
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This Vedicwisdom camedown indisciplic
succession
through auralreception
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Knowledge from Vedas
Acintya - not of material nature(Absolute knowledge)
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Srimad Bhagavatam predicts about
people in Kali-yuga mand lazy ;
sumanda-mataya misguided; manda-bhgy unlucky ;
hi upadrut and above all disturbed
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Vysadeva, a literary incarnation of God,
shaktyavesa avtara, records allthe Vedas in every Dvapara yuga in the concised form
in writing.
Matasya Purana 53.9-11, VisnuPurana 3.4.5
S f V di K l d
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1. Sruti-prasthana - Vedas, & Upanisads
Sources of Vedic KnowledgePrasthana-traya
2. Smrti-prasthana - Puranas, Ramayana,Bhagavad-gita, Mahabharata,
3. Nyaya-prasthana - Vedanta-sutra
Vedas, Mahabharata & Puranas are breathedout by the Absolute TruthBrhad-aranyaka Upanisad 2.4.10
Sh i & S i i
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Shruti: Hearing Acquiringknowledge by by hearing (mother).
Shruti & Smriti
Smriti: Remembering - Scriptureswhich further explain Vedas (sister).
h d
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Veda means know and denotesdivine knowledge
Four Vedas: (Rg Veda, Yajur Veda,Sama Veda, Atharva Veda)
Vedas are mainly hymns, chanted by priests, in praise of the gods.
Shruti sastras - Vedas
Sh i V d
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Vedas mainly encourage satisfaction of material desires through worship of
demigods & karma-kanda.
Shruti sastras - Vedas
Worship of Agni for power, Indra for sex,Durgadevi for fortune, Vasus for money, Asvini
Kumaras for long life.
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h d
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Sama Veda - Veda of chants -1549 verses praises heavenly
beverage soma.
Shruti sastras - Vedas
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Sh i U i d
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Disciple sitting beside his guru -receives transcendental knowledge.
Shruti sastras - Upanisads
Upa-ni-sat means sit closely
Marks the beginning of
transcendental life
Sh i U i d
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Upanisads: 220 in total - main 108Establish the absolute as non
material.
Shruti sastras - Upanisads
Every Upanisad first presents the
Supreme Brahman as impersonal,at the end the personal form of Bhagavan emerges.
Hayasirsa Pancaratra
Sh i U i d
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Upanisads - emphasize meditationupon the impersonal Brahman.
Shruti sastras - Upanisads
Upanisads - do not deny that theAbsolute Truth has personality.
Upanisads - do assert theGodheads spiritual personality.
Smriti sastras Vedanta s tra
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Smriti sastras Vedanta sutra
Vedanta sutra
Most concise form of all Vedicknowledge
S iti t P
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Smriti sastras Puranas
Puranas: The Histories
18 in no - Originally 100 crore slokas(now 4 lac)
Offer vedic knowledge in the form of stories & historical incidents.
S iti t P
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Smriti sastras Puranas
Deal with the superhumanactivities of Bhagavan and hisvarious incarnations in various
ages.
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Smriti s str s M h bh r t
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Smriti sastras Mahabharata
Mahabharata: The Histories - (1 lac slokas -four line stanzas each)
Story of the greater kingdom of Bharatavarsa, - History of ancient world
empire.
Also called pancamah Veda - includes Bhagavad-gita in Bhisma parva Ch. 25-42
Matasya purana 53.69
Smriti sastras Ramayana
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Smriti sastras Ramayana
Bramhaji to Narada to Balmiki100 crore slokas - 5.25 slokas
now 12500
Matasya purana 53.70
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Knowledge from Vedas
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Knowledge from Vedas compatible with modern day
knowledge
Bhugol, Saptadvipa,Embryology, Life in plants,
Fire bacteria mentioned inVedas.
V d di i
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Buddha (Bhag 1.3.24)
Vedas predictions
Christ (Bhavisya Purana),
Allaha (Bhavisya Purana, AtharvaVeda Kanda 20, Shukta 127,Mantra 1-3)
V d di i
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Caitnaya Mahaprabhu (Bhag 11.5.32, Mahabharata 127.92.75),
Vedas predictions
Chanakya (Bhag. 12.1.11),
Chandragupta & Asoka (Bhag.12.1.12,
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What the world
renowned personalitiessay about the Vedic
literatures ?
h d h h d h
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When I read the Bhagavad-gita, the
only question left is how God createdthe universe. Everything else seems to be superfluous.
Albert EinsteinPhysicist
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The balance of mindwhich few highly-
civilized individuals,
such as Arjuna, the heroof Bhagavad-gita, canmaintain in action, is
difficult for most of useven as observers.
T. S. EliotAmerican-EnglishPoet
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The deeper you dive intoit, richer the meaning youget...with every age, the
important words will carrynew and expanding
meanings. But its centralteachings will not vary.
Mahatma
GandhiIndias Father of
Nation
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Let the Gita be to you amine of diamonds as it
has been to me. Let it beyour constant guide andfriend on lifes way. Let
it light your path anddignify your labour.
Mahatma
GandhiIndias Father of
Nation
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It gives utterance tothe aspirations of the pilgrims of all sects
who seek to tread theinner way to the city
of God.
Dr. S. Radhakrishnanformer President of India
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In the morning I bathe my intellect
in the stupendous and cosmogonal philosophy of the Bhagavad Gita,
in comparison with which our modern world and its literature
seem puny and trivial.
Henry David Thoreau
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What is the purpose of my
existence ? Who is God ? How am I related to God ?
The Vedas offer insight into
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Since, these questions deal withvery fundamental aspects of our
existence , we can immensely benefit by daily studying thesevedic literatures & sharpening our
Spiritual Intelligence SQ.
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Hare Krishna
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