The word Vaishnavism is derived
from
the word Vaishnava, or vais'n'ava,
as the preferred spelling on this
website. The word vais'n'ava
is in turn derived from the name vis'n'u,
or Vishnu. Vis'n'u is one of
the main deities of the religion commonly
known as Hinduism, also known as sanaatana-dharma.
According to
estimates, 75% of all Hindus are Vaishnavas, which would mean that
there are more than 600 million Vaishnavas on the earth. However, a lot
of these Vaishnavas practice a form of Vaishnavism which is very mixed
with influences from non-Vaishnava sources. The aim of this website is
to present a form of Vaishnavism which is as pure as possible.
Some of the main Vaishnava
scriptures are Ramayana (raamaayan'a),
Mahabharata (mahaabhaarata),
Bhagavata Purana (bhaagavata puraan'a).
Bhagavad-gita (bhagavad-giitaa)
is a part of Mahabharata. There are
also other scriptures but the above mentioned are the most commonly
read. In Vaishnavism as well as other branches of sanaatana-dharma, the
four Veda scriptures are also very important. These are: Rig Veda
(r'g-veda),
Sama Veda (saama-veda), Yajur
Veda (yajur-veda), Atharva
Veda
(atharva-veda).
The main goal of Vaishnavism is to
develop pure love (bhakti) of
Vishnu
or some of Vishnu's avataaras.
For this purpose, one can meditate on mantras
or worship a muurti, or
perform other activities
as a sacrifice.
In this website, we also have some
pages about other subjects, such as Vedic Astrology, and some
socio-political statements. These pages are written by the same person
who writes the other pages here.
You can contact us at
info@vaisnava.info.
If you want to help us develop this
site, or give a donation, we will
be grateful.
