S: We are adopting lovebirds in cage in our home since past few months. All are saying that it is not good to adopt birds in home and my wife got abortion in the fifth month, and all are saying because of that birds only. Is it right or wrong? What we have to do?
Swami Ram Swarup: Abortion did not take place because of bird. Abortion and keeping of birds in house are two separate matters. Yes, it is true that we should try not to en-cage the birds. They should be freed.

Rohan: Guruji, I was reading the lastest monthly issue book it states that Shri Krishna created a weapon called ‘Sudarshan Chakra’ and just below that it states that he got this chakra from a Brahmin in return for burning Khandav forest. So which one is right its very contradicting. With good wishes
Swami Ram Swarup: Contradiction are always here, presently, due to lack of knowledge of Vedas. Critical analysis clarifies the doubt.

Abhishek: Dear sir I am poor in English for that I am asking my question in Hindi please. Suggest me ager main har mahine mein sirf poornima ka fasting rakhta huin to kya wo 4 monday ke fasting ke barabar hota hai. Thanks & Regards.
Swami Ram Swarup: Ved-shastron mein fast ka koi varnnan nahin hain aur isliye fast ka concern bhakti ityadi se nahin hai phir bhi aap fast rakhna chahein to rakhein parantu aisee koi baat nahin hai ki poornima ke fast chaar Monday ke fast ke barabar hoga. Jab fast ka koi punnya hain hee nahin, kewal shareer par hee asar karta hai. Isliye vidwan log isko nahin mantey. Poornima ke din to Atharvveda mantra 7/80/1 kehta hai ki vedon ke vidwanon ke niwas par jaakar hum sab milkar yajyen karein aur aisa yajyen sukh, shanti, dhann, achchi santaan aadi ka deiney wala hota hai.

P S: Dear Swamiji. I am so excited I found your website. My husband is a muslim and I am a hindu. I believe in one GOD. There is no division such as muslim or hindu air. From childhood we are taught to pray in from of idol. Can you teach me how to pray? my husband wants me to get rid of murtis in the house. I want to because I believe GOD is formless but somewhere having difficulty. can you help. I want my husband to believe in GOD. What is the name of GOD in Sanskrit. Is HE Vishnu or Shiva or just Ishwar? Also I am always tired and weak and fatigued. I don’t have courage to stand for myself. I was a bright student but getting lazy and tired. Can you help?
Swami Ram Swarup: My blessings to you, my daughter and thank you, please. One should always be brave in life otherwise, the person would not be able to face and settle the problems of life. So, please do not loose heart (patience). As regards, God, He is formless, omnipresent, Almighty, omniscient, unchallengeable, unchangeable and He only creates, nurses and destroys the universe. Vedas never promote idol worship because God, being Almighty, need no help but He helps all. So, He never takes any form/avtar. As regards His name, He has unlimited divine qualities. So, based on the qualities, He has unlimited names. Brahma and Vishnu are also the names of one God, based on His divine qualities. For example- Vishnu means omnipresent and because of this quality, His name is Vishnu. Secondly, Brahma means the most supreme. So, based on this quality, His name is Brahma. However, Vedas tell to do the jaap of God’s name- Om. The divine qualities of the word Om are also unlimited. But one of the qualities, I may tell you here that He protects us by all means, if we worships Him. So, based on the said quality, His name is Om.
I paste here my relevant articles as under-

Trinity

There is only one God who is formless, creates, nurses and destroys the universe. He is Almighty and supreme, beyond description, beyond imagination and beyond calculation. He is omnipresent and omniscient. Divine qualities of Almighty God are described in eternal knowledge of Vedas. Vedas emanate direct from God. So all Hindus and others too believe in Vedas.

Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh are the names of one said God. God has no wives please because He is Almighty and needs no assistance etc. No one is above God please. All religions tell to worship God.

God is formless

Being formless there is no need of statue or temple of God according to Vedas. As a matter of fact, you, I or every human being, lives in a body. Body is separate, we are called souls. Vedas say soul has no form even. Then also we know each other. For example even if you have not seen the photograph of King Akbar then, you can know Akbar by means of the study of his qualities. So is the case with the God. If an aspirant really goes to his Guru and listens Vedas like Shri Ram, and ancient kings and their public then he will be able to know hundred percent about formless God. Then comes realization for which Vedas (especially Samveda) says that he who performs Yajyen, does jaap (according to Vedas) and practises Ashtang Yoga Philosophy while remaining in family like Shri Ram etc., he sure realizes ,being eternal law.

If we will meditate concentrating outside our body which is also against Vedas/Ashtang Yoga Philosophy, then our attention will always naturally remain outside i.e., attached with outer world i.e., decoration/music/dances etc. In that case subject matter of God will be over. It will be converted into spending fun, doing dances and singing attractive songs by ladies and gents, which is totally against Vedas. Thus the chapter of praising God, True Acharya, Rishi-Munis, performing Yajyen, practice of Ashtang Yoga, eternal knowledge of Vedas etc., will be over.

It is also baseless to say that study of Vedas and practice of yoga philosophy is difficult. It is self made story because Vedas are also called Shruti i.e., Vedas are to be listened first and not to be studied. So to listen to the Vedas, a learned Acharya is needed. The Acharya will explain the Ved mantras in the Yajyen in your own language i.e., in English or Urdu etc., and for an aspirant to do asan, pranayaam, meditation etc., is also not difficult. It is all difficult for those human beings, including present false prophets, (who are against the Vedas), who are lazy, can’t awake early in the morning to listen Vedas and fail to do practice of yoga philosophy. Those people are always after money, materialistic articles and pomp and show etc.

Vedas are not written or spoken by God. This knowledge is emanated from God and is originated in the heart of four Rishis as stated above. God is Almighty i.e., He has all powers. So He needs no assistance to do deeds of universe. In human body alive soul resides and soul is dependent, soul requires mouth to speak, eye to see, hand to write etc., etc. but not God. From His power God originates the knowledge of Vedas in the rishis without writing, or speaking etc. Vedas’ knowledge is divine. The fundamental of the Vedas is this that it was not written or spoken. The knowledge by the power of God was originated about one Arab 96 crore, 8 lakh and 53,111 years ago. Then first time the four rishis of nonsexual creation started pronunciation of the mantras by the power of God. God wanted them to know word meanings and sense of the mantras and therefore the rishis knew all. Then first time the four rishis started pronunciation of the mantras. They taught the mantras to other ignorant people. Then more rishis were produced who knew the Vedas by heart by listening only. There was no paper, ink or pen there. The Vedas were being learnt orally and traditionally this process is yet in force. But mostly not by heart but taking help of the printed book. So printed books are not called Vedas but these are called samhita.

Samhita means the collection of Ved mantras. Therefore Present printed books cannot be considered as Vedas and will never be in future, but samhita. Kapil Muni throws light on this point in his Sankhya Shastra sutra 5/48 that when a rishi does tapsya in the shape of Yajyen, study of Vedas, practice of Ashtang Yoga then the Ved mantras still (now also) originate in heart of the Rishi and the rishi pronounces the mantras. Those mantras are called Vedas, which emanate from God. So Vedas must first be listened (study) from alive Acharya (Guru who knows Vedas). Then only Samhita (books of Vedas) can help.

Avtar

God is only one who creates the universe and no other can create the universe except God. Please think deeply is any one except God empowered for creation, etc.? The pious qualities of God are unlimited whereas qualities of soul, which resides in human body, are limited. That is why He is God. This fact is also mentioned by Rishi Patanjali in his Yog shastra sutra 1/24, “KALEASHKARAMVIPAKASHYAIHI APRAMRISHTAHA PURUSHVISHESHAHA ISHWARAHA” i.e., He who is not indulged in any sorrows/sufferings (kalesh), in any kind of deed (karma) and result thereof (vipakya), He is supreme in souls and is called Ishwar (God), whereas, soul is indulged in all the said matters according to deeds done in previous, and in the present life. So this is also a difference between God and souls and therefore soul can never be God based on the different qualities.

Amongst unlimited qualities of God, few may be enumerated-that God creates, nurses and destroys the universe. God is omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent and Almighty, beyond description, beyond imagination, and beyond calculation. Nobody on the earth can deny such qualities, but these qualities are to be discussed and considered deeply and he who does the same is called MUNI as per Vedas and shastras.

Let us think over one quality of God – Being Almighty. Almighty means God has all powers and thus God, to control the universe and to do any kind of deed for the same, can not be dependent on another, at any cost, being Almighty. Again shastras say, which is a true saying too, that there must be reason behind for any creation, matter etc. God is a reason to create the universe. Parents are the reason to give birth to a child. Ravana took Sita forcefully which became a reason for war between Shri Ram and Ravana etc. So as per Vedas there must be a reason of avtar and after studying eternal knowledge of Vedas and thinking deeply, there seems no reason to take avtar by Almighty God. As in Yajurveda mantra 2/26, so is in Shwetashwataropnishad shlok 6/8 wherein it is mentioned that there is no reason to form a God and thus God is also formless i.e., nobody can make God but God creates universe from non-alive prakriti. Secondly the said Upnishad says that the deeds of God of creation, nursing, and destruction of universe are eternal, natural, and automatic. So naturally God needs no avtar to destroy Kalyug, earth, or devils etc., being Almighty i.e., God has all powers and is independent. Not God but only His powers are enough to control, create, nurse, destroy the universe. That is why Upnishad says that God has no desire to create etc., but it is eternal and natural and this sort of desire is named “IKSHAN” and not desire to create etc.

Suppose God has to kill a devil and He takes avtar and God kills the devils by arrow etc. It means God is not Almighty and independent because God has taken help of Avtar (Human body) and arrow, gun, etc., which is impossible.

This all I have told based on fundamental law of eternal knowledge of four Vedas. Yet if anybody says about avtar then it is their own views and they are satisfied with their views and can not be commented because they could have been realizing at their own but so far as eternal knowledge of Vedas is concerned, Avtar is not possible.

Names of God

In the Vedas there is only one God but has so many names according to His qualities. For example His name is OM which means the God is the saviour of all. His name is SURYA (sun) i.e., sun has light but sun takes light from God because God has the supreme and Divine light of His own. His name is Chandrma (moon). Moon gives peace, calm, cold and charming light so the name of God is also Chandrma (moon) because God gives peace, calm etc., to those who worship etc., etc. we all people do not worship thirty three Goddesses as briefed above. Shiva means Kalyan i.e., happiness, welfare, good fortune and benediction etc., i.e., He who does welfare to human beings, He is Shiva and He is only one Almighty God said above. Vishnu means He who is everywhere and He is only one Almighty God.

Rig-Veda mantra 1/164/46 says,” EKAM SADRUPA VIPRAH BAHUDHA VADANTI,” i.e., EKAM SATAM means truth is one i.e., God is one but VIPRAH = Rishis, Munis who were/are learned of Vedas, BAHUDHA VADANTI utter so many names of God mentioned in Vedas like AGNIM YAMAM MATRISHVANAM AAHUHU meaning-the names of God are Agni, Yam, Matrishva and AAHUHU means “says”. In Yajurveda mantra 32/1 the names of God stated are AGNI, ADITYA, VAAYU, CHANDRMA, SHUKRAM, BRAHM, AAPAH, and PRAJAPATIHI ETC, ETC, ETC. I would explain the meaning of above all the names of God in brief due to shortage of time and space.

AGNI= agrini i.e., at the top or who comes first or who was before the creation and according to the said qualities, here the meaning of Agni pertains to God i.e., God is eternal and therefore exists always before the creation etc. that is why Rigveda mantra 1/1/1 says AGNIM Eedey – in the said mantra the meaning of Agni is God according to the qualities and situation. Meaning of Eedey is desire. Therefore the meaning of Agnim Eedey is , “I am desirous of God. Similarly YAM means controller of universe, Matrishva means air i.e., like the air God gives life to human beings. Aditya means which can not be broken into pieces, Chandrma means like moon God gives calm/peace, Shukram means Almighty, Brahma means the superior/the biggest/the greatest etc., in the universe, Aapah means omnipresent, Prajapatihi means one who nurses the universe. So all the said meanings have the qualities of God and hence the name of God in the Vedas, but these are always uttered by Rishis Munis, who are learned of Vedas, as mentioned in Rig-Veda mantra quoted above. Therefore only Rishis Munis who are learned of Vedas, utter or tell the holy name of God mentioned in Vedas and those who do not know Vedas can never utter the above holy names of God. But the said holy names, on the other hand, are even of surprising nature to them.

One thing more, the holy names of God in the Vedas are according to the nature, knowledge and deeds (God creates, nurses, destroys and controls the universe etc.) of Almighty God. Therefore those names are eternal and countless. So I am not able to mention here infinite names of Almighty God being beyond imagination, beyond calculation and beyond description etc., and we have to worship the said Almighty God whose description is in four Vedas, whose study has mostly been made to be stopped by the present saints who are against the Vedas and speak only charming stories etc., and never tell about Vedas. Whereas the description of Vedas is in Geeta, Ramayana,
six shastras, Upnishads and all ancient holy books. The reason why the present (most of them) saints do not quote Vedas is that they do not study the Vedas, do not do Yajyen and do not obey Ashtang Yoga Philosophy mentioned in Vedas which was also adopted by Shri Ram, Shri Krishna, Mata Sita, King Harishchandra, king Dashrath and their subjects/ public etc. Therefore we must be aware of false prophets.

Raj: We are having some friends among us whom we love dearly but they have some behaviour like anger and aggressive behaviour. If we have sincere desire to see a change in their behaviour is it possible to bring this change by chanting some mantras or offering any prayers.
Swami Ram Swarup: No, please. It is not possible that a person may change his behavior until he is preached and asked to worship God daily by a learned acharya of Vedas and Yoga philosophy.