In Episode 34, we look at rituals in Hinduism, in a conversation with Shri PVR Narasimha Rao. The English word ritual does not really capture the sense of sacred or meaningful action that is the core of Hinduism. What is the purpose of Sadhana? What place does it hold in Sanatana Dharma? What do the shastras say? We also touch on the “religious vs. spiritual” debate and understand the importance of both ritual and meditation. How do they help people in living a good life and finally, put them on the path to Moksha? Shri Rao expounds on the different types of sadhanas in Hinduism which are based on the five elements. How do they differ? Are pranayama and homa/havan the same in principle? This podcast will give you a deep understanding of Hinduism and the place of rituals (the better word is Sadhana!) Listen till the end for a special message on introducing rituals to children. Shri PVR Narasimha Rao has BTech from IIT Madra and a Masters from Rice University, USA. He is a senior manager at a US semiconductor company. He is a Jyotish researcher, author, teacher and created a popular free Jyotish software. He is also a Sanskrit scholar, philosopher and teaches homa and other ritiuals. You can find more about his work on teaching homa and other simple rituals at vedicastrolger.org Note: If you find our work valuable, please consider making a contribution. It will help us cover the costs of reaching many more Hindu parents. If you live in India, please write to [email protected] to get the QR code. All others outside India can use the substack platform (through Stripe). Contents of the podcast: 0:00 - Introduction 1:38 - Ritual, Karma, Sadhana, Meditation 20:22 - Types of Sadhana 32:48 - Fear of making a mistake 38:14 - Is Adhikara necessary? 43:05 - Learning how to perform Pooja/Havan 45:37 - Personal Pooja Apparatus 51:33 - Schedule/timing prescribed by Shastras 55:47 - Following Rituals in both letter and spirit 1:04:14 - Advice for parents 1:10:34 - Do It Yourself Info from Speaker 1:13:55 - Hindu Parenting Platform Info General Information: Subscribers are requested to look for The Hindu Parenting notification emails for new podcasts/posts in their email promotions/spam tab and personally move these into the main inbox. Thereafter all posts will be delivered to their main inbox. Thank you! For questions that you’d like us to address, please use the form below: Hindu Parenting Questions For comments and suggestions, please use the comments tab or write to us at [email protected] Please note that questions will not be answered on email. Do subscribe to our substack and follow us on our social media handles Twitter: hinduparenting Instagram: hinduparenting Telegram: t.me/hinduparenting Threads: hinduparenting Facebook: facebook.com/hinduparenting Facebook group: facebook.com/groups/hinduparenting Koo: hinduparenting The opinions expressed by guests on The Hindu Parenting Podcast are their personal opinions and Hindu Parenting does not assume any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, completeness, suitability or validity of anything shared on our platform by them. Copyright belongs to Hindu Parenting. Get full access to Hindu Parenting at hinduparenting.substack.com/subscribe