What happens after death?

The Upanishads describe reincarnation (punar-janma). In Bhagavad Gita, the Lord Krishna says that just as a man discards his old clothes and wears new ones,similarly the soul discards the old body and takes on a new one.

The belief is that the body is but a shell, the soul inside is immutable and indestructible and takes on different lives in a cycle of birth and death. The end of this cycle is called "Mukti"  and staying finally with supreme God forever; is "Moksha" or salvation.

According to Garuda Purana, the God of Death Yama sends his representatives to collect the soul from a person's body whenever he is due for death and they take the soul to Yama.

A soul after leaving the body travels through a very long and dark tunnel towards the South. This is why an oil lamp is lit and kept beside the head of the corpse, to light the dark tunnel and allow the soul to travel comfortably.

• The soul, called "Atman" leaves the body and reincarnates itself according to the deeds or Karma performed by one in last birth. 

• Rebirth would be in form of animals or other lower creatures if one performed bad Karmas ; or  in human form in a good family with joyous lifetime if one performed bad Karmas.

• Before re-birth a soul is also required to either face punishments for bad Karmas in "naraka/ hell" or enjoy for the good karmas in "svarga" or heaven for good deeds
• Whenever his or her punishments or rewards are over a soul  is sent back to earth/Mrutyulok/human world.

•  A person stays with the God or ultimate power or Paramathman  when soul do good work which satisfies supreme lord, this is  called as "Moksha".

Who are the 7 Chiranjeevi's (immortal) in Hindu Mythology

The Puranas, the Ramayana, and the Mahabharatha describe seven long-lived personalities in the Hindu pantheon. 

The chiranjivis are as follows:

• Ashwatthama :  the son of Drona, a great warrior. Drona did many years of severe penance to please lord Shiva in order to obtain a son who possesses the same valiance as of Lord Shiva. Aswatthama is the avatar of one of the eleven Rudras.
  
  

• Bali : also called Maha Bali (his son was Banasur), was the virtuous emperor of the three worlds and grandson of Prahlad who was of Asura descent. During the Vamana avatar, Lord Vishnu blessed him to be a Chiranjivi. Every year on the day of Onam, he descends to earth from the heavens to visit his people, those of the region of Kerala.
  
  

• Hanuman : served Rama. He stands for selflessness, courage, devotion, strength, and righteous conduct.
  
  

• Kripa :  royal guru of the princes in the Mahabharatha.

• Parashurama : 6th avatar of Vishnu, knowledgeable about all astras, sastras and divine weapons. The Kalki Purana writes that he will re emerge at end of time to be the martial guru of Kalki.
  

• Vibhishana : brother of Ravana. Vibhishana surrendered to Rama before his battle with Ravana. Later, he was crowned king of Lanka after Ravana was killed by Rama. He stands for righteousness. Vibhishana is not a true Chiranjivi, as his boon of longevity is to remain on the earth only until the end of the Mahayuga.
  

• Vyasa :  the sage who composed the Mahabharata. He represents erudition and wisdom. He was the son of sage Parashara and grandson of sage Vashishtha. He was born towards the end of Tretayuga, lived to see the complete Dwaparayuga, and also saw the initial phase of Kalyuga.
  

• Other famous immortals or Chiranjivins: Jambavan, Sage Markandeya, Devapi, Maru, Saptarishis, Kak Bhusundi(Sage living in the form of a crow), Muchukunda the son of Mandhata , Banasur(son of King Bali) by Boon of Shiva, and Udal
  

Levels of warrior in Any kind of war

There are 5 levels


Rathi: A warrior capable of attacking 5,000 warriors simultaneously.

•  Duryodhana, Sudhakshina, Jayadhradha, Dusassana, Vikarna, all 97 brothers of Duryodhana, Shakuni, Yudhishtir, Bhima, Nakula, Sahadeva, Uttar , Shikhandi, Uttamaujas etc were Rathi's.

Atirathi: A warrior capable of contending with 12 Rathi class warriors or 60,000 warriors simultaneously.

•  Kritavarma, Shalya, Kripacharya, Bhurisravas, Yuyutsu, Shishupala, Virata, Akampan, Satyaki, Drishtadyumna, Kuntibhoja, Ghatotkacha, all sons of Draupadi, Prahasta, Angada, Somadatha and Pradyumna were Atirathi's

Maharathi: A warrior capable of fighting 12 Atirathi class warriors or 720,000 warriors simultaneously, circumspect in his mastery of all forms of weapons and combat skills.

• KarthaveryaArjuna, Rama, Kumbhakarna, Lakshmana, Ravana, Lava, Kusha, Sugriva, Atikaya, Jambavan, Vali, Bhishma, Drona, Karna, Arjuna, Ashwatthama, Abhimanyu, Balrama, Lord Narasimha, Alambusha.
• Vrishasena  (the son of Karna), Bhagadatta, Narakasura, Drupada, Virata, Jarasandha and Dhrishtaketu were Maharathis.

Atimaharathi: A warrior capable of fighting 12 Maharathi warriors simultaneously.

• .Ravan's son Indrajit is considered as a Atimaharathi who possessed all three ultimate weapons of Trimurti's.Parasurama the sixth avatar of Vishnu is also considered an Atimaharathi (as he possessed all three weapons of the trinity Pashupatastra, Vaishnavastra and Brahma astra)

Mahamaharathi: A warrior capable of fighting 24 Atimaharathi's simultaneously.

• Lord Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, Durga, Ganesha, kartikeya  and 10 mahavidya's are Mahamaharathi's.

How kartikeya was born..?

• According to the Skanda Purana, Shiva's first wife Sati angrily immolated herself after she felt insulted by her father Daksha when he didn't invite Lord Shiva for a Yagna Ceremony and further insulted Him. 

• An irate Lord Shiva then destroyed the Yagna with the help of ganas. An ascetic Shiva was married with great difficulty the first time around and a second marriage was nearly impossible. 

• Taking advantage of the fact the demons - Tarakasur and Surapadma thought the boon of being killed only by Lord Shiva's son would make him invincible. 

• Kama, the God of Love, awakens Lord Shiva from His penance to remarry Him to Goddess Parvati. Angered by the interruption in his meditation, Lord Shiva burns Kama to ashes with His third eye though He does fall in love with Goddess Parvati. 

• Lord Shiva's hands His fiery seed fire to Agni who can handle it till the radiance becomes Shiva's offspring.

•  Unable to bear the heat, Agni gives the radiance to Ganga who deposits it in a lake in a forest Sara Vana where Kartikeya is born (giving him the name Saravana) with six faces - eesanam, sathpurusham, vamadevam, agoram, sathyojatham and adhomugam, and hence the name Shanmuga or Shadanan. Kartikeya was cared for by six women symbolising Pleiades (Kritika in Sanskrit) and thus got the name Kartikeya.

Awesome Yoga Poses For Men

 Uttanasana

Uttanasana : opens the back of the legs, the hips and the back. Making this pose even more appealing for non-bendy men is that it’s easily modified. If you can’t reach the floor, keep your hands on your thighs, calves or ankles or use blocks to shorten the distance.

In addition to stretching muscles, Standing Forward Fold lowers blood pressure, eases headaches, improves circulation and helps you sleep better. And if you allow gravity to do its job in this pose and relax your head and neck, you can also reduce the tension you carry in your upper body.

Urdvha Mukha Svansana

For men who also enjoy more strenuous forms of exercise, Upward Facing Dog is a great way to warm up and get the muscles stretched and blood flowing before expecting the body to go all out.The other dog posture, Urdvha Mukha Svansana, can help to open the chest and strengthen the back and arms. This posture will help anyone who sits behind a desk or a wheel for far too many hours each day by opening the abdomen and hip flexors.

Up Dog also helps anyone struggling with breathing difficulties

 Baddha Konasana

Baddha Konasana increases blood flow to the pelvis, kidneys, prostate and bladder and I don’t need to tell you what other part of your life can be helped by better blood flow to the pelvic region.

Butterfly pose is also a good way to draw attention to mula bandha, the root lock, which also brings awareness and more energy to the area around the hips

Adho Mukha Svanasana

It’s the pose that just makes you say aah. Downward Dog, or Adho Mukha Svanasana, brings the attention to all of those tight areas that challenge men—the hamstrings, calves, arms, shoulders, back, hips and more. And while it stretches the body, Down Dog also strengthens the arms and legs.

Perhaps even more important for men is what Downward Facing Dog does for the heart. This amazing asana strengthens the heart as it improves circulation, reduces stress and helps high blood pressure.

Navasana

If you’re the type of guy whose key to your heart is through your stomach, you’ll enjoy boat pose for its ability to stimulate the digestive system and keep everything moving smoothly.Another amazing strengthening posture, Boat pose, or Navasana, will give you rock hard abs as it also strengthens the hips flexors and spine. This posture is particularly beneficial to men for what it does to stimulate the prostate gland and even just raise awareness and reduce tension in the pelvic region.

Which was the other most powerful kingdom during the Mahabharatha apart from Kuru Vamsh?

There were many powerful kingdoms at that time




1. Magadh Kingdom --> Ruled by  Jarasandha. 

• It was the one kingdom even Dwarka couldn't defeat in the battlefield
•  Jarasandha attacked Mathura and the Yadavas 17 times.
• This made Krishna and Balarama flee to Dwaraka along with remaining soldiers. Dwaraka was an island and it was not possible for Jarasandha to attack Yadavas afterwards

2. Chedi Kingdom--> Ruled by Shishupaal (cousin of  Krishna)

• In the Mahabharata, Shishupala's mother was given a vow by Krishna, her nephew, that he would pardon his cousin Shishupala for a hundred offenses
• Later he killed by krishna while doing Rajasuya yaga (by yudhishtira)

3.  Panchal Kingdom--> ruled by King Drupada 

• Draupadi or Panchali : Wife of the Pandavas
• Dhrishtadyumna : Commander-in-Chief of the Pandavas in Kurukshetra War and brother of Panchali
• Drupada : Father of Panchali and Dhristadyumna
• Shikhandi or Sikhandin: Another daughter of Drupada

4. Gandhara kingdom--> Ruled by Shakuni's father Suvala

• Gandhara was in modern Pakistan. Puskalavati taxila and peshawar were cities in this gandhara kingdom. 
• Gandharvas were well versed in music and art

5. Dwaraka Kingdom--> Ruled by Krishna and Balarama

• Yadavas are known to be Great Warriors and even Greater Politicians. This combination can be best understood by looking at the Narayani Sena and the Politics of Lord Krishna
• Krishna used this narayani sena to win most of India, including Pragjyotisha, Shonitapura, Vidarbha, Gandhara, Pandya, and the mighty Magadha.
  
    

The only Kaurava who survived in the kurukshethra war

Yuyutsu : Yuyutsu in the Hindu epic Mahabharata was a son of  Dhritharashtra with sugandha ( Gandhari's maid).

•  Fearing problems with Gandhari's pregnancy which had continued for almost two years, Dhritrashtra had a child from Sughada, a woman from Vaishya Varna, who is lady in waiting to Gandhari. 

• He was born on the same day as Duryodhana and was elder to Dushasana

• He is celebrated as a moral warrior who chose the path of righteousness and He forwent his family bonds in order to side with dharma.

During Kurukshetra War

• Since Mahabharata was called the righteous war, both sides (Pandavas and Kauravas) were given absolute freedom to choose any side they wished.

• Before the onset of the battle of Kurukshetra War between Kauravas and Pandavas, Yuyutsu shifts from Kauravas to the Pandava camp. Yuyutsu fought the battle on the side of the Pandavas. 

• He was one among the 11 Maharathis (capable of fighting 720,000 warriors simultaneously) among the Kauravas. Yuyutsu was one among the eleven warriors to have survived the war.

• After the war When the Pandavas decided to retire from the world at the start of the Kali Yuga and departure of Krishna, Yudhishthira gave the charge of supervising the kingdom to Yuyutsu while Parikshit (Abhimanyu's son) was made the king