6 Vishnu occupies an important place in the pantheons of countless Indian deities, he is included in the trimurti, the three main deities of Hinduism. He is simple, not rational, but emotional, peaceful, and even prone to pranks. He is four-armed, depicted sitting on a throne of white lotus or sailing on a thousand-headed dragon. Countless times, Vishnu took the form of human beings, including the form of Rama and Krishna. Here and further descriptions of pagan deities are given according to the edition: Mythological Dictionary / Ch. Ed. by E.M. Meletinsky. Moscow, 1990.

7 The name Arjuna is translated from Sanskrit. as "morning star", "bright", "silver". In the Mahabharata, Arjuna was the name of the son of the god Indra, and Arjuna's brother-in-law was Krishna himself, the "supreme divine personality". The Bhagavad-gītā is an exposition of the lessons of austerity taught to Arjuna by Krishna.

8 Mecca (Makkah) was one of the religious centers of the pagans of Arabia from the sixth century, and later became such for all Muslims. There is a sanctuary of the Kaaba ("cube") with the famous black meteorite stored in it, consisting of several pieces fastened with a silver hoop. For centuries, all Muslims have been praying towards Mecca five times a day. Performing the Hajj (pilgrimage) to Mecca is one of the five main duties of a Muslim.

9 Royal power was restored in Serbia in 1882, five years after its complete liberation from Turkish dependence; Milan Obrenović became King of Serbia. In 1941, as a result of the occupation of Serbia, the Serbian King Petar I was forced to flee to England, and the communist regime that came to power then forbade the king to return to Yugoslavia. The son of the last Serbian king, Petar II (b. 1945), currently lives in England.

10 The victims of Yugoslavia in the First World War amounted to 1 million people out of its entire population of 4 million people (see: Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate. 1973. № 2. P. 15).

11 In this context, pariahs mean sudras, that is, members of the fourth, lowest, contemptible caste of slaves. Pariahs are outcasts, "non-caste", "untouchable" people. A person excluded from the caste is an outlaw: no one accepts him into his caste, he cannot sit next to members of other castes, his daughter will not be married, etc. A man, on the other hand, is freer in choosing a future wife, and relaxations of the law could be made for him. Initially, peasants belonged to the Vaishyas, later they were joined by merchants and all other working people, that is, most of the population of India. The fate of each caste is described in the Bhagavad-gita as follows: "Heroism, strength, determination, resourcefulness, courage in battle, nobility, ability to lead — these are the natural qualities that determine the activities of the Kshatriyas. Farming, cow protection, and trade are natural jobs for the Vaishyas. Physical labor and service to others are the destiny of the sudras" (Sri Chrimad A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. Bhagavad-gita as it is. Complete edition with authentic Sanskrit texts, Russian transliteration, literal and literary translations and detailed commentaries: In 2 vols. Moscow; Leningrad; Calcutta; Bombay; New Delhi, 1990. Vol. 2. pp. 378–379. Chapter 18, text 43–44 [further quoted: Bhagavad-gita]).

The division of people into four castes is commanded in sacred texts; in particular, the tenth book of the Rig Veda affirms its eternity. However, as a result of miscegenation, budding, the inclusion of new tribes in Indian society, economic specialization, etc., many other castes (jatas) were formed, their total number now reaches 2-3 thousand.

12 In Serbian, the Paschal troparion reads as follows: "Christ is risen from the dead, I will crush the smrt and let us die at the grave of the gift of life."

13 "In general, the appearance of Kali is harsh and terrible; This is a three-eyed monster with bared teeth, a protruding tongue, many (more often four) arms in which weapons are placed. Her earrings are in the form of the bodies of babies, the necklace is made of skulls. Holidays in her honor are colorful and popular. But she is feared and therefore revered, making bloody sacrifices... Kali is considered the patroness of all those engaged in unclean deeds, including professional criminals, robbers and murderers, not to mention members of the caste of stranglers-thugas, who kill people in her honor" (Vasiliev L.S. History of Religions of the East, p. 245). "Goddesses Durga and Kali... look frightening and are often the objects of worship of bloody cults" (Eliade M., Culiano I. Dictionary of Religions. [Moscow, St. Petersburg,] 1997. P. 164). "There are still those," wrote the neo-Hindu Vivekananda, "who ridicule Kali. But today she is here, in the crowd. People are beside themselves with fear, and soldiers are called upon to sow death. Who would dare to assert that God does not manifest himself in evil as well as in good? But only a Hindu dares to worship it as evil" (quoted from: Father Seraphim (Rose), Orthodoxy and the Religion of the Future. [Moscow,] 1991. P. 37).

14 The cross remains a symbol of the Serbian nation to this day. This symbol is depicted in the form of a four-pointed symmetrical cross with four letters "C", symbolizing, according to some interpretations, the motto: "The very syllable of Srbija spasava" – "Only unity saves Serbia".

15 Stefan Uroš IV Dušan (1331–1355) was the ninth ruler of the glorious Serbian dynasty of Nemanjić, the most famous and most powerful Serbian king. He was harsh and brave, during his 24 years of reign he attacked the Byzantine Empire alone 13 times. Dušan raised Serbia to a height it had never reached: during his reign, Serbia stretched to the Adriatic Sea, and Dušan was proclaimed king of almost all the countries that had previously been part of the Byzantine Empire. Serbia was the strongest and most prosperous kingdom on the Balkan Peninsula at the time of the invasion of the Turks. The relics of King Dušan rested in his main monastery (this is the name given in Serbia to monasteries or temples built by someone for the salvation of his soul, that is, donated "for the soul") – the monastery of the Holy Archangels Michael and Gabriel near Prizren. In 1968, the holy relics were transferred to Belgrade to the Church of the Holy Apostle Mark.

16 The Great Martyr Lazarus (c. 1329–1389; commemorated on June 15/28 and on the Third Sunday after Pentecost) was the Prince of Serbia from 1371 to 1389, a favorite national hero of the Serbs. He united the Serbian lands scattered after the death of King Dušan, and obtained from Byzantium the rank of patriarch for the Serbian archbishop. He fought courageously against the Turks, who sought to conquer the Balkans. He died heroically in the Battle of Kosovo, on the day of his Cross Glory (the day of memory of his saint). His holy relics rest in his monastery, Ravanica, in the Church of the Ascension of Christ, and give healing to those who come to them. In the Battle of Kosovo in 1389, the Serbian troops were defeated by the Turks, and the Balkans began a dark period of almost five hundred years of Turkish rule. In Kosovo, this holy place for Serbs, today, after the events of 1999, there are almost no Serbs left.

17 Karadjordje was the leader of the Serbian people, a national hero, who led the first victorious anti-Turkish uprising in 1804. The reason for the uprising was the murder by the Turkish janissaries of the seventy best sons of the Serbian people. By 1807, the Serbs had reconquered almost all of their lands and, with the support of Russia, achieved broad autonomy from Turkey. However, in 1813, "the Turks paid the Serbs cruelly for these ten years of forced concessions... the Turks burned and massacred entire villages, sold thousands of Serbs into slavery (in Belgrade alone, on October 17, 1813, 1800 Serbs, women and children were put up for sale)" (Pogodin A.L. History of Serbia // History of Serbia and Montenegro. Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Slovenia, Croatia. p. 316). Karadjordje was forced to flee to Austria, and in 1814 to Russia. Returning to Serbia, he was treacherously killed on July 13, 1817 while sleeping. His head was taken to Constantinople, where it was hung for viewing on the wall of the seraglio with the inscription: "This is the head of the robber Kara George." In Smederevo, at the site of his murder, the Serbs built the church "Pokajnica".

18 Miloš Obrenović (1780–1860) was a Serbian elder, supreme prince of the Serbs (1817–1839), and a successor to Karađorđe. In 1815, he led the second Serbian uprising against the Turks, instilling in the Serbs that they had no choice but to win or die; He showed genuine miracles of bravery. After several victories, he obtained from the Turks the recognition of the autonomy of Serbia in the same year, in 1826 by the Treaty of Akkerman self-government was returned to Serbia, in 1830 by the Adrianople Peace Treaty between Russia and Turkey Serbia was returned to independence. During the reign of Miloš, Serbia was forever freed from the danger of the Turkish yoke.